I'm happy a lot of people like the half-Vulcan children of the two doctors, because I plan to let them show up again ;)

Also I want to say thanks everyone for your patience. At the moment I don't find as much time to write as I would like to, but I have a vague idea about where this story will head.

Chapter 28 – Vulcan

Irina immediately felt the hot air engulf her when they transported down to the surface of Vulcan. They were standing in front of a large Vulcan house. It was in a very good shape, but the walls in the center seemed to be made of stone and had irregularities which made it look like it was pretty ancient. It had obviously been enlarged with some newer parts right and left which were made from a different material. Soltek's parents obviously weren't poor, but they weren't rich either. It didn't look like a mansion, more like the house of a prospering farmer, if Irina was any judge of Vulcan housing.

The area looked literally like the middle of nowhere. She could make out some other houses in the distance, each one standing alone. They were surrounded by fields. There was some kind of grain, maybe half-ripe by the looks of it on several fields and various vegetables Irina didn't recognize on others. But then she saw one plant she knew: sugar cactus. Her mother had been growing the red-orange ball-like cactus in their garden on the moon. Irina loved the sweet-sappy taste, she hadn't known it originated on Vulcan though.

Soltek led them to the front door and rang a large gong which was loud enough to alert everybody 50 meters away of a visitor. Soltek's parents opened the door after a short time.

'Welcome, my son,' his father said formally raising his hand in the Vulcan salute, 'and welcome to you, Lt. Paranov and to your family.'

Soltek's mother raised her hand in the traditional Vulcan greeting as well.

After everybody had been introduced, Soltek's mother, whose name was T'Miha, invited them into the garden at the backside of the house. They were offered seats around a long stone table which was in the shade of two large trees to Irina's relief.

The look on the faces of Soltek's parents seemed to scrutinize every member of Irina's family and the atmosphere would have been icy had it not been such a hot summer day. There was an awkward moment of silence until Soltek's father Forak said that their clan head will join them shortly to discuss the bonding with Irina's parents.

Irina was getting more nervous with every minute. When T'Miha went back inside to bring them refreshments Irina's mother good-naturedly offered to help her which the Vulcan woman seemed to accept with a curt nod. Irina hoped her mother wouldn't annoy Soltek's mother by talking too much.

Irina could sense that Soltek was sending her calming thoughts, but she could tell that he needed to keep thinking the calming thoughts as much for his own sake. She gave him an appreciative look and concentrated to send him the image of her touching his fingers. A warm feeling bounced back to her from him, at least she seemed to slowly get the hang of their bond.

After a few minutes T'Miha and Irina's mother brought water and slices of sugar cactus – which was called Ulula in Vulcan. The two women were talking about agriculture and for once Irina was glad her mother was such an expert on the subject and obviously knew all the plants Soltek's family was growing. Her mother seemed to get somewhat along with T'Miha, at least concerning the subject of agriculture.

But T'Miha's face hardened when she saw Olga take a slice of Ulula with her fingers. Olga seemed not to notice it or acted like she didn't, but Irina gave her a slight kick under the table and indicated the little sticks meant for this purpose with her eyes. Dr. Hedak, who was sitting next to Olga, whispered something to her and she nodded. Irina was glad to have brought the attentive healer along, good to have another expert on Vulcan stuff on our side she thought, we can use every help we can get to pass the scrutiny of that family.

When Soltek's clan head finally arrived the sight of her made Irina nearly shiver. She looked incredibly old and strict to the point of ruthlessness. It was no surprise she had shunned Soltek's aunt for marrying a Romulan. Irina knew Soltek's family tree was old, but not noble and judging from T'Fera's clothes she didn't look like a rich lady. Her clothes were simple made for the work outside, but clean and neat. The way she carried herself however made her look like she was the proud lady of a most noble family, a queen over her piece of Vulcan soil.

After T'Fera had curtly introduced herself as the clan head of this family she cut straight to the point, ordered Soltek's parents to attend a private discussion and asked for Mr. and Mrs. Paranov to come with her as well. It has been phrased like a request, but it didn't sound like one.

