Surefoot 20: One Man's Eden...

"Hello!"

The Caitians descended the slope, letting their boots sink into the soft, moist earth beneath them as they entered a large clearing near a set of doors built into the side of the dome. There, a thin, elderly, pale-skinned human male with ash-grey hair and moustache and an oatmeal-coloured robe was kneeling, tending to a small tree, surrounded by two metre-high robot drones in primary colours with manipulator arms mounted on their fronts.

Now he rose, wiped his hands on his robe and approached. "Freeman Lowell. Welcome to Eden - or at least, what's left of it."

Hrelle accepted his hand. "Captain Hrelle. And this is my wife and Counselor, Kami."

Lowell smiled back, grinning as he regarded Kami. "You are... Radiant! Pure Nova! You are Life Itself!"

She grinned back. "Thanks - it makes the cramps and nocturia worthwhile to know I'm radiant." She glanced teasingly at her husband. "You never say anything like that to me."

"I did the important part, getting you pregnant." He focused on the human. "But it's nice to get a greeting that doesn't involve labelling me a Baby Killer."

Lowell nodded, looking subdued and regretful. "Yeah, man, I heard about that. Sorry, my little girl Laura, like all of her generation, grew up on Eden knowing no other place except the stories told them by their grandparents. They're still bitter about having to leave for another home."

"Well, that's understandable, though we'd appreciate it if you could keep them under control."

Lowell smiled. "No, man, it doesn't work like that with us. I'm not a leader, just a representative. We all make decisions together; that's how we get things done."

"Do you get anything done?"

Lowell held out his arms. "We managed to secure a few precious slivers of the ineffably beautiful life from our home, as well as transport to a new world, where they will thrive once again." He looked back at the drones. "Huey! Dewey! Put those tools away, we're done for today."

Hrelle nodded. "I heard that you Edenists reject all technology, Mr Lowell. And yet you're using a starship to find a new home, and use robots for manual work."

"We try to stay as technology-free as possible," Lowell clarified. "But no, I'm not so blind as to not see the contradictions - nor am I so blind as to not see people who are here to help us, not hurt us. Captain, I'd like to invite you and your crew to visit us, our biodomes and our people. Take off your boots - or anything else, really - and relax, get to know us and our way of life. You could learn from us... and maybe we can learn from you?"

"That's a splendid idea," Kami replied first, looking to Hrelle. "The cadets and crew could use a break after the last few weeks, especially given what we will be expecting in the coming months."

Hrelle hesitated, and then asked himself why. Not finding any answers, he simply replied, "Thank you, Mr Lowell."

Then his hearing picked up the sounds of footfalls approaching, and looked to a nearby archway leading out of the biodome, as a group of young people of various races, but all wearing colourful, flowing clothes entered, led by a young human female with dirty-blonde hair and a scent similar to Lowell's. She glared at the visitors with undisguised disgust. "I knew it! I knew they would invade us! They'll conscript us into their Death Armies!"

Lowell looked to her wearily. "Laura, they're not like that..."

She ignored him, striding up to the Caitians, her face a fierce mask. "Tell Herbert It's No Go! Tell Herbert It's No Go!"

Hrelle instinctively drew Kami behind him for protection, his hackles rising. "Listen, young lady-"

But then Kami stepped around and pushed him behind her, stepping forward, holding up her hands and forming a circle with her slender, furred fingers, loudly declaring, "One."

That visibly stunned the girl and her friends, Laura slowly, almost reluctantly returning the gesture, acting as if she was expecting it to be a trick of some sort. "We are One."

"One is the Beginning." Kami lowered her hands.

"Herberts aren't One," a woman in the group said.

"I am not Herbert," Kami replied simply, setting her hands onto her belly. "And neither is my mate. We are Givers of Life, as you can see, not Takers. And my baby does not need to feel your hostility, your negative waves. They are poison to us."

"She's right," Lowell agreed, drawing closer and glaring at his petulant daughter. "They came in Peace, with no weapons on them. You and your friends are the ones who marched in here Banging The Drum. Rebalance." He looked to the rest. "All of you. Your spirits are strong, and that is good, for we will need that strength when we reach New Eden. But it is not needed now, not with people who Reach."

That seemed to placate Laura and the rest, albeit grudgingly, prompting the young girl to add, "We will not welcome Baby Killers."

