Organia: Chapter Closed

[Cmdr Ba'alyo 0]

The Vulcan knelt in front of him, scooping up soil and rolling it in his fingers. Small pebbles and dirt sprinkled out between them, falling to the ground.

 

The Starfleet captain behind him mused at the tactile quality of the gesture, knowing it was not the most scientific of methods.

 

The Vulcan's shoulder cloak parted as he stood and reached toward the uniformed lieutenant beside him. "If I may borrow your tricorder," he asked evenly, not looking back.

 

The Excelsior science officer looked back at his captain, uncertain about relinquishing possession of his portable sensing device.

 

"Go on," Captain Sulu prompted his junior officer, "and pay attention. Mr. Spock can do more with a tricorder than some people can do with an orbital telescope."

 

Sulu watched Spock accept the tricorder graciously, without commenting on the exaggeration. Still, he saw the trace of bemusement in the otherwise placid face - this was, after all, the one who taught him that Vulcans had a sense of humor.

 

Sulu stepped closer, looking up at the massive empty structure in front of them. With a walled bailey, wind-blown parapets, and moss-covered stone, it looked like the images of a sprawling European castle of Earth's feudal period. Cool mists drifted over the taller towers. "Anything?" he asked.

 

Spock shook his head. "Confirming your orbital scans," he recited. "No residual energy or forms of intelligent life." He glanced around at the familiar setting. "This structure and the surrounding flora seem solid, but they may simply be an illusion maintained for our benefit. If real, it seems unlikely these walls could have survived the eons of erosion that have occurred since the Organians evolved away from corporeal form."

 

Sulu nodded. On his previous visit to the system, he'd been too busy dealing with an arriving Klingon invasion fleet to make a planetside visit. Captain Kirk had left him in command of the Enterprise with strict orders to break orbit and alert the fleet if the Klingons arrived. In the end, he'd been forced to obey those orders, abandoning the landing party.

 

"Hello!" bellowed the Excelsior science officer loudly, catching Sulu's attention.

 

"Lieutenant," Spock chided with a wry look, "the Organians are beings capable of affecting events across interstellar distances. It is likely they are aware of our presence, but if not, it is equally unlikely they could be summoned by something as rudimentary as a loud voice." He handed back the tricorder.

 

The lieutenant shrugged. "It didn't hurt," he offered.

 

"So, nobody home," Sulu surmised.

 

"There are two possibilities," Spock concluded. "They are unable to respond," he paused, "they are unwilling to respond."

 

"Because they don't want to involve themselves in our affairs, or they just left," Sulu rephrased.

 

"It may be impossible to determine," Spock considered aloud. "The Organians may lack observable technology, but their science is quite capable of manipulating our sensors."

 

Sulu stepped up, looking into the sun-dappled slopes and forest beyond. "It looks quite unspoiled." He looked back to the Vulcan. "Perhaps we should leave visit restrictions in place, out of respect?"

 

"That is, of course, a command decision," Spock deferred, "but a prudent one." He went on. "They did indicate that contact with physical beings was uncomfortable to them," Spock noted, pulling his cloak closed against the brisk breeze.

 

Lieutenant Commander Rand walked up the grassy hill toward them, her communicator out. "Shall I inform the Klingons of our findings?" she asked. "Or our lack of them?"

 

Sulu nodded, then looked up. For their own reasons, the Klingons in orbit had chosen not to beam down to the surface. "Go ahead, Janice," he affirmed. "We'll take a few more minutes, then return to the ship." Excelsior was scheduled to bring Spock to Qo'noS for talks on ensuring the post-Organian peace. If he left visit restrictions in place, Sulu knew it might be a century before a starship was allowed to venture back into the system.

 

For the moment, it seemed the Organian chapter of Federation history was closed.