Chapter Four
S.S. Van Gelder
Breathing so lightly that he seemed barely alive, the Master of Onada continued his meditations, his journey through his past…
”What troubles you, Anjin-san?”
Sitting on the wooden floor a couple of meters away, his grandmother could tell that he was having trouble reaching his meditative state this day, some six years after he had arrived at the ancestral homestead.
In that time, Shikiku had taught him the philosophy and martial wisdom that had been passed down from master to disciple – somewhat different than that taught to the students and night tigers – for three thousand years. He had wondered if she was doing this because he was her grandson; she riposted sharply, saying that, undisciplined quarterbreed that he was, he was the only one of the household worth teaching.
Only much later would he understand that to be a Master of Onada, one needed more than strength and courage or even skill. There was an indefinable essence that one possessed – or not. For the first time in three millennia, none born in the household, within the extended Onada clan, contained the necessary quality to become…
…something more than ordinary men.
It started with the breathing. The training continued, with bo staff and wooden boken in place of sword, with the learning of pressure points and nerve clusters and joints and tendons and ligaments and how to cause them to fail; with the art of concealment, even in plain sight…the training continued despite long hours, despite temperatures both high and low, despite fatigue and hunger and pain.
The martial, physical training was only part. There were the lessons of three thousand years of Onada history, the chronicles written by Masters, the exploits of Disciples sent on pilgrimages across the known (and sometimes, unknown) world. There was the story set down by Master Isoroku, who as Disciple journeyed to an island in the north, to meet a boy king who supposed drew a sword from an anvil. Another was the tale of Master Tetsuo, who met a sea captain of great strength, who commanded a ship of pirates and yet was strangely compassionate, who apparently could not die.
At least somewhat credible by comparison was the chronicle of Kenji Onada, who had enlisted in the Japanese Navy during the Second World War, who had flown as a kamikaze pilot. By happenstance, his plane had missed its target and plunged into the sea. Kenji had managed to make his way to a deserted island, and lived with his shame and fear for thirty years, until an American adventurer convinced him that his family would forgive him. Steeling his courage, Kenji had returned home, where his Master had wholeheartedly welcomed him.
Still, the boy had questions about the vocation of the Masters of Onada…
“Our ancestors…they killed people,” he began tentatively.
“Yes,” his grandmother answered, hardly nettled.
“Why?”
There was barely a pause before her answer. “Because it was necessary. Because the Masters of Onada were the ones with the faith, the heart and the skill to do it correctly.” The boy was about to protest, opening his eyes, only to have her silence him with a look of her own. “It is the function of all life to grow, to perpetuate itself, and in the fullness of time, to either surrender itself…or to be taken.”
“Is it right to do that, though? I mean, I’ve read of other disciplines…that don’t…you know…” The boy hated sounded hesitant in front of her. She was keeping quiet this time, which just made him feel as if he was just braiding the rope with which to hang himself. “They make a big deal about avoiding conflict, and, well, doing as little harm to others as possible.”
The old woman nodded thoughtfully, surprising him a little. “There are those, like the Xiaolin of China, who tread the paths of peace. A worthy vocation…for them.
“The sparrow may fly like the falcon, but he does not hunt. We do not take money for what we do, like the ninja” she nearly spat the word, “nor do we follow the bushido of the samurai,, pledging their lives to politicians.” She managed to inject a little disdain there, as well. “The Onada follow a singular path, narrow and even uncertain. We prepare for the coming of the greatest Master…the Destroyer. Even though, Anjin-san, we cannot be sure that he will ever come to be. Yet, we know no other way.”
He was not entirely comfortable with that answer, then or years in the future. Still, there was something… “What about us, then? The Masters of Onada…we surrender our lives, as well?”
“Of course, Anjin-san. We no less than others. But when a Master of Onada passes from this life, the pillars of heaven itself should shake with the passing.” She smiled with the charm of the girl she had been long ago.
