Chapter 55 - 2.30pm (Local Time) Thursday 23rd September 2230

St Cuthbert's Parish Church, or kirk as Hugh would call it, was located at the east end of the village of Wick. The Embassy flitter pulled up in front of the gates, exactly on schedule. The small Vulcan party, consisting of Sordd, Avarak, Sarek, Amanda and Spock, stepped out of the flitter into the Autumn sunshine, well Spock didn't step out as Amanda was carrying him.

They were met by a small crowd of people from the local village who let out a little cheer on their arrival. Highly illogical Avarak thought. Although Sordd was not a high profile figure, obviously his brother Sarek, being Ambassador, was. Hence the security was tight. People from the local village, some of whom had know Mimi as a small girl, had been given security passes, after extensive security screening, and were allowed to gather outside the church gates if they wanted to watch the proceedings. Press were not allowed, official images of the wedding would be released through the correct channels.

*'*

As Avarak walked up the gravel path toward the church, followed closely behind by Sordd, Sarek, Amanda and Spock, he could hear a single bell tolling. Avarak wondered if it had a similar function to the 'Vulcan Gong' which was rung during a Vulcan wedding ceremony, although his father was walking behind him so maybe not.

The previous evening they had come to the church for a wedding rehearsal, the Vicar of the church had given them a small tour of the inside of the building highlighting some of the history of the church. As it was dark Avarak had been unable to make observations concerning the outside of the building and the church grounds, now that it was daylight he could get a proper view.

Avarak continued to walk up the gravel path. There were a number of very old looking trees, yew with its reddish brown bark and evergreen needle-like leaves, silver birch with its silver white bark and yellow autumn leaves, beech with some of its leaves hanging onto their deep purple colour while others had turned copper, rowan with its yellow autumnal leaves and bright red berries, and acer with its bright orange leaves, to name but a few. There were also a number of well established hedges and bushes, holly with its neat and prickly green leaves and bright red berries, and hawthorn with yellow and orange leaves. All a brilliant contrast with the bright blue sky.

The church was rectangular in shape and made from a grey coloured stone, it looked, well it looked very old. The gabled church had a gabled porch centred at the front. This was where Avarak was currently standing, waiting to enter the main body of the church. Inside he could see T'Vol, wearing her dress uniform. This consisted of a dark blue tunic and trousers. The high collared uniform sported the traditional three-symbol Vulcan text; rata, tafar and tapan, with lighter-blue highlights on the shoulders. There was also an IDIC on her right lapel. Senek, was standing to the right of T'Vol, also wearing his dress uniform, Avarak wondered where Saros was.

The Vicar welcomed them at the door. A jovial man, he was wearing a white tunic and trousers. Around his neck there was a red stole with golden embroidery; birds, fire, flowers and crosses. Avarak wondered if these symbols had some kind of meaning, like the symbols on his own ceremonial robes.

He followed his father down the central aisle, there were also two side aisles. Obviously it being daylight Avarak could see a lot more detail in the interior of the church. The pew ends had small posies of highly fragrant flowers tied to them, Roses, Vulcan orchids and Vulcan fire flowers. These flowers matched a large arrangement that was situated at the front of the church. As they walked down the aisle the arcade of five bays with round arches on round Tuscan columns could be very clearly seen. Being part of the groom's party they were to sit on the right hand side of the church. His father guided him to a seat, it was a long bench made from wood with a high sided back. Aunt Manda went in first with Spock, then himself, Uncle Sarek and finally his father Sordd. They were sitting on the front pew.

Avarak sat in silence for a moment taking it all in. The atmosphere was so hushed that you could hear the creak of the ancient wooden pews. Avarak was struck by the quietness and peace in the building; you would have thought it would have been noisy, the majority of the guests having already gathered, however those who were talking were talking in hushed tones being careful not to disturb the peace. This would be a good place to come and meditate he thought to himself.

