Claustrophobia
Chapter Thirty-five
Early in the day Sarek had a courier deliver a package to The Academy in Spock's name requesting that the two enclosed documents be placed in his tangible file. One document was in French, the other in Vulcan. Certainly it would not be in Sarek's place to suggest that The Academy have those documents translated before association with his son's personal file. Of course, if they had done so they would have been aware that their instructor Lieutenant Spock was a married and bonded male and that his chosen was Cadet Nyota Chandra Uhura. Realizing how lax such a Terran establishment could be, especially when compared to a Vulcan one, he was certain there would be no follow-up translation.
He had already received a request from The Academy to be their honored guest speaker and he had accepted. He insisted that his name not appear on the program. It was in this setting that he would give the very logical reason for his presence at that affair, the graduation of a person who had performed a great service for Vulcan.
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Spock and Nyota had agreed to meet at the tea shop at 1600 hours. Of course they did not travel together, but did meet at the agreed time. He led her into the shop and as usual all heads bowed as they passed. The waiter asked whether they wanted their usual table or their usual room…they chose the room. Once settled upstairs Spock led Nyota to the couch facing a window that looked out on the boulevard. Rush hour had begun and traffic was heavy in both directions. She tucked her feet under her and sat looking out of the window.
Usually, by this time Spock had already taken the first steps towards intimacy, instead he started to talk.
His first words were,
"Sixty hours…"
He was about to continue when Nyota kissed him soundly on the lips and silenced him.
She simply said,
"I have missed you."
No more encouragement was needed.
One hour before curfew Spock saw Nyota board the transport and then began his own journey toward the academy.
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Graduation from Star Fleet Academy did not follow the norm for an institute of higher learning. Contrary to many such institutions, there was no long drawn out entry parade of the graduating class. By a certain time all had to be seated, in uniforms and as they exited their lieutenant stripes would be given them. When a graduating class could number hundreds this was certain less time consuming.
Sarek had informed Spock that during his speech he was going to mentioned that he was married to a Terran and point in the direction of Amanda who would be seated in the audience. In addition he would praise the services that one of their graduating class had performed toward the Vulcan community, in actuality, saving a Vulcan's life. Unless the Academy took the time to translate the documents forwarded to them, they would remain unaware of who was serviced and how. They would remain unaware of a French marriage ceremony or a registration of a bonding on Vulcan that involved said cadet. He would allow his son the opportunity to reveal the parties involved' in his own due time.
The very day of their return to the academy Spock had reviewed his file and changed his marital status from single to bonded. Files were usually reviewed once a year, so this personal entry would not be critiqued for quite some time, but when it was, the date would show the entry was posted immediately upon his return from Vulcan. What argument could be voiced, what was done was according to Vulcan law and tradition, certainly out of the realm of supervision by Terran's Star Fleet Academy.
So, Sarek would certainly not mention Nyota's name nor what actual service had been performed when he made the announcement. By Nyota's bonding with Spock, it was in truth that a Vulcan life would be saved. Being fully aware of Terran's leanings toward sensationalism, had Sarek named her, she would have been swamped by students and the inadequacies of the Academy would have surfaced. So he would just let the person that was now a part of his family remain anonymous to those who did not know of Nyota's trip to Vulcan as guest of the great T'Pau. He was certain that his son would pick the time and place to reveal all.
That night Nyota was again called to The Embassy and had spent the night there. If the powers that be at The Academy did not comment on it or question it, it was an indication of how much they still stood in awe of The Great T'Pau and felt honored to provide a service for her. That same mind set had filtered down to Sarek of Vulcan. Amanda had spent the evening with Nyota already they had spent many hours together. Bottom line was Amanda was so overjoyed to be able to speak to another human who was sharing, to a degree, her experience.
For many years Amanda's home has been, Vulcan, every time she returned to Terra she realized how much she missed the sound of laughter, the sound and tonal differences of many voices, all speaking at the same time. Even the distraction of teasing or a jest every now and then was a welcome change. Living within telepathic society lessened verbal communication to only what the Vulcans deemed necessary. They could even conduct 'meetings' and not a voice be heard.
Of course, on Terra there was the gossip and jokes. Now she would be able to share these with Nyota. It rested deep in her heart the prospect of one day Nyota would be there with her on Vulcan. Even now as a comfort, she knew that her daughter was only a com unit contact away and she would indeed relish that ongoing activity.
Amanda had explained to Nyota that she had always hoped that Spock would discover his human side while living and working on Terra. But her deepest secret wish was that he would marry a Terran. Amanda was well aware that even before his birth, Spock had begun training in The Vulcan Way. This way of life was indoctrinated into every Vulcan, male and female. Every area of their live was touched by this 'Way'. For a full Vulcan it was not a battle for the mind for there was no other avenue, but for her son, she knew that his human side at time fought so hard to surface that it might have been physically painful for Spock to subdue it.
What could be observed by all was that, so far, in every area of his life, Spock had excelled. This fact had to be viewed as a testimony of the superior person that is produced by the joining of the Vulcan and Terran's DNAs. It was her hope that her hypothesis would be proved true with the birth of Spock and Nyota's children. She was certain that because the parents who, produced these offspring were themselves so outstanding, these children would be unsurpassingly brilliant and unbelievably beautiful.