DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc. Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters belong to Fox Studios. The story contents are the creation and property of Djinn and is copyright (c) 2000 by Djinn. This story is Rated PG-13.
Never Alone
by Djinn
"Please help
me." The young woman being menaced
by the vampire held out her arms to Christine.
"Please save me. You're the
only one."
Christine raised her stake
and advanced toward her.
"No, save me." A middle-aged man trying to hold off another
vampire appeared to her right. "I
need your help."
Christine looked from the
woman to the man. How could she
choose?
"You have to help
them." Christine spun to see who
spoke. Behind her a mist had appeared. Two young women, a tiny blonde and a barely
bigger brunette stepped out of it.
"You have to help
them," the blonde repeated.
"But you can't save them
both," the brunette pointed out.
"How do I
choose?" Christine looked at the
woman and man who were still calling to her.
"How would you choose?"
The brunette shrugged. "I always chose wrong. Ask her."
The blonde scowled at
Christine. "Something's wrong. You don't know these people."
The brunette laughed. "That's easy to change. There, how's that?"
The blonde smiled
approval. "Perfect. Now choose."
Christine looked back. The strangers were gone. In their place were Uhura and Kirk. "No!"
The brunette made an
exasperated face. "If you don't
care, then it doesn't count."
Uhura was in the grips of a
large vampire. He was preparing to bite
her. Kirk was grappling with another
vampire. He was trying to go hand to
hand but was beaten and bloody. Just as
Uhura screamed, Kirk was thrown to the ground and the vampire's deformed face
neared his neck.
The blonde woman smiled at
her. "Choose now." She began to fade out.
The brunette stalked closer
to her. "But choose only
one." She disappeared in a sudden
burst of flame.
She heard both voices,
ghostlike, hissing at her, "Choose."
"No!" Christine jerked awake.
Someone touched her and she
struck out automatically. Then she heard
Spock's voice and forced herself to stop fighting. Waking up next to him was still so new. She wasn't used to anyone being in her bed,
much less Spock.
He was leaning over her in
concern. "Christine. You called out. Are you all right?"
She nodded, realized that she
was breathing heavily, as if she'd been in the fight of her life. She tried to center herself, to get her
bearings.
'Choose,' they had said. But who were they?
"Christine?" Spock's normal patience appeared to be
wearing thin.
She sat up suddenly in the
bed and reached out to touch his face, to make sure he was really there, that
she was really there.
"Christine, what is
wrong?" He eased her back down and
stroked her hair off her sweat-dampened face, pulling the sheets she had kicked
off back over them. "Was it a
nightmare?"
She could not stop hearing
the voices of the two women. "A
dream, yes."
He looked at her curiously. "A bad dream?" When she did not answer, he continued,
"Christine, I have noted that when you evade the subject it generally is
slayer-related. Tell me why you do not
wish to discuss this dream."
She smiled ruefully at
him. Falling for a Vulcan had its
downside, she thought. He always seemed
to know when she was lying. "Okay,
you're right. This could be a Slayer's
Dream. They tend to be more than just
nightmares. They are prophetic. But it's tough to know if that's what they
are. Most of the time, they just seem
slightly more vivid than regular dreams or nightmares."
"What was this one
about?" Again she did not answer,
and he looked at her disapprovingly.
"Judging from your continued reticence, I would say it was
unpleasant."
"Stop playing Sherlock,
Spock. I'm not ready to talk about
it. Not until I'm sure it was more than
just a dream."
He caressed her face. "Very well. But do not expect that I will allow you to
shoulder this burden without my help.
You are no longer alone."
She pulled him down to her,
kissed him tenderly. "I know,
Spock. And I am so very happy about
that."
His face was mock stern. "Then it would be logical for you to
demonstrate that happiness, Miss Chapel."
Banishing the dream
temporarily from her mind, she smiled and pushed him onto his back. "With pleasure, sir."
**********************
McCoy pulled up a chair next
to Christine's desk. She looked at him
curiously.
"Something's been
bothering you all day, kiddo.
Spill." Ingenuous blue eyes
met her suspicious ones. "I'm not
leaving until you tell me what the hell is going on with you."
She gave him the most
disarming smile she could muster.
"Nothing is wrong, Len."
He sat unconvinced. She tried to keep her expression even as they
engaged in an impromptu stare down.
Finally he pushed his chair
back and walked away. He hadn't made it
four steps before he turned and angrily paced back. Thumping his hands down on her desk and
giving her his 'don't bullshit me' look, he said, "Here's what I want to
know, Chris. What went on while I was
away last week at my seminar?"
"Len, nothing
hap--"
"--Save the crap. Ever since I got back I've heard nothing but
these strange stories about vampires, and fights, and tunnels, and you. Always you.
So I think to myself, 'Well, that's damned odd.' I check the logs and find a report that has
fewer facts than I've ever seen coming out of this ship's command crew. So I ask the Captain about it. He tells me to ask you. Well, I'm asking you, Chris. What the hell is going on around here and why
do you look like you haven't had a good night's sleep in a month?"
Christine sighed. A part of her wanted to tell him. "The mission was strange. It was very dark and we were fighting things
that acted like old-time vampires. They
were awful. There were so many dead that
I was very busy. So everyone saw me
there. That's all." She paused to rub her eyes. "As for the sleep part, I've been having
some odd dreams since the mission.
Haven't been sleeping well at all."
His suspicion gave way to
concern. "Dreams? Could be physiological. Let me do a quick scan."
She nodded and let him lead
her to the diagnostic bed. She'd already
done a full reading yesterday when he was at lunch and sickbay was empty. She knew he would find nothing to explain the
dreams.
"Your adrenaline levels
are way up. Dopamine and serotonin are
also very high."
Christine swore
silently. She hadn't just come from
being with Spock the last time that she did the readings.
McCoy continued his
scan. "Everything else normal but
if I didn't know better I'd say you were having the time of your life…a
lot."
The intercom took that moment
to interrupt them. "Spock to Nurse
Chapel."
She hopped off the bed and
answered the com. "Chapel
here."
"I believe I will be
detained for lunch, I will see you at our exercise session."
Christine saw McCoy's
eyebrows threaten to lift off his forehead as he took in Spock's casual tone
and her complete lack of surprise.
"No problem. Chapel
out."
She turned to find her friend
and colleague beaming like a proud father.
"Well, I'll be damned."
"Go back to work,
Len," she said firmly.
**********************
It was only as he was walking
back into his office that Leonard McCoy realized he had never seen Christine in
the gym, let alone working out at a level that would suggest she should be
there with Spock. I will get to the
bottom of this, he vowed.
**********************
Christine was almost glad
that Spock couldn't make lunch. She
needed to do some research and she preferred that he not be here to take
part. Not that he wouldn't have been
helpful, but she wanted to keep him out of this as much as possible.
"Computer?"
"Working," came the
harsh metallic response. Someday, she
thought, they really need to get a better voice for these things.
"Computer, this is
Chapel, medical clearance level three. I
need to do some name traces. Some quite
old. How far back do your records
go?"
"For level three
medical, existing records go back to Federation founding. Partial records are available for earlier
dates."
"I need visual images
and brief bio details. I only want the
visuals from ages 16 to 30. If no images
from that age range are available, please detail what is in the database."
"Affirmative."
She tried to picture the two
young women. This was not the first
dream they had been in. The brunette
looked familiar. "Computer, call up
Denise Carden."
"Working." A second later, the visuals hit the
screen. Five images of her direct
predecessor. A young brunette, all
right, but not the same brunette.
Christine tried to recall her
slayer lineage. "Computer, find
Catherine Gadeaux."
"Working." Again a brunette, but not the right young
woman.
Christine continued back 25
slayers. Finally, in disgust, she picked
a name from her head. In desperate jest,
she asked for the most famous slayer of all.
"Computer, visuals for Buffy Summers."
"Working." And the visual popped up.
"Oh my god." Christine looked at the photo from the
woman's official identification card. It
was the blonde woman in her dreams. Then
who was the brunette? The two seemed to
know each other. "Computer, how
many images of Buffy Summers are available?"
"There are 25 visuals
available."
Christine thanked all the
gods that Buffy hadn't kept a low profile.
"Computer, display all images, enlarge to fit one visual per
screen."
The computer began to spew
them out. Christine saw several of the
slayer alone, but most of the time she seemed to be surrounded by the same
people. According to legend, these
people fought with her against the vampires and demons. What would that be like? Christine wondered. To always have someone you could count
on?
She found a brunette in the
first few photos, but she was not the one from the dream. When she finally came across the right
person, she nearly missed it, the woman was just one of many in a group. "Computer, identify the person standing
to the left of Buffy Summers."
"Identity unknown."
Damn. "Computer cross-check this image against
all database holdings from the same date, plus or minus five years."
"Working." This time the screen went dark as it began
processing. Why was this slayer haunting
her? What could it mean?
Many minutes later, the
computer broke her concentration.
"One match found."
"Display," she
ordered. There she was again, the same
girl. It appeared to be some sort of
criminal activity report. The girl's
name was unknown, but she was wanted for murder and some other nasty
crimes.
