The Abode of Life

by Lee Correy

  Chapter Twelve

  The regular Briefing Room was not used for any of the meetings with the Mercans. Kirk chose instead to set up a complete briefing and conference room on Deck 11 in the Interconnecting Dorsal of the ship. There was a definite reason for this: the standard lounge on Deck 11 had viewports on both sides of the room through which the outside of the Enterprise, the slow march of the planet Mercan beneath the orbiting star ship, and the brilliant glow of the Orion and Sagittarius Arms of the Galaxy or the disc of Mercaniad, could be seen at all times by everyone in the room. The psychological impact was felt even by Kirk the first time he walked in to inspect the facilities before meeting there with the Technic.

  Kirk had gotten used to the claustrophilic life to which every star traveler must adapt. Serving aboard a star ship means living in a closed artificial environment with no actual view of the outside universe except as may be provided from time to time by viewscreens. Kirk's duties rarely permitted him to visit the lounge decks in the Interconnecting Dorsal where viewports were provided through which crew members could actually see out of their little artificial world.

  So the visual impact of actually seeing Mercan and the glittering bands of light of the Galactic Arms was almost overwhelming, even to him. He stepped out of the turbolift and walked to the port side, where he stood for a long moment, watching the blue, white, green, and brown surface of the Abode of Life slide past. He turned to find Scotty at his side.

  "Captain," the Engineering Officer said softly in a highly unusual expression of Gaelic emotion, "sometimes I dinna think we take enough time to smell the flowers as we go tearin' around the Galaxy. . . ."

  If the setting had that sort of impact on Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, who usually saw beauty in nothing except engineering drawings and operational manuals, Kirk knew that this was the proper site for the discussions with the Mercans. . . .

  If only he could now manage to get Pallar and the other Guardians up here to see this without using force to do so!

  Insofar as Kirk was concerned, there was no question about it: he had to force them to come here if necessary. If the Guardians persisted in acting like stubborn children, Kirk had resigned himself to the fact that he would have to rub their noses in it … hard.

  He thought he knew what the reaction of the Technic people would be, but had serious doubts as to how Lenos and his Proctors would behave. However, Kirk underestimated the psychological impact in both instances.

  When Thallan, Delin, Othol, and Orun stepped off the turbolift onto the Deck 11 lounge, all four of them stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the universe beyond the viewports on both sides.

  Kirk stepped forward to welcome Thallan, but found that the Technic leader was utterly stunned by the sight. The elderly Mercan merely looked from side to side, trying to fit what he was seeing into his own concepts.

  "Welcome, Thallan. There is your Abode of Life," Kirk told him.

  In spite of what was now an extensive exposure to the Mercan language, none of the people aboard the Enterprise had really learned how to speak it, and Translators were still used … although everyone was getting used to them by now and hardly noticed them except when the devices failed to make a translation and uttered the equivalent of a stammer.

  This was the case with Kirk's Translator when Thallan gave vent to an emotional quasi-religious phrase in the Mercan language that simply would not translate. Yet, from Thallan's tone of voice, Kirk knew that the Technic leader was emotionally stirred. He finally pulled himself together to the point where he said to Kirk, "I have spent my life on the Abode, working to justify the belief that there was more to the universe and to life than just the Abode. . . . I was elated when we traveled to the Enterprise, but it was just like working in the windowless Keeps. Even the viewscreens you have did not give me the feeling that I'm getting now. Here I am facing the reality of what I've mentally believed all my life … and it's almost too much for me to accept."

  Kirk had timed the meeting carefully. As the Mercans stood there in awe of the sight before them, the white-bright disc of Mercaniad touched the curved horizon of Mercan, slipped below the planet's limb, and splayed bands of color in both directions through the Mercanian atmosphere. As quickly as it happened, it was gone.

  And the brilliant bands of the Orion and Sagittarius Arms of the Galaxy became visible, brighter than the Mercans had ever seen them before, now that there was no atmosphere to attenuate the light.

