Disclaimer:

This story is based in the "Star Trek" universe. The use of anything related to "Star Trek" in this series is not intended to infringe upon the rights of Paramount Pictures. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise.

All other content or otherwise are works of my own imagination. All events are fictitious in nature.

Any similarities to persons living, dead, or otherwise are purely coincidental.

This story contains strong themes of homosexual content, if this offends you in any way, please refrain from reading further. If you are not of legal age to read this, please leave now.

A/N: I'd like to thank TalonRider for editing this chapter. His unparalleled brilliance and tiresome effort applied to my work is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

A Vulcan’s Love
-By Emulated

Chapter 18: Arrangements

Romulus- Capital City

The tall, masculine figure stared intently out of the window before him. The sun was shining brightly across the Capital, illuminating the historical structures and bespoke architecture. He glanced to the right, noting the dome-like roof to the Romulan Senate, the home of the Romulan Government. He reached out and tapped on a button, shutting off the holographic projector, which in turn, caused the window to disappear, revealing the metal wall behind. You see, there was never a window there. There couldn’t be a window there as this was a classified installation, and yes, while it was in the Capital, it was located almost a hundred metres down. The image displayed in the window was simply from an optical sensor placed on a building built above the installation. Allowing its inhabitants to look out onto the city with ease. And stealth.

The person turned around and looked into the room. The Senate liked to call this room the ‘Command centre’, but he didn’t like that. It was too…Federation. And while he didn’t hold anything against the major interstellar government, he didn’t care to have his installation named as if it belonged to them. No, he liked to refer to this place by its codename, Omega-Zero. It was short, to the point, and didn’t reveal anything about its purpose. And its purpose was to maintain order and efficiency throughout a…select branch of the Romulan Star Empire.

The man walked forward slowly and glanced around the room. Its shape was very similar to a large auditorium, but it was comprised of around ten levels. The front of the room was dominated by a large holographic viewer that was separated into various screens at that current time, each displaying the current status of the installation, or various ships in orbit.
Facing the screen were over two hundred computer consoles and an equal number of personnel operating them, which were separated into groups, depending on department and expertise. Towards the rear of the room, overseeing both the large viewer and computer consoles were the Chairman and Vice-Chairman’s stations. And finally, just behind the two command stations, was a large table, which projected a screen onto its surface. It was currently displaying an interstellar map of the Romulan Star Empire and part of the Federation.

He walked toward the command stations and stared at the large main viewer, looking at the three planets that were displayed to the entire room.

“Vulcan. They will have the meeting on Vulcan.” Came a strong female voice.

The man turned and regarded her curiously, “Perhaps.” He spoke, in a clear and precise voice. A voice belonging to General Kozarr, Chairman of the Tal Shiar. “Regardless, I want to be fully prepared for all three preliminary sites.”

“Of course, Sir.” She replied, tapping away on the console in front of her. She was Admiral Vorath, Vice-Chairman of the Tal Shiar.

Kozarr walked around the table, his hands behind his back and his head held high. He represented the Romulan Star Empire at its finest. This meant that not only did he have to be the best at what he did, but also he had to look the part. He had to look like he could do the job. Kozarr was in his late eighties, but taking Romulan longevity into account, he looked very similar in looks to a mid-fifties male Human. Like all Romulans, his hair was ebony in appearance, complete with that familiar smooth sheen. His face was slightly longer vertically than the average Romulan, not by a noticeable amount; but there nonetheless. The rest of his features were average, yet he seemed to have a certain quality about him, which spoke more than just physical appearance. It spoke of power, will, and charisma. Three qualities required for a person of his importance.

Because of the past year’s events surrounding Shinzon and his treacherous attempt to become Praetor – (the head of the Romulan government), the Romulan Senate decided to bring in a whole new leadership team headed up by General Kozarr. They needed someone who they could trust to; not only protect the Senate itself, but to make the best decisions for the Empire.

There was a long-standing feud between the Tal Shiar and the military, so to solve this issue, the Senate chose Kozarr, a highly decorated military General, to become the new Chairman. Kozarr knew what was expected of him when he first accepted the position. He was to head up the ‘feared and infamous’ Tal Shiar, but this time, he had to succeed where others failed.

