Intent

The head of the Vulcan Science Academy, Demek, had been formally invited to the House of Sarek that evening to discuss strategies for the council meeting and also share a family dinner. He went, eagerly, wishing to meet Sarek's Terran bride. Demek held a fascination for females of all races. They possessed a beauty that, to him, was undeniable. To put it plainly, he was a male that appreciated all things feminine. There was no barrier to female beauty in his mind. It was the reason he was so staunchly against using the Terran prisoners the way they were being used. Females were to be appreciated, cherished, in his mind, not to simply be used.

Upon arriving at The House of Sarek he was greeted by not only his new Terran bride, but also his Terran ward. Two other Terran females came by to meet him then at the behest of Sarek. Former prisoners as well, but blessedly still untouched by his people's barbaric decision, he had his reasons for wanting to meet them. He needed as much of a justification as possible for going forward with what he was doing. He'd stumbled across something important the day before and would go about investigating it the next day and he knew his life hung in the balance if his suspicions proved correct. He would not tell Sarek yet of what he knew. He wouldn't even tell him of what he suspected. Knowing how Sarek was, he would insist on accompanying him and this would also lead to his death. No. The ambassador was still quite young to Vulcan standards and he had a new bride. He should enjoy her for years to come.

Demek had been widowed the year before. There was no urgent need for him to take another mate anytime soon. That night, he spent his evening in the company of what he cherished the most. A house full of females.

At first, the four of them had simply sat there all lined up next to one another, staring at him. They looked, askance, at one another and then the one name Mariana, giggled. The sound made him look at her, amazed. What a beautiful sound!

"This feels like a freaking Sadie Hawkins dance," Dana mumbled out of nowhere and all four girls were openly laughing then, their nerves making the laughter worse than it should have been. He wished he could stretch out his fingers to each and feel the sensation of laughter from all of them, not just hear it. He was old enough to be a great-grandfather to them all. They were but beautiful children in his eyes.

"I have always wished to learn the Terran custom, this partnered dancing," he announced.

All four of them just gawked and so did Sarek. And then the girls were laughing again, all of them jumping up as if with one mind, rearranging Sarek's furniture, pulling out music. Something about the man put their minds at ease. He didn't strike them the way other Vulcans did. Every time she smiled at him, Dana noticed his head would turn to look and watch openly. He found all of their smiles radiant, fascinating. The showing of teeth was usually a sign of aggression. But these women did it to show their happiness. They spent a pleasant evening doting on the widower.

He spent time with each one of them, enjoying what he suspected might be one of the last nights he would be alive. He found Dana's knowledge of Terran psychology to be fascinating and offered her all of his literature on Vulcan psychology. She only had to promise she would share it with no one Terran. "Those book burners! They dumped me here, you think I'm going to give them a thing?" That was enough of a reassurance for him.

He found out the young lady Mariana was actually a trained nurse, but had hated the profession. "Every time I literally turned around I was getting pinched on my butt by some old fogey with dental implants and support stockings." She was loud, opinionated and he enjoyed seeing her get worked up about an issue.

Maya had been initially very shy with him and he realized she was reluctant to touch him, unlike the other young ladies. He realized the young woman had an active, though fluctuating, mind shield and gasped when she stood to take his hand to dance. "Sorry, I'm still negotiating that," she murmured.

"However, you are trying," he acknowledged, still amazed.

Her face looked up into his and she gave him a wonderful smile. They spent time then discussing her degree in Galactic History. She was interested in filling in a few holes on Vulcan History and he wound up offering her his extensive library. "Would you avail yourself of it?" he asked her.

"Does Dust kill?" she joked. He only raised an eyebrow indicating he did not know what she meant. "That means 'yes', I'd love your books on Vulcan History," said Mariana with a smile.

And Amanda was a joy to converse with. Her spoken Vulcan had the most charming Terran accent. He spent the better part of an hour listening to her speak as she became less and less shy about the language while conversing with him. "Thank you for listening to my terrible accent," she mentioned.

