The Secret Gate, chapter 4

"Hurry, Saavik. They're probably already waiting for us."

"Patience, Elizabeth." Saavik sat on the edge of the bed and reached for her shoes. "We told them that we would be ready at 1900 hours. We still have ten minutes."

Despite her outward calm, Saavik could not help but experience anticipation, as well. As had become customary, they were to join Bryce and Theo at the corner taverna for a meal. It was not the thought of the meal that caused her heart to beat faster, however. It was the thought of what would happen after their meal.

The first eight days of their vacation had passed in a whirlwind of sightseeing, long afternoons on the beach, and the sampling of a variety of native foods. The best part of all had been the routine into which the four of them had fallen at night, returning to the beach every evening for the past four days. Unfailingly, Elizabeth and Theo would vanish for long periods, and although Saavik suspected that she knew how they filled their time, she did not ask. At any rate, she had come to count on those absences because they left her alone with Bryce.

She ducked her head, pretending to adjust her shoes as she felt the heat rise to her face. Who could have predicted that she would become so eager for physical contact? She had even caught herself allowing her mind to wander at the most inopportune times, imagining how tonight he would lead her down to a secluded outcropping of rocks, tonight they would share their appreciation for the beauty of the island, tonight he would pull her close and kiss her, his hands strong as they caressed her ever more boldly. And how she would respond, pressing herself against him, aching for something more, something she wanted so badly she thought she might burst. The problem was that she did not understand exactly what it was she wanted—the Vulcan in her craved mental contact, but the Romulan in her yearned for something much more base and raw—and until she could reveal all her secrets to him with confidence, she must satisfy herself with less. If that could truly be called satisfaction.

"Saavik! For heavens sake, if your shoes aren't comfortable by now, maybe you should just go barefoot."

Feeling the heat rise to her face yet again, Saavik straightened, shaken from her reverie by Elizabeth's voice.

"I am ready, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth shook her head, not fooled, but followed Saavik out of the bedroom without comment. Nyota looked up from her seat on the sofa as they passed.

"Out for another night on the town?"

"Yes," replied Elizabeth. "We're going down to the corner for supper. You and Spock should eat there sometime. It's really good."

"No, thanks. That must be the in-place for the young crowd. Spock and I will stick with the quiet taverna down on the beach."

"All right. See you later, then."

"Have fun."

Nodding a farewell, Saavik followed Elizabeth down the steps, and they stepped out to find Theo and Bryce waiting on the street. Bryce smiled brilliantly when he saw her, and she was struck yet again by his sheer physical presence. Except for Nyota, she had never seen another being that she would describe as beautiful, but there was no denying the fact of Bryce's beauty. And when he looked at her, she could see that he thought she was beautiful, too.

Amazing.

He squeezed her arm lightly, and together they walked down to the taverna.

...

Smiling, Uhura toyed with her glass and thought about the glow she'd seen on Saavik's face when the young woman had left their villa earlier this evening. She'd been on cloud nine! Could it be that she had actually fallen in love? Uhura had wanted more than anything to pump her for details, but she'd refrained. Saavik would talk when she was ready to talk. She was just like Spock in that respect, although historically she was usually ready to talk a lot sooner than he was.

She glanced over her shoulder as she thought about Spock, but of course he wasn't anywhere to be seen. He'd stated that he wanted to meditate this evening, but she'd felt restless and decided to come ahead to their taverna without him. She missed him now, though, and she wished that she'd waited. This had been a good vacation. They'd both been relaxed and comfortable the entire time, and they had seen so little of Saavik and Elizabeth that they might as well have come alone.

She closed her eyes and inhaled, and her attention was so focused on identifying the scents in the sea air that she was startled when a deep voice spoke behind her.

"Is this seat taken?"

She looked up in disbelief, but a moment later felt a wicked smile spread across her features. Pitching her voice as low and sultry as possible, she replied, "Why, no, it's not. Please sit down."

Spock settled himself across from her but didn't speak. She could tell that having gotten himself into this, he had no idea what to do next.

Finally, she leaned forward and whispered, "You're supposed to ask me if I'm alone."

"But it is very apparent that you are... Very well." He cleared his throat. "Are you alone?"

She feigned a guilty glance toward the door. "Yes, I am, but we need to be careful that my husband doesn't catch us. He's the jealous type."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "But no doubt an exceptional person."

"So, are you looking for a little action?"

"Action? Of what type?"

"Use your imagination."

"Ah." He hesitated. "I do not know. Are you?"

"I'm always ready—" As she opened her mouth to continue, she happened to glance out toward the beach, and her attention was caught by what she saw. "Oh, Spock. Look! There are Saavik and Elizabeth, and those must be their boyfriends."

"I do not see them. Where are they?"

"Over there, by the..." Uhura blinked and looked closer. It was dusky outside, but she knew that her eyes were not deceiving her. She sat back in her seat and muttered, "Oh, my God."

Spock frowned. "What is it?"

