Mark of the Dragon

Chapter 8 - The Tale

"He's coming!" Seana said. "They're finished."

Grandma Abby came to look through the window too, peering to see the fresh turned earth where it laid over her granddaughter. But the rock wall was too tall. Either that or she was too small to see it from there. Either way, Seana was right. Varik was coming their way.

Spock got up, offering the bereaved man his chair by the fire as he came in out of the rain. He was wet to the skin, but in truth Spock saw Varik barely noticed. How different it was to lose a friend in this way; to be lacking the necessary hours to prepare, to meditate in private as was the Vulcan way, rather than to have to see to the arrangements for a Human funeral, and to plan for the future of a little girl.

Varik stopped in front of the fire, turning to Spock as he stood there.

"It was good of you to come, Sir," he said. "Thank you."

"I grieve with thee Commander Varik," Spock said.

Varik nodded. It was illogical to deny what was in his heart, but neither was there any reason to declare it aloud. He turned to Admiral Kirk who stood beside his Vulcan friend.

"And you Sir. Thank you Admiral. Katlin would be honored to know you came," Varik said.

"It's the least we could do Commander," Kirk said his palms turned up in a giving gesture. "I must admit, I was a bit curious to see the place where you and your partner did your most famous study."

Varik nodded, glancing towards the crowd in the inner room. Most were local people, but a few were from Starfleet. All were fully involved in their method of mourning, the loud drunken voices competing for the closest attachment, the most honored memory, or the best story available about the dead. Katlin would have understood it. It had been the same when her father's sister died, but she had hated it back then and he felt fairly certain she would have felt the same way about it now. She loved the quiet and solitude of the pub's front room, and the inn its keeper ran in the rooms up above. They stayed here part of the time during the months they worked in the area, and the memories of Katlin in this very room were quite strong.

"Can I take your coat Varik?" Grandma Abby asked. "You're soaked through and through. Katlin would never forgive me if I didn't see you dried out after you standing with her."

The Vulcan raised a brow at the old Human woman Katlin had been so fond of. "Yes of course Grandma Abby," he said and he shrugged it off, allowing her to hang it from a peg on the wall.

"Now?" Seana asked her grandma anxiously as she waited for Varik to sit down.

"Give him a minute child. He only just got here. Hasn't even got his ale yet," Grandma Abby declared and she sent Seana off to find the Innkeeper to get him a pint of his best ale.

"Is she planted?" Grandma Abby said.

"Quite securely. I am confident the workmen have done a satisfactory job," Varik reported.

"Well that is good then. Wouldn't want her floating to the surface in a fortnight or two. That happens sometimes when they bury them in the rain," the old woman said.

"No. That would not do," Varik agreed. "I believe she is there to stay."

Grandma Abby nodded as Seana came back with Varik's ale. Kirk went back to the crowd, and the two Vulcans sat down dutifully by the fire; Varik to dry out, and Spock to offer a fellow Vulcan a sense of support when he was far from home.

"Thank you," Varik told Seana.

"You are welcome, Sir." Varik raised a brow and waited. "I mean Father," she corrected herself self-consciously, and still she waited.