them through contested territory. If they were lucky, they would spend less than an hour in the neutral zones …
That is, if they were not interfered with. He knew some of the Romulan and Kshatriyan commanders who patrolled those regions. Good officers, good commanders—and very anxious to test their abilities and their ships against his.
Ah, peace, he thought. Like seduction. Sometimes much more exciting than the act itself …
He made a mental note to set the sonic shower for a very cold cleansing before his next sleep period.
"What can you tell me about T'Prylla, Spock?"
Spock sat stolidly on his immaculate stone meditation plank, eyes closed, deep in the mathematical exercises he had taken up lately, conditional to his entry into the third stage of Vulcan life at age seventy-nine. Kirk knew he wasn't interrupting his friend; Vulcans had the remarkable ability to devote their attention to several things at once.
"She is a most extraordinary Vulcan, Captain. I regret not knowing her better. She has pioneered new ways of logic, ways heretofore regarded as unacceptable by the Spyorna. She mated outside of family pre-arrangements—"
"A tradition you've had difficulties with, if I recall," Kirk said ruefully.
Spock nodded his head to one side. "In my case, the contamination of human blood could be brought to account. But T'Prylla is pure Vulcan, and in many ways her approach harks back to a very famous Vulcan Strovadorz —a philosopher—named Skaren, who recommended the prevalence of inductive over deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is essential, but not a Vulcan's favorite."
"You're saying she uses feminine intuition?"
"A statement worthy of Dr. McCoy, Captain."
"Yes. My apologies. At the very least, she's been regarded as wayward."
"And quite brilliant. For Grake and T'Prylla not to have foreseen and prepared for the dangers of their research is highly unlikely. I must assume that something completely outside Vulcan and human experience has occurred in the Black Box Nebula. We must ready ourselves accordingly."
"How will we do that?"
"I have been studying Mr. Veblen's texts on the new computer systems. The principle of stochastic algorithm is quite intriguing. To set up a portion of the ship's computer which simply models possibility after possibility, always throwing in some unlikely variable, until it produces a situation which matches our own, could be quite helpful."
Kirk regarded the Vulcan for several minutes, thinking. In some ways, this was shaping up to be a routine rescue mission. But Spock's statements bothered him. They could certainly do worse than let Veblen loose—within limits. Kirk wasn't sure he trusted Veblen completely; he deviated from the Starfleet norm in much the same way Spock said T'Prylla deviated from the Vulcan norm. But setting aside a stochastic modeling program seemed reasonable enough.
"I'll get him working on it right away," Kirk said. He stood up. "We'll cross the Romulan neutral zone tomorrow at 1536 hours."
"1536 point 42," Spock said.
"Of course. Forgive my interruption."
"Krawkra," Spock said, a complex Vulcan term roughly equivalent to the Spanish de nada.
Chapter Six
The computer bay was a small room barely ten feet on a side, located several decks beneath the bridge in the Enterprise 's saucer. The ship's main computer was lodged in the walls, which were little more than an inch thick. The room was empty save for a pedestal in the middle and a metal mesh pathway leading to the pedestal. Mason stood on the pathway, notepad in hand, bemused by the complete silence. Here, even the ineffable sensation of being in warp drive was missing. Kirk stood by the pedestal, waiting patiently for her next question. They were ten minutes into the interview and thus far Kirk had given only a precis of his career, which she had duly recorded, knowing she would have to go elsewhere to flesh it out. "I suppose we should get down to the inevitable."
"What might that
That is, if they were not interfered with. He knew some of the Romulan and Kshatriyan commanders who patrolled those regions. Good officers, good commanders—and very anxious to test their abilities and their ships against his.
Ah, peace, he thought. Like seduction. Sometimes much more exciting than the act itself …
He made a mental note to set the sonic shower for a very cold cleansing before his next sleep period.
"What can you tell me about T'Prylla, Spock?"
Spock sat stolidly on his immaculate stone meditation plank, eyes closed, deep in the mathematical exercises he had taken up lately, conditional to his entry into the third stage of Vulcan life at age seventy-nine. Kirk knew he wasn't interrupting his friend; Vulcans had the remarkable ability to devote their attention to several things at once.
"She is a most extraordinary Vulcan, Captain. I regret not knowing her better. She has pioneered new ways of logic, ways heretofore regarded as unacceptable by the Spyorna. She mated outside of family pre-arrangements—"
"A tradition you've had difficulties with, if I recall," Kirk said ruefully.
Spock nodded his head to one side. "In my case, the contamination of human blood could be brought to account. But T'Prylla is pure Vulcan, and in many ways her approach harks back to a very famous Vulcan Strovadorz —a philosopher—named Skaren, who recommended the prevalence of inductive over deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is essential, but not a Vulcan's favorite."
"You're saying she uses feminine intuition?"
"A statement worthy of Dr. McCoy, Captain."
"Yes. My apologies. At the very least, she's been regarded as wayward."
"And quite brilliant. For Grake and T'Prylla not to have foreseen and prepared for the dangers of their research is highly unlikely. I must assume that something completely outside Vulcan and human experience has occurred in the Black Box Nebula. We must ready ourselves accordingly."
"How will we do that?"
"I have been studying Mr. Veblen's texts on the new computer systems. The principle of stochastic algorithm is quite intriguing. To set up a portion of the ship's computer which simply models possibility after possibility, always throwing in some unlikely variable, until it produces a situation which matches our own, could be quite helpful."
Kirk regarded the Vulcan for several minutes, thinking. In some ways, this was shaping up to be a routine rescue mission. But Spock's statements bothered him. They could certainly do worse than let Veblen loose—within limits. Kirk wasn't sure he trusted Veblen completely; he deviated from the Starfleet norm in much the same way Spock said T'Prylla deviated from the Vulcan norm. But setting aside a stochastic modeling program seemed reasonable enough.
"I'll get him working on it right away," Kirk said. He stood up. "We'll cross the Romulan neutral zone tomorrow at 1536 hours."
"1536 point 42," Spock said.
"Of course. Forgive my interruption."
"Krawkra," Spock said, a complex Vulcan term roughly equivalent to the Spanish de nada.
Chapter Six
The computer bay was a small room barely ten feet on a side, located several decks beneath the bridge in the Enterprise 's saucer. The ship's main computer was lodged in the walls, which were little more than an inch thick. The room was empty save for a pedestal in the middle and a metal mesh pathway leading to the pedestal. Mason stood on the pathway, notepad in hand, bemused by the complete silence. Here, even the ineffable sensation of being in warp drive was missing. Kirk stood by the pedestal, waiting patiently for her next question. They were ten minutes into the interview and thus far Kirk had given only a precis of his career, which she had duly recorded, knowing she would have to go elsewhere to flesh it out. "I suppose we should get down to the inevitable."
"What might that
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