An Unlikely Ally

Uhura sat in the pilot's chair, torn between wondering why she hadn't yet been cleared for take-off and wondering how the hell she was going to pilot the shuttle without Ko-mekh's (somewhat) calming presence. She checked and rechecked the small ship's systems and waited some more.

A standard hour later, around the time she was reaching the end of her patience, a light on the comm panel began flashing. She brushed her fingers over the screen, activating the speaker.

"Uhura Wuh-lan, stand by for your passenger."

Passenger?

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The trip back to her home on the outskirts of ShiKahr was a blur. Amanda saw nothing of the city's soaring buildings or of the harsh beauty of the rocky outcroppings crowning the surrounding hills. Her mind had little room for anything beyond the silent, nevertheless potent pull of Sarek's need — a compulsion to join that was rapidly becoming her own. What little brainspace remained was given over to a twinge of guilt-laced concern over having abandoned Ennie.

It was difficult to hold on to that thought, impossible to consider a solution. Sarek's want — her want was consuming her. She needed to go to her mate. He needed to received her.

He met her at the heavy, narrow front doors of the residence. The servants had already been banished.

With her goal so near, Amanda's mind cleared enough for her to think to scan his face, to search for secondary confirmation that he was not yet too far gone to control the chaos. To assure herself she wouldn't have to prevail over fever and madness.

Under her careful scrutiny, a silly smile bowed his lips and lit his eyes. "Come," he said, holding out his hands, the grin spreading. "Come before the heat enters our home. We'll have fires enough if you tarry."

She lacked the strength to stop an answering smile from erasing her concerned frown. Left unchecked, even her husband's happiness could be overwhelming, making it hard to think about anything beyond the two-that-are-one that was their bond.. Rushing forward, she allowed him to pull her against his chest, and spin them both around so that he could kick the door closed.

Seconds later, she was in his arms while he ran through their home. Joy, anticipation and just the first flickers of desire pumped through their bond, leaving Amanda nearly as giddy as him.

Still, a voice at the back of her mind protested, there's Ennie…

It took a moment to realize they'd reached their bed chamber and that Sarek was gently setting her on her feet.

"All is well, adun'a," he murmured against her neck. "She who shall be our daughter will continue to learn to save our son. I asked T'Pau to travel back to the temple with her."

Amanda stiffened. Or, she would have if that hadn't been impossible under the onslaught of her husband's desire and affection. His chaotic emotions, unbound by logic, continued to pour in.

Settling for a weak shiver, she managed to squeak, "T'Pau?" and let the memory of her own disastrous experience with the woman call up an old fear that colored the more… pleasant feeling radiating from Sarek.

Chuckling softly, the Vulcan lifted his head and caught his mate's face in his hands.

Amanda raised her eyes to see the that the slightly sloppy, sentimental smile had returned. It was a Herculean feat not to become lost in his wave of warmth and love.

"She is strong, our ko-fu," he told her and another quiet trill of laughter vibrated his chest. "I knew that from the first moment I held her in my arms. Then, I thought her dangerous and sought to protect our son from her; now, I believe that strength shall work to Spock's advantage. It will also keep Nyota from faltering before T'Pau."

His hands fell from her face to her left shoulder, were his fingers found the fasteners for her inner robe.

"Now," Sarek whispered, warm affection suddenly transformed back into searing desire, "let us think no more of our children…"

Then the last physical barrier between them was gone and his hot mouth closed over her erect nipple leaving no space at all for worrying about the 'children.'

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"Vulcan Central to Sudef-bosh. Set coordinates to a heading of three five mark two nine seven for travel to T'Khut."

Uhura's fingers flew over the controls, steady under what she imagined to be her passenger's watchful eye. Upon T'Pau's arrival at the shuttle — with the explanation that she would be taking over Amanda Grayson's as the familial connection during the Wehk Aitlunlar education — the human woman had been able to subdue her dismay at the turn of events. She'd been able to swallow the instinctive impulse to protest when the older woman had stated that the "private matter" which had called Ko-mekh back to her mate's side was advantageous in its timing.

Now, the matriarch of S'chn T'gai merely raised a brow at the announcement. "Presumptuous," she pronounced.

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"T'sai?" queried the human girl.