Kami reached behind her, touching Hrelle's arm as he reacted to the insult, and countered with, "Will you welcome Seekers of Wisdom and Enlightenment? Our people would benefit from a few hours among the Living Things, and among you, learning from you and your ways. Unless, of course, you would be Herberts and deny others that opportunity?"

Laura scowled. "We are not Herberts! We Reach."

Lowell smiled at the apparent agreement, holding out his arms as if to encompass them all. "Tell everyone we'll be having visitors." Then he glanced at Hrelle. "They won't bring weapons, will they?"

"What? No, no, of course not."

Lowell nodded, and began shooing the young people off, before returning to the Starfleet officers. "I was about to have my midday meal. We produce a wide, diverse crop of fruits and vegetables, and are quite creative with our dressings. Would you honour me by joining me?"

Inwardly, Hrelle baulked at the notion of a meal without meat, as healthy as it would obviously be for him, but he looked to his wife for guidance. She smiled and nodded. "We'd love to."

*

SS Valley Forge, Biodome 4:

Rrori was still apologising to Kit in mid-transport, the young Caitian momentarily distracted by the scents and sounds around him as they materialised into a hot, dry, desert terrain of colourful rocks and even more colourful blooms, before he resumed. "I am a miserable, unthinking, inconsiderate wretch-"

Kit straightened the collar of his baggy blue Hawaiian shirt, resisting the urge to tuck it into his equally-baggy shorts as he finally replied, "Good Friend Rrori, I come from an intensely protocol-driven race... but even I feel you are overdoing it. Your apology has been accepted." He looked around, pleased at everything. "This is much like my homeworld." He stopped as his feet sank into the sand beneath them, and slipped out of his sandals to curl his clawed toes into it. "This is wonderful! Even better than the holodeck recreations!"

Rrori grunted; he wore a crimson tripartite Caitian kilt and a vest, but went barefoot, but his reaction to the sand between his toes was less enthusiastic. "This is not so much fun when you have fur. Sand gets everywhere."

Kit bent down and studied a clump of striped blossoms, and the insects buzzing around them. "A pity our squadmates were too engaged to accompany us. It is most invigorating."

"Yes," Rrori agreed distractedly, shaking his right foot - until he saw some scantily-clad young human women nearby, and his tail started wagging, more happily distracted in that direction.

Kit couldn't help but notice. "Good Friend Rrori, your company is of course most appreciated, but in addition to taking time for relaxation, I will be conducting a scientific survey of the Edenist biodomes. If you wish to acquaint yourselves with the more coitable colonists, please feel free."

"What?" The Caitian looked at him, though a portion of his attention remained with the smiling, inviting women. "No! I promised Sasha that I would remain your companion for shore leave!"

"For which I thank you, but I fear you might impede my progress. You would therefore be assisting me more with your absence."

"Oh. Well, if you're okay with that..." Rrori didn't stick around to confirm that.

For which Kit was grateful, more than good manners would allow him to admit aloud. He moved around the terrain, watching tiny lizards scurry, rodents burrow, birds swooping overhead, before settling down against a low rock and watching the sand before him. It was shifting slightly, as if something was underneath, before he realised that it was the subtle vibration from the ship's engines. The patterns constantly changed.

He hated it. Not the sand, but the notion of change. Change was always essential, he accepted, even desirable, a mechanism employed on every level throughout the Omniverse. He thought of the change he made when he decided to leave his homeworld, to escape his repressive government and to change his gender from Warrior Male to Seeker Male, and finally to join Starfleet to become a Science Officer. It had been challenging, excruciating, exciting, and ultimately rewarding.

Now... they were nearing the end of their final year, and from there he would continue onward, get a posting somewhere to complete his Science degree in whatever speciality he ultimately chose. And his friends? Jonas, Sasha, Neraxis, Eydiir, Rrori, Giles? They would go on with their own lives, their own directions.

Even now, they were coupling, spending more time apart than together.

Kit knew it was essential, even desirable.

He still didn't like it.

"Hello."

He looked up to see a middle-aged human female with long black hair, olive skin and a blood-red robe. He rose and bowed, remembering the briefing the Most Respected Counselor gave those visiting the colonists. He formed his hands in the circle. "One. My name is Kit. I come in peace. I bring no weapons or negative waves, and you do not need to fear me, though I might look differently to you."

"That's obvious," the woman replied, smiling. "Are you Qarari?"

Kit started at the question. "You are familiar with my race?"

"Yes. One of your people is with us onboard."

Kit blinked, the breath catching in his throat. "Another Qarari? Where?"

*

The woman led him out of the biodome and into the Valley Forge, to a large room filled with tables littered with various relics and artefacts, some framed with scanning devices he recognised from his training in Science labs.

But his attention fixed on the figure in the centre of the room, clad in a beige jumpsuit and hunched over an ancient-looking device with more modern equipment. He took the moment to study from behind, instantly recognising the signs of a female of his people: the lemon-yellow pebbled leathery skin, the rising row of segmented fins along the top of the elongated skull...

She was Qarari. She was female!

Suddenly feeling incredibly impolite, Kit made a sound. "Excuse me?"

The female straightened up and spun around, her emerald eyes saucering at his presence. "Who- Who are you?"

He straightened up as well, recalling the traditional Qarari greeting of bringing his hands together in a self-clasp. "We Stand Together. I am Kitirik Abyss Zuinthinem Emijiz." He swallowed, his hearts racing even faster with anticipation. "I am more informally referred to as Kitirik, or Kit."

She did not return the gesture, replying simply, "I am Piri. Just Piri. I abandoned my full name and other such nonsense when I left our world. Where did you-" She stopped herself. "No, I heard that one of us had fled for Starfleet. Am I correct?"

"Yes!" He drew closer, unable to take his eyes off of her. "I am currently based on the USS Surefoot, currently following alongside-"

"That is obvious. How long do you intend to stay?"

Her abruptness startled him, but having lived among more... discourteous peoples since his self-exile, he recovered quickly. "Only until this vessel leaves the Demilitarised Zone." He looked around. "May I please ask what made you leave Qarar?"

Piri moved to a set of covers on an adjacent table, retrieving one and covering the relic she was studying. "I suspect it is for similar reasons to you: to escape the restrictions of our world. Had I remained, I would have spent my life as a Breeder, negotiating for producing children for males. But I wanted more. I studied the sciences secretly, in particular archaeology; at first it was to see how our people had become so regimented, but then obtained books on the ancient histories of other worlds. Then, ten years ago, I fled with a Miradorn freighter." Her throat flushed deep red with happiness. "And I have not looked back since."

"That sounds so much like my story," Kit declared, enthused. "I was born a Warrior, but knew I should have been a Seeker, one who studied instead of fought."

Piri seemed to look him over for the first time. "You underwent genetic transgender surgery? Why? You could have retained your superior strength, your armoured plating, and still studied the sciences, and no one beyond our world would have known better."

"I would have known," he told her. "I wanted my outside to reflect my inside." He moved to the table with the covers and began assisting her. "Did you find these relics on the Edenists' former homeworld? Did you join them, or did they hire you to study these-"

"You ask many questions," she noted, sounding amused.

"It is the beginning of wisdom."

Piri made a sound. "The Edenists care little but to lie around, bask, play music and games, make love, gather fruit and pretend that their lives do not depend on the ubiquitous machines that support them. I arrived on their world a year ago and found these. They didn't care about them, so they left me alone to retrieve them."

"Fascinating. Of course I have been studying all the sciences in my capacity as a Starfleet officer, but I must soon choose a speciality or two. I have thought of Xeno-Sociology, though archaeology has proven interesting, too." He peered at one relic before covering it. "This appears Sandahran or even Kalandran in origin-"

She approached, helping him with covering up the relic. "Debrune, actually, under four thousand years of age. A freighter is scheduled to rendezvous with us tomorrow, where they will collect us and take us to Earth. These have helped me obtained a fellowship with the Mojave Institute of Xeno-Archaeology."

"Tomorrow? You will be gone tomorrow? That is such little time."

"But more time than you expected to need, Kit," she replied, her eyes smiling.

Closer to him now, Kit studied the details on her face. He had no sexual desire, of course, and back home the genders never fraternised for long, but he appreciated her aesthetic qualities, as well as her intellect and her desire to go against their people's repressive ideals. "Piri... would you care to share some bugs with me?"

