The formal sitting room in Ambassador Sarek's official residence was far larger and more lavishly decorated than the one in Ambassador Spock's home. Uhura was grateful that her host usually chose to meet with her in his private study when only the two of them were present. The smaller room felt less imposing, and also, she believed, reflected the personality of this man she was coming to know so well.
Although she knew the idea was illogical, in the sitting room she always fancied she was conducting an official audience with Ambassador Sarek; in the study, she felt as if she could be chatting with the man who, had circumstances been different, would have been her children's grandfather.
But here, the privacy, the intimacy, of his study somehow made disagreeing with the man less uncomfortable.
"Sir, I believe it is imperative to the success our mission that we learn more about the entity," Uhura said. She was careful to maintain an even tone, but wasn't sure how much longer she could do so. Sarek's continued resistance was wearing thin. The argument had already taken up almost the entirety of their interactions since she and her group of students had returned from the field the evening before. "We need to know what it is, and we must find out if it is what caused the previous attempts to complete the network to fail."
"I do not disagree with you about the importance of determining what, if any, part this thing you encountered plays in the difficulties we have had with establishing the communications network," the Vulcan Elder explained patiently. "However, I fail to see the wisdom in sending you back out there to conduct the investigation. It would be illogical to put you at risk in such a way. Your skills are too important to the success of our mission for us to allow anything untoward to happen to you."
She didn't give in to the desire to huff out her frustration and impatience. In spite of the ambiguity of her growing relationship with the man sitting before her, she still craved his approbation, though why she did so was not something she wished to explore just yet.
"Where is the logic in preventing the one person you know to have had any experience at all with the entity — a person whose presence the being, or beings, found acceptable — from attempting to contact it, or them, once more?" she countered, holding herself back with what felt like the last of her will. She breathed deeply in an effort to gather together the wisps of her tattered emotions. "Sir," she began again, "I mean no offense to you, but I believe you may be allowing your personal regard for me temper your reason." It was, she knew, a grave insult to suggest a Vulcan was letting emotion cloud his logic. Almost instantly, she regretted her choice of words.
She opened her mouth to apologize, but stopped at Sarek's upheld hand.
"You no doubt meant to apologize, Nyota," he told her, his voice sounding almost… kind. "That is unnecessary because you were correct in your assessment, if not in your reasoning. Tell me, ko-fu, is it not logical to wish to protect those who one believes to be essential to the continued health and happiness of one's closest associates?"
Uhura felt all the fight drain out of her. It hadn't been working anyway.
"Sa-mehk, it knew me. Somehow it recognized me." It came out as a plea for understanding. She knew this, but had reached a point where she no longer cared. She was unaware that she'd slipped into using the intimate familial address she'd resisted until that moment. "Please understand; I think it must be me."
Sarek looked away from her, his eyes settling on the painting of Amanda Grayson. She didn't know what to make of the un-Vulcan-like action; she had become accustomed to his direct gaze.
"Very well," he said after a lengthy pause. "When the Council convenes tomorrow, if you will agree not to work outside certain parameters we will establish in hopes of safeguarding you as best we can, I will recommend that we allow you to seek out the entity."
A light of hope lit itself inside her. She held its flame steady, didn't let it grow.
"What parameters, sir?" she asked evenly. There would be no sense in getting excited if she found their limitations unacceptable.
Much like his sons were wont to do, Sarek appeared to understand what she was thinking.
"I do not believe you will find our requirements untenable or unreasonably restrictive," he assured her. "First, you discuss the situation with your uncle before you return to the field. It is only right, according to human custom, that you explain the circumstances to him yourself. He will wish to know why you are taking this risk, and, as you alone understand why you feel… compelled to do this yourself, it is best that you are the one who tells him.
"Second, you will not attempt to make contact while you are alone. There must be at least three others within reach of you during this attempt. Two should be healers; I would prefer the third to be me or one of my sons. However, if you have become sufficiently acquainted with someone else during your time here, you may ask him or her to join you. It matters only that it be someone — a Vulcan someone — with whom you have some… emotional ties."
