Thirty-Six
"So now that you're no longer completely out of your damn mind, what are you going to do with your time?"
Shanna found herself involuntarily rolling her eyes. Her mother was being broadcast via view screen from Earth, so it made it that much easier to sass her without fear of reprisal. "What are you talking about?" She hadn't told her mother a thing about being ill! What did she know? How did she know!
"The last time I talked to you, you were looking pretty rough," Noreen stated as she shook her head.
"What?" asked Shanna, eyes widening.
"Mmhmm," she expressed as her lips pursed. "You looked a hot mess, you did. Hair was a little disheveled and you kept looking around you, all paranoid, like someone was about to run up on you any minute."
Shanna put her face in her hands. Apparently, she really had gone 'completely out of her damn mind'. "I just needed to be acclimated to the planet, that's all."
"Well that's good to hear. I was about to make a trip out there and see what was going on with you. I couldn't sleep that night for worry over what was really going on. But I kept telling myself, 'Siranon would tell me if there were something wrong'."
It dawned on Shanna, "Is that why you called today?"
"Yep," Noreen admitted, unashamed.
Shanna tried to pinpoint that last conversation. "When was the last time we spoke?" she asked delicately.
Her mother frowned. "See, that right there? I don't like that! You usually remember everything! It's a quality about you that's always been annoying as hell. We couldn't tell you, when you were a kid, that we hadn't promised you something because you could tell us the time and date we'd said it. But now all of a sudden, you don't remember something so trivial?"
"Oh mom, I just got some kind of planetary pressure sickness. I'm on meds for it now-"
"Medication?" she asked, looking a little panicked, then. "My Shani's on medication? You've never had to take any kind of medication!"
"Don't worry, mom, I feel much better now. It's just a thing that happens to a certain percentage of humans that come here. It's usually not that serious." Shanna decided not to tell her that she'd found out from the Healers that she fell into that rare 25% of humans that had that reaction, and an even rarer 5% to have a truly severe reaction to Vulcan's gravity. No wonder Amanda nor Maya had said anything. They hadn't gone through the same thing at all.
"Are you sure?" asked her mother, looking at her carefully through the view screen.
She smiled. "I'm much better now."
"And how are my grandbabies?" asked her mother with a big grin, satisfied that Shanna was really all right.
"They are just fine! Missing their grandma, I'm sure," she was able to finally smile about something during their conversation. "They're down for their nap, otherwise I'd drag them here to the view screen!"
"I should come and visit soon, anyway," her mother waved that off.
"Anytime you want, mom." She couldn't help but laugh as she said, "There's plenty of room, I can tell you that."
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Shanna walked down the halls of the home she shared with Siranon on Vulcan. She realized at that point that she should have known she was unwell when she'd gotten lost the first time in this home. At least her memory seemed to have returned to normal and her medications were working out very well, indeed. The filter in her room at night was helping her much more than even the Healers had expected, and she was currently wearing the bodysuit with the built-in tech to counteract the increased pressure on her system. The first time she'd put the suit on, she'd worn it for over half the day. Every week, she was supposed to decrease the amount of time per day she wore it by half an hour.
At this rate -she thought to herself- by the time I'm fully adapted it'll be time to leave for Siranon's assignment… if he wins the ambassadorial seat the way T'Pau thinks he will.
She thought about her mother's question of what she was going to do with her time. Since she had completed her few counseling sessions two days before on how to handle the elongated day, she did have some extra time on her hands.
Though she loved taking care of the children throughout the day, and it was a wonderful feeling to have Reianna back on staff, she knew that she would feel that urge to do something 'more' very soon. Some kind of challenge in her life. She just had no idea what that something more should be at the moment.
Siranon's attempts, lately, to try and sire her with a new heir had not gone unnoticed by her. He hadn't said as much, but he was attempting to be entangled with her a little too often for it to be just want or lust. No. He was attempting to make a person with her. Some days she was just too exhausted so nothing would happen, but he was certain to try again the next day.
