A bit of the Slavic Christmas legend of Babushka and her search for the Christ Child, a bit of Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, the legend of Santa Claus stretched to fit the universe and even a nod to the winter solstice as presented by the crew of Enterprise. I hope you enjoy it. Happy holidays!
The Ancient Tale Of Jonathan The Bearer Of Gifts
Time for a story, children. Have you heard the tale of Jonathan the Bearer of Gifts? You haven't? How extraordinary! It's quite popular throughout all the worlds of this sector, particularly at this time of year, although I suppose it may not have made its way to some of the smaller moons yet. Help yourself to a couple of bowls of refreshments, come lay down by the fire, and I will tell it to you.
Long ago in the days when Maliki the Great was master of this world, bipeds from a distant world called Earth began to explore the heavens. The first, and some would say the greatest of these, was Jonathan of the bloodline Archer and his great silver starship called Enterprise.
Servants to Captain Archer, as he was called then, were many. First among them was T'Pol of the dread desert world Vulcan. She was learned in the ways of science as one might expect, given her pedigree. In newer versions of the tale it is said that she was also mate to Archer, but I do not believe this. In any case, it matters little to the story except to excite improper interest.
Next was Charles of the bloodline Tucker, the third of his lineage to bear this proud name, hence the pet name Trip. He was highly skilled in the ways of all things mechanical. Third was Malcolm of the bloodline Reed. It is said that he was outcast for he flew among the stars rather than swam in the oceans as was the way of the males of his clan, but Archer valued him as guardian of the great silver starship and all who flew in it.
Hoshi of the bloodline Sato was gifted with the knowledge of many tongues and was the one who spoke for the great silver starship. Travis of the bloodline Mayweather was pilot of the great silver starship. He was a biped human like those of Earth, though not born there, but rather amid the stars, the favored son of a great family of traders. Ah, you know of his clan, I see. Yes, they still bring us the most highly sought treats. Last, but not least, was Phlox of Denobula, a world said to be at the edge of the known galaxy. He was a healer of great renown.
Now that you know the players, I will begin the story proper. As I said, long ago when Maliki the Great wore the collar of master, the clan of Enterprise ventured into the heavens to study a great starburst. Alas, there was a miscalculation. Either the ship flew too close or the energy released was much more than expected, and the great silver starship was damaged. It could not run. It had no means to fight in its own defense.
While it was in this vulnerable position, three small, sleek and very fast ships appeared. It was fortunate for Archer and the clan of Enterprise that the masters of these ships were the peaceable, wise elders of their worlds who sought information and directions, but nothing else, for it allowed Hoshi, the speaker of many languages, to provide the only defense the great silver starship needed.
The first master who hailed Enterprise was tall, thin and elegant with long, flowing white hair and beard to match. He looked much like the Great Good Wizard in the talking and moving pictures from Earth that tell the legend of the evil ring of power. His voice was commanding. "I am Melkor. I seek the One Who Was Promised. His star has brought me here. I bring latinum as a gift. Was he born aboard your ship?"
"I am Ensign Hoshi Sato. I speak with the permission of Captain Archer. I am sorry, Melkor, but we have no young aboard our ship. We are not equipped for that," replied Hoshi the Speaker.
The second master who hailed Enterprise was tall but much heavier beneath his voluminous cloak. His skin was dark like that of Travis the Pilot and his voice a rich basso profundo. Well, yes, in size and sound I suppose he does resemble The Hidden One in the talking and moving pictures from Earth that tell of war among the stars long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. But this master was not a hidden one. His large, dark eyes were wise, gentle and perhaps a bit sad. He had thick, curly hair black as the night sky and a beard to match. He spoke to Enterprise saying, "I am Baltasar. I seek the Peacemaker, the Unifier of Worlds. His star has brought me here. I bring the rare purple jewel dilithium as a gift. On your voyage here, have you met any ships with information regarding such a child?"
