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The S'chn T'gai Algorithm
Spock's first away mission had gone very well. He had proved to himself that his choice of a career in Starfleet had been the correct one. His instructors and superiors were all watching him with interest, liking what they saw. Amanda was proud of him, as always.
Spock had even finally made some friends. He and his roommate Pete had decided to room together again for their final year at the Academy. Prior to this, Spock had always had a new roommate every semester. Pete's childhood friend Fred was also a cadet, and the trio spent quite a bit of time together.
Spock took another heavy course load and wrote a doctoral thesis based on his design for an improved universal translator. He also served as an instructional aide for Vulcan language classes. A few days before his twenty-first birthday, he traveled to the University of Edinburgh and successfully defended his doctoral thesis. A week later, the semester at the Academy ended.
Spock had made plans to visit his Uncle Marcus in Minnesota, to spend time with his mother's family. The trip had to be canceled when he woke up drenched in sweat, shaking and feverish, with feelings of aggression and anxiety. Pon Farr! Spock had hoped that his hybrid heritage would spare him this misery, but it was not to be. He got himself together as much as possible and packed a duffel.
He rented himself a ground car and drove to a small cabin his parents owned near Sonoma. Spock spent over a week there in solitude and mediation, successfully passing through the "fires" alone. When the condition had passed, he returned to the Academy and immersed himself in his work on the universal translator.
Amanda had been upset with her son at first, he always had a reason not to visit with her family. However, when he contacted her via subspace, he had said that he was not feeling well. Sarek had observed the call from the doorway of Amanda's study. Spock looked feverish and when his hand trembled, he had quickly placed it behind his back. Sarek had hoped Spock would not have to go through this indignity common to all Vulcan males, but it had come. When the call ended, he took Amanda aside.
"There is no cause for anger. He is not well, my wife. It is Pon Farr."
"He is alone, Sarek. What will he do?"
"He is young. It will not be so intense this time. He will meditate and the fires will pass."
"Damn Pon Farr! Damn T'Pring!"
Sarek held Amanda while she cried for her son and his pain.
Amanda was resting when Sarek got the notification that Spock had used his access code to enter the Sonoma cabin. Sarek programmed the cabin's systems monitor to inform him of water and utility usage. He would be able to get a sense of his son's well-being without invading his privacy and send for help if it was needed.
For ten days, Sarek got reports of water being used in the bathroom and heat in the small bedroom. His son was alive. On the tenth day, the systems monitor informed him that Spock had left the cabin. A camera had recorded an image of a pale, gaunt Spock securing the door and leaving.
"Well done, my son, well done."
Sarek embraced Amanda and told her their son had survived.
The second term of Spock's final year began with a bang, literally. Spock rollerskated into a tree, knocking himself out. Ironically, the skates had been a gift from Amanda, who was weary of getting "next of kin" reports from the Academy Medical Center detailing her son's latest sports injury. Spock had a fondness for solitary pursuits such as rock climbing and hang gliding. His medical file was full of sprains and slight fractures. The medical staff had given him the nickname "Cadet Boo-boo" as a result of his repeated visits. Amanda had reasoned that her son could only fall so far and would inflict only a minimum of damage upon himself wearing knee pads and a helmet.
Spock, who had not yet adequately learned breaking skills, swerved to avoid a child and a dog that ran across his path. He hit the tree head first. A less than honest passerby relieved him of his I.D. and valuables, but called the police to report the injury. Spock was treated at San Francisco General Hospital, where he encountered his healer/doctor cousin, Sirin. Sirin had been declared "without logic" and had left Vulcan many years before. Spock's encounter with his nephew made Sarek anxious. He hoped Sirin would not prove to be a bad influence on his son.
Just days later, Spock was in a hospital again, having an emergency appendectomy. Sarek was on a diplomatic mission at the time, but Amanda managed to to travel to San Francisco and spend several days with her son.
When Spock was a teenager, he had complained to the family healer of abdominal discomfort after eating. T'Mena had been concerned that Spock seemed to have difficulty absorbing nutrients from his food, so she had sent him to the Vulcan Science Academy Medical Center to see a specialist. The specialist did not take the symptoms seriously, attributing them to the hybrid's "delicate constitution." He was really implying that he thought Spock was a hypochondriac. No further testing was done. Spock grew to a normal height, but he was perpetually underweight.
