The Pon T'Keshtan

CHAPTER 9:

Spock sat behind the steering wheel of their cart and cocked his head. "Do you hear that?" he asked Nyota. She stopped chewing on her lunch and listened, but there were so many sounds around them, she didn't know to which one he was referring. "Hear what?" she asked.

"A vlei," he said, using a word from his own language. "That low bellow, below the sound of the crowd."

Nyota strained to listen again, but could hear nothing. Fear clutched briefly at her chest. He's having an auditory hallucination, she thought to herself. But then she immediately rejected that notion. She reminded herself that a Vulcan's hearing was more acute than a Human's. Spock could easily be hearing things - real things - that she could not. "No, I don't," she finally answered. "What do you think it is?"

Spock didn't answer. Instead he put the cart into forward and stepped on the accelerator. With an amazing speed, he was able to maneuver the cart through the lunch crowd toward a destination along the outer rim of the Bazaar. Nyota remembered from reading the signage around the Starbase that the outer rim was were the menageries and slave markets were.

That a Federation Starbase even allowed slave markets on its premises was sickening to her. Her Academy roommate, Gaila, had narrowly escaped such a destiny, and Nyota couldn't fathom the idea of people trading in other people, treating them like chattel. And again her heart ached for Spock who, for a brief moment on New Vulcan, had been treated just like that.

When they had first seen the signs that pointed in the direction of the slave markets, Spock had tried to explain to her the reasoning for allowing such a thing on Jagusch-McGillis, and although he spoke with logic and dispassion, she knew that he didn't agree with the Federation's decision on the matter. He had told her that although the Federation itself had banned slavery, and stringently discouraged such practices among the planets affiliated with it, it also acknowledged that on some planets slavery was commonplace and was even an integral part of some races' societal infrastructures. The Federation's stance, throughout its history, was that it wasn't to impose its will on other non-Federation entities and systems, it wasn't to stand in judgment over the efficacy of other beings' lifestyles and values, and that it wasn't to interfere with the development of other species or other cultures. The fact that it continued to allow other planets to engage in wars, did nothing to interfere with the Ek'tevan Prerogative (even when it effected one of Starfleet's own command personnel), and tolerated the assassins guilds was evidence of that stance. So, as long as none of the slaves sold at the Bazaar were from planets where the practice was officially forbidden, and as long as no buyers were themselves members of the Federation, the slave markets at the Bazaar were permitted to exist. Their leash was a short one, however, and there were red-shirted security guards all along the perimeter of that part of the Bazaar to ensure compliance with Federation guidelines and restrictions. Still, when Spock bypassed the slave markets and headed the cart toward the menageries instead, Nyota actually breathed a deep sigh of relief.

The menageries were what their designation implied: myriad collections of semi-domesticated and wild animals set up for purchase and exhibition purposes. This part of the Bazaar was like a cross between a system-wide zoo, an auction market, and an animal adoption center. Once there, Spock decreased the cart's speed to a mere crawl, in part so as not to startle or distress the animals around them, and in part so he could continue to listen, without the interference of the cart's engine noise, for the sound that had caught his ear before.

All around, now, were zookeepers and animal merchants, selling everything from tribbles to Klingon grint hounds (1), Earth chickens and cattle, gossamer rats and Cardassian voles. When they were halfway through the menagerie, Nyota thought she heard the vlei herself, and it amazed her that Spock had been able to pick up the sound before from such a distance. He guided the cart past a display of targ (2), and then came to a halt beside a large gray tent with a merchant sitting in a wicker lounge chair in front of it. The merchant had cages upon cages of birds piled up around him. There were feathered creatures of all colors, some brilliant some drab; some birds as small as your thumb, others as large as your torso; some winged, some flightless; most of them noisome and announcing their existence with squawks, hoots, trills, towhees, and chirrups. From a small cage in the rear of the display an Earth quail even gave out its distinctive "chi-ca-go!" call.

Surely, Nyota thought, none of these creatures could have made the sound Spock had described to her before as a "low bellow"; then why was he stopping here? He must have made a mistake. She looked at him questioningly.

The bird-merchant, who appeared to be a non-Terran humanoid, didn't bother to get up from his chair. Under his layers of mismatched clothing was a lanky, languid form. Although he had a shock of bright orange hair tipped with artificial turquoise, the man was so fair that his skin looked almost chalky; and he had four eyes of a yellow tint so pale it barely qualified as a color at all. He was smoking a thin cigar made of tana leaves(3). Upon seeing Spock and Nyota, he extended long arms out to either side of him saying, "Partake, gentlebeings. Browse. Enjoy. Then let me know if you would like to purchase anything."

Spock stepped out of the cart, but motioned for Nyota to remain seated. Standing beside the vehicle he addressed the merchant directly, in a voice that seemed to order compliance. "Merchant, what is your name?"

The birdman pulled his arms back in around himself and answered, "Who wants to know?"

"I am Spock, Commander and First Officer of the USS Enterprise."

"Well, Spock of the Enterprise, I am Fennel of the moon-world Inula 43."

Spock's eyebrows knitted slightly. "There is no such planet."

"All right then, I'm from Mars. Does that make you happy?"

"Amusement was not my objective."

"Fun guy," Fennel said to Nyota.

Nyota looked to Spock and said frankly, "Not at the moment, he isn't. When he looks like that, he's dead serious."

Seemingly unimpressed, Fennel lifted himself out of his chair. "He's a Vulcan," he said, speaking as though Spock wasn't there. "They're pacifists. They never do anything. Even when their own planet was under attack, they just sat there, or scurried away like cave-rats and let it be devoured. He's no threat."

Spock tipped his head slightly, as though he wasn't certain he had actually heard what he believed had just come from the merchant's mouth. When Spock remained stock silent, Nyota cautioned Fennel, "It's really not a good idea to piss him off."

"Really?" Fennel sniffed and stretched, burped loudly, then scratched the back of his head and pretended to look in on some of his birds. "I heard that the Vulcans are so impotent they can only mate once every seven years." He smirked at Spock, who remained expressionless. "Is this an off-year for you? Is that why you're having a Human female speak for you?"

"I beg your pardon?" Spock said, again unsure of what he'd heard.