Uhura was unable to suppress a visible demonstration of her surprise at his last statement. Her eyes widened, her brows jumped and her head snapped up. She swallowed and moistened her lips. Reaching into herself, she quickly ordered her thoughts. An immediate, but well stated, response was needed.
"Sir, I will gladly agree to the first condition," she said. "You are correct in your understanding of the expectations of humans who share close relationships. I will send a transmission to Uncle Tabansi today.
"I feel unable, at this time, to agree to your second condition. Spock and Spock are not present and cannot give their consent to participating in the investigation. You are a member of the High Council and therefore cannot be put into a situation which might prove dangerous to your well-being. You three are all that exists of my Vulcan… family; I have no emotional ties of any kind with anyone I have met while I have lived here."
She saw that he had been expecting her response. His face wasn't as easy for her to read as either of the Spocks, but she knew she was right about this.
Sarek waved a dismissive hand.
"I am no more important than any other Vulcan at this time," he said. His voice was firm, unyielding. "Our planet is gone, ko-fu. The old ways must evolve into something new in order for the Vulcan race to survive and thrive. To achieve that goal, we must learn to trust in many of our non-Vulcan allies. Of that number, you may have more invested in our success than others. My support of you serves the interest of the Vulcan people."
She noticed he did not acknowledge her inclusion of him and his sons as members of her "family." Apparently, she decided, he accepted it as simply truth.
Lt. Commander Wakufunzi was pleased to be nearing the end of his stay on the Enterprise. It was not that he had been unhappy during his stay; quite the opposite was true. The close-knit senior crew had proven to be everything his niece had told him they were. That they loved Nyota was clear from the fact that they had welcomed him into their inner circle simply because he happened to be her favorite uncle.
It had been interesting to take on a few bridge shifts as communications officer. Working on a starship — outside his specialty — was enjoyable, even during a fairly hum drum escort mission. He got a chance to see something of what his niece's everyday life had been like for nearly two years. Experiencing it was far different than reading or hearing about in her frequent transmission bundles.
He had also liked meeting her friends. Not just her colleagues; these people were her friends.
"I was expecting you to be wearing a cape or something," Leonard McCoy had told him as he moved forward to shake his hand. "The way Uhura goes on about Uncle Tabansi says this and Uncle Tabansi does it that way, we all thought you must have super powers!"
Wakufunzi had laughed.
"I am sure Nyota was not quite so fulsome with her praise," he protested. "All I have heard almost since her very first week at the Academy was 'Uncle Tabansi, I have just broken your record in this thing or the other thing. Did you know that no one has beaten your scores in the past twenty-five years?'"
The doctor had proposed a toast to that, and Wakufunzi had accepted, although it was still early afternoon, ship's time.
Jim Kirk was young and sometimes impetuous, but had a good head for command. He was genuinely invested in the welfare of his crew, though the lieutenant commander suspected his true love was his ship. No matter. He was confident that as the young man grew into himself and his abilities, he would provide Nyota with a good, strong leader. The Wakufunzi women were not good at taking orders from weaklings.
He suspected that Hiraku Sulu might be harboring a little crush on his niece — the man had requested endless stories of her childhood, which Wakufunzi had been only too happy to supply. The young helmsman had an engaging personality who shared an interest in botany with Nyota's father. Sulu might have been a good choice for her had she not already lost her heart to the ship's first officer.
That first officer was the reason he would be glad to leave the Enterprise.
Despite all the man had done to hurt his niece, Tabansi Wakufunzi found himself enjoying the man's company almost as much as he liked spending time with the older Spock. It had not taken long for him to realize why Nyota had been drawn to him. Whereas some might see only a cold, aloof and intractable officer who raised science and logic above all else in life, Wakufunzi recognized the determination, the curiosity and the need for precision that drove him. In those ways, he was very much like the woman who loved him.
Uhura's uncle really didn't want to like the man who had rejected that love.
Spock approached Lt. Uhura's uncle with some caution. His interactions with the man had not been unpleasant over the past few days, but their first meeting was always in the back of his mind.
