Here's another chapter for you all! This one is much longer than most of my other chapters, but I really couldn't find a good place to end this.
He couldn't tell if the work load was really so light, or if the excitement for the coming festivities pushed everyone to finish faster, finish sooner. Either way, Kirk found himself looking forward to the events.
For most of the day he had stuck with Scotty and some of the other engineers to do odd jobs as needed. He hadn't really taken a moment to totally absorb the scenery.
He'd seen the trees, all around and intermingled amongst the colony's buildings. It was apparent the Paladians were trying to minimize space and the number of trees they had to cut down. When the shorter work day ended, Kirk realized that he'd had the opposite of "couldn't see the forest for the trees". The captain had seen the forest, but hadn't seen the trees…or noticed just how tall they were.
Similar to the redwoods of Earth and taller than anything Kirk had ever witnessed, the trees were a sight to behold. When he took the time to notice them, of course. A faint mist clung to the air around the trees and even in the camps. Kirk almost couldn't believe just how green everything was. Mosses clung to low hanging tree branches and the trees themselves had heavy, dark green leaves the likes of which he'd never known on Earth.
When the work day ended, Grego told him, "Come, the others are gathering."
"Sure," Kirk said, grinning and patting Grego's shoulder. The blond man had noticed that many of the Paladians frequently touched each other. Small pats on the back and shoulders. Nothing significant, but quite different than the distinct avoidance of contact that Vulcans employ. For some reason (a reason that he could very easily pinpoint), he'd expected the two species to behave similarly. To a certain extent Kirk was proven correct.
To a certain extent.
Following Grego, Kirk and a group from the ship met with a larger group of Paladians gathered around several tall and evenly dispersed trees. From the ground, Kirk could see something small glittering near the tops of the trees. A device of some sort, he guessed.
A feminine chuckle interrupted the captain's observations. Turning, he saw Wena nodding in appreciation, big grin firmly in place.
"You know what this is?" Kirk asked.
"Oh yeah." Wena replied. "Boy, do I."
Catching a familiar sight, Kirk raised his arm and waved. "Spock, over here."
The Vulcan made his way over to them.
"I was just about to ask Wena what's going on." Kirk told him.
Wena rolled her eyes. "You heard that there were going to be games today, right?"
"This is a Paladian game?" Spock asked, his eyes also spotting the glittering device above their heads.
"It is." Wena replied. "The best way to describe it is it's like the lumberjack festivals that occasionally occur on Earth, only the Paladian women have a much bigger role than Terran women."
Kirk was intrigued. "Oh really? So are we going to see you chopping logs like a pro, then?"
To Kirk's disappointment, Wena shook her head. "No, I don't compete. I take on the role of glorified cheerleader."
"For who?" Kirk barely had the chance to ask before three others joined their group.
McCoy walked up from the direction of the hospital, grumbling about Paladians not having the forethought when placing the hospital in between the only two hills present around the colonies structures.
His grumbling went unnoticed as a bickering pair approached from the opposite direction.
"No, I'm not going to take it off."
"It'll just take a moment!"
"A moment that can take place when I'm done with it." Nia pushed away the inquisitive hands running over her vest. "Sto-op!" She whined. "I just got it adjusted the way I wanted it and now you've gone and messed it all up."
She came to a stop next to Spock as she tried in vain to re-adjust the straps of her vest. "Look what you've done!" Nia snapped at the man who had walked up next to her.
Scotty sputtered in response. "Now see here, lass."
It was then Kirk realized that sometime between the walk to the trees and now, Scotty had managed to disappear without his captain noticing.
"It's a standard climbing vest. We don't use ropes like Terrans do, we use these vests instead."
It was similar in look to older styled floatation vests, without the thick padding. It seemed to be made up of three panels, the front two attached to the back panel at the shoulders and by straps extending across her waist line and along the edge of the vest, just above her hips. Additional straps reinforced the connections at her shoulders.
"How does such technology work?" Spock asked. There were no obvious indicators as to the vests use, except the use of ropes was clearly not involved. The lack of any hooking mechanisms proved that fact.
"If I fall, the vest will be activated by the sudden increase in acceleration. A type of inertial dampener will be activated and counter-act any further acceleration. I'll hit the ground with the same force falling from three feet as I would twenty feet." She informed the group with a small smile. "Obviously there is a limit to how much acceleration the dampeners are capable of counteracting, so you can't substitute these for a parachute unfortunately."
Scotty caught Kirk's eye. "I'd really like to get my hands on one of these. Despite what the lass says, I'd like to take a look at the technology myself. The shoes too."
"Scotty!" Nia snapped as the others looked down at her footwear.
Kirk was the first to find his voice. "That's different." He offered.
Elbowing the captain hard, Uhura glared at him.
He hissed at her. "What? She wears human shoes all the time! Forgive me for being surprised."
Wena rolled her eyes. "And you're having a good reaction. This is why I'm glad my human genes dominated."
Chapel, and McCoy merely shook their heads as Scotty had the grace to look abashed and Spock…
"Fascinating."
Risking a glance up at him, Nia was surprised to find the Vulcan staring at her feet with slightly widened eyes. Reflexively, her toes curled and the opposable thumbs tucked themselves discreetly underneath the arch of her foot before the long digits flexed out again. A delicate brown webbing covered the top of her feet and a thin rubberized sole covered her foot from heel to the very tips of her toes.
"This is an adaptation better enabling you to climb?" Spock asked.
"Yes." She said. "The shoes are a relatively new design. The rubber sole is very thin to maximize movement capabilities, but has been specially modified to grip rock and bark equally well and to be able to withstand the typical wear and tear." She looked up at Scotty and said "I told you I'll give you this one when I'm done with it."
"You will be participating in the day's festivities." Spock concluded upon hearing her last statement. After her stubborn refusal to dance the previous day, Spock was unsure whether he would find her willing to engage in the tradition of 'games'.
"That I am." Her grin was a bit more devious than most of the others were used to seeing.
Wena gave her an answering grin. "Defending your title?"
"Aren't I always?"
"Title?" McCoy asked.
With a chuckle, Wena replied "Oh you didn't know Nia here is a champion climber? Everyone who is better than her is still on Palad."
"Or dead." Nia included.
"Or dead." Wena agreed.
"Dead?" This time is was Chapel who asked, her tone a little incredulous.
Nia shrugged. "Old age, or climbing accidents. There are places that even a Paladian can't climb."
"This isn't one of them, right?" McCoy asked, wary.
She turned and looked up at the tree tops. "Shouldn't be a problem. Looks like a typical competition to me." Nia scanned the crowd. "Oh look, everyone is starting to gather. Come on, let's join them."
The group migrated closer to where the competition was going to be held and arranged themselves in a haphazard order in a larger semi circle the rest of the gathered Paladians and crewmembers formed. More were still arriving and seating had been arranged for those who only wished to view the games. Those who were not as interested in the games migrated to the large tent set up for food.
"There are a lot of people here." Wena muttered.
"The settlers did increase the population by only a fourth." McCoy stated dryly and received an equally dry look for his efforts.
Nia just shrugged. "It's nice that so many turned out for the celebrations. I'm glad there is a large enough area to hold them. Though, the stadium seating looks a little patchy."
Grego appeared at Nia's elbow. "The seating is only temporary. Aesthetics were not involved in its design."
Surveying the group, Nia frowned. "Alright, so small groups of friends and family can stay with the competitors on the ground level, but the thing is… this group isn't small." She looked over their faces.
"I'm staying." Wena was instantly stuck to Nia's side, tone allowing for no argument.
Nia grinned. "I wouldn't expect anything else. What about you?" The Paladian asked Spock. Before he could answer, Nia caught movement in the corner of her eye. Jerking her elbow back, Nia caught Wena in the ribs to stop her signaling to the Vulcan.
The brunette yelped. "Ow! What?"
Ignoring the short interaction, Spock replied "I will stay."
"Good." Nia gave him a soft smile. "Now, a couple others can stay, but then the rest of you can go sit with the masses."
Kirk chewed his lip and debated. Uhura looked pleadingly at him. Sighing, he asked "Hey Spock, think you can handle being the only male in this group?"
The male in question merely raised an eyebrow at the question.
Realizing he wasn't going to get an answer, Kirk slapped McCoy's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go before the good seats get taken."
Scotty joined them, grumbling about getting his hands on one of the vests.
Chapel and Uhura grinned at Nia. In a short amount of time, the group near the trees was significantly smaller.
