Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!atl-c02.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!ngpeer.news.aol.com!audrey-m1.news.aol.com!not-for-mail Lines: 228 X-Admin: news@aol.com From: gojirob@aol.comendspam (Rob Morris) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Date: 14 Oct 2004 08:17:17 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: REP The Corner (ST6-TUC, Valeris), PG13, 1/1 (Interrogation) Message-ID: <20041014041717.08561.00000336@mb-m22.aol.com> Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161066 X-Received-Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2004 01:18:10 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title : The Corner Author : Rob Morris Email : gogogojirob@aol.comendallspam Rating : PG13, for mental anguish Part : 1/1 Characters : Valeris, Spock Time-Setting : ST 6-TUC, the controversial interrogation scene Summary : Was Valeris really screaming because of Spock's mind-probe, or --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Corner by Rob Morris 2293, USS ENTERPRISE I am a patriot. I have acted in a patriotic manner to defeat both the enemies of my way of life and those who serve their cause, however unwittingly. The pain of my parents' murder by the Klingons aside, this was the logical thing to do. The Klingons are now weakened, and may be smashed with minimal losses to our side. To avoid exploiting that opportunity would not be logical. While I am almost certain that Admiral Cartwright personally detests Captain Kirk, he directed that I aid in his rescue. A feeling of common revulsion between us roiled up at the thought of so grand a symbol of the Federation in Klingon clutches. But aiding in his rescue is one step. Telling him of how to best thwart our efforts is quite entirely another. I shall not do it. I did not seek to kill either Captains Kirk or Spock for a pair of very simple reasons. The first is that I do respect their many achievements. It is highly illogical not to. The second is even simpler than the first : The war I have helped to begin will require them both. Once the Klingons put aside all false talk of peace, Captain Kirk's harsh emotions regarding his lost son will surface. Captain Spock informed me in confidence that the casual, brutal murder of Doctor David Marcus has also caused trauma to his ward, a witness to that typical Klingon tactic. Her pain will push him to aid in our victory. In fact, the Admiral informed me that he had originally thought to use Lieutenant Commander Saavik in the role that I have undertaken. But her overriding loyalty to Captain Spock aside, any changes in her behavior would be far easier for Captain Spock to discern. In my case, he simply did not yet know me well enough to know, as the humans put it, fair weather from foul. They stand around me, seething with disgust and contempt. The Security Officer, so easily misdirected. The Comm Officer who could not find messages placed aboard a ship she is supposedly quite familiar with. The Engineer who ripped apart his own ship, looking for the 'malfunction' that fired torpedoes at Gorkon's ship. They disturb me with their pointless glaring. Emotions aside, humans simply take things far too personally. I must imagine if left to Doctor McCoy's ministrations, I might find my heart and liver transposed without anesthetic. Does he imagine that he is blameless in all this? It was only after he refused to attend a StarFleet Medical conference on Klingon physiology that we absolutely confirmed use of Enterprise as our stalking horse. You, and not I, set this thing in motion, Doctor. Then there is Captain Kirk. A great man too willing to publicly say what so many of us have in private, regarding Klingons. But he has indicated that he is most resentful of my eavesdropping on the recording of his private journal. In retrospect, that was a mistake. Clearly, and logically, I was the only one who could have easily lifted such a thing, prior to the code-sealing of Captain Kirk's records after his arrest. I must reason that he is as angry at my sloppiness as my intrusion. He may have that right. My error was unforgivable. They think that Spock's melding holds terror for me. I move away as he attempts it, a bit of sarcastic humor that he but not the humans would understand. Spock will not harm me, nor will he engage in atavistic, chest-thumping threats as he moves in my mind. He knows neither will much aid his search. He will move around the corners of my most private existence. But all I need do is erect new and longer corners. He will tire before I do. The logic and the justice of my cause will lend me strength. "Who, Valeris?" "I do not know, Spock. Of what do you speak?" This can continue forever, even past our physical bodies' expiration. Part of Gol is said to be haunted by the katras of interrogators and those who would never yield up their secrets. I am easily as steadfast as any ghost. As he rounds one corner, I construct ten more. This is no war. Merely a game, won by attrition, and nothing more. I have all the advantages. The cards, as my former friends would say, are all in my hand. I feel that I may even enjoy this, til Spock raises the stakes. He is more talented than even I knew. Now, he rounds five corners for the ten I build, neatly reducing my advantage. I call a halt to things when he is at nine for every ten. In a realm that we both see as the corridors of this ship, he asks again. "Who, Valeris?" I call upon an advantage that he cannot negate. "Captain Spock, your experience is greater than mine. You are the elder of us, as well. I concede your training. But your endurance must eventually fail you. For I am full Vulcan. You---are Human." Did I say those words with untoward pride? Perhaps, but then, I am indeed a full Vulcan, and he cannot change he fact that he is only half Vulcan. At first, I see no shift in him. His words are simple, and without undue emotion. "You are wrong to underestimate me." Which is what almost anyone in his position would say. Quite unremarkable, in and of itself. I begin my game again, increasing the distance between us enough to restore the status quo. Again, I am pleased at my skill and strength. When one considers my childhood, my achievements are noteworthy. But in our mental realm made up of nanoseconds that run whole days, I begin to hear a second set of footsteps. Has Captain Kirk joined Spock? Surely this will dilute, not aid, their efforts. After a certain point, Spock does manage to find me, but not take my information. Behind him--is a red shadow. "Valeris--please aid us. Your wrong is not yet irredeemable." The red shadow is no accident or artifice. Spock is in complete control of his anger. But in this place, that anger has a life of its own. Briefly, the red shadow brushes me. I feel my physical mouth open wide in shock. I hear words. Taunting, hateful words. "Earther!" "Terrans are made out of dirt!" "Sarek mated with a human sow!" "Should have been put down in the cave!" "His crazy brother should have taken him away, too!" "He can't even do a simple nerve pinch." "He's not really Terran, and he's not really Vulcan. He's---not real." At first, I think that my solution is a simple one. "Spock, my words on our heritage were untoward. I ask forgiveness." He shrugs, but the red shadow behind him continues to grow. "I am only half-Vulcan. It is possible that this could place your endurance over mine. In any event, that is not my present concern." As the thing brushes me again, I see the ancient bullies. One of them feigns well apology and friendship, only to betray and humiliate Spock. There are no words I can offer that can stop his anger from rapidly growing. God Of Sha-ka-ree, what have I unleashed? I must end this. I believe in my cause, but that red shadow can destroy me without effort, if Spock's control slips but once. "Who, Valeris?" "General Chang." "Who, Valeris?" "Ambassador Nanclus." "Who, Valeris?" "Admiral Cartwright." "Where, Valeris?" "I do not know." "Where, Valeris?" "I do not know." Why does he not accept my answer? I have given up all I have, betrayed my beliefs to end my peril. Yet he asks again. "Where, Valeris?" In the physical world, my open mouth is now beginning to scream, as surely as I did when the Klingons turned me on my stomach and took me, as a little girl, my parents' spiked heads staring back at me, unable to lend comfort. Why is Spock doing this? He gains nothing. It is then I realize with horror that Spock has begun to withdraw. Is he leaving his anger inside me? I know my own anger. It has been both bane and boon to me. But this anger seems new--and worse than either of ours. Is it in some way the unholy child of two abused children? "Valeris, please--where is the conference being held?" But I ignore his final plea. I can barely hear him, or feel him as he pulls away at last. Spock never harmed me. His anger only brushed me. But for the briefest of moments, the red shadow we made together consumes all, and I am now screaming well past the top capacity of my lungs. It never claims me, but merely hovers, poised to strike, and it is hideous on so very many different levels. "She--does not know." But he is wrong. I do know the anger. Though I wish I did not. The red shadow never moves in. But it has me trapped in the corner. -------------------------------------------- "Your would-be attackers don't like you. Your would-be rescuers don't like you. Harry, *most* people don't like you." - Peter Kirk to Harry Mudd, 'Lawful Warrant' NewMessage: