Chapter 15 - Communication Part II

Soltek didn't have much time to meditate, because only a few minutes after his message exchange with Irina he received a call.

When he activated the screen again he saw his parents.

'Greetings, son,' they said nearly in unison.

'Greetings to you, may parents,' he replied.

They gave him a curious look for a few seconds, but then seemed to ignore whatever had piqued their interest.

'Son, we have an important matter to discuss,' his father said.

'I'm not on duty today, so I have the time,' Soltek replied wondering what they were calling about.

'We have found a prospective mate for you,' his mother said.

'She is from a very decent family and your clan head has already negotiated with her clan head, Krotek. Her name is T'Linck, she is an engineer working on Vulcan and the same age as you.'

There was a short pause in which Soltek must have stared at them. Then he seemed to regain his voice.

'It is not acceptable, I am an adult widower and it is my right to chose a new mate for myself,' he said a bit more forcefully than he intended to.

Now his parents were the ones to stare.

'That is your right under the law of course,' his father said in an icy tone, 'however you must be aware that it is not the traditional way of our family to refuse a deal between your clan head and the clan head of your neighbor clan.'

'Son,' his mother said, 'are you ill?'

'Negative,' he replied with the hint of an effort to control himself.

'I ask you to explain your logic behind your refusal,' his father said tonelessly.

'I am not living on Vulcan and I think I wouldn't make a suitable bond-mate for someone living there while I am always far away,' Soltek replied.

'It must be clear to you that you have to bond to someone suitable in time and you might find later, when you are more mature, that living on Vulcan is more suitable to you than living on a space station amongst emotionally instable aliens,' his father said.

'I am mature and I know what is suitable for me,' Soltek replied trying to control his rising anger.

The eyebrows of his parents rose above their hairline. After an embarrassingly long pause his father said in a tone that told him he already suspected what would be the answer:

'Soltek, is there a prospective mate for you on this station?'

'It is of no concern for you yet,' Soltek replied nearly shaking, 'I will inform you when I have come to an agreement with a prospective mate.'

Now his parents looked at each other.

'Soltek,' his mother said in a soft tone, 'your behavior suggests that you are in no condition to remain on this station, you must return to Vulcan immediately.'

'No,' Soltek said in such an indignant clear loud voice that it was almost musical.

'Soltek,' his father said in a sharp tone, 'you will return to Vulcan immediately, your condition is shamefully obvious and you can't stay among off-worlders at this time.'

At this point the connection terminated because Soltek cracked the screen with his fist. His emotional outburst shocked him so much that he stared at the screen and his bloody hand for a few seconds before he fetched the emergency med kit and ran a small dermal regenerator over the wound. His parents had been right in one aspect: his condition was shamefully obvious.

The telepathic contact with her must have triggered something... He knew it was possible to happen because an uncle of his had re-bonded after loosing his bond-mate in an accident and he had gotten another son with his new bond-mate soon after their betrothal – and the son was only 5 years younger than his older half-brother. Nobody spoke of this discrepancies of course, but he had noticed how his family members used to avoid telling neighbors the exact age of the two brothers.

Irina realized that it was 1800 already and she had an appointment with Lamira to cook some fresh healthy dinner while her boyfriend was practicing with his band.

When she arrived Lamira had already put all the ingredients on the table. They wanted to make mache salad with chickpeas and feta - and a tomato soup with sour cream.

'Hey,' Lamira greeted her.

'Hi,' Irina replied, 'I see you're prepared!'

'You too, girl, according to the padd I found in your quarters...' Lamira teased.

'Not that again!' Irina rolled her eyes.

'So, did you talk with him again?' Lamira asked.

'Yes,' Irina replied and couldn't restrain from smiling.

'Oh...what happened?' Lamira asked grinning.

'Not that much, you naughty girl!' Irina replied nearly crying out loud, then her tone became serious again 'but he had his hand on my face yesterday and that telepathy thingy happened again...it's so beautiful...I'm not sure I'm able to describe it really...'

Still a naughty smile crept over Lamira's face and she was grinning widely.

Irina gave her a long waiting look.

'Do you send...images to one another?' Lamira asked.

'What?' Irina replied flabbergasted.

'You know I've grown up in a partly Betazoid family, I know what telepaths do...' Lamira said smiling.

'We haven't sent images...what's the matter with that? Isn't that just one of the usual forms of communication for telepaths?' Irina asked confused.

'Of course,' Lamira replied smiling cheekily, 'foreplay is a form of communication.'

'Oookaaay,' Irina answered slowly, 'for Betazoids I can believe that...gosh, there are really some things you don't learn in Alien Customs at the Academy... - Ever tried it yourself?'

'Yeah,' Lamira replied, 'unfortunately I'm only quarter-Betazoid and don't have any telepathic abilities. I can't receive any images or words or empathic impressions or whatever, countless family members have tried everything on me - my head is just a skull thick as a wooden board with an ordinary human brain inside, nothing goes in or out.'

'Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, it sounds like it bothers you a bit.' Irina said.

'It did a lot when I was a kid, because my sister and my brother are both as talented as my mother, but nowadays it isn't so bad because most people I'm around aren't telepathic either' Lamira replied, 'it's just that I have to go to a Betazoid wedding next month because my cousin Ordono is getting married - and I'll have to explain to everyone who isn't from my family and doesn't already know that they have to talk to me aloud...but well, Kalm is coming with me and he's very excited, he has never seen a Betazoid wedding,' she chuckled slightly.

'That doesn't sounds so bad,' Irina said, but seemed to be in thoughts.

'You're not asking the obligatory question?' Lamira asked.

'Which question?' Irina replied.

'You know, is it true that everybody is nakid at a Betazoid wedding?' Lamira said in a sing-song-tone.

Irina laughed, 'that I know from Alien Customs!' She grew thoughtful again and then said, 'do telepaths really send that kind of images to each other or where you just pulling my leg?'

'I was serious...of course people can send all sorts of images...strawberry ice cream or whatever...but I know from my cousins that they also send that kindof images to their girl- or boyfriends. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes they just aren't able to control their thoughts quickly enough,' she smiled again, 'I've no idea about Vulcans, though.'

Irina laughed out loud, 'I'm just picturing some of my Vulcan ex-crew mates from the Asteria secretly sending images to each other in a team meeting!'