Chapter Two
Preparing for Jamaharon
Trip Tucker was at the main control console on the elevated platform before the Warp Five engine when he was joined by his Second. "Begging your pardon, sir," the Assistant Chief Engineer began with unusual deference, "but are you all right?" Trip looked at his friend, mildly surprised by the man's quiet inquiry.
"I'm fine, Billy. Why do you ask?"
"Well, sir, I – er…" Trip turned to face his friend directly.
"What's with this 'sir' business? You got something on your mind, say it normally."
"I wasn't really sure if I should. I … heard about what happened in the Mess Hall the other morning." Trip smiled wryly.
"I dare say the entire ship has heard about it. Not my preferred way to air dirty laundry, but it's done. Let's just move on."
"Yes, sir."
Trip sighed in mild exasperation. "You know, one more 'sir' out of you, Billy, and I'm going to start insisting that you salute me. Come on, pal."
"Well, I just couldn't help but notice that … well, that you're walking around like you're wearing an EV suit." Trip shook his head. He'd tried to avoid it, but…
"Shows, doesn't it?"
"Only if someone's eyes are open." His friend admitted, conveying the perfectly obvious. "That's why I had to ask if you're all right."
"I'm fine. Tia, well, spent the night last night, and we sort of … made up." He glanced about, but they were quite alone at the moment. "You know the Ryerson Mk 10." Billy blinked in surprise at the unexpected divergence. The Ryerson Mark 10 was little more than a glorified strap of flexible metal some fifty centimeters wide and attached to a clamp lock, used for emergency repairs. When engaged about a weakened or broken support strut, it clamped so tightly about the structure that it formed an excellent seal until the pieces could be welded back together.
"Well, sure. Once that baby clamps around something, it's so tight that nothing can pull it loo …" Billy's voice trailed off. "Oh." He decided to change the subject as quickly as he could. "So. What plans for Risa?"
"Nothing elaborate. I'm just going there to rest."
"So, no plans for this 'jamaharon' thing that's got everyone interested?"
"What do you think I'm going there to rest from?"
---
It was 0823 when Tia awoke in Trip Tucker's bed, remembering that he had kissed her good morning before he'd started his shift, but since she was 'off' on this date she had not gotten out of his bed. She opened her eyes again well over an hour and a half later, smiling as she remembered the late evening and the impromptu 'game' she'd enjoyed, that of being taken despite her 'pleading'. She turned over in the bunk, his subtle scent on the pillow with her. She reached up to draw it closer – and used it to muffle a scream as her stomach cramped sharply.
She lay gasping, her legs drawn up convulsively as she fought to relax her muscles from the pain as the cramp all too slowly eased. When it finally faded enough for her to breathe, after an eternity of anguish, she realized she was very far indeed from her own quarters. She also realized the toll last night's 'indulgences' had taken on her.
She had known that visiting him would take a strain upon her system, but she had not cared. Last night had meant so much to her that she was sure the pain would be a small price to pay. Now she knew she had been wrong!
Getting off the bunk as soon as she could, clutching her bare stomach, she was halfway to the door before she stopped herself, looking down at her nude body. Normally she would not give a frignanti, but she had made a promise to abide by the customs of these people; and in addition she had no desire to cause problems for Shar-les. For her to be seen leaving his quarters was one thing – but to do so naked was, for the humans, an entirely different matter.
She reached for the short white dress he'd draped over a chair from its place on the floor from the previous night, and pulled her arm back an instant later as all the muscles from wrist to elbow cramped at once. She clutched her arm to her body, grimacing in pain, unable to do more than try to relax her muscles and wait it out.
After an eternity the pain started to fade and she reached again for her white dress, but when she did so she saw just how badly her hand was shaking. Her body was trembling in ways that had nothing to do with the climactic sensations of the previous night.
Pulling the dress on, frustrated at failing twice in doing so, she crossed the room on shaking legs and pushed the button, opening the door. She hurried through, rushing down the corridor as quickly as her weak, trembling legs would take her.
It was hard to walk a straight line; worse navigating through the quiltiansi curved corridors, but thank Aura she did not pass too many people. She could pretend to be all right even while trying with all her might not to pitch forward onto her face!
She made the long trek to her quarters, fortunately also on E deck, only by the active grace of Aura itself; actually missing the button the first time she tried to let herself into her rooms. She had to lean against the door frame and use one hand to steady the other so her shaking finger could connect, and then she virtually fell into the room.
As the door mercifully slid shut behind her she staggered across the room to a cabinet, pulling it open and taking out one of many 1 liter containers. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold the container and remove the top at the same time. Unable to hold the small cap, she let it drop to the deck where it bounced away; she didn't care where.
