by Uhura's Song
Jinx heard the question and pushed to his other side. "She gave us a close one," she said. "She thinks Brightspot's too young to Walk, but she can't stop her from going. So she did the best she could to help."
"That's the best answer we're going to get to your question, Dr. Wilson," Kirk said. "Let's see if we can get this expedition organized, shall we?"
Jinx said, "You'll need weapons. I'll get the wood." She flicked her ears back abruptly. "You don't have knives!" she said. "Or usefuls!" Before Kirk could respond, Jinx snatched at Distant Smoke and repeated this.
His ears too flicked back and he, in turn, grabbed two others. Kirk could see the word spread through the crowd. Moments later, the rest rushed to and fro, gathering items from their tents and piling them onto an outstretched useful Distant Smoke provided.
Leaving Jinx in charge, Distant Smoke vanished briefly himself- to return almost immediately with Rushlight and Stiff Tail in tow. Stiff Tail had lost none of her anger, but she appeared to have regained her control. She called the crowd to quiet. "We must come to a decision," she said. Distant Smoke undercut her by dropping his burden noisily into the pile.
She showed him her teeth but went on. "Some of the members of this traveling party are unfamiliar with our world and our customs," she said. "This leaves them at a disadvantage we would do well to redress. I ask that they be permitted to retain some few technological items on their Walk."
"What items?" demanded a voice from the crowd.
"First," said Stiff Tail, "because they have no protective fur, I ask that they be allowed to retain their clothing and their boots."
"Seems fair," said the same voice, "if only because they'd frighten the children in Sretalles with their lack of fur." Tails looped on all sides.
"Agreed?" asked Stiff Tail. There was no dissent so she continued, "Secondly, I ask that they be allowed to retain their translation devices. One cannot cooperate without communication."
Kirk tensed. Stiff Tail was right: without the universal translators, the trip would be impossible.
There was discussion of this, and Jim Kirk sweated out the decision. At last Rushlight put in, "A bard is nothing without a song to sing. Let them have their bard and her words."
"Agreed?" asked Stiff Tail, snatching at the opportunity Rushlight provided. Again there was no dissent.
"Third," she said, and a ripple of disapproval went through the crowd. Two items, they might agree to, given the extraordinary circumstances, but a third...Kirk knew she was asking too much. He doubted they'd allow phasers under any circumstances. This was, after all, a test of their ability to survive without such supports.
"Third," she repeated, "I ask that they be allowed to retain the devices that permit them to contact the others of their kind."
"On what grounds?" demanded Winding Path; his tail whipped twice.
Kirk, who had kept contact with the Enterprise as discreetly as possible, started. That he did not like at all. If it was cheating to carry communicators on the Walk, it was cheating in the line of duty. He had no wish to be cut off from the Enterprise for any extended length of time.
"On the grounds that their families may worry about their safety," Stiff Tail said.
Winding Path scoffed. "And you won't worry about Brightspot, Stiff Tail? Every mother worries about her child's Walk- often for years before they take it. If the traveling party is in constant communication with their families, it might be tempted to rely on the advice of others. That is no Walk, Stiff Tail. I say no to this request."
Rushlight said, "Will you make no allowance for their unfamiliarity with our world, Winding Path?"
"They are familiar enough to wish to attempt the Walk. I have made sufficient allowances already." The two stood nose-to-nose, tails twitching.
"Enough," said Stiff Tail.
Almost reluctantly, she asked, "What is the decision?"
This time, Kirk could see, it was against them; that gave him grave second thoughts about the project. Stiff Tail said to him, "You will not be allowed your communication devices."
Evan Wilson said, "And my medical sensors, Stiff Tail? We have no way of knowing what foods are safe without them. Would you have us poisoned?"
Ears flicked back around the circle. "I had not thought of that," Stiff Tail said. She glanced around her as if expecting dissent, but Rushlight glared Winding Path silent.