The first few weeks were, as Kozarr liked to put it, a clean up operation. He had to change personnel, leadership, protocols and many more details. But Kozarr prevailed through the work, he didn’t miss a beat. And now, the Tal Shiar command centre was located in the heart of the Capital city on Romulus, only kilometres away from the Senate. Many objected to this action, but Kozarr himself liked it. It represented a new Tal Shiar, one that would usher in a new era for Romulus, yet to also be in a position to protect those things that made the Empire what it was, whether the threats were foreign, or domestic.

A chirp emanated from Admiral Vorath’s panel, “Sir, we are receiving a transmission from Earth.” She turned to him, “It’s Admiral Ive.”

General Kozarr nodded, “Admiral Ive!” He remarked turning to her, “Put him on the viewer.” He said, taking a seat in his chair, “Let’s see how our old friend is doing.”

There was a momentary pause before Ive’s face appeared on the viewer.

“Admiral Ive, it’s good to see you. Looking young and healthy as always.” Said Kozarr warmly.

“Likewise, General.” Came the swift, confident voice, “I am calling you to inquire about the location for the diplomatic meeting between our two governments. I believe that your government has narrowed the list to three possible locations.”

Kozarr nodded, “Yes. There are thee locations.” He looked over to Admiral Vorath and gestured with his hand before he looked back at Ive, “We’re sending you the data now.”

“Thank you.”

The two men stared at each other for a moment. They had been in daily contact with each other for the past two weeks, had quickly analysed, and ‘sized up’ the other person. In many ways they had the same job, they were both in charge of their respective governments Intelligence agencies. But that’s where their similarities ended, and while they were both quite open towards each other, Kozarr in particular found Ive quite intriguing.

“So how are things over there, Admiral?” Asked Kozarr, seeing if he could invoke an interesting response from Ive.

“Everything is functioning normally; we have not detected any foreign contacts.”

Kozarr smiled internally, ‘The guy’s a Vulcan in disguise.’ He thought to himself, “That’s…interesting to hear.” He said.

Ive remained silent for a moment before he spoke, “When is the Senate going to finalise their choice of location and date?”

“You know how politicians are, Ive. Everything is at the last minute, causing us to clear it up.” He paused, “I expect them to make a final choice within three days.”

“I see.” Replied Ive, “Keep me informed if any developments take place.”

Kozarr looked at the man, “Yes, as always.”

“Good. Ive out.” He replied, before the connection was severed.

Kozarr sat there thinking to himself before Vorath interrupted his chain of thoughts.

“I don’t understand how that man amuses you, General. He’s very bland, especially for a Human.”

He turned to look at her, managing a smile, “He’s a Human in appearance, but a Vulcan at heart. He’s almost family.”

“Almost, not quite.” She remarked.

He leaned closer to her, “Let us remember that if everything goes well, Admiral, the Vulcans may let us return ‘home’ one day.”

“Assuming the Senate can succeed in the negotiations.”

He nodded, “Of course.” He paused, “Let us not waste a moment further on idle speculation, tell me, what is the status of our fleet and the anti-cloak generators?”

While the Empire was protected by the ships of the military, formerly known as the Romulan Guard, the Tal Shiar has its own fleet of ships. One hundred and fourteen Valdore-class warbirds were at their direct disposal at any given moment. While most of those were in the Romulan star system, under cloak, a good proportion was stationed at the Federation border. That proportion was fitted with the anti-cloak generators that were capable of detecting the Romulan....Well the Federation called them terrorists, but to the Romulans, they were traitors. And such a crime carried quite a harsh penalty in the eyes of the Romulan legal system.

“We have fifty-seven ships along the border. All of those are fitted with the anti-cloak generators.”

“Very good. Apprise them of the recent developments and tell them to maintain current alert status.”

“Yes, Sir. The data will be sent out in the next transmission.”