Steeling herself, she raised the container to her lips and started to drink. As the noxious milky concoction flowed down her throat she started to gag, and fought to avoid choking. The mixture was so horrid she could barely stand sipping it, let alone being forced to consume the entire liter. As she swallowed the vile liquid as fast as she could she felt her stomach rebel; yet one more reaction for her to fight. She was disgusted by the vile liquid, trying to force herself not to think about it, not to be sick.
Finally the container was empty, and she could stop drinking the rank mixture. She started to lower the container from her lips and the aftertaste joined with the rapidly growing nausea in her stomach and she knew that this time her stomach was going to win.
Dropping the container, she ran into the smaller room, falling to her knees barely in time. She desperately clamped both hands over her mouth, fighting the rejection. The more her stomach rebelled, the harder she fought. The more it threw back the mixture, the tighter she clamped her mouth shut, both hands clasped tightly over her mouth as her body waged war with her will; her will not to have to consume another liter should she lose the first.
After an eternity the battle ended as her abused stomach, unable to throw back the mixture, gave in to the inevitable, and gave up fighting to expel the horrible substance. When she was sure of victory, she let her hands fall and collapsed weakly, grasping the fixture to keep herself upright on her knees. She knelt, pale and gasping, wiping stinging sweat from her eyes.
She felt no sense of victory, for she had wanted to expel the rislinqi thing as badly as her stomach had. But it was over. She had won, this time, though it had been close; closer than she cared to consider. She was safe again … for four more hours.
---
"I've been reading up on this Risa." Bob Rasters told his friends in the maintenance bay. With him were his fellows Tom Moore, Jeff Cross, Mary Beck and Susan Magee.
"Yeah, what'd you find out?" Tom wanted to know.
"Seems they've taken the hospi … the 'welcome business' … to the next level."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Susan asked.
"It means that you can get anything you want on this planet, anywhere, from anybody. The entire population. They live to serve." He drew the word out suggestively.
"Yeah, serve what?" Jeff asked.
"Us. The guide calls them the most hospital … hospiditious …. hospititable … race in the galaxy."
"Are you drunk?" Mary cut in with a smile. She didn't think so, but…
"Nah, I just can't say hospididibel. Well, anyway, their most favorite expression is 'all we have is yours'. And they share everything." He regarded them each in turn. "Everything!" He drew out the word expressively, leaving no doubt at all about his meaning.
"So you said.
"They've got this thing … called a horga'hn. The guide says if you show it off you can get anything you want."
"I don't want a horga'hn." Tom said.
"No?"
"No. If I do it I want her right there with me."
"Pig!" Mary decried.
"Anyway," said Bob, trying to get things back on track, "they have this thing called jamaharon, supposed to be the ultimate in sexual pleasure."
"I thought you said it was a horga'hn." Jeff insisted, just trying to keep up.
"No, that's what you use to get jamaharon. Look, it was all laid out in the guide." He handed his friend a padd, which he activated, looking at some of the images displayed.
"Whee-whoo. If this is jamaharon, I can't wait to get me some." Mary snatched the padd out of his hand.
"I said he was a pig, I was wrong. You're all pigs!" She tabbed down, looking at some of the other pictures. "On second thought…" She said, considering the images displayed, sharing the padd with Susan. It was clear they were not looking at pictures of scantily clad women. But then she looked up. "But don't you need a horga'hn?"
"No. Like they say, all they have is ours." She looked back at the picture with a lascivious smile.
"I'll take it."
---
"So, Cap'n, what's the story behind Risa?" Trip asked his commander later that afternoon in the latter's Ready Room.
"Well, from what I read, most of the planet is a dismal swamp subject to violent storms and torrential downpours throughout their twenty hour day, all of it punctuated by seismic activity that has to be felt to be believed."
"Charming. We're talking about the R&R planet we're heading for, right?"
"That's right." Archer assured his friend with a wry smile.
"As a travel agent, you make a great starship captain. Next time, I book the hotel."
"Except, that is, for the equatorial region, where a sophisticated weather control system regulates everything from sunshine to ... well, everything. The Risans set this system up over a hundred years ago, and have turned their world into the tourist capital of the sector. They have no industry, no resources they could reach easily without expanding their weather and tectonic control to ridiculous proportions, but they make a very comfortable living on hospitality. Their only law is no one gets hurt. Other than that, its every pleasure you want. It's a hedonist's utopia."
"Aren't you afraid the crew won't want to leave?"
"After what we went through in and around Vendikar, I might not want to leave!"
---
At dinner, Travis, Hoshi, Malcolm, Liz, Trip and Tia were gathered about two tables pushed together. When they arrived, each noticed, but did not want to be the first to comment upon, a change in their Auran friend. Where, before, her skin had a definite golden tint, it was now quite pronounced indeed. The deepening flush of color might be anything, and no one could think of how to bring up a question, to the point where no one at all did so.