Fennel just looked at him, and flicked a bit of ash off the end of his cigar. Then he said, "Buy something or leave", but Spock heard nothing but gibberish. Either his hearing was defective, or the merchant was deliberately toying with him. "You're blocking traffic," Fennel said.

"There is no traffic here," Spock pointed out, his voice very dark, like the telling sky before a tornado.

Oblivious to the threat, or perhaps simply spitting in the eye of it, the bird-merchant stepped up to Spock close enough so that their toes nearly met.

Nyota warned, "You have got to stop."

"A'ing ru'lut tu," (4) Spock said bluntly to Nyota, his eyes focused on Fennel.

Nyota didn't like to be ordered around in such a tone, but she also knew that at that moment Spock was feeling stressed and unsure of himself, so she didn't counter him. When Fennel next spoke, he spoke directly into Spock's face, punctuating some of his words with smoke from his slim cigar. "Look, Mister Enterprise Commander, you have no authority over me, you have no right to any information about me, and you're interfering with my work. So, buy something... or move on." With each of the last two words, he poked Spock in the chest with a boney finger.

Spock turned his head to one side - showing off his superior ear form, Nyota surmised - and then looked down at the finger on his chest, then back up into Fennel's pale eyes. For a moment, Nyota feared Spock would grab the finger and snap it into a painful contortion; and, the truth be told, for a moment Spock considered doing just that. Instead, he took a cleansing breath, allowed his Vulcan sensibilities to reign, and squared his shoulders at the merchant, saying, "Very well. I wish to purchase the sehlat."(5)

"What?" Fennel asked.

Nyota looked confused. She couldn't see a sehlat anywhere around them. "Spock - ?"

Fennel stepped away from his toe-to-toe with Spock, erroneously assuming that because the Vulcan hadn't physically attacked him, he was safe and in control of the situation. "I am a bird-merchant," he said.

"Perhaps," Spock said. "But you are also in possession of a creature on the Endangered Species list, which puts you in violation of Starfleet Regulation 1531 Section 4A (6)."

"Endangered species? Aren't you the endangered species, Vulcan? You're crazy," Fennel snorted.

"As the Humans would say: you do not know the half of it," Spock answered drolly, his voice still low and foreboding.

The merchant didn't know how to take that comment, so he laughed - a bit uncomfortably. "There is no sehlat here," he said dismissively.

"I can smell it," Spock said flatly.

"This place is full of animal smells."

"I heard it."

"This place is full of animals noises. There isn't a sehlat here; you're wrong. Move on."

Spock stood his ground. "Many make the error of assuming that the Vulcan sehlat is simply a dumb, wild creature. But they are, in fact, sentient beings, capable of simple thought processes, and with a well-developed sense of self. They emote; they think; they project. I can 'feel' the sehlat. It is here, and your continued assertions to the contrary are both fallacious and illogical. Relinquish the animal to my custody, and I will forgo an arrest."

"You don't have any jurisdiction over me. I'm not a Federation citizen."

"No? But you are on a Federation Starbase and therefore fall under the purview of Starfleet regulations. Under said regulations, any ranking Starfleet officer - such as myself - may assume legal authority when other authority is not present in order to ensure that general compliance with Federation law is upheld. Therefore, I restate: being in possession of an animal classified as an Endangered Species, you are in violation of Starfleet Regulation 1531 Section 4A, under which the penalties include a fine of seventy-five thousand credits and two years in a Federation penitentiary - per violation - along with the revocation of licensure and transport privileges, and the confiscation of all said animals."

Fennel turned four angry colorless eyes on the Vulcan. "You're mistaken," he said.

"No, I am not." Spock then leaned his head slightly to one side so he could speak past Fennel, and said loudly. "Stariben sehlat."(7)

Nothing but silence met his call.

Nyota looked pained and worried. What the hell is he doing?

Fennel sneered. "See? No sehlat."

"Sehlat," Spock said, his eyes level on Fennel. "Kilko-tor nash-veh. Ki'sarlah nash-veh korsau-tor tu."(8) In reply this time, from inside the tent came a long, resonant rumble, like the roar of a bull. Spock took a step forward, and Fennel countered him, blocking his path toward the tent.

"You stay away from my property."

"It would be advantageous for you to cease your present course of action," Spock said plainly.

"Don't threaten me."

"I do not threaten," Spock said. "I state only facts. You are in possession of an animal protected by law. Release the sehlat into my custody, and I will overlook this violation."

"Say I had such an animal - and I'm not admitting that I do - and say it was endangered, wouldn't your having it be as much a violation of the law as my having it?"

"Under statute, I have the legal authority to procure the creature, and to see to it that it is transported safely to a more appropriate setting."

"A more appropriate setting," Fennel sneered. "And where would that be? Vulcan doesn't exist anymore. Where are you going to return it? To that turgid hole in space where your planet used to be?"

Spock's dark eyes flashed, and before Nyota could warn the merchant, Spock's hand lashed out and struck Fennel in the throat with enough force to severely bruise his windpipe, making him gag and stumble backward into the tent. One side of the structure collapsed under the merchant's weight, exposing several large cages inside which held larger animals that were anything but birds. In one cage was a Klingon cob'lat (9), in another a white Siberian tiger from Earth, and in a third was a full grown Vulcan sehlat. The animals, startled, all started pacing and roaring in their cages. The sehlat's voice was the deepest among them.

Although the illegal animal was now in full view, Fennel still remained unrepentant. On his feet again, he snatched up a stock-prod from the ground and held it like a weapon in front of him, its tip sizzling with white-hot static.

"Oh my God, how stupid are you?" Nyota challenged him. "Just give us the sehlat."

"She's got more spunk than you'll ever have," the merchant said through his bruised and swollen throat, baiting Spock further. He bounced the prod in his hands. "How does it feel to be so flaccid, so ineffectual that your Human outshines you? Of course, I'm assuming she's yours. It may be the other way around, huh? Maybe you belong to her. Maybe she's the dominant one here. It that it, Vulcan? Are you the pet and she the master?"

"Stop speaking," Spock warned slowly.

Fennel looked around them, to the crowd of gawkers and other merchants that was starting to accumulate around the tent. "Maybe we're sick of the Federation ordering us around. Maybe we're sick of all the rules and regulations. The interference with our commerce. The imposition of Federation standards on non-Federation races and cultures. Maybe you should leave."

"Give me the sehlat."

"No."

Spock took another step toward the tent, and Fennel once again stood in his path. "Get out of my way," Spock said very quietly.

"Make me," Fennel said.

For the space of two breaths Spock remained still, and Nyota thought for a moment that he might keep his composure and deescalate the situation by stepping back. They could call Security and have Fennel arrested now that the sehlat was in plain view. But she saw in Spock's posture a rigidness that bespoke a very non-Vulcan refusal to capitulate even in the face of a logical and non-violent resolution to the matter. He wasn't backing down. He wasn't taking "no" for an answer. And he wasn't going to let the insults of the last few minutes go.

"Spock," she said, trying to pull him out of himself, to get him to face her, so he could leave his anger aside as she knew he should - and would under any other circumstances. "You've made your point. Let security handle this."

He ignored her, or did not hear her. Instead, he strode forward, and as Fennel lashed the prod down on top of him, Spock caught it with one hand and held it suspended over his head for several seconds. All of Fennel's eyes went wide with shock. The Vulcan's strength was far greater than he had expected. Spock yanked the prod from the merchant's hand and sent it flying over Nyota and the cart. When the thing hit the ground, it bucked with unspent energy, and sparked and fizzled angrily before finally going inert and silent again. Nyota climbed out over the back of the cart and retrieved the thing so neither man could use it again.

Fennel retreated back into the mess that was once his tent, and was rummaging around with both hands for something else to use as a weapon, when Spock was on him again. The Vulcan took him by the back of the neck and threw Fennel behind him into the crowd around the site. The crowd pushed the merchant back toward Spock, who turned, took Fennel by the throat again and hurled him off to the side, toward the larger animals' enclosures. As Fennel fell and skidded across the ground on his back, one of his arms slipped through the bars of the cob'lat's cage. The creature lunged forward and immediately clamped its huge mouth over Fennel's arm. It then drew back fiercely, dragging Fennel toward it with enough force to bash his body against the front of the cage. As the cob'lat tugged on and tussled against his arm, trying to either rend it from his body or pull Fennel through the bars so it could get to the rest of him, Fennel screamed and squealed and kicked. "Get it off me! Get it off me!"

People in the crowd starting shrieking. The birds in their cages fluttered and screeched and tossed their bodies around their cages trying to escape. Feathers flew everywhere. Nyota shouted, "Spock! Do something!"

Her cry seemed to shake Spock out of his mind-numbing rage. He blinked at her, then looked at Fennel, seemingly surprised by what he saw.

The cob'lat was trying to kill the man. Brilliant blue blood seemed to be everywhere.

Spock immediately stepped around to the side of the cob'lat's cage, then, with one hand, reached in, took hold of the muscles along the side of the creature's neck and pinched in firmly. Within seconds his to'tsu'k'hy (10) had rendered the animal unconscious. When the cob'lat fell, it took Fennel down with it, his arm still caught between its locked jaws. The merchant was groaning and whining, his multiple eyes streaming thick bluish tears. "Help me help me help me," he muttered. Some people in the crowd moved forward to try to get the cob'lat off of him, while others just got out of the way as red-shirted Security Officers arrived on the scene, phasers drawn. Nyota rushed over to Spock, and touched his sleeve. He turned his head toward her and blinked again, frowning slightly as though muddled about what had just taken place, like a man trying to awaken fully after a long and very bad dream. "Are you all right?" she asked him.

"I am... uninjured," he said.

"Sir?" one of the Security personnel said, recognizing the full-Commander's stripes on the sleeves of Spock's uniform. "Excuse me, sir?" Spock ignored him - or couldn't hear him - so the officer looked to Nyota. "Security Officer Bridges, ma'am. Can you tell me what happened here?"

"Call for a medic," Nyota told him. Then she pointed to Fennel saying, "And place that man under arrest for violation of Starfleet Regulation 1531 Section 4A."

"What regulation is that?" the officer asked, unfamiliar with the code.

"It's one that covers endangered species."

The officer looked puzzled, but pulled out his communicator anyway and called for a medical team to be beamed in directly to the site. He then said to Nyota, "I'm going to need your statement, ma'am. You are...?"

"Lieutenant Nyota Uhura," she said. "Don't call me ma'am."

Other Red-Shirts pushed back the crowd and ordered them to disperse, while some of the merchants nearby tried to get Fennel's birds quiet and out of the officers' way. While Nyota was giving Officer Bridges her statement, just as the Starbase medics materialized on the scene and rushed toward Fennel, Spock stepped away from everyone and approached the cage with the sehlat in it.

The bear-like animal was an adult, and most likely had been someone's pet at one time because it wore an old but very ornate hmoi'neks(11) of distinctly Vulcan design around its neck, and its six-inch long saber teeth were adorned with zud ek-zeru(12), a silvery filigree that was currently tarnished and filled in spots with tartar. The creature was easily over one-hundred-and-fifty kilos(13), but was still underweight for a sehlat of its size and age, and its fur was dull and matted. It had not recently been well cared for. Willing himself calm before engaging the creature directly, Spock said, "Na'shaya sehlat. Spahk nash-veh." (14). He then lifted a hand, palm facing the sehlat, and held it up between the bars of the cage.

The animal rolled half-fearful, half-exhausted eyes in his direction.

"Hayal du," Spock said softly. "Hayal du..."(15)

The sehlat gave out a long, chest-rumbling bellow, and two short huffs, then bent its large head in the direction of Spock's hand. Its ears pitched forward, and it snorted hard enough to send a ripple of hot breath across the fabric of his uniform. "Hayal du," Spock again, his voice very quiet and consoling.

Looking away from Bridges, Nyota saw Spock reaching further into the sehlat's cage to touch its head, and she shouted, "Spock, be careful!"

"She will not harm me," Spock said as Nyota hurried toward him.

"She? It's a female?" Nyota asked, moving in behind Spock. She put a hand to the back of his over-shirt so she could grab it in case the sehlat tried to yank him into its cage.

"A female - and pregnant," Spock said.

Nyota looked over the animal's shabby coat and heavily boned frame, but saw no indication of a swollen belly or enlarged teats. "It doesn't look pregnant to me."

