Merged

Chapter Six

By the time the Trafalgar reached spacedock, twelve days after the event which had changed everything, Jontek had packed up their two sets of belongings. They'd provided the address of Jon's apartment to the material handlers to have Sprong's and T'Vlan's belonging sent there. Jon knew that the doorman of the apartment building would assure the safety of the items. Sontek had indicated that the Vulcan Compound would be an equally good place to send them but Jon had noted that having the apartment would give them more privacy.

Sontek had been somewhat confused at Jon's reluctance to stay at the Vulcan Compound while they were on Earth. Afterall, they inhabited his, a Vulcan's, body. What more logical place would be available? Jon pointed out that the Vulcan's were likely to have some difficultly accepting a Vulcan with a Human in his mind. He remembered clearly the attitude that T'Pau had initially when she found Surak in his mind. He knew he was mixing time eras to explain the situation but from the Vulcan point of view in Human terms that was akin to expecting the Emperor of Rome to set up shop in Harlem. This was just the reverse. For the first time, Sontek was a bit concerned for his side of the situation. He had realized things would change but Jon's point was well taken.

Captain Clark had offered to give Jontek a ride to his apartment building as it was close to his own Earth abode. His wife was picking him up and there was certainly room for one more. Many of Starfleet personnel had apartments in San Francisco as it was convenient for them when they were on Earth. At one time, the city had been ridiculously expensive to maintain an apartment for such short periods of time but after the onset of high speed shuttle craft and transporters, people could live pretty much where they wished and the costs had come down significantly. Clark and his wife had no children so city living was acceptable to both of them. Jontek accepted the ride.

As they waited outside of the Earthside lobby of the facility, Clark took a sip out of the bottle of soda he'd purchased at one of the kiosks. "You know, my great-grandmother used to drink this stuff out of a glass bottle. They used to have what they called deposits on them so that people would return the bottles so they could reuse them."

"Hmmm. Recycler's make that a lot more efficient."

"Yes." Clark's face turned more serious, "Jon?"

"I'm here, Tom." Now that they were off duty, the ranks could be dropped.

"Jon…I just want you to know that I wish you the best with this…uh…situation." He stopped for a moment and then added. "I wish Sontek the best as well."

Jontek sighed. "It is a concept that's a bit hard to get your hands around. But, there are symbiotic species on a multitude of planets out there. They seem to make it work."

"Yes, but those species have evolved like that. Humans and Vulcans are both very individualistic…well, Vulcans perhaps a little less so."

Jontek nodded. "I suppose that is true. I haven't really thought much about how this will go into the future. The present has been too much of a concern for the past twelve days."

Clark started to answer when a car pulled up. "Darling! I'm glad you're home!"

Putting his head into the car, he gave his wife a kiss, and then turned to Jontek. "Karen, this is Jontek. Jontek, my wife, Karen."

"Pleased to meet you ma'am."

"Karen, I offered Jontek a ride to his apartment. It's about two blocks away from ours."

"Of course, Tom." She popped the trunk open and the men dropped their belongings into it. They got into the car and started into the city.

As Karen drove, she stated, "I'm surprised you have an apartment in the city. Most Vulcans live in the Vulcan Compound."

"Yes ma'am. We have a bit of a different circumstance."

"Hmmm. Do all Vulcan's refer to themselves as 'We?'"

"No ma'am. It's a bit hard to explain."

Tom Clark looked over to his wife. "What have you heard from our mission, Karen?"

"Only that both Admiral Archer and Ambassador Hurst and two Vulcan scientists had died." She suddenly realized, "Oh, you must be the sole survivor of the crash!" Then confused she added, "but I thought your name was Sontek."

Jontek didn't want to go into detail. "It was at one time. Now it is Jontek."

"Oh, you know how those reporters are, getting names wrong like that. Well, we've arrived."

Jontek thanked both of the Clarks and retrieved the bags from the trunk. They walked up to the door and slid Jon's keycard in to open the door.

"Excuse me. I don't recognize you. Are you a guest of one of our tenants?" The doorman, George Betts, was very good at his job. It was one of the reasons that Jon had felt safe leaving his apartment for long periods of time. Earth may have solved many of the social problems but unfortunately, there were always going to be people that wanted what belonged to someone else.

Again, it would be easier to tell a half truth. "Yes, George. Admiral Archer gave me his keycard and said I could use his apartment."

"I don't think that an offer made before he died is right to follow up on after a person dies. Maybe Vulcans aren't aware of how Humans operate in those situations."

Jontek closed his eyes again, pursing his lips. How was he going to convince George that it was okay for him to use his own apartment when the man was under the impression, not unreasonably, that he was dead? "George. I'm going to tell you something and it can't be broadcast, at least not yet."

George looked at the Vulcan suspiciously. "What?"

"Well, Admiral Archer is not really dead."

This time George's face mirrored surprise. "What?"

"That's all I can say for now. But he did say that I could use his apartment. I also need to let you know that there will be two boxes arriving to the apartment within the next day or so. Would you please see that they reach Admiral Archer's abode?"

