To the planet Vulcan I go=tor wuh ek'tra Vuhlkansu nash-veh hal-tor

"Hey lover girl," Tilly said, as Burnham entered the shuttle bay. Tilly was apparently nervous with her sleeves rolled up, wiping her hands repeatedly on her pants, and her typical bun hair style was different in a way that it was a ponytail. As though Tilly had repeatedly changed her hair style from the last time Burnham had seen her. "Ready to go?"

"I believe you have forgotten something," Burnham said, approaching Tilly.

"Got my Vulcan-sand proof robes, got my boots, and got my girlfriend," Tilly said. "Yes, I am going with you and I love to meet the people who raised a amazing person," Tilly took Burnham's hands then rubbed the woman's wrist. "I expected to meet them much later in our relationship, as friends or lovers, this will do."

"Tilly," Burnham said, slipping her hand out of the ensign's grip. "this is my family," she placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "As much as I like you to meet them. . ." she shook her head. "war is not the best time to meet the parents."

"Your previous boyfriend told me otherwise," Tilly said. "and he is a engineer technician."

"I was joking," Burnham said. "I did not expect him to be aboard the same ship as I."

"You're stuck with me whether you like it or not," Tilly said.

Burnham observed the taller woman.

"As you wish," Burnham said.

Tilly hugged Burnham.

"I love you," Tilly said, with her hands on Burnham's back.

Burnham briefly closed her eyes moving her fingers along to the ensign's neck.

"Taluhk nash-veh du," Burnham said, then applied the nerve pinch.

Tilly slumped in Burnham's arms.

Sarek was in a healing trance laid on the biobed. Amanda was seated by his side. As she had always been in their relationship when it came to the worst and to the best. The guilt dripping from Sarek was consistent starting from stardate 2249 and it had not been explained since then. Dropping Spock out of their life was a straw that send Amanda away for a year and upon her return find the house crowded with Vulcan hybrids ranging in age. In private, she held on to Sarek's hand. It felt like weeks ago had she been with Sarek in the embassy in front of children. The children did not react to the fall of Sarek. They simply watched him fall to the ground and watched Amanda tend to her bondmate. She looked up from Sarek's hand to see a familiar figure enter the recovery room.

A smile grew on Amanda's face.

"Michael," Amanda said.

"Greetings, mother," Burnham said, with hands linked behind her back.

"I love your new hair style," Amanda said. "it looks good on you."

"Just what my girlfriend told me," Burnham said.

"Spill the beans," Amanda said.

"She is a ensign," Burnham said. "engineering officer."

"You have a thing for engineers," Amanda said. "Admit it."

"They are very interesting people," Burnham said, coming over to the chair across Sarek. "Not as interesting as Admiral Georgiou."

"She is a unique woman," Amanda said, fondly.

"Did you see the attacker?" Burnham asked.

"Not at all," Amanda said. "I should have seen them."

Burnham looked down toward Sarek.

"He showed me the attack," Burnham said, sitting down into the chair. "There were chaperones."

"Some Vulcans do not like what Sarek does," Amanda said. "They wouldn't launch a attack in the Embassy."

"They had a suicide bomber in the Vulcan Learning Center," Burnham said. "if they can do that, then they can do it anywhere."

"Vulcan logic extremists favor being explosive," Amanda said. "Logically, they could not have been part of the attack."

"Your logic is sound," Burnham said.

"The children are being taken care of by Aunt Shorouk and her partner," Amanda said. "They understand that I need to be alone."

"Not completely alone, mother," Burnham replied, as Amanda met Burnham's eyes.

"Sarek is proud of you," Amanda said. "You should see his collection of Spock's achievements."

"I know," Burnham said, allowing the littlest of emotion to be revealed with a thin smile.

It had been a hour since Burnham's arrival to Vulcan. One hour of spending time with her adoptive parents. She was in her Vulcan robes that fitted her form. They were a shade of purple. The color that she enjoyed, personally, as a aesthetic at night from a neon sign. It was one of the colors that Burnham had appreciated from the exterior of the USS Shenzhou. She appreciate the times when sights of science was enveloped in shades of glowing purple; a color that she really liked. The Embassy had parts sealed off where the culprit had been said to flee and determined to have gone. Her Starfleet uniform was underneath the Vulcan robes. It felt more as a war uniform than a explorer one. The Federation embassy was still the way it had been in her previous visit in Sarek's recount of events.

