Return to Valjiir Stories
Par derrière chez mon père,
en allant nous promener,
J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle
que je me suis baigné.
Noel sat on a bed in Sickbay, softly playing an old tune on his guitar. He had managed to quiet Sulu again, and had left the poor man alone in the isolation room to get some much needed rest. He had also taken a few moments to quiet Jilla Majiir, knowing Sulu’s fear would call to her like the wail of a whippoorwill on a summer evening. Then he’d picked up his guitar – Jeremy had brought it from his cabin – and started strumming, letting his thoughts wander in the healing energies in his mind. It was a strange thing to be Noel -- to be someone he had simultaneously always and never been. Very strange.
O hé.
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime.
Jamais je t’oublierai.
O hé.
Il y longtemps que je t’aime
Jamais je t’oublierai.
J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle
que je me suis baigné.
A la plus haute branche
le rossignol chantait.
He could feel the Antari shimmering in the air around him like a genie mist. He smiled and shook his head, knowing the last verse of his song would summon her as surely as calling her name.
Je voudrais que la belle
fût dans mon lit couchée
Par un baiser de bouche
que je l’ai réveill[i]ée
Ani Ramy appeared, Cheshire cat-like, smile first.
"What you doin’ here, cher?" he scolded mildly, strumming the refrain again.
"Just wanted to see you," she replied, protesting with a pretty pout. "I can do that, can't I? Just drop in and see a friend?"
"If you can be happy wit’ the idea o’ you an’ me bein’ friends."
"I know that's what you want." she answered, still making a show of sulking. "I'm not going to pretend to be happy about it."
"An’ I not never gonna make you say somet’ing you not mean," Noel promised genially. "We done pretty good so far bein’ honest wit’ each other, non?"
Ani Ramy made a face.
"Th’ policy has had its ups an’ downs, hasn't it?" Noel conceded. "Get your guitar, cher. Let's play together fo’ a bit."
Ani Ramy was gone and back with the instrument in a blink of an eye. "Do you remember this one?" she asked, settling into position at the foot of the bunk with her guitar propped up on her lap.
Noel laughed as he identified the first strains of an old blues ballad. "Course I do. You taught that one t’ me back when we was at th’ Academy."
Ani Ramy lifted a scolding eyebrow. "I was trying to get you to play a duet with me for..."
"...Some t’ing at Alterra," Noel remembered.
"And you were being a total..."
"Swamprat?"
The Antari twisted her mouth up into an expression of annoyance instead of correcting him on Ruth's pet insult. "That makes as much sense as what she said."
"I t’ink I had homework t’ do or somet’ing..." Noel said, having his own moment of struggling with a memory that didn't quite fit into the way he thought now.
"Or something," Ani Ramy accused, half-teasing. "You always seemed to have a lot of homework whenever I wanted you to do something."
"I actually did," Noel protested. "It were hard to keep my mind in gear. I never got ‘nough rest in that place."
"Funny," the Antari replied with a wicked smile. "I remember you being in bed a lot..."
Noel had to laugh at the memory. "In th’ bed, on th’ floor, in th’ shower, up against th’ wall... We sure weren't sleepin’, though."
Ani Ramy smiled. "Not at all."
"Maybe that why I was so tired all th’ time," Noel concluded. He took a moment to enjoy the perfect effortless harmony of their two guitars trading the melody line back and forth. "I really not know why I was makin’ such a fuss. I shoulda jus’ said I'd play that duet wit’ you. It not like I not want to. You were jus’ so bound an’ determined I was gonna do it."
"You were just being aggravating," Ani Ramy reproached. "You were always picking fights with me."
"I t’ink I might recall you pickin’ a few too," Noel returned genially.
"You liked to fight with me."
"I wouldn't say I liked it..."
"You liked making up."
Noel laughed. "No, cher, I loved that."
Ani Ramy smiled at his fingers as they worked their way expertly up and down the frets of his guitar. "I can't believe that at first you said you didn't want to learn any songs from the Valley Collection."
"Said I already knew a bunch o’ dumb ol’ songs nobody wanna hear," Noel recalled, biting his lip at the memory. "I mighta been bein’ a touch too temperamental there..."
"A touch."
"I remember ol T-Paul thought he was bein’ smart an’ he pull this song out the pack an’ say, 'You should sing this one. These lyrics ‘bout you.'"
“You must have been through about a million girls.
You'd love 'em then you'd leave 'em alone,” Ani Ramy sang, changing the words a little to personalize them.
“I didn't care how much they cried, no sir,” Noel sang back to her in the same spirit,
“Their tears left you cold as a stone,” the Antari replied
“Mais,” he protested, “T-Paul always did have somet’ing of a distorted an’ jaundiced view o’ my love life.”
Ani Ramy’s purple eyes gleamed at him.
“But then you fooled around and fell in love,” she sang to him. “You fooled around and fell in love.”
“Yes, I did,” he confirmed in song. “I fooled around an’ fell in love.”
“It used to be when I'd see a boy that I liked,” Ani Ramy took the next verse.
“I'd get out my book and write down his name
But when the grass got a little greener over on the other side
I'd just tear out that page.”
