DISCLAIMER: I don't own them; they belong to UPN and Paramount. Yeah, I don't like it either.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: You got a tiny taste of Amber/Trip in the last chapter, but don't expect too much here…I'm not much of a romance writer. I'll try to give you more in Chapter 12, though. Sorry about the lack of romance here.
RATED: G
ARCHIVES: You like it, you love it, you gotta ask me for it.
THE SECRET LANGUAGE
CHAPTER 10
"Come on, Amber, let's go." Hoshi tugged at her friend's arm. Dr. Phlox had given Amber permission to leave Sickbay and go to her quarters. Hoshi didn't really see how that would help-were Amber's quarters any noisier than Sickbay? How would that help her to adjust? But Hoshi wasn't about to argue with the doctor, so she agreed to lead Amber to her quarters.
Amber followed Hoshi's lead reluctantly, as if she didn't want to leave Sickbay. "So many sounds." She said. Amber's speech was improving quite considerably, and her voice now seemed more natural and less nasally. Her pronunciation still needed work in some places, but she was speaking in more complete sentences now, and her speech was more understandable. Hoshi noticed that she would often use sign language while she was speaking. That was a habit they'd have to break, since once she was allowed to return to work, she'd have to talk while working on some conduit or what-not with her hands. Hoshi wondered how she had managed before.
"Yes, Amber, but there are a lot of sounds in your quarters, too." Hoshi said.
As they continued to walk, Amber kept on lingering, gawking at sounds other crewmembers were making. "Amber! Come on!" Hoshi jerked her arm. "We don't have time for this right now!"
Amber followed Hoshi, but didn't stop pointing out the sounds. "Tap." She said, pointing to a male crewmember absently drumming his fingers against the wall. "Thump." She said when a female lieutenant dropped a book on the floor.
Hoshi rolled her eyes. If all this weren't so vital to Amber's learning, she'd put a stop to it right then. But it was important for Amber to learn all the sounds, so Hoshi just let her continue.
And continue she did. Amber pointed out every sound she'd learned so far. "Bang!" "Clap!" "Crash!" "Thump!" By the time they reached Amber's quarters, Hoshi was starting to notice some stares directed at them.
"OK, Amber, here we are." Hoshi said. "You're all set."
"Thank you." Amber said.
"You're welcome." Hoshi said. "If you need to talk to one of us, you just press this button and say who you want to talk to."
Amber nodded. "Thank you, Hoshi."
Hoshi nodded. "Call me if you need anything."
As the weeks passed, Amber learned more and more. Her vocabulary was growing fast, although she still mixed words up. Her pronunciation was improving steadily, and her voice was settling into a nice alto sound. She still struggled with Captain Archer's name, a word that she was trying to master with Trip right now.
"Zhanathan." She said.
"Hard 'J' sound, Amber." Trip said. "Uh, tighten your tongue and keep it at the roof of your mouth." It was the first time he'd ever thought about how to make a "J" sound.
"Zh." Amber said.
"Clench your teeth."
"Jzh."
"Don't force the air out all at once." Trip said. "Jjjonathan." He said, putting extra emphasis on the first syllable.
"Jjjjonathan." Amber perked up and smiled. "Jonathan!"
"Hey, that's real good, Amber!" Trip said. "Now what's my name?"
"Trip." Amber said. The pronunciation was perfect.
"Your name?"
"Amber."
"Ensign Mayweather?"
"Travis." Amber said with a confident smile.
"Ensign Sato?"
"Hoshi."
"The doctor?"
"Phlox."
"Lt. Reed?"
"Malcolm."
"The Sub-Commander?"
"Teepol." Amber said.
"Close." Trip said. "T-Pol."
"T-Pol." Amber repeated.
"Now bring the T and the P closer together." Trip said. "T'Pol."
"T'Pol." Amber said.
"Captain Archer?"
"Jjjjonathan!" Amber said.
"You're getting a whole lot better." Trip said. "What do you say I get you dinner in the mess hall?"
Amber had never heard the mess hall before, so she had no idea what awaited her. When they opened the door, a huge amount of noise hit her ears. "What's that?" She asked.
"The mess hall." Trip said. "Everyone's talking loudly all at once so they can hear over everyone talking loudly all at once."
Amber's head was starting to feel funny. It's just because I've never been in here with the sound before. She told herself.
"Come on, Amber, this way." Trip said. His voice sounded so slow, so jumbled. Her vision was starting to blur.
That's it. Amber thought. I'm getting out of here. "Trip, we need to go." She said urgently.
"Why?" Trip asked. "We just got here."
"I have…" Amber steadied herself on the wall. Something was seriously wrong. She was getting scared. Her blurry vision was fading.
"Have what?" Trip asked.
"Get me…out…" Amber managed before falling to the floor and hitting it with a solid thud.