Aunt Manda told him that the church was over 800 years old. He wondered who else had sat where he was sitting. There was a lot to take in, he had never been in a church before, other than for the rehearsal. Light was streaming in the coloured windows, one of them which was straight ahead was a large circular shape, it looked like a cross section of a DNA double helix. The way the light was refracting through the window some of the colours could be seen on the stone walls and stone floor. There were a couple of pedestals, one to the right and one to the left of what he thought must have been an altar. He had seen an altar before when he had visited the temple on Mount Seleya, his mother had been interred in a chamber there. The funeral itself had been simple and reserved, he remembered the private grief they had shared through the familial bond before the actual ceremony. A lot of the day was a blur to him. His mother's chamber was marked with a small monument. He had noticed when passing through the church yard that there were small stone monuments all across it. Was this the way humans remembered those who had passed away? Those who they had cared for? Avarak noted to ask T'Sai Mimi later.

To the right of the altar there was a large floral arrangement, the same kinds of flowers that he knew Mimi and T'Shahel were having in their bouquets. In front of the altar to the right and the left there were pews that were facing each other. The humans sitting there were all dressed in the same white uniforms, they looked like trio uniforms, with purple stoles. So Avarak finished his reconnaissance of the church building, well as much as he could at the moment ...

*'*

Avarak had been attired in his formal robes, he was basically a miniature version of his father and uncle. He was wearing a petrol blue robe that had an elaborate and intricate design, embroidered with silver thread, complete with Vulcan text indicating his house and clan history and status. The designs on his robes were slightly different to his fathers, although there were some very common themes, and the designs on his fathers were slightly different to Sarek's. The outer robe had a high collar and long sleeves. Underneath the outer robe he was wearing a dark grey inner robe.

As we know Avarak did not find the ceremonial robes to be the most comfortable. It was not because they were itchy, in fact the material used was very smooth and soft. It was not that the robes were cumbersome, indeed they were light and easy to move around in. No, Avarak did not like wearing ceremonial robes because the high collar posed a problem, that problem being that the collar was so high it was difficult for Avarak to look in any direction other than straight ahead, I suppose Betsy the horse might feel the same when she is ploughing a field. This was a frustration to him as he was currently sitting in the front of the church and there was a lot of activity going on behind him which he was unable to investigate. He sighed in frustration, outwardly.

Amanda, who was sitting to the right of him, leaned down and whispered, "If you would like to see what is going on you can lean up on the pew to have a look," she smiled kindly to him. Avarak turned so he could look at her then tilted his head, as if trying to ascertain that it was really ok to kneel on the pew. She looked down at him, and nodded in confirmation. "It's ok," she said, "as long as you sit forward during the wedding ceremony."

A small smile appeared on Avarak's face, which he quickly schooled away.

*'*

Avarak quietly and carefully turned around and leaned up on the pew. More guests were coming in. He noticed that the Vulcan contingent were all asked to sit on the right, coming into the church, and Mimi's guests were asked to sit on the left. There were some humans on his father's side, many of them he did not know by name but he had observed them around the Embassy. He saw Dr Shrahr, from Andoria and Dr Delix from Denobula, they were sitting together with their wives, well Dr Delix was sitting beside one of his wives. He also spotted healer Sakht, Avarak smiled inwardly, he liked healer Sakht. He was wearing his ceremonial robes, his clan colours were burnt sienna with caramel embroidery and a bronze inner robe, he was from the House of Sakar. Sitting beside him was his friend Saros, they made eye contact and both raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement. Saros was wearing the same colours as Healer Sakht.

Avarak's grandmother, T'Rama and grandfather Skon were sitting just behind where he was sitting. T'Rama was wearing her ceremonial robes, these were heavily ornamented with beads and she had a very large ring on her right index finger, it was a sapphire colour. He met his grandmother's gaze, it was obvious to him that she was keeping a close eye on him and that he needed to be on his best behaviour. Skon was also wearing his ceremonial robes, on his left middle finger he wore a very large ring, consisting of a rectangular red stone set in gold. On his right middle finger he wore a ring with a rectangular black stone set in platinum, again it was very large. Skon's eyes were dancing with mischief, when he met Avarak's gaze he winked.