"Sehlats have the ability to hide a pregnancy for long periods of time in order to protect their unborn cubs from predators like the le-matyas. The average gestation period is approximately seven-hundred-and-fifty-two days; somewhat similar to the gestation of the Earth elephant(16). Sehlats, however, can also postpone a birth for up to an additional three months if necessary, to wait for more propitious circumstances or environmental changes. She will 'show' only just before the cubs drop down into the birth canal. They will be born shortly thereafter."

"If she's hiding her pregnancy, how can you tell she's pregnant?"

"I can 'feel' the presence of her cubs; hear their heartbeats."

"More babies for New Vulcan - " Nyota muttered to herself.

"So it would seem," Spock said just as quietly.

He looked over to Nyota, and just as he did, the sehlat made contact with his hand. Spock's whole body shuddered briefly at the touch as the sehlat's mind sought out his own. Fearing that the creature might initiate a mok farr (17) with him, Nyota held Spock's free hand in her own, hoping that her Human touch would help to anchor him. It took Spock several moments of deep concentration to push back the animal inferences in the contact with the sehlat, and filter through to the beast's higher thought processes. "Spock?" Nyota said.

"She calls herself Pa'shu," Spock responded slowly. Linked to the sehlat, his voice sounded distant and gravely. "She is fourteen summers old. Her family - her Vulcan family - was lost... They managed to flee Vulcan before it was destroyed, but then succumbed to a blood disease (18)... and died en route to the Ip-sut Monastery... Pa'shu alone survived... The ship was discovered drifting in space by a Pakled vessel... Believing she had no value, the Pakled sold Pa'shu to a merchant named Segall, and then she fell into Fennel's hands by way of a wager..."

"Poor thing," Nyota murmured. "She's been through a lot."

"Yes - " Spock said. He then extricated himself carefully from the link with Pa'shu, but still maintained his handhold with Nyota. "I can... empathize," he mumbled in his own voice. Spock waited a few seconds for the effect of the meld to diminish more fully, and then looked down at Nyota's hand which held his own. His fingers caressed it. "Thank you," he said.

Nyota gave his hand a squeeze. "Any time." She looked at the sehlat which was now leaning itself the bars of its cage, nearest to Spock. "Are we really going to take her back with us, Spock?" Nyota asked.

"I do have the authority as a Starfleet officer, and a Vulcan, to remove her from Mr. Fennel's custody."

"There's no way she's going to fit in the cart."

"I will beam up with her to the Enterprise, then come back here for you so we can return the cart to the rental station."

"No. Why don't we just beam up together? I can tell the medics to take the cart back. Just give me a minute to collect our things." Spock nodded.

Nyota hurried off to get their purchases from the back of the cart and Bridges stepped up to her. "Folks in the crowd said the Commander threw the first blow. I'm going to need a statement from him."

"We're leaving. But you can contact him aboard the Enterprise."

"Who do we ask for?"

"Commander Spock," she said, somewhat surprised that the officer hadn't figured that out already. Spock was the only Vulcan in Starfleet with a Commander's rank. "Can you get the cart back to the rental depot?" she asked.

"Uh, sure - " the officer said.

"Thanks," Nyota said, and rushed back to Spock with her arms ladened with their purchases. As she approached him, Spock stepped around to the opposite side of the sehlat's cage and forced the door open. He then reached in, took Pa'shu gently by her collar, and lead her out of captivity.

"He brought a what onto my ship?" Kirk asked later that afternoon as he stepped out of the shower in his private bathroom aboard ship. It was the third shower he'd taken that day. He just couldn't seem to get the feel of the Xinxian egg-drop-lubricant off of his skin or out of his mind. From the adjoining bedroom room, Dr. McCoy answered him, "A Vulcan sehlat."

"And what is a Vulcan sehlat?" the captain asked, walking into the bedroom, rubbing his damp reddish-brown hair with a towel. Another towel hung around his otherwise naked waist.

"It's kind of like a bear - a shaggy, stinking, three-hundred-and-some-odd-pound, saber-toothed bear."

Kirk stood still for a moment, looking into McCoy's face, waiting to hear that it was all in jest. When no such remark came from the doctor, Kirk said, "You are joking, right?"

"No joke, Captain. Apparently, our First Officer is hell bent on saving everything and anything even remotely associated to his homeworld, even big smelly animals. Surrey thinks it might be connected to a form of survivor's guilt or something."

"Crap, Bones. Doesn't Spock have enough to deal with?"

"What can I say; he's apparently a glutton for punishment."

"Well, that can't be logical - "

"Do you want to tell him that? 'Cause I'm not going to. I'd like to be able to get through my life without having my ass kicked by a disgruntled Vulcan. Word is, he started a knock-down drag-out with a bird-merchant on Jagusch-McGillis in order to get his hands on the bear." Before Kirk could question him on that McCoy pointed to a PADD on the top of his dresser. "The report's in there, waiting for your signature. And since fighting of any kind, for any reason, is against Starbase protocols, we've been politely asked to make sure that Commander Spock remain aboard the Enterprise for the duration of our stay here."

"I can't believe Spock would deliberately pick a fight with anyone. He must have been coerced. I'll talk to the Base Commander; see if we can't do something to... I don't know. Something. Do you know who the Commander is?"

"Giselle Marie-Élise," McCoy said.

Kirk rubbed the back of his neck with the towel, then laid it across his shoulders. "Really? The Base Commander is a woman?" He smiled. "What's her favorite drink?"

"Coffee. Black."

The captain frowned. He walked to his closet, pulled out a clean set of uniform clothing and turned back to McCoy. "Give me five minutes to get dressed, then I want to go see what this sehlat-thing looks like and have a talk with Spock before I decide what to say to the Base Commander."

"Aye aye, Captain," McCoy said, and he left the bedroom to wait in the adjoining front room.

"McCoy?" Kirk called to him.

"Yeah, Jim - "

"How's Scotty doing?"

"He's going to have a headache for the next three days, but he'll live."

Mister Scott was sitting on the floor of the Shuttle Bay, cradling his aching head between his hands as he watched Spock, Sa'aat and Nyota bathe the filthy sehlat. The creature was too large to fit into the standard shower stalls in the crewmen's quarters, so Scotty had jury-rigged some water and air hoses in the bay for them to use. Then he moved back, out of the way, because the sound of the sehlat roaring and Lieutenant Uhura squealing and giggling whenever the animal shook its hide and sprayed her all over with water made his head throb.

