Chapter Text

Siren’s Curse

February 2365

Eduardo Joyce was a charming, handsome, and caring kind of guy. He was both considerate and had a rough and exciting side to him that made him a lot of fun to be around with.

The same was true for Giuseppe Pelgrini who, in addition to being quite easy on the eyes, was also a wonderful listener.

Ayo Ubkendu, born and raised in the heart of the United States of Africa, possessed the most fascinating knowledge about his home’s native flora and fauna. He also had a certain ruggedness that gave proof to the fact that he had spent most of his life exploring the wilderness. 

Sraxor Tadomm on the other hand was mostly an indoor man. A poet, painter, and performing artist all rolled into one, his imagination seemingly knew no bounds.

Besides being incredibly fascinating individuals, these four young men all had another thing in common. They loved spending time with freshman cadet DeMara Deen, preferably alone. And the list did not end there and was not limited to one sex either.

DeMara had the spirit of an adventurer, why else would she have decided to leave her isolated home world and come to Starfleet Academy? Experiencing new places and new people was what she lived for and so it was rock-climbing in Utah with Eduardo on Wednesday, exploring the canals of Venice, Italy with Guiseppe on Thursday, an exploratory safari in Kenya on Friday while spending all Saturday with Sraxor in the mountains of New Zealand where a magnificent landscape helped inspire his latest work.

And her social calendar didn’t stop there. Besides these types of excursions, she also had to fit in several other extracurricular activities she had either volunteered for or which she felt she was obligated to attend.

As the only member of her race in Starfleet and one of the very few representing her people to the Federation, she was part of the Starfleet Cultural Exchange program,  attending lectures and talks where she acted as an unofficial Tenarian ambassador, but also learned about and connected with the many other people that made up the Federation.

She welcomed all of it.

In short, DeMara was having the most exciting time of her life.

The downside to all the fun and her activities, however, was the fact that her academic grades had started to take a serious hit.

Like many Tenarians she had spent most of her childhood studying the sciences but now, after only a few months at the Academy, she was in danger of failing exobiology. On the coming Wednesday, she would be having an important exam in advanced quantum physics and while she had scored near the top in the initial placement tests, she was worried now. She hadn’t even had a chance to look at the required reading yet.

It was late Saturday night and she was still exhausted from her hike across New Zealand’s Mount Aspiring National Park when she finally got the chance to catch up with her studies. Her roommate had gone to sleep and she sat all by herself at her desk, several padds sprawled out in front of her.

Her computer announced an incoming message and she quickly activated it. She was greeted by the smiling face of Zessia Sh'vakrarh. The blue-skinned Andorian seemed in high spirits and she mirrored her smile. “Zess? How are you?”

“Good, good,” she swiftly replied. “I’m so happy I got in touch with you. I was worried you might have gone to sleep already.”

“Not yet,” she said and fought back a yawn.

“I have great news,” she continued with all too obvious enthusiasm. “You remember how I told you that my uncle has a beach house out in Saint-Tropez?” She didn’t wait for a reply. “Well, I managed to get it for all day tomorrow.”

“That is great but I already promised Giuseppe that we’ll go see Florence tomorrow.”

“Oh,” was her only reply, her blue antennae dropped noticeably.

She noticed her disappointment right away. “But wait? Italy and France are not that far from each other, right? Maybe we could all go together?”

The Andorian cadet slightly shook her head. “I don’t really know Earth geography. Besides, there isn’t really enough space for more than two in my uncle’s house,” he said, her eyes no longer focused on the screen.

“How about Monday then? I don’t have any plans. None that I cannot change that is.”

“Really?” Zessia said, once again filled with élan.

“Sure,” she replied with a beaming smile.

“That’ll be great. I promise you won’t regret it, Dee. See you Monday.”

The transmission ended and her forehead dropped onto the top of her desk in a mixture of exhaustion and frustration.

She was going to fail advanced quantum physics.

*        *        *

DeMara had been well aware of the challenges she would have to face when she left Tenaria to come to Earth. Her world had enjoyed centuries of peaceful isolation and while Tenarians had always possessed knowledge of other races traveling the stars, the outside world had for the most part only known of them through rumors, which had elevated them to near mythical status.

Tenarian’s effect on most humanoid species was usually the same. They found themselves inexplicitly attracted to them and it was not just because of her natural charisma or physical beauty. She was a magnet for attention whether she wanted to be or not. People of all races enjoyed her company, simply felt comfortable, and satisfied just being around her.

It was not sexual either. Most men she had met had been too respectful to even insinuate the possibility and DeMara had made the firm decision to draw the line when it came to intimacy. But that didn’t mean she was any less popular on campus. At first, all the attention she had been getting was like an adventure for her. But now she had come to a sad realization. She couldn’t handle it. And it wouldn’t go away, either. For the first time since leaving home, she wondered if perhaps it had been a mistake coming to Earth.