Her fins swelled slightly. "Each of the Edenist biodomes contain insects from many different sections of their former homeworld; I can escort you to some of my favourites."

Kit blinked; wondering if this was his first date.

He decided Yes. "That sounds delightful!" Then, he risked a joke. "It will be great to have you there to pick out the best insects, so I won't have to settle for the lesser of two weevils."

Piri paused halfway out the doorway, before staring hard at him.

And wheezing with Qarari laughter.

*

USS Surefoot, Bridge:

"Captain, we're detecting a vessel at the extreme edge of our sensor range."

Hrelle blinked, but otherwise didn't offer any other reaction as he continued to stare at the screen; the meal he had shared with Kami and Lowell was filling despite the lack of meat, but he was cooking up a massive, space-splitting belch, and really didn't want to let it loose on the Bridge and scare the younger crewmembers. "Location?"

Lt C'Rash glanced back at her station. "387 Mark 14."

He nodded, expecting that answer. "Cardassian space. Just inside their border?"

"Yes, Sir. What should we do?"

He winced; it was getting uncomfortable, and wasn't looking forward to what happens when the gas reaches the deep end of his digestive system. "What can we do? They're staying on their side of the fence, and we're busy here." He called up a tactical display on the main viewscreen, studying it for a moment before asking, "Is that a gravitational disk near the other vessel?"

C'Rash glanced over at the Science station, where the cadet manning it, a Suliban male named Zajan, answered nervously, "Uh, yes, Captain, a Type-6 accretion with a parabolic subspace interstitial flaxor pattern of .54-"

"You're hurting my head, Cadet," he quipped, looking back at his Chief of Security. "Aim your sensors at the disk."

"The disk? What for? It's a pointless, idiotic move."

"Just do it. And any more attitude from you and you'll spend the rest of your shift on the Naughty Step."

She bristled, focusing on her station again as some of the cadets on duty made noises of amusement. "Scanning the disk now, Captain, Sir, though with all due respect, Captain, Sir, I don't-" She paused, leaning in, her tail twitching from the hole in the back of her chair, before she looked at him again. "The sensor readings are reflecting off the disk... increasing its range!"

"I know," he replied nonchalantly. "It's a trick old cats like me pick up along the way. And what can you tell us about the other vessel now?"

"It's a Galor-class warship. What are we gonna do about them?"

Suddenly Hrelle's chest ached in discomfort, and he finally let loose the belch, a long, rumbling eructation that drew the attention of everyone on the Bridge. Then he announced, "We proceed on course. As long as they stay where they are, we're safe."

"Who's gonna be safe from your gas?" C'Rash muttered.

Hrelle turned to her, pointing to the step down from her station to his chair. "Naughty Step. Now."

*

SS Valley Forge, Biodome 6:

Rrori hated water. As a rule he preferred sonic showers to the water-based ones, and only swam when he needed to complete his qualifications during his Academy time. His fur was fine, finer than most other Caitians as befit one of his superior breeding, and as such it took longer for him to dry off than others. Water was there to drink, not to be drenched in.

Now, however, he frolicked in the pool of water in one of the jungle biodomes as if born to it, laughing and splashing with the half-dozen naked Edenist women he had befriended, before they emerged onto the sandy bank, alongside all their clothes. He shook his head and limbs, ignoring the discomfort to focus on the women. Was he wrong, or were a few of them attracted to him? Their scents mingled, and coupling this with all the ambient odours of the transplanted jungle, made him wonder if he was misreading the scents - or their body language.

The thoughts of that fetching new Squad Leader returned to him. Perhaps he was taking the wrong course of action? Seeing women only as potential sexual partners? Perhaps he needed to treat them more respectfully?

He sat up on one elbow, regarding Aurora, a shapely red-haired beauty with strong cheekbones and an alluring smile. "Tell me more about yourselves: your goals and aspirations, your views on galactic politics and philosophy and-"

"Would you like to make love?" she asked.

Rrori blinked. "Yes. Shall we, um, go somewhere and-"

Then Rain drew up, smiling. "And leave me behind?"

"And me?" her sister Snow added.

"What about me?" Dusk pouted mischievously, leaning in.

"Don't you dare leave us out," the twins Summer and Autumn chimed as one.

Rrori glanced around, his excitement growing at the possibility. "You mean you all want to- with me?"