This is the third in a series of stories. Please read "A Family Emergency" and "The Celebration of Surak" first.
MANY thanks to my fantastic Beta - Selek. You da man!
Full Circle
Chapter 1
Sarek of Vulcan shivered involuntarily. The embassy here on Earth was always too cool for him. The building itself dated from the late twentieth century, and although it had been upgraded with many modern features, it was essentially an old building. Even on the hottest of days, like today, it still seemed chilly.
To Sarek, this whole season they called summer was damp and cool, so unlike the dry, warm comfort of his home world. But this minor, personal discomfort was of no consequence when measured against the fact that here on Earth, he was able to spend time with his only grandchild.
Spock, now a Captain in Starfleet, taught cadets at the Academy here in San Francisco. His wife, Christine, was completing work on her medical degree at Mercy General Hospital in conjunction with the University. Sarek had made sure he was posted at the embassy here as well; it was not only convenient but also logical that he and Amanda keep young Mandy while her parents attended their daily duties.
When Spock's Time had come, he and Christine had not needed to worry that Mandy be entrusted to a stranger's care. Just as on Vulcan, the child's grandparents would be the ones to care for her while her parents were indisposed. It was the only logical arrangement, and one that Sarek and Amanda greatly enjoyed.
That child, he thought to himself with an inner smile, is a joy.
Inhaling sharply, Sarek abruptly dismissed such thoughts as illogical. Turning again to the work before him, he studied the facts about the recent disappearance of another Vulcan research vessel. The Preceptor made it two ships now that had disappeared near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Briefly he wondered if any private or merchant vessels had also disappeared in that area, and if so, how many were strictly Vulcan? How many of other species? This needed further investigation.
Such thoughts would have to be set aside until later because his ears had detected sounds of an imminent attack. Quickly, he placed the data solids safely in the top drawer of his desk, closing and locking it with no time to spare.
With an explosive roar, the door to his office was flung open so hard it slammed into the wall behind it and bounced back. A small, blonde juggernaut fairly flew across the room and leapt onto his lap.
"Sa'me!" the child cried happily as she dug her feet into his thighs and hugged him fiercely around the neck.
Although a big girl of six and quite capable of correctly pronouncing the Vulcan terms for grandfather and grandmother - Sa'mekh'al and Ko'mekh-il - Mandy still called Sarek by her own diminutive of the word. Neither Sarek nor Amanda corrected her, much to Spock's annoyance.
Sarek allowed himself a tiny, joyful smile into her unruly, blonde curls as he returned her greeting. "Granddaughter," he replied when he had regained his control. His deep voice rumbled out of his chest. "And did you and Ko'mekh-il buy many things on your shopping trip today?"
Young Mandy rubbed her nose against his and climbed down. "Oh, we sure did, Sa'me!" she answered enthusiastically. "Me and grandmother bought lots and lots of 'cellent stuff."
" 'Grandmother and I'," Amanda corrected gently as she entered Sarek's office, her arms loaded with packages of every size and shape.
Quickly, Sarek rose from his chair and came around the desk in order to help her with her bundles. He settled most of the items on the floor while Amanda sank gratefully down into one of his office chairs.
Sarek cocked one eyebrow. " ' 'cellent'?" he inquired of his wife.
Amanda laughed. "It's youth slang for 'excellent'," she explained.
"One might have said so in the first place."
"Sa'me," the six-year-old spoke, "would you like to see what Ko'me and I bought?" She glanced quickly towards Amanda, earning a smile and a nod for her more proper sentence structure.
"Yes, child, I would," Sarek answered solemnly.
Without the slightest hesitation, Mandy began rummaging around in the packages and bags. There was a brief pause before she turned around holding before her a one-piece, iridescent pink swimsuit covered with pink ruffles and matching earplugs.
Sarek nodded his approval. "A most practical swimsuit," he commended her.
Exchanging mischievous grins with the elder Amanda, young Mandy whipped back around and held up another pair of earplugs. "And we bought these for you, Sa'me," she informed him.
"Those are earplugs," Sarek stated rather unnecessarily. He gave Amanda a distinctively mirthless look.
Amanda merely favored him with a brilliantly cheerful smile, while her young namesake explained. "They're for swimming, Sa'me," she told him brightly. "That way you can go swimming with me." She held up her own new earplugs. "See, they match 'cause our ears match."
"How practical," Sarek answered dryly through clenched teeth.
This was Amanda's doing, he was sure. Since they met, she had been urging him to learn to swim, and although he had mastered the movements and the mechanics of the act, he had never felt any measure of confidence. Water, particularly seawater, was a foreign element to Sarek; more, it was the antithesis of the sands of his home world. He didn't actually fear the water, yet he found it...disturbing.
"You will go in swimming with me, won't you, Sa'me?" Mandy asked. "At the Federation Day picnic? At the beach?" Her tiny nose was crinkled with concern, her big blue eyes so much like those of her grandmother.
Sarek could deny the child nothing, just as he could deny Amanda nothing. Reluctantly, he nodded. "I will swim with you, little one."
"Goody!" she cried out. "And we can swim to the sand bar."
"No!" both adults exclaimed in unison.
A frown creased her brow. For one so young, Mandy possessed a great stubborn streak just like her father and grandfather. "Why not? I know how to swim."
It was Amanda who recovered first. Sarek, still appalled at the thought of his only grandchild floundering against huge waves of seawater, had momentarily lost his powerful voice.
"Yes, you know how to swim, and quite well, too," Amanda responded in a calm voice, "in the embassy pool. The Pacific is very different. One day, though, you can swim to the sandbar," she smiled, "just not this year."
Her bottom lip went out, a sure sign a trouble. "But I wanted to practice my swim to the sandbar."
"Practice swimming to the sandbar?" Sarek echoed her. "To what end do you wish to undertake such a practice? Perhaps there is a safer way to practice, a way to achieve the desired results without so much danger."
Mandy brightened at this. "I wanted to swim to the sandbar and back for my kahs-wan," she told him. Then, tucking her locks behind her elfin ears and assuming the proper position of child speaking to a respected elder, she launched into her explanation. "If we were on Vulcan, I could cross the desert like my fathers before me, but here on Earth, where seventy percent of the globe is water, it would make more sense to swim."
Amanda nodded. "But you are more Human than Vulcan, Mandy, like me. You aren't yet old enough for a kahs-wan of any sort, but when the time comes there are similar Human ceremonies and traditions to mark your passage into adulthood."
Again, the lip shot out.
"I am too Vulcan, Ko'me, just like Father and Sa'me. And I am too old enough. Here on Earth, I am six years, three months, and seven days old Federation Standard Time. If we were on Vulcan, I would be exactly seven years old tomorrow."
"You have calculated the mathematics well, Mandy," Sarek interposed, "but the fact is that we are not on Vulcan." He used his deepest diplomat's voice; the tone should awe her into submission. "Although I must admire your desire to commit yourself to the Vulcan Way, you are, genetically speaking, more Human than Vulcan, and it is best that you wait some years more before making this irrevocable decision. We will not speak of this again until such time as you are old enough to make a decision like this."
Sarek stood, assisting his wife from her seat. "Come, child, it is time for evening meal. Put away your purchases. We will await you in the dining room."
Thus dismissed, Mandy muttered something reasonably polite, gathered the shopping parcels and trudged from the room.
When she felt the child was out of earshot, Amanda turned to her husband. "Sarek, I've got a bad feeling about this."
Sarek frowned, tightening his lips. Ordinarily, he would have replied, Feelings are illogical, Amanda. But this time, he, too, had a 'bad' feeling.