"I am sorry, Baltasar. We were ordered here to study the star that went nova. We met no one on our journey here. Yours and your companions' are the first ships we have encountered," replied Hoshi the Speaker.
The third master who hailed Enterprise seemed hardly like a master at all. He looked quite ordinary for a biped with tousled brown hair and nice, though not particularly fancy, clothes that were nonetheless a bit rumpled. "I am Caspare. I am looking for the Son of the Awful. I followed His star here and then it stopped. I bring soft silk from the Spider People as a present. Babies don't like itchy, scratchy clothes. They make them cry. Come to think of it, the Spider People probably would, too. They're scary!"
"Caspare, remember why we are here. Ask your question." Melkor firmly but gently guided the third master back to the matter at hand.
"What? Oh, yes. Sorry, Melkor," Caspare answered. Melkor's rebuke had dimmed his smile, but only for an instant. He smiled again in anticipation of the answer as he asked his question, "Is the baby from your world? Or maybe from one of the worlds you passed on your way here?"
Hoshi the Speaker tried to keep from laughing. It would be impolite to do so, but Caspare sounded so much like someone else, like a man in a talking and moving picture from Earth who had said, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." It is said, though, that Hoshi the Speaker considered chocolate her favorite treat and desired it most in stressful situations (as this most certainly was), so perhaps we really don't know what Caspare sounded like.
Regardless, Malcolm the Guardian brought that train of thought to an abrupt end when he asked, "What does he mean, 'Son of the Awful'? That does not sound promising, Ensign."
Hoshi the Speaker checked the universal translator machine and found that it had made a mistake. "Don't worry, Malcolm, grozny means 'awesome' not 'awful' as is 'terrible'."
Malcolm the Guardian crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I should hope so," was all he said, and rather sharply at that. Hoshi blushed in embarrassment as she quickly checked something else on her console.
"Hoshi, are you there? Did you hear me?" Caspare's plaintive voice came over the comm unit.
"I'm sorry, Caspare, but I had to check something to be sure. We've heard nothing about an awesome baby on our world or Vulcan (T'Pol the Scientist raised an eyebrow at this) or even Denobula. I'm afraid we're no help."
Caspare's face fell. "That's all right, Hoshi. It's not your fault." Then he smiled again. "Would you like to come help us look for him?"
Melkor seemed a bit put out that Caspare had made the suggestion. After all, he (Melkor) was the senior master, and it was his place to offer the invitation. Nonetheless, with good grace, he told Archer, "We would very much like for you to join us, Captain, if it is convenient. Another set of eyes would not be amiss, and the Lady Hoshi may be able to gather information from those who might not otherwise understand us."
"Agreed," rumbled Baltasar.
"Thank you all for your kind invitation, gentleman, but I'm afraid we would only slow you down. We must finish repairs to our engines, tidy the ship up a bit and make certain the weapons system is fully operational. One never knows what difficulties one might encounter." Malcolm the Guardian gave his captain a look and thought, "Yes, difficulties often of your too trusting, too open and too talkative making." But he was well trained and would never say such a thing, especially in the presence of others not of the clan of Enterprise. He heard his captain say, "Perhaps we can catch up with you when our housekeeping is done."
"We look forward to it, Captain. Good day," said Melkor.
"A pleasure to have met you. Until then, sir," said Baltasar.
"Nice meeting you. Bye, Hoshi," said Caspare.
One by one, the three small ships powered up and went to warp.
The more Archer thought about it in the 3 star cycles it took to "tidy up", the more intrigued he became about the child. The story was probably no more than a wild rumor that spread along the trade routes faster than a warp 9 engine, still it would be an opportunity to meet new races and perhaps make new friends which was his job, after all. And if the story were true . . . If a child had been born that would one day bring about a great federation of planets . . . Then it was his job to be there to represent Earth.
