CHAPTER TWELVE
“That should do it,” O’Brien said. “Try it now.”
The cat materialized and walked right to Tammas. It looked like a real cat and it felt like a real cat. Now, the test would be how long the fake cat could maintain that illusion of reality. As they watched it run through its antics, a call came through for Tammas. It was from Vulcan.
“You want this in private?” O’Brien asked.
“Nah,” Tammas said, waving O’Brien to make himself comfortable.
O’Brien sat on the floor and petted the cat. A holographic pet made more sense to him on a Star Ship than a real pet. He and Tammas had agreed to share in the contribution to the upgrade to holographic technologies, putting both their names on the list of work cited, along with a copy of the blue prints on the IS-Net for public use. Someone else, better at engineering than they would no doubt take their work and improve on it even more. There was no reason, O’Brien had come to the conclusion, that holographic technology couldn’t be employed on Starships within his life time.
Sarek and Perrin appeared on the screen. After the ritual greetings, Sarek spoke. “We have notified the Garcia’s that you will not be visiting due to the circumstances you find yourself in. They send their compliments.”
“I sent them a letter,” Tammas said. “I guess they’ll get it in couple of days.”
“Indeed,” Sarek said, and then he moved directly to his reason for calling. “I would like to ask you to do something for me.”
“Anything,” Tammas agreed.
“I know you do not prefer to give live, public, musical performances,” Sarek said. “But I would like you to consider doing so while you are on Andoria. The Andorian Consulate is a fan of your work and a friend of mine. I did not anticipate you meeting him on this journey, or I would have prepared for you some tokens of my esteem to present to him. I would consider it a great complement to me if you would perform for him and his guests.”
“I’m honored to do this for you,” Tammas said. “I’m also anxious to be home.”
“And I am eager to have you return,” Sarek said. “The house is empty without you. Sparky misses you.”
Tammas chuckled. “Yeah,” he said. That was as close as Sarek would ever get to admitting he himself missed Tammas.
“I’m glad you’re alright,” Perrin said.
He wanted to express anger at her for sending him out here, but he put that in check. He had nearly made a self fulfilling prophecy come true when he had told her he might die without seeing Sarek again. His anger seemed out of place now. Time and distance from home seemed to help. Time to let it go, he thought.
“Thank you,” Tammas said. “I’ve been informed we have to make one more pit stop before heading back to Vulcan. We’ll be taking some Andorians and their supplies to a city called Stratos. Can you imagine how many anti-gravity lifts have to be functioning in order to keep their city in the air? Apparently they just finished a fourth floating city. Some Andorian engineers are taking up residence on it. Why hasn’t Vulcan ever considered a floating city?”
“Because we are well grounded,” Sarek said.
“Well, I guess I will see you both in about four weeks,” Tammas said.
“Be safe,” Perrin said.
After the concert, which Captain Maxwell, O’Brien, and Doctor Chu all attended along with the Consulate and his guests, Tammas forced himself to mingle. He usually withdrew to a private place after performing live, to erase the intense feeling of having had so much attention focused on him. He hated public appearances. He would much rather put together a video and release it, not just because less people, but also because it was much easier to control the quality. The performance had gone off better than he had hoped, and he attributed that to being able to sense the Andorians emotional state. He hadn’t realized that Andorians had some latent telepathic abilities until he had started the concert. He could feel them emoting, sharing the experiences with each other. Consequently, he had had to raise his personal shields a notch or two to avoid being distracted, but even this helped add to the general aura of his music. The Andorian Consulate and guests were so sincerely honored by the concert that Garcia could do no wrong, which made it easier in the sense that he felt at ease and less worried about making mistakes. Not that anyone generally noticed when he made mistakes. He felt honored and humbled being so graciously received.
The Consulate took the most of Tam’s time, asking if he would be wiling to carry a package back to Sarek on his behalf. It seems that he and Sarek had a game of one upping each other on their tokens of admiration. The business of the abduction took place privately with Captain Maxwell and O’Brien, who was now the tactical officer for the Rutledge. Chu was trying to extract herself from a conversation from an ambitious, young male who had just had the realization that he was no longer going to live life as a gender- neuter. It was conversational approach was odd, blabbering something about a dream from god changing his biology and that he was suddenly, and strangely, attracted to humans. It was a bit much for Tammas to follow as he concentrated on blocking out the persons psychic waves. The Andorian was broadcasting his intentions and expectations so loudly that Tammas was surprised everyone in the room wasn’t gawking at him. Perhaps adults were use to it, he mused.
