The Hitchhiker's Guide to Vulcans

Posted on Wed Jul 8th, 2015 @ 2:15pm by Karil & Lieutenant Surak

Episode: Orphans
Location: Vulcan, McKinley Station, Shuttlecraft

ON:

Surak stood in the entrance of the shuttle, quickly familiarizing himself with the vessels layout and controls. Soon however he turned to face his wife, T'Remberale. Their hands raised as their fingers parted to form the iconic Vulcan symbol.

"Farewell my husband, be safe." T'Remberale uttered, before stepping back and lowering her hands. Giving a reassuring nod to Surak and her children.

"Be safe... Live long and prosper." With their farewells exchanged, Surak quickly moved to tap the control panel at the side of the door, lifting it to a close. As his family departed, he took his seat at the helm of the shuttle and immediately powered up the ships systems. Soon enough Surak had assumed control, and left the planet in a matter of minutes and going into warp. He then issued the following order. "Computer, open a channel to McKinley station, SSA Karil."

A slender, young-ish Vulcan appeared on the vidscreen, sporting a short blond haircut and a less-than-completely blank expression. He bowed his head to the individual hailing him. "Lieutenant Surak, I assume." He held up the ta'al with his right hand, briefly, then lowered it. "Sochya eh dif. I am prepared to beam aboard on your mark. Standing by."

Similarly enough, the Vulcan responded in the same manner, holding his left up to form the ta'al and lowering it. He then nods, without offering any verbal greeting. "Shields are in-operative.. Ready for transport."

Karil, standing in place at McKinley, was seen on the vid-screen dematerializing in a flurry of blue-white lights. Only moments later, he appeared on the transporter pad of the shuttlecraft, wearing bland Terran clothing consisting of a green button-down shirt and black slacks, with a black FPS jacket that looked almost an afterthought. A cylindrical travel bag was slung carelessly over his right shoulder. Wordlessly, he stepped down, turning around to watch as yet another transport cycle completed. This time a very young Vulcan child materialized on the pad, and Karil held out his hand to beckon the child forward. Seylan immediately beelined for Karil's legs, and glommed on rather like a sea-urchin. "Lieutenant," Karil greeted the pilot. "I'm Karil, this is Seylan."

The Vulcan turned in his chair as he saw the reflection of the pair materializing in the window. He looked directly at both Vulcans, nodding at them respectively. "You have my greetings, Karil. Seylan." Without any further ado he swiftly turned back to his console to configure the shuttle ready for warp speed. Though, he swiveled around once more; "Unless you have any additional requirements, I believe we're ready to engage."

"Nope, no requirements," Karil replied as he took his seat, strapping in Seylan beside him.

Surak nodded and turned back to his console once again. "Computer, lay in a course for Dreyas IV." As the command was issued, the flight plan appeared on the screen infront of him. With several taps to the navigation area of his command console, the flight plan was altered slightly to a more efficient route. Soon enough, the sound of the warp engine charging up could be heard, and before the three could say "Live long and prosper" they were travelling at high warp. Surak then stood and turned to Karil, peering at him with a questioning look. "Forgive me for my intrusion, though I am intrigued. Why does this child accompany you?"

Karil hadn't expected to be interrupted at all by another Vulcan, and the question took him off guard. He was holding a PADD in front of Seylan, guiding him through a Federation Standard workbook. He let Seylan hold the PADD and looked up. "He's my son. Yeah, we've got a bit of a different circumstance. He needs immediate access to the parental bond, so we made the decision for him to come with me." Chaele was still trying his hardest to get Seylan to trust him, but after four years, Seylan defaulted to Karil still. Another reason to take him, expose him to new people, new civilizations.

"I believe I understand." The Vulcan replied dryly, before once again turning to his console overlooking the navigational sensor readings. Contrary to Surak's speech, he did in fact remain rather perplexed as to why his future comrade would bring his son into a possibly hazardous environment, removing him from the rest of his family on the safety of Vulcan, or wherever else they take residence.

Karil didn't feel the need to elucidate, despite being vaguely aware of Surak's disapproval. Seylan's history was his own, and Karil would afford him as much privacy as he could against strangers. The six-year-old held up his PADD, pleased that he'd passed the next level of his educational game. Karil inspected it. "Good job. Now you go here, and try to complete this. You want to use Standard as much as you can in your answers, all right?"

Seylan huffed a giant sigh, and pursed his lips together. "All right," he agreed reluctantly.

"Just because you're coming with me, doesn't mean you can neglect your studies. Finish your homework," Karil murmured fondly.

"Your son will have more than enough time to complete his homework." Surak uttered, while continuing to monitor the Shuttle's systems. "We'll arrive at Dreyas four in approximately seven hours time."

“You hear that, you have approximately seven hours to get it done,” Karil said, looking toward the ceiling in exasperation. Vulcans were some pushy, for a people who claimed not to pry.

Seylan was wide-eyed. He did not want to work for seven whole hours!

Karil kept a straight face. “Well, you'd better get started. Here, why don't we try this one together.” He drew his finger across the words. “Beat one's brains out. What?” Karil frowned. “You know, none of these idioms are things that Terrans actually say,” he grouched. That was the problem with FSL, it didn't give realistic examples. What the hell was if I had my druthers? What was a druther? When had a human being ever uttered that phrase? “Okay, let's try something else. Oh, here. Shoot the breeze.”

Surak did not respond, but simply turned and nodded, before once again returning his attention to that of the navigational console.

Soon several hours had passed in the rather uneventful journey. There were no interruptions to the flight, and nothing spectacular occurred other than a replicator glitch resulting in the request for a "glass of water" to be registered as a "gulp of water". And so, the replicator was filled with un-contained liquid. This to was the only time the Lieutenant had left his station.

Several distinguished beeps could be heard, as a sub-space message was relayed to Surak's console. It was in-fact Petty Officer O'Hara, simply indicating that they were infact prepared for our arrival. He swiveled to his right, to view the flight plan again. After which he completed the full turn, back to his Vulcan counterparts. "We'll be arriving shortly."

While Karil didn't look very enthused about it, Seylan had abandoned his PADD to climb up on the seat and wrap his hands over the edges of the window. He watched in awe as the planet entered view, a swirling sphere of bio-luminescence against stark black space. "That's Dreyas IV," Karil told him, turning around as well. "You think that's big, wait 'til you see Earth. Ten times as big."

"This is.. odd." Surak remarked, as he pondered over the sensor data. "There's a Cardassian vessel in orbit, not far from the Highlander." Though quite unsure how to react, he followed general procedure and continued to maneuver the small vessel towards the Highlander.

Karil stood, coaxing Seylan into doing the same. "I suppose we'll find out soon enough," he shrugged. "They don't seem hostile, yet."

"Indeed." It was clear that Surak was concerned with the Cardassian presence, nevertheless he continued to maneuver the vessel towards the shuttlebay. "This is Liuetenant Surak to the Highlander, requesting clearance for docking procedure."