She was about to enter the children's nursery when the answer to what she needed to do came at her as if a bolt of lightning struck.
She entered the nursery, "Rei! I have an idea."
The Betazoid nanny smiled at her. "Oh, you do! I can feel the wheels in that brain turning. When do we get at it!"
"Today!"
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Shanna didn't say a word to Siranon. She didn't see any reason she should. He was out of the home for much more than half the day, as it was. She figured she would keep her plans to herself just in case she, embarrassingly, could not make her plans come to fruition. She wasn't keeping secrets. She just couldn't take any more blows to her pride.
Within two Vulcan days, however, her application to the Vulcan Academy of Sciences came back with an interview request attached to it. Her hands shook as she looked down at it.
"They called you in?" asked Reianna, excited for her.
She nodded rapidly. "How the hell am I supposed to… I mean, it's not like it's the regular section of the Academy I've applied to-"
"Testing for the new interspecies applicants are still rigorous!" said Reianna excitedly. "But if there's any human that can do it, you can."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence."
"Give them hell," the nanny said with true glee. That quickly, Reianna reminded her, once again, of her mother. "Well, you have to go in tomorrow. What are you wearing?"
"Good question."
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Shanna awoke early the next day. She waited until Siranon was out of the house and then she carefully dosed herself with every medication she needed. She placed the special bodysuit on underneath her robes. Reianna flashed her a thumbs up as she held Henry in her other arm and bobbed him up and down to quiet his fussy mood. He never liked it when Shanna left and it made her heart sink a little. "He'll be fine. You've been with the children constantly and you can use this! Go!" said the nanny.
Shanna walked out to the exterior of the home where they kept the vehicles. She asked the family driver to take her to Vulcan's All Access Shuttles.
"My Lady," he said, confused, "May I enquire as to the reason you would not wish for me to take you to your destination? I do not understand why you require the use of public transportation."
She wondered if she was imagining that he'd said 'public transportation' with a different vocal inflection.
"I think it's time I learned my way around, don't you?" she asked. Part of her knew she was bold-faced lying. From the last time she'd been on Vulcan, she knew her way to the Academy of Sciences. But she kept a straight face as she stared down the chauffer.
He sighed and remembered the directive of Siranon himself. Do not question Her Ladyship's logic or decisions. Honestly, he truly could not find a flaw in the logic of wanting to know where one lived so he relented. "At once, T'Sai Shanna."
Before he could start asking any other questions, she quickly climbed into the ground vehicle and slung her bag onto her lap. It contained her college transcripts, spare medications, her PADD, a thermos of water, as well as her identiCards. Never had she ventured anywhere without Siranon or the nannies since she'd been there. It was time to claim this planet as her own.
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The fifteen-minute ride to the air shuttles were uneventful. Shanna remembered to take her head covering and slip it up over her hair. She knew she would have to do her utmost to not do anything like smile at anyone or fidget in her seat.
As soon as she arrived at the station, she exited the vehicle and thanked the chauffer. He figured it was not a good idea to remind her that thanks were not logical or necessary. She would just continue to do it anyway. So he let it go and went on his way, returning home without the lady of the house.
She made her way up the seemingly infinite set of steps first. Despite the harness and the meds, she was quite out of breath by the time she reached the top. Instead of pushing on, Shanna sat down on an empty bench first and sipped at some water and waited for her laboring heart to get past the strain she had just put upon it.
Once she felt able to breathe again, she went over to the information board and confirmed that the same shuttle she'd taken years before was still in existence and still traveled the same route. Yes. There it was. She was glad she had been forced to study the Vulcan writing system so strenuously by T'Pau, Telvin and the Master at the embassy. She felt herself almost tear up in public at the unexpected thought of the old man, Telvin.
