TOS, K/S, NC-17, 1/?

Violence (including sexual violence), m/m & m/f sex.



Disclaimer:  Paramount owns Star Trek and the Star Trek universe, including

James Kirk and Spock of Vulcan.  Paramount does *not* own this story, or any of

the characters that came from my brain, but most particularly does not own

Sol cha' Spock, also known as Samuel Sol Kirk.



Archive on alt.startrek.creative & R'rain's archive ONLY.  Otherwise, links to 

this story are OK, copies at your site are NOT.  May be downloaded for personal

(ahem) use, provided disclaimer and copyright info remain intact.



Copyright 1997, Laura Jacquez Valentine

---



Chapter 1: Earth, Sol System, United Federation of Planets



"The Vulcan Ambassador."



Samuel stood up slowly.  He was not the official ambassador from Vulcan to the 

Federation, but he would have to do.  His grandfather and fathers were too far 

away.  They had been trying to prevent the necessity of anyone ever saying the

words Samuel was about to say.  He walked towards the front of the council 

chambers with measured steps.  The robes made him look older than his sixteen

Terran years, but they did nothing to calm him.  He could hear the room stir

behind him, and waited for the challenge.  It came, as he knew it would, from

the Tellarite Ambassador.



"Who is this boy?  Where is Sarek?  Where is Sarek's son?"



Samuel answered, layering soothing harmonics on his voice as he did so.  "I am

Sol, son of Spock, son of Sarek.  I speak for Vulcan in a time of crisis."

He got the tones right; he could hear the resonance.  The Tellarite settled

back into his seat.



Samuel raised his voice.  "Before there was the Federation, before Surak died

but during his life, the Orion pirates met Vulcan in war.  They intended to 

conquer us.  But we were and are Vulcan: unconquered and unconquerable.  We

prevailed.  Now they threaten Vulcan again, and for the first time in millenia,

Vulcan goes to war."



He saw the fear grow on the faces of many, and added layers to his voice.

"We do not take the Federation with us.  This is a war older than the 

Federation, and not the Federation's affair.  We release you from all bonds 

and obligations. Federation personnel have been evacuated from Vulcan; Vulcan 

nationals have returned home." He paused for a second.  "My fathers Spock and 

James Kirk, and my grandfather Sarek, labored for years to prevent this war.  

They failed. If Vulcan does not survive, we trust that you will remember us."



And Samuel Sol Kirk, son of Spock, turned on his heel and strode out of the 

council chambers of the Federation, leaving silence behind him.



Once out in the sunlight, he walked swiftly down the street, headed for the

public transport to the Pacific.  He wanted to see it one last time.  He

noticed that many of the humans on the street were eying him strangely.  The 

robes were unmistakably Vulcan, and he was unmistakably...not.  He frowned at 

that...I speak Vulcan, I am a telepath and a healer and my blood is not red.  

But I am--not Vulcan.  How then, can I speak for Vulcan, fight for Vulcan?...  

He felt out of place in his own skin.



The glare from the transport operator was flatly hostile.  "You're that boy I

just heard telling us the Vulcans are too good for the Federation?  I don't 

want you riding my trannie, boy."



Samuel studied him for a second.  "It would be ill-advised of you to refuse me

transportation.  Make no mistake, Terran, Vulcans kill with as little 

compunction as you eat a carrot."



"I thought you were *pacifists*, boy."  Samuel didn't move or speak, but he let

subharmonics grow and throb in his throat until the man backed down.  If it

hadn't been a serious situation, Samuel might have laughed.  As it was, he

settled for mild intimidation and took his seat.



The beach was lovely, a little cool, but beautiful.  Samuel and his fathers had

gone sailing on an old-style clipper ship here a few years back.  The spray had

been cold on his face, and his hands had gone numb, but he had loved the feel

of the ocean, rising and swelling under the ship.  Vulcan had no oceans.



He sighed and hoped the spray hitting his face hid the tears.  He called out

to his new bondmate, T'San.  ...Aduna?...



...Adun.  I am here.  It is done?...



...Yes. And I am frightened....



...We are all frightened.  Hurry home, my husband....



