Shock had a rare afternoon off. He had finished all his private chores – he had no letters to write to friends or family, his meditations were all on schedule, as were his exercise regimen.

He decided he would spend the afternoon among the trees. He headed off to the main Arboretum. He had never spent time here for recreation, only to assess security and drills, so it was a nice distraction from the tasks of his daily life.

The Arboretum was interesting. It intrigued Shock how plants from various plants could co-exist despite having such different evolutionary niches and nutrition and sunlight requirements. One day, he promised himself, he would find out how it all worked out. He noticed trees that he recognized from San Francisco, including a sequoia (smaller than the sequoias of fame for height restrictions but impressive still), as well as trees from Betazed, Risa, and his native Vulcan, as well as many other places whose endemic life he could not accurately place.

He decided to sit down on a bench by the sequoia, and he took up his pad, turned off the universal translator, and started reading. Languages was something he was fond of – he had studied some Earth languages as part of his graduate studies, but this time, he thought he’d brush up on his Klingon. He became fully immersed in his studies, forgetting about the world outside – it was almost as meditating. While going over practising phrases, he whispered them audibly, but not recognising that he did so.

“‘IwlIj jachjaj… [may your blood scream], … naDevvo’ yIghoS! [leave me alone], qamuSHa’ [I love you]”

One subjunctive, one imperative, and one indicative phrase. All using pronominal positions. Good sentences for practice.

– Lt Shock (COS)