Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

The days passed me by, and soon I was looking at my third week aboard the T'Kumbra. I had developed a budding friendship with my fellow biologist, T'Kem., but where she was a shining star in an emotionless and cold night, Torik was a blazing sun. He was young, but he was wise. He clung to logic like the ivy clings to oak, but he understood me and at least tried to see my point of view. He was more open than the majority of the Vulcans I worked with.

My superior officer, Lt. Comm. T'Kana, was affable enough at first, but by the third week of working under her, I noticed she was sending subtle jabs toward me and humans in general. Though my fellow biologists never complained or berated me for any lack I might have in comparison to them, T'Kana would often point out the flaws in my reports when I knew they were perfectly acceptable. I even compared notes with T'Kem and found my writing to be on par with hers. I asked if T'Kana ever pointed out flaws in her work, and T'Kem said no. I realized T'Kana was deliberately trying to goad me into an emotional outburst, but I was determined to beat her at her own game. On my own intiative, but with Torik's approval, I began to meet her subtle insults with cool politeness.

"Lieutenant, these figures should be taken out to the fifth decimal place. And your description of the metabolism rate is unsatisfactory." The cold snubness in her voice merely brushed my skin, as I would allow it to go no further.

"Of course, Commander," I replied politely, slight concern lacing my tone, "I'll do that immediately. Is there anything else?"

She looked like she might say something more, but she changed her mind.

"No, Lieutenant, that will be all. Dismissed."

I nodded. "Have a good evening, Commander. I'll see you tomorrow."

I strode out of the labs with my head held high. I glanced over my "faulty" report and mentally evaluated what needed to be changed as I walked into the turbolift. When the doors closed, it took me a few moments to realize that I was alone with Captain Solok.

"Good evening, sir."

"Good evening, lieutenant," he replied in his deep, cool voice. "What are you reading?"

"My report is unacceptable, sir. I am planning revisions."

"That is...unfortunate." I could almost hear him smiling at me, but I glanced at him and no smile was to be seen on his lips. He cocked his slanted eyebrow at me and tilted his head. "I trust this incident won't happen again."

"Of course not, sir," I answered calmly. We came to his stop, and I saw the tiniest little grin twitch his lips before he got off. Despite my cool bravado in his presence, my heart pounded as the turbolift continued to my deck.

I admitted to myself then that, for reasons I could not describe, Solok scared me. Perhaps it was that cold gray glance of his that was still burning into me although he was gone; perhaps it was because he was living up to every one of my expectations. He hid it beneath a stony mask, but I knew deep down he was laughing at me for every tiny little mistake I was making. I'm sure the news I gave to him just made his day. And Torik was right: he certainly wasn't fond of humans.

There were other reasons why I was frightened of Solok that I couldn't explain, that I didn't understand. And I had a horrible, nagging feeling that I wouldn't like the answers when I finally did find them.

I finished revising my report an hour and a half later and I caught T'Kana in the mess hall at dinner.

"Commander, here's my report."

She took it from me and glanced over it.

"Is it satisfactory?" I asked quietly.

She nodded, if somewhat reluctantly. When I didn't go away, she looked up at me in confusion.

"Do you have something more to say, Lieutenant?"

"May I sit down, sir?"

She gestured to the seat across from her, and I took it. I breathed in deeply before speaking, making sure my voice was polite.

"I guess I'm not used to the standard you've set on the T'Kumbra. I know my performance and reports were more than satisfactory aboard the Delaware, but like I said...you're top notch here. So...perhaps you could lay down some guidelines of what you expect from me, because I don't want this to happen again," I said as diplomatically as I could.

T'Kana seemed unsure what to say for a moment, then she nodded.

"Thank you, Commander," I said sincerely. "I want to live up to the high expectations aboard this ship."

"That requires hard work and dedication," she murmured.

"Both of which I'm willing to put in," I replied with a smile. "Have a nice evening, sir."

I inclined my head slightly and strode toward the replicators, my hands behind my back. I had picked up the habit from Torik, who walked like that when he occasionally escorted me to my shift in the biology lab. On those days, I would arrive fifteen minutes early, and he would arrive in Engineering right on time for his shift. He became my living clock, and I told him how grateful I was to have him as my friend time and time again. He would always let the tiniest of smiles twitch his lips upward when I did. It was small, but it was there. I don't think I could have survived three weeks on the T'Kumbra without him around; Torik was my saving grace.

