Merged

Chapter 15

Jontek took a final look in the mirror. The Vulcan robes were silk in russet with subtle gold runes embedded in the labels of the outer robe. He had to admit one thing. Vulcan formalwear was much more comfortable that its human counterparts of a military dress uniform or tuxedo. The military dress had a high white collar that always itched and as for the tuxedo…well, there was a reason they called it a monkey suit in his opinion. Of course, Jon had to admit, Earth women really seemed to go for the look. He could recall several occasions through the years, especially after he'd joined Starfleet, when he had formal events he attended with a woman wearing her finest evening dress. Quite a few of those had lead to quite steamy after-the-ball activities. He smiled as he recalled he was still on good terms with many of these ladies. He figured that was due to his discretion. He never told.

T'Pol had indicated that she would pick him up. He looked at his timepiece and realized that he still had a bit of time before he was to leave. He was glad that he didn't have Porthos to worry about tonight. He had allowed Spobra to have Porthos over for the evening. The child and the dog had definitely hit it off and Porthos often visited the family. Since he had the two jobs to attend to, knowing that Porthos was being cared for set his mind at ease.

Jontek decided to check his computer for any messages that might have come in. They found one from T'Plorn. It was an invitation to the celebration of his sa-fu-d-ko-kai's successful completion of his tal'oth. Jontek thought back to the day he had participated in the ritual presentation of the blade before the boy left on his own to conquer the desert with only that blade and the clothes on his back. A tall, thin lad, he had looked unequipped to handle this ordeal. The human half had felt joy when it was learned he had returned, somewhat worse for wear but alive. The Vulcan half had felt satisfaction that his sa-fu-d-ko-kai had completed this Vulcan tradition with honor. Jontek composed his answer agreeing to go to the celebration three days hence.

He found another message from Hoshi. She and Malcolm had finally decided to tie the knot. They wanted Jontek to come to the wedding. In her communiqué, she indicated that T'Pol was being invited as well. Again, there was a distinct difference in how the two halfs responded. Jon was happy his two former officers were ready to share their lives together. Sontek was curious to see a human marriage ceremony. They figured they could broach the potential of traveling together with T'Pol as soon as they ascertained if she had read her invitation yet.

He was about to open yet another message when he heard the expected knock upon the door. Checking his timepiece again, he found that T'Pol was as always right on time. He answered the door. T'Pol stood in the doorway, more beautiful then he'd ever seen her before. Her robes were an olive colored silk in a subtle print of a geometric pattern. It set her eyes off in such a way that took Jontek's breath away. As he gazed at her, the scent of a rare Vulcan cactus flower wafted up, the fragrance subtle and delicate. Jon found another advantage to the Vulcan robes in that his very human response to T'Pol would be unseen. That certainly wouldn't have been the case with human formal wear.

"Jon, I know that human biology is much different than Vulcan. But I am Vulcan, I don't understand this human response."

"I guess if I feel something, our body responds as well."

"Normally you allow my thoughts to guide our physical actions."

"Yes, but this is not really an 'allow' type of thing. It just sort of happens when a human male is around a beautiful woman. Especially one he has feelings for."

"Interesting."

"What about Vulcan males?"

"We have a …different type of response situation which is more…cyclical."

"Hmmm."

"It is agreeable to see you, Jontek. Are you ready to go?"

Jontek eyes took on a soft gaze as he answered, "It is more than agreeable to see you, T'Pol. And yes, we are ready"

She looked at him quizzically but said nothing. She turned to walk back to the flitter-car and Jontek followed her, closing the door behind him. He opened the door of her flitter-car for her and then waited until she was settled before getting in himself. Jontek recognized the route to the Ministry Hall where the event was to be held. As they drove, it was obvious that T'Pol had something on her mind. Finally she turned to him.

"Jon? Is Sontek present with you?"

Jontek nodded. "Yes, T'Pol. We decided that since I have never been to a formal Vulcan affair as a Vulcan, it would be wise to have Sontek there to guide me. Why do you ask?"

Her countenance showed concern. "Based on your greeting to me at the door, I was unsure."

Jontek explained, "We hadn't arrived at the function yet. We felt I could have a more personal moment with you."

T'Pol nodded, "I understand." She hesitated a moment and then continued. "However, a slight development has occurred. When I asked you to go with me, I had not seen the guest list."

"Why is the guest list important?"

"You know that this event is being held in honor of a visiting dignitary, Ambassador Tonazi of the Yanasic Conclave. Our hope is that we can persuade him to meet with Federation Admissions staff. Soval is here to represent the Federation and Vulcan."

