Most of the characters in this story belong to Paramount and whoever else has current legal ownership of all things Star Trek at the moment. No infringement on any corporate, business, or individual's rights is intended in any way. This story is not being written for profit, just for enjoyment.
Chapter 1
It was typical pre-dawn morning weather in San Francisco: Ambient air temperature was 11 degrees Celsius with a north-northeast wind creating a wind chill of 7 degrees Celsius. A light rain was falling. Spock reached up to adjust the fastenings on his hood more tightly down around his head. Only his eyes and nose were now visible under the thermal layers and moisture resistant running gear that he was wearing. Even after years of early morning runs on this cross country course at Star Fleet Academy, he knew without a doubt that his body would never become acclimated to the damp and cold. In the purely physical sense, he found that he missed his home planet most during these daily runs. He quickly steered his mind and body back to the memories of his past runs on Vulcan as he increased his speed in a sudden effort to both combat the cold as well as his negative feelings towards his current living conditions.
He had hoped to have left this cold, damp climate behind for good after serving under Captain Pike, but that had not been the case. His field promotion to Commander under Pike's leadership had led Spock back to Star Fleet Headquarters with a promise from Captain Pike that he would give Spock a shot at the First Officer's position on the new flagship Enterprise. Unfortunately, the completion of the Enterprise was still two years away. Spock's godfather, Admiral Nelson had then persuaded him to teach at the Academy so that he could gain more leadership and inter-personal skills that would be necessary for command as an XO aboard a star ship. At the time that seemed quite the logical path to take during the interim as he waited for the Enterprise to be completed. But between the misbehavior of the current group of Cadets and the insufferable bureaucracy of the Star Fleet faculty, he sometimes found himself regretting taking such a path. Once in a moment of weakness in his weekly call home when he had complained about his misgivings concerning his decision to teach, his mother had offered him the cryptic words that 'all things happen for a reason'. And thinking upon her words, Spock decided that perhaps only time would tell what this particular path in life would bring to him. He resolved to be more patient with both the cadets and his colleagues.
As his breath deepened, readying himself for yet another increase in his pace as he ran onto the stadium track and level ground, he suddenly became aware of a heavily floral scent within the damp breeze. Jasmine and sandalwood with a light citrus undercurrent suddenly filled his head causing him to slow down in an effort to locate the source of the scents. His mother had raised him to be a gardener like herself, and floral fragrances had captivated his senses since he had been a small child. As he continued to run, his keen sense of smell indicated that the enticing scents were growing stronger as he was obviously now running towards the source of the fragrances. His path was currently taking him close to the 'tunnel' that led to the dressing rooms for the stadium.
Spock slowed down even more as his ears began to detect a melodic, beautiful voice in song. He recognized some of the words of the song as being sung in Kiswahili. One of his mother's colleagues was from the African continent of Earth and had spoken this language to him when he was young. This colleague had taught him many Kiswahili words as a child of four years when he was visiting the Earth with his mother for the first time. Spock quickly searched his memory and was now able to roughly translate that the song currently being sung was about the rain. How appropriate, Spock thought as he continued to slow down even more, suddenly captivated by the exquisite, female voice as it echoed out from within the tunnel. As he approached the structure he looked inside and noticed that a very petite female human was performing stretching exercises against one wall of the tunnel near the entrance. He swiftly concluded that she must indeed be the source of both the fragrances and the song.
As he passed in front of the tunnel entrance, the female quickly turned her head towards him as she continued to both stretch and sing and Spock immediately found himself locking eyes with her. He suddenly felt as if he had been struck by lightning as his heart began to beat erratically and his usually sure footed stride faltered, almost causing him to stumble. This female was extraordinarily beautiful; quite possibly the most beautiful woman Spock had ever seen in his life. Her eyes were dark like mahogany and her hair long and black, bound into what he knew was a 'ponytail'. He suddenly became aware of yet another scent being carried on the breeze towards him now, that of warm woman. He blinked in disbelief and tentatively breathed in another full breath of air confirming the scent. Against his will he found himself quickly on the path to full arousal as he struggled to tamp down his base emotions.
