Star Trek: Duty, Honor, Redemption Read Online Free PDF Page A

highly honorable action, but it meant that she had no family, that in fact she did not even know which of her parents was Vulcan and which Romulan.
    No Vulcan family had offered to claim her.
    Under the circumstances, Spock could only admire the competent and self-controlled person Saavik had created out of the half-starved and violent barbarian child she had been. And he certainly could not blame her for rejecting her parents as completely as they had abandoned her. He wondered if she understood why she drove herself so hard, for she was trying to prove herself to people who would never know her accomplishments, and never care. Perhaps some day she would prove herself to herself and be free of the last shackles binding her to her past.
    “Hmm, yes,” Kirk said, pulling Spock back from his reflections. “I do recall that Vulcans are renowned for their ability to be idle.”
    Spock decided to change the subject himself. He picked up the package he had retrieved before coming into the debriefing room. Feeling somewhat awkward, he offered it to Kirk.
    “What’s this?” Jim asked.
    “It is,” Spock said, “a birthday present.”
    Jim took the gift and turned it over in his hands. “How in the world did you know it was my birthday?”
    “The date is not difficult to ascertain.”
    “I mean, why—? No, never mind, another silly question. Thank you, Spock.”
    “Perhaps you should open it before you thank me; it may not strike your fancy.”
    “I’m sure it will—but you know what they say: It’s the thought that counts.” He slid his fingers beneath the outside edge of the elegantly folded paper.
    “I have indeed heard the saying, and I have always wanted to ask,” Spock said, with honest curiosity, “if it is the thought that counts, why do humans bother with the gift?”
    Jim laughed. “There’s no good answer to that. I guess it’s just an example of the distance between our ideals and reality.”
    The parcel was wrapped in paper only, with no adhesive or ties. After purchasing the gift, Spock had passed a small booth at which an elderly woman created simple, striking packages with nothing but folded paper. Fascinated by the geometry and topology of what she was doing, Spock watched for some time, and then had her wrap Jim’s birthday present.
    At a touch, the wrapping fanned away untorn.
    Jim saw what was inside and sat down heavily.
    “Perhaps…it is the thought that counts,” Spock said.
    “No, Spock, good Lord, it’s beautiful.” He touched the leather binding with one finger; he picked the book up in both hands and opened it gently, slowly, being careful of its spine.
    “I only recently became aware of your fondness for antiques,” Spock said. It was a liking he had begun to believe he understood, in an odd way, once he paid attention to it. The book, for example, combined the flaws and perfections of something handmade; it was curiously satisfying.
    “Thank you, Spock. I like it very much.” He let a few pages flip past and read the novel’s first line. “ ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…’ Hmm, are you trying to tell me something?”
    “Not from the text,” Spock said, “and with the book itself, only happy birthday. Does that not qualify as ‘the best of times’?”
    Jim looked uncomfortable, and he avoided Spock’s gaze. Spock wondered how a gift that had at first brought pleasure could so quickly turn into a matter of awkwardness. Once again he had the feeling that Jim Kirk was deeply unhappy about something.
    “Jim—?”
    “Thank you, Spock, very much,” Kirk said, cutting Spock off and ignoring the question in his voice. “I mean it. Look, I know you have to get back to the Enterprise. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    And with that, he was gone.
    Spock picked up the bit of textured wrapping paper and refolded it into its original shape, around empty air.
    He wondered if he would ever begin to understand human beings.

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    D UTY L OG : S TARDATE