Just a note about languages, since it will come up every now and then throughout the story. I don't trust translation sites, and my knowledge of non-English languages is basically limited to high school French, and the ability to count to ten in about fifteen various other languages. Oh, and I can say 'da'. So any foreign languages will be italicized and in quotation marks. It will usually say which language is being spoken, so there should be no confusion.
Disclaimer: not mine
Jimmy was having a great time. For the first time, he had adults in his life that didn't look down on him for being a know-it-all, or just thought he was a waste of space. Marie and Terry were great, and he was starting to realize that they actually genuinely wanted the best for him. They were attentive, and caring, and trying their best to undo nearly ten years of lessons yelled and screamed and beaten into him.
School was going great. The teachers cared, and loved having him in their class. They weren't telling him to shut up, or to stick to the lesson from that day, rather then read ahead. The other kids didn't have any issues working with him or Tom on projects or in class, despite the age difference.
And Hoshi… Jimmy was devouring the lessons on Vulcan. The language itself was exceedingly difficult, and required a lot of attention to detail along with a desire and will to actually become proficient in it. Jimmy could see why Hoshi had decided to start with it, before moving on to Klingon – which definitely had its challenges as well, but it wasn't quite as intricate as the Vulcan language. If he wasn't serious about becoming fluent in another language, he wouldn't last very long. Fortunately for him, his mind was like a sponge, soaking up everything he learned.
Marie and Terry were both relieved and thrilled to see Jimmy opening up, and actually speaking around the house, even if half of what he said was in another language. Tom came over frequently, and the two spent a good deal of time hanging out and doing school work in the living room – or what they assumed was school work, honestly, most of what they overheard was way too complicated for either adult to understand.
A surprise came to their house a few weeks after Jimmy arrived. Terry answered the door after dinner, his expression changing from confusion to surprise, as he stepped back to let two men enter the house.
One of them looked around the house, while the other focused on the kids sitting in the living room. The young girl was playing with some toys on the floor, while the other two were on PADDs.
Both boys looked up at the strangers, while Lisa just kept playing.
"James Spaulding?" one of them asked, as the other focused on the kids as well.
Jimmy's eyes narrowed, as he shut off the PADD in his hands and sat up slightly on the couch. "Yes?" he asked, his voice courteous and guarded.
The other man spoke next. "We've come to bring you an offer from the Governor."
Marie and Terry were both surprised, as was Jimmy. From what he had learned since his arrival, the Governor was a rather secretive man, who spent most of his time in the Governor's Palace, where all the governing of the colony took place. Not many had actually seen the Governor in person, though many said he was a good leader.
"What sort of offer?" Terry asked, speaking for his nephew.
The man who spoke first looked at the adults. "Governor Kodos has heard of your nephew's intelligence. He wishes to get to know the newest addition to our colony." He looked back at Jimmy. "If you are interested, he is willing to spend some time with you each week."
"Doing what, exactly?" Terry voiced, wanting to hear more information.
The second man spoke again. "The Governor wishes to teach Mr. Spaulding a little about government and politics. He feels it may be beneficial to present a well-rounded education."
Terry looked at his nephew. Jimmy looked intrigued by the prospect. Even if Terry had some misgivings, he couldn't deny the boy such an opportunity. "Is this something you want, Jimmy?"
Jimmy nodded eagerly. It sounded like fun, and he really wanted a challenge. As great as his teachers were, and as much as he enjoyed school, he wasn't learning anything new.
The two men left soon enough, after inviting Jimmy to come to the Governor's Palace after school in two days.
Jimmy knew he would need to talk to Hoshi, and restructure their lessons so that he could spend some afternoons in the city, and some with her. He was coming along nicely with the Vulcan language, and was hoping they could begin Klingon soon.
XXX
Hoshi was willing to teach him every other day, so twice a week, Jimmy started spending afternoons after school with Governor Kodos. The Governor was a fit man, in his thirties or forties. He seemed eager to spend time with Jimmy, who reveled in the way the Governor made him feel. Kodos treated him as something like a son, always praising him, and teaching him about what it was he did as Governor.
It wasn't all pretty. Jimmy was naturally inquisitive, and when he got bored, he tended to look for something to interest him. He overheard many rather dubious conversations between Kodos and his advisors, or the advisors and the security officers, or any combination thereof.
