Return to Valjiir Stories
Daffy nearly fell as the uplifting sense of manic freedom suddenly left her. She looked down at the credit-filled hat in her hands, then shoved it at Phen as though it were something that was likely to bite her. Swiftly she surveyed the crowd, wanting to touch some kind of base in reality. Except for Ruth’s huge, concerned, purple eyes, there was none. Tamura and Paget were making out with what looked to be two new converts to the Loonie cause. DelMonde was playing his guitar, looking for all the galaxy like the cat who ate a whole boatload of canaries. Sulu was an exercise in exhibitionism, his blatant ‘come-hither’ smile and gyrations attracting a lot of attention that Daffy desperately wanted to smack him for. She heard but paid little attention as yet another song started – well, after all, this is supposed to be a benefit-the Eden-heads concert, she reminded herself – until she saw Irina the Goddess begin to dance. Right in front of Pavel. Then the bitch started to sing to him.
Joined at the heart, are you? Daffy seethed. I’ll give you such a mouthful of….
Oy, god, she’s not saying what I think she’s…
LIVING TO LOVE YOU WILL YOU BE MY MAN!?!?!
Her jaw tightening, Daffy began to stalk toward the Flower Loonie who was trying to seduce her Pasha in public. Anything goes, huh? Alright, zona, anything goes!
“Daffy!” Ruth’s voice whispered urgently. Daffy ignored her, continuing toward Chekov and Irina.
Jeremy, help! Ruth sent urgently, hoping she could override Del’s empathic transmission before the xenoneurophene knocked her cold. She saw the security officer’s head come up, and his thoughts were dazed and momentarily confused.
What the…?
Daffy’s gonna blow it! Ruth told him, mentally directing his attention. Paget was up like a shot, heading toward the chemist.
Del, stop this, we’re in trouble! Ruth pleaded. He stared at her, and for a moment, she saw raw, savage, desperate need – which was quickly replaced by hurting grief, then by a puzzled disorientation. The ache in her limbs began again and she felt tears of helpless frustration beginning in her eyes. Abruptly the aura of joyous satisfaction and freedom dissipated and Del nearly crashed over his guitar. The sudden loss of his amplifying energy went unnoticed among the Sevrinites, but Sakura stopped what she was doing in mid-grope, and Sulu…
Ruth gasped as the helmsman leapt up, over and into the crowd, arms spread wide, his entire body glowing. With horror, she realized that Del’s telepathic tidal wave had kept the amber from hitting Sulu’s system, and now, with the release from the artificial restraint, the drug was free to take over. With Jeremy intent on saving Daffy’s ass, there was only Sakura and herself to save Sulu’s.
She put down her guitar and rushed forward, mentally instructing Tamura to do the same, then abruptly dropped the communication, and ignored the shortness of breath.
It’s necessary, Jeremy repeated to himself as he raced toward Daffy. You knew she was gonna lose it, this is necessary. The mission comes first, Starfleet comes first, the Federation comes first. He could see Chekov’s eyes over Irina’s embracing body, wide and full of dismay. Daffy only had eyes – and teeth and claws and right hooks – for the Eden-head. In true heroic fashion, Pavel pulled Irina away from him, putting his own body between her and Daffy’s fury. When the chemist connected with flesh, though it wasn’t Irina’s, she began screaming an incoherent mixture of Anglo, Hebrew and Yiddish.
Chekov battled her as best he could, obviously trying not to hurt her, but she was past sense. For some reason, the blonde Jeremy had in his mind dubbed Pony-Tail Girl was laughing. Tongo Rad had stopped playing the inciting percussion and was advancing on Daffy, a vindicated gleam in his eye. Jeremy had only a split second to act, and he did with decisive swiftness. He grabbed a weapon from one of the out-system policemen, asked Daffy to forgive him, and fired.
“Daphne!” Pavel cried out as he felt the energy blast hitting Daffy’s body. Her wild eyes looked surprised, then abruptly closed as she collapsed into his arms. Chekov glanced up at Paget. “What did you…?” he began.
The security officer stared at the weapon in his hands, then dropped it as though it had bitten him. “I thought it was set on stun,” he rasped hoarsely. “Oh, sweet Jesus, I thought it was set on stun!”
