Chapter Fiive

                “Ms. Mor.” I heard a voice call out after me. I didn’t turn around. I didn’t slow down, in fact, I sped up. I needed to get to my room and away from everyone. I needed to be alone. I didn’t want Spock’s assistance in calming me. I was angry.

                “Cadet Mor you will stop when your commanding officer orders you to.” Spock said in an even but equally stern cold voice. If he wasn’t a Vulcan, someone might consider his tone angry, mixed with a bit of worry. I stopped, but I didn’t turn around.

                “Cadet, you will turn around and acknowledge me.” He said as he caught up with me. I could feel the heat from his body as he neared within inches of me. I really didn’t want to turn around, but I also didn’t want to run the risk of getting into trouble, as I very well could have from drinking last night underage.

                I did an about face and stood at attention. This seemed to anger Spock for he clenched his jaw before he spoke through gritted teeth. “You will go to your dorm room and you will not leave without express permission from either myself or someone of equal or higher rank, is that understood cadet?”

                “Yes, sir.” I replied in as cold a voice I could muster without trying to sound disrespectful, I didn’t want to be here standing this close to him. My flight or fight instincts were starting to kick in. It was that moment in a movie where the characters either kiss or hit each other, and as angry as I was with him, I wasn’t sure all of a sudden if I would actually hit him instead. “Am I excused, sir?” I asked, willing my voice to be strong and still look into his eyes, but it came out weaker then, and I knew he was messing with my emotions. I narrowed my eyes slightly, daring him to say anything other than yes.

                “You are dismissed.” He said, standing his ground and not moving, waiting to see how I would react. I stood still for a moment, daring him to make a move as well, until my flight or fight instinct finally kicked in full gear and I ran, scared of what I might have done otherwise.

                I didn’t think the entire walk back to my room, my mind still stranded inches from Spock, waiting. Before I knew it, I was in my dorm room, panting, I must have run back. I didn’t wait to see if I was alone, I just ran into the bathroom.

                “Aila-“ my roommate was obviously there, but I cut her off before she could continue.

                “Don’t wanna talk, Tasha.”

                “Well alrighty then, whenever you do, I’ll just be sitting out here, waiting for you.” She said simply as I could hear her footsteps retreat from the bathroom door and end somewhere around where her bed was.

                I slid down the door landing in a heap of sorrow and despair, the anger finally leaving me. I started to feel bad about the way I had spoken to Spock. He was only trying to help me after all, and I had treated him like s**t. Not to mention, he was a commander, and if anything, my tone towards him had been disrespectful at least, if not insubordinate.

                I’m not really sure how long I had been sitting on the floor of the bathroom propped up against the door, but it must have been awhile, as the next thing I knew I was opening my eyes to a tapping sound.

                “Hey, Aila, I know you might not wanna talk about stuff right now, but that doesn’t mean you need to be slacking off on your studies.” I heard Tasha say softly. Normal people would have been pissed at the remark, but she knew me. She knew just what to say to get me out of my own woe.

                I stood up and opened the door to find her standing there. I looked at her and she simply offered a quick hug before speaking again.

                “Now get over to that bed of yours and finish the paper I know you have pretty much done already.” She said lightheartedly.

                “Thanks.” I walked over to my bed and commenced with my studies, finishing my paper just like I needed to. It hadn’t taken too long, but that small amount of work offered my mind a distraction, so I continued on to the next subject with anticipation. When I was done with that homework, I simply went to the next subject and so on until I was interrupted.

                “Aila, you need to eat. You’ve been doing classwork for over six hours now.” Tasha’s voice fluttered into my ears. I hadn’t even noticed her in the room since I started doing my classwork. In the back of my mind my subconscious was aware of the fact that she had sat in the dorm with me patiently watching to see if I would break down for about two hours. When she realized that I was too distracted to break down, she had left the dorm for no more than ten minutes before promptly returning. She had progressed this habit and actually returned just then from being gone for over an hour.

                I looked up to her, “I’m not hungry.”

                “You need to eat, Aila. If you don’t eat I will call Commander Spock and he will make you eat.” How did she know threatening me with that would work? She must have talked to him while I wasn’t paying attention or while she was out of the dorm at some point in the past six hours.

