Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newsswing.news.prodigy.com!prodigy.net!atl-c02.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!feed3.newsreader.com!newsreader.com!yellow.newsread.com!bad-news.newsread.com!news-toy.newsread.com!netaxs.com!newsread.com!POSTED.newshog.newsread.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated Approved: ascem@earthlink.net Organization: Better Living Thru TrekSmut Sender: ascem@earthlink.net Message-ID: <154.45a22773.2ee28f53@aol.com> From: Istannor@Aol.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Mailing-List: list ASCEML@yahoogroups.com; contact ASCEML-owner@yahoogroups.com Subject: New: TOS: A Higher Duty: PG: 11/28 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 346 Date: Sat, 04 Dec 2004 05:55:09 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.198.142.218 X-Complaints-To: Abuse Role , We Care X-Trace: newshog.newsread.com 1102139709 209.198.142.218 (Sat, 04 Dec 2004 00:55:09 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 04 Dec 2004 00:55:09 EST Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated:85909 X-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 21:55:16 PST (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: A Higher Duty Author: Istannor Contact: Istannor@aol.com Series: TOS Rating: PG13 for violence Part: 11/28 Codes:TOS Summary: This is set during the second 5 year voyage of the Starship Chapter 11 They made excellent time. The women and the boy traveled quickly and without complaint and the older man was obviously no stranger to rough travel. When Kirk deemed they had gone as far as they safely could, in the deepening gloom, he had them wait and went ahead to look for a suitable camp. He found one in a tree of all places, but what a tree. It was easily 300 feet tall and fifty feet in diameter at the base. There was a hollow at the base and when he pulled aside the debris, he could see into a cozy burrow inside the tree that was large enough for ten people easily. He went back and got the rest of the party and after they were safely nested in, he covered all evidence of their passage, and then brought more leaves and fallen branches to the opening to camouflage it. To cover their scent, he found some animal droppings and smeared both himself and the opening to their new den. Klingons had been known to track by scent alone. They settled down to a cold, dark, camp for the night. They could not afford a fire; the smell was too easy to track, as well as the heat source. Light was out of the question. Kirk made sure he was not in contact with Therenna, but he had the rest of them huddle together for warmth. J'usreyan took the first watch. The most dangerous watch was during the silent hours of the night, right up to dawn. That was when most sentries fell asleep or were spooked by imagined terrors. He reserved that one for himself. M'arenn had the second watch. Therenna complained when she had not been given a watch, but Kirk assured her she would have plenty of opportunities. When that was settled, he promptly laid down and went to sleep. M'arenn awakened him for his watch, and he quietly went over to the entrance to take up his position. He gave his eyes time to adjust and sat with his ears tuned for sounds of change in the nighttime air. The quiet rustle of movement from inside the tree alerted him that someone was moving towards him. He sensed it was Therenna, before he could see her clearly in the dark. She sat next to him and wrapped her knees in her arms. "Captain." She whispered. He nodded in response. They sat in companionable silence before Therenna spoke. "Why do they call you Captain, if you are actually an Admiral? "That was not the first question that Kirk had expected, but he answered. "By tradition, the commander of the Flagship is always addressed as the Captain. When I left Starfleet Command, to assume command of the Enterprise again, I took the Honorary rank of Captain." Renna nodded her understanding. "Do you think we actually have a chance of eluding pursuit?" "Sure, a good one. Especially, once we get in the mountains. The Enterprise will be here in probably 2 or three days, so we have to stay out of reach for that long. Food and water is not an issue for that length of time." Kirk reached across and touched her lightly so she could sense his confidence. "We'll do fine." "You are a strange man, Captain." "Probably even weirder than you know." She could see his smile in the dim light. "Since we are going to be spending so much time together, why don't you call me Jim?" "Jhim," She tried out the strange sounds, "Jim...and I would like you to call me, Renna." "Done." "Do you have a wife, Jim?" "No, do you?" he didn't try to keep the amusement out of his voice. "No," she chuckled. "I do not have a husband either." "Now, why are the men of Romulus stupid enough to allow a beautiful, intelligent, brave, and kind women such as yourself to remain unattached? I am ashamed of them all." "Please, don't patronize me, Captain. The answer is obvious, too many powerful men on Romulus are fearful of my gifts. They don't like people who can discover all their schemes, sense their inadequacies, and counter their lies. My skills keep me isolated, I fear." "I am sorry I said that," he said quietly. "And I didn't mean to sound patronizing, Renna. You and your sister are two strong, intelligent, brave people. I like that in any person, female or male." She looked at him with a new appreciation. He was actually being honest. She could sense that he felt her pain and shared it with her. What type of being was this? "Since we are talking about your skills, however, may I ask you a few questions? "Ask, Captain. I may not answer you, but I will not dissemble." "First, just how strong a telepath are you? Can you always sense thoughts and emotions without touch, and if so, at what distance? Can you sense someone's thoughts from far enough away to warn us of their approach? Are you able to confuse or misdirect someone from a distance? I need to know what tools we have at our disposal and nothing beats asking." She sat and looked at him, admittedly more than a little stunned. Few had ever questioned her like this, in such a matter of fact fashion, and never had she had a non-Romulan openly interrogate her regarding her talents. How strange, how strangely wonderful to have hr skills treated in such a matter of fact fashion. She liked the temporary feeling of normalcy it gave her. "I can sense strong emotion from 200 meters, actual thoughts can be blocked by good shields. Those are harder to pick up unless someone is totally unshielded. You know, of course, that I attempted to read you several times, Captain." "Yeah, I know." "That does not offend you?" "Renna, no offense, but you are neither the first, nor the strongest person to probe my mind, and you probably will not be the last person to try. I am sort of used to it by now, and it would be a waste of my energy to be offended." "I see, well in answer to the rest of your questions, if they were truly broadcasting the extreme and powerful range of emotions, I could sense them coming, but otherwise, no. However, with touch, most unshielded people are open to me. I can not read you, which I find interesting. A telepath has been working with you, I suppose." "You might say that." "They were thorough." Kirk smiled, but didn't volunteer anything. "And, in answer to your last question, I can't influence peoples' thoughts from any distance. I don't know how. But, I have been trained to shoot a phaser and a disrupter like a warrior, if they get too close." "Let's hope that particular skill doesn't have to be used, I'm a runner not a fighter, at least for now." They sat in silence for a while longer before Kirk broke their reverie. "Renna," he said quietly, "you better get some sleep, we have a way to go tomorrow." "You're right. Thank-you for the company, Captain." She got up and quietly moved back to her bed of leaves. Her sister, who had been listening to the entire conversation, silently lay beside her and worried about the strange beginnings on this fateful trip. M'arenn's last thoughts before sleep caught up with her were regarding irony and dangerous humans. The next morning they awoke to Kirk sitting alertly at the entrance to their little den. He got them up, moving, and fed. Next, he told them to take care of their need to void while they were inside the tree. He allowed each of them a moment of privacy, and instructed them to cover their wastes with leaves. "The harder we are to trail," he said, "the longer we remain free." After everyone was finished, they headed deeper into the mountains. Kirk again took the rear of the party, to cover their trail, with Jus in the lead. After awhile, to M'arenn's chagrin, her son Ramsthet began to lag back with the human, watching everything he did. Kirk noticed and began to quietly explain everything he was doing, and why. He also took time, to the gentle wonderment of her son, to point out plants and small animals along the trail. It was obvious Ramie had been won over completely by the human. He did not leave Kirk's side until he called a halt, much later in the day, for them to eat and take care of their needs again. Once more, he found a giant tree, and they entered it to rest briefly. While everyone else was resting, Kirk and Jus retraced their steps to listen and look for any sign of pursuit. They found none, but they did find some berries they took Ramie back with them to pick enough for everyone. They ate all of them with great relish. M'arenn could not miss how Ramie's face shone with pride because he had helped provide food for the adults. Kirk's tricorder had read them as safe for humanoid consumption and he wanted to make their meager stores last as long as possible. The berries also gave a source of liquid and they had not found water yet. When he and Jus agreed they had waited long enough, they made their way down the tiny game trail. Kirk finally called a halt and took his bearings. "We leave the trail here and head up that way. We should start to see evidence of some rocky caverns soon. It will be pretty rough for a while. Does anybody have any difficulties with heights?" No one did. "Good, you go ahead and I'll hide where we left the trail. Wait for me about twenty klicks up ahead." Jus stopped him. "What is a klick, Captain?" "Oh, right. A click is the distance a fully armored soldier can walk in 10 seconds. So you walk ahead and count out two hundred seconds. Then wait, I'll join you." "What is a second?" M'arenn inquired. Kirk shook his head. "Where is my cultural competency? He beat his hand against his thigh to a slow rhythm. "Copy this beat. No, little faster. There," he nodded as they got it down. "Count from one to two hundred for every time you finish this beat. When you get to 200, stop, and I'll catch up with you." They watched as he disappeared into the forest before they began their trek in the opposite direction. They made their way through the trees to follow his directions. Ramie and Renna looked back and smiled before they went out of sight. Not more than 15 minutes after they had stopped at the agreed upon time, Kirk joined them and motioned them forward. They made it to the caverns by dusk, just as the sun was setting, Kirk found the one he had been looking for and they entered in to find a surprisingly large cavern, which stretched back into the mountain. They could hear water dripping, and Kirk followed the sound to the main cavern where a cave stream flowed down into the darkness. When Kirk was comfortable with their distance from the opening, he stopped them all and said with an almost joyful voice, "Now, behold," and he turned on the light from his backpack. The cavern lit up like a celestial starshow. The light bounced off the stalactites and stalagmites that shimmered and glittered with color over a coal black cave pool, glowing with reflected light. It was beautiful beyond mere words. Kirk stood in front of them, as if he had created it all for them. A look of pure enjoyment transformed his face. M'arenn watched as her sister stared awestruck at the view before her, and the man who stood in front of them against the cave wall, lost in his personal world of wonder. Her stomach knotted in confusion. Truly he was a dangerous man. He gave them a few more moments of light, before they were returned once more to the world of darkness. They made camp away from the water and set up the watch for the rest of the evening. Therenna volunteered to take care of the meal and Kirk volunteered for the first watch. After they had eaten, the Romulans bedded down to all get some rest. It had been an arduous journey and they all were going to have to share the watches until help arrived. Later, during Jus' watch, M'arenn came to sit beside him at the cave mouth. Spread out before them, was the deepening nighttime sky and the lush ancient forest, with its nocturnal sounds of hunter and hunted. "Jus, we have a problem." M'arenn spoke at a low murmur, so their voices would not carry. "Are you talking about Therenna and Kirk, Ramie and Kirk, or you and Kirk, little one?" Was the man's reply as he looked at her with knowing eyes. "What are you a mind reader too, old man?" M'arenn was more than a little exasperated with his question. "No, I am just old. I've seen a lot in my years, and it's not too hard to see what is going on. Your sister sees a man she can love and respect. Your son sees a man he would want as his father, and you see more of your husband in him than you would care to admit. Makes it hard to think of him as your enemy, does it not?" "Yes, it does, but you are one to speak, I thought you hated him." "No, I never said I hated him, only the result of his actions. He was doing his job, M'arenn. I was only angry that he won, and my son was defeated. I have always respected him as a warrior. The council should never have sent Thalen on that mission, it was totally lacking in honor. What honor is there in sneaking up on listening posts and destroying them, when they can't even see you? Why? So we could test a weapon, prior to going to war against an enemy, that has not threatened us? It was madness." "I don't believe this is you, Jus. I have never heard you speak this way before." "You have never asked me before, Little One. Also, you know that it would not have been wisdom to have said any of this within earshot of the Praetor, or his lackeys." "We are his lackeys, Jus." "No, we are his family. There is a distinct difference." "Well, regardless, what do we do about Renna and Kirk?" "We hope we are rescued before too much damage is done." "This is difficult. It is hard to hate him as an enemy." "I, for one, can not hate a man who refuses to hate me and cares for me and mine like his own. We owe him four life debts, M'arenn, they must be paid." "I know." She rubbed at her brow. "This is making my head hurt. I am going to try to rest now. Goodnight, Jus." "Goodnight, Little One." He turned to quietly look back out over the tranquil night as she made her way to her pile of leaves. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ASCEM messages are copied to a mailing list. Most recent messages can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCEML. NewMessage: