Hi Everyone! Sorry I've been spitting these chapters out so quickly. Part II of this story is so very near its end I can literally taste it - in fact, it's so near, I've kind of been racing with myself all weekend trying to see if I could get to the end before the end of the month. But, as usual when I try to impose a deadline like this, it looks like I'm not going to make it. I think I can finish one more chapter before tonight, but there will still be at least two more to come after that. So, it looks like Part II is going on into May. Anyway, here's Ch27. Thanks so much for reading, sorry about the silly race, and please stay tuned for Ch28, coming soon! :D

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The chirp of the door signal barely made it through the sound of giggling laughter coming from Kahlestra's room. Kurak left her padd on the leather couch and strode across the dome's small living room to answer it.

"Good evening, Kurak," Freja Anders said as the doors slid open.

Kurak frowned at her.

"Why are you here?"

"Kurak," the blonde woman said. "I know you and I have never been as close as you were with Melinda. But, we have been colleagues for a long time."

"What of it?" Kurak demanded.

Freja stiffened a little, but didn't back away.

"Nat and Tu'Pari are still drooling over the panels you found with that android today," she said. "But, my brain needs a rest. Before I headed off to bed, I wanted to stop by to congratulate you again. You may have been the newcomer to our team but, after today, you'll be the one remembered for cracking this puzzle wide open."

Another burst of giggles sounded from inside the dome, followed by music and singing. Freja tilted her head, catching a lyric about a 'golden helmet' being mistaken for a 'shaving basin'. Or, perhaps, it was the other way around…?

"Sounds like a party in there," she said.

"Kahlestra and her Orion friend became quite distressed when they learned the human child will be leaving for the hospital in the morning," Kurak told her. "Since she exceeded expectations with her homework today, I conceded to her request to host a 'sleep-over'. She, the Orion, and the robot Howard are in there now, playing the soundtrack of some ancient Earth musical."

She grimaced, and Freja laughed.

"Well, I like ancient musicals," she said. "Mind if I come in?"

Kurak grunted, but stepped aside.

"Can I offer you some tea," she asked her guest, more out of politeness than any desire to retain her company.

"Oh, I'd love some. Thank you," Freja said as she took a seat on the leather couch. "Peppermint tea would be lovely."

Kurak grunted again, and headed to the replicator.

"Kurak," Freja called after her. "May I ask you a…rather personal question?"

Kurak returned with a steaming tea cup and handed it to her before sitting on the adjacent chair.

"What do you want to know?"

"It's probably nothing," she said. "I mean, he's been just wonderful with the children, and I know he's been helping to repair your lab. But, don't you find it…just the slightest bit…"

"What?" Kurak demanded, her shoulders tensing defensively. "What are you trying to say?"

"Mother! I heard voices!" Kahlestra called, running into the living room. "Is Data— Oh… Hi, Dr. Anders."

"Why, hello Kay!" Freja greeted warmly. "Your android friend isn't here. He's in a meeting with the other Starfleet visitors."

"Oh," she said again. "Well, when he's done with that, Ishta wants to show him her report! I just read it over for her, and I think she did great. But, Data's really got to see it!"

"Tell Ishta she can show Data her report in the morning," Kurak growled. "It is late, now, and time for sleep."

"You're still awake," Kahlestra pointed out, and Kurak bared her teeth.

"Prepare for bed," she ordered. "Both of you. I have had enough of your laughing and noise."

"Oh, Kurak, it's a sleep-over!" Freja said. "Let them have their fun."

Kurak scowled and rose to her feet.

"Excuse us," she said, guiding her daughter into the kitchen.

"I told you, daughter," she said in Klingon, once they were alone. "I don't want you getting too attached to Data - or your Orion friend. You know both of them will be leaving here soon."

"Well, what about you?" Kahlestra retorted, also in Klingon. "You were with Data all day! You even went trail-riding with him! And I notice you're not calling him a 'machine' anymore, or 'that android.'"