“Very well.” He replied, as he looked once more at the planets on the screen. Vulcan, Earth and Denobula. Those were the three preliminary locations decided by the Senate, and hopefully, within three days, they’d have picked one of those as a definite location for the diplomatic meeting.

Vulcan, Earth, or Denobula. Which will they choose?

*

The door slid open revealing a very fresh and alert looking T’Luk, “Good morning, Babes.” I said, looking at him.

“Good morning, Kai.” He replied, before he stood to one side, “Please, come in.”

“Sleep well?” I asked, as I stepped inside, allowing the door to close behind me.

He nodded, “Yes, I did. Did you?”

“Yes.” I said, before I closed the gap between us and kissed him softly. I could never get enough of his soft, spongy lips. They were so perfect, so kissable. I pulled back and grinned at him, “That’s better.”

“Indeed.”

I looked over to the middle of the room, noting the mats and candle on the floor, “Meditating?”

“Yes.” He looked at me, “But I can stop if you would like to go and have breakfast.”

I raised my hands, “Don’t let me disturb you, please, feel free to continue.”

He nodded, “You are welcome to join me.”

I smiled, “Maybe later, babes. I really need something to eat. Not that there was anything wrong with dinner last night.“

“Did you like it?” He asked, “Dinner?”

“Yes, it was lovely.” I said, recalling all the various Vulcan dishes that he made for me.

“I would be happy to cook again tonight.”

I looked at him, “Aww, that’s really sweet of you, but you really don’t-“

“I insist.” He said, interrupting me.

I stared at him for a moment, “You insist?”

He nodded, “Yes.”

I giggled, “Ok, I’m not going to argue with you then. But only if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

I grinned at him, “Good, sounds great.” I pointed to the candle, “I’ll let you get back to meditating. I’ll see you up in the mess once you’re done.”

He thought for a moment, “Ok, Kai. I will meet you there.”

I smiled, “Good. I’ll see you in a little while, babes.” I said as I walked up to his door, causing it to slide open.

“Bye, Kai.”

“Bye.” I said as I turned and walked down the corridor, heading toward the turbolifts.

While I’ve always been immensely happy to have T’Luk around, I’ve tried to…I don’t want to say put some distance between us, but to rather give each other some space. About a week ago, as I was reading through the Federation database, I came across an interesting entry, which stated that Vulcans generally prefer to be in solitude, rather than a sociable environment. Reading that entry caused me to think about a few things, notably the fact that, aside for a few hours here or there, T’Luk and I had been virtually inseparable for the past month. Of course that was to be expected, as we did live aboard a starship, but due to us working in the same room, and being on the same shift, there were very few moments where we had our own space.

Don’t get me wrong, I could be locked in a room with T’Luk for my whole life and never get sick of him, but the fact remained that if we were to stay together in the future, we’d have to give the other person some room. Even with that in mind, I wasn’t quite sure of how to address the ‘issue’, but thankfully, after talking to T’Luk about my concerns, he seemed to understand what I was getting at:

“Look, you know how much I love you and everything, but I really don’t want to…be…annoying.” I said, looking at him.

“Annoying?” He asked.

“Erm, I mean, I want to give you some space. Not that there’s anything wrong, it’s just that…” I looked at him, “Do you kinda understand what I mean?”

He thought for a moment, “Are you referring to a Vulcan’s desire to be in solitude?”

‘Seems our bond is on the ball today…’ I thought to myself, as he evidently knew exactly what I meant, “Yeah, sort of.”

“I see.”

“I just don’t want to…force anything on you.” I paused, “I’m Human, you’re Vulcan, we have to balance it out.”

“You are not forcing anything, but I do understand what you mean.”

I smiled at him, “Good.”

It wasn’t like we done anything drastic, but instead we’d done small things like meeting him at breakfast, or actually sleeping in my quarters for a change. Ok, I didn’t really like that part very much, but still, it felt like we were going forward. And that’s what pleased me the most. The thought of T’Luk and I being together for a long time. A very long time.

*

I stepped inside the mess and briefly looked around. At first I didn’t notice anyone, but then I noticed Casey sitting next to Laura, seemingly he’d gotten a haircut, which had made him hard to recognise. I walked up to the replicator and replicated some breakfast before I headed over towards them.

