Don't own anything worth billions and billions.
What's In a Name?
The conference room hummed as the survey department heads talked among themselves waiting for the Captain. All had their own stories of fascination discoveries on the planet below. Yet the hubbub stopped when Picard entered with Riker and Worf directly behind him. Picard called for summations and recommendations. Should they continue exploring this planet or go to the next? A long discussion took place. Several departments thought a more extensive study of the atmospheres was necessary to more clearly define the possible space ship that had entered it. Others were eager to move on to the next planet.
Picard let the argument continue. He listened to their debate back and forth. If it got too aggressive, a single look from Picard at the agitator was enough to suppress any further out bursts. But these were professionals. Each listened and respected the other's persuasive talk. The contention ran its course. Soon all turned to Picard for a decision. After a long silence, Picard finally asked.
" Lieutenant Richardson, How long will it take to do the tests you feel are necessary?"
"Six hours, tops" Came an eager answer.
"You may have your six hours." Turning to the other officer, Picard consoled. "Lieutenant Gehring, I understand your rush to explore the unknown but remember the unknown is still with in our reach." A grudgingly conceding smile followed the nod Gehring gave his Captain. "Meeting adjourned." Picard said.
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"Excellent! Both of you did a marvelous job on that scene." Dr. Crusher said. The praise caused Barclay to blush slightly. Kyree nodded to her in acknowledgement but was unaffected by the praise.
"The kiss is getting easier. We have practiced in private." Kyree commented. Barclay's face turned a deep red as looks shot his way. Kyree frowned. She knew she had said something wrong. She sighed and looked away from Barclay. She would ask him about it later.
"Practice makes prefect." Dr. Crusher quipped as she tried not to burst out laughing. Her eye caught Troi's with rebellious 'I told you so' on her lips.
Rehearsal continued. With their scenes finished, Kyree and Barclay left together. They walked in silence for a short time.
Kyree broke the silence. "I embarrassed you, I am sorry."
"Nnno, It was nothing." Reg flustered.
She stopped. "It is something. I do not wish to hurt you." Kyree looked into his eyes.
"You ccouldn't hurt me...you wouldn't. I know that." Reg swallowed. "Yyyour honest, I wouldn't want you to change that...At least I know where I stand with you." He managed a laugh. "Even if you do throw a few curve balls, I can handle it."
Kyree smiled as his eyes turned humorous. "I do not wish you to change either." Kyree told him sincerely then added, "I am hungry. Are you?" Barclay burst out laughing then nodded. Barclay took her hand and they headed for Ten-Forward. They enjoyed a quick meal with easy conversation. Soon the pair found themselves walking the spacious halls of the Enterprise. Barclay held her hand firmly, gaining confidence as their familiarity grew. Without thinking he asked.
"Would you like to go back to my quarters and listen to some music or something?" Barclay held his breath in realization of what he said. But Kyree seemed unaware of the implications of the line.
"I like music very much. Yes." Kyree said. "What kind do you like?" She asked as they entered the turbo lift.
"Country, is probably my favorite. But I like a variety." He paused as they stepped out. "It depends on the song I guess."
Kyree looked pleased. "I like the music with lyrics best too. I like to sing along. Do you?"
Barclay laughed. "Well, yea, But I don't think anyone would want to hear me."
"Why not? You have a very pleasing speaking voice." Kyree said.
He blushed his thanks. Then stopped in front of his door. "Well, here we are." Barclay opened the door. Kyree entered taking a deep breath. Barclay spotted discarded clothes he had neglected to take care of that morning. He grabbed them up and tossed them in a closet. "Ddo you want something to drink?"
"Water would be fine. Thank you." Kyree gazed around the room. It reminded her of him and made her smile.
"Please, have a seat." He handed her a glass. Kyree took a seat at the end of the sofa. Barclay sat next to her. "Computer play music selection Barclay 1." They sat back to listen. After Kyree had placed her glass on the coffee table, Barclay suggested. "We could practice our scenes while we listen."
Kyree shook her head. "I do not wish to practice the play."
"Oh, that's ok." Barclay said disappointed.
Turning to look at him, she added. "I do wish to kiss you." Barclay flushed as his pretense had been seen through. He smiled at her. Putting an arm around her, he gently kissed her. With adoring eyes he stared into hers.
"I want to kiss you too." Her arms went around his neck as they began to kiss again. The long embraced turned into nuzzling and cuddling. As Reg managed to draw a breath, he whispered.
"Kyree, I love you." Her whole body tensed and she pulled away slightly.
"You, LOVE, me?" Her eyes held a look of wonder. A little relieved he nodded.
"Yyyes, I lllove you. III've never loved anybody like this before." Barclay laid his heart open.
Kyree searched his face, in awe and curiosity. Her face turned serious. "Reg, what does it feel like? Love?"
He didn't understand her question. "I care for you, Kyree, I want to be with you all the time. I think about you when you aren't here. And when we kiss..."