She took a deep breath in and out, looked down and off to the side for four seconds and did what the Master back on Earth had taught her to do when emotion threatened to overwhelm her. She recited, in her mind, one of Surak's axioms and closed her eyes. The emotion filtered downward. It was still there, but she knew she could deal with it later.
She looked back at the information board, found the correct area to catch the shuttle she needed and then walked over to that area. According to the schedule, it would make its pick-up in about a half an hour. She sat down on a bench and pulled out her PADD, began reading something to occupy her mind. As she sat there, she became aware of more and more passengers arriving. When it arrived, she boarded along with everyone else. Less than an hour later, she was exiting the shuttle along with the rest of its occupants.
The Vulcan Academy of Sciences was as large as she'd remembered since the last time she had been there. She followed the directions in her invitation for a pre-admissions interview. Once she found the correct building, she went to the proper section. Soon she was in front of the door she needed to enter to get this whole process officially started.
Shanna found herself hesitating at the door for a few seconds. Forcing herself to step forward, she went inside.
When she entered, the office looked like any other office. This one, however, had a Vulcan male at the desk with quite a severe expression. "May I help you?" he asked almost solicitously.
"Yes. I am here because I was invited to have a pre-admissions interview to join your new interspecies initiative classes."
He nodded. "Yes, very well. If you would have a seat. I will inform the interviewer of your presence."
She nodded in return and then went and sat down in a chair to wait. Shanna pulled out her PADD and began to read until she heard her name called.
"S'chn T'gai Shanna?"
She looked up from her PADD and stood as she stuffed it back into her bag. The interviewer looked as close to confused as a Vulcan dared without being charged with public emotion. To his credit, he asked nothing at that time. "You may accompany me to my office."
She followed him into his office. The door closed, he sat down behind his desk, and she sat down in her own chair across from him.
"I am Thaceron," he introduced himself. "And I see you wish to join the interspecies class initiative…" he seemed to be scanning the information she had filled out two days before.
"Yes, that's correct," she said. It took all of her might to squelch the very human urge to fill the silence with words. But she remembered what the Master always said back on Earth about how silence was a gift that should always be given to others.
"I see you wish to enter the… I believe the human equivalent is the Master's program?"
"Yes."
"You already possess a Master's Degree from an Earth school in Cultural Studies with a specialty in Vulcan Studies. But you wish to join to obtain credits toward a Master's in Vulcan Studies and a minor in the Sciences?"
"Yes."
He immediately switched languages. "You are aware that your spoken Vulcan must be at expert level to even be considered for this program?"
"I am aware," she answered in precise Vulcan.
"And you have served at the Vulcan embassy on Earth for many years now, I see…"
"Yes."
"Assistant to one of Sarek's Ambassadorial Aide, Telvin."
She paused for five seconds, looked over to the side and then answered, "Yes, I was."
He looked up at her. "I see you were with him for many years. He served long and well. I grieve with thee."
She couldn't answer. She was only able to nod once very tightly.
That quickly, he broke eye-contact, looked down and away from her and at her records. She knew this was his way of giving her dignity and respect to allow any excess emotion to drain away before having to speak again. He paused before saying, "You must take entrance exams before we may allow you to enter the interspecies program."
She nodded. "Would that be today or-"
"If you are available on such short notice," he said, obviously pleased if she were ready at that moment.
"Yes, I can do it now."
Thaceron paused. "The science and math section…" he seemed loathe to say the words about to exit his mouth, "you do understand that you must answer a certain percentage correctly in order to be admitted?"
For some reason, she felt couldn't avoid giving him the tiniest crack of a small smile. "I understand."
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Shanna had to leave her bag outside of the testing room. The exam was broken up into four parts. There was a section that tested her Vulcan language, reading and writing skills, a test on Vulcan history, and a section that dealt exclusively with Surak's life and writings. She was not certain how well she was doing when it came to Surak's life and writings, but she was confident in her Vulcan language and history skills.