Carefully, Samuel slipped out of the robe and his boots.  He piled them on the 

beach above the waves, and walked quietly in the surf, trying to slow down 

the quick inhuman hum of his heart.







---

Chapter 2: Orion Homeworld



Sarek of Vulcan hissed quietly between his teeth.  He was not pleased, but it 

would not do to show it.  His companion picked up on it immediately, however.

Long years of experience with Vulcans--with one Vulcan in particular--gave 

James Kirk the edge he needed to see that Sarek was seething.  Before he could 

say anything, Sarek spoke.



"What did you find out?"



"They have several times the weapons stockpiles that we thought they did.  They

are determined to recover 'lost glory'--"



"Their ambassador said as much."



"--and they are playing up the idea that they will conquer the unconquered."



Sarek almost snarled at that.  "We are Vulcan.  We will *never* be conquered." 

His head snapped up.  "Amanda.  They are trying to--"  He started to run, and

Jim followed as quickly as he could.  Fortunately, the UFP embassy was close

by.  As the gate came in sight, what Jim saw almost brought him up short.

There were two--no, three, one on the ground--Orions, and Amanda.



Amanda, that slender, gracious, elderly lady, looked downright dangerous.  She

was holding a long fighting knife with the ease that only comes with long 

practice, and the Orion on the ground was bleeding from a gash in his side.



Sarek moved like lightening and disabled the other two, then pulled Amanda with

him through the Embassy gates.  Jim slipped inside in time to hear "The 

ship blasts in an hour.  Vulcan goes to war," and he went cold inside.



The guards slammed and locked the gates behind him, and he went in to gather 

his things.



He remembered the day that he had heard of the Orion plans.  It had been nearly

five years ago, and Samuel had been off-planet with his grandparents, visiting

Terra--Earth, he corrected himself. ...When did I start thinking of Earth as 

"Terra"?  When did my world become alien to me?...  He shook himself.  Spock

had decided to make the day interesting.  Jim had come home from a morning 

walk, and was taking a shower when Spock slipped in with him.  The Vulcan's 

soapy hands had roamed over Kirk's body, tweaking his nipples, caressing his 

balls.  Spock had knelt and taken Jim's penis in his mouth, letting the alien

heat light a fire in the human's belly, and then pulled back.  He had risen,

pressed Jim back against the wall, and lifted him by the thighs, so that his 

knees were drawn up to the level of the Vulcan's waist.  It was one

of the few times that Spock had used his strength in such a way. 



"My turn," Spock had whispered, and entered him.



Jim had thought the day could only go down from there, but he hadn't 

anticipated how much it would.  The rest of the morning had been spent 

relaxing naked in each other's arms, watching the old Terran movie "When 

Harry Met Sally."



"That was us," Kirk had said.  "The friendship and denying it went deeper."



"Deeper?"  Spock's voice had dropped just enough to warn his bondmate that the

hand sliding down his ass was about to do more than just caress--and the 

subspace terminal in the next room beeped insistently.  With a wicked grin, Jim

had twisted free of the Vulcan, threw on a robe, and went to answer it.



It was Amanda.  "Jim, I need to talk to Spock.  Right away."  Spock had 

appeared, as if by magic, behind his bondmate.



"Mother?"



"Spock.  Tell the Vulcan Council--we must send someone to Orion, as soon as

possible.  They intend ashv'cezh.  Full message, coded, follows."  The screen

had gone blank, and then requested authorization codes.  Spock had given them, 

his hands flying.



"Ashv'cezh?"  Jim had asked.



"Revenge-worse-than-death.  They intend to conquer Vulcan."  Spock's voice had

had a tightness to it that Jim had not heard for years--not since the Intrepid

had gone down with all hands, four hundred Vulcan minds silenced at once.



Jim paused, a shirt in hand.  He hadn't really thought about it before.

...It takes something like that to rattle you, t'hy'la...



...Yes...  



The human jumped.  He hadn't expected Spock to hear him.  Spock was on

Vulcan, a very long way from Orion.



...We have been bonded a long time, Jim.  I can almost always hear you when you

send to me, even over such distances.  It went well?...



...It did not....



...Then I go into the desert, and Samuel to the Federation Council.  Tell my 

parents.  I cherish thee, t'hy'la...



