Ice and Fire
Chapter 21: Captivated By the Light
Amanda woke later with only a vague memory of undressing, showering, and falling exhausted into bed. Across the room, the ska-plak glimmered with a soft blue glow. She had left it beside her computer console where a yellow light also now winked. Someone had sent her a com message. Barefoot, Amanda padded across to the unit and switched it on.
The screen cleared and Mike appeared. His eyebrow lifted suggestively, "Tsk, tsk, Amanda, you missed breakfast. Sarek must have had a lot to say last night about all those Vulcan Traditions. He left instructions that we should let you sleep in this morning. Now the sun is well and truly over the horizon so I'm giving you a wake up call. There's talk of a sight-seeing trip of Sar-e-Kahr. If you can be ready in an hour, we're all invited…"
Amanda switched off with a sheepish grin at Mike's risqué innuendo over the missed breakfast and lost hours she had spent in Sarek's quarters. His masculine pride sounded bruised. She would need to heal that breach. Mike was a friend she would hate to lose. Though she felt a profound desire to stay in her quarters and research the ska-plak, the tour of Sar-e-Kahr sounded too good to miss. She needed to see the retreat through her own eyes. A comparison between Sarek's memories and those she gleaned at first sight could prove invaluable, especially in unravelling the mysteries that surrounded the ska-plak. She ordered up a plate of krayla and a pot of tsa'e and went to inspect her wardrobe. Maybe, while she slept, another outfit would have mysteriously appeared.
Alas, there were no new additions but the other of the two outfits that had materialized the day before - an emerald khelat and mid-length chocolate tajik, with its beautiful flowing sleeves and decorative edges made from ribbon flowers - was certainly extraordinarily beautiful. Sarek had without doubt taken the dictum to heart of clothes maketh the man. As his protégé, Amanda realized she dressed to impress. All her new garments had the unmistakeable stamp of haute couture. She stroked the soft, almost velvety pile of the surcoat and nuzzled it with her cheek, luxuriating in the richness of the cloth. There were symbols embroidered precisely on the front panel. The script resembled that carved into the ska-plak crystal. Amanda traced one of the runic characters with an adroit fingertip. Somewhere in the room wind chimes tinkled.
Something touched her thoughts much as Reldai Pesht'Ihai had on Space Central, yet unlike the cool indifference of the priestess, this contact was cautious and unassuming, almost shy. Amanda shut her eyes. The action provoked an image that shaped itself within her mind.
A room within the retreat solidified about her, sparsely furnished and sunlit. A young girl, dressed only in pantalon, chemise and under-gown knelt beside a wide sleeping dais. Before her, arranged in regal splendour, an outfit lay, similar to Amanda's own though many times more impressive.
The girl inclined her head, "Be welcome, T'sai Ha'lei'ha. This day I ascend the Thousand Steps to Seleya's Mount and bond with he who will be my future mate. These are my betrothal robes. Will thee help me dress?"
"Who are you?" For a startled moment, Amanda thought the girl might be T'Reah but this was not a manifestation of one of Sarek's memories. The touch of the fabric, or perhaps the tracing of the rune, had promoted a recollection from a much earlier time.
"I believe thee already know the answer to that, Lady."
"This isn't a dream?" In the same way T'Naoui had tended to Amanda, she now assisted the girl. With careful fingers, Amanda selected the delicate, tissue-thin khelat and held it out so the girl could slip her arms into the elegant sleeves.
"Thee see the past through my eyes."
Amanda reached for the translucent tajik. The surcoat, fashioned from gauzy silk, was so light it almost floated on the air. "The ska-plak crystal has done something to me."
"It chose thee for a purpose." Illumined by the rosy sunlight, and dressed in her wedding finery, the girl looked ethereal, her youthful beauty exquisite but fragile. The mystery in her eyes beckoned Amanda irresistibly.
"Why?"
"If thee open thy mind and heart that intention will become clear."
The room dissolved and Amanda's apartment formed about her once more. Disorientated by the sudden shift in perception she sat on the dais until her balance returned. The girl had been familiar. There was a marked resemblance between her and the wall painting of the Ti-Valka'ain woman in Sarek's quarters. The Lady who owned both Sar-e-Kahr and whose memories were encapsulated within the ska-plak. Amanda had received a piece of the puzzle but still had no idea where it fit into the mystery, or how it answered any of the questions she wanted to ask Sarek.
She had interacted with a ghost of someone long dead who she was supposed to know. How could that be? Only one chance meeting with a certain Elvish Prince had sparked her interest in Vulcan as a child, not some preordained destiny. The need to mull over what she had learned and to study the ska-plak pulled at Amanda even more than before but there was no time to indulge the desire. She would have to do her thinking on her feet. Without further ado, fingers flying, she quickly, but carefully, dressed in her Vulcan finery. With newfound skill, Amanda swept up her hair, positioned the ch'ipau and slipped on a pair of matching sandals. Once dressed, with only moments to spare, she crossed to the computer. After she returned the ska-plak to its storage place, she addressed the com, "Reference all information regarding the owner of Sar-e-Kahr, particularly in connection with the creation of a jasif crystal memory device…"
She picked up her skirts and skipped to the door. It opened immediately to reveal Sarek, Mike, and the two girls waiting for her to appear. Amanda twirled on the threshold as a sudden afterthought struck her, "Lock data until my return, computer. Available for my attention only."
3
Ha'lei'ha courtesy of Fardreaming.