AN: One of my favorite episodes on Enterprise was Carbon Creek. I thought it was cute and I decided to re-imagine the events that took place and put the characters in the city itself, in an entire different setting and with new characters.
The Crash
First contact between Humans and Vulcans was only a matter of time.
The technological strides humans accomplished was admirable given humanity was still a relatively newly evolved species and despite their concerns, the Vulcans, had agreed to be the first to welcome humanity as the newest members in the galactic community.
But the rules of first contact were clear, the Vulcans and no other species could make contact with humanity until they had discovered warp technology.
The Vulcan High Command was certain this would happen and soon. Already human scientists had split the atom, discovered nuclear power, made advances in healthcare and countless other discoveries it seem as though humanity would join the ranks of other advance humanoid societies.
The High Command for all its 'excitement' couldn't exactly be sure how humans would take to discovering that they were in fact, not along in the universe. After all, through their observations, humans always had a hard time accepting and tolerating those that were 'different' from them.
This intolerance wasn't anything that the High Command hadn't seen before in other species but what made the humans so unique was how they divided amongst themselves. They placed great emphasis on such trivial matters like skin color and aligned themselves according to 'race', a concept as alien to the Vulcans as humans were as a species. Sure the Vulcans like humans came in all shapes, sizes, and colors, but divisions in Vulcan society were base family rank. A Vulcan with dark skin was just the same as a Vulcan with white skin; to them a Vulcan is a Vulcan. It was illogical to think otherwise.
Still, the High Command throughout the years sent survey ship after survey ship to study the humans and report their findings. No Vulcan outside those who were at the very top of the High Command even knew humanity existed and why should they? Until humanity discovered warp technology, the Vulcans couldn't interact with them.
After nearly a hundred years, the High Command could see just how close they were to finally being able to make first contact with the humans.
And then the war came.
Humanity's fall from grace was sudden, dramatic, devastating and the consequences could not be understated.
The High Command upon learning about the war abruptly ended their official interest and left humanity to its faith.
For nearly ten years, the war raged on as the great superpowers of Earth destroyed each other in a futile attempt to the last one standing. When it was over, humanity found itself plunged back in the darkness of ignorance and all the hopes and dreams of the past became nothing more than a dim memory. A memory, the new ruling elite did everything they could to purge.
So ten years after the war, curiosity got the better of the High Command and a small survey ship had been sent to Earth with the mission to learn how humanity fared after the war and to see if perhaps they were beginning to rebuild themselves. The Vulcan survey ship the Koval had been in orbit around Earth nearly three weeks gathering what information they could.
Three weeks and already the small crew of four was ready to return to Vulcan. Humanity hadn't change since the war and in many ways it had gotten worst.
Tolarius, the captain of the Koval was sitting in his room looking carelessly at the hologram of his wife, two daughters, and grandchildren. As a Vulcan, he couldn't say that he 'missed' them without evoking or being accused of evoking emotion, however, he did miss his family.
His youngest daughter had recently given birth to son shortly after he left for his mission. Fortunately, this mission to Earth would be Tolarius's last as he was looking forward to retiring and spending more time with his family.
T'Mir the second in command was a younger woman around the age of sixty-five and hadn't married although pre-contracted to marry once she came back to Vulcan. She, however, was more focus on advancing her career and eventually teaching at the Vulcan Science Academy. This survey mission was to her, just another step towards achieving that goal.
Stronn, the second oldest after Tolarius had a family, a wife and a son and wished to be with them as well. Just before leaving for the survey mission, Stronn had gotten an offer to teach at the academy and used his free time towards developing lesson plans for his future students.
Mestral, the youngest, had only recently graduated from the academy. For him, the survey mission provided a unique opportunity for him to gather research for his dissertation on 'pre-warp humanoid species, the internal obstacles they face and how they use their technology to remedy these issues'. Unlike the others, Mestral came from a prominent family, his father, grandfather and an uncle sat on the High Command. This privilege was a source of burden, as Mestral knew his family used their influence and wealth to ensure his success. Due to this, Mestral always worried others would not take his accomplishments seriously and he sought try and distance himself from his family.
Each of the four Vulcans was different in terms of personality as well. Tolarius was the stern captain with a military background whose heavy handed discipline kept both him and others in line. T'Mir the secretive and ambitious woman who longed for a command of her own and 'disliked' taking orders. Stronn was the family man who preferred teaching and valued his alone time away from the others and Mestral, the young researcher whose youthful optimism often clashed with the older Vulcans personal views.
The Vulcans had just finished eating their evening meal after a long day of research. "I am not sure how humanity will overcome the devastation they've created," T'Mir remarked.
Stronn, who was preparing yet another lesson plan, nodded his head in silent agreement.
"Shame because they came so close…." Stronn added.