"No, that is not what I mean." She touched his chest. "How does it feel in here? How do you know it is love?"
"Oh...Wwwell, It is hard to describe." Reg studied her face. "Why? I.I.I mean don't Oradicans feel love?"
Her face lost all color. Kyree dropped her hands to her lap and stared at them. "Yes, Oradicans know what love is." She gave a sigh. "I do not." A slight shudder went through her as she hunched her shoulders. "I did not have a father to teach me love."
"But you had a mother. Surely she loved you." Reg said. He gently covered her hands with one of his.
"Mama tried but she could not." Kyree said sadly. "Oradican mothers can only love sons. Fathers love daughters. In this love they teach the child to love." She stared at his hand on hers. A single tear dropped on it. "I do not know if I can ever love, Reg." Kyree raised her face to look at him. Would he want to be with her now?
Reg had to shut his eyes to the pain and dread in her face. He swallowed hard. This wasn't the way he had expected it to happen but he wasn't going to give up when he had come this far. He opened his eyes to the same scared face.
"Kyree, even if you can't, I think I can love enough for the both of us." He felt the radiance of her smile. Reg was transfixed as the change in her face was like a breath taking sunrise. He had to return the smile. "I think you are close to it. Your smile could melt the hull of this ship."
"Is that what if feels like? A warm...shivery sensation?" Kyree asked.
"Yes, sometimes. Love, doesn't feel the same all the time because there are so many kinds of love." Reg felt guilty explaining. He was hardly an expert. He put an arm around her and kissed her forehead. "We could practice some more." He grinned at her. Kyree responded by kissing him. She felt the same curious warmth as before, with more intensity.
Reg let her lay her head on his shoulder as they sat back to listen to the music again. Curiosity made him open the subject again.
"Kyree, II don't understand. Why can't mothers love daughters?" He asked
"They just can not. There is a mental bond between Mother and son. Father and daughter." Reg felt her shrug as she continued. "I had a small link with mother but she could not feel me. I felt when she died, even though I was not with her."
"That must have been hard for you." Reg said gently. "Kyree do you mind my questions about your world?" He felt her headshake.
"No, not from you. Sometimes I have to talk about Oradica." Kyree sighed. "But it is no longer my world. I can never go back."
"Why?" Reg couldn't keep the question from slipping out. For a long moment Kyree remained silent. He hugged her. "You don't have to answer Kyree. It's none of my business."
"I can answer." She said sounding oddly distant. "I can not go back to Oradica because I have no name." Her explanation did not clear things up for Reg. "I don't understand Kyree. What name didn't you have?"
"Do you really wish for me to explain? When I have told it to other humans, they found it hard to understand." Kyree sat forward so she could turn and look at him.
"Yes, I would like to know what makes you so sad." Reg wanted to know everything about her.
"I was not supposed to be. My mother was assigned to mate with Duntar." Kyree started.
Reg broke in, "Oradicans are assigned mates?" He realized he interrupted. "Sorry go ahead." He said.
"That is another story." She smiled at his curiosity." 'Well, my Mother did not like Duntar at all. She did not want any part of him in her heir. Mama and her father argued to the point of not speaking very much to each other. My mother made a plan to mate with a total outsider. Some humans were visiting Oradica from a space station being constructed near our system. My mother selected one of the males staying at her father's house. But it did not turn out the way she wanted it to. I should have been a male. She could control the male's body but not his sperm." As Reg looked puzzled, Kyree added more explanation. "You see a Oradican female can chose the time of conception. She can store male sperm to use at the time of her choosing. She waited almost a year after the male had left before she allowed me to grow inside of her." Kyree said.
"What about your father? He doesn't know you exist?" Reg asked.
"No, I'm not sure how, but Mama said there were ways. She wouldn't explain anything more. I think she thought I would not understand." Kyree shrugged. "Anyway, as a fatherless female, I had nothing. I do not have a last name, as you know it. To Oradicans it is an inheritance. Mothers pass theirs to sons and fathers to daughters. If my mother's father would have agreed I could have had his name. But he would not."
"Your own grandfather wouldn't give you his name?" Reg frowned.
"I would rather be nameless than carry his." Kyree said with much bitterness in her voice. "My mother is dead because of him."
Reg felt one more question wouldn't make much difference. "How?"
Kyree still had a distant look on her face as Reg watched her remember. "Oradica has a fragile food base. Population is strictly controlled. One male and one female are born to each mother. It is a biological condition. It is very rare for a female to have a third child. If I had been a male, Mama would have been assigned more provisions. She only received what she needed because to other Oradicans I did not exist. As I grew older and bigger, I needed more than what she could provide. I over heard some friends of my mothers telling her she fed me too much. That she was getting too thin."