“Is this seat taken?” I asked, smiling at them.

“Hey, Kai my man, of course not, have a seat.” Remarked Casey, looking up at me.

“Thanks.” I said, before I looked at Laura, “Hi Laura.”

“Hey, Kai.” She said, “No T’Luk yet?” She asked.

I smiled, “He’s meditating, but he’ll be along later.” I said, looking at her.

In the short time that I’d known Laura, I’d really taken a liking to her. I wasn’t sure if it was her personality that proved interesting to me, or her female perspective on things, but I knew that she brought a new dynamic to our little group. She had short black hair that she tied back in a ponytail, and dark green eyes. Laura was Human and was mixed-race. Her mum was from Ireland, while her Dad was from Canada. And seeing as she lived and grew up in Canada, British Columbia to be exact, she had a very nice accent. Of course none of that would have mattered if she wasn’t that nice a person, but Laura had to be one of the nicest people onboard. And it wasn’t just me who liked her, all the guys seemed to like her. It was also quite nice to have another couple in the group, besides T’Luk and myself, so that was a bonus.

I looked over at Casey, “What happened to your hair?” I asked, winking at him.

“Nothing happened to my hair.” He said, poking his tongue out at me, “Laura said I look better with it shorter.”

I nodded, “Yeah, I like it.” I replied, taking a sip of my drink. As I lowered my glass, my eyes scanned around the room and picked up on a familiar blond head, sitting next to one of the windows. It looked like Alex, but I wasn’t sure.

“Is that Alex over there?” I asked, flicking my head towards him.

Casey nodded, “Yep. He quickly abandoned us once that guy walked in.”

I glanced back over to that direction to see who he was sitting with. Sure enough, there was a guy sitting opposite him, he looked Bajoran, from the nose ridges, and was quite good looking too.

“Hmm, I wonder what that’s about.” I said, talking aloud.

Casey laughed, “Yeah right, like we don’t know.” He said, implying that he was hitting on the guy.

“I thought he liked Trey.” Said Laura, “He always seems to perk up whenever he’s around.”

“Yeah, he does like Trey, but he isn’t interested.” I said.

She nodded and smiled at Alex, “He’s so…youthful.” She said, “He’s like a kid, but in a good way.”

I nodded, “Yeah, guess that’s why we love him.” I said, and as if he heard me, Alex stood up and began to walk over to us, “And here he comes.” I said, causing Casey and Laura to turn around.

“Hey guys.” Said Alex, as he plopped down next to me.

I regarded him curiously, “Wasn’t he interested?”

“Who?” He asked innocently.

“That cute guy over there.”

He blushed, “I wasn’t there for…that.”

Casey laughed, “I might not be Trey, but I can still tell a lie!”

He shook his head, “Ok, perhaps I thought he was hot and wanted to talk to him, but he’s taken already.”

I looked at him, “You should turn that thing off.” I said, pointing to his combadge.

“What? Why?” He asked.

“Yeah, why?” Asked Laura.

I turned to her, “You see, Alex here is a bit of a cheater. The voice we’re hearing now isn’t Alex’s, it’s the computers.” I smiled at Alex, “He always speaks French and has the computer translate it for us.”

Casey nodded, “Yeah, cheater.”

Alex shook his head, “I’m not cheating, it just…sounds better, that’s all.” He looked at me, “Anyway, why should I turn it off?”

“To charm people of course.”

He looked at me quizzically.

“Because, Alexis, you could charm anyone you want with that accent.” I said.

He laughed at that.

“It’s true.” I looked over at Casey, “Doesn’t he have a nice accent?”

“Yeah, I guess.” He shrugged.

I nodded, “It’s like sexy and romantic. Seriously, turn that off and talk to him again, then he’ll be interested.”

“He’s got a girlfriend, besides, I wouldn’t do that.”

I was about to reply when I noticed Trey walk in, he noticed us and quickly retrieved something to drink before he walked over, but before he got to the table, I reached across and grabbed Alex’s combadge.

