First, I would like to thank everyone who did for taking the time to review and providing feedback and encouragement. The structure of the story was already in place before I started writing but you have given me a few other ideas that I'd be interested in developing further. I am thinking about ways to do so.

Second. I'm not very familiar with how stories are rated but I call the next and final chapter the TnT chapter. It will be posted at the same time as the Epilogue, so those who have an issue with that can go straight to the Epilogue. The story was structured to work either way. Actually, I initially was thinking of offering readers the choice of two epilogues, but one was so sad that I go depressed reading it and decided to nix it.

Third and last, some of the characters in this story were borrowed from Paramount and will be returned without fail.

"We're getting a communication from Vulcan" Hoshi said. She listened into her headphones and added "Addressed to T'Pol and T'sdith."

Archer looked over at T'Pol. "The response from the Vulcan High Council?" he asked.

T'Pol raised an eyebrow. "Possibly, though I do not understand why the communication was not addressed to T'sdith only."

"It seems T'Pau wants to make sure the message is not misunderstood," Archer offered. He didn't trust T'sdith one bit, and they still had not cleared the small matters of the infiltration by the Vulcan kids. In the meantime, of course, he was dying to know what the missive contained, as did everyone on the bridge.

xx

"The Council has granted the Clan's request" T'Pol informed Archer when she came back from T'sdith quarters. Archer was shocked. He had never expected Vulcan would yield on this. To be fair, he had never accepted the Vulcan of V'Las would yield, but obviously T'Pau's government was a different sort. Part of him wished he had better recognized the leadership qualities inherent in T'Pau during their brief meeting in the Forge. But his mind had been fogged by the presence of Surak's katra and T'Pau could only come up lacking when compared to Surak, especially when she was only slightly older than T'sdith at the time. At least in Vulcan years.

Archer blew out his breath softly. What did that mean in terms of the Clan? What would happen to them now? "Does the Clan know?" he asked.

T'Pol nodded. "They do by now." She paused, hesitating. "Captain, T'sdith has also requested a conference with you and your senior officers."

Archer smirked. That young brat had all the nerve. "Now did she?" he sarcastically threw back at T'Pol.

"Captain, if I may." T'Pol paused briefly, gauging Archer's mood, "it would be appropriate to treat T'sdith as an ambassador, the representative of her Clan, which is now an official Vulcan Clan."

Archer almost choked, felt himself turning red. He glared at T'Pol, who simply stood there, looking at him without blinking. Then she raised an eyebrow. Archer let out a small, sharp laugh. How come his most trusted advisor aboard the ship was a Vulcan when he would have gladly committed the whole of them to the dust of interstellar space. Life was full of irony indeed.

xx

Archer walked into the conference room, flanked by his two senior officers, T'Pol and Commander Tucker. Malcolm was behind Archer and T'Pol, with a phase pistol on his belt. It was a specific request of T'Pol that he be visibly armed.

T'sdith was already seated at the conference table, Sisig and Axarev at the ready behind her. They too bore arms.

T'sdith launched directly into the heart of the issue. "Vulcan has recognized the Na'gseihr Clan." She stated. "We want to talk about our destination."

"Our destination has not changed" Archer retorted. "We're rendezvousing with a Vulcan ship close to Vulcan space and transferring you to that ship."

"What if the Clan does not desire this outcome?"

Archer sighed. "We've already had that conversation. When we brought you aboard. Nothing has changed."

Archer was trying to hide his impatience with T'sdith. Gosh, how he would like to knock her on her ass. The thought came unbidden to this mind, trailed by another thought, a vague memory of having felt the same way or have the same thought before. His eyes widened. That was how he had felt about T'Pol, before he knew her. Archer thought back to their first encounter. He had been irritated beyond belief by the calm arrogance that emanated from her as she took in his volatile behavior and that of the other males in the room. At least, that was how he had interpreted her stance. And he had turned out to be wrong beyond the pales of arrogance. That brought him back to how rude he had been to T'Pol when she first stepped on Enterprise, oblivious to the fact she was a young alien suddenly thrust on a ship full of hostile or indifferent humans, and how isolated she must have felt in spite of any profession of non-emotion. She had started loosening her stance only after Archer had risked his life for her sake. Perhaps that was the one factor that had been missing in all the previous attempts by the High Command to post Vulcans on human ships. Could it be that they had reacted to a feeling of pervading vulnerability from being one against many, buttressed by the constant barrage of imperfectly understood emotions from the other crew members. He had never really had the time or inclination to analyze the whole thing.

