THE SPIRIT OF THE CON

 

Look, I know you're not going to believe me, but it happened, it really did happen.

You know how zapped we all were when the Con finished on the Sunday night - or perhaps I should say the wee sma' 'oors of Monday morning? Well, I headed, red-eyed with all the viewing of LN tapes, straight to my room, saying goodnights and goodbyes on the way, because I had an early start to head for home in the morning. My second-floor room was round a corner, almost at the end of a corridor (you know how that hotel meanders all over the place!). I turned the corner, fishing in my handbag for my keys, as usual (why do they always sink to the bottom?).

Because I was looking in my bag, at first I didn't see him standing there, in the dimmed lights at the end of the corridor, but a slight movement made me look up. He stood silently, head held high, hands behind his back in that so-familiar pose. I gasped in surprise and fright (well, no single girl likes to see a man lurking in the corridor at that time of night!). My first thought was that he was some kind of nut trying to scare folk, and I hurriedly tried again to find my keys.

He took a step forwards, out of the shadows, raising his hand in an assuring gesture. "Please - do not be afraid - I mean you no harm."

I new that deep voice - hadn't I been listening to it for the whole weekend and, for that matter, for the last twenty-odd years? I saw the flyaway eyebrows, the pointed ears and the sallow complexion. He was dressed in an unfamiliar outfit - it appeared to be a figure-moulded one-piece suit, black as midnight, but with a silver luminescence of what appeared to be all the pinpoint stars in the galaxy moving and changing as he moved slowly towards me. The familiar Vulcan script denoting his name and lineage was on the left side of the shirt, which had a flyaway collar, lined with silver.

He now stood in front of me, hands again tucked away behind his back. It was him! It was really him! My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth as I at last looked at the man I had wanted to meet for over two decades. "But ... you couldn't come to the Con this year!" I managed to utter, tactlessly, still breathless with surprise.

"No, Nimoy could not come, which he deeply regrets - but I have been here all the time. I have always been here - at every Convention."

"Then - if you're not Leonard, then you must really be ..."

"I am Spock - Spock of Vulcan." he said, with a slight inclination of his head, pronouncing it in his alien tongue.

Relaxing a bit, my brain started working again. "I am not the first, or only, Conventionee you have visited." I said it as a statement.

"Indeed not."

"I've waited so long to meet you. I knew I would never meet Leonard as Spock, because his Spock only exists on a Paramount soundstage ... but you - really are ..." My eyes widened as it dawned on me the implications of my realisation. Spock is real! He is alive, living and breathing, and standing here before me! It will all come true!

"May we talk - inside?" He indicated my still-locked door.

"Oh." I fumbled in my bag, found the darned key, opened the door. He indicated courteously that I precede him. I put on the lights, dumped my bag, then sat on the bed. He followed me in, closing the door softly behind him, and sat elegantly on the only chair in the room. I still felt a pang of fear - I'd never (no, never) been alone with a gentleman in my room before.

"Is there anything you wish to ask me?" he enquired gently.

"You - you are not of this time." I stated, cautiously.

"You are correct." He sat, legs crossed, steepling his fingers.

"How far in our future?"

"Five hundred and three point two Earth years, to be precise." he replied, punctiliously. Of course.

"So long?" I was disappointed. "Why?"

He took a deep breath, pulling in the air through his teeth, just like I'd seen him/Leonard do so many times before. "Mankind, at this point in time, is still in its infancy. I know you realise this. The pandemic your doctors and scientists call AIDS will kill half your world's population within the next 50 years. There will also be economically damaging wars and natural disasters caused by accelerating climate change. It will take the Earth centuries to recover. Outworld intervention is not permitted - you must find your own solutions. Wars, famine, destruction of the ecology must cease by mutual consent of all mankind. After that is achieved, the integration of all peoples into a world culture, free from jealousy, hatred, acquisitiveness and imbued with the desire to preserve and nurture all life will follow, but it will be a long, painful and arduous time, with many more millions dying both to prevent and to achieve this end, before Mankind will mature enough to be ready to journey to the stars and meet alien cultures on an equal basis."