"Medical supplies are okay," someone else pointed out and, to Kirk's relief, the rest agreed the sensors fit this category.
"But," said Winding Path, "we have had enough exceptions for one Walk."
Even someone as stubborn as Stiff Tail knows when to give in, thought Kirk. "Yes," she said, "we have had enough exceptions for one Walk. Who will carry our decision to Sretalles?"
I guess they like to tell the next camp to expect the kids, Kirk thought, as Distant Smoke volunteered and was accepted. That way, someone will look for the injured survivors if they don't arrive within a reasonable amount of time. Injured survivors, he thought again and knew he needed a word with Spock in private. The loss of the communicators was a serious complication.
As the crowd began to thin, Stiff Tail fixed him with a stare and said sharply, "Captain Kirk, your people have no knives, no usefuls. As unprepared as you are, I cannot deny you the Walk. Do you wish to reconsider? Any one of you may." She avoided Brightspot's eyes.
"We have no other way of learning the information we need, Stiff Tail," he said carefully and, when she did not contradict him, "I must make the Walk. I leave the others to their own decision." He hoped that the loss of the communicators would deter some of them, but he should have known better. One by one, again, they agreed to the journey; and by the custom, he could not order them to stay behind.
Stiff Tail looked over the landing crew. "You are as stubborn as my own child," she said. "So- my people wish to lend you these things. You will need them." To each in turn, she and Rushlight gave a beautifully designed knife and a half dozen usefuls.
When she came to Wilson, she paused and said, "I have lost four of my children before they came of age. They Walked too soon or too often. Don't be angry with me, Brightspot. I do not mean to imply that you are unprepared, nor do I blame Evan Wilson for your decision: only you could have made it. I only mean to say..." She proffered knife, hilt first, and a neatly folded bundle of shimmering usefuls. "These belonged to one who took the other trail to adulthood. I wish to make you a gift of them. May they serve her memory and her blood and the friend of her blood well."
To Kirk's surprise, Evan Wilson made no move to accept. "The gift of a knife?" she asked. And when Stiff Tail nodded, she went on, "I'm honored by your offer, Stiff Tail, but I cannot accept without a pledge that is, to me, as binding as any you might make in Old Tongue."
"What pledge? I will observe your custom if it is possible for me to do so."
"You must take the knife and make a small cut in your skin and in mine...." As solemnly as any child, Evan Wilson proposed blood-sisterhood to Stiff Tail. Stiff Tail listened carefully and, when Evan was done, she nodded, laid aside the usefuls and made a nick in the heel of her thumb. Wilson offered her outstretched hand. Stiff Tail hesitated. "Please," said Wilson. "You must." Stiff Tail steeled herself and made the cut.
As the blood welled bright against Evan's pale skin, Stiff Tail jumped back, but Evan caught her hand and pressed their palms together, knife blade flat between their two hands. "This knife knows we are of one blood," she said. "This knife knows the taste of that blood. This knife protects that blood wherever it pulses. May Elath hear and strengthen us down the years and across the seas." She suddenly clasped and released Stiff Tail's hand. "It's done," she said. "Now I may accept your gift."
Matching Evan's dignity, Stiff Tail again extended the knife; this time Evan took it. Evan turned to Brightspot and said, "Daughter of my sister, would you help me find the proper wood for my weapon? I prefer a quarterstaff to a spear any day."
Brightspot swelled with pride at the n
ew status conferred on her. "Quarterstaff?" she said. "I don't know what that is, sister of my mother."
"I'll show you - I'm sure it's legal. It's only a spear without a point."
Kirk, who continued to watch Stiff Tail, saw what Evan had done: she had promised to bring Brightspot through, safe and sound. We all do, he thought, but she found a way to say so without being asked. Stiff Tail knows we're adults and she can't admit it publicly.
Rushlight broke the silence. "Lieutenant Uhura," he said, "I would also like to make a gift. Does your culture require the same ritual?"