Kurak pursed her lips.

"I admit," she said, "you were right about him. Your friend Data is a person, and a good man. But, no matter how good or clever an android is, he remains an android. And, a man who is also a machine cannot challenge your father, Kahlestra. The courts would not allow it."

"That's stupid," Kahlestra spat.

"That may be," Kurak said. "But, you must understand, daughter. I want you to be safe. Above all things, I want your life to be your own."

"Yeah? And what about your life? Is your life your own?" Kahlestra retorted.

Kurak blinked and straightened.

"Kahlestra—"

"I don't want to be kept 'safe,' Mother," Kahlestra snapped. "I want us both to be free. I want to live in the Federation and be a doctor and I know you want that too, so don't even try to say you don't."

Kurak clenched her fists, her sharp nails digging into her palms…

"The Federation is not perfect, Kahlestra," she said. "They have faults and prejudices, just as the Empire does."

"I don't care," Kahlestra snarled. "I told you, I don't want to go back to that school."

"Then listen to me now," Kurak hissed. "Learn from my experience—"

"I'm sick of listening!" Kahlestra shouted. "Why can't you understand? I'm not you, Mother! I don't want to be frightened and angry all the time! You can't live your stupid life over again by always controlling mine! "

Kurak drew herself up with a dark, cold glare.

"You will apologize."

Kahlestra met her glare for glare.

"I will not," she said, deliberately switching to Federation Standard. "I've been doing some reading of my own, Mother. I've been reading about human women, and all the accomplishments they've made over the centuries. There was this one woman - the first female to be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. She said, 'Ships in port are safe. But that's not what ships were made for.'"

The girl's glare deepened.

"I pick my study topics because I find them interesting," she said, "not because I worry whether the school masters will approve. I choose my friends because I like them and they like me, not because I fear what my father might think! That's why I'm not like you. And I won't apologize for it!"

Kurak rumbled low in her throat.

"Go to your room."

"I'm already going!" Kahlestra shouted, the pair of them storming away in opposite directions. A moment later, loud music began blasting from the direction of Kahlestra's room. Kurak heard the two girls shouting and laughing, and it only made the muscles in her back and shoulders grow more rigid.

Keeping her gaze fixed on the wall, she said to Freja, "I apologize for my daughter's behavior, and for mine. Such private matters should not be aired before guests."

"Don't be silly," Freja said, getting to her feet. "You should have heard the fights I used to have with my mother."

Kurak snarled, her posture as stiff and straight as a duranium support strut.

"Hey, Kurak," the blonde woman said in her soft accent. "If you need some time to calm down…unwind… I'd be happy to stay here for a while and watch the kids. I remember, after our fights, I used to head off on my bike. I'd ride around for hours to release the steam. Then, when I got home, it was much easier to face my mom again and talk, you know? Really talk. If it worked for me, maybe it'll work for you and Kay?"

"This compound has no bicycles," the Klingon grunted.

"It does have a gym," Freja pointed out. "We'll be fine here until you get back, I promise. After all, Howard and I did watch the kids while you were injured, and they came through all right."

Kurak regarded her human colleague, her dark eyes hard and sharp.

If she stayed, her ears assaulted by the whine of her daughter's human music, she knew the angry feelings in her heart would only fester. But, to feel the weight of a bat'leth in her hand…to move her body in rhythm to the soaring cries and thundering drumbeats of a real, Klingon opera…

"Very well," she growled. "I will trust you."

"That's great!" Freja said. "Take all the time you need. I mean it. You'll feel a lot better when you get back."

Kurak nodded, just once, then grabbed her bat'leth from the wall brace and stomped out into the cold desert wind…

To Be Continued...

References include - TNG: Cost of Living; New Ground; Firstborn; Man of La Mancha - Barber's Song/Golden Helmet of Mambrino.

Reviews and comments are always welcome! Please let me know what you think! :)