He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Goddammit, Jonathan, Archer thought to himself, you're the adult, getting annoyed at a teenage girl. Instead of looking at T'sdith as an insufferably spoiled brat, he started to consider how she must have felt, a fifteen-year-old girl having suddenly lost her parents, trying to keep her infant brother alive, and somehow finding it within herself to serve as the leader for the other children and turn them into a family, making decisions that would enable them to survive while always considering those might turn out to be lethal. Not very different from a starship captain, he mused.

His tone grew decidedly friendlier.

"Let's start over. We would like to know what you think is best for your clan."

"Could you ask Mr. Mayweather to attend, in his capacity as a boomer?" T'sdith replied.

Archer was floored by the question. Travis? What had the helmsman got to do with it? "Of course." Archer summoned Travis and the representatives waited wordlessly until he stepped in the room. Archer could see on his face that once he became aware of the occupants in the room the young man became worried that perhaps he had done something wrong.

"Mr. Mayweather, you have been asked to attend by T'sdith, head of the Na'gseihr clan, in your capacity as a boomer." Archer formally announced. "Please be seated."

Travis was intuitive enough to not seat on either side of the table, but instead positioned himself at the head. T'sdith nodded gravely at him.

Archer went back to his question "Now that Mr. Mayweather has joined us, could you please let us know your thoughts?"

T'sdith brought her hands together in front of her. When she spoke, power emanated from her voice. "Captain, Starfleet members, we of the Na'gseihr clan understand that we need to go to Vulcan to reacquaint ourselves with the families our parents left behind" Archer noted she did not say 'our families' "and with other dealings inherent to the disappearance of our parents on Planet Minshara 405 of Tau Ceti V. We have considered whether we would stay on Vulcan, and our clan has decided that we would not feel comfortable settling there." She looked at T'Pol. "We spent long years thinking that Vulcan had attacked us and exterminated our outpost. We are willing to consider that perhaps it was not responsible for the destruction of our colony but we are not willing to live on Vulcan." She gazed back to the room at large. "We have considered whether we would have a place within Starfleet, but the Na'gseihr Clan will not be split among various starships nor follow rules other than the Clan's." Before Archer could speak, she raised her hand, forestalling any rejoinder. "We have talked to Mr. Mayweather about his and his family experience with long-haul cargo. We have decided our path is to remain in space. Once we have resolved family affairs on Vulcan, we will acquire a freighter. We have the technical aptitude necessary to run such a ship and our members have started learning necessary skills as befits their preferences and personalities. The Na'gseihr Clan will be known as a spacefaring clan. Any member who does not wish to remain part of our Clan will return to the clan of their parents. Thus the Clan has spoken."

T'sdith stood up, along with her retinue, and floated out of the conference room, the guards following suit, leaving behind one dumbfounded boomer and a few shellshocked Starfleet officers. Archer finally got over the feeling his jaw had hit the floor. He looked over at T'Pol "When did you say the Vulcan ship was meeting us again?"

"They are scheduled to arrive in another week, Captain." she paused, then went on "Representatives of the clans of each of the children are on the S'Daarok. It could be that once the reunification takes place the Clan changes its decision."

Archer slowly shook his head. "I wouldn't bet on it."