Christine knew who she
was. How could she not, after all? She was descended from her line. It was during Buffy's time that the one
slayer in all the world idea got a little fuzzy. CPR that could bring back a seemingly dead
slayer and the medical establishment's ability to keep a severely injured
slayer alive long enough to heal had played havoc with the old system. As time went on, there were many more splits,
as more and more slayers were called while the previous slayer was not really
dead. There was a whole branch of the
watcher's council dedicated to keeping track of these so-called
bloodlines. Christine was descended from
Faith's line. Kendra's line, she
reminded herself. Roger had tried to drill
it into her that Kendra was the real "mother" of her line, but
everyone, Christine included, gravitated toward Faith, the infamous rogue
slayer who at the end had found redemption.
Christine had never seen an image of her but had always wondered what
she looked like. So know I know, she
thought wryly.
A quiet tone began to sound
from the alarm she had set to prevent her from getting too engrossed in her
research. Lunch was over.
As she made her way back to
sickbay, she wondered at the appearance of these two in her dreams. Buffy and
Faith. What could it mean? Maybe next time they show up, I should just
ask them? she mused. She resolved to do
just that when they appeared again.
**********************
When Christine entered the
gym after her shift, she was surprised to see Kirk warming up with Spock. He turned as she entered. "Hope you don't mind me horning in. I need a good workout and since Spock has
been a little preoccupied these days…"
He ignored his friend's raised eyebrows.
"The only way to get some time with him is to take you on too,
Chris. What do you say?"
"I say you're nuts. But it's your neck." She smiled evilly at him and caught the
warning glance Spock shot her. Oh, I'll
hold back, Spock, she thought. But the
Captain won't want to know just how much I'm pulling my punches. "Why don't you both take me on?"
Spock nodded. "An efficient use of our time. If that is acceptable to you, Jim?"
Kirk nodded. "Go get changed, Chris. We only have the gym for an hour."
She hurried toward the locker
room. For a moment she thought she heard
a noise up in the stands but when she stopped to check it out she could see
nothing there. Shrugging the feeling
off, she went in to change. Moments
later, she was back out, ready to go.
Spock and Kirk initially took
turns attacking her. After a few too
many hard kicks into the mats, they joined forces. Christine found herself working much harder
to keep the upper hand. So much harder
that she almost missed the movement in the stands. A familiar voice rang out.
"Will somebody please
tell me what the hell is going on here?"
Christine was already turning
to look at the speaker. Spock and Kirk
nearly caught her off guard but managed to stop their blows as they took in the
unexpected observer.
"Well," McCoy
continued. "I'm waiting."
The other men looked to
her. She cursed softly and shook her
head at her boss. "We've got to
shower. You can skulk up there a few minutes
longer. Then we'll explain."
"Well, this oughtta be
good." McCoy retorted. "And I wasn't skulking."
*****************
When Christine got to the
dressing room, she called Uhura and asked her to come down to the gym. I've owed her an explanation since this
started, she thought, may as well tell them both at once. She grabbed a quick sonic shower then dressed
and went out to join the others. Kirk
and Spock were already there, and McCoy had joined them on the mats. Christine saw all the men react in guilty
surprise when Uhura came in.
"It's all right. I asked her to join us." She looked at McCoy. "You aren't the only one that deserves
an explanation."
Kirk nodded at her
words. "I suggest we use my
quarters. I don't think this is a
conversation we want to try to have in the common areas."
Christine gratefully fell in
behind the captain and her two bemused friends.
Spock's hand on her arm caused her to stop and turn to him.
"You have not talked
with Uhura about this, yet?" He
looked surprised.
She shrugged with seeming
nonchalance. "There really hasn't
been time."
He studied her face. "You appear to lie frequently,
Christine. Is that a slayer trait?"
She felt her face flush with
anger and embarrassment. "I'm not
lying. When has there been time? I've been with you or at work."
"Christine, I am not
criticizing you. I am merely trying to
understand why you have still not told your closest friend the
truth." When she began to protest,
he continued, "There have been plenty of opportunities to tell her. You have just not wanted to avail yourself of
them."
"Are you two
coming?" Kirk waited at the end of
the corridor with the others, watching them impatiently.
"Yeah, we're
coming," Christine said, moving quickly away from Spock. His words had stung her and she felt hurt
warring with anger that he would frown on her choice. As Spock caught up with her, she threw an
angry glare his way. He barely appeared
to notice, which only made her more irritated with him.
They rode the turbolift in
silence and followed Kirk into his quarters.
The captain busied himself with making drinks for everyone. Spock declined, of course. Christine, although she was not much of a
drinker, almost ordered a double of something strong just to annoy him. Her rational side convinced her that this was
a conversation best conducted sober. At
least for her. Uhura and McCoy might
need a few drinks before this was over.
Once they were all
comfortably settled with their glasses, Kirk slouched into his desk chair and
looked at Christine. "It's your
show, Chris."
Four pairs of eyes stared at
hers. Calm black and amused hazel
provided contrast to confused brown and blue ones. I hate this, Christine thought suddenly. Why couldn't this all have just stayed my
secret? She found that her agitation was
making it impossible to sit calmly.
Rising to pace the small room, she tried to find the logical starting
place. But the words would not come.
"Christine is a vampire
slayer." Spock's voice was calm and
matter-of-fact.
She spun to look at him. He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she felt
gratitude replace the anger she had felt for him earlier.
Uhura had a slight confused
scowl as she processed this information against what she had seen during the
mission.
McCoy, on the other hand,
stared at Spock open-mouthed, then turned to her. "And what in the Sam Hell is that
supposed to mean?"
"It means that I slay
vampires. That's what I do. And that's what we were up against on this
last mission."
McCoy looked at her as if
she'd lost her mind.
"Vampires? Like Dracula? Crosses, garlic, no reflection, those
vampires?"
"Those would be the
ones."
Kirk interjected, "I saw
them. They do exist. And I saw her fight. She is what she says, Bones. I know it's hard to accept, but there it
is."
Uhura spoke up, "Are you
human?"
Christine knelt in front of
her, took her hands. "Of course I'm
human, Nyota. I'm the same Christine
you've known all this time. I just
couldn't tell you, couldn't tell anyone."
She could barely hear Uhura's
voice, as she whispered, "You could have told me. I'm your best friend. You should have trusted me." Her voice
was hurt, but her expression was strong with support.
Christine let go of her hands
and rose, turning back to McCoy.
"You're stronger than
Jim? Than Spock?" he asked.
She nodded.
"I've run scans on you a
million times. I would have noticed
something off."
"There's nothing to
find, Len. The strength, the skill,
everything I have that is slayer related isn't a physical difference per
se. It is mystical."
"Mystical?" he
repeated.
"Mystical. I have a tall, strong body. But there have been slayers that were
tiny. Size doesn't matter. Once we are called, we are given what we need
to fight the evil things that our destiny says we must battle."
She spent the next hour
trying to explain what she was and what she had done before retiring. She answered the questions honestly. Spock sat silently, backing her up only when
McCoy seemed on the verge of disbelief.
Uhura seemed to be accepting it far more calmly, but then she had seen
Christine and Spock prepare for battle with Markosius.
"So, does this explain
the dreams?" McCoy asked in sudden insight.
Spock turned to her. "You have had more than one? I thought the one that woke you last
night…" he trailed off as he realized what he had just said. An embarrassed and amused silence followed
his words. "I mean…"
"I think they _all_ know
what you mean now, Spock." She
smiled at him gently to take the sting out of her words.
"Yes, well"--he
paused to gather the shreds of his dignity around him before
continuing--"you did not tell me you that these disturbing dreams were
happening on a regular basis."
"I didn't want to worry
you." She met his concerned
expression with one of studied non-concern.
Uhura broke in, "I take
it these aren't normal dreams?"
"They’re nothing to
worry about."
McCoy snorted. "I may be new at this, but somehow I
doubt that."
"You're trying to
protect us, aren't you?" Kirk studied her.
"It's a little late for that.
We're involved now. If there is
trouble coming, I need to know about it.
We all do. We can help you."
"How?"
Spock looked at her in
surprise. "You are still determined
to do this alone? Look around you,
Christine. These people are your friends. They are concerned for you. They will help you. I have fought by your side. I will do it again when the need arises. You are not alone."
Christine turned away in
frustration. "You don't
understand. Slayers are alone. The chosen _one_, remember?"
"Why?" McCoy asked
simply.
"Because that's the way
it is, the way it always has been," Christine said more loudly than she
intended.
"Are you sure?"
Uhura faced down Christine's fierce stare.
"You mentioned one Slayer that had friends to resuscitate her. Maybe these friends helped her in other
ways?"
Spock nodded. "They fought with her." At Christine's look of betrayal, he stood and
walked over to her. "You told me
that they did. Why are you resisting our
help? You are not alone, Christine. We are here."
She had a stubborn urge to
argue with him but realized she would not win.
"It doesn't matter anyway.
The likelihood of us running across another vampire out here is pretty
slim. Now, can we talk about something
else for a while?"
McCoy, sensing that she was
at her limit, launched into some anecdotes from his medical seminar. Christine gratefully sank down into a chair
and sipped the iced tea Kirk had given her.
