Chapter 13, "For Your Good, Son"

My day didn't commence pleasantly. Without explanation, my father coerced me to travel to a scorching desert area of the planet approximately eight hundred four-point six kilometers or 500 miles away from the Embassy. As we exited the shuttlecraft, the wind whisked the red sand around in circles as dust storms weathered the landscape, and it was close to fifty degrees celsius or one hundred twenty degrees Fahrenheit. Mountains and caves surrounded our vehicle along with the swirling gusts of winds as we landed.

Additionally, Amanda was returning in a couple of days from Earth, and I felt enthusiastic about reuniting with her. It had been three-point-two weeks since we had been in each other's company. Furthermore, I felt strangely incomplete without her.

"What are we doing here, Father," I inquired when we arrived at a hollow location in a desolate area of Vulcan.

Skonn didn't respond but exited the ship. He paused when he saw that I hadn't followed him and then indicated for me to join him with a nod of his head. It perturbed me slightly that my father kept me in the dark like a child and that made me feel hesitant.

Meanwhile, we trekked one-eighty-one meters in unsuitable conditions to a sizable mysterious cave. It promptly shielded us from the heat and the swirling winds inside, and there was a small pond of water where we could drink to quench our thirst. A vision of Amanda in that beautiful champagne-colored dress from Ben Walker's birthday appeared in my mind, and my lips turned up on the sides a little.

The cave's dark insides drove the temperature down and provided us with a little relief from the heat as we ventured in silence for another fifty meters. Finally, we approached an area that looked like an ancient ceremonial ground. There was a flat gray stone slab on top of two boulders.

"Father, I don't understand," I repeated, puzzled.

"It is illogical for you to question my decision, Sarek. You are my son," Skonn snapped with cold determination in his voice. His posture was authoritative, and he gave me a disdainful glare.

"You must undergo this ancient ceremony to rid your mind of Miss Grayson," he gravely informed, "just like your Aunt did when she ran off with a Romulan at age sixteen."

"All of this secrecy is about Amanda?" I incredulously questioned, raising my eyebrow.

"Amanda?" my father quizzed in a deep disapproving voice as his eyebrow arched upward.

"Yes, Miss Grayson is unsuitable for you as a mate, Sarek. You must eliminate her from your mind," Skon replied.

Although I did not want it, anger festered inside of me. My passion for Amanda was as terrifying as exhilarating, but I did not want to give in to it when testing my father. Skonn condescendingly stood there as my irritation rose and I clenched and unclenched my fists.

"Father, you already chose a mate for me, and it did not work," I argued.

"This is her influence on you- this arguing. It is not the principles of Surak," he cruelly countered.

An older woman who could barely walk but with the assistance of a cane entered the platform where the rock bed stood. Slowly, Skonn aided her as they spoke in hushed tones as I impatiently awaited. The unnamed Vulcan lady removed a rug from her bag, incense, and a book that I didn't recognize. Concurrently, my father laid out the blanket on the slab

"Sarek, son of Skonn, please approach," the old Vulcan lady wheezed loudly.

Again, I paused despite my father's reproachful glance at me. Timidly, I approached the slab.

"First, I must meld with you to see the intensity of this connection with the human Amanda Grayson, Sarek. Please lie down on your back on the rug and give me your thoughts," this lady elucidated.

I did as I was told and felt the Vulcan lady's wrinkly fingers on my temple and underneath my eyes. Gasping unexpectedly, the woman fell back after viewing my thoughts about Amanda for a minute. My father, fortunately, was there to catch her from falling.

"I did not expect such a powerful connection," she frowned as Skonn steadied her, " it may be harder to disconnect the two than I had thought."

"Do you wish to try?" the unknown lady questioned.

"Affirmative," my father sourly stated, " this is a most illogical match."

"Do I have any say in this?" I wondered. I attempted to send a message to Amanda telepathically, but then I felt something pinch me in the arm.

"This is for your good, son," Skon revealed as he injected me with something. Groggily, I felt my eyes shut, and I was out of consciousness.

What's next in the Sarek- Amanda saga?