Author's Note:
1. Words in italics are telepathic communications.
2. This story takes place sometime after "Amok Time" but sometime before "The Enterprise Incident."
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They Say Vulcans Can't Lie
by Weird Little Stories
It's a truism that Vulcans cannot lie.
Like many truisms, no one's quite sure whether this is actually true, or if it's just something people say. Kirk has found that a lot of the things "everybody knows" are false, and the longer he lives, the more such things he accumulates. Certainly Spock seemed to be a highly ethical person, one of the best Kirk has ever met, yet the Vulcan continually claimed to feel no emotion, and the captain knew for a fact THAT was a lie. What he didn't know was if this was the one lie that all Vulcans permitted themselves, or if the truism that Vulcans cannot lie was just as false as "All's fair in love and war" or "If man were meant to fly, he'd have wings."
Kirk eventually learned the truth of the statement, in a way that he would never have guessed.
The mission to Beta Canum IV had been tricky from the start. The universal translator didn't work with the natives of Beta Canum IV, so communication was slow and difficult. Lieutenant Uhura was learning the rudiments of their language, but Canumese culture was so different from the cultures of the principal planets of the Federation that learning anything but concrete nouns and verbs was nearly impossible. They could learn "hand" or "tree" by pointing to one and exchanging sounds, but how does one convey such concepts as "freedom" or "justice"?
Spock had suggested a mind meld as a way around the problem, but obtaining informed consent for such a procedure required that the parties to the agreement understand one another a great deal more than they did now. Forcing a meld on an unwilling participant was ethically permissible only under dire circumstances, none of which obtained at present.
Kirk tried to convey some concepts through body language, only to discover that the gesture that meant "come here" in Iowa was a deeply offensive gesture on Beta Canum IV. No one knew precisely what the gesture meant to the Canumese, but whatever it was, it was serious enough that they'd thrown Kirk in prison for it. Or possibly into a mental hospital; the situation was not completely clear. The Canumese were advanced enough to have transporter-proof holding facilities, so the Enterprise couldn't simply beam her captain home.
Uhura had tried her damnedest to get the captain out of lockup, but the Canumese said that he could only be released if bwilhok. What "bwilhok" meant was anybody's guess, but it seemed to be an important concept in their culture, since Uhura had heard references to both the "place of bwilhok" and the "time of bwilhok."
Spock and Scotty consulted with one another and thought to leave Kirk safely in lockup until the language problem had been solved, when it would be easier to negotiate for his release without running afoul of some other local custom or ordinance. Then the Canumese told Uhura that only one more day remained for Kirk to be redeemed via bwilhok. After that, he would be considered irredeemable and would be ... was that "held for life" or "executed;" the meaning wasn't quite clear? Spock decided that the situation was dire enough to permit him to force a meld on one of the Canumese, and he asked Uhura to point him to the most cooperative of the locals she'd been working with.
Uhura began that day's working session with Rilkol, her main language instructor, by introducing him to Spock. Spock carefully gave the Canumese gesture of respectful greeting, then said (in Canumese) that he wanted to talk about something important. Rilkol gave the gesture of careful attention, and Spock surprised the alien man by pressing his fingers to Rilkol's face and joining their minds.
The Canumese man jumped, startled, but then relaxed. "You think at me," he thought carefully. "We share thoughts because words slow and clumsy."
"Yes," the Vulcan replied, thinking slowly and carefully and making sure each concept was completely clear before moving on to the next. "And also because you are holding Captain Kirk, and we wish to know how to get him released. We have been unable to translate your word 'bwilhok,' and we cannot comply with your conditions if we do not know what those conditions are."
"Bwilhok the time when we join with the one. This thinking at me that you do now, we can do this only during bwilhok. If someone will join to Kirk, to restrain his excess and shape him to the good, then we can make him free, for once shaped good, he will no longer offend."
Spock thought, "I wish to restate what you just said, to make sure that I understand you. Please correct me if my statement is inaccurate in any way."
"Understand. Good idea. Think at me."
"Captain Kirk is being held because you believe that he will do wrong if he is allowed freedom. To free him, you wish for him to be tutored by someone who will ensure that he will do only right."
"First part true. Second part ... if teaching would work, he would good now, for he old enough to have had much teaching. So need more than teaching, need mental restraint. Must join with him, to hold him to the right."
Spock processed this, aghast at the implications. "You wish someone to form a permanent mental bond with Kirk, to restrain his negative impulses."
