—Chapter 13—
T'Les had recovered her senses after an hour or so, as Arev had taken the brunt of the electric discharge. She saw the Vulcan's body laying on the cave's sand floor, and it was apparent that he was dead.
"Oh, Syrran," said T'Les, obviously emotional. "No! No!"
The emotion openly displayed by her mother was more than enough to surprise T'Pol, but when she heard the name Syrran, she realized she'd met the leader of the Syrranites, and that leader was now dead. She glanced at Trip, and he'd clearly come to the same conclusion about Syrran. More disturbing still, to T'Pol, were Syrran's final words to her. Was it possible? Ridiculous… But if Syrran and T'Les truly believed that to be true, well, that would explain her mother's reaction.
"We must carry Syrran's body back to T'Karath Sanctuary," said T'Les, "and notify T'Pau of this disaster. Syrran warrants an honorable burial."
"That is a ten hour journey," said T'Pol. "It is logical that we bury Syrran here, and mark his grave. His memory will not be tarnished, for lack of pomp and circumstance."
"You do not understand…" said T'Les, then looked oddly at T'Pol. "How do you know the distance to T'Karath Sanctuary? Did Syrran tell you our distance from T'Karath Sanctuary?"
T'Pol was confused herself over that fact, so said nothing.
"T'Pol," said T'Les, "how do you know?"
"Syrran touched the psi-points on my face shortly before the died," said T'Pol. "It is possible that he transfered some of his memories to me befor—"
T'Les scrambled to her feet, excited now, and said, "We must make our way for T'Karath now! There are mind-priests there, and they can verify if my suspicions are correct."
"And what are your suspicions?" said Trip.
"That Syrran used the last few moments of his life to transfer Surak's katra, from his mind to T'Pol's," said T'Les, ignoring the superficial burns on her hands and face, to fasten her desert boots onto her feet now. "We will lay Syrran's body to rest outside, as T'Pol suggested, and then we move. We will come back for his body."
It took the three of them an hour or so to create a rock mound over Syrran's grave, a mound of sufficient size to deter the scavengers of Forge, and then Trip, T'Les and T'Pol headed South, headed for T'Karath Sanctuary.
Administrator V'Las entered the High Command's opulent chamber, and everyone stood, including his fellow four members. Together, these five Vulcans were the High Command, and their will was generally the law. Technically, the General Assembly could overrule the High Command with a 75% majority, though such a thing had never happened during the Chairmanship of Administrator V'Las.
V'Las took his seat, and looked at the two Vulcans standing before the High Command.
"Admiral Volek, General Topar," said V'Las, "Vulcan needs you now, for we are in dire straits. No doubt you have all heard of the resolution of the Xindi crisis for the Humans, due to the actions of the Enterprise, but what you may or may not know, is that Andoria sent one of their battlecruisers to the Expanse, ostensibly to aid the Enterprise, but actually, to learn the workings of the Xindi planet killing weapon. We believe they are constructing such a weapon now, and I do not need to tell you that weapon's first target."
Volek and Topar looked at each other. They'd both faced Andorian Imperial Guards in combat, and were quite aware of the hatred which the Andorians held for the Vulcans.
"Accordingly," said V'Las, "on behalf of the High Command, I order you to prepare your troops and your ships. There will soon be an end to the Andorian problem, once and for all, on my command."
Both Volek and Topar saluted the High Command, and left the room, and as they moved through the building on their way out, they spoke briefly.
"This is foolishness, General," said Volek. "If we could have conquered Andoria, we would have done so long ago. We will lose hundreds of ships, and tens of thousands of troops in this enterprise."
"True," said Topar, "but if the Andorians are truly building a Xindi style weapon we must act."
"We are briefed by the V'Shar each morning, General," said Volek, "yet we have not seen proof of such a threat from the Andorians."
"That does not mean that such a threat does not exist," said Topar, "and if so, we can not ignore it."
"True, but I will speak of my concerns with members of the General Assembly," said Volek. "If they can verify this Andorian super-weapon, fine. We will do what we must, but if this weapon does not exist, then logic must prevail."
"Agreed," said Topar.
"I have tested your daughter," said Mi'Skelle, the wisest of the Kolinahr priests at T'Karath Sanctuary. "You were right, T'Les."
"Praise, Syrran," said T'Les, for though Syrran had been a visionary, and the loss of his katra was a grievous wound to the Syrranites, he had indeed saved something even more precious, Surak's katra.
