Chapter Four
Work out

At sixteen forty, following her shift, Hoshi Sato pressed the button beside the door to E/58 a second time, becoming concerned that there was no reply to the soft chirrups. A computer check had confirmed that her friend was within; perhaps she was just ignoring the sound? Perhaps it was time for a little more direct action?

She rapped briskly on the metal door. "Tia? It's me, Hoshi. Are you all right?" No reply, no sound from within. She rapped again. "Tia?" Considering for a few moments, Hoshi decided to use her 'key'.

She had learned from Lt. Malcolm Reed, some months ago, the Security override code for all the doors on the ship. Though she had never used it, he had trusted her enough to share it with her in case of emergency, and while this did not strictly constitute an 'emergency'…. On the keypad, she punched in 824671593 and the door slid aside.

She gasped, seeing Tia on the floor. But where her fears had been aroused, it took only an instant to see that they were unjustified.

The golden girl knelt on the floor, back turned to her and seemingly oblivious to her presence. Hoshi stepped around her where she could see her better. She wore a short red robe which Hoshi had never seen before, fashioned intricately with several characters in broad flowing Auran script along the collar and wrists. Hoshi couldn't read them, the sewing was in expert and yet distinctly hand fashioned, and she presumed the script them to be in a language not in the database, but at the moment she was far more concerned for the girl herself. Her legs and feet were bare, and she knelt forward, low back on her heels, head bowed forward, her long golden hair curtaining her face. She had her hands to her head, forefingers to her ears, pinkies resting on her closed eyes, ring and middle fingers pressed to her temples and thumbs across her lips. Hoshi knew that if she had tried to adopt such a position she would probably hear only roaring in her ears, thus her obliviousness. She seemed barely to be breathing. "Tia?"

No answer, no response at all from the girl. Hoshi decided that whatever this was, it wasn't something for her to interfere with. She was just about to leave when Tia took a long, slow breath and raised her head slowly, still not moving her hands. She straightened her spine until she was erect, sitting back on her heels, lowered her hands with careful slowness to her sides, took another long, slow breath, opened her eyes slowly – and shrieked as she fell back to the floor.

x

Hoshi was startled at the shrill cry, almost screaming herself as Tia stared up at her from the floor. "Hoshi! Keela vrlas du lairiami len?" The frantic, outraged demand to know why Hoshi had broken in on her carried the context of rape.

"I'm sorry. I was worried about you."

"Kraanstat. Konres galbrais ti–!" She bit back the Auran words, forced herself to use English but her golden fetes flared in rage. "You here should be NOT. OUT GET!"

"I'm sorry!" She hurried for the door. She had it nearly open when Tia called, more calmly.

"Pilyes … wait." Hoshi turned to see Tia rise from the floor. "Do believe I you that break in would not."

"I buzzed, and knocked, and called to you. I was worried when you wouldn't answer."

"Could hear you not." She stood, carefully straightening the short robe. "But speak of this to me nyasi, ask of this nyasi, tell of this nyasi."

"I promise."

Tia removed the red robe, completely unconcerned that she wore nothing beneath it. Hoshi knew very well that Aurans had none of the cultural inhibitions humans had about keeping particular parts of the body from sight, Indeed that had been one of the first things she'd found out about her new friend.

She also knew Tia knew all about human customs; they had discussed them frequently and in great detail. But she was clearly acting as she would have had she been alone, pointing up silently to Hoshi that she had intruded on her privacy and was therefore going to get treated with the regard given to an intruder. Tia carefully, lovingly folded the garment and put it into a drawer, then removed from the closet a green mini-dress, put it on, donned matching slippers as well.

Forbidden to discuss the matter, considering the prohibition to extend to everything about the last few minutes (a safer course until she could be sure) Hoshi wasn't sure what to say. "I came to see if you were all right."

"Nyas. I 'all right' am nyasi. Scared I am. Know what do to nyasi. Fear a return to slavery I do," she glared at her, "and then treated with as little regard as I when a slave was."

"I said I was sorry. I didn't mean to intrude."

Tia held up her hands. "Gilriiss – um, 'upset' I was. Fair I was nyasi. Peace we make?"

Hoshi nodded her head, very relieved. "Peace."

x

Tia took a deep breath and let it out, clearly steeling herself. "Decision your Admiral has made?"

"No. Sorry, we haven't heard anything."

Tia closed her eyes, seemingly in pain, but unlike the dasreer it was a pain such as Phlox could not heal. She opened them again, looking about.

"Can in stay here nyasi! Have to out get." She turned to the door, reaching for the button that would open it.

"Wait," Hoshi said an instant before she touched it. The girl looked at her. The emerald green dress she wore was sleeveless but revealed nothing; the skirt was short but not tight and ended a few centimeters just the right side of decency. Still… "Don't you want to, well, put on some underwear?"

