I stepped through the open doors. My Husband was playing a 3-D chess game with the Johnson’s primary computer. The Computer’s avatar was that of a tall thin dark skinned human male. It wore old style eyewear – My Husband called them Glasses, and had on a late 20 th Century military utility uniform. The uniform was referred to as BDU or Battle Dress Uniform. The Johnson said, “Good move Chiita, however, as you can see, I have you on the run.”

My Husband only nodded and made a move.

The Computer feigned surprise, “Interesting move. How many do you think this time?”

My Husband looked over to me, “T’Irs, I can do it in two moves.”

I surveyed the board. “Highly improbable, My Husband.” Then I turned to the Computer. It referred to itself as ‘Reginald.’ I asked, “Reginald, how is My Husband’s playing ability?”

“T’Irs, Chiita is at Grandmaster, Level 3.”

I said, “Impressive, however, his boasting may have one reevaluate your claim.”

Reginald laughed.

I scrutinized the board. My Husband had been set up and was in a Rubik Block maneuver. “Reginald will mate you in four moves.”

My Husband laughed, “You too? No more loyalty amongst the crew.”

I knew my Husband was joking as he had said this once before.

Reginald moved his Queen’s knight to the neutral level.

My Husband did an obscure move. Since Reginald had not objected the move was legal. “Mate!”

Reginald looked at the board. “You Castled your King. I wondered why you hadn’t moved it! You had sacrificed several pieces earlier to deflect your strategy. How extraordinary. The last time I know a recorded move like this won a game was when James T. Kirk defeated Mr. Spock. That was a hundred years ago. Bravo Chiita, bravo.” Reginald turned to me, “Well T’Irs, I think Chiita is ready for you.”

I nodded. “May I?”

Reginald moved out of the chair, “Absolutely. Here, let me help you. There.”

As I sat down Reginald gently pushed the chair against my legs. I was at a comfortable distance from the table.

“T’Irs, you may move first.”

I raised an eyebrow. That was a very bold move. “Thank you My Husband.”

We played our first game in several years. My Husband, true to his nature, was aggressive and seemingly random. He caught me off guard initially. I recovered and went on the attack. He defended himself adequately and had placed me in check twice. In the end, I prevailed. However, I did find our game satisfying. “Well played My Husband. I look forward to more matches.”

He smiled. “Thank you, T’Irs. That means a lot to me.”

I considered our situation. Chiita Scar’an, Captain of a Starship, a Soldier who has experienced many things in his lifetime. His wife T’Irs, a cadet, left Vulcan because she wanted to be with her husband. Yet, the sincerity in his voice was genuine. His statement, “That means a lot to me” held a far deeper and revealing meaning. I realized, as of late, my actions might be seen, by other Vulcans, as possibly emotional. I am a creature of logic. I am certain that will never change. “My Husband, that means a lot to me, as well.”

He got up. “Thanks, Reginald. Same time tomorrow, possibly?”

Reginald answered, “Unless someone or something stops us.”

“Walk with me, T’Irs.” My Husband said.

I followed him out the door.

We walked for twelve minutes tens seconds in silence. Then, “T’Irs, how are your classmates?”

“I am assuming you are inquiring as to their well being from my viewpoint?”

He nodded.

“I am also assuming you want my objective evaluation on their performances as well?”

He nodded again and smiled. “You’ll make a fine officer.”

I returned his nod. “I have been concerned with Cadet Rodder’s performance lately.”

He nodded.

“I believe she is experiencing stress.”

“And your recommendation?”

I cocked my head to the side. My Husband was asking for my advice in this matter. “A vacation, possibly something completely different from our school life.”

He stopped and looked at me. “Okay, T’Irs, I’ll leave it up to you. As of tomorrow 0600, you and your classmates are on holiday. One hundred sixty-eight hours.”

 

Episode V

School Days: Vacation

By James C Jones II

 

The wind howled and whipped the rain across the barren hillside. A worn trail, along side of the hill, led up to an old castle. The castle’s stone walls, towering high into the sky, guarded it. This was the place of the mad scientist. His laughter could be heard on still nights and the nearby villagers said the place was haunted. Tonight was no different than any other night. Inside the walls the mad scientist laughed hysterically. Saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth as he cackled wildly. He screamed, “IT’S ALIVE! ALIVE I SAY! ALIVE!” Lightening struck someplace and lit the room. Old pulleys and levers crowded the corners and ceiling. A workbench with test tubes and jars filled with organs, bubbled and oozed smoke and strange smelling gases. “My God, I am a genius. Quick, lower the table!”

The scientist’s assistant, hunched back and near crippled complied. He reached up and pulled hard on the massive chain. It moved and down came the table from the ceiling. When the table reached ground level and the mound beneath the cover moved the scientist cackled again. “It’s alive! I did it. I succeeded where no man has before –“ Thunder boomed and lighting flashed “—As I am Baron Von Litchen.

His creation slowly rose up, the sheet still covering his face.

The assistant clapped, “Master, you did it, you did it!”

Von Litchen laughed harder, a twisted and mad look on his face. A mind on the verge of insanity watched the creature rise. The cover slipped off and the creature said, “Hey! Hu-man, why am I the monster again?”

Litchen straightened up. “Cot, because this is a Hu-man adventure.”

“But this Freakenstein –“

“Frank – Frankenstein –“

“Yeah, yeah, what ever, is almost 3 meters tall!”

Litchen nodded, “We have to work with what we have.”

Cot stared back, “Next time you can be this Forkenstein.”

“Frank – Frankenstein –“

“Whatever, next time you can be it.”

Litchen ran his fingers through his hair, “Okay, fine, next you can be the mad scientist. Now get back into character. The girls will be here soon.”

Se’eee shuffled over, “I wouldn’t mind playing Frankenstein. If you really study the character you’ll know that he was a very gentle creature who was just misunderstood. You humans do that often.”

Litchen ran both set of fingers through his head. “Not you too? Come on Guys!” His voice took on a sound of desperation. “Okay, okay, next time I’ll be the assistant, you can be the Monster and Cot can play the mad scientist, but for goodness sake let’s get back into character!”

Cot said, “Okay, okay, Hu-man, I mean Baron Von Litchen.”

“Thank you!” And he huffed loudly. He whispered to himself for a few seconds, stretched his neck and took a deep breath. His sudden cackle startled Cot and Se’eee. “It’s alive!” Lighting flashed and the sound of thunder echoed in the distance.

 

***

 

Cadet Litchen suggested we run a Gaslight Hunter adventure. He said there was a quick adventure that would let everyone play. I thought it an interesting idea. I found it very satisfying to run an adventure with My Husband, however I wasn’t quite certain I wanted to run an adventure with my classmates, at least not a Gaslight Hunter adventure. Litchen picked a minor adventure. It was titled Frankenstein’s last stand. It did not inspire the impression of adventure. He explained that it was to get everyone use to playing together. It had a beginning, middle, and end. All basically written out. And was extremely short. If this game worked out then we could progress to something more involved like the mainstream adventures. I agreed and reluctantly assumed the role of Miss Susan May Walker, Gaslight Huntress. Stephanie played Miss Theresa Donaldson and Gr’eel had the name Miss Rhonda Lopez. I turned to my companions, “Huntress, are we ready?”

Stephanie and Gr’eel nodded.

It occurred to me that the adventure was too simplistic. The premise was for the Hunters to go in and kill the Monster, the Mad Scientist and his assistant. The door to the castle was in front of us – opened. I discerned a trap. I voiced my concerns and they agreed. We could not go in headlong. We needed a diversion.

 

“People of the Village,” I began, “There is great evil in the castle!”

The crowd was not convinced. I tried again. “You there!” I pointed to one of the villagers. You lost someone you love?”

He nodded.

“You lost that person to the Mad Scientist living in that castle. He’s been running experiments that make you sick.”

The villagers started to stir.

“He is creating a monster as we speak in the name of science. He has been digging up your dead to further his means. He is evil!”

“Evil!” Someone shouted.

I shouted back, “Evil!”

And they returned it with, “Evil!”

“And what does Evil do?”

Another person shouted, “Evil things!”

“Are you going to let Evil do Evil things to your village?”

A group shouted out “No! We will stop the Evil!”

“We must work together. All of us!”

“Evil must be stopped!”

I watched as a few individuals wanting to help us turn into a dozen, which turned in the entire village. They shouted and shook their fists at the castle ready to pick up arms and storm the walls.

“Get your weapons and let us take care of this Evil now!”

The whole place erupted in a roar and they all scattered into their huts and homes. Within minutes, the group of villagers turned into an angry mob, an Army of shouts and pitchfork thrusting. It was time.

 

***

 

Litchen yawned loudly.

Cot scratched his belly and said, “What’s keeping them?”

Litchen shrugged.

“If I were the mad scientist I’d go down to the village and snatch me a few of them –“

“Well you’re not –“

“Hey, not this again,” Cot smiled.

Litchen frowned and walked over to the workbench.

Cot yawned and looked at Se’eee. He whispered, “You think the girls are having fun?”

Se’eee shrugged, “Possibly.” Then he looked out the large window facing the path.

Cot drifted over. He started laughing.

Litchen looked over to the two. He frowned and said, “What?”

Cot replied, “Here they come. And they’re bringing the villagers with them.”

Litchen ran to the window. “No, no, no! They’re supposed to come alone!”

Cot laughed louder. “Hu-man, they foiled your trap.”

Litchen ran to the workbench, then back to the window, then back to the workbench. “Computer,” he calmly said, “Plan nine, please.”

The computer buzzed rudely.

Litchen’s face dropped. “Computer are you there? Computer?”

 

***

 

We stormed the castle. I reprogrammed the computer to respond only to my voice. I discovered that Litchen set a trap for us. My Husband once said to foil a trap you either spring it early, or disable it. In this case, disabling it was the easier of the two. Litchen is a good programmer, but he lacks experience. After I disabled the trap I had the villagers break down the large massive wooden doors. We entered and like the Terran biblical locusts we left nothing intact. The villagers marched up the long winding stairs and entered the laboratory. Cot played his roll admirably. He acted like a true Frankenstein monster and with the assist of the computer he was able to perform superior feats of strength. He tossed villagers like they were dolls. My Husband would have said, “He hammed it up.”

Within ten minutes the Hunters prevailed. We had Litchen, the Mad scientist, Cot, the Frankenstein Monster, and Se’eee, the assistant all trussed up. Three minutes later Litchen cried “Uncle!” A most perplexing term, calling out a relative’s title as an indication of surrender.

“Okay, you guys won this round,” Litchen said. His face was scrunched up. “Next time we guys will have the upper hand.”

Cot walked over to us and looked at Litchen. “What do you mean ‘we’ Hu-man?”

Stephanie said rapidly, “yeah, yeah, yeah. When pigs fly.”

I raised an eyebrow. It had to be an idiom as Terran pigs do not possess wings.

I instructed the computer to end program and open the doors. It did and we walked out. We bid each other farewell as we all had something to do. I walked to the Arboretum to mediate.

 

It was later that evening when Litchen approached me. I was sitting next to an Oak Tree. My Husband had insisted, during the Johnson’s refit, that an Arboretum be constructed. His argument was even though the computer may be able to accurately reproduce any garden setting in any environment it was just that – a reproduction. I agreed with his decision. It was a logical choice for such a voyage as this.

“May I sit next to you?” Litchen asked.

I nodded, “Solitude is only welcomed for so long.”

He sat down and stared off into someplace I could not follow. “T’Irs, what’s really out there?”

“What do you mean by ‘out there?’”

“I mean, really out there – people?”

I was not quite certain but it seemed to me that Litchen was referring to attitudes. “Do you mean attitudes? How people act toward one another?”

“Yeah, I guess. When I joined I thought I would go to Earth and be with more Humans –“ He shrugged, “I don’t think I want that now. I guess I don’t know what I want.”

I remained silent.

“But you T’Irs. You are the most together person I’ve known. You know what you want and you go for it. I like that.”

“Thank you, Litchen, but my wants are so few. Maybe that is why it seems like I have it ‘together’?”

“Really?”

I nodded, “I only want one thing. Everything else is a direct result from that.”

He looked at me. “T’Irs, I’m prying. I know how Vulcans like privacy.” He started to get up.

“Please remain. It is permissible. We are cohorts. I do not mind telling you some things.”

He relaxed and sat back down.

“I want to be able to share things with My Husband.”

He simply said, “Wow.”

We sat in silence for forty-five minutes and twelve seconds. I found it curious that Litchen could be so still for so long. Most Humans can remain silent no more than ten minutes – that is an observation that still needs accumulative data.

“T’Irs?”

“Yes, Litchen?”

“Are you happy?”

“I am content.”

He smiled, got up and said, “Thank you, T’Irs.”

I nodded.

He left me alone to continue with my mediation. I thought ‘how very curious Human creatures can be.’ To me, they are a dichotomy on a swinging pendulum moving from one extreme to another. It is only when they are still, as with Cadet Litchen earlier, do they finally ask the right and most important question. “Are you happy?” Ultimately, that is the definitive question a person should ask during their lifetime. Of course, in further reflection, the answer should be ‘yes.’ If it is not then something is amiss and life should be re-evaluated. I asked myself, “Are you happy, T’Irs?” I answered, “I am indeed content,” which to any rational thinking Sentient is the same thing.

 

End of School Days