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"Calling All Friends"
Rating: PG Defunct Imagination (7) Lieutenant-Commander Luke Anderson finished with the entry on the terminal and stood up. He walked to a counter outside the hydroponics office and picked up a pair of sturdy leather gloves, shears and a bucket. He looked up when he heard the door open, but the plants hid the person from sight. “Hi!” Navta called out. “Afternoon, Navta,” Luke called out. “Log in before you start watering.” “Okay.” Luke turned and walked to the back wall. He started down the row of flower plants, trimming off dying buds and dead limbs. He heard the soft clang of metal against metal as Navta collected watering cans to fill them. Luke made his way to the rose bushes at the back. He started pruning the Old-fashioned rose bush, then moved to the red and white rose bush. He glanced up when he heard something move but there was no one around. He moved to the alien rose bush and began trimming. Luke finished and moved to the purple rose bush. He grabbed a dead limb and reached his shears out to cut it. Navta appeared suddenly, pushing Luke back and away from the bush. Luke dropped the shears as he fell onto his back. He sat up, staring up at Navta. She was panting, standing protectively in front of the rose bush. “You can’t do that, Luke. Percy says it hurts when you cut off his limbs. You have to do it just right or you’ll hurt him. He knows you don’t mean to hurt him, but he’s scared to death. Look at him. He’s shaking.” Navta motioned back at the rose bush. Luke looked at the bush. It was shaking, but so were all the plants because Enterprise was coming out of warp. Luke stood, looking down at Navta. “Navta, Percy is a plant. It doesn’t have feelings.” “Yes he does. Him and that Orilena flower over there both do.” Navta motioned to an orchid nearby. “The one you brought back. She’s kind of stuck up though.” “Navta, these plants can’t talk. You’re just imagining that they can.” “No I’m not!” Navta retorted angrily. Luke picked up the shears and pulled off the gloves. He handed them to Navta. “Percy needs pruned one way or another. He’s looking scraggly. You talk to him but I want those dead flowers and limbs off.” Luke walked away. Navta turned, kneeling down by Percy. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know he was pruning back here today. I’ll talk to him and ask him to let me prune you and Juliet so you two don’t get hurt anymore, okay?” Luke stopped and turned, listening to Navta talk to the rosebush as she carefully pulled dead flowers off and trimmed the dead branches. Luke walked into the office, shutting the door. He tapped the companel. “Anderson to Archer.” “Go ahead.” “Sir, I need to schedule some time with you today. When would be good?” “Will it be long?” “I can’t say for sure, sir.” “I’m heading into a staff meeting. Come to the situation room in an hour and we can talk.” “All right, sir.” Luke tapped the companel again. He sat down at the office terminal and finished some work while he waited. # Archer smiled, watching Travis walk away. His gaze shifted to Luke when he came off the lift and around the corner. “What’s up, Luke?” Luke leaned on the situation console, glancing at T’Pol. “It’s about Navta, sir.” “You told me she has been doing great Monday. What’s changed in three days?” Luke frowned, looking at the monitor. “It’s these two plants I brought back from the twin planets. She calls one Percy and the other Juliet. She says they can talk to her.” Luke looked up at Archer. “Now, I’m not against her having imaginary friends at her age, but today she pushed me away from Percy when I was trying to prune the dead roses and limbs off. She said I was going to hurt him and she became very agitated.” “She didn’t bear her fangs at you, did she?” “No.” Luke’s brow furrowed. “Why would she do that?” “She should never do it. She told me the two plants talk to her, too. Are these imaginary friends of hers causing problems any other way?” “No. She gets her work done. However, I have found her talking to them hours after her shift ended.” “I’ll talk to her, Luke.” “It may not be an imaginary friend, Captain,” T’Pol said. The men looked at her. T’Pol explained, “It wouldn’t be the first time Navta has heard beings that the rest of us have not. Would it be of any harm to investigate the matter to prove or disprove her claims that the plants are sentient?” Archer shook his head. “No it wouldn’t. She does have heightened hearing, so why don’t you observe them for a week and let me know what you find.” “Yes, Captain.” T’Pol walked around him to the bridge. Archer looked at Luke. “She shouldn’t have pushed you so I’m still going talk to her about that.” “Are you seriously considering entertaining her claim that the plants can talk, Captain?” “Yes.” Luke sighed, shaking his head. “Dismissed.” Archer walked into his ready room. # Archer looked up when his ready room doorbell beeped. “Come in.” T’Pol walked in, carrying a data card in her hand. She walked over to Archer and handed him the card. He took it, looking at it. “What is this?” “Listen to it, Captain.” Archer slid it into the slot next to the monitor and tapped a button. Humming filled the room and then a conversation ensued. “Good-morning, Percy,” Navta said cheerfully. “Navta!” the humming voice sang out. Navta chuckled. “How was your sleep?” “Well. And you?” “Good. I gotta sleep with Porthos.” “That is a dog, a four-legged canine.” Navta laughed. “Yep. He curled up at my