But he was so happy to have someone that looked at him like a son that he just pushed all of it to the back of his mind and focused on all the new things he was learning about government. In the evening, he would be driven home by a security officer, as it really wasn't feasible for him to walk from the city. It could be done, of course, but no self-respecting adult would expect a twelve year old to make that trek alone, at night.
In a little over two months, Jimmy had mastered Vulcan, and was able to hold an intelligent conversation with Hoshi, as he helped her with various tasks around her house; once Hoshi deemed him 'passable', she agreed to teach him Klingon.
He took to that language nearly as quickly as Vulcan, devouring lessons with a vigor and passion that made Hoshi feel years younger.
He loved spending time with Hoshi, working in her garden and learning Klingon. She was teaching him how to swear now, though she had first extracted a promise that he wouldn't tell his guardians just what it was he was saying when he practiced at home.
It was on his way home from Hoshi's one evening that he, quite by accident, made a new friend.
A muttered curse drew his attention to a secluded park set back from the street, and, curious, he went to investigate.
A teenaged girl was sitting on a bench, a PADD in her hands that seemed to be the root of her troubles.
"Are you all right?" he asked hesitantly, almost regretting that he had spoken at all. He was coming out of his shell, but he still wasn't quite sure of himself just yet.
As the girl looked up, startled, he recognized her as being a year below him in school. He didn't know her name, but he saw her from time to time in the hallways.
The girl shrugged, glaring at the PADD once more. "Just trying to understand Physics," she said flippantly. Her voice had an accent that Jimmy was fairly certain came from the country of Russia on Earth, but he wasn't positive.
Jimmy smiled. "Need some help?"
The girl raised an eyebrow. "You understand this?" she asked skeptically.
It was Jimmy's turn to shrug. "A bit," he hedged. Of course, his Bachelor's Degree in Physics would prove that he understood the subject a little more than 'a bit', but he wouldn't tell her that.
He held out a hand for the PADD, which the girl handed over willingly, and then watched in fascination as he began to read what she had been failing at understanding.
"I'm Anya," she introduced herself. "Anya Chekov."
Jimmy glanced up, one side of his mouth lifting in a half-smile. "Jimmy Spaulding," he replied, before going back to reading for another minute or so, before he sat down next to her.
Anya listened with interest and amazement as the boy – who couldn't be more than twelve or thirteen – sat down next to her and proceeded to explain the concepts that so eluded her. He not only understood what she was supposed to be learning, he actually was pretty adept at explaining it in a way she could comprehend.
The two spent an hour sitting on that bench before Jimmy realized how late it was and jumped up, apologizing profusely.
Anya chuckled, taking the PADD back as she stood as well. "It's no problem, Jimmy. I should be thanking you. This is the most confident I've felt in this class all year. I don't suppose you'd be willing to tutor me some more?"
Jimmy bit his lip, considering. "One condition," he finally replied. Anya cocked her head, lifting an eyebrow. Jimmy smiled. "Can you teach me Russian?"
Anya let out a short laugh. "How did you know where I'm from?"
Jimmy shrugged sheepishly. "You've got an accent. And your last name. But mostly, your accent."
Anya laughed again, agreeing instantly, and they made plans to meet at the park over the weekend, before the two separated to their respective houses.
XXX
Jimmy was even busier now. He and Anya became good friends very quickly, and Jimmy picked up Russian with alarming speed, resulting in the pair spending many an afternoon discussing Physics, and any other topics that came up, in the language. Anya also joined him and Tom for lunch many days, bringing a few of her friends with her. Jimmy didn't connect to any of them as he had with Anya, though they seemed to be interested in possible tutoring, seemingly not caring that their potential tutors were several years their junior.
It took Jimmy three months to master Klingon, and Hoshi immediately transitioned to Cardassian. Jimmy was now forbidden from speaking English while in her presence. If he had a question about the language he was learning currently, he had to voice it in either Vulcan or Klingon. Although a few times, he chose to use Russian, since he was becoming quite fluent in that language as well. Hoshi was pleased with his progress, and, though she might not actually say it, truly enjoyed having the younger boy around.