Jim swallowed hard.  ...I love you....



But Spock was not listening anymore.  Kirk jammed the rest of his belongings 

into his bags, and went to meet Sarek and Amanda.









---



Chapter 3: W~lq~n, 40 Eridanii System



Journal entry: It is the month of T'lakht, dedicated to rage, to the hot 

violence that is our sun and our heritage.  We burn even as the sun burns on 

the desert.  I watched Samuel today in the Council chambers.  He is no 

diplomat, but he is a fine speaker and has a tremendous sense of the 

appropriate--a credit to his House and his Clan.  Leonard would say that

he has a "good bedside manner."  Sol cha' Spock, my only child, Samuel Sol 

Kirk--I hope I live to see you and your father again.  Remember, if I do not, 

that I loved you both more than life.





Spock of Vulcan gazed out at the desert.  The softsuit was light on his back, 

and his water was secured.  T'San, his daughter-in-law, stood next to him.  

"Tell them, if I do not come back, that I died as I lived, in the pursuit of 

knowledge."



"That is not strictly true, Honored Father."



"Is is not?  I seek knowledge.  Will the Dark Ones join us, or not?"



"As you wish, Honored Father."



Spock turned and looked at the woman.  "We are both half-caste, T'San.  You

understand me in ways that even Jim cannot."  She blinked up at him, plainly

confused.  He held out two fingers in the ritual embrace, and said "I give you

my name, Daughter."  She almost smiled as she touched her fingers to his.



"I give you a blessing from our shared heritage, Spock.  Godspeed."



Spock held her eyes for a moment, then turned and strode out into the desert.



The deep desert was a dangerous place at the best of times, and this was not

the best of times.  The sehlat were breeding, and a male sehlat in pon farr

is more dangerous than a le-matya.  And the territory of the Dark Ones was 

never safe.  For all that they upheld the principles of Surak, they were a 

dangerous people.



Spock had known one of them when she was a child, T'Li.  He had thought that he

would like to bond with her--she was sweet-tempered and intelligent.  If

he had bonded with her, he would be dead, for the killing gift was silent.

There were no tests that could detect it, and it did not appear to follow

known inheritance rules.  Those with the gift sought the desert, there to 

die or to meet their own kind and build a life with them.  They were not asked,

or forced, but they walked into the desert as if by instinct--seven year old

children with a death weighing heavily on them, the death of a bondmate, 

a playmate, a friend.



Spock was making his way to their city, the city in the desert.  They called 

it Kh'liorahKahr, the city of light, among themselves, but to the rest of 

Vulcan it was KashKahr, city of the expunged.



...We need them now, as we have always needed them, as they have always 

needed us.  Will they come?...



He thought about T'Li, who had eventually returned to ShiKahr.  She had 

walked out of the desert ten years after she had walked in, and she came back  

desert-burnt and beautiful, and bonded to another of the Dark Ones.  She had 

almost broken his heart.  They attended classes together until he left for

Starfleet Academy, and had kept in touch since.  She had understood what it

was like to be different.  T'Li taught at the Children's Academy in 

KashKahr now.  Many of the children there never left the city--parents with

the killing gift seemed to be able to detect it in their children and kept

those with them.  Some of the children, though--the Science Academy had a n

umber of students who had grown up in KashKahr, and they were invariably 

intelligent and pleasant people. He had taught one of T'Li's children, last 

year.



It had been T'Li who had realized that he was leaving Vulcan.  She had come to

his home late one evening and asked him to walk in the desert with her.

He had followed her out onto the sands, cooling rapidly now that the sun

had set.  When they were a few kilometers from the city, she had turned to him

and said, "I will miss you when you are gone.  You have been my only friend."



"I will miss you as well, T'Li."  She had smiled then, and moved close to him.

She was so near, and she had smelled so good--but he never could have 

predicted what happened next.  She had taken his hand and dropped her shields.

...Spock...



...No! We are both bonded...



...And we are friends, Spock.  The friendship bond is properly formed in such

a way.  You know it is...



...Is it safe?...



...Yes.  I am bonded....



...Yes!...



It was the first time that either of them had joined bodies with another.  

