Let the Sunshine In
Chapter One - An Interesting Message
New Vulcan
Late March 2264
Sarek
He sat in his office, musing. Selek had succeeded excellently in finding himself a new bondmate. Durra seemed to be exactly what he needed. Their bond was so strong! The bonding ceremony had been unusual - the currents that ran around that small group had been electrifying. He had never experienced anything like that, not even at his own bonding with Amanda. He sighed. He did not have much time left to find himself a new bondmate and he did not know where to start. No one that he had met had caused any reaction that he could even start with in that direction. The first few years had been so hard, her loss so great, that it had been all he could do to continue, much less think about replacing her. But now, he had finally reached some equilibrium, and he knew that he must think of this, and then do more than think.
He had finally analyzed what he wanted, and he knew that it was not attainable here on New Vulcan. He missed the laughter, the smiles, the soft touches. He was truly bent in that direction, as much as his sons were. He needed another human woman in his life. He would have to return to Earth, and stay there until his objective was realized. But how was he to find the right woman?
As he sat there, perplexed, the comlink chimed with an incoming message. In pure reflex, he opened the message, only when it was displayed realizing that it was not a part of his ordinary business. He did not recognize the address of the sender at all, only that it was from Earth. He stared at the words on the screen, hardly comprehending them, and then read them again, slowly. Was this the answer?
The message began very formally. "Dear Sir, It has come to our attention that there is a possibility that you might be interested in our services. For the past five years, we have been introducing men such as yourself to women, pre-screened, and pre-educated, who have expressed an interest in developing permanent relationships with professional men such as yourself."
He re-read this again. Surely there was some mistake. They could not be referring to Vulcan men. Could they?
He read the next part of the message again. "We have been successful in establishing introductions between Human women and Vulcan men that grew into successful bondings. Although it is our wish to keep identities protected, we can provide references if that is what you wish."
They did refer to Vulcan men! And paired with Human women! He could hardly believe what he was reading. The message ended with contact information and the request to set up an interview when next he came to Earth. He sat and mused. Surely it would be possible to determine whether this was a legitimate offer. He extracted certain information and sent it to one of his aides, with instructions to determine whether this was a legitimate business.
And then he tried to shut it from his mind, with little success. He had not thought of the possibility of using a matchmaker, but given the length of time available to him, and the fact that he resided on a planet where there was very little opportunity to meet the type of woman that so obviously interested him, it began to make sense to consider this possibility.
***
When his aide sent in his report on the company, it was immediately obvious that this was a thriving business. They catered to many species, specializing in making difficult matches, and were very successful at it. His hopes rose. He began to make plans. He arranged for an extended stay on Earth, to begin in early April. But he told no one of his hopes. And he hardly dared admit them to himself.
