She was screaming---again."You hate me! You all hate me!!!"
Andia Kirk had taken just about enough.
"Yes! Yes we do hate you, cause of your so dumb! Now shut up!"
No-Name leaped at her.
"Make me!"
"I will! I'm half El-Aurian, and I'm gonna listen to you beg!"
But she was also half-Andorian, enabling her older brother to grab her by the antennae.
"Telly! Owwww!!!"
Telemachus, a half-Klingon half-Vulcan, merely glared at her.
"Andia, you will control your emotions, or I will feed you to a lemataya!"
"But I hate her! She's grumpy all the time and she has no name!"
The other little girl had gone back to sulking.
"Her needs are special. Besides, how would you or I have felt, if Mother and Father had to send us away?"
"But its for her health. Daddy and Mommy don't mean anything bad by doing this."
"Nevertheless, she still feels like she is losing a second family. That strikes at her. Remember how I was, when I met my birth-parents?"
Andia remembered the horror of actually seeing her big brother sob openly.
"Yeah. But she's gonna be happy here-- won't she?"
Telemachus shook his head.
"Almost all races agree. Happiness is not found in a place. It is found in one's own heart."
Andia smiled.
"YOUR Heart nearly stopped last week, when we walked in on Daddy and Mommy, playing horsey. Why doesn't Daddy ever be the hors----"
Telly covered her mouth til she finished.
When the transport stopped, the gaggle of children got out. Saavik picked up no-name, and then took note of a raven-haired human girl.
"Which one are you?"
"I'm Donna Riker."
Admiral Saavik turned to her bondmate.
"Peter, when did we adopt a Riker?"
Professor Kirk shook his head.
"We didn't. Kyle and Kate had to go to Tellar One, and Will had a reservation at HoloWorld with Uncle Jim. He asked me to take care of his little sister. I filed it in your daily planner, three days ago."
Saavik looked at Donna.
"Are you at all like your big brother Will?"
"Uh-huh. Will says, I'm just like he was, back when. I think I'll have boobs like that bouncy ex-girlfriend of his, when they come in."
Saavik looked at all her younger boys.
"Stay away from her, or I will feed you to the boogeybeing."
As the boys backed away, Donna asked Andia a question.
"What's the boogeybeing look like?"
Andia whispered.
"But--don't the other two heads argue with the middle one?"
Despite Saavik's warning, Donna set up shop as Doctor Riker, about an hour later.
The fields of the Picard Vineyard were vast and open, and the air was fresh and sweet. No-Name stirred.
"Why is my headache gone? It almost never goes away."
Peter tried to comfort her.
"That's part of the reason we're here, honey."
"Part of the reason you're leaving me here, you mean. I still hate you
all."At the door to the chateau, Marie Picard stood, waiting. With her migraines gone, No-Name slept peacefully, and Marie put her to bed. She then sat down with the Kirks.
"Who is she, exactly?"
Professor Kirk told the story.
"Early last year, Captain Benjamin Sisko and Chief Miles O'Brien of Deep Space Nine encountered a lost colony. It seemed the world in question had a naturally occurring inhibitor for technology—any technology. But the people eeked out a living, and under the guidance of a leader who was anti-tech, they made it work."
Marie sipped her tea.
"Tres convenient, Non? That such a leader should crop up in such a place?"
Admiral Saavik nodded.
"Captain--then Commander--Sisko, thought much the same thing. But this person had a cult-like hold on the inhabitants, so all his questions were stifled and punished. They tried to break him. But Miles, who is our friend, persevered, and discovered the anti-tech field was not natural. But while incensed over this deception, the colonists chose to remain. Their leader, conducting a vicious double-blind experiment, was arrested for the deaths of those who could have been treated with modern medical care, but for her interference."
Marie put her hand to her head.
"You know, my Robbie, he would have loved such a place as you describe. But the woman? He would have snapped her neck, for depriving him of conscious choice. Much like the fire deprived me of him, and my son, my little heart."