It's not like I'm ever going
to have to involve them in this, Christine consoled herself. I'm a retired slayer. Why does everyone but me seem to forget that?
**********************
The meeting broke up
slowly. McCoy and Uhura left
together. Spock sat talking with Kirk,
and Christine got up to leave them alone.
Breaking off mid-sentence, Spock bid an amused Kirk goodnight and
followed her out. He walked her back to
her quarters and seemed prepared to follow her inside, but she stopped him with
a touch.
"I think I need to be
alone tonight."
He took a long breath. "You do not ever need to be alone. But for some reason you think you have to
be."
"I'm not in the mood to
argue, Spock."
He reached out and touched
her face briefly. "But you are in
the mood to fight. And we have come too
far to ruin it in one night."
Christine suddenly found
herself fighting back tears. His
tenderness always took her by surprise.
"I'm sorry. I don't know
what is wrong with me." She moved
out of his way. "Come in."
He passed her and when the
door was safely shut, gathered her up in his arms. "Change is hard, Christine. It is stressful. You have carried this burden alone for so
long. You ceased to believe that anyone
could possibly help, much less want to.
You must give it time."
She pressed her face into the
hollow of his neck, felt his strength and certainty fill her. "I'm sorry, Spock."
"Shhh. You have already said that." He kissed her gently, tousled her hair as if
she were a child. "It is our gift
to be there for you. It must be your
gift to let us."
She smiled at him sadly. "So much has happened. I guess somewhere along the line, I forgot
how to trust."
He pulled her gently but
firmly into the bedroom. "Yes, I
know. And trust takes time to
build."
"Help me build it?"
He unfastened her uniform,
pulled it over her head. His own soon
followed. She wrapped herself around him
and they fell into bed. His fingers
found her face, his voice warm in her mind as he initiated the meld. *We will build many thing together, Christine.*
*************************
"Well, that took a whole
lot longer than it needed to." The
blonde sat on a large rock, filing her fingernails.
"I don't think she's as
smart as she thinks she is," the brunette agreed. She threw a knife at a tree trunk. It landed next to two others. Dead center of the makeshift target.
Christine walked over to
them. "Buffy. Faith."
"Ooooh, score a point
for the tall depressing one." Buffy
inspected the nail she had just finished and moved on to the next.
"Took you long
enough." Faith retrieved the knives then walked past Christine who
followed her. "Do you mind? You're blocking my tree."
Christine moved aside and
studied the slayer she had always secretly worshipped. Her face was sweet, or would have been if it
had not worn the street-tough expression.
"What is your
deal?" Faith let a knife fly.
"I'm descended from
you. I've always wanted to meet
you. I guess I wondered what you would
think of me."
Another knife sailed through
the air. "Yeah, well, that's
great. I'm real proud of you and
all. And as long as you don't go getting
all mushy on me, we'll be five by five."
Buffy looked up. "I really hate it when you say that.
What does that mean anyway?"
"It means loud and clear
on the old radio communications scale."
Christine realized both slayers were staring at her.
"Look who's suddenly
knowledge girl," Buffy said, going back to her nails.
"Bet she's a real guy
magnet," Faith agreed, letting another knife go.
"Spock happens to
appreciate my knowledge of trivia."
Christine mentally shook herself.
She could not let herself get distracted by these two. "Why are you here?"
Buffy gave her a puzzled
look. "Gee, maybe because you want
us to be? This is not the most happenin'
place you know."
"I want you here?"
Faith launched the third
knife. "Like we'd just hang here
for the wicked thrills?"
"What?" Christine wondered what language these
slayers were speaking.
Buffy translated, "We
have places we'd rather be. But you need
us. So here we are. But you don't want to listen to us."
Faith turned to her. "I was like you. I kept everybody out. Didn't allow anyone to care for me."
"Well, except for the
Mayor. You seemed to really like him,
even though he turned into a big ugly snaky demon thing."
"Can we stay on track
here, B?" Faith turned back to
Christine. "You can't do this
alone. Or you can, but not for long. Buffy taught me that."
Buffy pouted. "Actually it was my boyfriend that
taught her that."
"He wasn't your
boyfriend at the time and he only wanted to help me."
"Oh yeah, like you
didn't like him, even a little bit?"
Christine watched her
ancestors in something akin to horror.
These were the two greatest slayers of all time?
Buffy jumped down from the
rock. "Well, we've gotta go. Time to book.
I think you've got the basic idea anyway."
Faith took Christine by the
shoulders, gave her a hard shake.
"Just remember what we said."
"But you didn't say
anything," Christine said desperately.
"Pretend we
did." Buffy suggested.
"You'll figure it
out. It's been real." Faith turned back to Buffy and as they slowly
faded out, Christine heard them start to argue again, apparently about angels.
"So what now?" she
wondered, just as the alarm woke her up.
*****************
The next few weeks passed
uneventfully, so Christine used the time to try to repair relations with her
friends. She and Uhura fell into a
routine, meeting for occasional dinners after work. McCoy spent the first few days asking her
everything he could think of about slayers and the undead. But when it became clear that she was still
the same Christine, he seemed to relax around her.
She and Spock spent nearly
every night together. His quiet
affection seemed to soothe the wild part of her that still raged deep within
her. And his unexpected passion thrilled
her. As their relationship matured, she
felt herself beginning to trust him as she had no one since losing Marcus.
As Christine walked to
sickbay, she noticed a subdued air of excitement among the crewmembers she
passed. McCoy looked up and grinned at
her as she entered his office. "Can
you believe we get to go home?"
"What?"
"Some mandatory
refits. Every ship in the fleet has to
report to the closest spacedock. Ours
just happens to be orbiting Earth!"
"Earth." She found herself less than pleased at the
notion of returning. Her memories of the
planet were ones of heartache and fighting.
Space, despite all the associated hazards, had been ultimately so much
more peaceful for her. "How long
will we be there?"
"Long enough for shore
leave." He gave her a lascivious grin.
"I can't wait to get back to Savannah for a little
R&R."
"I bet," she said,
as she left his office.
He followed her out. "Hey, you and Spock going to spend the
time together?"
"It's conceivable,
Doctor."
He laughed. "You're starting to sound just like him,
Chapel. Better watch that." He headed back toward his office, loudly
humming the strains of 'Georgia on my Mind'.
Earth. Would Spock want to spend the time with
her? And where should they go? Christine busied herself with her work in an
attempt to stop her mind from worrying over this. At lunch, she joined Spock and the captain in
the mess hall.
Kirk was beaming as she set
her tray on the table. "So you
heard, I expect? Earth! I haven't been home in too long."
She forced a smile. "You have plans for the time?"
"Yes, indeed. I plan to look up an old friend that I
haven't seen in quite a while. What
about you two?"
Christine looked at Spock
uncertainly. He gave her a reassuring
glance then answered, "If my parents were not on Vulcan, I would
reacquaint Christine with them. Since
they are not here, I assume I will be accompanying Christine wherever she
wishes to go."
"Where's that,
Chris?" Kirk looked at her
curiously.
She shrugged. "I haven't even thought of
it." She looked over at Spock. "Perhaps we should discuss it."
"A logical
suggestion. We do have four point eight
days to decide."
************************
Before she was ready for it,
Christine found herself back on Earth, walking down a crowded street with
Spock. They had decided to go to
Sedona. Christine wanted to go someplace
she had never been and Spock thought the hot, dry air would remind him of his
home planet. So far the town agreed with
them both splendidly.
Spock was reading out loud
from a tourist brochure as he waited for Christine to finish her lunch. "Sedona is one of Earth's rare mystical
sites, similar to Machu Picchu and Stonehenge.
Ley lines are thought to connect at this spot, lending the area an
environment of healing and balancing power." He crumpled up the glossy paper and shoved it
in his lunch bag. When Christine looked
up in surprise, he said, "Ley lines are not scientific. This brochure is full of fantasy and bedtime
stories. These things do not
exist."
She gave him an amused
smirk. "Like vampires don't
exist?"
"You may have a
point," he responded, retrieving the brochure and flattening it out. He continued reading it quietly, then crushed
it up again. "No, my original
thought was correct. This is fit for
nothing but the trash."
"Millions of people have
visited this place because it does make them feel better, feel recharged. Who are we to say that all those people are
wrong?"
Before Spock could answer, a
shadow fell over their table. They both
looked up to see an elderly man watching them.
"Do you need
assistance?" Spock asked kindly.
The old man's strong voice
belied his apparent frailty. "I
would have words with the Slayer.
Alone."
Spock looked at her in
concern but she waved him away.
"Why don't you go to the museum?
I'll catch up with you." She
could tell he did not want to leave her but after studying the old man for a
moment more, he got up and left them to talk.
"What do you
want?" Christine's voice was
deliberately abrupt, just shy of rude.
She knew that this man could only be from one place.
"You slayers are all the
same. Show a little respect for your
elders." The man sat down in the
seat Spock had vacated. "My name is
Colin Monroe. I'm from the Watcher's
Council."
Christine took a swig of
juice before she responded. "I know
where you're from. I asked you what you
wanted."
"I'm here to help
you."
"I don't need your
help. I'm retired. And even if I wasn't, you don't look like you
are in any shape to be my new watcher."