Tom and Jimmy had become almost like brothers. They were the youngest ones in their class, and partnered together on most assignments and projects. They frequently went above and beyond the simple school assignments, and were constantly working on their own ventures. Tom was interested in botany and physics, and it wasn't uncommon for the pair to be seen studying the plants outside before and after school, or to be found in the Science lab, working on some new theory.
Anya had taken Jimmy under her wing, telling him that he reminded her of her brother, back in Russia.
"You're both so smart," she told him, smiling reminiscently. The two had taken to speaking Russian most of the time, when they were alone. It helped Jimmy learn quicker, and Anya felt somehow closer to home, just using the language. "And inquisitive. Pavel is always getting his nose stuck in something that doesn't concern him."
Jimmy smirked. That definitely sounded like him. Too smart for his own good. That's what all his teachers back in Riverside said. "Why are you here, without your family?" he asked gently, knowing that she missed her parents and brother.
Anya let out a breathless half laugh. "I come from a very small town. The closest city is St. Petersburg, but even that's at least an hour away. My parents want me and my brother to get out, to do something with our lives. Pavel… he's clearly going to make something of himself. He was four when I left, but I already knew how exceptional he was. My mother's cousin was moving to Tarsus, so my parents asked me if I would be interested in seeing a bit of the universe." Anya shrugged. "I want to explore. I don't want to spend my whole life living in one small town. I'm considering applying to Starfleet in a couple of years, but for now, I'm just living."
Jimmy nodded understandingly, having to bite his tongue to not comment at the mention of Starfleet. A lifetime's worth of lessons had taught him that Starfleet brought nothing but pain and disappointment.
Anya bumped his shoulder with her own. "What about you? What do you want to do?"
Jimmy bit his lip. "I don't know," he replied. "I like science a lot, but I really don't know what I want to do with my life yet."
Anya laughed. "Well, you're young. You've got time." And with that, any serious conversation was over.
Jimmy's afternoons at the Governor's Palace continued to both excite and slightly concern him. He liked learning about politics, and Kodos had become quite a steady parental figure in his life, more and more so as the months passed, but at the same time, he was learning enough to be certain that he never wanted to become a politician. Not with the amount of lying and cheating, and underhanded backroom deals he overheard and observed. Still, Kodos was something of a hero to him. The man had looked at him, and not seen his father's son, the son of a hero – not that he knew he was the son of a Federation hero, but still. Kodos had seen him, a brilliant young man, someone worth recognizing in his own right, and Jimmy didn't ever want the feeling of belonging to end. He didn't ever want to let go of the knowledge that someone actually believed in him.
Jimmy's thirteenth birthday came before he even realized it, and he had a nice quiet dinner, with Tom, Anya, and Hoshi the only nonfamily members invited.
Jimmy felt more at home here than he ever had in Riverside. Marie and Terry were the parents he had always wished for, and Cory and Lisa were great. Lisa venerated her older cousin, and more than once, had insisted on accompanying him to the park to meet with Anya for their tutoring sessions. Anya adored the young girl.
While Cory and Jimmy had different friends, Cory still liked hanging out with his cousin, and the two spent many an evening playing outside after dinner, kicking a soccer ball around, or playing catch.
Before Jimmy had even realized it, summer had arrived. He and Tom graduated with high marks, and were faced with a summer free of classes, as they tried to figure out what to do next. Tarsus didn't have any Universities, only a few intensive training programs for anyone interested in doing something other than become a farmer. That was mainly for the kids in the city, who may go on to become security officers, or medical personnel, or the like.
Without school, Jimmy spent most mornings at the Governor's Palace with Kodos, and most afternoons with Hoshi, Tom, Anya, or Cory and Lisa, or any combination thereof.
By the time summer was over, Jimmy had mastered Cardassian, and made a decent start on Orion – both the high and low forms – with Hoshi, and Anya had offered to teach him German, as it was the only other language besides English she knew, and she figured that, since he seemed so eager to learn, he would be interested. Hoshi had also taken over completing Jimmy's education with Andorian – the year of schooling in the language hadn't really done much to teach him, so Hoshi made sure to include lessons in it. It was just shoddy work, after all, to leave a language half-learned.
School started again, though Jimmy, as a now (once again) graduated student, did not have to attend. Lisa, now six years old, was placed into the first year, and happily went off with her brother each morning, eager to spend time with the big kids.
Jimmy continued to go to the Governor's Palace every morning, where Kodos was now beginning to ask him what he wanted to do with his life. To Jimmy, it seemed as if the Governor wanted him to work for him, something Jimmy was interested in; he liked the way Kodos made him feel. Like he was important. Like he was special.
Tom came over regularly, and the pair continued to conduct their own experiments. Just because they had graduated didn't mean they had to stop learning.
Before Jimmy even realized it, he had been on Tarsus a year. On the anniversary of his arrival, Marie and Terry had a little family party, complete with a cake. Jimmy spent most of the day alternating between happiness and depression. He was thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful family, but he was depressed to realize that, in the last year, he could probably count on one hand the number of times he had actually thought about his mother and brother. Frank just wasn't worth thinking about, at all.
He wondered what it meant, that his mother was so far from his thoughts. She hadn't contacted him once since he had come to live with her sister. Actually, he didn't think he had really spoken to her since her last shore leave, about five months before Sam had left and he had driven his dad's car off the cliff. What did it say about him, that he didn't even miss her? Could he miss what he had never really had?
These thoughts ate up the majority of his evening, and when Marie came to visit him that night, sensing his torn attention, she found him lying on his back on his bed, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling with a contemplative expression on his face.
"Jimmy?"
Jimmy jerked slightly, looking over at his aunt, startled.
Marie smiled softly, entering the room and sitting down on the edge of the bed. Jimmy sat up, leaning against the headboard as he focused on his aunt.
"Is everything all right, Jimmy? You seemed a little distracted at dinner." Marie studied him, concerned.
Jimmy shrugged, biting his lip as he looked down at his lap. "I was just…" he trailed off for a moment, before he looked back up, his eyes shining a little with held-back tears. "Is there something wrong with me?"
Marie leaned back slightly, startled. "What do you mean?" she asked, worried. "There's nothing wrong with you."
Jimmy's eyes were pleading, as he let out everything he had been mulling over all day. "She hasn't commed once. I haven't even spoken to her in a year and a half. Why does she hate me so much?"
He was almost crying now, and completely ashamed. He knew his mother hated him. She hated that he had lived, and his father hadn't. She hated that he looked so much like her dead husband. She hated that he acted so much like his dead father. But knowing didn't make it hurt any less.
Marie started crying as well, as she suddenly understood. Jimmy hadn't spoken much about it over the last year, but she knew her sister was hurting the boy with her absence.
She leaned over to give her nephew a hug. "Oh, sweetie. My sister has her own problems, but none of it is your fault." She pulled back, but kept contact, smoothing his hair down and resting her hands on his shoulders. "People deal with grief in different ways. Winona's hurting, but that doesn't mean she should take it out on you."
Jimmy nodded, though his eyes clearly said that it didn't help. Marie didn't know what else she could do, besides grasp him once more in a tight hug and let him cry himself to sleep.
Once he had tired himself out, she lay him gently down and covered him with a blanket and kissed his forehead, wiping a few drying tears off his cheeks, before quietly exiting the bedroom.
She had to take a moment in the hallway to compose herself, before she felt able to head to her own bedroom. Her heart ached for her young nephew. He may be a genius, but he was still just a kid. He didn't deserve this. Nobody deserved this.
Terry may not have understood why his wife was so upset, but he dutifully hugged her as she slipped into bed, and let her get out all of her tears.
XXX
Jimmy gave no indication that he remembered his slight breakdown the next morning, and following his lead, Marie didn't mention it either.
He continued to spend his days as he normally did, at the Governor's Palace, and with his friends. Tom and Anya were his closest ones, but there were other kids he hung out with, from time to time.
The seasons changed once more, as Jimmy mastered both Orion and Andorian, and made a decent start on one of the three Romulan dialects, under Hoshi's tutelage.
Anya pronounced him fluent in German just after the New Year, though that didn't stop them from hanging out. Jimmy may have helped her greatly to better understand science, but she still needed all the help she could get.
As winter deepened and then thawed, Jimmy continued to have more fun than he would have thought possible, when living with his asshole of a stepfather.
