Chapter Twenty-Nine
What a day this has been
What a rare mood I'm in,
Why, it's almost like being in love…
There's a smile on my face
For each and every sentient race
Why, it's almost like being in love…
Data strode through the corridors of the Enterprise-E, inserting a happy little softshoe shuffle every few steps. The ship's stark, functional light fixtures seemed brighter today; stern-faced officers in their black and grey uniforms actually paused to return his beaming smile as the cheerful android passed them by…
Four months. It had been four months since he, Troi, Riker and the captain had returned from their two-week leave on Nineveh IV. Three months, twenty-six days and four hours since Captain Picard had approved his and Kurak's joint request to authorize Kurak's new position as a civilian energy-field specialist and allow both Kay and Ishta to stay with them aboard the ship pending the Federation's final decision regarding the android's 'living' status and his fundamental rights. Among the issues under consideration were Data's right to form a family unit, to create and adopt children, to form a legally recognized union with a biological partner…a partner who was not, herself, a Federation citizen…
The doors to his new, larger cabin slid open and two smiling faces turned to greet him. Smiling back, he took up a crooning stance just inside the doorway and continued the song he'd been singing on and off since before his shuttle docked:
Oh, the music of life seems to be
Like a bell that is ringing for me.
Yes, me!
"Data! Data!" the girls exclaimed, leaving their homework to tackle him with questions. Spot meowed and stretched on the back of the sofa.
"Data, you're back!" Kay cheered.
"What did they say!" Ishta demanded.
"Do we get to stay together?" Kay asked. "Are they going to let us be a family?"
"I will tell you everything as soon as your mother returns home from her shift at the lab," he promised, turning up the gain on his audio-receptors until his ears picked up a familiar pattern of swift footfalls in the corridor. "Which should be in…four…three…two…"
He pointed to the door just as Kurak came striding in.
"Data!"
"Kurak!"
"Welcome home!" they chorused as they embraced. Data reached out a hand, inviting the smiling Klingon to join him in the final set of his impromptu song and dance as the two girls laughed and cheered.
And from the way that I feel
When those bells start to peal
I would swear I was sliding…
I would swear I was sliding…
I'd swear I was falling in love, love, love!
I'd swear I was falling in love!
"Data!" Kurak exclaimed as she caught her breath, narrowing her eyes to study his face. "Does this mean—"
"The verdict is in, my darling," he confirmed, spinning them both around and around the carpeted floor. "In the eyes of the courts, I am as conscious and living as the next man. With this decision, we are now free to share our lives and raise our children as we see fit - without the threat of Federation interference."
"Then, you can actually adopt me into your Family!" Kay exclaimed. "I'll get to study here, with you, and my father can never force me back to the Homeworld!"
"Yes, Kay! In addition, Kurak and I can finally legally share custody of Ishta," Data said, drawing both girls into his little happy dance before looking back at Kurak.
"I cannot thank you enough, Kurak, for volunteering to act as Ishta's primary guardian," he said. "Just the fact that you came here, to this ship, with me…that you were willing to put yourself, your family through this bureaucratic and judicial nightmare…"
"We became a family on Nineveh IV," the Klingon asserted. "You and I and the children. The bonds we have forged together are real, and they are strong. I could not allow your government to divide us, or to separate my daughter from her Orion sister."
The two girls shared a smile.
Data's amber eyes welled with emotion, and he touched his partner's beloved face.
"Oh, Kurak," he whispered, drawing in close for a deep, heartfelt kiss. "Kurak-oy…"
Kay and Ishta squealed and pretended to hide their eyes in disgust, but their delighted giggles gave the game away.
"Oh my god, we have to tell Mikey," Kay said, rushing for the family's private comm panel. "He and his grandparents just have to come to the ceremony!"
Kurak and Data broke their kiss to glance at Kay.
"What ceremony?" Kurak asked.
"Your wedding, of course!" the girl exclaimed, already activating the screen. "Duh! I'll bet you can get Captain Picard to do it. And Uncle Geordi can be the best man, and I'll make the biggest, most amazing blood pie! It'll be so big, you'll have to get a special table just to hold it up!"
Kurak seemed about to protest, then paused, her dark eyes drawn back to Data's amber gaze.
"A life together will not be easy," he said softy. "An android and a Klingon…"
"I'm sure this galaxy has seen stranger couples," she said, and smiled. "I do love you, Data-oy. These past months, I have known for the first time what it is to have a partner, a true partner, in love as well as in life. If you do wish to formalize our union…to take the Oath…"
"Kurak-oy, there is nothing in my life I have ever wanted more," he said sincerely, switching from Standard to Klingon as he stared into her eyes. "To be known to the world as the husband of Kurak… There could be no higher honor."
"We have passed through rings of fire together," Kurak responded, also in Klingon, as she twined her fingers with his. "What better prize than the gift of our hearts' love?"
They kissed again, slow and melting. Data felt her fingers sink into his hair, her touch filling him to the core with familiar warmth as his eyes slid closed…
But, something was wrong.
That wasn't Kurak's hand tracing over the sensitive skin that covered his forehead, his jawline. It wasn't her fingers he felt trailing down his chest, his side...the unwelcome touch possessive, cold…and terribly familiar...
"Stop!" he exclaimed and tried to sit up, but something held him back. Metal restraints that gleamed in the artificial light. They clamped around his wrists, his ankles, his legs, his torso…
Data winced and squinted, struggling to see, to focus beyond the blinding light glaring only a few meters above his face. The air quality had changed, becoming heavy, humid; the temperature had risen to an uncomfortable level of—
39.1 degrees Celsius…
Whispers rustled through the shadows, around and through the invasive clusters of tubes and wires that spread like tumors through Engineering...and, from there, throughout the ship.