  "Thallan, why didn't you tell us it could be so beautiful?" Delin wanted to know.

  "Because one cannot truly describe beauty that one has never experienced. . . ."

  Othol was at the starboard viewports, looking out at the galactic arms. "There is where we came from. And,

  Kirk, you say those are uncountable numbers of suns like Mercaniad?"

  "Some of them are bigger than a hundred Mercaniads," Spock pointed out.

  Thallan shook his head. He indicated the three young Mercans. "They will have an easier time adjusting to these new realities than I, even though I have thought about them for longer than they have lived."

  "Honored guests of the United Federation of Planets," Kirk said, the Translator sounding out the full syllables of the formal, stilted-sounding Mercan language in response to Kirk's use of the full formal Federation language of diplomacy. "Please sit down so that we may talk. I've asked Mister Spock, Mister Scott, and Doctor McCoy to join me so that your group and my group may be of equal size and importance. Yeoman Janice Rand won't take part in our discussions but will make a record of them for the mutual use of both our groups, should we wish to refer later to some matter we have discussed. Is this arrangement satisfactory to you?"

  Kirk had deliberately elimated the usual conference table because in the entire time he had spent on the Abode, he'd never once seen the Mercans sit around a table. When he and the rest of the landing party had been grilled by Pallar and the Guardians, there'd been no table. Kirk knew why. Everyone was armed … including the four Star Fleet officers and Yeoman Janice Rand, all carrying Mark II hand phasers in full view. In addition, Kirk wore the Mercan sidearm that Orun had purchased for him in Celerbitan. Armed citizens operating under a code duello could not confer in an environment where part of them was hidden as it would be if seated around a table. Only Yeoman Rand was seated with a small desk beside her on the aft side of the deck. Nor could Kirk assume that firearms would be placed upon the table; he assumed that a sidearm in a holster was the only acceptable place for it to be when it wasn't in social use by the Mercans. He was right.

  "Would you care for refreshment?" Kirk asked after they had seated themselves in a semicircle of seats facing one another.

  Thallan declined. "We assume you have asked us to meet with you so that we may discuss the new situation on the Abode created by your arrival here and your subsequent stabilization of Mercaniad."

  "Partly," Kirk replied.

  "I'm not certain that the four of us are authorized or qualified to speak for or on behalf of the Technic group in matters involving the future course of events on the Abode," Thallan pointed out.

  "Would you wish to return to the Abode at your convenience to discuss matters with your Technic Peers?" Kirk asked. He was willing to do that for any of the three groups, but he was not about to let them go back down without an escort from the Enterprise: a group of selected security people. "We can arrange that easily. But for now, we would speak with you as temporary representatives of the Technic Peers. We also intend to speak privately with a group from the Proctorate as well as with a group of Guardians here in this room where they can see what everyone else has seen. We'll then bring all three groups here to meet together concerning your future political arrangement on the Abode while we of the United Federation of Planets sit by to advise you concerning the Federation, should you care to apply for membership."

  "You intend to bring these three Mercan groups together?"

  "We do. And we will not interfe
re with the deliberations that must take place between them."

  "You don't intend to side with the Technic in bringing about the new order of things on Mercan?" Othol asked incredulously.

  "We don't live on the Abode. It's your problem that you must solve yourselves," Kirk explained. "Under the provisions of our own code, we can't intervene in your affairs on the Abode."

  "But—" Othol began.

  "But," Kirk broke in, "we can assist you by showing you, the Proctorate, and the Guardians how similar problems of living together have been solved on other abodes. That's one reason why I asked you to meet with us now. When the Proctorate and the Guardians each meet privately with us, they'll be told and shown the same things that we'll tell and show you. But how we tell and show you things will depend upon your answer to this simple question: Do you now believe that we came from the Ribbon of Night out there"—Kirk indicated the glowing spiral galactic arms outside the starboard viewports—"and that there might be other abodes similar to yours there as well?"

