It had been one week since Sonal's capture and arrest for trespassing in the Forbidden Zone. Despite the pacifist nature of Vulcan society, this was the only crime on Vulcan that carried the death penalty. For those who were shown mercy, it meant expulsion from the planet with return to the system forbidden for the remainder of the offender's life.
The cell that Sonal was kept in was your standard fare on Vulcan: solid concrete walls three meters thick (as measured on Earth), a three meter-thick concrete roof which stood three meters from the floor, solid concrete door, and a tiny window large enough for light and breathable air to get through but too small for anybody to fit through.
Sonal sat on the floor in deep meditation. He attempted to commune with the Vulcan gods. He cleared his mind of all thought. His prominent yet thin Vulcan eyebrows arched high at the sides and sloped down toward his nose as he closed his eyes tightly, blocking out all light and seeing nothing but darkness. However, he was distracted by the thought of the voice that he heard in the Forbidden Temple. As he attempted to delve deeper into his meditation, the voice spoke again.
"LET THE HATE FLOW THROUGH YOU…"
Sonal suddenly opened his eyes, startled at the same gravelly voice that he heard in the cave. He looked around - and saw nothing. "Just my imagination running wild," Sonal said quietly.
"THIS IS NO IMAGINATION, MY FRIEND."
Sonal looked at the window, and he saw a ghost starting to form. It was adorned in a black hooded robe, the same as in his vision in the Temple. The face came into view. There was a deep crease in the forehead with numerous wrinkles on each side. The skin was a sickly grey. The area around rhe eyes were sunken in with eye bags almost as black as the fur on Sonal's long-dead pet sellat. The eyes turned from a bright yellow to a haunting combination of yellow and orange. And the spirit gave a smile full of yellowed snaggled teeth.
"MY FRIEND…ACCEPT MY GIFT. THE FORCE IS STRONG WITH YOU. A LONG TIME HAVE i WATCHED YOU."
"Who are you," asked Sonal with a tinge of fear in his voice.
"MY NAME IS...PALPATINE. I AM THE MANIFESTATION OF ALL THE POWER OF THE SITH."
"The Sith?"
"THIS PLANET - WHICH YOU KNOW AS VULCAN - WAS ONCE KNOWN AS TATOOINE. IT WAS WHERE I CREATED - THROUGH THE MANIPULATION OF MIDICHLORIANS - MY MOST PRIZED APPRENTICE...DARTH VADER. YOU SHALL BECOME MY NEW APPRENTICE. YOU SHALL HAVE ALL THE POWER OF THE SITH TO USE AT YOUR DISCRETION. YOU SHALL BECOME MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY OTHER SITH."
Sonal stared at the spirit, entranced by the words. He suddenly felt a sense of purpose, of belonging, a feeling that he never truly felt on his home planet. All the teasing he endured from full-blooded Vulcan children in his youth. He felt hatred toward them back then.. That long- suppressed hatred slowly came back. He suddenly felt at peace with what he truly was.. He smiled at the spirit of Palpatine, and he instinctively knew that Palpatine was his only escape.
"DO YOU ACCEPT MY GIFT?"
Sonal knelt down on one knee and submitted himself to Palpatine. "Yes," said Sonal. "I accept."
The room suddenly became dark. A cold shudder ran through Sonal's body as he felt the spirit of Palpatine touch his forehead, and he saw the creation of all that he knew. He saw the first Vulcans being born as a result of ancient humans mating with cat-like creatures which were known in the old days as Tusken Raiders. He saw the betrayal and murder of Surak in the same spot where he discovered his newfound powers. The voice of Palpatine echoed through the tiny cell. "THE FORCE IS STRONG WITH YOU. A POWERFUL SITH YOU WILL BECOME. HENCEFORTH YOU SHALL BE KNOWN AS...DARTH CHAOS."
The newly-christened Darth Chaos rose to his feet. He opened his eyes, and they slowly changed from the traditional brownish almost-black eyes of Vulcans into a deep sickly orange color which indicated that the ancient powers of the Sith had completely washed over him. "Thank you, my Master. Now...how do I escape this dungeon?" Even Sonal's voice reflected his new dark nature.
"USE THE FORCE, MY FRIEND. YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW TO."
Suddenly the cell door opened. It was Vulcan high priestess T'Pan. "Sonal, son of Spock, son of Saavik, you are to stand trial."
Sonal instinctively knew what to do. With a wave of his hand, he said, "I do not need to stand trial."
Almost as if in a trance, T'Pan said, "he does not need to stand trial."
"You will release me now," Sonal said with a wave of his hand.
"I will release you now," said T'Pan in a deep trance.
The Vulcan high security stood aside as Sonal exited his cell and walked down the mountain and walked to his house. Upon entering the home, he was greeted enthusiastically by his mother Saavik.
"Oh my son," Saavik said as she wrapped her arms around her son tightly. "I was so worried about you. The Vulcan high security came here searching through your belongings. They said you had been arrested. I was worried that they would execute you."
A gift that Palpatine had taught Sonal was the ability to use the Force to mask his dark nature from those he did not want to see. It was a power Palpatine used so long ago to rise in political rank from meager senator of Naboo to the chancellorship of the ancient Galactic Republic. "Do not worry yourself,.mother. I am fine. They dropped all charges."
"I have good news for you, Sonal," Saavik said. "I received a message from Starfleet. They have assigned you as ship's navigator of the starship Enterprise."
Sonal smiled suddenly. "Enterprise? That's the ship captained by Jean-Luc Picard."
"Yes it is," said Saavik. "And...you also received a message from your father Spock. He would like for you to contact him on Romulus."
"As you wish,mother." Sonal retreated to his bedroom and sat at the desk which held his telecommunicator. He pressed a button, and within moments, a familiar face showed up. "Greetings, father."
"It is most pleasing to see you and talk to you, my son," Spock said over the screen. "I must offer my most sincere congratulations for your assignment to the Enterprise. You have a most excellent Captain to serve under."
"Like father, like son," Sonal said. "A better Captain than James T. Kirk?"
"My son," said Spock, "you will find that all captains have their own unique strengths and flaws. It is how they adapt to their flaws which defines their character. Captain Kirk had his own biases against the Klingons."
"And Picard's hatred of the Borg," asked Sonal.
"That is a flaw which Picard must overcome," replied Spock, "lest it consume and destroy himself. I am sure with your guidance and Vulcan upbringing that he shall overcome his hate."
"Father," said Sonal, "forgive me for not being the perfect Vulcan."
"You do not need to ask me for forgiveness," said Spock in an assuring voice. "I...was not the perfect Vulcan either. And still I am not. I was once like you. I was once ridiculed by my childhood peers for my half-human blood. As you were called 'Romulan' by your peers in jest, my peers called me 'Earther.' But when my cousin taught me to embrace logic and to let go of emotional attachment, I soon found myself accepted. So it was and shall be with you."
"I shall depart for Starfleet in the morning, father. I must meditate and rest." Sonal said with an almost icy coldness in his voice. It was how his father would want. Sonal raised his hand in the Vulcan salute, and at the same time, Spock raised his in turn. "Live long and prosper, father."
"Live long and prosper,my son," said Spock. The screen turned off on its own,and Sonal sat on the floor in deep meditation. He heard a familair voice in his meditative state.
"YOU HID YOURSELF WELL."
There was an eerie pause.
"IF I COMMANDED YOU TO KILL YOUR OWN PARENTS, WOULD YOU?"
Sonal opened his eyes. Gone were the almost-black hue or his irises. They glowed a dark, almost fiery orange. Darth Chaos was consuming him. He spoke witha sinister smile. "Yesss. I would."