"It was worth it to hear such effort," he said to her with a slight nod. "With time and usage your accent will fade. Your vocabulary, however, is most impressive."

Amanda actually blushed. "Oh, how sweet of you to say!"

Sarek found Demek's interactions with the Terrans of his household fascinating in his own way. He was not stiff and formal with any of them. In fact, he was looser with conversation than he had ever seen him, and just a tad more animated. It occurred to him that Demek would have been much more suited to the role of Ambassador to Terra Prime than himself. And the reason he was so against the prison situation crystallized in Sarek's mind. He just really likes girls! Gushed Amanda in his mind. Sarek would have laughed at Amanda's enthusiasm if he could have. Cassie never even bothered to show up.

The Next Day

It was the day everyone usually remained at home. Sokam steeled himself, gathered his thoughts, and then went to Sarek's. He was received kindly, as usual, by Amanda. But this day was different. It was no casual visit. "I wish to speak with Sarek. In fact, I believe I should speak with you both."

She'd seen this coming a mile off. Unfortunately she knew her husband had not. "Should I go get Maya?" asked Amanda.

"Please do," he nodded.

Amanda walked away and Sokam didn't even sit while he waited, he remained standing, ironically, in the same place he had been the first time he'd found himself tracking Maya's every move. Soon the woman he wished to formally ask for was walking out to him with curious eyes. "Sokam?"

His eyes were falling into hers. "With your permission, I will ask Sarek today if you and I are free to bond."

Her heart sped up and then calmed. No one had ever looked at her the way he was at that moment. No one else would have noticed any difference, but she did. "Yes, ask him." She wanted this more than anything else now.

Amanda mentally summoned Sarek whom made his way to the Common Room with haste. He entered the room and saw Sokam standing there next to Maya.

"Please, sit," he invited the now obvious couple.

Sokam and Maya sat down on one end of the long backless couch while he and Amanda sat at the other end. "Speak plainly, Sokam, why have you come today?"

No preliminaries, no small talk. Straight to the point. Amanda had a bad feeling about this.

"I wish to bond with Maya," he answered without preamble.

Sarek found himself wanting to instantly answer 'no', but Amanda was sitting next to him and conveyed to him Mister, if you shut this guy down with a 'no' without at least hearing him out the only heat in our bedroom for the next year will come from our fireplace. Furthermore, the woman who lies next to you every evening, she who is supposed to be your wife, will give you a reception colder than the coldest day in the deepest depth of Antarctic winter. Got It?

He looked at Maya. Truly, logic dictated it was her decision, was it not? "What say you, Maya?"

"I want to," she admitted. She was trying her best to keep a straight face, not show her emotions. She needed more practice. She was worried he would say no.

"Are you aware of several important facts concerning Sokam?" began Sarek.

She nodded. She knew what he was talking about. And her Terran-ness burst through then. "All right, so the guy is a little bit-" she searched for a good word and 'crazy' wasn't it, "-unique. But he's controlling it stringently. If he and I were to bond, I think that piece of him would be mollified."

"He may hurt you if he loses control," said Sarek. "He is late to our way of doing things."

"I assure you, I would never voluntarily hurt Maya," said Sokam with a level voice. "You are the head of this house and she is your ward. I have gone to the trouble of making certain I obtain your permission before we join together. If I were truly deficient in my control, I would have already taken that which technically only you have the right to give. I have not touched her physically nor bonded her to me, though my instincts have pushed me to do so. Does that not speak volumes of my respect for the Syrranite way of life?"

Sarek had to admit, his logic was sound. And then there was the last loophole. Amanda, is she aware of our Times?

I already told her!

And she still wished to bond with him. Fascinating! He looked between the two of them as they waited for his word on the matter. "She is yours," he said to Sokam.