  "Yes." All four Mercan Technics answered together without hesitation.

  "Good. That makes our job easier," Kirk replied. "Each of us has worked with the library computer of the Enterprise to assemble a visual presentation of the Universe as we now believe it to be, accompanied by a brief description of life on some of the abodes of the Federation and an outline of our individual specialized fields of knowledge. I'll discuss the Federation and its history. Mister Spock will give you a brief rundown on the general level of scientific knowledge. Doctor McCoy will discuss our medical technology as well as the life forms of some of the abodes. And Mister Scott will talk about our technology, engineering, and the star ship Enterprise. But this is not a unilateral meeting. Once we have told you about us, we want you to tell us about yourselves, about Mercan, about the Technic, and about your knowledge. Everything that we do together must always be a mutual exchange, and the first thing that we must exchange in order to achieve later agreement is information about one another. Is this agreed?"

  Thallan looked upon the dark surface of his world below, then out at the galactic arms thrown across the black sky of space. "I didn't expect that you, with all your power and weaponry, which far exceeds ours, would meet us on an equal level. Our own history is not devoid of stories of conflicts and conquests of the stronger over the weaker before the days of the Code of the Abode when the contests were brought down to the level of individual confrontations. James Kirk, you of the Federation are not only stranger than we originally thought you must be, but stranger than we ever thought possible."

  "You're not describing just the Federation, Thallan. That's the way we look upon the entire Universe!"

  Captain's Log: Stardate 5079.3

  The plan of the meetings that was thrashed out between Mister Spock, Doctor McCoy, Mister Scott, and I may work after all. I'm very encouraged after our meeting with the four Mercan Technics … but I have to keep reminding myself that this is the easiest of the three Mercan groups we're going to meet. The Technic group will most certainly make my job easier, even though they're initially opposed to granting any position to the Guardians in the new arrangement; the Technic people aboard believe that the Guardians' role is no longer required and that the Technic can now assume that mantle of semipriesthood. But Thallan and the rest have to mull over what they saw and heard during the meeting … and they're not stupid people. They all took copious notes during our presentations, writing furiously in that script of theirs that appears so much like Arabic. Thallan wants to return to the surface, but I don't want to let any of them off the ship until we've met with the Guardians … which are going to be the toughest of the three groups to work with.

  I'm trying very hard not to play the conquistador role by leading these people in any direction.

  They've got to work out their differences themselves. None of us aboard knows enough about the Mercan civilization yet to force a viable arrangement on them that would work, much less endure long enough to prevent a planetary civil war. The only thing I insist I must do is to keep hammering away at them, if necessary, to compromise and come to an agreement. That is why these meetings will take place here aboard the Enterprise, where one disenchanted or stubborn faction can't go storming out of the conference to whip up that civil war. I won't let them off the ship to do it. I must make this work … or it will be a long time before Star Fleet has the opportunity to listen to this. . . .

  Kirk didn't meet Prime Proctor Lenos and three of his Proctors on Deck 11, as he had the Technic group. He showed up with Spock, Scotty, and McCoy in the staterooms where the Proctors were being kept in security detention. Basically, Kirk didn't want to take any chances with the chief paramilitary person of the Abode, although he knew that he'd be required to follow protocol. Therefore, the Federation group would accompany the Proctors from their detention staterooms along a well-planned route to Deck 11 with ship security personnel stationed inconspicuously along the route … all armed with phasers set for stun. The Federation group wore full dress uniforms, and both Kirk and Scotty carried their Mercan sidearms in addition to hand phasers in full view, Scotty draping his baldric over his shoulder and kilt.