She knew she wasn’t completely alone with her troubles. There was at least one other species, a Federation member even, that was equally prone to being chased after due to their physiology.

She had noticed that the Deltans who attended the Academy liked to stick to their kind in their free time. As the only Tenarian in Starfleet, she could not follow that same example. Instead, she had decided to make friends with them. It had been an easy task for her.

“I just don’t understand how you do it?” she said to the three Deltans she sat with for lunch. 

“It isn’t always easy,” Anara Rysyl, the third-year cadet, explained. Like her two kinsmen, she was entirely bald and yet it only added to their undeniable charm. Even DeMara had to admit that she found herself slightly enchanted by the three Deltans.

“There are ways for us to lessen our impact on other races, however,” Anara’s friend continued, which quickly garnered her an annoyed glance from Rysyl.

DeMara nodded knowingly. Differently from her, Deltans produced strong pheromones that were the main cause for their attractiveness to others. Most Deltans who entered Starfleet were required to pledge an oath of celibacy or take injections to suppress the pheromones. She also knew that Anara didn’t think much of those alleged remedies.

“It … it would be a shame if … if you decided to leave the Academy,” said Jonar Arik, the third and only male member of the group. He had a slight stutter that he had not been able to overcome but besides that, he was no less intriguing than the other Deltans. In fact, it might have made him even more fascinating.

She smiled at him. “Thanks, Jonar but you see there is no simple solution for me. No injections I could take and no—“

“You don’t need any injections,” Anara cut her off. “You will always attract attention no matter where you go, it’s your nature. It’s who you are and you just have to come to terms with it. You wouldn’t ask a Klingon to stop hunting or a Vulcan not to think. It’s in your nature. Besides, what’s the alternative? Stay hidden away on Tenaria for the rest of your life?”

She considered that for a moment. “Most of my people do just that.”

The Deltan girl nodded. “But not you. Look around, Dee,” she said and gestured at the cafeteria filled with dozens of aliens from all over the galaxy. “The ones who come here cannot be bound by living on just one planet. We’ve joined Starfleet because we feel the need to see more, to experience more. That’s why you’re here. You’ll never be truly happy if you give up now and go back home.”

“DeMara! Dee!”

She looked up to find the source of the voice intruding into their conversation. She quickly found it. Three cadets were making their way through the cafeteria and toward her table. They were led by Nicholas Locarno, a tall and handsome fair-haired young man, All-Federation athlete, and proud member of the Academy’s distinguished Nova squadron flying corps. “We’ve been looking for you all over the place,” he said as they stepped up to the table.

“Well, you found me,” she said with a smile.

“There’s something we got to show you.”

“Right now?”

He nodded insistently. “Yeah.” And then looked at the two Deltan women also at the table. “You’re welcome to come. too?”

Anara’s smile was no less sweet than DeMara’s had been. “Maybe next time.”

Locarno nodded and then practically dragged DeMara away from the table. She barely had a chance to say goodbye before she was swept toward the exit.

Anara looked after her. “She really needs to learn how to say no. Otherwise, I fear she’ll never make it.”

Jonar nodded, his eyes focused on the departing Tenarian. “It … it would be a shame if she didn’t. I … I like her.”

Anara turned to look at him with a grin.

“Wh … What?”

*        *        *

It turned out that what Locarno and his friends wanted to show her had required them to travel to the Pacific island of Hawai’i, where they had remained until late in the night.

The next morning DeMara had received the sternest reprimand from a professor for skipping a class she had ever experienced. She had felt so devastated that by midday she had decided that she had enough. She was back in her dorm room and she was packing.

“Knock, knock.”

She turned to see Michael Owens standing in the open door. Even though he was an associated tutor at the Academy and old enough to be her father, Michael was her best friend. He had been part of the crew of the Fearless, the first Starfleet ship to discover her planet three years earlier and he had stayed behind to develop an official rapport between the Tenarians and the Federation.

They had quickly found a liking to each other and after two years he had finally given in to her request to train her to be a Starfleet officer. When Michael left Tenaria and was offered a temporary position at the Academy, she had followed along to continue her training. Besides being a good friend, he also served as her academic advisor.

“Michael,” she said with a smile that wasn’t quite as brilliant as it used to be. “Come in.”

“You’re supposed to say: ‘Who’s there?’” he said as he stepped into her room.

She looked at him with confusion. “But I already know it’s you.”

He sighed. “I see my efforts to teach you the nuances of human humor have yet to bear fruit,” he said and then looked around the room. “A bit early in the semester to take a vacation, don’t you think?”

