CHAPTER 3: NIGHT
The trio had to meander around a ravine that prevented a more direct route to the source of smoke. Hoshi, Malcolm and Trip were tired, hungry and thirsty by the time they saw the gray plume rising from a cabin in the woods. They stopped some distance from it to discuss their strategy.
"One of us should sneak up there and take a peek. So, you two stay here--" began Trip.
"And have you give us away before we know it's safe? No way," said Hoshi with a glare. "I'll go."
"You could barely keep up with us, Hopalong."
"Who are you calling slow? If you didn't get side-tracked so often, we would have made better time, right, Malcolm?" Hoshi looked over her for his support, but he was gone. "Malcolm?"
"You finally ran him off," insisted Trip as he crossed his arms in disgust.
Hoshi settled for another glare at Trip. Malcolm would come to her, she just knew it. Then they both noticed a slight form making his way stealthily to the cabin. The small boy was very difficult to spot and removed remarkably fast. Trip was certain the boy made barely any sound at all.
They settled down to wait for their friend and as both came to the same conclusion. Their bickering had probably sent the quiet boy running just to get some peace and quiet. They were right.
At least I can't hear them, thought Malcolm as he approached a window. Besides, he had a lot of experience in sneaking back into his house, he remembered. And he had even more experience in evading capture if he was discovered. He took a deep breath and looked into the window.
-----
"There's someone in the cabin," said Malcolm when he returned to Hoshi and Trip. It was now dusk.
"Does it look like a witch?" asked Trip, but his question earned a scathing glance his direction from Hoshi.
"What do you think this is? Hansel and Gretel?" she asked sarcastically.
"Well, excuse me for having a vivid imagination."
Malcolm shook his head at them and kept a straight face as he said, "Actually, there are seven little men, six of them with long beards."
"Very funny, Malcolm, now tell us what you really saw," said Hoshi as she considered how all boys automatically conspired with each other.
"No, honestly, there are seven little men--well, I assume they're men. They look quite harmless," said Malcolm.
"For real? Cool!" said Trip. "Now what were the names of those dwarves? Lemme see, the leader was Doc, then there was Dopey, Sleepy, Sneezy, Sleazy--"
"Sleazy wasn't a Dwarf!" said Hoshi in disgust.
Trip looked to Malcolm for confirmation, who quietly said, "No Sleazy, just Snow White."
Trip nodded in acceptance. "Well, whatever their names are, we better make our presence known."
The three moved forward, but when Trip began to whistle a merry and familiar tune, Hoshi and Malcolm turned to him in synchrony and said, "Stop that!"
"What? I'm just trying to lighten the mood is all."
~~~~~
Trip tossed a quick glance to his companions who were standing behind him on either side. Each gave their nod of assent, so he knocked on the cabin door. Presently they heard a scuffling of feet and soon the door was opened by a man no taller than four feet who had a fluffy white beard.
"Hey," said Trip with a friendly smile. The little man looked up at him with an open mouth.
Hoshi immediately crouched to lower her height and bowed her head. Malcolm and Trip looked at each other for a moment before mimicking her posture. Hoshi shrugged her shoulders dramatically and sighed, "We're lost, we need help."
Hoshi looked at the man and his brothers as they all gathered near the door. She patted her chest quickly and said, "Hoshi." She then put her hand on each of the boy's shoulders and repeated their names.
The leader finally blinked, nodded, then began a flurry of discussion with his brothers. The bald, beardless one finally said something and everyone went quiet, just before the leader began hopping from one foot to the other in agitation. Hoshi exchanged a troubled glance with Malcolm and Trip, but soon the men were off tearing through their cabin as if looking for something. Finally one shouted in delight and brought a small box to their brother.
"Could that be a weapon?" whispered Malcolm to his companions and the grip on their walking sticks tightened.
"I think it's a translator," said Hoshi as the little men approached them again.
"Okay, you start talking and Malcolm and I will yank you out of the way if something happens."
Hoshi nodded, then began addressing the leader. "My name is Hoshi. This boy is Trip and the other one is Malcolm. We're lost. Can you help us?"
Hoshi repeated the statements several times, then the man finally spoke. The humans all had a relieved smile when they were able to understand the response.
"Welcome. My name is Durek."