A radiant smile suddenly lit up her face as she continued to sing, and Spock felt his stride faltering once again. Most surprisingly to himself Spock realized that he didn't really mind that his carefully guarded and normally precise body movements were anything but at that moment. Suddenly several other humans emerged from the dressing rooms and called out their greetings to the human female. Spock noticed that she did not turn away from him as her companions spoke to her and that she continued to lock eyes with him. Spock then quickly managed to recover both his stride as well as his composure and he nodded curtly to her in what he hoped would be taken as an appropriate greeting as he quickly accelerated around the oncoming curve and away from the tunnel.
Once out on the cross county trail and sufficiently away from her scent and song, he willed himself to calm down and quickly began to analyze what had just happened to him. He had been in the presence of many human females in the past and he had always been able to control his natural desires. After all he was a healthy male Vulcan and such base desires were as much a part of the Vulcan male psyche as they were in the human male. But something about this siren in the form of a human female both fascinated and frightened him at the same time because of the strength of the reaction that her presence elicited in him. This woman had somehow been able to completely disable his emotional shields with just one look and one smile. He suddenly found himself torn between either finding a way to reconnect with her or making sure that he would never again be in her presence; inwardly knowing that either one of these courses of action were totally illogical. He quickly picked up his pace once again seeking the calm and focus that running had always given him.
The morning sun had managed to peek out from the heavy cloud cover and the rain ceased as Spock completed the cross country course and ran once again onto the stadium track. He quickly scanned the track and immediately located the woman he had seen earlier in the tunnel on the far side of the track. Her group had set up hurdles on one part of the track and they were obviously now involved in training for a track and field event.
As he slowed down to a walk, he continued to watch the group of hurdlers, and in particular the woman he had seen in the tunnel. Spock was amazed as he watched the petite woman glide effortlessly over the hurdles still clad in her warm up suit and he quickly found himself at a complete stop on the track as two runners suddenly overtook him. He swiftly turned and walked off the track, but instead of going to the dressing room to shower and change he decided instead to climb high into the bleachers in order to better view the hurdlers.
He sat down and immediately began to watch spellbound as the woman began to remove her warm up suit obviously now warmed up sufficiently to began running in earnest. The vision of her lithe form now encased in a most revealing track uniform suddenly left him breathless. He quickly performed a self examination and noted that his body was now refusing somehow to obey his brain. He then realized that he was not only on the verge of hyperventilating but the sudden tightness of his crotch region was indicative that a full blown erection was well on its way to tenting the front of his running pants. Spock quickly leaned forward over his waist as he sat in order to shield his arousal from anyone passing by him.
He immediately began to analyze his current situation. He had absolutely no idea why he was physically reacting to this woman in such a way. Yes, she was beautiful and yes, he did long for her to wrap her long legs and arms around him in the throes of passion. 'Where had this thought suddenly come from?' he asked himself. He quickly threw such carnal thoughts from his mind as he began to silently meditate trying his best to take back control over his body. However he was finding it most difficult to concentrate upon this task now. He soon found himself wanting to re-open his eyes to gaze upon his woman once again. 'And just how was it that she was 'his' woman now?' he also had to ask himself. During his inward struggle to regain control of his emotions, it slowly dawned on him that perhaps he was now experiencing the beginnings of pon'farr. This condition would explain his strong sexual and emotional reaction to this particular woman. He quickly closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down as he focused on a solution to a particular physics problem that had been plaguing him all day yesterday. Slowly his erection subsided and upon realizing that he was no longer in any danger of discovery, he quickly rose and literally ran to the Men's dressing room reasoning that removing himself from the presence of this woman would once again restore his sanity.
The rest of the day passed by most slowly for Spock. He tried his best to stay within the confines of his office so that he could meditate further upon his earlier reaction to the woman. Fall semester classes weren't scheduled to begin until next week. He had hoped that the hallways and grounds would not be crowded with cadets as he excused himself early from his office duties so as to return to his apartment at a time which would find his mother at home and awake. He disliked what he was going to ask her, but he had to find out if he needed to leave Earth immediately for Vulcan. In her time married to a Vulcan male Amanda Grayson had been through four pon'farrs with his father. Surely she would be able tell if Spock were entering into pon'farr.
