The Joy Machine 19 - Epilogue
Title: The Joy Machine
Author: Soledad
For disclaimer, rating, etc. see the secondary index page
Author’s notes:
The former Yeoman Tina Lawton was the very young crewmember turned into a lizard in “Charlie X”. Both Elba II and Governor Donald Cory featured in “Whom Gods Destroy”.
EPILOGUE
Elba II was vastly different from the unfriendly, hostile world it had been during Kirk’s previous visit. Granted, the atmosphere of the Mars-sized planet was still poisonous, so that people still needed the domed habitats to survive. But - thank to the tireless work of the terraforming teams that had been laboured here for years - deep in the oceans the first buds of life were stirring already, and according to the plans, due the artificially accelerated evolution Elba II would be fully hospitable within a decade or two.
Donald Cory, the colony leader, introduced the Enterprise officers to the terraformers who were currently working on this brave project, and he described the next steps of the enormous work.
“Dr. Marcus means that we can expect the first indigenous plants in five or six years,” he explained with obvious joy. “Imagine this, Jim: we’re going to have a flora matching the specific circumstances of our planet. They’ll help us to turn this lifeless slab of rock into an actual, living world!”
“Dr. Marcus?” Kirk repeated in surprise. “As in Dr. Carol Marcus?”
Cory nodded. “The one and only. She’s the best in her field. Do you happen to know the lady?” His twinkling eyes revealed that he wouldn’t be surprised, had the answer be yes.
“We used to know each other,” Kirk replied slowly, “but that was ages ago.”
“She’d regret not having met you,” Cory said. “But she’s attending to a conference on Deneva right now.”
“I doubt that she’d shed any tears over the loss,” Kirk mumbled. “We’ve both changed a lot since then.”
Donald Cory, on the other hand, hadn’t changed much since their previous encounter. His already thin hair had perhaps become even thinner, and there might be a few more wrinkles carved into his broad, benevolent Asian face, but the joy of life and natural optimism were radiating from him just like they always had. In medical circles was often mentioned that the best therapy on Elba II was the personality of its governor, and once again, Dr. McCoy felt this rumour confirmed.
The building housing the clinic had changed a lot, though. The original cells had been put down, their walls broken through, in order to create spacious, comfortable quarters for the patients. The personnel - mostly Vulcans and Deltans now - wore the usual blue coveralls with the emblem of a doe released from a protective hand like in other similar facilities, but the whole institute reminded more of a spa already than of a psychiatric clinic. The sight reassured Decked a bit that Danielle might enjoy her stay here, as much as it was possible.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After Governor Cory had given his visitors the grand tour, he called in one of his assistants, a very young, blonde woman - she couldn’t be older than 20-24 years - to take Danielle under her wings. As a witness in an important trial, she was given special treatment. The other patients were entrusted to a couple of Vulcan nurses, whose calm competence stood above any doubts, and they showed them to their assigned quarters.
At the sight of the governor’s assistant Uhura, who had accompanied Kirk on this visit to discuss the nature of the conditioning with the therapists, raised her head abruptly in surprise.
“Tina?” he asked uncertainly. “Yeoman Tina Lawton?”
“Dr. Bettina Lawton, actually,” the young blonde woman replied with an apologetic smile. “I’ve just achieved my degree as a therapist.”
“I’ve often asked myself what might become of you after you left Starfleet,” Uhura said. “You were so terribly young then, it’s a miracle that you’ve been able to deal with the traumatic events so well.”
“It wasn’t that easy,” Dr. Lawton replied seriously. “But in the end, I think I’m glad everything happened the way they did. I couldn’t have come too far in Starfleet anyway - there was nothing I’d have been particularly good at. Now I have an interesting job, I can help people to deal with their traumatic experiences, I have a wonderful boss with a heart of pure gold,” she added, smiling at the embarrassed, elderly governor with love, “and soon I’ll have a beautiful home planet, too. What else could I possibly wish for?”
“What about family?” Uhura asked, remembering how desperately the young yeoman had once looked for someone to belong to.
