Waywardness of a Vulcan Heart Chapter 21: Going Native Part 8 - Confrontation
After that encounter, the Enterprise could have easily left with enough data for years of study by Federation medical staff and exobiologists, but they'd agreed to a month of in situ study, and they were going to make the most of it.
Spock and Nyota fell into a satisfying everyday routine. They focused mostly on tending the agricultural paddies with J'aal and Z'ek, because it kept the four of them together, and they were getting very good at nurturing the plants to grow bigger and stronger. The time Spock and Nyota didn't nuture the plants they nurtured the young couple like siblings.
Spock and Nyota's days and nights were filled with constant observation of The People, catching several more major and minor regeneration sessions. For Spock and Uhura personally, they enjoyed the fellowship of being with the Nibirans - eating, sleeping, worshipping, and loving each other on regular basis in the tribe's simple but mostly joyful days. Although life was often difficult for them in a primitive environment, it was a rewarding experience. They would likely never have an experience like this again, and savored it.
While they were wary of V'taak's thinly disguised wantonness, they never expected that his desire for Ny'o would boil over one day in defiance of the rules of The People's strong societal values. Spock and Nyota were harvesting some of the yellow fibrous pod plants, and they were alone in an area more secluded than the other paddies.
A group of three burly Nibiran guards and V'taak approached them, and they made it look like they were making the normal rounds of the village.
Spock turned, leaned on a harvesting tool he had invented, and said, "Greetings V'taak, what brings you this far from the temple?"
"If I said I was patrolling the land to protect you from the great beasts that roam the river banks, I would be lying."
Nyota stood and froze, and shot Spock a worried glance.
Not wishing to provoke an incident, Spock acknowledged Nyota, but simply replied to the implied threat, "What is your purpose here, then, V'taak?"
"Accepting strangers has never happened in this tribe. How did you dupe N'tam?" blurted V'taak.
Spock scolded V'taak and explained, "He is referred to as Elder N'tam to all of us, V'taak. He is due everyone's total respect, especially a Fire God guard like yout. We are the last of our tribe and he took pity on us. And we have proven our worth to The People."
V'taak remained unconvinced, "I do not believe you, To'ok. You are spies from another tribe and they will attack as soon as you lull us all into a false sense of security."
"Why would we deceive you, V'taak? Who could stand against The People? You are so much more advanced and so many more than we were. I do not believe that is your true purpose. State it and depart. Ny'o and I have much work to do."
"All right. The truth. I, V'taak, lay claim to Ny'o."
The pair was shocked.
Haughtily V'taak asserted, "I, V'taak, would be a much better mate to her than you. I am stronger, have better standing in this family as a guard of the Fire God. You are the son of the dead leader of a dead family. What can you offer her?"
Spock remained calm and responded, "There is no right of challenge over mates in The People. I have been here long enough to know that. We bear the sign of mates of The People, and Elder N'tam himself has blessed us until death separates us."
Neither Spock nor Nyota saw a fourth guard hidden in the bull rushes wielding a big rock.
V'taak gave Spock an evil sneer, "I am here to arrange that. It will look like a simple drowning accident, but your family is good at that, so it is your time to join them."
Taking a defensive position, Spock warned, "I advise against that V'taak. I am much stronger than you, and can defeat you. I will protect Ny'o from you to the death."
The way Spock said that Nyota knew just how true that was. Her heart fluttered, even though she was gravely worried.
V'taak grinned, "I am counting on your vow. I don't really need to be stronger – just more clever."
A hurled rock caught Spock from behind, knocked him out, and he slumped face first into the water of the paddy.
"To'ok!" screamed Nyota, dropping her fighting position, and rushed to him, only to be caught and held by the guards in front of a leering V'taak.
From around the other side of the terraced fields, J'aal and Z'ek heard Ny'o's scream and ran to them, seeing the ugly scene. In just a few minutes Spock would drown. Something had to happen quickly.
...
Bones watched with trepidation, "Jim, there's trouble. A guard is trying to drown Spock and take Uhura for his own."
"Be ready to beam them up on my mark."
"It would violate the Prime Directive. They'd be seen by at least five people."
"We can only give it another minute Bones. Spock can't breathe water."
...
Restrained by another rogue guard, Z'ek yelled, "V'taak, stop what you are doing. This is completely wrong. You know it."
"Shut up, Z'ek. You are still a child. This is Fire God business. These strangers - spirit worshipper infidels - have no place in The People."
J'aal pleaded, "Elder N'tam blessed them as a good omen. Do you dare invoke the anger of the Fire God?"
"N'tam doesn't know everything. He is getting old and gullible."
Z'ek strained and yelled through gritted teeth, "But you have no authority to do this."
"It would do you well to obey us. You are too young to be mated with J'aal. I know you lied about your ages to be together. I would have never blessed your union. I will object to your union if you divulge anything that transpires here today."
J'aal burst into tears, and struggled against the firm grip on her from another guard.
Infuriated at the claim, Z'ek broke his restraint and rushed them to try to save Spock. The guards shoved the Z'ek into the muck of the paddies.
V'taak lustfully turned his attention to Nyota, approached her and caressed her body as she tried to recoil. She spit on him but he wiped it off and ignored her protests, "Ny'o, we will watch now as To'ok drowns, and we will be joined. You are very fine, and your child-bearing hips will yield many offspring for me, with my seed always growing within you, starting today."
Nyota knew Spock was seconds from perishing. Using her defensive Vulcan martial arts ability, she finally got enough leverage against the power of the men restraining her. She threw off the guard holding her, knocking him into the other, sprawling them both, and lunged at a shocked V'taak and his colleague. The rock throwing guard fled, but she saw his face and knew who it was.
Just then, Elder N'tam appeared with a dozen armed men, "Enough, V'taak. Submit or die."
With V'taak's cronies subdued quickly, J'aal rushed to tend Z'ek and Ny'o pulled To'ok out of the paddy. He was very pale.
J'aal continued to cry, "There is no healing for this, Ny'o. We are too late."
Nyota spoke with confidence, "In our tribe, there is always a chance."
Above in the Enterprise, Bones and Kirk held their breaths, poised to beam them up. Feeling Spock's weak pulse, Nyota started artificial resuscitation. N'tam and the guards, J'aal, and Z'ek stood in complete astonishment, realizing she was not simply kissing him goodbye.
"She breathes life into him," uttered N'tam in astonishment.
Spock coughed and sputtered, and the color returned to his face. He reached and caressed her face.
"I am grateful for your timely first aid," he remembered to say in Nibiran.
Nyota could only cry and hug him, knowing how close Spock had come to drowning. The Enterprise crew started breathing again, and the Captain and the Ship's Doctor relaxed a bit.
"Where did you learn such a thing?" asked J'aal.
"In our tribe, life around the water is a constant struggle. We learned of the way to help victims receive the breath of life again."
"What about your way of fighting?" asked Z'ek.
"The family was always near huge beasts. While they normally kept to themselves, they sometimes wanted our food, so we learned to use their strength against them to get them to return to forests. We have no special guards. Everyone must learn to defend themselves from attack - from the youngest child to the oldest man."
N'tam asked, "Children, are you all right?"
To'ok stated, as Ny'o and Z'ek helped him to his feet, "We will be, Elder. Thank you for saving us."
"When you are up to it, there will be punishment for V'taak in front of all the people. You must be there to face these criminals."
To'ok hurled an unusually hateful look at V'taak, "It would be my pleasure to witness justice for V'taak's crimes against my mate and my younger brother and sister."
The intensity of Spock's anger surprised Nyota, but she loved him all the more for his protective instinct. What neither knew was the effect of the Nibiran pheromones on both of them was accentuating their primal emotions.
On the way back, the two couples were arm in arm comforting each other from the harrowing encounter. Both Spock and Nyota were appreciative of their young friends' bravery, "Thank you. You put your lives at risk for us."
"It is what family does for each other. We could not bear to lose you, big brother and sister," choked J'aal, and they all stopped momentarily to embrace.
Nyota and Spock exchanged glances. This young couple was years more mature than their actual age. And it did seem they were all siblings.
…
There was a gathering of The People. V'taak and his accomplices were bound in vines and held tightly by other guards, and he had been stripped of any yellow garments denoting him as a guard.
N'tam angrily said, "V'taak, how dare you act on my authority and the Fire God without permission for your personal lusts. You conspired to kill To'ok with the others, and take Ny'o for yourself by force. All three acts are forbidden by our laws. You thought your crimes were hidden but they did not escape others who alerted us in time. Who are you to take the law into your own hands? By all rights you should be stoned in punishment."
The People yelled for revenge against V'taak for his violence against the new outsiders who The People who loved Spock and Nyota. Some gathered rocks in preparation.
"You owe me a life debt, N'tam," V'taak snarled smugly without the honorific as an insult.
"But we do not owe you a place in this family. I have taken your cloak of service and your spear. You are of no value to The People. You flaunt our laws and dishonor the Fire God. To return the life debt I share spare you from stoning. You and your friends are instead banished. Immediately."
V'taak was finally terrified, "No! We will die outside of the temple. This is a death sentence!"
The People shouted him and his cronies down. They threatened him and the others with rocks.
N'tam was about done with the insolent V'taak, "Only you can determine if you will live by what you do next to survive outside of the Family. To'ok and Ny'o lived in a small family for many years against all dangers. You think yourself so superior to them? Do what they did. This is no death sentence - consider this merciful."
The guards dragged him and all his cronies screaming to the outer perimeter of the temple site, threw them all into the muddy water, and stormed off.
V'taak shook his fist at all the People, especially the newcomers, "Just wait, To'ok. I will get you. And Ny'o, if you will not be mine, you will not belong to anyone. You will never live to see your first child. I wish you troubled slumber every night, knowing I could be there to slit your throats, outlanders."
...
The Enterprise crew paid rapt attention to all of this simple justice and social behaviors of The People.
Kirk was genuinely worried, "Is it time to bring them home, Bones? That V'taak fellow seems capable of anything."
Bones dispelled the Captain's concerns, "I can track V'taak in the bush any time of day or night before he can get to Spock and Uhura. And Spock's heightened senses will hear him too. Is there any harm in seeing what happens after this? I would like to see how the tribe works through their justice and sentencing."
Kirk reluctantly agreed, "It does seem that things have immediately calmed. Elder N'tam would be a great Star Fleet Captain."
"Perhaps his progeny will be, Jim."
...
V'taak and his dishonored colleagues ran off, considering their moves, knowing they would be watched carefully. The adopted family of four hugged in support of each other, and many others of The People pledged to help protect them especially the families of both Z'ek and J'aal, who admired Ny'o and To'ok and their care of the young couple like siblings. They were all grateful for the outpouring of support. After it was all over, To'ok and Ny'o brought Elder N'tam and his spouse a thanksgiving offering of the finest wild fruits. N'tam's wife smiled and graciously accepted the gifts.
"You are so sweet to think of this, children."
"It is who we are, Eldress," Ny'o smiled at the kind old woman.
"Come sit with us, you are far too generous, this is too much food for us old people. We don't want it to spoil in the heat. Please share it with us."
Ny'o bowed and expressed her appreciation, "Elder N'tam. Thank you, we owe you our lives. If you and the others hadn't come along, I shudder to think what would have happened to my spouse and to me. I would rather die than carry V'taak's seed."
"You are both welcome, To'ok and Ny'o. You are so much part of us, and you will always have a place here. We showed you no special favors; I would have done the same for any young couple threatened by his terrible ways. His audacity has been growing for some time, I am afraid your rare beauty, Ny'o, was too much temptation."
N'tam placed his hand on Ny'o's bare belly. It was a bit of surprise, "Only To'ok's seed will ever bless you with children, Ny'o. I see it in my heart."
Then he took To'ok's hand and placed it on Ny'o's stomach over hers. N'tam placed his hand on both of theirs and blessed them. The pair looked at each other affectionately. They shared the thought of somehow negating the effects of the contraceptive implant within her.
To'ok ended the tender moment by asking, "Elder N'tam, I would never wish death on any enemy, but what is this life debt he spoke of?"
"I unfortunately nearly died fifty rainy seasons ago. V'taak saved me from one of the great beasts who were angered by being too close to their nest. So I owe him the life debt. I made him head of the guards. Until today, when he transgressed too far."
"Neither you nor he look that old, Elder."
"I have seen 200 rainy seasons, children. He has seen 75. Another benefit of the gift."
They and Bones were instantly thunderstruck. That confirmed that the gift significantly prolonged life to almost the length of the Vulcans.
"What about J'aal and Ny'o?" Spock asked.
"They are just normal teens. They are at the beginning of a long happy life journey together. And thank you for becoming a big brother and sister to them. They were heartbroken with the passage of their blood relatives."
"You are welcome Elder. They seem young to be joined, Elder, though they are very mature."
"Z'ek is my great great grandchild, and J'aal is like a grandchild to me. I could not deny them union early, nor could their parents. They have loved each other since they were children. They are more devoted mates than many others of the People who are much older. They are like you. I see your devotion every day. It is almost like you know what each other is thinking all the time. You are an example to all the others of how to be mates. You are a gift to The People, I was right about you."
They bowed their heads in humbleness, and Spock responded, "Thank you Elder. You are most kind. We feel most welcome here with The People. My father and you would have been good friends."
N'tam had no idea how true that was. It was clear the Elder and his spouse were tiring, and needed rest, so To'ok and Ny'o graciously took their leave.
In thankfulness that they were still alive together, Spock and Nyota initiated the group coupling that night. J'aal and Z'ek were very pleased for their 'big brother and sister', especially over learning and trying a new position of intimacy that Ny'o and To'ok explained was a part of the tradition of their tribe. That and other positions introduced over subsequent nights passed through the tribe like wildfire.
...
Back in the Doctor's study on the Enterprise, Bones chuckled, wondering if Uhura and Spock showing The People new ways of intimacy constituted a violation of the Prime Directive, but could not think of a single way to explain that to a Board of Inquiry.