"Captain, I'm not sure how this situation relates to casino-style -"

"It's another way of saying 'I don't think so', T'Pol" Archer interjected. He decoded the eyebrow he got in response as 'then why doesn't one simply say so?' There were times when the cultural gulf that separated Vulcans and humans seemed unbridgeable. Like with T'sdith. Except that for the first time in his adult life, Archer wondered if perhaps humans were the ones who needed to adapt.

x x x

"The S'Daarok is signaling us"

"On the screen, Hoshi"

It had been a long five weeks ferrying the kids back closer to Vulcan space for Archer and he was looking forward to handing his passengers over. True enough, things had grown a lot calmer. The troublemakers had stopped wreaking havoc on the well-ordered processes of a Starfleet starship, the teenagers that had infiltrated the ship had not turned into any type of lethally controlling force, he hardly saw any of T'sdith since their meeting, and the four children who were shadowing T'Pol's every move had grown more secure and she could sometimes be seen taking care of ship business without her retinue of sorts. The kids all knew how to eat, had learned to read and write, had grown accustomed to shoes, a regular day, the fact food would always be available. It was not all they needed to learn, but they at least got the basics under control.

That was the exact moment when T'Pol came up to him. "T'sdith requests a conference with the entire bridge crew and a group of select other crew members, Captain" T'Pol informed him.

Archer reflected that he was really looking forward to the Clan's departure.

xx

Archer stepped into the conference room with a certain dose of irritation. This was the second time he had been summoned to a conference on his own ship by the Clan matriarch. He did a double-take when he saw the crowded conference table, one half chockfull of Vulcan youth. He did another double-take when he noticed T'sdith sitting at one head of the table. Wordlessly, he went to the other one. The five officers and four other crew members that accompanied him sat down across the Vulcan youth. T'sdith got up. Archer decided to swallow his ego and grant her the floor.

"Captain," T'sdith addressed him, "The Na'gseihr Clan has decided to live in space and has selected Enterprise as the organizational model that its vessel will adopt. We have asked the Clan members here present to become acquainted with the crew members in this room so that they could benefit from their skill and experience." Finally, thought Archer, the explanation. T'sdith turned to the Starfleet side of the table "Starfleet members, our Clan members have spent time with you learning your role on Enterprise. They will use the time on Vulcan to deepen that knowledge and each will specialize in the branch you mentored them in. Our Clan members will have the positions and responsibilities on our ship that you, their mentors, have on Enterprise. We asked for this meeting so that the Clan members could properly express their gratitude before we remove to Vulcan." She sat down.

Axarev was on her left. He got up and walked over to where Hopes was sitting, and bowed to him. Hopes got up, surprised to find himself getting emotional. "Think about becoming a MACO one day" he gruffly said, worried his voice would give him away. "I shall give it proper thought" Axarev replied, and he walked out of the conference room.

One by one the Vulcan youth went and bowed to their mentors, under the astonished gaze of the captain, before leaving the room. In turn the mentors got up to salute their young charges and provide a couple of parting words. Archer overheard Chef tell S'ehsgu "Remember, when I retire, we're going to go open a small joint on the moon" and S'ehsgu's rejoinder "And make pies." Chef burst out laughing. At his side, Reed stiffened into full British reserve when T'smir approached. Just before she turned to leave, he called to her "It's all oipnowe." She looked back at him, nodded "Indeed." Travis was trying very hard to suppress a smile as Xifmer approached him. He lost the battle, and erupted in a huge grin. "Sorry" he said. Xifmer just coked an eyebrow at him and Travis burst out laughing. Trip was grinning like an idiot, his eyes moist. Hoshi was unabashedly wiping tears away. Soon, the Starfleet members and S'dith were the only ones left in the room. She got up, regal as ever. "The Na'gseihr Clan thanks you." And walked out.

Looking at her retreating back Archer mused how, starting with Ambassador Soval, no Vulcan he knew could graciously exit a gathering. They just had to drop it like a hot potato.

x x x

"Doctor" the tall Vulcan man on the vidscreen saluted Phlox, "I am Healer S'varis."

"Very nice, very nice." Phlox gave him a big smile. "Are you a Vulcan priest?"

"Unfortunately, I am not." S'varis went on "S'Daarok was the closest available ship, but only Surak-class starships have a priest as part of the medical team."

Phlox frowned. "But the kids - some of the kids have temporary bonds with one of our officers. How are we going to transfer those?"

