Star Trek
The Prototype Vulcan
Ion storms were always annoying, to say the least. They were visually stunning, but they were annoying. Power was flickering on and off throughout the ship, weapons systems were malfunctioning, and half the new ensigns were space-sick. On some days, too, the only one that wasn't space-sick was Spock. Unless his natural green skin tone was covering it up...did Vulcans /get/ space sick?
Kirk looked away from his science officer with a smirk and focused on the PADD in his hands. It was the weapons systems updates. A second later, Spock's voice made him look up again.
"Captain," the Vulcan said, "internal sensors are reading a power surge in Transporter Room 2."
The comm clicked on. "Transporter Room 2 to bridge. Kyle here. Captain, I'm reading a /biosign/ in the transporter's pattern buffer. It just appeared."
"How is that possible?" Kirk demanded. "Was someone using the transporter?"
"No sir," Kyle assured him. A few beeps and alarms filtered through the comm and his next few words were panicked. "Captain, I'm losing it."
Kirk made a split-second decision and came to the correct one. "Energize, Mr. Kyle," he said crisply. He pushed another button on his arm chair. "Security to Transporter Room 2. Spock, you're with me. Lt Uhura, tell Bones to meet us in the transporter room."
The 3 of them reached the transporter at the same time as security. They went in, redshirts first, and found Mr. Kyle attempting to placate a Vulcan woman.
The woman saw them, saw the guards with phasers drawn, and instinctively leaped for Kyle, using him as a shield, a thin blade appearing at his throat. She spoke to them in some sort of dialect the universal translator didn't quite get, the emotions of fear and surprise showing plainly on her face. Okay. Emotional, violent, not translating. Not Vulcan, Kirk told himself. A Romulan?
Kirk looked at Spock and raised on eyebrow. The Vulcan mirrored the movement. Kirk stepped forward, gesturing the security officers to put their phasers down. "My name is James T. Kirk," he said. You're on the Federation starship Enterprise. We mean you no harm."
She spoke again in her strange dialect, directing her remarks to Spock.
"It's an ancient Vulcan dialect, captain," Spock said, "native to the Shi'Kahr area. It hasn't been spoken since Global Unification."
"That's fascinating," Kirk said. "Can you get her to calm down?"
Spock stepped forward a bit and said in Vulcan, "We mean you no harm. Release the man and give us your identity."
She stared at him and replied suspiciously, "You know these aliens?"
"Yes. They are my companions." Spock held up a hand in the traditional salute of Vulcan. "I am Spock. Live long and prosper."
She suddenly released Kyle and the knife clattered to the floor. She stared at Spock for a few seconds as if in a daze, and then returned the salute. "Peace and long life," she intoned, but the way she said it made it sound almost is if she were repeating a vow. She put down her hand. "My name is S'alea of Shi'Kahr, disciple of Surak. Forgive my lack of 'cthia." She gave them a slight smile. "It is not every day a being is magically transported to another place."
If Spock were human, his eyes would have fallen out of his head and his jaw would be scraping the ground. As it was, his eyebrow was nearly hitting his hairline. "Fascinating," was all he was able to say.
Kirk and McCoy exchanged a glance. Spock speechless? What was going on? "Spock, what's she saying?" Kirk asked urgently.
Spock focused his attention on the captain. "I believe she has been transported from the past, captain. She claims to be a disciple of Surak. No one has had any need to identify themselves as such since before the unification."
"But, but," McCoy spluttered, unable to accept it, "she /smiled/."
"I believe she is from the Pre-Reformation period," Spock said, "before the entire world accepted Surak's teaching. If this is so, none of Surak's disciples would have perfect control over their emotions." He looked at S'alea and asked her in Vulcan, "What year is it?" She gave him a brief reply, raising an eyebrow. Spock nodded. "2 years, to be precise," he told the captain.
"That's," Kirk said, shaking his head, "wow." He had to take a deep breath before he said, "Well, it seems like we're going to have a guest. Spock, can you explain the situation to her? And have Linguistics get her a universal translator."
"And I want to give her a physical," McCoy added. "See if she's okay after she's been scrambled halfway across the quadrant."
Spock told S'alea what they'd said and she nodded. "Come with me," he told her.
"Your quarters, Spock?" Kirk asked.
"That is the logical place," Spock said. "The environment will provide stability."
The two Vulcans left and Kirk went to the bridge to try and figure out what had happened, and McCoy went to sickbay to prep for his new Vulcan patient.
When they entered Spock's neat, intrinsically Vulcan quarters, Spock sensed S'alea's level of tension drop by 13.2%. /This/, at least, was something she recognized. She stopped at the sword on his wall and stared. "A S'harien?" she said, in awe.
"Yes."
"You must be wealthy indeed to own such a treasure," S'alea said, unable to stop staring at the fine steel craftsmanship.
