CHAPTER 3

"We cannot destroy kindred: our chains stretch a little sometimes, but they never break.."

- Marquise de Sevigne', Earth (Human)

FEDERATION HEAVY CRUISER USS HOOD, UNDER WAY

AUGUST 2269

The USS Hood was making way towards Earth, a rare event for Starfleet cruisers. Usually they were on the frontiers patrolling or exploring or showing a Starfleet presence. However, there had been rumors of espionage by the Romulons and Captain Karmes and his first officer, Commander Kagiso Botha had information too sensitive to transmit over sub-space, encoded or not. They were to be met by the USS Enterprise as apparently Captain Kirk and Commander Spock had been actively involved in counter-espionage against the Romulons as well. Meanwhile, the USS Yorktown was taking over their patrol duties in this sector.

The visit would allow them to exchange several officers as well, trading several experienced section leaders for raw new officers fresh out of Starfleet Academy and promoting several other officers aboard-ship. Others would muster out of Starfleet, their tours finished, and new recruits would join the ship as enlisted crew fresh from training at Great Lakes Facility or it's sister site at St. Petersburg, Russia. Further, the trip meant a rare opportunity for Earth-side leave for those who had family there.

Among those requesting such leave was Ensign Wilkes, to see his parents living in the hamlet of Leyburn in Yorkshire, England. Sitting in the Chief Engineer's tech-manual cluttered office he said, "Sir, I've got more than enough leave accrued. My medical leave aboard the Delos doesn't count against me."

Chief Engineer Ethan White leaned forward, his elbows on his coffee-stained desk, "Thomas, it's not whether or not you've got the leave coming to you. Your section chief and I are both worried about...well, your plans for the future and how they will impact both your service to Starfleet and your family on Earth." The little Australian was clearly uncomfortable with the topic.

Wilkes was irritated and decided to make the man come right out and say it. "My plans, sir?"

Looking disgusted, White said, "Yes, your plans, Wilkes. I know you're planning on meeting with Dr. Mantoux in Marseille. Have you really thought through what trying to have a...a...a whatever with her will be like?"

"It's a child, sir."

"Don't be an ass. I know that. But what kind of child you young drongo!? Is it going to be more human, or cat? Do you have any idea the difficulties that child will have growing up no matter what it turns out to be? Neither human, nor Dosadi, just a..a..bitser, a half-breed."

"I thought we had gotten beyond that sort of thing these last few centuries, sir."

White glared at him. "Of course we have, Wilkes. I'm not being a bad guy, nor a racist, nor a tyrant. But no matter where you go there will be those who will see any child of yours and Sooth's as a monster. Even people who are tolerant of aliens are going to be unsettled. Children of two different cultures – especially those as different as Dosadi and human, always have it hard. And when you're talking mixing two entirely different species and two entirely different basic biologies...You're asking for a nightmare. Assuming it's even possible and assuming the pregnancy doesn't kill her anyway. Did you think about that?"

"Yes, sir. We've talked about all of those things. Dr. Mantoux feels certain that he can produce at least one viable embryo and that he can devise a protocol so that she can carry it to term, and that it will be a healthy, happy, child."

"Are you sure his name isn't Frankenstein?"

"Sir?"

"Never mind. I'm sure you know that Starfleet regulations do not allow me to interfere with decisions of this nature in any way, but I can and DO strongly advise you to consider what it is that you are attempting, how it will impact your lives, your families, and her. I like Sooth and I resent you trying to make me out to be some sort of intolerant bigot. I'm almost three times your age, Wilkes and I've seen more cultures on more planets than you can even imagine. You think that the whole world's against you and you're in love and that's all it's going to take. I hope like hell that you're right, but I can tell you life is not a fairy tale, nor one of the damn space operas that's so popular right now and it rarely turns into happily ever after." He kicked his feet up onto his desk and growled out, "Now get out of my office before I kick your ass on general principle. And give my best to your parents. If your mother gives you any of those Yorkshire curd tarts she makes and you fail to give me some, I will see to it personally that you spend the rest of our trip back to the Toulagai sector cleaning the spare dilithium crystals with your tongue."