Jontek nodded. "It will be agreeable to see Ambassador Soval. I haven't seen him since we left Earth."

T'Pol looked over to him, indicated she had more information to impart. "There is more, Jontek. S'Bont will be there as well."

At the sound of the man's name, Jontek's face fell. This night meant a great deal to T'Pol. As the chair of her department, how things went this evening would be scrutinized. "Perhaps I should go behind shields and allow Sontek to hold our primary consciousness."

"That will only work for part of the night, Jon. There will be a time that I'll need to have Ambassador Tonazi meet with you to show him that humans are reasonable."

"Why does he think otherwise?"

"They have heard about the incident with the Xazastian Dictator, Pp'ytzic-ton. They do not understand why they should trust a species that targeted civilians. Especially children."

Jontek shook his head, his lips tight. "We never did that. Pp'ytzic-ton used civilians and his own family as a shield. When he continued to allow his ships to practice piracy, resulting in the death of several ships complements, we had to strike. Our intelligence had indicated that he was alone with his generals. We didn't know his children were with him."

T'Pol knew that this incident had hurt Jon. She'd seen him struggle during the time in the Expanse when things went wrong and knew this man would never let something like this be soothed away easily. "I know that Starfleet did not mean to cause the death of the six children. However, it happened and now the Yanasic Conclave is concerned that this is a practice of humans. I need for you to help defuse the situation. Show them that humans are not the monsters they think they are."

Jontek though about it. "We could do that by bringing Jon back to the consciousness when you need him. That way we can prevent S'Bont from needling Jon into a confrontation and still allow Sontek to help out with the diplomatic situation."

"That would be acceptable." They had arrived at their destination. She parked the flitter car and then turned to the man next to her. She addressed the human she had known for many years. "Jon, I'm sorry things developed this way. I was hoping you would begin to learn formal Vulcan protocol."

"Its okay, T'Pol. Another opportunity will arise. You and Sontek are on your home turf. I'll see you later tonight." With that the countenance of the Vulcan changed and T'Pol knew she was in the presence of Sontek alone. She suddenly realized this was the first time this particular situation had developed. Since Jontek had come into her life, she'd either been in the presence of the merged Jontek or the human side, Jon. She'd never actually spent any time with Sontek alone. A part of her was intrigued to see what the evening would bring.

When they arrived at the hall, Sontek had come over to help her out of the flitter-car. She again gave him a quizzical look. "Jon?"

"No, Sontek. Jon is behind shields."

"Why did you help me out of the car? That is a human activity."

Sontek provided his reasoning. "But it is a logical one. You do not want to damage your robes and helping you out of the vehicle prevents opportunities to soil them."

She nodded, stating "Your argument is sound."

They headed into the hall, side by side. When they reached the door, the greeter held out the shar-glashaya, a device about the size of a padd which checked their identities, confirming that both had been invited to the event. While Vulcan was generally safe, it was considered prudent with the high level personnel that were in attendance.

They entered the room. A man of rather small stature for a Vulcan walked up to them. "It is agreeable to see you, T'Pol. Is this Jontek, your newest professor?"

"It is agreeable to see you as well, Swyn. Yes. Jontek, I'd like you to meet the chair of the Archeology Department at the Academy, Swyn."

"I have heard that during the Departmental digs this past summer; you discovered another of Surak's desert schools."

"It was quite a find. We've now found six more records written by the students of Surak. They show the extent of the interest that Surak's teachings provoked after the Awakening. We're finding that early on, there was strife as those who carried Surak's teachings were accepted or persecuted. But ultimately, logic prevailed and even those who initially doubted the practices came to accept them. Except for those who flew beneath the raptors' wings and they choose to leave Vulcan rather than embrace the new order.

They talked for a few minutes more and then Swyn indicated he needed to greet yet another Chair in attendance. He excused himself.

Jontek asked T'Pol if she would like some water. Even at functions such as these, water was the main choice of the Vulcans, although selections more in keeping with their cultures were offered to off-worlders. T'Pol indicated she would and he retrieved two classes of chilled desert spring water. T'Pol appreciated his attentiveness. She felt comfortable with this man.

There were a variety of foods available on tables placed throughout the room, all which would be eaten with a fork. Taking small plates, both of them took a small amount of food, enough to be polite. T'Pol could tell that Sontek had been brought up to fit easily into the academic world. He spoke quietly but thoughtfully and his manners were flawless.

They continued to mingle with the various personages present. The entire time, Sontek kept an eye out for S'Bont. He was just about to tell T'Pol that he thought the man wasn't coming when he saw him arrive. He sighed. T'Pol looked at him, an eyebrow rising.