Mestral finished his meal, Vulcan field rations, not the greatest especially compared to what he was use to, but he couldn't complain. Eating kept his mind off other things like T'Pena, the Vulcan woman his family had chosen as his future wife. T'Pena sent her fifth message today to him and Mestral knew he couldn't ignore her any longer
Luckily, T'Pena's telepathic skills weren't as polished as Mestral's and so he was able to keep her out of his thoughts, but he wanted her to stop contacting him. The numerous messages were not only distracting but it also alienated him even more from his crewmates.
T'Pena like Mestral was from a noble family and attended the academy to study literature which was a dead giveaway to one's family status. Noble women especially liked going to school for literature as it allowed them the dual benefit of having an education at an elite institution but didn't require much commitment like an education in the sciences would since all noble woman were of course, expected to marry and raise children.
Because of his noble status, T'Mir was 'annoyed' with the young Vulcan and delighted in talking about T'Pena to Mestral as a means to amuse herself.
"I have received another message from T'Pena." T'Mir asked.
"No. I will contact T'Pena later," Mestral kept staring at his PADD. He had just started working on his thesis for his dissertation.
Stronn picked up on the tension between T'Mir and Mestral; nonetheless, decided the logical thing to do was to stay out of it.
After all, the tension between the two Vulcans really had nothing to do with their personalities. On Vulcan, family rank was of great importance and often time advancement only came by way of family connections.
Several generations of T'Mir's family worked as servants for a noble house and T'Mir herself was expected to take on the life of a servant. Instead T'Mir's parents recognized their daughter's intelligence and ambition and in exchange for their loyalty, the head of the family served as T'Mir's benefactor to attend the Vulcan Science Academy.
The years at the academy for T'Mir was rough, as the first in family to obtain a higher education she often had to contend with Vulcans whose families had been attending the academy for generations. Nonetheless, T'Mir's intellectual abilities, ambition, determination, and hard work proved too difficult for the elites at the academy to ignore and despite her low birth she managed to move through the ranks.
But this came at a price, T'Mir's experience made her bitter towards the elite and she harbored a serious inferiority complex, one she sought to remedy by eventually being in command of her own ship.
For now, second in command would have to do.
And picking on Mestral.
But Mestral was no fool; he knew of T'Mir's feelings about him and tried to prove himself to not only her, but everyone.
"I am satisfied with this lesson plan," Stronn placed the PADD down on the table.
Mestral changed the subject, "When do you start your new position?"
"Just as soon as this mission is over, I will report my findings and relocate to teach."
T'Mir saw another opportunity to point out Mestral's family privilege, "Your uncle is the lead chancellor of the academy, and several of your cousins sit on the committee, do they not?"
Even Vulcans were capable of pushing each other's buttons and T'Mir was coming very close to pushing Mestral's.
"Yes, I have many members of my family who sit on the committee," Mestral answered, a part of him found it 'fun' to point out his family connections to a woman who had none.
In trying to change the subject, Stronn made the situation again uncomfortable for Mestral, "You are to be wed?"
"Yes, I am." Mestral answered bluntly.
This slight elevation in Mestral's voice alerted the other Vulcans to his growing annoyance and T'Mir knew better than to push.
The room felt silent for a few moments and then Mestral spoke.
"It had been my wish that the humans would have develop warp technology, I would like been interested to interact with them. Their culture is…..fascinating."
Mestral's youthful enthusiasm managed to get the better of him and provoked yet another conversation about the inferiority of humanity.
T'Mir glanced at Stonn, "You weren't alive when we first surveyed the humans and just a child when their war occurred. It had been the High Command's hope that humans would be integrated into the galactic community but they failed to accept humans are flawed, destructive creatures incapable of anything else but violence"
Stonn nodded in agreement, "Humans were never meant to be our equals."
"Then why are we studying them?" Mestral countered.
T'Mir wanted to give the young Vulcan a history lesson involving the Andorians, the Klingons, and other species the Vulcans made first contact with and all the problems they caused, but the ship suddenly and violently shook throwing her off guard.
Tolarius stumbled into the mess hall, "We have a situation. Our engines are malfunctioning."
The four Vulcans rushed into their respective positions.
"How did this happen? Were we hit?" Stronn asked as he tried to stabilize the warp field adapter.
"I am not certain. Our sensor readings don't show anything." Tolarius continued to work on the control panel.
"We are getting too close to the Earth's atmosphere. If we get any closer we might be detected." T'Mir warned.
"Send out a distress signal!" Tolarius commanded Mestral. Mestral's and the others knew because of his family connections, the High Command would make finding the Koval and her crew a high priority.
"The ship is going to crash; we need to find an isolated spot!" Tolarius then proceeded to remind the crew, "No matter what happens, we cannot contaminate humanity's culture! The policy of non-interference is now more important than ever!"
The crew understood.
After all, their stay on Earth would be brief; the High Command will get the message and send a ship to bring them home.
An: I hope you like it so far. Please give me reviews. Reviews help motivate me and let me know if folks are interested in me continuing the story.