Chapter 3

After Tuesday's Incident Command meeting, Tevik approached both the Valkyrie's captain and first officer. "Commander V'Lar, may I have a word with you - in private?"

She nodded graciously to the other Vulcan. "Of course." Then she turned to her captain. "Sir, may we use your ready room?"

Although Tynen wanted to shout, 'Hell no! I don't want you to have anything to do with this jerk!', what he actually said was, "By all means, commander. Take as much time as necessary." Then he blinked twice. Oh, well, he could have told her to 'take as much time as you'd like'; however his hypocrisy only went so far.

In response, she nodded to him once and simply said in her normal, controlled voice, "Thank you, captain." However, he felt a warm tingle race up his spine, almost as if he'd just received an affectionate hug from her. Then he heard, 'Do not be concerned, aisha. I shall not tarry long,' in his mind.

He smiled slyly at her and said, "You're welcome, commander."

For a brief moment, Tevik looked at him oddly. However, the Vulcan apparently recovered his control and said, "Captain Tynen, if you will excuse us," before he strode out of the conference room at V'Lar's side.

#

Later on, she'd told me he'd been having trouble sleeping and wanted her to help him center himself during meditation. Since Vulcan's don't have ulterior motives, she simply accepted his explanation. However, during my time with the Section, I'd always relied upon my instincts. More than once, they'd kept me in one piece.

So, when I'd first laid eyes on Tevik, they'd screamed at me about the guy. Even so, I'd tried to ignore them. Maybe I'd wanted to be diplomatic. Maybe I'd thought I was being silly because I hadn't wanted him to show any interest in V'Lar.

In either case, I swear I'll never try to talk myself out of paying attention to them again.

In the meantime, I had Etana place a call to Mendez. Although he's hard to read at times, he's a good man with a reputation for being a straight-shooter. He took a chance on not questioning a young officer who'd been off the grid until I'd darkened his doorstep backed by a few flag officers connected to the Section. When I requested command of a frigate, he gave it to me. I owed him the courtesy of telling him about V'Lar and me.

I just prayed that, on this occasion, his bark would be worse than his bite.

#

"Captain, Admiral Mendez is ready to take your call."

Tynen sighed deeply. Oh well, it's been a good life, he mused. "Good, lieutenant. Please pipe him into my ready room."

"Aye, sir," Etana answered, while he crossed the bridge and entered his office. Moments later, after he sat down behind his desk, he activated his terminal. "Tynen here, admiral. Thank you for taking my call."

Admiral Mendez's face appeared on his screen. "Hello, Jay. What did you want to discuss?"

Tynen sighed deeply then pressed on. "Sir, I wanted you to be the first to know that an intimate relationship has formed between my first officer and..." he paused, searching for the right word.

"And whom...?" the admiral prompted.

"Well...me, sir."

"WHAT?"

"I know this comes as quite a shock."

"Really, you think?" the admiral snapped sarcastically. "Jay, are you out of your damn mind! She's a Vulcan, for God's sakes!"

Tynen fought down the urge to roll his eyes at the other man's grasp of the obvious. "I kind of figured that out, sir, you know, considering her ears and all," he drawled.

"That's not very damn funny, captain!" the admiral growled. Then the man winced like he'd just been stricken with a killer migraine. "How did you let this happen?"

"Well, we'd become close friends, shared common interests, and I became attracted to her. However, I'd never intended to act on my attraction. I mean, she is a Vulcan," he said, as if that explained everything. It must have because Mendez simply nodded. "Several weeks ago, we attended a dance on Troyius as part of our diplomatic duty. That night, she was dressed so elegantly, I guess it finally hit me that she wasn't only my best friend and my partner, but the most beautiful woman I've ever known. Then she nearly gave me a heart attack when she told me she was attracted to me and would be interested to know if I'd be 'amenable to exploring the possibility of entering into a committed relationship' with her."

The admiral cocked his right eyebrow at that. "She asked if you'd be amenable to exploring the possibility of entering into a committed relationship?"

"Yes, sir."

"Those were her exact words?"

Tynen nodded.

Mendez sighed heavily and shrugged. "Now, I know you're not making this whole thing up. Only a Vulcan could pop the question like that." Then the admiral regained some of his head of steam and glared at him. "Look, I know that technically there are no regulations against this, but why in the hell would you fall for your Vulcan first officer on a ship that's supposed to be a showcase for Starfleet's diversity?"

Tynen shot a confused look at the man. Was that a trick question or something? For God's sakes, what better way to showcase the Federation's diversity by having a human bonding with a Vulcan? "I don't know, sir. I didn't see a reason not to."

"Oh, I can think of some reasons, Tynen! Twenty-one billion of them, all the freaking Vulcans in the galaxy!" he snapped. Then the admiral took a moment to calm himself somewhat and observed, "Look, it's one thing for a human female to marry one of them; they'd probably consider it as an act of 'civilizing' one of us. It's another, though, to have a human male, a virtual savage in their eyes, degrade them by taking one of their females from an esteemed family."

Wow, Tynen realized. He'd never seen the old man's face so red before! "Sir, she's not Helen of Troy! I think you might be exaggerating the effect of our-"

"The hell I am!" the flag officer cut him off. Then the admiral appeared to struggle to settle down once again before he said through gritted teeth, "Just what kind of relationship do you two have?"

