The BLTS Archive- Sov-Masu
by Fizzbin (fzzbin2@att.net)

---

Archive: OK for ASC/EM(L) and BLTS, others please ask.

Disclaimer: Yea, yea, and verily, Paramount and Viaborg doth own
the whole kit and kaboodle.  I don't have a claim to it and I
certainly don't intend to make a penny off of it.  So, dinnae
fash yersel!  Not completely sure of the rating on this, so
I went PG-13 just to be sure.

Comments:  I think the phrase "soothin' summer shower" is from
"Streetcar", but I'm probably wrong.  If I'm not, consider this
Kirk's version of yellin' "Stella!"

Feedback is greatly appreciated.

---

For what seemed the hundredth time that morning, Kirk wiped the
sweat from his forehead and yearned for relief.  Standing under
the overhang of the chamber hewn into the bedrock of Seleya, he
was able to look out over the plain without risking exposure to
the merciless sun.  Although it kept him from burning, the
shelter did little else to offset the overbearing heat that rose
in shimmering waves from the sands at the mountain's base.  He
wiped his forehead again and poured another glass of water.

Looking out across the plain, he sipped the water and watched the
continuing activity around the Bird of Prey.  The valley teemed
with Vulcans, though few of them showed any concern for the ship.
The work of refitting was nearly completed and, even if it were
not, could not possibly account for the number of people who had
collected around the mountain.

The ancient caves and cliff dwellings were filled with Vulcans,
whose numbers had grown daily and overflown into a city of tents
stretching far out onto the sands.  It was a pilgrimage in
progress, with each new arrival climbing the heights of Seleya to
pass through the temple hall where legend had become reality.
Some, having paid their silent respects, moved on, returning to
their business elsewhere.  Others lingered, as if waiting for
something more to occur.

"Three months," he thought, "three months and they're still
fascinated."

There was a flash behind the rimrocks to his left and the faint
sound of thunder in the distance.  Lightning had been an almost
daily occurrence at Seleya since the night of the fal-tor-pan.
It was as if the combined mental energies of so many hundreds of
Vulcans had set off some sympathetic vibration in the planet's
electromagnetic field, ionizing the atmosphere and building up
static charges.  Almost nightly, the mountain's spire flickered
eerily with blue flames, and deep rumbling noises that reminded
Kirk of polyphonic chant rolled across the valley floor.

There was a faint rustling sound behind him, and Kirk turned to
find Spock standing in the doorway of the chamber.

"May I come in, Admiral?"

"Spock."  Kirk tried not to let the disappointment show in his
voice.  "Of course you can, you don't need to ask every time."

"I am told humans consider an uninvited intrusion a breach of
courtesy."

"I don't think of your presence as an intrusion, Spock.  And you,
of all people, have a standing invitation."

Kirk tried grinning at the Vulcan, but was met with only a
puzzled look -- the same look he had been seeing on Spock's face
for the last three months.

For all the time spent since the fal-tor-pan in trying to jog
Spock's memories, he was no closer to breaking through that
puzzlement than he had been in the temple hall.  Something had to
give.  Soon.  They didn't have much more time.

Kirk waved the glass of water toward the Bird of Prey.  "The ship
is nearly ready."

"Indeed.  Mr. Scott seems to be working quite well with our Vulcan
engineers.  I judge his progress to be more than satisfactory."

"There are an awful lot of extra people down there, Spock.  Why
are they all here?"

"It is difficult to say.  The unprecedented events surrounding my
return to Vulcan seem to have attracted the inquisitive."

"You mean they're curious.  I wonder.  It almost seems they're
waiting for something.  Well, I guess we're all waiting for
something to happen here."

"I do not know what they might expect, but you, however, are
waiting only for the repairs to be completed."

"No, Spock, I'm waiting for a miracle."

The look of puzzlement returned.  Kirk decided to change his
tack.

"Do you know what you'll be doing next?"

"My plans are still undecided, Admiral."

"We're not aboard a ship, Spock, you can call me by my name."

Spock seemed to consider the logic of this, then nodded, "Jim."

Kirk watched his eyes -- still nothing.  He decided to push
again.

"We'll be leaving within ten days."

"I trust you will have a pleasant journey."

Kirk laughed bitterly.  "Oh, I'm sure we will.  It's the
homecoming party that worries me."

"I am certain Star Fleet will be reluctant to lose the services
of so valuable a crew.  A mild form of censure would be the only
logical sentence.  Anything else is a waste of materiel."

Kirk nearly dropped the glass of water.  Instead, he set it down
carefully and turned to face Spock squarely.

"Say that again."

"Admir... Jim?"

"That last part, say that last part again."

Spock frowned.  "Anything else is a waste of materiel."  The
frown deepened.

"Do you remember ever saying that to me before?"

"No, I do not believe..."  The Vulcan's voice trailed off and he
seemed to be considering something very far away.  "We were in my
quarters..."

"Yes!  Do you remember anything else?"

"I remember ... the situation was urgent.  I gave you command of
my ship."

"Yes.  Go on.  What else?"

Spock tried to focus on the incident.  He could remember the
incident clearly.  His ship had been required.  He had
relinquished command as logic dictated.  Surely there was nothing
more to recall.  Yet, the idea lingered in his mind that there
was something he was missing, some detail that was lacking, some
deeper meaning to that bygone conversation that would give it
texture, make it more personal.  He searched his memories, but
found nothing.  He gave up.

"I believe those were the essential details, Admiral."

"Jim!  Dammit, Spock!  My name is Jim."

Spock was startled by the sudden invective.  Before he could
respond, Kirk closed in on him.

"You could have commanded that mission.  I could have simply gone
along for the ride.  Why did you give the ship to me?  Why,
Spock?  Why?"

"I... I do not... Forgive me."  Spock withdrew into himself and
Kirk mentally cursed long and hard.  "I am aware of many
conversations we have had, but you must understand that these are
surface memories only.  It is as if they are stories I have read
in a book, stories that concern someone other than myself.  I...
I do not..."  He shook his head, leaving the sentence unfinished.

"You don't *what*, Spock?  Don't *feel* it?  Is that what you're
trying to say?"

"Vulcans do not have feelings."

"*Wrong!* Wrong answer, Spock."  Kirk pushed himself into
Spock's personal space, as close as he dared to go without the
risk of pushing the Vulcan to flight.  "Don't you believe that,
don't you *ever* believe that.  Believe me -- I know you better
than you know yourself right now."

The two men stood inches apart, staring at one another in
silence.  Kirk was aware of his own breathing tight in his chest.
The tension in the room was as palpable and electric as the
nightly light show above the mountain.  This was it.  Something
had to give.

"Sov-masu!"  A voice cried out from the cliffs.  "Sov-masu!  Sov-
masu!"  The cry echoed back and forth between the rock walls,
rising from a thousand Vulcan tongues.

"Sov-masu," Spock exclaimed and, without warning, grabbed Kirk's
hand, drawing him along in a headlong rush out of the chamber and
down onto the sand.

"What's happening?"  Kirk skidded to a halt bringing the Vulcan
up short and spinning to face him.  Spock dropped his hand and
gestured toward the sky.

"Rain, Jim, rain!"

With that the heavens opened and, with a rushing noise, the
deluge began.  The first spattering drops, huge and heavy,
instantly vaporized, sending up a wave of steam from the sand.
But the rain quickly increased in intensity and, within seconds,
little rivulets began to form and speed away into the plain.

"Sov-masu!"  The cry rose up again and Kirk became aware of a
river of people flowing out of the cliffs and the tents to
collect, like the rain itself, on what had been only seconds
before an arid expanse.  Then the music started.

Between the repeated cries of "sov-masu," rose up insistent
rhythms of drums, tinklings of little bells, and extravagant
warblings from a dozen different wind instruments.  Voices joined
in, singing out what could only be described as a joyful paean.
Groups of Vulcans joined hands, forming circles, and began to
dance in the downpour.  It was not the stately, somber treading
that Kirk would have expected in a Vulcan dance, but an
exhilarating romp, a beating of unshod feet against the desert
floor.  And, between the dancing circles, ran Vulcan children,
splashing water and... *laughing!*

The astounded Kirk managed to close his mouth before he drowned.
When he turned back to Spock, he found him standing arms
outstretched and head thrown back with a look of pure ecstasy on
his face.  He was soaked, with his hair plastered back and his
thin white robe clinging seductively to the lean body that Kirk
had loved so well.  Kirk swallowed hard.

"Spock?"  He raised his voice over the cacophony of music and
song and pounding rain.  "Spock!  I thought it never rained on
Vulcan."

"Seldom, Jim, once in a hundred years or more, once perhaps in a
lifetime."

Spock looked down at Kirk for the first time since the rain began
and was immediately transfixed.  Maybe it was something in Kirk's
eyes, maybe it was in the way the water ran down from his hair,
but suddenly Spock had an overwhelming sensation of deja vu, of
something new yet well-known.  He fought the urge to brush the
beads of water from Kirk's cheek, and instantly began to wonder
if he had ever done that before.

The slight movement of the Vulcan's hand had not been lost on
Kirk.  He moved closer.

"No intrusion, Spock, remember?"

The invitation was unmistakable.  Spock reached out and brushed
his fingers lightly along the other's cheek.  Kirk sighed and
closed his eyes for a moment as he felt the Vulcan's thoughts
graze his own.  The moment passed quickly and Spock stepped back,
his eyes downcast.  When they found Kirk's again, there was a
glimmer of light in them that had been missing for far too long.

"Perhaps the rain is the miracle you awaited?"

"No, Spock, no."  Kirk returned the gesture, briefly caressing
the beloved cheek.  "*You* are my miracle."

At the sight of the upraised eyebrow, Kirk began to laugh.
"Whatever might happen," he thought, "this much I have -- the
rest is inevitable ... like rain."  Taking the surprised Vulcan by
the hand, he drew him into the whirling dance.

That evening, the desert bloomed.

---

The End