Night in the Apollo
by Farfalla

Feedback: blueberrysnail at yahoo dot com
Website: One Giant Leap for Felinekind
Pairing: K/S
Rating: NC-17
Summary: What would happen if Kirk and Spock got locked in a science museum overnight? My apologies to Mrs Basil E. Whatever-that-children's-book-is-called.
Betas: Hypatia Kosh, Kathy Resch
Disclaimer: This story originally appeared in T'hy'la 25, published by Kathy Resch. The title is taken from "Night at the Apollo", but I don't know what that is *blush*

"The OCTOPUS is the most intelligent invertebrate creature native to the planet Earth, approximately as smart as the cat (Felis catis). Molluscs from other planets have proved the promising brain functions of the Earth cephalopods to be anything but dead ends of evolution. The heptosquids of Rigel 1 are their planet's dominant species, sentient and with a level of civilization rivaling the Human Bronze age."

Kirk stared at the writhing, pulsating bag of flesh rolling decadently in the tank before him. The octopus's tentacles were a constantly moving mass of fluid grace, and the animal held him transfixed for the better part of ten minutes. He couldn't tear himself away from the grotesque, yet somehow mesmerizing sight.

The lights in the Aquarium Rooms were dim, and the walls, ceiling, and floor were covered with thin black carpet, but the tank was lit from within. This added to the hypnotizing feeling of the room, and Kirk actually jumped when a security guard approached. The tank-lined hallway was too narrow and curvy and the floor too carpeted for him to have had any warning of her approach.

"I'm sorry I startled you, sir," said the young woman, blushing.

"That's all right," Kirk was quick to reassure her with a disarming smile. He looked around at the dark environment. "I was... lulled..."

"Quite understandable." She smiled. "Happens often. I just wanted to tell you that the museum is closing in fifteen minutes."

"Thank you, I... must have lost track of time."

"Easy to do, in here." She brushed a wayward lock of straight blonde hair back behind her ear. "Hey, um, you probably get this all the time, but you look like Admiral Kirk."

Kirk opened his mouth to answer that, but her walkie-talkie sounded, and she rushed off into the blackness as she answered it.

He furrowed his brow and peered back into the octopus habitat, where he could see his reflection slightly in the mirror that backed the tank. No, the relaxed-looking man in jeans and a T-shirt covered with galloping horses probably looked less than usual like a heroic starship captain... but then again, that's what Academy holidays were for.

Fifteen minutes 'till close. He had better find Spock. The two had separated while making their way through the aquariums; it was easy for one to get distracted by a particularly enticing fish or crustacean while the other continued to the next exhibit, and there was no need to stick to each other like glue.

He wandered through the maze of carpet and glass and very, very stupid-looking fish. Eventually, he stopped in front of the coral reef display--it was large and looked interesting, and he realized that if he and Spock were both moving around looking for each other the odds were that it would take them longer to find each other that way.

"The hard, stony CORAL REEF may never move around, but its immature young swim freely in the ocean. Can you think of a land organism with a similar life cycle?"

Upside down underneath these words was printed "Ferns and mosses." Kirk's brain spun a little as he remembered struggling with the concept of alternation of generation back in his days as a cadet in science class. He would have to remember to ask Spock to explain it to him later.

"You are deep in thought."

The security guard may have startled Kirk, but Spock would only have been able to surprise him if he was shielding. He turned his head to watch Spock approach, making his way through the hallway and almost blending in with the walls and ceiling in his black collared shirt and trousers.

Kirk could not help but smile at him. How elegant he was! Especially compared to the reflection Kirk had just inspected in the aquarium mirror.

"I was just thinking," Kirk said, "that I know what it feels like, to be stuck in a tank."

"You are thinking of our experiences at Argo."

"Yes..." Kirk nodded slowly. "Two years ago, was it?"

"Two years, three months, and five days," Spock corrected out of habit. "The middle of our second five-year mission together."