"Praise Syrran, indeed," said Mi'Skelle fervently, though she'd known Syrran for five decades now and honored him greatly, most especially now, for Syrran could have saved his own katra in those last few moments of life, yet he had sacrificed himself, in order to save Surak's katra. "We must decide on a proper host for Surak's katra, or better yet, find a still functioning katric ark to host his katra."
T'Les nodded. The art of constructing a katric ark was a lost skill to modern Vulcans, though there was hope among the Syrranites that eventually the process would be rediscovered, but as things stood, a katra either accepted an ark, or not, and invariably, an ark rejected by one katra was rejected later by every other subsequent katra.
"Until we find a proper host," said Mi'Skelle, "your daughter will continue to hold Surak's katra."
"Yes," said T'Les. "As you wish."
"Here," said T'Pol, handing Trip one of the two glasses in her hands. "You must stay well hydrated."
"I'm not thirsty," said Trip, taking the glass anyway.
"Drink," said T'Pol, then sat next to him.
"So did you pass your test?"
"Yes," said T'Pol.
"So am I speaking to both of you now?"
"It's not a possession, Trip," said T'Pol. "I can, and have, and will again reach out to Surak's katra during my meditation, but he's not just piggybacking along with me every minute of the day."
"So now I know," said Trip, "and you should know th—"
Trip's thought was interrupted by the sound of explosions above their heads, for they were presently some thirty feet below ground, in the monk's dormitories. Moments later, T'Pau and T'Les stormed the room, looking for them both.
"We must leave!" said T'Pau. "The High Command's forces are bombing the sanctuary, using old fashioned chemical explosives, and soldiers will come once the explosions end."
As soon as T'Pau had stated that they were to leave the sanctuary, Surak's katra had stirred to consciousness.
"Hurry," said T'Les, for T'Pol was just standing there, as if dumbstruck.
"T'Pol," said Trip softly, aware that something was happening with her.
T'Pol noticed none of them now, for before her stood an elder Vulcan male, a look of wisdom, and bone-deep sadness in his eyes, and she knew she was interacting with Surak's mental image, projected into her consciousness by the Vulcan's katra.
"Greetings, T'Pol," said Surak, and gave T'Pol the ta'al.
"Greetings, Surak," said T'Pol, returning the gesture of greeting with the father of Vulcan logic.
"I sense your urgency, but we can not leave the sanctuary just yet," said Surak. "We can not leave without the Kir'Shara, for it will aid our people to forge a path back to the ways of logic, the ways of sobriety, the ways of enlightenment."
T'Pol recognized the name of the legendary artifact named Kir'Shara, a legacy of Surak's time, cataloging his thoughts as he arrived at the path of logic, and laying out a course for his people to follow. Most Vulcans believed the Kir'Shara existed, but none had seen it since shortly after Surak's death.
"T'Pol!" said T'Pau. "We must leave. What is wrong with you?"
"We can not leave yet, T'Pau," said T'Pol. "We must retrieve the Kir'Shara. It is not far from here."
"You are mad, T'Pol," said T'Pau. "We have searched every inch of this sanctuary for the past twenty years. I assure you, the Kir'Shara is not here."
T'Pol ignored T'Pau, and moved off through the narrow passageways, Trip, T'Les and T'Pau in tow. They descended deeper into the earth now, to the crypts and tunnels where the corpses of former Vulcan adepts and Kolinahr masters, now long since mummified by the dry desert air, were laid to rest, and all could hear T'Pol mumbling names now and then, as she recognized some of these adepts, or rather, Surak's katra recognized them, and named them through T'Pol. She finally came to the place she sought, and pushed a humble door aside, to bring them all face to face with the mummified corpse of a Vulcan, sitting in the meditative position, on a plain stone dais.
"T'Klass," said T'Pol fondly, touching the mummy's brow, "first my student, then my friend, and later still my colleague. You have watched over your charge for so long, but now I come to relieve you of your duty."
T'Pol, knelt then, and must have pressed a button hidden into the dais, for a portion of the wall slid aside, to reveal the Kir'Shara. The artifact was a small stone pyramid, some twenty inches high. It had a relatively small base, and a long body, with archaic Vulcan symbols carved into its surface.
"The Kir'Shara," said T'Pau in an awed whisper.
"If only Syrran could see this," said T'Les.
"Why did you not share the location of the Kir'Shara with Syrran," thought T'Pol, to Surak.
"It was safer here," said Surak, "where none knew of its presence. But now it is needed to bring truth to our people."