The last part of the training was mental, such as the meditation that they undertook on a daily basis. The ability to look inside one’s own mind, she taught him, was invaluable in understanding the world around them. “The universe whispers to itself, Anjin-san, constantly. These musings tell us much, if only we had the ears with which to hear them. Your thoughts must be silent, to hear these whispers.”
Sometimes the boy’s thoughts were so silent that, at times, he could hear his grandmother’s…and, apparently, she could hear his. “You still have questions, boy. Ask, and trouble yourself no more.”
“I just don’t…” He had to take a deep breath to formulate his troubles coherently. “I’m not sure I can always figure out how to do the right thing all the time. The way you seem to.”
“Mmmm….there is an expression in other parts of the world: ‘act as if ye have faith, and faith shall be given unto thee.’ Courage and fear are mirror images of one another, mostly because they are often based upon illusion.
“But enlightment…ahh, a difficult question. That, I’m not sure I can answer for you, for that entails things you must experience for yourself. You must walk in paths that may come easily to others, but demand great sacrifices from you.”
“What sort of paths? What must I do?”
She gave nearly a minute’s thought to this question. “You must place your faith in someone, absent of reason. You must give your solemn word to someone of recent acquaintance. And, in the fullness of time, when someone gives you her heart, you must return the gift, without hesitation.”
The boy shrugged. “How am I to know when I’m to do all these things?”
Obuchan smiled. “That is for to decide.”
And, years later, he would indeed, as yet another misadventure involving his ship and crew came to a head. A young ensign, only months out of the Academy, but possessing the necessary scientific and technical skills to pull the desperate plan that he had devised.
“Captain, I don’t…um, not really sure I can do this.” Her green eyes seemed moist with anxiety and uncertainty. How young she seemed…and yet there was something that reminded him of Obuchan. If only he could help her tap into that…
“I have faith in you, mi hija,” he said, putting what he hoped was a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Take that faith, and make it your own; you will be able to do anything.”
The young redhead gave him a smile that was both charming and sharp. “Yes, sir.”
The old man’s eyes snapped open, for he felt a slight shift in his perceptions. He breathed deeply, his body at once becoming tensed for action. With supple grace he rose from his meditative position.
He did not need to check the room’s monitor to confirm what he already knew. The transport ship had dropped out of warp. They were in orbit above Adigeon Prime.
*****
“Mission log: Stardate 50276.2. Lt. Willow Rosenberg recording.
The Led Zeppelin is continuing onto Adigeon Prime; ETA approximately six hours. Lt. Maclay, Chief Petty Officer Gunn and I have reviewed the general area of Seriffe-sen, the largest metropolitan area on the planet, where we are to concentrate our discreet search for signs of genetic engineering.
In the meantime, I am conducting an inventory of the cargo we are carrying as part of our cover…”
“What the hell is a self-sealing stembolt?”
“It’s a stembolt,” Tara said as she came back into the cargo area, seeing Willow hold a PADD in one hand and a coding stylus in the other, “which is also, and this is just a wild stab-in-the-dark, self-sealing.”
There was something in Tara’s tone that made Willow look sharply at her girlfriend and fellow officer, though she couldn’t quite identify it. She huffed slightly as she rolled her eyes. “Uh, yeah, kinda got that part. I meant, what do you do with them?”
Tara grinned slightly, as happy memories, wonderful in their rarity, cascaded through her mind. “We used to use them on Norpin, putting together houses and buildings for the colonists. The whole community would get together, fabricating the sides and foundations of the buildings; then we’d put them together using the stembolts. Then we’d have huge suppers, everybody bringing something for the potluck…”
“Sounding wonderfully bucolic,” Willow commented absently. She had turned back to her PADD, therefore missing the dark cloud that glided over Tara’s face at that moment.
The blonde pursed her lips and said, “Yeah, that’s me: Simple Small-Town Girl, Pushing ‘Boring’ With a Short Stick.”