"I have information you
need."
"What could you possibly
have to tell me?"
"Your
lover...Marcus. He's not dead. He's a vampire." Monroe leaned forward, as if anticipating her
shock. When she did not react, he
frowned. "You already know
this?"
"I pretty much found out
that he wasn't dead when I killed him.
About a month ago."
The old man reacted strongly
to her words. "Killed him? But you were nowhere near the moon."
"And neither was
he. His henchmen screwed up. He ended up on a planet halfway across the
quadrant." Christine watched him
take this in. He was clearly
surprised. "Why did you think he
was on the moon?"
"We captured some
vampires. They boasted of sending their
master to the dark side of the moon.
From there, they said, he would bring about the expansion of their
species."
Christine looked at him. "Well, he never made it there. But something has been happening on the moon,
hasn't it? That's why you thought it was
Marcus."
Monroe nodded slowly. "But if it isn't Marcus, then who is up
there?"
Christine found herself
following his gaze to the part of the sky that the moon would appear in. She felt anger boiling up inside her. Kicking her chair back, she rose
abruptly.
The old man looked at her in
shock. "What are you doing?"
"I'm leaving."
"Didn't you hear what I
said? There is at least one vampire on
the moon."
She leaned in close to
him. "I'm only going to say this
once, old man." She practically
spit each word at him. "I don't
care."
"You're a slayer. You have to care."
"I'm a retired
slayer. Go send one of your other
girls. I'm done killing vampires."
"But…"
"No. I'm finished.
Don't bother me again."
Christine grabbed her lunch bag, threw it violently into the trashcan,
and stalked off. She heard Monroe
calling her. I'm retired, she ranted
inside, I don't do this anymore!
By the time she reached the
museum, she had walked off most of her immediate rage. She found Spock midway through the first
exhibit. "Sorry about that,"
she said as she joined him.
He gave her a careful look
before asking, "Is everything all right?"
She nodded. "That old man just made a mistake."
He studied her, clearly not
believing her, but apparently deciding to let it drop. They moved off together to see the rest of
the museum.
***************************
"You again?" Faith looked at Christine. "Why can't you leave me alone?"
"I didn't call
you."
"Well, you must have or
I wouldn't be here."
"Where's Buffy?"
The blonde suddenly
appeared. "You couldn't let me sit
this one out?" She looked up at the
sky. "Oh, can we say 'Ewww'?"
Christine followed her
gaze. A huge moon hung over them. Blood dripped from it.
"Mighty gross,"
Faith observed. "Must be hell to
know that you could have stopped it…"
Christine backed away. "It's not my job. Not anymore."
Buffy looked at her sadly and
faded away. Faith just shook her
head. "Don't be so sure of
that. These things have a funny way of
working out."
"I won't do it! I won't."
Faith shrugged, as she too
started to fade. "We'll see, I
guess."
Christine woke from the dream
slowly. Spock lay beside her, still
asleep. She could not get the picture of
the blood-swollen moon out of her head.
Damn that crazy old man. She was
being stupid letting him get to her. She
tried to go back to sleep but found that she could not relax. Getting up, she padded over to the window and
looked out, letting the curtains close behind her. The moon was barely at first quarter and it
showed no trace of blood. See, she
scolded herself, you are just being silly.
Nevertheless it was several hours before she could bring herself to end
her vigil and go back to bed.
***************************
As the curtains closed,
something moved from behind a rock.
Pulling a communicator out, the vampire said, "It's her. It's the slayer you've been looking
for." He listened to instructions
from the voice on the other end, then snapped the communicator shut and stood
immobile as a transporter beam caught him up and took him away.
***************************
The next morning, Christine
and Spock were setting out for a hike in the desert and had just reached the
outskirts of town when they saw a group of people huddled over something on the
trail. Must be an animal, Christine
thought as they approached.
She glanced over as they
passed and stopped in shock. It was not
an animal. Lying crumpled and very pale
was Colin Monroe. Christine pushed her
way in. One of the bystanders warned her
not to touch him. Whoever had killed him
had left a message. On what the previous
day had been a crisp white shirt someone had written in blood, "This is
for Marcus, Slayer. Who will be
next?"
Christine backed away, felt
Spock take her arm and pull her along the trail until they were out of sight of
the body. Her mind was racing, trying
desperately to identify the assailant.
She looked at Spock frantically.
"I killed them all. All the
ones that were involved with Anticles.
There's no one left to do this."
"Perhaps it is some
other vampire. Some code of honor."
She shook her head. "They aren't like that. They barely work together, let alone avenge a
strange vampire. No, this is
personal. It has to be. How else would whoever this is know about
Marcus? The identity of our assailant on
the planet wasn't in the report the captain sent. But somehow this thing knows. How?"
Her communicator rang out,
startling them both. "McCoy to
Chapel."
"Chapel here." She suddenly had a very bad feeling. "Len, what is it?"
He didn't waste any
words. "Is Uhura with you?"
She looked at Spock. His eyebrow lifted as he took in her concern. "No.
I thought she was at her parents?"
"She planned to spend
the first couple of days with them, then join me last night in Savannah. But she never showed up. I called her house. She left on schedule, but she never got
here."
Christine thought back to the
message. No, she pleaded with whatever
god listened to ex-slayers, please don't let Nyota be next.
Spock took the communicator
from her. "Dr. McCoy, Christine and
I will investigate and join you shortly.
Where can we find you?" McCoy
gave him the address of his hotel, which Spock promptly assigned to
memory. "We will be there
shortly. Spock out."
Christine pulled herself out
of her panic. "She's not dead,
Spock. Whoever is doing this wants me to
suffer. I have a feeling they'll keep Ny
alive until I am there to witness her death, or worse, personally." She felt despair threaten. "At least I hope so."
Spock took her arm and
wrapped it around his. They looked like
any other couple out for a stroll. But
as they made their way back to the hotel, she realized that he was using the
physical contact to bolster her with all of the strength and support that he
could give.
When they neared their room,
she pulled away from him gently.
"Thank you, Spock."
They packed quickly and
checked out. Spock used his standing to
get them beamed over to Los Angeles station, where Uhura was supposed to have
left from. Christine didn't wish to
alarm Nyota's parents any more than they already were, so she did not call them
to get more details. She didn't need
to. One of the vendors remembered
Uhura. She had bought some whiskey from
him and they had talked a bit about Georgia.
The merchant looked concerned.
"Then a guy came up to her and they went over to the
transporter. I thought it was odd
because she had been talking about going to Georgia and then she used the
off-planet transporter."
Christine hurried over to the
off-world pad. It was tucked into a
corner of the station. The operator was
busy and she had to wait for him to beam out several loads of people before he
would talk to her. She could tell he
didn't want to give her the information.
She gave him her best
smile. "Please. This is so important. Please tell me where Lieutenant Uhura beamed
to." When the officious man started
quoting privacy regulations to her, she snapped. Her hand was on his collar and she had pushed
him up the wall before Spock could move to protest. The man's legs dangled as he started to
choke. Christine leaned in close and
hissed, "Maybe I didn't make myself clear.
This is somewhat urgent. Where
did my friend beam to?"
The man gestured up. He gasped out a word.
Spock repeated it, "The
moon? She beamed to the moon?"
The man agreed
frantically. Christine let him
down. As she straightened up his collar,
she asked, "Now you wouldn't happen to know where on the moon she
went?"
The man edged away from
her. "She went to Outpost 5. Now leave me alone, you psycho!"
Spock moved in front of
her. "I would suggest you refrain
from making her any more angry than she already is." The man's eyes widened. Spock leaned in and whispered
conspiratorially, "This conversation never happened, do you
understand?" As the man nodded
quickly, Spock hurried to join Christine at another transporter pad. They had only a short wait before they were
beamed to the Savannah station.
***************************
McCoy answered their knock
promptly. Christine suspected he had
been pacing ever since he had called them.
"You didn't find
her." His voice was flat with
disappointment.
"No. But we know where she went." Christine watched his face light up.
"Well, let's go get her,
then." He watched her face, then
turned to Spock. "What's
wrong? Where is she?"
Spock responded evenly,
"We have reason to believe that she was taken by someone that has a grudge
against Christine. If that is the case,
we will have to consider carefully how we attempt a rescue."
Christine turned to him. "_We_ aren't attempting
anything." She saw his face turn
stony. "No, Spock. Whatever this thing is, it wants me. And it will use all of you to get to me if it
can." She had a sudden chilling
recollection of one of her dreams. She
turned to McCoy. "Is the captain
okay?"
McCoy looked confused. "Jim?
I don't know. He went to New
York."
Spock pulled out his
communicator. "Commander Spock to
Starfleet duty officer."
A woman's voice answered,
"This is the Officer on Duty, Lieutenant Carlsen. How can I help you, Commander?"
"I have an urgent
message for Captain Kirk. Do you have a
shore leave address for him?"
"Yes, sir." She
gave him a number in New York.
As Spock thanked the woman,
Christine moved quickly to the communications console and dialed the number
in. An attractive redhead answered. "Can I help you?"
"I'm sorry to bother
you. I serve with Captain Kirk. I was told he was staying with you?"
