Bloodlines Revelation.
A short story by Heidi
Location: the city of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England.
The 23rd century
The cool breeze wafted through her hair as Nalah walked to the skimmer. It had been a long day in the office, but work was it’s own reward and she didn’t mind putting in the extra hours these days. Not since the relationship between Lonak and herself had ‘cooled’. They had been married just 10 years and had a little girl born to them soon after their first anniversary. But Lonak had become disinterested in family life all too quickly. Nalah recalled how she had met Lonak on a cruise starship…
Nalah had wanted to join Starfleet but did as her father had wished for her, so Nalah entered into
the diplomatic services as a junior assistant to a minor diplomat. Of course it meant that she was
often stuck in the office in Cambridge rather than going anywhere exciting – unless she counted the trip to Legarus IV. Which she didn’t. Still, as her father had always reminded her – ‘work is it’s own
reward.’ It certainly seemed to be, but why wasn’t she rewarded when she was trying to work out
Her marriage?.
Nalah t’Monn was an only child, and her mother was now dead and her father had passed away
Long before her. Nalah’s mother had been a Vulcan and her father, a human. But they had fallen
In love for real. Hadn’t Lonak?
Nalah got into the skimmer and glided it out of the parking space, the rush hour would soon begin and she wanted to talk to Lonak before their daughter arrived from school.
CHAPTER 2
Lonak was busy. Very busy. He had contacts within his business – a small export company that
dealt with far-flung places and ‘backwater’ colonies most people had just about forgotten.
It was the kind of business that suited Lonak well. No-one knew he had something else going on,
Something illegal. Something….dangerous.
Perhaps his wife suspected something?. She would probably think he was having an affair, but
that kind of suspicion could esily be dealt with. He had proven her wrong the last time Nalah
thought like that.
The biggest challenge had been in convincing Nalah that his emotional outbursts
were a chemical imbalance in the brain. He had to look like he was seeing the doctor about it, but
somehow Nalah discovered he had lied about going. That was why she demanded they talk together before their daughter was home.
After all – VULCANS DON’T LIE.
Lonak wondered if the brain could repair itself from surgery, just as the liver can replace itself.
he looked out of the window across at the panoramic view their apartment afforded them, the
city spread out but not upwards much. The British didn’t like to build as tall as the Americans.
Lonak wondered idly about the surgery he had undergone. It was to remove that part that allowed
him to experience emotion and without it he was unable to relate in the normal capacity. But it had suited his purposes in appearing as something he certainly wasn’t. Or else he would never of been able to keep up the pretence for as long as he had so far. Only now, the mask as slipping. Perhaps the
advancements of the medical sphere were not quite up to scratch. His angry outbursts and uncontrollable passions were coming to the surface all to often now. And then there was the matter of his daughter. In truth, he couldn’t abide her. Why did she have to look so human?!
His people considered them so inferior. Lonak was paying a high price to keep deep under cover for his government. But it was poetic revenge considering his mother had done as much as a Federaton Spy.
Nalah weaved her way through the traffic, impatient within herself to get things resolved. It disturbed
her greatly that Lonak didn’t seem interested in his own daughter, and of late had displayed outright hostility by his constant criticism, cutting words and ‘having something else’ more important to do,
Usually it was work that was the excuse. But Nalah had begun to suspect Lonak of something far
worse than adultery. Which was why she had taken her concerns to a friend and superior at the
Diplomatic Relationships Council.
As Nalah neared to home, she recalled the last conversation they had…
“Why is it we never see your family ?!” Nalah had demanded
“I’ve told you a thousand times before!. All mine are dead, and like you, I’m an only-child”
“Vulcan’s don’t exaggerate”. She replied coolly.
“Nor do they get paranoid – as you clearly are!” he retorted
“Strange that you should say ‘they’ rather than ‘we’, sometimes you talk as if you were not one, and your behaviour leaves a lot to be desired”
“Perhaps you desire that I leave?” Lonak challenged.
The truth was that Nalah had considered the possibility of divorce, but what of their daughter? she certainly wasn’t stupid and knew something was wrong. Very wrong. Yet how would a divorce affect her?. Then again, Lonak seemed to despise her as if she had done something terribly wrong.
CHAPTER 3
Lonak couldn’t wait, he had to act and it had to be now. He made contact with a certain ‘business
acquaintance’
“My cargo has been compromised” was the code he spoke.
“Jettison the damaged goods” was the coded reply….
When the daughter of Lonak and Nalah returned home from school, she was a little early, and upon entering the apartment, she had a sense that something was amiss but what it was she could not tell.
“Hello! I’m home!” she called out.
No answer. Father was probably out at work still. But she was sure mother had said she would be home by the time she got in from school.
“Hello?”
For 2 hours she waited, and by now was beginning to get frightened. There were no messages on the computer console. It was just after 2 hours that a beep from the front door sensor broke the silence.
When she answered the door a stranger stood there, and he didn’t look friendly.
“Your father sent me” was all he said, and suddenly, she was frightened.
CHAPTER 4
When agent Black entered the department, he thanked God that the security team had arrived in time. It could have been a very tragic scene otherwise. The young 9 year old girl had done remarkably well but would not have fended off such a man as this for long. An assassin – one who had underestimated a child. But now he lay dead at Black’s feet, the swat team had been dispatched just in time to arrest Lonak of Vulcan. Who wasn’t from Vulcan at all. Nor was his name Lonak.
It was tragic that the child’s mother had been murdered, the devise in the skimmer was meant to wreck it and make it appear an accident. But Nalah T’Monn had had the sense to inform the authorities of her husbands suspicious behaviour. Her boss had been quick off the mark too. Not quick enough for poor T’Monn, but they came in time for her daughter.
Lonak – that piece of filth, had done a runner. But they would get him. Meanwhile the child would have to be told. Poor kid.
“What’s your name?” asked agent Black.
“Rish’ha’vel Hecatius” the frightened child replied
“You did very well with your martial arts defence”
“Thanks. Where is my mother?”
“Er, well, I think you will have to sit down first. There’s something I have to explain…”
He hated to be the one to say it, but he had seen the look in her eyes. His awkward sentence had forewarned her. She knew what was coming.
“This is agent Pierce, she’s going to take you to a place you can stay for a while anyway, until we get something sorted for you. I’m afraid the people I work for will need to ask you some questions concerning your father to. But they won’t take long” Black tried to say in a reassuring way.
The short, friendly-faced woman offered Hecatius her hand. She looked at it for a moment, hesitating, and then grasped it.
“What would you like to do when you’re grown up?” asked agent Pierce, hoping that small-talk would help the child not dwell on the trauma.
“I want to join Starfleet and explore the universe”
THE END .... OR JUST THE BEGINNING>