The painstaking detail of the yellow walls was very familiar. It was popcorn like in shape yet it was gritty and rough like sand paper. The yellow was mundane and static, different from the color yellow, in ways that she did not understand then but understood now. The color was logical. A color that she had seen early in her childhood commonly when Sarek was on diplomatic business and his assistant took care of her while she studied Surak's teachings. The kind of familiarity that someone would have with a old friend. The amount of times she visited the embassy was enough that it had no part in her education. It had been a familiar place. Her parents had been friends with Sarek and had taken the Vulcan outpost as a living station because it had cutting edge scientific equipment. Her parents were gleeful to say for the least. She looked over toward the wall where it showed Sarek and her parents, Michael Burnham, and Angela Burnham. Her name was not always Michael.

Sarek had bestowed her the name in honor of her father per Vulcan tradition to rename a child after losing their family and into the care of a new one entirely. Back then she used to be someone else entirely. Different person. Different appearance with naturally curly hair. She got it from Michael. Michael the slim shouldered man compared to the broad shouldered taller woman. Burnham had a fond smile in her mind at it. She still had curly hair. A hairstyle that she let be the way it was rather than be straightened as it was on the Shenzhou. A sense of professionalism and stoic demeanor to her. Burnham turned her attention away then came over to the holographic yellow tape in front of the botanical doorway. The familiar greenery set about the scenery.

Burnham noticed Starfleet figures around the crime scene. As though they had recently arrived themselves. Burnham recognized Admiral Anderson and Admiral Terral. She stopped in front of the doorway. Almost on cue Admiral Anderson looked over toward her then back toward Terral sharing a short lived nod. The two admirals were in golden uniforms with the Starfleet regulated black pants. The long boots that reached up under the pant legs. Terral came toward Burnham a a slow pace.

"Commander Burnham," Terral said. "The Discovery's help is not needed."

"I am not here as part of the Discovery," Burnham said. "I come here as part of the S'chn T'gai clan."

"We are handling this," Terral said.

"Admirals don't usually come to where a assassination attempt was made," Burnham said.

"That is logical," Terral said. "this, however, is not."

Burnham tilted her head with a eyebrow raise.

"How so?" Burnham asked.

"Your father is in some business that Starfleet does not wish to talk about," Terral said.

"Is it the Romulan double life issue?" Burnham asked. "I knew it would catch up with him but during the war I did not ex-"

"Hold," Terral said, holding his hand up. "Repeat that first part."

"Romulan double life issue," Burnham repeated.

"Sarek would never do that," Terral said. "we would have known. He is not a spy."

Burnham sighed shaking her head.

"It is for Romulan-Vulcan unification," Burnham said.

"What?" Terral asked, his voice hitting a low flat note.

"He has been doing it since I was a child under the alias Keras through holographic technology," Burnham explained. "Highly Advanced Technology I do not know where he gets it from. It is very convincing that he is there out there in Romulan Space when he is not."

"Looks as though Sarek has some explaining to do to Starfleet behind close doors," Terral said. "And it is not that. And it is none of your concern."

"Understood," Burnham said.

"We can't find the culprit," Terral said. "It is like they vanished into thin air."

"Or they blended in," Burnham said. "It was not Vulcan."

"I was dreading that," Terral said. "it couldn't have been the logic extremists."

"It wasn't," Burnham said. "It could have been a Romulan or someone disguised to look Vulcan."

"Clever," Terral said. "a quick get away. Wasn't the chaperones." he shook his head. "We're at a dead end."

"That is all the speculating I will make for this culprit, Admiral Terral," Burnham said.

"Good," Terral said. "Do not attempt to become part of this investigation."

"I am not interested," Burnham said, then held up the ta'al. "Live long and prosper."

"Peace and long life," Terral reciprocated then watched her walk away.