Subj: DARK FRONTIER, DS/TOS Crossover, pt 9
Date: 4/20/01 8:29:57 PM Central Daylight Time
From: JM Lane

Unfortunately, there wasn't. The discussion on the various things Holloway and Christine had discovered about the Collins
family, including something about Barnabas' cousin Quentin and the legend that he became (or had become) a werewolf at the rising of every full moon, lasted far longer than expected. According to the legend, he didn't change back until the moon had waned, which meant at least a week of uncontrollable blood lust and a desire to kill all unfortunate enough to cross his path while he was in that condition.

It was possible that *he* had been responsible for the attacks on the other young women, but Spock was convinced that the attack on Ms. Davidson had been perpetrated by a being that could fly--or a being which could *turn into* something that could fly. But not even a wolf (or wolf-man, if the legend was true) could reach the second floor of a building without assistance of some kind. Ms. Davidson had been attacked by someone, or something, who (or which) could turn him/itself into a flying creature with a lust for blood.

Such a creature was the vampire, which was believed to have the ability to turn into several things--a wolf, mist or a bat; they could even dematerialize if they so wished. But Spock was only interested in the last of the aforementioned things: a *flying* creature!

That was the only fact which made the possibility of a supernatural being such as a vampire more plausible. Spock was not one to believe readily in such things, but the attack on Ms. Davidson could not be explained in any other way.

This made the Vulcan all the more determined not to allow Christine to see Barnabas Collins without a chaperone, even if he had to accompany them himself. There had been no overt evidence that the man was anything but what he seemed, but Spock sensed that Barnabas Collins was concealing something about himself--some strange, even paranormal condition which could make him dangerous to Christine at a time when she was the most vulnerable and trusting of him.

She had told him to stay away from her, not to interfere in her relationship with Barnabas, but Spock was becoming more concerned by the day...not only for Christine's safety but her affections possibly transferring from him to Barnabas--and whatever the Vulcan had to do, he could not allow that to happen.

He sighed exasperatedly at how protracted the discussions had become; by the time they finally broke up, most of the Humans (including Christine) were yawning deeply and stretching as they stood up and prepared to go their separate ways. This was in spite of the fact that each of the others had had at least one cup of coffee. Even with the caffeine in the aforementioned hot beverage, Spock felt sure that Christine was not going to be up to another long talk, even if it regarded their relationship and the possible deepening of same.

Spock swore to himself in both his native language and Standard at this latest setback. Surely it was difficult enough to begin and maintain a romantic relationship *without* such problems as he had been having, particularly if the object of his affections just might be slipping away from him. The best he could do now was walk her back to her room...if she allowed it, that is--and possibly kiss her hands before they parted.

As everybody began filing out the main door of the rooms he shared with the Captain, Dr. McCoy and Lt. Dickerson, where the meeting had been held, the Vulcan stepped up to Christine and quietly spoke to her.

"Christine, may I walk you to your door?"

She looked up at him questioningly. "I suppose so, Spock, but it's not really necessary, since I'm just down the hall. Unless you really want to, of course."

They had gotten Christine another room down the hall, since McCoy had deemed it more therapeutic for Lani Davidson to have a private room. (The ACMO was now sharing a room with Marisa Holloway.)

He also deemed it necessary to give her another transfusion, since she didn't seem to be regaining her strength as she should--and not even he could have explained why, unless there really *was* something to all this supernatural business, although McCoy was almost as skeptical as Spock in that regard.

Even at that, he had seen it too often in his medical career not to believe in at least occasional miracles; he had performed too many seeming miracles himself, which had saved the lives of both his friends and various other *Enterprise* crewmembers. Not until the vampire cloud on Tycho IV had he seen anything like what Lani Davidson was going through now...and if he couldn't come up with another medical miracle somehow, and soon, she would die--just as the hapless Security officers had. The question was, would she *stay* dead?

McCoy shuddered at what he might have to do in the event the old Collins legend of one of the original family members being under a vampire curse was proved true and Lani just his latest victim. If it were true, this...being would be at least half a millennia old!

And despite Christine's insistence that Barnabas Collins couldn't possibly be responsible for Lani's condition, the Chief Surgeon had to at least consider the possibility. After all, how much did they really know about the man? Even Chris herself had mentioned some of his odd habits--such as only seeing her at night, his audio-only comm system, his seemingly vanishing into thin air after his farewells to her and strangest of all, his not eating any solid food, but sticking to liquids.

The Doctor recalled that vampires could not be out in the daytime, since it was fatal to them; they also would not show up in
pictures or mirrors--the latter would show no reflection, and lastly, because of his hunger for blood, such a being would only be able to ingest liquids to sustain him. Of course, Barnabas *could* simply be eccentric; everything he claimed could actually be true...but even if it were, it would be most unusual. If this Barnabas was indeed the kind of thing the Doctor suspected he must be, Christine would be in great danger if she spent any more time alone with him.

The legend had also stated that vampires could hypnotize victims (or potential victims) with their eyes, and put them in their power either that way or once they had actually been bitten. They were also said to be abnormally strong, so probably not even Spock would be able to stop him if he should decide to take Christine for his own, make her his companion for all eternity. The closer they got, the more likely that scenario was. In that case, it wouldn't only be Spock who would do literally anything to prevent that, it would be himself as well--if not Jim and Dickerson, too.

* * * * * * * * *

Spock actually did walk Christine to her room; she even allowed him to kiss her hands before he left her for the night--but she was presently unaware of the difficulty the Vulcan had had in leaving her, although his control was such that he gave no outward sign of said difficulty.

Even at that, Christine would likely have scoffed had she been told of the feelings Spock supposedly harbored for her...particularly since they had only seemed to have developed since she had been seeing Barnabas--at least as far as she could tell. (At least that was what she wanted him to think.) It would take a lot more than a simple token gesture like kissing her hands for her to believe in his sincerity after all the years he had kept her at both a physical and emotional distance.

Therefore, she could hardly be blamed for either her skepticism or her actions with Barnabas... i.e., having an affair with him right under the Vulcan's nose. She would likely have to test him before she could be completely certain how he regarded her--and she knew just how to do it.