Sarek was going over the recent meeting between the Algeans and the Federation President while he waited.
"The Algean delegation left after speaking with the high council representatives about Vulcan sending aid and reinforcements." Sarek did not inquire as to their response, he was aware of his government's polices regarding such requests.
"And will we have to be concerned about any more cargo and personal ships entering orbit?" He asked.
"No Ambassador. The ban was enacted this morning by the Federation Senate due to the confirmed reports of crimes committed in the course of the Algean Civil War." Replied Kavik.
Sarek put away his communicator after asking about reports of members of the Apollo Colony still sighted at their previous settlement near the neutral zone. He reminded himself to ask the Ambassador to the Romulan Empire if he or one of his staff could take over the final stages of the Apollo Colony issues; the data he'd finally received on Algea's current state convinced him that he could afford no distractions for the foreseeable future. Algea now had his entire attention, Sarek noted. Not so much though that he hadn't noticed the pile of PADDs migrating from his own office to Kavik's. He seems to think I will be entirely distracted by this, he mused without contention.
Sarek ran the faucet for effect.
He moved from the small bathroom back to a living room chilled to the appropriate temperature for its human occupant. He went back to a stuffed couch beneath a spiral staircase, both nestled next to a fireplace holding only a mountain of ash and a wafting breeze of heat from the open flute. The latter was why he'd chosen that particular spot.
Reynard was still leaning his head against his shoulders, eyes closed with distress from Sarek's earlier question.
"I don't see why you need to know."
"It is imperative for me if I am to protect Perrin. She seems to fear something of those around her. Humans in particular." He added the last bit with emphasis. Reynard shook violently but waved away Sarek as he rose.
"No, No! Don't get her, I'm FINE!" he shouted, which brought down his caretaker regardless. She looked to Sarek who returned her look of concern with calm that sent her back upstairs.
Reynard regarded him. Finally, he answered Sarek's question.
"Perrin was such a nice child. She and my wife were close since, since she wanted to teach Perrin everything herself for the first little while of her life. She wanted to be as close to her as possible; my wife had a big family that saw each other often.
Together we used to pick mint from my wife's mother's garden. She didn't approve so my wife and my Perrin would play for her while I went out and picked a few sprigs for them. I would lean on the columns around her small porch and listen to them as that would never take—take me so long as they would play. I loved to listen to them.
Her mother being killed must have hurt her the most but I was the one that shut down. I had to be taken care of.
So she didn't cry for her and watched me closely instead of her mother's casket at the funeral. I think it hurt my Perrin that she had to do that. She loves her family. She protects them, just like her beautiful mother.
Every day my Perrin walked me to the transporter station in town; she, she would leave class and bring me tea when she felt something was wrong or that I'd seemed especially sad that morning. She would drop everything to see to me. But I didn't care. I kept so, so—truly, cruelly depending on her. And she kept on caring. She went halfway across the galaxy to be by my side to glue me back together. My Perrin was even on Antara during a brief occupation by Denobulan terrorist. She stayed with Ambassador Sa'lak—only one that stuck up for me, I don't forget that—at the Vulcan Antaran Embassy but snuck out to watch me give my speeches.
I—I remember, I'm remembering her there, plasma grenades going off in the streets from the windows. Even there I was more concerned with my happiness at having her by me. I was not a good father to her, even if she didn't know it, even if she wanted to be there to protect me.
Sa'lak watched over her as a curtsey to me while on Antara; but there were others who also saw how little I took care of her. Dennis, you know hm, would study with her. He would force her to since she always wanted to watch after me, but he found the time I couldn't even though he had the same workload I had. Some of the other ambassadors would have their spouses and children keep her company at dinners and conferences. If they started to go outside she would go back to me and ignore them for the rest of the time.
Tim Valor seemed to take a special interest in her too. He alone seemed to be able to drag her away from me. He had lost two of his children; sometimes when I went to find her at the Bureau of Planetary Treaties Offices, when we were in Paris, I could hear them through the door talking about my wife or them. He allowed her to grieve where I didn't. I think—thought that it was fine. He wanted to make sure Perrin was okay and she looked so much like Valor's Daisy. He also started giving Perrin chocolate coins like he did her. Took her on walks in the rain that she used to love to take with her mother. I didn't like the rain anymore.
About three years after my wife died, I began looking to help out an underground movement on Romulus seeking to reunify with Vulcan. Few knew about it at the time, though since my trial it is more known, so I tried to keep it secret. I did not tell my staff, Dennis, nor anyone in the Federation. But, Valor had suspicions as I, I began to refuse new assignments unlike the past few years where I welcomed them. Nothing I was officially working on demanded much attention so I believe those two things are what alarmed him.
