Copyright Marketa J. Zvelebil
Spock and his team descended quickly but quietly, the constant wind masking any noise they made. The dark entrance loomed larger and larger as they approached. It dwarfed the three men. The peak of the mountain now completely enveloped within a grey cloud. Even the top of the entrance began to disappear in the thick cold and damp mist.
Cautiously the men entered into the darkness. Anguished voices, full of wretched bewilderment and suffering, were invading Spock's mind. He tried to block them out, but as the intensity of the voices increased as they went further into the dimly illuminated tunnel, he was only partially successful.
Slowly they made their way through the unevenly surfaced, convoluted stone corridors. Abruptly, the corridor opened out. They were standing at the entrance of a large, well-lit cave. The onslaught of the pained voices became so strong that Spock stumbled. Ensign Kaku rushed to help Spock but tripped and fell. He started to rise when he noticed the corpse curled up in agony at his side. He could not help himself and screamed. The scream echoed round the stone walls of the cavern. Before the echo could subside, the sound of a phaser intermingled with another surprised shout from Kaku. His form glowed briefly in a blue light before he dissolved into nothingness. Spock pulled lieutenant T''la'ct quickly down to the floor beside him. As their eyes adjusted to the brightness of the cave, they saw three Klingon-like men who were looking carefully round them. Spock and T''la'ct were hidden from view by a part of the wall jutting out. In front of them they saw the body that Kaku had tripped over. It had obviously died in torment, a look of incomprehension written all over its face.
There were more bodies strewn around the cave. In one corner additional bodies were neatly laid out in rows. At the opposite end of the stacked corpses Spock recognized Doctor McCoy and lieutenant Offer, who had obviously been helping the K'S'vaits still left alive. Now they were staring at the Klingon-K'S'vaits.
The incessant invasion of the distressed cries had become so strong that Spock could no longer ignore them. He let them fill his mind, and realized that they were the death-cries of many K'S'vaits who had been mercilessly slaughtered. They had been killed by someone they had trusted. He felt the anguish of betrayal and heard the call for revenge in the energy that is left after the body dies. Now that he had identified the source of the persistent thought-invasion, he was puzzled that the voices of the dead had penetrated his mind with such facility, but was able to banish any further breach of his mental shields. As he returned from the meditative state he had been in, he was aware that the lieutenant was calling him softly.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"Look, sir."
Spock looked to where T''la'ct was pointing.
The three Klingon-K'S'vaits were now standing near McCoy and lieutenant Offer. McCoy was gesticulating fiercely and his voice had an angry touch to it. Unfortunately, due to the acoustics of the cave, the actual words were distorted by the time they reached Spock and T''la'ct. One of the K'S'vaits laughed. The sound of laughter among the lifeless bodies was incongruous. The echo of the laughter took a long time to die away. It was followed by absolute silence. A small but clear voice broke the profound silence with words that startled Spock.
"It is totally illogical."
He shifted his position and tried to identify the speaker of the last sentence. Next to Offer, seated cross-legged on the floor, was a young Vulcan-looking girl. The Klingon-K'S'vait who had laughed raised slowly his phaser and pointed it at the child, saying something that Spock could not discern. Spock ordered T''la'ct to stay put till he gave a signal. Then, silently as a cat, Spock crept in the shadows round the cave towards McCoy and the K'S'vaits. While the K'S'vait holding the phaser was deciding whether to kill the annoying child, a shadowy figure raised itself from the darkness. the K'S'vait felt his neck go numb, as an electric-like shock travelled up and down his spine and then lost consciousness.
"Spock!" thought McCoy, pleased, but remained silent as the K'S'vait slid to the floor. At the same time lieutenant Offer hit the other K'S'vait with as much force he could muster. Concurrently, T''la'ct fired his phaser, and the third K'S'vait dropped heavily to the floor. Offer was still fighting with his K'S'vaitese opponent. Spock applied the Vulcan nerve-pinch once more and gently lowered the unconscious man next to his companion.
"Spock!" McCoy now said in relief.
"Doctor," acknowledged Spock, "this is indeed an opportune meeting."
"You mean we are lucky!" grinned McCoy.
"Perhaps the random factors were in your favour, Doctor," Spock conceded. Then he looked inquiringly at the Vulcan child who was staring at the third Vulcan she had ever known in her short life.
"That is a stray we picked up. Half-Vulcan. She has asked for asylum from the Federation. Her name is T'Charu." said McCoy with some relish as he noticed the slight surprise and considerable interest alight in Spock's eyes.
T'Charu stood up, greeted Spock with the proper Vulcan salute and said in slightly accented Vulcan: "Mehe nakkhet ur-seveh."(5)
Spock's eyebrow ascended slightly as he gravely returned the greeting. Then he turned towards Offer and T''la'ct.
"According to my tricorder-readings the dilithium crystals are kept in a chamber to the left of this cavern. Please go and get six, preferably trihedrally-cleaved crystals."
"Yes, Sir, " they both answered and left.
Spock turned towards McCoy: "Report."