“But then we fooled around an’ fell in love,” he joined her for the chorus. “We fooled around an’ fell in love, -- since I met you baby -- I fooled around an’ fell in love, I fooled around an’ fell in love”
“Free an’ on my own is the way I used to be,” Noel sang, the music claiming him. “Ah, but since I met you baby, love got a hold on me.”
He could feel something that was more than the music swirling around him. Sapphire and gold bands of energy forever entwining. Power drawn to power. Blood drawn to blood. Forces that sent them spiraling together…
“It got a hold on me now,” he admitted in song. “I can't let go o’ you, baby.”
“I fooled around and fell in love,” Ani Ramy confessed back, embracing the centrifugal force that held them together. “I fooled around and fell in love -- oh yes I did”
“I fooled around, fooled around, fooled around, fooled around, fooled around, fooled around, fell in love.”
The music circled dizzyingly around them like the invisible chains that bound them together as if they had been destined to be that way for all time – lovers forever face to face, like a cosmic tarot card.
“Fooled around, fooled around, fooled around, fooled around, fooled around, fooled around, fell in love I fooled around, fell in love I fell in love, I fell in love, yes I did.”
“Oh, Sweet Mary,” Noel closed his eyes as the music finally loosened its grip on him. “It me. I the one who in love wit’ you.”
“He loves me too,” Ani Ramy said, smugly triumphant.
“Much as that poor, broken, lost t’ing can love anyt’ing.” Noel shook his head. “I thought it were him who couldn’t let go o’ you. But we both holdin’ on, non?”
The Antari put her guitar aside, and crawled to Noel, leaning forward and bushing his hair from his forehead. “And there’s no reason not to,” she breathed against his skin, her lips nearly touching his. “No reason in all the world.”
He drew back, biting his lip. “Raw-eth, I t’ink…” he began.”
“She’s the married one,” the Antari said. “You can see into my mind, into my heart. You know I have no bond to the Vulcan.” She paused, staring into his soul. “Only to you, my beautiful Christmas.”
The memory of the first time she’d thought that word, so long ago, even before they’d officially met, thundered through him, followed by the rest of the memory: Can you make music with that? I surely can. And the image of the animal he now knew was a courgat, the one she’d hunted to become keheil… Not nice, I be tinkin’. I’m not. Me neither, cher.
That him, he whispered to her mind
What’s him?
Th’ courgat. I not dangerous.
Oh, I think you are, she chuckled, and gave him a soft, lingering kiss.
How much more he wanted almost broke his heart, but somehow he found the strength to say, “You best go, cher.”
“I don’t think so,” she whispered her fingers playing through his hair.
“I not gonna do it,” he stated, keeping the desire from his voice.
“Do what?” she pressed, a quick, agile tongue slipping over his lips.
“What we both wanna do,” he answered, unable to not be honest with her.
She frowned, searching his face, then sighed exaggeratedly and pulled away.
“Okay,” she pouted, but there was an exultant gleam in her eyes. She stroked his cheek as she sparkled away. “I got most of what I came for.”
Noel DelMonde pursed his lips as he disposed of the sake flask and cups. He was far more fastidious about his surroundings than his twin was, and the thought of how that would surprise and annoy his roommate gave him a small moment of amusement. He could just hear the Russian now: “And why couldn’t you allow that part of you to manifest before this, Noel?”
He chuckled, then went back to his seat, sipping his wine. He had no illusions about Kamikaze’s seeming geniality. The Divine Wind was as dangerous as any hurricane, and just as difficult to predict. He’d heard the hawk’s warning screech at every mention of Calvario. He was certain, if he cared to explain it, that Kamikaze would completely understand his reasons for ‘sitting on his ass and ignoring what was going on around him’ – though it hadn’t been him who’d drowned himself in sapphire and bourbon. The potential of having such an easily manipulated strength was a worthwhile gamble. Kam himself proved to be the royal flush that prevented the use of that potential – and Del had to grin at the so-fitting metaphor – but that didn’t make the risk any less worthy. Still, understanding, and even approving of the tactic in the abstract wouldn’t prevent the hawk from taking vengeance. After all, such games were to be played on others.
He hadn’t quite expected Kam’s mental fortitude to be so strong. That made it difficult both to judge the man’s reactions, and to use his considerable, subtle influence. Despite the hawk’s apparent openness, he hadn’t, as Del had suggested, laid any of his cards on the table, much less all of them. The fact that Del himself hadn’t either didn’t bother him. The information Kam had given wasn’t anything Del couldn’t have figured out, given a few hours to observe the parties in question. He’d been hoping for a short cut, but it didn’t really matter. He’d have to decide which of the doubled people would be most useful. It was clear there wouldn’t be a choice with Kam and his lovely wife – Sulu, as the hawk had said, wouldn’t last, and from what little he saw in Sickbay, the Indiian Jilla would be useless even if she did survive. The Human Spock was more manageable than his Vulcan half – but the Human Ruth was far too attached to him. He had yet to see ani Ramy, but he already knew he would prefer her, if only because of the Human’s maudlin emotionalism.
“Well, now, isn’t that just sweet of you,” a rich melodic voice said from behind him, and Del turned, seeing the woman he had just been thinking of slowly materialize on his bed, as alluring as if she were undressing before him.
“My, my, Raw-eth,” he murmured. “You gotta be the most lovely t’ing I ever seen.”
