Yesterday Son by A. C. Crispin Read Free Book Online Page B

“And my First Officer, Mr. Spock.”
    Still watching Spock intently, Zar got slowly to his feet, as McCoy put a hand out to steady him. The Doctor’s voice was gentle. “Where’s Zarabeth?”
    His gaze never left Spock as the young man answered absently, though not without pain, “She ... is dead. Killed when she fell into a crevasse in the ice, seven summers past.” Slowly, as though Kirk and McCoy were no longer present, he walked between them and halted in front of the Vulcan.
    Their eyes were on a level as Zar said quietly, “Spock ... First Officer of the Enterprise ... my father.” A flat statement, hanging in the stillness.
    Spock drew a long breath. “Yes.”
    It was startling to see a grin spread over the younger man’s expressionless features, a look of such genuine warmth and happiness that the Humans found themselves smiling too. Zar’s clenched fists relaxed, and for a moment Kirk worried that he might throw his arms around the Vulcan, but something in that remote figure, hands clasped behind his back, seemed [54] to deter him. “I’m glad you’ve come, sir,” he said simply. It was the most sincere statement the Captain had ever heard. The incredible smile was still on the bearded countenance as he turned back to the Humans. “I am glad you’re here, too. Did all of you come here to find me?”
    “Yes, we’ve been searching for four days, now.” Kirk said.
    “How did you get here? My mother told me many times about the two men who came from the future, but she said that the world was going to blow up—the atavachron must’ve been destroyed, too.”
    “We used another method of finding you. A time portal called the Guardian of Forever. You’re right about the destruction. In our present, this planet no longer exists.” the Captain explained.
    The younger man nodded as he pushed long hair out of his eyes and tightened the leather thong at the back of his neck. Pulling his tunic across his chest, he began relacing it. “I followed you,” he said, without looking up. “I didn’t know who you were, I didn’t even suspect. I thought you were aliens from another time, or another world. ... I didn’t even realize you were people. Then you trapped me when I tried to make you go away.”
    McCoy grinned ruefully. “That was a mistake, all right. You sure can fight, son. Were you watching us long?”
    “Since last night. I was over-mountain, hunting, and I saw you just when it was dark. I tried to attack your camp last night, but there was a pain in my head, and I couldn’t approach.”
    “The sonic distort,” Kirk told him. “So that explains why we all kept thinking we were being watched! I was afraid this planet of yours was affecting our minds.”
    Zar nodded thoughtfully, then remembered long-forgotten niceties, “Are you thirsty? I can bring some water. Or, if you’re hungry, I have meat salted in the next chamber. And there’s the kill outside, fresh.”
    [55] “Thanks, but we’ve got rations with us.” Kirk sat down on the floor, opening his kit, and took out four packets. Zar sat down cross-legged, broke his packet open, and sniffed it cautiously. Apparently reassured, he wolfed the wafer with dispatch. A real paradox, the Captain thought, watching him lick the crumbs out of the packet. He speaks like the well-bred product of a modern family, but his appearance and actions are those of a primitive. He dug another wafer out of his kit, offered it to the younger man, who was trying not to eye it wistfully. “We’ve got plenty, Zar. Go ahead.”
    When McCoy handed him the third wafer, Zar hesitated before taking it, searching his memory. “Thank you.” The last concentrate went down slowly, but completely. The hunter licked his fingers clean, neatly and efficiently, and sighed contentedly. “That was good. Like the things my mother had to eat when I was small.”
    “How old are you?” McCoy asked.
    “I have twenty-five summers. Very soon it will be