Sarek stood waiting at the space station. He was positive he would know a dozen cadets when he saw them. Starfleet uniforms stuck out on a space station full of Vulcans. Not to mention these were a group of humans, with one exception.

One by one, Sarek watched as the cadets disembarked the shuttle. When the final cadet walked off the ship his eyes locked with the cadet's. He could not believe how thin the cadet was. No doubt, his wife would insist this particular cadet be 'fattened up' as she called it. Finally as the cadets stood in formation, he addressed them. "I am Sarek of Vulcan. I will be your desert survival instructor for the next four months. I will only tell you once, I expect each of you to listen to me, and follow my instructions to the letter. Your lives depend on it. Now before we return to where you will spend the next fourteen days, I would like to know two things: your name and what your training is in. This will help me to ascertain how I utilize you in your training exercise."

The first cadet to speak up was, "Cadet First Class James T. Kirk. My studies include command training and interplanetary relations."

Each cadet took his turn in telling Sarek who he was and what he was training for. Then lastly came the non-human cadet, "Cadet First Class Spock. My studies include…" his eyes shifted slightly not to meet Sarek's gaze, "computers and life science."

"Oh the Mutt has a voice again." The jokester laughed.

Sarek watched Spock's reaction and was inwardly pleased to see he had come above his boyish temper. "Cadet Stephens, am I not correct that Starfleet teaches you all life forms are important?"

"Sir, yes sir." The boy said as he snapped his eyes up to meet Sarek's glare.

"Then I suggest you behave in a manner more becoming a cadet. To my understanding the term 'mutt' means a dog that is of mixed breeds. Since I speculate you are referring to Cadet Spock as a mutt, I can assure you Vulcan has no dogs." He left out the words 'MY son'.

Sarek looked at the group of Cadets; each of them held their own traits, he was sure. Over the course of the next fourteen days he would have to way their individual strengths and weaknesses.

Cadet Stephens had already demonstrated the ability to, as Amanda might say, 'talk trash'. A trait Sarek thought could be useful. One of the lessons of desert survival was also, maintaining the surrounding as they were found. This was not limited to just the tools used, but the bi-product of any thing consumed. Cadet Stephens would make a perfect 'sanitation engineer'.

Another cadet had formal training in astrogeology—the study of geology as it related to various planets. This no doubt would prove useful when scaling the cliffs of the Go'an mountain range that lay in the heart of the Go'an desert.

Yet another was a botanist. Sarek would turn all his students into make shift vegetarians, so the cadet's knowledge of plant life would come in handy. Many plants on Vulcan were either poisonous to eat or simply poisonous to the touch. There were also a few like the im'roi kahm spa'ra kastik (walking flesh eater plant) or d'mallu vine that thrived on the carcasses of what ever it could catch in its tentacles. It was the only Vulcan life form that was known to be able to naturally defeat an adult lematya.

Two cadets were studying engineering; they would be the ones to erect suitable dwellings to stay out of the hot Vulcan sun.

An additional cadet was studying to be a navigator. He would be in charge of charting their journey.

Where as, one cadet was in medicine; he would be of great benefit in the event a medic would be needed. In Go'an one must always be ready for the unexpected. So a medic was most definitely a highly logic choice.

There was even a communications specialist in the group. This cadet would be perfect for any information relays.

Another cadet was training to not only locate water but to also make it suitable for consumption. With yet another cadet skilled in the culinary arts, Sarek doubted they would have need for fancy dishes but the boy could make some of the desert plant palatable to humans.

The final two cadets, Kirk and Spock would be assigned security detail and command, respectively. Sarek's reasoning for Kirk's position was quite logical. Kirk wanted to command; before he could learn the tact of command, he first had to learn the value of order. Security was a very important part of order, making it in Sarek's opinion a logical solution.

Spock on the other hand, Sarek would like to be able to say his reasons where logical, but he was even unclear the logic of his choice. He would have Spock lead for two reasons: one, he wanted his son to see he was ill suited for Starfleet and two, he hoped it would allow his son to teach Cadet Stephens a lesson in IDIC.

One by one Sarek informed the cadets of the duties he planned out for them. As he expected Cadet Stephens protested his placement as 'sanitation engineer'.

"That is bull shit." The cadet said in a storming tone. "Why do I have to clean up the shithouse? I am studying planetary ecology."

"Cadet in this instance the 'shithouse' as you call it is MY desert. Consider your own planet's ecological history, chemicals polluted your air supply and depleted the ozone layer to a level cancer ran ramped. It was not until the late twenty-first century that the issues were completely resolved and eradicated. Chemicals make up both bowel and urinary byproducts. Some of those byproducts have properties that could damage the native ecology. It is your job, as it could be in a real mission, to find ways to protect the native ecology."

The boy considered Sarek, "my apologies," he lowered his eyes humbled by Sarek's lesson.

Sarek could have explained it was not necessary to apologize but Starfleet was also about following orders and not questioning them. "See it does not happen again. Questioning orders in the desert could mean the difference between life and death.

Spock was the next to open his mouth, but was unclear how to address Sarek. He knew if the others knew Sarek was his father he would never be able to lead them.

Sarek noticed the confusion on Spock's face. His ability to hide it had not yet advanced enough for Sarek not to notice. Instead of addressing Spock alone he addressed the group, "Cadets, since we will be spending a great deal of time in the desert, I would prefer you call me as I addressed myself to you, Sarek." He knew that would be hard for Spock, but it would also provide Spock the chance chose how he would see Sarek, as a teacher, father, or hopefully both.

Spock nodded and said no more as he awaited the transport in silence with the rest of the boys.