The Antari preened, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
“I miss you, sugar,” Del continued. “Your li’l marriage surprise not sit well wit’ me at all.”
“Her little marriage surprise,” ani Ramy corrected. “I’m not.” She licked her lips, her gaze moving up and down his body. “At all,” she emphasized.
Del rose, moving to her with purposeful sensuality. “That surely good t’ hear, cher.” He sat down on the bed, letting his fingers play through her hair. “As long as it mean what I t’ink it mean,” he added, his voice as rich as velvet.
“That depends,” she breathed. “What do you think it means?”
He grabbed the back of her head, pulling her forward into harsh but compelling kiss. “That give you an idea?” he whispered.
She giggled. “Several.” She knelt up, entwining her arms around his neck. Del, we’re going to have so much fun… she thought at him.
“Talk,” he snapped, though he didn’t pull away from her.
You don’t like me in your head? she pouted.
“I don’t, an’ you know it. An’ if you not stop it…”
Ani Ramy pulled away, her purple eyes glittering. “Just what do you think you can do about it?” she challenged.
His gaze was as cold as ice. “It what I can not do that oughta concern you, cher,”
“Oh, Del, let’s not fight,” she sighed, though her eyes remained as icy as his.
“Whyfor?” he asked with a wicked grin. “You always like th’ makin’ up, non?”
“It was always the best sex,” she admitted coyly
“Which is all you ever cared ‘bout anyway,” he returned smoothly.
Ani Ramy hit him on the chest. “You’re mean,” she stated.
“You like me mean,” he countered.
“And you like me anyway you can get me,” she taunted back.
He laughed, a short, cold sound. “Ah, cher, you know me so well.” He grabbed her arms, again pulling her into a long, devouring kiss. It led to others, and to exploring hands and their bodies pressing together. Her teleporting their clothes about five feet away from the bed was annoying, but not so much that Del stopped his sexual assault. He was on top of her, ready for a harsh, deep penetration, when he heard the door to his cabin open and a strong hand grasped the back of his neck, throwing him across the room.
“I told you what would happen if you touched my wife,” Spock of Vulcan growled.
“Oh no you don’t!” ani Ramy shrieked, and Spock found himself pinned against the bulkhead by an invisible hand. A fraction of a second later, she was inches from him, her purple eyes blazing with rage.
“I. Am. Not. Your. Wife!” she hissed at him.
Spock projected the image of a braid of gold and green directly into her mind. Then explain this! he demanded.
She hesitated, her thoughts seething, then snarled, All right, so we’re bound. So what?
That bond makes you my wife! he retorted with no small sense of victory.
No, it makes me responsible for keeping your sorry ass alive when you go into heat, she returned with a nasty smile. And until and unless I fail in that duty, you’ve got no claim on me!
By Vulcan culture… he began,
Screw Vulcan culture! she screamed at him. Do I have pointed ears? Green skin?
You accepted…
I accepted jack-shit! SHE accepted, not me!
The Vulcan’s reply was cut off as Noel DelMonde pulled the Antari away from him. The black eyes were coals of ice, without a hint of fear or capitulation in them.
“You touch me again an’ it gonna get dangerous up in here,” he growled to Spock.
The First Officer regarded him with steady confidence. “You do not frighten me, Mr. DelMonde,” he stated calmly.
“Mais, that your choice,” the Human replied. “An’ choices always have consequences.” He gave a wintry smile. “I jus’ givin’ you th’ fact o’ th’ matter.”
“And the fact is that I’ll do what I want, when I want, with whoever I want!” ani Ramy added fiercely.
“And that, my wife, is your choice,” Spock returned, “which, as Mr. DelMonde has so superfluously pointed out, will have its own consequences.”
DelMonde folded his arms. “That sound like a threat, Spock.”
“I do not threaten,” the Vulcan responded. “I, too, merely state facts.”
“And what do you think you can do…” the Antari began hotly.
With a raised eyebrow, Spock, too, folded his arms – and ani Ramy, started as she felt the braid of connection between them begin to tighten. She stiffened, preparing herself for a mental blast – then felt another pull, a darker, somehow unconscious power that was no less determined for being instinctive rather than deliberate.
“She is mine, Mr. DelMonde,” Spock warned.
“You take her then,” was the taunting retort.
The Antari again summoned her mental strength – which was again interrupted by the tug-of-war between the two males.
Zehara! she shouted in angry frustration
You’re not talking to me, remember? came the nonchalant reply. But if the delicious one calls…
“I can surely do that, ma bel,” Del chuckled.
“She will honor the marriage she herself approved,” Spock countered.
“I not be takin’ no bets on that,” the Cajun returned grimly.
Ani Ramy felt her shields begin to shred under the dual onslaught, and with a shriek of fury, teleported away, both men stumbling at the sudden departure of her mental energy.
Without another word, Spock turned on his heel, leaving the cabin. There was only one thing that was certain – Noel DelMonde could not be allowed to remain anywhere near his wife.
There was something unsettling going on with his alter, and Kam didn’t like it one bit. He was striding back towards Sickbay when ani Ramy materialized in front of him.
“This is bad,” she announced.
“Yeah, I can feel that,” Kam answered. “The question is what.”
