Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last set of letters. I really appreciate it.
Day 369: I apologize for my lack of writing.
From: Elizabeth_Chen
To: Peter_K; kitten_loverJJMU
Time arrived: 2/21/2261 00:00:01
subject: Sorry this took so long.
Hi everyone. Sorry for not writing as much as I should. One would think I have more time to write now that I am not wrangling a toddler, but I am still super busy with the internship. A few weeks in, I'm willing to acknowledge that I probably shouldn't have taken a full course load this semester. I've done worse before, and I will get through this. At least I am not entirely covered in french fry grease right now.
It's just that I'm now getting emails from my boyfriend almost every day, and he's kind of my first choice to write to. But he told me he's finally writing to you guys, and I decided I needed to write to my favorite tweens. Also, I feel you deserve an apology for all his ranting in his letter.
My Yorktown internship is exciting. Since this is my second time around, I have an idea of what I am doing. Because of that, I have more responsibilities, and I'm helping train the other interns. Also, I am glad I get to do a second tour because star base life differs from ship life. I think it's crucial for me to see the difference firsthand. I want to experience all the different types of assignments in Starfleet.
Although I will never volunteer for a colony assignment, I have too much trauma associated with colony life. I'm surprised I did so well on New Vulcan. New Vulcan is significantly more stable than Tarsus despite being such a young colony. They have so many redundancies in place to avoid a Tarsus situation. Also, I feel like the New Vulcan government will not cover up that their people are starving. At a minimum, your grandfather, Peter, wouldn't stand for that.
How are your classes going? My classes are going OK. Because of the time difference with San Francisco and the decision that real-time deep space streaming isn't within the budget, I get to watch lectures afterward, which isn't horrible. I can choose to watch when it works best for my schedule, usually first thing in the morning before work. Boring class lectures and oatmeal work very well together. Although it's becoming apparent, I'm getting more out of the internship than the classes. That's another reason I'm glad I decided to do a second internship.
I am now working on my first term paper for the semester. Although hopefully, nothing I write will end up being classified. Good work on the Vulcan history project. Are you doing any more projects like that? Hopefully, you'll avoid having to be classified again.
Anyway, the girls miss you. They had way too much fun with everyone on the colony. Send pictures. I'm sending you a ton of videos. Make sure you share them with their daddy.
Xxx
From: Saavik of New Vulcan
To: kitten_loverJJMU; Peter_K
Time arrived: 2/21/2261 00:00:01
Subject: I had a great time at your teacher's wedding
I am very thankful I got to see you and all my other friends from Enterprise, even if it was only for a couple of days. I've been writing Ashley three and two, but I enjoyed getting to talk to the others. Jay and Chris one have also requested correspondence. At least this way, I won't run out of people to write to for the class project. I'm grateful I made many new friends, even if they do not live on New Vulcan.
Also, that I could be a part of Gina's wedding. This was the first wedding I attended. I enjoyed it immensely. Although from what I've been told, the cake was an Earth tradition. I believe all parties are better with cake.
Josephine, the ambassador enjoyed the painting that you brought him. He actually hung it up in his office. Not the one at the compound, but the one at the VSA. He has received several compliments so far. One person even inquired about the identity of the artist. He was happy to tell them that his granddaughter did it. Since your mother is now part of our house because of her familial psychic bond with my foster brother, technically, you are the ambassador's granddaughter. Your mom is also a sister of sorts to me.
I did ask the ambassador why I'm still only a foster child. That's when I found out that he legally can not adopt me until fostering me for an entire year. However, the lawyers are ready to file the adoption papers as soon as we hit the one-year mark. I feel more secure knowing there is a timetable for my adoption, and it's coming. That the ambassador isn't planning to send me back. I like all of you, and I don't want to leave.
So have you reached your Starbase yet? Have you met the person who's going to be evaluating the program? I hope things go well. However, I wouldn't be opposed to you and Peter moving here. You would be in the house next door, and we could always be together. You would even be in classes with me. I'm making friends at the international school, but I want more. You and Peter get me the most.
X
From: kitten_loverJJMU
To: Saavik of New Vulcan
CC: Peter_K
Time arrived: 2/21/2261 10:12:04
Subject: Re: I had a great time at your teacher's wedding
It wouldn't be horrible if we had to move to New Vulcan. Although Mom and Dad would stay behind on Enterprise, I would live with Uncle Jim and Spock, which wouldn't be the worst thing to happen, especially if Aunt Lena moved to the colony. It's possible. She's currently studying like crazy for the Vulcan Bar exam.
I forgot to thank Grandpa for getting us the correct data chips for the Vulcan Bar exam. The study materials for outsiders are missing many things about Vulcan law. After what I learned from the great Vulcan history project during winter break, I am neither shocked nor surprised. Classifying the project to keep on the good side of the Vulcan authorities reinforces that.
At the same time, I also wouldn't want to leave all my other friends like Ashley two and three, and Jay. I adore all of them. Chris 1 as well. If the program ends, they'll probably end up on Earth or elsewhere except for maybe Ashley three. She could end up with us because her aunt fell in love with the VSA, and they really do need more doctors here, especially doctors who understand Vulcans. But that would mean leaving her boyfriend behind, and that would make her sad.
My dad could also be a new doctor on the colony. I think there might be some deal going on with the parents where they would trade off. I don't know yet. It's all hypothetical at the moment. Nothing more than a backup plan.
We got to Starbase 39 late yesterday, local time. However, these letters appeared in my inbox at 6 AM local time, so the time zones are all mixed up again. I won't even figure out how that relates to New Vulcan. I will have such jet lag because I have changed time zones drastically three times in a week. Thankfully, we weren't on New Vulcan long enough for it to sit in. Although I wish we were because I miss you too.
Anyway, we don't begin our inspection until tomorrow when we meet the commander, Antonia Franco. She is interviewing us tomorrow, and the next day she will sit in on our presentations. I'm finishing up last-minute preparations on that. I am meeting my team in half an hour. Peter is staying over tonight because the Uncles are having a romantic dinner, but we won't get to do sleepover things because of schoolwork. [Frustrated emoji]
If things go well, we're going to an amusement park to celebrate the program's continuation. If things go wrong, we're still going to the amusement park, but it will be the last farewell before we're all shipped off to other places. I hope it will be a celebration.
I should cut this letter short. This complex is enormous, and it will take me time to meet the others.
I'll keep you posted on what's happening with the program. I am less nervous, knowing that the worst thing that will happen is that we will end up living in New Vulcan together. I don't have to worry about getting shipped off to the judge, which makes things easier to deal with. It always helps when there's a plan. I think that's probably why you feel better knowing that grandpa plans to adopt you eventually
.
Xx
From: Peter_K
To: Elizabeth_Chen
CC: kitten_loverJJMU
Time arrived: 2/21/2261 14:23:01
subject: Re: Sorry this took so long.
It's OK that it took you a little while to write. Mainly because we just saw you. Even if it was just for a few minutes during the wedding, you looked good, even if a little exhausted.
I just put the finishing touches on the school project this afternoon. We met at one of the cafés on base. I love non-replicated muffins. Uncle Spock and Jim try to cook actual food, but we're on the ship, so the ingredients are replicated half the time. But pancakes made out of replicated flour still taste better than replicated pancakes. I can't explain it, but maybe it's because replicated food is too perfect. At least making it by hand makes it imperfect, and therefore it tastes better because of the imperfections. That's Uncle Jim's philosophy, anyway. I kind of like it.
I hope everything goes well in the next few days with the inspection. I don't know if I want to live in a colony again full-time. Neither one of us has had very good experiences with colony life. Intellectually I realize that New Vulcan is very different from Devon or Tarsus, but it's still a colony.
Yes, they're learning from the mistakes of other places, but nobody saw the parasite that attacked Devon coming, except for Great Grandpa. However, it showed up earlier than the last time around. He thought he had a few more years to keep it from happening. Or maybe because Sam Kirk was already dead in this timeline, he thought it wouldn't happen. I don't know.
I don't want to leave my friends. I've already lost too many friends before. It would be different this time because they would be alive to write me. However, I had friends on Earth too before we moved to Devon, and none of them wrote me again after the first letter or two.
I don't even know if they know about my mother's death. I didn't tell them. I think I wanted to pretend that nothing happened for the first couple of months. That I didn't lose my mom, and I wasn't stuck living on a starship with family members that I literally met a day before I lost my mother. However, after Christmas, I got used to this family and the idea that we were all together forever. Because of Starfleet bureaucracy, I might lose it. That scares me.
I like being on New Vulcan and being around the grandparents. I even want to attend college at the VSA, but that's different than the entire family settling on the planet permanently. I don't know how to explain why I'm so unsettled. Maybe I'm just scared. Or perhaps the idea of the entire family moving to the colony is a trigger and makes me remember Devon. I should probably talk to Dr. Margarita. She understands me. Too well, really.
The Uncles are having a romantic dinner alone tonight, so I am at Josephine's. They are in one of the family apartments. We have bunkbeds, which is nice. I am in the top bunk pictures attached.
Thanks for all the pictures. I didn't get to see the babies because, as you know, they fell asleep during the wedding, and your sister took them back for a nap. I can't wait to see them at their dad's wedding this summer. That's going to be great.
Xxxx
Dear Sugar Vulcan:
If you are reading this, that means you found my present. I'm looking forward to our date tonight and want you to dress your best. I picked this out during our layover on New Vulcan. I asked Gina to pick it up when she got her wedding dress/robes. Thankfully she obliged. You always look hot in traditional robes.
I am looking forward to taking them off later.
Happy belated Valentine's Day/one year of surviving Enterprise. You deserve all the chocolate for putting up with me. Love you.
Always your James.
Xx
Dear James:
I do not merely put up with you. I treasure you, and I hate to be away from you. However, I am grateful that we can spend this time alone. I'm glad our assistant could schedule it. Although Valentine's Day is not a Vulcan tradition, I enjoy participating in any cultural ritual that allows me to express my love and devotion to you.
I love you too, my T'hy'la.
To be continued.