"That jerk?" The woman's face twisted in anger. "I don't know where the hell he
is."
Spock moved up to stand next
to Christine. "I do not
understand. Did the two of you have an
altercation?"
"No." The woman's words were bitter. "I ran
out last night to get us some ice cream.
When I got back, he had packed his stuff and was gone."
Christine felt despair flood
her as Spock apologized for bothering the woman. Not Kirk too, she prayed.
Spock was already back on his
communicator with Lieutenant Carlsen. He
explained that he thought Kirk might have used the New York transporter and he
needed to know where he went. Lieutenant
Carlsen agreed to find out. About ten
minutes later, she had an answer for them.
"He beamed with an unknown civilian to the Moon."
Christine watched Spock's
face grow even stonier as he asked, "Outpost 5?"
"Yes, sir. Do you need anything else, Commander?"
"No. Thank you for your help, Lieutenant."
Christine dropped to a chair
and thought furiously. The dream. What had the dream been trying to tell
her? How was she going to save them?
Spock knelt in front of
her. "You can't save them
both."
She started as she heard
Faith's words in his voice. "That's
what she said in the dream...but I have to try..."
"You misunderstand me,
Christine. _You_ can't save them
both. But _we_ can." He saw understanding dawn and continued,
"The two of us."
McCoy put his hand on her
shoulder. "Make that the three of
us." When both Spock and Chapel
looked at him curiously, he said, "You don't think I'm going to just stand
by while some psychopathic creature of the night kidnaps one of my best friends
and the woman who means the world to me?"
Spock turned to
Christine. "It appears that you are
not the only one with secrets."
She looked at McCoy. "So it would seem." She studied her friend. He would not be very useful in a fight. But he was smart and he cared. Maybe that was all that mattered. "Okay then, you're coming with us."
McCoy let out his breath, as
he realized he wouldn't have to fight her on this.
She turned to Spock. "You need to explain how to fight a
vampire to him.'
Spock nodded. "We will also need wood to fashion
stakes and crosses."
McCoy was already ahead of
them. "Gardens are big business
here. There is a nursery down the
block. I bet they have some wooden garden
stakes, or fence posts or something we can use."
Christine nodded. "Perfect. Go see what you can find. I need to contact someone."
Spock shot her a questioning
look. Christine smiled bitterly. "I think it is time that I got some
answers from the Council of Watchers."
He nodded slowly, then he and
McCoy left in search of weapons.
***************************
Christine gathered her
thoughts before punching in the number she had for the Watcher's Council. A young woman appeared on the screen. "Meta Connectivity, how may I direct
your call?"
"My name is Chapel. I was the last person to see Colin Monroe
alive. The last human anyway. Direct my call to whoever sent him out to
Sedona."
The receptionist didn't miss
a beat. "I'm not sure what you are
talking about. If you don't have a name,
then I really can't place your call."
Christine fought the
irritation she had always felt when dealing with the Watchers. "Okay, in simple terms so you can
understand them. Slayers, watchers,
vampires, blood, poof, am I making my point?"
"One moment,
please." The screen went dark as
she was transferred.
"Can I help
you?" The man looked up as he
spoke. "Oh, it's you. How long has it been Ms. Chapel? Five years since you deserted us?"
"Kevin Silver. I wish I could say it was a pleasure to see
you but…"
He nodded. "Yes, well. Now that we have traded insults perhaps you
will tell me what you want?"
"Colin Monroe is
dead."
"Yes, I heard that. If that is all you called to tell me…"
She spoke before he could
break the connection, "Whoever killed him did it to get my
attention."
Silver stared at her in
distaste. "What do you want,
Chapel?"
"I'm going up to the
moon. Whoever is up there has taken two
of my friends. I intend to get them
back. But I need to know what you know. Or even what you suspect. Tell me who you think is up there."
"We thought it was
Marcus, until Monroe called in to tell us you had killed him. We really don't know who is up
there." His tone became very
sarcastic. "I can't tell you how
reassuring it is that you will be going up there to nose around. Do check back in if you make it out
alive." He gave her a false smile
as his hand reached to break the connection.
"Silver, so help me if
you cut me off…" The connection
went dead. Damn the man, she raged. He had always disliked her, now he appeared
to actively hate her. She didn't have
time for this. Think, she ordered
herself, who else would have heard rumblings?
Her fingers were dialing in a
number before she even realized she had remembered it. A beautiful older woman came on the screen,
her voice bored as she repeated what must have been the standard greeting. "Candide's Pleasure Parlor. Your wish is our…Christine?"
"Nasturas! It doesn't look like you."
The other woman smiled. "Yeah well, you know when I'm on phone
duty the bosses like me to look human.
Some customers get turned off by demons.
So, what are you doing calling me?"
"You remember once you
told me if I ever needed a favor?"
Nasturas nodded. "You saved my life Christine. Whatever I can do for you, I will."
"I need to know if
you've heard anything odd. Rumors or
hints that something big is going on in the vampire world. Anything you've heard about paranormal
activity on the moon."
Nasturas checked around her
before she leaned into the viewscreen.
"There's something big going down.
A vampire, very old, is up there.
Wants to take over. Wants to
rebuild her dynasty and forge a new empire.
Everybody is sort of spooked. I
mean this chick is loco, you know?"
Christine frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean she is a
bonafide nut case. And has been for
centuries, if what I hear is true."
"You said she's
old. Does she have a name?"
Nasturas looked uncomfortable
even whispering it. "Her name is
Drusilla."
"That's
impossible," Christine retorted vehemently.
Nasturas backed away from the
screen in reaction. "Hey, I just
know what I hear from my customers. The
vamps all call her that. That's all I
know." A voice rang out in the
background. "Listen, Christine, I
have to get back to work. Do you need
anything else?"
"No. Thanks, Nasturas. You've been a big help." Christine broke the connection. Drusilla?
It had to be a new vamp that had taken the name. Drusilla had died after the Eugenics
Wars. Or had she? What if she hadn't? Christine realized she needed to know more
about this particular vampire. And there
was only one place to get the information.
Silver was even less pleased
to hear from her a second time.
"What now, Chapel?"
"I know who is up
there. I need all the data you have on
Drusilla."
He rolled his eyes. "Drusilla is dead."
"I don't think so. I don't know how but I think she is alive and
leading this take over."
"And you expect me to
just make our resources available to you?
Why would I do that?"
Christine lowered her voice
to a dangerous purr. "Because if
you don't, you sorry piece of refuse, I will personally organize every slayer I
can find. Think of it, a Slayer's Union. Every time a Slayer is called I'll be there
with the Union welcome packet." He
didn't look totally convinced. "And
I will also give the press one hell of an interview." He looked even less convinced. "Silver, dammit. I know that we have never gotten along. But in all this time have I ever betrayed the
secrets I know? I retired but I did so
quietly. Now my friends are up there on
that moon. From what Monroe said, you
want this little situation taken care of before it becomes a Starfleet problem. Our interests dovetail here. All I need is some information…information
that you have."
He thought for several
seconds before he turned to an old-fashioned keyboard console and typed in a
command, then another. Christine saw
data begin to stream in on her end. She
let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Thank you, Silver." He nodded and ended the call as soon as the
data was transmitted.
So, thought Christine, just
who is this Drusilla? She put aside what
she already knew about the master vampire and tried to read the Watcher's
Council files as if the vampire were a totally unknown quantity. Drusilla had been made a vampire in
1860. Bad luck had brought her to
confession on a day when Angelus, a particularly cruel vampire, had killed the
priest and so had heard her admit to having visions of the future. Initially just intrigued with her psychic
abilities, Angelus soon became obsessed with the innocent and devout young
woman. He slowly killed off all of her
family in order to isolate her. When she
joined a convent to escape him, he let her think she had won, even allowed her
to take her final vows, then turned her that night.
In the process, Drusilla went
mad. She kept her prescient abilities,
and learned some new ones. She was an
excellent fighter but rarely had to use that skill as she had a rare vampire
ability that allowed her to mesmerize her victims. She could control them and make them see
whatever she wanted. It was Drusilla
that had killed Kendra, the originator of Christine's line. Since that time, she had killed three other
slayers. After prospering greatly during
the chaos that was the Eugenics Wars, Drusilla had allegedly been killed by a
slayer named Connie Niemann. There had
been no sightings of her since, so the Council had closed her file. Three weeks ago, it was reopened and the
latest entries were rumors and references to her activities. That bastard, Christine thought, Silver knew
it was Drusilla the whole time and wouldn't tell me. But if it was really Drusilla, then how did she
know Marcus? And could Christine win
against a vampire this old and capable?
I have to win. We have to win,
she corrected herself. She closed the
files and waited for Spock and McCoy to return.
***************************
Spock and McCoy came in about
an hour later, loaded down with wooden stakes and short dowels. McCoy pulled a large ball of twine out and
handed it to Spock. At Christine's
quizzical look, Spock explained, "To make crosses." He cut a dowel in half, then laid the pieces
together, the horizontal one about one quarter of the way down the length of
the vertical. He began to wrap the twine
around them like an ojo-de-dios.
"Rudimentary but they should work as well as something more
elaborate I think."
