5 comments/ 9356 views/ 7 favorites Nielsen and T'Vani By: redarchitect Chapter 1 Starfleet Academy "Cadet Nielsen? " Great, that was just what I needed. I stopped dead in my tracks, and answered. "Yes, Cadet T'Vani? " She'd been not only in my class, ever since we both started studying at Starfleet Academy not two months earlier, but in my thoughts, too. She was a cool and icy woman--as all Vulcan women are--and so I had no hopes of ever conquering her heart. But for a Vulcan, she was fabulous. She had an incredibly beautiful face, which was augmented wonderfully by that typical straight Vulcan haircut. And her body...oh boy, her body...it made me almost feel sorry for the Vulcan who was going to be her husband some day, since he, as a Vulcan, would just not appreciate what she was. Voluptuous in all the right places, slim where appropriate, and overall in perfect physical shape. She was Vulcan; and although there had been known cases of Vulcans intermarrying with other species, those had been very rare exceptions. As such, I knew that whatever my fantasies, I'd have to put her out of my head--sooner rather than later. I turned around, and tried to put a casual look on my face. Either I succeeded, or she had not had enough exposure to human emotions yet to understand the look on my face. "I understand that you are an accomplished alpinist? " Well, that was certainly not the question I was expecting. "Eh, yeah, I am; I've been climbing since I was twelve, and still do some these days, even if I don't find nearly enough time now since joining Starfleet Academy. Why? " "I have several years of experience myself, and would like to continue while in Starfleet. However, my usual partner is still on Vulcan, so I would need to find a new one." "And you're asking...me? Why? Wouldn't it be better to find another Vulcan to join you? I mean, Vulcans have superior strength, right? I wouldn't be able to keep up." "Ordinarily, you'd be right. However, I have checked; none of the other Vulcans currently in the academy have close to my experience in rockclimbing, and would not be able to keep up on the mountain that I plan to climb. Of the non-Vulcans in the academy, you are the only person with the necessary experience and history to be able to keep up with me, perhaps even surpass me. If I can't go with you, I'd either have to choose a less challenging peak, or would have to go solo. The first is not preferable if there is a better option, and the second is dangerous given the fact that I am completely unfamiliar with the mountain in question. You are the logical choice." "Right..." I pondered that for a few moments. "Just out of curiosity, which mountain are we talking about, and when would you like to start the expedition? " "I was thinking of going up Mt. McKinley next weekend." I actually laughed out at that. She seemed less than impressed. "This is a joke, right? " "Vulcans do not joke" That got me to shut up for a moment. "Seriously, T'Vani, you can't expect me to be ready to climb McKinley in less than a week. It's the highest mountain on the north-american continent, and one of the most difficult mountains in the world to climb. I'd be happy to go up that mountain with you if you want me to, but it takes a little more time than a few days." "How so? You do have the experience." "Yes, but not the physical condition. I would need to check my gear too, I may be missing a few things. It's been a while." "I see. How about next weekend, then? " "You Vulcans have an odd sense of humour," I mumbled. "As I told you before, Cadet, Vulcans..." "...do not joke, I know," I interrupted. "Fine. I can't make this weekend, and I can't make next weekend, either. But I guess we can agree to climb McKinley at the end of the semester. If that doesn't suit you, you can always take on a less challenging peak with one of your Vulcan friends next week." "Surely you should be able to be ready sooner than that, Cadet? I've seen your record, and..." "No, I won't be. I'm sorry. As a mountaineer, you should know that it is suicide to climb a challenging mountain when you're not ready, or when you do not have enough time to do so. I'd be happy to climb McKinley with you; but if I'm not properly prepared, I'd be a danger rather than a help. The end of the semester, or not at all." "Very well, Cadet Nielsen, the end of the semester then." She wasn't entirely wrong, actually; physically, and with my gear, I could easily be ready by next week. But I didn't feel like going up such a challenging mountain in my current emotional state. Especially not when the cause of those emotions would need to work in such close proximity to me. But I'd been in love before, and I knew that all I needed would be some time away from her. The rest would likely go by itself. As the semester went on, I noticed T'Vani often chose to be near me, even when she had other choices that might have been better. For instance, when that Bolian Admiral Brang, who taught Warp Theory, gave us a group assignment, she turned down a suggestion to join up with one of the other Vulcans in our class who was known to excel in Warp Theory, so she could be in my group instead. During Lunch breaks, she would often walk right past groups of Vulcans eating in silence, so she could sit across from me and engage in smalltalk--clearly not common Vulcan behaviour. When I asked her about it, she told me that since we were going to go up a dangerous mountain where my or her life might very well depend on how the other would react, it is logical to get to know one another better. "Besides," she continued, "while my understanding of human expressions is somewhat limited, I have noticed on several occasions that whenever I chose to spend time in your company, your eyes seem to enlarge a bit and your mouth curls into a slight smile, which would suggest that you seem to enjoy my company" Well, I couldn't argue with that. Over the months, I learned that T'Vani, like all Vulcans, knew who her future spouse would be. She was as yet unmarried, but apparently Vulcans have some sort of a ceremony at 7 years of age, in which their future spouse--a person chosen by their respective parents--is presented to them, and they then go through some ritual which will make the man prefer this particular woman when he has his first Pon Farr. She found the human method of chosing a mate, where men and women need to go through a 'dating' process before finally deciding on a partner to be "cumbersome, illogical, and error-prone." That the failure rate was "disturbingly high." When I told her that it wasn't that bad, and that dating is actually considered to be a pleasurable experience, she was a bit confused at first, but eventually understood most of my reasoning. I couldn't convince her about the errors in her ways about failure rates being too high, however--she simply pointed out that there is a much higher number of bachelors on Earth than on Vulcan, and the fact that more than 25% of all marriages on Earth end in divorce--a concept almost unknown on Vulcan. T'Vani did have siblings; but as the Pon Farr happens only once every seven years, she has none that are close to her own age. She told me she had one older brother, one younger brother, and three younger sisters. This would put her age at 35 at least, which I found surprising; I guess I'd silently assumed that, since she was in my class, she'd be about my age. To this she simply replied that since Vulcans live longer than do Humans, their schooling also takes much more time (which is why she only joined the Academy this year), and that they are considered to be adults at a much higher age than are humans. I guess I could see the logic in that. I from my side revealed to her that I did not have any siblings, and that my father had died when I was very young. She seemed not to know very well how to respond to that, but as I told her then that it had been quite a while, and that I had long since learned to cope with that, it was not brought up again. Since her parents had apparently not had a Pon Farr without conceiving a child, I mused that they must've been lucky. I found her reply was nothing less than surprising: "Since the whole point of the Pon Farr is to procreate, would it be logical to go through it at all if you do not wish to have children? " "Well, I suppose not, but that's not what I meant" "Please elaborate" "Well, if humans have sex, that does not always lead to a child" "Then why have sex? " "Because it is fun" She seemed to ponder that for a moment. "Indeed. I suppose I can understand how a species that is so emotional as you humans would think of an act meant for procreation as 'fun'. But that is not the attitude that Vulcans have towards procreation." I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised at that. A species that sees the elimination of all emotion as the highest achievement one can have in life would probably not have a very high opinion of something as uncontrollable as the instinct to procreate. But still, she'd missed my point. "Well, I didn't say procreation, I said sex." "Is there a difference? Sex leads to procreation, no? " "Sometimes, yes. If a man happens to have sex with a woman during the few days of the month that she is fertile, and they do not use any form of anticonceptives, then the chance that it would lead to a child is pretty high. But usually, it's just about harmless fun." At this, she seemed impressed. "The chance? You mean that even if humans have sex during the right time window, there's still no guarantee of conception? Interesting." "You sound surprised. Is it so different for Vulcans? " "Quite. If two Vulcans go through Pon Farr together, the chances of conception are in the vicinity of 97%" Now it was my time to be impressed. Well, surprised was more like it. "97%? " "Approximately. 97.185329% to be exact, but I have found that you humans tend to be somewhat disapproving of such exactness." "Wow. That's a high success rate. But then, I guess that if you only have sex once every 7 years, chances of conceiving are going to have to be pretty high if you want to survive as a species." "Indeed." As the semester went on, I learned a lot about her culture and personal life, but also about her techniques and preferences in rock climbing. I learned that she preferred old-style manual pitons (which are driven into the rock with the use of a hammer) rather than the starfleet issue automatical ones which you just put against the rock and that secure themselves. She argued that since her goal of climbing a mountain was to have some physical excercise, it was logical to use every means available to increase the required physical excercise. At my response that the starfleet issue pitons were safer and less prone to failure, she simply replied that even those have been known to fail; that she therefore always climbs with a portable transporter on her revers, set to transport her to a safe place within the base camp at a single push of a button, so she could immediately transport to safety in case something went wrong. She seemed to consider this a better safety precaution than using starfleet-issue pitons anyway, and I couldn't argue with the logic of that opinion, even though I did think that climbing with such a blaring safety net took some of the adventure away. When the semester drew to a close, I realized that I had utterly failed at my mission of trying to get her out of my head. Worse; since we had grown so close, I was now even more infatuated with her than I had been originally. But this time, I had been training, so I was in perfect shape physically. My gear was all set and ready to go. I'd even gotten me one of those portable transporters, just like hers, so I would feel safe in using manual pitons. In other words, I had no excuse to refuse to climb that mountain with her. And since our planned expedition had been the subject of quite some