-----
The first order of business had been a quick sponge bath for the three humans so that their odor didn't offend their hosts. They all were given dry clothing that was a bit of a tight fit. Luckily Hoshi and Malcolm were small enough so that the clothes looked within the realm of sensible. Trip, on the other hand, wound up with a shirt that didn't quite meet the waistband of his knickers.
"As long as my brother doesn't see me like this," Trip grumbled under his breath.
Hoshi had doled out the clothing and was arrayed in a bright yellow shirt with green pants. "Purple suits you," said Hoshi with a giggle, "but those orange knickers belong on a golf course."
Malcolm merely smiled. Hoshi had nabbed the conservative blues for him and he truly appreciated her thoughtfulness. Besides, Trip could wear anything and make it look cool; he just had that way about him. They were soon joining their hosts for a meal.
"So we've been walking all day," said Trip as he ended the narrative of their day between mouthfuls of soup. Whatever was in this stuff was good!
"But you don't remember how you got here?" asked Durek. His brothers were all standing quietly behind him with frowns beginning to show.
Malcolm was thoughtful as he said, "Only pieces of information about our families, but not our family names. Trip and I remember our siblings, but not much else. We've all agreed that we're the same age: twelve. It's easier to remember things we've done, though."
Durek looked at them then shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid you've been marked for rehabilitation."
"What? You mean like some juvenile detention camp?" asked Hoshi in disbelief.
"No, Hoshi, it's far more than that. You see, we don't believe in incarceration; we believe in second chances. Our criminals are regressed in age and placed into an environment conducive to the development of pro-social behavior. All ties with the old families are eradicated."
Durek's brothers nodded sagely at his words.
The three humans stared in shocked silence for a moment. Trip recovered his voice first. "You mean you think we're criminals who escaped this pro-social environment?"
Durek merely shrugged. "That's the only explanation that would make sense if you were Kifons like us, but you seem to be a different species."
"We're humans from Earth," said Hoshi quietly.
"That might explain how you recovered so quickly. Most Kifons are in a coma for a week after the process, but you don't seem to show the weakness one would expect."
"Is there some way to reverse this process?" asked Malcolm. It was beginning to make sense. There were skills he could use that he never remembered developing. The implicit memory processes would be harder to erase than the explicit memory; he at least knew that.
"Why would we want to?" Durek asked. "The method has been effective on our planet for the last one hundred years. The more interesting question is how did you get here on our mountain. You must have been dropped off when we were working in the mines. Our youngest brother stays here to tend to the cabin, but he really doesn't notice much around him."
Durek's brothers all nodded in agreement at his words. The bald one was the youngest and Trip swore the man resembled Dopey to a tee.
"Well, I'm fresh out of ideas. How do we find out who we are and who did this to us?" asked Trip.
"If you come from a starship, surely someone is looking for you," said Durek.
"Unless they think we're dead," said Malcolm and quickly regretted how his words dashed the light of hope out of Hoshi's eyes.
Durek's eyes brightened at this and his brothers began nodding in agreement. "That's it! There was a report two days ago about alien visitors who encountered an accident. What was the name of the starship?"
"Enterprise," said the youngest brother shyly. He spent a lot of his time monitoring transmissions. He quickly added, "They're still in orbit.
"Enterprise?" said the three humans simultaneously. Something about the name sounded comforting.
"Do you have any way of contacting this starship?" asked Hoshi.
Durek looked at one of his brothers who said in a grumpy voice, "It will mean climbing to the top of the mountain to get a clear signal."
"Then we can contact your ship first thing in the morning," said Durek.
"The moon is full and we have nothing better to do. I think we should go now," said Malcolm in his quiet voice. He looked at his companions and added, "Whoever did this to us probably expected us to be incapacitated for a week, but they might check up on us before hand."
"You're right. Well, if you can show me how to operate your comm unit, we'll take a walk in the moonlight," said Trip. His companions stood up as well.
Durek smiled at the humans. "We'll go with you. This is the most entertainment we've had since that girl stumbled into our cabin. You resemble her, Hoshi. She had ebony hair--"
"And lips like roses--" chimed in a brother.
"And skin as white as snow," ended another brother.
"Oh, yeah? What happened to her?" asked Trip fully expecting a prince to show up to rescue the girl.
"She robbed us and ran off with her boyfriend," said the grumpy one.