Where I wouldn't speak, he turned to ma choupinette.
I, I, I—basically told her I hated her after I was stripped of my awards and made a piranha. Sent to Tele XI. Hated by the federation and the colonist survivors after the Romulan attacks in retaliation when they found out. It was years later when I finally heard from one of Valor's old bodyguards why my Perrin told him about my actions.
Valor began to tell my Perrin that he was very worried about me. That I was being influenced by Romulans, my judgment was too clouded by grief for me to see what they were really doing. Valor also told her that he only wanted to help, that she could trust him and not to tell anyone, including me. That he—he wouldn't tell the Federation about my brainwashing and that she could count on him to make sure my career would never be affected.
Perrin stopped going to school to spy on me, to go through my things. She would use a hidden camera to photograph what she saw and send those photos to Valor. I remember now or I have finally noticed it looking back, that the reason I stopped looking for her at home or elsewhere when she wasn't with me but started going straight to Valor is because I knew she was spending all her free time with him. He made her happy, because he made her feel like she had a way to help me.
At my trial, she stood in the back of the room, far away from Valor who made no attempt to go near her except in the beginning but then Sa'lak had to stop her from hitting him. After that he exchanged seats with an Andorian delegate to sit near Perrin. Sa'lak was the only one who tried to get Perrin's evidence withheld, saying a child was not a trustworthy witness. That was why I asked you, Sarek, to watch her. Only he and the other Vulcans tried to keep her off the stand. Only logical really, but Perrin always found a smile for them alone when they passed by. Me, she turned away to cry.
I just didn't think. Now she is alone, refusing to talk to her other family as punishment to herself. I can imagine her pain is like mine now, but she truly cared so it must be worse."
Ending the story allowed Reynard to experience the emotions it brought to him. He cried violently and the caretaker finally had to take him upstairs.
"Might as well leave sir. I'll lock the door when you're gone so don't stick around for that." She called down to Sarek. He lingered a bit, still snared by thoughts about what he had just listened to.
It explained a lot of what he'd seen of Perrin in her reactions: she hesitated in speaking of her father, around humans, and one of the guards had reported her refusing to speak with Valor when he had come to inform her she would be allowed limited freedom of movement. She should have informed me, Sarek thought; I would not have allowed Valor's request. But the story also pointed out to him another trait he was mildly aware of before; she was single minded.
Sarek went to a few pictures on the mantel; all of them were of Reynard's family. Two showed him, his wife, and Perrin all together. One was outside in area of rolling greenery stretching to the edge of the sky with few dots of detail fleshing out the scene; a slight expanse of flagstone kept the chairs and bare feet of all three people from being stained by the grass. In the other, Perrin and Reynard were fighting for space in the same lounge chair in a library while Reynard's wife took up a quarter of the print her head so close in the photo Sarek deduced she must have held the camera herself.
His thoughts deepened as he looked over the other photos, all of Perrin. All were of her as a child. One would be forgiven for mistaking the child in the photo for having died given the absence of progression. He stared at them for a long while.
Sarek pocketed a small photo hidden behind one of the frames. Picking at the edge, he had pulled it out and had seen it was a school photo of her appearing, as far as Sarek could deduce, annoyed to be there but smiling. Her face was angled upward; her eyes were strained.
He told the driver to take a route by his niece's apartment, on what impulse he couldn't justify, so he ignored a usual examination of his reasons to read the data regarding the Algean Civil War and the investigation's photos of all the Algeans registered as on Earth at the time of the conference attacks. "Escort Perrin to the Embassy tomorrow at 0900 hours." He messaged one of her guards. She would have to look through the photos to see whom she recognized; Sarek decided he would present them to her personally to insure human influence did not sway her final conclusions. Several studies had shown an unconscious bias of humans to influence a situation towards one that corresponds with their established hypotheses, Sarek noted. He also noted Perrin's reluctance to trust other humans would most likely set her up to counter whatever conclusions they might lead her to, an undesirable result as well.
He looked back to the list of answered messages regarding other assignments that had amassed even in the 4.5 hours he had spent with Reynard. He saw solutions that a first year intern to United Earth's prime minister would be able to foresee. My experience is wasted, Sarek noted. He ignored a sensation of discomfort as he wrote out a second message to Kavik, allowing unvoiced meditative chants of Surak to cleanse his mind while doing so.
"Reassign everything but the Algeans, Legarians, and Khitomer amendments to corresponding diplomats and departments." Sarek sent the message immediately, wanting no distractions in the coming days.
When they drove past his niece's building he looked closely, seeing to no lights on in the apartment. She must be asleep, he thought. He did not ask the driver to stop.