discussions and gossip across the Academy, I couldn't very well bail out now without losing face to most of my fellow Cadets. So when our agreed-on departure day had arrived, I packed my gear and took a shuttle to the base camp near the slopes of Mt. McKinley. Chapter 2 On the slopes We had agreed that she would be leading the climb up the mountain. This was for all the good and logical reasons, of course--she had more experience with manual pitons than did I--but as we progressed up Wickersham Wall, I realized that doing so had a significant disadvantage: every time I looked upwards, I had a magnificent view of her perfect behind, which wasn't helping my concentration any. After several hours of climbing, she seemed to notice that something was amiss "Cadet Nielsen, you seem distraught. Are you alright? " "Yes, fine. Please continue." "Are you sure? If you are not well, we should return to the base camp and postpone our attempt." And go through all this again? No chance "I am in perfect condition. I just need to focus. Concentrate. Please proceed further." She didn't seem convinced, but probably realized that arguing about it would not help. "As you wish." "Oh, and one more thing." "Yes? " "Please stop calling me "Cadet Nielsen." I think we know eachother well enough now to be on a first-name basis. My name is John." "As you wish... John." But I was not in perfect condition, and I knew it. Because my thoughts weren't on the job at hand, I often misjudged the suitability of features in the rock's wall as support points, and that caused me to slow down during most of our climb, as well as to slip once. She seemed distraught, insofar a Vulcan can be, but did not bring the subject up anymore until we had reached a small ridge, just large enough so we could sit down and have a small lunch. "Apologies for my need to insist, John, but you seemed less than sure of yourself earlier. Perhaps we shouldn't have chosen the Wickersham Wall route to reach the summit, but a less challenging one, like the West Rib? " "We'll make it. I'm fine." "You do not seem to be. You seem to have problems concentrating, and almost fell off the rock once when you misjudged a small boulder for a stable piece of rock. That is not the kind of errors I would expect an alpinist with your record and experience to make." There are times where I just hate her Vulcan perception. "John, if you can't explain what's wrong, I think we should go back to the base camp. It is illogical to attempt one of the most dangerous routes to the top of this mountain with a partner who is making the most basic of errors. Don't tell me this is how you always climb a mountain." "No, I suppose it isn't. It's just... I can't explain it." She seemed to think I was trying to find the right words, and remained silent for a short while. Eventually, she understood that I wasn't going to say anything more unless prodded. "Of course, if you have troubles finding the right words, there's always another solution." "What do you mean? " "I could perform a mind meld. That way, you could let me understand your problem, without having to explain it." "No. Please, no mind melds." "I can't say I consider it the best option, either, but I'm willing to do so if it helps you explain yourself. John, I must insist: either you let me understand, in whatever way is comfortable to you, what the problem is, or we return to base camp. I will not climb a mountain with a partner whom I do not trust to back me up when I need it." Since it was said in that monotonic emotionless intonation that is so typical of all Vulcans, I understood what she said to just being practical. Any remote sign of emotion, and I would have considered it an insult. As we finished our short meal in silence, I let my thoughts go over my possible options. She was right, of course; I was performing poorly, and was becoming a danger to our little expedition. If I didn't find a way to deal with my feelings soon and get my act together, we would have to abort our attempt. I'd never been a quitter. There had been times where everything about a climb seemed to go against me; and while I had considered aborting the attempt on several of those occasions, I'd often found a way to persist and make it to the summit. There is no greater feeling of accomplishment than to reach a summit after overcoming a number of setbacks, and I wanted to hold on. At the same time, I wasn't sure that I could make it in my current state of mind. My closeness to her was just too much, and she had a right to know what was bothering me; if not because I was endangering the expedition, then because she was the subject of my affections. But how was I going to explain that to her? If anything, our cross-cultural exchange over the semester had taught me that the concept of love, as we humans experience it, is something entirely alien to the emotionless Vulcan. They have sex, or they "attempt to procreate" as she would call it, because not doing so when in a state of Pon Farr would kill them. They marry and live together as a couple, because it is more convenient to raise children as a couple. They have love and affection for their children, but they are unfamiliar with infatuation and romantic love. With a mind meld, she could perhaps understand. I'd never been through one before; but as I understand it, when in a mind meld, Vulcans will share all their thoughts with you, and will completely understand your current state of mind. While I wasn't looking forward to dumping my feelings for her out there in plain view, I gradually warmed to the idea. It would certainly clarify what was going on, even if the idea of love and physical attraction was alien to her. And if she chose to share some of her Vulcan emotion-controlling techniques with me during the meld, perhaps I could reach the summit without having to worry too much about my concentration. So as I finished my lunch, I made up my mind. "Fine, let's do that meld then, if