Star Trek - TOS - 30 - DEMONS

by J. M. Dillard

out of the window that overlooked the garden. "Nothing for me,

  thanks," she said cheerfully.

  Spock left to get their drinks.

  "You should see the garden," Anitra said with her back to them. "It's

  incredibly lush compared to the desert out there.. .." She broke off,

  her back straightening suddenly, strangely.

  "What is it?" McCoy asked.

  "I think I see someone out there."

  "You wouldn't happen to be pulling anyone's leg, would you, Ensign?"

  Kirk's tone was cool.

  She turned toward them, and after a glance at her

  expression, both men jumped off the couch and went to the window.

  "Over there," Anitra pointed, "in the bushes."

  "Spock," Kirk called.

  Spock returned, drinks in hand. They did not need to say anything to

  him. He followed their gaze to the window and looked outside.

  "Captain, would you stay here with Anitra? Doctor, would you mind

  accompanying me?"

  McCoy knew, of course, why he was being asked to go along. People who

  were alive did not lie motionless like that, and certainly not in

  thorn-covered bushes.

  It did not surprise McCoy when he knelt down to find that the man was

  dead; nor, for some reason, did he feel any real sense of shock to find

  that the man had died as a result of repeated stab wounds. What

  startled him was that the Vulcan was a dead ringer for Spock, forty

  years from now.

  He looked up at Spock from under lowered lids. "A relative of

  yours?"

  Spock nodded. "I believe he is--was--my uncle." Silek's nephew

  studied him quietly for the first time. His face was composed,

  although covered with bloody scratches where he had fallen against the

  last remaining rosebush, and his wounds, mercifully, could not be

  clearly seen for all the blood.

  "The ahn vahr," Spock said suddenly.

  "The what?"

  "The weapon missing from the wall. It could have been used to inflict

  his wounds."

  McCoy looked up at him. "Do you know why anyone would want to murder

  your uncle?"

  Sarek and Amanda had returned home, and a representative of Vulcan

  security had come .. . only then had anyone thought to look for Starnn.

  He lay on the floor in the guest room, toppled over from the kneeling

  position of ritual suicide, the ahn vahr still in his heart. The

  security representative requested the ahn vahr as well as the two

  bodies for examination. It was assumed that traces of Silek's blood

  would be found on the sword; nevertheless, she also respectfully

  requested that the landing party remain on Vulcan until the following

  day, when the investigation would be completed. In other words, as

  McCoy put it, they were not to leave town, the one thing the landing

  party wanted to do, not wishing to disturb the family's grief. And

  Amanda was clearly stricken, although she did not weep (at least, not

  where she could be seen or heard). Sarek, on the other hand, accepted

  his brother's death calmly.

  And so the landing party spent the night--Anitra in one guest room,

  Kirk and McCoy in another, Spock in his old room. Under the

  circumstances, no one slept well.

  Anitra dreamed that night--dreamed of murder, of the old Vulcan with

  the white hair and the sword through his heart, of Spock's uncle with

  tiny bloody scratches across his face. She was awakened not by the

  dreams, but by a strange noise--an internal humming, like the drone of

  thousands of wings beating in unison. She felt rather than heard them,

  but the source of the silent vibration was definitely external. It

  pulled her from her bed and led her into the spacious central area.

  From the garden window she could see the stars shining clearly, and

  she paused for a moment to locate Sol. It was almost too weak to be

  seen by the naked eye, but it was there. On Earth it was impossible to

  see Eridani without aid, in part because of the brightness of the moon.

  But here the stars were glorious, for no moonlight detracted from their

  brilliance; on the other hand, the lack of it made it difficult for her

  to find her way in the dark. She walked, barefoot, with measured,

  silent steps, one hand held out in front to save her from colliding

  with the furniture, for she knew that the ears of some sleepers here

  were far more sensitive than her own.

  She crossed the central room until she stood in front of a door, the

  edges of which glowed faintly in the darkness. Her pulse quickened.

  She was at once certain that inside lay what had awakened her. She put

  a hand on the door, gently, so that it would not misinterpret the touch

  as a desire to enter, and closed her eyes. They were here, in this

  room.

  The sudden sensation of a presence in the nearby darkness startled her

  so that she whirled around, drawing in her breath sharply. The face of

  the Vulcan was obscured by darkness, but she could sense Spock's

  presence.

  "What we're looking for is here," she whispered just audibly enough for

  him to hear.

  "You are quite certain?"

  She nodded, knowing that he was accustomed to the darkness and could

  see her quite easily.

