"The odds of that occurnng are infinitesimally small, Captain. On an
evolutionary time scale three thousand years is as a second to us. Th
assume that sea life, and the simple vegetation of Tkygeta, evolved in
three thousand years is inconceivable. To further assume that a race of
intelligent sea dwellm evolved in that same span of time is impossible. No,
it is apparent that the Thygetians were here when the nova reached this
system."
"And their survival?"
"Is a mystery. I suggest that the answer cannot be found from the
Enterprise. I think we can only determine how the Thygetians avoided the
holocaust that enveloped thAr system on the surface of their world."
"You sound like a man who's impatient to get his landing party into
action."
"Impatient?" Spock echoed, slightly raising one eyebrow. "No, Captain, I
should say it is logic rather than impatience 71
The Tears of the Singers
that dictates my suggestion that the landing party beam down. We have
clearly gone as far as is scientifically possible from the bridge of the
Enterprise."
"All right, Mr. Spock. All the supplies have been readied, and if you're
finished here we may as well get to it." Kirk crossed to the command chair,
and opened an intership, frequency. "T'his is the captain. The Thygetian
landing party will report to the transporter room immediately."
"Hadn't we better inform the Klingons that we are ready to beam down?"
"Oh God, yes. They'll want to be right on our heels, or they'll suspect us
of double dealing."
"It is very wearying to deal with beings who judge everyone by their own
irrational suspicions," Spock said disdainfully.
"Still, I'd rather be dealing with them than shooting at them, Spock. It's
not helping my nerves any knowing that there are two of them against one of
us."
"Logical, Captain, but I would point out that mere numerical superiority
will not always determine the outcome of a military engagement. Tactical
expertise must also be considered, and you are well known for your talents
in that area."
"Tbank you for the vote of confidence, but we don't know what sort of
talents Kor might have in that direction. We've only encountered him as a
garrison commander on Organia."
"'Ilien we shall hope that events will not require a test of military
skills."
"Amen to that, Spock. Shall we go?" Kirk said, indicating the turbolift.
"Mr. Sulu, the ship is yours. See to it that our Klingon allies are
informed of our landing."
.'Yes, sir."
"You were supposed to be in the transporter room five minutes ago," Uhura
said mildly while Maslin vibrated about the room like a hysterical pinball.
She was dressed in coldweather fatigues. The grey-and-white pants and
knee-high 72
The Tears of the Singers
boots covered her long legs, and her elegant figure was masked by the bulky
parka.
"God damn it!" he yelled, flinging a handful of loose musical notation
pages into the air. "I am not a watchmaker," he continued as he stood in a
blizzard of falling papers. "I'm an artist! I will not be hurried!"
"I know you're nervous and frightened, but don't you dare take it out on
me," Uhura snapped. "If I had known you weren't ready I would never have
agreed to that musical session in the rec room. Now get packed before the
captain comes himself instead of just sending me."
His energy and tension evaporated, and he sank down on the edge of his bed.
"I don't know what to take," he said quietly.
The communications officer moved to the hidden dresser and pulled out an
armful of underwear. She then gathered up his personal toiletries from the
bathroom, and dumped the entire load into his arms. Cold-weather fatigues
had already been called up from stores, and lay across the foot of his bed.
"Now, I suggest that you get changed. A balmy day on Thygeta. is around
thirty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and those linen suits of yours just aren't
going to cut it. As for musical equipment-I think you might be able to
handle that yourself," she concluded dryly.
away with anything, will you?"
"No. Spoiled brats and temper tantrums don't amuse me. I don't have time to
bother with them."
"I thought you loved me," he said, sounding somewhat like a child who has
just discovered that mother spanks.
"I sleep with you," Uhura corrected. "Don't confuse the action with the
emotion. And even if I did love you it's not license for you to treat me
like a doormat." Maslin kept his eyes nervously averted from her, and
concentrated instead on folding and placing the clothes in a backpack.
"Your medicine," she added abruptly as he started to close the pack.
73
The Tears of the Singers
"Oh yes." He crossed to the dresser and removed the bottle of pills from
the top drawer. He tossed it into the pack, seamed it shut, and headed for
the door.
"Do you need any of these?" Uhura asked, bending to retrieve one of the
notation pages.
"No, I just use them for doodling ... and as a prop for my tantrums," he
added with an apologetic glance toward her.
A smile tugged at her lips. "And I suppose that passes for an apology from
you?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied shortly, and stepped into the corridor.
She sighed, and shook her head. "Okay, I suppose one can't settle for
everything."
"Ah, but in me you come very close."
