Star Date 2260.315
Sarek sat in his office, working quietly through the details of each task, allowing himself a moment of satisfaction as one was resolved and archived after another. Life on New Vulcan had become much more interesting recently.
After bonding with T'Ashalik only two months prior, sealed in the ancient ways, and secret traditions, they both returned to life in service of their brothers and sisters as The Confederacy of Surak began peering into the unknown future, toward the specter of the uncertainty of generational species-survival.
All that mattered to him, at least in the back of his mind, was the news they received that she was carrying their firstborn daughter. He wondered for a moment what she would be like, whose traits she would reflect, how her personality would develop… and even as the day's work was nearly complete, he ushered those thoughts away for meditation later in the evening.
With the last task completed, he secured his terminus, and stood, stretching gently. A knock rapped quietly on his door. His young aide, Salaan, bore a look of poorly masked worry combined with regret for the end-of-day interruption.
"Sir, I have received two communications that require your immediate attention. The first is directed to you personally, and bears encryption I am unable to decipher through embassy protocols. The second, however, concerns me."
Sarek sat and reactivated his terminus to evaluate the second message Salaan referred to: an obscure code, coordinates, and a collection of photo- and videographic evidence that could be best described as 'proof of life'. "Salaan, when did this message arrive?"
"Moments ago, Sir," the young Vulcan replied. "It was directed to the Governing Council, not to any official in particular – who are they?"
Sarek scrutinized each file carefully and thought for a moment. "Salaan, you are dismissed. I will attend to these matters now."
The young aide bowed and departed silently.
Sarek sat back down in his chair and began to investigate what he saw. He would not admonish Salaan for the slip of control, the curiosity overwhelming his ability to maintain protocol. Salaan was right to show such concern; it was thought that all survivors were accounted for. But if this communique were believable, there were more.
/Aduna, I require your attendance in my office, urgently./
/I will attend./
Moments later, he heard as she stepped inside. She shook her cloak dry from the light rain, wiped her boots, and entered his office. She felt concern and confusion across their bond, and sat down with him, waiting patiently as he processed what he had seen. He looked at her, relieved she was there, and handed her a PADD.
"What do you see?"
Ashalik worked to mask her shock as she saw each image, played each vid, and wondered herself if they were in a dwindling group of Vulcans unaccounted for after The Devastation. On rare occasion, lost survivors were discovered, and brought back into the fold with heightened urgency. She knew the longer it took to find them, the higher the risk of long-term psychological illness for them, accompanied by quickly declining ability to recover and survive, let alone thrive after such loss. Most simply perished.
But something was not quite right. She had difficulty directly identifying why she could not completely accept what she was seeing. She needed to be certain of what she was thinking.
"You are as uncertain as I?"
She met his gaze. "Who are they? Where are they? How did you come into possession of these files? These survivors, if that is what they are – and I am not certain of that - are in unacceptable condition. Sarek, I cannot release my concerns regarding the legitimacy of this."
Sarek activated a private code. Security Chief Sekton answered immediately. "First Administrator?"
"I have sent coordinates. Locate them with heightened efficiency. Seek all data available," Sarek instructed, as he disconnected the call.
/Adun, what else troubles you?/
He looked at the file with the unknown encryption, and experienced an uncertain familiarity with it, as if he should know it, even though he did not. It looked familiar, like the fragments of literature one would remember decades after reading.
"Salaan received this second communication. It is encrypted in a way unfamiliar with current security protocols, yet I feel a strange familiarity within it."
She looked at him silently until his eyes raised from the communication to meet hers.
/Forgive me, my wife - /
/There is no need to forgive that which betrays us daily, Sarek. However, I request you pause long enough to join me for end-meal, first./