Spring came again, and with it, Jimmy's fourteenth birthday. His party was once more just a small gathering, as Jimmy told his aunt and uncle that he didn't want them to make a big deal out of it. So like the year before, it was just Tom, Anya, and Hoshi having dinner with Jimmy and his family.
As it began to warm up, Tom and Jimmy had an idea for a new project to work on, and threw themselves into it with gusto. It involved studying the local plants to determine growth rates, and how they differed from the plants on Earth.
"Hey, Tom, take a look at this."
Jimmy moved over to give his friend some space, as the other boy looked through the viewfinder of the microscope at the plant they were currently studying. He frowned and adjusted the viewfinder, trying to focus it more. Pulling back as the image became clearer, he looked at Jimmy with alarm. "That looks like…"
He trailed off, and Jimmy nodded, biting his lip. "We should tell someone, right?"
Tom tilted his head, considering. "It could just be this one plant," he pointed out. "There's no need to get everyone worked up over one infected plant, right?"
Jim agreed, if a little hesitantly. "Let's find some other specimens and compare, before we do anything else."
With that consensus, the two boys went back to where they had found the plant they were studying, and pulled a few more samples.
By the end of the afternoon, both were fairly certain that they would need to tell someone. Not only had they found the same fungus attacking all of their other samples, the speed at which the plants seemed to be dying was alarming.
So the next morning, Jimmy immediately went to Kodos, telling him what they had discovered.
Kodos listened tentatively, and nodded as Jimmy finished. "Thank you for telling me, Jimmy. I'll take care of everything."
Jimmy smiled in relief, and the two moved on to other topics.
Over the next few weeks, Jimmy watched and waited, but he didn't hear anything more on the fungus, or what Kodos was doing to help. He was a little concerned, but he trusted Kodos, and if he said he would take care of it, he would.
He overheard a few whispered conversations between his aunt and uncle, but he didn't say anything, even when he noticed meals getting lighter.
It wasn't until almost six weeks after Jimmy spoke with Kodos that things became apparent. The fungus had hit, hard and fast, and in less than a week, destroyed most of the fields and surrounding areas. It hit food supplies next, rendering their stores inedible. Meals got even lighter, and Jimmy, with his genius brain, registered the way his aunt and uncle would eat much less, in order to give the kids more.
Jimmy tried not to let himself worry. Kodos had said he was taking care of it. The one time he had tried to bring it up, the governor had gotten annoyed, and told him to keep his nose out of it. In that split second, Jimmy was reminded of his stepfather, Frank, and vowed not to ask Kodos again. Kodos was his hero. Kodos cared about him. Kodos loved him. Kodos was nothing like Frank, and Jimmy would never do anything to draw that comparison again.
A few days later, Hoshi pulled Jimmy inside after a lesson on Romulan. He had mastered the first dialect amazingly fast, and they were currently working on the second one. She switched to Klingon, knowing that, even if someone was listening in, they wouldn't understand. She knew she was the only one on the planet who spoke the harsh language; as rare as it might be, there were one or two who knew scattered words in Vulcan, Cardassian, and the others she had taught Jimmy. Better to be safe than sorry.
She hunted around in a hidden drawer in her desk for a moment, as Jimmy watched, confused. Pulling out what she had been looking for, she turned back to face her pupil. "Jimmy, things are happening. I can't explain it all to you now, but just know that things are going to get bad. I want you to be careful."
Jimmy bit his lip, studying the older woman. She looked nervous, as she grasped something in her hands tightly. He shook his head. "Kodos said he'd take care of everything," he objected, obligingly switching languages.
Hoshi leaned forward, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Jimmy, you're a smart boy. Please, use your brain, and don't just trust blindly." She held out the device in her hands. It was a communicator. "If necessary, you should be able to use this to contact Starfleet. Please, keep it on you at all times. I don't know what's going to happen, but you need to keep yourself safe. Just be careful. Promise me!"
Jimmy looked dubious, but he promised readily enough, and stuck the communicator in his bag as he said goodbye and headed for home.
Dinner that night was eaten in silence, and was little more than a few canned goods that hadn't been hit by the fungus. Jimmy spent the meal studying everyone sitting at the table. He truly loved living here. He loved being a part of a family. He loved mattering to people. But like Hoshi had warned him, he knew that things wouldn't stay the same. This fungus would change everything.