Sa'aat's vessel, the Haulat, was still in the bay and hovered a few inches above the deck behind Mr. Scott. When he took a seat on the floor, it propelled itself forward slightly and nudged him in the back. Scotty waved it off. When it nudged him again, he turned to it, gave it pained look and said, "Not now, laddie. Cannae you tell I'm five feet under? And, for your information, that's one less than six. Six feet under, and I'd be dead." The ship gave out a small sound like a woeful sigh. "Oh, boo-hoo yourself," Scotty said.

"How's it going, Mister Scott?" Captain Kirk said in a voice that was deliberately overloud when he and McCoy entered the Shuttle Bay.

Scotty grimaced and pointed to the Haulat. "Ask him - " The captain chuckled, clapped Scotty on the shoulder as he walked by, and headed over to where Pa'shu was getting her bath.

The sehlat was without her collar, wet to the skin, and dripping with soap, but still looked impressively huge, a hunkering mound of muscle and fur that came up to the middle of Spock's chest. Its mouth was large enough to hold (and effectively crush) a Human head, and its canine teeth were longer than Kirk's hand. Although Dr. McCoy had somewhat prepared him for the sight of the beast, Kirk wasn't prepared for the sight of the two soaked-to-the-skin Vulcans tending to the animal, and Lieutenant Uhura in a one-piece swimsuit.

Sa'aat was standing in front of the sehlat, using a small, sonic dental-device on its fangs to remove the tartar buildup on them and restore the sheen of the zud ek-zeru. He was stripped down to what looked like the Vulcan equivalent of boxer-briefs. A prime example, as was Spock, of the thin, elongated figures that were native to the desert planet of their birth, Sa'aat's muscles were lean and taught, and his whole body looked capable of deadly force. Kirk was surprised, however, to see that Sa'aat was also badly scarred down the right side of his body(19), while the left side was highly decorated with colorful tattooing. Besides what seemed to be a long script of brilliant green Vulcan calligraphy that ran down the left half of Sa'aat's back from his shoulder to his waist, most of the tattoo images were alien to Kirk, things only a Vulcan mind could conjure up. The captain wondered what they all signified: the translucent blue flames, a yellow and orange sun surrounded by intricately woven rings, a small gray creature with red lightning bolts searing through its fur... It was difficult for Jim not to stare.

Of course, the sight of Nyota helped to distract him. It also reminded him again how much he envied Spock's relationship with her. She was shorter than the males, and far more petite. Her swimsuit, made of a water-resistant semi-metallic fabric, fit her like a second skin and glistened when she moved. Like the men, she was barefoot; but unlike them, her toenails were painted a glossy ebony with tiny silver rhinestones along the outer rims of the nails of the big toes. She was standing next to Spock as they lathered up the sehlat's back, working the soap in deep through the animal's fur to get to its skin. Mounds of sparkling white foam and bubbles clung to Nyota's dark skin.

Next to her was Spock, dressed in a black t-shirt and Federation-issue fitness shorts that hugged his lower body from his waist to the middle of his thighs. Below the shorts, his legs and feet were bare. The shirt was drenched in water from the sehlat's bath, and clung to him, showing off a trim physique with sleek musculature similar to Sa'aat's that gave only minimal hints as to how physically powerful he truly was. Although Kirk had often worn similar gear himself, seeing Spock in it was oddly surprising, and despite their almost two years in service together he'd never seen the Vulcan quite so... exposed. Spock had also used his hands to push his wet hair away from his face, so his signature bangs were currently lost in the rest of the hair on the top of his head, and his broad forehead was revealed. If it hadn't been for his pointed ears, he could have easily been mistaken for a Human just then.

When Kirk approached them, Pa'shu gave out a warning roar, to which Mister Scott, on the other side of the bay groaned, "Och, Jesus - !" and held his head.

Upon seeing the captain, Spock started to come to attention, but Jim excused him with a wave of his hand and a smiled, "As you were, Commander." Spock relaxed and continued to apply soap to the sehlat.

"So," Kirk said, walking around the wet group, "what have we here?"

"Pa'shu," Nyota answered.

"Geshundheit," Kirk replied.

"No, Pa'shu. That's her name," Nyota said with a chuckle. The bear got some suds caught in its nose, turned its head away from Sa'aat, and sneezed briefly. Bear snot shot across the floor.

"Geshundheit," the captain repeated. "And where is Pasha going to stay after he's all cleaned up?"

"Pa'shu is a female, Captain," Spock corrected him. "And I was presuming she could stay with me or in my quarters until a more suitable situation is found for her. She is domesticated. She is used to being around humanoids. She should not pose any difficulty."

"Does she... need any shots? Vaccinations?"

"Dr. Antibius, the ship's xenobiologist and resident doctor of veterinary medicine, will be providing her with a Rabies vaccine later this evening, along with a vaccination against Scoloran Fever (20); although, contraction of that particular disorder is a virtual impossibility since the viral agent that causes it was exclusive to Vulcan."

"And is she house-trained?" Kirk asked, knowing even as the questions left his lips that he sounded a like a parent drilling child on the training and upkeep of its first puppy. "I don't want her pooping all over the poop deck..." He smiled at his own joke.

Spock remained expressionless, and answered. "As with most creatures native to Vulcan, the selhat's digestive and urinary systems are designed to retain and recycle as much fluid as possible, therefore very little waste is excreted. I will, nonetheless, personally see to its proper disposal."

"Aren't sehlats naturally aggressive?" Dr. McCoy asked.

"Only when unfed," Spock responded frankly.

"And what does she eat?" Kirk asked. "She won't be snacking on yeomans or anything, will she?"

"Sehlats are omnivorous. Pa'shu will do well on the foodstuffs available in the ship's galley, however, replicated foods will have to be avoided as her simple digestive system with not tolerate the synthetics. I myself will provide her meals," said Spock.

"Sound like you've pretty much thought this through," the captain said. "How long do you intend on keeping her?"

"Only until a permanent alternative placement can be found for her, Captain."