  "Proctor Lenos," Kirk announced as they entered the Prime Proctor's stateroom, "the four of us from the United Federation of Planets would be honored to have you and three of your chosen Proctors accompany us to a place where we may talk as equals concerning the future of the Abode. This will be a peaceful exchange of information between equals. As such, we'll return your weapons to you for the meeting so that we may indeed be equals. But our code does not match your code, and I must tell you that we'll permit no violence on the part of the Proctor group. Will you agree to meet under those terms?" Kirk extended Lenos' long-barreled Proctorate repeating firearm butt-first toward the Prime Proctor.

  Lenos looked the Federation group over carefully, noting that each was armed, some properly with Mercan weapons, and all with the strange but powerful weapons he did not understand. He also noted that they'd dressed differently than he'd seen them before; their clothing bore more ornaments and sigils of rank and was therefore obviously attire worn when conferring with those of extremely high position such as himself. He stood up, reached for his armored helmet, placed it upon his head, and reached for the weapon that Kirk extended toward him. "It is agreed. I would prefer to talk and exchange information than to sit in this room doing nothing. There is much that we must talk about, and much that I would like to know."

  "There may be more to know than you're aware of, Prime Proctor," Kirk told him, releasing the weapon to him.

  It was an unusual parade that strode through the corridors and passageways of the Enterprise to the turbolift—a column of twos with each Proctor being accompanied by one of the Federation parley group. The security forces were not in evidence.

  When the turbolift door swished open on the Deck 11 meeting room and Kirk stepped out with Lenos at his side, the Prime Proctor marched ten steps into the room … and stopped. Fortunately, this was far enough into the room to permit the others to clear the turbolift.

  Mercaniad shone through the starboard viewports, which had been polarized to cut down the glare.

  On the port view, the Proctors could look down and see the island of Celerbitan passing beneath the orbiting star ship. There would be no question in the mind of any Mercan that this was Celerbitan, for all who used the traveler would have learned the geography of the Abode through the Traveler Directory. Again, Kirk's planning group had thought through every detail of each separate meeting, and this one was timed to provide the proper impact for the Proctors.

  It overimpacted Lenos.

  He slowly removed his helmet, muttering something in a voice so low that the Translators couldn't pick it up. His helmet suddenly clattered to the deck and he became ramrod-stiff, staring out the viewports toward his home planet for the first time, seeing and yet not wanting to see.

  Spock, who was right behind him, saw what had happened
to the Prime Proctor. "Severe psychotrauma," the Vulcan First Officer observed, and stepped around in front of Lenos.

  He was quickly joined by McCoy, who looked at the Prime Proctor and said, "He's probably on the edge of catatonia, Spock."

  Spock nodded, then placed his right hand over the Prime Proctor's face. His own face showed strain as he closed his eyes.

  "Spock, no! You've never tried mind meld with a Mercan before!" Kirk objected. "They're close enough to you that you could—"

  "Captain, Spock must try," McCoy replied, because Spock was totally concentrating on Lenos. "The Mercan's gone into traumatic psycho-shock. He can't permit himself to believe what he's seeing, because his Proctorate training won't allow it. Spock must break through that … or you'll never be able to confer with any Proctor up here."

  A low moan came from Spock, who then began to mumble Vulcan and Mercan words. Finally he groaned, "Yes … yes. . . . It is not all wrong. . . . It is only part of what is true. . . . The Abode is real. . . . You are real. . . . This is real. . . ." He gave an almost explosive exhalation of breath, then opened his eyes and removed his hand from Lenos' forehead.

  Lenos' eyes snapped open and he looked directly at Spock. "You have been very helpful, and I will not forget it, Spock."

  Spock turned his head to Kirk and explained quietly, "A Proctor cannot permit himself to faint. . . ."

  The other three Proctors did not go into the same degree of psycho-shock as Lenos, but one would not expect that from other than a Proctor who had exhibited the discipline and mental rigidity to rise to the very top of such a paramilitary organization. However, McCoy and Spock spoke to each of them quietly, more to assure themselves that there was no problem than to offer the sort of therapy that Spock had conducted with Lenos.