Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. Blah, blah, blah. Yada, yada, yada. So on and so forth.
A/N: Tokil fruit and kreyla bread are mentioned in this chapter. I got the idea from memory-beta, so they're not necessarily cannon. The description of the food is entirely my idea as there was not much information to go on from the website. I guess that was an author's note and disclaimer in one.
This chapter is not Beta'd. My Beta is overseas for the next couple of weeks or so, so expect some errors in the next couple of chapters.
Reviews are like teddy bears; cherished and huggable unless they're the creepy teddy bears that look murderous and try to kill you. Please, don't be the creepy bear. Be the teddy bear.
Origins: The Journey Begins
Chapter 10: One Last Bite
STARDATE: 2231.75 (Wed, Mar 16th, 2231) [7 months, 16 days Pregnant]
Sybok watched on, a shocked expression evidently plastered upon his face.
It was 6:30am Wednesday morning and the members of the House of Sarek were having their morning meal in the large dining room.
Sarek continued to eat his small portion of boiled vegetables, oblivious to the scene before him.
Amanda sat at the opposite end of the long dining table. She also had a small portion of boiled vegetables in front of her. She also had a bowl of plomeek soup beyond that, a plate of kreyla bread to her right and a bowl of tolik fruit to her left.
The kreyla bread was made from traditional Vulcan seeds found within the krey plant. The seeds are then grounded in a large stone bowl until they become a fine powder. After adding water and pounded into a dough it is then set aside to rise. Once the dough has risen it is then beaten again then heated in a large fire oven until it becomes crisp. It is best served hot.
The tolik fruit is a deep purplish, blue colour and shaped like a pear. Although, the tolik fruit on Amanda's plate was cut up into bite sized pieces. The tolik does not need to be skinned before eating, however, the longer the fruit sits the more bitter the skin becomes.
Amanda paused from eating her boiled vegetables and reached greedily for the tolik fruit. She moaned in contentment as the exotic juices washed over her taste buds. The earth equivalent of tolik fruit would be to combine the juices of a mango, a coconut and a lime.
After taking a couple of mouthfuls of the flavoursome fruit, Amanda pushed the bowl away only to greedily grab for the plomeek soup.
Sybok had stopped eating long ago only to find interest in Amanda's insatiable appetite. It had only been a couple of months ago that Amanda had been turned off food because it was disagreeing with her stomach.
S'Reiyah was sitting across from Sybok. She, too, had paused to watch Amanda fill her mouth with food. Her facial features remained placid even though she was completely shocked on the inside.
Even the household chef, Zahntu, had been plastered to the spot. He had just placed another plate of kreyla bread on the table near her when he bore witness to Lady Amanda, the elegant diplomat from Earth, stuffing her face with soup.
Zahntu was a shy but polite Vulcan. He had dark brown hair as opposed to the stereotypical black hair and his eyes were a deep grey.
At the age of seven Zahntu was bonded to S'Reiyah. The two grew to be loyal friends. Zahntu had yet to experience 'his time' so he and S'Reiyah were childless.
After officially being made the guardian of Sarek, S'Reiyah moved into the mansion. It was only logical that her mate, Zahntu, moved to be closer to his mate. He offered his service and loyalty to Sarek.
After realising that he was staring at Lady Amanda, Zahntu had to force himself back into the kitchen. Every couple of steps he would pause and look over his shoulder to stare at Lady Amanda.
Amanda had no idea of what was happening on around her. She was so engrossed with her food that the blatant stares from the surrounding Vulcans went right over her head.
When Sarek had finished his meal he looked up to see his wife still eating. It was only then that he realised that something was different. Amanda always finished her meals long before he did. Sarek would savour the flavour and eat very slowly to allow his digestive system to function properly.
So when he looked up to see Amanda with a spoon of soup in one hand and a fork full of tolik in the other, he raised his brow in curiosity.
"Perhaps Zahntu could assist you," Sarek said. Amanda paused to look at her husband at the other end of the table. "You seem to have run out of hands." Sarek finished, quite proud of himself for engaging in what humans call 'humorous banter'.
"Good idea!" Amanda exclaimed, joining in on the joke. Through their tel (bond) she sent a wave of love and adoration. Sarek tilted his head forward in acceptance.
Zahntu, however, had frozen in his tracks. He has been the head chef for the House of Sarek for many years. Yet he had never had such an unusual request. It made his heart rate rise slightly.