Her bondmate would not mind, she assured him.  She had cleared it with him 

beforehand, of course.  She had not asked about T'Pring.  Spock found it 

strange that T'Li knew him well enough to know that he did not care for 

T'Pring, would neither have told her nor sought permission if he had had 

warning.



They used their clothes for bedding and to protect them from the sand.

She teased him gently, stroking his penis and lighting nerve-fires with

with her mind.  He had reciprocated, his mind-touch more sure and 

strong than hers, and he felt her surprise when she realized that.

...You're healer-potential!...



...One of the things Starfleet likes about me, I am certain...  He had 

lowered his head and nipped her breast, feeling it swell slightly where

he had done damage.  She had laughed, a sound he had rarely heard in his 

life.  It seemed to take flight like a silverbird from her throat.

His response had been to roll over and pull her on top of him, to lose

himself in the slick heat of body.  When she came, she dug her fingers 

into his arms, leaving bruises that hadn't faded for almost a week.

His mother had blushed bright red when she had seen them the next day, 

and Spock had merely raised an eyebrow at her, daring her to ask.



He shook off the thoughts as the waystation came into sight.  It was a small

rock outcropping near a tiny stream, enclosed to make it safe from the

sehlat and le-matya.  He would spend the first night here.









---



Chapter 4: Earth, Sol System, United Federation of Planets



Samuel stood at the security checkpoint.  The guard was unmistakably hostile.

She held out her hand silently, and he placed his identity chit in it.



"You have two names on this."



"I have two names, Officer."



She frowned.  "This says you're Vulcan.  You don't look Vulcan."



"I am Sol cha'Spock, of the House of Surak.  One of my parents is human."



Her look said plainly that she didn't believe him.  He sighed.  People were

not happy with Vulcan's decision; they did not operate on logic.  The 

Federation had never had a real war with the Orions.  They did not understand

that Vulcan was doing what she could to preserve the hundreds of races

and planets of the Federation.



He did not want to do what he was about to do, but he did it.  He leaned close

to her and brushed his fingers across her lips, giving her a soft mental

hint that he was exactly who he claimed to be.  ...It is a good thing that

Vulcans are an honest race.  If we were not--no non-telepathic security force

would be able to resist us.  We could invade and destroy with impunity... he

sent to his bondmate, on impulse.



...Adun!  Are the Orions telepaths?...



...No.  We may be able--no.  No, we cannot consider it...



The guard relaxed as Samuel leaned back.  She handed back his chit with a 

smile, and told him that she hoped "it will all work out."



Samuel allowed himself to smile back.  "Mene sakkhet ur-seveh, Officer.

Live long and prosper.  Remember that, if Vulcan does not survive.  Mene

sakkhet ur-seveh."



He collected his bags and strode off to the boarding terminal.



Some humans were huddled at the terminal.  He recognized one of them--they

had had classes together at the Science Academy. "Pat?"



"Oh, Samuel!  You're going home?"  She did not wait for an answer.  "We didn't

really want to go, but we thought we should.  Some people stayed.  Everyone

who married Vulcans, obviously, but a lot who didn't.  I wish...I wish I

could have stayed and helped.  But I'm a xenologist.  I don't know anything

useful..."  Her voice trailed off and she looked thoughtful.  "We were 

thinking, though, of taking this last shuttle back.  I suppose...well, why

are you going back?  I know you have Terran citizenship."



"Because Vulcan is my home.  I am not a Terran.  I am not even of wholly

human heritage.  Everything that I am, Vulcan has touched.  My father Spock

once said that the true color of his sky was black--the void between the

stars.  My sky is red."



Pat stood silent for a moment. Then,  "I have never felt that way about 

any place, any thing."  She walked to the window.  Samuel and the other 

humans watched her as she stared out at the sky.  "I think...and I'm sorry,

Samuel, I can't go back with you.  My sky is blue."  He could hear the 

tears in her voice.  "I am so sorry."



She stood by the window, her head resting against the glass.  The other 

humans moved to stand beside her, to look out at the sky.  Samuel turned and

left them to their contemplation.



He settled into his couch and closed his eyes. ...Vulcan goes to war again...

He tried to meditate, but he could taste blood in his mouth.  ...I am a 

healer.  I come to serve.  I will not fight....  But he knew he would.

