Life and Weather Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of the characters appearing in the Star Trek universe owned by Paramount Studios and the Roddenberry Estate. This fictional work is made for love, not made for profit.
Chapter 9- Good Gagh
December 23rd
Spock stood watching the officer speed away until his hover cycle was no longer visible. Once he was safely inside of their car with the doors locked Nyota gently put her hand on his shoulder. "Do you think we are in danger now that we have come to the attention of the police," she asked, her eyes searching his face for any indication that he was concerned. He was so adept at concealing his true feelings, she could not tell if he was as bothered as she over the traffic stop.
"I do not know if our situation is compromised," Spock answered, his face giving nothing away as he talked. "A simple inquiry regarding our identities should not provoke any additional scrutiny, unless they discover that our affiliation with the African Embassy is newly created and false. Fortunately, they seemed to have little interest in Aron's identity other than to question if he is our progeny."
With Spock's mention of Aron and Dillard's assumptions about him, Nyota turned to look at him. "Are you okay, Aron? I hope that you're not upset."
"I'm okay, Nyota. That first officer was nice, but the second guy was a jerk. He's too fat to even be a cycle cop."
"Aron." Spock said the young prince's name in a professorial tone that Aron had already come to recognize as a prelude to a lecture. "Although I agree that Sergeant Dillard acted in a manner unbefitting a competent law enforcement officer, there is no need to unfairly criticize his weight or to use the pejorative 'cop' to describe him."
"I wouldn't call it a pejorative, Spock. It's just Terran slang," Nyota explained.
"Yeah, it's just slang," Aron repeated Nyota's words, then added with an indignant tone, "I did not mean it as an insult, but he deserved to be insulted. How dare he speak to you and Spock in that manner." When Nyota looked at him, Aron's usually radiant face now seemed clouded. She did not need empathic powers to sense the boy's seething anger.
"We are fine, Aron. I do not think any harm was done." Nyota said trying to calm him.
"If you need to place blame, you should assign it to me. My ill-advised experiment with Dove's vehicle drew the officer's attention." Spock's already stiff posture seemed to stiffen even more with this admission.
"The whole thing was just unfortunate. You are not to blame, Spock," Nyota said gently.
"It was that crazy cop. On Jaris, he would be disciplined for his behavior," Aron said this with a timbre of authority that Nyota had not heard in his voice before. His tone was a startling reminder of the life he had lived before—the life of a prince. Nyota's already frazzled brain did not want to be reminded of that now. She still needed to recover from their unexpected encounter with the two policemen.
"Let's not think about it any more. We'll be home in a few minutes," Nyota said soothingly, trying to calm herself and Aron. "Then we will be safe."
No one spoke again as Spock carefully and cautiously drove the hover car the last few miles to their house. She could tell from the way he held his body that he was inwardly still chastising himself for his mistake in exceeding the speed limit. What Nyota had anticipated as a fun outing for them had turned out to be something quite different. She was surprised at how desperately she wanted the little house to come into view so that they could begin to put everything behind them. When they arrived at the cottage they began their usual routine of Spock entering the house first, while Aron and Nyota remained in the car.
As soon as Aron was inside the house he dropped his packages by the door and ran to turn on the Christmas tree lights, even though it was not yet dark outside. He stood admiring the twinkling colored lights for a few seconds before he noticed Nyota walking to her room with her arm laden with packages. "What's in the packages, Nyota?" Aron's eyes were glued to the bags in her arms.
Nyota smiled, relishing the excited look on Aron's face. It brought back memories of her own childhood excitement during the holidays as she watched her parents enter the house with mysterious packages that disappeared until Christmas Day. Her attempts to discover where her parents had hidden presents were always unsuccessful. Her father always told the same bad joke about her presents. "There are no presents here because it is too hot in Africa for St. Nicholas." And then he would laugh the three small little chuckles at his own joke that always filled her with joy. She wanted Aron to have that same joy- a Christmas filled with mysterious packages and bad jokes and a sense of family. Moving her head to motion towards each of her packages one by one, she answered his question with a teasing tone " In this package I have one pound of broccoli. This one has two pounds of turnips and the big one has three pounds of Klingon gagh and it is all just for you."
