Memories

Audrey knew the second she lost control of her emotions that she had almost doomed this mission to New Vulcan. She couldn't help it though-T'Pau had that effect on humans. The Vulcan woman also knew Audrey was a spy and had adamantly refused to help her without saying why. Jim must be extremely annoyed or confused, and judging by the slight bond she had with him, it was both.

She looked around and saw she was in a smaller room than what she was just in. It was delicately decorated with warms browns and tans, and the walls were intricately carved wood. There was a large bench in the middle and straight across from it was a painting of Vulcan from space. Smiling softly at the image it brought to her mind; Audrey sat down on the bench and sighed heavily.

In her time on the Enterprise she hadn't imagined she would have to resort to having to call on connections she had. Taking the PADD she had, the Commander looked at it carefully. The only person on the ship that would possibly knew she was a trained intelligence agent with her own team elsewhere in the galaxy was Spock and possibly Uhura, only because she probably tracked her transmissions.

She did not want Jim to find out her true calling and what she had been trained for before her deployment. Typing in her clearance codes, she skimmed through the information her team had gathered. The closest anyone of them got was the edge of Klingon space which is where she suspected Kodos to be hiding. In order to save her mother and Sam's life, Audrey was going to have to draw him out.

A footstep interrupted her typing, and was surprised to see the older Spock standing there before hers, hands clasped behind his back. "I see I might be interrupting," he started, making her put the PADD to the side and look at him curiously.

He was much the same as the Spock she knew, but so much different at the same time. When Jim had told her about him, she was curious - because honestly, the red head wanted to know about the Audrey he knew. The Commander smiled softly, hearing her comm beep twice signaling that her contact in the Vulcan Science Academy was near.

"All you are interrupting is just me calming down, Ambassador. How can I assist you?" Audrey asked, waving him closer.

He walked over, his human brown eyes searching hers and all of a sudden an unknown bond flourished in her mind and her head shot up surprised. His emotions were tightly controlled, but the one that came off the strongest surprised her.

It was melancholy. Its light blue color swirled around in the absent bond, and she could feel grief and a tinge of hesitation within it too. Scooting over to make room for the new addition to the room, Audrey looked at the painting, reveling in its beauty. Feeling him sit next to her, she kept [her] eyes trained on the wall ahead.

Without looking at the man she apparently had a bond with, she decided to get right to the point. "Why do we have a bond?" the feisty spy asked succinctly.

"In my universe, you were a very close…friend," Selek replied, the bond rippling with the light blue of melancholy. "Your kind was not known in my universe until about sixty years after I served on the Enterprise. I found out after you realized I had the same abilities. When you first served, you kept your abilities under careful watch and…"

"The rest is history," she said softly, turning to look at the older Vulcan. He gave her a smirk and his eyes twinkled with laughter. "The only way you would have bonded with me there was is you…"

The half smirk died away and a faraway look appeared on his face. "I did a mind meld with you to save your life. From then on, you were bonded to me in a way no one could describe. It was a mystery to the High Council when I first approached them about it."

Waiting for her to reply, Selek continued. "It was not a marriage bond, just a bond created from saving a life. Since nothing was known about the Betazoid race, the High Council determined it was an anomaly and sent us off."

Staring at her hands, Audrey couldn't bear the thought of having Spock melding with her to save her life. Breathing in deeply, she looked up to the gold ceiling and let the breathe out. It basically explained everything. Even in a different universe, he was attuned to her and had searched wildly for a bond that couldn't possibly exist in this timeline.

Yet he had managed to do so within an hour of seeing her. It was quite fascinating. Before she could speak, her comm beeped again. "T'Yrin can be an impatient Vulcan," the Vulcan said, making her look at him startled. "If there is one aspect that had not changed in this universe, Audrey, is that you have been and always will be a spy."

Her mouth opened and closed, as she tried to think of a reply. It hadn't occurred to her that there might be some similarities between his timeline and theirs, but this took her by surprise. "How did you know my contact was T'Yrin?" Audrey asked, turning her body toward him.

"I was in her presence when you contacted her," Selek answered, and his eyes danced with laughter watching her cross her arms and glare.

"She was supposed to be alone when I commed," she muttered, motioning him to continue.

"I also am in the presumption that she is in your service," he asked carefully,noticing her narrow her eyes at him. "Yet another similarity between the Audrey in my timeline and you."

"What exactly is that?"

"The narrowing of your eyes in regards to anything that angers you. My Jim was quite afraid of that look whenever you had it." Huffing silently, she looked at him to continue. "T'Yrin has interesting abilities, Commander, as you must know."