“Hey!” He called out.

I held it in my hand and tapped it twice, deactivating it. I smiled at him, “Let’s see how Trey reacts, shall we?”

Alex was about to say something, but stopped and sat there, looking at me.

“Hey guys, mind if I join you?” Asked Trey.

“Not at all, please, I think there’s a place next to Alex.” I said.

Trey smiled, sat down and turned to Alex, “You alright, Alex?”

Alex nodded at him and grinned, but didn’t talk.

Trey didn’t notice anything was up and was about to take a sip from his drink when he stopped and looked at me, “Alex tells me you’ve taken his combadge.”

‘WHAT?!?! HOW?!?’ I thought to myself, before I saw Alex grinning mischievously at me. I put one and one together and realised that he must be ‘communicating’ with Trey, “Erm, no I didn’t.” I said, “He forgot to put it on this morning.”

Trey shook his head and looked at Alex, “You’re getting good at the telepathy thing, it was easier to read you that time.”

Alex nodded again, causing Trey to frown. He stared at him for a few seconds, seemingly communicating with him again before Alex spoke.

“Ok,ok. There! I’m talking without a combadge.” He said, in his French accent.

“Wow.” Said Trey and Laura in unison.

I leaned closer to Alex, “See, told you that you’d surprise them.”

He shook his head, “I still don’t think that I sound that good though. I prefer the translator.”

“What? Why?” Asked Trey quickly.

“You like my accent?” Asked Alex.

Trey nodded, “Yeah it’s really…” He thought for a moment, “Nice.”

Alex lit up at that, “You think so?”

“Yep, you should stop using that thing. I think you sound a lot better.”

“Yeah? Perhaps I could cut down on it.” Said Alex.

Trey leaned closer, “You should stop using it completely, you sound…real, more genuine.”

Alex thought for a moment, “Ok, I’ll stop using it, but I’m not making any promises.”

“Good.”

I reached over and gave Alex his combadge back, “Here. Don’t make me take it away from you again.”

He giggled, “Ok.”

Trey stood up, “I’ll walk with you.”

Alex turned to him, “Why are you up and about anyway, didn’t you just finish your duty?”

He nodded, “Yeah, but I wanted to come down and see you guys, before I head up to bed.”

Alex smiled, “Oh, ok.” He said before turning to us, “See you guys later.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” I said, as Alex and Trey walked out of the room. I watched as they walked together, thinking what they’d be like as a couple. They seemed to be really close friends, and Alex was clearly open to having a romantic relationship, but there was little that he could do if Trey didn’t feel the same way. I dunno. Perhaps they’ll become closer in the future, or Alex will find someone else who catches his eye. But again, it was clear that he was trying that path, talking to that Bajoran guy and everything. Regardless, there were almost one thousand crew onboard, someone had to like Alex. It just didn’t seem to be Trey.

A warm sensation trickled down my back, seconds before T’Luk appeared and sat next to me, “Good morning.” He said, looking at Casey and Laura.

“Hey, T’Luk.” Replied Laura, “How are you this morning?”

“I am fine, thank you. How are you?”

She smiled, “I’m fine.”

“Are you ok, Kai?” He asked.

I smiled at him, “Yeah, I’m good.”

We spoke to Casey and Laura for the next twenty-minutes or so while T’Luk had his breakfast, before we made our way down to Astrometrics to begin our shift for the day. Our agenda was still the same: to seek out those terrorist ships. And to have little fun doing so.

*

I looked at our projected route alongside our current position. We had just passed Vulcan the day before as we continued on our bearing of 180. A star chart would indicate that we were heading ‘southwards’, which would also indicate that ahead of us lay Nausicaa, Regulus, the Briar Patch, Gorn space, and finally Klingon space. At our current velocity and course, it would have taken us around twenty three days to reach the Klingon border, at which time we’d come about and head up towards the Cardassian border. Our mission aside, it was quite a nice route around the Federation and would have taken me to places where I had never been before, but it wasn’t time for exploration. It wasn’t time for me to be a scientist yet.

“Fancy taking a trip down to deflector control?” Asked Comm. Jones, as she walked into Astrometrics.