it makes you happy." "Are you sure, John? I don't want you to feel forced. Not only is that unethical, it would also be dangerous, especially in our current location." "Yes, please. Let's get this over with, so we can get to the mountain." "Very well. Let me put some extra pistons in the rock first, just to be on the safe side. I'll move a little closer then, and we'll do the meld." Chapter 3 Revelations "My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts..." As she put her fingers on my face, and spoke those words familiar to everyone who's ever heard of the mind meld, my heart skipped a beat at her touch. Soon enough, however, as I felt her mind entering mine, my heart returned to normal, and she started probing around. At first I instinctively tried to hold back, but then realized that if this was going to work, she needed to have all the information. So I let it all come to the surface, and with a shock she realized what was going on, and to which extent I had tried to hide it from her. The realization seemed to overwhelm her, and for a short moment I felt emotions that I had never felt before. After that, she abruptly disengaged from the meld, and the unknown emotions disappeared. As we sat there, with her hands hovering above my face, I took in all her features. Her eyes, normally always neutral, now seemed to be somewhat in distress, and a sweat pearl was forming on her forehead. I had thought that Vulcans could not flush, but her cheek did seem somewhat redder than I remembered. Her breath, usually calm and relaxed, seemed to speed up now. And was that her hand shaking? The silence between us was getting awkward, and after a few seconds I felt the need to say something. I turned away, and said: "I'm sorry." Nielsen and T'Vani "Don't be. As I understand Human love, it's a natural fenomenon that is hard to control." The words were perfectly logical, but there was a very slight, almost unhearable, tremble in her voice. "That may be true, but this is still inappropriate." She was silent for a few seconds, and I was at a loss for words. "Please don't be upset," I said eventually, looking into infinity. "I've enjoyed your company over the past few months, and I would hate losing you as a friend." She put her fingers to her temples, and moved them in a circular motion for a while. After that, she simply said, "I'm not. But we have to get back. Now." "And the mountain? " "There will be another time. But I understand now why you can't concentrate, and trying to continue our climb as we have done before would be illogical." She swallowed something, and continued. "Additionally, the meld seems to have had some side effect on me, and I can't be sure I'll be fine for the rest of the trip." That turned my head back to her in a snap. "What kind of side effect? " "I'm not sure, exactly. Exposure to such...strong emotions seems to have dislodged my ability to control my own emotions." "Was that what I felt right before you disengaged the meld? " "Yes. I will be fine, but this is not a condition I want to be dealing with in what could potentionally be a life-threatening situation." "Understood. Do you want to use the transporters, or shall we rappel back? " "It is not that urgent just yet," she answered. "Let's rappel." We started our quick descent of the wall, and made our way back to the base camp to some surprise of the other climbers there, as we had not yet been expected back for quite some time. But as we explained that we both ran into some minor (though not life-threatening) medical issues, that we were fine, and that we'd be back some other time to climb the mountain, we were left alone. I repacked my gear and changed back into my Starfleet uniform; and as I went looking for her so we could take a shuttle back to Starfleet Academy together, I found that she had already left. Chapter 4 Doctors and Lieutenants After making my way back to the Academy, I went to my room. I didn't want to face the humiliation of some of the other cadets, since telling them that we had had to abort on our first attempt, and that we hadn't even tried a second time, without the ability to come up with a compelling explanation for that behaviour, wasn't easy. Besides, even though our trip was fairly short, the two shuttle trips and the mind meld had exhausted me to a surprising extent, so I went straight to bed. I woke up to some heavy, if polite, knocking on the door. I had no idea what time it was, but I couldn't have slept much; I felt like I was having a jetlag. I got out of bed, put on a dressing gown, and opened the door. Before me stood a Lieutenant in the green uniform of the medical and sciences department. As a lowly Cadet, I immediately jumped to attention. "Sir! " "Cadet John Nielsen? " "That's me, sir! " "At ease, Cadet. My name is Lieutenant Brad Davidson of Starfleet Medical. I understand you and Cadet T'Vani tried to climb Mt. McKinley yesterday? " "Yesterday? " "Cadet T'Vani told me she joined with you to climb the mountain on stardate 65844. Today is 65845. That would make the date of your attempt to be yesterday. Is this correct? " "I didn't realize that much time had passed already, sir, but your information is correct." "Did she also perform a mind meld on you while the two of you were on the mountain? " "She did." "Okay. Apparently some complications have arisen from that meld. I am here to take you to Starfleet Medical as soon as possible. Her life depends on it." I was stunned. "Her life? She did tell me that the meld had some side effects, but I didn't realize it was that serious. Will she be fine? " "She will, provided you get dressed and join me now." I didn't need to be told twice. I grabbed the first uniform I could find--the wrinkled one I had put on yesterday when returning from the mountain--put it on, picked up my combadge from the side of my bed, slapped it on, and joined the Lieutenant right outside my room. "Hrm. I suppose a clean uniform would have been