A/N: Hello, it's been a long time since I have been here. Please accept my apologies, but I have been fighting cancer. Fingers crossed I may be in remission now, but that is for another day. Meanwhile, please enjoy a new tale from me. I am not owner of anything. I am just having fun.

Saru opened his eyes as his body and re-booted from the surgical blocks. So far, he thought, nothing seemed too abnormal. He blinked several times fast before holding his hand before his face. There it was, pink, blushing, and very smooth skin. As he waved his hand back and forth Kovich came into his field of vision.

"How are you doing, Saru?" The enigmatic older man with the black framed glasses asked.

The Kelpian turned to fully face him, "So far, nothing amiss." he replied honestly, "This seems like such an elaborate subterfuge. Aren't the Vulcans and Romulans our friends?"

Kovich pushed his glasses up his nose, "They are, and they requested it be this way. Though…" he paused and walked to the feet of the surgical table, "It strikes me, that is somewhat naive. They are returning to the fold after a long absence, can we really know they are our friends?"

Saru just looked at Kovich, not saying anything, but remembering what the Empress said about the man. He "gave her the creeps", which given where she came from was saying a lot. "I suppose you are correct, Sir." he finally answered as he sat up and swung his long legs over the bed. "It is strange, tactile sensations are much different now. I thought this was a holographic disguise."

"Ah, but Mr. Saru, holographic technology has come a long way." Kovich said stepping forward with a mirror for the kelpian, "We implanted a mobile holographic emitter at the base of your skull, it is tied in with all of your sensory organs. You will feel as a human feels, tactilely speaking. You will also give off a human scent, and even appear to sweat when appropriate." he said passing the mirror over to Saru, "Which was important given Vulcans often comment on the smell of humanity."

Saru looked down into the mirror, he absolutely understood what Kovich was saying. As a Kelpian he also could smell humans. With a blink he gasped, as he looked at himself in the mirror. He had auburn hair, brown eyes, and front teeth that protrude slightly out of his thin lips. He assumed this must have been what he looked like when they were trapped in Su'Kal's hologram world. He ran his thin fingers over his face. Skin-human skin-felt so oddly soft. It struck him that with as soft as it was it seemed like it should tear more often than it did.

"Do you approve?" Kovich asked, bringing Saru back to reality.

Saru smiled at the elder human, "As the old human saying goes, it is a nice place to visit, but I would not want to live here."

Kovich shrugged, "That's understandable."

Saru stood up. It was such a weird feeling to feel his heels, and to be balanced so oddly. "What exactly is my mission, Sir?"

Kovich put his hands behind his back, "There is a lot I could say, much I will eventually say, but for now, Saru, what I need you to know is that you are going to Ni'Var to study and protect a human woman."

Saru waited, expecting more, "A human woman? I could not have done that as a Kelpian?" Saru did not normally question people in authority over him, but it was more curiosity than it was defiance that made him ask.

"That is for your protection." He said bluntly, "You are about to be given information that only a handful of living people know. I am not naive enough to think this information-shared by friends-couldn't be deadly to know. A friend in need now, can quickly forget that friendship when he decides that no witnesses are best."

"I see." Saru said thoughtfully. "So you are disguising me as a human so if that human needs to die…"

"He can be killed off without losing one of our finest officers."

Saru's eyes got big, "Thank you, Sir."

"Don't thank me, you have earned the distinction in very short order. Which is why I want you on this mission and I trust you to know the information you are about to learn. " Kovich moved his hand indicating he should discard the mirror and follow him, which Saru did immediately and followed. Kovich walked through the room and paused at the door, " How much do you know about Earth history?"

"Very little, pre-first contact." Saru admitted, and privately frowned as he thought about the 92 languages he had learned. In that brief moment he realized every single one of them were now antiquated. He frowned deeply, which drew Kovich's attention.

"A problem, Saru?"

Saru turned his head carefully, "No…why do you ask?"