"Right! Bwilhok."
"Rilkol, I have already told you that we are unable to translate this word. Do I understand it to mean the forming of a permanent mental bond?"
"Meaning correct. Mental join, tie for lifetime."
"Rilkol, Kirk is of a species we call 'human.' Humans do not form mental bonds with one another as your species does."
"What we do just now? You think at me, even though we not married."
"I am of a different species than Jim Kirk. My species is Vulcan, and we do form mental bonds. But humans do not."
"Very sad. Humans alone, no company in head. No wonder Jim Kirk do bad. He won't do bad and won't sit alone if we end him. We hoped not to do that, but you say there no bwilhok for him."
"Jim Kirk offended only because he did not know your customs. We will take him away with us, and he will never offend you again."
The Canumese man made the gesture of negation. "Laws do not have take away. Laws have bwilhok with good, restraintful person, or have end. Take away a good idea, but law not allow."
"Then I will bwilhok with Jim Kirk, and he will be restrained by his mental bond with me. Will that satisfy your law and custom?"
"Bwilhok! Yes, that wise. You do it, you? You Vulcan, or other Vulcan?"
"I am the only Vulcan on the ship, so I am the only one available to bwilhok with Kirk."
"I see your mind. Respectful mind, quiet mind, careful mind. Good mind for restrain Kirk. Kirk need all those things."
"I promise to share all of those things with Kirk."
"Sad you busy bwilhok with Kirk; language much faster this way."
"Perhaps once I have dealt with Kirk, you and I can speed the teaching of your language with mental contact."
"That good by my heart. I take you to restraining place now."
"I will withdraw from mental contact with you. I thank you for sharing your thoughts with me."
"Sad cannot bwilhok all year long. Think as Vulcan bring much joy."
"Live long and prosper, Rilkol."
Spock broke his mental contact with the Canumese man, then followed as Rilkol led him to the "restraining place." He'd gathered that the place was halfway between a jail and a hospital, sharing properties of both in Canumese culture. Rilkol led him to Kirk's cell and spoke to the attendant, who unlocked the door. Rilkol opened the door for Spock, and once Spock had entered, the attendant locked the cell again, while Rilkol stood by and looked pointedly at Spock.
The cell was sparsely furnished, but what furnishings there were looked comfortable. James Kirk got up off of the bed where he'd been sitting. "Don't tell me they've locked you up, too!"
Spock's eyes softened as he looked at Kirk. "No, Captain. On the contrary, I have come to free you. We learned that the Canumese planned to execute you unless you were freed, and I forced a mind meld onto the most cooperative of the locals, to discover the conditions under which you could be freed."
Kirk smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Spock. I know that melding with anyone is a gross invasion of your privacy, and forcing a meld is especially distasteful, but I must say I'm glad that I won't be executed. What are those conditions? I gather you were able to meet them?"
"The Canumese are willing to release you to my custody, provided that I marry you and create a lifelong mental bond with you."
Kirk stared at Spock for a moment, then laughed weakly. "You wouldn't joke in circumstances like these, so I'm guessing you're speaking the exact literal truth."
Spock nodded gravely. "I am."
"You have to marry me? Why do you have to marry me?"
"The Canumese are intermittently telepathic, possessing this ability only during their mating season. To them, telepathic contact occurs only as part of a marital relationship. Since their condition for freeing you required that you have a telepathic bond with someone they saw as restrained and reliable, their culture naturally saw that bond as an indication of a marital relationship."
Kirk relaxed. "Ah. So you can pretend to marry me long enough to get me out of here."
Spock shook his head. "I cannot. The Canumese are telepathic enough to discern whether or not we have a telepathic bond with one another. And if I create such a bond with you, then we WILL be married, according to Vulcan law and custom."
Kirk slowly sat down on the bed. "Let me get this straight. Your options are to marry me or let me be executed?"
"Correct." Spock looked at Kirk's distressed face, and his own softened. "Jim, I understand if you would prefer not to marry me, but the Canumese offer us little choice."
Kirk smiled wryly. "Actually, Spock, I'm pretty sure you're a catch, as far as that goes; under other circumstances, I'd marry you in a heartbeat." He sobered. "It's your being forced into this by duty that troubles me."
Spock shook his head. "Circumstances have affected only the timing of my proposal; the affection, respect, and admiration I bear for you are entirely my own ... and entirely enough that a proposal would have been forthcoming eventually."