better, but we don't have the time. This will have to do." He touched his combadge. "Lieutenant Davidson to transport station 47. Medical emergency. Two to transport urgently to starfleet medical." "Standby," the transporter chief replied. "Occasionally, sir," I began, "if it is so urgent, why didn't you raise me over the com? " "We tried, several times. You did not answer." "You did? Weird. I must've been sleeping tighter than I thought." "It's not totally unheard of. Mind melds can have that effect on you." "Energizing," the com badge said. We rematerialized in front of the emotionless face of a Vulcan doctor. He dismissed the Lieutenant, and took me down a hallway lined with rooms with biobeds in which patients were either recovering from treatment, or waiting for one. My attempts at getting more information were returned with a simple, "T'Vani has requested that I do not reveal anything to you; she will let you know all that there is to know. Please do not insist." As we reached a door at the end of the hallway, he hesitated for a moment. "T'Vani is in here. Please do not be alarmed when you see her; she is not her usual self." He opened the door, allowed me to enter the room, and closed the door behind me. Moments later, I heard the hiss of a forcefield activating. Chapter 5 T'Vani Before me was a darkly-lit room. As my eyes got accustomed to the lighting, I could make out more and more of the scene in front of me; and what I saw was a bit distressing. To my left was a biobed lying on the floor. A chair that must have been standing right next to the biobed when it was thrown over, was crushed beneath it. Some medical instruments and a tricorder were scattered in the vicinity, as if someone had dropped them in a hurry to move away from the falling danger of the biobed. A bit further down the room I saw a medical PADD and a few hyposprays which had clearly been thrown away in a rage. The computer terminal that they had hit in their flight towards the wall had been broken by the impact, and though it seemed to have been powered down since, some smoke was still swirling up from a bit of loose wiring. A second console in the room, at the opposite side, was all fine except for a large crack in the middle of the screen, as if someone had thrown something against it. A slightly bent combadge lay below it; but surely that combadge couldn't have been the cause of the damage to the console? To cause such a crack, it must've been thrown with a speed and power beyond imagination. "Hi, John." The voice was undoubtedly T'Vani's, but those two words were filled with more emotion than anything said by all Vulcans that I'd ever met, combined. The relief at seeing me, apparent in her intonation, was stronger than that in greetings which some of my ex-girlfriends had given me; even when my first-ever girlfriend finally saw me again after two months, she didn't sound so happy to see me. And that was before she found out I had been cheating on her. "T'Vani? " "Yes, it's me, John. I'm afraid I underestimated my condition after the meld." Was that a giggle? "What are you doing? " As my eyes had finally accustomed to the light, I could see her properly, and realized she was a terrible sight. Her hair was in total disarray; that beautiful face had a few scars here and there, and she had some bruises on her arms. She seemed to be in that classic Vulcan meditative position; I suppose I should have guessed rather than ask. "I am trying to meditate." I was silent for a few moments, as I put two and two together. She was bruised; the room was a mess... "Did you do all this? " "Yes. I was not in control of myself, and chased out the doctors. When they tried to contact me over the com later on, and they did not tell me what I wanted to hear, I threw my combadge into that console over there. That is why I am trying to meditate." I didn't really know what to say to that. Yes, Vulcans are stronger than Humans; that much I knew already. But she did throw that combadge into that console, and that is why it broke? Amazing. "Is it helping? " "For now. But it won't resolve my situation." "I guess that's why you need me? " "It is." "Tell me what to do. I'll do whatever I can." She didn't reply immediately, and I realized I might've been pushing her a bit. To be pushing a person with such superior physical abilities and no apparent control over her emotions might not have been the smartest move. "I'm sorry if I'm pushing you. Please, take your time. Explain to me what's wrong." She got up, and started walking towards me. "Do you remember when we talked, you and I, about Vulcan procreation? How men enter the Pon Farr, and must then mate with their wifes, enter into mortal combat, or die at the results of the neurochemical imbalance that the Pon Farr produces? " "I do" "What you may not know is what happens to Vulcan Women. It is the man who initiates the Pon Farr; but in order to successfully procreate, a Vulcan couple must share a telepathic bond known as the mating bond. This bond allows the man to transfer some form of his state of mind to the woman, which causes her to become fertile. That is why Vulcans have such a high success rate at conception; we don't rely on luck like you humans do, but biological processes cause the female Vulcan to be fertile at the exact right moment, not before and not after." "I see. I'd been wondering about that." "Really." I wasn't sure if that intonation was disdain, or just simple disinterest. "You may also wonder what happens to the woman when she goes through the mating bond. The answer is right in front of you." It took me a few moments to connect the dots. "What? You don't mean..." "Yes. The exposure to your emotions of love and attraction towards me that I felt during our mind meld, has triggered this biological process inside my body. I am now fertile, and due to the nature of Vulcan biology, must have intercourse if I am to survive." She was now very close to me, physically, and