Merged

Chapter 21

The communiqué from T'Nar came back quickly. The woman indicated that she'd like to meet with Jontek in the M'Nata Sanctuary just outside the city. This was an area with hanging gardens. It had been built before the Awakening by a warlord who later chose to follow Surak. He had developed a system of water pipes that allowed the water to drip down from the top and allowed none of the precious water to go to waste. Rather, on a desert planet of red sands, this was one place that was green with an abundance of plant life. Due to its configuration, it was also a place where people would meet.

When Jontek arrived, he saw a woman not much older than himself in the area T'Nar had indicated. He walked quickly to her location. Before he could speak she put her hand up, pointing to a plant close by. Jontek looked and found that a microphone had been placed there, almost too small for anyone to notice. He nodded and the two left together. They headed out of the sanctuary and into the small town that had grown up next to it. Turning down an alleyway, they came to a small home, of older construction. T'Nar knocked on the door distinctively and was let in. Jontek followed. He saw no one, not even the person that had opened the door. They went down stone steps and ended in a room that had been carved out of the rock.

The woman's fingers spread in the Vulcan "V" greeting. "It is good for you to come, Jontek. It is agreeable to meet with you."

Jontek returned the gesture. "It is agreeable to meet with you as well. Why is the need for secrecy so great, T'Nar?"

She looked him directly in the eyes, in a way that brought to mind the many times T'Pol had brought information to him in the past. "There are things I have learned of. I have spoken to my cousin who is in your class at the Academy. He tells me you are a man of honor. One who seeks peace and who knows the value of all beings in the Federation as the IDIC teaches. One who would not allow Vulcan to be disgraced. One who can be trusted."

"I try to live by those principles, T'Nar. Who is your cousin.?"

"I cannot say at this time. To do so would put his life at risk." She stopped for a second and then asked, "You work in the S'Bont's Astrophysics lab?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"Then you know of the star cluster in Sector 42?" She asked this as if she already knew the answer.

"Yes. The stars in that cluster are young. Many interesting phenomena to study." He wondered where she was going with these questions.

"I have heard that there may be new discoveries there as well."

Sontek knew that some new materials had been discovered in this field in small quantities. While he had been more involved in the research into the properties of these materials before he had been merged, he did recall that some of them had been found to be bioactive. The bioactive material research had been classified and he had been unable to continue on that research line after Jon had been merged with him. Now his work revolved around classifying the more prominent known materials and determining how they could potentially be mined.

"I have not been a part of that research for sometime."

"But you know if it?" She was establishing the facts, wanting to ascertain if he was indeed the person to bring into this.

"I know that there is classified information that I can not reveal." He wouldn't compromise the information he knew, especially if she was just seeking information herself.

She handed him a vial. "Take this. Do not open it now but have it analyzed. Do not do so on Vulcan. If this is what I believe it to be, it may be evidence of a great crime. A crime that goes against everything the Surak stood for."

He looked at the vial in his hand. It looked like a vial would protect the contents from all outside interaction. "What is it?"

"I cannot tell you more at this time." She looked at him, her eyes telling him that she was gravely concerned. "I hope that my cousin has spoken truly. He has told me that you are both of Vulcan of Earth. I know that the komihn in you has gone to great lengths to save Earth and in the bargain saved Vulcan as well. It is my hope you will now choose to save Vulcan and thereby save Earth again."

He asked her to stop talking in riddles. She indicated that to say more could compromise the lives of too many. She told him to let her leave and then to wait for at least 30 minutes before leaving himself. He nodded and watched the woman walk up the stairs, never turning back to see him.

Jon looked at the vial, which was shielded in a metal casing. It was heavier than it looked. He waited the allotted time and headed up the stairs. He placed the vial inside the pocket of his inner robe. He hoped it could not be detected. He thought about S'Bont and how this would be the type of set up the man would do to discredit him. He wondered if he was walking into a trap. To be found with materials that he should not have would definitely be career ending.

"I don't know about this, Jon. What if S'Bont is setting us up, trying to discredit us? I don't know if T'Nar can be trusted."

"I know it is not logical, but somehow, I believe her. Call it a gut feeling, but I think we should do what she says."

"She said we need to get this vial off the planet and test it elsewhere. Should we take it to Earth?"

"I don't think so. If it is a trap, that is where they would expect us to go. I think we should speak with Phlox. Perhaps he can help us with this. They wouldn't have expected him to be involved. If this is a great crime that could affect Vulcan and Earth, we need to move quickly."

