There are always wars and rumors of wars. However, to prevent any possible legal battles, I will inform you all of the following: I do not own Star Trek, any of the canon characters, nor do I make any profit from my writings.
The Jorian War
Skar contacted Sarek as soon as he got the news. There was a war brewing between the Jorians and the Erdrusians, and Sarek's skills as a negotiator were needed. He would be traveling there by starship in the company of Spock and Nyota. Sarek's aides Sipel and T'Vessya, who were bondmates, would be making the journey as well.
As Sarek had been a diplomat for over fifty years, he knew enough to keep a bag packed at all times. One could always count on war spontaneously breaking out some place. Sadly, the same could not be said for peace.
T'Sela and T'Shana would not be making this journey. It was too soon, as the baby was less than a month old. It was wiser for them to stay close to the healers and family that were familiar. T'Sela reminded herself that this was best as she drove them to the transporter platform.
Nyota hugged and kissed the baby, then she and Spock exchanged the ritual Vulcan salutes and farewells with T'Sela.
Sarek embraced his wife and daughter before bidding them goodbye, unconcerned that his son and daughter-in-law might find his actions either emotional or illogical. There were distinct advantages to having a Human daughter-in-law.
"Return to me safely, my husband."
"Take care of our daughter, my wife."
The trio shouldered their luggage and stepped onto the transporter platform. Spock sent the signal to the Enterprise and a few seconds later, they were gone.
T'Mardis knocked on the door of T'Ameela's room.
"Enter."
T'Ameela sat at her desk, surrounded by PADDs and three dimensional representations of organic molecules.
"Leonard, James, and Montgomery have returned to the ship. There was some kind of emergency. I bid them farewell on your behalf."
"Thank you, T'Mardis."
"You will miss him greatly, will you not?"
"Yes, but Leonard was never really mine to keep. The concept of a mental bond was just to alien to him. However, I will always treasure the time that he gave me and I hope to maintain a friendship with him."
T'Mardis sat down on the bed and looked at her friend.
"I had a Human lover once, a Terran. He also feared to commit himself. However he shared with me all that he was able and in the end gave his life defending me. When he was gone, he left a great hole in my life, a hole that only Selek was able to fill."
"I am not in a hurry to fill the hole that Leonard has left, T'Mardis."
"Perhaps not, but I suspect Vorel might have his own needs to fill."
Jim was pleased when he looked around his ship. It was spic and span, no need for embarrassment. There was not a clue to indicate that five hundred extra people had spent days aboard, sleeping in every available space. The Enterprise had the finest Housekeeping crew in the fleet.
Spock also had great confidence in the Housekeeping service. However, that did not prevent him from personally checking the quarters that had been assigned to Sarek and his aides. When Spock's family had traveled aboard the Enterprise the previous year, cinnamon room fresheners had been placed in their bathrooms. The results had been interesting, as low levels of cinnamaldehyde acted as an aphrodisiac for Vulcans, but high levels were somewhat toxic. Sarek and T'Sela had enjoyed some romantic times followed by splitting headaches.
Tauril and T'Pau were relaxing in the kitchen, having gotten the children in bed. Tauril sat at the terminal, tracking the packages from Nebula Galactic that contained the items for the children's new rooms. Whenever possible, they purchased goods made on New Vulcan. However, when Saavik spoke with Sonrisa and Krysta via subspace, she had gotten a good look at the girls' pink and purple room.
Such colorful décor was currently unavailable on New Vulcan, where earth tones dominated, so Jack and Lewis had referred to T'Pau to the on-line store. While Saavik was making her selections, Senar climbed onto a chair next to her.
"Stop! I want the starships! I would like them on my bed. Mother, may I please have them?"
T'Pau had given her consent. Senar's room would be decorated with stars, spaceships, and planets.
Tauril finally found their shipment and confirmed that it would be arriving in a week.
"I am relieved, my husband. The children ask about the items daily."
