Annie Farasopoulos
Period 2
Feb. 7, 2006
S'chol'nios
Previously: In the silence that came after a scan, David heard a knock at the door. He was puzzled. Anyone who gained access to the gate should have access to the door…
At first, David thought he was hearing things. Then he wondered if something was wrong. He paused the Kurtzweil Reader, which was reading to him mid-sentence, and went out to the large hallway. The knock came again, this time a few decibels louder. David decided that there was no harm in opening the door. He slipped his sleepshades down from his eyes so that they hung loosely around his neck and pulled open the door. His eyes, accustomed to the darkness of the sleepshades shut instantly as the light of Vulcan's harsh sun T'Ruhk came in the space left by the door. He heard a voice as he squinted his eyes.
"David? It is Spock. Are you alright?"
David opened one eye and waved Spock into the house. He shut the door quickly. He sighed.
"Yes, Spock. I'm fine." Since the door was shut, he opened the other eye that had been closed. He looked Spock over. "Would you like something to drink?"
Spock folded his hands and put them behind his back. "No thank you, David. I came to ask you something. I wished to know if you would perhaps like to come to my house and study. You could join us for the third meal and then you could take the flitter home." Spock waited for David's response patiently.
It only took David a moment to think about it. "Sure. Thanks for offering. I'm going to write my parents a quick note." He turned to go into the kitchen to get a pen and pencil, but Spock put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around, while simultaneously handing him a small data-padd. David turned it on and read the message that had been written in its files.
"Nice. Okay, I'll set this on the table and then we'll go." David ran into the dining room and set it on the stone table that had been there for generations before David was even born.
David grabbed a coat from his room and the book from on top of the Kurtzweil Reader. He shut it off gently and then closed the lid softly. He was very careful with that machine; if something were to happen to it he would never be able to catch up to the other students unless he hired a reader.
Spock was waiting outside and as David grabbed the access card from the hook where his cane hung he motioned for him to come. David shut the door and went with Spock to the small flitter. Spock got into the pilot's seat and David set his books on the floor in the back and climbed in on Spock's right. Spock laid in the coordinates for his house and the flitter powered up and began to move forward onto the street, flying swiftly above the dusty road. In a few minutes they had reached Spock's home.
They powered off the flitter and grabbed their books and things and headed for the door. Spock pushed it open and led the way for David. The door closed on its own.
The two boys headed into a long hallway. Along the way, they encountered a blonde haired human lady, who smiled a David and smoothed Spock's hair. Spock touched two fingers to hers. Amanda grinned.
"Just in case Spock didn't tell you, I'm Amanda. I'm Spock's mother. I assume you are David." David nodded shyly.
Amanda smiled at the two boys and then went about what she had been doing as they walked down the hall. Spock's room was the last on the right. David noticed there was light coming from several of the other rooms; the one across from Spock's on the left side of the hallway, and a door which they had already passed.
"Spock? Who lives in those rooms?" David asked Spock quietly in case the occupants were doing important work. Spock turned and looked.
He explained quietly to David, "My father's study is across from us. We must be careful not to disturb him. As for the room behind us on the left, that is my brother's room. "
David, being a typical human boy, was interested in the latter half of that sentence. "I didn't know you had a brother, Spock. Does he attend school with us?"
Spock shook his head. "No, he is older. He attends a school in Gol. He is learning to perfect his logic. There is a short break, so he came here. When there are breaks at his school, you can either stay to meditate in the monastery or you can come back in two weeks ready to learn again. My brother has been attending this particular school for two years."
David's face grew somber as his imagination spun a picture of this "school of logic".
"What's his name, Spock? How old is he?" David and Spock went into Spock's room and closed the door.
"His name is Sybok and his is 21 Terran years of age. We may talk about him later, but we must study now. I am afraid that we have wasted much time. Would you like to start with Chemistry or with Physics?" Spock laid his books out on a large desk in the corner of his room.
"Ugh. Neither." David made a face. "But if you want me to pick the lesser of two evils, I'll take physics."
Three hours later, Spock and David heard Amanda knock at the door.
"It's time for dinner, boys." They closed their books to the sound of her dying footsteps.