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Determined

Amanda tried her best to reconcile Sarek and Spock, to no avail. Sometimes she cursed them both for their stubbornness. Her heart nearly broke in two when her eighteen-year-old son packed a bag and left the family home.

She wanted to run after him and beg him to stay, or at least accompany him to the shuttle port and bid him farewell. She did neither. She straightened his collar one last time and kissed him goodbye. Then she watched him walk out the gate and down the path. Afterward, she cried in her room for three days.

Sarek was angry at Spock, but not indifferent. He seemed to tune out Amanda's reports of Spock's progress at the Academy and his letters to her. In fact, he listened to every word.

Sarek was an important man in the United Federation Of Planets. So much so that Admiral Komack felt he had no choice but to keep the Ambassador apprised of Cadet Spock's academic progress and activities. That meant that Sarek got weekly, sometimes daily updates on his son. The source of these was usually Christopher Pike, Spock's academic adviser.

Sarek knew that his son had successfully challenged all the required course work for the first two years of study at the Academy within two weeks of his arrival. Komack informed him of Spock's physical prowess. He easily met all the fitness challenges save one, the swimming test.

Lt. Ives shook his head at the shivering, scrawny Vulcan kid in front of him. Spock had been staring at the pool for twenty minutes, trying to summon the nerve to jump in. To a Human, the water would have felt just right, as the pool was heated. No doubt it would feel cold to Spock, who already looked hypothermic in his Academy issue bathing suit.

"Look, son, you don't have to do this. We can give you a cultural exemption."

"I do not wish do have one. I will meet all of the Academy requirements for a member of a hominid species."

Spock was certain he would be able to do this. It looked so simple. Finally, he took deep breath and dove into the deep end. He sank to the bottom like a stone. His skeleton was denser than a Human's and he had a higher ratio of muscle to fat. Spock did not float. He attempted to keep his head above water, but failed miserably. Ives had to go in and pull him out. Spock ended up in sickbay with water in both lungs.

Ives pulled the kid's record and discovered that Pike was his adviser. He called the captain and let him know what happened. Pike sighed and headed over to sickbay.

"Okay, kid. This is what we're gonna do. We'll wait a few days until you're back to normal, then I'm gonna teach you to swim myself. We'll use the Christopher Pike no-fail method."

"You are certain that you can teach me, sir?'

"Absolutely. I've never had a student drown yet."

The swimming lessons were very strange. On the first day, Pike had Spock hold his breath and put his head underwater until he needed to surface, all the while timing himself. Spock could hold his breath for four minutes and thirty-seven point eight seconds. Next he had him walk from one side to the other in the shallow end, again timing himself. It took twelve point five seconds. Next, he had Spock walk the length of the pool, starting in the shallow end. When he reached the place where the water was up to his neck, he was to take a deep breath, submerge his head and keep walking to the far end of the pool, all the while counting the time. At the far wall, he was to jump up, grab the side of the pool and pull himself out. It took just under thirty seconds. Pike explained the logic of his method.

"If you are holding your breath, you can get yourself out of any place in this pool simply by walking on the bottom to the nearest edge. As long as you don't panic, you won't drown."

Spock met his swimming requirement five days later.

Sarek was proud of Spock's accomplishment. Most Vulcans never overcame their fear of water and drowning enough to swim. Sarek had only ever waded in waist-high water. Spock was brave and determined. He was also somewhat stubborn.

Sarek had expected his son to call home for money when he ran out. Spock had left with only a few hundred credits. He would need money to travel back to Vulcan for the semester break. Spock did not call for money nor did he come home. Instead, he got a job using skills Sarek had taught him. He hand -sanded antique wooden furniture in preparation for finish coats. He labored in the workshop attached to the woodworking supply store Sarek had frequently patronized. After five weeks, Spock had over two thousand credits and callused hands. The store owner told Sarek about it well after the fact.

The boy was serious about Starfleet Academy. Spock intended to make his own way without favors, even from his own father.

Spock had money enough, so surely he would come home for the summer break. Instead, he went to summer school at Oxford, paying for the classes by serving as an instructional aide for a Vulcan language course. During his second year at Starfleet Academy, Spock was an aide to the astrophysics instructor, while carrying almost twice the required course load and earning a PhD. in Phonology from Oxford.

When Sarek mentioned this to a colleague at the VSA, the man had simply stated "The Terrans must not have very high standards." Sarek was beginning to get a sense of the losing battle Spock would have fought on Vulcan.

Spock did come home the second summer, for all of three days, and only because he had been summoned. T'Pring wished to sever their bond. Spock had no objections. As it was clear she preferred another, it would be most illogical to compel her to remain bonded to him. Spock allowed Amanda to spoil him for a few days and then returned to Terra. He would be part of an away mission that would make Sarek prouder of his son than he had ever been.