With a laugh, Wilkes stood up and said "Yes, sir. I'll tell her, sir." and stepped back into the corridor. As he walked back to his quarters, he did think about what the Chief Engineer had said. His parents were ultra-conservatives, still living in the same village they had been born in. Neither had ever been off planet, or indeed out of England, and both were still active members of the Church Of England, which despite all indications several times in the past, still existed. They had been excited to see him join Starfleet, but as fans of popular entertainments were sure that he would be killed by space pirates, kidnapped by bug-eyed aliens, or forced into slavery in the kingdom of the insect people. He had tried to keep his letters home neutral and hadn't mentioned the severity of his injuries at Airdrie, nor a lot of details about Sooth.

He was beginning to worry about that last part. They knew he was in love with someone. They knew he was going to make a life with her. They knew he wanted children with her. What they didn't know was that she was Dosadi. He had always thought he'd find a way to tell them later. Well, it was later and he was out of time. He decided he'd just bull his way through it. After all, this was the 23rd Century, not the 18th.

Sooth was considerably more worried than he was. Like all Dosadi she was fascinated by history and had spent quite a lot of time reading up on human culture. Her friends among the crew had given her plenty of information about human mating traditions – and she knew that Wilkes' parents were big on traditions, something she approved of.

Dosadi mate for life. Sex between unmated couples was common and seen as a sign of a deep and lasting friendship. But once a Dosadi took a mate, their interest in anyone else pretty much went away. They were monogamous by choice and by tradition. There was no real ceremony to recognize the change in status, it simply became a fact of life. Wilkes was her mate and had been since before Airdrie – but in the human world, there were ceremonies to go through, rituals to complete, and the ever present forms to be filed. And she had absolutely no idea how she would, or could, fit into any of those traditions and rituals.

NORTH YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND, EARTH

SEPTEMBER 2269

Riding the shuttlecraft down from the Hood to Heathrow, Wilkes was holding Sooth's hand. To his eyes, she was beautiful, the silver of her earring and the cream and tan of her fur against the midnight black of her cloak with it's solid bronze stripe of rank. But she was trembling. Come to think of it, he decided, he was a little nervous himself. He wondered how his parents would react to his appearance.

He had put on several pounds of muscle since he had signed up. The last time they had seen him was when he had posted to the Hood. Freshly graduated from Starfleet Academy, his mother had loaded him up with biscuits, a Yorkshire curd tart, and plenty of tears. His father had given him a solid handshake and a clap on the shoulder, a massive display of emotion for the big Yorkshireman. And now, he was wearing the uniform of a Starfleet Lieutenant (Junior Grade), a Dosadi Warrior Pendant around his throat, a silver earring in his left ear and a tattoo around his left eye. There were still some faint scars visible on his face and neck. Perhaps not quite what they were expecting. Glancing at Sooth he thought not at all what they were expecting.

When they stepped off the APV at the village station, his parents' eyes widened.

His mother, short and a little overweight clapped her hands to her mouth and said, "Or my god, 'es turned pirate!"

His father, a tall, solidy built man and ever unflappable said, "Don't be daft. Nah then, son, oo's this...lass?" he finally decided.

Taking her hand in his, he said, "Mother, Father, I would like you to meet Sooth... my mate." Trying her best, Sooth put her hand on the hilt of her sword and executed a reasonable curtsey.

There was a complete silence stretching out into several seconds. His poor mother finally said, "Tha's marryin' a...cat?'

Sooth's ears and tail drooped instantly and Wilkes was quick to correct her, "Mother, Sooth is a Dosadi, she's also a Marine and a decorated combat veteran."

