Star Trek Hunter
Episode 7: The Great Mushroom
Scene 7: They're Playing Our Song
.
7.7
They're Playing Our Song
.
Lt. Kenny Dolphin found Ensign T'Lon seated on a bench in a gazebo on the middle of a bridge that linked four hilltops, each of which supported tall buildings. This "X"-shaped bridge not only linked the hilltops, but also, from the gazebo in the center of it, afforded stunning views of the side of Mt. Seleya it was situated on, a mountain range to the west and desert plains to the south and east.
Dolphin sat next to T'Lon and looked out on the scene. Given his level of exhaustion, the austere beauty and simplicity of the landscape appealed to him. He had been sent to join her. A spare meal and a carafe full of the local, extremely pure water were set on the table.
.
"They're playing our song," said T'Lon.
.
Dolphin boggled at her. Of all the things she might have said that made absolutely no sense, this pretty much topped the list. For one thing (of many things), it was almost absolutely silent, despite the sense he had that this part of the bridge often experienced a significant amount of wind.
At that moment, a single, very low note sounded from an enormous bell. He could feel the note more than hear it. The reverberations rang on and on, taking nearly ten minutes to fade into silence.
"Was that it?" Dolphin asked.
T'Lon's studied look of long suffering, an expression Dolphin had not seen since the first week he had known her, returned. "The song is 27 hours long - one full day."
Dolphin watched her, but she gave every appearance of having concluded her explanation.
Another bell pealed - this one higher and softer than the previous. Dolphin waited until it too had faded to silence before asking, "Our song?"
T'Lon did not sigh or outwardly display impatience, but Dolphin knew her well enough by now to detect it in her voice and expression. "After a successful fal-tor-pan ritual, a song is composed in celebration. The song begins one day after the end of the ritual, lasts for 27 hours and is never played again." At that moment, another bell sounded, extremely low and soft, almost below the threshold of Dolphin's hearing. A rumble.
Dolphin tried to make himself comfortable, but he had no idea how he would manage to appreciate a 27-hour long song. He felt a slight stab of envy for Dr. Moon Sun Salek, visiting her grandfather for the first time, and hoped she was having at least a little more fun.
.
T'Lon turned toward Dolphin and said, "There is something I think you should witness. I know you are somewhat weary of telepathic contact at the moment…"
"It's been a bit crowded up here recently," Dolphin replied, lightly tapping his head. "But do what you must."
The link between them had grown strong enough that T'Lon no longer needed to touch Dolphin's face to initiate a mind-meld. Touching his hand was sufficient.
Dolphin immediately became aware of a third presence only because T'Lon was bringing that part forth with some effort. It was a very small part of T'Lok. It wasn't like hearing her voice - but somehow it was - as though this were the strongest way for Dolphin to distinguish her thoughts from T'Lon's. Gradually, T'Lon was absorbing this part of T'Lok's personality that T'Lok had long ago begun embedding in her friend.
Dolphin could feel that this process was changing T'Lon in a subtle way. He was able to hear T'Lon putting T'Lok's legacy to words: "Curiosity, Empathy, Joy, Wonder." It wasn't the words or even the ability to experience what they represented. It was more than that - as though these had been the fundamental building blocks of T'Lok's personality and were now being grafted into T'Lon's in hopes they would bear fruit. He felt as though in some way, this part of T'Lok's personality was linking up with those qualities in his own character, bolstering them - changing him as well and putting everything he had experienced over the past month - the wonders and the horrors - into a fresh context. They were not putting T'Lok finally to peace – she was bringing peace to them.
Throughout this silent celebration and acceptance of this final legacy from T'Lok, enormous bells continued to peal, rocking the bridge with powerful, low frequency vibrations and very slowly revealing a coherent melody. Whoever had written this music had not only felt T'Lon's personality and Dolphin's, but that of the deceased T'Lok Smith as well.
.
7.7