"So how does this work? Do they have a roster for when you get to compete?" Uhura asked.
Nia's smile twisted and her cheeks turned a faint pink. "Not exactly," She told her.
The rest of her answer was cut off when an announcer appeared in the center of the small field. The crowd fell quiet and the man's voice carried as he called out a statement that resulted in cheering.
Uhura turned to Spock. "He said it's time for the tree competition and the first challenge to be issued."
Spock nodded and asked Nia, "How is a challenge issued?"
She didn't answer, her eyes locked on an approached female in a vest identical to the one Nia was adorned in. This female appeared to be the same age as Nia, with dark grey hair. Her build was equally slender as Nia's, though the woman was taller.
The look on the unknown female's face was playful as she approached. When the woman was about ten feet away from Nia, she touched her collarbone in greeting. The only difference was that the woman's palm was twisted to face outwards. Then, she lowered into a half-crouch with her arms thrust wide and hissed at Nia.
Spock eyes darted between Nia and the unknown woman, unsure how to respond. Given the events that occurred with Jacek, Spock was uncertain if there were any actions expected of him. He was unprepared for Nia's solution to the problem.
Body mirroring the challenging woman's, Nia hissed back.
Both women stood and grinned as hooting and hollering could be heard from the watching crowd. The announcer called out again as the pair clasped the other's forearm briefly before turning and placing themselves in front of the two tallest trees.
Wena glanced at Uhura. "And that's how a challenge is issued."
"Who is she?" Uhura asked.
"I think that's Myla, another great climber. I've never met her, but Nia's mentioned her a few times. Apparently she's got a wicked sense of humor." Wena smirked.
"So they're friends?" The blonde beside her asked.
Wena frowned then smiled knowingly at the nurse. "Oh yeah. All these competitions are friendly, the hissing and posturing is just how they do things. Kind of like they are fighting to defend their honor, only not."
Uhura nodded. "Kind of like when your best friend is rooting for your team's rival, and you pretend they're the enemy, but really they're not."
"Exactly." Wena said.
"I get it." Chapel grinned.
Spock did not.
The communications officer glanced at Spock. Looking away quickly, Uhura's jaw clenched as she fought to keep her face blank. She could imagine that Kirk's company was looking rather appealing by now.
She made eye contact with Chapel and both women struggled to stifle the giggles fighting to be heard.
Spock decided his involvement in the women's conversation was not necessary and directed his attention to where Nia and Myla were standing. Both women were gazing into the trees, most likely determining the best route to the device attached to the trunk far above their heads.
A short distance away, the announcer called out a command. The women stepped away from their chosen trees and took similar stances. The man raised his hand and fired what appeared to be a modified phaser. The ball of light emitted lazily arced in the air as the echoing snap! signaled the start of the race.
Wena trilled as loud as she could as Nia hoisted herself up to the first branch. "Come on guys, it's ok to show your support!" She enthusiastically told the others, waving her hands in encouragement.
Uhura and Chapel showed no hesitation in adding their own cries to Wena's as their Paladian friend competed.
Spock, however, was far more reluctant to do so and was quite satisfied with patiently watching.
Wena noticed. "Spock, that did include you." Despite his obvious reluctance, the half-Paladian found herself unwilling to give the man a break.
The response made her eyes roll. "I fail to see how vocal support will aid Nia in her endeavor."
"It proves you support which gives her confidence, which then helps her win." She told him all this with a little flourish of her hands, as if presenting the racing Paladian as evidence.
Quiet, he glanced at Wena before returning his gaze to Nia.
Nia was almost halfway up the tree, with Myla keeping pace beside her.
When no response seemed forthcoming, Wena allowed herself to smirk.
Only to have her ego bruised when the Vulcan did open his mouth.
"While there is merit in your words, I do not believe that Nia's confidence to be so fragile as to be damaged by the lack of such a display. Unless, or course," the look he gave her was as equally bland as his voice, "you have evidence proving otherwise."
Wena caught her tongue between her teeth and forcefully turned her eyes away from him. "Whatever." I finally have something in common with McCoy. Oh joy. Letting loose a piercing whistle, she cried out, "Come on, Nia! Get that skinny butt moving!"
