Chapter 13

Sherene sat down at the desk in T'Ling's office, which was as bland as the doctor herself. Plain white walls, devoid of any decoration, with minimal furniture to occupy it.

"Thanks for agreeing to the interview," Sherene said. "I know you're not a member of Starfleet, so you didn't have to do it."

T'Ling sat across from Sherene and folded her hands atop the desk. "Evidently, the Vulcan Defence Directorate was apprised of your request to Starfleet Command, and I was strongly advised to participate. My government is adopting a more transparent public image; they no doubt felt that my involvement in your article would aid this."

Sherene absently nodded at this verbose response. "Well, thanks anyway."

She activated her recording padd. "So, in aid of this transparency: Tell me about yourself."

"Please be more specific." T'Ling's tone of voice never altered from neutral yet firm.

Sherene tried to restrain her frustration with the impassive Vulcan, reminding herself that their two peoples were now allies.

"What made you pursue a career in medicine? And the Defence Force?" she asked calmly.

"The answer to both questions is one and the same. However, nothing 'made' me pursue my chosen vocation. Medicine was the logical path based on my academic record - I excelled in the biological sciences - and the Defence Force offered a medical training program."

"But what made-" Sherene paused, choosing her wording more carefully. "What inspired the decision to join the Defence Force as opposed to becoming a civilian doctor?"

T'Ling was silent for a moment, although her angular features remained expressionless. "T'Plana-Hath, Matron of Vulcan Philosophy, once said, 'The logic of morality is in taking the most positive action for the majority of one's community over one's self.' By joining the military, I could apply my medical expertise to a larger percentage of my community. There was also the secondary effect that those I helped would go on to help others, thus amplifying my positive contribution."

"Military?" Sherene asked, her antennae leaning forward curiously. She knew, of course, that the Vulcans used to be very militaristic, but she had never heard one openly admit it before - they usually claimed they had a peacekeeping and exploratory force only.

"Yes. The Defence Force, under the High Command, was very much a military at that time. There is no sense in denying it."

"Transparency," Sherene said with a smirk.

"Precisely."

"And would you say that you've had a positive effect over the years?"

"I would," T'Ling said without hesitation or ego.

Sherene clenched her jaw. This was like making fire from ice, as they say on Andoria. "Any particular examples?" she asked.

T'Ling was silent again for a moment. "Had I not joined the Defence Force, I would not have met my husband of sixty-six years. Our children and grandchildren would therefore have never been born."

Sherene widened her eyes in surprise, her antennae flattening back as if startled. "Oh, I didn't know you had a family."

"My husband passed away twenty years ago, but I have a son and two daughters by him. They gave us seven grandchildren between them."

"You must be very proud."

"Pride is an emotion."

Sherene smirked. "Yeah, but I heard that Vulcans do have emotions. You just suppress them, right?"

T'Ling raised an eyebrow, the only crack in her stony face. "That is not entirely accurate. We do not suppress our emotions, we control them. Manage them. We filter our feelings through the philosophy of cthia."

"Cthia?"

"The closest translation is 'logic.' It is the understanding of the universe based on undeniable truths. Emotion can often distort one's perception of reality, but it is still an inescapable component of life."

"So Vulcans aren't so unfeeling after all, huh?" Sherene said, chuckling.

"Most are not," said T'Ling. "There is, however, a ritual called the kolinahr, in which one purges all emotion to embrace pure cthia. There are few who have mastered it though."

"Really?" said Sherene. An almost imperceptible nod was her response. "Is that something you'd ever try?"

A faraway look entered T'Ling's cold eyes. "I have attempted it twice before."

Sherene leaned forward, following her antennae. "What happened?"

"To use a Human expression; it is a long story. Suffice it to say that I eventually came to understand that even emotions have their place in all things."

Sherene leaned back, not quite content with this non-answer, but, after her experience with Captain Thorpe, she was respectful enough not to pry further. "Such as being proud of your children and grandchildren?" she said with another smirk.

"I consider their contributions to their community to be positive, and thus, by extension, I too have had a positive effect by bringing them into the universe."

Sherene smiled warmly. While T'Ling wasn't exactly overflowing with parental delight, Sherene did hope that she would one day share the older woman's sentiment towards children of her own.

With luck, she would be far from this planet when that day came.