Jon entered his rented flitter-car and headed back towards the city. On the way there he contacted Phlox to indicate he would meet him at the medical center. He wanted to discuss his upcoming meeting with T'Pol. He hoped that if his communications were being monitored, no one would suspect the actual topic of discussion. Perhaps Malcolm was right and there was a faction on Vulcan doing something horrid or maybe he had stumbled on another issue altogether. Until the contents of the vial were analyzed he would not have a clue.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

On the flight to Vulcan, Phlox and Jontek had gone over the data of what was becoming known as the Andorian Epidemic. Phlox had indicted that disease resembled several possible diseases, the causes of which ranged from viruses, to parasites, to poisons. He indicated the need to study the information in more detail. Jon had given him the copy of the information that Malcolm had supplied him. Phlox had promised to keep it quiet that he was working on the issue.

When he had arrived, he had put the information in his luggage and had spent some time with his host learning about T'Ziw's Syndrome and the remarkable progress that Earth dogs were able to effect in the treatment of the condition. Phlox had once studied Porthos and had felt certain there would be a use for the creature beyond simply keeping the Captain of the ship happy. He'd studied the antibacterial properties of the saliva, which were extensive, although there were other compounds in the medical literature that were much more potent. He had seen the general increase in well-being of several species when in proximity to the animal. But he had never considered how this animal could affect those that were functioning on a significantly sub-optimal level. It was fascinating.

When he'd received the call from Jontek, Phlox was in the middle of the tour Savan was giving him of the facility. He asked if there was a space where he could meet with Jontek. Savan indicated that Porthos' office would be as good as any.

When Jontek arrived, Phlox indicated the room. Jontek refused to meet there which surprised Phlox. "I would think that Porthos' office would be ideal."

"It might be bugged."

Phlox's face showed concern. "Are you perhaps a bit paranoid?"

Jontek took a deep breath. "Perhaps. But if I have what I think I might, I don't think so. You're not paranoid if they are really out to get you."

Phlox suggested that they go into the courtyard. Jontek nodded. When they arrived, he asked Phlox what the doctor had found in regards to the data. Phlox stated that he really hadn't done much more with it other than the work he had done on the shuttle. Jontek explained what had transpired earlier that day. Phlox listened closely and looked at the vial when Jontek pulled it from his robes.

"This is a carrying system for bioactive materials. You say it was given to you by someone that works in an Inorganic Bio Laboratory?"

That explained the nature of the vial. He could understand the need to protect the contents. It wouldn't be good for the material to be released unintentionally. If it was what he thought it was, it wasn't good for it to be released intentionally either. He answered simply, "Yes."

Phlox looked down at the vial in his hand. "I take it that you wish to have this material analyzed quickly?"

"Absolutely. The sooner I get the results, the sooner I'll know the next logical action necessary." Jontek's visage was more Jon's at this point. Phlox had seen Jon make decisions over the year. He knew that this had been thought out, Still, he needed to make sure the man knew the potential consequences of that decision.

"Jontek, if I leave now, you will need to meet with T'Pol on your own or choose to wait until I get back. Which would you prefer?"

Jon seemed to weigh the options before voicing his decision with finality. "I think under the circumstances, this analysis will take the higher priority. T'Nar spoke of saving both Vulcan and Earth. This would be a case of the needs of the many." He paused for a moment. "As for T'Pol, I believe the work we've done to reach the common ground within myself will be enough. I know that T'Pol was only doing what she felt was required to save us both. It's not something I want to repeat anytime soon, but I'd rather have her back in my life no matter what."

The Denobulan doctor agreed. He'd seen Jon accept the situation with T'Pol before, after the funeral when Elizabeth was buried. The Human and Vulcan's relationship was based solidly on a friendship that provided the underpinnings for their deeper relationship. Besides, Denobula was only four days journey from Vulcan in a ship which Jontek knew he could hire through the family of T'Plorn's sa-telsu. If absolutely necessary, Phlox could return.

Jontek told Phlox to be ready to go within the hour. Returning to the Medical Center, Phlox offered his quick apologies to Savan, indicating that he had an emergency on Denobula to attend to. Jontek contacted T'Plorn. She agreed to set up a transport for Phlox to Denobula. Jontek indicated that she should let her husband's relatives know that Phlox had been called home regarding a family medical emergency and therefore a quick return to his home planet was imperative. An hour later, Jontek picked Phlox up and took him to the spaceport. Phlox had secreted the vial in the bottom of a cage holding a Quanotian Pplonmorter, a species that he had found in a bazaar area the day before. Rumor had it that these creatures tear ducts produced a salve that would cure eczema type lesions in several species.