"No, it doesn't," said Uhura. "My culture gives and accepts gifts freely; and those between friends, with deep feeling."
"Then you will accept this with my deep feeling," he said, pressing a similar bundle into her hands. "I have no child to give it to and it would give me great pleasure to think of you as my child who leaps from world to world."
Uhura took the knife and usefuls in one hand; with the other, she slipped her earrings from her ears. These she held out to him. "Because you like them so. We say"- she smiled brilliantly- "I suppose because our memories are not as good as yours- 'I would like you to have something to remember me by."' She took his hand and closed his fingers gently over the two gold rings. "I shall never forget you, Rushlight."
He looped his tail almost mischievously. "I'll see that you don't. You'll sing my songs yet, Lieutenant Uhura. Come, we still have much to discuss." He led her away.
Jinx said, "Spears."
Kirk nodded and said, "Spears. You and Mr. Chekov will see to that. Mr. Spock, I'd like a word with you in private."
The groups went their separate ways. Kirk waited until the others were well out of earshot, then turned off his universal translator as well. "Spock, I don't like traveling without the communicators. Any suggestions, short of canceling the whole trip?"
"One."
Spock was being exasperatingly literal again. Kirk said, "Then what is it, Mr. Spock?"
"With your permission, Captain, I shall modify one of Dr. Wilson's medical sensors. As they are tied to the ship's computers, Mr. Scott would be able to monitor our position on the surface of the planet."
"But we wouldn't be able to speak to Scotty -"
"It should be possible to devise a code to cover most circumstances, Captain, but Mr. Scott would be unable to reply."
"I'll take what I can get, Spock. See to it. And if Wilson gives you any trouble about it, tell her it's her sensor or no trip. No, cancel that: I'll tell her myself."
Kirk and Spock did not find Wilson for almost an hour, when she and Brightspot emerged from the forest. Kirk readied himself for battle. "Better the weapon you know," she said, by way of greeting, and brandished a length of stout wood. "Captain, you look positively grim." She pointed Brightspot toward Jinx and Chekov and nudged. "I'll be along in a minute, Brightspot."
Wilson held up a slim finger. "One minute, Captain," she said, turning off her translator, "before I forget- Mr. Spock, I'm not sure of the ethics of this, but I'd personally feel better if Scotty could find our remains." She opened her medical kit and handed him one of the sensors. "You can jury-rig this, can't you, so it'll at least transmit an S.O.S?" She turned to Kirk. "It's up to you, Captain, but medically speaking I'd prefer it, even if Scotty can't talk back."
"But your sensor...?"
"Captain, there are very few medical problems that can't be diagnosed by eye, ear, finger and occasionally nose- and none of those are the kind that would be emergencies in the middle of a five-day trip on foot. I didn't give Spock the sensor that tells me the severity of a concussion, or lets me distinguish between a bruised and a broken rib." She gave him a fierce look and added, "I wouldn't."
"Thank you, Dr. Wilson," said Spock. "With your permission, Captain, I shall see to it." Only when Spock was gone did Jim Kirk realize he was not anxious to be left alone with Wilson.
"Captain," she said, "is something wrong?"
"I thought you played by the rules, Evan."
She chuckled. "I do: your rules, since you chose to impose them, not Leonard's, and not Stiff Tail's. Look, I know it's a technical violation, but neither of us wants to see anybody dead because of Stiff Tail's stubbornness."
He shook his head. "It's your damn talent for being one step ahead of everybody else."
"Captain?" A small, worried frown spread across her face.
He laughed, mainly at himself. "Spock had thought of it," he explained, "and I was gearing up to fight you for your sensor."
For once he seemed to have surprised her. She rammed the end of her staff into the ground and leaned her cheek against it, still looking up at him. At last, she said, "Sorry to have disappointed you, Captain. I'll try to live up to your expectations in the future."
He laughed aloud.
As they started over to join the others, he found himself saying, "One other thing, Evan. I'd be pleased if you'd call me Jim from time to time, as the occasion suits."