Saavik was not above holding Marie's hand, as she gathered herself.
"Apologies. I am bothered, and Jean-Luc's passing feels like another nail through my wrist. So what of this girl?"
Peter Kirk continued.
"When Miles and his wife Keiko returned to this world to fetch witnesses for the cult-leader's trial, the worst was discovered. You see, we sentients are ourselves a form of technology. You can't just send out EM-waves and kill just machines. A native virus had mutated under the tech-inhibitor field. This girl was the only survivor. Originally, the O'Briens thought about adopting her themselves. But DS9 is a tech-dependent environment. She is allergic to such concentrations of tech. Another gift from Leader Alixius, who has now been put away for life."
Marie shook her head.
"But what of Bajor?"
Saavik answered.
"Bajor needs to use massive amounts of land-reclamation technology, to counter what was done during the Cardassian withdrawal. In fact, the only world that has no pressing and immediate need of tech-aid is Earth itself. Vulcan, for example, has massive and redundant water replication technology."
Peter nodded.
"We thought our relatively isolated home would be safe for her. But many of our children are hybrids, and need tech to balance out their multiple physiologies. Madame Picard, will you take her in?"
Marie knew why she was being asked. Her late husband's anti-tech beliefs made the vineyard a virtual paradise for a tech-allergic child. But she had a question.
"You keep calling her---'her'. Has the child no name?"
Saavik shrugged.
"Among the customs of her people was that children name themselves, when they are ready. Understandably, she is not so ready."
Marie stood up.
"You ask too much of me. I have lost everyone I loved this past year. This child may stay for a time, of course. But my heart has become shattered and small. I have no place for her, here."
Five minutes of silence passed, broken by the sudden entry of Andia Kirk.
"Daddy! Mommy! No-Name ran off into the woods, crying. She seemed really bad, this time. What happened?"
Marie stared out at the setting sun.
"We must find her. Those woods are dark and deep."
-------------------------------------
The no-named girl ran long, and she ran far, and if she perhaps noticed that she was hopelessly lost, she likely did not care.
"Its not fair! Notfairnotfairnotfairnotright!"
She had thought that somehow, the Kirks would be different. That they wouldn't leave her behind, using her stupid allergy as an excuse. But it was for her own good, they always said. Well, these woods didn't have any stupid tech, that she could see or feel. So she would just stay here, maybe forever.
"Hun--ny, Miles and I would love you to stay, but DS9...."
She mocked her would-be adoptive families, one-by-one.
"Human? We don't care that you're human. Why, we even have Cardassian children here. But Bajor needs to reclaim the land...."
She remembered meeting a giant of a man that even Mr. and Mrs. Kirk called Uncle Jim. He was fun, and stayed with her while her stupid headaches cleared up. It was just after he left to go stay in San Francisco that they told her about France. Professor Kirk tried to look kind.
"Baby, Saavik and I both know what its like to lose everyone you grew up with. My world of Deneva suffered a kind of plague. The Romulans killed all the other children on The HellGuard. We don't want to do this. But Mrs. Picard lives on a big property almost without tech. No more allergies!"
She responded to the unseen man.
"Liar! You hate me! I'm a bother to take care of, and you don't want that. So I hate you too!"
If she knew the truth, again it didn't matter. She was furious with life's myriad and multiple injustices. At last, she found a sunlit spot by a small, almost hidden lake. Fishing there was a young human male with dark hair, looking almost a teenager but not quite.
"Come and sit down. I won't tell anyone that you've run to here."
She was suspicious, but also tired as all get-out.
"You better not. I don't want those people to find me. I hate them all. Do you live around here?"
The boy, obviously a native of the region, shrugged.
"I used to. But after a recent fire, I'm afraid I had to leave. Now I can only visit occasionally, and no one's really supposed to see me about. But its all right if you do, I suppose. Since you'll be staying here too."
She shook her head.
"No, I won't. That witch, Mrs. Picard, wants to get rid of me, and she doesn't even know me yet."