______________________
At Ambassador Spock's insistence, he had gone to Sickbay after the two half-Vulcans had shared their somewhat odd healing meld. Although he had felt in better mental and emotional health than he had since Nyota had first decided to terminate their relationship, he knew it was only prudent to get an assessment of his physical well-being. He had not been caring for himself properly over the last six months.
McCoy had not been alone when Spock had chimed his office door. His desire for privacy had induced him to consult the doctor directly, rather than to seek out one of the CMO's subordinates. Seeing who the doctor was entertaining had led him to believe his decision was in error.
"Oh, so Sleeping Beauty has awakened at least," McCoy had taunted, standing up behind his desk. Spock would have suspected the doctor was inebriated, but could not detect the tell-tale odor of the bourbon the doctor favored. "What can we do you for, Princess?"
Spock's jaw clenched. The other half of the "we," a tall East African man who bore an undeniable resemblance to the Enterprise's chief communications officer, had remained seated, but had trained angry eyes on his niece's former lover.
"My apologies, Doctor," Spock had said as he began backing out of the room. "I was unaware that you had a guest. I will return at a time better suited for a private consultation."
"Nonsense!" McCoy's voice had boomed out around the little office. "Lt. Commander Wakufunzi won't mind, will ya Tabansi?" At the other man's head shake, he had continued. "You look like hell, Mr. Spock. Well, you've looked like hell for half a year, worse since you drove a certain lovely lady off this ship. But today, you look like a lower level of hell. Sit down."
Spock had stiffened.
"I find your words to be inappropriate, Doctor," he'd said, his voice coldly impassive. "As I have said, I will return at another time for a private consultation. I have reason to believe that my body is not currently functioning at optimal levels."
He had not known why he was revealing so much in the presence of a disinterested party. The words had felt unstoppable. Once they were out, it had been too late to draw them back in. He'd felt at a loss — for clear thought, for appropriate behavior, for finding the right words to exit gracefully. He had turned to leave.
"I said 'Sit! Down!'" McCoy had ordered. When Spock had turned back, he saw doctor's eyes were glittering as he indicated the seat next to Wakufunzi.
Without understanding why he did so, Spock had compiled.
"Perhaps, Leonard," Wakufunzi had said, speaking for the first time since the had whooshed open to admit the half-Vulcan, "it would be best that I left so that Mr. Spock can speak with you about how breaking my niece's heart has broken him."
Once again, Spock had not understood the compulsion that drove him. He hadn't tried to.
"No, sir," he'd found himself saying, though the other man held a rank to subordinate his, "I would not be adverse to your continued presence while I speak with Dr. McCoy. I believe you have some experience with… breaking."
______________________
"Lt. Commander Wakufunzi." Spock waited until the man turned his gaze from the clear-steel of the observation deck windows before speaking again. "I wished to express my gratitude for the way you have handled the circumstances under which we have met. You have treated me with a fairness and respect I am certain could not have come easily. Nyota holds you in the highest regard and it was my understanding that you feel similarly towards her."
Wakufunzi watched the half-Vulcan without speaking for several seconds. Then he sighed and nodded.
"It has not been easy," he admitted. "Two things, only, stopped me from giving in to a very human desire to rip you to shreds for what you did to her. Neither your Vulcan strength, nor your rank in Starfleet were one of those things.
"You may thank your human heart for saving you from explaining to my niece why self-defense demanded that you beat her uncle into a coma." He raised a quelling hand when Spock opened his mouth to protest the idea. "It was not particularly Vulcan for you to seek me out and to say what you have said. So, yes, while I use the term metaphorically, your human heart — which, the first time I met you, I saw clearly loves our Nyota, even if it is at odds with you Vulcan brain — and her love for you were all that allowed me to stay my hands long enough to learn to almost like you."
A/N: Not much to say. Things should start moving along nicely again, now that I've got the new computers configured. Still no word on the data retrieval, though.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Star Trek characters, locations or equipment.