The ship’s officers were greeted and thanked by T’Pris’s family and then led to the large circle among the trees that formed the estate’s shrine. The ancestral figures that decorated it traced the clan’s history to its beginnings. The geometric sculptures in the center of the sand-floored shrine were carved from native Vulcan jade that glowed a rich teal blue in the lowering sun. A catafalque rested before them.
The ceremonial drum beat slowly, accompanied only by the lonely sound of a Vulcan flute to lead in the six men who carried T’Pris’s casket. They solemnly lowered it to rest on the catafalque. The other [249] Vulcans followed it in and arranged themselves around the edges of the shrine’s circle. Sirak strode to the central platform and bowed to the four cardinal directions. Then he faced the casket and bowed to it.
“T’Pris, beloved child, you gave us great joy in your living. You graced us with your beauty, with your spirit, with your love. Your time with us was not long, and we have no more of you than what is here.” He gestured sorrowfully toward the casket. “Yet we celebrate the memories of you that will stay in our hearts, alive and vibrant as you always were. As long as each of us lives, so long shall you remain alive. And to each succeeding generation, as each of us knew T’Pris, we vow to pass on our memory of her, so there is no dying but only a renewal of love each time her name is spoken and her story is told.”
Sirak again bowed to the casket and then to the four directions. Quietly, then, he led the way out of the circle, each person moving past the casket and laying a hand on it briefly in passing. The ceremonial drummer pounded out the slow thrumming beat of the dirge interwoven with the poignant sound of the flute as they passed by.
Spock was the last to move. As he reached out to touch the deep black polished wood of the casket, he shuddered and had to pause, head down, to control the deep sorrow that shook him. “T’Pris,” he whispered softly. “T’Pris, I vow I will never forget.” I gave myself to you freely, he thought. We chose each other. There will never be another like you in my heart.
“Lieutenant Spock,” Sirak said quietly as he moved to his side. “Are you indisposed?”
[250] “No,” Spock said, straightening. “I am only moved by the loss of a colleague ... and a friend. The greater loss is yours. My family sends its deepest regrets.”
“We are honored,” Sirak replied formally, “that the son of Sarek of the House of Surak found merit in our daughter.”
“More than merit, sir,” Spock said. “T’Pris was ... an exceptional woman. Exceptional.” He nodded to Sirak and held up his hand in the Vulcan salute. “Live long and prosper.”
Sirak gave the traditional reply. “Peace and long life.”
Spock nodded, but he felt there would be no peace for him, and that even if he did have a long life, it would be made lonely by the lack of T’Pris’s love in it.
He turned away and followed his fellow officers, who were some distance ahead of him. He went slowly, the salute ringing in his ears.
Number One sat in the command chair, musing over the ceremony that signified T’Pris’s departure from life. It had been gentle and dignified, as T’Pris had been. Number One thought she would not mind a Vulcan ceremony to commemorate her own memory when her turn came.
She glanced over at Spock, quietly working at the library computer. Since T’Pris’s death, he had become more silent and conversely more abrupt when he did speak. Vulcans supposedly had no emotions. She wondered whether that wasn’t as big a subterfuge as Reed’s great-grandmother had spun, a lie taken on for protection. She’d probably never know, but she did know Spock was hurting. Her ruminations were [251] interrupted by Pike’s brisk arrival from the lift. She automatically vacated the command chair and moved to her station at the helm as he stepped down into the well of the bridge.
“Number One, take us out of orbit and set a course for Starbase 12. I’ve just received a message from Starfleet that the ambassadorial party from Delta Indus II was dropped off there by a passenger vessel that developed warp problems. We’ve been ordered to transport them on to their home planet.”
“Aye, sir,” Number One snapped as she worked her fingers lightly over her console. “Breaking out of standard orbit.”
Beside her, Lieutenant Andela tapped coordinates into the navigation console and intoned, “Laying in a course for Starbase 12.”
“Warp factor four.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Oh, and Number One ...”
“Sir?” She turned to look at him questioningly, her long black hair swinging forward to catch on her shoulder and frame her face.
“See me for dinner tonight. Nineteen hundred in my quarters all right with you?”
She stared at him blankly. “Dinner?”
“Ah, yes. Business,” Pike said. “We have to discuss the ship’s operations. You’ll have the mission log up to date by then, won’t you?”
“It’s up to date now, sir.”
“Of course. Well, we’ll discuss it.”
“Aye, sir. Dinner. Nineteen hundred. Your quarters.”
She turned back to her console, puzzled. He’s never [252] done that before. On the other hand, the first time for anything was always interesting. She ran her eyes over her board and then up at the viewscreen, where the fathomless black of space sparkled with faraway stars. “We are out of orbit, on course for Starbase 12. Warp factor four.”
She hit the warp control, and the Enterprise leaped forward—toward the stars and a new mission.
About the e-Book
(OCT, 2003)—Scanned, proofed, and formatted by Bibliophile.
STAR TREK: TOS #44 - Vulcan's Glory Page 20