The Vulcan Changeling Project

Depth of Vulcan Passions

Sarek sipped cautiously on the Romulan Ale as he stared across the small, black table at Commander Rael, the food had been excellent and as they finished their meal in silence Sarek breathed a sigh of relief for they would finally get down to the matter at hand. “You served a fine meal,” Sarek said as he tried to control his impatience, for he wanted to get to the point.

Commander Rael smiled thinly, “Thank you Ambassador, but there is no need for ceremony, go ahead tell me the story behind the sculpture.”

Sarek nodded in relief for sometimes the negations through an individual’s cultural norms could be exhausting. “The history of the sculpture occurred shortly before the rise of Surak.”

Commander Rael leaned forward as he whispered, “The time when Vulcan passions ran as hot as its sun.”

Sarek ignored Commander Rael’s baiting and continued on, “Vulcan, as you know was in the midst of a bloody civil war and it was at this time that a female warrior named T’Pren came forth, she was fearless and was known for showing no mercy to her foes. It has been speculated that if it were not for the teachings of Surak she might have ruled all of Vulcan in which case we would be having a much different conversation today,” Sarek said as he paused in his narrative to drink another sip of Romulan Ale.

Sarek then took a deep breath and continued on, “During this time Surak began to teach that peace and logic were the only ways to preserve our heritage-our species. T’Pren despised Surak, calling him weak and cowardly and began to persecute Surak’s followers and it seemed that she would succeed in her attempts to destroy him until T’Pren fell in love with a young scholar named Strak, a follower of Surak. The feeling was mutual and the two of them became lovers and like all young brash beings they quarreled vehemently over their differences. T’Pren tried to convince Strak that Surak’s teaching’s de-Vulcanized the soul. T’Pren’s followers grew increasingly uneasy with her choice of mates, for they felt that he would convince T’Pren to become a follower of Surak, so one day after a particularly violent battle T’Pren came home to find that Strak had been killed. It was said that as soon as she saw his lifeless body that she took her own life and legend has it that the two lovers can still be heard calling to each other near the rocky cliffs of Mt. Selya.” 

Sarek’s voice trailed off and for a few moments neither Romulan nor Vulcan commented on the tragedy of the story.  Sarek fingered the smooth glass surface of the table, seemingly lost in its obsidian depths and it was Commander Rael who finally spoke first. “That is indeed a passionate story.”

Sarek nodded, “The story of the two lovers became romanticized and one of the prominent artists of the time sculpted the statue that you possess today. It was thought to have been destroyed long ago.”

Commander Rael leaned back in his chair, “I suppose I should give it to you to take back to Vulcan, but I have formed an illogical attachment to it.”

Sarek nodded and found that to his relief the evening was over, after thanking his host Sarek was escorted back to his quarters. After a few hours of trying to relax Sarek finally gave up, got out of bed and stood before the statue, its green translucence seemed to flow with green blood as he stared at it. Quickly, Sarek banished the thought and began to meditate, reciting the mantra of logic until the anguished look of T’Pren vanished from his mind.

Spock awoke with a strange sensation of pain in his head as he gradually open his eyes and blinked to make the room come into focus.

“Well, how’s the patient?” McCoy asked and Spock winced for the Doctor’s voice seemed louder than usual.

Spock cocked his head to one side and replied, “I’m fine, Doctor. Why am I here?”

McCoy laughed, “You seriously don’t know why you’re here? Well, I’d be delighted to tell you. Mister Spock, you have what’s known as an old fashioned hang-over.”

Spock shook his head, “That’s impossible.”

McCoy laughed again, “Tell that to your human half.”

Spock looked over McCoy’s head and said, “I don’t remember being intoxicated. Did I do anything foolish?”

McCoy sighed,” No, it appears as if you got drunk logically.”

Spock nodded disappointed that he hadn’t done something irrational, like taking Uhura in his arms, his mind touching hers, his arms wrapped around her waist while she clutched at his back, his mouth covering hers as his tongue….

“Spock, are you okay?” McCoy asked as the heart rate on Spock’s monitor spiked upwards.

Spock swallowed down the lump that had formed his throat until he felt nothing and then his eyebrows arched in surprise as he promptly threw up all over McCoy.