He saw the doctor off and hoped he had not just caused problems for himself or his colleagues. He still wasn't sure he hadn't just walked into a trap.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

Jontek went back to his apartment. He saw T'Pol's flitter-car parked out front. He had given her a key to his apartment a couple of months before. He wasn't really ready to meet her, but at the speed things were moving, it might be better to get it over with.

Spending the time with Phlox dealing with the issues of their merged persona had prepared him to deal with the issues T'Pol brought to the fore as well. He'd accepted that much of what had been a source of anger had been her relationship years before with a man who had been like a brother to him. He had felt betrayed by both of them. He now recognized that the most recent situation had brought those feelings back again. He had taken them out and examined them closely then folded them away again, packing them out of sight and hopefully out of mind.

He knew the current situation wasn't exactly the same. Trip had acted on his own, gravely hurt by his sister's death and unsure if Enterprise would even succeed in its mission. When T'Pol had come onto him under the influence of the Trellium, Trip had caved. While Jon could understand his weakness on one level, it still had felt like a betrayal of their friendship. Jon had taken on the responsibility for it, figuring that if he hadn't pushed everyone away, that the outcome would have been vastly different.

Sontek, on the other hand, had been forced into proximity with T'Pol, an unbonded female, due to Jon's relationship with her. Sontek knew that Jon loved T'Pol and had tried to stay outside of the close relationship the human and Vulcan shared. However, pon'farr had pushed him to follow the Vulcan imperative to mate and the fact that T'Pol was an unbonded female had, in effect, caused the interaction to be somewhat inevitable. T'Pol's own biology had pushed her to meet the needs of an unbonded male in pon'farr. Phlox had explained that these urges introduced a random factor into mating on Vulcan. It kept the species strong. Sontek had told Jon that while T'Pol did care for him, it was mostly due to the love she felt for Jon. Since she could not separate the two, she must logically care for both.

Jontek opened the door. He found T'Pol seated in the corner of the sitting area, in meditation. He softly called her. He watched as she pulled herself back to herself.
"It is agreeable to see you T'Pol."

"It is agreeable to see you as well, Jontek." She seemed at a loss. "I thought you might…you would…"

"Its okay, T'Pol. We do need to talk."

She nodded. He asked if she would like tea and she shook her head. Water would be sufficient. He fixed two glasses and walked back to the sitting area. They looked at each other, neither sure who should start. Finally, T'Pol opened up.

"Jon, do you know why I had to do what I did?" Her eyes begged that he would hear her.

"You mean engaging in pon'farr with Sontek?"

She nodded, "Yes"

He took a deep breath. "I think I have a better understanding of it now. Phlox said you felt that you would lose us both if you didn't."

She looked down at her hands. "Yes. I could not take losing you again. I knew this time if he killed you, you would truly be gone." Her face tilted up to look at him. "I couldn't face that again. I've come to realize, I love you, Jon."

He reached his hand over to hers lightly touching it. "I love you, T'Pol. That's why this is so hard." He paused considering his next statement but forged ahead. "It is just difficult to accept this situation as a human."

"Would it help if you could see that other humans have felt something similar?"

A sharp, pointed breath exited him. "Huuh. I don't think anyone from any species has ever experienced a merging like this."

She clarified, "No. Not this exact situation. But I found a poem that had been sung about two hundred years ago from your planet that might speak to the concept."

This surprised him. "A poem from Earth? That fits this situation?"

She nodded, pulling a paper out of her pocket. "Yes. Apparently it was from a song that a popular singing group performed. The singer was Grace Slick. The song was called Triad. I wrote down the first two verses as the last did not seem to have any relevance to our own situation. I'm not sure all of the second verse does either, but since there are some concepts there as well, I wrote it down too." She handed the paper to him.

He read the words. They hit him like a mallet. He couldn't believe that these words had been written on Earth two hundred years before the situation he found himself in.

You want to know how it will be
Me and him or you and me
You both stand there
Your long hair flowing
Eyes alive your mind
Still growing
Saying to me
What can we do now that
We both love you
I love you too
I don't really see
Why can't we go on as three

You are afraid
Embarrassed too
No one has ever said
Such a thing to you
Your mother's ghost
Stands at your shoulder
Face like ice a little bit colder
Saying to you
You cannot do that
It breaks all the rules
You learned in school
I don't really see
Why can't we go on as three

He was silent a long time, taking in the words on the paper before him, written in T'Pol's script. They resonated deeply. "Is this what you want, T'Pol?"

