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On the day Seven and Icheb were to leave Voyager to visit Aunt Irene in Sweden, Icheb and Seven entered the Mess Hall and saw a group of crew members clustered around one table. All of them were Maquis or Equinox people, which wasn't surprising. With the debriefings concluded, the Starfleet crew had almost all left the ship to visit family, friends, or, if they weren't natives of Earth, to do a little sightseeing denied them while the crew was interrogated over the past several days. Virtually everyone in the Mess Hall was standing around and chatting with Tom, B'Elanna, and Marla, who were sitting at a table with their daughters, trying semi-successfully to ingest their breakfasts.
At a table in close proximity to theirs, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok sat, surrounded by a contingent of Vulcans. Icheb recognized Tuvok's family from images he'd seen on occasion, during visits to his tutor's quarters for lessons or when turning in course work. When the Vulcan officer saw them, he waved his hand slightly, gesturing for Seven and Icheb to approach. "Allow me to introduce my family, who are visiting from Vulcan." Each of the family members nodded in turn as Tuvok identified his wife T'Pel, his daughter Asil, his sons Varith and Elieth, and his eldest son Sek with his wife Varin and their daughter T'Meni.
Icheb became so distracted by Tuvok's daughter Asil, a stunningly beautiful young woman, that all he could manage to respond with was a stuttering, "It is g-good to meet you."
Seven glanced sideways at Icheb, clearly amused by his discomfiture, but all she said was, "You have a lovely family, Commander. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to make their acquaintance." After nodding her head towards each in turn, she turned briskly away and approached the wall with the replicator to order her favorite nutritional supplement breakfast. Icheb followed meekly behind her and ordered the same, even though Chell's offerings smelled quite appetizing this morning.
They chose to sit at the table on the side of Tuvok's family, away from the group admiring the ship's babies. As he sipped his shake, Icheb observed the Vulcans as unobtrusively as he could. While he'd seen Vorik and Tuvok, as well as the former Maquis Vulcan crew woman who kept to herself virtually all of the time, he hadn't seen them interacting often. They weren't family to each other, of course. Seeing Tuvok with his was a revelation. T'Pel, Tuvok's wife, was very dignified, but her movements and the snippets of conversation Icheb caught were much livelier than he'd expected, judging from his studies of Vulcan culture. Asil was even more animated. While Icheb wouldn't go so far as to say she was behaving emotionally, she clearly was much younger and less practiced in controlling her facial expressions than her brothers and sister-in-law seemed to be.
What intrigued him the most, however, was seeing young T'Meni in action. In a conversation he'd had with Tuvok several months ago, Icheb learned she was five years and eight months old, by Federation Standard reckoning. When T'Meni, in a loud voice, asked her mother for permission to visit with Aimee Gilmore and little Miral at the next table, Icheb perceived that Vulcans were not, by nature, grave and emotionally distant, in the way those of other races perceived them. T'Meni wasn't demanding or ill-behaved, but Icheb could see she had a lot to learn about controlling the manner in which she expressed herself. Icheb heard her mother Varin softly admonish T'Meni not to "shout," for example. She did, however grant her daughter permission to visit the other children.
Icheb recalled a conversation he'd had with Tom shortly after Icheb came to live on Voyager. Tom told him about the time Tuvok, the Doctor, and Tom were marooned on a planet with a temporal distortion. They thought they'd been lost for months, while only two days had passed for those on Voyager. During this stressful period, Tuvok admitted to Tom that as a young man, his family sent him to a monastery for instruction, since he was anything but adept at controlling his emotions at that time. According to Tom, Tuvok used meditation to maintain his balance around the rest of Voyager's crew, since it was comprised primarily of humans, along with several Bajorans, a couple of Bolians, and one very intense Klingon/human hybrid. Members of these species could be quite volatile. They had no need to curb their language or many behaviors which a Vulcan could not display and still be considered culturally appropriate. Icheb had no doubt the presence of his family was a primary reason the lieutenant commander was able to sit so calmly in the Mess Hall while a rowdy group was kibitzing right next to him.
The smell of Chell's breakfast was too enticing for Icheb to ignore for long. His shake simply wasn't enough to satisfy him this morning. Once Seven excused herself to finish her "packing" for Aunt Irene's - puzzling to Icheb, since her meagre wardrobe and a portable regeneration unit were just about all she needed to bring with her - Icheb braved the Bolian chef's effusiveness long enough to choose a more substantial meal. His egg and sausage breakfast disappeared down his gullet and into his stomach much faster than he would have liked, especially once he became aware, through his peripheral vision, of Asil's discreet observation of him as he ate.
When a shadow fell across his almost empty plate, Icheb looked up and saw his tutor regarding him. Gravely, Commander Tuvok said, "Cadet, I wish to congratulate you for attaining advanced placement at the Academy. I was pleased those who evaluated you agreed with my assessment of the level of your accomplishment."
"Thank you, Commander. I believe your guidance and the excellent instruction you provided me are the reasons they did."
Tuvok looked briefly to his left, towards his wife, who had touched him lightly on the elbow, before nodding very slightly and responding, "An instructor is only as successful as his pupil is committed to learn. You have been one of the most promising students I have ever had the privilege of teaching. I must also acknowledge that your . . . sensitivity . . . towards my . . . current state of being . . . is also much appreciated. I apologize for not being able to invite you into my quarters on the day you wished to share your news. I was not well enough for visitors that day. It was gratifying to read your message when I was capable of doing so. Thank you for sending it."
As Icheb stood up, he became aware that Asil had taken a position to her father's right. She didn't touch him in the way her mother did. Icheb became aware that the sons were now gathered around Tuvok as well. They weren't simply waiting for him, Icheb understood, they were supporting him at this difficult time. His illness must be a very serious one for the entire family to have come to him from Vulcan.
Icheb hesitated, because if he said what he was thinking, it meant he was acknowledging Tuvok's illness. He couldn't help himself, however. He said what he'd wanted to admit for several days. "Commander, I realize I didn't truly win our Kal-toh match that day. You should have won."
For the first time since he'd entered the Mess Hall, Icheb thought the Commander's demeanor brightened ever so slightly, as if he truly was pleased to have the truth of the game's outcome to be recognized. He was surprised, therefore, by the lieutenant commander's response. "I disagree. Poor strategy, whatever the root cause, leads to a loss. You merely took advantage of an opening I gave you. If you had made such a move, I would have taken advantage of it to win the game, as I have done with Mr. Kim on numerous occasions. Your victory was real. When I am fully healed, however, I will challenge you to another game. I advise you to hone your skills in the interim. Prepare yourself for a rigorous match by playing Kal-Toh matches with others. I look forward to our future competition."
Icheb smiled. "I accept, Commander. Name the date and the time, and I will answer your challenge."
Tuvok nodded again. Surrounded by his entourage of devoted and attentive family members, he left the Mess Hall. Once the group had passed through the Mess Hall's doors, Icheb glanced over towards the table where Tom, B'Elanna, Marla, and their respective offspring were still seated. Tom winked at him. Icheb smiled back at his friend.
Although Icheb's family of origin had proven to be a bitter disappointment to him, his Voyager family had accepted him with open arms from the very beginning of his stay on the starship. He hoped his Great Aunt Irene would prove to be just as welcoming towards Icheb as those on Voyager had been.
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