I got my Surak quotes from The Teachings of Surak by Greg Hoover. Which I found on Trekfanfiction
T'Les
She had delayed leaving too long and was already at risk. Koss had argued the logic of her leaving. T'Pol was reasonably well again and he would be with her to ensure no harm came to her. But he was not able to extend the protection of his family to T'Les. Even T'Pol had insisted she should go and assured her that she would be well. So T'Les had acquiesced, and had been preparing for the journey when he contacted her.
Now she is delayed again at the behest of Soval. It is logical to cede to his request, her family owe him a debt of honour and he is acting for all of Vulcan, but the danger for her is growing. She practices some low level breathing and suppresses her nervousness. As she does, a strange shimmering appears in the air before her and she watches, fascinated, as it coalesces into the form of a man. It is intriguing technology, she must ask T'Pol for more details about it when she returns home.
She studies the man, he looks to be close to her age but she knows humans are considerably shorter lived than Vulcans so it is entirely possible he is younger than her daughter.
"T'Les? I'm Captain Jonathan Archer. Soval said you would guide me through the forge."
She has heard of humans propensity to state the obvious. She wonders if T'Pol will have any insight on this as well.
"Follow me Captain, I have been exposed to the possibility of detection by lingering here. I trust Soval has adequately prepared you for the conditions you will find in the Forge."
The Captain shakes his head, seemingly amused by her brusque Vulcan manner. "From What I've been told I'm not sure it's possible for a human to be prepared for conditions in the Forge."
She nods at the accuracy of that statement as she leads him forward. She hopes Soval and her daughter were correct about this human. That he can be trusted, that he can be reasonable. She is risking much.
The human persists to the best of his biology, but T'Les can see he is struggling in the conditions. She can not afford to alter her pace for him any more than she already has. Eventually they are forced onto the cliffside by a sehlat. The cries of the Sehlat keep them awake and, in the human way, he feels compelled to make small talk.
"How's T'Pol doing?" He asks with a certain nonchalance that even to her seems contrived.
For a moment she considers full disclosure. That T'Pol is not really well. That T'Les is not certain how long she can continue under her current circumstances. That they need to find Mr Tucker, for T'Pol's wellbeing and probably his. That T'Pol came close to madness in the aftermath of the hybrid clone's death and it was a month before they knew why. That he and Mr Tucker, and humans in general, have nearly destroyed her daughter and it is a daily struggle for her to suppress the emotions that come from seeing T'Pol so close to broken. But she knows this is not logical. It is no single individual or species' fault. No one could have predicted the strange collection of chance and poor decisions that led to her daughter's trouble.
"She is as well as can be expected." Is all she says.
The look he gives her is unconvinced. Captain Archer has been around Vulcans long enough to know when they are equivocating and he has never been one to accept their evasiveness. "Is she working?"
"Koss assisted to her to obtain some employment at the Vulcan Science Directory. It is a low ranking position, but, given her reputation, she is fortunate to have it."
Archer does not ask any more questions and T'Les does not enquire why, it is not the Vulcan way to probe others for explanations of their inner lives.
They remain silent until Syrran arrives and chases off the sehlat. For reasons of his own, Syrran conceals his true identity from the human and T'Les trusts in his logic, but does not get the opportunity to obtain an explanation from him as to why. By morning Syrran is dead and the human Captain is carrying the katra of Surak.
After that T'Les finds herself having to mediate a constant battle between Surak's agenda and Archer's biology. She can see Archer physically struggling to both contain the Vulcan's mind and endure the Vulcan environment. Suddenly he looks at her with eyes that do not seem to be his own.
"You must cast out fear, T'Les." Surak tells her in Archer's voice. "Humans are far more tenacious than you give them credit for. It is quite a fascinating experience to be part of such a different kind of emotional discipline."
T'Pau is very little help, too focused on Surak's ability to lead them to the Kir'Shara to concern herself with his vessel. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one." T'Pau tells her.
"That does not mean the one is not entitled to its needs." T'Les responds.
She turns to find Archer regarding her. "Be patient with her, T'Les." He tells her. "She is still young. The path always seems clearer before you walk it." He takes the flask from her to drink.
When it is all over, he sits exhausted and dirty on the floor of the High Command, while her people's civic institutions are destroyed and reborn around them, and looks at her with an exhausted grimace.
"Under the circumstances, it's my understanding, T'Pol could not be expected to be very well at all." He tells her.
"She is not." T'Les acknowledges.
"Trip's probably not doing very well either if I'm reading this situation correctly."
"We have no way of knowing. This situation is unique. There is no established baseline to measure from." She looks away and tries to centre herself. "It is a struggle to accept some of the choices my daughter has made and the consequences of those choices."
"The foundation of Vulcan Logic is the acceptance of people, things, and situations as they really are." Archer tells her.
"Their children would be a source of shame, an abomination." She responds.
"What makes an abomination, but what people perceive in it. Logic and reason are impartial; they treat all humanoids as equals."
It is a surreal experience to have the teachings of Surak, quoted to her by a human, but she feels a certain amount of peace come over her at his words. Her daughter's mate is logical because he is her mate and their children will find acceptance in her home by virtue of their existence. Whatever comes of it, T'Les decides, T'Pol will not find her mother's logic failing her.
A priest has been summoned and arrives with two stretcher bearing aids. "We must get him to Mt Seleya urgently." The Priest tells her as they lifts the human onto the stretcher.