"Not many humanoids who visit this museum and look into the aquariums have ever had gills," Kirk continued. "To look out at the world through glass, and a finite concentration of water... I'm sorry, Spock. I've just been standing here, staring at the fish. I guess I lost track of time."

"A common occurrence among intelligent humans in a reputable museum. We Vulcans, of course, possess an innate sense of time," Spock replied.

"What time is it, then? The museum was about to close, and I haven't seen anybody besides the fish for quite a while."

"The time is eighteen-hundred hours and twenty minutes."

"Six-twenty!" Kirk gasped, one hand to his face. "The museum closed twenty minutes ago. Where *were* you?"

"I was studying the chaotic flagellation of the poisoned tentacles of certain species of Coelenterata, as they were carried without neural control on the water current," Spock explained esoterically. "Chaos theory--"

"Jellyfish?" Kirk interrupted.

"Yes, jellyfish. I find their passive motility fascinating, because they become clearly visible representation of unseen motive forces in a fluid medium."

"So, in other words, you lost track of time."

Kirk and Spock regarded each other for one silent moment, one smug, the other doing his best to look respectably offended. Respectability has a short half-life between secluded couples, however, and before long the mood cracked like an egg and runny love came oozing out.

"Jim." Kirk leaned into Spock's outstretched arm. The Vulcan held him in this one-limbed embrace as they shared a brief kiss.

"Well, we're stuck in a world-famous science museum after hours with very little security. This could be fun! What should we do now?" Kirk rubbed his hands together, almost visibly shedding years as he spoke.

Spock lifted his eyebrow. "First of all, Jim, why are we 'stuck'? And why do you say they have very little security?"

"We're stuck, Captain Spock, because this museum is guarded chiefly by an energy field that locks down all the doors and windows when the place isn't open. I know all about it because I made my students write an essay about it last term--the question was 'Discuss the flaws and benefits of the design of the security system at Pendragon Museum of Science and the Natural World'."

"If the energy field is so absolute that were are trapped here overnight, as you suggest, then why do you say the museum has very little security?"

"Because that's all there is," Kirk insisted. "Almost," he added. "A few of the exhibits--gems, mostly--are guarded with security cameras and motion-sensor force fields. The problem is, as I see it, they've got all their heavy-duty equipment doubled up in just a small number of places, leaving the rest unguarded if someone were to get past the big field."

"There may be some logic to their design," Spock countered as they emerged from the cavelike darkness of the aquarium into the jungle exhibit. "Perhaps they feel that it is more important to protect those exhibits, and less cost-effective to spend resources protecting fish and jungle exhibits." He reached up to push a fake vine out of his way. "One security device is easily dealt with, if one is methodical. However, it is true that different types of security will discourage thieves since they require different skills and equipment to defeat them."

"Hm." Kirk was silent, digesting this. Spock always had a knack at making him look at things in new ways.

"Since, as you say, we are unable to leave the facility without some modicum of embarrassment," Spock said into the ensuing silence, "we are free to enjoy the museum unhindered by noisy crowds of other visitors. I suggest we begin at the Tiberian Bat exhibit."

"Why? I already looked at them. They look like puppies, with wings."

"You may have already seen the bats, which are the focus of the exhibit, but by visiting during the daylight, you have not yet witnessed the opening of the Blooming Nova."

"What's that?" Kirk asked. "Sounds like a British oath."

"The Blooming Nova is a flower native to Tiber 4, the homeworld of the bat," Spock explained. "The two organisms have evolved a mutually beneficial symbiosis wherein neither can flourish without the other. The bat feeds upon the flower's nectar, and in doing so, helps to spread pollen between the male and female flowers."

"I did see some little rosebud things in there, in with the bats," said Jim. "They didn't look like anything special."

"That is why we must return to the bat environment," said Spock. "The Blooming Nova only blooms at night, when bats are the most active. Its beauty is said to rival most other flowers in the known galaxy."

