Work Text:
The First Wife of Captain Pike
By Marie Nomad
Chris stared in relish at the new body that he had. It wasn’t real; he knew it was his mind tricking him, but it was better than reality. He could feel his hands on his knees. He could feel his knees. He could sit without being enclosed in a massive life support machine, holding him in, trapping him.
“Getting used to the new body?” Vina asked.
“I… this is amazing.” He gazed at her face. She hasn’t changed since he last saw her, but that made sense. He didn’t think he would ever see her again, and now they are here on the same planet. This new world, where the surface has been slowly healing, and the Talosians are working their way from the brink of extinction. There was so much he wanted to do right now, so much he wanted to learn.
However, he wanted to get it started right. Powerful telepaths were reading his mind, and if he was not careful, Vina might see what she didn’t want to see.
Marie.
He had spent years married to Marie, even if it was only in the blink of an eye. It wasn’t fair to Vina for him to hide such an important part of his life, even if it’s not real.
“But, there’s something important I need to tell you.” Chris said softly as he reached out and took Vina’s hands. He gazed at them, still in awe at how real his body felt. The way her eyes lit up when he took them was real. “I had moved on, like we had promised.” Why did it feel like betrayal? He should have waited for her, but it was impossible for them to be together.
“Are you talking about competition? Chris, we both agreed it was best for us to move on.” Vina reassured him as she smiled sweetly. “You didn’t know.”
“I got married, had a daughter, and grandkids. But it wasn’t normal, it all happened in a blink of an eye. Kinda like an illusion but more like a pocket dimension.” Chris struggled to figure out how to explain it. He still didn’t know what it was. “I did accept her… leaving. She’s now ascended to a higher existence, keeping an evil god prisoner for all of eternity.”
Vina stared up into his face and muttered. “You married a goddess?”
“She was a Starfleet Captain first, human,… ish, I think.” Chris didn’t think of Marie as a goddess. All he knew was that she was a stubborn, strong woman who believed in justice, who would rather die than let the Gorn hurt the crew. Thinking she was a goddess just felt wrong, or it could be that lingering Catholic guilt.
“But, she’s fighting a god right now.” Vina murmured. “Wow. That’s high expectations. Can you talk to her at all? Is there any way for her to come back?”
Chris shook his head. “No. She exists in a completely different plain of existence now. I can’t explain it. If I am thinking of her, that’s why. I want to be honest and I’m sorry.”
“Oh.” Vina looked down. “Here, on Talos, I can be any-“
“Absolutely not!” Chris shot down. Vina stopped and stared at the look of fear on his face. She trembled slightly. He reached out and took her hand and put his hand on her face. “First of all, I want to be with you, Vina, not Marie. Second, I will not let illusions overwhelm my sense of reality when I need illusions just to… be alive. Third, it would be betraying Marie’s memory if I had someone else pose as her. She’s gone. I have accepted that.”
“Can I see? This… alternate life you had?” Vina asked.
“Are you sure?”
“It’s a part of your life and I want to see.” Vina insisted. “We like watching different lives here. We don’t do it so often while renovating the planet. You lived for… how long?”
“I don’t know, decades, I was an old man before it ended.” Chris wasn’t sure how to respond to the request. He didn’t want Vina to feel overshadowed by Marie or feel pressured to be like her. No, she was curious. “How do I…”
“Just remember what you want to show, mentally think of what you want shown and not. Do you want the Talosians to see or just us?”
“The… others can watch too. I had memories of growing older, and it might help with the illusion of my body. I think. Does it?” He will have to get used to sharing his memories this freely; at least the Talosians are asking for permission. It’s what they do, share memories and he is going to depend on them.
“It should.”
Chris felt his memories being read, and he saw images of himself and Marie being married, celebrating their anniversaries, Marie comforting him after his not-accident, the children, grandchildren, and eventually Marie’s death with him as an old man. Now that he looked back, it felt so… small. Like the world was limited to their cabin. If it were a mental illusion, it would have been bigger with more people. Or maybe it was just his memories that were limited. All of this is way above his head.
“With your permission, we will keep the memories as a record.” The Keeper announced.
Chris thought about that. He didn’t have any records of that time. The times he spent with Marie, his daughter, and his grandchildren. Even Elijah April wasn’t born yet. Will he be born too? He didn’t tell Bob. How can he tell his former captain that he might have another son in his future? “You can. Just respect those memories.” Chris sighed as he looked at his hands, or rather, his illusion hands. “That did help me accept help from you, accept that reality can be… anything, even if it’s just in the mind.” He saw Vina just looking so sad. “Relax, Marie is gone, you are the one I choose. Even if Marie comes back, I will still pick you.” He reassured her.
“I know, I’m not… I can’t give you a real Montana or a real family.” Vina said as she gestured around her at the compound the Talosians have created. “I can promise that I will be there for you.”
“We will be there for you as well.” The Keeper said. “We will do what we can to give you the freedom you cherish.”
Chris had to chuckle at the two. He had been so busy trying to protect Vina and ensuring that the Talosians were accepting reality that he didn’t think that they were going to do what they could for him. “Thanks.”
Chris gazed upward at the sky as stars started to form. A star shot out across the sky. It was as if Marie was giving her blessing as well. He had his accident, faced his destiny, and is back with Vina. He looked at the scarred landscape with small signs of being repaired, plants, buildings, and even some traces of animals are over the place. The Talosians and Vina had been working hard at reviving this planet, but it wasn’t finished. A new ‘Garden of Eden’ to revive.
He paused when he saw Vina clutching his hand. It felt real, it is real in the way it matters to him. All he knows is that he is not alone, and that is real enough for him.
The End