The science and math, however, she found herself launching into with gusto, but within five questions she realized that it was basic physics and the building blocks of scientific math. She felt partially cheated at that point. She simply shrugged and got to it, though she was disappointed. It was, at best, first year college science and math.
She finished the last of the test and then exited the room.
"You are done already?" asked Thaceron, not even attempting to hide his surprise.
She nodded. "Yes. It's been some time. My household will be looking for me in about an hour and I should get back as soon as possible."
His eyebrow rose. "You are here unaccompanied?"
She frowned. "Is something wrong with that?"
He looked down at her application again. "The house you hail from… you should have had a driver bring you, an escort of some sort, as well."
She restricted the urge to roll her eyes. "I am not doing that."
He seemed to partway sigh. "It is unseemly, T'Sai."
She looked up at the sky then, unable to help it. "Is it against the law?"
"It is not done," he shook his head.
"I was told that Vulcan is one of the safest planets in the Federation. Is it not?"
"It is not a matter of safety, my lady. It is simply not done."
She knew they would both keep saying the same things over and over and decided to just change the subject. "Will my exams be graded today?"
"The computer is already working on the non-essay sections of the test. I shall peruse the essay you submitted on the Foundations of Surak's philosophy and its importance to historical Vulcan," and he left to go and take care of that.
Shanna was sitting in the outer waiting room when she received an alert on her PADD. She had it on silent but felt the vibration and she quickly accessed it in text mode since it was Reianna:
S: Hey, is everything all right with the children?
R: The children are fine. Your possessive husband is another matter entirely.
Her eyes widened as she read the words.
S: What do you mean by that?
R: Well guess who decided to come home for midday meal today of all days?
Shanna wanted to literally bang her head on the wall behind her. She looked around and saw that the secretary at the desk did not seem to notice anything about her dilemma.
S: Well?
R: He realized you went out and then he was practically interrogating the driver.
S: Oh no! Is he in trouble?
R: To the contrary. Your husband said it is quite like you to do such a thing.
S: What is so wrong with going off and taking care of business on my own?
R: Ladies of high houses on Vulcan apparently don't do that.
S: What about on Betazed?
R: Dearest, we do whatever the hell we please on Betazed.
It came out of left field, for Shanna anyway, and it took all of her might not to let out a spontaneous burst of laughter at Reianna's words. She channeled it into clearing her chest a bit and then wrote back.
S: Tell them I'll be home shortly.
R: Good luck with that.
Before Shanna could ask what she was talking about, Thaceron himself walked out from the back of the hallway. "Lady Shanna, please come back to my office."
She stood and followed him back into his office.
As they sat, he said, "I have had opportunity to view your test scores as well as your essay." He sighed. "I should not be surprised that you have passed, however, the score at which you passed... You only made one error on the math and science portion."
"I made an error?" she asked, truly affronted at that. "I shouldn't have."
"It is difficult to human standards, from what I have been told."
"Well it was easy, to this human's standards. I shouldn't have gotten any of those questions wrong."
He blanched. "I wrote that test."
She only sat there for five seconds and lived with her gaffe. The words, "My bad," rolled off her tongue. "It's not a reflection on the test you wrote. I just expect better of myself. I'm capable of more and I'm disappointed that I missed even one question on the science and math portion."
He surveyed her from behind the desk and said nothing at first. "I am admitting you today. That sort of determination is what we are looking for in our interspecies initiative."
She couldn't help the look of surprise that flickered across her face. "I'm in?" she said, eyes wide with happiness.
"You are. But you do understand, you are only one of nine humans that has made it into the program. There are many others from species across the Federation that are joining this initiative."
She nodded rapidly. "Thank you!"
"Class begins in less than three weeks. You may return tomorrow to finalize the last of your information."
a/n - If my life cooperates I'll be able to update this story on Friday night since the next chapter is already written and needs to be gone over for editing. Thank you for your support!