Feeling that he was now a part of a secret, George agreed. "I won't say anything. This must be some sort of secret mission that the Admiral is doing…I mean if they want people to think he's dead."

"Something like that. Thank you George."

"Um. If you're going to be staying here, I do need your name."

"It's Jontek."

George nodded and held the door open for them. They headed over to the elevators and took the first one up to Jon's apartment. Opening the door, they were greeted by the overwhelming smell of a human habitation. Since Jon had been working a desk for over two years since the Enterprise had been decommissioned, his rooms had definitely been lived in. Jontek removed the nasal numbing compound from his pocket and applied it. Jon quickly offered "We'll get someone in here to do a deep cleaning tomorrow."

Sontek mentally nodded. "I guess I should have expected your home would smell like you."

They entered the room. Sontek focused on a small kidney shaped pad on the floor. "What is that?"

"Um, that would be Porthos's bed. He's my dog, a pet. I have a friend dog-sitting him. He's gotten pretty old, about 13 years old now. I don't know how he'll react to us. He liked T'Pol pretty well."

An eyebrow went up. "Did she like Porthos?"

"Yes. They eventually were quite friendly with each other. T'Pol would sometimes take Porthos for walks or play 'fetch' with him."

"Fetch?"

"A game for furry quadrupeds. You throw a ball, they 'fetch' it, that is, bring it back to you, and you throw it again."

"What is the logic behind the game?"

"There isn't any. Dog's just like to do it."

"I see. Will we be playing 'fetch' with this creature?"

"Porthos doesn't have a lot of energy to do it anymore. He mostly sleeps now."

Sontek mentally nodded again. "Your abode is aesthetically pleasing."

"I've had a professional decorator in. Occasionally, I've had to host small parties. It seems to set the right ambiance if the rooms look nice."

"So this isn't your choice?"

"Well, it is sort of. I mean, they showed me things, I said if I liked it or not. But no, I wasn't the designer if that's what you mean."

They walked into the bedroom. It held a bed and a small dressing area with dresser and closet space next to the bath room. There was a desk and a small area with a meditation mat and candle. "Do you practice meditation often?"

"Not as much as I probably should. I'm sure that will change. I know that Vulcan's pretty much meditate daily. T'Pol found it difficult to function when she'd been away from it for a few days."

"You know a great deal about this T'Pol."

"Well, she was my first officer for ten years. And we are very good friends."

"And you love her."

"Let's not go there."

"Why not?"

"I told you. T'Pol is my friend. I never want to lose that and I'm not willing to scare her off by letting her know I would really want more. The less she knows about that, the better."

"You are being illogical."

"Well, nobody said that Humans and love were logical. Now just drop it, okay?"

"For now, I agree."

"We need to get ready to meet with Admiral Gardner."

"Yes. We have 3.5 hours before our appointment. May I suggest we shower and then meditate?"

"Sounds like a plan."

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

3.3 hours later, Jontek walked into Starfleet Headquarters. He was walking towards the elevator when a guard stepped in front of him.

"Is there something I can help you with, sir?"

"I have an appointment with Admiral Gardner."

"You'll need to sign in and get a badge. We'll need to confirm the appointment before you can go up."

An annoyed looked crossed Jontek's face, surprising the Guard. He'd never seen a Vulcan show emotion like this. "I'll need for you to come over here and wait."

Jontek understood the guard was just doing his job. After all, very few people knew the truth that Admiral Jonathan Archer still existed inside of the Vulcan shell. How many would believe it if they were told? He gave a bitter laugh. Damn few of them, that's for sure.

"Jon, you know this is what our reality is."

"Yes, and it sucks rocks."

"I do not see how sucking rocks would have anything to do with the reality we face. I've heard of that technique when one is without water and is trying to build up saliva. I can not see how that has any relevance to the current situation."

"Drop it, Sontek."

"What?"

"Drop it. I'm not in the mood to debate or define terms right now."

Sontek felt an emotion he'd not yet experienced in Jon. The man was angry. Angry at the situation, angry that everything that he'd worked for came down to waiting while the guard confirmed he was where he was supposed to be. The Vulcan could sense that Jon understood he was being illogical but it didn't stop him from experiencing the anger. He could sense that the human was attempting to channel it and keep from doing something rash.

The guard finished his phone conversation and then turned to Jontek. "Admiral Gardner will see you."

"Damn right he will."

"Sir?"

"Just tell me where I need to sign and get me a badge. I'm going to be late now."

The guard showed where he was to sign in and handed him a badge. "Admiral Gardner is on the 18th floor. Just turn to the right after you leave the elevator."

"I know where I'm going. I've been there a thousand times."

"Sir, perhaps…"

Jontek voice was pure ice but the military bearing came through loud and clear. "You're keeping the Admiral waiting, Sergeant!"

"Yes, Sir."

Jontek strode over to the elevator and pushed the button. As the doors closed, Jon felt Sontek's confusion, "Jon, if you understood he was doing his job, why the anger?"

"Because I'm afraid it's always going to be like this. I feel like an alien on my own world. I used to hate that people knew who I was just because I'd been successful in the Expanse, just because of the Federation, just because I was the Captain of the first warp five ship. Now they'll never know I'm even there."