by Uhura's Song
"Ah," said Wilson. "What's for breakfast? I should warn you: I'm good at swimming but lousy at hunting."
Brightspot looked surprised. "Winding Path takes a hunting party for tonight's food. Fruit for breakfast-see, here -" She led Wilson farther along the stream. A tree drooped over the water, heavy with fruit.
"Funny," said Wilson, "I would have thought, with your teeth, you'd be exclusively a meat-eater."
It was the same fruit that had gone into Chekov's stew. Wilson picked one and bit into it without hesitation. Brightspot tossed one into her mouth whole, gave one chomp, and swallowed. "No problem with teeth," she said.
"So I see."
They lingered over breakfast. When they returned to camp, Evan Wilson saw a great many changes. Half a dozen tents had been struck, two more were in the process of going down. A structure identical to Chekov's shelter was going up, under Chekov's direction and with a great many sidewalk superintendents. The erection of two new Sivaoan tents gave Wilson an appreciation of just how useful a "useful" could be.
Brightspot's tail thumped twice against Wilson's calf; nonetheless she offered a cheery "Good morning!" Wilson too turned to greet Fetchstorm and Stiff Tail. Fetchstorm glared back, said nothing. To Stiff Tail, he said, "The fuzz-brains are noisy this morning." Stiff Tail slapped him, without malice but with sufficient force to send him tumbling. With a last glower at Wilson and Brightspot, he stalked away.
Wilson said, "What's between you and Fetchstorm, Brightspot? I thought he was your brother."
"He is her brother," Stiff Tail said. "We have a saying, 'To fight like brother and sister'. This doesn't happen in your culture?"
"Some," admitted Wilson, "but not enough to have a saying about it."
"And Fetchstorm likes to make trouble," Brightspot said. "Couldn't you tell from his name?"
"Most of our names are pleasing syllables, not descriptions," Wilson said, "so I didn't honestly think about it. We call people like that troublemakers." She added, "Not a name, just an expression." She saw Kirk across the clearing and waved, "Captain! Good morning!"
Brightspot watched, then imitated, her gesture. Kirk waved back and started toward them. Before he reached them, Stiff Tail said, "Come, Brightspot. I wish to hear how it happened." Brightspot, torn, hesitated. Wilson said, "It's all right, Brightspot. Go ahead. You can say hello to the captain later. We're not going away just yet."
Brightspot gave another wave in Kirk's direction and loped off, tail streaming behind her, to Stiff Tail's tent.
"Good morning, Dr. Wilson," said Kirk as he reached her side. "Did you sleep well?" He asked in such a mischievous manner that she had to laugh.
"Yes, Captain, very well," she said.
He shook his head. "I had no idea you were a champion tree climber. I think you even surprised Spock."
"Now that surprises me. Mr. Spock doesn't seem given to making assumptions about the range and variation of human abilities- or peculiarities. Are you pulling my tail again?"
"Partly," he admitted. "But Spock did seem surprised. I wonder why? It usually takes a conspicuous emotional display to get a rise out of Spock- and that's only his eyebrow."
"You know him better than I do." She shrugged. "So far the only thing useful I've learned is that Stiff Tail wants Brightspot to talk to us. The rest is all YNK."
"Inc," he said, "For incomplete?"
"Y. N. K.," she explained, "For 'You Never Know'- they might be useful." She ticked them off on her fingers, "Most Sivaoans can't swim, names are not to be taken lightly, slashbacks seldom attack camps, and Brightspot is the quickest study I've come across in years."
"Bright for her age?"
"Hard to tell. She's the only one I've talked to for any length of time. All the kids seem to be indulged; by the standards of some cultures, they're downright spoiled. If they go too far, they get whopped, but that ends the matter."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning Stiff Tail has forgotten all about the fight between Brightspot and Fetchstorm yesterday. Brightspot hasn't, but that's another matter. Morning, Mr. Spock," she added, tilting her head to smile up at him as he drew close.
Kirk acknowledged Spock with a nod, then resumed his conversation with Evan. "Sibling rivalry," he said, and for Spock's benefit, "- Brightspot and Fetchstorm."
"Yes," said Wilson, "and apparently to be expected." She quoted Stiff Tail's proverb, adding, "At a guess, though, I'd say that only applies to twins, triplets, quadruplets, etc. Remember Brightspot identified Distant Smoke not as her brother but as her mother's son? And her relationship to him is quite affectionate. I think the expected sibling rivalry only applies to kids born at the same time."
"That would accord with my observations, Dr. Wilson," said Spock. "It would appear that Distant Smoke and Fetchstorm are only half-brothers. Lieutenant Uhura informs me that the contemporary language contains no word for marriage."
"All kids are legitimate?" Wilson smiled. "I like that, Mr. Spock; they don't take the sins of the parents out on the kids."
"On the contrary, Dr. Wilson. It would appear that, after two thousand years, the local population still bears a grudge- I believe that is the phrase- against the Eeiauoans, who are descendants of theirs."
"Point taken, Mr. Spock," Kirk said. "You've seen Uhura?"
"I have. The lieutenant has nothing to report as yet."