High in the branches of the alien redwood, Nia rolled her eyes so hard she almost lost her balance. My friends, I swear…
The peripherals to her left told Nia that Myla was unwilling to give up without a fight. Fine by her. A little competition was always good.
Attempting to boost her speed, Nia added a little bounce to her steps as she lefted herself to the left branch. Metal glittered brightly above her.
Almost there.
Down below, Kirk shook his head in amazement. "I didn't think anyone but a character from a fantasy book could climb like that."
"You're telling me." McCoy responded. "Reminds me of a book I read as a boy."
Scotty grinned. "Aye, I know what you're on about. That book with the different races fighting a big battle, right? You're thinking of those immortal folk." The engineer looked around speculatively. "Now that I think of it, these fair-colored folk look just like 'em."
Kirk's eyes were drawn to a passing Paladian. Bright green caused him to look down. "Except for the feet," he commented.
Scotty followed his look. "Aye." He agreed. "I cannae imagine why I missed it before. Wasn't 'til I heard sum'un yammering about the new shoe design that I even thought to look down."
The trio fell silent as they continued watching the race.
McCoy quietly sighed. He was only half watching the race, but the tension that had been present in Kirk's shoulders the previous day had yet to ease up. Leaning over, he whispered "We need to talk."
Kirk frowned. "Why Bones, do you need to breakup with me?"
Glaring, McCoy grumbled, "Don't even start. You've been on edge since before we even stepped foot on this planet. I've been waiting for you to either get over it or explain what's got your knickers in a twist."
Whatever Kirk was about to say in response was cut off as a cheer rang through the crowd.
"Nia won!" Kirk cried out in surprise. He looked away from the doctor with a small shake of his head.
McCoy let the conversation drop, knowing the stubborn look in Kirk's eyes. The doctor would let it go for now.
Hearing the sounds of the crowd in the stands, Nia let pride fill her as she maintained her grip on the device she had scrambled to reach.
The gleaming metal shined underneath her palm, the disk being the diameter of a dinner plate and only a couple inches thick. As soon as Nia touched it, her racing time was recorded. Now, as she held on tightly with one hand, the device's programming linked with her vest's programming. Delicately, she was pulled clear of the longest branches and slowly lowered back to the grassy covering of the field.
Once her feet made contact with the ground her weight shifted away from the device, the programming was deactivated and the device returned to the top of the tree once Nia released it. Nia turned to find where her supporters stood.
Suddenly, she was knocked harshly to the side, only to have her vest activate faster than she could react to the unknown force. The bands constricted around her as her torso was kept right and her feet scrambled to find footing supportive of the sudden increase in weight.
Standing nearby, Spock took in sight of Nia's frozen torso and flailing legs, and was reminded of a street show he once witnessed. He believed a marionette was what the showman used.
Not noticing him, Nia tried to breath past the arms constricting her shoulders and reducing her lung capacity.
"You won, you won, you won…!" Wena babbled in one of Nia's ears.
"Yep." She wheezed. "Wena, I can't breathe." No response. "Wena…"
"You won! I can't believe you won! I mean, not like, can't because I totally knew you would, but-"
"Wena, I love you."
"Aw, I love you too."
"Wena?"
"Yeah?"
"I still can't breathe."
The half-Paladian was quiet for a moment before she gave Nia an extra hard squeeze. "But you still love me."
Nia would have chuckled if she could, but instead she attempted to return the embrace as well as she could. "Yeah, I do." She pulled back. "Now, while I am loving the love, there are others who want to congratulate me, and I'm starting to get a little light-headed from the lack of oxygen."
Wena squeezed tighter for a moment before letting go. Nia shook her head, trying to clear the spots from her eyes as Uhura and Chapel came up to embrace her.
"You did great."
"Thank you, Christine." Nia told the blonde nurse.
Uhura's smile was bright as she stated, "Your feet moved as if flying."
Laughing, Nia blushed as she hugged the younger woman. "I don't know if I deserve the use of such a lovely phrase from my childhood, but I more than appreciate the sentiment."
"While this was merely a competition for entertainment purposes," Spock's voice cut across the others' attention and drew four sets of eyes to him, "you completed the endeavor admirably."
Chapel gaped while Wena smirked.
"Why, Commander, did you just compliment Nia?"