“Who cares about your petty problems?” she snapped. “Del can summon the Zehara!”
Kam folded his arms, his eyes hard. “So?”
“So She can fix this!” ani Ramy shrieked. “All of this.” At his unmoved stare, she added, “For all of us!”
“Meaning?” Kam said.
“Oh come on, you’re not that dense,” she spat, stamping her foot.
“Let’s just say for the sake of argument that I am,” Kam replied with a not very pleasant smile.
“If She fixes this as opposed to them fixing this, it won’t matter to me because She’ll turn me into a sauvrn,” ani Ramy explained through her teeth.
“And who cares about your petty problems?” Kam asked, eyes glittering.
Her own eyes glaring purple, the Antari took a deep breath. “Okay, sorry about that. The point is we need to get rid of Del – fast!”
“I don’t exactly want fast for him,” Kam returned. “Slow, painful, screaming in horror – that’s more along the lines of what I was hoping for.”
“You won’t get the chance if Z comes nosing around,” ani Ramy pouted. “You’ll be back together with Mr. Pathetic, and you know he won’t let you do anything about it.”
'Well, there is that,” Kam mused. “But what you’re suggesting amounts to the same thing for me. I’ll get put back in the damned cage either way.”
“But I won’t end up a sauvrn!”
“And I care about that why?”
“Because you love me and you know it!” ani Ramy shouted.
Kam laughed. “Do I?”
“Kam…” The Antari took a deep breath, and moved very close to him. “We had something very special once. You – well, he never wanted me to know about you and Cal. He thought it would make me hate you. But you know I don’t… I wouldn’t…”
“But your Human half will,” he replied flatly.
“I can temper that,” she offered.
“And what good will that do? We’re both married.” He laughed. “Or will be.”
“And what about Noel?” she tried again. “He’ll find a way to neutralize you for good – then Del will use you. He’s got the power to do that. If you’re ‘in the cage’ at least Del won’t be able to get at you.”
“But if I’m in the cage because they ‘fixed’ this, Del won’t be a problem, will he?”
“So okay, it’s a Catch-22 – but it’s better than the alternative!” she cried in sheer frustration.
“For you,” Kam conceded with a smirk.
“Yes, for me!” she shrieked. “So are you going to help me or am I going to fry your brains?”
“Well, at least that’s a threat I can comprehend,” Kam said wryly.
“Spock won’t stop going after Jilla,” ani Ramy added. “And you may think you can win in a Challenge, but I can guarantee you can’t. Not on Vulcan.”
Kam studied her, frowning. “Because you’ll help him,” he guessed.
“And he’ll have Jilla, and without you, Sulu will die and the Indiian will die, and my Human half with have Spock’s Human half and I’ll have Noel AND Del until Del gets rid of him and we’ll all live happily ever after…
“Until the Zehara turns you into a sauvrn,” Kam put in.
“So nobody wins and I HATE losing!”
“Well, when you put it that way…” Kam chuckled. “Help me with my little problem and I’ll see what I can do about yours.”
Ani Ramy blew out a long breath. “Okay, Noel is getting rid of Xango. You don’t want it back, do you?”
“Can he get rid of Cal, too?”
“I don’t know, but if he does, Sulu will have no need of you.”
“Everyone keeps saying that,” Kam mused. “Why do you all think I’m the weak link here?”
“Maybe because Cobra is the only one who knew him before Cal and he thinks so?” the Antari posited.
“And no one stops to think that the esteemed shrink could be very, very wrong?”
“Well, if he is, that gives you an edge, doesn’t it?” she pressed.
“Possibly,” Kam answered. He was silent for a moment. Without Xango, there’s more of a chance for His Havenness to come to the fore, he thought. And I’d surely have more fun with Him than with Mr. Pathetique. It would take a while, though, and after this those damned shojis will be monitored that much more closely… still, I am a gambling man…
His Havenness? Ani Ramy asked.
Kam redoubled his shields, frowning. “Never mind,” he said out loud. “What’s the plan?”
Ruth had studied Daffy’s research, and had recreated her solvent trials. Then she realized that a solvent wasn’t the issue. They already had one that would clean the dangerous ore from the machinery. What they needed was a way to make the xenoneurophene inert – or at least to counteract its gene-splicing properties. That was a biological reaction, something caused by the interaction of the cometary spores and the fertilizer used by the colonists.
She left the Chemistry lab and went to Biology, calling up all the records gathered by the Hood and the Constitution, as well as the work done by the crew of the Enterprise. The analysis of the spores was a confusing mass of contradictory assertions, and she closed her eyes, trying a technique her father had taught her:
Sometimes when a problem is too complex, it can help to just forget it for a little while, his voice said in her memory. Your brain will keep working on the problem, and sometimes, if you let your consciousness dwell on something else, the answer just comes to you.
Okay, Daddy, she thought back at the voice. I’ll give it a shot.
She deliberately cleared her mind, then rose and went to Sickbay. She hadn’t spoken to Jilla since this thing had started, and it was about time she did.
It was unusually quiet as she entered the room. She could see Jade and Bones staring at a monitor of one of the isolation rooms, which had to contain Sulu, since he wasn’t in any of the Sickbay beds. Jilla was in one, and she was curled under a blanket, her eyes open, silent tears streaking down her face.