"Yes, I have noticed that they can be quite persistent."
Just then, the terminal signaled an incoming message from T'Pau's grandson Sirin in San Francisco.
"Greetings Grandfather and Grandmother."
"Greetings, my child. Is all well with thee and thy family."
"Very much so, Grandmother. The orphanage in New Shannai'Kahr has a child for us, a six-year-old boy named Torel. We will leave for New Vulcan tomorrow, right after Jason finishes his last class."
"That is very good news. Where does thee plan to stay?"
"The first few days will be spent at the New Shannai'Kahr Inn, close to the orphanage. Afterward, we hope to stay in New Shi'Kahr, however there are no accommodations available. Apparently there is some kind of agricultural conference during that time."
"How many are coming with thee?"
"All six of us are coming, Grandmother. There will be seven once we claim Torel."
"Thy family shall stay with us. We have just completed the house addition."
"It will be very crowded."
"We shall manage, Sirin."
Farewells were exchanged and the conversation terminated.
"Tauril, there is no point in moving thy things into another room. We would just have to move them back again."
"Quite true, my wife. It would be an illogical waste of time."
Tauril did not add that it was also much more pleasant to share a room with T'Pau than to sleep alone.
Nyota put on her pajamas and collapsed on their bed. Spock rubbed her feet, which were a bit swollen.
"Oooh, that feels so good! Spock, I enjoyed visiting with the family, but it is so good to be home again. I missed our bed."
"As did I, beloved."
He massaged each foot for several minutes and then slid up the bed to lie next to her, both of them on their sides. Nyota giggled as Spock curved his spine to allow for her ever expanding belly. As they kissed, she ran her fingers through his hair.
Suddenly she was giggling again.
"The last time we did this, we were interrupted by a subspace call."
"Nyota, you are being superstitious."
Beep!
"Incoming transmission from S'chn T'gai Sirin."
Nyota started giggling.
"Told you so!"
"Hush!"
"I will accept the transmission."
"Greetings, Sirin."
"Greetings, Spock. Have I disturbed your rest?"
"I was not yet sleeping."
Sirin's amusement was thinly veiled.
"Ah. My apologies. I will keep my communication brief. Rachel and I are adopting a child, and will be traveling to New Vulcan with the whole family to retrieve him. He is six years of age and a Vulcan-Romulan hybrid. His name is Torel."
"That is good news, cousin. Nyota and I have met Torel. He is a bright and inquisitive child. He should be a good playmate for Jason."
Nyota joined Sirin at the terminal.
"He's also just as cute as he can be. He needs his ribcage fixed, though."
"Rachel and I have consulted with Jack, who believes that the repair will not be difficult. However, it should be done as soon as possible."
"Sirin, there is another matter that you should be aware of, before you come to New Vulcan..."
Spock spent the next few moments explaining the colony's sperm bank program to his cousin. Sirin thanked him for the information and then signed off. He would need to inform Rachel of all that Spock had told him.
The Enterprise arrived at Starbase 7 a bit ahead of schedule. There would be plenty of time to load badly needed supplies aboard. The ship's engineers had done their best to keep all the replicator units functioning, but several simply gave out with the added strain of supplying food and toiletries for 500 extra people. New ones would be installed before the Enterprise left orbit.
A small ship from Rigel IV delivered the Rigelian Ambassador Korem and his party exactly on schedule. In addition to several aides, Korem had brought his son Kehel, whom Spock had known since childhood.
An hour later, the Andorian Ambassador Shras and his son Shrelb arrived via the USS Constellation. Admiral Pike had also come with them. Spock had also known Shrelb as a youngster. Introductions were made all around and after an invitation to dine with the Captain, the diplomats were shown to their quarters.
Leonard McCoy was in a foul mood. He cursed his own cowardice, his fear of mind melds and commitment. He had probably just let go of the finest woman he would ever meet. Bones knew it was for her own good and that she deserved better than he could give her. However, his soul ached with the knowledge that T'Ameela was not going to be his.