Wilson considered him. "That's easy for you to say, Mr. Spock. Not so easy for Nyota, I'll bet." She frowned slightly. "And not so easy to hear either."
"Troy wasn't found in a day, Evan," Kirk said.
She grinned at that. "A dose of my own medicine, Captain? Right. We keep digging." She turned to Spock and added, "After I fill in Mr. Spock..."
The report she gave Spock of her conversations with Brightspot was considerably more detailed than that she had given Kirk, and she studied him as she spoke. His undivided attention was disconcerting. More than once, she felt her face grow warm and quickly joked aside to Kirk for the sake of her own composure. When she had finished, she felt something akin to relief.
Spock said, "Would you permit a personal question, Dr. Wilson?"
You're digging too, she thought. I wonder what I did to deserve that? Matching his formality with precision and no little curiosity of her own, she said, "I would, Mr. Spock."
"Your display of physical expertise last night was remarkable...."
"Thank you." She sketched a bow to him and caught Kirk's smile out of the corner of her eye.
"When Brightspot became concerned over your lack of claws, you made reference to having 'come from a long line of tree climbers'- I believe that was your phrase."
"Close enough," she said; and he went on, "It has been my experience that most humans prefer to deny their evolutionary antecedents. Yet you seemed proud to claim relationship. May I ask why?"
"Why not?" She instantly thought better of her response. "I'm sorry, Mr. Spock. I don't mean to be flippant, but I have no patience with the kind of person who thinks he's so much better than other creatures, animal or human, that he must have been created fully formed and wearing the latest style hat. The universe wastes nothing, so why should I waste a perfectly good talent for tree climbing just because others think it...uncivilized? It would be as silly as not using a perfectly good prehensile tail." She knew he would understand her reference to the Eeiauoans without explanation.
"Indeed," said Spock. "May I be permitted to point out to the doctor that once again her 'gut reaction' bears a remarkable resemblance to logic?"
"You may- but I'll probably go down denying it to my last breath."
"That is highly illogical."
"I rest my case."
If nothing else, Wilson thought, that was worth it for the expression on Kirk's face: double takes that good came few and far between. Time to make a tactical retreat. She shouldered an imaginary shovel, saluted them both briskly, and about-faced and marched away.
Kirk watched her go. At last he had it, the key to Evan Wilso
n's style. He laughed abruptly. "Mr. Spock, there is a person who refuses to be taken for granted- even by you."
"Captain?"
That might not be so clear to the Vulcan mind. "I mean that she won't have anyone make assumptions about her. If you must continue to observe her, Spock, remember Heisenberg. Dr. Wilson will go out of her way to skew your data. She enjoys being unpredictable."
"Then she is, as she claims, as illogical in her behavior as most humans. That is most interesting."
So is your reaction to the doctor, Kirk thought, but he said only, "Well, Mr. Spock, everyone seems to be digging. Would you care to choose a site for us?"
Spock indicated the permanent building set among the trees. "I should very much like to see the interior of that structure."
"Then let's go, Mr. Spock."
"May I inquire, Captain, as to the state of your recent injury?"
"If that's a warning, Spock, I take your point." Kirk gazed around the encampment to see Brightspot emerging from Stiff Tail's tent. He waved and motioned her to join them. "We'll ask Brightspot. She says she can't hit as hard as Stiff Tail- let's hope she's right."
Brightspot loped over. "Good morning, Captain. Good morning, Mr. Spock."
"Good morning, Brightspot. I have another baby question; and Mr. Spock reminds me that my ears are still ringing from Stiff Tail's response to my last."
Brightspot shook her head: not a negative shake, but a shake as if to clear it. "Mine too," she said. She rubbed the side of her face.
"What did you do to deserve that?"
She hesitated. "Nothing," she said but she turned her head away in an embarrassed fashion.
A typical answer from a typical kid, he thought, then, Typical nosy adult. "Sorry, Brightspot. It's none of my business. As long as you're all right?"
"Oh, sure. Head is harder than hand." That was indisputably a proverb. She clasped her hands, wound her tail to bind her own wrists together, then said, "What's the question?"
Kirk smiled at her elaborate precautions. "We'd like a look inside that building. Is that permitted?"
With an air of relief, Brightspot unbound herself. Her whiskers arched forward. "Oh, sure," she said, "come on- I'll show you." She turned, then stopped abruptly. "Wait. I have to think it through." Her tail twitched with her own impatience.
"There is a problem," she said at last. "I think. Lieutenant Uhura said your people feel free to sing what they have heard. Is that true about other things as well?"
"I'm not sure I understand, Brightspot."
"Would you feel free to make what you have seen made?"
Kirk looked at Spock. "I believe, Captain, that Brightspot wishes to know if we indulge in industrial espionage." The universal translator made hash of that, from Brightspot's reaction. Spock found it simplest to give her a brief description of Federation patent law, followed almost immediately by a more elaborate description of the concept of "law" and how it differed from scientific law.
When he had finished, Brightspot said, "Maybe you'd better tell Winding Path and Stiff Tail in Old Tongue that you won't use their information without their permission."
Kirk said, "We don't speak the Old Tongue, Brightspot. Lieutenant Uhura is the only one who does. But I will give your friends my word, by my law. Will that do?"
"I don't know. It can't hurt to ask."
"You're sure about that...?" Kirk rubbed the side of his head suggestively. Brightspot's tail looped in delight. "I'll ask," she said.
She led them to the building and stuck her tail in. Stiff Tail appeared at the door. Brightspot, to Kirk's amazement, gave Stiff Tail a verbatim account of their conversation- and Spock's involved explanation word for word. When she was done, Stiff Tail looked them over carefully.
"Your Evan Wilson does not understand the Old Tongue, but she was willing to accept Distant Smoke's word that he would not harm her in a 'hug'. Is this a similar usage?"
"It is," Kirk told her, "I give you my word that neither Mr. Spock nor I will divulge any information we receive here without your permission. With one exception: if it's needed to save a life -"
"I accept your word," Stiff Tail said. "Come in. Please don't disturb Winding Path for the moment; if you have any questions, ask me."
They followed. Two steps beyond the threshold, Jim Kirk stopped and stared, disbelieving. "Not quite what I expected," he said at last, when he found his voice. He was not entirely sure what he had expected, a temple perhaps.
This was a temple of science. Not in any religious sense, but in its beauty: like Catchclaw's medical sensors, everything here had been designed with an eye to esthetics as well as to function. The walls were hung with calligraphy- it took him a moment to realize that they were simple charts and graphs. Flasks and retorts were etched or imprinted with designs. The desk at which Winding Path worked was carved and polished wood. Kirk could not imagine a more beautiful environment in which to work, certainly not a more beautiful chemistry lab.
Spock, examining a stack of petrie dishes, said, "You'll notice, Captain, that they do appear to be mass produced."
Stiff Tail seemed amused at this. "They must often be destroyed," she said. "If they were unique, that would be difficult."
"I see. What I do not see, however, is the logical reason for the inclusion of a design on a purely functional item."
"Of what purpose are the designs on the petals of flowers?"
Spock took Stiff Tail's question literally. "On most worlds, they serve in some way to attract or even assist a symbiotic creature that pollinates the plant, providing a broad mix of genetic possibilities, which self-pollination alone would not allow."
Lifting a particularly beautiful retort into a bar of sunlight, Stiff Tail nodded and said, "Precisely. These too serve to attract: Who would prefer to remain indoors for any purpose were the beauty not equivalent to that of the outdoors?"
"There is, of course, the intellectual beauty of the problem itself," Spock said.
From the position of her ears, Stiff Tail seemed to find his suggestion remarkable- no, Kirk thought, not that the suggestion was remarkable, but that Spock should suggest it. "Oh, yes," she agreed. "Come with me, Mr. Spock. I'll show you a beauty of a problem."
Before long, the two of them were engrossed in conversation that left Kirk, who had only a starship captain's knowledge of chemistry, to his appreciation of Sivaoan artistry.
Brightspot puttered about the lab, careful not to disturb anything. For a while, she peered over Winding Path's shoulder and he wrapped his tail affectionately around her, though he neither looked up nor spoke.
At last she wandered back to Kirk and said, in a quiet voice, "You understand that?" Her tail flicked toward Spock and Stiff Tail.
"I'm afraid it's beyond me," he admitted. "You?"
She shook her head, and this time she meant the gesture for a negative. "I like to put things together- or take them apart. Especially tricorders," she added, giving him an impish look. "I'm going to find Evan. Do you want to come?"
It might be a good idea to leave Spock to his rapport with Stiff Tail. He nodded. As he turned to say his good-byes, Brightspot raised the tip of her tail to bar her mouth, a silencing gesture as clear as any human laying an index finger to her lips for silence. Trusting her knowledge of local etiquette, Kirk followed without another word. Stepping into the dappled sunlight, Jim Kirk found himself face-to-.face? with a large creature that looked something like a cross between a donkey and a moss-covered rock outcrop beside a stream. He must have startled it as much as it did him, for it took a single four-footed hop backward, stared at him balefully through long tufts of shaggy green fur, and began to hiccup loudly.
"Oh, don't be a dope," Brightspot said to it. "You'd think he was a slashback." She made shooing motions. "Go on, go. Run home before he eats you."
The creature gave three more hiccups and dashed across the clearing to hiccup urgently to a Sivaoan. The Sivaoan patted it absentmindedly and continued with the business of stri
king her tent.
"Did it scare you?" Brightspot asked. "Oh, but you've never seen one before! It's a quickens. They're not too bright but they're fast, especially if something scares them. They run straight home, right into your tent if you're not careful, so you can protect them from shadows."
Kirk laughed. The creature's hiccups made keeping a straight face impossible- made keeping a straight tail impossible, too, to judge from Brightspot's reaction. Another Sivaoan led a second quickens from the wood; it followed the first's baleful glances in Kirk's direction and added its own intermittent hiccups to those of the first. Two Sivaoans paused in their packing to reassure the beasts, then loaded them with tents and goods and mounted.
"Where are they going, Brightspot?"
