Sarek reviewed the list of cadets who would transverse the desert of Go'an. These cadets would spend the next four months of their training on the surface of Vulcan; fourteen days would be in the Vulcan Science Academy and the remainder in the openness of the desert. Each semester, a Vulcan instructor was chosen to complete the training. This semester, that instructor would be Sarek himself. Though he did not officially approve of the Starfleet exercise taking place on Vulcan soil, he did understand the necessity of it. Humans were not accustomed to the higher heat and lower gravity Vulcan had to offer.
This was to be Sarek's first endeavor at teaching desert survival to a group of Starfleet cadets. When he first received his notice he was not entirely pleased he would have to teach Starfleet cadets when he had been so open about his belief 'Vulcans had no place in Starfleet'. He had logically tried all he could to see his way out of the exercise. However, both Head Master Sotyl and Vice Admiral Grant thought Sarek would be the ideal instructor for this particular group.
The group was made up of eleven humans and one listed as simply non-human. The only thing that would signify who each person was on the list was their class ranking and Starfleet serial number. Sarek was most surprised to see the non-human was ranked in the top ten percentile. Normally, humans seem to fare better then their non-human counterparts. This time Sarek was sure none of the cadets would do very well. The Vulcan exercise was difficult, even for a Vulcan, this time of year. It was at a time 40 Eridani was at its most intense.
To complicate matters, the Vulcan Instructor was expected to open his or her home to the cadet for the initial fourteen days. It was a gesture of good will on the instructor's behalf and a lesson in cultural courtesy on the cadet's behalf. Sarek was not at all pleased about this either but his wife very much looked forward to having the group of boys in her home. The dwelling was large enough and housed enough bedrooms three cadets could share a room, leaving their room and the room of their son empty.
As Sarek aided his wife in preparing the rooms, he looked at the closed door that belonged to Spock. He couldn't help but to wonder if it would ever again be filled with the sounds of his son's voice. These three years had been hard on Sarek, almost as hard as they had been on Amanda. He many times, over the course of the years, wanted to tell Spock he had been wrong, but he was Vulcan and acted in a logical fashion. Vulcans abhorred violence and a Starfleet officer at times would be called to act in a violent manner, even commit murder.
Never-the-less, Sarek was to turn four months of his life over to Starfleet, per an agreement between Vulcan and the Federation. At least Sarek was relieved Vulcan was not the only planet to be put out by the cadet intrusion, Betazed—for water survival and Yucanin—for subzero temperature training. The thought of his son going through training on Yucanin unsettled Sarek. He recalled his own experience on the planet caused an acute case of pneumonia.
The cadets were due to arrive at the spaceport in one hour twenty-three minutes and eight seconds. It gave Sarek just enough time to lock out any of his and Amanda's personal files from the estate's computer system. Though Starfleet cadets were on an honor code, he still did not trust them with his sensitive diplomatic material.