Uninspired Voyages
A Star Trek: Voyager fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon
DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation et al are the property of CBS Television, Para creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.
Doctor Arul had joined Starfleet to preserve and enhance life however she could. To expand the medical arts and become better at taking away pain and suffering. Resolving medical issues was like solving puzzles, and she had always found this satisfying.
After medical school, she had gone to work as a doctor for Starfleet Intelligence, healing agents who had been hurt in the line of duty.
One agent, more than any other, seemed to end up under her care. He was human, just out of Starfleet Academy. He'd already had a somewhat colorful history, being part of the crew of the Enterprise-D when he was a teenager. At first she had considered him to be a poor agent for always returning injured. Perhaps a role less likely to get him hurt, or killed, would be preferable.
She had commented as much one day when he was under her dermal regenerator. He had then looked up at her with an odd smile, and said:
"I can't. It's logical for me to be here."
"In what way is it logical?" She asked. The young agent shrugged.
"If I hadn't taken that hit... Then my partner would have taken it. Then he'd be in the morgue. He needed to survive to complete the mission."
"You did not need to sacrifice your life for that," Arul had pointed out. The agent had just grinned at her.
"I didn't," he said. "But hey. It was logical, if it was the only solution."
"You are very strange, Agent," Arul had said.
"Call me Shepherd," he said cheerfully.
He had been... So confusing. The way he just kept getting hurt, kept being so brazen and wild. Stories about his antics on his missions, how he had attracted so much attention away from others or been so audacious and yet... Still getting past security. Still deceiving people. Still accomplishing his missions.
While off duty, he was odd. Playing ancient digital games. Dressing in silly ways. Psychologically manipulating and tormenting his superiors. His anti-authoritarian tactics seemed immature and undisciplined.
Eccentricities were a way for many Starfleet agents to retain their psychological integrity, yet he took it to extremes.
Arul couldn't figure it out. So she had taken to watching him. Studying him.
He had, however, noticed. Intelligence agents were seldom chosen for their lack of self awareness.
"If you wanted to watch anime with me, you just had to ask," he said with a smile. "Come on, sit down. Relax with me."
So she had. While the stories were strange, they could be quite engrossing. She found herself... Enjoying it. Though perhaps it was simply being with him. When he was quiet, she could sense his emotions. Like most humans, his were strong. Yet rather than a confusing mess, his were... Bright. It was almost comforting, like sitting by a fire on a night in the Vuldi Gorge.
His eccentricities had an ever changing pattern, but it was intriguing to unravel. His tastes in entertainment seemed puerile, but he could see so much more in the works. Things she was able to discover for herself, with patience. A worth she had not considered.
While no artist, Arul could appreciate it well enough. As well as the experience of understanding the meaning conveyed.
Finally, there was his fighting ability. The way he moved, struck, and fought: It said so much, hinted at so much more beneath his strange, even comical exterior.
The stereotypical human for Vulcans was one that wore everything on their sleeves. Shepherd wore many emotions, but he maintained them in so many patterns it was much harder to unravel.
Her pon farr had struck her. She had no betrothed back home, as her family were Neo-Syrranites. They did not employ the practice. She was, however, supposed to return home to find a mate among the Vulcans she had grown up with.
She instead chose Shepherd.
In all honesty, her own studies into sexuality had been mostly clinical beforehand. She had been a bit sheltered, perhaps, as a young girl and then woman.
It had been an experience nothing could have prepared her for. He was in her mind, she was in his.
Arul had understood so much of him. He was open and sincere, not merely using her condition to slake his lusts. He truly admired and cared for her deeply. She found she had the same emotions for him.
After that, it had been easy to be together. They... Fit together perfectly. A balance of flame and ice. They had arguments at times, of course. All couples had disagreements, all relationships were a matter of compromises. Yet she found that she was... Better with him than without.
He admitted he felt that he was far better with her than without her. That he felt he was more logical with her.
He had meant it as a joke, but it was... Very significant to her. He played no games with her: He was himself.
Sex outside of pon farr was also a wonderful experience. One she had enjoyed in multiple ways. It too was like a puzzle, and she enjoyed challenging him to unravel the mystery with her and... Some of her friends. Pon farr could strike suddenly and without warning, and so many Vulcan females might be without mates during the process. She could not just leave them without.