"Well T'Les, it's certainly been interesting." He tells her.
"Indeed Captain, I believe you have changed the course of Vulcan history."
"I think we did it together, T'Les." He give her a faint smile. "I am pleased to see that we have differences. May we together become greater than the sum of both of us."
She nods at the words, conscious they apply to more situations than just this one. As the stretcher bearers carry him away she holds her hand up to him in the Ta'al. "Live long and prosper, Captain Archer."
"Peace and long life, T'Les." He responds, as he returns the gesture.
She turns to the room and observes the restrained chaos that is a Vulcan revolution in progress. She realises that after months, even years of searching she has found what she was seeking for herself and her daughter. It is such a relief to feel like she can finally breathe.
XXX
Archer
If someone had told him three years ago that he would cross the most inhospitable desert on Vulcan guided by the mother of his former First Officer and the spirit of the Vulcan father of logic, he probably would have laughed in their face and told them to give up drinking. Now here he is playing host to a dead Vulcan and being mothered by a live one, and, aside from the fact it feels like his brain is trying to crawl out of his eye socket, it's a fascinating experience.
He certainly understands Vulcans a lot better than he did a week ago, that goes without saying. But he can also feel the bright gaze of Surak on his own mind, his own memories. It is an enlightening occurrence to have the perspective of another person, interpreting your life's experiences, especially when that person is not human.
It is also pretty interesting to see Surak's disappointment with Vulcans, apparently they have lost the true path and become bogged down in dogma. Archer finds it a refreshing change to encounter a Vulcan who doesn't automatically believe Vulcans haven't put a foot wrong in 2000 years. It's just a pity said Vulcan is dead, and in his head.
Then he's leading Mother T'Les and the most supercilious Vulcan he has ever encountered, which is quite an achievement all by itself given the Vulcan dedication to arrogance, through a series of tunnels and caves to find Surak's diary, or something similar. And, despite the fact that he feels absolutely compelled to do this, he really would rather be back on Enterprise, lying on his bed, with a cold cloth over his eyes, Porthos at his feet, and some kind of pain killer coursing through his veins.
All this, while very interesting, and annoying, and painful, is not what catches his attention the most. It is when they realise they need to get to the High Command and fast, and that will require transporter codes and T'Les calmly suggests they contact Koss, that Surak's attention is drawn first to Archer's memories of T'Pol and then, by association, to those of Trip. It is here in the recollections of three years observing the tension and arguments, baiting and eventual friendship, and romance apparently, between his two colleagues, that Surak reveals something about Vulcan mating, specifically as it relates to his former First and a Second Officers.
Later he sits in his dinning room with Soval as they perform an autopsy of the events of the past week. At the end of the evening, because he is, mostly, still himself, he offers Soval a drink, even though he knows the Vulcan will refuse it. Despite everything, he just can't help baiting the bear, old habits die hard.
He raises his glass "Here's to Vulcan and Earth, a new era."
Soval says nothing but nods his head in acknowledgement.
Archer gives him a sly look and finally asks the question that's been eating at his mind since the revelation came to him from Surak. "So, what are we going to do about Trip and T'Pol?"
Soval raises an eyebrow in return. "I assume you are are working on some thread of knowledge that has come to you via your recent interaction with the katra of Surak."
Archer cants his head and looks over his glass at The Vulcan. "You know if you had just approached me and told me straight out what the two of them were up against, I probably could have found Trip in a matter of days."
Soval doesn't even blink at the revelation. "Some matters are extremely private to Vulcans and are not discussed with outsiders."
"Well, Surak didn't have too much compunction enlightening me about the situation between the two of them or the implications of leaving things unresolved. I can't help but think that sometimes you Vulcans get a kick out of making things more difficult for yourselves. Occasionally you just need to get out of your own way."
"It is a delicate situation, T'Pol's reputation amongst her own people was already compromised. If the events surrounding her treatment by Starfleet proved anything, it was that information held by your organisation was not secure."
Archer shakes his head. He's knows enough of the whole Terra Prime situation to realise that Soval's assessment is partly true. But he still can't help questioning the Vulcan's logic. Damn it, he's even sounding like a Vulcan in his own head. "I wouldn't have considered this a Starfleet matter. I would have considered it a personal matter between Trip and T'Pol and acted accordingly, as their friend."
Soval nods his head once as if acknowledging the truth in the Captain's words. "There has never been a recorded case of a bond between a human and a Vulcan. If I had known it was possible I would have insisted T'Pol be rotated from her position on Enterprise after the first year."
Archer snorts, "I'm not sure that would have made a difference. I was there when they first met, and so far as Surak could tell, any point after that, would have been too late."
He can see the surprise on Soval's face at the implications of what he's just revealed. "And What was Surak's impression of that circumstance?"
"His exact thoughts were 'I am pleased to see that we have differences. May we together become greater than the sum of both of us.'"
Soval blinks slowly "I see. I believe I shall have that drink after all, Captain."
Archer gives him a smile "That's the spirit Soval." Archer pours some dark golden liquid into a glass. Now this, is 18 year old, single malt scotch whisky." He hands the glass across to Soval who immediately raises the glass to his lips, pausing when the Captain holds up his hand suddenly. "Don't gulp it all down, leave it in your glass for a little bit, let it breathe."
XXX