“You’re a human?”
Tammas turned to discover an Andorian behind him and was startled by her physical attributes. Specifically, she was white as a ghost. “Are you an albino? I didn’t know Andorians had the albino trait in their genome.”
“My people are called Aenar,” she said. “We’re still Andorians. This is our natural color. I suppose the humans would understand me to be of a different race, but same species. I’m surprised by your height. I thought humans were taller.”
“Well, we’re not born tall,” Tammas said, and grimaced at the sarcasm. “I meant, I’m young.”
“So am I,” she said. “My mother is here to speak with your Captain about the abduction. Seventy of my people were taken.”
“I’m sorry,” Tammas said.
“Forgive me, but I’m very curious about you,” she said. “You have a mental construct surrounding you that is quite solid. I didn’t know that humans could do such mental projections.”
“I’m only mostly human. And I’ve been trained to do that. I was not taught appropriate psychic boundaries when I was younger and I probably over do it a bit now and then.”
“A telepath?” she asked, tilting her head one way, her antennae going the other. “No. Maybe. Strong empathy for sure.”
Tammas waved his hand in front of her eyes. She smiled.
“Yes, I am blind,” she said.
Tammas raised an eyebrow. “But you saw me pass my hand in front of your face?”
“I felt the movement of the air, heard the sound,” she said. “And, I can sense things with my antennae.”
“What is your name?” Tammas asked.
“Kors,” she said.
“Would you be interested in going for a walk with me?” Tammas asked.
“Sure,” Kors said. “Would you like to see anything particular?”
“Yes, actually. I’d like to see the surface. I’ve never experienced snow,” Tammas said.
“You’re joking,” Kors said, sounding appalled. “How can that be?”
“There’s no snow where I live,” Tammas said.
“What a horrid place,” Kors said. “We must rectify this situation at once. First we’ll need to get you some warmer clothes. And some ice skates. Oh, but you don’t know how to ice skate, do you?”
“Will you teach me?” he asked.
She took him by the hand and dragged him from the concert room, as if time was of the essence. Kors insisted on using a transporter to take them to her favorite place, so he went along without complaint. They arrived at frozen lake. The sky was blue and crisp and cold, but Tammas found he could maintain his body warmth without the heavy coat, and so he shrugged it off. His mental disciplines had taught him how to maintain his body temperature, similar to a technique that the Tibetan Monks used, called gTum-mo Yoga. He wasn’t sure how long he could maintain his body temp under these conditions, which got his curiosity up and started an impromptu science project. He made a game out of seeing how long he could go without his coat, knowing it was nearby if he needed it.
The lake wasn’t a true lake. Kors explained that it was only half a meter thick at its deepest. It was run off from a warm spring that had frozen at the surface. There were arches of pure ice where geysers erupted and froze connecting in two. There was a tree completely frosted over, and another dusted with snow from a recent fall. The first had fruit frozen in place, with ice crystals hanging from the branches. The sun was sparkling off of the tree, shining through the ice arches, refracting into its full spectrum, which was finally mirrored in ice they skated on.
Kors taught him how to ice skate. He mastered it pretty quickly, but he pretended to stumble a few times to make her feel good about teaching him, and, so he could be a little closer to her. She laughed as she helped to support him.
“You are pretty good for a human,” Kors said.
“I have a good teacher,” Tam told her. “You know, you haven’t asked my name.”
She smiled and sighed. “I was wondering if you were ever going to volunteer it.”
“Is that the custom?” he asked. “Well, my name…”
Kors put four fingers to his lips to make him stop. “Not with your mouth. Will you let your shields down with me? May I share your thoughts?”
Tammas hesitated.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. If you were comfortable with such a thing, you would have already done so,” Kors said. “Forgive me.”
