Deep Space Four, Stardate 2292.247

"Can you see anything, Losha?" Naalem asked.

Losha opened his eyes to nothingness. "No."

"I'm going to run a scanner over your eyes. It's a very bright light. Let me know if you notice any change to your vision," Dr. Naik instructed. Losha felt her leaning over him but still saw nothing.

"Can you see anything? Any change in the light?"

"No."

"Alright, well, we thought this could be a possibility. The goods news is that Dr. Dvir has consulted with colleagues on Vulcan and they feel with surgery, there is a very good chance your vision can be restored."

"Yes, the success rate for this surgery is a 98.2 percent chance of partial visual restoration and an 87.7 percent chance of complete visual restoration." Dr. Dvir confirmed.

"When will you perform the surgery?"

"Oh, we won't be performing it. It's going to require the expertise of a neurosurgeon. Dr. Dvir will contact her colleagues on Vulcan and then we can make your travel arrangements." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Your nephew informed us of your situation as a stateless person. Getting you special permission to travel to Vulcan shouldn't be a problem."

"Are you certain?"

"I have consulted with Ambassador Sarek and he believes it can be arranged due to the circumstances," Dvir replied.

"Ambassador Sarek saved your life!" Losha could hear the excitement in Naalem's voice.

"What do you mean, Naalem?"

Naalem proceeded to explain to him how the ambassador had donated his blood, thereby saving his life. Dr. Naik then busied herself with administering the eye drops and re-applying the bandages , which she explained would need to remain on for several more days. She and Dr. Dvir then excused themselves to review the information the optical scanner had just recorded.

Everything seemed completely unreal to Losha. Was this a sur induced hallucination? He hadn't touched the stuff in years but he once again had that feeling of being disembodied. This time, however, he could not see what was happening around him. It must be real.

He imagined what Doctors Dvir and Naik looked like and realized they probably looked nothing like he imagined. He remembered his experience of finally meeting a dispatch agent he had talked to numerous times in the course of his work. The agent had a deep voice, talked slowly, and often let his sentences trail off. Losha had imagined him as being tall and thin with a big mop of hair. When he finally met him in person after months of subspace voice communications, he was shocked to find that he was of average height, quite plump, and bald. It had taken some time for him to reconcile his voice to the image of him he'd had in his mind.

Since he couldn't see anything, there was nothing he could do but sit and wait. He was eager to learn what Naalem had been up to the past few days while he was unconscious. Naalem told him about Amanda, Ambassador Sarek's human wife, whom he had gotten to know over the past two days. Losha had met the Amanda in the observation area the night but had not known her name or who she was at the time. Naalem had later mentioned that she was the Vulcan ambassador's wife and Losha had found that odd: a Vulcan with a wife who seemed to Losha like any other human in her behavior. If her husband was an ambassador representing Vulcan surely he must be a follower of logic - Vulcans who embraced emotion like his parents had were exiled. Yet this ambassador had married a human. It seemed incongruous.

Naalem was never lacking for something to say so it was easy to sit there and listen and not think about the fact that he couldn't see anything. He imagined the only reason he couldn't see was the bandage covering his head. He attempted to block out the apprehension that crept into him when he thought of having to travel to Vulcan for surgery. The doctors had seemed confident but there was much they didn't know. If he knew one thing, it was that Vulcans didn't bend rules. He had been talking to Naalem for perhaps an hour or so when he heard a door opening to his right.

"Ambassador Sarek!" Naalem exclaimed. Losha turned towards the sound of the door instinctively but quickly turned back, realizing the futility of it. He could hear the ambassador moving toward him.

"Good morning. You must be Naalem."

"Yes."

"May I speak with your uncle alone?"

"Yes." Losha could hear Naalem moving around the bed. "I'll be back soon, Losha." Then, when he realized Naalem must be very close to the door, he heard, "Thank you, Ambassador Sarek, for what you did. I know I told your wife to thank you but I didn't get to thank you myself." Naalem seemed hesitant, which wasn't like him at all. He was typically friendly, outgoing, and confident - very much like his father. Losha supposed the Vulcan ambassador must be quite intimidating.

"You are welcome, Naalem." He heard the door close behind Naalem as he left.

"I must thank you myself, Ambassador. I am grateful to you. I hear I could have died if you hadn't been here."

"It is only logical to help where one can."

"Thank you nonetheless." For the first time since he had regained consciousness, an awkward silence permeated the room. He focused on the soft hum and occasional beeps emanating from the back of the biobed and waited for the ambassador to continue.

"I am pleased to see that you're recovery is progressing." The words were followed by more silence. Losha didn't know what to say until it struck him that he hadn't introduced himself.

"I'm Losha, by the way," he trailed off. "But I suppose you know that." He grinned, then realized that was probably the wrong thing to do in front a Vulcan ambassador but it wasn't something he could consciously control.

"I am Sarek. But I suppose you know that as well." He almost heard a smile in the man's voice, if it were possible to hear a smile.

"Doctors Dvir and Naik have informed me it will be necessary for you to travel to Vulcan for surgery. They have also informed me that you are not, in fact, a citizen of Vulcan. Is that information correct?"

"Yes, I'm a stateless person."

"And I am to understand that you have never been to Vulcan and your stateless status is a result of your parents also being stateless persons?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"I do not wish to pry into your personal matters but it will be necessary to verify this information. I have forwarded an application for special travel permission to Dr. Naik so she can assist you in completing it. Once the information submitted is verified by the necessary authorities on Vulcan, I can make travel arrangements for you."

"Thank you. For all your help." For a moment he had thought the ambassador *was* going to pry into his personal matters and he hadn't been prepared for that. When he was younger, he had been able to sense when someone wasn't being completely honest. If the ambassador's telepathic skills were at least as good as his had been, he would probably have sensed if Losha had held anything back. If they were as good as his father's were, he would probably recognize a lie outright.

"You are most welcome. I do not wish to disturb you further so I will take my leave of you for now. Sochya eh dif."

Their entire conversation had been in Standard until those last words, peace and long life. He found his left hand automatically raising and forming the ta'al.

"Sochya eh dif, kevet-dutar." Peace and long life, ambassador. How strange to once again here his native tongue coming off his lips. A few minutes after the ambassador left, the faint noises of the biobed were again interrupted by movement.

"Losha, it's Dr. Naik." Her voice was friendly. He could tell from where it emanated that she must be significantly shorter than Ambassador Sarek. He wondered if Naalem and Dr. Dvir came back in the room whether he could determine how tall they were in relation to each other. He hadn't been paying attention to that when he'd first regained consciousness.

"Hello, Dr. Naik."

"So Ambassador Sarek spoke to you about the application for travel to Vulcan?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to help you fill it out. Are you hungry? I can bring you something to eat before we get started."

"Let's just get it done. I have no appetite."

"That's a side effect of some of the medications. You will need to try to eat soon though."

"I understand."

"Alright, we'll get started so I can send this off. Hopefully it won't take long for them to approve it. I don't think we have to worry what with Vulcans being as efficient as they are." She chuckled.

"I'm ready." Yes, he thought, it was best to get this over as quickly as possible. He knew the form, had looked it over several years ago the first time he'd been assigned to a route that included Vulcan. He hadn't bothered to fill it out then and had stayed on the ship for the day it remained in orbit around Vulcan. Vulcan had been on his route about a dozen times in the intervening years and he'd never bothered to look at the form again. He always remained on the ship.

"O.K. I'm just going to read the form out to you."

"Alright."

"Your legal name at birth?"

"Velekh." It was a name he hadn't spoken aloud in years.