Briefly, Spock contemplated the fact that Nia's friend was as persistent as Kirk. He did not find himself surprised and merely raised an eyebrow at the woman. "I was merely stating a fact."
Nia, ignoring Wena's pout, shared a knowing look with Uhura before she stated "It's a good fact."
He nodded to her before his eyes were drawn behind her. She turned.
Three Paladian men stood behind her. When she turned, they raised their hands to rest against their collar bones, palms twisted outwards as if preparing to strike. They made no other move.
"What's going on?" Chapel asked.
"I won, so I lose right of challenge. These gentlemen are informing me of their desire to be my next challenger." Nia told her.
The group stayed quiet for a moment, the Starfleet individuals waiting for her to continue her explanation. Instead, they watched as she apparently picked the leanest of the three males, and crouched down to pull her lips back in a canine-baring hiss.
The man grinned briefly before responding in kind.
Confused, Chapel asked, "What just happened?"
"Nia set the standard, or really is the standard, and if anyone wants a chance at the first place title they have to challenge her and win." Wena informed her. "To keep any first place holder from strong arming the competition and winning on a technicality, the first place holder is the only position that can't challenge. The first place holder must be challenged."
"So she can't pick out the weakest individuals and keep away anyone who might beat her." Chapel surmised. "Not that Nia would, but hypothetically."
"Exactly." Wena confirmed.
"Do they really hiss at each other every time?"
"Christine!" Uhura tried to give the other woman a quelling look.
The nurse just rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Nyota. Wena knows I didn't mean anything by that. I'm just honestly curious. It seems like a lot of dramatics for a competition."
Wena snorted. "Yeah well, look to thine own species first. Haven't you ever been to a human sporting competition?"
"Good point."
Uhura laughed.
Desiring to change the subject, Spock asked, "Dr. Verde, do you know Nia's strategy behind selecting from her challengers?"
"Oh, um, well," Wena fumbled for words. She wasn't expecting the question so she wasn't sure where to start.
A distance away, Scotty and Kirk were engaged in a similar discussion.
"Wouldn't she want to pick the chap she is less likely to beat first?" Scotty asked, baffled. "Look at those shoulder muscles, he's got to be a great climber!" He exclaimed, gesturing to one of the males that Nia hadn't picked.
The young captain shook his head at the engineer, chuckling. "That's actually a common misconception among non-climbers." He crossed his arms, watching as Nia wasted no time in leaping to the first branch. "So muscle is heavier than fat, right? And, you need muscle instead of fat to climb, right? But, if you have too much muscle, then you are no better off in a climb than if you had a little excess fat."
"So by choosing the skinny guy, she chose the biggest challenge?"
McCoy piped in. "If there had been a female in the group, she would have picked her first. That's why Myla challenged her first. As it is," the doctor pointed to the other race taking place at the same time "Myla is fighting to keep second place."
Scotty frowned. "Now, I don't know anatomy too well, but shouldn't a male be a greater challenge anyways? Less body fat, as a gender standard?"
Wena giggled at Spock's pointed question. "Actually that's a common misconception other species have when competing against Paladians." She grinned brightly at him. "Females are typically better climbers, and that is directly related to their physiology. Paladian males are capable of putting on a lot of muscle, and unlike most other species, Paladian females can't. Don't get me wrong," She said in response to Uhura's and Chapel's surprised looks. "Females can tone down quite well and be very strong. Yet, they don't bulk up since their bodies have a limited muscle capacity. So competitive climbers that are female have an advantage on that they don't have to watch their muscle mass, only their fat mass."
"While Paladian males have to watch both. Statistically, this would leave the males at a disadvantage as one would find overweight males due to fat and muscle, while one would only find overweight females due to fat."
Wena nodded at Spock then caught Chapel shaking her head. Taking pity on the nurse, Wena told her "I know, it makes little sense, but that's just how it works. It works from an evolutionary perspective too. Only the weakest individuals and the strongest males would be left on the ground when there was danger."
"So the males could fight and protect their families, who were in the trees?"
Wena nodded.
With a sigh, the nurse seemed to accept the new information. "So, does too fat include pregnant women? Do they climb as well? They must, if only the bulkiest males stayed on the ground." The nurse looked around, trying to spot Layla. She had noticed the pregnant Paladian was slimmer than most humans were, and that her fretting husband didn't let her do much.