After one of Hamed's fabulous dinners, Admiral Pike briefed the diplomats and command crew on the situation between the Jorians and the Erdrusians. Erdrusia was a recently colonized world, a territory that had belonged to the Jorians before the Erdrusians claimed independence. Both planets had trade agreements with the Federation, though only Joria had membership.
Now the two peoples were fighting over ownership of a third planet, Nalthus, where a small group of Erdrusians had settled. Nalthus was also rich in dilithium. So far, no violence had broken out, but it was only a matter of time.
"Ambassador Sarek, you've dealt with the Jorians before. Is there anything you'd like to add?"
"I first met the Jorians almost twenty-five years ago, before they joined the Federation. I found them to be entirely devoid of emotion, almost android in their demeanor and ruthless in their application of logic. The Erdrusians were different, a splinter group that had left Joria to seek an "alternative" lifestyle, very hedonistic. I have also encountered them on a trading mission seven years ago. The Erdrusian queen, Viella, is not to be trusted. She actually kidnapped me at one point."
Spock was slightly taken aback by this. Thankfully only Nyota seemed to notice.
"Really, Father? How did you escape?"
"Your mother paid the ransom, which included several jars of peanut butter, some costume jewelry, and Amanda's favorite red shoes."
"My mother was willing to part with her red stiletto pumps?"
"She had a certain fondness for me."
The table broke out in hearty laughter, except for the Vulcans, of course. The thought of one of the Federation's most important diplomats being ransomed with such trivial items was just too much to bear.
Ambassador Shras had to wipe the tears from his eyes.
"It is a pity you did not have my son Shrelb with you. He is a master trade negotiator. Amanda might have been able to keep her shoes."
Kehel smiled.
"Yes, Shrelb does indeed know how to work a trade. When he and I were children, he told me of an interesting three-way swap between him, Spock, and Hans Braun, one that got them all into quite a bit of trouble."
Spock and Shrelb were both shaking their heads at Kehel. Neither Sarek nor Shras had ever been informed of the incident.
"Really" said Shras. "This is the first I have heard of such a thing. Sarek, do you have any idea what Kehel is talking about?"
"No, I do not. The explanation should prove quite interesting."
The two young men in question looked at each other, obviously embarrassed. After all these years, they had been caught.
Finally Shrelb spoke up.
"It was my idea. All three of us were twelve years old that summer and bored to tears at the prospect of sitting through another diplomatic dinner and a lot of boring speeches."
"My older cousin was always telling me how much fun it was to drink beer. My father didn't allow it in our home. Spock was always having a beer with his afternoon snack, as it had no effect on him. His family's housekeeper always had it available for him. Hans had always wanted to smoke, but his parents wouldn't let him. Hans' father was the Terran Ambassador to the Federation at that time. My dad had plenty of cigars. Spock wanted to try chocolate but didn't have a way to get it on his own. Hans' mom kept a lot of it in her pantry."
"I proposed a three-way swap. We each got the items we needed without attracting any attention. Then
when old Ambassador Krass started his speech, we sneaked out to Lady Amanda's gazebo and made the trade. We didn't know it would make us all sick. The Vulcan Embassy Security force found us. Hans and I were lying on our backs, hanging onto the floor for dear life. Spock was leaning over the railing, throwing up into his mother's rose bushes."
"Ah, yes!" said Sarek. "So that is what happened. Amanda did say that something Spock ate disagreed with him. I had always assumed that she meant food from the banquet."
The room erupted in laughter again, the seriousness of the mission temporarily forgotten. Bones in particular was enjoying the lovely bright green shade which now covered Spock's face. He could hardly catch his breath because he was laughing so hard.
Their merriment was interrupted by a call from the bridge.
Admiral Pike had a coded message from the Jorian Ambassador.
"Hostilities have broken out. There are fatalities."
TBC