With a bit more force than strictly necessary, Willow set her PADD down on the nearby cargo container. “Oh-kay. Let’s get into it.”
Tara crossed her arms, her eyes half-lidded, giving her a deceptively sleepy look. “Get into what?”
“Ever since we got on this cockamamie moon-bus, you’ve been Captain Distant, or failing that, Lt. Commander Snarky McSnark. You gotta problem with me, Tara,” she continued, stepping forward in the other’s space, “do me the courtesy of, y’know, taking it up with me. I don’t wanna read about it two years from now in your personal log.”
Tara opened her mouth, then closed it, then stepped back as if to give herself room to organize her thoughts. “Look, I-I know this is going –“ She stopped to take a deep breath, then tried to clear her mind of anxieties. Abruptly, some part of her summoned an image of Charles Devereux; she found there an anchor of professional detachment that helped to her to discuss her personal problem.
“That little session you an-and I had, right before we left…I’m a little uncomfortable about it.”
Willow blinked, as if not quite sure she heard correctly. “Hold the line there a sec…you said you were fine with it.”
“Y-Yeah, I did…”
“So you go from ‘It’s okay, it was fun’ to ‘I’m a little uncomfortable’? That’s a hell of an evolution there, Tara!”
“I’m just not used to you being that…aggressive.” Tara grimaced as she said the last word.
“Aggressive?” Willow mulled the word over for a second. “Well, okay, I suppose, but that’s because usually you call the shots.”
If Willow had said she was secretly a Romulan agent, she could not have gotten a more flabbergasted expression from Tara. “Wh-wh-what? Me? Are you nuts?”
“Tara, you’re the one who tried that whole ‘let’s sleep apart’ thing,” Willow countered, then continued through Tara’s aborted protest, “and, well, you’re the one who decides which, like, stuff to try out, based on that research you used to do, not that I complained, mind you, and you’ve been, well, out longer—“
“Whoa!” Tara almost shouted, remembering at the last instant to lower her voice; Gunn, naturally, could not be that far out of earshot. “What do you mean, out? As in ‘out of the closet’? A rather archaic, and m-may I say, insulting term?”
Willow blinked again, wondering how she got onto the defensive in this exchange. “Uh, yeah, okay, archaic, yes, we used to use that term back in The Day, but insulting, so not intend—“
“It’s insulting, Willow, because it implies that I had…have something to hide. I don’t. I’m proud of who I am. I don’t need to hide my s-sexuality.”
Willow couldn’t quite keep from uttering a short laugh. “Oh, that is so rich coming from you, Miss We-Can’t-Even-Hold-Hands-In-The-Corridor!”
“Th-that’s different,” Tara countered diffidently, not quite able to meet Willow’s gaze. “We’re Starfleet officers, Willow; we’re expected to behave with a modicum of decorum.” She inhaled sharply, summoning up her counselor’s detachment, even as she squashed the inner voice that muttered about the unfairness of using her psychological training in a non-therapeutic setting. “I think you don’t feel comfortable in a situation unless you’re in control, or at least feeling special in some unique way. Isn’t this just you feeling like you’re not the smartest kid in class anymore?”
“Or maybe it’s you worrying that I’m going to be heading back to Boys’ Town!” Willow thundered.
Shaken, Tara asked meekly, “Should I be?”
“No.” Now it was Willow who couldn’t keep her gaze level. “Tara, I—“
“No, Willow, stop. Let’s not do this now,” Tara cut in. “One of us is going to say something irreparable.” She moved closer, not quite into touching distance. “Why don’t we put this on hold, okay?”
“Is that an order?” In spite of their shared emotional turmoil, a ghost of a smile and even a slight twinkle in her eye.
One corner of Tara’s mouth quirked upward in response. “Just a prescription.”
TBC
_________________ Love is an angel, disguised as lust Here in our bed until the morning comes -- Patti Smith, "Because The Night (Belongs to Lovers)"
|