"Good enough reason for me," Kirk acceded.

They were already in the jungle area, which housed animals and plants from forests around the galaxy, so it wasn't far to get to the bat tank. The little animals were just beginning to wake up and stretch their fleshy wings, yawning with little puppy yawns and licking their chops.

"The TIBERIAN BAT, though blind, has very keen senses of smell and hearing. They are also believed to be touch-telepaths, although their non-sentience has made this difficult to research."

"Tiberian? Remind you of anyone?" Jim batted his eyelashes and grinned.

"I had not missed the similarity to your Imperial middle name," said Spock.

"If I'm the bat, then I guess you must be the flower I can't live without." Jim was not above using basic ecology in his flirting arsenal.

"Jim, to preserve the analogy, one would have to presuppose that I was the only flower from which you are capable of sipping. Surely you realize--"

"I know, I know." Jim sidled closer. "But you're my *favorite*."

"Then it is fortunate that I am your bondmate," Spock quipped wryly.

"Those must be the flowers." Jim pointed at the glass. "They already look different from when I was here before."

"They respond to the light cycles produced by the museum's main lighting," said Spock. "Their phototropic sensors interpret the brightly-lit hours of operation as daytime, and therefore these more dimly-lit hours are treated as night."

"Look! That one's opening up."

The two men watched in the silence of the deserted hall as the little blue flower unfolded and opened. The first layer of petals had pointed edges, and when it had unfurled, it revealed a second layer within, this one pink and scalloped. The puppy-bats seemed to be enlivened by the event, knowing instinctively within their collective consciousness that this scent meant it was time to be active--to eat, mate, and communicate.

The pink layer, too, opened, exposing a smooth cream-colored throat. Kirk was astonished to find that, though the initial rosebud appearance of the flowers had been small and insignificant, the fully bloomed flowers were as large as a cross-section of grapefruit.

"Wow," Kirk breathed. "I see where they got the name 'Blooming Nova' from. Hey, I'm glad I keep you around," he added to his companion.

Spock pulled him closer and continued to watch the flowers.

"They remind me of columbines, only bigger," Kirk continued. "It's a shame the museum can't show them off. Can't they keep the room dark during the daytime?"

"Seeing the bats and flowers in their active state is a privilege the museum reserves for donors-only evening events," Spock told him.

"Quite an incentive," smirked Kirk. "So what's next?"

"Since I chose this exhibit," Spock said demurely, "it seems fairest to let you select the next."

"Hmm," Kirk mused. "How about the space exhibit? I kind of breezed through there earlier--I felt weird around all the crowds. I'm on vacation--didn't want someone to think I was part of the display."

"No doubt you would have still provided them with the charming demeanor to which they are accustomed," Spock said.

"I'm off work today," Kirk asserted.

"Of course," Spock agreed, "and that should be respected."

"So, space exploration?" Kirk started to lead him to a different part of the museum, and the Vulcan followed. Their footsteps echoed mellowly on the empty floor. They passed the exhibit on the human body, with its giant colorful model of a pathogen being attacked by white blood cells. A chart on the wall listed the average heartbeat rate per minute of humans, a variety of earth animals, and several other sentient species from across the Federation. The men had looked at the displays earlier, so they continued to the escalator through the exhibit on simple machines. The seesaw, a prosaic, down-to-earth representation of the lever principle, lay askew and peacefully resting after being ridden by children of all ages throughout the day.

"Ever notice how they always stick the space exhibit on a higher floor?" Kirk remarked as they rode the escalator onto the next level.

"Presumably, the museum is attempting to symbolically remind the visitor that one must always travel up to get to space," Spock postulated.

They had to duck under the ring of a big mock-up of Saturn when they reached the top floor. A sign nearby explained what the rings were made of and why only the outer planets had them.

Kirk stepped onto a nearby scale. "Hey, look, Spock! My weight's down to one-eighty-three! I bet Bones'll be happy to see that."

