Star Trek: “Personal Effects” – Chapter 1

- 1 -

Theleth walked the short distance from the turbolift to the bridge. Ever since arriving on board, she had mostly ignored the varying reactions to her presence. She acknowledged some with a slight nod, but most she merely let pass. Although her boots moved against the decks of the Avenger, her thoughts still remained elsewhere. She knew that she needed to focus on the here and now, but she had a few more moments before she reached the bridge.

She had left her daughter S’haran with Polath. The [] would make a fine nanny for her daughter during the long months that she would be away. It had been a difficult decision, but this commission was one that she could not afford to pass up, not with the reappearance of the Borg and now with the Cardassians and –unbelievably—the remaining Jem’Hadar joining forces in the Beta quadrant. Starfleet needed seasoned officers with combat experience, and she was one of the few who had survived the initial attacks from both skirmishes.

Through the careful dodging of official communiqués, combined with the successful stalling of persistent officers, she had managed to spend more than six months with her daughter before her decision became imperative. It was a choice at a strategic command position, or possible assignment to one of the deep space stations to monitor one of the borders. That would be an even less suitable environment for an infant. She planned to spend as little time in command of the Avenger as possible, watching for other opportunities closer to the much better protected core systems of the Federation, and requesting reassignment there. Starfleet might need her, but her daughter needed her more—nearly as much as she needed her daughter.

Theleth had not bothered even trying to contact Serek about the matter. She knew from experience the prejudice that hybrid children still experienced on Vulcan and its major colonies. It seemed, well, illogical for such a supposedly enlightened race that embraced the philosophy of the IDIC. The practice of such philosophical tenets did not, apparently, extend to their genetics. It did not help matters that the Vulcans and Andorians had a long-standing mistrust of each other, dating from before even the humans made first contact with either civilization.

Still, Serek had tacitly accepted the child as his, but had done little else except to offer what Theleth considered to be token support. She tried to understand his situation of having to also acknowledge his child borne by Velorar, a true Vulcan, but it did little to ease her frustration and, yes, anger at his seemingly purposeful distance from her and their daughter. He had been cordially formal whenever they spoke, usually relying on their respective ranks to maintain the conversation on a somewhat objective level. Still, he had never rejected her calls, or seemed to be in a rush to end them, except when duty clearly called. Even those would likely become less frequent as his ship headed for a deeper exploration of the Gamma quadrant.