I was starting to feel somewhat uncomfortable. "Wait. Slow down." Obviously frustrated, she did still back down a bit. "Didn't you tell me you were betrothed to some Vulcan man? " "Yes. Stihl. He is on his way here, but I am told it will take him several days to arrive." "Shouldn't we just wait for him, then? " "We may not have the time." "Why not? " "The doctors tell me that I have less than a day before my condition becomes lethal. They can't give me an exact time; it may be hours, it may be less. When I heard, I threw my combadge into that console." She was starting to be a little agitated. "After I asked them to send for you." "I see." I was quiet for a moment, and I guess she took that for agreement. "We must proceed." With that, she started removing what was left of her clothes, and walked towards me, backing me up against the wall. As her magnificent breasts came into view, rationality kicked in one final time. "Be warned that this will have me worked up so tremendously, I don't think I'll be able to get you out of my head for the rest of this year. We won't be able to go back to just being friends anymore; I wouldn't be able to cope." "We'll deal with that later", she said, and smothered my next response with a kiss. Chapter 6 It was a kiss unlike any I had ever experienced before. My toes started curling. I had goosebumps. After a few minutes, I started to feel her tongue lightly prodding my lips, and a few moments later, playing with mine. Before long, I started feeling dizzy, and just had to back off. At that exact moment, I felt her mind retreating from mine. "Did you just..." "Enter your mind? Yes. It is the way of our people." "I see." "Don't tell me you didn't like that." "Like? That was amazing! But I thought you said Vulcans don't believe in enjoying oneself during sex? " She grinned at that, grabbed the biobed behind her, put it upright again, and took my hand. "I decided that it would be illogical to resolve this in a purely Vulcan way, and thought I'd try something that I've seen many humans do when they are on a date. But as my ability to control my emotions has all but disappeared, I'm not sure whether my logic is sound." "I'm not complaining." "Good. Now." She hopped on the biobed. "Please remove that uniform. Oh, and by the way, it's not exactly in perfect condition." "I know," I said even as I removed my jacket. "But when that Lieutenant told me you were in danger and I had to hurry here, I just grabbed whatever was nearest, rather than whatever was in good condition." She giggled at that. "Good to know you care so much about me." After unbuttoning my pants, she put her fingers in them and started to push down. "But I really meant this part of your uniform." "In a hurry, are we? " I said, grinning mischievously. I let her push my pants down, removed my shoes and socks, and stood up again. My dick had grown to a reasonable size by then, but I wasn't quite ready yet. And as I removed my shirt, I felt her hands grab it. "A bit. My body will understand my arousal, so this will buy us some extra time. But we can't postpone forever." "Good," I said, "because I don't like skipping foreplay." "Foreplay? What's that? " Oh my. "Let me show you." I kissed her on the neck, and started to work my way down. I guess it's a good thing Vulcans lack the ability to control their emotions during the Pon Farr; as I worked my way down her body, her oohs and aahs told me when I was doing well, and when I wasn't. If she was in control of her emotions, I would have missed so much. The Vulcan and Human anatomies are superficially similar, but apparently not all the sensitive areas are in the same place. When I kissed her neck, she seemed appreciative, but not necessarily aroused. When my lips lightly touched her upper shoulders, however, she responded far beyond my expectations. Apparently, the Vulcan body is more sensitive there than is the case for Humans; perhaps that is why they evolved the Vulcan Nerve Pinch. She wiggled on the biobed, and I moved lower, towards her breasts. As I had previously observed, they were perfect. I had loved looking at them from afar before the meld; and I had already appreciated them in all their nakedness a few moments ago. But as my hands and lips touched the sensitive skin around her aureoles and felt their supple firmness, I marvelled at my luck. For tonight, at least, these two were mine, and I would love every minute with them. I started kissing, suckling, and even lightly biting them here and there, and it had the effect I was hoping for. When I raised them slightly and touched her in that fold where the breast joins with her chest, she jumped. "A little sensitive there, are we? " "Very. Please don't do that again." "Why not," I asked, and gave her a lick on that very spot. "Oohh! Because..." I licked her again. "Aahh! It is not right" "Don't you like it? " "I...I do! But you shoudn't," she gasped. "No wonder you Vulcans don't enjoy sex. Let me tell you, it is so much more than just procreation." I ignored her pleas, and continued licking under her breasts. After a short while, my right hand moved towards her sex, and started playing with her there. In no time, she was so worked up that she seemed to forget who she was with, and with her legs, applied a little too much pressure to my hand. I removed it. "This...foreplay...is wonderful! " She gasped, "but you...you must not...postpone...any further...! Please! " "Okay," I said. With that, I got up and walked to the replicator. "What...what are you doing? " "We need a condom." "What's that? " "An anticonceptive. Something to put over my dick, and keep my sperm from entering your body. I want to help you, but getting you pregnant would probably ruin your starfleet career." "No! " she cried out. "You must not! If we are to end the Pon Farr, you must not use any of those things. Your sperm must enter my body; only that will return my body chemistry to normal. Please." I stood there