"Jim, that is your weight on Venus," Spock corrected him gently. "Your mass has not been altered."

Kirk stepped off the scale and stuck out his tongue.

"Curious," Spock mused, looking elsewhere.

"Hm?" Kirk followed his line of sight to the Apollo lunar landing module in the center of the floor. It was a replica, of course, but it was accurate to nearly every detail, at least cosmetically. A masterpiece of historical art, it was the centerpiece of the space exhibit. Extraterrestrial visitors to the museum had most likely docked at Lunaport before taking the shuttle to Earth, and it was interesting to many of them to see what the first craft to land there, three hundred years ago, had looked like.

"The Apollo series of spacecraft focused on lunar exploration," said Spock, "yet Apollo was the Greek god of the sun. Why was the series not called after a moon deity, such as Luna, Selena, Diana, Cheng-O--"

"Cheng-O?"

"The Chinese goddess of the moon."

"I don't know, but my guess would be that all those deities sound like goddesses," said Kirk.

"They were."

"Right, and back then, our society didn't have so much gender equality." He followed Spock over to the Apollo 11 replica. "Besides, Apollo represents more than just the sun. He's also the god of music--that lyre you play looks like the one that he was given by Hermes."

Spock examined the module closely. "From this model of spacecraft, your species took its first steps onto another world."

Kirk nodded reverently. "One giant leap for mankind," he intoned. "Spock, want to take a giant leap with me?"

Spock regarded him with suspicion. "What did you have in mind?"

"I bet we could fit in there."

"Jim, I do not believe the museum intends for visitors--"

"Yeah, but we do this for a living! We'll take good care of it." Kirk was already climbing inside, his feet resting on various portions of the craft that jutted out.

Spock watched, with the Vulcan version of stunned bemusement slightly modifying his expression. Kirk's face was spread into a wide, buoyant grin as he settled his rear into the module's seat. Enthusiastically, he ran a hand over the transparent aluminum that covered the panels to protect them from wear.

Kirk looked up out of the module, gazing at Spock with glee. "Wanna join me?"

Ordinarily, Spock would have never dreamed of invading a planetary artifact in a foreign museum, especially out of uniform. But with Jim in there, urging him on, he found himself admitting that experiencing such an exciting facet of Earth astronautical history from within held not a small amount of appeal. Vulcan's early days of space travel were too far in the past to hold the same romance as the Terran fascination with their own interplanetary journey.

Spock gracefully climbed into the module and gently lowered his body into the seat beside Kirk. The space was small, barely enough for both to sit side by side. "Imagine we're those first moon walkers, Spock," Kirk said softly, "sitting in here, cramped, breathless with... excitement... to know that when we leave this hold, we'll be stepping out onto an unknown world for the first time. The first of--well, the first of *my* kind, anyway. The beginning of all that--*we* are today."

"It is indeed thought-provoking," Spock agreed, not unaware of the arm that was subtly sneaking around his waist. He turned towards Kirk. "Jim, I believe you are incapable of remaining in an enclosed, dark space with me without performing insinuating overtures."

"Insinuating overtures?" Kirk asked innocently, putting his other arm around Spock as well. "Why, Mr. Spock, are you accusing me of harassment?"

Rather than subject himself to yet more of his bondmate's verbal coquetry, and knowing Kirk preferred to play the passive role anyway and wouldn't close the circuit himself, Spock ignored the meaningless questions and simply seized Kirk's face. He kissed him with all his might, and pulled him down into the module seating.

Clutching each other and fumbling for a moment against the seats, they soon found a comfortable position in which to continue their erotic snuggling. Kirk nibbled at the skin of Spock's neck. He felt the Vulcan's hands slide into the back pockets of his jeans and knead his ass, and he wriggled his hips with encouragement.

