‘Tis Charity
to Show
Chapter VI
Part 4
“You what?!”
Rand couldn’t
believe what she was hearing! She
just about had it with Mr. Spock; he had walked out on her when she and the
others needed his assistance during Dr. Begay’s bizarre attack, and now he had
the unmitigated gall to call a meeting at an hour when everyone was winding down.
“Spock, why the
hell are we running around this tree again?! I thought this was all settled! Why are we having another night search?! And further off the settlement grounds,
to boot?! At least, if we’re going
further out, we should wait ‘till morning—not that we’ll find anything—but what
the hell?!”
“Is it not
logical to go beyond the encampment if evidence fails to materialize within its
confines?”
“Mr. Spock,
if we couldn’t find anything in these quadrants, then it’s safe to say we won’t
find anything outside of them!”
“Yeoman, it
is not up to you as to how this search is to be conducted. This mutinous behavior of yours is most
disturbing…”
“Mutinous behavior?! It is being mutinous to point out that nothing’s been
found to give us even a hint of the whereabouts of Dr. Ellis’ expedition
party?! Why would you have us
search the outskirts, at this hour I might add, when everything on this site is
exactly how they left it? Tools,
excavation, paperwork—everything in its place?! I can tell you right now they never left this encampment,
they couldn’t have! That’s
the only thing we can be sure of, even after you had us search this goddamn
site twice, Mr. Spock! Twice! Nothing’s been found!”
Spock stood
glaring at Rand, but she pressed on undeterred.
“I gave you
the logs, which had nothing more but a manic woman complaining about her eczema
before the recording was cut off completely! All communication to the ship is gone—which you won’t
address! I say that we should try
to get back to the ship and declare this mission unsuccessful!”
Murmurs from
the other crewmembers ran like a chorus behind her; Rand had become their
voice, and by the pointed glare that was emanating from Spock, it was patently
clear that he resented it.
When Spock
spoke, every word was drawn out, every syllable stressed, his vocal pitch
dangerously low.
“We are to
prepare for this search. I would
strongly advise that all of you retrieve your equipment. Now.”
“Rand is
right! Why can’t we do this in the
morning! We’re all very tired,
Spock,” Riley whined.
Standing
next to Riley was Dr. Begay, silent, solemn, still quite shaken from his
psychotic episode from earlier this evening, but nodding in agreement with the
others. Riley continued.
“It doesn’t
make any sense! You’ve been acting
like a slave driver, making us go over areas we’ve gone over before with no
results! And now we have to search
the outskirts now?! Captain
Kirk would never treat us like this!
That’s for damn sure!”
More murmurs
of agreement. Mr. Spock’s jaw clenched,
his nostrils flared like a predator smelling blood, and his eyes hardened for a
moment before they returned to their familiar emotionless calm. When the first officer spoke
again, he did so in a level tone while he scanned the faces of each individual
officer, making it a point to meet their eyes.
“I’m afraid
that this type of behavior is all too typical of terrans, who, as you’d say,
‘can’t make the cut when the going gets tough.’ “
He crossed
his arms, his brows knitted.
Spock’s voice was of a much lower pitch now; it carried a simmering rage
he contained with enough deftness to be under wraps, but yet still audible.
“You will
obey my orders, for that, I am certain.
If any one of you see fit to go against me, then you will be looking at
a possible court-marshal. That is
your choice.”
His brow
raised, Spock unfolded his arms and left the room. The rest of the landing party looked at each other, eyes
wide, their bodies jittery.
“Can he do
that?! Can he court-marshal us,
even if we have legitimate questions about his command?!” asked Rand in a
hushed panic.
“Look, I
don’t know and I’m not willing to test Mr. Spock on this! Can we just do what he ‘commands’ of us
and get it over with? Let’s just
get this done,” said Dr. Begay, disgusted.
The
crewmembers left their spots, exhausted and beaten, to get ready for the
search.