Here was the opportunity he need. "It is a family heirloom," Spock said. "My family has had it for generations."
"How-" she turned to face him and raised a delicate eyebrow. "Who are you?"
"I am Spock, son of Sarek, of the House of — a slight beat — Surak."
S'alea looked at him, the struggle for control evident in her eyes. She managed to quash it and nodded. "Please explain."
This was going to take some time. Spock gestured for her to take a seat at the desk and offered her a glass of water in the traditional way.
"Thank you," she said, receiving the glass with a nod. She took a small sip and looked at him expectantly.
Spock sat down across from her and stared to explain everything. Where she was, /when/ she was, who they were, and what had happened on Vulcan since she had been... misplaced. As for why and how, he had no answers yet.
When he finally finished, she was staring at him, her brow furrowed as she carefully absorbed the information. "That's amazing," she said. "So. You are Surak's descendent. You look like him."
Spock took this comment with a raised eyebrow. "I am honored," he said, trying to get rid of the tiny flash of pleasure this announcement brought him.
She shook her head. "I am thankful we have overcome our fear of the Other enough to take a place in this, Federation of Planets." She grinned ruefully. "After the bombing of the I'shka conclave, we were wondering if any Vulcan would survive the decade. S'task is thinking— was thinking..." she broke off at the look in Spock's eyes. "What happened to him? Did his proposal go through? They left?"
Spock felt like sighing. "The Romulans."
"The who?"
He began to explain, and after he'd given her a brief summary of their history and their dealings with the Federation, S'alea looked shocked. "They have truly lost themselves," she said, staring through the walls as if she could see faraway planet and all its troubles.
When Spock finally appeared in Sickbay with S'alea in tow, McCoy greeted them with a characteristic remark. "You look shell-shocked. What's Spock been telling you?"
"I explained the fate of the Romulans," Spock said simply.
McCoy nodded. "Romulans. Enough to ruin anybody's day." He patted the biobed and as soon as she sat down he started scanning her, a strange look on his face. "Radiation poisoning?" he muttered, as the results filtered across the tricorder.
"It is difficult to find someone who does not have radiation poisoning," S'alea said.
"This was, of course, before the ion cleansing of the atmosphere," Spock put in, to keep McCoy from giving /him/ a physical.
"Uh-huh." McCoy prepped a hypo and gave her a shot. "This'll get rid of it. Just stay out of laser tanks."
"Thank you doctor." S'alea stood up and looked at Spock.
He nodded fractionally. The next logical step was to give her a chance to rest and meditate. "This way," he said.
He led her towards guest quarters on the ship, turning it into a mini-tour on the way.
"This vessel is quite extensive," she commented.
"Indeed. There are 430 crew. It is the Fleet's first ship of this class."
S'alea nodded. "And are there other Vulcans?"
"Not on this ship," Spock said, deciding to wait till later to explain about the Intrepid.
She gave him a raised eyebrow. "One would think that living among such, undisciplined, minds would be difficult in solitude." A polite way of asking 'why in the worlds?'
"I am half-human," Spock told her, interested to see her reaction.
All he got was surprise, and then, to /his/ surprise, admiration. "A remarkable achievement for our people," she said. "Your mother?"
"Is on Vulcan, with my father," he said, wondering why he was giving her these personal details.
She nodded. "Surak would be pleased, indeed, to know that his own family has progressed this far."
Spock didn't know exactly what to make of that, so he keyed the doors open to her quarters and said, "I hope these will be satisfactory."
She looked around the work area, the small bedroom, and nodded. "They are."
"You can adjust environmental controls to your specifications using the computer," Spock said, nodding to the computer. "If you need any assistance you may contact myself or Dr. McCoy."
She nodded. Then, "thank you."
/That/ surprised him. "I am merely performing a courtesy to a guest," he said.
She nodded. "I know. But thank you anyways."
He returned the nod, his human, more emotional half of him understanding her. "You are welcome." He turned away and heard the doors slide shut behind him.
Spock returned to the bridge and and as soon as he came in everyone looked at him expectantly. "Well?" Kirk asked.
"Captain?" Spock said, returning his gaze calmly.
"How's our newest Vulcan?"
"She is taking the situation with admirable calm."
"Yeah." Kirk paused a second and then said, "She's kind of, emotional."
"S'alea is from the time of Surak. The shift to logic and complete control of emotions has not yet happened. From the culture's point of view, she and the other disciples of Surak, although there are many, are considered fanatics. Or as Doctor McCoy would say, oddballs."
Kirk stifled a snicker. The crew, to their credit, barely even cracked a smile. "I see."
Spock turned to his science station and consulted with Mr. Chekov about the power surge. Scotty came up a few seconds later and the 3 of them began talking.