for a moment, and went back. We'd gotten this far; if that was the only way, then so be it. She'd probably be getting pregnant--didn't she say 97% chance? --but everything was better than death, I suppose. "Please," she said, "no more foreplay." I had no intention of doing so. As I walked towards the biobed, I took my cock in my right hand, and even before I had fully climbed upon the bed, I stuck it inside her pussy. She wasn't my first, and for a short moment I did notice that her folds did not produce the exact same feelings that a Human woman did. But it wasn't something that would stop me from enjoying it, and the thought fled my mind quickly. I didn't enter her completely in that first go. Not because I couldn't, but because I wanted to tease her a little; but she would have nothing of it. She locked her legs behind my back, grabbed hold of both my asscheeks, and with the superior strength of both her arms and legs, she pulled at me. As I bottomed out inside her, she gasped contently, and spoke some words in Vulcan that I did not understand, since my combadge with its universal translator was somewhere at the other end of the room. As she realized I didn't know what she was saying, she switched back to English. "Please fuck me now." I was beyond rationality, beyond trying to be reasonable. I fucked her for all I was worth. My cock was roaming her cunt as her tits moved with the beat of my thrusts right in front of my eyes; and when she sensed that I gave in to my primal instincts, she put her hands to my face and turned it towards hers. As she looked lovingly into my eyes, I felt her mind enter mine again, and while her eyes started rolling back in their sockets from the sheer pleasure assault that she was under, I realized that she was sharing the pleasure I was bringing her with me at the very same time that she figured out how to tap into my own. She moved her hands to my back, and held me tightly, sensing that it would push me over the edge quicker. When I ejaculated deep inside her only a few seconds later, I felt her tense up; and as she screamed out her orgasm right next to my ear, we both blacked out on top of the biobed. Chapter 7 Stihl It must have been much later that I woke up from a slight stirring under my left arm. I opened my eyes, and saw her gently trying to move away from under me. I managed a smile, but she did not return it. "Good morning." "It is noon, actually," she said as she got up. The monotonicity seemed to be back into her voice. "Well, good day then, I guess. How are you today? " "I am fine, thanks; I am fully in control of my emotions again. You have been very helpful." She looked around the room, as if she was looking for something. "Nothing more? " "I am not certain what you mean by that." "Don't tell me you didn't like what happened last night." "I did. But that is past us now." She found what she was looking for: the remains of her uniform. "It isn't for me." As she got dressed, she was silent for a while. The lack of emotions on her face made it hard for me to understand why. Finally, as she spoke, the reason was clear enough. "You do realize that according to Vulcan customs, we are now married? " Shit, I hadn't been expecting that one. Nielsen and T'Vani "Really? Isn't there supposed to be a ceremony of sorts, first? " "Yes. But these were...unusual circumstances." I'll say. "Never the less," she said as she straightened out the final bit of her clothing, "I suppose it would not be logical to expect you to honour an agreement which you did not even know you were making in the first place. If you wish it, I will ignore what happened here today." She picked up her combadge, found that it was ruined beyond repair, and used mine instead. "T'Vani to doctor Turak. With the help of Cadet Nielsen, I have regained control of my senses. Please drop the forcefield, and return power to this room." "Standby," the response sounded through my combadge. "What are you doing? " I asked. "I must contact Stihl." She looked at me, and double-backed. "You might want to get dressed." Oh, crap. Her husband-to-be. "Right." As the lights returned to their normal brightness and the forcefield was dropped, I made a dash for my uniform. It was a little bit too bright for my taste, after sleeping in here for at least a few hours. "Computer, dim lights. 50%." "Is there a problem, John? " "I don't like such sudden changes in the lighting level. Besides, I'm not dressed, and I wouldn't want to invite random passers-by to look through the window over there." As I was getting dressed, I realized something. "So, if that Pon Farr situation had you fertile, and we had sex...wouldn't that mean you're pregnant now? " "Probably." She seemed untouched by that thought, as only a Vulcan could be. "What do you mean, probably? Surely the logical response would be 'most likely'? " "If you were as Vulcan as me, then yes. But you are not, and the odds are not in favour of successful inter-species conception." Good point. "When will you know? " "Without medical examination, it would take at least four months. But if you want to be sure, a doctor would be able to tell us in a few days." "I see." This was a lot to think about. I got married? My mother would be crass at me not inviting her. And we might be expecting a child already? Well, how's that for rushing? "So, what shall I tell Stihl? " "What do you mean? " "Either I must tell him to go back to Vulcan and wait for his Pon Farr to appear before we are to be married, or I must tell him to go back to Vulcan and find another mate, because I have just married someone else." "Won't he be angry at me for stealing his bride? " "Vulcans do not feel anger. That being said, what we did was the only logical possibility, given the circumstances. He will understand." "I'm not quite sure yet. Do I have to decide now? " "Perhaps not. Computer, hail the Vulcan ship To'ley." A few moments later, a Vulcan man appeared on one of the