Chapter 9 "Contact"
Same day Three hours and fourteen minutes later.
Tuvok
After consuming my meal and refocusing my mind from the memory of Aurora and Matthew engaged in a vigorous kiss, I had a short-lived transmission success with Voyager. I still felt unsettled by Matthew's intentions with my roommate and felt a massive strain on my neck and shoulders.
"Tuvok to Janeway, come in, please," I proclaimed, speaking into the device as I sat at Aurora's round kitchen table. It was the nineteenth time I had repeated that statement, and I would hear static then absolutely nothing. Usually, there wasn't any sound when I had the device on.
However, it was different this last time. After approximately seven-point two minutes, I had put the device down and sat on the sofa to pet Oreo, who was blissfully resting on Aurora's university blanket, until I heard,
"Tuvok? Do you read?"
Janeway's voice sounded unfamiliar. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, I leaped from the sofa when I heard my Captain's voice and picked the com device up from the kitchen table. My hands commenced sweating.
"Affirmative Captain Janeway, this is Tuvok," I informed. I started to pace the apartment with my hands clasped behind my back.
"Describe your location," my Captain's voice came through clearly.
"I am in the twenty-first century, on Earth," I explained; static and white noise was advancing through the device at different intervals.
"Please...repeat...Tuvok...you are breaking up," Janeway's voice warbled as the interference worsened unwaveringly.
With the extended pauses of interference between her words, I helplessly attempted to hail her repeatedly until all static and white noise was absent again. My aggravation level reached an apex until I finally grunted,
"Kroykah (enough)!"
I thought I'd reach Janeway tonight and noted the time and date I made for future reference. My unexpected journey on Earth occurred for one month, four hours, and twenty-seven minutes.
A sound of a key turning in the door lock alerted me to Aurora's arrival home thirty minutes later.
"What an asshole," she noisily sobbed as she stormed past me rapidly, like a whirlwind. My roommate threw her keys and purse on the floor and ran into her room in a fit of rage. I was immediately disquieted by Aurora's mood but attempted to disregard it.
Curiously, I peeked into the bedroom before knocking on the door. She lay down on her stomach, vociferously weeping on her bed. Preoccupied with the intensity of her forlornness, I tenderly inquired,
"What happened, Aurora?"
Cautiously, I waited for her to invite me into her room, but she never did. I did not wish to watch Aurora suffer from afar, so I gradually stepped inside to avoid further upsetting her. Since she didn't request that I leave, I gingerly sat at the edge of my roommate's bed. Again, I inquired about the events that distressed Aurora.
There wasn't an answer as she gulped for air and wept. Gently, I put my hand on her right shoulder. Next, I sat beside her on the bed, but not too close to invading her personal space. I rubbed Aurora's back slowly, waiting for her to tell me to stop, but it never came. The sound of her gently weeping wounded my heart deeply.
To my chagrin, I felt Aurora's delicate skin through her sheer blouse, and my manhood stiffen. We hadn't had any physical relations since that first night. Still, Aurora's sexiness aroused me eighty-five percent of the time, and I usually attempted to meditate the feelings away. Notwithstanding, I felt I was missing something significant by not becoming involved with Aurora.
"And what would happen when you go back to Voyager? You would hurt her," I reminded myself as a waft of her delicious perfume entered my nose.
Rapidly, I inquired about Aurora's date again to cease all inappropriate thoughts. She revealed in between gasps for air,
"Matthew was too physical with me when I turned down his request for sex."
My defensiveness rose like a tidal wave in my body. Since Aurora didn't turn her face towards me, I couldn't see the damage. I felt a steady rage roam through my body as I raised my voice loudly, asking,
"Did Matthew physically hurt you?"
Aurora's piercing green eyes displayed sorrow as she showed me her face. Even though her face was red and puffy, and tears were streaming down her cheeks, I didn't see any bruises or lacerations. Relief flooded my heart as Aurora leisurely wiped those waterfalls of tears with her fingertips away. She exhibited radiant beauty despite her misery, which made my heart skip a beat.
"No, Matthew just became a little rough. He grabbed my wrists and tried to pin me down," Aurora sternly stated, "but I kicked him in the balls."
She may have spoken to me clearly, but it sounded like it was in a foreign language.
"If I see Matthew again, I will kill him," I seethed, my hormones raging out of control as my body temperature rose drastically.
"Tuvok, you will not. Vulcans don't believe in violence," Aurora sternly corrected me while sitting on her bed.
Sighing, I rolled my eyes upward. My roommate was correct, after all.
"Will you allow me to teach you self-defense in the future, please," I requested afterward.