Maya's face split into a grin a mile wide as Sokam held out his two fingers and looked over at her. She realized what he wanted since she'd seen Amanda and Sarek do this before and she put her fingers into his. The hum between the two of them as she looked into his eyes…JOY! Resounded through the contact between them. "She is mine," said Sokam, his face straight, but his voice was amazed.

While they were still speaking, a shuttle came and parked just outside Sarek's compound wall. Zurel went to see who it was. There was a Vulcan there he'd seen only once before. It was one of the guards from the prison, Turan was his name. He remembered hearing Dana speak of this guard once. Her nickname for him had been TDH, Tall, Dark and Handsome. That alone let him know how Dana felt about him, but she'd said in her own words he was the best looking man, Terran or Vulcan, she had ever seen in her life.

He opened the gate to him to enquire about his presence there. "I must speak with the ambassador," said Turan.

Zurel knew the sound of restrained urgency. Living among Terrans had helped him understand his own people better, the way they hid their emotions, the strange ways things came through in body language and the voice no matter how hard one tried to contain them. And there was something urgent here. "Please, do come in," invited the house guard.

The over average tall Vulcan followed Zurel to the main house. "This concerns the female named Dana," he said. They gained entrance and found Sarek, Amanda, Sokam and Maya there, speaking with one another.

Zurel noticed Sokam openly holding Maya's fingers to his and a sense of satisfaction blazed through him that two people he was fond of were embarking on a new journey together. "Sarek, this is Turan from the Terran female holding facility. He has come to speak with you on an important matter involving Dana."

He had never met him, but apparently Zurel knew him. "I will go and retrieve Dana," said Zurel as he left the house. Sarek and Turan went back to his office.

Maya and Amanda wanted to laugh out loud remembering Dana's embarrassing moment involving Turan. What would she say when she saw him? "God I wish I was a fly on the wall of that exchange!" declared Maya.

Sokam was confused. "I fail to understand why you would wish to become an insect on a wall during a private conversation."

And the two ladies just laughed.

Zurel was knocking on the door of the guest house and waited to see who would come and answer it. He was there to retrieve Dana but Mariana came to the door. "Hi, Zurel!" she greeted him with a big smile.

She always had a big smile for him, for everyone. That was just her. And he didn't understand why this line of thought was going through his mind. "I have come to retrieve Dana. Sarek wishes to speak with her."

"Oh, I'll get her," said Mariana. She ran into the house and was gone a mere thirty seconds. Coming back to the door, she held it open and stood with half her body in the doorway with a smile on her face. "She was relaxing today. Give her a few minutes and she'll be right out."

Dana was walking back with Zurel. The two were in light conversation when they walked into the house. "Maya!" she hugged her. "Zurel told me. Congratulations," she said.

"Oh, thank you!" answered Maya.

Amanda decided she was going to barge in on the meeting via her bond with Sarek. It was just too easy to eavesdrop this way. Sokam took Maya by the hand and led her out of the house. They had plans to make. But inside the room, things were tense.

"We received an alert to pick up Dana tomorrow at her internship. She is wanted for questioning in connection with a cover-up to hide banned literature," said Turan. "Since she was in our facility we would do any pick-ups involving former inmates. I am not at all certain who called this in, but the orders came from Terra Prime and it was a one-time-only request."

"What does that mean?" asked Sarek.

"It means if we go to her internship to pick her up and she's not there, we are to not try again."

"Not to try again that week?" asked Dana.

"No. The pick-up request is not to extend past the day," he said as he finally looked down at the tall blonde female. He remembered what she'd said about him, the way she'd very boldly pronounced him as hers. He'd never forgotten that. He wound up delving into her records after she left the facility, finding out all he could about her. She had an impressive academic record that included an undergraduate degree in Terran psychology. She was quite intelligent and sharp, according to all of her teachers. If he had to face death and there were no Vulcan females available, he would rather have this one help him past that point than any other. But his Time would not be upon him for quite a while. There was no rush. In fact, the more he considered it the more he realized even if there was a Vulcan female available he might still want this Terran with the golden hair instead.

