Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I was unable to acquire rights to Star Trek during my long absence. Darn it.
Author's Note: I'm BAAAAAACK! Nope, I'm not dead, as some of you might have begun to wonder, and I did not stop writing due to any tragedy other than writer's block and my own lack of motivation. For those of you who regularly post pleas on Unification for me to complete that story, I promise that I will someday, though probably not for a while yet. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this story. This is an idea I had a long time ago – back when I still updated regularly – but it never came to fruition. Until now, that is, when I decided it was time to get off my butt and get back to writing.
A note on the story: The first chapter is Spock/Uhura-centric, and while the story will indeed include these two, the plot revolves around Sarek and Amanda, so to the fans of other ships, I ask you to hang in there.
Chapter I
The bridge was quiet by its usual standards. Normally there was a great deal of bustle and movement as officers ran back and forth with reports, giving orders and updating the captain on whatever scientific phenomenon they were currently investigating. Today, however, the mission was a routine one, even boring compared to most of their adventures. Delivering a shipment of supplies to the new Vulcan colony was hardly life-threatening.
Uhura adjusted the earpiece in her left ear and leaned forward over her console, listening intently as she fiddled with the switches and screen before her. There were no incoming transmissions. There hadn't been anything in the last six hours.
She glanced at the clock. It was almost time for her to end her shift. Below the time, there was the estimated time of arrival for their destination: 10 hours, 16 minutes and 23 seconds.
Uhura looked to her right, to where Spock sat at the science station. He was looking at something on his screen and did not notice that her attention had wandered. She bit her lip, thinking about Shen s'Vitush and what waited there.
Should I ask him? she wondered. She knew he didn't like it when she pried, even if he would never say so. And yet, she thought it was a topic that needed to be broached.
The glowing numerals on the clock changed to 1800 hours and it was time to go. Uhura brought her end-of-shift report to Kirk and left; Spock was right behind her.
With one glance they came to a silent mutual agreement, and without a word Spock followed her off the lift on the fourth deck and to her quarters. They rarely had a shift off together, what with their conflicting schedules, but it was one of those rare shifts and they never missed the opportunity to spend them together.
The door shut with a whoosh behind them. They set their PADDS on the nightstand, but as Spock took off his Starfleet-issue boots Uhura stood uncertainly in the doorway.
"Well?" she asked.
Spock glanced up at her, then set his boots neatly in the closet.
"Nyota, until the day we are bonded, I cannot know what you are thinking," he said.
"Are you going to go see him?"
There was a beat of silence while Spock surveyed her, then he turned away to take off his shirt. Still turned away, he said, "I presume you mean my father?"
"Yes."
Spock neatly folded his shirt and put it on the nightstand, like he always did. "I suppose I will have to. As head of the Vulcan Reconstruction effort, it is his duty to oversee shipments to the colony."
"You know what I mean," Uhura said, exasperated. When Spock still did not look up at her, she went to him, reaching out to caress his jaw and turn his face to hers. "You can't avoid him forever, Spock."
"I am not avoiding him," Spock said flatly, drawing away from her. "I have had no occasion to speak to him."
"You don't need an occasion to speak to your own father!" Uhura said. Refusing to let him distance himself from her – something he always did when she brought up the tenuous subject of his father – she took his arm and pulled him back around to face her. "I know why you don't want to talk to him. Seeing him reminds you of your mother. But he's hurting too, Spock! You're all the family he has left, and he's all the family you have left. You haven't spoken to him except for Starfleet business since he left for Shen s'Vitush – that's almost a year!" Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself. Then, in a more pleading tone, "I really think you should go visit him. I'm sure the captain would allow it."
Spock's dark brown eyes were watching her, but she couldn't read the expression behind them. Finally, his shoulders sagged a little, a sure sign that she had won.
"Very well. I will go see my father when we arrive on Shen s'Vitush. However, you must come with me."