"The priestesses of the humanistic temple assume much by naming their ship 'the full womb,' does it not?"

"I do not have enough data to make such a determination, Tela'at," Spock's ko-kugalsu replied with an obviously well-practiced deference.

Turning in her seat, T'Pau examined the girl carefully. Although she did not twitch and fill the air with needless talking, it was clear that she was uneasy. Nervous.

Lowering the strongest of her shields, T'Pau waited for the girl to continue. To explain what was troubling her. Humans, the older woman had cause to know, often relied heavily on sharing their burdens with others. It was understandable — few were able to adequately able to parse and delineate their emotions for proper suppression.

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Uhura was nervous. She swallowed and busied herself making unnecessarily exacting adjustments at the instrument panel. As Ko-mekh had pointed out, even the most minimal pilot-training would be sufficient to get a person from the private to terminal to Wehk Aitlunlar, provided one of the temple's shuttles was used. She wondered what names the temple's other spacecraft bore.

A prickly, yet vague, inchoate anger left her literally biting her tongue. She need not have bothered. Before a woman born to a race for which the smallest alterations in face and body language spoke volumes, she may as well have shouted.

"Speak, ko-kan," T'Pau urged her. "It is not your people's way to hold such fury inside, is it?"

The old Vulcan's word, most likely meant to soothe and encourage, only served to further irritate the young human. But "fury" was a strong word. Uhura wasn't even wholly certain exactly what about T'Pau's explanation had bothered her; she nevertheless wouldn't have named what she was feeling "fury." (Though, if the woman continued to call her "child"…)

"Pardon me, T'sai," she said, careful to edit out whatever emotion she was experiencing from her tone. "The information you provided was new to me." And your presentation of it — as well as your side comments about "my people" — sucked ass, she left out. "I was surprised and unsure of how to respond," she hedged.

From the shrewd look her passenger leveled at her, Uhura deduced T'Pau had not been fooled.

"You disagree with my assessment of the practices of the Humanistic Temple?"

Since less than a week ago she had been thisclose to calling the priestesses of Wehk Aitlunlar V'tosh ka'tur, she knew it would be pointless to agree.

In slow motion, and as Uhura had answered instead of continuing to stare blankly at her questioner, T'Pau gave a single nod. If she had been human, the motion would have been accompanied by a smug smile.

"Ah," she said. "Then it is the idea that your sa-kugalsu's ko-mekh might have a negative influence on the success of your… training that has caused your disquiet."

Realizing that she had inadvertent Listened to the ideas behind the matriarch's earlier statement, Uhura flushed. She hadn't intented to spy on the other woman's thoughts. Mama would be disappointed in her. Quickly, shielding herself, she clamped her teeth together behind her lips.

But, of course, T'Pau had hit the nail on the proverbial head. The notion that Ko-mekh — and by extension, all humans — was little more than a half-trained monkey when it came to mating was irksome to the point of outrage. Irritation turned to fury as Uhura wrapped her mind around the reason she'd been upset in the first place.

"Yes, T'Pau Tela'at ," she said. "Ko-mekh has been with Sa-mekh for more than three Terran decades. Surely her knowledge of what is means to be the human bondmate of a Vulcan should not be dismissed?"

The smooth skin of the old woman's face barely moved as she raised an eyebrow. Instantly, Uhura was reminded of Spock and she had to fight an urge to relax in the matriarch's presence.

"Your reasoning is logical, ko-kan," T'Pau allowed, "but your application of it is faulty. She can share with you some of what it is to be bonded to a Vulcan, but she cannot help you understand what it will mean to become Spock's mate. That, you will have to learn for yourself. It is better that you are guided by a dispassionate — disinterested — party so that you may find your own way. Moreover, you have also failed to take under consideration the detrimental effect her esteem for you might have on her observation of your training."

Uhura colored — her cheeks turning a rose-brown hue that T'Pau could not miss — at the memory of Ko-mekh seeing her work with the sutor-lok.

She acknowledged that the other woman was correct in the first instance, but desperately wanted to protest the last. But, while her Betazoid ancestry was so far back as to be considered negligible, she had been trained on the world of those ancestors and their habit of abhorring all lies and prevarications was deeply instilled in her.