"I don't see any other way, Jontek. I can not say I do not care for both of you since I cannot separate you. I love you, Jon. I care for you, Sontek. How else can we be?"

He nodded. It was logical. It was difficult and strange, but it was logical. He didn't like it, but it was logical. And he loved her. And because of that alone, it didn't matter if it was logical or not. He loved her. Wasn't that worth trying something like this? "All right, T'Pol. We'll try. I can't say if it will succeed but I'm willing to try. I want to keep us."

She reached out two fingers to him. The human part of him was confused.

"This is a Vulcan sign of affection. It is similar to a kiss on Earth. What do you want to do, Jon?"

"How do I answer it?" He felt his own two fingers mirror hers and they touched. He felt the telepathy between them. Felt T'Pol's tentative movement towards him, afraid that he would push her away. Afraid that this would be too difficult for him to accept. He had agreed to try.

He let her feelings wash over him and suddenly, it didn't matter that there was more than just Jon and T'Pol. Sontek was a part of them, not by intentional choice but by the universal curve ball that had been thrown at them on Tanansis V. Had the events on that planet never happened, Jon wouldn't even have this with T'Pol. His heart reached out to embrace her and Sontek at the same time. They were three.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

It was a week before Phlox contacted him on a secure, coded channel. During that time, Jontek and T'Pol had spent time in meditation. Jon was still unwilling to be much closer to T'Pol than the new Vulcan touching he had learned. This new dynamic was still strange. He would have to move slowly but he could feel that both T'Pol and Sontek would follow his lead, only accepting what he would accept.

He saw what Sontek had spoken about now. T'Pol was comfortable with Sontek but she did not love him, at least he felt a distinct difference in how she touched his mind and how she touched Sontek's. With the Vulcan, it was similar to the close relationship he had seen occur in human marriages of many years; a comfortable interaction, full of trust and caring, but without extreme passion. With his own mind, however, there was a yearning, a passion, a desire that was strong and potent. He knew she loved him.

Sontek had returned to the lab and Jon to teaching. When he received the communiqué from Phlox, he was shocked. The analysis of the material had shown it to be a constructed molecule, incorporating new elements from what Sontek recognized as coming from the star cluster. Phlox had confirmed that it would act as a poison, similar to that which would be seen with mercury poisoning on Earth, on the Andorian population. This molecule had been created with the soul purpose to decimate their species. It was almost impossible to trace. If not for Phlox's keen research skills, it was likely to take much longer for the truth to reveal itself.

He thought back to what Travis had said. This disease had developed at Rowtorn eight months before. That would have been a little less than 22 months after the elements had been discovered in the star cluster, and had started being collected. By the time the disease had first presented, quite a bit of the material had been accumulated. He contacted T'Nar, asking her to meet him at the basement room again after his shift finished at the laboratory. He asked T'Pol to take his class that afternoon, promising to let her know what was going on later that night.

They meet a few hours later. She was obviously frightened, an emotion that Jontek seldom saw in Vulcans, so this situation had to be bothering her greatly. He spoke softly but firmly. "I've had the material analyzed. This is a bioterrorism weapon meant to cause Andorian genocide. What do you know about this?"

"Only that the records showing how much of the collected material that is in storage does not match what is actually there. I wasn't sure exactly what was in the vial, but I knew that the Andorian Epidemic has been occurring in synch with the removal of the material. I saw the pattern a little more than a month ago. That was when I contacted you."

"I remember." He stopped for a moment, obviously thinking through what needed to be done. He could take this to the Trinary Governing Council, to T'Pau, but it would take time to investigate and by that time, the Andorians might be completely eradicated through this genocidal act of bioterrorism. He could take this to the Andorians, but they likely would not see that it was only a faction of the Vulcans doing this, rather choosing to believe that their ancient enemies had decided to attack them, and likely launching a retaliatory attack in return, at all Vulcans. He turned to T'Nar. "Can you find out if they developed a cure for this? Can you look in the records?"

She nodded. "I think so. I'll contact you as soon as I know."

Although he had a pretty good idea of at least one of the culprits, he asked, "Do you know who is behind this?"

"I only know that Director S'Bont is involved. I don't know who else, although I know that even he could not be acting alone."

Once their plan had been put into place, they left in a similar fashion as the last time. Jontek continued to think through what had occurred. He thought for a moment that perhaps he should bring Malcolm in but decided against it for now. He'd seen how Section 31 had handled the Klingon Augment's virus years before and didn't want them involved until he knew more about the situation. He'd simply have to play it by ear.