XXX
The next morning, Jimmy passed up breakfast in order to get to the Palace as quickly as possible. Hoshi's words from the previous afternoon wouldn't leave him alone, so he obligingly put the communicator in his shoulder bag and carried it with him, making his way to the city as quickly as possible. He needed to talk to Kodos, to find out what was going on. He had told the Governor about the fungus weeks ago. Why had everything gotten worse?
Jimmy arrived at the Palace earlier than he usually showed up, and was about to go find a security officer or advisor, when some instinct told him to slow down and think. He trusted Kodos, but he couldn't get Hoshi's warning out of his mind.
So instead of heading towards the suite of offices where he usually spent his mornings, he moved to the right, and headed down an out of the way corridor. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but as naturally inquisitive as he was, he was certain he'd find something.
He was right. A level down from the ground floor and main entrance, Jimmy, quite by accident, stumbled upon a conversation that set alarm bells ringing. Two security officers were speaking with Kodos in hushed tones. Jimmy kept out of sight, listening to the voices coming from just around the corner.
Dread curling in his stomach, he processed the words in a detached sort of manner. He couldn't catch all of it, but he heard various pieces of sentences; phrases like, "keep them contained," "get it done by the end of the day," and "keep the valued members out of the way until it's done."
Feeling like nothing good could come of those words, Jimmy backed away quietly, making sure he was out of earshot before he quickened his pace, heading towards an office he knew was nearby, and empty most of the time.
Once inside the empty room, Jimmy closed the door and locked it, keeping himself alert as he quickly fired up the computer console; with a few knowledgeable keystrokes, and a few touches of the screen, Jimmy hacked his way into the system, and from there, it was only a few seconds more before he was looking at Kodos' personal files.
Jimmy leaned back sharply in surprise as he came across one file in particular. He read a few paragraphs, and then swiped over to find several lists. Skimming down the pages as quickly as he could, the dread in his stomach felt like it had turned to lead. He jumped a little, hearing a sound coming from down the hall, so he quickly deleted the evidence of his being there and closing out of the computer hurriedly, and, listening at the door before he opened it, once more stepping into the hallway.
With no time to spare, Jimmy darted down the corridor, making for an out of the way exit he knew to be closer, and less observed, than the front entrance.
He had to hide in an empty room once, to let a trio of security officers pass by, but fortunately, he was able to escape the Palace without anyone being the wiser.
Once he was back in the city, Jimmy began an all out sprint, running as fast as he could back towards the small homestead he had lived in with his aunt, uncle, and cousins for the last year and a half.
He was distracted on his way back. Smoke was coming from Hoshi's windows, and Jimmy stopped, alarmed, as he quickly moved off the road and into the house.
He didn't have to look far. Hoshi was lying face up in the living room. Every cupboard and pantry door in the kitchen was open, and anything edible gone.
Jimmy barely paid any attention to the ransacked kitchen, and immediately went to his teacher's side. Hoshi was alive, barely. A dribble of blood was leaking from her mouth and chin, making its way down her cheek and getting lost in her hair, which had come out of her usually tight and pristine bun.
A quick glance around the room showed it to be the location of a rather impressive fight. The coffee table was turned over, as was the couch, and two chairs were in pieces, scattered around the room.
Hoshi gasped, and Jimmy leaned closer, grasping her hand tightly, a few tears threatening to escape.
Hoshi was now crying as well, as she managed to focus on her young pupil. Even so close to the end – and Jimmy did know that there was nothing he could do for her, except be there – she still managed to speak flawless Vulcan. "Jimmy. Leave. Now."
Jimmy shook his head, the tears now escaping his eyes and running down his cheeks. "Hoshi. Please."
Hoshi interrupted, coughing weakly. "Jimmy, you have to go. There's no time. Just promise me you'll live. You have to survive."
Jimmy nodded, and Hoshi settled down a bit, relaxing, even as her mouth curved in a slight smile. A few seconds later, she was gone.
Jimmy sniffed, squeezing her hand once, before he set it back down on the ground, wiping his eyes with his other hand as he stood up.
Grabbing his shoulder bag, Jimmy wasted no more time in continuing on to his aunt and uncle's house. He barely noticed the sign that had been tacked to the front door of Hoshi's home.
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