Maat S'chn T'gai Vol 2

Chapter Forty-Five - Home at Last

New Vulcan

January 2274

Sybok

He purchased passage in the smallest cabin available that had a full communications package. He spent most of his time in his cabin, watching the latest news-feeds. He socialized very little with the other passengers, finding nothing in common with them. He even took the majority of his meals in his cabin. When he was not watching the news-feeds, or exercising, he re-read the document that his grandmother had sent him, familiarizing himself with the new members of his clan, learning the occupations of each of the adults, and the names of the small children and who their parents were. He did not wish to be inundated with names and faces to learn all at once.

When the ship on which he had taken passage was in orbit around New Vulcan, he quickly packed his duffle and proceeded to the shuttle which would take him down to the surface. There was only one other passenger disembarking here, a trader hoping to open a new trade alliance. The trip down was quick, and when he emerged into the light and heat, he was immediately struck by how similar this world was to the one on which he had been born.

He stepped quickly down the ramp, and crossed the bare ground to the lines marking the edge of the area that would be lashed by heat and wind when the shuttle lifted off. And there he found two people waiting for him - his father and his grandmother. He knelt down before them, dropping his duffle on the ground, and bowed his head and extended his hands, palm to palm, towards his grandmother. Before he could speak, she had clasped his hands between hers, and he felt the outpouring of her love, and joy that he had returned to them. He swallowed hard, trying to preserve his outward tranquility, and then he felt the warmth of his father's hand on the top of his head.

"Rise, my son, for you are very welcome here."

His father's voice was hoarse with suppressed emotion, and warmth coursed though Sybok from that light touch. He was full of love, bursting with joy, and he blinked hard to prevent the tears from falling from his eyes. And then they were gently tugging at him to rise, so he stood, and picked up his duffle again, and went with them down the dusty path to the clan compound.

He marveled when he saw the size of the wall that had been built, and the number of houses that it enclosed. True, none of the houses, even the largest one which had two stories, was nearly as large as the house on the estate his father had owned on Vulcan, but he had not seen so large a compound elsewhere on their walk. His father opened the gate before the two-storied house and stepped inside, holding the gate open while his grandmother walked through. He followed, standing there, looking.

His grandmother turned toward him. "This is the clan house. The upper story is our gather room, where the entire clan meets for quarterly business meetings, and to celebrate the naming of newly-born children, and the bonding of members of our clan, and other such occasions. On the lower floor are three suites. Your cousins, T'Boh and T'Sura, daughters of your uncle Silek, live in two of them with their families and the third is where I live with my bondmate Parik and our daughter T'Rena, and Saavik, who was rescued from slavery by StarFleet."

He nodded. "I have read the document which you sent to me and am familiar with those names."

T'Pau nodded. "Come inside then, and sit in our solar, and have a cool drink, and meet some of your cousins."

And so he followed her in, and sat in the room at the back of the house, with all the small plants growing around them, and sipped fruit juice, and met his cousins T'Boh and T'Sura, who were only very small children when he had left Vulcan.

And after a while, his father picked up his duffle, and indicated that he should follow, and stepped out the back door of the house, showing him the playground equipment that would soon be full of children, as it was almost time for school to be out and the younger children to wake from their naps. And he showed him the empty houses and told him to pick one for his own. He scarce knew how to choose, for he had never expected that he would be allocated an entire house. "Show me which house is yours, sa-mekh."

And so Sarek pointed out which house was his, and which was Selek's, and then told him which clan members lived in the other occupied houses as well. And so he choose a house from the four which had been offered to him, picking the one on the back side of the compound, between two other empty houses, which was located across from the house where T'Dena lived, between Sarek and Selek. And his father walked across the compound with him, and showed him through the house, explaining that the house was not yet fully furnished, but that there should be enough furniture and linens, and other items for him to manage until he should decided how he wished to furnish the remainder of the house. After so many years of cramped quarters, now he had a whole house to himself! It was difficult to comprehend.

He invited his father to sit, but there was only one chair in the living area, so they sat at the table in the kitchen, which had two chairs. And Sarek filled him in on more things that T'Pau had not included in her document, details about his job at Government House, and how he had met his current bondmate. And Sybok told his father of his wanderings, and how he had slowly come to realize that he had made a serious error in leaving his family and his culture and striking off on his own. But he had had no expectation of being welcomed back, and so he continued to wander, until he heard of the destruction of Vulcan, and then he knew that he must return. The voyage back had been long, and he had worked hard, but he had persevered, and now here he sat.

Sarek reached out, and laid his fingers against Sybok's, where they lay upon the table, and once again he felt the warmth of joy and love flow into him. He lifted his eyes to his father's and saw the brightness there, that indicated unshed tears, and marveled at the depth of forgiveness that his family had offered him.

They sat there, quietly, enjoying one another's company, until Sarek indicated that it was almost time for end-meal. "And the entire clan will be at the clan house this evening, to welcome you."

"Then I must wash, and put on my best clothing, so that they do not think me ill-mannered."

Sarek nodded. "I will go and fetch Elinor, and my children, and we will meet you at the clan house. Come in the back door, that we went out of, for that is the one that most people use."

Sybok nodded, and rose, and went into the bedroom with the bed and small chest with a lamp on it, and unpacked his duffle, hanging his clothing in the closet, and putting his underwear in the drawers of the small chest. There was not a lot of it, for he had lived out of that one duffle for many years. Perhaps now that he was to stay in one place, he might acquire a few more things. There was little in his duffle besides his small wardrobe, and most of it went into the bathing room, on the counter there.

He removed his clothing, and took a quick shower, marveling in the hot water that had no time limit on it. Quickly he dried himself, and dressed in clean clothing, putting the clothing he had worn on the ship into the container he found in the closet of his bedroom. And then he left his house, still marveling over the fact that it was HIS house, and walked across the compound and into the solar of the clan house.