At first Tia looked like she was about to agree, but then she stopped, and the look she gave the Linguist was one of deep exasperation. "Nyas. Warm enough I am. For four klanstu followed I your customs have." She shoved the button hard. "Now they mine may follow!"

xxx

They walked in undirected silence for several minutes. Hoshi could almost feel the anger radiating from her friend, but knew it was not directed personally at her. In fact, it wasn't directed anywhere. Tia was frightened, she was frustrated, and was taking it out on her. Hoshi allowed herself to be used as a safe target, knowing the girl's anger would soon wear down.

In time it did, and when Tia spoke it was barely an audible whisper. "Is fair nyasi. A goslin ago hear of Earth did nyasi, hear of Vulcan did nyasi. Escape from Silurians we did, died all my friends did, and now from both these planets decide people my fate would." She sighed deeply. "But on Aura a saying we have: 'Kilris silra sei nyasi.'"

"What does that mean?"

"'Life fair is not'."

Hoshi tried not to smile.

xxx

After a while they reached the armory. Malcolm Reed had reminded her with all due firmness that the Senior Officers would have their defensive training this evening, so she knew Trip would be there. She figured Tia's seeing him would make her feel a bit better. Of course, she also had to be there; that had been the purpose of Malcolm's reminder, but perhaps she could beg off, pleading an extenuating circumstance.

She was sure he wouldn't buy it.

At any rate, when she led Tia in all the senior officers, including Captain Archer, were there working out. When she saw him, she knew she didn't have a prayer of begging off, and resigned herself to an evening of getting sweaty.

She was quickly paired off with Travis Mayweather, and after a few minutes of limbering stretches they started through a short series of offensive/defensive moves. She noticed that Tia had not left, but was standing near the rear wall. She seemed quite content to watch Trip.

In fact, she never took her eyes off the man. She stoo as far into a corner as she could get, watching his every movement with an attention Hoshi recognized and felt she understood.

She wondered if Trip ever would.

x

Tia stood quietly, not wanting to draw attention to herself, feeling she should not leave without Hoshi and unable to draw her attention away from the Chief Engineer. In the month she had been there, she had not been able to get her mind off him, and yet he seemed oblivious to her. He treated her kindly, and sometimes she even fancied that there was some interest, but she could see none. The time they spent together, it almost seemed that he was interested in her, but…. It was confusing; she seemed to both exist and not for him. An Auran would have .…

And now, because of a Vulcan she had never heard of and an Admiral she had never spoken to, she might well be forced to leave these people, to leave him, and never really know. 'Kilris silra sei nyasi,' she thought again with bitter fury.

x

Malcolm Reed's attention was on his charges; the officers whose protection was his primary job and concern aboard Enterprise. It was one thing to protect the ship, another to make sure that if they came up against anyone face to face, they could be confident in their own ability to protect themselves.

So he took them through the work, over and over until it would become second nature, with an attention to detail that was unbroken until the second stage was completed. Then, as they prepared for the next level, he noticed the new passenger, Tia, standing off by herself. "Hello. Care to join us?"

Tia came out into the room. "Join?"

"Yes. A little practice session; nothing strenuous. We use it to keep in shape, to keep us on our toes, as it were."

Tia looked down at her feet, unsure, then at the others. "Nyas. I …." She turned, seeking out Trip. "Nyas. I to do want nyasi."

'She's embarrassed, or nervous.' Malcolm thought, and put his hand reassuringly upon her shoulder. "It's all ri –."

Tia whirled and to his eyes virtually vanished. She dropped to her right knee and slammed her right fist into his inner thigh, her left into his other, her right a blindingly fast uppercut into his crotch. As he cried out she slammed each fist in turn into the nerve centers under his arms midway down his ribs, came up to ram her right knee into his descending face and, as he was driven upward she turned and caught him under his chin with her foot to blast him completely off his feet. He slammed hard to the deck almost two meters away.

x

"PILQUIS OI NYASI!" Tia screamed furiously, and only Hoshi understood her demand that he not touch her. But then horror overwhelmed all as she saw him lying on the deck feet away and trying to clutch his most painful injury, unable to lift his head off the deck, probably sure that his neck was wrenched and that he just wished for a rapid death. "Oh Aura, nyas." She fell to her knees beside him before any of the astounded witnesses could reach them. "Oh, Kaslier Reed, sorry I am. Thought did nyasi." The best Reed could do was groan. He couldn't feel his legs; they'd gone completely dead, the nerve centers stunned. The pain in his sides kept him from getting a deep breath. He clutched his most sensitive area – he couldn't let go – and he couldn't raise his head against the pain in his wrenched neck, though he had to turn his head because he could feel blood flowing from his nose.

He couldn't remember seeing her move. One instant he was touching her shoulder in an attempt to reassure and coax her, the next he was on his back praying to die.

"Sorry I am!" she exclaimed again. "Did think nyasi. Annoyed I was."

"Annoyed? Ohhhhh…. Remind me never to piss you off."