Christine smiled at his
ingenuity. "They're perfect."
McCoy reached into his pocket
again. He pulled out a resealable
beverage container filled with clear liquid.
Christine looked at him puzzled.
He smiled wryly. "Spock made
us stop at the local Catholic church. He
distracted the priest while I filled this up."
She laughed in
understanding. "Good thing you are
a Methodist, Len. You might be
excommunicated for that."
"Don't much
care." He shrugged. "If it helps get Jim and Nyota back,
then it would be worth it."
She nodded in sympathy. "We'll get them. I've been busy too. I know who is up there. The master vampire anyway. Her name is Drusilla; she is very old and
very powerful."
Spock looked up from his
cross making. "You said she was
dead?"
"She is supposed to
be. But it looks like she isn't. I don't know how. Nobody does.
But I'm relatively certain it is her."
Spock asked, "How does
she know Marcus?"
"I don't know. I guess that is something we'll find out when
we find her. We have to go up there, I'm
afraid."
Both men nodded. She smiled grimly. "We might not make it back. You know that?"
Spock looked at her
serenely. "We try our best. If our best is not sufficient to the task,
then we will not succeed. But until that
moment, we will keep trying."
McCoy nodded his
agreement. "We have to try,
Chris. They are our friends."
She felt a flush of pride in
these two. Such valiant hearts in the
face of danger. "Okay then. We need to get up to the moon and see what we
can find out. I suggest starting on the
daylight side, just to be safe. We can
see what they've heard up there about Outpost 5."
Spock concurred. "A good idea. And right now the daylight side will be half
the near side and half the far side."
McCoy looked a bit
confused.
Spock hastened to explain,
"As you know, Doctor, there is no true 'dark side' of the Moon. There is the side that is always facing Earth
and the side that is never facing Earth.
Humans used to believe that the side facing away from us was always in
darkness."
McCoy looked surprised. "But the moon has phases. The part that is showing to us is only all in
light during the full moon, maybe three days or so, the rest of the time the far
side gets sunlight according to its location between the Earth and the
sun."
Christine smiled at
them. "We know that. But Drusilla might not have. She is from a time when only scientists
understood that there was no constant dark side. She may have gone up there thinking that she
would never have to deal with sunlight again."
Spock continued, "A fact
she doubtless found out was not true."
McCoy looked confused. "So why stay up there?"
Christine explained,
"The Moon takes 28 days to complete a rotation, which is much longer than
the Earth. Even if she were to find herself in the direct path of the sunlight,
she could simply outrun it. It may not
be always dark, but it is much easier to find the darkness, and its duration
must seem like paradise to a creature that needs it to survive. I just want to beam up to the daylight side
so we don't have to worry about vampire attacks while we are starting our
investigation. Once we hit the current
dark side, there will be no sunlight to help us out."
They all pondered that for a
moment, then Christine continued, "Marcus said something about stealing a
starship. And my sources talked about
expansion of the vampire species. I
think that the moon is just a staging point for Drusilla. I doubt that she is planning on staying
forever at Outpost 5."
Spock frowned slightly. "She may not be using Outpost 5 at
all. She may have moved on to another
hiding place."
"You're right, she may
have. But Drusilla made sure we knew
that she took them there. So we'll
probably have to visit it eventually."
She smiled wolfishly. "That
doesn't mean that we have to just walk right into the trap, or at least not
empty-handed."
They all looked at the pile
of weapons. McCoy grabbed his travel bag
and dumped it out. Then he began to fill
it with stakes and completed crosses.
"This should be slightly less conspicuous then those bandoleers
Uhura told me you were wearing the last time."
Spock finished wrapping the
last of the crosses. He had made a dozen
of them in a very short time. Christine
smiled at his efficiency. McCoy took the
cross and the holy water and placed them in the bag, then closed it up. Spock took it from him, lifting it easily as
he stood.
"Well, are we
ready?" McCoy asked.
"Some flame-throwers
would be nice, but I doubt we are going to find any on such short notice. I guess we are as ready as we're going to
be," Christine responded.
"Let's go then."
As the three of them walked
to the transport station, Christine pulled Spock aside and they talked quietly
while McCoy gave them some privacy. When
they got within sight of the building, they caught up with McCoy and made their
way into the building together. Savannah
did not have a dedicated off-planet pad, so they had to wait in line for the
single outgoing pad. When they finally
stepped on the pad, the transporter operator looked up in alarm. "I'm going to have to see what is in
your bag, sir."
Spock gave the young man his
best offended-Vulcan look.
"Why?"
The transporter operator
stammered, "I'm s-sorry, sir. But
you are carrying very strange cargo in that bag."
Spock raised his
eyebrow. "If you mean that it is
full of wooden stakes and dowels, you are correct. It is for a private botany project. I am looking at the effects of long periods
of sunlight on the growing cycles of plants.
I have postulated that the near-constant UV bombardment will result in
increased growth spurts as well as dynamic fecundity…"
Christine had to stifle a
laugh as she watched the transporter operator's eyes glaze over. Spock was warming to his subject and soon she
lost the thread of what he was saying.
The young man didn't stand a chance.
The next time Spock took a breath, which was at least a minute later,
the operator hastened to reassure him that everything was fine after all.
"If you are
certain?" Spock asked with a hurt tone.
"Are you sure that you would not like to hear about my other
experiments?"
The young man frantically
played with the transporter switches. As
the dissolve-out began, Christine heard him say, "Absolutely positive,
sir!"
***************************
Christine and McCoy both
broke out laughing as soon as they materialized on the lunar transport
pad. It must be stress, Christine
rationalized. In a few seconds they
recovered their composure and trailed quietly in the Vulcan's wake.
McCoy muttered to Christine.
"Not that I mind just walking aimlessly around a lunar arrival station,
but what exactly are we doing?"
"We're looking for
someone."
"Oh. And how will we know when we've found
them?"
"We won't. They'll find us," Christine said.
McCoy looked bemused until
suddenly he noticed a young man had joined their little group.
Spock glanced back and slowed
down to let them all catch up. They
continued on in silence, the young man acting as if he had always been part of
their group. Finally Spock turned them
off the main corridor into an empty resting area.
"Judging from the amount
of tweed you're wearing you could only be from one place," Christine
offered sarcastically.
"No need to go on the
offensive, my dear. I'm here to help you
get to the bottom of this."
"And you are?" McCoy looked at the newcomer in suspicion.
"Oh heavens. Where are
my manners?" He stuck out a hand to
the group. McCoy was the only one that
took it. Pumping the doctor's hand
vigorously the young man continued, "I'm Peter Wyndam-Pryce." He turned to Christine. "I don't believe we've ever had the
pleasure. I'm somewhat new at this,
although the watcher tradition is quite strong in my family."
Ignoring the man's babbling,
Spock turned to the seating area and found some chairs in a far corner.
Wyndam-Pryce continued
unfazed, he turned to Christine, gushing this time. "I couldn't believe it when I heard that
_you_ were coming up here. I have a
particular interest in your line, you know.
A distant ancestor of mine was Faith's watcher."
Christine looked
dubious. "Was this before or after
she went rogue?"
"Well, ahem, the Council
holds him somewhat to blame, but I actually think that his role in that has
been slightly overstated. And he
certainly made up for it later. All
those years helping Angel…of course there was that little affair he had with
that woman from Wolfram and Hart, but look how that turned out..."
"Ok, we get the
picture. What is it you wanted to tell
us?" Christine waited as he looked
at her in confusion.
"Oh," he
cried. "Oh yes, that
information. How silly of me, I do tend
to go off on tangents, don't I?"
Spock looked irritated, even
for a Vulcan. "Sir, you are wasting
our time here. The information please."
"Quite right. Well, Silver called me, told me you were
coming up here." He leaned in
conspiratorially and whispered to Christine, "He really doesn't seem to
like you. Don't quite understand why he
asked me to help you." Then in a
normal voice he continued, "He asked me to round up anything I could on
the sudden increase in vampire activity up here. Things were relatively quiet till three
months ago. I mean, we've had the
occasional vampire that stowed away on a shuttle and ended up here. But they were easily killed. We always thought we were safe since it was
nearly impossible to transport a vampire.
But that must have changed because they appear to be beaming all over
the place now with no difficulty. I
spoke with someone that did actually observe one transporting. He had a small pin on his shirt, we believe
that it is some sort of beacon that delineates a field of some sort around the
creatures allowing them to transport easily and safely."
Christine had to admit that
Wyndam-Pryce, foppish though he may be, did seem to have some excellent
information. "Go on," she
urged.
"We've tracked the
vampires to several sites, mostly on the far side of the moon." He began to chuckle. "Apparently a few of them found out the
hard way that there is no dark side of the moon." He became serious again quickly. "As far as we can tell, there is one
person in charge."
"Drusilla,"
Christine supplied.
Wyndam-Pryce nodded. "Quite right. She is utterly mad, you know. Silver told me he sent you the file, so you
know as much as we do. From the
eyewitness accounts I've collected, I'd say she has at least 17 vampires
working with or for her."
"Are they feeding off
the lunar population?"