"But it will happen?"

"It will happen."

"I wish I could be there."

"I regret I cannot take you ..."

"I realise that. I am trapped in an era I do not belong to. I belong to tomorrow, just as you do." I could feel sadness tugging deep within me.

"I appreciate your sentiments, and agree with your prognosis. But that is the reason I am here. As I said, I regret I cannot take you, but I can offer you a brief glimpse into the future you so long to see... May I?" He slowly, unthreateningly, rose from the chair and sat gently beside me. I became aware of his extra warmth and an ozone-pure aroma emanating from his body. I knew then what he was offering to do, even as he raised his beautiful hand towards my face. "With your permission?"

I nodded consent, composing myself. Gently, oh, so gently, he placed his fingers in the meld positions on my face - at my temple, on the side of my nose, and on my chin. I felt the warmth of his touch, then, as the electricity from his brain surged into mine, I felt a prickly sensation across my scalp. I gasped and shuddered involuntarily, almost drawing away. I heard his voice intoning "My mind to your mind - my thoughts to your thoughts." It was the strangest feeling, like all my brain cells were being tickled, then stimulated into an awareness they had never known before. Then his crystal-clear, brilliant intellect flooded my brain and the experience began.

Through his mind-eyes I saw worlds half as old as time; civilisations ancient, eons before our Sun was formed; the stunning beauty of the Universe and all its wonders. I soared with him to worlds on the rim of the Universe - worlds of beauty beyond compare, beyond knowing, beyond description. *All this, and more, will be your legacy.* came his mind-thought. *And here, see your Earth ...* Blue, floating in a sea of darkness, with white clouds covering the landmasses. Then down, far down, to land on the Earth; a comfortable, temperate climate existing where all humankind lived and had their being. There was sensible control of human existence and cultivation so that no-one was alone or lonely and no-one went hungry. *Utopia!* I thought.

*No, not entirely.* he moderated. Then he showed me warrior races, intent on domination of the peace-wishing peoples. *It will ever be Mankind's nature to be aggressive.* he commented, wryly. However, the peace-wishing peoples were able to contain the on-going guerrilla warfare and were able to preserve what was their birthright to possess.

*And this is five hundred years in my future?* I commented, emotions of joy and wonder swirling within me.

*Five hundred and three point two, to be precise.* he repeated, and shared my mind-laughter. He took me on one more soaring, exhilarating flight through the Universe then, gradually, gently, he withdrew contact. I suddenly realised my face was wet.

"You weep?" he asked.

"I weep for joy that it will be as all those who love Star Trek have dreamed - but I weep for sorrow that I cannot be there."

"But you must rejoice, Linda." It was the first time he had spoken my name. He made it sound like music. When I looked inquisitively at him, he continued. "You can rejoice that the people of Star Trek, the people here, tonight, are an integral part of the movement that begins now, at this time, and culminates in what I have shown you. You are a part of that tomorrow, because you have helped to create it today. That is what I meant by the Universe being your legacy."

I smiled through my tears. "Thank you, Mr Spock. You have given me the greatest gift of all." Then, as he stood to leave, I plucked up my courage and asked "Mr Spock ..." he regarded me, eyebrow raised. "I know you do not like personal contact but - may I - hug you, please?"

He opened his arms and held me close for just a moment, tightly enough for me to feel his rapid heartbeat. Then, releasing me, he said "You will wish to rest now. You are excited by my presence. Allow me to relax your mind and give you restful sleep..." Unafraid now, I lay down on the bed. He again reached for the meld positions on the side of my face and, just before I fell asleep to the warmth of his touch, I thought to him *Please don't make me forget...*

---oo0oo---

I woke up refreshed the next morning, convinced I had had a lovely dream, and smiled with its memory as I looked at myself in the mirror. The smile vanished and I felt a pang of - what? Terror? Joy?

Because there, on the side of my face, were three red fingerprint marks that were hot to the touch - one on my temple, one on the side of my nose, and one on my chin ...

---oo0oo---

THE END

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