"Seems unmilitary of me," she said. "Suppose I get the wrong occasion? You may have noticed that I don't deal with all this red tape and rank terribly well."
"Professional hazard," he said, thinking of Bones. "What's gross insubordination in Engineering is SOP in the medical ranks. And you did say you liked to call people what they wished to be called."
"I did. That's the problem." She smiled slightly and did not elucidate.
A strange tapping sound distracted them both before he could bring himself to question her. They turned to see Chekov, surrounded by an audience of assorted Sivaoans, banging rocks together. At least, that seemed to be what he was doing. Wilson hurried on ahead for a closer look.
By the time Kirk worked his way through the crowd, Wilson was standing behind Chekov, devoting her full attention to his project. Deftly, and with great determination, Chekov chipped away at the stone in his palm with a second stone. Finally he stopped and made meticulous scratches; and, grinning boyishly, he held up the finished object for Wilson's inspection.
"Mr. Chekov," she said, "you can be in my lifeboat anytime! Why did you add your initials? I'll grant them out of justified pride, but it doesn't seem likely your work would be mistaken for anyone else's on this world. They've obviously never seen the like!"
"Hebit," said Chekov, flushing. "Et home, if I didn't scretch my initials on them, they turned up in collections- once in a museum!"
Wilson laughed delightedly. She tossed the object to Kirk. "Have a look, Captain. There's something you don't often see- a brand-new, Freshly chipped neolithic point. What kind is it?" The last was directed at Chekov.
"Ectually," he said, looking somewhat embarrassed, "it's a Chekov point. I could make you some other kind, if you prefer?"
"A Chekov point?"
"Yes, sair. We held a contest to see if we could improve the technology...." He trailed off and concentrated again on his work.
The object Jim Kirk held in his hand was a flint spearhead, something he'd only seen in museums. Jinx took it from him, considered it from all angles with awe and proudly fixed it to the end of her stick. Wilson went on, "No preference, Mr. Chekov. You're the expert, and I'd just as soon take your recommendation." She searched behind her, found another stool and pulled it up. "Show me," she said, "if it won't interfere with your work."
He shook his head and picked through the pile of stones at his feet to find several more suitable ones. When he looked up, he said, "Jinx says they're legal, Keptain. Enything we make with our hends and our knives is ecceptable technology."
"That anthropology teacher of yours ought to be teaching a course at Starfleet Academy. Remind me to put in a recommendation to that effect when we return to the Enterprise," said Kirk.
Chekov looked enormously pleased. "Thenk you, sair. I will." He began to chip away at a new stone.
Wilson watched him carefully and copied the procedure with fierce determination. Soon Jinx had also taken up stones, and the air rang with the sound of their industry. But before Kirk coul
d try his hand at stone knapping, a dark hand touched his elbow. "Captain," said Lieutenant Uhura, "Rushlight would like to speak with you. I don't know what it's about, but I- think you should listen."
"Lead on, Lieutenant. Our weapons officer seems to have things well in hand. Carry on, Mr. Chekov." Chekov scarcely nodded.
Kirk followed Uhura to Rushlight's tent, well outside the main encampment. Rushlight greeted Uhura with a curl of his tail. To Kirk, he said, "Lieutenant Uhura tells me you make decisions for your group, Captain Kirk. I'd like to offer you some further assistance. I too leave for Sretalles tomorrow. If you wish, I will carry that equipment you are not permitted with me; that way, your devices will be waiting for you when you arrive."
Kirk had planned to have Scotty beam the extraneous equipment back to the Enterprise, but this would be a better solution. If- he didn't like to think of the possibility but he had to be prepared for every contingency- if they did not reach Sretalles, Scotty would have a fix on the location of the camp in order to beam down a search party. As friendly as Rushlight seemed, Kirk was not about to entrust him with phasers. He compromised: the phasers would go back to the Enterprise; the rest would travel to Sretalles with Rushlight.
