Chapter 22: Vulcan
Spock shut down his station, rose, and left the bridge.
When he entered his cabin, the door shut out the cold yellow-lit dampness that most humans preferred. In a hot, dry, scarlet environment, reminiscent of Vulcan, Spock lay on his meditation stone. He relaxed his muscles in a prescribed sequence and let himself drift into deep thought.
Dawn had been on her way to the bridge when she felt Spock's emotional state. She knew that Vulcan's suppressed their emotions but she also knew about Pon Farr. She redirected herself and went to Spock's quarters. She heard the chime of the door and then the door slid aside.
"May I come in, Spock?" Dawn asked.
"Most human beings find my quarters uncomfortable," Spock said.
"I've been to Vulcan, Spock," Dawn said.
Spock nodded; he had forgotten about Dawn's friendship with T'Pol. He realized that if she truly knew T'Pol she likely had been to Vulcan.
Dawn prepared herself for the gravity and temperature change of Spock's quarters, she then stepped inside.
Spock gazed at Dawn, impassive.
"I felt your emotional state," Dawn said. "You and I both know that you suppress your emotions except during Pon Farr."
Spock didn't question how she knew about Pon Farr he simply nodded. "It is not time, yet."
"Then, can you tell me what happened?"
"Are you asking as Ship's Counselor or as someone knowledgeable in Vulcans."
"As your friend," Dawn said. "What we discuss will not go beyond these walls. Consider it off the record."
"Ms. Lukarian just spoke with a Vulcan over subspace. He is to join her group."
"I take it, it's someone you know," Dawn said.
"Yes, Counselor."
"Dawn," Dawn said.
Spock nodded. "Dawn. If I may. I understand that you know of Pon Farr from T'Pol."
"Yes and no," Dawn said. "I am T'Lekus daughter of T'Pol. Well as far as your fellow Vulcans are concerned anyways that's my name. Buffy and I are more T'Pol's adopted daughters. In the same your own adopted sister is."
"You know of her?" Spock asked.
Dawn felt a moment of shock come from Spock before it was quickly suppressed. "Yeah, I know Michael. I was the counselor assigned to her court martial. I'm also one of the few that knows the real story of what happened to the U.S.S. Discovery."
Spock looked at Dawn as his eyes widened in realization. "You are older than you appear."
"Yes," Dawn said. "On the neighborhood of a couple centuries. Buffy and I are what are called Millennials, we will live one thousand years. It is how I can sense your emotions. I'm supposed to experience the world's emotions, in this case everyone on Earth. But there is only so much I can take at one time."
"Which is why you are on the Enterprise."
"Yes," Dawn said. "We can discuss this more later if you like. Would you mind telling me about this Vulcan that Ame talked to."
"There is little to tell, beyond the obvious. He is a Vulcan."
"What got him into Ame's troop?" Dawn wondered.
"He is a juggler," Spock said.
"Juggling is an excellent method of improving hand-eye coordination," Dawn said. "I assume you like many others took it up?"
"I did."
"So this juggler," Dawn said.
"He comes from an unobjectionable family. He had an excellent education and many advantages. He has used these advantages to little purpose. His accomplishments are negligible. He has few inhibitions and less discipline. He ... does as he pleases. He has been known to follow trouble, and one must also suspect the reverse. He ... takes advantage."
"There is something you are not saying," Dawn said.
"He ..." Spock hesitated. "He seeks out emotional experiences."
Dawn blinked. She had never known a Vulcan to intentionally want to experience emotions. "Actually, experience them. Wow."
"You understand my reaction," Spock said.
Dawn sighed and nodded. "Yes. I've never known a Vulcan that intentionally wanted to experience emotions. It's unheard of."
Spock himself knew of only two; the juggler and his own half-brother. But he had never thought of Sybok let alone spoken of him to anyone. "Quite."
"Thank you for opening up to me," Dawn said.
"If it had been anyone else, I would not have," Spock said. "But being the adopted daughter of Ambassador T'Pol you are the sole person who would understand. If I may ask before we return to our duties. I assume you served with Ambassador T'Pol."
"Yes," Dawn said. "On the NX-01. That is where she and I met. It is where she and I became friends and where Buffy and I became her adopted daughters."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
The Enterprise slowed from warp-speed and continued through normal space on impulse engines. Sulu scanned for Stephen's vessel; Uhura projected its image on the viewscreen.
"Enterprise to Dionysus."
"I hear you."
"We're extending the docking module at the port side of the shuttle deck," Jim said. "We can put out a tractor—"
"Don't bother."
"I'm going to go meet him," Lukarian said.
"I'll go with you." Jim said. At the door of the turbo-lift, Jim glanced back and said, "Commander Spock—would you care to be on hand to greet this old acquaintance?"
"I should prefer," Mr. Spock replied, "to decline that privilege."
"I'll join you," Dawn said as she stood and joined Jim and Lukarian in the turbolift.
"Jim, I appreciate all your help," Lukarian said as the turbolift headed aft.
"My help?" he said. "I didn't arrange the rather incredible coincidence that these coordinates just happen to fall within the system's Oort cloud."
Lukarian grinned. "We had to pick Stephen up someplace, and he offered to come to the edge of the star system."
The lift stopped. They stepped out and crossed the catwalk and climbed down the companionway. In her corral, Athene weaved nervously, swaying back and forth. Two felinoids, one a member of the company and the other an Enterprise engineer, sat on the deck nearby.
"Hi, Gnash. Hi, Hazard," Lukarian said.