monitors. "Stihl." "T'Vani." "I must inform you of a change in my condition. You may return to Vulcan." "Was the Pon Farr resolved through meditation, or through medical means? " "No." "This was not attempted? " "It was, but the attempts have failed." "Then we are no longer future mates? " "Presumably. I do not know yet." "Elaborate." "The human who caused my condition has helped me through my predicament. He was not aware of our customs in the matter, and it does not seem logical to expect him to honour them now, at least not until he has had sufficient time to consider his options." "Indeed. Is that the human we are talking about? " "He is. I will inform you when I have news. Live long and prosper, Stihl." "Live long and prosper, T'Vani. Vulcan ship To'ley, out." "I swear, that was by far the least painful breakup I have ever seen," I noted after the screen went blank. I guess the suppression of emotions does have its upsides. "What do you mean? " "He didn't seem the least bit upset." "I disagree." "How so? " "He was very inquisitive. Logic would have him remain quiet and let me do all the talking; he would most likely have gotten more information that way." Hrm, I hadn't thought of it that way. But still, we had to settle something first. "You know, T'Vani, If you're pregnant, or, heck, even if you could be, it's my moral duty to support you. I won't try to cop out from that, just because we didn't have a choice, or just because I wasn't informed. And I guess we've now firmly established that I am interested in you." "Indeed." "But if we are to be married, I want a human ceremony, too." "I suppose it is only logical to follow your customs, if I expect you to follow mine. Very well." Chapter Epilogue Returning to Starfleet Academy after that semester had turned out to be a bit more involved than we had thought before agreeing to climb Mt. McKinley togther. Not for social reasons; while some of the Vulcan Cadets were not very appreciative of what had happened and seemed to be be avoiding the both of us, at least they did not give us a hard time about it in their Vulcan unemotional state. That seemed to bother T'Vani more than it did me. Most of the Humans where more supportive, though I did hear one or two comments to the effect that they thought T'Vani to be a slut. Luckily, we managed to stop those rumours before they became a problem. No, our problem was more with Starfleet regulations. It turned out that T'Vani was, indeed, pregnant; and since rigorous physical excercise is a requirement at the academy, which could cause complications to any pregnancy but especially an inter-species one, she had to skip two full semesters. Since she had only been through one semester as of yet, usually that would have meant that she would have had to restart her whole career at the academy, which would have been unfortunate. But luckily, some admiral somewhere up the hierarchy considered our case to be special enough that it warranted an exception, and T'Vani was allowed to continue her studies after skipping two semesters. Additionally, we now had a marriage to organize, when I was still supposed to be studying at the academy. We planned a small ceremony during spring break; and while it would have been nice if T'Vani, with her copious free time now that she could not attend the academy, would take the lead in the organizations, the fact that she was not very familiar with human customs made it clear that this was not a good plan, very early on. But my mother was happy at helping out, and soon enough the preparations were well under way. And even though mom quipped often that "the bride seems as interested in her upcoming marriage as she would be in news about a change of government in the local ant's nest," but eventually she understood that I did really love T'Vani, and that my love was returned, even if in a way which is hard for humans to understand. The marriage was an overwhelming success, with many of our classmates joining us, as well as mys showing a genuine interest in learning more about Human customs and, specifically, me. Mom didn't have anything to be crass about regarding missing the Vulcan wedding. T'Vani gave birth to a healthy baby boy whom we named Bart in honour of my dead father, and she returned to the academy shortly thereafter to finish her studies. When I graduated, I took a job at Starfleet headquarters so I could be close to her. And when she too graduated, a year later, we signed up together on the USS Expeditious, where we still live today. Our favourite pasttime is climbing famous mountains on the holodeck. As for our love live, I have little to complain about. She has always been happy to endulge my needs, because she understood, logically, that it was needed if our marriage was to succeed. Originally, she allowed it just for me, but as time went on, I was happy to discover that while it is extremely uncommon for Vulcans to engage in sexual relations more often than once every seven years, this does not necessarily mean that they--or, well, T'Vani at the very least--cannot enjoy sexual relations more often than that. Unfortunately, however, even if she does enjoy our trysts, she has never allowed herself to drop her emotional control. As such, while the sex is good, it has never been as great as that very first encounter we had in that medical chamber. And ignoring the fun, we cannot conceive unless she is in that primal state. But yesterday, Bart turned six, which makes it almost seven years ago since we had that little accident on the mountain slope. I haven't forgotten, and am looking forward with anticipation to the time when we will join in a mind meld again at precisely the right time. This time around, I will be there, with her, all the time, rather than just at the end, which should allow both of us to enjoy the whole experience so much more. I can hardly wait, and I have the feeling that beneath all the emotional control, she too is looking forward to it...