Kirk wathed, a grin on his face, as they adjourned to a science lab. He looked over the PADD Yeoman Barrows had just handed him and signed it. Life as usual...
The comm whistled about 20 minutes later. "Kirk here," Kirk said, poking at the button.
"Capt, we figured it out," Scotty said. "Can ye come to Science Lab 4?"
Spock spoke up. "I believe S'alea should be present as well."
"I'll get her on my way down," Kirk said. "Bridge out."
He left the bridge in Mr. Sulu's capable hands and headed down to Deck 4. He pressed the door chime and 2 seconds later heard a quiet "Come."
The door opened and he stepped inside. S'alea stood up from the floor, where she was staring at a small candle. "Captain Kirk," she said.
"You have a translator," he said, noticing the silver tube at her belt. "Good. Mr. Spock has something to tell us. Shall we?"
"Of course."
She followed him silently, looking completely at ease. The time to rest had done her good.
Kirk watched her out of the corner of his eye, amazed at how serene she looked even in these extreme circumstances. Vulcans, even early ones, were very good at poise.
They arrived at Sci Lab 4 and found Spock, Scotty, Chekov, and a handful of others from the science department looking at scans of the surrounding area. "What've you found?" Kirk asked.
"We have found evidence of a miniature wormhole, generated by the ion storm. We believe it prematurely disipated by the disturbance of the Enterprise, thus causing the transporter to pick up S'alea's signature before she was fully materialized."
Kirk stared at the readings for a few seconds, trying to wrap his head around it. "That's incredible," he finally said, shocked. "Can you tell if it would happen again?"
"The odds are 1 in 971,574,003 that a minature wormhole would appear on an inhabited planet, scoop up a sentient being, and transfer it to the other side. The odds are even higher, near impossible, for the person being transferred to a transporter buffer without incident." Spock's expression was poker-faced as he added, "However, this being the Enterprise, it has happened."
Kirk laughed. "We always get the impossible things, don't we?" he agreed, grateful for this. If they hadn't been here only by sheerest coincidence, S'alea would have died alone, in space, or quietly have her molecules scattered across the quadrant. "So there's no way of reversing the process then," he said, just to make sure.
Spock's eyebrow answered the question, but he answered anyway. "No captain."
"I didn't think so." Kirk turned to S'alea, who had been silent the entire time. "It seems like you're stuck with us, then."
"It would seem so," S'alea said, raising an eyebrow.
The Enterprise spent three more days slowly traversing the ion storm. S'alea spent the three days catching up on the times, talking to various members of the crew about advances in science, engineering, and medicine. She had a stack of PADD's with her literally 24/7.
Spock found her one day, sitting at a computer screen in the Rec Room, reading afile, a strange look in her face. He paused discreetly in front of her.
She looked up at him. "Records of the past are extremely well-kept." She gestured to the screen, inviting Spock to look at it. "My file is accurate. Except the death notice of course," she added wryly.
Spock read the file. S'alea, of the House of Surak— "You are also related to him?" he asked, surprised.
"Yes. He is the son of my mother's sister."
Spock reflected on the fact that this woman was his great-great-many-times-great-aunt and read on. She was a computer programmer 1st class, weapons technician 2nd rank, student of logic at the Vulcan Science Academy, third disciple — /third!/ — of Surak. Disappeared 15th day of the third month, presumed assasinated by the Yvek faction. Age at time of death: 92 years.
"A distinguished record," Spock noted.
"More like an obituary," she retorted. "That part of my life is gone." She looked at Spock rather helplessly. "What do I do now?"
"You will be welcome on Vulcan," Spock told her. "All of Vulcan will want to know of your experiences, the first hand accounts. With your credentials you will find a position anywhere you wish. And as you are family, you will have a place to belong." On a lighter note he added, "the House of Surak has over eight thousand members. You will find a spot."
She grinned at him, the corners of her mouth turning up ever so slightly. "Eight thousand." She sighed. "I cannot believe it took his death to unite the planet."
"I grieve with thee," Spock said formally, realizing she'd realized that everyone she knew and loved was dead, had been dead for centuries.
She nodded. "Now cousin," she said, standing up, "where on this ship can a being acquire food? I have not eaten for 6,241 years and 91 days."
A snicker came from behind them. It was McCoy, who'd come in and caught her last sentence. "A Vulcan making jokes," he said. "Pigs /must/ have grown wings when I wasn't looking."
"A joke, Doctor?" S'alea said, raising an eyebrow. "I was simply stating a fact."
He rolled his eyes and walked away, muttering. "Heaven help us, they've joined forces..."
S'alea's eyebrow went up higher. "Are all humans as illogical as he is?" she asked Spock.
"Yes. Although Doctor McCoy is of the more extreme variety."
S'alea shook her head. "Fascinating."