On the morning of the 4th star cycle, Archer held a meeting of all the elders of the clan of Enterprise. When Trip the Master Mechanic said that the engines were fixed and all the damage had been repaired and when Malcolm the Guardian said that the weapons were back on line, fully charged and finely calibrated, Archer told Travis the Pilot to pick up the trail of the Three Masters. Enterprise was going to join in the search for the Awesome Baby.
Try as they might, though, neither T'Pol the Scientist and her scanning sensors nor Malcolm the Guardian and his targeting array could find any trace of the warp trails left by the ships of the Three Masters. Archer was not deterred by this. They would look for both the Three Masters and the Awesome Baby.
Hoshi the Speaker hailed any ship Enterprise met and made inquires into the Three Masters and the Awesome Baby but with disappointing results. No one had seen them. No one had even heard of them.
One star cycle, after many star cycles of failure, Trip the Master Mechanic and Malcolm the Guardian asked to speak at a meeting of the elders of the clan.
"Cap'n, seems to me we got a problem if and when we finally find the Awesome Kid," said Trip the Master Mechanic.
"What would that be, Trip?" asked Archer.
"We ain't got a present for him," replied the Master Mechanic.
"Even worse," said Malcolm the Guardian, "It is possible that those we have asked have not been truthful. If this child should be as powerful as advertised - The One Who Was Promised, Peacemaker and Unifier of Worlds and Son of the Awesome - then it would not do to overlook him. He would surely not forget the snub, and when he came into his full power . . ." Malcolm the Guardian gave them all a moment to draw their own conclusions.
"So what do you suggest we do, Malcolm?" asked Archer.
"We must provide a gift for any child we meet," he replied.
"We could make 'em. It would keep my staff outta trouble when things get borin'. Yours, too, Mal," Trip the Master Mechanic suggested with enthusiasm.
"Agreed," Malcolm the Guardian said with a sigh.
"Logical," said T'Pol the Scientist.
"Oh, this is going to be fun!" said Hoshi the Speaker and Travis the Pilot.
So this is how Captain Archer became Jonathan the Bearer of Gifts. Trip the Master Mechanic and all the junior mechanics made toys that scurried along the deck or flew through the air. All except the one of the bloodline Hess whose pet name is Lady Fix Things. She arranged kits of pieces that could be made into many toys then knocked down or taken apart to build others, depending on the age of the child.
T'Pol the Scientist made games of logic like the grid of numbers and the multicolored cube. Hoshi the Speaker made games with clues to words that filled in a pattern on paper or tiles with letters on them where children could make their own pattern of words on a board. Chef, another servant who was in charge of the food, made edible treats: Biscuits, cookies, candies to lick and candies to chew. Even Phlox the Healer made medicines that made children well or prevented them from becoming ill in the first place. They actually tasted good like a treat! No more "yuck" faces and no more shots, not even a hypospray.
As time passed, more and more children looked forward to a visit by Jonathan and his great silver starship and the gifts that they'd bring. Without help (and a little magic) not even a warp 9 engine could get him to all the places he needed to visit in search of the Awesome Child.
On the hardscrabble worlds at the edge of the asteroid field, children and adults alike look forward to a visit from Trip the Master Mechanic who is Jonathan's deputy in those parts. The kits devised by Hess, the Lady Fix Things, are highly prized here as mechanical skills are necessary to survive and must be taught and nurtured. Sometimes, once in a blue moon, the Master Mechanic will bring a letter for an older child that invites him to study engineering at the great Starfleet Academy back on Earth, the very school that taught the Master Mechanic himself. At other times, the Master Mechanic repairs failing machinery for the adults. It means their livelihood, if not their lives. It puts him behind schedule, of course, but Jonathan is an easy-going master and does not scold him. Somewhere along the line, children heard that the Master Mechanic likes fish and sweet nut pie and even the poorest house leaves one or the other out for him.
