Chapter Thirty-eight
The Desert Saga
The classes for this new group of Vulcans were going well. Despite not being schooled in The Vulcan Way, this
group still possessed the gift of the Vulcan eidetic memory. Again the observation was not that they did not
possess the mental ability to learn, they had never had the opportunity to broaden their knowledge. The main
point of concern for those who were their instructors was there was the lack of devotion to duty along with the
absence of the insatiable desire to learn that was the earmark of Vulcans as a whole. This quality would have to
be nurtured.
In the Vulcan educational system, students were taught in their individual spheres at their own pace. Group
education sessions were rare, most of these focused on health issues, sexual instruction and even the infamous
period of study on the subject of Pon Farr. Still, even in those circumstances, the Vulcan drive towards
excellence was present. Not so with this group. It was as if the entire group were victims of Attention Deficit
Disorder. The teachers decided that an entire course on meditation-its' use, value, types, degrees, and how
attained and maintained, would be most beneficial to this group. Implementing this Vulcan way would help these
who were not so zealous, in the academic area, to accelerate that all so necessary ability to focus. It was within
the confines of that setting that those four teachers came to appreciate, even more so, the value of family
bonding and The Vulcan Way. Whether these newly arrived Vulcans would ever reach what was considered the
Vulcan normal was yet to be seen, but none the less, the teachers all worked with that ideal in view.
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There was one of the students for whom Spock had a particular concern. He always appeared to challenge Spock.
In a physical sense, the student surpassed him in height and muscular mass. However Spock's knowledge of
Vulcan martial arts certainy put him at a distinct advantage. It was his biographical information that revealed
sordid facts having to do with their confinement on the planet Vitos. It appears the slavers would bring in ship
loads of females of various species who served as sex slaves. The majority of the Vulcans recently transported did
not avail themselves of this diversion. However, the Vulcan, named S'na, who made it quite clear that he did.
Actually, what he did was quite contrary to the Vulcan mind set-he bragged about his illicit activities.
On several occasion Spock would turn, or raise his head from his reading material to find S'na staring at him. It
was at the last instance that Spock decided that he would have a private interview with this student to come to
some sort of understanding as to the reason for his apparent dislike. Spock could not recall anything he had done
that could have caused this reaction in this young Vulcan. He would advise Si'rin, Lo'vaak and Sarek of his
observations. This was a Vulcan who appeared to be experiencing something completely contrary to the usual
Vulcan philosophy-serious anger issues, bordering on rage and these were directed toward Spock. So it was, on
the day that he had scheduled a private talk with S'na, Nyota had come to the Embassy with T'Paal, Christine,
Rachel and the children. Realizing Spock was extremely busy and had to work within the constraints of time, she
decided that she would bring second meal to him. She had not taken off a cape she had worn as an outer
garment when she announced her presence through their bond and he allowed her to enter. She placed the tray
on a desk and turned to face him and gave him the finger embrace. Spock immediately noticed S'na's response to
his wife's presence. He sent,
'K'diwa, leave immediately. Your presence seems to be having an effect on this unbonded Vulcan male, I will join
you and the family shorty.'
The cape Nyota was wearing hid her figure from S'na's perception. His eyes followed Nyota out of the door. To set
things straight Spock said,
"I did not advise she who is my wife of your presence here. I apologize for the interruption."
S'na's response, with almost a gloating look in his eyes was,
"Your bondmate looks very much like one of the visitors to my room on Vitos.…very aesthetically pleasing. That female was my favorite."
To have his Nyota put into a sentence that contained the description of one of S'na 'visitors' had Spock on the
verge of what could best be described as human rage, while he attempted to dampen same with Vulcan logic.
His ice cold correction was,
"My bondmate, she who is my wife, should not be placed in such a setting of disrespect. Offense is taken by me
for the slander to my wife's character by your speech."
For several seconds S'na stared at him and Spock detected the vague outline of a sardonic smile. Then the
statement,
"Surely, brother, you are not unsure of your place in your Aduna's heart. I was just commenting on her physical
resemblance to someone of my acquaintance."
Spock's hands were behind his back and his fists were flexing and relaxing.
S'na's final comment was,
"Under different circumstances I am sure I could win her away from you. But…."
Spock's cold command was,
"Leave now."
S'na rose slowly and deliberately from his chair and said,
"'Brother,'you have doubts?" and then left the room.
S'na did not immediately return to his quarters below. His highly developed Vulcan sense of smell led him to
where the women were with the children and he observed Spock's bondmate again. No, his eyes had not deceived
him. He then returned to the lower level not sure how he could handle the physical reaction that he was
having to his memories, and the appearance of his instructor's bondmate.
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He lay there thinking. Her name was La'iv. She was not Vulcan, although she had similar eyebrows and ears. She
too had been taken as a child, found in an escape pod with her mother's lifeless body. She had just been placed
with this group of females, frightened, and begging him to not touch her. She was probably sixteen sol cycles old.
A truly beautiful, beautiful female. Of course, he had had his share of these regular visitors. None of the other
Vulcans ever came into the area where the shuttle stayed for twenty-four hours.
There were small cabins dotting the area for the males to take the females. No credit was exchanged, but the
males who did not do their quota of work or in any other way defied the authority on that planet, would be
deprived of this 'privilege' for an indefinite length of time.
He looked at her hugging herself tightly into a ball, sitting on the ground in the corner of the building. She was
crying. S''na had never seen tears before and he watched as they flowed and then there was a rocking motion
and sounds unfamiliar to him escaped her throat. She was small, delicate, brown skinned, with long black hair,
large brown eyes and unusually long eyelashes. These were now wet with tears, while her eyes which apparently could
convey messages were filled with terror. He then decided on a different approach. This was a girl, not an experienced
woman, who knew her 'job'. Of course the thought of him being her 'first,' carried with it a degree of excitement, but he
would make a concession this time. He would speak to his supervisor about his being able to keep her. He wasn't sure what
he could offer, but since this was not a money making part of the Orion syndicate, just a placating entity, perhaps it would
work. Maybe she could cook, or clean…
He calmed his urges and started talking to her,
"What is your name?
I am S'Na.
Where are you from?"
She turned and after a while answered,
"My name is La'iv, or that is the name the women gave me. I don't know where I am from,"
He nodded in recognition of a similar situation,
"Neither do I know where I am from. I was brought here as a young child and know no other home."
Still clutching herself she commented,
"I have attempted to calculate how long I have been with these women. They have
been like a group of mothers to me. They begged 'The Owners' to just let me stay at
our home place, but once they saw I was now a woman, they insisted that I come.
This is my first time away from our home place. S'Na nodded, it was like meeting a
kindred spirit. He reached over to her and tenderly put his arm around her shoulder,
"I will not take you against your will."
Her lips were tight as she nodded and she used her balled fists to remove her tears.
He gestured toward the bed and said,
"I will sleep on the floor. I am use to such places for relaxation."
She rose from the floor and cautiously crawled into the bed, fully clothed and
wrapped the bed linens tightly around her body. He eventually heard the sounds of
sleep coming from her person as he sat in the semi-darkness and studied her.