3. Reassignment and Revelations

Constance had barely arrived at her home in Mill Valley on the outskirts of San Francisco when she received a call from a Lieutenant Martinez telling her to pack her bags. She was exhausted. She lay down on her bed trying to remember the last time she had a decent night's sleep. It had been too long. But Admiral Forrest had warned her not to get too comfortable. Martinez informed her that she would depart that afternoon for Vulcan where she would be working as lead of the communications team at the United Earth Embassy. It was a far different assignment than she was used to as an Intelligence Officer, but she trusted Admiral Forrest. The Vulcan Convoy ship that she would be leaving on was scheduled to depart in two hours. She did not have much time.

Pulling a few items from her closet and stuffing her clothes into a duffel bag she stopped for a moment when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She reached up to touch the skin under her eyes. She noticed dark shadows forming. The constant stress and lack of sleep was taking a toll on her now far more than it did when she was in her twenties. She was still young, but now that she was nearly thirty-seven years old she wondered how long she wanted to remain in this line of work. She immediately chided herself and banished the thought from her mind. Of course it was her calling. She had wanted to work in intelligence ever since she could remember. But monitoring subspace buoy transmissions was a different story.

Suddenly, her PADD beeped interrupting her internal reflection. It was an incoming video call from Major Hayes. She realized she would have to let him know that she was being transferred to Vulcan. She was a little disappointed. That would mean their date would have to wait. She picked up her PADD and touched the call receive button on the screen.

"Hello Constance," Major Hayes said as his face appeared on screen. He had taken easily to calling her by her first name.

"Haynes," she said in return, smiling.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," he said his own grin fading.

"Oh?" She said moving to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Constance, they are sending me into the Expanse," he said. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. He continued to speak when she remained quiet. "I have been assigned to lead a team of MACOs aboard Enterprise. Captain Archer requested for military on his ship while they search for the Xindi and General Casey was all too happy to oblige him," he said. She unconsciously bit her bottom lip.

"Well, I actually have some news as well. I'm being transferred- right now, in fact. Admiral Forrest is assigning me to the United Earth Embassy on Vulcan to monitor the subspace buoy transmissions between Starfleet and Enterprise during the mission," she said.

"Wow," he said running a hand through his brown hair. He looked surprised. "Well, if there was anyone I would want monitoring us in space it would be you," he said with a crooked smile. She laughed wondering if that was really true. After the brief moment of levity passed between them the tone turned more serious. They both were silent as they suddenly seemed to realize the full gravity of the situation.

"I just wanted to let you know before I left," he said. "And to also tell you that I plan to take you out the minute I get back," he said. He looked solemn.

"I look forward to it," she said quietly. "And Major," she added. "Good luck and stay safe. I know how you like to play the hero," she said giving his a small smile.

"Of course, and you too, Corcoran," he said. She smiled as she ended the call. She prayed they would be successful. Earth was counting on them, but she knew the mission was no longer a simple one of exploration.

When she finished packing she showered quickly. She slipped on a gray long sleeved formfitting tee shirt and black Starfleet issued cargo pants and ankle boots. She twisted her long hair into loose bun at the back of her neck. She threw her duffel bag over her shoulder glancing back at the mirror one last time as she left for the Starfleet launch bay.

It was day two of the five day journey to Vulcan traveling at Warp 5. Soval was settling into his quarters to meditate. He lit a candle and settled into a meditative posture focusing on the flame dancing in front of him. He took slow measured breaths. He planned to take this opportunity to bring balance to the turbulent emotions that were bubbling under his façade of calm. Just two days prior he had presented T'Pol with the High Command's ultimatum to terminate her rank of Sub-Commander if she defied immediate recall to Vulcan. To his astonishment she immediately resigned her commission and choose to remain on Enterprise. He had not realized the depth of her emotional attachment to her human crew. It clearly was affecting her reasoning.

When she defied the direct order it had infuriated him. He felt as though she was rejecting what it was to be Vulcan. It was as though she was dismissing all the years of careful counsel and grooming. She had been one of the brightest on his staff and he spent more time with her over the years that he did with his own daughter. It had taken every ounce of his control to appear placid. After her transmission he had stormed out of the room and had to meditate immediately. It was not until the second day of the journey when he was starting to feel more like himself again.

After he had finished meditating he decided to walk to the cafeteria for a cup of tea. Normally he would have brewed some in his quarters, but he needed to stretch his legs. It was quite late. Most of the others on the ship were most likely asleep so it was highly probable that he could move about undisturbed. He was accustomed to the Earth time zone of San Francisco and the Convoy was set to the time zone of the Vulcan city of Shi'Kahr so that when they arrived they would be acclimated to the time difference with no time lost.

When he reached the cafeteria he saw that it was nearly empty save a few Vulcan dignitaries from other Embassies and one human. He recognized Admiral Forrest's SI Officer, Constance Corcoran, who was sitting at a table alone, by one of the large round windows, staring out into space. He had recognized her immediately from her posture alone. She was sitting slightly slouched with a cup clasped in her hands staring wide-eyed out the window; it was very un-Vulcan. He remembered that due to Enterprise's decision to enter the Delphic Expanse the High Command had agreed to allow the Vulcan Convoy ship to ferry a few Human officers to United Earth Embassy. It was unusual; however they relented in light of the extenuating circumstances surrounding the Xindi attack.

He walked over to the replicator and ordered a cup of tea. When he was finished he turned to leave, but before he did he glanced back at Officer Corcoran. She was still looking out the window. He was reminded of their accidental contact. He remembered her hand brushing his and the unexpected shock that had accompanied it. He had meditated after the incident; however it still lingered in his mind like an ember. He was not in the habit of trying to decipher the Human thought process, but he briefly wondered if she thought about it. He glanced back at her as he exited the cafeteria and saw that her eyes were watching him.