"You're talking about the youngest orphans?" Phlox nodded. "We have foster parents from each of their clans on board. The children won't have much trouble transferring from a temporary bond to a more permanent bond." Part of Phlox felt the explanation was incomplete but he had other things that distracted his attention. "How do you propose to do the transfer?" he asked.

"We will have each couple come individually to the Enterprise. They can meet the child, establish a connection and set-up a foster bond. Then they'll come back with the child."

Phlox nodded. That seemed straightforward enough. His feeling something was incomplete finally figured out why. "What about the Vulcan with whom they had a temporary bond?" he needed to make sure this was safe for T'Pol.

Healer S'Varis paused for a little while. "It will be uncomfortable." he said. "Everyone reacts differently. But the effects should lessen over time." He seemed to want to say something else, stopped. "Of course, it would be easier with a Vulcan priest." he added.

Of course.

xx

It was decided that the youngest children would go first, to give them more time to adapt to yet new surroundings and new ways of doing things. The four couples came aboard together, ready to spend as much time as needed with their respective foster child.

T'Pol brought Swetr by himself to the observatory deck, where a surprisingly plump woman with salt and pepper hair and her consort were waiting. The adults talked together and after a while Swetr skirted over to the motherly matron in the same manner as he had first approached T'Pol. The woman inclined her head towards him in response and offered her fingers to play with. He circled her wrist with his fingers in a gesture very similar to the one he used when he first saw T'Pol. When they left at the end of the afternoon, the child seemed as if he had always been part of the family unit. In the transporter room, the couple bowed deeply to T'Pol before taking their place on the dais. T'Pol knelt in front of the boy and he knelt in response, crossing his hands palm outwards to give her a close family embrace. She raised an eyebrow in response and he walked over to the transporter dais, where his new foster parents were waiting. As the transporter took effect, he gave her the ta'al.

The transfer of Iotssif and S'ofer went along roughly the same lines, the children hungry for a full connection and quickly bonding with their new foster parents, easily moving from the safety of the temporary bond to its permanent replacement, the foster parents expressing their gratitude to T'Pol, and close embraces at the end.

T'Ilkwe was the last one to leave. The girl's foster mother had bright blue eyes like T'Pol's mother and looked like the picture of kindness, her husband a gentle giant at her side. T'Ilkwe quickly established a bond with them. But when the time came to go back to the transporter dais, the girl hung on to T'Pol's leg, unwilling to let go. T'Pol crouched down to talk to her in soft tones. The foster mother did the same, and the child suddenly threw herself at the other woman's neck who picked her up easily, still talking to her, until T'Ilkwe released her grip. The father came over and gently touched the child's cheek with two fingers. Finally T'Ilkwe asked to be set down, walked over to give T'Pol a family embrace, and left with her new foster parents.

xx

In the end, only Severn was left, other than T'sdith and her guards. T'sdith had held on to him throughout the day's departures, and Phlox was starting to wonder with some trepidation if she was going to be able to let go. Finally, he managed to convince her to have Severn come to Sickbay so that S'Varis, who had transported over from the S'Daarok specifically for that reason, could more accurately assess the child's condition. Sisig brought the child. After meeting with Severn and exchanging a few words with him, S'Varis walked over to Phlox, his face closed, and the two doctors disappeared into one of the private sickbay offices.

"Well?" asked Phlox.

S'Varis looked uncomfortable "The child is showing clear signs of failure to thrive" he replied "His physical development has obviously been affected and I am unable to assess his intellectual development but it does not look promising. He needs to be fostered by a couple or he will never reach his full potential. A priest will be required to transfer the parental bond from T'sdith to them but it would be beneficial if the new parents could establish a temporary bond starting today."

Phlox sighed. It was all in the hands of T'sdith. The bond with the foster parents could only happen with her approval. She had not come to Sickbay with Severn and she was not responding to attempts to reach her. The foster parents were already aboard, waiting to meet Severn. He conferred with T'Pol and they decided to let them get acquainted with Severn in the neutral environment of Sickbay while T'Pol set to unobtrusively scouting the ship for his sister.