                “Ugh. Fine. But I do not want to stay in the mess hall.”

                “We can’t take meals back to the dorms, you know that.”

                “Well, I guess we will just have to find some place to sit down that’s not in the mess hall then.” I replied sternly, giving her a pointed look of disapproval. “You want me to eat, I don’t want to sit around a bunch of jerks gossiping about me.”

                “Deal. Now, can we go get some food, or what?”

                When we finally got to the mess hall I started feeling anxious. I quickly scanned the large room before I entered through the large open doorway and my hesitation was not lost on Tasha.

                “Aila, no one is going to be paying special attention to you. Let’s just get in and get out.”

                “I feel like they are all looking at me, “I kept my head on a swivel, but it was ending up in the same place, the back corner of the mess hall where there was a single man staring at me, “especially that guy in the back corner, eating all by himself.” Tasha turned in his direction and looked for a moment, a puzzled expression dawning as she realized who I was talking about.

                “You know, you’re right, he is staring at you rather intently, I wonder what his deal is.” She said, turning back to face me after getting her food out of the replicator. I looked in the strange man’s direction once more, my eyes meeting his. He looked very familiar, but I couldn’t seem to place where I had seen his face before.

                “He looks familiar, but honestly, he doesn’t strike me as someone who attends the academy.” I said as we started walking to the doors we came through. “Courtyard?”    

                “Sure thing.” She replied. We walked out to the courtyard as I glanced behind me once more and saw the familiar man who had been staring at me was gone. Odd.

                We sat down and ate in silence. I started wondering what was going to happen in the next few days. The meeting with the admirals still had me feeling a bit rough, although not nearly as bad as it had hours ago. My mind wandered to the rest of my homework, knowing that I would finish tonight if I kept doing it at the pace I was earlier. I was so preoccupied in my thoughts that I didn’t hear Tasha talking to me at first.

                “Are you even listening to me, Aila?” Tasha tapped my shoulder.

                “Sorry, I was a little lost in thought. What did you say?”

                “I said there is a talent show coming up. It’s right before the semester ends, and I was wondering if you were going to participate.” We started gathering our trash and headed to the garbage receptacles.

                “Oh, I didn’t even know that the academy did stuff like that.” I replied, my mind still wondering about the familiar man who was staring at me earlier.

                “Yeah, it’s apparently a pretty big deal. The staff gets involved and everything.” She said, obviously trying to goad me into something.

                “Yeah, well, I don’t really think I should participate if that’s where you’re going with this. I mean, I already have a target on my back right now for everything that happened last night. I don’t need any more attention.”

                “You do not have a target on your back. No one even knows what happened last night, or if they do they don’t know it has anything to do with you. Relax. I think you should do it. The talent show that is.”

                “They might not know yet, but they will know soon enough. Besides, I don’t have any talents that would be appropriate.” I said as we started walking back to our dorm room. “And, I have too much classwork to do. I don’t need to spend my time doing some pointless talent show and not be focusing on my studies.”

                “Well, I just thought it might be fun to do, and then go out afterwards. It’s on your birthday.” I stopped abruptly causing her to turn around and look at me.

                “I am NOT, I repeat, NOT, going out with you again.” I declared in a voice that even I would have been scared of, if it hadn’t come from my mouth.

                “Well, I think you should do it. I’ve heard you sing to yourself when you study and I really think you should do it.” She grabbed my arm and we started walking again. I didn’t reply, knowing it would be pointless to argue with her any further at this point. If she wasn’t deterred by my proclamation, then there was no point in continuing to attempt to dissuade her from my not participating.

                We reached the dorm rooms and I decided to get back to work. I spent the next couple of hours finishing my paper and studying for my first big test. Both of which happened to be for my Vulcan Studies class. When I decided enough was enough for studying it was already 11:00 p.m. and Tasha was gone, probably over at the doctor’s place she had such a big crush on. I was okay with that, honestly, she knew I wasn’t up for talking about anything, and I really felt better just being alone. It was a Saturday night and all I wanted to do was relax.

                I wasn’t quite tired yet though, so I grabbed my PADD and looked for a good book to read. I wrapped myself up in my blankets and started searching for something to take my mind off of recent events.