"I believe our masters were engaging in a round of human pranks. If I am correct Lady Amanda does not intend to use you, nor require your aid." S'Reiyah spoke from her position at the table.
Zahntu was standing behind S'Reiyah looking over her head at Sybok. Sybok smiled in confirmation. "Of course," Zahntu replied. For a Vulcan, he seemed quite shaken.
Amanda thought she would try her luck, "Actually, S'Reiyah, I wouldn't mind an extra hand." Amanda said, sending a quick wink in Sybok's direction.
Sybok smiled and quickly brought his hands to his mouth to hide his mirth before the others could see. He had been practising is control, but this prank was too good.
Zahntu slowly and cautiously approached the table until he was standing between S'Reiyah and Lady Amanda. The latter holding her spoon and fork out of the way and her mouth hanging open, waiting for food.
Zahntu looked at Lady Amanda then down to the meals on the table before her. "I am uncertain which meal you would like me to feed you," Zahntu confessed after staring helplessly at the food for precisely two minutes.
"Kreyla bread would be most acceptable thank you, Zahntu." She replied before opening her mouth once again.
Zahntu picked up the plate of bread from the other side of the table and brought it closer to him. He then picked up the nearby cutlery. S'Reiyah watched on, unable to stop herself from raising both eyebrows in surprise.
Zahntu cut the bread and stabbed a small piece with the fork. He glanced back over at Lady Amanda who was still sitting there patiently with her mouth open. He approached her, fork in hand, and placed it gently into her open mouth.
Amanda closed her mouth around the fork and pulled the piece of bread off with her teeth. She moaned in satisfaction and closed her eyes. On the inside, she was laughing hysterically. She could sense amusement, shock and perhaps a little jealously through the bond she shared with Sarek.
She opened her eyes to see four Vulcans staring at her. Who said Vulcans never showed their emotion? She knows Vulcans have emotions that run deep within them and she just managed to get four pure blood Vulcans to experience and show shock.
She burst into a fit of laughter sending bread crumbs flying over poor Zahntu. He, on the other hand, simply brushed the crumbs off using a nearby napkin.
"That is all, Zahntu. You may be excused." She chuckled as she leant back in her chair and rubbed her stomach with both hands. Zahntu made a quick escape into the adjacent kitchen. He was quite fast, considering he was a stoic Vulcan.
The aura around the dining room table drifted back to its usual morning atmosphere. Amanda had cleaned every dish in front of her and Zahntu had reappeared only to collect the dishes and return to the safety of the kitchen. S'Reiyah also had left the table to assist Zahntu in the clean-up.
"That was very acceptable." Amanda had stated, continuing to rub her belly from her seat at the head of the table.
"You ate more than a substantial amount of food. Are you feeling okay?" Sybok asked and he got up from his chair and came to rest his head on mother Amanda's shoulder.
"I feel more than okay, Sybby," Amanda exclaimed joyously as she moved her hands from her belly to Sybok's hair and rumpled it around a bit.
Amanda had started calling Sybok 'Sybby' when she first was bonded to Sarek. At first, Sybok just raised a curious eyebrow at her and said nothing more about it. There was no correction or condemnation.
Sarek, on the other hand, noticed her odd name calling and informed her many times that his son's name was Sybok, not Sybby. Amanda laughed and explained that humans often give one another nicknames.
Sarek just tilted his head to the side and raise a brow. Sybok loved his nickname because only Mother Amanda called him that.
"You know what I could go for?" She began as she put her arm around Sybok and brought him in closer to her side. "Cold pumpkin juice." She finished and turned in time to see Sybok's face scrunched up in obvious disgust.
Sarek thought about scolding his son for displaying his raw emotion so prominently. Then the words of his wife finally sunk in.
Amanda looked to her husband and waited for his response to Sybok's reaction. She was expecting Sarek to reprimand Sybok for his behaviour.
"Sybok." Sarek's low voice sounded from the other end of the table. Sybok turned to face his father. "Please inform your mother that drinking below acceptable juice extracts from a pumpkin is repulsive."
Sybok smiled at his father's comment and faced mother Amanda once more. "Mother Amanda, what father has said is true." He smiled when he saw Amanda's lips quirked up into a small smirk.
"Is that so?" She responded, raising her own eyebrows.
"Indeed." Sybok replied, "Pumpkin juice is best served at a higher temperature than what your evening tea is. The hotter the pumpkin beverage is the more delectable it is. Also, it should be more of a soup consistency rather than the thin liquid you desire."
