I do not own Star Trek. I do not profit from this
Shattered
Syrol sat at his console in the Communications Center of the Vulcan Embassy. His entire home world had been undergoing seismic activity of an extreme nature. A Federation-wide distress call had gone out and evacuations were underway. Syrol listened to these transmissions carefully and forwarded them to Skar. He tried not to think of his family members living on the planet. Worry is not logical.
Skar was Acting Ambassador, as Sarek was currently present on Vulcan. As a distress call had already been issued and rescue efforts begun, there was really very little for him to do about this situation. His thoughts drift to his son Shular, living with his brother Skyne and attending school. Shular hopes to study at the VSA next year. His daughter T'Mair is a dance instructor at Julliard. Skar's wife T'Ler is staying at the Embassy, teaching dance at the San Francisco School for the Performing Arts.
Stirn the Groundskeeper and his wife T'Veda are among the first to feel the loss. All of their children and grandchildren were gathered in his oldest son's home to celebrate the birth of a child. Though the house was well constructed, it collapsed during a large tremor. The entire family died within seconds. Stirn and T'Veda feel the pain of severed bonds. They sit on the floor of their quarters and embrace each other.
Stohl and T'Rysa know that there is something wrong. They can sense the general anxiety all around them. There are rumors of a distress call from their home world. Stohl has made several trips to pick up various staff members who have been called to their posts. He and his wife have no children. Their parents are long dead. They have no relatives with whom there are strong bonds.
T'Sela and seven colleagues from the Vulcan Cultural Institute are en route to Vulcan. They have spent a week at a seminar on Risa, giving lectures on various aspects of ancient Vulcan Art History. The captain of their transport vessel tells them of the distress call. It will be much safer for everyone if the ship diverts to Terra. T'Sela is concerned for her husband and children.
Sirin rushes home when he gets the news. He had been in surgery, Rachel is home with the children. Five year old Jason has a bad cold. Hannah is only two weeks old, so Rachel is still on maternity leave. Otherwise, she would have reported for duty and departed with the Farragut. Sirin is silently grateful for this. His cousin Spock must be aboard the Enterprise. Sirin thinks of the family on Vulcan. He has not seen them for more than ten years.
Something is interfering with communications from Vulcan and with the ships that have gone to her rescue. Syrol can receive no word from any of them. His son Salen is busy working at another console, searching for a signal. Syrol has two daughters, T'Lys a botanist living with her bond-mate and two children on Beta Zed, and T'Pela, who is studying to be a healer at the VCA. T'Mena his bond-mate has come to stand by his side. Every channel is jammed for hours. Suddenly communications reopen. Transmissions are coming in faster than they can be processed. Just as suddenly it all stops. There can be no question why. They feel the pain, hear the mental screams. Six billion souls are gone. Vulcan is no more.
Yet, somehow T'Pela is safe.
T'Pela and Tasol have traveled to the far side of the planet via Tasol's small ship. He is the son of wealthy parents. Having just completed the academic portion of their healer's training, the young couple are to meet with Tasol's parents to discuss their bonding ceremony. They believed the seismic disturbances to be localized in Shi'Kahr, but find them to be even worse here. Instead of giving his son the customary greetings, Tasol's father thrusts his small sister into his hands. "Go. Get away from Vulcan. Save yourselves while you can." Tasol obeys. They leave Vulcan and her atmosphere, dodging the debris of ruined starships. They are too small for Nero to trifle with.
Skar and T'Ler that the feel the links with their parents and siblings have been cut. However, They are still aware of Shular. He has been rescued.
Skyne surveys the damage around him. He is badly injured, a spinal fracture. Most of his students are dead. The other teachers in his school are dead . The buildings fell in around them. He has felt the deaths of his bond-mate and three children. He and his nephew Shular have somehow survived, but for how long? Skyne hears a voice, feels a hand. "I have room in my shuttle for one more."
"I am finished. Take the boy." Strong arms carry Shular away. Skyne joins his family in death.
The anguish and the inactivity are too much for T'Rysa to bear. She must do something, find a channel for her emotions. She will do what she has always done. She will cook, she will bake. She will transfer her feelings to the bowl and the spoon. Stohl does not interfere. T'Rysa is still here with him. Many of the Embassy staff have lost mates and children.
T'Sela does not know how she will continue without Skel, without her children. The grief and emptiness are unbearable. At one point she contemplates ending her life, the path two of her colleagues have already taken. For some reason, though, the universe has chosen her to survive. She will honor that choice. T'Sela will go on living to honor those who could not. She sits in a dining room at Starfleet Headquarters, wondering what life will do to her next.
He has ignored the familial bonds for years, kept them closed, aware of their presence but nothing more. Now they are closed forever. Sirin will have no chance to reconcile with his parents or siblings, no opportunity to return home. With tears in his eyes, he explains it to Rachel and embraces her and his children. Now they will never know their Vulcan grandparents.
Much of the Embassy staff have gathered in the large command center. Skar is mapping out his plan for accommodating the refugees that have begun to arrive.
When they finally get the news, it is unbelievable. An angry Romulan from the future, bent on revenge has used giant drill and a tiny drop of something called red matter to destroy their world. He nearly destroyed Terra as well, but was stopped by one starship, one crew. The images collected by this crew are beyond disturbing. There was Vulcan, surrounded by the remains of starships, flung about like so many broken toys. The tentacled Romulan mining ship Narada and its insane captain, Nero. And then the singularity that caused Vulcan to collapse in on itself.
It is too difficult for some to watch. They must look away, be comforted. Once upon a time they would have been embarrassed over such displays of emotion. But in the family all is silence. Now, with so few Vulcans left, surely they are all family.