Deep Space Four, Stardate 2292.244
The Vulcan in the Seenan uniform was tall, though not significantly taller than than any of the adult Seenans she'd encountered, with light brown hair and eyes that seemed to be as gray as his uniform. His hair was cut in the same style she'd seen on a some of the Seenan crew members - long on top and short in the back. It was long enough on top that it might have covered his ears except for that fact that it was somewhat curly. How strange to see a Vulcan with a thick mop of hair on his head.
"It is time for dinner, Naalem," he said as he approached them. "I'm sorry if he's disturbed you, ma'am." He nodded to Amanda.
"Oh, no, we've been having a nice chat," she said, smiling
"He does like to chat," the Vulcan replied and a knowing smile spread across his face. A smile. Amanda was in such shock that she couldn't speak.
"Let's go, Naalem," he said turning toward the corridor. "Good evening, ma'am."
"Nice to meet you." Naalem smiled as he turned to go. "Maybe I'll see you around."
As Amanda headed back to her quarters a few minutes later, there were two more things about this Vulcan that struck her. She needed to speak to Sarek about him.
She found Sarek still at his computer terminal.
"Did you find the observation area to your liking?" he asked without looking up.
"Yes. It's got a really lovely view of the Typhon Expanse."
"Perhaps we can go observe it together after end meal."
"Yes. Sarek, you remember the Seenan starship crew we passed in the hall earlier?"
"Yes."
"They have a Vulcan working for them. I saw him in the observation area."
"Interesting." Sarek's eyes remained fixed on the screen, indicating to Amanda that he didn't find it interesting at all.
"His hair was cut in the Seenan style. And this is the strangest thing - he smiled at me. A big smile."
"That is most unusual."
"I didn't imagine it, Sarek. I'm telling you that a Vulcan smiled at me."
"As I said, that is most unusual."
"Most unusual? Don't you think there's something suspicious about that?" She asked, approaching him.
"Not particularly. Perhaps as a result of working and living among the Seenans he is no longer in complete mastery of his emotions." He finally turned to look at her.
"There are Vulcans in Starfleet living among a lot of humans and all kinds of other aliens and I've never seen any of them smile."
"As I do not know the man, I can only offer speculation. A stranger's behavior is not my concern."
"Isn't it odd for a Vulcan to be working out here for a non-Federation people?"
"Uncommon, perhaps, though not unheard of. I am aware of several Vulcan scientists doing research on non-Federation planets."
"But he's not a scientist. He's a member of the crew. Why would a Vulcan be working on a non-Federation ship?"
"As I said, a stranger's behavior is not my concern. If you encounter him again, perhaps you should ask him. Though he may find the question intrusive."
"Do you think he could be a Romulan?"
"No," he said rising from his chair.
"Why not? We're very close to the Romulan Neutral Zone."
"All crew members and visitors must be pre-screened before they are permitted entry to a Federation starbase. Obviously, a Romulan would not be permitted entry. There would be no point in even submitting his data to the starbase's security team - he would never be permitted to disembark from the ship."
"What if they didn't inform security that he was onboard?"
"Security would certainly have noticed an extra crew member when they arrived and the ship would have been refused port."
"They could have said he was a Vulcan." Amanda was becoming convinced that the man she had seen in the observation area could not possibly be a Vulcan.
"He would need to have documents proving his identity, which would have been verified prior to his arrival."
"They could be forged."
"It would be most unlikely that the security team would not be able to detect forged documents."
"You are so confident in Starfleet's abilities?"
"Amanda," he said, moving closer to her and holding his fingers out to her in the traditional Vulcan greeting between mates, "you are becoming agitated for no logical reason. Do you really believe this man intends harm?"
She reached her fingers out to him in return. "I suppose not. He seemed friendly enough. He was with a Seenan child, the nephew of one of the crew members. The boy was nice and he seemed comfortable around him."
"Let us have end meal then."
There was something else about this Vulcan (Romulan?) man that had struck Amanda but she decided it was best to keep it to herself. Sarek already thought she was overreacting and he'd only think she was being a completely illogical human should she bring it up. She resolved she would do some investigating on her own. Perhaps Naalem could provide her with information.
After breakfast the following morning, Amanda found herself in the observation area once again, hoping she'd run into Naalem. The boy wasn't there so she decided to go for a walk around the station. Perhaps she'd run into him somewhere else. If she didn't, she'd at least have the opportunity to tour the rest of the station and get some exercise. Even on the high speed Lancer it had taken two days to get here from Vulcan because they had had to go around the Romulan Neutral Zone. As the Lancer had been designed for speed, not comfort, it had been very cramped. Amanda was glad to get a chance to stretch her legs.
When she had been walking about forty-five minutes, she heard a commotion behind her. She had passed the cafeteria, a recreation room, numerous offices, and was heading in the direction of station sick bay. She turned to find Sarek and Dvir, the healer that had come with them from Vulcan, running towards her. Something was wrong.
"Amanda!" He said breathlessly as he approached her. "There has been an explosion on Ambassador Tala's ship. Return to our quarters immediately. I will contact shortly but I must get to sick bay first."