On the cold, dark, icy worlds far from their system's sun, Malcolm the Guardian is Jonathan's deputy. He is very strict and carefully verifies that only polite and obedient children get the best gifts. He checks his big punishment book, and woe to the child who has a record there for he will get only plasma that must be fed to the furnace that heats his home. No toys for him! But this is expected for these worlds are harsh and often instant obedience is necessary to survive. A good child, though, can look forward to a gift of sparklers. It is said that that toy makes one feel as if one were holding a living star. When Malcolm the Guardian leaves in his little pod full of toys, he performs a fireworks display for the delight of all, both young and old, for the bright lights and loud explosions are said to wake the system's sleepy sun and guide its light and meager warmth back to the distant worlds.
What's that you ask? Do the children on the ice worlds leave treats for Malcolm the Guardian, too? Why, yes, they do. They save all year for the sweet/sour golden ring fruit that he fancies. Some have heard that he doesn't much fancy water, so they leave small boats of paper or wood that they believe will magically protect him through the power of love should he or his pod fall through the ice.
What's the matter, Little One? Of course, Jonathan the Bearer of Gifts comes to this world. His chief deputy, the one he loves most of all the clan of Enterprise, would not allow him to forget us. In fact, look how time has flown! They should be here soon. Lick your bowls clean and put them in the sink. Make sure you are well groomed. Don't forget your collars. Hurry, now!
Who is Jonathan's chief deputy? Why, didn't I say before? How silly of me! The chief deputy is Porthos, a quadruped canine and a keen hunter and tracker, just like all of us who live on the worlds of Canis Minor. His sense of smell will guide Jonathan and his pod full of treats to us even though our kennel is far from the others.
It is said that Malcolm the Guardian sometimes privately urges Jonathan to be a stricter master. Perhaps he is too easy going, but you can't trick Porthos, so don't even try. When Jonathan asks if you have been good puppies, Porthos will sniff you as you answer. If you say "yes" and are telling the truth, then he will yip and wag his tail and you will get your treat; but if you say "yes" and are telling a lie, then he will growl and bare his teeth and you will get only a choke chain.
He knows that you tracked muddy paw prints all over you mother's clean floor but blamed it on your brother. He knows that you ran through the kennel wagging your tail and broke the shiny glass bone your sire won at last year's hunt. He knows you've been sneaking kibble out of the bowel we left for him.
What is it, Little One? What happens if Jonathan asks if you have been a good puppy and you say "no" and are telling the truth?
"That would depend on what you did and whether or not you were sorry." The bark has a definite human accent.
Little One and I look up into the intelligent, gentle, green eyes of the Bearer of Gifts. He is indeed magical for both he and Porthos had slipped into the kennel unnoticed despite my many young nieces, nephews and cousins.
"I dug in my momma's flower garden for a bone I hid there before there were flowers. It made her sad. I'm sorry. I won't do it again." Little One has assumed the most submissive posture possible. Porthos sniffs carefully then grooms a spiky patch of fur with gentle strokes of his tongue. He barks something to Jonathan that I don't quite catch.
"In that case, this is what happens," says Jonathan as he reaches into his big bag of treats and pulls out a comfortable new dog bed of just the right size for Little One who yips and joyously licks the human hand that is trying to pet him.
It is said that a few star circuits into his role as Bearer of Gifts, Jonathan reconsidered what he knew of the One Who Was Promised, the Peacemaker and Unifier of Worlds, the Son of the Awesome. He gave further thought to Malcolm the Guardian's warning that things are not always what they seem, a sentiment with which T'Pol the Scientist fully agreed. He had assumed that the Awesome Child would be bipedal and humanoid - in short, would look something like himself. Oh, perhaps he would have pointed ears and a greenish tint to his skin, or antenna and blue skin or perhaps even a pig-like snout, but that was stretching it. As he saw more and more of the universe, however, he asked himself, "Who am I to judge?" So he looked harder and more carefully in places one wouldn't expect. He learned to treat all, no matter how different, with respect; after all, one never knew with whom one might be dealing. Even in this advanced age, it is said that he and the clan of the great silver starship look still for the One Who Was Promised, the Peacemaker and Unifier of Worlds and the Son of the Awesome.