"No. There have been no missing persons reports or
murders. This population is quite
close-knit. If someone disappeared, we
would hear of it. The vampires appear to
be hunting and eating on Earth. The only
exception is Drusilla; she never leaves this place. So they must be bringing captured prey up to
her."
McCoy looked puzzled. "Why doesn't she leave?"
Christine answered,
"She's extremely old. She won't
need to eat as often as the younger vampires."
Wyndam-Pryce agreed,
"Yes, that is what we surmise as well."
Spock leaned forward. "The question at hand is how do we find
these vampires? They don't show up on
sensors."
Christine nodded in
frustration. "We were lucky the
last time, we knew where they were. And
Marcus was overconfident in his skills. But
Drusilla knows how to hide; she's been doing it for the last 200 odd
years. Finding her nest before she wants
us to find her may be impossible."
McCoy sat up excitedly. "Maybe I'm missing something here but
didn't you say they were all wearing little beacons? Couldn't we look for some odd-looking
signals?"
Christine and Spock both
stared at McCoy. His shoulders dropped
in frustration. "Well, I'm sorry if
it's a stupid idea."
"On the contrary,
Doctor, it is an excellent and quite obvious idea." Spock looked at Christine, who found herself
wondering how many other obvious things they had missed. Maybe it really was better having more minds
working on the problem?
"Now we just need to
find a free terminal to access the sensors," McCoy offered.
"Well, I just happen to
know an auxiliary room in the station that has terminals and a transporter and
some communications devices. I have
access to it, not in a precisely legal sense, mind you, but sometimes the duty
of a watcher takes him outside the law."
"I'm sure it does. And legal or illegal, it sounds good to
me." Christine gestured for Wyndam-Pryce to lead them to the room.
***************************
They all sat around the
monitor in the auxiliary room Wyndam-Pryce had opened for them. He and Spock had searched for an hour before
they had isolated an unknown signal that seemed to be from the beacons worn by
the vampires. For the last two hours,
they had been watching the signals go back and forth between Outpost 5 and a
seemingly empty shuttle pad.
"What the hell are they
doing?" McCoy had muttered.
"Whatever it is, Doctor,
they are not just waiting for us to show up."
"You're right
Spock." Christine leaned over him
and watched as he tried to search for Kirk and Uhura in the mess of other
signals. "They wouldn't be moving
around at all if their main motivation was lying in wait for us."
Wyndam-Pryce pointed at the
readings. "Might I make a
suggestion?"
They all turned to look at
him. "There does seem to be an
inordinately large number of these signals moving around. More than the 17 I was led to expect. I'm not sure how much longer they'll be
wearing those beacons."
Christine smiled evilly as
she saw where he was going. "You
know Peter, I just may come to like you after all this."
He fairly beamed at her. "I volunteer to go outside to see what
happens. If it does turn out to be just
humans, they will be annoyed with us but none the worse for wear when we send
them back to work. But if it is vampires
then…"
"They'll be toast."
Christine finished for them. "Go,
now. Len, go with him. I think you need to see this. You need to see them."
The two nodded and hurried
out of the room. A few minutes later
McCoy signaled them on the communicator.
"We're in position."
She looked at Spock, who
worked for a moment isolating the signals then gently pulled the transporter
controls down. "Energizing
now."
McCoy had left the link open
so both she and Spock heard him say, "Oh my god! What the…whoa!" Then there was a loud crashing sound as he
apparently dropped the communicator. A
moment later they heard him pick it up.
"Wow! They were disgusting
looking. For a minute I thought we were
in serious trouble with that crowd of uglies.
Then they all just went poof and they were gone."
Christine laughed at his
wonder. "Amazingly tidy, isn't
it."
"You can say that
again! We're on our way back in. McCoy out."
A moment later he and
Wyndam-Pryce entered the room.
Spock looked over at
them. "There may still be more
vampires with Drusilla that weren't wearing the beacons, but if my calculations
were correct, I transported 25 of them.
That should make a dent on her operations."
Before the other two could
confirm the number, the intercom came to life.
A woman's voice, strangely accented, filled the room. "That wasn't nice, children." Her voice had a strange singsong quality to
it. "You're going to have to make
amends for that. Or maybe your friends
will."
Christine snarled,
"Leave them out of this, Drusilla.
It's me you want. I'm the one
that killed Marcus."
"I know you. I felt you every time I fed on him. But once he was one of us, I didn't have to
feel you anymore. Did he tell you that I
made him my lover and we owned the world together?"
Christine fought the anger
the woman's words were causing.
"Gosh, no, your name never came up."
"It is true. I was there.
He did not mention you."
Spock raised an eyebrow at Christine as she looked at him in surprise.
The woman laughed, a little
tinkling sound completely at odds with her evil nature. "You two think you can get me mad so
I'll do something stupid. But I'm
already mad, didn't you know?? Pssst,
pssst, pssst."
McCoy's head cocked as he
listened to her intonation. He looked at
the other three, raised his finger to the side of his head, and nodded as he
made the 'cuckoo' gesture.
"Aren't you supposed to
be dead, Drusilla?" McCoy asked.
"That's what that silly
slayer thought when she killed the little vampire that looked just enough like
me in the dark to satisfy you bloodthirsty tarts. She told the rest of her little friends that
I was dead. Since there's no evidence
when we die, she assumed she had killed me, which gave me time to rest up and
get well." They heard her
whimper. "Sorry, I got lost for a
moment remembering the War. I got hurt
in that. That's why someone else had to
die. So I could get better without your
kind after me. And look at me. Well, you
could, if I didn't have this on audio only.
You could see how strong and fit I am." She made a growling sound like a panther.
"We want our friends
back, you bitch." Christine said trying to anger her again.
"Then come and get them,
dearie. You know where they
are." The intercom went dead.
Christine walked over to the
bag and opening it began to hand out stakes and crosses. The holy water she shoved into her
pocket. She looked at Wyndam-Pryce. "Will you help us? Will you stay here and wait for my
signal? When we get our friends, you'll
need to beam them and McCoy back here."
At McCoy's outraged look she said, "They may need medical help,
Len. She is a sadistic
creature."
Wyndam-Pryce met her gaze
steadily. "I would be honored to be
of service."
She smiled her thanks then
turned to Spock, who was watching her with approval. "So, you want to help me fight vampires,
Mr. Spock?"
He gave her an ironic
bow. "It would be my pleasure, Miss
Chapel."
She had to fight the urge to
throw her arms around him in a desperate embrace, instead just stepped closer
and said softly, "If we don't make it out of there, Spock, I want you to
know that being with you has meant everything to me."
He nodded, his expression
tender. "To me as well. We will make it back together, Christine, or
we will both die in the attempt. I will
not leave you."
She smiled at him
lovingly. "And it'll be a cold day
in hell before I leave you there."
McCoy looked at them, for
once without a smart quip. He just said
simply, "It's time."
Christine had Spock and McCoy
stand with their backs to hers and nodded to Wyndam-Pryce. "I guess we're going to Outpost 5,
gentlemen. Crosses up, stakes
ready. It’s showtime."
***************************
They materialized in the main
square. Once upon a time, Christine
thought, this had all had a survival bubble on it, before terraforming gave the
satellite atmosphere and a more normal gravity.
Would have been a lot harder to fight in that environment. Speaking of fighting. "There they are! Give yourself some fighting space but don't
turn your back on them! Len, concentrate
on protecting our backs, and use your crosses to do that, don't try to stake
them."
Most of the vampires ignored
them, too busy carrying cartons out of the main residential building and toward
the empty shuttle pad. Only it wasn't so
empty. The opening of the cargo bay of a
ship appeared in the middle of the empty space, and vampires were carrying
cargo up a ramp and disappearing through the hatchway. Cloaked, she realized. Drusilla's ship was cloaked.
She heard a growl as a male
in full vamp face charged her. She had
the stake up and in his chest before conscious thought took control. He blew into dust. She saw Spock raise his stake and also impale
a vampire that had attacked him.
They waited but none of the
working vampires stopped what they were doing.
McCoy called over his
shoulder, "Call me stupid, but I somehow thought there would be more
action?"
"Something is not
right." Christine replied.
"Oh nonsense,
duck." Drusilla's voice wafted out
of the main house. "Everything is
on schedule and now here you are. It's
like my birthday, only less bloody."
A delicate figure appeared in the doorway. "Your friends have been waiting. Why don't you come in?"
Christine studied the
vampire. She was quite beautiful in a
very fragile way. Dark lustrous hair
framed a narrow face. Huge gray eyes
dominated her face. Eyes that weren't
quite sane. Eyes that called out to
her.
"Don't look at her
eyes," Christine yelled to the other two.
It was too late. Spock and McCoy
were standing still with enthralled looks on their faces. She reached over and slapped them both.
"Ow," McCoy
yelled. He looked over at her. "Oh."
"Don't look at her
eyes. No matter what." She glanced at Spock. "She affects you?"
He nodded in concern. "She is much more powerful than Marcus
was."
Christine swore
silently. "Great."
Drusilla laughed
merrily. "Come in, the party can't
start without you." She turned and
disappeared inside the building.
Christine followed her,
approaching the other vampires cautiously.