"Yes, but we left her a surprise in that apple she stole," said Durek with a nod. "Come on, let's see if we can find your home."
~~~~~
"You're still uncertain about why this happened," said Phlox as he saw his Captain and First Officer walk into medbay.
"The Kifon government sends their regrets, but say they haven't been able to identify the culprit who did this. An opposing faction wanted to sabotage any dealings with alien races, but there's no sign of the traitor. The Kifons were able to find the capsule where the three were stored after being regressed. Apparently they each wandered in a different direction before their memory began returning."
Jonathan Archer stood by T'Pol as they looked at the three twelve-year olds sitting in decon. Hoshi sat leaning against Malcolm on the bench while Trip was lying on the floor of the chamber, tapping his feet together to some rhythm in his mind.
"Will you be able to reverse the process, Doctor?" asked T'Pol.
"Unless I want to kill them, no. Even if I were able to accelerate their maturation, I could not return the memories they lost." Phlox looked at the Captain.
Archer spoke reluctantly. "Starfleet Medical wants to evaluate them. Apparently they've convinced their parents to make them wards of the state so that they can be re-educated under observation."
T'Pol looked quickly to her Captain. "You make it sound as if they will be incarcerated."
Archer said nothing, just held his mouth in a grim line. He looked at the children in decon and felt the sense of loss to the mission and to himself.
-----
"But what if I want to do something different with my life? What if I don't want to be a linguist this time?" asked Hoshi. They had been given their personal files to read as they waited in decon. The information was scant, but sufficient for them to realize who they would become.
"From reading my record I know my family sent me off to boarding school at this age anyway. I don't think my interests will change too much other than no one is expecting me to join the Royal Navy."
"I do like languages the best," sighed Hoshi, but she still felt like a bird in a guilded cage.
"They're gonna keep us together, we should just focus on that," said Trip as he sat up from his position on the floor. "Look, let's just insist that no matter what happens, we do it together."
He put his hand palm up in front of them. Malcolm laid his on Trip with Hoshi's hand soon joining his.
"Together."
*****
I'm still not sure I'll ever come back to this story. Didn't feel like doing a High School fic, but I could change my mind.
Thanks for reading. No reviews are necessary.
The trio had to meander around a ravine that prevented a more direct route to the source of smoke. Hoshi, Malcolm and Trip were tired, hungry and thirsty by the time they saw the gray plume rising from a cabin in the woods. They stopped some distance from it to discuss their strategy.
"One of us should sneak up there and take a peek. So, you two stay here--" began Trip.
"And have you give us away before we know it's safe? No way," said Hoshi with a glare. "I'll go."
"You could barely keep up with us, Hopalong."
"Who are you calling slow? If you didn't get side-tracked so often, we would have made better time, right, Malcolm?" Hoshi looked over her for his support, but he was gone. "Malcolm?"
"You finally ran him off," insisted Trip as he crossed his arms in disgust.
Hoshi settled for another glare at Trip. Malcolm would come to her, she just knew it. Then they both noticed a slight form making his way stealthily to the cabin. The small boy was very difficult to spot and removed remarkably fast. Trip was certain the boy made barely any sound at all.
They settled down to wait for their friend and as both came to the same conclusion. Their bickering had probably sent the quiet boy running just to get some peace and quiet. They were right.
At least I can't hear them, thought Malcolm as he approached a window. Besides, he had a lot of experience in sneaking back into his house, he remembered. And he had even more experience in evading capture if he was discovered. He took a deep breath and looked into the window.
-----
"There's someone in the cabin," said Malcolm when he returned to Hoshi and Trip. It was now dusk.
"Does it look like a witch?" asked Trip, but his question earned a scathing glance his direction from Hoshi.
"What do you think this is? Hansel and Gretel?" she asked sarcastically.
"Well, excuse me for having a vivid imagination."
Malcolm shook his head at them and kept a straight face as he said, "Actually, there are seven little men, six of them with long beards."
"Very funny, Malcolm, now tell us what you really saw," said Hoshi as she considered how all boys automatically conspired with each other.
"No, honestly, there are seven little men--well, I assume they're men. They look quite harmless," said Malcolm.
"For real? Cool!" said Trip. "Now what were the names of those dwarves? Lemme see, the leader was Doc, then there was Dopey, Sleepy, Sneezy, Sleazy--"
"Sleazy wasn't a Dwarf!" said Hoshi in disgust.
