Beginning: A Star Trek Novel (New Frontier Reloaded Book 2)

by ROVER MARIE TOWLE

  "We're being hailed," said Doctor Mora.

  Odo sighed. "Onscreen."

  His dark mood lifted a little upon seeing Kira's face. He managed a faint smile. "General."

  "Constable," Kira said affectionately. "I rearranged my schedule. I'll be able to come down to Bajor in a week."

  "Oh? I'm glad to hear it." Odo ignored Kejal and Doctor Mora's exchanged smiles of approval. "I look forward to seeing you again. I apologize for my swift departure."

  "Odo, don't. I understand. It's okay." Kira glanced offscreen. She scrunched her nose in the cute way that made Odo's internal fluids ripple and returned her attention to him. "I have a meeting in ten minutes, so I need to end this communication. It's good to see you again, Odo...it really is. Kejal, Doctor Mora, try not to get into trouble."

  "Malath is the one in trouble." Kejal snickered. "He's still awful at dom-jot."

  "Don't mind him." Doctor Mora raised his hand in a polite wave. "We will all see you on Bajor later."

  Nodding in agreement, Odo prepared to end the communication. "Good luck, Nerys. Odo out."

  Odo overrode the autopilot sequence and took the shuttle around Deep Space Nine. He felt rather than saw Doctor Mora watching the viewscreen.

  This is the last time he will see the station, Odo thought. I went so long without him in my life. Now, he is about to leave it forever. Why does this situation feel so different?

  "Tch, look at this, mother!" Kejal waved his PADD at Odo. "I'm clobbering him."

  "Yes, very nice." Odo said without really paying attention.

  Deep Space Nine's spires danced against the stars. Its lights were millions of tiny eyes peering into the universe.

  Odo focused on the helm controls. "I'm taking us into warp."

  Humanoids couldn't feel a ship accelerate into warp due to the inertial dampeners, but Odo always sensed it. He enjoyed the slight compression in his substance.

  "This is incredible!" Doctor Mora exclaimed. "The Vorta are quite detail oriented, aren't they?"

  "To an annoying degree." Kejal replied. "They must have the DNA and default humanoid profiles of every Founder on the homeworld."

  "Remarkable...Odo, have you gone over any of this?"

  "A little."

  Odo heard Doctor Mora flip open his little case of hyposprays. He didn't know which one was being used, nor did he turn to find out. Afterward, Doctor Mora replicated a small dish of salad topped in Bajoran shrimp.

  "Computer, larish pie," Odo said. Swiveling his chair to face Doctor Mora, he picked up the fork, cut off a small piece of the pie and ate it. He still couldn't taste or smell, but he didn't mind the pie's rough texture.

  "You can eat?" Doctor Mora's eyes lit up.

  "Mm." Odo swallowed. "It's only the appearance of eating-- I'm incapable of mimicking digestion. I create a pocket to hold food or fluids, and later I discretely pass them out of my body in the same condition they went in." He took another bite, swallowed it without chewing and encased it inside a small vacuole at the back of his throat. Then he willed it to circulate down his arm. All at once, the piece of pie he just consumed reappeared on his palm looking exactly like it did on the fork.

  "Mother!" Kejal made a face.

  Odo ignored his son's posturing. "I still can't taste anything...but people seem to be more comfortable around me when they see me eat. Someday, Kejal will be able to do this as well."

  "Oh..." At that, Doctor Mora set his salad dish down in his lap and brought his hands together. "You've come so far. Just when I think nothing more can amaze me, you do just that."

  Why did Doctor Mora's approval mean so much now? Usually the scientist's compliments grated on him. Odo shook his head. He excused himself to dispose of the food matter via a replicator in the communal sleeping quarters.

  "Father, what season is it on Bajor right now?"

  "It's about to become spring, which is a relief. The rainy winters make my knee hurt like you wouldn't believe."

  "Ouch." Kejal chuckled. "And Malath has surrendered. Ha!"

  Doctor Mora joined in. "You and your dom-jot."

  Odo leaned on the edge of the doorframe where the others couldn't see him. Kejal and Doctor Mora got along so well. Odo could scarcely believe the strong, choking emotion sprouting like weeds in his mind.