“Kors,” Tammas said. “You’ve done nothing wrong. You can share my thoughts. Do I need to do something? Touch your face?”
“No,” Kors said, giggling. “Unless you want to. The only thing you need do is give me permission. That and lower your shields.”
“I invite you to share my thoughts,” Tammas said. Letting his guard down took conscious effort. He touched the side of her face, brushing a strand of hair back with his thumb.
Kors’ smile faded and she put her hand to his chest. “You aren’t what you seem. No. This is wrong somehow. I don’t understand.”
Kors trembled and turned to leave. Tammas grabbed her arm. “What is it? What do you see?”
“You’re hurting me,” Kors said, twisting her arm to escape.
Tammas lightened up on his grip. “I’m sorry. I just want to understand.”
Kors touched his face with one hand, placing the other over his heart. “You really don’t understand. But you don’t see it by choice. A paradox. I’m sorry, Tam. I can’t reveal to you what your conscious mind is not ready to see for itself.”
Angry, Tammas pulled away and skated over to an arch and sat down. A moment later Kors joined him.
“I’m sorry,” Kors said, sitting next to him. “I had to sort through some things. I’m sorry about your past. The trauma. You will understand when you’re ready. I’m certain of this. It is not right for me to reveal it before its time. It only increases the trauma.”
“Am I a monster?” Tammas asked her.
“Oh, no,” Kors said, lifting his face with both hands. “You’re not a monster. I understand. Jovet called you this, but you’re not. You are you. Unique. Beautiful. You are full of music and love and passion. There is so much to you I can’t even begin to process it all. I would need a life time and that may still prove inadequate. Don’t hate yourself so.”
Kors kissed him on the lips. He closed his eyes and melted into her.
“What are you two doing?!”
Tammas and Kors stood suddenly. O’Brien, Doctor Chu, Captain Maxwell, the Andorian Consulate, and Kors’ mother were standing behind them. Kors’ mother, Adalene, stepped forward.
“What are your intentions towards my daughter, human,” she asked.
“Now, don’t be so hasty,” the Consulate interrupted, worried about potential scandals.
“Didn’t you hear us calling you?” Maxwell asked. “Where’s your communicator?”
“On my coat,” Tammas said.
“And where is your coat?” Doctor Chu asked, putting the back of her hand against his forehead, the old way of checking body temperature. “My, god, you’re burning up!”
“Burning up with my daughter?” Kors’ mother pressed.
“Mom, it wasn’t like that,” Kors pleaded.
“Really?” she asked, tapping her anger out with her foot. “Then what are you trying to conceal from me? Give me your thoughts, young lady.”
“I can’t,” Kors said. “Not this. Not now. It’s a privacy obligate situation.”
Kors mother fumed, her antennae flattened out against her head, and she stared ominously at Tammas. He was beginning to think he would be safer staring down a mother polar bear from Earth.
“Consulate Myers,” Kors’ mother finally turned. “I need this made right.”
“What would you have me do, Adalene? Marry them?” the Consulate asked.
“Um, excuse me?” Tammas asked.
Captain Maxwell started to intervene, the Consulate was hemming and hawing, but Adalene was adamant: “The rules are very clear. You know human males think it is okay to go around kissing every female that crosses their path, but not with my daughter,” she said.
“Mother!” Kors shouted. “You’re making a scene. There is nothing here to be alarmed about. Tammas and I are friends.”
And to prove that point, Kors took Garcia’s hand in hers. Her mother raised her right antenna.
“Give me your thoughts, human,” Adalene said. “It’s the only way to appease me.”
“Mom. Please. Don’t,” Kors said, stepping in front of Garcia as if to protect him.
“You may have my thoughts,” Tammas said.
“You don’t have to do this,” Kors told him. But it was too late.
Kors watched her mom as her anger dissipated. She began to silently weep, tears streaming down her face, freezing before they hit the ground. Her tears made tiny plink sounds as they hit the ice, a sound that only Tam could hear, even though the air was still. It stirred music in his mind. Tammas became even more puzzled by Adalene’s reaction than he had been by Kors.
“I told you,” Kors said, shedding her own tears. She looked to Garcia but addressed her mother. “Isn’t the music beautiful?”
