Chapter Thirty-seven
The Desert Saga
The males were lounging around in their assigned space—some playing chess, some reading. The only evidence that they
acknowledged their visitors were raised eyebrows.
Spock stated,
"Brothers Dif-tor heh smusma (Live long and prosper) They is a need for us to gather information from you. Are all of you
capable of written communication?"
The unanimous answer was "Ha" (IYes)
Spock was grateful, for some reason the job of teaching Vulcans, Vulcan did not appeal to him. He was fully aware that
these males would have to learn Standard, for while Vulcan was the language of The Settlement, Standard was the
language of business.
Spock handed out PAADs and held it up for the group to observe how it is used.—he wrote his name pressed a botton to
'save' the entered information. There was a buzz of conversation. Sarek stood and gestured for quiet.
"Your entires should include your biographical information, your parents names, their original home, jobs you have been
trained to carry out, work that interests you. We will collect this information and attempt to determine your latent
talents and intrinsic abilities. Your information will be correlated to information already collected from survivors of
Va Pak and we will be able to join you with another male to form a family group."
Spock sent to his father his need to return to The Academy. Although it was summer recess, he had been working on the
next school year's syllabuses. Before departing he wished the group, peace and long life.
0`0`0`0`0`0`0`0`0`
S'chin T'gai Nyota, seated on a lounge in her rose garden, looked out at the four boys playing some sort of game involving
a ball. Her twins, Kov and Xon and cousin Sirin's two, Jason and Alexander, were inseparable. Anyone looking at them
might have thought they were brothers, even though her two did not share the same pale complexion of the other two.
However. all of them were handsome and extremely telligent She thought how grateful she was for her life. There was up
unto that point, absolutely no complaint. Her husband's love and dutiful attention to his sons and also his nephews did not
mirror his youthful experiences. Also, she was exceptionally moved by her sons; relationship with their cousins-In the
Vulcan sense, they were brothers, but not of the same womb.
Her com signaled and Spock's face appeared.
"K'dwa. you are well?"
She nodded.
He continued,
"I must go to The Embassy. Hopefully my father will join me to discuss matters of importance about this latest group of
Vulcans housed there. I will go there immediately after I leave the Academy. I don't intend to be too long. But I must
return to the Academy to complete the coming semester's subjects outline."
Nyota nodded in comprehension and placed her hand upon his on the screen she replied,
"Hurry home. Taluhk nash-veh k'dular" ( I cherish thee) and shut down the unit.
`0`0`0`0`0`0`0`0`0`
Nyota had long ago determined that the ideal tool for getting young males' attention was a coach's whistle. So, she blew
and then cupped her mouth with her hands and shouted to the now stationary males,
"Come and wash up for sustenance. Jason and Alexander, your parents called, they will be coming home later this
afternoon."
The four broke out into a race for the door, stopping in time to avoid collision with her, apologizing as they darted into the
house. Knowing the 'house rules' Jason tossed the ball behind them. Unaware that this action caused the thrown object to
land quite forcefully on Nyotan's pregnant belly. She doubled over slightly and then steadied herself on the arm of the
chase and waited to catch her breath.
While seated at his desk through their bond he felt a jolt of pain, a sensation experienced by Nyota.
Immediately, Spock's presence spoke to her,
"Nyota, apprise me of your present condition."
"Just took the place of a goal net here. I think all is well. No lasting repercussions," was her response.
Not allowing himself to believe what was said, he made an instant adjustment in his destination.
"Kidiwa, I will return home immediately to check on you."
Before she could protest, his message faded and she stood up and entered the house. She was certain the boys would be
recipients of forthcoming stern lectures by their respective fathers or as the case may be, even a cousin. .
As she entered she called the boys into the kitchen.
"Peanut butter, jelly, crackers and almond milk are available for replenishing your energy." she announced and sat down on
one of the stools at the kitchen island to observe the show.
She thought of how a Vulcan mindset allowed logic to play even when it came to eating. The Standard term 'snack' would
have absolutely no meaning to the Vulcan mind set. She recalled her first use of the word when speaking to Spock. He
raised an eyebrow, enunciated the word and she could see his eyes moving as if searching his vast internal dictionary. He
mouthed, back, tack, lack...
She finally said,
"Just a small amount of food to replenish spent energy."
He responded,
"Why is it not described so?"
Her answer was simply,
"Because we are illogical Terrans, that is why."
He opened his mouth as if he was going to make a reply and instead just nodded.
She continued her observation of the boys.
First of all, Vulcans did not eat with their hands. Some even more fastidious ones did not even want to touch their food as it
is being prepared. To observe Sirin's sons instructing her boys on the finer art of preparing peanut butter and jelly crackers,
without touching them, was extremely entertaining for her.
First, they opened two sleeves of crackers and laid them side by side and slowly slid their contents out so as to spread them
on the clean flat surface. An iced tea spoon and a knife was used to first place the jelly on half of the crackers, then the
peanut butter on the other half. Since the jelly would slide, but the peanut butter would cling, two forks maneuvered the
peanut butter cracker to the top of the jelly one. Their individual plates were slid into place at the edge of the counter top
to receive equal number of crackers, which they would eat with spoons. Their inventiveness in carrying out the 'no touch'
rule served as a testimony to their unique abilities.
Sirin's two sons were half Vulcan, which was expected. But unexpectedly, her twins were also one-half Vulcan. Geneticist
had been unable to explain how that was so. Even Vulcan scientists were in a dilemma as to the 'why' regarding their
uniqueness. Their genetic background did not hinder them in any way. They had, however, been tested by earth and Vulcan
standards and it had been determined in areas of math and langage, they were prodigies. The four boys spoke Vulcan in
their private conversations. Of course, they also spoke Standard. Her sons spoke Swahili, several other United States of
Africa's dialects and all the Romance languages. In the areas of science these four tests were the highest ever recorded in
their age groups. This all attested to the diligence of genius parents.
Sirin and Rachael's sons, while not having the background in languages, math and computer science the twins displayed.
The areas of biology, of medical science and Vulcan healing techniques were their forte. Their talents also stood as evidence
of their parents' input into their early and continued education.
The family friend Lo'vaak also contributed to the education by the regular exposing of all the children to traditional Vulcan
medicine. His daughter NyTu also was fluent in several languages, including Betazoid, she also was outstanding in the areas
of science and had a deep interest in life sciences and biology, even at her early age.
Nyota was just about to start preparation for the evening meal when Spock made his appearance, embraced her tenderly
and placed his forehead against hers with his spayed hand on her extended belly. Closing his eyes he conducted his own
examination.
"She is well," he whispered as he opened his eyes.
"However, she is a bit perturbed at her sudden awaking when the force of an object disrupted her normal patterns. She
welcomed the calm I sent to her."
"You old charmer, you have a way with females," was Nyota's response to his observation. She continued,
"Don't you have to speak to your father?"
He nodded.
"I anticipate that the meeting will not be too long."
Nyota said,
"If you have not returned by 2000 hours, I will put the boys to bed, but I will wait up for you".
Spock spoke with a tone of insistence in his voice,
"That is only agreeable if you have placed yourself in a semi-reclining position,"
Nyota kissed him playfully and smiled as she said,
"You are still my commanding officer."
Before their time together, with Nyota service as his interpreter of human behavior, expression, non-verbal communication
and then their subsequent 'non-professional relationship' and eventual bonding and marriage, Spock would have justified,
qualified expanded, and explained how that statement was illogical—since she was no longer on active duty, but now his
reply was simply,
"Indeed."