  "Why would it still be here, with Starnn dead?"

  "I don't know, but it's here." She turned and faced

  the door. "There's no one--at least, no person-inside. I'd like to

  investigate."

  Spock would have liked to disagree, but could find no logical argument.

  Anitra moved so that the door to Sarek's study glided open. She walked

  inside with Spock close behind her.

  The light was off in the study, but its entirety was dimly lit by the

  feeble luminescence of the small black ellipse on Sarek's desk.

  "There," Anitra said, her large eyes focused on it. "In that."

  "Be careful," said Spock, but Anitra was too fascinated to hear him. As

  she neared the object, the glow slowly flickered and began to recede

  toward it.

  When the light had died away completely, the box began to open.

  Anitra's eyes snapped away and found Spock's. "Get out of here," she

  hissed. "NOW."

  They both bolted out the door. Anitra gasped as she landed directly in

  a steely pair of arms, recoiling immediately.

  Sarek was fully dressed, as though he had not been to bed at all. He

  stared intently at them both, and at the open door to the study where

  the faint light emanated once again.

  Don't look at him. The terrified thought passed through Spock's mind,

  and although it was not his own, the urgency of it was such that he

  obeyed.

  "Dr. Lanter was unable to sleep," he said to his father with

  respectfully downcast eyes. "I heard a noise and came to

  investigate."

  Sarek's voice was cold. "She should not wander

  at night, considering what has happened here recently."

  "I won't," Anitra said in a small voice. She turned and made a swift

  retreat toward the guest room. Spock bowed slightly to his father and

  followed her.

  Sarek stared after the two of them for a moment and then went inside

  the study.

  "I'm sorry."

  Ani
tra and Spock were inside the guest room with the light on.

  "Why do you apologize?" he asked. "We were able to escape safely,

  thanks to your alerting me. And it is not your fault that the evil has

  invaded my parents' household."

  Anitra's voice was soft and husky. "More than you know, Spock."

  Spock looked at her questioningly, although he had already guessed what

  was coming.

  "I'm sorry, Spock. Whoever we spoke to tonight . isn't your father

  anymore."

  Spock folded his arms calmly, but Anitra knew him well enough to know

  he would have reacted much the same to a heavy blow to his stomach.

  "Perhaps I suspected as much." He took a deep breath. "Although I'd

  hoped that I was wrong. This changes our plans."

  "No it doesn't. Not yet, anyway. We're still going to the academy

  tomorrow."

  "My mother," Spock said swiftly, firmly, "must be warned. She will

  have to leave. It isn't safe for her to remain."

  "If she leaves, Sarek will know that she knows and come after her. And

  he'll deduce that we told her. Right now, he still doesn't suspect us.

  He only knows that we were drawn for some reason to the study. We

  can't risk it. Not yet." She folded her arms in unconscious imitation

  of him.

  "But the danger .. ."

  "Only to those who know or suspect. Your uncle suspected and warned

  Star Fleet. For that, he was killed. Do you want that to happen to

  your mother? To us?"

  Spock looked intently at a point on the far wall and after a time said,

  "The moment we learn there is a threat to Amanda's safety .. ."

  "We'll take care of it. Until then, we speak to no one."

  "Very well." He shot her a dark glance that she could not interpret,

  then left.

  Apparently, they were not the only ones suffering from insomnia, for

  McCoy stood waiting in the hallway.

  "I thought I heard something," he said quietly. "But I'd convinced

  myself it was an auditory hallucination. A little late to be

  discussing physics, isn't it, Spock?"

  Spock attempted to walk past him without acknowledgment, but McCoy

  stepped in front of him.

  "Don't you realize how this looks, Spock?" His tone was sarcastic, but

  there was a razor-sharp edge to it that Spock was unable to interpret

  for a moment.

  "I have nothing to explain to you, Doctor," he said, and pushed past

  him. McCoy remained in the hallway for a few moments, his eyes

  glittering jealously.

  Vulcan security was as good as its word--the next morn ing, after a few

  questions, the landing party was free to go. It was no small measure

  of irritation to McCoy that only the humans were required to take a

  verifier scan.

  "He's half human," the doctor said irritably to the officer operating

  the scanner, and thrust a thumb at Spock. "Doesn't that make him

  capable of at least exaggeration?"

  With inscrutable Vulcan wisdom, the officer decided that the question

  was unworthy of reply.

  They left Amanda and Sarek to their grief. Spock offered to take

  Anitra on a tour of the Vulcan Science Academy, which she accepted

  enthusiastically, despite McCoy's attempts to convince her otherwise.