Wena shrugged as she tried to give an answer. "They can in emergencies, but they usually don't as a rule. Too dangerous."
"So then how-?"
Wena cut her off, knowing what she was thinking. "For starters the added weight of pregnancy adds extra fatigue on the woman. Nearer to birth, climbing is impossible. Early in the pregnancy, there is a lot of danger if the woman falls from the tree. Falls aren't uncommon, at all. Paladian's may be gracefully climbers and their ancestors may have lived in the trees, but that means nothing when it comes to a pregnant woman."
Spock seemed to be the only one who understood what that meant. "Surely there were caves or outcrops available to provide safety?"
"Yes, there were."
"And would that not lead to domestication? A need for a permanent home or shelter for the pregnant women."
Wena smirked. "Yep. That's what their anthropologists and historians believe, anyways. Paladians started off as nomads, just like the humans. The end to their nomadic ways was just a little bit different."
"So Paladians should be used to walking on level ground?" Uhura asked with a sly look at Chapel.
"Most are. As I'm sure you've noticed, Nia isn't."
The women giggled.
An odd thought came to Uhura. "How do Paladian women tell if they are pregnant? I've heard they don't have a noticeable menstrual cycle?"
If Spock's ears didn't turn green around the edges, Wena was going to eat her socks. "That's right they don't." Briefly she looked a little wistful. Her human genes overruled her Paladian ones in that particular situation. "It's actually the males who can tell first."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, it's actually kind of cool. They have special scent receptors that pick up of the pheromones a pregnant female will put off. It's not like males have super noses either. They just can tell."
"That's… pretty wild."
"It is. Usually they figure out what it means too, but if the man doesn't the woman's first sign of being pregnant is having a suddenly super protective husband following her around everywhere she goes." Wena told her.
"Is that why Nethi is so protective around Layla?" Uhura asked.
Oh, Wena could tell. Spock was trying not to listen, or appear he wasn't listening, but Wena could tell. Those pointed ears were picking up every word. "Yes." Wena replied. "That's exactly why. Though he's pretty mellow compared to others I've seen. In fact, Nia could probably-" And Wena snapped her mouth shut. Great, now you've done it.
"Nia could what?"
Wena shook her head, annoyed with herself. It wasn't her story to tell, but now that she'd opened her mouth she really had no choice but to hope she could hedge around explaining. "Brothers and cousins can get protective too. I'm sure that's something you've also noticed with Jacek and his defense of Nia and Spock's honor."
"Ah, Jacek and Grego have a sister?"
"What? Oh." Wena shook her head. "They don't."
"So it was a cousin Jacek got protective over?" Chapel asked. Something was off by the way Wena was acting.
With a thin smile, Wena nodded her head.
Chapel stared at her. "Oh." She said. "Oh." She got it.
Looking away, Wena turned just in time to watch Nia surpass the lean male.
"So, Paladians are big on honor then?" Uhura asked to break up the sudden awkward silence.
The half-Paladian nodded. "Yes, very much so."
"If you don't mind me saying, I've previously thought there were similarities between Paladians and Klingons. Particularly their sense of honor." Uhura stated.
Chapel shifted uncomfortably as Wena stayed silent for longer than necessary.
"You know," the doctor said, "I've never made that connection before. Though, I think a better connection would be the Klingons to the Huns or Vikings and the Paladians to Samurai or even Native Americans."
Uhura smiled, relieved she hadn't offended the other woman. "Yeah, I can see that."
"While honor is not always logical, it could still be found on Vulcan, particularly amongst the older families." Spock told the women.
Wena sighed. "Not always logical? Yeah, that sounds about. A lack of honor leads to worse trouble."
Again the group fell into silence. Chapel broke it again with a question to Uhura, but neither Spock nor Wena joined in on the subsequent conversation. Instead the doctor quietly watched the half-Vulcan. She wondered if he caught what Chapel did.
His head turned very slightly, as if he caught her perusal.
Yeah, he caught it. I'm so dead when Nia finds out.
A/N Hopefully I didn't overload you with information on Nia's culture. Do any of you know what the secret is? Feel free to review your guess!
Thank you to all who have reviewed and followed and favorited this story. Don't worry, I'm not anywhere near done. Next two chapters and things are going to seriously pick up XD