The morning's lessons had focused on Klingon culture and cuisine and Aron had stared at her in disbelief when she had described some of the Klingon foods. Now Nyota was threatening to feed it to him for dinner. "I'll eat the broccoli and turnips, if you'll eat the gagh," Aron offered. His eyes once again had the twinkle of mischief that made Nyota's heart melt.
"There is not much chance of that bargain being consummated," added Spock. "I doubt that Nyota would enjoy a meal of live worms in quite the same way a Klingon female would."
"Oh, really. Am I the one who will be squeamish about eating gagh? We shall see at dinner tonight," Nyota countered.
"I did not mean to imply that you would be squeamish, merely that you would not enjoy it." Spock explained his comment.
"And you would? she asked.
"You know that I do not eat animal flesh," protested Spock. "You and Aron will have to partake of that delicacy without me."
"I am determined to meet Aron's nutritional requirements. As a scientist Spock, you know that worms provide a good source of protein." She gave an amused smile and said, " I have things to do now. I will see you two gentlemen at dinner." Nyota strolled into the bedroom leaving Spock and Aron staring at her back.
"She is kidding, right?" Aron turned to Spock with a look of concern.
"I believe that she has spoken in jest because it amuses her to see our discomfort. However, I did note that as we observed the various businesses in the shopping area, she visited an establishment called 'The Little Shop of Galactic Delicacies.' I did not enter the establishment with her so I do not know what she purchased. Of course, even if gagh is served as part of our evening meal, you are under no obligation to eat it."
Aron hesitated for a moment before speaking. "If Nyota goes to the trouble of making it for me, I would not want to hurt her feelings by not eating it."
As Spock looked at Aron he felt the boy's brief surge of emotion, which Spock identified as distress. "Aron, Nyota will not think less of you simply because you refuse to eat something she has prepared."
"Okay," he said without conviction.
"I would not reassure you if I did not know this to be true." Spock walked over to the dining table and motioned Aron to sit with him. When the young prince joined him Spock cleared his throat before speaking again. " I believe that I have had sufficient opportunity to observe humans in their interactions. In comparing Nyota to other humans I found her to be one of the most gracious that I have encountered. I have only known one other person during my lifetime who is as tolerant and accepting when interacting with other humans or with beings of another species. So you need not fear offending Nyota. She will still hold you in high regard."
The child nodded quietly, still unconvinced. "I'll go to my room now."
Spock watched Aron slowly get up from the chair, instead of bounding up as he usually did. Spock could tell from the way the boy walked to his room that his apprehension remained, his insecurity draped around him like a cloak. Spock speculated that Nyota was merely trying to lighten the somber mood by being playful with Aron, but his anxieties were an impediment. Spock decided that later in the evening, after Aron went to sleep, he would talk with Nyota regarding ways to reassure the child.
Turning his attention to other matters, Spock retrieved his PADD and began an information search for Leo Kendrick. He spent the rest of the afternoon reading everything that he could find on Leo and Sergeant Dillard. He needed to be certain that neither man posed a threat to Aron and Nyota.
Nyota hummed as she put the finishing touches on dinner. The table was set for the three of them with covered serving dishes sitting in the middle.. She had not intended to continue her joke any further, but when she had opened the door to her room and spied Aron and Spock in the dining room locked in deep conversation, she had realized that her little deception had forced the two males to communicate in a more direct manner. Although her relationship with Aron seemed to deepen every moment, she sensed, but could not understand, the boy's reluctance to get closer to Spock. And of course, Spock's Vulcan reserve did not help the situation. She hoped that her little ploy would serve to bring them closer. A shared distaste for worms could have the desired bonding effect.
When Spock and Aron came to the table their unease was palpable. They looked at the covered dishes on the table and exchanged curious glances. Nyota sat down and turned to Aron. "Give me your plate and I will serve you first."
"Uh, you can serve Spock first. He's a guest," Aron stammered.
Nyota smiled as she saw Spock's left eyebrow raise as he looked at Aron. "Certainly I do not consider myself a guest at this point. But you may serve me first, Nyota."
Nyota took Spock's plate with one hand and with the other lifted the lid from the smallest covered dish revealing a green vegetable. Aron breathed a sigh of relief. "These are the turnip greens I mentioned, but they are cooked Uhura-style with peanut butter to add protein. Do you want to take the lid off the second dish for me, Spock?" Nyota said sweetly.
"Of course," Spock replied as he lifted the lid from the medium-sized bowl revealing steamed broccoli. Now Nyota placed some of the broccoli on his plate. Aron's eyes immediately went to the remaining large covered dish. As Nyota dramatically moved her hands slowly towards the lid, Aron's eyes got wider and wider. She lifted the lid with a flourish revealing an African vegetable stew.
"Nyota!" Aron said her name with a mixture of good humor and relief. "You were just teasing me." Nyota laughed as she saw the broad grin on the child's face.
"As I suspected," said Spock as the corner of his mouth twitched upward ever so slightly. "I did not think that live worms would be on the menu for tonight."
"Because human girls are scared of worms," Aron said with conviction.
"I do not know the source of your information, Aron, but I can assure you that Nyota would not be fearful of worms. You must ask her to tell you of her travels through the rainforest. She encountered a variety of memorable wildlife which would terrify anyone, regardless of gender or species." Spock looked at Nyota with a knowing glance.
Nyota smiled at Spock as he said this. The conversation where she told him of her travels through the rainforest had been one of the first personal conversations that they had shared away from the classroom. He had walked her home after a reception at the linguistics department and they had extended the 10-minute walk into a 40-minute conversation that had left her both giddy and confused. As if sensing her recollection of that evening, Spock looked into her eyes, briefly revealing the glimmer of his own memory of that evening. When they both looked away, they saw that Aron was staring at them.
With a sudden flush of embarrassment Nyota tried not to look at Spock. Instead she focused her full attention on the boy and spent the rest of the meal telling Aron stories of her trip deep into the rainforest. After dinner they sat in the living room together, Nyota and Aron on the sofa and Spock in the easy chair near them. Aron and Nyota listened as Spock told them about some of the animal life of Vulcan. Aron's eyes were wide with wonder when Spock described the valit, the rodents that burrowed deep under Vulcan. Aron compared them to the dirt crabs that lurked under the ground in Jaris.
Then Spock told them about his Kas-wan, the attack by the Le-Matya and his pet sehlat that saved his life. When Spock explained that he had been only 7 years old at the time, Aron gazed at him with such awe and admiration that Nyota felt a lump form in her throat.
Before they knew it the evening had passed and it was Aron's bedtime. Each day the small home somehow seemed to wrap them more securely in a cocoon that shielded them from the harsh realities that existed outside of their door. For the moment, the anger that lingered because of Sergeant Dillard vanished. She and Aron readily acknowledged the negative feelings that the sergeant had provoked. Spock, on the other hand, merely repeated one of Surak's tenet's, "Do no harm to those that harm you. Offer them peace, then you will have peace." She respected Surak's teachings, but she was not willing to risk Aron's life by unreasonably relying on them when it came to people like Sergeant Dillard. She did not expect peace from Sergeant Dillard; she just hoped never to see him again.
Berkeley County, South Carolina.
As he stood in the shadows of the brightly lit diner, he pressed his communications device close to his lips so that he did not have to speak loudly. Most of the other officers who were on their dinner break had already entered the crowded establishment, but he did not want any latecomers to hear his conversation. "I made contact," he said. "A routine traffic stop. Nothing that anyone will notice." He listened to the response on the other end and started talking, cutting off the other party's reply. "Do not apologize. This was my choice. No one is making me lead a double life. We all do what we must do." Leo Kendrick flipped the device closed and headed into the diner to join his fellow officers.