I swivelled on my seat and looked at her, “With or without a security team?”

She smiled, “Without, but I’m sure they could use the exercise, if you want them to run down there with you.”

I shook my head, “I think I’ll manage.” I paused, “So why do I need to go down to deflector control?”

Comm. Jones nodded, “Right, Starfleet R and D have been continuously trying to perfect the output and accuracy of the generator since it’s construction, and have actually succeeded in many ways.”

T’Luk looked over, “In which ways have they improved the device?”

“I can’t remember the exact specifications, but in brief it will now be able to scan a further two light years ahead, and it should be faster at localising and identifying any suspicious contacts.”

“Two more light years?” I asked, “That brings its range up to seven light years.”

“Yes.” She paused, “The upgrade can be done by us, and is relatively straightforward.”

I smiled, “Straightforward enough for an astrophysicist to do?”

“No, but I have requested an engineer to come down and help you, Ensign Li actually.”

“H’Jan?”

She nodded, “Yes.” She looked at the time on the main screen, “He should be on his way down there now, he has all the instructions and equipment needed to make the upgrade. You just need to assist him and recalibrate the generator once it’s back online.”

“So we’re shutting it off?”

She nodded again, “At that time we’re also going to drop out of warp. There’s no point going further when we can’t see what we’re looking for.”

“Ok, so I have to get it done quickly then.” I said.

“Yes, but remember that it needs to be reliable, so make quality a higher priority than speed.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Good.” She turned to T’Luk, “Don’t think that you’re getting away easily, because once Taylor activates the generator, you will need to synchronise it’s output with the main computer core.”

“Of course, Sir. I will await for H’Jan and Kai to complete the upgrade.”

“Excellent.” She remarked, “You’d better get going, Ensign.” She said to me, “Don’t want to keep him waiting.”

“Yes, Sir.” I replied, as I smiled at T’Luk before I turned and exited Astrometrics. After a short trek through the ship, I found myself approaching deflector control. I hadn’t been down there since the ‘attack’, but I had been kept apprised of some changes to things. Most notably was the two security personnel standing outside. It was their job to ensure the safety of the generator, but that was not all that had changed. Access to the room also had to be authorised by the computer, meaning that unless you were a member of the crew, you couldn’t gain access.

“Hey, H’Jan.” I called out.

“Hi Kai.” He said, looking at me, “You ok?”

“Yeah, you?”

He nodded, “You got everything?” He asked.

I looked at the suitcase-esc box that he was holding, “Don’t you have everything?”

He smiled, “Yep, I was just testing you.”

I rolled my eyes at him and walked towards the door, “Computer unlock this door, authorisation: Taylor five alpha ten lambda.” I said.

The computer chirped and unlocked the door, granting us entry.

I stepped inside and glanced around the room. It was very much the same as it was before the ‘siege’ took place, in fact, had I not witnessed the event myself, I wouldn’t have believed that it occurred in the same place.

“Like what we done with the place?” Asked H’Jan, as he walked in.

“It looks the same.” I said.

He smiled, “Yeah, well, Commander Librescue wouldn’t let me change the colour of the floor, or the bulkheads.” He said, while walking toward the generator.

I giggled, “Like you would have changed them anyway.” I remarked as I walked toward the generator. I looked at the device and immediately noticed a sign attached to it that read: For optimum performance, do not shoot at this piece of machinery! I laughed at it, “Who done that?”

“Guess.” He replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Yeah, well, let’s hope that the next person who decides to destroy the generator reads your sign first, perhaps that would deter them.”

He crouched down next to the side casing of the generator and nodded, “That was my thinking too.” He said, as he pulled out a hyperspanner.

I walked over to the nearest console and pulled up the necessary display, while H’Jan opened up the casing on the generator, “I have the update data ready to transfer.” I called out.

“Good, just give me a second.” He replied, as he placed down the panel and looked inside. “Ok, I need to remove that isolinear chip and use this new one instead.” He said handing me a blank one, “Save the data onto this.”