Audrey nodded her confirmation. T'Yrin not only was a very gifted scientist, but had some of the strongest telepathic abilities a Vulcan could. She wasn't just a touch telepath; she was a full blown telepath and had been recruited by Audrey three years ago when she came to visit Earth. Being the only Vulcan on a team of trained spies, T'Yrin was as stoic as they come. Yet she and Audrey were amazingly close and that is why she chose the Vulcan to be her second in command.

The Commander closed her eyes and reached for her friend, telling her she was occupied and she would arrange a meeting later. Feeling the affirmation at her message, Audrey looked at the older Spock again. "I sent her away," she said, placing one leg under her and sat there staring at Selek. "Now you need to tell me how you know everything."

The elder sat there for a moment thoughtfully and held out his fingers to her psi points. "It would be infinitely easier…"

She sighed heavily, waving him forward. "If you melded with me. I give you permission."

Placing his fingers on her psi points, whispering "Our minds one and together," and she was transported to a familiar place. In her mind she heard his voice.

I was aspiring to look for a suitable colony for the remaining part of our race when I was introduced to T'Yrin.

That's why she recognized it, it was T'Yrin's lab and she was in the middle of it. Selek was standing there, analyzing specimens when a call came in. She knew that day. It was when Audrey had learned of several labs around the quadrant that could possibly house her mother's research. Her face popped up on the screen and she felt the recognition that Spock felt.

I saw your face and my memories transported me to a place I had almost forgotten.

She was on the Enterprise, just not the Enterprise she knew. She heard familiar voices and saw herself, older in some regards, in an intense conversation with McCoy. She couldn't hear the words but she knew that they were arguing about something as usual. This McCoy was just as impossible as the one they all knew.

Suddenly her flailing arms stopped and her body froze in place, her eyes widened in fear. The blue eyes of the doctor looked surprised and then concerned and out right afraid when that Audrey collapsed to the floor.

"Spock!" the Doctor said, his tri corder running over the motionless body frantically.

I had felt a strange presence in my mind and I knew something was amiss. I asked the Doctor if any of his reading carried any clout. When he mentioned that your reading were perfectly normal, I acknowledged that your empathic abilities had been hindered.

Just as I am doing now I did then. I melded with you, and saw another empathic power had invaded your mind.

She felt his desperation, his determination to save her. Audrey surmised she must have been an integrated part of the crew for Spock to fight like this.

It took me the better part of three days to fight off the unknown attacker. It was afterward that I realized a bond had been formed. Once you had noticed, you ran away taking a captaincy on the Voyager. You had thought it was a marriage bond, and as a friend I knew it was a thought you dreaded.

I never knew the meaning of love, however I knew of the nights you spent with the Captain. You were in essence his first and only true love.

He never married, and died christening a new Enterprise. Your position as an intelligence agent was never revealed to the Captain, a friend to us both. I, however, found out through the mind meld. Your captaincy was a cover for one of the most admirable and deadly network of agents ever to be heard of. In my time you were an admirable and formidable leader.

To the day I was transported through the black hole, your legacy lived on. It was your negotiations and intelligence that helped with the peace treaty between the Klingons and the Federations. The Romulans also bowed to your will and you singlehandedly brought them to peace.

She was transported back to the present and her emotional shields were a wreck. Tears streaked down her face, memories of her other self implanted in her mind. "I apologize, the emotional transference…"

"Was to be expected," she replied, wiping the tears from her face. Her shields were down and she needed mediation to get them back up. "I do have a question though."

Selek nodded. "Can you read through these files and tell me if you see anything I missed?" she asked, handing him her personal PADD and watched as he scrolled through it. She carefully scrutinized his face, looking for any indication that he knew something she didn't. His eyebrow shot up and she was immediately alert.

"What is it?"

"Have you any idea what this file is?" the Ambassador asked, pointing to a highly encrypted file named AA.

She shook her head. "I have a feeling it holds pertinent information but I cannot decrypt it for the life of…" she trailed off, looking at it carefully. Audrey's mother had always had a systematic encryption in place, just in case anyone tried to duplicate her work. The only person she would trust to get into her files would be Audrey, her very own flesh and blood.

"You have figured it out," the older Vulcan said succinctly.

She slapped her forehead in frustration. How had she not noticed it before? Of course this file was the hardest to figure out; it was meant for her eyes only.

AA.

Audrey and Auriana. Her father had always said that his double A's are what got him through every mission.

"Gimme," she muttered, looking at the encryption on the file. It was not only a numerical formula but her mother had placed DNA identification on italso. Her eyes widened, knowing exactly what she had to do. Her mother had left the actual file - the one she needed- with the Vulcans.

Audrey started to get up when her mind, her senses was invaded by something familiar. It was presence she hadn't felt fully in years and she felt her conscious self fade away, and only saw one image.

A holding cell with a star map in front of her and she knew right away who was reaching out to her.

"Mom?"