Leaving Vulcan Part II

Posted on Sun Jun 9th, 2024 @ 3:32pm by T'lari

1,113 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Choir by the Bay
Location: Vulcan, Vulcan Forge
Timeline: Six Months Ago

ON:

=/\= Six Months Ago: Vulcan, Kir Province High School Academy Trip: Fire Plains =/\=

The respite from schooling was very short on Vulcan. A month for those in the regular program and then the back to start another year that was just as long as the previous one. If you were in the accelerated program, which T’lari was, the respite from work was only a mere two weeks.

She was halfway through her final year, after which she would be considered an adult. She had yet to make a decision as to where she would go upon completion of the final year.

All this was on her mind as she strolled the path of red sand. The hot wind caressed her skin and the sun warmed her beyond endurance but the calm spiritual feel of the Forge, the history of it all called to her. She strolled amongst the statues and weighed her options.

There was no winning when it came to her choice. Her brothers wanted her to go into the defense academy like they had. They thought it would teach her discipline and sort out her clumsy ways. If she chose something else they would see her as lacking.

Her father wanted her to go into diplomacy as he felt that the future of Vulcan was in the hands of the diplomats and Vulcan’s survival would be on the negotiation table. If she failed to choose this he would probably hate her.

Then there was her mother who was hoping for physics at the science academy. Her mother had always wanted to be a physicist but had gone into a different scientific path. She wished to live out her dream of physics through her daughter. Her other children had gone to the defense academy with her sister heading into historical preservation. She had accepted that. She had even applauded them but when it came to T’lari she could never do anything right. Her acceptance to go to her mother’s chosen path would only earn her a short reprieve from criticism but she would still never measure up and if she chose something else there was no point saying that her mother would dislike her, she had already proven that she disliked her no matter what. There was nothing to gain there but perhaps a lessening of criticism and for a time.

She looked up at the statues of the masters internally asking What should I do?

The States were unhelpfully silent. It was T’Yari’s voice that broke through her thoughts. “They are rather magnificent.”

She turned to see her favorite professor walking up. “Indeed. They are striking.” She turned to the one that seemed to stand off to the side. “What of that one. I have been here several times but have failed to understand why that statue is alone.”

Before her professor could respond another voice chimed in, a deeper one that she well. The other adult chaperone that was here because of his duties to the defense academy. Perhaps the only person in the family that had not been unkind to T’lari in her 17 years…well seventeen today. Not that anyone had remembered.

Sodel strolled up. “That is T’Perim the great. She is a philosopher and a warrior, she was able to meld history, story telling and the art of war and some how yet still stay true to Surak. She is an example to the other monks. Once thrown aside and treated badly she rose to be the greatest of them all.”

She watched as T’Yari’s eyes widened. She had long suspected that her favorite professor had a crush on her eldest brother. It was confounding but interesting to watch. T’Yari, who was always so self-assured, became quiet and demure around Sodel. She seemed to get clumsy with her words and glittery. It was somewhat comical.

“Sodel I did not know you were on duty at the forge.”

“I am always on duty at the forge. I am tasked with tourist security as well as escorting school groups down the path….just as I was last year when you brought your final years, and the year before that.”

“Right…I was just making a comment…but I knew that.”

T’lari suppressed a grin as she watched her professor go from eloquent and assured to flustered and her brother standing there clueless. She herself didn’t understand love but she understood that her professor wanted to get to know Sodel. “Fascinating.” She studied the statue. “She seems like a rather great figure.”

T'Yari seemed to recover. “Indeed. We should move on. At lunch perhaps we can have something sweet to celebrate your birthday a day you share with T’Perim the great.”

There was a strangled sound from Sodel. “Birthday?”

T’lari watched her teacher go from smitten to angry in a flash. Her outward appearance didn’t change but her eyes flashed and she swore a rumble of thunder emanated by T’Yari’s sheer well. She watched as her professor turned on Sodel. “You did not remember your sister’s day of birth?”

Sodel, for his part, looked apologetic. “I did not realize…I have been rather…”

T’lari waved him away. “Not to worry, it is nothing that is new. It seems a day that everyone wishes to forget. The day has always been a harbinger or rather a reminder of a day of misfortune. I am sure all in our family would rather forget it.” She turned and walked away joining another group of students studying the Ka-ri-tra stones.

T’Yari turned to Sodel. “Is that true? Does your family always forget?”

Sodel wanted to deny it but… “More often than not and even when remembered it is small event…I am starting to realize how wronged my sister has been all her life. Perhaps I have always known but I am starting to realize that I had not wished to fix things … until now.”

“That is generally the Vulcan way. I expected better of you.” She turned and left Sodel to think about all that was said. He looked up at the statue that had caught his sister’s eye. He saw much of T’Perim inside his sister’s soul. He would need to speak to her yet he knew not where to start. An apology seemed like it was not enough. He sighed. Perhaps T’Yari would know.

Sodel turned from the statue and headed off in search of T’Yari. Perhaps it was not too late to repair his relationship with his sister.

To be continued…

 

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