Return to Valjiir Stories
He saw her eyes first - violet wells of joy and excitement and - unbelievably - passion. Then he heard her voice, the clear tone of melodic ecstasy crying his name in pure delight.
"Terry!?!"
She flew into his arms, her embrace tight and trembling, burying her face in his neck. Waves of desire pulsed through him and he shuddered, then countered it with a wicked grin.
"Hi, Zilama," he said. "I wasn't sure you'd recognize me."
"Not recognize..." she began with nearly breathless laughter as she pulled away to gaze at his face.
With an abruptness that almost hurt, she took a hasty step backwards, the exultation on her face rapidly giving way to confusion and shock. Her emotions beat at him in kaleidoscopic disorientation: bewilderment, loneliness, embarrassment, uncertainty, love, fear, despair.
"Zilama?" he said again against the sudden thunder of his heart.
"I - I..." she stammered. Then, "Terry - Terille? I thought..." Her voice turned questioning. "Zilosi?"
He grew as confused as she was. "Ye-es," he said. "Zilama, what's wrong?"
"I thought - I thought you were - you reminded me of..." Her eyes stayed uncertain and her hesitation poured a grief he didn't understand into his being. She swallowed, then went on, much more quietly. "...someone I knew. A long time ago. Before you were born..." Her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes, her fingers coming up to rub at her temples.
He had to take a deep breath, trying to think through the wash of emotion, then tried to soothe whatever was troubling her with the teasing familiarity of their usual interactions.
"A lover, I hope?" he asked with a leer that was both joking and not. She didn't react as he'd thought she would.
"Yes," she replied softly, "a lover." She looked up at him, again studying his face. He watched the shadows pass over her eyes and shuddered. The usual bantering response he might have made died before it even reached his lips.
"Terry - Terille," she began, "Are you with - I mean, is Danny here, too?"
He tilted his head to one side. "Yes," he answered, somehow afraid to say anymore.
Her wide eyes went wider, her face paling as though she was suddenly seeing something she had never noticed before, but should have.
"Will you ask him to come up to my cabin when you see him?"
"Sure, Zilama," he replied warily. "He was planning to..."
She cut him off. "I'm sorry, Terry - Terille," she said hurriedly. "I have something I have to do."
He wondered at the 'Terry-Terille' - she'd done it three times - but shook it off. His zilama was clearly too disturbed about something to be questioned.
"I was heading for the Clave," he finally answered, "but I guess I can find him." At the mention of the Clave, the woman before him blanched. He blinked. What had he done? He cleared his throat. "Are you and Zilos in Officer's Country?"
Her skin went even paler. "Yes, level two, aft section 16," she managed, though her voice was weak. "Thank you - Terille."
He tried again to ease the unbearable tension with his usual brash teasing. "Anything for you, Zilama."
Her eyes flashed at him and she looked ready to cry or scream or both, then spun around and left him.
Terille James Takeda watched uneasily, then swallowed his own emotions, shrugging off the sudden empty pain that had no explanation. Then he went looking for Ruth Valley's second son.
Terry found Daniel Valley just leaving the docking bay of the civilian arm of the San Fran shipyards. He relayed Ruth's message, still trying to shake off the disconcerting encounter.
"What'd you do to her, Ter?" Danny asked, his purple eyes concerned. Not only was Ruth and Spock's son as strong a telepath as either of his parents, he and Terry had run a trading business together for over four years, since Terry was sixteen and Danny fifteen. It was second nature for the Antari/Vulcan/Human hybrid to scan his friend's mind, particularly when the Indiian's emotions were so confused.
Terry frowned. "Nothing," he said, "though by the way she ran into my arms, I could have."
Danny snorted. "Egotist."
The Indiian shook his head. "Truth, Danny."
The Antari studied him for a moment. "Well, she hasn't seen you in, what? Almost five years? Ever since we took off."
"Yeah, I guess that must be it," Terry agreed, though everything in him told him there was far more to it than that.
"Anyway, wait till I tell her about the Chameleon!" Danny enthused, and Terry had to grin at how much like his mother he looked. "She's gonna plotz!"
"I'm sure she will," Terry chuckled.
"You're not coming with me?"
Terry pointed skyward. "How often do I get a chance to race anymore?" he returned.
"You're as bad as your old man," Danny teased.
"Hey, there's no need for insults," Terry shot back. "Though I could say the same thing back to you."
Valley made a face. "No fair. And we both got pointed ears."
Terry shook his head in amusement. "See ya, Danny," he said, and strode off as Danny quickly moved in the opposite direction. It had taken them the better part of two years to save up enough working capital from their trading to be able to afford a newer, faster, vessel, and Danny and Kam Paget, the third member of their business - the fourth was Kelly Kirk - had found a beauty on Rigel. They'd rechristened the ship the Chameleon, a hopeful good omen for a business that sometimes veered into the slightly illegal. Kelly and Kam had gone to visit their respective parents, and now with Danny doing likewise, he was free to take Katana out of drydock. It would be good to race again.
He went to a public comline and punched his needle's code into the computer linkup. Thousands of miles away, the beamed signal went into the Clave's sensor net. The legitimacy of the code was verified, not by any manual means, but by the preset receiver he himself had programmed over six months before. The Clave's current position was relayed back to him and he headed for a transport station.