POSSESSION

 

Spock to cohabit her mind and body? The proposition Thalassa had just put to Christine Chapel made her body thrill with excitement and her mind recoil with apprehension and foreboding, but there was no time to ponder.

"Does Spock agree to the transfer?" she asked Thalassa.

"He has little option in the matter, Nurse Chapel. Hanoch will not suspect that you are the receptacle of Spock's essence and Spock will form a mind-block to protect you. If you wish to save the life of your First Officer, you must agree.

"Please go ahead."

Christine felt the numbing impact of the transfer and, suddenly, he was there: er mind reeled and spun as she felt the power of Spock's shining intellect and personality within her brain. he felt his persona, confused, disoriented, within her, and then quickly regain his mental balance. Outwardly, she walked out of Sickbay as if in a trance whilst Thalassa destroyed the globes. nwardly, she was coming to terms with the crystal clear, diamond sharp, breathtakingly wonderful alien intellect within her. She felt herself perceiving external impulses in & different, exciting and, yes, totally alien way. She felt him experiencing and exploring the sensation of living within a Human female form, allowing him, in the privacy of her quarters, to explore all the myriad sensations of her female body.

*How strange, and how beautiful.* Spock's mind-voice reverberated through her brain. *Your body is so light, so frail, so - vulnerable, and yet ... so strong!* Suddenly his wonderment changed to Vulcan formality. *Please forgive me for this totally abhorrent invasion of your person, Nurse Chapel.*

*It's Christine, please - call me Christine.* she responded, while allowing her mind to project the emotion of the pure, chaste and infinitely deep love she felt for him, enveloping his diamond-hard entity in a cocoon of gentle love. Her body involuntarily reacted pleasurably to her mind's emotion. She felt Spock's persona recoil and spin away as if painfully burned by the experience and then, tentatively, cautiously, return and inquisitively explore the new sensations coursing through his/her mind and body. Gradually his diamond-brilliance mellowed to a gentle golden brown.

*On the contrary, Mr Spock,* she projected, *as you can f eel, I find your presence neither abhorrent nor an invasion.*

*Indeed.* Was there a hint of amusement in the word as it echoed in her mind-ear? Spock mentally compensated to dampen down the overflow of emotions assailing him from Christine's stimulated brain, then: *I feel from Thalassa that this state of joint- consciousness is only temporary and that the return to my own body will take place on the Bridge when the situation is resolved. Please proceed with haste to the Bridge.*

In the time it took for Christine to make her way there, Spock mind-wordlessly allowed her to experience that which he called his 'katra'. In her mind's eye she saw the planet of his birth, the red sun of Vulcan, the searing desert of The Forge, the cool, moonless nights, the cry of the Le Matya, the protective warmth of his childhood pet, I'Ghaya, the love of his Human mother and the aloofness of his Vulcan father, his loyalty to Starfleet and the total Oneness that was his depthless friendship with Kirk and McCoy. All this, and more, Spock shared with her in return for the temporary use of her body.

Christine's mind marvelled and her heart rejoiced as she stepped onto the Bridge and stood beside McCoy. She now knew Spock as no-one had ever known him before, or may ever know him again. She was a part of him, and he of her. Then she heard his mind-voice: *It is time, Christine. Prepare yourself for the parting.* and, as he had come, he now departed. The glazed expression left her eyes and full awareness returned as she saw the blue-clad form lying prostrate on the deck come to life as the Vulcan picked himself up. She felt - alone, deserted. She had been one with him, now she was less than half.

She realised, as she left the Bridge, the incident concluded, that she would never be the same person again, would never want to marry a Human man, having experienced a unique communion so rare, so beautiful, that any other relationship would be a dull flicker in comparison. The physical act of love, although she had never allowed a man to love her, now seemed repellent after the combining of two minds in perfect symbiosis.

She returned to Sickbay, the echoes of his katra reverberating in her mind, a gentle smile on her face.

*At least he has given me this and,* she thought wryly, *he did not make me - forget -*

---oo0oo---

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