Spock had been relieved during his 21st year of life that he had showed no signs of pon'farr as he served as science officer for Captain Pike. Spock did not know if the absence of the 'blood fever' was the result of his mixed heritage or because of the nature of his bond with his betroved, T'Pring. His betrothal bond to T'Pring had always been weak, almost non-existent. But even through this weak bond with her, he had felt her anger and contempt that she was bonded to him at various times throughout the years. And although he felt neither anger nor contempt towards T'Pring, he was most certain that she was not the bond mate for him. Seven months ago she let him know through their bond that she had selected another as her mate and that she now wanted to formally dissolve the bond with Spock. He had planned on approaching his father during his next leave on Vulcan with this information. Spock knew that his father would resist breaking the bond, but he also knew that his mother would indeed agree to assist him and that she would somehow persuade Sarek to present the annulment to T'Pau for approval.
As his mother's image appeared on the screen, Spock immediately could feel her emotions through their bond: surprise and concern.
"Safu" she began her bright eyes focused intently on his "Are you well?"
He looked deeply into her eyes gathering his thoughts into order once again as he prepared for this difficult conversation with his mother. "I am uncertain, ko-mekh." He began as her expression grew even more serious. He took a long, calming breath and decided to jump right to the reason for his call to her. "I am concerned that I am experiencing the beginnings of pon'farr."
Her eyes suddenly widened and Spock could now feel concern edged with fear through their bond. "What makes you believe this, safu?" she asked quietly "Is your body temperature elevated?"
Spock was silent as he thought back to this morning. "No Ko-mekh, I have not experienced a rise in metabolic temperature as of yet." He explained knowing that the 'blood fever' was one of the first symptoms of pon'farr. "I….I encountered a woman this morning whilst I was running."
His mother's face visibly relaxed and Spock could now feel calm replacing her fear through their bond. A small smile now appeared on her face. Spock knew that further explanations were in order if his mother were to answer any of his questions rationally from this point forward.
In his silence, the smile on his mother's face widened and Spock frowned at her in frustration.
"I am sorry that I frustrate you, Spokh." His mother apologized "But you do not appear to be in the beginnings of pon'farr at all." She explained "I would know through our bond if this time for you had begun, safu."
Spock breathed out a sigh of relief hoping that his mother did not notice his emotional response to her words.
"Now tell me all about this 'woman'!" She then asked excitedly.
"There is nothing to tell, ko-mekh." He replied quickly.
"Spokh, I know you better than you know yourself." She pushed onward knowing just how stubborn her son could be about personal matters. "Something happened to you today…I felt it."
Spock was actually surprised at his mother's words and she smiled knowingly at him noting his surprise.
"Your father felt it too, although he is too stubborn to admit it….just like you are."
She continued with another small smile. "You met someone today….someone special."
"I did not meet her exactly." Spock admitted cutting his eyes away from his mother's briefly.
"Oh…then explain to me what happened, safu." She requested quietly, not able to keep the twinkle of a smile from her eyes as he once again focused his eyes upon hers.
"Ko-mekh, please allow me to further explain." He began "With one look and smile this woman made me falter in my running stride as well as caused my mind to momentarily lose all rational thought. My heart rate became erratic and I found that I could no longer control my body."
"Could your reaction to this woman be the result of you not eating breakfast before your morning run, or perhaps such reaction was the result of the dampness and cold of your environment?" She asked her face now set to neutral as she spoke.
Spock knew that his mother was now in the midst of creating what he termed a 'romantic fabrication'. She was a very passionate person by nature and had always balanced her expected duties as wife and mother on Vulcan with her innate emotional inner self through these fabrications. To that end his mother had hidden dozens of terran romance novels in and around their home for years. Spock had noticed through his observations of his mother during the years of his youth that most of these fabrications occurred immediately following periods of great stress. And her relief that he was not injured, ill, or in the throes of pon'farr was no doubt triggering this particular fabrication.
"Or is it perhaps that this woman is an enchantress, a spirit sent to capture your heart and katra, safu?" She continued with her questioning, her eyes once again betraying her intentions to tease him.
