Destined | Christopher Pike

Chapter Seven

"I believe there is a human phrase. 'A watched kettle never boils.'" Spock noted once Christopher had resumed his pacing again.

"A pot." Christopher corrected him almost causing Emma to laugh. "And in this case, I'm pretty sure we're gonna get hit with the scalding water."

"You are deliberately mixing my metaphor in order to indulge your anxiety." Spock told him.

Christopher glanced over at him. "There are sick people on my ship and we're stuck down here. I don't like feel helpless."

"Pacing relentlessly back and forth will not change the situation."

"Spock," Emma spoke up. "I don't think your words are helping."

Another rumble of thunder shook the room they were in. Emma wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was slightly worried about what the storm could potentially do to them as well as the sick crew on the Enterprise. She turned her head slightly to look at Captain Pike while he stood in front of the window, staring at the incoming storm.

"This place is fun. They should sell tickets." Pike said dryly.

"It seems this particular group of Illyrians wanted to join the Federation. As Federation law forbids genetic manipulation, this group was attempting to reverse its DNA modifications to gain entry. De-engineering themselves, as it were." Spock explained some of his findings.

"That's a new one." Pike pointed out.

"Indeed."

"Do either one of you know what happened to the colony?" Christopher asked.

Emma shook her head. "We're only halfway through the records. I thought I found the last entry, but it just ends abruptly. No goodbye. No this will be our last entry. It's odd."

Christopher looked around the room at all the glowing tubes. He had to admit that he was impressed that Emma and Spock had already managed to go through so many of them. He chuckled to himself. "You two are nerds."

"What is a...nerd?" Spock asked with confusion.

"He's teasing us." Emma assured him and stood up. "Captain Pike, is there any way you can help me? I need to put this tube up, but I don't know if I can reach it."

With a nod of the head, he walked over to the rows and took the glowing tube from her. He stood next to her while he did it and he realized that once again, she was more than likely trying to distract him.

"I think you could have reached that." He leaned down and spoke softly to her.

Emma looked up at him trying to hide a smile. The blue light from the tubes illuminated his face slightly, making his blue eyes pop. "Possibly."

"You're trying to keep me busy to keep my mind focused." He observed.

"Is it working?"

"Maybe for a few seconds." He paused. "Thank you."

Just as Emma was about to open her mouth to talk, another loud rumble of thunder tore their gazes from one another and out the window. At first she thought she was imagining the gold colored...creatures flying through the storm. They were emitting some sort of high pitched frequency as they flew towards the building the trio was in. In a way, they seemed beautiful, but Emma wasn't going to draw any conclusions about what they were just yet.

"What the hell was that?" Emma asked.

"I am not sure." Spock told her.

"Well, whatever made that sound, looks like it's gone." Christopher said.