He knew that men would die at his hands before this was over.  He was Vulcan.

Unconquerable.



"The color of my sky is red."  Samuel's eyes snapped open at the unexpected

sound.  A girl of about fifteen stood next to his couch.  She had been with

the humans outside.  "I was born and raised on Vulcan.  I never went to the

Terran Children's School.  I am human, but I am not Terran."  She shrugged

slightly.



"Your parents?"



"My parents stayed on Vulcan.  They sent me away because they thought I would

be safer on Terra.  But if Vulcan falls, it would be Terra next.  Kaiidth."



"Yes."



She sat down gracefully on the couch across from him.  "It is so good to 

be going home."



"We go to war, child."



She looked over at him, her face grave.  "I am a trained medic and have 

studied the killing arts.  And I am Vulcan--unconquerable."











---



Chapter 5: W~lq~n, 40 Eridanii System



Spock woke with a start.  Someone had entered the waystation.  He stood

quickly and looked for the intruder--"T'Li!"



She was desert-burnt still, beautiful still.  Still, she could break his 

heart.  She touched parts of him that Jim could not reach--but then, Jim

touched parts of him that no one else knew existed.  ...I am bonded, happily

bonded... he reminded himself.  ...I hope she does not touch me....



But she did just that.  She reached out and laid her hand on his face, 

rubbing her fingers softly against his skin.  "Spock."



And he was lost.  She moved into his mind, and he into hers, as naturally as

if they had never been apart.  She ran mental fingers along his bond with

Jim.  ...Ah.  Not everyone is so lucky, Spock, to be with one who they love.

My bondmate is my friend, but not--what you are.  Lover and beloved.  The

first man I took into my body--ah, Spock, do you love me?...



...You know I do....  He hesitated.  ...I have loved you since I was a child,

but I am bonded to another--and I also love him....



...Yes.  I am so glad for you.  I was glad when you told me, all those years 

ago.  You needed a bondmate, Spock, or you would have drawn me to you in your 

next pon farr. Rather more scandal than either of us could take, I suspect....



He didn't mean to do it, but he did.  He touched the nerves in her hand,

just barely, hardly a touch at all.  The instant he did it he knew what 

would happen.  She whimpered deep in her throat and moved one step closer to

him--and he slipped an arm around her and drew her in, reveling in the feel

of her body against his, in the heat of her skin, so unlike Jim's cool

humanity.  She whimpered again, but her hands were busy unfastening the

robe he had slept in.  He found the catches to the softsuit she was wearing

and unhooked them, letting the suit fall to the floor.



She was not wearing anything under it.  He felt his erection swell against

her, felt her deliberately trigger the nerves--and he entered her mind and 

body with single-minded intensity.  T'Li was the world, the universe, himself.

They tumbled to the floor, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.  He 

could feel her inner muscles contract as he moved within her, felt the

heat and the tightness around his penis become unbearable.  She arched her

back and cried out as he used his mind and body to ripple nerve-fires 

through her.  As he came into her, he called out her name.









---

Chapter Six: Vulcan Counsel Vessel _Seleya_, en route to W~lq~n.



Jim awoke with a start.  He was breathing heavily, panicked and aroused.

He reached out for Spock--and was blocked almost immediately.  Almost.

Spock was not quite fast enough, and now Jim knew.  "God.  How could you?"

he whispered.  He knew Spock's nature, knew that the Vulcan had had many

partners in his life.  He knew about Vulcan sexual bonding.  And yet--

for years, whether he and Spock were together or apart, since the first time,

Spock had been faithful.  Kirk had married Lori, after that first, bitter

breakup--but Spock had gone to Gol and had not touched another.  Then they

were together again, and bonded.  Just after Samuel was "born", Kirk ran, 

panicked, from Starfleet and Spock, to Antonia.  He had nearly married her, 

but a coded message from Starfleet asking for his return had been signed 

by Captain Spock and Admiral Nogura.

And Jim, his mind and body craving his bondmate and his son, had left 

Antonia without a second thought.



***

Antonia set one of Jim's duffels down with a thump.  "I can't believe you're

doing this.  Don't I mean anything to you?"