Sontek looked somewhat embarrassed to be caught in such a human action. "I've found that certain of Jon's human traits have become my own. Sighing seems to be one of them."

T'Pol nodded. "I see. A sigh in a human can indicate many things."

"I know. But in this case, it is due to the arrival of S'Bont and the knowledge that this will not be as pleasant a night as I might have hoped." His demeanor indicated that at the moment, he would truly wish to be somewhere else but was willing to deal with whatever was presented to him with grace and tact.

"I understand."

Figuring that discretion was the better part of valor, they moved toward the other side of the room. Knowing that it was most likely a lost cause, they still hoped he would not discover them too soon.

Indeed, not much time passed before the man homed in on them, making his way deliberately towards them.

"T'Pol and Jontek. I saw your names on the guest list. I did not know you were coming together." How S'Bont could take such an innocuous statement and make it sound like there was more was a amazing feat.

T'Pol calmly addressed S'Bont. "Jontek is on my staff, is it not logical that we would arrive together?"

"I have simply heard that during your sojourn with the humans, you grew to prefer them. Even over your own people."

"That would be an incorrect assessment. I am quite satisfied to be back on Vulcan. I did learn to embrace the diversity that humans pride themselves on accepting. That and the Kir'Shara allowed me to truly understand the meaning of the IDIC."

S'Bont looked annoyed. "The IDIC was developed before we had made first contact with another species. It was meant to apply to the diversity of Vulcans. Not the diversity of off worlders."

"No. I have touched minds that have touched Surak's. I saw the truth within them." T'Pol was amazed that eight years after the Kir'Shara had been restored to Vulcan, there would be people that still did not embrace it.

"You have been deceived, T'Pol. I will admit it was a brilliant political move to restore the so called 'true Kir'Shara' to Vulcan. Creating an artifact that passed every test by the Academy is quite a feat, but eventually I'm sure they will find it to be a forgery."

T'Pol was incredulous. "You're saying you do not believe the science, S'Bont?"

"I'm saying that somehow, things have been faked. I haven't discovered how yet, but someday, I'll have the proof." Turning to Jontek, he asked, "Do you enjoy being T'Pol's kelek-aushfa, Jontek?"

T'Pol rose to his defense. "He is hardly that, S'Bont."

With a look of distain, S'Bont gave T'Pol and icy glare. "I did not direct the question to you, T'Pol."

Sontek quietly answered, "I am not an animal kept for amusement or companionship, S'Bont, and thus I can not be her kelek-aushfa. I am simply a professor in her Department. And, quite frankly, the fact that I'm here is not your concern."

S'Bont straightened at the answer. "You still work in my lab for me, Jontek."

Sontek's voice stayed calm and quiet. "Yes. I have been diligent in meeting the project objectives. We've made great strides in the work." He paused for a moment, "But you do not have jurisdiction over any other part of my life."

S'Bont was ready to pounce. "Do I detect…annoyance?"

Sontek stated directly, "Annoyance is an emotion. I am simply pointing out the facts."

S'Bont cryptically answered, "Just remember, Jontek. Facts can change when a worldview shift occurs. Just because the pendulum has swung in one direction does not mean it won't swing back to the other. Eight years in a Vulcan life does not turn things upside down."

Sontek's logical argument continued. "No. However, just as Surak caused Vulcan to Awaken to a new reality, finding the true Kir'Shara has been equally as important. Vulcan has reawoken during these past eight years. I do not believe a pendulum is the right analogy to use in this matter. It is more like a wave that washes over the landscape and changes things irreversibly."

"We shall see, Jontek…and T'Pol."

He started to turn to leave when Jontek said softly "May Surak's peace find you tonight, S'Bont."

The man stopped for a second and paused, giving Jontek a gaze that seemed to indicate an almost emotional response and a negative one at that. He continued to turn and walk away.

A moment later, Soval approached them. "It is agreeable to see you T'Pol and you as well, Jontek." Continuing to address the man who now incorporated both a fine young Vulcan and the Human he had come to know so well, "Vulcan seems to be agreeing with your two halves."

"Soval, it is agreeable to see you as well." T'Pol and Jontek had almost spoken in unity.

Jontek clarified the situation to Soval. "Vulcan has been a good choice. I need to let you know, however, Jon is not exactly present at the moment."

Remembering the day at the Vulcan Compound on Earth, he nodded. "He is behind shields?" When he received an answer in the affirmative he stated, "I need for Jon to speak with Ambassador Tonazi. The success of this diplomatic mission depends on it."