Uhura beamed and wrapped her arms around him. Planting a kiss on his lips, she pulled away. "Of course I will," she said. Then she added, "I knew you were too smart not to listen to me."
Before he could protest, she kissed him again, and pushed him toward the bed.
XXXXX
When they woke the next morning – or what passed as morning on the ship – the colony was only two hours away. While Spock was in the shower, Uhura called ahead on a private line to let Sarek know they would be stopping by. Spock did not know this, of course, but Uhura was determined to get the two together.
Once her phone call was complete, Uhura crawled back under the covers and turned so she could look through the open bathroom door. All she could see of Spock was a blurry flesh-colored figure through the marbled glass walls of the shower stall, but as she saw it she felt sadness well up within her.
He tried to hide it, Uhura knew, but nothing had been the same since Amanda's death. When Spock had his guard down, when he thought she wasn't looking, she could see the grief in his eyes, feel it in his touch. He had been more distant with her than before, rarely telling her anything of his feelings, and always drew away when she touched upon the subject of his parents. It saddened her, crushed her, to know that he didn't want to share it with her, or worse – felt that he couldn't, or that she couldn't handle it. Part of her wondered if maybe, just maybe, he could come to terms with his mother's death, and talking to his father might help…
The shower shut off and Spock stepped out. Uhura forced a smile onto her face when he came into the room, but she felt hollow inside.
XXXXX
They arrived at the bridge together. No one spared them a second glance as they sat at their separate stations and set to work; it was too common an occurrence to be noteworthy.
They were preparing the ship to drop out of warp when it happened. The ship shuddered, just enough to jostle its crew, but not enough to send anyone flying. Uhura grabbed the edge of her console just in case, eyes wide as she looked around, but it was over almost as soon as it started. Spock glanced her way to ensure she was okay, then started typing away at his console, eyes flitting over his screen, reading and interpreting the data sent by the sensors.
"What was that?" Kirk asked with a frown.
"The sensors currently show nothing, Captain," Spock replied. "There was an anomaly 10.3 seconds ago. Analyzing now."
"Anyone else?" Kirk asked the room at large.
"Nothing from Communications, Captain," Uhura replied, frowning as she adjusted the sensors.
No one else had anything to report. Kirk looked unsettled; he glanced back at Spock. "Anything yet, Mr. Spock?" he asked uneasily.
Spock turned from his station, eyebrows furrowed. "Nothing I can explain, Captain. There was a definite surge in the sensors, but no indication of the source. There is nothing in the area to cause any alarm."
"A glitch in the ship's system, maybe?" Kirk mused.
"Perhaps," Spock said, but his risen eyebrow told Uhura that he didn't think so.
"Well, if there's nothing to worry about in the area, we'll just have the sensors re-calibrated while we're unloading our cargo," Kirk decided. "And I'll have Mr. Scott look at the rest of the systems too."
They dropped out of warp to orbit Shen s'Vitush. The red planet looked much like Vulcan, except it was much smaller and the dark side lacked the glitter of city lights. Uhura looked to her right and caught Spock gazing at the main viewing screen, which showed what was now his home planet.
A crackle sounded in Uhura's ear, followed by a cool female voice speaking Vulcan.
"Vulcan Security. Please state your intended purpose in our airspace."
"U.S.S. Enterprise here, preparing to unload a shipment of supplies to the colony," Uhura replied.
"The U.S.S. Enterprise?" There was a pause. "You are early. We did not expect the shipment for another two days. Captain Sang was supposed to make the delivery."
"Captain Sang was held up. We are here in his place."
There was another pause, then the Vulcan asked to speak to the captain. Uhura transferred the transmission to the main screen; after Kirk confirmed what Uhura had said, the Vulcan reluctantly granted them permission to beam down.
"Uhura, Spock," Kirk said once permission had been given. Spock and Uhura went to stand before the command chair. "I received a message last night requesting permission to go planet-side."
"Yes, sir," Uhura replied.