"Because you are frowning rather...obviously" Kovich stopped and studied his face, "Is there some kind of glitch in the holo implant?" he asked, reaching to touch Saru's face.

It was then Saru realized the emitter must be tapped into his emotions and made his face look as sad as he felt in that thought. "I thought something sad…" Saru replied, "I think my emotion made the implant react."

"Ah, yes. The doctor said it would take time for the implant to naturally integrate into your emotions and thoughts." Kovich tapped his badge to scan the interface. Satisfied he nodded, "You are about to meet with Revik M'Dar, a romulan agent of the Tal Shiar, at least formerly. He is going to give you the information I mentioned earlier.``He motioned to the door at the end of the hall, "I asked you about your Earth history because it's pertinent to the information you are about to learn. A long time ago, Saru, we humans tried to perfect our race with genetic modifications. We turned ourselves into monsters. Think, the mirror universe with less compassion…"

Saru cocked his head slightly and frowned again, "I was not aware of this part of human history."

"It's not something we are proud of, but nothing we've attempted to cover up. If it weren't for the war between humanity and augmented humanity we would likely have not made first contact with the vulcans. We rose from the ashes of our imprudence into the stars, but in the madness before that time we nearly went extinct."

"This pertain to my current mission?" Saru asked suddenly.

"Yes, and no." Kovich said with the smallest shrug, "and yes." his voice was casual, "We will discuss it after the Romulan gives you the information. When Revik leaves I will have you brought to my office." He motioned to Saru to go to the end of the hallway, "Your name is Commander Jonas Jones, if he asks."

Saru nodded and did as he was instructed.

Saru was left sitting at the table alone after the Romulan agent had briefed him. He was staring out the window trying to process everything he had just been told. In some ways, it made sense. In other ways, it seemed too fantastical to be true. With a long sigh he stood and approached the window leading out into space. When he placed his hand on the window's edge he saw what looked like a romulan bird of prey pulling away from the station and cloaking before it went to impulse."

"Commander Jones," a female voice called to him from the door, "Kovich is ready to see you."

It took a moment to remember his new covert name but not so long his reaction was awkward. He was ready to get out of the room having been there for what felt like hours.

Saru walked into Kovich's office and stood at attention.

"No need for formalities right now, Saru." Kovich said, pointing to the chair next to his desk where he had tea and food ready for the Kelpian. "By the look on your face I'd say you are having the same reaction I did when the information was given to me."

The decorum faded and Saru went to take his seat, "Is it true?" he asked from his heart, earnestly hoping it was a Romulan fabrication, "Can it possibly be true?"

"Every research we have done says that it is, Saru. Federation scientists had always assumed the Romulans and Vulcans were two different races that co-evolved on the planet at the same time. When you look at their genetics that's what you might assume."

Saru poured himself some of the tea laid out for him, "Yes. I would never have considered that they were the same species, one genetically augmented and the other the original. Though, given what you said about human augmentation, it makes sense."

"Vulcans are telepaths, aggressive, violent, and have the strength of three humans-or for that matter romulans." Kovich said, before sipping his tea, "They are the augments of their species."

Saru blinked, hearing it outloud made it real, "Were it not for Surak, they might have self-destructed as human augments were likely to do?"

"Oh, I don't know what the human augments might have done given the chance. Khan ruled over most of Asia for a long time, and nearly brought the Asian people to extinction. I think had the Romulans stayed on their planet it would have been similar for them." Kovich stated with a casual matter of fact tone. "Now for the information to aid you in your mission."

A tap of his badge brought up a holographic image of one thousand human faces, "I assume our Romulan colleague told you that the only way to save our Vulcan friends…"

"I don't understand that part of this," Saru interrupted, "The Vulcans have mastered the suppression of their emotion. They have been human allies, they helped found the Federation. To me this isn't the earmark of a species on the verge of self-annihilation."