                A single word popped in my head at that point: Sealtag. A word from the memories that had recently been unlocked. Maybe I should look up what it meant instead of reading about just anything.

 

SPOCK

 

                “Spock, I was not expecting you to call today.” My father said staring back at me through the screen. I decided to call him and inquire about what I had seen in Aila…Cadet Mor’s memories. It was late on Earth, but no so on Vulcan.

                “No. I have….questions. They are about the cadet I mentioned to you two weeks ago.” I said.

                “Ah, the one that has spent a short time on Vulcan and can speak in our dialect as well as High Vulcan.” He replied. “What is it that you believe I can answer for you?”         

                “I wish to know why the Vulcan mind healers in Shi’Kahr would block the memories of a human female child.” If there was anyone so well connected that I would be able to ask questions of such a nature to it was my father.

                “Spock, you know as well as I do that we do not believe in blocking memories, only helping to move through even the most traumatic ones.” He replied coldly, as any Vulcan would, but knowing my father and knowing Vulcans, I knew he did not find my statement satisfactory.

                “Father, I have looked into the mind of Cadet Mor,” I paused noting his eyebrow raise in question but he did not say anything to me, “there was a situation last night that deemed it logical to do so.” I explained. I waited for him to respond to my statement, he did not. “In an attempt to calm her from her state, I melded with her briefly. I did not expect to find a wall in her memories. A wall that blocked eight years of her life.”

                “Spock, you are suggesting the healers willingly placed such a significant block in her memories, are you certain that she did not erect such a wall on her own?”

                “Father, I knew the signature to be that of a Vulcan. No human could have erected such an effective wall in their mind alone.”

                “That is troubling.” He paused. “While we do not condone such practices among our kind, perhaps being that she is human, the healers found it logical to erect such a wall to prevent her mind from being tarnished of a particularly horrible trauma.” He offered, although he did not seem to be convinced.

                “An eight-year block would not be logical in such a case, Father. You know this. That is not all that troubles me.” I paused again, waiting to see if he would respond. He did not. “While the memory block itself is indeed strange, what troubles me more is what I saw from her memories. I do not believe she is entirely human, Father.”

                “What do you propose, son?” He asked raising his brow yet again.

                “I will not divulge the personal nature of her memories, but I must ask, who are the Sealtag? I have never heard of this people before, and that is strange.” For a Vulcan, my father’s expression to my question was quite unsettling. He was shocked, but he quickly gathered himself and returned to a Vulcan face.

                “Spock, if this Cadet Mor is in fact Sealtag, she is in danger.” He paused. “This you must know, for if the block has been removed from her mind, others will find her.”

                “I do not understand.”

                “The Sealtag were an ancient race of people closely related to humans but living on another plane of existence, not quite an alternate reality, closer to a parallel dimension. They were a race of people even older than Vulcans.”

                “I do not understand, you are using the past tense, but surely if Cadet Mor is a member of this race, the past tense does not apply.”

                “The Sealtag held great power, one of those abilities were the means to travel between dimensions and worlds. However, with this ability, they became vulnerable during their travels There is a legend from our history, from the time of Surak, that relates to the Sealtag.” He lingered over the last statement, gathering his words to continue as I remained silent. I was very intrigued.

                “I was never taught of this legend in our history.” I said simply. I would have remembered being taught of such a race with proclaimed remarkable abilities.

                “In the time of Surak the Sealtag were traveling the stars, for that is what their name denotes: Star People. The method of their travel was never disclosed in this legend, for it was much different than any method known today, but they did indeed visited Vulcan. The legend in our history comes from this visit to Vulcan.” He said, ignoring my statement of ignorance.

                “Father, I ask again, why do I not know of this legend?” I asked.

                “It is a legend not taught to our children. It is a tale which most regard as myth now.” He answered. “But T’Pau does not, she was told in her childhood, and she told my when I was a child. I did not tell you because it did not seem logical to instruct you in what many of our people believe to be myth and not fact.”

                “Instruct me now, for it seems that you suddenly regard this mythical legend to be fact.” I desired to know of this mysterious past of my ancestors.