  Jealous of my own offspring? Ridiculous! I wanted him to have a better life than I had! Kejal is still like I was before it all went wrong. He is so free. Hmph! I thought I'd grown beyond such pettiness.

  Odo dared peek around the corner. Doctor Mora sat at the helm now, telling Kejal a story about a science experiment gone haywire. Kejal was seated on the floor at his feet, looking up with a smile.

  "...and when I poured in the sulfur pellet-- boom! Foam everywhere. I tasted rotten eggs for weeks."

  Kejal threw his head back when he laughed. "Oh...remember that failed hasperat souffle? I tried to clean it up before you returned home."

  "Oh, Prophets." Doctor Mora snickered. "The look on your face when I walked in-- classic!" He sobered, looking towards the viewscreen. "Odo never had mishaps like that. He only saw my house once in all the time I worked with him."

  "Mother isn't angry about the lab anymore."

  "True, but he carries the pain and resentment of it everywhere he goes. He hides it well, but I can see it."

  Odo pressed the door switch so he didn't have to hear more. He released his solid form and slid down the wall onto the cold, carpeted floor. Once in his liquid state, he oozed into the middle of the room and turned his awareness inward.

  About an hour later, he sensed the door opening and the vibration of three appendages touching the ground.

  "Oh, Odo, I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you. I need to rest for awhile." Doctor Mora's voice lightened, he was smiling as he spoke. "Don't worry, I won't talk."

  Odo perceived Doctor Mora climbing onto the bunk. Within twenty minutes he detected the regular vibrations of snoring.

  He slithered towards the sound. Doctor Mora always slept on his right side. The sleeping scientist faced outward, his right hand folded beneath his head and the left one dangling off the bunk. He'd propped his cane against the wall nearby.

  Silently, Odo made his way onto the bunk and morphed into a fleece blanket. He focused solely on the regular breathing and steady heartbeat of his former mentor. Every sound, even the snores, burned themselves into his memory.

  I can't imagine his last breath, Odo thought. I can't imagine it.

  Doctor Mora's snoring paused, making Odo tense up. After a moment, it restarted with a vengeance. All Bajorans snored because their nasal passages narrowed under their nose ridges. Kira's snores sounded like purring. Doctor Mora's sounded like one of those two wheeled motor vehicles Doctor Bashir rode in a holosuite program. What were they called again? Harlequin Devil-sons?

  Odo mentally shook the head he didn't have at the moment and let his awareness turn inward once again.

  Doctor Mora slept until Kejal landed the ship. Odo slid off and reformed before gently waking him to disembark.

  .o

  It was the middle of the night and quite chilly.

  "We timed that well, didn't we?" Kejal shouted over the driving rain pouring down outside the space port. "This is the best microburst I've ever seen. Wow!"

  Strong wind howled past the platform. Kejal didn't mind getting wet, but Odo and Mora scooted back.

  "I hate rain," Odo groused. He wiped the water droplets off his sleeves. "Where is that damn hover tram?"

  "Here it comes." Mora pointed with his cane.

  "Kejal, get out of the rain!"

  "Calm down, mother! Water never killed anyone."

  The white and red vehicle descended from the second level of the space port. A ramp extended out of its side to allow Kejal, Mora and Odo aboard. Rain pattered against its metal surface.

  The driver asked, "Where to?"

  "My home." Mora replied. He gave the driver the coordinates to his residence.

  "I missed
the rain." Kejal remarked. He lacked a sense of smell, but he could feel the dampness in the air when he inhaled through his nose.

  "I don't," Odo grumbled. "Ugh, Kejal, you're soaked!"

  "So what?"

  Mora lifted a hand. "Ah, leave him be, Odo. He loves rain."

  "Hmph!"

  Kejal sobered. Taking Odo's hand, he closed his eyes and let his own arm melt. Mother, what is it?

  It's nothing. Don't trouble yourself...rainy weather annoys me.

  Then why are you trying to pull away from me? Kejal pressed deeper into Odo's consciousness. Please, mother. I love you and I'm worried-- tell me the real reason you're angry.

  Odo's consciousness sank like cool air in a hot room. Kejal received images of himself and Mora sharing a laugh in the shuttlecraft. No emotions or explanation came with it. Then Odo withdrew, leaving Kejal more confused than before.