"Well, technically I'm not supposed to let you go planet-side unless it's for official Starfleet business or Command-sanctioned shore-leaves," Kirk said, but then he grinned. "Lucky for you, I need someone to go down and make sure everything arrives. You have four hours to … make sure everything's there, before we have to leave."
"Thank you, Captain," Spock said. Uhura flashed the captain a grateful smile before following Spock off the bridge and into the lift.
XXXXX
When they beamed down onto the surface it was to find themselves on a transporter platform crowded with crates. Vulcan workers carried the crates off the platform, stacking them against a wall to await transportation, not looking up at the two Starfleet officers in their midst.
Spock took her elbow and helped her off the platform. Uhura craned her neck, searching the faces in the crowd surrounding the transporter station, looking for one in particular. Taking note of her behavior, Spock asked, "Nyota, who are you looking for? My father would not meet us here. He does not even know we are here."
"But I am looking for him." Uhura frowned. "I don't see him. He said he'd be here."
Suspicion darkened Spock's eyes. "You did not tell me you spoke to him."
"Yeah, well…" Uhura gave him a sheepish smile. "I called him last night to let him know we'd be here. He told me he'd be waiting on the platform."
"Perhaps he is nearby," Spock suggested. Though he said nothing about her deception, she knew he was not pleased.
But he wasn't nearby. They looked all over the transporter station but didn't see him. Finally, Spock went to a public computer console.
"Vulcan High Command has recorded the addresses of all those living here," Spock told her. "I should be able to locate his lodgings."
A search for S'chn T'gai, Spock's and Sarek's clan name, yielded the desired results. They set out from the station, following a sandy road between two hills and into the valley beyond.
Shen s'Vitush lay spread out below them. Construction on public buildings and homes was still ongoing; laborers drove transportation trucks stacked high with stone blocks, delicate computer equipment or other materials to construction sites, where still more workers braved the oppressive heat – so similar to Vulcan's – to lay the foundations for schools, homes, meeting centers, libraries and the new Vulcan Science Academy and Vulcan High Command Center. The finished homes lay beyond the city center, built of red stone bricks that seemed to bake in the early morning sunlight. In the very distance, Uhura could see the beginnings of farms, the first crops of Shen s'Vitush's self-sustainment.
She noticed as they went on that there were very few children about. When she mentioned it to Spock, he told her that most Vulcan children were being kept on other planets until the colony was better established. Every Vulcan who currently lived in Shen s'Vitush helped the Reconstruction in some way, whether by hard labor, managing hard labor, or assisting in the more political aspects.
"This is only what will be the capital. Other cities are being established elsewhere on the planet. They will be small to begin with, but the elders think we will soon be able to double our current population. All bonded couples are being encouraged to procreate as soon as is convenient, and it is recommended that each couple have at least two or three children within the next ten years."
Uhura did not know how he knew where he was going, but Spock led her toward the houses on the outer limits and down two rows. They started down a side street. She wondered how he would know which was his father's house – they all looked the same, and as far as she could tell, they had no identifying marks anywhere.
She wondered why Sarek had not met them as promised. It was highly unusual of him – or any other Vulcan, for that matter. She worried that something had happened to him – was he sick? Injured? Dead? Or had there been some urgent meeting that took precedence?
Spock seemed to find the house he was looking for. He started up a pathway to a house midway down the street. It looked just like the others, made of red stone shimmering in the heat, a plain roof and no sort of ornament in the yard – not that she expected one.
Spock knocked on the door. There was a pause, then the sound of locks sliding back – apparently they had not yet endowed the houses with modern, or even basic, technology. The door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman in the traditional Vulcan garb of stiff dress and veil.
"How may I help –" The woman's words were cut off. Spock and Uhura stared at her; she stared back. Uhura's eyes widened and her heart slammed in her chest, every beat felt throughout her entire body. Her mouth fell open in shock.
Standing before them was Amanda Grayson.