  He and Jim were headed for one of the tourist bars in ShanaiKahr.

  Amanda sat up, mysteriously jolted from sleep, and at the same instant

  was painfully disappointed to find herself awake. She had been plagued

  by insomnia since Silek's death, too horrified by the thought of how he

  had died, at what Starnn had become, to relax. Now, in the afternoon,

  sleep had come upon her at last, and just as quickly, slipped away.

  The book she had been reading was still on her lap-an old paper book

  bound in cloth and leather. Her library was always filled with the

  comforting smell of dust and old paper, for the tall shelves in the

  library were lined with hundreds of antique books. The book in

  question had been a childhood favorite, and she had never tired of

  reading it--until now. Sighing, she shut it and put it back on the

  shelf, looking for something

  different to catch her interest. She ran her fingers over the backs

  of the books, but nothing appealed to her. Disgusted, she sat back in

  her chair, now completely wide awake.

  And then her eye caught the title of the volume that rested on the

  small table next to the chair. Letters from the Earth. She had

  carefully set it aside there so that she might remember to read it

  next; perhaps her subconscious had refused to register the book's

  existence until now.

  She picked it up and ran her hand over the gilt and leather cover,

  smiling sadly, touched that Silek had remembered her fondness for such

  things. There was no need to open the book at the middle and turn the

  pages back one by one; the spine had already been cracked once and

  repaired, and the pages were limp from centuries of being handled. Sad

  and warmed at the same time, Amanda began to read.

  After the Table of Contents, before Chapter One, a slip of paper slid

  out and gracefully floated to the floor. Amandaleaned forward to pick

  it up, thinking it to be a used bookmark or an old letter. But the

  paper was crisp and new

  My lady Amanda,

  This is the first time that I shall write you, and the last. I have

  found Starnn murdered, and know that my own time approaches. Do not

  grieve for me.

  What I tell you is the truth, and regardless of how unbelievable it

  sounds, it must be acted upon quickly, without panic. The evil that

  destroyed Hydrilla has survived to infect Starnn. T'Ylle discovered

  this, but paid with her life. It is to my [the word here was archaic

  and Amanda guessed it to mean "sorrow"] that I brought the evil into

  your household.

  You must leave Sarek quickly, immediately, and give this note to the

  authorities. Do not confront him, or you shall meet with the gravest

  consequence.

  Live long and prosper, sister.

  Silek

  Amanda rose, too numbed for thought or reason, and went into her

  bedroom. There her husband slept for the first time in several days,

  and she stood next to the bed, watching him, unthinking, unfeeling, as

  his chest rose and fell in slow, regular intervals. He stirred in his

  sleep and threw a hand across his forehead; in the gray light, she saw

  that his hands and wrists had been scratched.

  With some quiet, detached part of her brain, she wondered how Sarek had

  gotten the scratches.

  A logical explanation, her mind chattered furiously, there must be a

  perfectly logical explanation.. ..

  And the quiet, detached part of her again asked, who killed Silek if

  Starnn had died first?

  A different part of her brain answered, a part that seemed to be

  swelling with panic and threatening to burst. It spoke not with words,

  but a picture she and Silek in the garden, Amanda laughing and saying,

  "I hope it got a mouthful of thorns."

  Cold panic broke through her outer calm, and she felt a sudden urge to

  scream. Instead, she stole quietly from the room and back to the

  library.
She went immediately to the view screen and tried, with

  trembling hands, to conjure the proper frequency, but it

  was not one that she called often. After several desperate,

  unsuccessful tries, the static ceased.

  "This is Amanda Grayson on the planet Vulcan hailing the U.S.S.

  Enterprise."

  "Enterprise. Lieutenant Uhura here." "Get me Commander Spock, please.

  It's urgent." "Ma'am, Commander Spock is still on the planet surface.

  Would you like us to locate him for you?"

  A fist of crushing strength closed on Amanda's wrist. "Tell them no,"

  Sarek said softly. "No," she told Uhura.

  Chapter Four

  "How do you intend to access the information?" Anitra asked. They

  were in Sarek's office in the new physics wing of the academy, and

  behind them the door was closed. Spock sat at the terminal, entering

  data while she leaned over him and squinted at the screen.

  "Very simply," Spock said. "Security records are public domain." He

  leaned back as the screen filled with hieroglyphics.

  Anitra frowned. "My Vulcan isn't that good."

  "Since the return of the expedition, eleven murders." Spock keyed in a

  few more symbols and the screen shifted again.