Amanda was angry when Spock's surgeon revealed that his enlarged appendix had irritated his intestines, causing his malabsorption issues. Sarek was nearly beside himself. It had taken a lot of persuasion and a great deal of money for the VSA geneticists to agree to engineer a Vulcan-Human hybrid. Unneeded structures such as an appendix, tonsils, and adenoids were to have been eliminated, along with a hereditary predisposition for a certain heart condition. Apparently the VSA geneticists had not done their best work.
Spock came through the surgery fine and within a few months reached a normal weight for the first time in his life.
The day would be a busy one for Sarek. He and Amanda were on Vulcan, in New Shi'Kahr. An elderly colleague, Tavosh, had passed away a few weeks before the end of term. Sarek had finished teaching his beginning astrophysics course and would administer the final exam that morning. In the afternoon, the VSA Admissions Board would interview candidates for the next term. As Sarek prepared to disconnect his comm link, two items captured his attention. Spock would be graduating from Starfleet Academy with the highest GPA and most credits ever recorded. He had also achieved a coveted assignment on Starfleet's newest research vessel, USS Discovery.
A very strange thing happened that afternoon as Sarek made his way to the Great Hall of the VSA. Half of his colleagues congratulated him while the other half seemed to look away in shame. He did not understand the reason for either reaction.
All became clear when his friend Seiken the Xenolinguistics Department head sat down next to him.
"My congratulations upon your son's success, my friend. This is a great achievement, especially for one so young. It will be a tremendous asset on diplomatic missions."
"Seiken, to what are you referring?"
"Why to the new and improved universal translator with the "S'chn T'gai Algorithm", of course."
"I still do not understand."
"You truly do not know? Your son has improved the universal translator, making it lighter and more portable, the size of a personal comm unit. It is also more sensitive to nuance and more capable of translating idioms."
Sarek was amazed but gave no outward sign of it. His son had done this wondrous thing! Spock never would have enjoyed the freedom or support to develop such an advancement had he entered the VSA.
Sarek and Amanda traveled to Terra in time for Spock's graduation from the Academy. Sarek would not attend the ceremony, as he had "diplomatic matters" to attend to. However, he had no objections to Amanda doing so. Amanda knew that Sarek was very proud of Spock, but felt that attending his son's graduation would be akin to an admission that Spock had chosen the correct path. Sarek was not quite ready to do that just yet. Amanda was ready to administer one of her stiletto heels to his stubborn backside, but she let it pass. She was going to enjoy the day with or without Sarek.
The graduation ceremony was a brief as could be expected for so large a class. Spock gave a short address that was mostly a thank you to those who had believed in him and supported him. Amanda beamed when Cadet S'chn T'gai Spock became Lt. J.G. S'chn T'gai Spock.
After the event, she took her son to his favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner. Then she issued an invitation.
"Spock, I know that you have two weeks leave before you report to the Discovery. Please spend part of it with me at the weekend house."
"Where will Father be spending that time?"
"What your father does is his own concern. I want to spend some time with my only child before he leaves on his big mission. If Sarek wants to act like a turd, he can go lie in the yard!"
That statement amused Spock. She had said it to Sarek so often that she now abbreviated it to "Sarek, go lie in the yard!"
"Alright, Mother. I will come for a few days. We will see what happens from there."
Sarek had spent the day doing "busy work." There was not one thing that could not have waited. In the afternoon, Syrol, the Embassy's Communication Specialist paid him a visit.
"I have a new device for your inspection, Sarek. This is the latest version of the universal translator, complete with the "S'chn T'gai Algorithm."
Sarek spent several hours playing with his new toy.
When Amanda returned to the Vulcan Embassy that evening, she informed Sarek of her plans to go to the weekend house in the morning and of her invitation to Spock. She also told him that he could come along with her or not.
In the morning, the Embassy driver took Amanda to the family's weekend home in a quiet residential neighborhood. Sarek had purchased the house as a retreat from prying eyes and the stresses of public life.
Amanda busied herself making her son a breakfast of scrambled eggs and hash browns. Spock appeared before she had finished and set the table, just as he had always done in his youth.
They had no sooner sat down to eat when Sarek appeared. He made no excuse or apology. He simply got himself a plate and silverware and sat in his usual seat. For his part, Spock acted as though there had been no estrangement between them. The elephant in the room would be ignored for the time being.
When they had eaten and cleared the table, Sarek pulled out his new toy.
"Tell me, my son, how did you achieve such improved function?"
"Father, I started by eliminating several redundant systems which...."
Amanda smiled at them and went out into the garden to tend her roses. The "S'chn T'gai Algorithm" was improving diplomatic relations already!