  "The rain is letting up," said Mora. "That won't be the last downpour, judging by the horizon."

  Mora lived on the very edge of the Eastern Province. His house was literally the last one between the city and the wilderness. Its northern windows overlooked a pond, its southern windows revealed distant city lights at night, the eastern windows showed the garden and the western window in his bedroom offered fantastic views over the side of a rolling green hill. Each spring, flowers sprang up on the hillside until the landscape resembled a painting. Kejal always wanted to capture some of that beautiful life, so in his formative years he planted a garden and a deka tree. It seemed fitting, somehow, to see beauty through all the house's windows.

  Reaching Mora's home took approximately three hours due to the rain reducing visibility. Kejal, who dried off during the journey, noticed Mora favoring his arthritic knee after the hover tram dropped them off at his doorstep.

  Nobody was sorry to get in out of the storm.

  "Lights," said Mora, and the lights came on to reveal the earthy, minimally decorated building he called home. "I apologize for the mess. I wasn't expecting you two to return with me."

  PADDS littered the table by the wall in the main sitting room. The couch pillows were tossed on the floor. Not a mess in the traditional sense, but to two Changelings who favored order, it looked like a tornado hit the room. Odo and Kejal both cringed.

  "We can organize this, father." Kejal patted Mora's hand. "Don't worry."

  Odo glanced at Mora. "Here, let's get you seated. I can tell your leg is bothering you. Where would you like to be?"

  Mora gestured at the large, overstuffed chair by Kejal's favorite oval window. Odo helped him sit on the thick, bouncy cushion. Mora kicked his shoes off, took out his metorapan hypospray and dosed himself. The wrinkle in his brow soon faded.

  "Traveling isn't as easy as it used to be," he sighed. "It's good to be home again."

  Home for the last time. Kejal thought sourly. He looked out the eastern window and his mouth dropped. The beautiful deka tree he left behind had grown so huge. Mora wasn't exaggerating about its size. The tree's canopy easily spanned the width of the roof!

  Well, hello old friend.

  Kejal watched a curtain of drooping branches dance over the puddles amidst the tree's roots. Round, flat seed pods littered the ground, all of them shaken down by the rain and wind. They were bright orange when ripe and easy to spot on the wet green grass. He made a mental note to clear them away in the morning. Picking up the seed pods was an exercise in futility between fall and spring, yet Kejal enjoyed doing it. Messy deka trees were healthy deka trees.

  Something new hung from one of the tree's thickest limbs. A swing made of two ropes and a wooden plank. Kejal used to shape shift into one when curious children came around to watch him practice his abilities. Mora must have put it there after his departure.

  As for the rest of the garden-- Kejal wasn't surprised to notice the plants he grew thirty years ago weren't there anymore. He understood that Mora physically couldn't maintain the garden in his absence, but he still felt the urge to make it beautiful again.

  "Doctor Mora?" Odo's voice roused Kejal from his ruminations.

  "Oof, oh, I'm tired. This trip took more out of me than I realized. I think I'll retire for the night." Mora got himself out of his chair and hobbled into his bedroom, his cane clicking against the hardwood flooring.

  "Do you need any help?" asked Kejal.

  Mora shook his head, yawning. "I'm fine, thank you."

  Odo stared at the bedroom door long after it slid shut.

  "I suppose I can't blame him," he remarked.

  Outside, the rain stopped again.

  Kejal smiled and headed for the back door. "Come on, mother. Meet my tree."

  Unmindful of the cold dampness, he stepped out beneath the deka tree's sprawling limbs. It seemed to reach for him, and two wet, leafy branches bumped into his cheek. He caught them in his hands and stroked the long sickle-shaped leaves. The tree's familiarity sent a warm tingle across his palms.

  "I missed you too, old friend." Kejal said. He continued forward, stepping in puddles to avoid crushing the seed pods. Despite the rain, the tree's trunk remained mostly dry. He leaned against it and relished the strength in its bulk.

  Odo took care to avoid the puddles Kejal walked through. "So this is the tree you raised?"

  "From a sapling the size of a twig." Kejal tapped a tall pole still visible near one of the roots. "I tied it to that until it was big enough to stand up straight by itself. There is grating underground that trained its root system to grow down instead of out under the house. Without guidance, deka trees get gnarled and bent over like the trees in the hills, and the roots go everywhere." He stroked an errant leaf. "But if you guide and tend them, they grow like this."

  "I see." Odo looked up. "It must be very rewarding."

  "It is." Kejal grinned with pride. He took Odo's hand and pressed it to the thick, smooth trunk. The quizzical expression on his mother's face made him chuckle. "This is my mother, old friend...he feels a lot like me, doesn't he?"

  Wind sent the leaves rustling.

  "I...don't see the purpose of this," Odo remarked.

  "Trees know." Kejal said. "They get to know you if you let them. They are more aware of the world than you realize." He bumped his shoulder into Odo's. "'To become a thing is to know a thing.' You told me that right after I was born. I've shape shifted this tree countless times. I know it, and it knows me. Come on."

  "Where are we going?"

  "I need space." Kejal gingerly led Odo past the back yard border and onto the open, grassy land. "I don't know about you, but I feel like being a tree right now."

  With that, Kejal focused on becoming the tree he remembered thirty years ago. A shape so familiar it required less thought than blinking. The soil swallowed his feet as they transformed into roots. He grew taller and taller-- a sensation similar to launching into space-- and felt his branches expand like dozens of outreaching arms.

  The wind brushed Kejal's limbs. His leaves became the strings of an ancient musical instrument. They touched and mingled with the original tree's branches. A shiver of recognition ran through it. He let three leafy twigs brush against his mother. Greeting him the same silent way his tree acknowledged him.

  Mother, be a tree...

  But Odo couldn't understand Kejal's silent request. He stood there, turbulent beneath his otherwise calm exterior.

  Something cold impacted a leaf. It sent a silvery thrum through neighboring branches.

  "It's starting to rain again," said Odo. "I'm going back inside."

  Kejal sensed Odo's footsteps walking away, but they were quickly lost in the percussive onslaught the clouds unleashed. His leaves became strings plucked by the wind and drums struck by the rain. Vibrations from the raindrops hitting the ground rumbled around his roots.

  The downpour didn't break until light appeared on the horizon. Kejal angled his leaves towards the golden brilliance all plants recognized as life. Then the sun's warmth enveloped everything in its ethereal hum. Shivering water drop
lets cast miniature rainbows on their surroundings, and the heavens rejoiced at the renewed promise of another day.

  Nature sang all around, and Kejal found peace in its song.

  Chapter 5: Midwife for the Soul

  In his dreams, he saw the accretion disk of a proto-star greedily pulling gas into its core. He floated above the chaos, watching it spin. Then the pain started, and his body wrenched him back into reality.

  Mora woke up feeling like he collided with a starship. A squirt of metorapan and a touch of dexalin steeled his resolve. He managed, after some struggle, to get into his bathroom and grab his straight razor. A hot towel, followed by warm shaving gel, briefly helped him forget his discomfort. Scraping the stubble off his chin made his body ache. He could barely remain standing when he relieved himself, and he frowned at the red in the toilet basin. Putting his rumpled hair in order was a simple matter-- he washed his hands and wiped it back with his wet palms.

  There is no way I'm going anywhere today, Mora groaned to himself. He knew these days were coming, but his physical inability to do what he used to still got on his nerves. He climbed back into bed with a sigh.

  Then his nose decided to bleed. It dripped onto his black nightshirt.

  Cursing under his breath, he replicated a handkerchief and pressed it to his nostrils. Blood in my urine, and now a bloody nose. My morning is off to a fantastic start!

  The nosebleed didn't last long. Mora blew his nose to clear it and tossed the stained handkerchief into the replicator. He looked longingly at the thick gold and red quilt serving as the comforter on his bed. Leruu made it by hand. It was her gift to him on their first wedding anniversary.

  "No more cold nights, my love."

  "Oh, Leruu, it's beautiful!"

  "Happy anniversary, Pol."

  "Happy anniversary, my darling."

  He smiled, running his hand over the silky material. Leruu always had an eye for color and decoration. The quilt matched both the red drapes on the window and the gold prayer mandala sitting just beneath it.

  Mora lit the candles in front of the mandala. He prayed the same prayer he said every day since his diagnosis: Prophets, please just get me through today.