Chapter XVI. T'Pol of Vulcan

It was 2097 A. D. near the edge of Shi'Kahr and T'Pol, daughter of T'Les ended her meditation with a sudden start and looked about her bedroom in surprise followed by disappointment. Gone. The vision of Hellas and T'Naa about to speak ceased abruptly by something that startled Marco out of his sleep.

The young Vulcan girl slowly rose up and paced softly about the room. Her face struggled to reflect the calm demeanor of a Vulcan suppressing all emotion. Yet frustration and a little anger escaped.

"So close," thought T'Pol. "I was recognized by the sa'mekh'al of his sa'mekh."

A sudden thought caused T'Pol to shake for a brief moment.

"Perhaps my sa'mekh. T'Naa is my ko-mekh. Life here is a lie. I was stolen and somehow transported here away from my real skann. But for what purpose?" She searched her inner self trying to find a bond between herself and T'Naa, a parent-child bond but noted nothing but a vague sense of longing on her part.

T'Pol quickly went to her padd and spent many minutes recording the events of her last meeting with Marcus. She included in her narrative the ideas of being abducted and then adopted by Kirak and T'Les. T'Pol speculated on reasons for this and voiced an idea that perhaps none of the events from her meetings with Marcus were real.

"T'Pol."

She recognized her father's voice calling her. She ended her padd session and saved it. Then she left her room and went to Kirak. Her father was in the main room of the home and was working on his padd. T'Pol quietly crept up on him and gave him a soft subtle hug. He turned and gave the hint of a Vulcan smile.

"It is illogical to embrace me often as it will interfere with your emotion control," said Kirak softly with a kindness that T'Pol always brought out of him in their interactions.

"It is logical that a ko-fu would express a subdued affection for her sa'mekh. Logically this is what bonds skanns together."

"Ah," answered Kirak and again the hint of a smile played on his lips.

"Your meditation is complete?" asked Kirak.

"Ah, complete and not as settling as expected."

"I thought as such. What unsettles you T'Pol?"

T'Pol thought for several moments. "I cannot tell him of my doubts about my identity. What could I discuss?" mused T'Pol. Then an idea came to her and it was not necessarily a falsehood.

"Koss," answered T'Pol. "I had an unpleasant exchange with him today at school."

"Unpleasant?"

"He is older yet insisted on escorting me home from my school. He should not be at my school, but he arrives before my classes are dismissed and desires to spend time with me. I do not wish this. I expressly asked him not to perform this action and to desist in meeting me after school; yet he was most insistent. I do not wish for this bond with Koss."

Kirak studied his daughter's face for long moments. His mind was rapidly processing the information she had provided. He was troubled by T'Pol. As of late she seemed changed and greatly unsettled. Her emotions had always been close to the surface but now she often had outbursts at home. These occurrences bothered Kirak.

"Koss comes to escort you home after school?"

"Ah, most unpleasant."

Somehow Kirak doubted that this was the cause of T'Pol's distress. He would need to carefully discuss this with his daughter and try to determine what the real cause of her uneasiness was.

"You wish not to bond with Koss," said Kirak thoughtfully. "Have you considered the implications to our skann if we decide to sever the bond? It would cause a disgrace to both skanns, T'Pol."

T'Pol fidgeted slightly and then replied, "I wish not to bond to anyone. I desire to travel the stars and see many different worlds. If I am bonded, I will become the property of Koss and he is not one to travel far from Vulcan. I do not desire to be mated to one such as this."

"T'Pol you know that once bonded with Koss that he will become a member of T'Les' skann, the S'thk T'Vuh. You do not become part of his skann."

"Indeed," replied T'Pol with a slight touch of sarcasm in her voice. "I understand the workings of our culture and the pon farr. I am to submit to my adun. Again I do not desire this."

Kirak quietly took in what T'Pol had said. "If T'Les were present, she would not be so patient with our daughter. At times, T'Pol is so rebellious, perhaps my adun'a is correct in her assessment that I indulge T'Pol," mused Kirak. Then he stated, "Koss' pon farr will not occur for many decades probably not until he is fifty years old, this will give you time to complete your education and training. You will have the opportunity to travel to other worlds. T'Pol you could be in the diplomatic corps or a science officer upon one of our ships. After the one year of living together you could continue your career."

"Koss informed me that he wishes for three kan, two sa'tiks and one ko-tik, separated in age by five r'tas each. I as the adun'a would stay at home and attend to their upbringing. He expects me to be the dutiful ko-telsu and defer to his judgment on all things. He expects me not to continue a career once we are bound."

"Interesting," replied Kirak. He thought for a moment then asked, "What do you wish for a career?"

"I wish to be in the V'Shar as you are Sa'mekh."

Kirak was surprised at this revelation of T'Pol's. Yet his impassive face showed nothing. He sat quietly for about a minute and then replied, "That is your desire."

"Ah, Sa'mekh."

"Perhaps Koss is the cause of her distress," thought Kirak. Then he said, "I will speak to Ko-mekh of these facts. Now T'Pol inform me of what you learned in school today."

For the next three hours, T'Pol related all the knowledge that she had encountered throughout the day. Kirak corrected any misconceptions or errors and was satisfied at how well academically T'Pol was proceeding. Her emotional state needed much work he knew. As they concluded the lessons, T'Les returned from her job at the academy. She and Kirak went to the kitchen to prepare the evening meal. T'Pol's sharp hearing caught some of her parents' conversation as they prepared dinner and she realized it was about her. This displeased her. T'Pol sat in the living room and covertly brooded until she had a thought.

Quickly she left and returned to her sleeping room. She quietly closed the door and found her padd. She started researching the genealogy records of Vulcan. T'Pol entered the name T'Naa and a date almost five centuries in the past. She did not expect to find anything of note. The padd searched for a moment and then information upon fifty Vulcan women named T'Naa appeared on the screen. T'Pol scanned the results and found a single record for a T'Naa born in Sha'Kir approximately five hundred years in the past.

T'Pol started silently reading the limited biography.

"T'Naa, Ko-fu of T'Pai and Turek, born 5th day of et'khior (9th month of Vulcan r'tas) 2188 T. A. (the time of awaking) in Sha'Kir. She was the second child of the skann, a member of the S'thk T'Vuh clan. Her bonding to Ladok of the Ayhan Clan was an indication that she would rise to prominence in the S'thk T'Vuh. Her rebellious nature and severing of this bond at age twenty caused disunity in her skann. Further she left her study of the sciences and entered the fields of arts and literature. This caused her to be disunited from the S'thk T'Vuh. Notable Accomplishment: T'Naa's keen intellect and nonconformist nature did allow her to reach the third highest position in the field of ancient literature at the T'Paal Academy of Education. T'Naa never bonded or mated and left no offspring. Her family line ended upon her death."

T'Pol paused in her silent reading when she found an image of this woman and gasped. The image was the one from her dreams and meditation. There was no mistaking the similarity in appearance.