"To that end," Sa'aat put in. "We are making inquiries about Pa'shu's former keepers, to see if they have any living relations who would be willing to take her in. Should all else fail, Spock has stated a desire to send Pa'shu to New Vulcan."

"At this time, it is unclear how many sehlats still exist," Spock said. "Pa'shu may be the only surviving sow(21) of her species."

"And that's why you thought she was worth fighting for?" Kirk asked.

Spock looked at the floor, his posture conciliatory. "I... do regret my behavior, Captain." Then he met Jim's eyes again, adding, "And I will surrender myself for disciplinary action, should you request it."

"I'm not sure that any disciplinary action is called for at this moment, Mister Spock, but I will have to investigate your little brouhaha down there. It's not like you to lose your temper, and in light of other recent events, any loss of control on your part can be considered... worrisome."

"Agreed," said Spock.

"Actually, I was sort of surprised to see your name on any incident report. I mean, I expect that kind of thing from Scotty - "

"Hey, now, be nice," Scotty whined from across the bay.

" - But not from you."

"I assure you, Captain, it will not happen again," Spock said.

"I'm gonna hold you to that," Kirk said. "In the meantime, let's get Pasha, here, cleaned up and out of the Shuttle Bay, all right? I'm sure that everybody has other duties they need to attend to."

"Yes, Captain."

Pa'shu snorted in a nose full of soap again, turned her head away from Sa'aat, and then sneezed in the captain's direction.

Both McCoy and Nyota doubled over with laughter.

His face dripping with thick, glopping, bear mucus, Kirk looked over to McCoy and said, "I'll be in my quarters, if you need me... taking yet another shower."

Planetside, Captain Kirk sat in the reception area of the Base Commander's office. It had already been almost twenty-two minutes. The chair was uncomfortable, and the receptionist as patently uninteresting, and he was getting quickly bored. He stood up and walked around a bit, looking out the sixth-story windows of the office onto a view of the transporter pads and receiving area of the base below. Amid the crowd at ground level, there was a leggy woman waiting for a shuttle cart with a large dog, like a Great Dane, on a leash beside her. The dog sidled over to a red-shirted Security Officer and lifted it leg. Kirk laughed quietly.

"Captain James T. Kirk, I presume," came the voice of the Base Commander from behind him. He dropped his smile with a forced cough, and turned to face her.

Giselle Marie-Élise was a small, older woman, no more than five feet high, fiftyish, with a grim haircut that framed her long face in stark geometric angles. She was dressed in the same kind of charcoal-black uniform and shoes the instructors at the Academy all wore, and had round-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose - an archaic and unusual accouterment, since it was easy enough these days to correct vision with surgery and optical implants. Despite this severe first impression, however, there was a twinkle in her dark blue eyes that caught Kirk's attention, and when the woman smiled at him in greeting, the smile was a warm and welcoming one.

"Thank you for waiting," she said. "I would have stepped out earlier, but I was on a conference call."

"Base Commander Marie-Élise," Kirk responded, stepping toward her and holding out his hand for her to shake.

"Call me Giselle," she said, accepting his hand. "Everybody does. You'll find that, despite general appearances, we're not quite as formal here as you might be on your starship."

Kirk chuckled. Little did she know, he thought. Giselle led him into her private suite and shut the door, offered him a glass of water which he politely declined, and then had him sit in a (thankfully) comfortable chair across from her at a small table. She referenced a PADD on the table as she said, "I understand why you're here. I've read the report regarding your First Officer and his confrontation with the bird-merchant Fennel Debrecen. Witnesses say your man threw the first punch."

"Well, that may be true, ma'am, but - "

"And that he may have jeopardized the legality of the confiscation of the sehlat by possibly violating Base Statute 106.54 regarding unlawful access onto private property, in this case: Fennel's tent."

"I know it may seem that way; however, if I may -"

"If I may finish, Captain..."

"Sorry," Kirk said.

"Now, after a full review of the incident reports and eye witness statements, it is apparent that prior to the physical confrontation, Commander Spock had made it clear to Debrecen that he could smell the sehlat, hear the animal and 'feel' it. Those kinds of statements coming from anyone else might be completely meaningless, but this Base Commander recognizes the Vulcan capacity for psionic awareness, and for their accuracy at discerning sounds and scents, even at a distance."(22)

"Thank you, ma'am."

"I'm not finished," Giselle said, adjusting her glasses.

"Sorry," Kirk said again.

"You don't have to be sorry, Captain; you just have to be quiet."

Kirk was going to respond, but then pursed his lips and nodded instead .

Giselle continued, "It is also documented that Commander Spock properly identified himself to Debrecen as a ranking Starfleet officer, apprised him of the specific regulation to which he believed Debrecen was in violation, and gave Debrecen ample opportunity to relinquish the animal to him before any action to secure the beast was taken. As to the assertions by Debrecen that Commander Spock was acting with undue force and brutality, it is pointed out that when Debrecen was under attack by the Klingon cob'lat, it was the actions of Commander Spock alone that ensured Debrecen's rescue. This indicates that Commander Spock held no malice against Debrecen, and acted without spite. Now..." When Kirk shifted in his chair, Giselle paused and said, "I'm almost finished."

The captain gave her a little smile of appreciation.

"Now," she continued, "taking into consideration Commander Spock's otherwise pristine record in Starfleet, alongside Fennel Debrecen's rather... shall we say, less than stellar reputation, it is the finding of this Base Commander that Commander Spock was exercising his authority as a Starfleet officer to obtain the custody and safety of an animal recognized as a member of an endangered species under Regulation 1531 Section 4A, and that the physical action taken by Commander Spock to secure the animal may have been warranted, as Fennel Debrecen was, at the time of the altercation, effectively resisting an arrest. Therefore, all charges against Commander Spock are hereby dropped and all requests for disciplinary action are hereby vacated."

"Thank you, ma'am," Kirk said with relief.

"Don't worry, Captain, nothing of this incident will appear on your First Officer's permanent record."

Kirk nodded at her, smiling, grateful. Giselle lifted her glasses away from her face and tilted her head to one side, saying, "You could have just waited for my report, Captain Kirk."

"Yes, I know. I just wanted to make sure that Spock got a fair assessment. He's been going through a lot lately, and... and I didn't want anything else to get heaped onto his plate right now."