feet.” “Feet. Feet. If I had feet, I’d dance everywhere!” Archer looked up at T’Pol, tapping the controls. “What the hell is this?” “Percy,” T’Pol answered, “the rose bush. Play the second audio file.” Archer tapped the controls, starting the second file. “Afternoon Juliet,” Navta said. “Humph! Good afternoon indeed,” a crackly, irritated voice growled. “How do you know it’s afternoon? There’s no sun. Didn’t I say I wanted more water? Where’s my water? I want some food too. Are you trying to starve me?” Navta chuckled warmly. “I watered you yesterday. You don’t need any more than that, Juliet. You should try joking.” “Joking! Do you think I’m some lazy rose bush?” “I heard that!” Percy’s voice said in the distance. “I hear all you say, Juliet.” “My name is not Juliet. What kind of a caretaker are you?” “Your favorite one. Here’s some food.” “Water! I wanted water!” “Tomorrow you get water. Now pipe down and behave yourself.” “Or what? You’ll stomp me down?” Navta laughed. “No. I’ll love you all the more. Bye-bye.” “Some company you are!” The audio file ended and Archer looked back at T’Pol. “It took me three days to find the audio frequency the plants communicate on. It was nearly negative thirty-three decibels. Once I was able to record conversations, Lieutenant Sato and I deciphered their language. Apparently the plants speak the same language. They may be of the same origin as they did come from twin planets.” “The plants really are talking?” “These two plants are talking, sir.” “We need to ask them if they want to go back to their world, T’Pol. They’re apparently sentient.” “I concur that they are sentient. Would you like to converse with them about returning to their home worlds?” T’Pol handed him a communicator. “The language has been downloaded to all the communicators in case we encounter plants like this again.” “Did you tell Luke about this?” “Yes. When I left them, he was listening to the rose bush humming. Percy apparently passes his time by humming frequently. Juliet mutters incoherently until Navta arrives.” Archer took the communicator, standing. “I’m going to go get Navta and I’ll meet you down there.” “Are you certain she should be there for this conversation?” “She’s a big girl. She can handle this.” Archer walked out of his ready room with T’Pol trailing behind him. # Archer walked between rows of planting tables to the back. He heard Percy humming and Juliet grumbling. Luke was sitting in the middle of the floor on an overturned bucket, staring at Percy. “Luke,” Archer said. The humming and mumbling stopped. Luke stood. “I can’t believe this.” Luke grinned. “I’ve never heard plants talk before.” “That’s because you’re apparently a lousy caretaker!” Juliet snapped. Archer smiled when Luke looked at him. “Navta’s right, sir. Juliet is always grumpy.” “You’d be too if you had to live under these lights! How am I supposed to get any sleep? Hm? Not so smart to answer me that, are you? Some caretaker you are!” “Grump. Grump,” Percy hummed. Navta pushed between Luke and Archer. She glanced up at Archer and walked over to Juliet. The orchid leaned in her direction. “Juliet, they know you and Percy can talk. Captain Archer wants to know if you’d like to go back to the garden you were taken from. Do you wanna go home?” Juliet said nothing for a long time and then suddenly she snapped, “Crazy notion that! Why would I return to those incompetent caretakers? All they ever did was poke and prod. Half the time they never pulled off dead flowers and whenever they pruned me it was always snip! Snip! Like I was a weed to whack at. At least here I have a caretaker that knows what a beauty I really am. No. No. I’m staying. Right here in this ground. Course, I could use some more water and food. When are you going to give me more water and food? What kind of a caretaker are you?” Navta smiled up at Archer. “Juliet doesn’t want to go back, K’pan.” “Go back indeed!” Juliet scoffed and then broke off into another tirade about the caretakers of her home world that she hated that eventually turned into her complaining of her current caretakers. Navta walked over to Percy and sat on the edge of the planter. “Did you hear what I told Juliet, Percy?” Navta asked him. “I heard. I heard words that said I could go home. Go home to my garden and live my days there. Go home to that place I was born and I would die.” “Do you want to go home?” “To go home would mean friends lost. Friends who love me. Who talk to me? I will not roam to home. I will remain in this garden and converse my days with my friends. I will tell of stories they tell. I will—” “Percy, I think I need a yes or no.” “No.” Percy paused and began humming. He stopped suddenly. “No. I do not want to go home. I do not want to roam. I have made a home. I will not roam.” Navta looked up at Archer. “Can they stay?” “Yes.” Archer crouched down next to Navta. “Percy is it?” “Percy is my name of this life. Percy was given by a friend. Percy, valley-piercer. A knight seeking eternal life. A knight of honor.” “He always talks like that. You have to interrupt him or he’ll go on and on,” Navta told Archer. “Glad to have you on board, Percy,” Archer said. Percy stopped talking. He leaned his limbs toward Archer. Archer started, staring at the roses that opened on the top. Inside of them eyes stared unblinking at him. “I am honored.” Percy leaned back up and went on with his limericks and rhyming. Navta laughed. “Told you they talked, K’pan!” |
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