The Learning Curve
by raku
Part: interlinked
Rating: ratings vary from PG to R, depending which storyline is chosen.
Codes: Most of the The Original Series cast turns up. The main characters,
depending on the path taken, are Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. A couple of story
lines are A/U, others work around some events in the first five movies.
Summary: When Spock passes through fal-tor-pan, his human side is not well
restored. He does not regain his human feelings for his bondmate James Kirk
nor does he really remember their relationship. In 'The Learning
Curve', Kirk, Spock, and McCoy all struggle with this situation. The
reader of the story clicks on links to make choices about how the story will
turn out. The story has something like ten endings, depending on which links
are chosen.
Special thanks to the beta readers on this one, who did yeoman's duty --
Greywolf, jonk, Judygran, and sydvick. Doc Science and Jungle Kitty had
many helpful remarks, especially on Kirk, and Doc Science offered "The
Garden of Forking Paths" at a critical moment. One anonymous person
kindly shared unusual details of her life that enabled me to write Spock more
realistically, I hope. I am very grateful to her. Heartfelt thanks to Dina and
Charlene, for helpful advice. Thanks also to two men from rec.climbing for info
on El Capitan, and to David Jaroslav and Searcher55, for info on the military.
The Tang water bottle that Kirk sees in the museum lives in the Famen
Temple Museum, Shaanxi Province, P.R.C., and is published as plate 125
of the Guggenheim Museum's exhibit catalog "China, 5,000
Years," edited by Sherman Lee.
Archiving: OK for ASC/EM archive, others please ask.
Disclaimer: Paramount and Viacom hold all copyright in the "Star
Trek" characters. The plots in this hypertext story are mine; the city
of San Francisco and Yosemite National Park you might say are public
domain. . . This is a non-profit work of fanfiction and no copyright infringement
is intended.
copyright 1999 by raku
'for H. A-L., in hopes of a better timeline '
---
The late afternoon sun made the cobbled plaza glow brightly. Long shadows
snaked away from the two men strolling on the stones. One was gesturing
with his hands.
"And over there is the Cultural Groups wing, Jim, branching off of the bit
with the Spanish tiles."
"You mean that section with the steel-and-wood beams?"
"Yep, that's the one. Wanna start there? We don't really have
time for the whole show, but the Immigrants' section is the
newest."
"It's your call, Bones, whatever you want."
They resumed their walk, passing next to the sand-fountain that leapt and
slithered in its basin. For a moment they paused, watched it glide and hiss
among the smooth round rocks. It vaguely reminded Kirk of a fountain in
another museum, one he'd seen in another time and place. Unable to
draw up the memory, he turned to McCoy and they moved into the arched
doorway.
"I never quite get used to that," said McCoy, shivering a little.
"I know all about the physics behind the thing, but it always gives me
the willies to see sand pretending it's water."
"Well, it was all political, wasn't it, the complaints about a fountain
of water in such a dry area?"
But McCoy had stepped away to the desk to retrieve a padd loaded with
exhibition information. He began keying different screens.
Not looking up, he said, "Um, they've got it divided roughly
according to cultures that made up the area, Jim -- there're a couple
halls on Old Chinatown, some on the Europeans who came as miners --
there's a section on the Devta'q colony. . ."
Kirk replied, "Why don't we just start walking and see what grabs
us?" He nudged McCoy's elbow and they moved into the main
hallway. Doorways beckoned them at intervals, amid large colored posters.
McCoy threw an arm across in front of his companion and pointed toward a
rather dark room. "Let's try that. It's the beginning of the
'Daily Life' section." |