"Affirmative," Aurora teased, mimicking me. Without warning, she rested her head on my shoulder as she leaned in to hug me. I felt Aurora's hair on my cheek as we embraced. The pleasure I felt from her nearness was consuming my body.
"Your anger at him on my behalf is terribly sweet," Aurora admitted fifteen seconds later.
"Matthew doesn't deserve you," I huskily whispered.
Shutting my eyes, I longed to lose myself in her Aurora like I almost had that first night. I could feel her heartbeat rapidly pump in her chest and noted that mine did the same in my side where the Vulcan heart lay. Additionally, I fought the urge to do more than embrace my temptress because it felt like it was going against every fiber of my being.
"This has to stop." My thoughts initiated my body's withdrawal from Aurora.
"Please excuse me. I need to lift weights and complete some cardio before I retire for the night," I lamely commented. I needed to release the residual effects of my agitation coursing through my veins.
"Didn't you just go for a run?" Aurora worriedly asked, and I nodded as I removed myself from her bed. She fretted that I over-exercised at times.
Refusing to view my roommate's disappointment, I strolled out of the room and grabbed the apartment key to let off some steam. I retrieved the University of Texas water bottle that I used.
Since my arrival, I have persuaded Aurora of the need for regular exercise. She recently admitted that she enjoyed completing the physical activities with me. Furthermore, my pretty roommate described her job as "stressful," and the training assisted her in managing it.
Likewise, I liked helping her with meditation, controlling her emotions, eating healthier, and exercising much as I did with the cadets at the Starfleet academy before joining Voyager. I also educated them on Federation protocol, of course. Both Aurora and I had a commonality in wanting to help other people.
Other factors were in play, too. Most importantly, my feelings for Aurora were seemingly indestructible. If I hadn't known any better, I would say I fell in love with her.
"What do Vulcans know about love?" I thought, jogging in the frigid night air to the gym.
I recently told Aurora about T'Sharra, with whom I had bonded since we were seven. At age thirty-five, we were supposed to undergo the marriage ritual on my Pon Farr. T'Sharra tragically died in an accident off-planet.
Nevertheless, I loved my betrothed dearly, and I mourned her loss for a lengthy time. A Vulcan priestess broke our bond through a traditional ritual, and I felt an emptiness in my heart where she had been. Now Aurora filled that nothingness when I thought no one could. Ever.
She, of course, empathized with my loss and summarized that losing true love was hard.
Aurora was erroneous in her conclusion as I found being in love with someone from the wrong century was extraordinarily disagreeable. In fact, Starfleet prime directed stated:
"Our interactions should not change anything or anyone's life because we are here to learn and observe."
But Aurora had transformed mine, and she wasn't even aware of it.
In the gym, I bench-pressed my usual two hundred pounds, hoping that I would release the powerful emotions of frustration, angst, love, and desire. Therefore, I completed three sets of 24 reps on my chest, arms and legs. I drank water from my bottle and began ferociously attacking the punching bag as if it were Aurora's date.
"You are just as bad as Matthew," I quietly scolded myself, "you want to have intercourse with Aurora, too."
My inner voice refuted my comment by saying, "you would never hurt her. Ever. You love Aurora and wish to cherish and take care of her."
Sweating profusely, I hit the punching bag one hundred times, imagining it was Matthew's face. I couldn't breathe anymore, so I put my hands on my head to open my lungs.
"Get in… control of… yourself, Tuvok. You… can't….have... Aurora," I gasped in between breaths. Feeling deflated, I realized that was the truth no matter how differently I wished it to be.
Next, the prime directive repeated in my mind again:
"Our interactions should not change anything or anyone's life because we are here to learn and observe."
Deciding that it would be best to go home to meditate, I rose from the floor thirteen minutes later after stretching my body. I felt exhausted and needed a shower. The time was now one hour after I had departed Aurora's apartment, so she was probably asleep.
As I opened the door, I was shocked to view Matthew's silhouette on the sofa, covering her. There were faint sounds, and my ears tuned into the scattered clamor I heard to make sense of them.
"Come on, Aurora," Matthew urged, and I felt my body tense up in anger again.
"No, Matthew. I don't EVER want to see you again," Aurora screamed, but it came out muffled because he put his sizeable hairy hand over her mouth.
"OW! You bit me, you bitch," Matthew cried, shaking the injured hand, but it made him more furious as he put his entire body weight on her.
Unable to view anymore, I stormed over to the sofa and commanded in my most serene voice,
"Aurora said that she didn't want to see you again. Please leave."
I felt a strange calm before my storm of discontented emotions.
"This doesn't concern you," Matthew snarled, not peering up from Aurora and forcing his mouth on hers. As he spoke, I stared at him down, cracking my knuckles on each hand and popping my neck as my roommate's muffled voice cried for help.
