Title: Dear Sam 24
Author: Istannor
Series: TOS
Part: 1/1
Rating: [PG13]
Codes: 
Summary: We give our thanks to Ambassador Spock's estate for
allowing us to view these records. It allows us an unusual
insight into the process by which the most famous Command
team in Starfleet history, became a team.

Disclaimer: These are the characters of Paramount and
Viacom. They own them. I only check 'em out from the
library. I promise to bring 'em back.

Captain James T. Kirk
USS Enterprise NCC-1701
C/O Starfleet Operations
Earth Central


STARFLEET DIPLOMATIC COURIER, CODED SECURE
George Samuel Kirk Jr.
Bioagricultural Industries, Kirk Inc
Deneva Central
17 Junque St.
Deneva, UFP

Dear Sam,


Everything is calmer than the last time I wrote to you.  I
re-read the letter I sent you and realized how blind I was.
McCoy wasn't the only one blaming himself unnecessarily.  I
did the right thing and took the right path.  To try to take
responsibility for Li Chu's death lessens the value of her
decision to sacrifice herself for a child's sake.  I will
not be a party to anything that demeans her choice, freely
made.

You are right, of course, and I saw it when I looked back at
the letter.  I'll go apologize to McCoy, since it
is now obvious why he was looking at me like I was the one
in denial.  I guess I was being a blind idiot.  Thank you
for your honesty.  You know I depend on it to help me stay
on the straight and narrow.

We're just finishing getting our passengers back to
civilization.  I'll be glad to have them off the ship in a
way, and in another way, I'll miss them.  It was kind of fun
having kids running around the ship.  They made our whole
crew laugh and want to play with them.

Scotty gave the kids a tour of the engine room and took some
of the older ones and their parents on a tour of the
tunnels.  Spock played his harp for them and Uhura sang.
Sulu gave some of them fencing lessons.  I had some fun with
them, too.

Remember when you would take me and my friends out near the
water hole, build a campfire, and tell stories all night?
I took them to the ship's Arboretum and put up a camp stove,
the kind that emits heat and glows red.  Sorry, I couldn't
manage wood smoke.

I dimmed the lights and opened the port viewing window.  It
wasn't the same as an Iowa night with the stars stretching
out above us forever and ever.  I could feel the stars call
me in those days, Sam.  It hasn't changed.

I told stories to children I barely knew and I heard the
echo of your voice, Mom's voice, Dad's voice, Granddad's
voice... and the others.  For time untold, man has sat and
told stories beneath the stars.  Now, I tell stories among
the stars.  Uhura came in while we were telling stories.
She joined us and told this story.

She said it was Li Chu's favorite story as a young child.
Don't ask me how Nyota knows stuff like that. When I ask
her, she just smiles and says, "I communicate, Captain."

I should have begged her to marry me. Pride was a really
stupid animal that I used to take for long walks. I should
have chained the damn beast and left it alone. Now, he only
gets out to piss in the bushes every once in a while. He has
been slapped around so much by reality; he knows better than
to rear his ugly head. You live and you learn.

Here it is.  Please tell it to your children so they will
tell it to their children.  In this way, Li Chu will always
be remembered.

Once upon a time, there lived a Dragon in the hills outside
of Taipei.  His name was Shi-soon.  He was handsome and vain
in the way of Dragons, but he was also very lonely.  Some
days, he would wander from his cave full of treasures down
to the river and watch the children of the nearby village
play.  Always, he would remain hidden.

He never told his fellow Dragons this because he knew they
would make fun of him.  "Shi-soon, how can you watch people
and not eat people.  You are a shameful Dragon."  So, he
watched in silence and never told any other Dragon where he
went.

One day, he saw a child wander away from the others at the
river.  They called this child, Zephyr, for she talked so
much she caused a breeze.  She had become one of Shi-soon's
favorites.  She was so full of life and joy that the sound
of her laughter always made him smile.

He watched with growing concern as Zephyr wandered farther
and farther away from the other children.

Out of the corner of his giant eye, Shi-soon saw a great
snow Leopard. It was one of the deadliest hunters and it had
come down from the mountains to search for game.  It began
to crouch low and hunt Zephyr.  It sniffed her scent and
inched toward her through the tall undergrowth.  Shi-soon
rose up, filled with alarm.  He hesitated.  If he saved the
child, all the other Dragons would name him a fool.  If he
allowed her to be eaten, he would be sad forever.  

He made his decision.

He soared up into the air, swooped down to pick up little
Zephyr, and flew away into the sky.  

The children saw the Dragon's shadow and began to scream in
fear.

The men and women ran from the village, ready to make war on
Shi-soon.  They followed his flying form up into the
mountains, but they lost him.  They searched bravely, but to
no avail. Finally, they were about to give up hope of ever
finding little Zephyr alive.  Sure she was eaten already,
they began to rend their shirts and whiten their faces in
mourning.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of childish laughter.  They
followed it to its source.  Lying down, with the small
child between his giant claws, was Shi-soon.  Zephyr had her
arms wrapped around his long whiskers and her head rested
against his giant canine.  She was telling the story of the
Three Snow Bears and the Potter.  When she saw the men and
women come into the clearing, she called them all over to
meet her new friend and hear the end of the tale.

They watched in awe as Shi-soon blinked one giant eye at
them, smiled, and returned his attention to Zephyr.
Later that evening, they roasted charberries over Shi-soon's
nostrils, and ate to the sound of Zephyr's stories.

Shi-soon became a friend to all the villagers.  Their
children played in safety and contentment.  The villagers
fed him the fattest of their herds and he shared his
treasures with them all.  Zephyr told him stories all of her
life, as did her children, and her children's children, even
unto this very day.

The End.

I guess Li Chu shared the greatest treasure she had, her
life.

Good night, Sam.

Love,

Jim
October 20, 1999
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