He frowned again at her.
"All right, all right Spokh." She said, a huge smile breaking forth upon her face "I will now cease with my romantic conjecture. Now please tell me the whole story of your 'encounter' with this 'mystery' woman of yours."
"Ko-mekh please. This woman is neither a mystery or mine." Spock defended.
"Again I offer my apologies, Spokh." His mother replied with the beginnings of yet another smile on her face.
"As I was saying" As Spock began to tell his story once again "during my morning run today I detected an unusual scent of a floral nature."
"Can you describe the fragrance?" his mother inserted quickly then noting the impatient look on her son's face. "My humble apologies for the interruption."
"Jasmine and sandalwood, with citrus undertones." He continued noting her satisfaction with his description. "I also heard an exquisite voice in song."
"Singing?" his mother interrupted once again mouthing he word 'sorry' to him as he frowned back at her.
"Yes, singing ko-mekh." He replied once again ready to carry on with his detailed account of his encounter. "I recognized the Kiswahili words were to a children's song about the rain."
"Then she is from the African continent?" his mother quickly interjected.
"Unknown. I did not get the chance to inquire about her point of origin." He replied a sigh suddenly sagging his broad shoulders. "Ko-mekh, please."
Amanda shrugged her shoulders in remorse for her latest interruption. "Please continue safu."
"As I ran towards the entrance way to the dressing rooms at the stadium, my eyes fell upon a lone woman as she performed her pre-run stretches and I immediately knew that she was the source of both the scents and the singing. As I was about to speak to her, others emerged from the dressing rooms hailing her. I did not wish to interrupt her discourse with her colleagues, so I continued on with my run leaving her presence."
"You had mentioned her smile before." His mother noted "What was so special about this smile of hers?"
"I cannot explain adequately." Spock responded now becoming slightly embarrassed about his words to his mother. He closed his eyes briefly as he remembered the natural beauty of her radiant smile and he paused briefly in order that he provide his mother with an accurate accounting of that smile. "Her smile was like the rays of gad shen breaking though the clouds. She was or should I say is without doubt, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. And I now find myself having no idea who she is or how or even if I should attempt to locate her again." He finished looking down and away from his mother so not to reveal any more than he already had to her about his strong emotional reaction to this woman.
"Do not despair, safu." His mother stated quietly as Spock quickly lifted his head to once again lock eyes with hers. "I believe most strongly that it is somehow fated that you two will meet again. Perhaps your spirits and destinies will align and you will find that she is your other half, your k'hat'n'dlawa. Only time will tell my son. My strongest wish and desire in this life is that you will find your bond mate and live out your life surrounded by logic and love. Until then be patient safu."
Spock was momentarily rendered speechless at his mother's words.
"I am sure that you will treat her with respect and honor upon formally meeting your 'mystery' woman. And I know you well enough to know that you will not violate the trust that will grow between the two of you in your relationship just to satisfy your physical needs. I am sure that you are already knowledgeable in the ways of self satisfaction of your base needs and I would advise you to do so in private with enough frequency that you will be successful in maintaining your self control while in her presence. With such beauty she is no doubt highly sought after by other males and will most likely be wary of any breaches in self control that you would display. I have taught you the proper way to treat a lady and I am positive that you will remember those lessons when interacting with her. She no doubt deserves such treatment." She continued her eyes reaching deep into his soul now. "You are a worthy being and most deserving of a mate that shares your fine qualities of personality and intellect."
She paused and smiled broadly at him, her face lighting up with sheer joy now. "I know that you do not share your feelings lightly and I am honored and most happy that you have chosen to share them with me this day. You can trust the truth in my words that 'all things happen for a reason'. I will await your call next week safu." She finished as the smile on her face grew even wider. "Until then I wish you life, love, and happiness my one and only child."
With those words of encouragement the com link with his mother faded to black. Spock sat quietly at his desk for a few minutes reflecting upon his mother's words. He would indeed meditate upon her words in great detail later. But first he would take his mother's advice and engage in what a former room mate of his called 'cold shower therapy'.