Ruth felt tears gathering in her own eyes, and she went to the bed, sitting down, reaching for Jilla’s small, pale hand.
“It’s gonna be alright, Jilla,” she whispered.
“Why did you not let me die?” the Indiian whispered back.
Ruth swallowed. It was a question Jilla had asked her before, and her reaction had always been one of anguished anger. She recognized now that the anger had been the Antari part of her, the intolerance of Jilla’s heritage borne of the certainty that the Antari way was best, in all circumstances for all living beings. But there was no anger now, only sorrow and grief.
“Because I didn’t want to lose you,” she answered. “The Antari was sure she knew what was best for you, but I – “ She had to stop to choke back a sob. “I just didn’t want to lose you,” she managed, her voice breaking.
Jilla stared at her. “You never considered what I wanted,” she rasped.
“I know!” Ruth moaned. “I was selfish and inconsiderate and I didn’t want to believe that your goddess could be so inflexible – but I was wrong, and I’m sorry, Jilla. I’m sorry now but – “ She took another agonized breath. “I’m still wrong but I still can’t lose you!”
“I have no peace, Ruth,” Jilla sobbed.
“But you won’t if you go to Court, either!” the Human cried. “You’ll be lost and suffering and…”
“It is my due,” was the anguished response.
“Then stay with us and be lost and suffering here!” Ruth begged. “Sulu loves you, Spock loves you, I love you! If you can’t have peace in death, what’s the point?”
“Aema demands…”
“And she’ll get her pound of flesh! Since you’ve got all eternity to be damned, spend some of it with us! We need you, Jilla, Sulu needs you, I need you!” Her tears fell freely, and she bent her head, squeezing Jilla’s hand so tightly it hurt her own.
“I do not wish to cause you such pain…” Jilla sobbed.
“I know, I know,” Ruth returned. “And I’m sorry to hurt you, too, but… I have to lose Spock, and I can’t bear…”
“Lose Spock?” the Indiian questioned, bolting into a sitting position.
“The Human Spock,” Ruth clarified hopelessly. “When this all gets fixed, I’ll never see him again…”
“He is there, within the Vulcan,” Jilla replied, her voice sounding terribly confused. “Surely you know that.”
“And the Vulcan keeps him locked away…”
“No, Ruth, that is not true,” Jilla interrupted. “You think that now because your gifts are gone, but you always knew it before. You could always see him and touch him and bring out those qualities in him. That is why he loves you!”
“And she keeps me locked away…” Ruth went on as if Jilla hadn’t spoken.
“No!” the Indiian said stridently. “You are a true hybrid, Ruth, and you help Spock to be one. You are not at war with yourself, and you calm the battle within him…” She stopped speaking, then gazed at Ruth with wondering eyes. “As you calm the battle within me,” she murmured. “Your care, your love keeps my suffering at bay as much as Sulu’s does.”
Ruth looked up, her brown eyes wide. “I do?” she asked.
Jilla swallowed, but nodded.
“Then – you’ll stay?” Ruth asked tremulously. “You won’t give in and leave me?”
“I – I must…” Jilla stammered. “But I cannot…”
Ruth threw her arms around Jilla’s trembling shoulders. “We’ll make it right!” she promised. “We’ll get your Vulcan strength back and we’ll heal Sulu’s torment and…”
She stopped, suddenly seeing the answer to the biological contamination as clearly as if someone had held up an equation on a statboard before her eyes.
“I know how to fix it!” she cried. “Jilla, I know how to fix it!”
The Indiian blinked, hope and misery warring in her gaze.
Ruth gave her another hug, then rose from the bed. “It will be all right,” she promised. “I love you, Jilla, and it will be all right! Just hang on a little while longer!”
She turned and raced from Sickbay, needing to find Spock and a biological synthesizer.
“Thirteen!? You lost your virginity at thirteen!?”
Daffy Gollub folded her arms, her chin jutting out defiantly. Before she could compound the already emotional circumstances, the Human Spock interjected, “Antaris typically begin sexual activity at the age of twelve…”
Pavel Chekov’s arms were also folded. “And she is not Antari!” he countered, his voice a little more strident than he no doubt intended.
Spock tried again to defuse the situation. “My point, Pavel, is that once puberty has been reached…”
“You’ve heard of bat mitzvah?” Daffy interrupted.
“That is a religious technicality,” Pavel told her. “No one expects a thirteen year old girl to function as an adult woman outside a synagogue.”
“So suddenly you’re an expert on Judaism?”
“That is a smokescreen. You are attempting to justify wanton promiscuity…”
“Pavel, she is not attempting to justify anything,” Spock cut in. “Remember the intent of this conversation. We are trying to eliminate DelMonde’s emotional ammunition.”
“Yes, well…” The Russian shifted uncomfortably. “It was simply a shock.”
“Remember, I know when you lost your cherry, Mr. High and Mighty,” Daffy commented under her breath.
“That is irrelevant to this discussion,” Pavel stated.
The chemist snorted. “Hmmph. A flower-loony way trumps...”
“But I was eighteen,” Pavel returned snugly. “That is not an unreasonable age to…”
“It is in all the sane parts of Terra,” Daffy muttered.
Spock sighed, his fingers rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Daffy, that is not helpful.”
“And I am no prude,” Pavel added, “ – as you are quite well aware."
“So why all the shock since you’re not Perfect Man?” Daffy argued.
“Dafshka…” The navigator looked helplessly at Spock, who gave a nod of encouragement. “It is only that I think of a thirteen year old as a child, and the idea of children engaging in sexual activity is shocking.”
Daffy tapped her foot, her lips tightening. “Can we just move on?”
“Yes,” Pavel said with a fair bit of relief. “By all means.”
After a few more minutes of fuming, the chemist exhaled slowly. “So…. next, I guess, is Gage.”
“Ambassador Gage?” the Russian repeated warily.
“Dealer Extraordinaire Gage,” Daffy corrected. “I – did some work with him at the Clave.” She took a breath, deciding to get it all out at once. “When I was fourteen.”
“Fourteen!?”
Daffy pursed her lips sourly. “Oy, let’s not start with the age thing again.”
“She is a talented chemist, Pavel,” Spock again interjected. “In that environment, it is only to be expected.”
Chekov blinked a few times, started to speak and stopped himself, swallowed, closed his eyes, then opened them. “Yes, I suppose so…” he finally sighed. “I take it this ‘work’ was not entirely legal?”
“Legal schmegal,” Daffy said with a dismissive toss of her hair. “I was playing with chemicals.” She caught the slight shaking of Pavel’s head. “What, I’m supposed to have been a lawyer at fourteen?”
“It appears you were everything else at…”
“Pavel…” Spock warned, with a shake of his head.
The Russian frowned. “What else?”
Daffy turned away in frustration. “This isn’t going to work, Spock,” she said tightly. “He might not be shocked when Super Schmuck tells him all about my sordid past, but he’s still gonna disapprove – and the Cajun bastard will use that against me.”
“And now I am not even allowed my own standards…” Chekov began stridently.
“Pavel, she has a point,” Spock interrupted. “The only way DelMonde’s scheme will fail is if you can face him with neither emotional outrage nor moral indignation.”
At the look that crossed the navigator’s face, Daffy snapped, “Or holier-than-thou fucking superiority! Let’s not forget that!”
“Dafshka…” Pavel began tightly, “I need some time to absorb all this information. Surely you cannot expect me to have no reaction to…”
He was interrupted by the opening of the cabin door and Ruth Valley’s triumphant voice.
“Spock, I’ve got it! I’ve got the answer!”
Ruth was talking a mile a minute – sounding much more like her old self than she had since before the split. The Human Spock clearly had no trouble keeping up as he went with her to the Biology lab, and Daffy and Pavel exchanged brief glances as they, too, followed.
“You getting this?” Daffy asked quietly.
“Approximately half,” the Russian conceded sheepishly.
“Let’s hope it’s the other half of what I’m getting,” the chemist quipped.
After a brief pause – in which Ruth didn’t – Pavel said softly, “Dafshka, I’m sorry for my reaction. I know your childhood after your mother died was not easy, and I can understand why you would feel the need for such – rebellious – behavior.”
“And I know you were a coddled, smothered little baby bear, so let’s just drop it,” she replied with a bright show of teeth.
Pavel stared at the desperation in her green eyes, then nodded, hiding a small smile of understanding.
Once in the lab, they stood back as Ruth and Spock entered complex computations into the biologic synthesizer.
“Daf, have you still got any of those parts you were testing for Scotty?” Ruth asked as she worked.
“No. Monsieur Asshole chucked ‘em all,” the chemist responded.
“We will have to make do,” Spock said.
“I can ask Mr. Scott if…” Pavel began.
“No, there’s no time,” Ruth interrupted. “That would tip Del off and we can’t afford that.”
The synthesizer hummed for a moment, then completed its task, disgorging a vial of a bright yellow substance. Ruth handed it to Daffy.
“Get this to the transporter room and have Scotty and the Vulcans use it on all the transducers. Pavel, we’ll need you in the transporter room too. Spock and I will bring Jilla and Sulu and – uh – Noel there, so get it done in a hurry.”
“What about Mr. Malicious and Kam and your Antari half?” Daffy asked as she took the vial.
“They’ll show up, I guarantee it,” was Ruth’s grim reply. “Everybody clear on what to do?”
“Not hardly,” Daffy said, but she nodded to Pavel. “Let’s go, bubee.”
“Beloved, are you certain of this?” Spock murmured as the other couple left the lab.
“That it will work?” Ruth returned. “As certain as I can be without actually testing.”
“As am I. I meant you and me,” the Human clarified.
She moved close to him, putting her arms around his neck. “No. In fact I’m sure this isn’t what I want at all. But Jilla needs it, and so does Sulu, and Del is way too dangerous to leave like this, so….”
“I will be with you always, my wife,” Spock promised.
“Will it irritate him too much if I occasionally call you ‘Daniel’?”
Spock smiled. “Yes. But I will know that you still love me.”
“And since I sometimes irritate him anyway…”
She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him, letting herself melt into his returned embrace for a measured minute.
“I love you, Daniel,” she whispered.
“And I love you with all that I am, my Dei’larr’ei.”
“Isn’t that his word?”
“It is a Vulcan term, but it’s my word,” Spock assured softly.
“Now how did I know that?” she teased, and they kissed again. Then she pulled away.
“Come on, we need to get to Sickbay.”
Spock nodded, and took her hand as they left the Biology lab.
The transporter had again been disassembled into its component parts, Scotty and the Vulcan Jilla pouring over them, re-cleaning any parts that had even the faintest of residue on them. The Vulcan Spock stood over them, going over the figures from chemistry and biology, frowning. There was something he was missing, of that he was certain, but the flow of information refused to yield to his logic.
That’s because it’s logic, a teasing voice murmured in his head.
My wife, show yourself! he demanded.
How many times do I have to tell you… she began, then giggled an ‘oops’ and faded away.
Spock frowned. Perhaps it was the annoyance of her insisting on refusing his claim that was clouding his thought processes….
He turned his head as the door to the transporter room opened, Daphne Gollub and Pavel Chekov rushing in.
“Mr. Spock, Miss Valley says this substance will neutralize the biological interaction with the xenoneurophene!” the Russian began breathlessly.
“Indeed?” The Vulcan raised an eyebrow. “And is this the Antari or the Human Miss Valley?”
“Human, you shmegege,” Daffy replied. “You think we’d trust anything from her Golden Brattiness?”
Spock ignored her. “And we are to do what with this substance?”
“She said to coat the transducers of the transporter,” Chekov answered.
“Here, lad, let me have a look at that,” Scotty said as he rose from the deck. He took the vial, studying it as if he could see how it would work simply by looking at it.
“She also said to get a move on,” Daffy rejoined, “before the Trio from Hell barges in here and stops you.”
“Aye,” Scott returned, and got two clean applicators, filling them from the vial, then handing one to Jilla.
As the engineers began quickly applying the agent and reassembling the transporter, Spock said to Chekov, “Did Miss Valley explain the science behind this, Mr. Chekov?”
“Yes she did, sir, to your Human counterpart,” the navigator replied sheepishly, “but I confess I didn’t follow it all. She was speaking rather rapidly.”
A brief smile lit the Vulcan’s eyes. “That is her way when she has made a discovery,” he said.
“She also said the Triad of Evil was gonna high-tail it here to try and stop you,” Daffy added, “So I suggest you put your speedy Vulcan fingers to work and get the transporter ready to run.”
Spock favored her with a mild glare – which she returned in full measure – then nodded to Chekov and moved to aid Scotty and Jilla.
Pavel turned to his lover, his brown eyes worried. “Dafshka,” he said quietly, “why do you suppose Ruth said I should remain here?”
“Damned if I know,” Daffy returned, biting at her thumbnail. “Maybe it’s got something to do with all the nothingness inside you. You were able to neutralize – well, to help neutralize the Beast on Dreamland.”
“No, I was not,” the Russian answered dourly. “I was to be its vessel…”
“You t’ink you gonna be mine, then?” said the voice of Noel DelMonde from the transporter room door.
Kam and ani Ramy moved quickly to Del’s cabin. The Antari didn’t bother knocking, just opened the door with an airy mental, Hi, honey, I’m home!
“You not worried ‘bout th’ Vulcan tryin’ to break our necks again?” the engineer drawled as he looked up from his bed. “An’ I thought I tol’ you t’ talk.”
“You did, and no, I’m not worried – as long as we act fast enough.”
“She’s got a plan,” Kam added.
“Better‘n our jus’ takin’ our pitiful other halves out?” Del asked.
“Well, no,” Kam replied. “In fact, that’s exactly her plan. She’s just added a few salient details.”
“Such as?”
“We can’t just kill them,” ani Ramy said as she folded herself into a sitting position on the deck.
“Why not?” Del wanted to know.
“Because other people would get upset, and we’d have to kill them, and other people would get upset and so on and so on and we’d end up with us and a ship which we can’t run all by ourselves,” she returned.
“Plus all of Starfleet would come after us,” Kam put in. “Which, I must admit, sounds like a bit much to take on, even for us.”
“Especially after the Zehara fries my brains for committing murder,” the Antari rejoined with a wide grin.
“So how we gonna take ‘em out wit’out murder?” Del asked.
“We volunteer to try to recombine ourselves, and arrange for a teeny transporter accident,” ani Ramy answered cheerfully.
Kam folded his arms, grinning. He watched as the thoughts moved through Del’s mind, turning the idea over and over, looking for flaws. Finally he said, “You can do that, can’t you, Mr. Engineer?”
“They jus’ go ‘poof’, huh?” Del said at last.
“Well, more like ‘sparkle, sparkle’ poof’, but yes,” ani Ramy giggled.
“An’ why they gonna allow us to try when they know th’ transporter still not workin’?”
“You know your little threat didn’t erase Groupie’s memory,” Kam pointed out. “She’ll be working on another solvent.”
“And I can alter the results of that one too,” the Antari said.
After another few seconds of thought, Del rose from the bed. “Now that sound like a plan,” he said.
“Let’s go to the transporter room,” the Antari said as she, too, rose. “The Vulcans are working there, and we can present our altruistic idea to them.” She giggled again. “They’ll believe anything.”
“And Jilla will do what I tell her whether or not she believes,” Kam added, his dark eyes gleaming.
“Mus’ be handy,” Del commented.
“Oh believe, me, it is,” Kam returned, and the three headed for the transporter.
Pavel immediately moved in front of Daffy as DelMonde, Kam and ani Ramy entered the transporter room. Spock turned from his work, frowning, Jilla glancing up as well.
Kam’s eyes darkened. “Get the hell away from him,” he ordered.
“I am attempting to repair…” she began, and Kam took a menacing step forward, only to be stopped by the Antari’s hand on his arm.
“She does have to fix it, sweetie,” she said.
“You’re not gonna try and stop them?” Daffy asked dubiously.
“Non, cher,” Del answered with a devastatingly charming smile. “We been talkin’ th’ whole t’ing over, an’ we decided it best if we get ourselves back together.”
“And there’s a bridge for sale in Brooklyn?” the chemist retorted.
“The Zehara gave Ruth her marching orders,” Kam replied, though his gaze was still fixed on Jilla.
“And the shrink thinks we’ll go all wonky if anything happens to our counterparts,” ani Ramy added cheerfully.
“An’ since it don’t look like that gonna take too much longer wit’ …” Del glanced at Kam, who readily supplied “Mr. Pathetic.”
“An’ the Indiian basket case,” the engineer continued, “an’ since th’ best minds figure it gonna take all of ‘em at once to put ‘em back together…”
“I notice you did not include yourself,” Pavel interrupted, his voice tight and hard.
“Well obviously he’d have to go first,” the Antari said. “And could you back away – oh – about ten feet or so?”
“No, I could not,” Chekov returned evenly.
“Not that you’re not kinda cute and all,” ani Ramy continued, “but you’re an abomination, so…”
“What do you mean, an abomination?” the Russian demanded.
“She means that you’re a huge black hole sucking all the power out of her,” Kam answered with a grin. “And out of Cajun, too.”
“But not you?” Del asked sharply.
Kam’s only response was a wider smile.
Daffy leaned over, whispering to Pavel, “See? There’s the reason. They can’t make us do anything while you’re here.”
“But – I do not understand…”
“You don’t have to, bubee. Just stand here and be what you are.”
“Why would Mr. DelMonde need to go first?” Spock asked.
“Not that you mind,” Kam chuckled.
“Because he came last,” the Antari explained, then giggled, and added, “not that he did with me or anything.”
“Such crude references are unnecessary, my wife,” the Vulcan answered.
“But funny,” was Kam’s interjection.
“Why don’t you go on back to helpin’ Scott an’ th’ li’l one fix the transporter,” DelMonde suggested. “I can lend a hand if…”
“I do not trust you, Mr. DelMonde,” Spock interrupted.
“We’re almost finished, Mr. Spock,” Scott said. “Perhaps ye should call Sickbay and get the others down here?”
“Before they change their minds,” Daffy added.
“Oh, we not be doin’ that, cher,” Del affirmed with another smile.
Spock regarded him warily, but activated the comm.
‘Spock, you’re not actually gonna trust them, are you?” McCoy said gruffly into the comm after hearing Spock’s request.
“That is not my inclination, Doctor,” the Vulcan replied. “Do you have a better option?”
McCoy fumed and Jade stepped forward. “We need time to consider what further damage could be done if this is a ruse,” she said.
“I am fairly certain this is a time sensitive offer, Dr. Han,” was the calm response.
“’Scuse me,” Noel Duhon interrupted as he rose from the bed on which he’d been sitting. “If I gonna go first, any ‘further damage’ be confined to me, non?”
“That hardly makes the potential less dangerous, or less objectionable,” Jade returned.
Noel gave her a warm smile. “I appreciate that, Jade, but I volunteerin’.”
“And I’m not sure I should be allowing…”
“Cher, this likely our one an’ only shot at this,” Noel soothed. “Whatever they up to, it outta our hands.”
“No, it’s not,” Spock’s voice said, but it wasn’t coming from the intercom. The Human version was entering Sickbay, along with his Human wife. All eyes turned to them.
“The biological agent they’re using was one I developed,” Ruth told them.“And my brat of a counterpart didn’t have any opportunity to fix the results, because we haven’t tested it.”
“You’re suggesting we use an untested…” McCoy blustered.
Ruth crossed to him, smiling at him. “In an emergency, real healers test their medicine on themselves,” she reminded.
McCoy’s face softened with memory, then he scowled. “But they’re insisting that DelMonde go first,” he informed her.
“I not mind, cher,” Noel interjected.
“That is troublesome, my wife,” Spock murmured.
“No, all it means is my other self is up to something. If we all go to the transporter room, we’ll be able to contain whatever that is – and if my serum works like I think it will, we’ll need all our selves there anyway.”
There was a rustle of sheets, and Jilla Majiir rose unsteadily from her bed. “I will do what you ask, Ruth,” she said, though her voice was tremulous. “It is clear I will not be allowed to face Aema just yet.” Her full lips tried to smile, but it was more like a grimace.
Noel stepped over to her, placing his arm around her. “It be better in jus’ a li’l while now, argent petit,” he promised.
“And what about Mr. Sulu?” Jade asked.
“That’ll be me,” Jeremy Paget’s voice announced as he, too, stepped into Sickbay..
“How did you…?” Ruth began.
The TerAfrican gave a wry smile. “Believe it or not, Kam called me,” he replied.