"Ah," the elder said, nodding, seemingly unaware of the inner struggle her companion was engaged in, "you have considered what it will mean for her to continue watching you learn to please her son. Good."

Before Uhura could ask what she meant by that final pronouncement, Vulcan Central get her permission to take off and for the next several standard hours, her attention was claimed by piloting the Sudef-bosh.

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Amanda swam up from the depths of unconsciousness, her limbs and heavy still heavy with the aftereffects of extreme.

If I could bottle Pon farr, she thought, a wicked smile dancing across her face, I be the richest woman in the galaxy!

You would never consent to share this with others. Sarek punctuated the statement by thrusting his lok against her swollen ko-lok. A bliss so intense the room seemed to tilt around her burst from the tiny nubbin and streaked through her body like lightening in a summer sky.

Never! she agreed. Twining her legs around his hips, she reached between them grasp his blazing-hot lok. This is mine.

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Humiliation still burned her cheeks, no matter how hard she strived to attain some level of detachment. On one hand she was glad that Ko-mekh was not present to see her failure; on the other hand, she fervently wished the other human was at her side to give the kind of comfort Uhura doubted the Vulcan women could provide. The contrary feelings left her head swimming in confusion, as well as embarrassment, and to her further dismay, she felt a painful prick of tears gathering in her eyes.

A powerful desire to avoid extending the possibility of critique from the family matriarch had helped Uhura to make her next attempt with the sutor-lok her last. As Ko-mekh had promised, the priestesses declared her proficient and ready to move on to the next level of training.

Any confidence she'd gained by conquering the false lok faded when she saw the three-dimensional hologram of her sa-kugalsu for the first time.

Faced with an order to perform the same ministrations on a whole-bodied Spock simulacrum — which looked and smelled and sounded like her k'diwa without Sounding like her k'diwa — she couldn't even get started.

It didn't matter that the priestesses — and the holoSpock — all assured her that no one expected her to actually copulate with it; just the thought of touching the hologram made her stomach churn.

"I cannot do this. That thing is not him," she said for the third time, her eyes skimming along the tops of the walls, searching for some hint of how her teachers and guides were watching her. All she saw, however, was her bedroom in Uncle Tabansi's apartment. "I will not do this," she amended.

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They entered within seconds, just as she was beginning regret her rash defiance. T'Lin and T'Pau, trailed by T'Arah, then T'Peng and the handsy little acolyte.

"As is my right and my responsibility, I will show her what is at stake and what is required of her. While your methods have proven effective for Vulcan females, as well as for Sarek's mate, I doubt that this child can benefit from much more shame," T'Pau was telling T'Lin as the two elders stepped through the doors. "I would meld with the ko-kan."

"No!" Uhura cried out, leaping to her feet. Five faces, four of them Vulcan-smooth and imperious, one showing the faintest sign of understanding overlaid with a touch of disappointment, stared at her. Shooting an apologetic look at T'Arah, she turned to the head of Spock's clan and amended, "I meant to say, that will not necessary, T'Pau Tela'at."

"The child speaks true, T'Pau," intoned T'Lin. "She has already been instructed in that manner and is no more likely to benefit from another meld than she would from continuing in this effort."

T'Arah stepped forward as if she was about to intervene, but T'Pau spoke before she could.

"I have more experience dealing with humans than most of you," she said. "And I know this child's parents, and have observed the girl's development since her birth. Allow me to attempt another method."

Uhura sucked in a deep, but quiet breath, schooling her features as much to hide her shock at T'Pau's revelation — She's been watching me since birth? — as to suppress the likely futile wish that T'Lin would refuse her.

"Come with me, ko-kan," T'Pau ordered without even waiting for an answer. There was no mistaking that it was an order.

Uhura stole a nervous glance at T'Lin, willing the Elder of Wehk Aitlunlar to contest the command. But she only nodded slightly before turning to swiftly exit the holosuite.

Slowly, the young woman approached the matriarch of her sa-kugalsu's clan. The elder said no more, but left the room in a more leisurely fashion than T'Lin had done, moments before.

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The smooth ochre-colored floor was warm, its heat even leaching through the thick soles of the half-boots the priestesses had provided. Uhura spun around full-circle where she stood. She estimated the surrounding clear-steel dome to be less than eight meters in diameter.

