Chapter 2
Tama Orleans made her way down the corridor, slowing as she came to the center.
Beneath her feet was a hatch that led to an observation blister on the saucer section of the New Constitution. She stopped, wiped her eyes, stretched, and when the corridor was clear, she opened the hatch in the floor and climbed down in it. Closing the hatch behind her, she continued down to the lowest point of the bottom of the saucer section. The change-over of gravity that allowed her to stand upright opposite of how she was standing on the deck above always caused her to have a spell of vertigo, but it passed quickly enough. This place was peace. It was the only place that she had to herself, since she was not allowed to use the holodeck without supervision.
She sat on the floor, her back against the transparent aluminum. The new
Constitution was traveling at warp and the blister was technically off limits, cause if a micro meteor did get pass the screen, the transparent aluminum could be easily punctured. Deflector beams occasionally flashed like lightening, shifting larger threats to one side or the other, and some dust occasionally flowed around the warp bubble, fluorescing like the glow of tiny plankton around the bow of sea vessel from her home world. Looking forward it was possible to see the pin pricks of stars, but only if viewed dead on, and only a moment, before they exploded into their spectra signature and slipped past. There was one particular ‘sweet spot’ of a view where one had the hint of traveling in a tunnel of light. She was told that the tunnel and the rainbow bright stars told were illusions created by the impact photons, star light, against the warp bubble, as if the photon was actually a solid beam of light stretching from star to infinity in all directions. It was as if the star and all the light it ever produced, past and present, was one, singular object the size of the universe, enmeshing with all the light from all the other stars and planets; the light was one. ‘A sea of light,’ Garcia had sung in one of his songs that wasn’t a remake. “Travel Light…”
Though she knew she was at the bottom of the saucer section, it felt like the top of the world with the artificial gravity holding her to the deck plating. Her back was to the main hull, or she might have noticed in one of the windows behind her that Niki Carter, upside down from her perspective, was waving to get her attention. Niki gave up and pushed on past the window.
Tama Orleans pulled a piece of ‘green tea’ chocolate out of her pocket and unwrapped a portion of it. Supposedly, it was a Japanese version of a ‘Kitkat,’ and probably wasn’t technically chocolate, but it was one of the flavors her father had introduced her to and that she had most loved. She bit into it, closing her eyes to savor the assortment of flavors that rolled across her palate. She allowed the chocolate to melt on her tongue before chewing, slowly, breaking the cookie center. When the candy was gone, she wanted more. Wanting more was because she wanted more, but also because she had nothing to drink to wash it down and more candy would save her from going to fetch a drink. She forced herself to resist the urge for more chocolate or for a drink, and focused on her breath. Mastering Garcia’s meditation exercises were frustrating. She wondered if she had a neural implant like his it would be easier. After what seemed like five minutes of the mental exercise, she activated the application on her sleeve and examined the results. She frowned at the biometric data.
Closing her eyes, she started over. She said her mantra, and tried to focus her thoughts. The goal of meditating was not to eliminate thoughts, she reminded herself, but to increase focus. When she became aware that she was having miscellaneous thoughts, she returned to the mantra with only a few unkind self-reprimands.
“Tama Orleans?”
Tama opened her eyes, nearly jumping to her feet from surprise. No one was present. She shivered, wondering if she had actually heard a voice, or had it been her imagination.
“Hello?” she asked. No response.
“Computer, did someone just page me?” Tama asked.
“Negative,” the computer responded.
Tama Orleans pushed it out of her head and returned to her meditation. It must have been a stray thought which she had mistook for an auditory event. She had had that experience once. She realized she was thinking, scolded herself, and returned to the mantra.
“Tama Orleans. It’s me.”
Tama opened her eyes and stood up. “Computer, did you hear that?” “I require more specificity,” the computer responded.
Tama sighed. “You’ve been talking to Garcia, haven’t you?” Tama asked. “Affirmative,” the computer said. It was unable to detect the sarcasm in the question.
“That was rhetorical,” Tama said, and returned to her meditation.
“Tama Orleans, don’t be afraid,” said the voice.
“Who are you?” Tama Orleans asked, her heart rate increasing.
“When you calm and focus, you will be able to see me,” the voice came again. “What?” Tama asked, spinning, looking for the source of the voice. “You were mistaken,” the voice said. “You do have some telepathic abilities. Relax, you will hear me better when you’re relaxed. And if you are really calm, you should be able to see me.”
“Who are you?” Tama asked.
The hatch in the floor opened and Niki popped out, feet first, descending through the ‘crossover’ until she was full out and able to stand up.
“Hey,” Niki said. “Whatcha doing?”
“Um, nothing,” Tama said. “Just came up here to be alone.” “Do you still want to be alone?” Niki asked.
“No, actually,” Tama said.
Niki kicked the hatch closed. “Have you been crying?”
As if that was cue, Tama started bawling again, and just plopped herself down on the floor.
“What’s wrong?” Nik asked.
Niki went to her, sat next to her and pulled her in close. Tama explained how Garcia had missed another appointment with her and how recently she had given him a book and he had rejected her gift, but most of her words were unintelligible. Niki patted Tama, trying to comfort her. The one thing Niki was certain of was that Tama had had her feelings hurt by something Garcia had done. Niki suspected it was because Tama held the wrong perspective, as opposed to Garcia having actually done something maliciously to hurt her.
“How do you solve a problem like Garcia,” Niki said, in a sing song fashion.
“I don’t know,” Tama said, rubbing her eyes.
“Umm, I was kind of joking,” Niki said. “You know, musical reference to sound of music?”
Tama’s crying increased in pitch and tempo. “How do you know so much?
You’re just like him. How can I ever relate to either of you when you’re both so much smarter than me?!”
Niki cringed and tried to turn Tama’s face so that their eyes could meet. “Oh, no, no, no, honey, I’m not smarter than you. I’m really closer to being an idiot savant, very specialized knowledge base, and mostly my knowledge base centers around music. If it’s not music, I’m not going to do so hot, but I can appear smarter because you can sneak other knowledge sets in the form of music, so I can recite knowledge, but I don’t really hold practical applications. I could sing all the parts of a warp core, but I couldn’t diagnose a problem or rebuild it to save our lives, if that makes sense.”
“Garcia is smarter than me,” Tama said, not revealing that she had heard nothing. “Well, yeah, he is smarter than all of us, in terms of generalized trivia, specialized knowledge, processing abstractions, creativity,” Niki said, and when she realized this wasn’t helping, she frowned. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t connect with Garcia. He’s Kelvan, so he’s kind of smarter than everyone, so you’re in the same boat as the rest of us.”
“If I were more like you, maybe had some semblance of musical talent, maybe I’d have a chance,” Tama said.
“Tama, this just isn’t true. You’re in the in group. Garcia loves you, and you don’t have to do anything special,” Niki insisted.
“Pfff, yeah, right,” Tama said. “Everyone in his entourage has something. The ability to fight. Music. Science. Medical. I’m useless.”
Niki sat there for a long moment, not saying anything, not arguing with her.
“Have you spoken to the counselor about these feelings?”
“See! Even you think I’m crazy,” Tama said, pulling away from Niki. “Surely you can see you have a better relationship with my father than I do.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy, but I think you’re not going to believe what I have to say,” Niki said.
“What do you mean?” Tama asked, rubbing her eyes.
“You probably won’t get the analogy, but you’re kind of like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz,” Niki explained.
“The Wizard of what?” Tama asked.
“Not the point, really,” Niki said.
“No, it is the point! How do you know all of this stuff? Is this like common Earth knowledge?” Tama asked.
“Not exactly,” Niki asked. “Just a musical classic. I suppose an argument can be made that wizard of Oz is still so iconic that it should be general knowledge, but you also grew up on a different planet, so don’t beat yourself up. But back to the point, even if I was the good witch, and I knew all the answers, like I happened to know that you actually have the power to make the change you want, that you always have the power to go
home, you’re not ready to hear that, because you’re still on the journey.”
“I don’t have any power,” Tama said, truly confused by the whole speech.
“You believe that because you haven’t arrived yet but you will,” Niki said. “The journey is everything. Look, why do you think Star Fleet believes so fundamentally in the Prime Directive? Giving someone an answer before they’re ready can not only be detrimental, but it could be completely rejected. It’s like if you needed a heart transplant. I just can’t give you my heart, your body will reject it. It’s the same with ideas. If I tell
you something before you’re ready, your mind automatically rejects it.” “So, you’re saying I’m stupid,” Tama said.
“No, I’m saying you clearly aren’t ready to hear what I have to say,” Niki said.
“Try me,” Tama demanded.
“None of us are perfect, we are all going to make mistakes, me, you everybody, but there is one thing that I know with absolute certainty, and that is Tammas loves you, and there is not one thing that you can do that will ever jeopardize that love because it’s not based on your level of success or achievement,” Niki said. “If there is one thing that
Garcia is good about, it’s accepting people unconditionally. He’s very nonjudgmental.” “Well, I guess you’re right about one thing,” Tama said.
“What’s that?” Niki asked.
“I don’t believe you,” Tama said. She opened the hatch and proceeded ‘down’ the hole head first, but arrived ‘heads up’ at the corridor above.
Niki followed, making the transition to a new ‘upright’ faster than Tama.
Tama, wanting to prove her point that Niki was smarter than her, asked, “Why can’t we take holodeck matter off the holodeck?” “Because it’s not stable,” Niki said.
“But why?” Tama persisted.
They both stepped out of the way as Captain Undine marched past them in what looked like a heated conversation with ‘Marvin the Martian’ as Marvin Smith was known to them. It was well known that is unusual height was a product of being born on Mars off the grid, and it was further rumored that he had to wear antigravity tech in his uniform just so he could move about the ship without injury. What they gathered as they passed was that he was complaining about Dryac going on an Away Mission without him. After they passed, Tama asked again.
“It has something to do with the artificial Higgs-Bosons, a massive scalar particle that defines the mass of any atom or molecule…” Niki was explaining.
“How can you say you aren’t smarter than I am,” Tama complained.
“I’m not. I’m quoting trivia, not giving you understanding. Look, you’ve heard of the formula e=mc2, right? Basically it defines the relationship of matter and energy, so if you reduce the mass, you increase the speed, so, the more boson’s you can remove from an object, the faster it goes.”
“So, if you remove my bosons, I could travel at the speed of light?” Tama asked.
“Well, yeah. How do you think the transporter works?” Niki said.
“Magic,” Tama said. “But I’m still uncertain how this relates to holodeck matter. If we can create matter from energy using a replicator, why can’t we make holodeck matter stable?”
“Do you know how much power that would take to create and move all the matter that can fill up that space? There is really very little holodeck matter, most of the stuff you see in There is just illusion, holographic visuals, with the computer solidifying certain aspects of items with force fields and fake particles to give us some tactile experiences. Besides, you don’t want to be in a room that is constantly creating matter from energy and then converting it back again. You could get hurt.”
Tama knew that. She had eaten enough holodeck food that she had caused physical damage to her body on exiting, resulting in her restrictions from using the Holodeck.
“I think you are smarter than you give yourself credit,” Tama said.
“That makes me normal, I guess,” Niki laughed.
♫♪►
“I may not be a trained Starfleet officer, but I am part of Fleet, and my job is to accompany Dryac on her missions,” Marvin persisted. “I think this mobility device is just Garcia’s way of cutting me out of the picture and I will not be made redundant.”
“Mr. Smith,” Undine said, pausing far enough away from Medical that she didn’t trigger the door. “As the Captain, I can assure you that Garcia didn’t dream this up to make you redundant, nor did we anticipate an Away Mission of that nature. It sort of just happened and we weren’t prepared for the fall out. I’m aware of your feelings and I will try to accommodate you in the future, should the situation warrant it. Fair enough?” Marvin seemed to cool his jets. “Very well.”
“How is Dryac, by the way?” Undine asked.
“Radiant,” Marvin says. “She enjoyed the Away Mission immensely, but mostly, she is in one of these perpetual ecstatic states due to the pregnancy. She had three offspring’s in the past, and apparently every moment was joy like she was tapped into the Cosmos, and she thought she was too old to have another child, so that plus revisiting the Universal plug in, she’s like an over flowing of Rumi or Mohammad. Quite frankly, the positiveness is annoying.”
Undine’s expression of ‘Umph,’ apparently wasn’t transmitted, but then, her human friends considered her fairly stoic. Not the way a Vulcan is stoic, or a Klingon, but subtle, unless she was really angry. “I didn’t think Rumi or Mohammad were always positive. Didn’t Mohammad want to kill himself when he first heard the voice of God because he thought he was crazy?” Undine asked.
Marvin seemed perplexed. “I really don’t know anything about Mohammad other than he was a prophet. I was just trying to speak metaphorically,” Marvin said.
“Really? If you are going to use a metaphor, shouldn’t you understand the context and the multiple meanings that could unfold based on the shared perceptive?” Undine asked.
Marvin seemed more annoyed than perplexed by her question. “You are just as
tiring as talking to Counselor Rossi. I was just generalizing.”
“And probably why you’re not Star Fleet,” Undine said. “Specificity can move a conversation towards a collective consensus much more quickly if we don’t have to guess as to the meaning behind the selected vehicle.”
Marvin moved from apparent annoyance to visible irritation. “God, you’re going
to be much more difficult to deal with than Garcia, aren’t you?”
“Why are you calling me God?” Undine asked.
“I clearly can’t speak with you,” Marvin said, his frustration shining through. “Oh, okay. Well, thank you for your time, then,” Undine said, happy that that was over with, and proceeded to Sickbay, not caring that Marvin shifted from irritation to quiet rage. His energy was palpable until the door to Sickbay closed behind her.
Doctor Misan and Admiral McCoy were arguing semantics when Undine entered. Misan immediately took his argument to the Captain, ranting about how McCoy’s mental status was questionable. McCoy was debating him, trying to talk over him.
“Stop it, both of you,” Undine snapped. “What the hell?”
“McCoy’s brain scan has a specific signature that is reminiscent of a Vulcan mind meld,” Misan said. “Twice during our session he has used language sets consistent with Garcia’s out dated dialogue and so, if it’s true that Garcia altered McCoy to be physically younger, then it is highly likely that Garcia also tampered with his mind, which means he is no longer qualified to make a diagnosis.”
Undine looked to McCoy, prompting him to give his side.
“Clearly, Garcia has modified me. It is also on record that he and I share a subtle, constant mind link due to an accidental mind meld in the past. You can’t alter someone physically to the degree that I have been tampered with without some feedback or cross over, so it seems only natural that a little of Garcia has spilled into my waking conscious, but it doesn’t mean there was full blown mind meld or alteration,” McCoy argued. “As far as I’m concerned, I am as fit as I was when I was in my forties.”
“Physically,” Misan said. “Mentally, you have been tampered with and you still have the mind of a centurion”
“Ageism is not an argument,” McCoy snapped. “I can think circles around you,
Sir.”
“He’s unduly adversarial,” Misan pointed out.
Her subtle facial expression of ‘umph!’ was more legible than her previous, but they were both too caught up in their own positions to notice her incredulousness.
“I’m not so old I can’t kick your butt,” McCoy pointed out.
“Admiral,” Undine said, interrupting the threat of ensuing violence. “In all honesty, can you not say that your mental state isn’t being slightly affected by the situation, and perhaps your renewed levels of testosterone?” “No,” McCoy said. “I feel better than I have in a long time.”
Misan crossed his arms, satisfied. Undine frowned at him, but looked to McCoy sympathetically.
“Fine, I concede. I’m unduly influenced, but you can’t say I’m mentally unfit to make a diagnosis just because I want to kick Misan’s butt.”
“I don’t think you’re unfit,” Undine said.
“Great,” Misan said. “You clearly don’t need my opinion.” Misan stormed off.
“How can you put up with that pompous ass?” McCoy asked.
Undine didn’t acknowledge the question. “Could you tell me about glowing eyes?”
“Glowing eyes?” McCoy asked. “I don’t understand the question. Is this a test?” “Garcia said to ask you about it,” Undine said. She explained the context.
McCoy went and sat down, as if he were suddenly very old again. It was possible, he thought, to be physically young, but still carry the momentum of an old mind. It would take conscious effort to square his shoulders back and weather things like a young man. He leaned on his elbows, his left fist in his right hand and his chin on his hands. He was certain now that Garcia had messed with his mind, as he could clearly recall the incident in his mind as if it were yesterday. It was more than perfect memory, he could almost see it as if he were watching the scenario unfold from a perspective outside himself.
“We had discovered a ship’s recorder of the USS Valiant that had passed through a magnetic space storm. That’s what they called it then. More precisely, it’s an energy field that encircles the Galaxy. We passed through that storm and two people,
Psychiatrist, Doctor Elizabeth Dehner and helmsman Gary Mitchell, were changed at the genetic level. It was as if they were evolving right in front of us, but it was more than that, actually. It was like a super conscious was taking over, suppressing their normal everyday consciousness. It may not be a super conscious, it could have just been their unconscious thoughts and personality made manifest by an increase in their ability to channel psychic energy. One noticeable feature was that their eyes glowed.”
“Hypothetically, if this condition is what Garcia has, what’s the prognosis?” Undine asked.
“You will have to kill him,” McCoy said.
“That’s your only solution?” Undine asked. “What did Kirk do?”
“Kirk tried to maroon them on the furthest out post, but Mitchell’s became hostile, that’s the only word I have for it, and he tried to kill Kirk, a longtime friend,” McCoy said. “Kirk was force to kill them. You won’t find any of this in the log. You won’t find any evidence that passing through the energy field increases the rate of evolution of anyone that possesses ESP. You make that a rule and everyone that thinks they’re the slightest bit psychic will be making a pilgrimage to the edge of the Galaxy to become some super guru or God.”
“Kirk killed both of them?” Undine said.
“Dehner did help Kirk, but the assumption was that she had not evolved as far or as fast as Mitchell, so she was still in touch with her humanity when she died,” McCoy said.