"I understand, Sybby, but at the moment, I just want plain old pumpkin juice."
"Zahntu," Sarek called from his seat, his hands steeple on the wooden table before him. Zahntu appeared from just outside the kitchen, he did not dare to venture further out and acknowledged his master with a nod. "Lady Amanda requires… plain… old… pumpkin juice." Sarek spoke and paused at each adverb.
Vulcans are a literal race. Sarek couldn't believe that his wife wanted 'plain, old pumpkin juice.' Judging by the look in Zahntu's eyes, he too had taken this statement quite literally.
"Yes, Ambassador, Lady Amanda." He bowed his head slightly and disappeared from the room once again.
…Precisely 25 years, 7 months and 3 days ago…
STARDATE: 2205.225 (Tues, Aug 13th, 2205)
In a small street on the outskirts of Seattle, ten-year-old Amanda was dressed in her nighty and getting ready to go to bed. The tiles of the bathroom had been cold under her feet and the dirty mirror had shown the reflection of herself as she brushed her teeth.
It was 8:30pm when the lights in the entire street went out. Amanda had had a mouthful of toothpaste when the bathroom went black. Amanda squealed out of fright. She quickly rinsed her mouth before heading for the door.
She had run out of the dark bathroom into the pitch black hallway. She had almost started to cry but pulled herself back. Her daddy was home. If she could make it to him she'll be fine.
"Blackout!" Amanda could hear her older brother, Trevor, cheering from his room a little way down the hall.
"Trevor!" Amanda called back. "Trevor, where are you?" She had tried to sound strong but her voice betrayed her. She didn't like the dark, especially when she was by herself.
"I'm here in my room." He had replied casually. Amanda continued walking in the direction of Trevor's room.
"Trevor!" She called again once she had approached his open door.
"Calm down, 'manda." He had responded as he came close enough for her to make out his outline. "Go find dad if you're scared."
Amanda hesitated. She peered down the dark hallway then back at her brother's outline. Trevor was 15. He wasn't scared of the dark. "Can you come with me?" She asked quietly.
Trevor had huffed, "Fine. Come on, then." Trevor started walking down the hallway in front of Amanda. She ran to catch up to him and grabbed hold of his hand tightly. Trevor just chuckled at his little sister.
The hallway opened up into the lounge room. It was here that Trevor and Amanda saw their father, lounging on the sofa with his laptop. The artificial light from the laptop cast his face in a soft blue light.
Dancing around the sofa was 12-year-old Amelia. She didn't seem scared at all. She was currently singing 'Who's in a blackout? We are! We're in a blackout. Yes, we are!' Her enthusiasm for the blackout was contagious and soon Amanda was dancing around the sofa singing loudly too.
"Girls, I won't be too much longer. I'll just finish this letter and save it and then I'll light the fire. Until then can you find a way to entertain yourselves?" Amanda's father, Charlie, had said as paused what he was doing to confront his daughters.
The girls had paused to listen to their father. After he began typing again the girls continued to dance around the sofa. Charlie sighed.
"Listen, your mum's going to be home soon. When she finds out that I haven't finished this letter because our wild kids have escaped from their cages, she won't be happy."
"Don't worry, Dad. I can keep them occupied." Trevor had offered from the other end of the sofa.
"Could you please?" Charlie begged. The girls were getting louder and Charlie was getting more stressed. Charlie glanced at his laptop, "Only 24 percent left. Trev, can you entertain them?"
"Sure, but it'll cost you," Trevor smiled.
"I'll give you five dollars," Charlie said. The glow from the laptop highlighted his small grin. His son was sneaky. He didn't mind, Trevor only bartered with him. He wouldn't dare do it with his mother.
"I'm 15, not five," Trevor smiled back.
"I'm not giving you 15 dollars." Charlie chuckled at his son's offer.
"We'll compromise. How about ten?" Trevor debated, eyeing his father. Charlie looked around at his wild daughters, who were now starting to do cartwheels.
"How much do you need me to do this right now?" Trevor asked with a wicked grin on his face.
"You got a deal," Charlie said as he lifted his posterior off the sofa so he could extract his wallet from his back pocket. He used the light from the laptop to find a ten-dollar note and handed it over to his son.
"Pleasure doing business" Trevor smiled as he pocketed the note into his jeans.