Trip looked to Malcolm for confirmation, who quietly said, "No Sleazy, just Snow White."
Trip nodded in acceptance. "Well, whatever their names are, we better make our presence known."
The three moved forward, but when Trip began to whistle a merry and familiar tune, Hoshi and Malcolm turned to him in synchrony and said, "Stop that!"
"What? I'm just trying to lighten the mood is all."
~~~~~
Trip tossed a quick glance to his companions who were standing behind him on either side. Each gave their nod of assent, so he knocked on the cabin door. Presently they heard a scuffling of feet and soon the door was opened by a man no taller than four feet who had a fluffy white beard.
"Hey," said Trip with a friendly smile. The little man looked up at him with an open mouth.
Hoshi immediately crouched to lower her height and bowed her head. Malcolm and Trip looked at each other for a moment before mimicking her posture. Hoshi shrugged her shoulders dramatically and sighed, "We're lost, we need help."
Hoshi looked at the man and his brothers as they all gathered near the door. She patted her chest quickly and said, "Hoshi." She then put her hand on each of the boy's shoulders and repeated their names.
The leader finally blinked, nodded, then began a flurry of discussion with his brothers. The bald, beardless one finally said something and everyone went quiet, just before the leader began hopping from one foot to the other in agitation. Hoshi exchanged a troubled glance with Malcolm and Trip, but soon the men were off tearing through their cabin as if looking for something. Finally one shouted in delight and brought a small box to their brother.
"Could that be a weapon?" whispered Malcolm to his companions and the grip on their walking sticks tightened.
"I think it's a translator," said Hoshi as the little men approached them again.
"Okay, you start talking and Malcolm and I will yank you out of the way if something happens."
Hoshi nodded, then began addressing the leader. "My name is Hoshi. This boy is Trip and the other one is Malcolm. We're lost. Can you help us?"
Hoshi repeated the statements several times, then the man finally spoke. The humans all had a relieved smile when they were able to understand the response.
"Welcome. My name is Durek."
-----
The first order of business had been a quick sponge bath for the three humans so that their odor didn't offend their hosts. They all were given dry clothing that was a bit of a tight fit. Luckily Hoshi and Malcolm were small enough so that the clothes looked within the realm of sensible. Trip, on the other hand, wound up with a shirt that didn't quite meet the waistband of his knickers.
"As long as my brother doesn't see me like this," Trip grumbled under his breath.
Hoshi had doled out the clothing and was arrayed in a bright yellow shirt with green pants. "Purple suits you," said Hoshi with a giggle, "but those orange knickers belong on a golf course."
Malcolm merely smiled. Hoshi had nabbed the conservative blues for him and he truly appreciated her thoughtfulness. Besides, Trip could wear anything and make it look cool; he just had that way about him. They were soon joining their hosts for a meal.
"So we've been walking all day," said Trip as he ended the narrative of their day between mouthfuls of soup. Whatever was in this stuff was good!
"But you don't remember how you got here?" asked Durek. His brothers were all standing quietly behind him with frowns beginning to show.
Malcolm was thoughtful as he said, "Only pieces of information about our families, but not our family names. Trip and I remember our siblings, but not much else. We've all agreed that we're the same age: twelve. It's easier to remember things we've done, though."
Durek looked at them then shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid you've been marked for rehabilitation."
"What? You mean like some juvenile detention camp?" asked Hoshi in disbelief.
"No, Hoshi, it's far more than that. You see, we don't believe in incarceration; we believe in second chances. Our criminals are regressed in age and placed into an environment conducive to the development of pro-social behavior. All ties with the old families are eradicated."
Durek's brothers nodded sagely at his words.
The three humans stared in shocked silence for a moment. Trip recovered his voice first. "You mean you think we're criminals who escaped this pro-social environment?"
Durek merely shrugged. "That's the only explanation that would make sense if you were Kifons like us, but you seem to be a different species."
"We're humans from Earth," said Hoshi quietly.
"That might explain how you recovered so quickly. Most Kifons are in a coma for a week after the process, but you don't seem to show the weakness one would expect."
"Is there some way to reverse this process?" asked Malcolm. It was beginning to make sense. There were skills he could use that he never remembered developing. The implicit memory processes would be harder to erase than the explicit memory; he at least knew that.