“The legend of the Sealtag in the time of Surak on Vulcan is also not spoken of for other reasons. Reasons that will become clear as I tell you of the legend of the Sealtag.” He stopped for a moment.

                “The Sealtag visited Vulcan during the time of Surak, bringing much wisdom to our people, in fact, instructing Surak in the ways of logic. Our people do not regard this myth because it denotes that Surak was not alone in establishing logic to control our emotions and lead us into being a peaceful people.”

                “You mean to say that we do not want to believe in this legend.” I said, inferring what he meant.

                “That is correct. It is said the Sealtag came to our people and instructed Surak as a mean to help our race move from the bloody path of destruction we were headed down. This legend has been past down our family for generations. The legend has also been passed down to each Mind Healer of Vulcan who are sworn to secrecy.” He almost had a look of sorrow in his eyes.

“The Sealtag are, were, regarded and respected for a time until their memory was no longer living.” More like pushed out on purpose. I thought to myself.

“They were more than allies to us, for assisting Surak in the instruction of logic, they were regarded as almost family to the Vulcan people. They spent much time among the Vulcans before moving on. One day the Sealtag returned to Vulcan seeking aid. The Sealtag had gained an enemy, a formidable enemy, when they traveled to another dimension and attempted to instruct a race there in a similar manner to which they did of Surak. The Vulcan people, however, did not want to involve themselves in a war not their own.”

                “The people they attempted to bring peace and logic to did not respond well.” I stated, understanding forming in my mind.

                “No, they did not. They were a warring race. They cared not for peace, for logic, they cared only for power raw materials. The Sealtag in our dimension possessed both.”

                “Why would they seek our ancestor’s aid if they were so powerful?” I asked, not understanding why a race with such gifts would need the aid of a people who had, most likely, barely developed warp engines.

“The Sealtag had colonized a planet in our dimension after they visited Vulcan, to be able to watch other worlds develop, much like the Federation does now, to explore this dimension. I assume it was a practice they did in any dimension they visited. The Sealtag did not want to leave, for the colony that lived there had created a home. That planet is now known as Tarsus IV.”

“Why would they colonize on Tarsus? That planet is a wasteland.” I asked, shocked that they would want to establish a colony there.

 “It was not always so. It was uninhabited then. However, the enemy that had traveled with the Sealtag through dimensions did under a ruse of gaining knowledge and wisdom, when in fact they wanted to take from the planet as well as the Sealtag.” He closed his eyes for a moment, if he were human I would gather it meant he was ashamed of what he was going to say next.

“If they had the power to travel as the Sealtag did, what did they need from them?” I asked, admittedly confused.

“The Sealtag’s enemy did not have the power to traverse dimensions yet, which is why they exploited the exploratory and kind nature of the Sealtag.” He explained.

“The enemy of the Sealtag saw the potential that existed on the then plentiful planet Tarsus IV and continued to exploit the Sealtag. They spent many years drawing the resources from the planet and taking the resources back to their own dimension, using the royal house of the Sealtag to carry them back and forth.”

“They effectively drained Tarsus. I assume that is why the planet is the way it is now, then?” I asked.

“Yes. This enemy eventually wiped out the Sealtag living in our plane, as they had in the Sealtag’s home plane. We know this because the Sealtag had come to Vulcan more than once seeking aid, receiving none.” This was why the official history of Vulcan did not mention the Sealtag. It made sense now why I was not privy to this information during my school years.

“May I inquire, why is it that you have not told me of the Sealtag prior to this instance?” Surely, if T’Pau had told him before, he should have passed the knowledge to me.

“There is another part of the legend, a prophecy of sorts, the reason it is whispered of still today. It is a most interesting tale.” He paused, looking down before he caught my eye in seriousness once more.

“Tell me then,” I declared, “how this is related to Cadet Mor. Are you implying that you believe Cadet Mor to be this descendant of the royal house of the Sealtag? A people eradicated by this still unknown enemy? Vulcans do not believe in prophecy.” I was starting to understand why my people began to dismiss this legend.

 “The legend states there will be a descendant of the royal house of the Sealtag, a descendant of the royal house who colonized Tarsus, who will bear great powers, who will be either a force for great good, or great evil. This descendant will have the power to create life, and destroy it.”