Kirk laughed sourly. "It's kind of you to spare my feelings. Well, let's get it done. Bond us, so we can get out of here and have this conversation in private."
Spock sat beside Kirk on the bed and raised his hand to the captain's face. He looked at Kirk's apprehensive face and cast about for words that would ameliorate the situation. "I am aware that I would be considered woefully undemonstrative by even the most restrained of human lovers. Yet even I could wish for our wedding to take place under other circumstances."
Kirk smiled slightly, and reassured, Spock pressed his fingers to Kirk's face, finding, as always, that his mind slid easily into this most compatible of other minds. Kirk's mind wrestled briefly with his, Kirk wanting, as always, to lead, but in this one area, he must give way, and Kirk got himself under control and acceded to Spock's control over the meld.
Spock deepened the meld, forcing his mind down through more layers of Kirk's mind than he'd allowed himself to visit before. Past melds had always been in the line of duty, and while he'd been a welcome guest, telepathic etiquette had dictated that he enter Kirk's mind as shallowly as possible, given their goals. But now, now the goal was to tie them together for all time, and Spock was shocked at the force of his own desire, at the depth of wanting that was only unleashed when it became capable of fulfillment.
The deeper Spock probed into Kirk's mind, the more awed he became at what he found there. He'd known that although Kirk didn't have a Vulcan's level of raw intelligence, he was still a highly intelligent man, and one who had occasional flashes of intuitive brilliance. He'd known his captain was highly compassionate and capable of extending that compassion to a variety of beings in a variety of circumstances. But he hadn't known just how much the captaincy had restrained this man, how much of himself he'd had to hide behind the command persona. He'd already thought Kirk was a match for him, but now that he contemplated Jim's mind in its entirety, he found that there was no condescension in their meeting. Kirk had always known that Spock had hidden depths, but Spock had believed that he'd seen nearly all of Kirk. He saw now that he'd been wrong, that Kirk's depths were as fathomless as his own, and he rejoiced as much as a lifetime of Vulcan training would allow, in the understanding of his mate that he would gain as they came to explore those depths together.
Finally, the bond was anchored as deep in Kirk's mind as his own could reach, and as he freed the mating energy that he'd bound on the day T'Pring had rejected him, that energy surged along the pathways he'd forged, and the bond snapped into being. He looked at it and found it strong, a thicker and sturdier bond than most Vulcan couples forged, and of a strength unprecedented between a Vulcan and a non-telepathic species.
Now that the bond was set, Spock could resume communicating with his spouse, here at the level of minds, where he could share his feelings more easily than he could aloud. He thought to Kirk, "I have long believed us to be an ideal pair, save for what I had presumed to be your exclusive heterosexuality."
Kirk's laughter sparkled in his mind, for all that it was a somewhat sour laugh. "It's nice of you to try to comfort me, but I can't believe you actually wanted this."
"Jim, you are inside my mind; you can see for yourself the truth of my statement."
Kirk examined Spock's mind, seeing for himself the affection, respect, and admiration that Spock had claimed to feel. It was there —it was all there —and Kirk suddenly understood. "THIS is what they mean when they say that Vulcans can't lie! You can't lie mind-to-mind, so there's only truth inside a meld."
"Correct." He felt Spock's amusement.
"And you guys are all laughing at us inside, when we think the truism means that you can't SPEAK lies."
"We are able to speak any words we wish, just as all vocalizing species can."
"Get us out of here and back to the ship. Given what I've just seen in your mind, I can't wait to consummate this marriage."
"I also, Jim. I have wanted this — have wanted YOU — for quite some time."
And Kirk saw into Spock's mind and knew that he spoke the truth.
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Endnotes
1. There have been a whole lot of stories — usually involving pon farr — where Spock has to marry or die. I thought it would be a fun change of pace if Kirk had to marry or die. :-)
2. You know this took place before "The Enterprise Incident," because Spock told some WHOPPERS during that episode. Kirk wouldn't have been wondering if it were true that Vulcans can't lie, if this story had happened after those events. ;-)
3. I do think that the suggestion in this story may be how it came to be generally believed that Vulcans can't lie, when it's clear from Spock's behavior that they can lie extremely well if they wish to. They can't lie in a meld, and that gave rise to the erroneous belief that they can't speak lies.
4. Thanks for reading!
5. I don't claim to own Star Trek, nor do I make any money from these stories; heck, I'm lucky if people even READ me.
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