Tynen simply shrugged. "We've bonded in the Vulcan way."

At that, Mendez's face grew beet red. "Is that like...marriage?" the man asked through very thin lips.

The captain paused to ponder that for a moment. "Kind of," he answered.

"Get her in here!" the admiral roared.

"Sir?"

"V'Lar. I have to make certain that no sexual harassment occurred in this situation."

Tynen narrowed his eyes at the admiral yet offered no protest as he snapped on his intercom. "Tynen to V'Lar."

"V'Lar here."

"Commander, Admiral Mendez would like to have a word with you."

"Acknowledged. I shall be there shortly."

"Good. Tynen out."

Moments later, his door chime sounded. "Enter," he said.

The door slid open and she strode smartly into his ready room. As soon as Mendez saw her, he snapped, "Do you two have any idea how this'll play both here and on Vulcan?"

Tynen simply shrugged. "I frankly don't care what anyone on either planet thinks, admiral."

V'Lar didn't react outwardly to his statement; however, he could feel she was pleased with his response. Then she said to Mendez, "The people of my world may not be as concerned as you seem to believe, admiral."

"Really? Would you care to explain why, commander?"

"After Ambassador Sarek married Lady Amanda of Earth, the unthinkable to most Vulcans had become reality. Years later, the USS Enterprise brought their son home to Vulcan to wed and our entire planet witnessed that the life-friends at his side were a human captain and a human physician. Admiral, this man, my captain, my life-friend, is now my bondmate. I am his; he is mine. We are one. And if my people looked inside my Vulcan heart they would bear witness to that inescapable truth."

"Commander," the admiral asked, "what about your parents?"

"My father holds Jason in high regard. My mother is concerned about our bond, yet she would not stand in our way."

The admiral narrowed his eyes at them and said, "I'm still not convinced you two realize the serious nature of your choice in this regard."

"Sir, I beg to differ," she said. "We are aware of the risks. Neither world may completely accept our bond, yet we are prepared to live our lives together in Starfleet. It is here we both can serve the common good. It is here our differences are celebrated. It is here we can be true to ourselves and each other."

The flag officer studied them through the screen for several moments before he spoke again. "I have a few questions for you, V'Lar. The first question is did you initiate this relationship with Captain Tynen?"

"Yes, sir. I was the one who broached the question to the captain whether he would be amenable to entering into a committed relationship with me."

He nodded then asked, "Do you both intend to stay with your ship or do you wish to be reassigned?"

Tynen glanced at her and he transmitted his thought to her. Then she turned to the screen and said, "Admiral…we have seen entire planets turned into mass graves; I have seen what the Minbari would do to you, my bondmate, and the rest of humanity if we do not stop their madness. Sir, we intend to take this ship and her crew to the other side of the galaxy to make certain the Minbari shall never harm humanity like this ever again."

"I take it you two just began this…ah…intimate relationship a few weeks ago?"

"Yes," she said.

"That seems a little fast to me. I suppose, though, for a Vulcan, a short engagement period is logical in some way, shape, or form?"

"That is true. Jason and I have determined our relationship is viable. We do not desire to spend our lives apart. Thus, it is illogical to wait to become lifemates."

When she'd concluded, Mendez stared intensely at them for several moments. Then he sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll do what I can to smooth things over for you here at command."

"Thank you, sir," Tynen said.

The admiral nodded and said, "Look, I can't order you to conceal your...whatever the hell you call it."

"A bond, sir," she answered. "It is similar to the human concept of marriage. However, to avoid any appearance of impropriety to our crew, we are amenable to being wed under Starfleet protocols."

"All right, V'Lar. That sounds acceptable. Still, I want you two to maintain a low profile."

"I understand, sir," Tynen said.

Mendez then turned his attention to V'Lar. "Commander?"

"A 'low profile' is unobjectionable, admiral."

Mendez smiled and said, "If that's all, I'll sign off now. It seems the Minbari situation has rapidly escalated into a full-scale war and the logistics for our war-effort are daunting, particularly considering the vast distances between our space and Earth Alliance. We'll need to recall some experienced reservists and retirees to serve on all the ships we're pulling out of the mothball fleet. So, I'm meeting with the head of the Sentient Relations and Communications Division to prepare a public relations blitz to support our manpower efforts. However, before I go, let me offer you my congratulations, Jay. She's quite a catch."

V'Lar nodded graciously toward the old man. "Why, thank you, admiral."

The flag officer smirked and added, "You're welcome, commander. And allow me to offer you my sympathies because I know Jay can be a handful."

"It is gratifying to know your reputation for acute perception precedes you, admiral."

Mendez laughed. "Jay, you are a lucky man. Make certain you take good care of that lady or else you'll have to answer to me."

"Aye, aye, sir!"

"All right then. See you soon. Mendez out."

As the screen went blank, she gave her bondmate a puzzled look. "Why would the admiral refer to me as a 'catch?'"

He smiled gently at her, marveled by her innocence. "It was just an expression, aisha. He was merely indicating how fortunate I am to have a mate who is beyond reproach."

In response, he felt a warm sensation flood his entire being as she caressed her two fingers against his.