"Human myth is inconsistent." T'Pau didn't look at Uhura as she spoke. Her eyes remained trained on the bright sphere, dominating the night sky. Her hands stayed hidden in the joined cuffs of voluminous black sleeves.

"That is one of the reasons we call it 'myth,' Tela'at," Uhura replied.

Then the older woman's gaze did light on her companion, but only briefly before returning to the sky. "Human myth is inconsistent," she repeated, "but for millennia it proved useful in explaining phenomena observers had neither the knowledge to comprehend nor the tools to adequately examine.

"And, at times, it has been used to provide a metaphor for concepts too esoteric to be widely appreciated." Drawing the cuffs apart, she raised a hand and gestured towards the radiant planet in the distance.

"Vulcan and T'Khut have no such myth, and yet the humans who composed the ancient tales of your world would likely have created a tale for them, had they known their secrets." She turned her back on the view, her carriage clearly expectant, though her expression was unreadable.

Only… Uhura had no idea what was expected of her. "Tela'at?" she murmured, setting forward. The urge to Listen was strong, but she resisted.

T'Pau's eyes dropped to the heated floor. Her right foot traced a circle in the red dust, then her left made a slightly larger one.

"Did you know humans once called this planet 'Charis'?" she asked, looking up again once the images are complete.

"Yes, Tela'at." Uhura didn't bother to hide her confusion. She kept her fear that the old Vulcan might be losing her mind tucked away. If the situation became dangerous, she reflected, there was a good chance she could outrun T'Pau.

"Charis never turns her face from Vulcan." T'Pau spoke as if her words were heavy with meaning; Uhura worried that the madness was already escalating and took an involuntary step back.

But T'Pau had already turned again to watch the planet glowing in the sky above. "Are you familiar with the tales of Hephaestus?"

Chagrined at her train of thought, Uhura let out an embarrassed sigh as T'Pau's purpose became clear. "There are many myths, Tela'at," she said. "And most have several variations." She hesitated a moment before adding, "According to Homer, and others, Charis was once the wife of Hephaestus, whom the Romans called Vulcan."

T'Pau nodded without turning around again. "Correct, ko-kan. Most of the myth makers who noted Charis's existence at all said Hephaestus left her for Aphrodite's fairer face. And yet, one hundred seventy Terran years ago, documents older than the first recording of Homer's epics were discovered. Though clearly of Earth origin, they were found here, on T'Khut."

Unable to stop herself, Uhura gasped. "Eighteen years before first contact," she breathed. Intrigued, she found

"The scrolls told a different tale, T'Pau continued. "Hephaestus suffered a fever. Charis could not soothe her husband because she was held prisoner and was unable reach him. She could not soothe him. He turned to Aphrodite in his need. But when the fever broke, he tracked Charis's captor's down and released her, killing them in the process. And then he and his wife vowed to remain locked together, never out of the other's sight."

"'Never and always touching and touched,'" Uhura quoted.

"Yes," agreed T'Pau.

Uhura remained silent, taking in the story, musing over its implications and on the odd comfort it brought her.

"Your task is less difficult than you believe it to be, ko-gazh," T'Pau told her. "You will succeed because Spock needs you to succeed."

Moved to near to tears upon hearing herself referred to as a member of the Vulcan's clan, Uhura responded in kind.

"Thank you, Orfik-kosu."


A/N: I first read that humans called T'Khut by the alternate name Charis in Diana Duane's (non-canon) novel, Spock's World.

Since Greek and Roman myth (much like Star Trek!) are so often internally inconsistent, I've taken a few liberties in the story T'Pau tells Uhura. While most traditions name Aphrodite as the wife of Hephaestus (as they do for their Roman equivalents, Venus and Vulcan), he's been linked with many females and in The Iliad Homer claimed Charis was his wife. Some traditions say that Hephaestus left Charis for Aphrodite, but I decided to make their romance more complicated.

The term"ko-gazh" is my invention. It is comprised of the feminine identifier "ko" and "gazh" which means "descendant."

A/N addendum: If you haven't 't read 1C13:11, you didn't read the moment when Sarek first met a 7-year-old Nyota Uhura, standing in a garden pond.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, any of its concepts or characters, and I don't profit from writing about them - except through your reviews!