Trevor had led the girls to the kitchen. It was dark and Amanda had stopped singing and dancing. She was now clutching onto her sister, Amelia. Trevor got them to sit in front of the fridge.
"Why are we sitting in front of the fridge?" Amelia asked as she sat cross-legged next to Amanda.
"Because we're going to play a game," Trevor answered as he sat down beside the fridge, facing the girls.
"What kind of game?" Amanda asked as she scooted closer to Amelia. The tiles in the kitchen were as cold as the tiles in the bathroom.
"A guessing game," Trevor replied.
"In front of the fridge?" Amanda queried.
"The fridge is a part of the game," Trevor answered.
"How do we play?" Amelia asked.
"Well, because we're in the middle of a blackout we can't see a thing. So we will all take a turn to open the fridge and grab something from the back of it. We will then eat it and tell the others what it is." Trevor explained.
"I don't like the sound of this game," Amanda said.
"Come on, 'manda, I'll have a go," Amelia responded.
"Ok. Can I go first?" Amanda asked. She was now feeling quite keen to play. If she went first then she wouldn't have to dread going last.
"Sure," Trevor said and he opened the fridge door. The light in the fridge wasn't on which made the games a lot creepier than Amanda first thought.
"I can't see a thing," Amanda exclaimed as she got closer to the opened fridge.
"That's the whole idea, 'manda." Amelia retorted.
Amanda leant into the fridge, her right hand extended out in front of her. Her fingers brushed up against the broccoli. She knew it was broccoli because she helped her mother unpack the shopping bags the day before.
She scooted closer to the fridge, her knees shuffling on the tiles. Her hand hit the back of the fridge. She lowered it until it rested on something soft. She grasped it firmly and brought it out from the back of the fridge. Its juices were running over her small fingers.
"What did you get?" Trevor asked, fully amused.
"I don't know," Amanda responded while she handed it to her sister. "What do you think, Mia?"
Amelia squeezed it gently, her fingers puncturing the soft skin of the food. She tossed it back to Amanda.
"I don't know but it feels weird. It has to be something really old." Amelia stated.
"Eat it," Trevor said casually.
"No!" Amanda yelled.
"It's part of the game! You wanted to play." Trevor teased.
Amanda brought the soft, slimy food to her lips. The cold of the fridge must have suffocated the smell because it didn't smell that bad. Amanda parted her lips and slowly put the food item in her mouth. She bit off a small piece and began to chew.
It didn't taste that bad. Yes, it was a bit slimy and way too soft but the taste itself wasn't dreadful. It sort of reminded Amanda of her father's special pumpkin scone batter.
"It's not that bad, really," Amanda said once she had swallowed her mouthful.
Suddenly a soft whirr emanated from the nearby fridge as it came back to life. The soft white light returned to the fridge and the kitchen lights came back on. The kids could hear their father cheering from the lounge room.
Their gazes then turned to the piece of rotting pumpkin in Amanda's hand. It had a very prominent piece taken out from it which was now making its way through Amanda's digestive system.
Amelia brought both her hands to her mouth. She stumbled over her legs as she tried to get up and run towards the bathroom.
"Wicked" Trevor smiled broadly as he took the rotten pumpkin piece from his younger sister and examined it. "Next blackout I'm definitely going first."
…Present Time…
Amanda was in the sitting room with a large bowl of frozen peas resting on her pregnant belly. Every now and then Amanda would grab a couple of frozen peas and shove them into her mouth, allowing them to defrost before chewing and swallowing them. She had her bare feet up on the couch and she was wearing her long bathrobe which reached down to her ankles.
She was currently reading a book by African doctor by the name of Dr Rehema Buhari. The book she was reading was called 'The Blood We Are Born With'. The book was very intriguing; it discussed interspecies breeding and what to expect with hybrid pregnancies. Even though, Vulcan/human hybrids were not mentioned there were some pretty interesting combinations.
She had just turned the page when Zahntu appeared with a tall glass of juice. The juice wasn't a rich orange colour as you would expect pumpkin juice to be. In fact, the colour of the juice was more of a soft orange-cream colour… with a green tint.
Amanda paid no attention to the colour. Her baby was hungry for good old pumpkin juice and she wasn't going to deny him any longer. She took the juice from Zahntu and thanked him. He responded with a slight tilt of his head before he exited the room.
Amanda took a sip and sighed in approval. "This is just what I need."