Adalene got down on her knees and humbled herself before Tammas. She took a vial from her bag, scooped up her frozen tears, sealed the vial, and offered this up to Tammas as a gift. He hesitated. Kors took the vial, added her own tears, broke the tip of an ice crystal from the near by tree, placed it in the vial, and resealed it. She took his hand, opened it, put the vial in it, and then closed his fingers around it.
“Carry this with you,” she said. “It’s more than a souvenir. It’s an expression of our love. Remember me, every once in a while.” And then she leaned in closer and kissed him once more.
Tammas was blushing as he took his place next to the Away Team. Chu handed him his coat. Maxwell and O’Brien made no secret that they were studying him. He nodded to the Consulate, Adalene, and finally to Kors. “Thank you for showing me snow. And teaching me to ice skate.”
“Thank you for the music,” Kors said.
“You are always welcome here,” the Consulate said, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture. Adalene spoke nothing, but she offered the same gesture.
“Rutledge, four to beam up,” Maxwell said.
The world changed.
“What the devil was that all about?” O’Brien asked, stepping down from the transporter.
“And just who do you think you are?” Chu asked. “Captain Kirk? Kissing aliens can only get you into trouble.”
“And I suppose you’re my parents now?” Tammas asked, defensively.
“While you’re on board my ship,” Maxwell said. “You bet’cha.”
Stratos was everything the rumors said about it and more. In order to get a better view, Tammas rented an aircraft. After taking in the city from various positions, he went on a joy flight, using VFR rules, and setting a course towards the new cloud city that had just opened up to the public. Half way there he had to stop in order to take on fuel. The fueling platform was a floating aircraft carrier. It hovered nearly a kilometer above the ocean surface. There was a second plane being fueled and a man arguing with a female. Probably his wife, Tammas thought, imagining their situation as he briefly observed the two along with the context clues. While the attendant filled his aircraft, he was tempted to check in with O’Brien but found that he didn’t need to. O’Brien was hailing him.
Tammas activated his comm. badge. “Garcia here.”
“You staying out of trouble?” O’Brien asked.
“Yes, Dad,” Tammas said. The male and female were arguing much louder. Neither of them paid any attention to the little girl that had climbed out of their aircraft.
“Not kissing any girls, I hope?” It was Maxwell’s voice, which suggested to Tammas that O’Brien was paging him from the Bridge. Aren’t I important, Tammas thought. As for the kissing the girl thing, Tammas chose not to dignify that with a remark. A number of people on the ship had openly teased him about it, and he wasn’t feeling as good humored as they were. The little girl started wondering towards the edge of the carrier.
“Stand by one,” Tammas said, moving towards the kid. “Hey?” Tammas yelled. “Hey?! O’Brien, lock onto me with a transporter and wait for a text message.”
“What’s going on?” Maxwell asked.
The girl looked over the edge, looked back towards the arguing couple and stepped backwards off the edge before Tammas could reach her. Tammas didn’t hesitate. He followed her over the edge.
Tammas had never experienced free fall, outside of an aircraft, before. He was passing through the air at such speeds that he wouldn’t have been able to hear himself yell much less tell O’Brien his needs. O’Brien no doubt was confused by the sound of air flowing over the open communicator, but his heart was no doubt passing through his throat as he followed Garcia with the transporter sensors. Tammas had at least anticipated that he wouldn’t be able to use the communicator and even as he fell he was cuing a text message to send with his neural implant. He streamlined his body and accelerated towards the girl. He knew what to do because he had seen it in video simulations. He needed to reach her as quickly as possible just in case O’Brien didn’t wait for the text message. He plowed into her so hard that he was afraid he might have killed her. But he got her. And they tumbled. He sent the message.
“NOW O’BRIEN! TWO TO BEAM UP. M R GN C.” Tammas sent.
O’Brien had been on the bridge familiarizing himself with his new station, when Maxwell asked if the “prodigal son” had checked in. The fact that Tammas was given permission to explore on his own was a sign of the trust he had earned. Besides, how much trouble could a boy get into, O’Brien has posed.