Jim did not answer.  He was scanning the crowd, hoping to see Spock.  "He's

teaching at the Academy, maybe he couldn't get the day off."



"What are you talking about?"



"I really thought he'd be here."



"Look, if a damn SHIP means more to you than me--"



"SPOCK!"



And Antonia was left with two duffel bags in the middle of the station as

James Kirk barely suppressed the urge to kiss Spock breathless in public--

and utterly failed to suppress the urge to smother Samuel in a bear hug.



***



"What's wrong?"  Amanda sounded worried.



Jim ran through the brief instant of contact in his mind.  A woman, and a 

Vulcan.  His greatest fear--losing Spock to *that*.  Spock had never touched

another, had sacrificed those little bondings so important to him--until now.

He flinched slightly, and met Amanda's eyes.  She was afraid, afraid that

something had happened to Spock or Samuel.



"They're fine," he said, barely able to force the words past his lips.

"Samuel is on his way home, and Spock..."  he swallowed, "Spock is in the

deep desert."



Amanda relaxed, but only momentarily.  "Oh, he didn't!" she exclaimed.



"Didn't what?"  Jim tried to remain calm.



Amanda set her lips firmly.  "She's a very sweet person, Jim.  You'd like

her."



...If she wasn't fucking my bondmate.... Jim thought.



"She was...his first, I think.  When he was seven and Sarek and I were 

choosing a bondmate for him, he made it clear that he wanted her."  She

sighed.  "It turns out that it was for the best.  You know about the

killing gift?"  Jim nodded.  "She has it.  She's bonded, of course, to

another with it.  But she and Spock...have always been close.  I think

she...gave him a soldier's farewell when he left for Starfleet."



"Too close for my comfort."



"Yes."



"Spock...for so long.  I thought he was mine."  He could hear the bitterness

in his voice, the raw pain.



"He is yours, Jim.  If he was hers, he wouldn't have married *you*, had a 

child with *you*.  I know my son."  He could hear what she did not say,

as if her thoughts were spoken aloud: You did this, and worse, to him.



But there was sympathy there, too.  Amanda knew how cold Vulcans could

seem.  How desperately lonely being married to one could be.  She patted

Jim's arm and repeated, "I know my son."



"You don't know me.  What kind of father am I to Samuel?  What kind of 

bondmate to Spock?  I'm always off, doing something for Starfleet--Spock

taught at Starfleet Academy and raised a child almost alone because I was

off gallivanting--with starships and women, and he never said a word,

was always there when I went back--oh, I know he moved to Vulcan with 

Samuel and didn't tell me, but when I showed up he let me in and held me

and made love to me, like I'd been away on a trip and not off with a 

human woman and a fistful of advice on how to break a bond.  God.  I 

*deserve* this.  But I never thought he'd do it."



Amanda sat as still as death.  When she spoke, her voice sounded very

small in the compartment.  "I asked him once why he didn't divorce you.

He told me that it was because every time you were with someone else,

you cried out for him, dreamed of him, turned around and were hurt that he

wasn't there.  He said that you had only loved one person like that, and

he couldn't take that away from you."  She was blushing slightly, but 

otherwise appeared calm.  Jim was astonished, both at her composure

and her words.



"I don't think he loves me like that--like I love him.  Not anymore."



"Not now, no.  I don't think he's been able to forgive you for--whoever

she was.  But he will, Jim.  Sometimes, the knowledge that you loved him

was all that held him together."  She shrugged.  "Get some sleep."  And

she touched his shoulder lightly and surely, near the neck, and watched him

collapse.

 





---



Chapter 7: Vulcan Space Central, United Federation of Planets.



Samuel woke with a jerk.  The brassy voice of someone at VSC blared through 

the cabin.  "From all of Vulcan, welcome."



He turned to the girl.  "How long was I asleep?"



"About two hours."  She studied him for a moment.  "You're bonded?"



"Yes.  You can tell?"



She smiled.  "They teach the Recognition to the humans in the Vulcan 

Children's School now.  It's hard, but you learn it.  If you watch closely, 

you can tell if it's a new or an old bond, and how close they are, and even 

sometimes how close their parents' bond is.  It's all just paying attention."