Dr. Lawton shrugged. “I’m still very young… I have time. Until then, these people are my family. I’m needed here - and that feels really good.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dr. Noël and Will Decker accompanied Danielle to her quarters. Those were nice enough, with a bath, a bedroom and a cosy little living room, the arched window of which looked at bizarrely shaped rock formations surrounded by whirling green dust.
“Right now it looks like a lifeless desert,” T’Nira, the Vulcan healer who was spending her practical year on Elba II, nodded towards the not overly inviting sight. “But these rocks will be full of life in a few years. The caves already house hundreds of bacteria tribes that are busy preparing the soil for the near future, when there will be regular air to breathe. It is a shame that I shall no longer be around to see it - it will, no doubt, be a fascinating sight.”
With that, she and Dr. Noël left the room to discuss the details of Danielle’s therapy with Dr. Lawton. Danielle went to the window and looked out.
“In a few years,” she murmured. “I might still be here to se Elba II turn into a garden. Dr. McCoy’s told me that healing is going to be a slow process. I wonder if I’ll still be the same Danielle you wanted to marry all those years ago.”
“You mustn’t give up hope,” Decker chided her gently.
“I do not,” she replied. “I do want to lead a normal life again, one day. But that will take years upon years, and I don’t want you to tie yourself down to me.”
“We’re still engaged,” Decker reminded her. She nodded.
“Theoretically, yes, we still are. I don’t refuse the possibility out of hand that we might find a way together again. But you mustn’t bind yourself right now - and I most certainly don’t want you to do so out of pity.”
“This has nothing to do with pity!” Decker protested.
Danielle gave him a strangely compassionate smile.
“Of course it has,” she replied, “it always had, one way or another. But that’s all right, Will. Go, lead your own life, follow your own way. When we can be reasonable sure what’s to become of me - and if you still insist - we can speak about a shared future again. Deal?”
“Deal,” Decker laughed and hugged her. “Take care of yourself, chérie.”
“Nothing can happen to me here,” Danielle replied. “But you’ll need to be careful out there. Will you come and see me sometimes?”
“If I may, I will,” Decker promised.
“I’d like that,” she kissed him, and then pushed him away. “And now go. Don’t make your captain wait for you.”
STORY COMPLETE!
Copyright: Soledad Cartwright@1996-06-16
Author: Soledad
For disclaimer, rating, etc. see the secondary index page
Author’s notes:
The former Yeoman Tina Lawton was the very young crewmember turned into a lizard in “Charlie X”. Both Elba II and Governor Donald Cory featured in “Whom Gods Destroy”.
EPILOGUE
Elba II was vastly different from the unfriendly, hostile world it had been during Kirk’s previous visit. Granted, the atmosphere of the Mars-sized planet was still poisonous, so that people still needed the domed habitats to survive. But - thank to the tireless work of the terraforming teams that had been laboured here for years - deep in the oceans the first buds of life were stirring already, and according to the plans, due the artificially accelerated evolution Elba II would be fully hospitable within a decade or two.
Donald Cory, the colony leader, introduced the Enterprise officers to the terraformers who were currently working on this brave project, and he described the next steps of the enormous work.
“Dr. Marcus means that we can expect the first indigenous plants in five or six years,” he explained with obvious joy. “Imagine this, Jim: we’re going to have a flora matching the specific circumstances of our planet. They’ll help us to turn this lifeless slab of rock into an actual, living world!”
“Dr. Marcus?” Kirk repeated in surprise. “As in Dr. Carol Marcus?”
Cory nodded. “The one and only. She’s the best in her field. Do you happen to know the lady?” His twinkling eyes revealed that he wouldn’t be surprised, had the answer be yes.
“We used to know each other,” Kirk replied slowly, “but that was ages ago.”
“She’d regret not having met you,” Cory said. “But she’s attending to a conference on Deneva right now.”
“I doubt that she’d shed any tears over the loss,” Kirk mumbled. “We’ve both changed a lot since then.”
Donald Cory, on the other hand, hadn’t changed much since their previous encounter. His already thin hair had perhaps become even thinner, and there might be a few more wrinkles carved into his broad, benevolent Asian face, but the joy of life and natural optimism were radiating from him just like they always had. In medical circles was often mentioned that the best therapy on Elba II was the personality of its governor, and once again, Dr. McCoy felt this rumour confirmed.
The building housing the clinic had changed a lot, though. The original cells had been put down, their walls broken through, in order to create spacious, comfortable quarters for the patients. The personnel - mostly Vulcans and Deltans now - wore the usual blue coveralls with the emblem of a doe released from a protective hand like in other similar facilities, but the whole institute reminded more of a spa already than of a psychiatric clinic. The sight reassured Decked a bit that Danielle might enjoy her stay here, as much as it was possible.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After Governor Cory had given his visitors the grand tour, he called in one of his assistants, a very young, blonde woman - she couldn’t be older than 20-24 years - to take Danielle under her wings. As a witness in an important trial, she was given special treatment. The other patients were entrusted to a couple of Vulcan nurses, whose calm competence stood above any doubts, and they showed them to their assigned quarters.
At the sight of the governor’s assistant Uhura, who had accompanied Kirk on this visit to discuss the nature of the conditioning with the therapists, raised her head abruptly in surprise.
“Tina?” he asked uncertainly. “Yeoman Tina Lawton?”
“Dr. Bettina Lawton, actually,” the young blonde woman replied with an apologetic smile. “I’ve just achieved my degree as a therapist.”
“I’ve often asked myself what might become of you after you left Starfleet,” Uhura said. “You were so terribly young then, it’s a miracle that you’ve been able to deal with the traumatic events so well.”
“It wasn’t that easy,” Dr. Lawton replied seriously. “But in the end, I think I’m glad everything happened the way they did. I couldn’t have come too far in Starfleet anyway - there was nothing I’d have been particularly good at. Now I have an interesting job, I can help people to deal with their traumatic experiences, I have a wonderful boss with a heart of pure gold,” she added, smiling at the embarrassed, elderly governor with love, “and soon I’ll have a beautiful home planet, too. What else could I possibly wish for?”
“What about family?” Uhura asked, remembering how desperately the young yeoman had once looked for someone to belong to.
Dr. Lawton shrugged. “I’m still very young… I have time. Until then, these people are my family. I’m needed here - and that feels really good.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dr. Noël and Will Decker accompanied Danielle to her quarters. Those were nice enough, with a bath, a bedroom and a cosy little living room, the arched window of which looked at bizarrely shaped rock formations surrounded by whirling green dust.
“Right now it looks like a lifeless desert,” T’Nira, the Vulcan healer who was spending her practical year on Elba II, nodded towards the not overly inviting sight. “But these rocks will be full of life in a few years. The caves already house hundreds of bacteria tribes that are busy preparing the soil for the near future, when there will be regular air to breathe. It is a shame that I shall no longer be around to see it - it will, no doubt, be a fascinating sight.”
With that, she and Dr. Noël left the room to discuss the details of Danielle’s therapy with Dr. Lawton. Danielle went to the window and looked out.
“In a few years,” she murmured. “I might still be here to se Elba II turn into a garden. Dr. McCoy’s told me that healing is going to be a slow process. I wonder if I’ll still be the same Danielle you wanted to marry all those years ago.”
“You mustn’t give up hope,” Decker chided her gently.
“I do not,” she replied. “I do want to lead a normal life again, one day. But that will take years upon years, and I don’t want you to tie yourself down to me.”
“We’re still engaged,” Decker reminded her. She nodded.
“Theoretically, yes, we still are. I don’t refuse the possibility out of hand that we might find a way together again. But you mustn’t bind yourself right now - and I most certainly don’t want you to do so out of pity.”
“This has nothing to do with pity!” Decker protested.
Danielle gave him a strangely compassionate smile.
“Of course it has,” she replied, “it always had, one way or another. But that’s all right, Will. Go, lead your own life, follow your own way. When we can be reasonable sure what’s to become of me - and if you still insist - we can speak about a shared future again. Deal?”
“Deal,” Decker laughed and hugged her. “Take care of yourself, chérie.”
“Nothing can happen to me here,” Danielle replied. “But you’ll need to be careful out there. Will you come and see me sometimes?”
“If I may, I will,” Decker promised.
“I’d like that,” she kissed him, and then pushed him away. “And now go. Don’t make your captain wait for you.”
STORY COMPLETE!
Copyright: Soledad Cartwright@1996-06-16