Severn's foster mother spontaneously picked him up as soon as she saw him, a rare departure from tradition, and sat with him on a biobed under the approving gaze of Phlox and the carefully impassive one of S'Varis. Her husband joined her and they sat silently with the child while an hour, then two, went by. Phlox was always amazed at the capacity of Vulcans to just be, though he suspected there was an intense and lively communication being exchanged between the couple, in a form he would never be able to fully comprehend. Finally, the doors opened and T'sdith stepped in, T'Pol right behind her. Phlox looked enquiringly at T'Pol and got from the eyebrow she cocked at him in reply that getting T'sdith to Sickbay had been an arduous process. T'sdith stopped in the middle of the room, looking at her brother and the woman holding him. She seemed about to lose her composure and Phlox suddenly saw how desperately young she was, alone in a room full of adults who were proposing to take her brother away.

He quickly interjected before she could embarrass herself "Ah! Very good." Turning to the foster parents, Phlox went on "This is T'sdith, matriarch of the Na'gseihr Clan, sister of Severn, and the only reason you are able to hold him today. Without her, he would not be here. And as matriarch of the Clan, she is allowing him to be fostered only because it is in Severn's best interest as a Clan member."

T'sdith looked like a deer caught in the headlights, eyes wide as saucers as she tried to process what Phlox had said. They both knew there was no other choice. For Severn to grow up normally, he needed a full bond with two parents. Before she could figure out an objection, the couple had gotten up from the biobed, the woman still carrying Severn, and came over to T'sdith. They spoke for a long time, sometimes nodding, until eventually a new resolve came over T'sdith's face. She looked at Severn silently for a few minutes, drinking in his features, then took his hand and placed it on the foster mother's face, allowing the bond.

It was T'sdith the matriarch who walked Severn and his new foster parents all the way to the transporter pad, Healer S'Varis trailing behind. It was T'sdith the matriarch who gave the parental touch to her young brother where he was being safely held in his foster mother's embrace. Severn looked up at T'sdith, reached out with his hand, and gently traced the contour of her cheekbone, seeming to be soothing her. It was T'sdith his sister who looked with agonized eyes as he shimmered out of sight.

xx

As he toured the decks where the children had stayed, now noisy with the removal of extra bunk beds and restoring of wall panels, Archer fought a sense of sadness. He considered the tally of the past five weeks. T'sdith had driven him and Reed crazy, his Science Officer looked like she was going to drop any day from the exhaustion of being father, mother, teacher, and everything in between to four orphans, and Tucker's crew had spent half their time repairing equipment laid waste by the Clan members. He certainly hadn't expected he was going to miss them. And he was not the only one; the MACOs had lost two valued trainees, Chef would be alone to julienne his dishes, Hoshi and Travis would miss their friends, and Tucker was a couple of hands short. It came to him that if the Na'gsheir Clan could have that kind of impact in the short span of five weeks, they would be a force to be reckoned with once T'sdith accomplished their goal of getting their own freighter.

x x x

Once the last transfer had taken place, Phlox turned to T'Pol "I want to see you in Sickbay."

"I would prefer going to my quarters, Doctor. To rest."

"Fine, but make sure you do so. I am putting you on medical leave for the next two days." Phlox watched T'Pol until she had made the turn towards her quarters. He knew that Trip would keep an eye on her and make sure she was ok, or he would have hauled her to Sickbay in spite of her protestations.

xx

Trip walked into their quarters, stopped at the sight of T'Pol's meditating. Boy, he had missed that sight, missed her. She opened her eyes as he came near. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt" Trip said.

T'Pol rose from where she had been kneeling. "I was almost done anyway."

Trip took in the dark circles under her eyes "How are you doing?"

For once, T'Pol didn't simply reply 'fine'. She mulled his question over "I'm not sure" she finally ventured.

Trip stepped behind her, started massaging her shoulders. "How about we get something to eat and you can tell me everything I've missed about the fosters. In exchange, I'll tell you about V'Ettelk and T'Leff, some of the best apprentices I've ever had."

x x x