I took the chip from his hand and plugged it into the console before I initiated the transfer. The computer indicated that it would take around thirty seconds to complete the transfer, so I took the time to ask H’Jan a question, “What are the odds of us finding those warbirds before they cause some damage?”

He sat up and looked at me, “I don’t know. I just hope that we find them soon, I hate the thought of people living in fear.”

I nodded, thinking about my friends and family who didn’t serve aboard starships, they were in a more vulnerable position than I was, “Yeah, me too.”

*

Dinner had been fantastic, just like the night before. I think I had asked T’Luk hundreds of questions about everything I ate, but he didn’t mind, he seemed rather happy discussing food and culinary methods. It had just passed 21:02, and T’Luk and I had finished dinner about a half hour before. Earlier on in the day we successfully managed to update, calibrate and synchronise the generator, but right then, in T’Luk’s quarters, we were winding down and relaxing together, with a small bottle of synthehol.

“I can taste a slight variation between this and alcohol.” He remarked.

“Which do you prefer?” I asked, looking at him. We were sitting on his sofa, well, T’Luk was sitting and I was laying at the other end, with my feet in his lap. It was his idea, of course, and felt quite intimate in a non-intimate way, if that makes sense.

He thought for a moment, “Alcohol.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the one that I can’t have a lot of.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Chocolate tastes better than either alcohol or synthehol, yet I cannot indulge in it, even a very small amount.”

I nodded at him before I got a smirk on my face.

“What?” He asked, looking at me.

I swung my legs off him and wandered over to his replicator, “Computer, one small bar of chocolate.” I said.

“Unable to comply, the requested item is not available at this replicator.” Replied the computer.

“What?!” I said.

T’Luk walked over, “We are in my quarters Kai, the computer knows that I am Vulcan therefore it would not replicate any form of cocoa as a precaution.” He stepped forward, “On the other hand, Computer: one small glass of Australian red wine, alcohol.”

I watched in surprise as the glass of wine was replicated for him.

“See?” He said, lifting the glass and having a sip.

I thought for a moment, “You know, I used to wonder how they done that, because it wouldn’t be fair if we could have chocolate, yet Vulcans couldn’t have alcohol.”

“Indeed.” He replied as he headed over to the sofa, before he turned to me, “Why did you want chocolate, Kai?”

I blushed, “Well, I…Erm…” I stuttered.

“Kai?”

I stopped attempting to talk, so I stood there, grinning at him.

He raised an eyebrow, “Kai Taylor, were you planning to intoxicate me?”

I drew my hand to my mouth and blushed deeply, “What…no…of course not!”

He walked forward and stroked my red cheek, “Intriguing.” He remarked, causing me to blush again, “I like it when you do that.”

I peered up at him, “Do what?”

“That redness, on your cheeks.”

I blushed again, “Uhhh…we kinda don’t control it.”

He nodded, “It is still very…cute.”

I managed to compose myself, “Cute?”

“Yes.”

I smiled at him, “You know, I wasn’t going to…intoxicate you.”

He didn’t reply, he just stared at me, expecting a detailed explanation.

“Honest! I was just going to give you a little piece, I mean, you’ve never really tried it.”

“I see.” He looked at me, “Perhaps we can go to your quarters tomorrow…” He said, trailing off.

I raised an eyebrow, “Perhaps.”

He took another sip of the wine before he placed it back in the replicator and recycled it. He then turned and stood there facing me.

I watched him for several seconds before I walked forward, placing my hands on his waist, “Can I stay here tonight? I didn’t like sleeping on my own last night.”

He looked into my eyes, “You can stay here every night.”

I leaned closer, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

*

Earth- San Francisco

“They’ve decided on a date for the meeting.” Said Ive, as he looked out of his window, watching as the sun set over San Francisco.

“When is it?” Inquired Becker.

“In twenty one days.”

Becker nodded, “That will give us enough time to follow through with our security arrangements for any of the planets.” He paused, “What is the chosen location?”

Ive turned around and faced him, “Vulcan. They are holding the meeting on Vulcan.”

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter of A Vulcan's Love.

Any comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated.
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Emulated