Arul may have also felt feminine pride, showing off her mate's prodigious abilities. She did not express this out loud, merely with actions. After all, sexuality had been virtually unknown to her before meeting Shepherd. Exploring it was not just a pleasure, it was a duty.
Shepherd had happily agreed. And she was even more pleased-Er, satisfied-when their bond revealed he only felt the deepest love for her despite their... Experimentation. Which would only encourage further such... Explorations.
She was Vulcan. She would be thorough about this.
Finally, the insane missions ended. They were found to have been the result of several factors: A Tal Shiar Infiltrator, a senile Starfleet Intelligence Head, and Shepherd's own natural recklessness. The new head assigned him to a three week observation mission aboard an Intrepid-class starship, USS Voyager. When he was assigned the mission, she had just discovered she was pregnant with his child.
She had not told him about it on their last meeting. She had merely promised he would be happy when he returned to learn something new. He said he looked forward to it.
Then Voyager had vanished. She had gone to Deep Space Nine herself to ask and to wait for news of the search.
She knew it would make no difference, and yet... She had to be there.
Arul had questioned her mother about this, and she had said simply it was due to the strength of the mating bond. The depth of their feelings.
It was not logical. It simply was.
So too was her decision to request reassignment to Deep Space Nine as an assistant medical officer. She was recommended by the new head of Starfleet Intelligence, and Doctor Bashir had been glad for the extra help with the threat posed by the Dominion. Her pregnancy progressed, but it did not hamper her in her duties at all. She was a competent nurse, and being with Shepherd had given her the means to interact with non-Vulcans far more easily.
It was... Satisfying work, helping Bajorans and other beings who lived on this station. Yet the true reason for her requested reassignment lay out beyond.
Arul had received a message from Shepherd's parents. They were taking an assignment to train security personnel on Deep Space Nine and at other Starfleet facilities in the area, given the Dominion threat. She knew of them, of course: The Borg Slayers. Fearsome warriors who, when aboard the Enterprise-D, had overcome challenges and defeated enemies to the Federation. That entire crew was legendary by now, but with the fears of the Dominion spreading, they were often the first to come to peoples' lips.
She knew Shepherd's feelings for them, as well: Complicated. He loved them deeply, but had wanted to stand outside their shadows. He had not spoken to them for some time, devoting all his energies to her. He had felt guilty. He had wished to reconnect, now that his endless missions had ended.
Yet another regret. With how long she would live, she wondered how many more she might endure.
She was, however, determined to not make this meeting one of them. She stood outside the airlock, in a green dress Shepherd had said made her look beautiful and at peace. It allowed her to focus, as several passengers disembarked.
Arul did not know how Shepherd's parents might react to her. Would they be offended the mother of their grandchild was a Vulcan? Would they only care for her child as a connection to Shepherd?
She found either prospect... Unsettling. She rested her hand over her belly, as though seeking to comfort her unborn child.
Arul saw them soon enough. She had read through their files, seen pictures of them on Shepherd's nightstand. His father was tall, clean shaven, with broad shoulders and thick arms. He wore his Starfleet uniform, amber, with a heavy pack under each arm. His mother was tall, elegant, like a tree standing against the storm. Her hair framed her lovely face underneath a hooded cloak she wore over her Starfleet blue uniform. A black sword hung from her hip.
They stopped less than a meter away from her. Mrs. Shepherd studied her with sharp eyes, like a technician. His father's eyes swept up and down her form, like the glare from a rising sun.
"Are you Arul?" Mrs. Shepherd asked gently. Arul nodded.
"Yes. I am your son's mate."
In an instant, both Shepherds were hugging her tightly. Arul was almost startled: They both moved so quickly!
She felt Mrs. Shepherd's emotions: They were warm and open, with affection and trust for her already strong. Master Chief Shepherd's emotions were just as warm, strong, and open. Both felt grief, too: As deep as her own.
"Welcome to the family," Mrs. Shepherd said softly.
"If you would like to be part of it," Master Chief Shepherd added, his voice a low, comforting rumble.
Arul closed her eyes, and gently extended her arms to hug them back. She would blame the pregnancy hormones later if any Vulcans found it offensive.
"I... Would appreciate that very much," she murmured.
A bit mushy, but I hope you enjoyed it.