                “The last of the Sealtag to be eradicated were those of the royal house, for it was the royal house that carried the ability to travel between dimensions, and the enemy of the Sealtag needed the royal house to return to their own dimension.” He explained.

                “That would be logical. You are saying that Cadet Mor was spared as a child so this enemy could use her power to return to the other dimension.” I replied.

                “In effect yes. If she is indeed Sealtag, then she is the last princess of the Sealtag, the last known survivor of her race. Tell me, what did you find in her memories hidden behind the wall in her mind?”

                “She was but six years old when Tarsus was no more than a wasteland. She watched her mother murdered and was held captive in a brutal manner for two years while, what I assume now were the last members of this enemy, finished puling from the planet.” I paused for a moment, another question forming in my mind. “Tarsus was colonized by humans at this point, how is it this enemy was not discovered?”

                “I believe that Kodos was the last member of this enemy. He decided to remain behind, becoming governor.” He said simply. “Continue telling me what you drew from Cadet Mor’s mind.”

 “Ah. When the planet was finished being pulled from her captor used her power and she was left alone, on the other side from where the governor Kodos and his regime had been. She was then found by a Vulcan ship and taken to Vulcan. How, I do not know.”

“Where was she taken to while at Vulcan?” He asked, although it seemed as if he already knew but wanted confirmation.

 “While at Vulcan for a few weeks she spent her time in the most private area of the healer’s tower and after the block was effectively established she was sent to live on Earth in an orphanage.”

                “Did she see the memories as you pulled them from the wall during the meld?”

                “I do not believe so, it was very quickly done. She will start to remember, however.” I responded, then wondered, “why is it that she will be in danger now?” If she was indeed in danger, I would be the one to have to protect her.

                “The wall in her memory was not only to block the trauma, but to block her most potent abilities. Abilities that can be sensed.” My father replied. “Kodos was not just a horrible stain in the history of Tarsus, but, as I stated before, I believe a leftover of the enemy of the Sealtag. If he is not in fact dead, which given his true heritage, is entirely possible, then he will begin to sense her abilities as they have now been unlocked.”

                “If this is true, then she may very well be in danger.” I agreed. “What are the abilities she has, father, other than dimensional travel?” I wondered if maybe she had abilities even through the wall, as she was very adept in the language of my people, and other languages as seen from her academic record.

                “According to the prophecy told, the first ability is that of universal communication. This is how the Sealtag were able to visit so many worlds in so many dimensions. She will learn the entirety of a language merely by hearing or seeing it.”

                “Father, if that is true, I believe she may have already had this ability before the wall in her mind was removed.”

                “That is most troubling, however, it also means other abilities will come faster, and more powerful if that is the case. I would implore you to watch over her carefully and report to me what you observe. I will notify T’Pau and she will notify the council members who know of the legend and the prophecy of the Sealtag about what we have discussed.”

                “Shall I inform Starfleet as well?”

                “Not yet. Starfleet does not know of the Sealtag, and without the proper introduction of information I am unsure how they will react to this knowledge. Know this, however, if she is found, she will be exploited. Due to not knowing of her heritage it will be easier to exploit her. Vulcans are not the only race that were visited by the Sealtag, and by extension, we cannot be the only race which were informed of the prophecy.”

                “Starfleet would react Illogically. Therefore I will not inform Starfleet….yet. However, they will need to be made aware of the threat, and as I am a Starfleet officer and Vulcan I cannot lie, if they ask, I will tell them the truth of the situation.”

                “I understand. I would ask that you simply observe, it is possible that nothing will happen, not right away at least. Perhaps, notifying her of her heritage at least would be prudent, but not the prophecy, not yet.” He paused, thoughtfully for a moment after I nodded in acceptance. “Be vigilant, my son, and help her as her abilities come to fruition, you are the only one that will be able to. We will discuss these matters more in depth soon. Firstly, I need to speak with T’Pau.”

                “Understood.”

I raised my hand in the Vulcan salute and said goodbye to my father as he did to me. I decided that meditation was necessary to process the information I had received and form a plan on how to handle this newest situation.