"We need to leave, now, T'Pol," said Trip, who had left them for a bit, and now returned. "Soldiers are moving through the sanctuary, probably looking for T'Pau. The Syrranites are resisting them, but they can't win against their numbers."
"There is an exit through here," said T'Pau. "Come, all of you."
Sure enough, they wandered through a series of tunnels for the next half hour, picking up a dozen Syrranites as bodyguards along the way, and twice fighting off soldiers, at the cost of nine Syrranite lives, before finally coming out to the surface two miles to the East of the T'Karath sanctuary, which burned brightly now, as Syrranites fought soldiers to the death with fanatical devotion, in order to buy T'Pau time to spirit T'Pol away, and make good their escape.
"This way," said T'Pau, who was most familiar with the current topography in this area of the Forge, and they soon disappeared from view, the rough terrain providing them with both hard cover and concealment.
The majestic building which housed the offices and the Chamber of the General Assembly on the lower floors, and the Chamber of the High Command on the upper floors, they were all packed, for this was a momentous day, and the measures passed here today would require passage by both the High Command and the General Assembly. It was here that Soval came this day, followed by T'Pol, T'Pau and Trip, and the four of them made their way to the floor of the General Assembly just in time to view the face of Administrator V'Las, as he addressed the General Assembly.
"…and so," said V'Las, "the time has come to put an end to the Andorian menace once and for all! We will tolerate Andorian games no longer, nor will we tolerate them building a super-weapon to match the Xindi plans they've stolen in the Expanse. You will all shortly cast your votes, and you must realize that you cast your votes for Vulcan: to give it life, or sentence it to death!"
The monitor went dark then, and the three-hundred members of the General Assembly spoke with each other in animated voices, and it was through this crowd that Soval moved, followed closely by T'Pol, T'Pau, T'Les and Trip. Soval had been a diplomat his entire adult life, and an ambassador for many decades, and in that time he had done many favors so it was no trouble for him to ask for special dispensation to be allowed to address the General Assembly.
"Honored General Assembly," said Soval, "I address you for two reasons today. The lesser, yet still vital 2nd reason, is to call for a vote against the High Command's resolution to attack Andoria. I have seen no proof that Andoria is constructing a Xindi weapon to destroy Vulcan, and from what I have heard, no one has seen such proof, and so I ask that you withhold your support from this mad venture, and let cooler heads prevail, for this military enterprise will be a disaster for both our species. You know the battle prowess and fighting spirit of the Andorian Imperial Guards easily matches that of our troops, and their ships are no less formidable: if we could have conquered Andoria, we would have done so during one of the many military skirmishes we have conducted against the Andorians in years past. I do in fact, accuse Administrator V'Las of using this proposed military attack to distract attention from his domestic failures, at the very least, and I call for investigation."
The General Assembly was enveloped in a stunned silence, for Soval's words were inflammatory, and by making such accusations it was certain that he had scuttled an honorable career that had taken him a lifetime's effort to accomplish, and it was quite possible that V'Las would do much more than that to repay Soval's words.
"But even more important than that," said Soval, for he wanted to say his piece quickly, as he feared that the High Command's security officers would soon arrest him, if V'Las got wind of his actions, "I bring you news that will reorder our entire society, and do away with the High Command, for I have the honor of telling you that Surak's katra, long thought lost to us, has been found, and it resides now in T'Pol, daughter of S'evek and T'Les, and even more so, the Kir'Shara has been found!"
The General Assembly instantly erupted in an outburst of emotion, for such news was more than enough to test the emotional discipline of even the most controlled of Vulcans, and all knew that Soval was not fool enough to make such claims without proof. Among this chaos, a dozen of the High Command's guards moved for the podium, but they were set upon and disarmed long before reaching Soval.
"I ask that before the General Assembly approves of launching a war against Andoria," said Soval, "it first consults the Kir'Shara, and Surak's katra, if necessary, in order to determine the logical path for us all to take, as a people."
S'Lenek, the High Mind-Priest officiating as spiritual adviser to the Assembly took the dais and approached T'Pol, then laid hands on the psi-points on her face. T'Pol was uneasy with the elder Vulcan's touch, but understood his purpose, and stood still as the priest communed with Surak's katra. The entire chamber had fallen silent, and the crowd's tension was palpable. Finally, S'Lenek stepped back, and faced the crowd.