Immediately he was engulfed. Children clustered about him, begging for tales of his travels. The adults were not quite so unrestrained, but all were eager to introduce themselves, and make it plain that he was welcome here. One of the small girls took him by the hand and tugged him up the stairs, and showed him where he was to sit, and so he sat and waited while the food was carried up the stairs, and the small children were buckled into their chairs, and everyone sat down, each family together.

When they were all seated, they joined hands, all around the large u-shaped table, which he realized was many small tables set next to each other. It was an excellent idea, for the tables could be re-arranged as the number in the clan grew. T'Pau spoke a short blessing, and then the dishes began to be passed about the table. He was astounded at the variety of foods. There were some he did not recognize, but the people seated on either side of him quietly told him what they were, and he tried a small helping of everything. Apparently, each of the families had provided part of the food, cooking it in their own kitchens, and carrying it to the clan house to share.

After the meal, the dishes were all carried downstairs, but again he was not allowed to help, being told that this evening, and only this evening, he was a guest, and would do no work. From this evening on, he would be treated like any other member of the clan, and be expected to carry dishes, or move furniture, or whatever else needed doing. He was quite willing to do any of those things, and even more. But this evening, apparently, his main duty was to entertain children. And so he seated himself on one of the flat pillows that were stacked in the corners of the room, as he saw others doing, and the children came and surrounded him, and he spoke the the great distance between the stars, and the ships that moved in that expanse, carrying people and cargo from one planet to another.

Eventually, the children began to tire, and parents gathered them up, and took their leave. And his grandmother and father led him down the stairs, and took a small room, containing a desk with a comlink sitting on it. His grandmother left the room, closing the door behind her, and his father seated himself before the comlink and keyed in a subspace address. And there, on the screen before, appeared the face of his younger brother, grown into a man.

It was good to speak to him, and to see his bondmate, and children. He felt a pang, when he saw the two young children standing there. He had felt that when he had met the young children that were his half-siblings as well. He had suppressed this feeling, putting it aside to ponder later, but he was well aware that he now hungered for a family of his own, children of his own seed to nurture and love. He had less than six years before he must find a mate, but surely there must be someone here that he could learn to care for. He had seen the faces of his cousins, of his father and his step-mother, and of the other adults in the clan, and knew that here there were no marriages of convenience or politics. These bondmates cared for each other, and it was very obvious. And he wanted this, for himself, wanted it badly, he now knew.

When he sat alone, in the chair in the living area of his own home, with the single lamp glowing softly at his elbow, he thought hard about these things. Both his father and that other aged male, who seemed so familiar to him, had chosen Human women for their bondmates. And none of the other clan members seemed in the least upset about it. Their children were treated the same as any of the others. And he knew that Saavik, and T'Dena's eldest son as well, were only half Vulcan. So he would not be limited in his choice, but could select someone who would be compatible with him, and had interests in the things he was interested in, and not be restricted to someone who would bring a powerful alliance to his clan. He realized now that this was one of the things that he had fled from, long ago. He had barely noticed when the slight bond that had existed between him and the girl his father and grandmother had chosen for him had been severed, shortly after he had fled Vulcan. He had only seen her a few times, and had not had any friendship with her at all. Nor had he desired any. Now he would have a chance for something else, something deeper.

He marveled over the things he had seen this evening - the elders with very young children, the cousin of his grandfather, who had been seated by a young almost a hundred years younger than he was, but who was obviously to be his bondmate, the second son of his father's new bondmate, with curly hair, and his even younger sister, whose hair was both curly and red! And no one had remarked on any of these unusual things, taking them completely as normal. And all three of the children of that elder male who seemed so familiar had had very wavy hair, as did both of Spock's children. And there was apparently another serving on the same ship as Spock who had proved to be a distant relative and was now a part of their clan, who had also bonded to a Human woman, one who was blond. So in the future, there might be a member of the clan with blond hair! He shook his head, trying to comprehend the differences he found in the culture of his people.

At one point in the evening, he had been watching the two young people who he knew must be the ones rescued along with the elders from the slave camps. And that elder so looked so familiar had spoken softly to him, telling him that their mothers appeared to have been sisters, and that he suspected that they had been Betazed. He knew that race, and that they were powerful telepaths. Not touch-telepaths, as the Vulcans were, but full telepaths. He wondered what differences that would make in them, and whether it would make it easier or more difficult for them to form bonds. And Saavik, that child who had come to them half-wild, was half Romulan, that had been established from the beginning. What a variety they had, just in the one clan! He wondered about the other clans, and whether they were as mixed. But surely, there must be some mixing of the races in the other clans, for so many had been lost when Vulcan was destroyed, and it was not nearly as common for the women of Vulcan to take off-world positions as it was for the men. There must have been many men who lost their bondmates, but survived, or who had not yet reached the age where they must take a mate to ensure their survival, who had not been able to find a Vulcan mate. This was one of the things that he was intensely curious about, and in the coming weeks he would look about this new world, and observe, and then he would ask questions. He was not certain yet, but he thought perhaps he might choose a mate from another culture, another race. One who was freer with her emotions than most Vulcan women. One who would not be upset with him if he expressed his own emotions. He felt that that would be right for him. But he must give it much thought, and meditate on it, before he made this important decision. And he must find the right woman as well, and get to know her, before he made his final decision.

He sighed and rose from the chair, and turned out the lamp, making his way through the darkened house to his own bedroom, undressing and laying down in his own bed for the first time. It was a unique experience, and one he had never expected to occur. He was home. And for the first time in a very long time, he fell immediately to sleep, and slept deeply for almost six hours before awakening.