His father said, "Aye, the lass looks proper tired too. Le's ge' home fer tea." Fortunately home was a short walk from the station in the tiny hamlet and Wilkes' mother was desperately trying to make up for her faux pas while his father, his usual talkative self, contributed perhaps six syllables.

A short while later, Wilkes was in the yard with his father so 'our lasses can ge' ta know each other a bi'.' and he started trying to explain what had happened to him. His father, always reticent, simply listened as his son began to talk, and it all came spilling out. The terror he felt at Toulagai and the horrible guilt after Corin had saved him and let Nollos die. How Sooth had been there for him, how they had fallen in love. About Eletha's kits, and the fire and the horrible events over Airdrie and what had happened to Sooth. He talked about the healing-gel and what he felt like when he thought she was dead, and almost worse, helping her through the pain of regeneration and the endless therapy and his own scars. He told of seeing his friend M'Ralin's blasted body, and the pilots who didn't make it, of friends killed or burned or wounded and about how he felt like a chip in a stream being tossed about by waves he had nothing to do with. He told his father about the nightmares they both still had and finally, the dreams they had for the future. Finally, there was nothing left to say and he lapsed into silence, feeling washed out and empty.

His father looked across the rolling green hills of England and said, "Rate. Sounds propah nasteh. An I didn' take t'lass t'be nesh." Stretching he said, "Le's ge' back an see how our lasses or gettin' on."

Wilkes laughed so hard he almost cried. He finally gained enough control of himself that he hugged his discomforted father and they walked back into the house.

As they came into the sitting room where the tea was still set out, his mother jumped to her feet and held him tight, crying "Oh, Thomas, I 'ad no idea i' was like tha'! Thee didna' say tha' was hur' tha' bad! Nor tha' bloody nightmares!"

Holding her tight, he looked at Sooth. Her ears dropped a little and she said, "She had the right to know, Wilkes."

"Mother, did she tell you HER part of the story?"

"Nae, Thomas." She sniffled and looked at her son. "Thee ha' better tell the whole thin'."

Wilkes sat next to Sooth and began to tell his tale again, this time with Sooth contributing her side of the story as well, sparing nothing. The Yorkshireman and his wife sat silent, listening as their son and his mate told of horrors and of wonders. Of friends and comrades who would never return, of shipboard life and quiet times shared together. Wilkes tried to explain how it was to try to adapt to Dosadi patterns, and Sooth explained the meaning of the Dosadi awards he now wore. She talked of her family and her culture and her struggles to adapt to life aboard the Hood. They talked for hours while his parents listened, and watched the two of them.

As they talked, his parents stopped seeing an alien in their sitting room and instead began to see a person. And the more they watched the two of them exchanging little touches and contributing to each others tale, the more they saw what their son saw.

The sun had long since set when they finally finished talking about their hopes for a child.

His mother finally spoke, "Tha' canna' have a child ou' o' wedlock! Tis a sin, an thee has sinned enough."

Wilkes broke down in howls of laughter, much to his mother's annoyance, and Sooth swatted him several times, "Wilkes! Stop that! Respect your mother!"

"I'm sorry! It's just that with everything we've been through and all the problems ahead of us...sin isn't high on my list of things to worry about, mother." Sooth swatted him again and his father glowered, saying,

"T'lass has better sense than thee, Thomas."

"Mother, I've not been to church since I was a boy, and Sooth isn't even a member of the Church!"

"Tha's nowt, Thomas. I'll call t'vicar in t'morning." Fortunately for Wilkes, the Church of England was not the sort of denomination that discriminated. Which is why two days later he found himself slightly bewildered, wearing a dress uniform standing next to Sooth in a borrowed wedding dress saying vows in front of a church full of very curious locals.

One of the natives leaned over to his neighbor and whispered, "I nae though' I'd see a ca' in a dress bein' married before God."

His neighbor looked at him and said, "Nae, thee no dou' expected a sheep."