She couldn't think of a sufficiently crushing retort so she let it pass,
and led him quickly to the transporter room.
Kirk was jigging with impatience when they arrived. He looked at Maslin as
if debating whether to speak, then seemed to think better of it. Instead he
busied himself with last-minute instructions to Lieutenant Kyle, who stood
behind the transporter console. Uhura looked around the transporter room,
thinking how strange it seemed to see the landing party without their
identifying uniform colors. Only the gold braid on the sleeves of the
jackets distinguished one white-suited figure from the other.
"We're ready, sir," Lieutenant Kyle said, finishing some final adjustments
to the transporter. "We're going to put you down near a large group of the
Taygetian cubs."
"Very well, Mr. Kyle. May as well find out right away if the natives are
hostile," Kirk added as he bounded onto the transporter platform. "Signal
the freight transporter to send down the equipment after we've had a chance
to take a look around, and find a suitable campsite."
"Yes, sir."
Spock, Uhura, Maslin, Scotty and Yeoman Chou, a diminutive Chinese girl who
looked like she ought to be wearing a silk kimono rather than toting a
phaser, joined Kirk on the
74.
The Tears of the Singers
platform. Lieutenant Donovan hefted his guitar in its case, and watched as
the transporter hummed to life. He and the three security guards would
follow the first group to the
Thygetian surface.
They became aware of the song even before they had fully materialized. It
seemed to reach deep into the soul and set up an answering resonance in the
listener. Even to an untrained ear like Kirk's it was apparent that they
were hearing only a thin slice of the total melody. Fascinating and
beautiful motifs would catch the ear, then whirl away into a range beyond
human hearing. Certain harmonies would weave and blend-, but there was
always a disconcerting feeling that a voice or two was missing. It was
almost a sensory overload, and for several moments the humans stood in rapt
contemplation of the music.
Spock, as always unmoved by externals, had switched on his tricorder the
moment materialization was complete, and was busy monitoring the readings.
Maslin, an expression of enchantment on his narrow face, took a step
forward, and almost lost his footing in the soft, glittering sand. Uhura
instinctively reached out to steady him, and for once he didn't snap at her
for her solicitude; he was too intent upon the song.
Overhead the sky was a strange silver gray, but there was no evidence of
clouds. Behind them the ice green waves boomed onto the beach and ran
hissing and foaming up the sand. Small birdlike creatures, their sparkling
blue head feathers fluttering from their speed, retreated, peeping, from
the advancing waters. Then, as the waves receded, they would rush back
toward the ocean, feeding on something the waters had left behind. The
breeze from the sea was clean, tangy and bitterly cold.
"Sweet Jesus," Sootty murmured, covering one ear. "If these beasties keep
this up day and night it's a hard time we're going to have sleeping."
75
The Tears of the Singers
"Evidence indicates that to be the case, Mr. Scott," Spock said. "But I
expect we will become accustomed to the sound after several hours,"
"Look, Captain," Yeoman Chou said, pointing down the beach. "We're arousing
some interest."
They all looked quickly in the direction of her gesture. Several hundred
yards down the beach thirty or so whitepelted Thygetians gazed at them with
wide blue eyes. Many lay tumbled over one another as if the arrival of the
humans had interrupted them in the midst of some game. For several seconds
the two groups regarded one another, then the cubs set up a veritable
cacophony of chirpings, warblings, hums and whistles, all the while
glancing fearfully from the humans to the glistening crystal cliffs that
rose like ice castles from the diamond-bright sands. It was from the
cliffis that the mighty chorus rose, and by narrowing their eyes against
the brilliance of the cliffs and sand, the humans could distinguish several
adult Taygetians in their crystal grottos.
"It's like they're warning the adults," Uhura said quietly.
"And with absolutely no result," Maslin added, shading his eyes with one
slender hand. "They're just continuing the song. 99
"The behavior of the cubs strongly indicates intelligence, but the adults
. . ." Spock shook his head. "Such disregard for potential danger would
argue against their being intelligent."
"Not necessarily, Mr. Spock," Kirk said. "Animals will always panic and
flee when faced with a potential threat. The major exception I can think of
to that rule-animals who are able to put their fears aside and stand in the
face of danger--are very intelligent ones like humans, and Vulcans, and
Andorians. I could go on-, but you get the idea."
"Then you are suggesting that the Thygetians are responding to some higher
duty, or that we are just not important enough to merit a response,
Captain?"
"It does sort of look that way." The distinctive hum of the
76
The Tears of the Shwrs
transporter rose from behind them, and moments later Donovan and the three
security guards coalesced from the shimmering particles.