Kyree snorted. "It was a rare thing to hear another even hint that I existed. But they did so in whispers." Kyree took a deep breath. "Mama steadily grew weaker. Not only from not eating but I think her spirit was starved too. She had wanted to change the way things were, but it did not work. She lingered for several weeks before she finally died. Moutcep, her father, would not allow me to see her. I was so hungry. I had not eaten since the last time she gave me something. I crept in to see her one night. Mama told me I must leave Oradica before she died or it would be bad for me. I had not seen anyone from Oradica since."
A long pause of silence made Reg realize the music had stopped. He tried hard to think of something comforting to say to her.
"I did not mean to make you sad, Reg." Kyree said. "You did ask me to tell you."
"I'm glad you did. But I just don't know what to say. Nothing seems right." Reg responded. "How old were you when you left Oradica?"
"Eight of Oradican seasons. It figures to about nine in human years." She answered. "I hid aboard a Ferengi trading ship. When they found me it was terrible. And I thought Oradica was bad. The planet the Ferengi dropped me on was ten times worse. I spent two years on Golt." Reg opened his mouth in disbelief. But didn't say anything. "Then I talked some Klingons into taking me with them. I could speak Klingon and I think it amused them. They took me to Jacol. It was not as horrible as Golt. But I had many hungry nights there too." She sighed. "Until a Star Fleet doctor insisted I come with her. And that is how I got this far."
"I'm glad you can tell me these things. I want to know everything about you." Reg said.
"Why? I know very little about you, yet I feel I have known you for years." Kyree questioned.
"I don't really know why. But I like when you feel comfortable enough to confined in me." Reg replied.
"I like talking to you. You listen very well." Kyree said. The pair gazed in each other's eyes. Reg reach for her and pulled her close as he kissed her passionately. Holding her tight he whispered to her.
"I could hold you forever. II wish this night would never have to end." He told her reverently.
She pulled back gently. "It has to though. I have duty in five minutes." Reg looked at her sheepishly.
"I guess I'll have to let you go." His face brightened as he loosened his hold on her. "After our shifts, we could go for a walk."
She kissed him lightly and slipped from his arms as she stood up. "Yes, I would like that. I have to go. I will see you later." Reg nodded and squeezed her hand in parting.
He stared at the door that had closed blocking his view of the woman he felt so deeply for. It scared him to feel so much for her. What if she couldn't love him? What if she stopped even liking him? Questions filled with doubt flooded his mind. Why did he always have to be afraid? Good things like this didn't happen to him, Reg reasoned. Something would go wrong. He just knew it.
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Worf watched the young woman at his station as he waited for Commander Riker outside the Captain's ready room. She ignored his stare and did her work. He liked this female. She would ask intelligent questions about her assignment. And meet his eyes with out flinching. Worf liked her initiative to check the atmosphere for security purposes. But most of all, she had no need to make polite conversation. The Klingon had an idea. He stepped over to her side.
"Ensign Kyree, I wish to assign you to the next planet's security force." Worf had given her the option of passing if she did not wish to participate. His faith in her was not disappointed.
"I will do my best to serve, Sir." At her name the Ensign had snapped to attention.
"Good." Worf studied her for a few seconds longer then turned to follow Riker just coming out of the ready room. The pair was joined by Data and they entered the turbo lift. Worf told them of his plans for Ensign Kyree. Riker's frown told him it wasn't a popular decision. But before the Commander could say anything Data commented.
"That is highly irregular Lieutenant Is there a reason for your posting Ensign Kyree on the planet? Worf couldn't think of any. Riker stared at him as if waiting for him to answer Data's question. Thinking fast the Klingon replied.
"I believe good work should be rewarded. Her sensor scans has proved her ingenuity." Worf patted himself on the back for coming up with a plausible explanation. Truthfully he didn't know why he wanted to give her a chance when other newly assigned ensigns may have to wait months for a planet side assignment. He gave the two officers his best Klingon poker face. Would they accept it? Riker and Data exchanged a glance. Mimicking Worf's emotionless face, they turned to face the door.
"Right Worf." Riker said sarcastically as they stepped off and headed to the transporter room.
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Thanks for the reviews! I thought I better tell you a bit about this story. It's old. I wrote it at least ten years ago, mostly on an Atari ST computer (16bit 1 whole meg of memory and a 80 meg (not gig) hard drive). Luckily, the doc files could be read by a PC, after a fashion…anybody remember ASCII? Anyway I could transfer the story without having to retype it. It was written before I every heard of Mary Sue. And yes, it probably is a Mary Sue but after rereading it over the years I just couldn't just chuck it. It wasn't too bad. LOL. So I'm fixing spacing and spelling errors the spellchecker catches but not much else in the story.
Councilor, councillor Counselor, Counsellor I did find all those spelling in this pocket dictionary I have. Spellchecker doesn't like the double Ls. And I'm supposed to pick from all those???? Makes my brain hurt. Actually Councilor is a like a board member. Counselor is the advisor. I'll try to remember that in chapters to come. Kryee got in my personal dictionary somehow. It's out now. After saving the edited dictionary, MS Word had a cow for 3 days before I found the problem.
My motto:
It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word: Andrew Jackson