The Running Game
Posted on June 13th, 2002 by T'Kirr

“The Running Game”
T’Kirr

Her Shurata wasn’t quite yet asleep, and stirred in its terrarrium. There were no other sounds, except for T’Kirr’s faint breathing and the hum of the Atlantis. She lay on her bed, looking up at the black ceiling.

According to her routine, she should be getting to sleep. There seemed, however, no way in space she was going to. She looked about her quiet quarters veiled in darkness. They hadn’t been hers for very long, and it was comforting to finally have the seclusion of being the only occupant. T’Kirr took a deep breath, inhaling the warm, fragrant air of her meditation candles long since blown out.

Closing her eyes, T’Kirr focused on why she was so alert. It didn’t take long before she realized her muscles were itching. Tossing back the sheets, she sat up and hugged one foot to her chest, then the other. The muscles weren’t satisfied, but complained somewhat less. As if they were communicating to her, a familiar image flashed into her well-developed mind’s eye. If she were any other race, the new thought would have brought a smile to her face.

^v^v^v^v^

Thankfully, few walked the corridors at this hour, as she had neglected to change out of her tank top and shorts. T’Kirr walked until the bay doors came into sight. Stepping up to the panel, she chose to enter the program request through the keypad instead of vocally. The computer beeped its acknowledgement, and opened its great, sliding doors, an eerie sound in the silent hallway.

The familiar landscape welcomed her as she entered the Holodeck, and as soon as the doors wove together behind her and disappeared, the atmosphere began to grow warmer and dry out. T’Kirr removed her slippers, dropped them onto the sand, then took in the panorama. Eridani was setting behind the buttes in the far distance, splashing a deep red sunset across its part of the cloudless sky. T’Kirr craned her neck to the opposite horizon to see the crescent of Vulcan’s sister planet move in with the stars over the distant city of Surkanar. Her parent’s home could be seen at the very edge, just how she remembered it.

A far off grunt caused her to whirl back around. It had arrived.

“Krutaan barr!” T’Kirr called.

The sillhoutte of the raptor-like creature bobbed his head in her direction, stood for a moment, then began trotting towards her in the red, cool haze of sunset. He came to her slowly, showing programmed instinct he wished not to threaten.

As he approached, T’Kirr held out her hand. When the large beast moved to sniff, she quickly pressed her fingers to its head. Habitually, T’Kirr threw up mental barriers to block her higher intelligence so as not to overwhelm him. The action was useless however, as the hologram could not be read. The program recognized her move, however, and the creature showed momentary alarm, then calmed, having received its programmed knowledge. She let him go, and he raised his head to his full height, not much taller than T’Kirr. He began kicking up sand with anticipation, his slitted nostrils flaring, ribs pumping in quick breaths. T’Kirr never once broke contact with the Krutaan’s eye.

Krutaan suddenly spread his feet and lowered his scaley head, almost down to the sand, his whip-like tail swaying up in the air. T’Kirr mocked his movements, her back parallel to the sand, facing the reptile. A mild breeze played at her short, black hair, but otherwise, she remained motionless. Their eyes remained locked – hers brown, his green.

He blinked.

T’Kirr shot off barefoot towards the sun at a sprint, and could immediately hear the scraping of claws against the sand behind her. Krutaan easily caught up to her, but did not pass her. The sand gave under her feet, but she adjusted her running style, old habits surfacing. Krutaan sprinted along beside her, his long, inverted legs clearly meant for running.

The buttes in the distance didn’t get any closer as the two runners flew across the desert, but it didn’t matter, for they weren’t the goal they reached for. A small mammal watched as they sped closer, then darted away in alarm. Krutaan ignored it, as did T’Kirr, for it wasn’t their goal either. Sand dusts clouded behind them, and she wondered how high up in the atmosphere their trail could be seen.

Heat began to build up, and T’Kirr’s stamina gave out. Krutaan was breathing hard now as well, but she knew he could keep going. She slowed to a jog, and the bounding reptile did as well. The wind whipped about her skin more slowly now, but for the short time, she was able to forget about her duties in the lab, the ship, and the people on it.

T’Kirr wasn’t sure how long she lasted at a jog, but her body finally told her it was time to stop. She dropped into the sand and spun several meters before finally stopping. Krutaan bounded a ways more, then slowed, calling his victory into the air. He plodded over to the Vulcan lying in the sand, panting almost as hard as she. The sands were still warm from the early evening’s sun, but were still cooler than her emerald-flushed skin. T’Kirr looked past the reptile that towered over her, gazing at the stars.

After catching her breath, T’Kirr sat up. Her running partner lowered himself to his belly and shoved his head under her hand. She gazed at the creature thoughtfully, having forgotten she had programmed him to remember their contact. She spread her hand over the scaled contours of his head. It was then she missed her home most, the emptiness of the hologram’s form accenting the void in hers.

The Krutaan barr broke contact and scurried to his feet. Darting its head about, he looked off into the distance, chose a direction, and began to jog away. T’Kirr was familiar with the area, and knew he was seeking the water of a nearby pool. T’Kirr stood, and after travelling a short distance, the creatured turned to look at her. He angled his long head upward and called with a sound resembling a loud, brief purr and a click of the tongue. T’Kirr responded with her best resemblance of the sound, and he turned back to his destination, leaving T’Kirr to stand in the middle of nowhere.

Surkanar was much further away now, and if she was on Vulcan, she would have to walk all the way back. Since her shift started at 800 hours, walking would only lose her more sleep.

“Computer, end program.”

The desert panorama fizzled away, as did the heat. Environmental temperature and atmospheric hydration systems vented into the now grid-like room, causing her to shiver. The air helped her cool off, however, preparing her for the ship’s standard temperature. The holographic sand that had stuck to her sweat-laden skin had vaporized with the program, but she still needed a quick sonic shower.

T’Kirr walked the short distance to the large doors, picked up her slippers, then exited back into standard Starfleet hallway.