“Just a moment, Sir, I’ll call him,” O’Brien said.
“Garcia here,” Tammas answered.
“You staying out of trouble?” O’Brien asked.
“Yes, Dad,” Tammas answered, not a little sarcasm bleeding out of the intercom. Maxwell smiled.
“Not kissing any girls, I hope,” Maxwell said.
Lt. Johnson at the helm shook her head. “Ya’ll need to stop teasing him,” she said with a heavy Georgian accent.
“Stand by one,” Tammas said over her. And then, more urgent sounding he added: “Hey? Hey?! O’Brien, lock onto me with a transporter and wait for a text message.”
“What’s going on?” Maxwell asked.
“Tammas is falling!” O’Brien said. “I need helm control to match his fall velocity.”
Maxwell didn’t even have to give the order, but he did come out of his chair at O’Brien’s words. “Helm is yours,” Johnson said.
“Matching speed,” O’Brien said. He had the lock and he began engaging the transporter beam just as the words scrolled across his screen: “NOW O’BRIEN! TWO TO BEAM UP. M R GN C.” “I’ve locked on to two people. Energizing.”
“Directly to the Bridge, O’Brien. I want to know what’s going on,” Maxwell ordered.
Tammas materialized on his back, holding the little girl. His screams faded and morphed into laughter as soon as he fully materialized. He laid the girl down as he got up, placing his communicator on her. “Site to site. Emergency. Sickbay,” Tammas gasped.
O’Brien locked on to Garcia’s badge and sent the girl to sickbay. Tammas took a deep breath and stood.
“What in the world is going on, Garcia?” Maxwell demanded.
“My perception of the situation is that the girl attempted suicide because her parents were arguing,” Tammas answered, breathlessly. His statement was pure speculation, but he was having trouble seeing it any other way. There were a dozen alternative answers, but it fit with his understanding of sociology and psychology. No matter where you go, people are people, and life can be down right difficult at times, especially for children.
“Doctor Chu to Captain,” came the Doctor’s voice over the Comm.
“Go ahead,” Maxwell answered.
“I’d like to report a possible abuse case. That girl you just sent to sick bay had two broken ribs, a broken arm, and a broken leg,” Chu said.
“I hit her pretty hard. Factoring in my body mass and my momentum at the time of collision,” Tammas tried.
Maxwell nodded. “Take care of her Doctor,” Maxwell said. “I’ll explain later. O’Brien, contact Stratos authority and apprise them of our situation.”
Captain Maxwell sat down in his chair. “Are you okay, Tam?”
Tammas thought about it, his eyes tracking up and to the left as he accessed his neural implant. Everything was elevated. Heart, blood pressure, serotonin levels… A smile grew across his face. “Yes, Sir,” Tammas said. “That was quite exhilarating.”
“Tammas Garcia, go to your quarters and stay there until I calm down,” Maxwell said.
Tammas raised an eyebrow, but obeyed. As soon as he was off the bridge Captain Maxwell sighed.
“I told ya’ll you don’t give the kid enough credit,” Johnson said.
“He’s going to get himself killed!” Maxwell snapped. “I just want to return him to Vulcan in one piece. Is that too much to ask?”
“I’m glad I don’t have any kids,” O’Brien said.
“He did save the girl,” Johnson said. “He had a lot of trust in you, O’Brien. I might not have made that leap.”
Maxwell sighed. “He reminds me of when I was a kid. I was always jumping off things. Once I jumped off the third story balcony thinking my mother’s umbrella would carry me safely to the ground. My mom feinted and I reversed the umbrella, and broke both legs.”
“If you ask me, Sir,” Johnson said. “It sounds like that old karma thing has caught up to you. You know, what goes around comes around? You’re mama must have said, just wait till you have kids.”
“Let’s get this girl to the authorities so they can figure out what’s going on,” Maxwell said. “And let’s wrap up the Andorian delegates situation so we can be on our way. I want to get Garcia home as soon as possible. I’ve never had so many incidents in such a short span of time.”
“You’re not saying the kid is bad luck, are ya?” Johnson asked.
“No,” Maxwell said. “I’m not saying that. Not saying that at all.”