I replicated myself one of the thousand Vulcan options from the menu. It only had about ten other non-Vulcan choices, but none of them really appealed to me. After about fifteen minutes of sitting alone in the corner, I felt my skin prickle; someone was watching me.

I looked up quickly to see Captain Solok standing in front of me, holding a tray.

"May I join you, Lieutenant?"

"Of course, sir." I cursed my pounding heart as he gracefully sank into the chair across from me.

"I've been monitoring your progress just as I said I would and I must say, your performance so far is impressive for a human."

Even though I knew what to expect when talking to him, I still felt a slight twinge of anger at his statement, but I kept it down. "Thank you, sir," I said softly as he took a sip of water.

"However...I do have one question. You turned in your report and asked Lt. Comm. T'Kana to set guidelines for you. Why?"

"Sir, if I am to be...efficient and productive on this ship, I need to know what is expected of me."

"You've served in Starfleet for 9 years, 7 months and 18 days. Surely by now you know what is expected of you."

"Every commander is different. I've served with some who are strict and some who are more laid-back."

"You served aboard the Enterprise for nearly 4 years. Have you forgotten how to live up to high expectations?"

"I'm not used to serving under a Vulcan commander, sir. I'm not used to such...extreme precision that Lt. Comm. T'Kana expects out of me," I admitted finally. It was a small part of the truth; I didn't dare be wholly honest with him. I didn't dare complain to his face that T'Kana was from the same school of thought about humans as him.

"But I assure you, sir," I continued, "I will give her...give you exactly what you want from me."

An almost imperceptible smile graced his perfect lips. "And what is that, lieutenant?"

"Precision. Efficiency. Productivity. I will give you all those things."

The tiny smile widened slightly. "I expect no less," he replied calmly.

I thought he might leave after that, but he stayed in his seat and continued to torture me with his presence. He asked me many questions about my family, my hobbies, my habits. I felt like I was interrogated as he fired inquiry after inquiry at me, and he kept me talking for nearly an hour. He listened attentively, his elbows resting casually on the table, his fingers steepled in that oh-so-Vulcan fashion, his icy gray eyes burning into mine. His piercing gray gaze made me so uncomfortable that I could hardly bring myself to look into his eyes half the time, but when I did, I'm sure my discomfort and fear was laid bare to him, and I hated it. Just because he was Vulcan didn't mean he couldn't scout out odd behavior. And I bet that he was laughing at me from behind that stony cold glance of his.

Finally he released me, making his excuses and picking up his things to dispense in the replicator. He strutted out of the mess hall, hands swinging casually at his sides.

As he passed T'Kana, who was deep in conversation with another officer, Solok glanced at her, and she returned it. I saw something pass between them, an understanding or a shared victory. I suspected T'Kana was in on Solok's game of "poke the human", and I bit my lip in irritation.

Trying to control my anger, I looked down at my plate and realized I had barely touched anything, as I was so busy telling Solok my life story. But I wasn't hungry anymore, just very thirsty. I downed my water and gathered my trash, then followed the captain's lead and exited the mess hall.

I was grateful that I got a turbolift to myself so I could fume for a bit in private. Still, I kept it under my hat until the doors of my quarters were closed, then I flopped down on the bed and let a few angry tears slip down my cheeks. I usually wasn't this emotional over something so petty, but three weeks without much of an emotional outlet was taking its toll on my nerves.

After about five minutes of indulging myself, I got a grip. I told myself that Solok would expect me to come in here and rage and scream and cry and be emotional, and at the thought, my tears stopped falling and my expression hardened. I wasn't about to give that worthless jerk the satisfaction of knowing that he had gotten to me. He could throw all the dirt he wanted at me, and I would take it like a man.

But still, I needed some sort of outlet. After mulling it over for a minute, I got the perfect idea. It was too late to work on a program in the holodeck, so I simply prepared myself for bed, ready to start on my outlet as soon as possible.