"The fact that you took time away from your shore leave to come here, in the late afternoon when the saloons are all having happy hour, in full uniform, and so clean you're practically squeaky, tells me he means a lot to you."

"Yes, ma'am, he does."

"That's nice to hear." Giselle put her glasses back on and extended her hand.

Kirk shook it, but when she didn't release his hand right away, he gave her a questioning look. "Ma'am?"

"Would you like to join me for coffee, Captain Kirk?"

The captain grinned.

In the early evening, when she had finished her duties for the day, Nyota headed toward Spock's private quarters carrying the bolt of Vulcan fabric he had purchased at the Bazaar. It had been assigned to Ensign Herich to deliver it to Spock's quarters, but had he fallen behind and forgotten about it, and the bolt had been sitting in will-call all afternoon. Herich was grateful when Nyota offered to take it off his hands. When she rang the chime beside Spock's door, she heard him answer with the word, "Come," and the door opened for her. Nyota stepped inside his front room, and found Spock sitting in the near-dark on the floor with his back to the wall. Pa'shu was beside him, bunked down on a mattress with a nest of blankets under her, snoring peacefully. The room was filled with the sweet smell of the sehlat's earlier bubble bath.

Nyota set the bolt of fabric down and walked over to Spock, who did not rise to greet her. He looked exhausted, as though he might drift off to sleep himself at any moment. When she neared, he put an arm out to her and drew her toward him, resting his head against her thighs. She caressed and stroked his hair, kissed him on the top of the head, and said quietly, "How is she doing?"

"Settling in nicely," Spock said.

"And how are you doing - ?"

Spock didn't answer; he only sighed, straight-faced, stolid.

Nyota kissed his head again and suggested, "You're almost asleep already, and Pa'shu looks like she won't miss you much if you just go into the next room. Why don't you go to bed?"

"In a moment - " Spock said, his eyes still on the animal. "Her previous family must have been quite wealthy. The zud ek-zeru is made of Vulcan surgical steel and is bonded directly to her teeth." He pointed out several circular and oval settings that were part of the filigree design of the metal. "There also used to be gemstones embedded in it."

"What happened to them?"

"Unknown. However, I believe it may be safe to assume that either Segall or Fennel Debrecen removed them. There is also evidence, here -" He indicated some gouges near the top of Pa'shu's left fang. " - that at one point, someone had attempted to saw off her teeth. Whatever instrument was used was not effective. Sehlat bone is quite dense."

Nyota couldn't tell if Spock was more upset by the attempted mutilation of the animal, the theft of her tooth jewelry, or by the fact that, in ancient Vulcan culture, the loss of one's teeth at the hands of another was symbolic of abject defeat. In their very distant past, when the Vulcans were a violent race, it wasn't uncommon for a Vulcan warrior to deliberately bash out the teeth of his enemy, and then leave the enemy trapped someplace where there was nothing but nuts, hard fruits and animal flesh to eat. Without teeth to chew the tough foodstuffs, the vanquished usually died a slow death of starvation. Such thoughts were ugly ones, and Nyota worried that Spock was slipping into a depressive mode. She didn't know what to say, so she tried, "Have you have any dinner? I can go get you something to eat."

He looked up at her, his eyes alone speaking to his affection for her, and said, "You are most perceptive."

"That's what I keep trying to tell everybody, but no one listens to me," Nyota joked. She smiled at him. "What can I get for you?"

Spock focused inwardly for a moment, then looked back to her. "Cream of broccoli soup," he said, "and some kap, if you please. Fresh, not replicated - " The last statement was phrased more like a question.

Spock so seldom asked her for anything for himself that she was eager to fulfill his want. She told him, "I'll be right back," and headed out of his quarters toward the galley. She knew a shortcut through one of the Jeffries Tubes, and could get there in less than three minutes.

When she was gone, Spock leaned his head back against the wall behind him and closed his eyes, intending only to rest them.

The island was a tiny one, a single spot of land on the face of the planet, surrounded by a sea of black water. It was night, and everything on the island was slick and gleaming from a recent rain. Spock, dressed in his pajamas and robe, was barefoot walking along a boardwalk near the shore. Adjacent to the boardwalk, there were ships and other smaller crafts (not flying vessels, but those made for water-travel) docked for the disembarking tourists. He passed a small group of Ferengi who were wearing brightly colored short-sleeved shirts, and they grumbled to one another about the accommodations, and how difficult it would be for them to leave again if they wanted to. Spock did not share their discomfort. Although he was alone and in an alien landscape, he felt no fear or trepidation. Oddly enough, the place seemed almost comfortable to him.

Just at the spot where the boardwalk met the land, his path was blocked by a being dressed entirely in black. Over its inky clothing was layer upon layer of equally dark gauze that gave the being's body a filmy and unfocused quality. When the cool night air stirred it, the layers of gauze lifted and lilted around the being as though they themselves were alive. And from the gaps in between the layers of floating fabric, thousands of specks of grey light shone out, tiny, bleak and cold.

The being's face was covered by black veils topped with a framework of ornate lace made of laser-cut obsidian. Its head seemed elongated, suggesting that under the veils the being may have worn a crown on its head that raised the veils and stone frame up to another level. Although he could not see its true form, Spock knew that the being was male, and that it oversaw everything that took place on the island.

"I need to take my mother to the mountains," Spock said to it when it did not move.

"You cannot go this way," the being said to him. "The path is barred." The being stepped aside and Spock could see a low gate across the pathway behind it.

"How will I get to the mountains, then?" Spock asked.

The being pointed off to Spock's right, its hand and arm raising under the layers of gauze. In that direction was a narrow road paved in dark asphalt. From somewhere overhead, white balls of light hung, and they only barely illuminated the way. In their light, the wet asphalt shimmered. "You can get to the mountains, but first you will have to shovel snow," the being said. "Your mother cannot do it. You alone must do the work."

Spock looked at the being. "I would never ask that my mother labor in such a fashion," he said, and he turned to his right and headed down the asphalt road.

The road was a slender strand, miles long, constricted between what looked like towering buildings which had no windows or doors, and which sometimes seemed to lean over slightly as though threatening to fall on him. Still, Spock was unafraid and undaunted, and kept moving forward until he reached a place where a building blocked the road.

On this building there was a large door, like that on a garage or aircraft bay, and he had to use all of his strength to lift it open and out of his way. Beyond the door, was a gigantic hanger, thousands of square feet wide and deep. Everything inside of it was white, covered with ice and layers of heavy snow; yet, the room was not cold. The ice on the floor did not chill or burn his bare feet, and he could not see the condensation of his breath when he breathed. In the very far distance was a square block of white light which suggested it was a way out, but Spock did not head toward it. Instead, we pulled a shovel from among a selection of them frozen against the wall by the door and began to shovel the snow.

What he dug from one area, piled up in another, and, for what seemed a long while, he felt his exercise was futile and unproductive. Yet, he kept digging, first in this spot, then in another. Near the base of the icebound hulk of a lifeless vessel, his shovel uncovered what looked like a bit of pale cloth. He dug a bit further, but then fearing that the blade of the shovel might damage whatever it was beneath the snow, Spock got onto his knees and started scooping the snow away with his hands. He worked quickly, expertly, sweeping away the snow with his fingertips where it was at its thinnest, and using his cupped hands like ladles to remove the rest of it. When he had uncovered all he could, he stood up again and looked at the floor below him.

There on the floor was the frigid body of Sybok.

Spock awoke from the dream with a start, and nearly knocked the bowl of soup from Nyota's hands.


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(1) Grint Hound: a kind of Klingon dog that is known to hunt razorbacks.
(2) Targ: another animal native to the Klingon homeworld, it's like a wild pig or boar with sharp tusks. Klingon both hunt targ and keep them as pets. Heart of Targ is a Klingon delicacy.
(3) Tana leaves: This was added as a kind of joke. Tana (or "tanna") leaves were used in the 1930's movies and serials based on The Mummy, to reanimate the dead; the fluid of nine tana leaves was used to keep the mummy Kharis alive.
(4)A'ing ru'lut tu: Translated from the Vulcan it means "close your mouth"; basically, he's telling Nyota to shut up.
(5) Sehlat: A large bear-like creature native to Vulcan. Most full-grown sehlats are between 400 and 600 pounds. Usually, the smaller ones were the domesticated variety, and the larger ones the feral variety. There was also a breed of desert-dwelling sehlat called the vai-sehlat. Sarek had a sehlat named I-Chaya which he gave to Spock when Spock was a child. I'Chaya later had to be put down when he was poisoned by a le'matya while protecting Spock. Spock's mother Amanda once told Dr. McCoy that the sehlats were like giant teddy bears. To counter this amusing image, Spock responded with, "The teddy bears on Vulcan are alive and have six-inch fangs." (TOS: Journey to Babel)
(6) Starfleet Regulation 1531Section 4A: There actually is no such regulation in Trek canon. I made this up based on the US code for the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. § 136, 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) of the planet Earth... which I assumed would have been amended and improved upon over the centuries to include non-Earth creatures from planets that were part of the Federation.
(7) Stariben sehlat: translated from the Vulcan it means, "Speak, sehlat."
(8) Kilko-tor nash-veh. Ki'sarlah nash-veh korsau-tor tu: translated from the Vulcan this means, "Answer me. I have come to free you."
(9) Cob'lat: A Klingon animal similar to lions on Earth.
(10) To'tsu'k'hy: the Vulcan neck-pinch (also called the nerve-pinch). According to Wickipedia, "... Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed the Vulcan science officer Spock, conceived the maneuver in the early days of the original Star Trek series. The script for "The Enemy Within" stated that Spock "kayoes" Captain Kirk's duplicate, but Nimoy felt that such an action would be undignified for a Vulcan — he therefore invented an alternative. In Star Trek's scripts, the pinch is referred to as the FSNP, for Famous Spock Nerve Pinch..."
(11) Hmoi'neks: the Vulcan word for "collar".
(12) Zud ek-zeru: translated from the Vulcan it means "tooth jewelry".
(13) 150 kilos: this equals a little under 350 pounds. (The sehlat should have been 400 pounds.)
(14) Na'shaya sehlat. Spahk nash-veh.: Translated from the Vulcan this means, "Greetings, sehlat. I am Spock."
(15) Hayal du: Translated from the Vulcan it means "calm yourself"
(16) Gestation Period: Since it hadn't been addressed anywhere (as far as my research could tell), I made up the time frame for the sehlat's gestation so it was possible for Pa'shu to have been bred shortly before the destruction of Vulcan. On Earth, the elephant's gestation period is about 640-645 days.
(17) Mok farr: usually a training ritual initiated by an adult Vulcan with an animal in order to feel the animal's raw and primitive emotional structure; sentient animals can also initiate the link with a Vulcan when desired.
(18) The Blood Disease: This refers to the Trek disease "choriocytosis", a virus the affects the blood cells, encasing them so they cannot carry oxygen to the organs, and the patient "suffocates"; it can affect both Humans and Vulcans, but is fatal to Vulcans if it goes untreated for more than a few days. (Star Trek: The Animated Series).
(19) Sa'aat's scars: In my back-story for Sa'aat I had contrived the story of his being severely wounded while protecting a fellow assassin in the Guild. He had stood in front of his fellow and took the blast from a Compression Phaser Rifle at close range. The blast tore out a chunk of his right side, damaging his ribs, lungs and heart, and he would have died from his injuries had he not been proficient in the Vulcan tow-kath (the healing trance). To "balance" out his scarred side, he had his unblemished side decorated with tattoos of images he had seen in dreams during his protracted recovery.
(20)Scoloran Fever: I made this malady up; considered it something like a "distemper" vaccine for domesticated sehlats.
(21) Sow: mother bears are typically referred to as sows.
(22) Sense of smell: Although most of the material on Vulcans suggests that their sense of smell isn't highly developed, this was blatantly contradicted in the "Enterprise" television series, specifically the "Broken Bow" episode, which indicated that female Vulcans had a very heightened sense of smell. It also seemed "illogical" to me that Vulcans would have a well-developed tactile sense, extraordinary eyesight and hearing, but then have a deficit in their olfactory sense; therefore, for my stories, I'm going with the idea that Vulcans have an acute sense of smell and that Spock could have easily discerned the scent of the sehlat from among the other animal scents around him.