Library Pass
By
Pat Foley
Chapter 7
If you go down to the woods today
You'd better not go alone.
The two young Vulcans waited breathlessly, listening to their employer's retreating footsteps.
"Do you think he will come back?" T'Jar whispered.
"I think …not," Sascek said, though sounding uncertain. "He was undoubtedly as regretful to have invaded our privacy as we were to have intruded on his."
"We should not have hidden."
"Would you have him – them – see us engaged in such activities?"
"We had finished our duties for the evening. Our time was surely our own." She looked at him. "Do you think what we did was so very shameful?"
Sascek just looked at her doubtfully. "I am sorry, T'Jar."
"Sorry you kissed me?"
"You had said you did not wish to be kissed behind a door. And the very first kiss--"
T'Jar daringly put a hand to his chest. "So long as it is not the last."
Sascek eyed her. "As a clan leader, Sarek is supposed to be an example for his people."
"He has always seemed an excellent leader to me."
Sascek drew a deep breath. "They have gone to their suite," he suggested, sotto voice. "The gardens will be empty."
"The gardens are full of roses," T'Jar countered. "And roses have thorns. I don't like thorns. I have received enough rose scratches this evening, picking petals. I can't understand what my lady sees in such…barbaric flowers."
"They are good to eat," Sascek suggested. "Perhaps that is why she has so many."
"You are always thinking of your stomach. She doesn't care to eat them. Have you ever seen her eat one?"
"No," he admitted.
"Though the books consider such flowers --"
Sascek wasn't interested in more about books or Terran flowers. "We can't stay here. Anyone could come in. They could come back. Perhaps Sarek will, once he sees the Lady Amanda to her suite. To deal with us."
"The parapets--"
"And the security programs will certainly record us. Sarek has directed only he has leave to wander there after nightfall. He doesn't wish to be disturbed in his meditations."
"Perhaps we could walk in the desert, near the boundary fences. There is an ancient guard post--"
"We could be mistaken for a trespassing lematya, and darted. The security programs--"
"The library," T'Jar offered.
"The library?"
"Why not? It is an excellent place for …research. I have Lady Amanda's leave to go there whenever I choose. And there are many things I would …read to you."
"You wish to read to me?"
"Between kisses." T'Jar said primly.
Sascek drew a sharp breath and took her hand in his. "Let's go."
"Wait," T'Jar ran back to the kitchen, putting away the remnants of Sarek's aborted meal.
"T'Jar, what are you doing?"
"T'Rueth would be displeased if I failed to clear. It is one of my duties."
"But T'Rueth is not to know we were here! After Sarek had come!"
"Well," T'Jar said, closing the stasis unit with a 'that's that' gesture. "Now there is no evidence anyone was here."
"But Sarek was here!"
T'Jar met his eyes. "And he knows we – or someone – was here."
"If you clear, that tells him who it was."
"If he was going to …reveal our presence, he would have when he noticed we were behind the door."
"Perhaps he avoided it because of the Lady Amanda's presence." Sascek looked uneasy. "Perhaps we'll be reprimanded tomorrow."
"Perhaps he was just respecting our privacy," T'Jar said. "We would not have been hiding behind a door if what we had been doing was not private. He undoubtedly understands that. Perhaps as no one else does."
"I still believe--"
"But if we are to be reprimanded," T'Jar said. "It might as well be for doing something."
Sascek couldn't fault the logic in that. And at that, decided she was right. "Let's go." They were half way out the door when she suddenly ran back.
"T'Jar, what are you doing now?" Sascek asked, watching frustrated as she snagged a kitchen towel. "What's that for?" he asked, looking puzzled.
"It is as my Lady once told me. The library is a spill free zone."1
Sascek looked mystified but he grabbed another towel for good measure and followed T'Jar as they surreptitiously climbed the stairs.
To be continued…
1 Holography 3, As a Reminder and a Promise
4