Part 16

Vin quietly led Ezranok into the next room and over to a couple of chairs that sat close to each other on the far wall. He sat down in one and pulled the other over in front of himself, indicating for Ezranok to take it. The boy obeyed immediately, folding his hands in his lap and remaining silent.

Vin looked at the chills sitting before him for a few moments without speaking. He really wasn't sure what to say. All he wanted to do was gather the boy close and never let go, but he knew he couldn't. He could feel the boy's fear fluttering along their bond once in a while. If they touched, that vague knowledge would spike, and he knew there would be no way he could let the boy go then.

Ezranok looked so uncertain as he sat there, Vin noticed. The boy was trying not to show his fear, but his eyes betrayed the trepidation he was experiencing. Shaking his head slightly, Vin reached out and smoothed the still untamed hair back from Ezranok's face, hoping that would be all right and willing to take the chance. He was pleased when Ezranok pressed into the comforting touch that soothed his fears.

Vin opened his mouth to speak, but Ezranok beat him to it.

"They wish to take me to Vulcan, don't they?" Ezranok whispered, seemingly searching Vin's face for something.

"Yeah," Vin said huskily, as he tried to control his own emotions. "Ambassador Sarek and his wife will provide a good home for you, Ez." Vin did his best not to leak his own emotions over the bond, but he wasn't sure how well he was doing. It hadn't been a week since it had formed, and neither of them was used to it.

"Ambassador Sarek is Vulcan, but they said that his wife was human." Vin could see the confusion on Ezranok face.

"Yes, she is. She'll be able to help you if you need company," Vin informed. "I met her one time and she's a real nice lady."

Ezranok looked at Vin with his head cocked and a curious expression on his face.

"She and her husband were at the Starfleet Academy Graduation the year I graduated. Someone had told they I had spent time on Vulcan, and she came over to meet me. We talked for a few minutes, but she seemed really nice." Vin explained to the boy who sat so still and quiet in front of him.

Ezranok looked down at his hands after Vin finished his story, then he looked up, biting his bottom lip. "If they take me away, will I ever see you again?" It was spoken almost to softly foe Vin to hear, but he could feel the longing in the words as clearly as if the boy had shouted.

"Yes, Ez, I can come to visit once in a while as long as the Ambassador doesn't mind. And I'll write and tell you about what happens on the ship. You can write to me and tell me how your life goes on Vulcan," Vin reassured the boy as best he could.

Ezranok seemed to listen intently as to the young officer, but internally, his mind whirled in something close to panic. He didn't want to go to Vulcan! He wanted to stay here with Vin and Chris and the rest on the Wild Card. He also knew that Vin could not fight against the Vulcans. From what he had read on the ship, the Vulcans had a lot of pull in the government, and while he didn't understand it all yet, he knew that, on his own, Vin would have no chance of getting to keep him as long as the Vulcans wanted him. The question was, though, did Vin want him?

After Vin wound down, Ezranok locked eyes with him. "If the Vulcans hadn't wanted to take me, what would have happened?"

Vin stayed quiet for a second, before deciding to tell him the truth, not that he could pull off a lie with their bond anyway. "I wanted to take you with me, Ez. I already cleared it with Chris and everything."

Ezranok's eyes widened. That had been his one concern about Vin taking him. He had been afraid that Captain Larabee wouldn't want him on board. "Captain Larabee agreed?"

"Yup," Vin grinned slightly at the amazed expression on the boy's face. "You grow on people, and Chris likes kids even if he acts like a grouch most of the time."

Ezranok searched the man's face and their bond for even the slightest hint that what he had just been told was not the truth. But there was none. Vin was telling him the truth. Vin did want him, and Chris had approved of it.

Time to put Plan B into action then!

Chris broke the silence that had descended after Vin and Ezranok had been gone a few minutes. "Malhai'ik, what can you tell us about when the boy was take by the slavers. Is there anyway we can keep it from happening again?"

"I'm afraid not, Captain Larabee. The boy was given to the slavers, they did not take him by force," Malhai'ik said impassively.

"What! You told us that the Standai'ishi cherished children. How in God's name could they have then given a child to slavers!" Chris demanded, nearly shouting. The idea that someone could voluntarily give a child over to slavers to abuse as they wished was completely abhorrent.

"I did not say that it was either of the boy's parents that gave him to the slavers," Malhai'ik informed him.

Chris practically growled as he reminded himself of one of the reason he hated having to talk to Vulcans. All of their literalistic double talk drove him nuts.

"Mr. Malhai'ik, perhaps you had better start from the beginning and tell us how he ended up with the slavers," Admiral Travis put in.

"Of course, Admiral," Malhai'ik said regally, before sitting forward to start his recitation. "Both of the boy's parents are dead, have been dead for many years. His earliest memories are of his father, so it would be logical to infer from them that his mother probably died in child birth or soon there after.

"He had his father lived n board a small charter ship that he father probably ran. His father was killed in a pirate attack when he was 3.274 years old. One of the pirates, a woman claimed the child as her share of the captured goods after the raid was over. 6.53 months later, she gambled with one of the slavers you arrested using him as the stake. She lost the wager, and he came to be in the hands of the crew you found him with."

With each dispassionately spoken word, Chris's blood pressure rose. Ezranok had been the hands of slavers or pirates since he was three years old! They had known he would have had to have been young, but to have it confirmed in such an unfeeling and clinical manner just made it seem worse some how.

"Can you give us any descriptions of the pirate gang from Ezranok memories?" Chris asked quickly after Malhai'ik finished. "Where did they operate? What kind of ship do they use?"

"No need, Captain," Malhai'ik assured him. "this particular gang was brought down 3.893 years ago. I read the reports at the time and the descriptions are a perfect match to Ezranok's memories. The entire crew, including the woman Maude, are serving sentences at this moment. They will be quite elderly before they are released from the penal colony on Tarbenus III."

Chris nodded in satisfaction at the news and sat back in his chair. Silence enveloped them again, but it was only a few more minutes until the door opened and Vin and Ezranok reentered the room.

Silently the two returned to the seat they had occupied before. Chris looked at Vin, seeing the pain still in his eyes, but he could see acceptance had taken residence with it. It would take a while, but he knew would alright eventually after this was over. His gaze shifted to the boy, and he was surprised to see a look of peace on the boys face instead of the barely suppressed fear that had peaked out once in a while before he left.

Chris wondered what Vin had said that had reassured the boy so much, but he silently applauded Vin's efforts.