"I am not a geneticist, Saru, but given the data presented to me it seems that the emotional suppression has both saved them and has become part of the problem. The disciplines of logic aided them in controlling their darker nature to become a society. Years and generations of emotional suppression though have come with a great cost. Every decade is seeing more sicknesses that cause them to die early, in pain, and with a loss of control that devastates the body and mind, in some cases leaving the Katra unsalvageable. There are also rising instances of extremist groups like the logic extremists and the V'tosh Ka'Tur, who are-in some cases-reverting back to tribal behavior. They are slowly losing the ability to self regulate, and the projection is that in another two thousand years we may lose them as a species if an intervention isn't enacted now."

Saru frowned, turning his attention to the human faces in the hologram, "Revik said that before the burn the Romulans were working with the Federation to gather human genes that would be compatible as mates for vulcan society. How does that help anything?"

"Yes, and those are the faces of those genetically compatible humans." he said pointed to the thousand faces, "According to our research at the time, when the Romulans came to us-pre-burn- if a thousand humans were to interbreed with the Vulcans it would begin to reverse the trend of "spooling out" that the Romulans saw happening with the Vulcans. They would be able to maintain their identity while stabilizing the genetics that for want of a better phrase is spooling out causing them to unravel as a people." He pointed at the thousand faces, "These are all humans who were born in the 20th century. I should start at the beginning." He stood and placed his hands behind his back. "Before the burn, the Romulans came to us with the same information you now have. They were asking for our help. After much research, it was determined that human genetics would do what needed to be done, as we have already discussed. After more research it was determined that humans with some specific genetic markers would not only work better, but would allow the romulans to adapt them to touch telepathy, an attribute that would make them attractive to vulcans as mates. In the 20th century there was a concentration of genes that caused exceptional neurology in humans. The people with these natural genetic mutations expressed it in diverse ways, often earning labels like, autism, adhd, Fields-Banning syndrome, discovered later in the timeline. All of them processed emotion and thought differently. For the Romulans it met a perfect genetic need, and something they could coax with mild manipulations to be completely compatible. The Federation gave approval to harvest the genetics they needed from the dead, to essentially clone these people."

Saru's jaw dropped and the hint of a smirk crossed Kovich's lips, "It is shocking, Saru. Though according to our records the Federation set boundaries. None of the people cloned could have living relatives. There was to be no genetic enhancement beyond correcting illnesses and adapting the touch telepathy. They were not to be forced into any marriage, each human was to be autonomous, and allowed their free will. All things the Romulans agreed with. According to the reports we still have, things were going as predicted, and any Vulcan who took one of these cloned humans as a mate, their children were genetically and mentally more stable than purely Vulcan children, and they passed on stronger genetics."

"Was Spock's mother…" Saru asked suddenly.

"No, but the study of Amanda and Spock inspired the research which brought them to this conclusion. It is why the Romulans fought to stay in the Federation when the Vulcans wanted to leave after the Burn." Kovich said thoughtfully, "Given the nature of Romulans in your time, I am sure you find this all rather...complex."

"I do, but the research seems to justify everything you are saying, Sir." He pursed his lips, "So, I am to go to Vulcan and protect one of these humans?"

"Protect, investigate, and report." Kovich said with a nod, "The Logic extremists have killed five clones in the last month, because they want Vulcan for the vulcans. There are currently only three on Ni'Var. If they lose those, then they will lose valuable time. We are sending you in with someone you are familiar with, Lt. Tilly. The person we are sending you to protect and investigate has an animal sanctuary on the edge of the Forge. She has, apparently, cultivated interesting fungi, that is what Lt. Tilly will be researching the fungi, and offering a cover for you. You are not to tell her who you are, Saru, and naturally you cannot inform anyone of your real purpose."

It did not sit well with the Kelpian that he was going to have to lie to someone he considered family as well as his crew, but Saru couldn't think of anything about this situation that did sit well with him. "Understood, Sir." he said firmly, even as the worry tingled at the back of his mind.