"Athene will be glad of the dirt," Tzesnashstennaj said. "This is not a good place for her." He ducked his head beneath Hazarstennaj's chin. Their fur stroked together with a static crackle, and Hazarstennaj purred.
"I know," Lukarian said. "Soon."
Jim crossed the deck to the docking module and opened the observation ports.
Stephen's ship had not yet come into sight. It would probably take half the day for the old ship to dock. Jim opened a channel to the bridge.
"Lieutenant Uhura, Where's our guest?"
"He says he's on his way, sir."
Jim looked around again, but the port gave a field of view too limited to show him Dionysus.
Dawn was watching Lukarian. She had noticed that Lukarian stared into space, her eyes focused on something more distant than any ship or star, some fantasy. Dawn smiled as she leaned next to Lukarian and whispered in the woman's ear. "Your great grandmother Willow is probably looking back from somewhere out there."
Lukarian laughed as she looked at Dawn. "Maybe."
"Captain!" came Uhura's exclamation from the comm panel.
Motion outside the ship drew their attention. "Look!" She pressed close to the port and cupped her hands around her face to shield the glass from reflections. Eerily silent in the vacuum of space, Dionysus drove directly at the Enterprise.
Jim shouted a curse. He clenched his fists against cold glass, infuriated. The shields had already begun to form, but too late Dionysus blasted its forward rockets and decelerated hard. Though the viewport darkened to protect the interior of the ship from the light and energy, the dazzling flame halfblinded them.
But the port cleared, the shields faded, and Dionysus hovered beside the Enterprise. Starlight shone off jets of steering plasma before they dispersed into space.
Dionysus docked with the barest hint of vibration, the barest whisper of sound.
"Wow," Lukarian said. "I thought you said he didn't want to use any of his own fuel."
Dawn could feel Jim's fury barely attenuated by a grudging admiration for the pilot's flash and style, Jim flung open the hatch as soon as the sensors approved the seal between Enterprise and Dionysus. The pilot of Dionysus boarded the Enterprise.
"What do you mean by hotshotting at my ship like that?" Jim yelled.
"I thought you were in a hurry." Stephen smiled at him. A large tabby cat perched on his shoulder. "Glad to meet you, Captain Kirk." Stephen extended his hand.
Jim automatically reached to shake hands, the social convention so ingrained that it overcame his real wish, which was to sock Stephen in the jaw.
"I am T'Lekus, daughter of T'Pol of Vulcan," Dawn said.
"You are human," Stephan said.
"I am T'Pol's adopted daughter," Dawn said. "The name I was born with is Dawn Summers. I am the Ship's Counselor."
The cat launched itself at Jim and clawed its way up his arm. Jim yelped in surprise.
"How do you do, Ms. Lukarian," Stephen said.
"Call me Ame, please."
As they greeted each other, oblivious to Jim, Jim found himself in a face-off. The vicious animal hissed, snarled, buried its talons in his arm and shoulder, and poised to rip out his eyes. Jim grabbed the monster with his free hand and tried to shake it off.
"Ilya!" Stephen said. "Quit it, come here."
The creature dug its claws into Jim's arm and launched itself at Stephen, rending the sleeve of Jim's shirt.
The cat landed on Stephen's shoulder and twined its lithe body behind his neck. Its unnaturally long tail wrapped around Stephen's arm.
Jim clenched his fist, half in angry reaction and half to see if it still worked. His forearm and the back of his hand stung with deep scratches.
"He likes you, captain," Stephen said. "I don't think I ever saw him take to anybody so quickly."
"Likes me! What does it do to people it doesn't like?"
Stephen shook his head. "There are some things human beings aren't meant to know."
"Is he what I think he is?" Dawn wondered.
"Just an ordinary little tabby cat." Stephen grinned. "No, you're right. He's a Siberian forest cat."
"I've not seen one in ages," Dawn said.
"Can he do anything?" Lukarian offered her hand gingerly to the big cat, and it sniffed her fingertips and rubbed its forehead against her palm.
"Such as juggle?"
Lukarian laughed. "Are you guys a team?"
Stephen shook his head. "He can do lots of things. But only when he wants to. He really is an ordinary tabby cat in that respect."
"That's too bad." Lukarian gazed thoughtfully at the cat, as if considering ways to get him into the performance even if he would not perform.
"Thanks for your hospitality, captain," Stephen said. "I'm not sure old Dionysus could have made it out to the Phalanx and back under its own steam."
"It had plenty of steam just now," Jim said angrily. "Your docking was dangerous and foolhardy—don't ever fly like that around the Enterprise again."
"Jim, come on," Lukarian said. "It was a beautiful landing!"
"He didn't land, he docked," Jim growled."
"Captain," Dawn said as she felt Jim's aggravation. "Do I need to have you come see me?"
"No," Jim said as he turned and left the shuttle deck.
"What's wrong with him?" Lukarian asked as she looked at Dawn.
"Aggravation," Dawn said. "Over your docking, Stephan."
"I didn't intend to scare him," Stephen said. "But don't worry, I won't do it again."
"Welcome to the company," Lukarian said. "I was impressed with your act—I hope you decide to join us permanently."
"I do, too."
"Well I will leave you to for introductions with your troop, Ame," Dawn said. "It was a pleasure meeting you Stephan."
"And you, T'Lekus," Stephan said as he and Lukarian watched Dawn leave.
Dawn ran into Jim at the turbolift. "Do you know this Vulcan?" Jim asked.
"No," Dawn said. "I know of him though. Let's just say he can be a dangerous individual. Unlike most other Vulcans, Stephan experiences emotions, he doesn't suppress them from what I've been told."