"So, what are you going to do when you get there?" Travis asked.
"I'm going camping with Seamus." Hoshi declared. "I'm taking a backpack, some hiking boots and I'm going to get blissfully lost for two full days, where there's not going to be anything to translate other than polar bears or sea gulls."
"I don't think you're going to see any polar bears or sea gulls in the woods." Travis exclaimed with a grin.
"Then I'll be all right."
"I notice you mention going with Seamus with only a backpack and a pair of boots, so I guess you will be all right." Liz remarked with a grin.
"Lech! So who, er, I mean; what are you going to do?" The looks the two friends exchanged at this faux slip were telling indeed.
"I'm going mountain climbing." Liz declared. "Just drop me off at the base of the biggest rock, and pick me up two days later at the top."
"Better bring an airmask and thermal suit." Malcolm 'warned'. "I hear the biggest one is about 9,000 meters."
She hesitated. "That's bigger than Everest, isn't it?"
"By about 150 meters, give or take." She thought it over.
"Sounds about right." She declared confidently. "I like 'em big."
"That's what I hear from Jim Cien." Hoshi remarked; then evaded a semi-affronted swing of her friend's hand, to the amusement of the others.
Hoshi noticed Tia take a drink from the large glass before her, which was filled with an oddly colored milky substance, but before she drank she cautiously tensed up; then drank as quickly as she could, and when she put down the half empty container it was with a grimace of immense distaste. Hoshi wondered briefly why the young woman did not order something more to her liking, but it was no business of hers. "What about you, Malcolm?" She asked, to keep the conversation going.
"I'm taking a page from your book." He answered, setting down his own glass. "I'm doing a little cultural research with emphasis on etymology."
"Right." She said in monumental disbelief. "You're going to study their language?"
"It's true. I'm going to examine the various permutations of this thing they call 'jamaharon'." She laughed.
"I'm sure you're going to be delving into all aspects of it. A real in-depth study."
"I expect my research to be very thorough, indeed."
"Better have Phlox standing by when he gets back." Travis warned.
"I hear people have died from too much research." Liz agreed.
"Not really. I looked up the records. There has only been one fatality on that planet since it opened as a … rest stop."
"Really?"
"Yes. The cause of death was never officially determined, but there is a notation that it took three days to wipe the smile off his face."
The entire table erupted into a collective groan; all but Tia; who turned to Trip with a mystified expression. "What wrong is?"
"Well, it's … that is …" How to explain a bad joke that has been bad for centuries? He looked at his friends for help. Liz reached over, patting Tia's arm.
"You'll find out when you get there, hon."
"So, what about you, Travis?"
"I have a bet with Trip."
"Yeah?" Liz asked.
"We're going to see which of us can be the first to convince the Risans that their seismic stabilizers are malfunctioning."
She looked back and forth between the two men. "You guys are pigs."
"Oink." Travis replied with a grin and a wink.
"Well, from the noise complaints I get sometimes," Malcolm opined, "I think Trip and Tia have a better chance of winning that bet."
"I going with Shar-les am not." Tia replied. "Beaches am I seeking."
"Going to work on your tan?" He asked, though personally he doubted she needed to. In fact, he had been noticing that her coloring was steadily becoming deeper over the past few days.
"Nyas. Just to the beach must I go."
Hoshi looked at her friend curiously, mildly surprised in picking up the stress on her word 'must'.
"You noticing a trend, here?" Liz asked the table in general, distracting Hoshi's thought. "We women are going for rest and recreation, and you men are going to exhaust the natural resources."
"Or at least the local populace." Hoshi agreed.
"Well, all in the interest of harmonious interplanetary relations." Travis assured them in total innocence.
"Yeah." Liz's tone carried all her feelings. "You know," she said, addressing Travis, "I don't know how Jennifer feels," she turned to Tia, "but my hat's off to you, hon."
Tia regarded Liz curiously, looking several times from her eyes to her hair and back. "Hat?" she finally had to ask.
"Well, to both you and Jennifer actually. If Jim planned a separate vacation in paradise where he wanted to confuse the seismic stabilizers, I'd be nine points into a core breach by now." Tia looked at her uncomprehendingly; then looked in turn at each of the others at the table, finally back to Liz.
"What care I seismic stabilizers for? If adjust them they wish during vacation …" she shrugged, "…I to the beach am going."
"So, no jamaharon for you?" Malcolm asked with care. Tia looked at him blankly; then her expression deepened as she struggled to interpret the question. Malcolm very rapidly decided to give up.
Trip caught the intensity of Hoshi's look, and after a few moments sighed, touching Tia's arm to attract her attention. "I'll explain it all later, darlin'." He glanced at Hoshi. The intensity of her stare had not diminished by an iota. "I promise." Though her stare softened somewhat, it was some time before it stopped.
