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In Transit

"Pardon?" said Amanda.

"His Uncle Neevak must not speak with him. Neevak has been pressuring me to agree to a bonding. And he does not approve of your association with Sybok. If you value your family and all that Sarek is working to achieve right now you will tell Sarek not to come home. Now."

Two Vulcan women staring at her...Amanda felt like she was under a spot light. She still didn't trust herself with the bond, they'd find her method of communication primitive...but it was no time for vanity. Shutting her eyes she licked her lips and said, "Sarek. Stop!"

Her eyes did not open. But she saw Sarek pull from a line of Vulcans filing into the Embassy ship. What is it, Amanda?

"Your mother," said Amanda.

...Is distressed. I can feel it.

"She doesn't want you to come home, Sarek."

Explain.

As Amanda explained T'Dana's reasons, Sarek pulled further from the departing Vulcans. She was certain that to anyone looking on he would have looked like his normal composed self.

But she had a window to his soul. He wanted to drive his fist through a wall.

x x x

Sarek was back at the Embassy at his desk a few hours later. Josef saw him in his office and stuck his head in. "I thought you were going to Vulcan."

"I was," said Sarek.

"I see." Josef's brow furrowed. "Your mother...is she okay?"

"She is...stable. My uncle will care for her over the next few weeks," said Sarek. "I will go to visit her when he leaves." It had been Amanda's idea. It mollified Sarek only a little.

"Oh," said Josef. "Well, that makes a lot of sense. She'll probably be more in need of help than she suspects. Certainly that was the case after my grandmother's hip replacement surgery."

Looking down, Sarek did not reply.

"Ah," said Josef. "It is not your choice."

Tilting his head, Sarek looked hard at the human. Josef gave a tight half smile. "With Vulcans more is said with what is unsaid." Nodding, he stepped away from Sarek's door and continued on his way.

Sarek picked up his PADD. His mother's logic was sound. She saw his work at the embassy as more important than her personal gratification. She believed he was doing great things for Vulcan. She did not want him to face the High Council or T'Pau until his current project was done. Sarek wasn't as certain he was essential to the project -- he was reasonably sure someone else could take his place. Moreover, he had other concerns. His mother was facing pressure from their extended family to choose a bond mate for him. Right now he was almost certain all the pressure was of the spoken, not unspoken, kind. But when that pressure became telepathic...

Even while injured, his mother was protecting him and his family. She saw his work as important. At some level she accepted his bond with Amanda as being healthy for him and for Sybok -- even if she did not view it as the ideal situation.

He should be able to protect her.

He put down the PADD. With their Vulcan expert on patents in Shi'kahr, he needed to find an Earth patent expert to consult with. He was thoroughly convinced that giving the humans the ability to make their own human-centric applications would make holoscopes more valuable.

x x x

Weeks later Sarek was back at the space port. He had just come back from Vulcan. Now he was going to Chicago without even a stop at his home.

Walking past the shuttles transporting passengers to San Francisco, Sarek made his way to a waiting area 32 B...he had wanted to travel with Amanda this portion of the trip to Chicago but space on the shuttle was not available. She was going to meet him there with Sybok.

Sarek's trip to his homeworld had gone as well as could be expected. Better in some respects.

Amanda had put together an album of pictures and videos of Sybok and their little family, from the time Sarek brought Sybok to Earth, to the evening before he left on his trip. At the end of the album Amanda had Sybok hold up a poster he had made with her help. It said, "Get Well Soon Grandmother!" -- and was decorated with planet Earth and Vulcan...and fish of course.

It was not a Vulcan gesture. Sarek was not certain how his mother would receive the gift. When she first slipped the memory chip into her PADD and began to view the vids and pictures, she asked, "What is this?"

"Amanda thought that seeing pictures of Sybok might be beneficial to your emotional well being and contribute to your recovery," said Sarek.

"A mind meld would be quicker," said his mother.

"Yes. And we may if you wish, Mother."

"I do wish," his mother said. But she did not move. She just stared at the pictures transfixed. Occasionally she would ask questions about the places and things she saw in the background. At one point she said, "Through a mind meld I can see through your eyes. Here I can see you..."

By the very end she declared, "This is a logical adaptation for a species that is not telepathic." She pressed her fingers to the PADD screen for a moment, and then looked up at Sarek. "I would like to meld now."

Sarek made his way into the waiting area designated for the shuttle for the middle of the North American continent. The waiting area was crowded. General boarding would begin soon. A news vid was playing in the corner.

"The Klingons were not expecting that the respective governments of the non-Federation passengers killed on NTR 321 would react so strongly to their hostilities," said a female announcer.

"That's right, Barbara. There is some evidence that they expected their acts of aggression would have the exact opposite effect. It is believed the attack was a deliberate attempt to steer the Acamarians and some of the other species into territory agreements that would be more advantageous to the Empire."

"Well, they certainly miscalculated there, Brad."

"Indeed, Barbara. But let's discuss how the impact of NTR 321 is being felt on Earth."

"Well, Brad, several localities, including Amsterdam, Rio, and Canada's Northwest Territories have started offering marriages to Alien Human couples."

Sarek blinked. Surely Amanda knew of this, and yet...he reached through the bond...he felt no great enthusiasm from her, other than the enthusiasm for seeing him soon.

A man next to Sarek snorted.

"It's important to mention that these marriages are only symbolic, Barbara. They do not confer actual rights of partnership."

That was why she was not excited. Amanda wasn't looking for symbolism; she'd told him if symbolism was all she wanted she would drag him to Risa for a wedding.

"Well, that's good," said the man next to Sarek.

It occurred to Sarek that the man might not realize he wasn't human. The human hadn't looked at him directly and Sarek had donned human garb for the remainder of his journey -- temperatures in Chicago could hover around -23 C this time of year; procuring cold weather clothing on Earth was cheaper and easier.

Sarek turned to look at the human.

"It's against the will of God --" the man said turning towards Sarek.

Sarek was tired of hiding his relationship to Amanda. He was grieved that he hadn't been able to go to his mother's side right away. He was concerned that his relationship would put his mother at odds with their extended family. Now listening to a stranger at a shuttle port spout illogical reasoning involving an omnipotent being -- if such an omnipotent being existed and found such relationships so disagreeable, Sarek highly doubted that he'd find Amanda attractive, and doubted even more that his relationship would be a positive in his or Sybok's life.

But it was positive. His son loved her. He loved her. She helped stabilize them both.

It was just too much. The logical thing to do was not to respond to the man's outburst. But Sarek's control slipped. He did something a Vulcan would find disgraceful. He raised an eyebrow.

Just then over an intercom came an announcement. "Attention passengers for shuttle 3592 to Chicago, Des Moines, and Indianapolis: general boarding is about to begin. Passengers in rows fifty through seventy-five please, please approach the gate."

Hoisting a bag over his shoulder, the human next to Sarek stuttered something unintelligible and headed towards the gate.

A/N:

I think Sarek isn't the only one with diplomatic skills. Hope you enjoyed -- and it wasn't a let down from that tremendous cliffie last chapter!

I guess this is a little cliffie...

If you read and enjoyed, please leave a review...They help me and Notes keep going.