Sontek continued to explain. "Jon will be available when he is needed. I will be able to bring him to consciousness whenever you are ready."

Soval nodded. "The there is no time like the present. That is an Earth phase I've always admired."

"Indeed."

"Jon?" It took a moment but a few seconds later, Jontek's face took on a slightly different look.

"Yeah?"

"We need you to come to the fore. We're about to meet the Vanasian ambassador, Tonazi."

It took a moment for Jon to get his bearings. For a second he remembered Trip's statement that there were "great parties at the Vulcan Compound." Things at this gathering were subdued and quite tame by human standards, even for a diplomatic reception. Vulcans stood in small groups discussing various topics. As he passed one group, they were discussing various uses for statistical calculations and which issues different ones were appropriate for. Riveting conversation.

The group of three made their way to the Vanasian ambassador. He was finishing a conversation with Swyn, comparing the types of ruins to be found on their mutual planets. As the Vanasian topography on their home planet, where Tonazi lived, provided many caves, there were few actual structures built. Rather, the caves themselves were turned into living and work quarters. Swyn noted Soval's indication that he would like to speak with the Ambassador. Swyn excused himself and went to refill his drink.

Soval introduced the two Vulcans by his side. "Ambassador Tonazi. I would like you to meet T'Pol, the head of the Department of Federation Studies and Jontek, one of her professors."

Tonazi bowed deeply. "Glad am I to be seeing these persons."

T'Pol & Jontek gave bows in return. T'Pol spoke for the two of them. "We are honored."

Soval continued, explaining Jontek's unique perspective. "Jontek had a situation occur about six months ago. He was in an accident which resulted in the Vulcan Sontek being merged with the Human, Admiral Jonathan Archer."

Tonazi's face took on a look that could be confusion or upset. "In Starfleet was this Archer?"

Jontek answered, "Yes, the human half of us is an Admiral in Starfleet."

The Ambassador's tone indicated anger. "Killed children did this Starfleet."

Jontek shook his head. "That was an accident. We did not know the children were there."

Tonazi was adamant. "Attack anyway did Starfleet."

Jontek looked at Tonazi. He felt he had to let the man know what had occurred in more detail. "No. If we had known, we would not have launched the attack at that time. Our informants had assured us that Pp'ytzic-ton was alone. We believed no others would be killed except his generals who were equally guilty of piracy, and ultimately the death of many beings from various planets in the sector." He stopped for a moment and then looked at the Ambassador, an honest expression evident in his face. "Human's take innocent life very seriously. We do not kill indiscriminately."

"Skeptical is Vanasian Conclave. Trust Earth little now."

Jontek gave it one more appeal. "Give Earth a chance. The people of Earth want to support peace in the Galaxy. We do not take military action without provocation and have offered ourselves to solve problems diplomatically. The Federation is not just for Earth, or for any particular group. It is for all."

The Ambassador showed signs of a change to at least listen, but threw out one more concern. "Federation. Are not Klingons. Are not Suliban."

Jontek answered with sincerity. "Because they have chosen not to participate and to meet all other species on a level playing field. The Federation is not for those who would take advantage of others. It is a place to solve disputes peacefully. To band together."

Tonazi nodded his head and touched his temples. "Speaks well this Archer/Sontek. Federation may be good for explore, Tonazi thinks. Learn more willing this Federation."

Soval spoke again nodding in Jontek's direction. "We hope to greet you in Federation councils, Ambassador Tonazi." He indicated to the Ambassador that he had some other personages that wanted to meet him. Ambassador Tonazi agreed and they left Jontek and T'Pol alone.

T'Pol was pleased. "Excellent, Jontek. Knowing that the Vanasians are willing to learn about the benefits of Federation membership will go a long way towards building the base. The Vanasian Conclave holds many worlds."

"Glad we could help, T'Pol." Jontek noticed that S'Bont was heading their way again. "Do you think we could leave now that we've got the Vanasian Conclave on the right path? I don't really wish to deal with S'Bont all night."

T'Pol nodded. "I understand. Yes. We can go if you wish."

"We do."

They placed their glasses upon a table and left. As they walked towards the flitter car, T'Pol thought of how comfortable she had been with Sontek earlier. Tonight had been a win for everyone all around. Except for S'Bont, she thought. Sontek hadn't given him any quarter.

"T'Pol?"

"Yes?"

"Have you received a communiqué from Hoshi?"

"Yes, I noticed one came in but I haven't opened it yet."

"You might want to when you get home tonight."

"Okay. I thank both of you for a pleasant evening and your assistance in this delicate situation with the Conclave."

"It was our pleasure, T'Pol."