"It is he," said S'Lenek, his voice filled with wonder. "It is truly he! Surak's katra has returned to his people, and we owe the Syrranites our eternal thanks!"
The crowd erupted in a roar of cheers, and the roar redoubled when T'Pol touched a portion of the Kir'Shara in a particular way, and the stone glowed with light from within, and Surak's words were projected holographically from the Kir'Shara, for his people to read, and understand, and internalize.
Things had changed greatly in the twelve hours since Soval's appeal to the Grand Assembly. Now Administrator V'Las no longer held his chairmanship in the High Command, and investigators would soon go over the political maneuvers he'd performed during his time with the High Command, for his motives were now suspect. The Kir'Shara was on display, though heavily guarded, and Surak's original writings would soon be widely dispersed to all Vulcans via the news-nets. One of the few functioning katra-arcs was brought forth for Surak's use, and his katra transferred there from T'Pol's mind. Three days later, that particular Vulcan had enough of Vulcan's excitement, and petitioned Captain Tucker to revisit her idea, and spend the next three months on Earth, in Tahiti. He agreed, and soon after, things went predictably to hell.
Trip had earlier boarded the Columbia to bring Captain Hernandez up to speed on all that had occurred, and personally thank her, and her MACO team for their help in T'Les's rescue, and by the time Trip returned to T'Les's house, expecting to find T'Pol all packed and ready for their departure, he found instead, T'Les and Soval, sipping tea, yet no sign of T'Pol.
"Where is she?" said Trip, looking to T'Les for answers.
"You should sit down, Captain Tucker," said Soval.
Trip sensed that the good ambassador was about to say something he wouldn't like, and said, "What? Just spit it out."
"Trip, please," said T'Les, sensitive to the man's mood, for she'd grown to like him, and understand what T'Pol found desirable in Trip.
Trip sat, then eyed them both, and said, "Tell me. I know I'm not going to like it, but tell me anyway."
"T'Pol is not here, Captain Tucker," said Soval. "A constable came and summoned her to court. Koss has chosen to exercise his legal options over T'Pol, and intends to Bond her soon. T'Pol will likely fight that maneuver, but her legal standing is shaky at best."
"She told me Koss was nothing to worry about," said Trip. "She said their engagement was broken when she chose to serve onboard the Seleya, despite his clan's disapproval."
"She may feel that way," said T'Les, "but that does not make it true, Trip."
"So one Vulcan can force another to Bond against their will?" said Trip. "That's logical."
"It has nothing to do with logic, Captain Tucker," said Soval, "but with biology."
"Elaborate," said Trip.
"A bargain was made long ago that Koss and T'Pol should be Bonded," said Soval. "Now that both are mature, the normal course of events would be to wait for Koss to enter pon'far, and they then would then be Bonded, but T'Pol's freewheeling ways have thrown a wrench in the normal course of events, and she does so still, by seeking to void the agreement between her clan, and Koss's clan. That can not be."
"If she doesn't want Koss, he should find another mate," said Trip.
"You are thinking this through as a Human, without our biological drives," said T'Les. "Most Vulcans have mates, pre-selected. If Koss enters pon'far and has to scramble to find a mate quickly, he will likely have to settle for what he can find, and such a mate would not necessarily be as well suited for him, as T'Pol."
"A mate that does not wish to be Bonded to him, is not well suited for him," said Trip.
"Trip," said T'Les, "you must understan—"
Seeing that this discussion was pointless, Trip said, "I want to speak with T'Pol."
"That is not possible," said Soval. "Once she has made her appeal, she will be in seclusion until a decision is rendered."
"I will make us some tea," said T'Les, "and then we will discuss things, Trip. You must see reason."
Once T'Les had walked away, Trip said, "I need your help, Soval. Can I trust you?"
Soval nodded.
"I know I can't trust T'Les. She would likely play some games with me, and justify it using logic," said Trip, "but can I trust you?"
Soval nodded once again, and Trip nodded.
"Than tell me when the courts determine the status of T'Pol's case," said Trip.
"It is not a difficult case. A decision will likely be rendered by the end of the day," said Soval, "and I will inform you of the court's decision."
"And you will inform me of the location in which the Bonding ceremony will be held," said Trip.
"If you plan what I suspect," said Soval, "I will advise you to rethink your plans, Captain Tucker. It is illogical to cast your life away, for an infatuation."
"I don't need your approval, Soval," said Trip. "I do however need that information."
Soval thought for a moment, sighed, and said, "You will have it, Captain Tucker."