On the left hand side of the church there were mainly humans. He had never seen so many humans dressed so smartly. Some of the ladies among them were wearing hats, there was a rainbow of colours. Some of the male members of Mimi's family were wearing what looked like a skirt. Peter and Adam had told him that this was the traditional dress of their ancestors, it was called a kilt and each clan had a different tartan so they could be identified. He glanced down at the robes he was wearing. He then looked over towards Sarek's aid, Temeck, he was from the same house as Avarak but a different clan, his robes were petrol blue, with rose gold embroidery and dark grey inner robe. (Vulcans have the reputation of having quite dull and bland attire, on the contrary when they get together in their ceremonial robes it turns out to be quite a colourful affair.)

He glanced again over Mimi's side, other male members were wearing formal attire, this would be a nod to her English heritage. One of the humans was wearing a starfleet uniform, that was interesting. Mimi's mother was there, Rachel and her husband Andrew. He could not see where her older brother James was. He did spot Peter and Adam, as discreetly as he could without drawing too much attention to himself he leaned over to see if they would notice him, they both looked over and gave him a smile and a wave, he nodded in reply. They had not seen very much of each other over the past few days, Avarak was sure they had as many scientific discoveries to discuss as he did, he hoped there would be opportunity later in the day for them to find a quiet spot to do so.

*"*

Avarak became aware of a bit of commotion at the back of the church, in the vestibule. T'Vol and Senek were checking everyone coming into the church, making sure they were not carrying any weapons. Avarak could see Mimi's brother, James, talking to T'Vol, he looked flustered. It looked like he was holding a small knife in his hand. Vulcan males took Lirpa's to a wedding incase there was a challenge, he turned to look at his father who was currently speaking to the Vicar, he hoped there would not be a challenge...

He looked back towards the back of the church, James handed the knife to T'Vol and she put it in a small box. Avarak breathed an inward sigh of relief.

*'*

Suddenly, Avarak became aware of something crawling along the floor towards his Uncle Sarek, "Sa-kuk," he said while pointing at the floor.

Sarek looked down only to see a human baby licking his robes. He picked her up, and put her on his lap. She looked up at him through her big blue eyes and long eyelashes. This was the first time she had ever seen a Vulcan, it was exciting! Satisfied that she had got what she wanted, she stuck her thumb in her mouth and started to suck it. Unfazed, Sarek, looked around to see if he could find the child's owner.

Spock was not pleased with the turn of events, "Sa-mekh!" he exclaimed, while jumping up and down on Amanda's lap and reaching towards his father, a bit jealous that the baby girl was now sitting on HIS father's lap!

A woman with a flustered look on her face approached, "I'm so sorry," she exclaimed, "Poppy, moves faster than a speeding phaser, I just turned my back for a second…"

Sarek thought it unlikely that the baby travelled more than 299 792 458 m/s, but he knew to let it pass. He handed the child back to its owner, Poppy immediately started to cry.

"She didn't lick you did she?" the woman asked while bouncing her baby up and down to try and get her to stop crying.

Sarek raised an eyebrow.

"Ohh, I'm so sorry! It's a phase she is going through at the moment, she wants to lick everything and everyone!" she said in an apologetic tone.

"She is exploring the world around her," Sarek replied in a neutral tone, "many Vulcan children do the same, including my son Spock," he turned to look at Spock who by now had calmed down again after realising the danger had passed.

"My name is Julia," she said, "I'm married to James, Mimi's brother."

"My name is Sarek," he replied. Julia blushed suddenly realising that this was the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth. "This is Avarak my nephew, she who is my wife, T'Amanda, and my son Spock," he pointed to each of them in turn.

"Pleased to meet you all," Julia replied, "I'm so sorry again, I hope she hasn't damaged your robes!"

"It is of no consequence," Sarek replied.

From outside the church they could hear the sound of cheering.

"Sorry again," the harassed mother said. "It sounds like I had better get back to my seat. It was nice meeting you," she smiled and walked away. Poppy decided to wave at Sarek by moving her hand using her entire wrist, she frowned when he didn't respond.

Avarak wasn't sure why Julia would want to return to her seat on hearing people cheering. He would find out soon enough...

*'*

Notes

sa-mekh - father

sa-kuk - uncle

rata, tafar and tapan - concept, mental discipline and cerebral process