Her hand on her cheek, she gazed out at the beach and said, "That's Bed 'Em Bryce."

"Excuse me?"

"Bed 'Em Bryce." Turning back to Spock, she reached across the table and gripped his forearm. "Bryce Brooks. He's bad news. He was on the Lexington for a few months, and while he was there I had to counsel two women over him. I think he even tried to make a move on me, but I wasn't sure."

"Bryce Brooks? He was a junior at the Academy when I began teaching. He was in one of my classes, but I never knew him well. As I recall, he was an unexceptional student."

"Evidently, he was pretty exceptional in other areas. He got in a lot of trouble at the Academy. I can't believe you never heard about it. We had a young lieutenant who had graduated with him, and she's the one who told me about his nickname. Why, his reputation was a dozen times worse than Capt... I mean, his reputation was pretty bad."

His eyes widening, Spock said, "A dozen times worse? We must go tell her."

Tightening her hold on his arm as he started to rise, she leaned close. "Spock! Wait. Please sit back down. You can't say anything about this to her."

"Why not? She obviously does not know."

"Please calm down. She's crazy about him. If she knows, she obviously doesn't care, and if she doesn't know, she'll resent you forever for telling her."

"That is not logical. If he is of poor character—"

"If he's of poor character, she'll just have to learn the hard way. Trust me on this. It happens to almost everyone. You fall for the wrong person and they hurt you. It's tough, but you recover, and you're all the wiser afterwards."

Spock inhaled, and she could see him force himself to relax when he exhaled. After a moment, she released his arm and sat back in her seat again.

"It would be wonderful if we could protect her, Spock, but that's just the way it is. She has to learn this for herself."

He had finally spotted Saavik. His eyes following her as she moved away from them, he asked, "Did it happen to you?"

"Oh, yes. Did it ever."

Quiet until the small group had vanished around the curve in the beach, he finally turned back in resignation. "Were you badly hurt?"

She shrugged. "He was an upperclassman at our school, very handsome and daring. All the girls loved him. I was about fifteen I guess, and he approached me one day while I was standing in the schoolyard with a group of my friends. I thought that I was so mature. He tried to strike up a conversation, and I gave him some sort of flippant answer and walked away. I don't even remember what it was, but evidently he took it as a challenge. No one turned down Benny Aboud. Anyway, he dedicated himself to wooing me. To make a long story short, he was a sweet-talker, and finally I couldn't resist."

"What happened next?"

Touched by the concern she saw in his dark eyes, she paused and thought about how funny it was that those old hurts always grew so insignificant in the long run.

"We started going out. He was my first real boyfriend. He introduced me to the joys of necking." Heading him off before he could ask her to explain, she quickly added, "That's slang for extended sessions of hugging and kissing. It's generally pretty innocent, although it might include some fairly heavy petting. Uh, groping and touching, you know."

"I understand."

"Anyway..." She laughed and covered her face with embarrassment as she remembered what had happened. "Oh, heavens. I can't believe I'm telling you about this. One night Milele caught me sneaking in the window after curfew with my blouse buttoned wrong—"

"And your intent is to reassure me?"

"Saavik's not fifteen years old, Spock."

He sighed heavily. "Please continue."

"Milele asked where I'd been, and I finally confessed that I'd been in the back seat of Benny's flitter. Her eyes got huge, and she asked if I knew that Nina Russell—she was one of Milele's classmates—had just discovered that she was five weeks pregnant by him—"

"Nyota. This story is not helping."

"—and Sihiri Wengi was having fits because she thought he was dating her. I felt like a fool! Everyone in the school knew what was going on but me, and it was ages before I could walk through the halls and not feel like people were whispering behind my back. Even though I'd never let him do more than fondle me a little, my reputation was almost ruined."

"So, am I to be comforted by the knowledge that this young man fondled you, was unfaithful to a second girl, and impregnated a third?"

"The point of this story is that I survived. And not only did I survive, I grew wiser, and no real harm was done." She smiled warmly and reached for his hand. "As a matter of fact, I was just thinking a few minutes ago about how things work out. That was just one small step on the path of my life, and I'm grateful for everything that brought me down that path, good and bad. It made me who I am today. It led me to you."

He nodded. "Very well. I will not say anything to Saavik."

"Good. We'll just have to be there to help her up when she falls. And really, maybe it'll work out. Maybe he's in love with her, and he's willing to change his ways. It happens."

Spock raised an eyebrow, and she laughed at his dubious expression.

"I know." She patted his hand. "It probably won't happen this time, but we'll just have to wait and see. Now, why don't you go get us a bottle of wine? I feel adventurous."

Rising from the table, he said, "Ah. So am I to assume that you are looking for some action?"

"You bet! If you're looking for trouble, Mister Tall-Dark-and-Handsome, you just found it. Trouble with a capital T."

He held her eyes a moment longer, then turned toward the bar. She watched him walk away, thinking yet again how lucky she was. Finally, though, she looked back out toward the beach.

Poor Saavik. She was going to be crushed.

End chapter 4