Read Online Uhura's Song by Janet Kagan - Free Book Online
Authors: Janet Kagan
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, adventure, Space Opera, Performing Arts, Interplanetary voyages, Space ships, History & Criticism, Television, Star Trek Fiction, Kirk; James T. (Fictitious Character)
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Explain to him!"
"Captain?" said Spock, clearly expecting him to do so.
Kirk did his best. "Spock, hunches aren't something a person has on command- and certainly not under this kind of pressure!"
"I have observed this human ability to function under conditions of extreme pressure. You yourself, Captain..."
"I'm not the one we're talking about. You make no allowance for individual response." Even as he said it, Kirk knew he had made the matter no clearer to Spock. He tried another tactic. "Dr. Wilson, perhaps you have a prescription?"
"Talk, Mr. Spock. Tell us everything you know about what's on those screens. Who knows? That might trigger something for someone, maybe even you."
"Go ahead, Spock." Kirk nodded.
The rest of his senior officers gathered closer, drawn in by the possibility that they too might be of help. Wilson relinquished her chair to Sulu. Kirk found himself watching the screens over her head while Spock took them on a guided tour of this region of space.
Red giants, white dwarfs, double stars, globular clusters that would be seen as single stars, X-ray sources that would be invisible to the Eeiauoan or human eye...Spock's long slender finger indicated each in turn but his focus of attention remained on Uhura. That's hardly what I call taking the pressure off, Kirk thought. Perhaps it's time I created a little diversion.
Spock was saying, "This is a visible pulsar."
"Pulsar?" said Wilson. At Sulu's look of horror, she said, "Medicine I know. You tell me what a pulsar is and I'll tell you whatever you need to know about the organ of Zuckerkandl."
Sulu made a polite scoffing noise but explained anyway, "It's a neutron star that seems to blink, sometimes in visible wavelengths, sometimes in X rays. Small but massive. It spins very fast and each time the magnetic pole sweeps by, it shows up as a burst of X rays." He flipped his hand to demonstrate. "Think of it as a lighthouse." He looked at her slyly and inquired, "Lighthouse?" She nodded, and Sulu grinned and said, "Just checking. Anybody who doesn't know what a pulsar is..." He left the thought unfinished but Kirk could see Wilson wasn't going to hear the end of this for some time.
Sulu went on, more seriously. "Each has its own very specific rate of spin. They're so regular, you could set your watch by them."
Chekov put in, "They are very useful to a nevigator."
"I'll bet they are!- Go on, Mr. Spock, I apologize for the interruption. What's its pulse rate?"
Sulu laughed. Spock said merely, "The periodicity of this particular pulsar is ninety-five flashes to the minute."
"Normal," she pronounced, in a tone of satisfaction.
"Dr. Wilson, the normal pulse for the human adult is between seventy and ninety beats a minute." Spock had evidently caught the joke but was treating it with his usual literal-mindedness. "Unless, of course, you refer to the normal heartbeat of a human child."
"Normal for an adult Eeiauoan, Mr. Spock. I told you: medicine, I know. If there were any justice in the universe, that would be our lighthouse, too."
Uhura turned suddenly to stare at Wilson. "Evan? What's the pulse rate for an Eeiauoan child?"
"Somewhere between 120 and 125 beats a minute, Nyota. Is that any help?"
Instead of answering, Uhura turned sharply back to Spock. "Mr. Spock, is there a visible pulsar of that periodicity- one that the Eeiauoan eye could see from any of these worlds?"
"If you will permit me..." He took the chair from her and made some few movements at the computer console. After a moment the display changed, although the stars still showed white on a black field. Spock pointed. "This," he said, "would be visible to an unassisted Eeiauoan eye from three worlds in this quadrant."
Uhura took a deep breath. "Can you tell me, Mr. Spock- two thousand years ago, when the Eeiauoans left
"Captain?" said Spock, clearly expecting him to do so.
Kirk did his best. "Spock, hunches aren't something a person has on command- and certainly not under this kind of pressure!"
"I have observed this human ability to function under conditions of extreme pressure. You yourself, Captain..."
"I'm not the one we're talking about. You make no allowance for individual response." Even as he said it, Kirk knew he had made the matter no clearer to Spock. He tried another tactic. "Dr. Wilson, perhaps you have a prescription?"
"Talk, Mr. Spock. Tell us everything you know about what's on those screens. Who knows? That might trigger something for someone, maybe even you."
"Go ahead, Spock." Kirk nodded.
The rest of his senior officers gathered closer, drawn in by the possibility that they too might be of help. Wilson relinquished her chair to Sulu. Kirk found himself watching the screens over her head while Spock took them on a guided tour of this region of space.
Red giants, white dwarfs, double stars, globular clusters that would be seen as single stars, X-ray sources that would be invisible to the Eeiauoan or human eye...Spock's long slender finger indicated each in turn but his focus of attention remained on Uhura. That's hardly what I call taking the pressure off, Kirk thought. Perhaps it's time I created a little diversion.
Spock was saying, "This is a visible pulsar."
"Pulsar?" said Wilson. At Sulu's look of horror, she said, "Medicine I know. You tell me what a pulsar is and I'll tell you whatever you need to know about the organ of Zuckerkandl."
Sulu made a polite scoffing noise but explained anyway, "It's a neutron star that seems to blink, sometimes in visible wavelengths, sometimes in X rays. Small but massive. It spins very fast and each time the magnetic pole sweeps by, it shows up as a burst of X rays." He flipped his hand to demonstrate. "Think of it as a lighthouse." He looked at her slyly and inquired, "Lighthouse?" She nodded, and Sulu grinned and said, "Just checking. Anybody who doesn't know what a pulsar is..." He left the thought unfinished but Kirk could see Wilson wasn't going to hear the end of this for some time.
Sulu went on, more seriously. "Each has its own very specific rate of spin. They're so regular, you could set your watch by them."
Chekov put in, "They are very useful to a nevigator."
"I'll bet they are!- Go on, Mr. Spock, I apologize for the interruption. What's its pulse rate?"
Sulu laughed. Spock said merely, "The periodicity of this particular pulsar is ninety-five flashes to the minute."
"Normal," she pronounced, in a tone of satisfaction.
"Dr. Wilson, the normal pulse for the human adult is between seventy and ninety beats a minute." Spock had evidently caught the joke but was treating it with his usual literal-mindedness. "Unless, of course, you refer to the normal heartbeat of a human child."
"Normal for an adult Eeiauoan, Mr. Spock. I told you: medicine, I know. If there were any justice in the universe, that would be our lighthouse, too."
Uhura turned suddenly to stare at Wilson. "Evan? What's the pulse rate for an Eeiauoan child?"
"Somewhere between 120 and 125 beats a minute, Nyota. Is that any help?"
Instead of answering, Uhura turned sharply back to Spock. "Mr. Spock, is there a visible pulsar of that periodicity- one that the Eeiauoan eye could see from any of these worlds?"
"If you will permit me..." He took the chair from her and made some few movements at the computer console. After a moment the display changed, although the stars still showed white on a black field. Spock pointed. "This," he said, "would be visible to an unassisted Eeiauoan eye from three worlds in this quadrant."
Uhura took a deep breath. "Can you tell me, Mr. Spock- two thousand years ago, when the Eeiauoans left
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