The smile disappeared from her face. “I’m going home, Michael.”

 He nodded slowly. “So I heard.”

She didn’t quite know what to say. She knew that Michael should have been the first person she should’ve told about her decision. But she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do that. She hated the idea of disappointing him.

He walked across the room. “When does your ship leave?”

“My ship?”

“How else where you planning on getting back to Tenaria? It’s a two-month trip and as far as I know, no regular transports are going that way.”

She found herself dumbfounded. “I hadn’t really thought about that yet.”

“I see,” he said and found an empty chair to sit in.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” he said innocently.

“Pretending that everything is fine and that you’re going along with what I want to do. We both know you came here to talk me out of this. But you won’t be able to. Not this time,” she said with an almost uncharacteristic insistence.

“I wouldn’t dream of talking you out of this, Dee. If this is what you want to do then you should do it. After all, I know you,” he said calmly. “You’re not the kind of person who makes rash and irrational decisions. You think things through.”

She nodded quickly. “That’s right,” she said and went back to packing.  But she soon stopped herself and looked back at her friend. “I just can’t handle this anymore. Everybody wants me all the time. All I do around here is be everybody’s best friend and to be honest, it’s all too much. I came here to study and learn to be a Starfleet officer. How can I do that if I don’t even have time to read a single book?”

“It’s a problem,” he said.

“I know what you’re going to say next.”

He raised an eyebrow in Vulcan fashion.

“I’m not the first cadet who had to adapt to a new lifestyle and a new environment. I know that. And I was perfectly willing to be flexible and adjust. And please don’t bring up the Deltans.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“They had over a century to accommodate to the way they influence other species around them. How am I supposed to do that in just a few months? It’s impossible.”

“I guess you’re right.”

She simply stared at him. “Are you just going to sit there or will you be saying anything useful any time soon?”

He stood and walked back to the door. “I don’t see the point. It seems you have made up your mind about this. If you need me to be useful, I’ll see if I can arrange a transport for you.”

“Thanks,” she said, suddenly a little unsure of herself.

Before he had reached the door, he turned to face her once more. “The only thing I will say is this: It’s easy to blame everybody else for your problems but perhaps it is worth looking at yourself for a change,” he said and left.

“What is that supposed to mean?” But Michael was already gone.

*        *        *

The best Michael had been able to do for her was to secure her passage on a long-range freighter that would leave toward the sector of space Tenaria was located in. The ship, however, would not leave for another week and DeMara had decided to keep her departure under wraps and continue to attend classes as if nothing was the matter.

“She’s going with me tonight,” Giuseppe said.

“I don’t think so,” said Ayo Ubkendu forcefully. “We had plans to visit Madagascar for weeks now.”

“That’s ridiculous,” the Italian countered. “You can go there anytime you want. But the Carnival of Venice happens only once a year.”

DeMara was barely listening to the two men fighting over her. She had stopped caring now that she was so close to leaving the Academy. But she felt a sudden sense of regret as well. It had been her dream since early childhood to see more of the galaxy and when Michael and Starfleet had come across her world that dream had suddenly become a very real possibility. She didn’t want to give up on it, certainly not because she was getting more attention than she could handle.

She spotted the Deltans standing across the large Academy hallway. It was always easy to spot the Deltans. Anara and her girlfriend were involved in conversation but Jonar was looking right at her. He blushed slightly and diverted his gaze when he realized that she was looking back at him.

She stood and began to walk across the hall.

“Dee, where you going?” Giuseppe said, looking after her.

“I’ll be right back.”

“H ... Hi Dee,” Jonar said as she approached.

“Listen,” she started. “I know this is kind of sudden but I’ve heard about this great restaurant in the city and I was wondering if you would like to go and have dinner with me there tonight?”

Jonar didn’t reply while Anara and her friend fixed her with surprised looks.

“I understand if you don’t want to.”

“N … No,” he said.

She nodded slowly, her expression darkening.

“I … I mean, no, I would love … to go have dinner with you tonight.”

She beamed. “Great, I see you tonight then?”

Jonar nodded and mirrored her smile.

She leaned into him and kissed him on the lips. “I can’t wait,” she added and walked away.

She didn’t notice Jonar turning a deep shade of red. “Neither can I,” he replied quietly and stutter-free.

Anara looked incredulous. “Well, that I didn’t see coming.”

“Dee?” Ayo asked with utter surprise as she strode past him.

She shot him and Giuseppe a quick smile. “I’m sorry, boys,” she said without halting. “I have a date tonight.”

DeMara continued down the hallway at a determined pace. She had made her decision. She was going to stay at the Academy and she would have a boyfriend. If that would allow her to focus more on her studies, only time would tell.