"Lt. Kyle said to have you signal him when you've located a campsite. He
also suggested that you pick a place that's in the shelter of a cliff so
that if there should be a storm we'll be protected.,,
"Thank you, Donovan, and I think Lt. Kyle's suggestions are well merited."
They began walking, and about three hundred yards down the beach the cliffs
made a sharp bend, creating a sheltered cove. Kirk liked the defensibility
of the location, so it was there that Kyle materialized the substantial
amount of equipment required by the landing party. Kirk gave a nod of
satisfaction.
"Okay, let's get to it. The sooner the camp is up the sooner you can erect
a perimeter, and the better I'll feel."
"You don't think we're in any danger, do you, Captain?" Uhura asked.
"With two Klingon battle cruisers orbiting above us, and a party of
Klingons about to land on this planet, not to mention a race of unknown
beings inhabiting the cliffs around us? Why no, of course not," he
concluded with a twinkle in his hazel eyes. Uhura chuckled, but her face
was thoughtful as she joined Maslin.
The cubs watched as the humans began to unpack their equipment. When the
landing party approached the base of the cliffs the cubs' cries took on an
almost hysterical note, then died into a confused melodic murmuring as the
humans continued to erect their camp, paying no attention to the adults who
serenely sang above them.
"They think we're going to hurt the adults," Maslin said as he uncrated the
synthesizer.
"And we've confused them by not heading up the cliffs to
kill the older ones," Uhura added, pulling off the protective
wrapping that covered the keyboards of the synthesizer.
77
The Tears of the Singers
"After all, their only experience with humans has been with hunters."
"Well, maybe after they see we're not going to hurt them they'll start to
approach us. I want to start mimicking their sounds back at them, and start
building up a vocabulary in the synthesizer."
Kirk, who had been perambulating from group to group, lending a hand and
overseeing security's defenses, paused at Maslin and Uhura. "We may be able
to convince them that we're not going to hurt them, but what about our
Klingon friends? Let's just hope they don't get trigger-happy, or decide to
play soccer with the cubs."
"But they're so cute, how could anybody hurt them?" Maslin objected.
"Cute doesn't mean a lot to a Klingon," Uhura said. "Remember the
tribbles," she added to Kirk.
The captain put a hand over his eyes. "Oh God, don't remind me. Let's just
hope the Thygetians and the Klingons don't arouse that kind of antipathy in
one another."
"Have I missed something?"
"Another story," Uhura said, touching Maslin on the arm. "But one that you
should hear. I'll tell you later."
"Well, let's get back to it," Kirk said, glancing up and down the beach.
"Me Klingons will be here soon, and I want us set up by then."
"You don't anticipate trouble do you, Captain?" Maslin asked.
"I may not anticipate trouble, Mr. Maslin, but I'm always prepared for it,"
he said over his shoulder as he walked
away.
"Somehow that doesn't make me feel very confident," Maslin confided in an
undertone to Uhura.
'Ii should. It's Captain Kirk's preparations that have saved us in a good
many encounters."
Kor watched as Kali strapped on her bolstered disruptor, and tied it down
with the thigh belt. The thin leather strap
78
The Tears of the Singers
was a macho affectation that never ceased to amuse him, but it was not all
for show. Despite her fragile beauty Kali was an intelligent, well-trained
and highly capable female. In fad, she was one of the best sharpshooters in
the Imperial fleet. As he watched the way her hair fell forward to caress
her cheek he felt his heart squeezed with love for his young bride, and he
almost regretted his decision to include her in the landing party.
As if she had read his mind she looked over at him where he lay on the bed
and said, "I wish I didn't have to go."
"I too, my love, but I need you there to keep an eye on Quarag and Jennas."
"If there's going to be trouble it's going to start here. I don't like to
think of you facing Karsul alone."
"I can handle Karsul, and if I can't your presence isn't going to make any
difference."
"At. least I would be with you."
"My dear, they aren't going to let us die nobly together. You at least will
be spared."
"I know. That's what worries me."
"Come here," he said, gesturing with one hand. She came to his side, and he
pulled her down next to him on the bed. He pressed his lips against her
silky hair, breathing in the sweet smell of her perfume. "I don't want to
send you from my side, but I need you to watch not only our own people but
the humans as well. With you there I will know I am getting accurate
information."
"Quarag is in command of the landing party. It is he who will make the
daily reports."
"True, but you will contact me every evening on a scrambled, closed beam to
this cabin."
"Communications will pick up the private transmission."
"Let them. That will keep Karsul guessing, and perhaps a little
off-balance."
"Keep them guessing," she repeated, rubbing his black hair. "I think that