Briefly, McCoy outlined what had happened to them since leaving the ship. He then proceeded to describe, in a rather shaken voice, what had occurred since they arrived at the crystal-mine: "We arrived here expecting K'S'vaits in need of medical help. But there are only five left alive, Spock," he said, his voice filled with sorrow and anger, "The rest...well you can see for yourself. They did not die pleasantly."
Spock did not tell McCoy what he had learned from the telepathic contact with the lingering essence of those who had lived and died there.
McCoy continued: "I tried to help the five survivors, while Offer and our K'S'vathese escort started gathering the dead over there," he waved his hand distractedly. "At first, the K'S'vaits told us that it was the planet's government that killed these poor souls as punishment for appearing on some kind of Vid-film that the Romulan, Rakholt, had made. But then one of the surviving wounded K'S'vaits told Offer that the blasted Romulan himself had them all killed. These Klingon-K'S'vaits heard him and wanted to kill him. That was when the argument started and we were told that we would also be killed and the government blamed. After that you appeared as the devil himself." McCoy ended in a tired voice. Spock raised an eyebrow at the reference to the devil but said nothing. He went to the five surviving K'S'vaits.
McCoy followed him saying quietly: "They will not survive long. Only one speaks any Basic." and led Spock to him. Spock saw a wretchedly malformed and fatally wounded being lying on a narrow cot. He saw that McCoy had made him as comfortable as was possible. He sat down on the floor next to the cot.
"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked.
Very slowly and with considerable difficulty the wounded K'S'vait told him everything. Starting with how they were really treated by the ruling K'S'vaits, to the promises made by Rakholt, and ultimately how the were betrayed by him. While he told his story, Offer and T''la'ct had returned with the six dilithium crystals. Now they were also listening, aghast, to the tragic tale. After he finished his account the K'S'vait closed his eyes in exhaustion and pain. Spock would have preferred to alleviate the K'S'vait pain with a mind-touch, but he doubted the weakened state of his own ability to shield. McCoy pressed a hypo to the K'S'vait's arm.
"He will sleep now," said McCoy soberly.
Spock got up from the floor. He was aware that T'Charu had been watching him without cessation.
"We must beam back to the ship. Dr. McCoy, can we safely transport the wounded outside?"
After checking on each of the five K'S'vait survivors McCoy turned to Spock, shaking his head in frustrated disbelieve.
"Not necessary, Spock," said McCoy quietly, while putting all his medical tools back into his medi-kit. "They are dead."
"I do not understand the logic of this!" said T'Charu abruptly, in a pained voice.
Spock went to her and knelt beside her. "There is none. T'Charu, the universe and its inhabitants do not follow a logical path. Neither did Vulcans for a long time, and chaos and destruction were rife on Vulcan. That is why we chose to follow logic and master our emotions. But most beings live their lives neither fully controlling nor being fully controlled by their emotions. What you have seen today is when people are uncontrollably possessed by their emotions, and that is never logical," he said gently.
"I wish to master my emotions," stated T'Charu.
"That is a long process, T'Charu. Part of the process is accepting the concept of: What is, is. and: the truth of the situation. Therefore, try and accept what you have seen, and we will meditate on it when time allows."
"You mean Kaidith and C'Thia?" asked T'Charu .
"Yes. Come," answered Spock and got up. T'Charu hesitated, then being only half-Vulcan and brought up on a planet where touching was an important part of life, tried to take Spock's hand. Spock recoiled as if a high-voltage electric shock had been passed through him. T'Charu, unaware of her strong telepathic ability, had, when touching Spock, unwittingly and suddenly transferred all her emotional turmoil to him. T'Charu sprung back like a frightened gazelle. Concerned she looked up at Spock. 'Would this real Vulcan turn away from her now?' The only other Vulcan she knew was her mother, but she had died when T'Charu was two. Her Vulcan teacher was an old man who had to some extent abandoned the way of Surak. But this tall quiet man seemed to follow Surak's philosophy and be able to control his emotions. She did not want to antagonize him.
"I am sorry," she said in a small voice eyes downcast.
"T'Charu, have you ever been tested for your telepathic ability?" asked Spock, his usual calm self again.
"No, sir," still unwilling to look up.
"Well, T'Charu, when you touched me, you unexpectedly invaded my thoughts. That is unacceptable among Vulcans and many other telepathic races." Spock saw from the corner of his eye that McCoy was getting upset at his severe words addressed to the child. But she was half-Vulcan wanting to be Vulcan: it was necessary.
"I am sorry," she repeated meeting his level gaze with her own.
"Do not be. It is important to learn from our mistakes. You may, now, if you wish, hold my hand." Spock prepared himself mentally and held out his long slim hand. Tentatively T'Charu put her small thin hand in his. He gripped it tightly. The older Vulcan, well able to master his emotions, led the younger Vulcan who was still at the beginning of her path of learning.
The subdued and exhausted Starfleet officers left the oppressive crystal mine filled with anguish and pain to find that night had fallen. The two moons of Kavayak were barely visible through the fog. The wind had died down and thick silence enveloped them. 'No snowfall here,' Spock thought idly as he flipped open his communicator with his free hand. It chirped twice: