TOS 21 - Uhura's Song (a) by Star Trek

Author:Star Trek [Star Trek]
Language: deu
Format: epub
Tags: \Star Trek
Published: 2011-01-02T07:59:09.485000+00:00

A child past puberty, Jinx told them, could not be denied his or her ritual Walk into adulthood. A group, in number anywhere from four to ten, went to the camp leader; they announced their intention to Walk by asking the name of another camp that needed their number of adults. They were given as their destination the name of a camp some five days' walk through deep wood.

They were allowed to take only a knife and usefuls to make shelter in the trees. They could, of course, make spears; and they all did. Everybody knew how to sharpen a stick into a spear even if she only used the skill once in a lifetime.

It was a survival test and yet it was also one last lesson, for if even one member of the party failed, the rest remained children— until they formed another party, tried and completed the Walk. It taught that adults relied on one another for their lives: that cooperation was the greater part of maturity. A lesson, thought Kirk, that Stiff Tail had failed to learn.

Jinx did not make light of what they would face: the deep woods were full of wild creatures, many of whom, like the slash-backs, traveled in pairs or packs and wouldn't hesitate to attack people. There were other hazards as well— treacherous rockfalls, flash floods. Her fur spiked and, as she paused to smooth it, Kirk suddenly knew she was speaking of things that had happened to her own party. Jinx had tried and failed; worse, she had been the sole survivor of her party.

And he understood Brightspot's attitude now. "Jinx" was not a name, it was an act of striking cruelty. Into the silence, Jim Kirk said, "I can't call you 'Jinx'!"

Her ears flicked back. "You're angry!"

"Of course I'm angry. I didn't realize the name was meant. I thought it was only..."

"Only sounds, like most of your names," she finished for him. "You must continue to call me Jinx, Captain. It's the only name I have until I earn my own." She touched his arm lightly with the tip of her tail and added as if consoling him, "When you say it, I will know that to you it is only sounds. That way it will hurt neither of us."

"Thank you," he said, for there was nothing else he could say.

Then he wrenched himself back to the job at hand. His people would be at twice the risk on a Walk— they had no long practice dealing with the hazards of the Sivaoan wilderness. He turned to Spock: "Mr. Spock, if Catchclaw's ruse hasn't done the trick, you and I will take a little Walk."

"Just a damn moment, Captain," said Wilson. She was on her feet, hands on her hips, her blue eyes blazing.

He looked at her and said sharply, "More insubordination?"

She snapped to attention; this time her body was rigid with anger. "Permission to speak, sir!"

"Permission granted."

"I should like to point out to the captain that, as a child,

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