"Why would we want to?" Durek asked. "The method has been effective on our planet for the last one hundred years. The more interesting question is how did you get here on our mountain. You must have been dropped off when we were working in the mines. Our youngest brother stays here to tend to the cabin, but he really doesn't notice much around him."
Durek's brothers all nodded in agreement at his words. The bald one was the youngest and Trip swore the man resembled Dopey to a tee.
"Well, I'm fresh out of ideas. How do we find out who we are and who did this to us?" asked Trip.
"If you come from a starship, surely someone is looking for you," said Durek.
"Unless they think we're dead," said Malcolm and quickly regretted how his words dashed the light of hope out of Hoshi's eyes.
Durek's eyes brightened at this and his brothers began nodding in agreement. "That's it! There was a report two days ago about alien visitors who encountered an accident. What was the name of the starship?"
"Enterprise," said the youngest brother shyly. He spent a lot of his time monitoring transmissions. He quickly added, "They're still in orbit.
"Enterprise?" said the three humans simultaneously. Something about the name sounded comforting.
"Do you have any way of contacting this starship?" asked Hoshi.
Durek looked at one of his brothers who said in a grumpy voice, "It will mean climbing to the top of the mountain to get a clear signal."
"Then we can contact your ship first thing in the morning," said Durek.
"The moon is full and we have nothing better to do. I think we should go now," said Malcolm in his quiet voice. He looked at his companions and added, "Whoever did this to us probably expected us to be incapacitated for a week, but they might check up on us before hand."
"You're right. Well, if you can show me how to operate your comm unit, we'll take a walk in the moonlight," said Trip. His companions stood up as well.
Durek smiled at the humans. "We'll go with you. This is the most entertainment we've had since that girl stumbled into our cabin. You resemble her, Hoshi. She had ebony hair--"
"And lips like roses--" chimed in a brother.
"And skin as white as snow," ended another brother.
"Oh, yeah? What happened to her?" asked Trip fully expecting a prince to show up to rescue the girl.
"She robbed us and ran off with her boyfriend," said the grumpy one.
"Yes, but we left her a surprise in that apple she stole," said Durek with a nod. "Come on, let's see if we can find your home."
~~~~~
"You're still uncertain about why this happened," said Phlox as he saw his Captain and First Officer walk into medbay.
"The Kifon government sends their regrets, but say they haven't been able to identify the culprit who did this. An opposing faction wanted to sabotage any dealings with alien races, but there's no sign of the traitor. The Kifons were able to find the capsule where the three were stored after being regressed. Apparently they each wandered in a different direction before their memory began returning."
Jonathan Archer stood by T'Pol as they looked at the three twelve-year olds sitting in decon. Hoshi sat leaning against Malcolm on the bench while Trip was lying on the floor of the chamber, tapping his feet together to some rhythm in his mind.
"Will you be able to reverse the process, Doctor?" asked T'Pol.
"Unless I want to kill them, no. Even if I were able to accelerate their maturation, I could not return the memories they lost." Phlox looked at the Captain.
Archer spoke reluctantly. "Starfleet Medical wants to evaluate them. Apparently they've convinced their parents to make them wards of the state so that they can be re-educated under observation."
T'Pol looked quickly to her Captain. "You make it sound as if they will be incarcerated."
Archer said nothing, just held his mouth in a grim line. He looked at the children in decon and felt the sense of loss to the mission and to himself.
-----
"But what if I want to do something different with my life? What if I don't want to be a linguist this time?" asked Hoshi. They had been given their personal files to read as they waited in decon. The information was scant, but sufficient for them to realize who they would become.
"From reading my record I know my family sent me off to boarding school at this age anyway. I don't think my interests will change too much other than no one is expecting me to join the Royal Navy."
"I do like languages the best," sighed Hoshi, but she still felt like a bird in a guilded cage.
"They're gonna keep us together, we should just focus on that," said Trip as he sat up from his position on the floor. "Look, let's just insist that no matter what happens, we do it together."
He put his hand palm up in front of them. Malcolm laid his on Trip with Hoshi's hand soon joining his.
"Together."
*****
I'm still not sure I'll ever come back to this story. Didn't feel like doing a High School fic, but I could change my mind.
Thanks for reading. No reviews are necessary.