Spock's hard dick felt warm and firm and full on Jim's thigh, even caged as it was behind trousers. Jim struggled against it, trying to meet it with his own insistent erection.

With one hand at the back of Spock's neck, teasing him with gentle tickles, Kirk used his other hand to unzip Spock's fly and claim his toy. He spent a few moments worshipping it with his fingers, rubbing the velvet flesh of the head, squeezing the pulsing shaft. Then he took his own organ out to play with its favorite friend.

The men's lips brushed together raggedly, sometimes tender, sometimes with crushing force. Spock guided Kirk's fingers farther into the folds of his fly to grasp his testicles delicately. He moaned into Kirk's mouth and bucked harder against his body.

They gasped as they made love, humping more furiously and trapping their naked erections together between their heaving bodies. Heaten skin upon heated skin became twin geysers, spurting wet heat that ran down their lengths and mingled in placid stickiness.

"I love you," Kirk murmured into a pointed ear before gobbling it up languidly, spent but content. He felt Spock's mind echo his sentiments with every nerve cell of their shared contact.

Suddenly, Spock tensed like a deer in headlights. "Jim," he hissed, holding his partner still. "Listen."

At first, Kirk thought it was just the building settling or some sort of air conditioner or purifying kicking on, but the more he listened, the more he couldn't mistake the sound of footsteps--lots of them. "I don't understand! The museum is closed!"

As the footsteps grew nearer, conversaion began to accompany them. Kirk and Spock both strained to hear, and at the same time, heard the words "member party".

"Damn," said Kirk. "The odds! That explains why the escalators were still running."

"Jim, this is fortunate--we are no longer trapped in the museum overnight."

"Yes, but--!" Kirk whispered loudly with exasperation. "They're heading this way, and look at us! Starfleet's going to have our heads on a platter."

"Perhaps they will not examine the Apollo module," Spock offered helpfully.

"It's the main attraction in the space wing," Kirk muttered. "Wait. Spock, are you wearing anything under that shirt?"

"I am wearing a long-sleeved undershirt. The weather outside was beyond my ability to bioregulate."

"Fabulous. Spock, take off your shirt."

"Why?"

"Look at me--I'm in a tee-shirt." Kirk gestured towards himself. "If my plan's going to work, we've both got to look believably--professional. You--you'd look professional even in a tutu, and besides, I'm wearing jeans. I need the extra help." He explained what he had in mind.

Spock began unbuttoning his black collared shirt. "Your plan will work, Jim," he said, "but I would suggest returning your penis to its rightful resting place before being seen by the public."

"What!" Kirk yelped, looking down. He quickly remedied the situation. "Right."

The president of the museum milled through the crowd. How nicely the evening had gone so far, and how pleased everyone seemed with the newly-opened Sound Waves/Physics of Music exhibit. It was all she could manage not to bite her perfectly buffed nails, though--everyone was now expecting special entertainment, but she'd just been paged that the flautist who was scheduled to play had been arrested for piloting his flitter while intoxicated.

She was trying to decide what kind of big white lie to invent when suddenly, a miracle happened.

Out of the top of the lunar module, two men appeared as if beamed there. They were dressed elegantly--mostly in black--and glowed radiantly as they acknowledged their surprised audience. A hubbub grew in the crowd and it flocked to the spacecraft in a glittering throng.

"Good evening, gentlebeings!" called one, the human.

"It's Admiral Kirk!" someone yelled.

The museum president fought her way to the front of the crowd and announced to everyone present, "Please help me to welcome two gentlemen who need no introduction, Starfleet's finest, Admiral James T. Kirk and Captain Spock!" Then she wandered off to pour herself a drink, crossing herself repeatedly.

Kirk and Spock kept everybody entertained and interested with tales of their exploits for the next hour, and then got a free dinner for their troubles. They explained to the grateful museum president the G-rated version of their adventures, and were eventually sent home in a limo shuttle with free passes for next time.

Return to main story index
Side by Side #20 Home