"It is not just 'paying attention'.  It has a telepathic component as well."



"I am human.  I am Vulcan."  It was the chant, coming out of a meld--or going 

into it.  Samuel suddenly had the feeling that Vulcan was already conquered, 

by the bright-eyed race from a small blue world ninety million miles out from 

Sol.



He pressed his lips together tightly.  There was enough ambient stress that 

he didn't need any more.  He wanted to get away from this girl who shared his 

sky, but he knew he couldn't.  He had a responsibility to her.  He had to see 

that she got home.  "Come on.  We must contact your parents."



"I can do that myself.  Don't worry.  This is Vulcan."



He spun around.  The voice that ripped out of him was not his.  He would never

speak to a child this way--"This is Vulcan at war!  You will obey me and not 

speak until I command you!"



She was thoroughly Vulcan.  She thought like Vulcans, believed like them, 

responded like them.  She was human by accident of birth only.  Samuel saw it 

in the quick flare of her eyes, in the anger quickly stilled, in her immediate 

shift to a submissive posture. 



She had been friendly and open, as she would have been to a peer.  Now she 

deferred to him as an adult male.  Samuel felt a dangerous impulse then, to 

throw her against the wall, to invade her body and mind, to burn out her 

nervous system.  He knew she was human enough that she couldn't resist, that 

she was conquerable in this way, that he could rape her, leave her naked and 

bruised without even her name left to her.  "This is Vulcan at war," he 

whispered.  "This is what it does to us."  He turned away from her.  "We must 

find your parents."



She followed him silently to the terminals.  He couldn't tell if she knew.







---



Chapter 8: KashKahr, W~lq~n, United Federation of Planets



The Forge and the waystation lay behind them.  T'Li's bondmate met them at 

the gate, a handsome man slightly younger than his wife.  He was serene 

and friendly and he held his hand up, fingers split.  "Mene sakket ur-seveh.  

I am S'tka. Welcome to Kh'liorahKahr."



T'Li smiled at her husband, her teeth a flash of white in her sun-dark skin.

He flickered an eyebrow at her.  "The children are waiting for you.  Spock--

come, refresh yourself before the Council meets."



S'tka led Spock to a well-equipped kitchen and offered him fruit and water.

Spock accepted gratefully, and S'tka watched him as he ate.  Watched him

very closely.



"I have heard of you, of course.  From your adventures in Starfleet, of

course, but also from my wife."



"She is a remarkable person."



"She is honored by your friendship.  You are not only your accomplishments,

but also the heir of the House of Surak, and you--Spock, what is it like

to be half-caste?"



Spock frowned.  "From T'Li's experiences, I would say much the same as

what it is like to be a Dark One, with but one important difference.  I am

the first of my kind.  I must lay the foundation of a community.  Build an

identity for my people.  We are fast.  We are strong.  We are bright.  We

dare.  In us, the old fire burns.  We are more than our parent races."



S'tka raised his hand, a gentle swing towards the other Vulcan's face.

"May I?"



"And more, if you wish it."



The hand froze, then moved again, a gesture to a doorway.  They moved as

one to the bedroom.



S'tka tasted of desert, and wind.  His skin was soft and finely wrinkled,

for there was not enough water here to keep it taut.  Spock traced the 

wrinkles with the fingers of his left hand, his right firmly on the meld

points.



...We have been linked, you and I, since she joined us.  Years and years

ago...



...I know you.  I know you already...



...Yes, Spock.  And your bondmate.  He has caused you pain...



...We have caused each other pain...



S'tka shifted, slid his hips along Spock's.  His hand left the meld points, 

but did not break the contact.  He settled into a fond embrace, and Spock

followed suit.



...This--yes...



And they touched each other's nerves at the same instant.  They flowed

into each other, explored the branching of the nervous system in the body,

tested the composition of each other's blood, tangled their minds together.

They never moved their hands, never moved their bodies.  They breathed as

one.  Their hearts beat more quickly than usual, but neither gave any

outward sign of their desire, of the intensity of what they were doing.





Not until the end.  As one, they shuddered and cried out.  As one, they

touched just the right nerves, lighting the fires, pushing the pleasure

almost to pain.  As one, in a wordless scream, they came.