Exile and Exhilaration


By Yosef Gernstein

A young Vulcan woman ambled on to a transport in an entanglement of captivating thought. She reviewed in her mind the decision that she had made that led her to this exile from her own planet and resignation from Starfleet, despite how logical and necessary the decision was. You see, this exile was fomented by a being currently living inside her womb. The fetus was a quarter human and spurious to boot. She did not have the political influence the baby’s grandfather had, and what more, marrying the baby’s father was out of the question. The baby’s father was a captain in Starfleet and the moment of conception was initiated when the male Vulcan was in desperate need of aid. She did not give any malcontent towards the man. At the mentioned incident, he was going through an accelerated period of growth and had waves of multiple years of Panfar coinciding at the same coinciding point. “Yes, it was the only thing to do,” she consented. And, like that, the transport had gone to Warp over two hours ago and her visage was so transfixed over the topic of what she did in the Matura system, on the Genesis planet, and how her extension of goodwill had placed her in this fickle situation that the journey seemed only to be two minutes. After disembarking on the Vulcan colony of Hayessod, she surveyed the area and began to make speculations in consideration to if this place would make an auspicious, hospitable home for a child and his young, unwed Vulcan mother. Saavik’s home-provider, whom she had never previously met in person, motioned to her from the transport ramp. Slikhah was the realtor’s name. Like most inhabitants of Hayessod, Slikhah was either a relocated citizen of Vulcan who had committed an act of what Vulcan prime society considered perverse or a descendant of one. It is similar to the colonization of the continent of Australia on Earth from the British Empire. Slikhah was the only other person that knew that Saavik was pregnant. Slikhah was excited about the prospect of having the mother of the son of the illustrious Starfleet Captain Spock as a tenant. She spoke wildly of it once the two were secluded in the house over cups of Plomeek tea. “How I dislike this,” Saavik thought, “The standard of social etiquette would be considered improprietous on Vulcan.” She, of course, said nothing to Slikhah over the matter. Saavik was very reserved when she explained Carol Marcus’ invention of the Genesis effect and how it revived Spock. Also without embarrassment when providing the account of the need for osculation to provide his adolescent absolution. Slikhah declared it to be among the greatest stories she had ever heard, and uncontested  in regards to those that were true. Saavik attested that, despite its verbose appeal as an appeasing anecdote, the result of the story was disastrous to the life she once lived. She left behind her family, the ability to be seen on her home planet, and her career in Starfleet. She did not grieve, for it is not the Vulcan way, but she did weigh the means of what she did for Spock to evaluate this end that a human would find inconceivably tragic. Saavik made quick work of unloading her personal items from the transport. The majority of what was there were meditation robes and Bolian candles. Her uniform she sent to her cousin, T’vrell, who was planning on joining Starfleet in two years. Her crockery was lightweight synthetic alloys that looked exactly like Vulcan porcelain. A replicator she had sent away for was delivered to her house a week later. Before then, she ate almost every meal with Slikhah. Her citizenship in Hayessod was pending so she had no credits that she could use to buy foodstuffs, but every once in a while, a young man would comment on the woman’s pulchritude and offer to share a meal with her. This activity was unheard of on Vulcan. On Vulcan marriages are prearranged almost at birth and the males would marry preclusive to their first bout of Panfar. Sometimes there would be more than one male promised to a woman and the two would fight to the death. “This break in Vulcan tradition may prove advantageous to overcoming this situation,” she thought, “If I am able to wed one of these suitors before my pregnancy is perceptible, then I may be able to return to Vulcan allowing me to imposture that he is the baby’s father.” The time of circadian respite was close at hand and she experienced dreams of absolute tranquility and a concept residual of evolution and not entirely destroyed by mental discipline, a “feeling of hope.” Saavik, like most Vulcans, was a pragmatist. She evaluated the time that pregnancy would become perceptible and found she had acceptable time to appraise the compatibility of the suitor’s personality and his integrity. She found irony in that statement. Scour a planet for a man who has integrity where the planet is designed for Vulcans bereft of it?… Amusing.  What more, find a man whose integrity is flexible enough to feign paternity yet is principled?… Almost contradictory. Another thought came to Saavik’s mind. She did not have the luxury of picking a man of reputable bloodline. The best she could do to vindicate her and her unborn child’s lives was find a descendant of a Vulcan who had committed an offence. Driven by this new objective to salvage her life and make plush the life of her unborn child, Saavik frequented the bazaars in hopes of finding those quixotic men who took favor to her. Some were eliminated immediately. Some disavowed the favor that Vulcans held towards construing all matters life presented them with an invariable lens of pure logic.  Others held objection to keeping religious feasts and fasts. One even was guilty of espionage racketeering for the Romulan Empire. And, of course, there were some that lacked fiver and intellectual zeal, or as we humans would say, just plain dumb. Luckily for Saavik, Vulcans have a less impending gestation than humans, so she had time to be a little choosy. Gripping her leisurely swelling abdomen, she made a choice. She had found a second generation inhabitant of the planet who had cousins on Vulcan. His name was M’shikhah. His appearance was striking and his wit was improved comparatively and improvable. He stood about 1.85 meters and was well built weighing about 83 kilograms. Saavik confided in him her misfortune and he consented to marry her and move to Vulcan if there was a way to gain citizenship. Saavik had prepared for both eventualities. Both not finding a mate and finding a way back to Vulcan. As a cunning Starfleet officer, she made sure that she could never be found. This would foment contempt in human society for our emotions would surely characterize this as a betrayal and cause us to question and worry, but Vulcans would more likely applaud the effort to keep from disgracing the family. She knew exactly what to do. She consulted Ambassador Sarek, Spock’s father, and told him of her plan. He spoke with M’shikhah and found that he would be a tasteful surrogate father to his grandchild. Sarek devised the action and all three of the named men in this story were present at the time of the child’s birth. He was named Y’Lad and you now know the withheld story of Saavik.


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