“Will the shields hold?” she asked. “Who is it?”
Reoh was already activating the screen to see outside the ship. “It’s Klingon. No, there’s two of them.”
Starsa was gasping in shock. Reoh had never seen her so frightened before. She had always been the soul of courage, without a thought of failure or defeat.
The Cochranewas hit again, and they were thrown back against the couch as the valiant ship maneuvered.
Starsa clutched his arm. “Are we going to die?” she whispered.
“Eventually,” Reoh had to admit. “Maybe not right now.”
It might have been callous, but it did make Starsa stop and think instead of sending her into hysterics. Reoh knew part of her problem was the unstable hormone fluctuations, but her emotional reaction was very real.
She hunched down in the couch, wrapping her arms around her legs, her ruddy hair spreading against the back cushion. “I never thought about it before,” she admitted, her voice husky, as if everything inside of her was twisted tightly closed. “Everyone is going to die. I’m going to die. You are.” She flinched as the shields took another hit. “I haven’t seen my family in so long.”
Reoh took her hand, realizing how inevitable that fear was. “I lost most of my family early. Maybe that’s why I can’t ever forget about death. I think it’s why I failed as a Vedek. What is faith next to that? Nothing you can say or do can avert it.”
“So what do you do?” Starsa asked, hanging onto his hand for dear life.
“I try to do the same thing youalways did. Just go on. In spite of everything.” He squeezed her hand. “Only now, I hope you give us a break and don’t tempt fate so much.”
She blew out her breath, shaking her head at the very thought of some of the things she had done in the recent months. It was only when she leaned her head against his shoulder that he realized how close they had gotten in the past weeks. He had always had a special, protective feeling for Starsa. Yet how easy it was to reassure her, how naturally he put an arm around her shoulders.
He didn’t move until long after the jolting stopped and she fell asleep on his shoulder.
Starsa felt better the moment they beamed down to Hohonoran on Oppalassa. Treatments began at once, and she was required to stay in the medical center while her hormone levels were adjusted and her transition into maturity could proceed at a more steady pace.
After a few days, she hacked into the medical computers and accessed her file. It was remarkably easy after the challenge of Starfleet computers. She read that her doctors were surprised by the onset of her puberty, having believed she would be able to complete the course at the Academy and return to Oppalassa before her transition. Starsa didn’t care, even though she was young to mature for her kind. It seemed right to her–she’d been through a lot in the past four years. She should be an adult.
Starsa read everything in her file, then closed it back up like she’d never been there. She wasn’t even tempted to mess with the medical computer, but she had to laugh at her log‑skipping virus that had lasted for almost four years. Because of her illness, her practical joke hadn’t even been discussed at the Academy. She wondered if it would fade into the past or be dealt with when she returned. Perhaps they figured it was bad enough punishment to have to repeat this semester’s work during the summer.
She had hardly closed her tricorder when Reoh appeared. He smiled, then stepped over some animal trinkets on the floor. “Oops, almost stepped on your frog.”
“Everyone keeps bringing them to me,” she explained, gathering up the small animal androids that her people loved to give as gifts. Mostly she was getting Earth animals, and everyone seemed so pleased they could offer her a “remembrance of Starfleet.” She didn’t have the heart to tell anyone that frogs and mice didn’t exactly fill the hallways at the Academy. She held up a giant‑sized tick before tossing it to him. “Don’t ask what that one is.”
Nev Reoh seemed uncomfortable. “The Cochraneis returning through this system day after tomorrow. They called to let me know, in case I was ready to return. You’re doing fine now, so I thought–”
“You’re leaving without me?” she asked, forgetting about the trinkets that were milling around in the basket at the foot of her bed. “You can’tleave without me!”
“You want me to stay? But you have your family here–”
“It will only take a few more weeks of treatments,” she assured him. “Maybe less. Can’t we go back together? It’s such a long trip. . . .”
Slowly, Reoh said, “I would have to ask Admiral Brand for an extension of my leave.”
Starsa put the lid on her trinkets to keep their noise muffled. “It would save Starfleet from having to send two ships for us.”
“That’s true,” Reoh agreed, but he was busy looking at the tick, its legs methodically moving even though it was upside‑down.
“And I think I can get you a private room,” she told him, watching him closely. “I’ve felt bad about squeezing you in with everyone.”
“I don’t mind sharing with your cousins,” Reoh denied. “They’re very nice boys.”
“And it doesn’t rain here all the time,” she assured him. “It should clear up in a few days. And I’ll be able to go home while I finish the therapy. There’s lots of things we can do then. Go to the simu‑races, and the sky‑dive. Or if you’re feeling stuck in the city, there’s a big parkland between Hohonoran and Swin, only an hour away. You feel like you’re in Yosemite in Earth . . . almost.”
“It’s not that I’m bored,” Reoh tried to explain. “But you’ve got everyone you need here with you–”
As if on cue, Starsa’s sister and her spouse appeared in the doorway, calling out greetings. Starsa hugged her sister, but she was trying to see Reoh, who was strategically trying to slip away. “Call the superintendent,” she urged him, over her sister’s shoulder. “Find out, okay? It would mean a lot to me.”
Reoh nodded uncertainly, holding up the tick before placing it on his empty chair. “I’ll do it right now.”
“Don’t rush off,” her sister protested. “I’ve been wanting to meet Starsa’s caraposa. Sit down and join us.”
Starsa felt the heat rush to her face as Reoh stammered and excused himself, saying, “I’m sorry. I have to send an important communiquй.”
Starsa mumbled good‑bye, but she didn’t know where to look. No wonder he wanted to get away! Why hadn’t she realized what her family was doing? They had picked up on her feelings for Reoh and assumed that he returned her admiration simply because he was such a truly good and kind man. She was a fool! After so long at the Academy, she hadn’t counted on the subliminal sensitivity the Oppalassa had for one another, developed from being forced to live on top of one another for centuries. When she realized she loved Reoh, she took it for granted, so they did, too.
Her sister touched her hand. “What’s wrong, Starsa?”
“He might have to leave,” she told her, knowing it was useless to lie about her feelings.
“I hope not. You’d miss him terribly.”
Starsa nodded, unable to say a word. The question was–would Reoh miss her?
It took a few days, but Reoh finally received a message back from Admiral Brand’s assistant, assuring him that he could stay on Oppalassa for an additional few weeks. Reoh got the distinct feeling that his request was the least of their worries.