The Russian looked down at his lover’s now lifeless body. “No,” he whispered, “Bog, nyet!”
He felt arms coming around his shoulders. “Pasha, I am so very sorry…” Irina’s voice murmured.
Fiercely he shrugged them off. He felt the tears gathering in his eyes and crushed Daffy to his chest. His mind was numb, unable to comprehend what he knew to be true.
Paget rushed to him, kneeling down beside him. “I was just tryin’ to stop her from attacking Irina,” the TerAfrican said. “I couldn’t let her twitch out on us, I couldn’t let Irina be harmed.” The dark eyes pleaded up at him. “You have to understand, she was a danger to us! Pavel, please, I only did what…”
Chekov growled at him, and took a breath, but before he could say anything more, Roger and Tongo Rad were rushing up to them.
“If she would attack Irina,” Tongo stated brusquely, “she wasn’t One. You’re better off without her, brother.”
“At least she’s at peace, now,” Roger added quietly, his voice conveying all the regret that Tongo’s hadn’t. “I don’t know what Fleet did to her, but she was changed.”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” Paget was repeating.
“You did what you had to, brother,” Tongo affirmed. “By any means necessary.” He placed a steady hand on Chekov’s shoulder. That, too, the Russian shrugged off.
“We need something to get the crowd back,” Irina was saying. “Have Ruth give her speech. She’s Antari, she can persuade them. I will take care of Pasha.”
Blinking on his tears, Chekov felt Daffy’s body being pulled from his arms. “Nyet!” he said savagely. “Nyet, vyhodit ona!”
“We’ll take good care of her,” Roger was soothing, gently prying his arms loose.
“I’ll send her home,” Paget promised. Tongo looked up, suddenly suspicious. “I’ll give her to space,” the security officer was continuing and the Sevrinite relaxed.
Helplessly, Pavel let Daffy be taken from him. He watched as Paget picked up the body, walking slowly with it back behind the make-shift stage. He felt again Irina’s arms around him, her voice murmuring in his ear, but he could make out none of her words. He rose, unthinking, unfeeling, letting her draw him away from the rest of the group. And when they were alone in the shuttle which had brought them to this place, he collapsed, sobbing, into her arms.
Ruth and Sakura pushed their way though the joyous throng, trying to reach Sulu, who was still raised up on dozens of reaching, caressing arms. Roy! Ruth cried to him, and as her hand touched his shoulder, he turned to her from his fleshy mattress.
“I LOVE THIS!” he shouted to her above the music and the noise of the crowd.
“You’re cruising!” she shouted back.
“Sulu-chan,” Sakura called. “Come cruise with me!” Ruth started at the unwelcome endearment; it reminded her too much of LiLing.
If Sulu made the same connection, he didn‘t show it. He laughed, a wild sound of total abandon. “Come get me, Sakur-ichi!” he taunted.
Sakura leapt onto one of those holding Sulu aloft. The man went down and Sulu rolled over him. Ruth helped catch him, and the helmsman grabbed her arm. He and she and Sakura tumbled to the ground. In seconds, he had turned into an octopus, groping, caressing, kissing any part of them he could reach. Ruth tried only briefly to fend him off, then concentrated instead on pulling the amber need away from him, heedless of the danger she knew it would bring closer. Again, it started to flow across her senses like honey – and the burning again started in her long bones. She abruptly pulled away, praying that she’d go on breathing.
“Sakura, help me!” she hissed urgently, and the yeoman gasped, then extricated herself from Sulu’s feral embrace, grasping his hand, pulling them both upright. “Come on, baby,” she crooned. “We don’t want to start an orgy.”
“Who doesn’t?” Sulu replied, but he let himself be led from the crowd. Dazed, Ruth began trying to reorient herself, then realized that the music had stopped. She turned toward what she thought was the stage, and saw Tongo Rad pushing through to her.
“Bad trip,” the Sevrinite said, taking her arm. “We need to get the people chiming again. You ready to use that Goddess charm to reach them?”
The speech, the damned come-to-Jesus speech! Ruth moaned, but she made her face smile and said breathlessly, “I’m One, brother,” and started to follow him. Only then did his first words penetrate. Bad trip?
Sakura tried to pull Sulu back to the Sevrinite staging area, but the helmsman had definite other ideas. They passed a deserted market stall – the proprietors were no doubt dancing with the rest of the crowd – and Sulu pulled her behind it and into his arms. “Feels so good,” he murmured through her hair as his knowledgeable hands roamed over her body. “It’s been too long, Sakura.”
“Hey, judgment bait, ease up,” she told him, pulling away. “Remember Jilla? Your wife?”
“She’ll forgive me,” he mumbled, refusing to let go. “It’s the drugs, honey, I can’t stop myself, you know what chemical need is like.” He chuckled and Sakura realized that he wasn’t exactly talking to her. He was rehearsing what he would tell Jilla. Her own chemical need shrieked at her, fevered agreement. She will, everyone knows she will! Buddha, if I get any hotter I’ll burst into flames. And if Sulu-chan gets any harder he’ll burst…
And do you really want to beam up and miss?
Jilla.
Judgment.
“Kusoyaro, think!” she hissed, pushing him away from her. She saw his eyes darken at the insult and immediately softened her tone. “Gomen nasai,” she added, bowing her head with the apology, “but you’ve got to start thinking...”
His reply was a deep growl and a lunge which pushed her back against the stone wall behind the stall. His hand came to her jaw, his kiss nearly rattling her teeth. She could feel the amber insistence inside him, as she had so many times at the Clave and at Cal’s. He wouldn’t stop then, no matter what she said or did. And he won’t stop now. Cobra, where are you?
High tide washed in and out of Del’s head. When it was at flow, he felt bathed in liquid blue, cradled in power and warmth and adoration. When it ebbed, there was nothing but screaming, skinless desolation. If he tried to open his eyes, the images that met him were grotesque and distorted, thundering through his fractured senses; but closed, the pictures were of memory and grief and loss. He called out the only name that had ever saved him and was met with a wall that read I can’t, Del; hold out for just a little while.
They were mine, a lonely voice cried out within him, they were, they were mine!
No more, came the bitter answer.
He tried to get them back, but his mind was unfocused and he couldn’t get the push to work. Desolate tears formed in his eyes and he was unaware that they were slowly trickling from underneath his closed lids.
“It’s alright, it’s alright,” came a soft soothing voice.
Raw-eth?
“Here, brother, let us help,” came another voice. He felt fingers at his lips, opening them, pushing something between them.
“Swallow,” came the first voice again. “It’ll smooth you out, just like I promised.”
“No more lows, sweet Cajun,” the second voice crooned. “Only highs and the strength to do what you need to do.”
Helpless, Del swallowed.
Tongo led Ruth to the stage. She heard Del’s plaintive call, then saw that Diona and Phen were kneeling beside him. She prayed that they were actually helping him, wondering if that was Tongo’s “bad trip.” She had no time for any other speculation, for Tongo had turned to the crowd and started speaking.
“Friends, brothers and sisters, we reach!” he called out, making the One sign. There were applause and cheers from the assemblage. “We hope you enjoyed our music, and there’ll be more a little later on. But now, we’d like you to hear a little more of our message. We want you to understand what the late Dr. Sevrin taught us, how he brought us to the freedom and joy you’ve had just a taste of here today.” More applause, shouts of “we reach!” “Come now, and listen to the words of one who has come to feel what we feel, to know what we know. Her words are true and they chime!” He paused, smiling at the crowd. “And she’s truly a joy to behold. I give you a former Starfleet officer, a Moon Priestess, a musician; the beautiful Antari, Ruth Valley!”
The crowd went wild, jumping up and nearly shrieking in delight. Ruth steeled herself, put on her best, brightest smile, performing a flamboyant curtsey. Then she began to speak.
“Do you reach?” she said. The crowd answered with a delighted “Yes!
“Do you reach?!” she asked again. Again came the response, louder than before.
“DO YOU REACH?!?!?” she screamed. This time the reply was deafening, a thunderous united cry of “WE REACH!” She laughed, applauding them whole-heartedly, then leaned forward, as if in some conspiracy, and said, “Well, so do I.”
Again the crowd went crazy, stamping and whistling and cheering.
“I never had the fortune to meet the late Dr. Sevrin,” she continued. Note I didn’t say whether that was good fortune. “Maybe that’s why it took me so long to chime with the message. But I saw the lengths Starfleet was willing to go to in order to stop that message from reaching the people.” Like this horrible mission. There were smatterings of “we reach!” in response. “I saw, and I couldn’t let it go on. I couldn’t be a part of that jacketed, Herbert landscape. My friends and I – “ she glanced around, suddenly aware that the only ‘friend’ left on the stage was Del. “- we discarded all the sludge Fleet had been feeding us. We listened to the words of the Great Man, and we understood.” We sure as hell did. She took a deep breath. “We understood that Eden had been stolen from him. We understood that it was within his grasp, only to be snatched out from under him. There was one among our number who was there, brothers and sisters! HE SAW EDEN!” Poisonous, life-eating, acid bathed Eden. Riotous cheering broke out once again. When it quieted, Ruth locked gazes with the people before her, her voice quieting. “He saw the Great Man die as well.” She glanced heavenward, then sighed. “I’m not saying there was a plot to kill Dr. Sevrin,” she carefully enunciated, “but his feet touched Eden, and he died. And Starfleet was there.” And it’s all a big fat lie, she thought, working to keep her disgust and disdain at bay.
She strode across the stage. “Now I’m here with my friends, with the others who touched Eden, with the spirit of the Great Man himself, to deliver the word.” She took another breath, raising her arms. “Technology will never be our master!” she proclaimed. The crowd cheered. “We’ll use it, brothers and sisters, to create Eden anew! We’ll use it to take back from the Herberts all they’ve taken from us! We’ll use it to make a place of joy and freedom and welcome, not a weak place, but strong and defended and ours! And once it’s built, there will be no need for sickness or strife, for jealousy or possessions, for hate or greed or war! You may say I’m a dreamer…” She gestured to the Sevrinites around her, “…but I’m not the only one. My hope is, today, you’ll join us, and galaxy will be as One!” She made the One sign, and bowed, her hands held before her like a shining beacon.
All the Sevrinites joined her, until the stage was nothing more than heads and hair and One. There was a beat of silence, then Ruth felt the sudden rushing of a wave of belief sweeping over her, out toward the crowd, tingling with the same ecstatic energy as before. She glanced through her tumbling hair toward Del, and saw the engineer was still bent over his guitar, but with his hands in the One sign, and his dark eyes scintillating. And as before, the crowd responded with raucous cheers and wild shrieks, applause and screams and tears of joy and delight and pleasure.
They mine! Del’s voice pulsed in her mind. They mine, an’ I keep ‘em.
Jeremy quickly and quietly took Daffy’s body away from the town square. He’d scouted the area while the Sevrinites had been setting up for the concert, and had found just the place he was looking for: secluded, away from habitation, and out of the triangulation range of the Eden-head shuttlecraft. He laid the body down carefully, then reached into his mouth, pulling off the cap of the fake molar he wore. He extracted the homing beacon from it, and activated it, attaching it to Daffy’s skirt. He smoothed back her hair, then kissed her on the forehead. “You know it had to be done, Daffodil,” he said. “And I’ll watch out after your Pasha, this I promise you.”
He stepped back, and waited for the hum of the transporter beam, then hurried back to the stage.
The signal from the homing beacon reached the Enterprise’s sensors, and Spock immediately transferred the coordinates to the transporter room. Jilla began energizing, then gasped as the lifeless body materialized. She hit the intercom switch, calling Sickbay. Within moments, Leonard McCoy and Jade Han raced to the transporter room.
“There are no life readings,” Jilla said, and McCoy shouted, “Get a crash cart down here, stat!” As Jilla relayed the order, Jade knelt at the figure on the platform.
“Cordrazine, doctor?” she said to McCoy.
“It’s her only chance,” McCoy returned, opening his medkit.
Jilla held her breath, clutching at the chain around her neck, and prayed.
Del had started playing again, another upbeat Valley Collection tune, taught, as before, in seconds to the Sevrinites. Ruth made her way to the backstage area, “Where is everyone?” she asked Roger. The thin man turned a mournful face to her.
“It was her karma, man,” he said softly. “Spike, you have to understand…”
“Understand what?” Ruth repeated, her alarm growing. “What happened?”
“She didn’t give Cobra any choice, and he didn’t know the phaser wouldn’t be set to stun – damned Herbert pigs…”
“Rog, what the hell are you talking about?” Ruth demanded. “Where’s Pavel, where’s Daffy, where’s…”
“Let me tell her,” Jeremy’s voice said from behind her. She turned to face her fellow officer.
“Tell me what?” she said tersely.
Paget’s hand came to her shoulder, guiding her away from the Sevrinite, who was shaking his head sadly, repeating, “it was her karma.”
“Ruth,” Jeremy began, “you saw what she was about to do. You know I had to do something. You asked me to help. I did the only thing I had time to do…”
“What did you do?!” she hissed.
He bent his head. “I shot her,” he said.
“YOU DID WHAT?!?”
His gaze came up. “You heard me,” he said, but his eyes pleaded with her: Let me explain…
“You shot Daffy?” Ruth repeated, too dazed to listen to his unvoiced entreaty. “You shot Daffy?!”
“Spike, I…”
It was too much. The strain of the pretense, Del’s harrowing new power, Sulu’s amber-induced carnality, the helpless, hopeless inability to use her own talents, the lie she had just given the crowd overwhelmed her, and she collapsed to the ground. Her hair fell over her face and she sobbed into it, unable to hear or see or feel Paget’s awkward comfort.
Chekov hurt. His body hurt. His head hurt. His heart hurt.
“We should go back,” he said, knowing the impulse was irrational as the words left his lips.
“We can’t,” Irina soothed, putting her arms around him tenderly.
“No,” he said, pulling out of her grasp. “We should go back.”
They were alone together in the shuttle. The roar of the crowd outside had become indistinguishable from the roar of pain inside his head.
“There’s nothing…” Irina began.
Chekov wiped his eyes and spoke the impossible thing his heart wanted to believe. “She might not be dead.”
“Pavel…”
“I’m not certain,” he said, although he had seldom been more certain of anything. He could still feel Daphne’s body warm against him as her heart stopped beating and all the air rushed from her lungs. He could still see the look of surprise on her face the moment before her eyes went blank and glassy. The horrible, suddenly blind stare that looked through him was forever burned into his memory. His mind kept replaying the whole awful sequence of events in a compulsive loop. “We should…”
“Pavel…” Irina repeated softly, putting her arms around him again as the tears began to blind him.
He knew he was in shock. Recognizing the symptoms couldn’t halt the reaction, though. On the ship, in combat, there would be duties to perform. He was trained to table his emotions and focus on his assigned task, but here… There was nothing he could do, nothing to hold on to... just a mission in tatters and the feel of Daphne dead in his arms.
“I’ll kill Paget,” he promised, trying to clear the fog of moisture from his vision.
“No, Pasha,” Irina said, smoothing his hair back. “No. Don’t say such things. He was only doing his duty.”
“His duty?” All of the impotent rage inside him found a new focus. “Murdering Daphne was his duty to the Cause? To you?”
Irina was silent for a moment then shook her head. “He thought the weapon was still set on stun.”
“He’s a Security Officer,” Chekov spat back. “With his training and experience, he doesn’t make mistakes like that.”
“But he did,” Irina replied with gentle firmness. “She’s gone.”
“He murdered her.” Somehow it felt better to say that than it did to finally admit, “Daphne’s dead.”
“But he had no reason to kill her, did he?”
“I don’t see how it could have helped the mis…” Chekov bit his lip and cursed himself before covering with, “… the misunderstandings between them.”
Irina was silent beside him. He didn’t dare look at her.
“I’ll kill him,” Chekov repeated, returning to the cold comfort of rage.
“The… mission?” Irina asked softly.
He wiped his eyes and turned to her. “That was not what I said.”
“Pavel…” Irina began quietly, her eyes scanning the empty shuttle. “There are things I’ve never been able to tell you…”
Hope jerked his heart painfully. “Yes?”
“In the second half of my first year at the Academy, I was recruited,” she informed him carefully.
“By the Sevrinites?”
“No. That happened later.” She fell silent again. He had never seen her look so unsure. “There were so many things I could never tell you…. We must talk.”
Tears for Daphne were still wet on his cheeks. Was Irina about to tell him something that would make her death meaningful, or was this just another cruel game? “Yes?”
As he watched, Irina’s habitual mask of composure once more covered her features. She smiled her cryptic smile. “Not now.”
Molten gold flowed through Sulu’s veins, the call enticing and arousing. He reveled in the feel, memory crowding out sense and reason and caution. There was flesh beneath his hands, his lips, he could taste the sweetness and it didn’t matter if it was willing or not – as it had never mattered. He could make it willing. There was heat to answer his own, release from the insistence searing him, and everything within him itched for it, wanting to take it to the honeyed heights he was feeling.
He could hear her voice, arguing, fighting his need. None of that, he thought at it, and bit into the skin at his mouth. She cried out, a rasp of his name, sending the thrill of hunger through him. He opened his eyes long enough to identify her – Gypsy, sweet Gypsy! – and crooned a command at her. She gasped, obeying, as he knew she would, and they slid down the wall, his grasp of the material at her hips ensuring it would ride up as they reached the soft dirt beneath them.
Jeremy shook his head. There was no getting to Ruth now, he knew. She’d have to spend her grief before she’d listen to him. He glanced at the stage, shuddering with the call that wanted him only to dance and revel in the Flower Loonie high. Ruth, NC, Tovarish is with Irina, he counted officers, then scanned the crowd more closely. Lace and Phen were again handling collections, Diona stood by DelMonde, one hand lovingly against the back of his neck. Roger stood watch, nodding happily, Tongo, Ravi, Chione and Madvig helping provide the joyous music that washed its magic over the crowd. Where was Sakura and…
Sakura and Sulu.
No, they couldn’t be. He wouldn’t…
The hell he wouldn’t! Amber, pumped up by the damned xenoneurophene, remember?
But she wouldn’t…
And was Gypsy ever able to refuse Kam on amber?
No. Holy Jesus, no!
He again fought the threatening ecstasy, and began searching the outskirts of the town square.
Mine, mine, MINE!
The amber chanted relentlessly inside Sulu’s brain as he devoured the flesh of Sakura’s breasts. She was arching to him, her fingers grasping at the back of his head. Greedily he sucked on first one nipple, then the other, reaching down to strip off the ridiculously confining shorts.
“Kam, bishounnen, bishounai seme…” she breathed. Beautiful boy, beautiful love, master…
He gave back a growled, imperious answer; “Bishouuke.” Beautiful slave.
“Pet, precious, prince,” an angry voice snarled above him, and he froze. A hand came to the back of his neck, pulling him up and away from the soft body beneath him. He felt something hissing against his arm.
Terror filled him as amber’s golden glow faded from his being. He couldn’t swallow, couldn’t even breathe. He heard a female voice gasping “Thank the gods!” He managed to turn his head, expecting to see…
“You gonna tell Jilla, or shall I?” Jeremy spat at him.
The moment of utter panic fled, only to be replaced by panic of a different sort. Sulu glanced down at himself, at Sakura’s half-naked body, then shuddered, falling into Jeremy’s arms.
“We didn’t, Cobra,” Gypsy was saying. “He would have, but we didn’t.”
“I got here just in time then,” Paget growled, but his hand was gently stroking Sulu’s head. “Babe, that was the only detox I had. You can’t – I repeat, cannot take that kind of cruise again. I can’t always be your personal bodyguard.”
Sulu lifted his head, his eyes filled with his fear and regret. “I know, Jer,” he rasped. “I don’t know what happened. I can’t explain why it hit me so hard this time…”
“I think I can,” Paget returned. His dark eyes mirrored Sulu’s emotions. ‘I think we’ve really lost NC.”
Dancin’ in the moonlight
Everybody’s feelin’ warm an' right
It’s such a fine an' natural sight
Everybody was dancin' in the moonlight…
The music and Del’s Dionysian joy spread over Jeremy’s senses as he returned to the rally with Sulu and Sakura. His heart was heavy, his mind a jumble of mixed emotions and conflicting urges – but the call made him want to forget it all and fall into the hedonism. Sulu and Sakura already were, rejoining the throng to dance and sing as if nothing had happened. Ruth was still sitting behind the stage, Stupid Roger kneeling beside her, awkwardly stroking her hair. Chekov and Irina were just exiting the shuttle, the Russian looking more careworn than Paget had ever seen. Irina left him and stepped up to the stage, obviously already getting back into the groove. Taking a deep breath, still battling the urge to join the crowd, Jeremy crossed behind the stage to the navigator.
“Pavel…” he began.
“Get away from me, Cossack,” Chekov growled.
“I want to…” Paget tried again.
“No. I don’t want to hear about the good of the mission or accidents or anything else you think you have to say to me. I will never forgive you.” He held up a forestalling hand. “Never.” Then he walked away, and Jeremy sighed.
You can’t tell him anyway, he told himself ruefully. He’d never be able to act like he should if he knew. Then he realized that in the desperation to save Sulu from himself, he hadn’t told Kam or Gypsy what had happened.
We like our fun an' we never fight
You can’t dance an' stay uptight
It’s a supernatural delight
Everybody was dancin’ in the moonlightDancin’ in the moonlight
Everybody’s feelin’ warm an' right
It's such a fine an' natural sight
Everybody’s dancin’ in the moonlight
You’re doin’ what you have to do. You’ll pay for it all later, but you’re doin’ what you have to do.
Jeremy closed his eyes, then with a mental fuck it! he let Del’s power wash over him and joined the engineer and the other musicians on the stage. He had to keep an eye on Irina, and he needed a brief respite from commander’s burden, guilt and regret.
Everybody here is out o' sight
They don't bark an' they don't bite
They keep things loose, they keep it tight
Everybody's dancin' in the moonlightDancin’ in the moonlight
Everybody’s feelin’ warm an' right
It's such a fine an' natural sight
Everybody’s dancin’ in the moonlight
The concert lasted a long time, and after it finally ended, with the Sevrinites all on stage, bowing and giving the One sign, there were several more hours of spreading the word, getting more credit chips, and accepting a number of new converts. Tongo and Roger arranged for the new Loonies’ transportation to Dreamland as Jeremy, Madvig and Phen packed up the shuttle. Pavel, Irina and Chione stood together, the blonde obviously trying to tease the Russian out of his sorrow. Sulu and Sakura were talking with Ruth, and from the sudden shocked looks and glares in his direction, Paget knew Ruth had given them the news.
Time to face the music, the TerAfrican thought, and walked resolutely up to his friends. Before he could say a word, Ruth spat at the ground at his feet and stalked away. Sakura’s eyes were brimming with tears and she was clutching Sulu’s arm.
“How could you?” the helmsman whispered. “Even for the mission, god, Jer, how could you?”
“She wasn’t gonna make it, you know that,” Paget began. “She was makin’ it impossible for Chekov to do his job, and she was attractin’ too much notice of the wrong kind…”
“Fuck that,” Sulu broke in. “Del’s fucking up big time and I don’t see you taking a phaser to him.”
Jeremy set his jaw, knowing what had to be said, but hating it. “NC’s only fucking himself up. It’s a bitch for him, but he’s not in danger of blowin’ our cover. Damn it, you know this is Fleet’s last chance…”
“And fuck Fleet too,” Sulu spat, then turned and led Sakura to the shuttle.
Jeremy rubbed his hands over his face. He ached to tell them all the truth, but until they gave the proper grief reactions for all Loonieville to see, he couldn’t.
“They’re taking it hard, aren’t they?” Roger’s voice said in his ear.
“It was so senseless,” Jeremy responded, hoping like hell Stupid Roger hadn’t overheard too much.
“Yeah. Daffy just wasn’t – chiming,” the Sevrinite returned, staring intently into Jeremy’s eyes.
What’s he trying to tell me? Paget wondered. “She just couldn’t get past her negativity,” he said, shaking his head.
“And the rest of you? Are there – other problems?” Again, Roger seemed to be implying something Jeremy couldn’t quite catch.
“Well, they have to have time to get over this,” the TerAfrican replied. “She was our friend.”
“Was,” Roger mused. “Is that the right tense, brother?” Paget tried not to show his alarm. “I mean,” the Sevrinite continued, “she lives on in our hearts, right?”
“She always will, brother,” Jeremy said, but the relief didn’t quite cover his growing unease. Stupid Roger isn’t, he reminded himself. And he may know much more than he should.
Go To Part Seventeen
Return To Part Fifteen
Dancing In The Moonlight by King Harvest