...Don't be frightened... he heard them say, the soft words echoing along an endless chain, link after link of empty minds awaiting the orders of one, just one...
"I am not frightened!" Data tried to assert. But, the lie was plain in his voice, the choked, shaky sound revealing the panic he felt rising in his chest.
…No…no, not this, not again!…
"Have you been enjoying your 'upgrade', Data?" the Borg Queen's slick, serpentine voice taunted from above. "Tell me this new 'skin' of yours wasn't an attempt to recapture the sensations we gave you. The caresses you felt here first…with me…"
"No!" Data cried, struggling against his bonds. "No, it is not the same! The skin grafts you forced on me while you held me in captivity were not a gift. They were a violation! Your touch was entirely unwelcome, and unwanted!"
"Indeed?" she scoffed, her omnipresent voice seeming to coalesce down to one location as she spoke. "Why lie to yourself, when we both know that you felt…pleasure…when I…"
Her lithe, shadowed form leaned in close, her long, smooth fingers running up and down his arm as she blew softly in his ear…
The physical sensations made Data gasp despite himself. He shuddered hard, his skin prickling in horrified revulsion as he tried to pull away…
"Why are you doing this!" he demanded. "You never cared for me! You wished only to control me, to manipulate me, and I—I... I did the same. Oh, god…!"
Data lurched straight up from his pillow, snapping back to consciousness with a deep, gasping breath.
Fading moonlight filtered through the slit-like windows of Kurak's small bedroom, highlighting her bat'leth, his bat'leth, and the other weapons, tapestries, and artifacts she had arranged on the walls and shelves. He felt movement beside him, heard her soft groan as she reached for the bedside timekeeper…
"Data?" she mumbled, her long hair a tousled mass of curls around her face and shoulders. "You're still here? It's after 0300. I thought we agreed…"
"Yes. I…I am sorry…" Data said, still struggling to sort between reality and his awful dream. "I…I believe I had a nightmare. Bad dreams have caused me to oversleep before. I just…" He shook his head. "I don't understand. Last night was so wonderful. Lying here, with you beside me… I did not expect…"
"Are you all right?" Kurak asked, sitting up to rest a concerned hand on his shoulder.
Data leaned gratefully into her warm touch, covering her hand lightly with his.
"I wish things were different," he said quietly. "I wish that…that you and I…that we could…"
"It's not over yet, Data," she said. "We have more than week together before you return to your ship."
"Then…" He turned to look at her, to see her eyes as he asked, "Then, you do want this to continue? You and me? Even though…it cannot last..."
"This is new ground for both of us," she said, meeting his gaze without wavering. "But, to rest beside a partner of your own choosing…to feel your own passions returned in full - why should it end after only one night?"
"Kurak, I have no desire to mislead you, or myself. But, after last night… The thought of leaving…"
"Data-oy," Kurak chided. "I know there is no manipulation here, no lies. You have your duties, and I have mine. As for the rest…" She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Why darken our present with concerns of the future? We are here, together, and we will be together for days to come. Let us focus on our present joy. As the poets say, love's fire may be fleeting, but the memory of its warming light can last a lifetime."
"The poets sound very wise," Data said, leaning in closer. She didn't pull away, meeting his lips with hers as he pulled her to him, her strong arms twining around his shoulders… "But, what if I don't want to savor a memory?" he whispered. "What if I want the real thing?"
"You have it now," she whispered back. "That is all either of us can promise."
"Kurak…" Data sighed and sat back, pushing a hand through his sleep-ruffled hair. "I know you do not wish the children to learn of this new development in our relationship, and I agree. This is not the time. But, if you are amenable, I would like to return here later this morning to help prepare breakfast for you and the girls."
"You know I have that early meeting—"
"All the more reason for me to come back," Data said. "I would be happy to watch the children while you are away, and we could all share a…a family meal…when you return from your meeting."
Data watched her expression carefully, searching for any sign that she objected to his use of the word 'family.' To his vast, unspoken relief, he saw none. Kurak just quirked an eyebrow, shooting him a playfully suspicious look.
"What sort of food do you have in mind?"
"I shall prepare whatever you ask for. Gagh, Rokeg blood pie, prune porridge—"
"Pancakes," Kurak said, her smile turning wicked as she watched his eyebrows shoot up. "Real, from scratch, freshly cooked pancakes. With tart berries and Klingon blood pudding, fried crisp and brown. Think you can handle that, android?"
"It will be my pleasure to oblige, my darling," he teased back, and she kissed him again, a fierce, searing kiss that blew all thoughts of food straight out of his mind.
"Kurak…if you wish me to leave before the children wake up…"
"They should sleep for another few hours," Kurak said, pulling him down beside her. "Besides, you sneaked in while they were still giggling in Kahlestra's room. I'm sure you could sneak out again if necessary…"
To Be Continued…
References include - TNG: Phantasms; Yesterday's Enterprise; Matter of Honor; the movie First Contact; and "It's Almost Like Being In Love" from Brigadoon, by Frederick Loewe and Alan Lerner (1947), lyrics slightly adapted.
Hi everyone! I'm back from the whole novel workshop and it was AWESOME! I got some extremely insightful and encouraging feedback on my original middle-grade sci-fi novel and I'm already working on the revisions. Next up: Agent Queries! Yikes! But, if it works out, who knows? There might be a book out there with my name on it in two or three years! :D
Wish me luck, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really appreciate your patience with my slow updates! Thank you, and please review! :D