Irina's mother squeezed her father's hand so he wouldn't talk back to T'Fera's demanding manner. Irina felt a knot in her stomach when she watched her parents vanish into the house and knew they were debating something Soltek's position in the family was depending upon. But since they had already informally agreed to tolerate Soltek's 'slight deviation' they must only be discussing some minor details, Irina tried to reassure herself.

But their discussion seemed to take longer and longer and after a while Irina asked Soltek to accompany her on a short walk through the garden because she wasn't able to sit any longer. Soltek said that he should stay with the guests because his parents were busy inside, but everybody interjected that they didn't mind and Olga promised to immediately call them when their parents reappeared.

The garden was quite interesting, Irina started to recognize a few of the vegetables from Vulcan dishes she had eaten on the Asteria, but she had never seen how they grew and looked as whole plants. The garden was very well kept and when they approached the fence they saw the sun was slowly vanishing behind the bare red desert mountains in the distance, but it was still very hot.

'The heat takes some getting used to it, but it's very beautiful here,' Irina said.

'This region is actually considered mild and fertile, there are many trees and vegetables which don't grow in the harsher regions, except in greenhouses,' Soltek explained, 'we are in a big valley between the Shikala and Lopa-mountains and in this direction,' he indicated to the right, 'there's the Kneesa flowing through the whole valley, which is a very reliable water source. But if you look in this direction', he indicated to the left, 'there's the edge of the Opana desert which is as harsh as most other deserts on Vulcan, only exceeded by the Forge.'

'That desert I've heard of,' Irina said with recognition, 'and don't forget I grew up on the moon, I'm happy to see anything grow outside,' she added smiling.

'In some ways we are both desert dwellers,' Soltek said and Irina grinned as she picked up the implied humor.

'I'm glad that my culture doesn't expect me to survive on my own in the wilderness at age 9 though,' she said jokingly.

'You're referring to the Kahs-wans,' Soltek said.

'Must have been quite difficult in the desert,' she said.

'Children are well-trained beforehand, but occasionally some have accidents and die before they are found,' Soltek said.

'Don't they take a comm unit for emergency situations?' Irina asked.

Soltek raised his eyebrows and Irina could feel that her question seemed outlandish to him.

'The purpose of the Kahs-wans is to learn self-reliance and to explore what it is to be truly alone,' Soltek explained patiently, 'a comm unit you could activate any second would mean you are not truly alone and self-reliant.'

'Hm...,' Irina said thinking about it.

'However if you are seriously injured it is allowed to discontinue and look for help,' Soltek said.

'I mean no disrespect,' Irina said, 'but why is that ritual so important?'

She felt Soltek hesitate in thinking about a response.

'It is not mere survival training for the desert, but for a whole Vulcan life,' Soltek explained, 'Vulcan children have to learn a pivotal lesson before they reach their teen years and make decisions about their course of life.'

Irina looked at him with curiousity and intrigue.

'As you are utterly alone in the desert you truly encounter Vulcan nature – which isn't just the nature of the planet, but also the nature of yourself, the Vulcan soul,' Soltek said.

Irina nodded an incling of understanding slowly dawning on her.

'There is also a wilderness inside each Vulcan and we must learn how to live with it, it must be tamed and structured, but also respected and nourished,' he said.

Irina remembered the strange dreams about the Vulcan desert and how the sand storms obstructed her vision. Suddenly she understood that she was blind about how deeply Vulcans are actually able to feel although they don't show it on the surface.

'I understand,' she said.

'When I was in the desert I learned two important things,' Soltek continued, 'first that Vulcans are able to be self-reliant, but it is not the Vulcan nature to live alone eternally, second that my katra requires to learn new things and seek out new experiences, to test old patterns of thinking by exploring unfamiliar terrains.'

They watched the sun vanish completely behind the Lopa-mountains and then walked back to the others still sitting around the table.

I don't like letting you hang by a thread there, but unfortunately it's already Sunday evening and I have to publish now because I don't know how much I will manage during the week. The next chapter will include the bonding ceremony, I've already written the central piece of it last weekend, because I had an inspiration about it, but I still need to write about the remaining evening and the morning before the ceremony...so stay tuned! :)