When it was clear they were ignoring her completely, she hurried after
Drusilla. Spock and McCoy followed
behind. The sight that met them stopped
them cold. Separated by the length of
the room were Kirk and Uhura, both chained to pegs in the floor. Uhura seemed unharmed, but Kirk was lying on
the floor, beaten and bloody.
Drusilla walked over to the
captain, pulled his head up and stroked his face gently. "This one wanted to play rough. I wasn't in the mood really, but since he
insisted…" Kirk shuddered at her
touch. She let his head drop back down
to the floor. "He's got some secrets,
he has." Her voice changed and she
got a distant look in her eyes. "In
the sky, fire touches and never burns.
On the ground, blood transforms but doesn't kill. All around, magic hidden, one day
revealed." She sighed as she shook
herself, then reached down to touch his hair gently, almost reverently.
God, Christine thought, she
might turn him.
The vampire walked over to
Uhura. "This one I didn't want to
hurt." She ran her hands over
Uhura's shoulders. "I had a doll like
her once. I lost her." She chucked Uhura under the chin. "Pretty, pretty." Uhura shivered at her handling.
She'll turn them both if she
can, Christine realized.
Drusilla let Uhura go, then,
clapping her hands sharply, she walked to an ornate chair set up on a raised
platform. Two vampires set down their
boxes and made their way out of line to stand in front of her. She gestured to the prisoners and the
vampires took up a position, one stood behind Uhura, the other knelt behind
Kirk.
"What am I going to do
with you, slayer? First you kill my
lover. Then you come here and kill half
my crew."
"Crew?"
"Crew. Surely you didn't think I'd be content with
this little rock when there are whole worlds to conquer? I have a ship."
"A cloaked one,"
Spock noted.
"You are a diabolical
looking creature. You remind me of a
demon I once knew. I might just keep
you." Drusilla gave him a
terrifying smile. "And yes, my ship
is special. I had dinner with a
scientist that was working on the cloaking device that you and this
one"--she pointed at Kirk--"stole.
Actually the scientist was dinner.
But he told me so much before I killed him. So much about the lovely little replica he
had made. Worked just like the
original. I took it with me. Then I found a ship. Brought it here to this place, so perfectly
deserted."
Drusilla's voice was
beginning to really irritate Christine. "So
you are going into space? Do you have
any idea how dangerous it is?"
The vampire looked at her
with amused fondness. "Are you
worried for me? No need. I used to dream of the stars. I used to talk to them and name them. Now they will be mine." She laughed again, that dreadfully innocent
sound. "It is always nighttime in
space."
Spock corrected her. "Technically it is not. It depends on how close one is to a stellar
system. Some areas of space are quite
bright."
"Enough!" Drusilla eyed him in distaste. "I don't like you after all. I don't want you anymore."
Christine had had
enough. "Good, because you aren't
going to get him."
Drusilla laughed again. "But I already have him. And the other one as well."
Christine turned in
shock. Both the men were standing
mesmerized again. How in the hell did
she do that? Christine cursed.
Drusilla called to them. "Come up here, boys. Stand back here where you will be out of the
way." They both moved away,
stopping when they were between Uhura and Drusilla, leaving Christine
alone. Just like the dream, Christine
thought in despair, always alone.
Drusilla's voice rang
out. "You killed Marcus. He was my lover."
Christine shot back, "He
was my lover first."
"A technicality. Now I'm going to take something away from
you. I'm going to make you feel like I
did when I felt him die. I was so busy
getting things ready here that I couldn't help him. I had to make a choice and I chose to stay
here. So now you have to make a
choice. You can save one of them…"
"But not both,"
Christine finished for her.
She watched as the large
vampire grabbed Uhura, his deformed face moving toward her neck. The other vampire pulled Kirk up to him.
"Choose," Drusilla
said softly. "Choose which will
die."
Christine looked over at
Spock. He had said he would never leave
her alone. She knew he had meant
it. Once they had been in a situation very
like this one. She was the one going
under and he was the one still in control.
And he had reached her. With his
mind. And his tenderness.
She started moving toward
Kirk, hearing Uhura gasp in terror as the vampire neared her, as she realized
Christine was not going to choose her.
Christine threw every bit of
slayer will into a silent scream, *Spock!
I need you! Help Uhura!*
She did not stop to see
whether it worked. The vampire had his
teeth in Kirk's neck. Clutching her
stake she threw herself across the room, knocking them both over. The vampire broke Kirk's fall, but the
captain still cried out in pain. When
the vampire pushed him off roughly, he hit the floor hard and lay still. Christine launched herself again and before
the vampire could get up, she had fallen on his chest. His hands reached out to stop her, but the
stake was already in motion. It
connected and he exploded into dust.
She turned toward Uhura. The vampire holding her was laughing. "Too late, slayer," it hissed,
failing in his excitement to hear Drusilla's shout of warning. He blew into dust as Spock brought the stake
down through his back and out through the chest.
"Damn," Christine
marveled. "I've never been able to
do that." Of course, she thought
wryly as she ripped Kirk's chain off the peg and stalked toward Drusilla, I'm
not an enraged Vulcan who's been repressing that emotion for way too long. She saw Spock free Uhura from her peg.
Christine walked up to McCoy
and clapped her hands in front of him.
He shocked awake. Seeing Uhura
free and alive, he ran to her and they embraced tightly. "Get them out of here, Len. The captain is hurt." McCoy and Uhura ran to Kirk. Christine heard McCoy call Wyndam-Pryce, then
the familiar hum of the transporter filled the room.
Drusilla looked at her
angrily. "You think you've
won? Not while I still have my pretty
little ship."
As Christine and Spock moved
toward her, she called four of the vampires out of the work line. They immediately rushed to put themselves
between their leader and the two mortals.
"Doesn't leave me with
much of a crew, but it will have to do.
I can always make more." She
blew Christine a kiss and ran out of the room.
The vampires closed ranks around Spock and her.
Can't take them all, she
thought, not with stakes anyway. She
reached into her pocket and pulled out the holy water. Unscrewing the cap she let the water
fly. She only managed to splash the two
nearest ones but it hit them in the face.
As they screamed and clawed at their eyes, she and Spock both
attacked. Almost before the vamps were
aware that they had been staked, they were gone.
The other two charged. Their anger made them strong, but Christine
and Spock were stronger. In the end they
too were dust.
Christine and Spock raced in
the direction that Drusilla and the other vamps had gone. There was no one there and no sight of a
ship. But a roaring overhead told them
they were too late.
Spock pulled out his
communicator. "Spock to
Wyndam-Pryce. Beam us over,
please."
A moment later they were in
the auxiliary room again. Christine
walked to where Uhura was standing, grabbed her friend in a tight hug and
whispered, "And you had the gall to chide me for keeping
secrets?" Uhura smiled sheepishly
and hugged her back. Then they separated
and walked over to where Spock was watching McCoy work on Kirk.
McCoy looked up. "For heaven's sake, Spock, quit glaring
at me that way. He's going to be
fine. A little work on my part and lots
of rest on his and he'll be good as new."
She saw Spock's shoulders
relax as he took in McCoy's words. Uhura
joined McCoy, helping him with the emergency medical tools he had found.
Christine walked over to
Spock. He turned to her and, in front of
everyone else, pulled her into his arms.
She was stiff with surprise for a moment, then she relaxed.
His voice sounded deep and
husky in her ear. "You did
it."
She whispered back, "No,
_we_ did."
He squeezed her tightly and
as he released her she felt his touch in her mind. *My heart.*
She smiled back at him,
*Never alone.*
He nodded and moved back to
watch McCoy work on Kirk.
She walked over to
Wyndam-Pryce. She stuck her hand out and
he took it gently. "Thank you,
Peter. If I still needed a watcher, I'd
want you to be it."
She saw his eyes fill, and he
blinked rapidly to clear them. "Oh,
oh my. I seem to have something in my
eyes." He rubbed at them for a
moment. Then gave up. He smiled happily at her. "And I thank you, Christine. It has been an honor working with you. And just for the record, I plan to tell Kevin
Silver that he is a boorish fool!"
She laughed. "If you do, you'll never get assigned
back to Earth." His face fell and
she laughed again. "Don't tell him
anything, Peter. I think it's more
important to have a watcher like you back on Earth." She surprised herself by giving him an
impromptu hug. "Now get out of her
before you get in trouble."
He smiled gratefully at her
and left the room.
Christine reached for the
communications console to call the Starfleet emergency number, but before she
could connect the console sprang to life.
She heard the voice she had come to loathe, "Ta-ta, dearie. Until next time." She looked at the viewscreen. A very smug Drusilla stood smiling in that
privately mad way that made her more untouchable than any other foe Christine
had faced. She locked eyes with the
slayer for a moment then cut the connection.
Somewhere above them, the vampire's cloaked ship sped away.
Good riddance, Christine
thought. But she knew that this was not
her last encounter with Drusilla.
Someday, somewhere, she would face her again. And next time, she vowed, I'll win.
"Christine?" Spock came up to her, touched her gently on
the shoulder. "Let's go home."
She turned back to him. Yes, back to the ship, with him, with these reckless
and brave and constant people who were her friends. She touched his hand softly and nodded. "Yes, let's go home."
FIN