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Are We There Yet?
Rating: PG Chapter Five The man seated across from Trip clapped one hand over the other once in the I-wish-to-address-you gesture and asked him. “What are your travel plans?” T’Pol looked at the oldest woman and asked “permission to answer, Eldest?” When the woman nodded, T’Pol continued “We had planned to spend a week here in Kla-khush’Kahr, then go up into the mountains with the camper. Since it is cooler up there, more like Charles’s home world, he will be more comfortable fishing in the mountain streams. We planned to move our campsite every three days. When the month is out, we will return to our Federation staff jobs in Shir’Kahr. But now that we have been involved with the accident last night, we may be staying at least another week here. That is what I had wished to discuss with the family and receive council on.” The large man next to Trip cleared his throat. “Permission to speak, Eldest?” “Given.” “I see no logic in delaying this mountain seclusion. Whatever has not been taken care of in a couple day’s time can wait. Our cousin and her mate could check back with us on their way home and see if all is well or not.” “I concur,” said another. “And I,” voiced three more people. “That is half of us, then. Any objections?” asked the Eldest. There were none. “Then I am to understand we are in concurrence or stand silent on objections?” Again no words. “So be it. We will assemble here, those that need food and are close at hand, for the mid day meal.” Everyone rose in unison and disbursed out through the hall, out the front door, up the stairs, or into another room. Trip and T’Pol found themselves alone in the hall after a minute. “What are we doing today?” Trip asked her. “We will visit a kennel here in Kla-khush’Kahr and one in a nearby town to assess litters for a replacement of the sehlat. If we find a suitable one, we call the boy’s family. They will send a representative to inspect the cub, and if he approves, we purchase the cub. Then we take the cub to the local monastery for a priest to mind test the sehlat cub. If a brief meld shows the mind is not diseased, the animal is given the blessing. Then we take it to the Working Sehlat Institute, which fortunately is only fifty miles away, a farm further up in the hills. After that, we pay a formal visit to the boy’s family – in visiting robes – and they officially release us from any malicious intent against their clan.” “Wow. They don’t really believe that we intentionally hit a pet in the dark, who belongs to a family we didn’t even know 12 hours ago?” “Of course not. This just shows we care. Five thousand years ago, it may have prevented some kind of retaliation, but today it is just a kindness to a small grieving boy.” “Okay. Sure, I understand completely. And it sure as hell will make me feel a lot better about it.” “I knew it would, Trip. I took that into consideration when I offered to do this, although it would not have entered anyone else’s mind that either of us needed to do it in order to purge the guilt emotion that we were not supposed to acquire in the first place.” “O…kay, but I guess I never will quite understand that about Vulcans.” …. Trip held the cub in his lap while T’Pol drove. She swung into the curves expertly, but the vehicle still swayed enough to make Trip lean to the left around one curve, then straighten, only to lean the other way a half minute later. “Uh, T’Pol, the one doubled over towel is not enough. I will have to change my jeans again. How much water did you let this little guy have? I thought Vulcans held their water like it was gold plated latinum.” “The cub is not a Vulcan. He is a sehlat.” “Yeah, but I thought all creatures on this planet were environmentally predisposed to conserve water.” “He is. As an adult he will, after his muscular control develops.” “I see. Something like how Lizi will have to learn emotional control because her Vulcan brain has not yet fully developed the neurons that perform this task?” “Something like that, Trip, yes.” Trip was quiet for a few minutes, then he tried another approach. “Hey, I thought you wanted me to drive in the daytime, so I could develop my driving skills.” T’Pol raised one brow and glanced sideways at Trip. “That is not really what is on your devious Human mind is it, Trip?” And she moved the joy stick in the direction of another long curve. “You want me to share water with you so to speak. Water in MY lap.” “Fair is fair.” “Why is making more then one person uncomfortable, fair?” “Why do you always have to reconstruct the situation so that it seems illogical? Fair is when people share the discomfort…give each other a break.” “It SEEMS illogical because it IS illogical. Where is the logic of having even more clothes to wash – yours AND mine? If you just endure holding the cub for another half hour, we will be at the trainer’s farm and we will only have two pairs of jeans to wash.” Trip sighed. “I could never out talk my mother either.” “I have noticed that.” “Well at least I have good engineering skills. That must be why you decided to actually marry me. Guess I never would make a good diplomat like Jon Archer is now. I actually am surprised you never went for him instead of me. I don’t have his kind of smarts. So, it must have been when the Vulcan High Council decided to give me clearance on their most secret warp technology and asked the Federation Council to put me in charge of Federation R&D, that you thought I was worth marrying, eh?” “No. It was when I noticed that your mother always won the arguments with you that I decided to marry you.” “Huh?!? I never, ever, will understand Vulcans!” “Correction. You never, ever, will understand women.” |
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