The boy turned away, a cold glare developing on his face.
"I think that you shouldn't call her a witch. Its not fair and its rude besides. Just like you, she's lost family this year. Three people she loved dearly are gone now, and there's a hole in her heart as a result. You could help her to patch up that great hole, and she could help you to patch up yours."
She went back to sulking.
"I don't have a hole in my heart. All I got is allergies. They're not even my fault. Its that stupid Alixius' fault. She made us stay on that place with no tech, so I never got used to it. I was glad when Commander Sisko arrested her, and then they took apart that stupid box."
The boy laughed.
"I'm sorry. Its just that my father always said that the Antichrist would likely come in the form of an imposed false messiah, rather than merely one who tried to seduce the faithful. He would say that it is no test of faith to merely be tempted--one must oppose evil actively, where one sees it. Father saw evil everywhere, mind you. But he was no simpleton. I miss him, and will have to go back to him soon. May I give you a gift before I do?"
"Oh, No. I may not be a teenager, but I know all about the 'gift' boys try to give you."
The boy's face went from pale to beet-red, almost instantly.
"No...No! It isn't that sort of thing. Not at all. Will you take my name as your own? I know you haven't chosen a given name, as yet. Mine can be a girl's name, with little effort."
"I'll think about it. But I guess I have to leave here, soon, too."
"No. You'll stay. You can even come and visit me, if you do. I'd like that. But give her a chance. She's ever so nice, once she has someone to care for."
Professor Kirk walked up to the lake, after the little girl had gone to sleep.
"Thank you for watching her. And I was very sorry when I heard you won't be applying to the Academy."
The boy shrugged again, and smiled.
"I imagine that I'll be searching out the true final frontier, is all. And there's no need to thank me. They really do need each other. Besides, Peter--we nephews have to stick together, don't we?"
When the searching parties gathered back at the recently-rebuilt chateau, no one was more relieved than Marie Picard to see the small bundle carried by Professor Kirk. She took and held her.
"I will let her stay. Forever, if she should want. How odd. The thought of another dead child on this property made me think about this living one more clearly. But please, at least stay for a few days, so she may adjust better."
No-name's eyes opened.
"Mrs. Picard? I have a message for you."
Marie smiled, and received a smile back. She felt a part of herself reawaken.
"Yes, my dear?"
"I met a boy, who said he used to live around here. He asked if you would take care of me. Then he said I could have his name, but only if you approved."
"Whatever name you want is yours, my little heart. And of course I will take care of you. I was just being silly, before."
Andia Kirk's impatience won out, as usual.
"So what's your name?"
She smiled, and Marie felt a deep, deep chill. But it was the chill wind one felt on Christmas and New Year's, so it was a good chill. The little girl spoke her chosen name.
"Renee Picard."
-----------------------------------------------
Two days later, Peter walked out of the chateau with Jim, whom Renee had asked to see again.
"She's doing great, Unc. She and the kids get along, and Marie says we can drop them off, on occasion. Here, in Robert Picard's anti-tech utopia, she can live as a normal child. And unlike that dictator Alixius' 'Paradise', this place is natural."
Captain Kirk gently ditched his now technically-older nephew, and sought out the spot Renee had spoken of, hoping that somehow her vision was real.
"May I help you, sir?"
Neither getting too close nor calling the boy by name, Jim rolled the dice.
"Is it possible that I could speak to your father's brother?"
"No, sir. I'm afraid that you cannot possibly speak with my Uncle."
"And why not?"
The boy smiled, and for a brief moment before the vision faded, Jim knew what kind of chill Marie had felt.
"He Is Not Here."
Back at the chateau, Marie Picard tucked in a small form, and hung back up a sign she had removed from over the doorway of her late son's bedroom, now that of the daughter who needed her. Admiral Saavik helped her straighten it, and then read it aloud.
"To Renee--Mon Petit Couer."
Broken hearts, little and big, eventually begin to heal, if only given time and place.
That night, the Picard family was reborn.
It was a happy moment.