"Sono" Part Seven

Disclaimers in part one.

Hoshi Sato walked down the corridors of the Enterprise, tapping a PADD against her leg as she moved. Anyone passing would have said that she was lost in thought and then wondered about the soft smile on her lips, the mysterious nature of it.

She reached the doors of the armory, having passed no one on her way there, which wasn't unusual, buried deep as it was. She went through, the doors swishing closed behind her and she paused just on the inside, taking a moment to locate Commander Reed.

Malcolm and a crewman were standing in front of the main display. Malcolm pointed at an area and said, "There's our problem."

Hoshi stopped behind them and said, "Busy?"

Malcolm said, "Is there something you need, Ensign?"

The crewman excused himself.

"Lunch," Hoshi answered.

He blinked at the non sequitur and repeated, "Lunch?"

Hoshi nodded. "Yes, lunch. Don't tell me you've forgotten?"

The puzzled look on his face cleared away. He said, "Hoshi. I didn't make a lunch date with you."

She heaved an exasperated sigh. "Yes, well, I had to try. Are you too busy to come eat with me?"

She put on a hopeful face. Reed shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Hoshi. The targeting array has gone out of alignment and it's going to take a while before we get it back in place."

"Are you sure?" He opened his mouth to answer again, but she raised the PADD she'd been holding and waved it. She said, "I have something here you're interested in."

"What?"

She smiled.

"The story of the Bearer."

Again, he blinked.

She reminded him, "The Epa-in, Malcolm. The significance of those seeds."

He raised his eyebrows in comprehension and reached to take the PADD from her, but she pulled it back. "Uh-uh. Your company at lunch in exchange for the information."

"You're bribing me."

She gave him an 'oh, please' look. "I'm coaxing you. There's a difference."

He made a grab again for the PADD, so she placed it in a pocket of her uniform. He looked at the screen, then back to her. He asked, "You scanned that entire book into the database?"

"Why not? It's valuable information."

"I could just access it from here."

"And waste the opportunity of spending time with me? Come on, Malcolm, I know you want to." She smiled and Malcolm sighed in defeat.

He said, "I'll have you know, I'm doing this under duress."

She grinned. "Just come along, Commander."

They walked out into the corridor and onto a turbo-lift. She said, "You haven't told me what Captain Archer said about your report."

He didn't look at her as he answered. "I expressed my concerns; he asked if I'd noted anything concrete on which to base what I had experienced. When I was unable to give him anything, he dismissed it. To tell you the truth, I'm beginning to think that it was all just an over-developed sense of paranoia."

Hoshi's eyebrows creased at the deprecating, uncertain tone. She said, "Except...?"

"Except you experienced it, too."

"Malcolm, I'm not sure that there was anything there. I did put it in my report, but I down-played it. It just--it was too unreal, too much like deja vu, here and gone, that I can't really be sure about it."

"What did Captain Archer say about your report?"

"He asked if the feeling had come back since then."

"Has it?" His tone was concerned.

She didn't answer right away, but before Malcolm could ask again, she said, "No, not that I'm aware of."

Although her pronouncement seemed certain, Malcolm still wasn't appeased. He held her gaze, but found nothing there that wavered.

The turbo-lift doors opened onto E-deck and Hoshi looked away first. They left the turbo-lift, Malcolm saying, "Well, I suppose that's something."

"So it felt strange. Who knows what it was? I'm not going to worry about it, if you won't."

"I'd feel much less worried if you let me know what those seeds are."

"Why are you so concerned about them? They're just seeds."

"From an alien planet. Remember Trip's allergic reaction?"

"They've already been examined, Malcolm. There's nothing wrong with them. Captain Archer's already given the go-ahead to let them grow."

"I suppose you know what they are, then?"

"They're kuri'ay seeds."

"That tree?"

"They've been altered so when they mature they'll be little more the size of a well-kept bonsai."

They reached the mess-hall and Malcolm stepped aside to let Hoshi enter before him. He followed her as she made her way to the line.

"Well, that's comforting. What about what the Regent said?"

"I'll tell you once we get our food."

She said, after they had seated themselves in the mess-hall, "This was the way of it."

He said, his glass halfway to his lips, "This is a story?"

She said, in a no-nonsense tone, "Yes, this is a story. Now let me tell it."

He finished his sip and listened as he ate.

"'This was the way of it. In the winter of the world, the earth was covered with snow and her children fell into a deep sleep. There was no life that moved, that drew breath, or that hummed its song. The earth's spirit pined for her beloved, so it sent the wind, her voice, to find him. The wind sought high and low, and called with whispers and with bellows, but he did not answer, and he could not be found. Soon even she began to despair, as she reached the end of her search. As she swept down through the final valley, she saw the earth's beloved sleeping. Beneath his form the earth was green and a river ran at his feet. The kuri'ay grew at his head. The wind cursed him for his slumber and blew the blossoms from the tree and as they fell on the sleeping man, he awoke. The wind buffeted him, angry that he had dared to sleep for so long, to be away from his beloved for so long, until he shouted, 'peace, peace' and she quieted. He asked her why she came so, raining curses, and she told him that the children slept because he had not awakened. She told him that he must walk again. He bowed his head in shame, knowing that she told the truth. So he took the seed of the kuri'ay and began to walk. Where he walked the earth grew lush and verdant and where he found the sleeping children he planted the seeds of the kuri'ay. When it bloomed, the children awoke. Then the world was new again and moved and breathed and sang again, with song both old and new. He walks still, bearing his shame and duty and when the snow falls he rests, and when the kuri'ay blooms again, then all the children know that the u-ardan has left the arms of his beloved and that the sey-na'rei, the voice of the wind, has called him to walk again.'"

Hoshi stopped speaking and chased the last pea around on her tray. She precariously balanced it on her fork and looked up to see Malcolm staring at her.

"That's it?" he asked.

"That's it," she said and popped the pea in her mouth.

"He compared me to a glorified gardener."

"I would say that you would be Demeter," she said, punctuating the statement with a jab of her fork. "It bears a remarkable similarity to the story of Persephone and Hades, don't you think?"

He didn't say anything and she reached over to swipe a little of his mashed potatoes. She ate the forkful then said, "You should read the other stories, Malcolm. They say a lot about the culture. I think that's why the Regent gave it to me, so we could understand them better. The u-ardan is a very honored position. I think that's what the Regent was trying to say to you."

Hoshi watched Malcolm mull that concept.

Eventually he said, "Thank you for the story, Hoshi."

"Thank you for your company, Malcolm."

He nodded and stood up, picking up his tray. He paused for moment. He said, "Let me know when the kuri'ay blooms."

"Yes, sir."

He smiled and she returned it. He walked away, leaving Hoshi with the same smile she'd had as she walked down the corridor.