"That is confusing," said Sarek. "Since when is the Empire lackluster in their efforts to capture one with information they wish to have?"

"I know nothing of it," said Turan.

"Is there anything on the alert that said when it was issued?" asked Dana, working on a hunch.

Turan spouted the date off from the top of his head.

Dana looked at Sarek and swallowed back tears. "That's the last day Cassie went into the Terran section of the city, ambassador."

Somewhere deep inside him something hurt for Dana. To know your own kinswoman has put forth something to bring you down... "What would be her motive?" he asked, still incredulous.

"It's simple," she said. "They pick me up, find out what they need to know, who my contact was. If they get the books back and can track down the network of banned merchandise, she gets the designation of Thought Crime lifted from her name. After that she gets to go home to Terra Prime back to her spoiled life."

"Has she no conscience?" asked Sarek, restricting his outrage.

Dana nodded, seemingly unmoved. "No." She'd already cried about this, accepted it and now she knew she had to harden herself to deal with it.

Turan broke into their conversation. "I have an idea of what can be done in this situation."

"We are listening," said Sarek.

On his way out, Dana was escorted back outside by both Zurel and Turan. The house guard looked down at Dana and asked, "Have I become a third wheel?" Dana openly grinned at Zurel's perception of Terran idioms and culture and found herself laughing out loud while almost nervously running her hand through her short blonde locks. "I will take that as a 'yes'," he said as he walked ahead of them to the gate.

Turan had no idea what had just been said, but whatever it was it had caused the house guard to leave them alone. And he didn't understand why the female had laughed. He didn't understand laughter, in general. But there was one thing he did not expect. He did not appreciate Dana looking up at this other male that way, smiling openly at him. It produced a tight feeling in his midsection he had never experienced before. Was this jealousy? "How well do you know Zurel?" he found himself asking before he could think about it.

She waved his question off. "The other guard, Shin, takes me and Mariana to work every morning…well except today. Usually the two of us will go over to him and Shin's place and have dinner almost every night after work."

Turan was certain now, he didn't want her doing this any longer, going into another man's abode. Then he realized his error. She was not spoken for by him. But the illogical reaction in his gut would not unclench. "You see one another every evening and partake of a meal?"

Dana was confused. What was he asking? "He's quickly becoming one of the best male friends I've ever had, him and Shin really. And I usually don't have male friends. In the Terran world it's hard to trust them. But at least on Vulcan I know I can have a male friend and know he's not checking out my ass every time I turn around."

Turan's knowledge of Standard was just that, 'standard'. So he wondered why a Terran male would look at her donkey when her back was turned. Perhaps the word 'ass' had a double meaning he had not yet learned. He would have to consult his colloquial dictionary when he returned to his residence and consult the other meaning of 'ass'. He decided to leave behind that line of questioning and tell her what he wished to say. "I find your control of emotions fascinating in regard to the possible betrayal by your own kinswoman."

She then smiled up at him but it was a sad smile. "Don't mistake my outer reaction for what's really going on on the inside. Inside, my heart is broken. I've already cried about this, several times. And I'll cry about it some more…preferably in the shower while no one's looking, but it will happen. You might not understand my reaction, but we grew up together and I thought years ago I could trust her. I've learned better since, but I had no idea she was capable of it on such a deep level. I should have known better."

He didn't understand why he said this next thing. "If it would please you, when this situation is taken care of I will come by and make certain you are not too harmed by it." Then he thought better of it and found himself unexpectedly and quite harshly adding, "Unless Zurel and Shin will be attending to that task."

"Um, no," she laughed. "Zurel is simply my friend. So is Shin."

"Make certain he remains only that," said Turan, referring solely to the other Vulcan, as he leaned down and looked her in the eye.

Dana found herself shocked into utter silence as the two of them reached the gate. He gave one final look at Zurel and then turned back around to look at her pointedly. His look said 'you've been duly warned'.

He walked away and got into his shuttle as Dana whispered, "I'll be damned."