"Let her go, and let's settle this now," I archly suggested. I wanted to punch Matthew out.
"Vulcans haven't believed in violence since Surak. You will not engage in it," I inwardly recalled, noting that he didn't move a muscle.
"This man is hurting the woman you care for," the other conflicting voice said.
Matthew ignored me until I put a hand on his shoulder. The look he gave me was spiteful, and I wanted to make him pay for harassing Aurora.
However, I wouldn't give in to the emotions that controlled my ancestors before they followed Surak. Pinching a vein in Matthews's neck with my first two fingers, he collapsed immediately backward on the sofa. Aurora was free from his grasp, and she immediately jumped up and hugged me.
"Oh, Tuvok, thank you for saving me. You are my hero," she exclaimed with an enormous captivating smile.
I solemnly inquired if Aurora was hurt, but she shook her head back and forth. She was in her bedclothes, her face washed, and her hair in a ponytail, but she looked fabulous naturally.
Next, I grabbed Matthew and took him outside to his car. Aurora followed me as I put him in the driver's seat. Matthew would be out for forty minutes and disoriented when he awoke. When she asked me about the Vulcan nerve pinch, I informed her. Side by side, we walked into the apartment.
Inside, Aurora pressed her lithe body against mine and plump lips against my own in a sweet kiss. Although it was an innocent kiss, I shut my eyes as I felt my heart melt and sing with ecstasy. My arms enveloped her soft body as I ran my hands along her back. Aurora's lips felt as smooth as the silk sheets on her bed, and I enjoyed reuniting hers with my own. Oreo also rubbed her body against our legs as we kissed.
Eventually, Aurora withdrew her lips from my own. Her breathing was uneven as she peered up into my eyes. She hesitantly untangled her arms from my waist as her emerald green ones searched for an answer to the question she posed to me,
"Why can't you be from this century, Tuvok?"
"I do not know," I honestly answered and gazed into her eyes as I caught my breath.
Shyly, Aurora inquired if I would stay with her until she fell asleep.
"If I may, shower first," I requested, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, you are all sweaty, aren't you," she mischievously flirted, wearing a sultry grin on her pink lips. Aurora's eyes displayed a yearning as her eyes traveled down my face and over my sweat-stained tank top. She involuntarily licked her lips, and then I excused myself to take a shower.
"My Pon Farr time must be close," I thought. I retrieved clean clothes and strolled into the bathroom, and I felt aroused.
"I must be in control of my emotions and actions at all times," I repeated ten times.
Forcefully shutting the door, I attempted to block the thoughts of me lying beside her on the bed and kissing her ardently.
"Am I in Hell," I begrudgingly wondered.
"Not only am I away from Voyager, but I also live with the most captivating woman on Earth, three hundred years in the past. I fell in love with her, and she seems to feel the same way. Meanwhile, the prime directive says I can't alter anything."
Discarding my clothes but waiting for the water to heat up in the shower, I closed my eyes, took several deep breaths, and focused on Surak's tenets. It didn't work, and as I felt the steam rise in the room from the hot water, my pining for Aurora did too.
My shower wasn't as relaxing as I wished it to be. With my tumultuous emotions and hormones, I could do little. I allowed the almost scalding water to pour down on my nude body in the hope that it would soothe them. If I closed my eyes, I envisioned Aurora's lovely smile. When the water hit my lips, I recalled the divine sensation of her lips against mine. As the water touched my skin, I imagined Aurora's agile hands caressing my chest and skin. I didn't dawdle, trying to keep my mind empty, and it was overly taxing.
Afterward, I anxiously approached Aurora's bed again in my clean clothes. Noting my apprehension, she hurried to the middle of it so I would be comfortable. My body perspired at the thought of us on the bed together and the memories from a month ago. However, I gave my roommate a short nod of my head in acknowledgment, and she grinned.
"Tell me about your evening, Tuvok," Aurora requested as I sat down. Happily, she curled her body against my back as I longingly viewed her. Gradually, Aurora's eyelids drooped up and down as I explained that I heard my Captain's voice for the first time in a month.
"See, you will be out of here in no time, and you will forget me," she teased. Suddenly, her green eyes opened very wide and showed signs of disappointment as the prime directive rang in my head again:
"Our interactions should not change anything or anyone's life because we are here to learn and observe."
"I could never forget you, Aurora," I earnestly promised, and I saw an upturn in her pretty pink lips. That causes me to smile inwardly.
"And I couldn't ever forget you either, Tuvok. Ever."
With that, Aurora shut her eyes.
It seems like Tuvok is struggling emotionally and physically with his feelings for Aurora partially because of Pon Farr. Will he experience that biological urge on Earth?