K'hat'n'dlawa

Return to Terra

Amanda watched through the single observation window as at last- at long last- her home planet came into view.

It had been a long eleven hours and fourteen minutes. It certainly hadn't helped that she'd spent most of the trip staring at the digital clock mounted above the door that led to the small cargo hold. T'Shan had bade her to sleep soon after their departure- but after Amanda merely shook her head in refusal, the Vulcan had not mentioned it again.

She could not have slept even if she wanted to...and she didn't want to. Sleeping meant risking the chance that she might miss something. Sleeping meant risking that she would wake up only to find that the sharp pain in her chest was gone, and so was Sarek...

Part of her knew that if he were to die, it would have happened already...and yet, she still waited on edge at every moment, constantly fearing that the link would suddenly sever. If he were to die, what would she do? She had given up the life she'd previously led for him- she'd left behind her sister, and her future with her own people- to be with him. She'd risked her life for him. She could return to her prior life, of course...but it would never be the same.

She had not cried ever since she'd finally regained control over herself at the mansion. She had come close many times- but each time, she reminded herself that the ache she felt was testament to the fact that she had nothing to cry about. Sarek was still alive. Unless that pain abruptly stopped- she would not cry again. To do otherwise would be...illogical. Sarek would not want her to cry at all, especially when there was nothing to be emotional about.

Amanda closed her eyes so she could no longer see the orb of swirling blue and white before her. Somewhere on that mass of land and water was her husband, and even if he did not know it- he needed her. She knew she certainly needed him at the moment- to be reassured that he would be fine. Only he could do that, and she wouldn't be convinced until she saw him with her own eyes- until she felt his hot skin underneath hers- until she kissed him. Until then, she refused to be fully convinced.

It had been difficult to find transportation- it had taken them nearly an hour, and during that time her panic had risen, despite the lack of warning through the bond that anything had changed on Sarek's end. All she knew was that she had to hurry- to hurry and get to him. And every second that she was delayed was another second she could have been at his side.

It had been nighttime on Vulcan, and most transports were scheduled during the day. The result was that she had to wait for the technician at the shuttle station to access the ship manifest and determine which ship was available to take them at such short notice. After an agonizingly long wait, during which Amanda paced the terminal and T'Shan stood calmly with her hands folded before her, the technician returned. His news was not good- they only had two options. One, was to wait as long as three hours for a ship to be properly readied, as most were devoid of crewmen for the night or were undergoing repairs. It would take time to warm the engines and prepare for departure.

Their second option was to take the only available transport- a small ship that catered to the poorer classes. Amanda had been more than willing to spend all the credits she had to in order to get the fastest ship available- Sarek had given her his account information shortly after their marriage and she had no qualms about using it in this instance- but that ship was currently unavailable, just like the rest of them. Unless she could wait two or three hours, she had to settle for less.

She settled for less...she felt she had no choice. She could not wait. The fact that the ship was small, dirty, and seemed about to break apart at the mere threat of warp speed did not matter. It was the only one available, as it had just returned from a trip to the Orion system and hadn't even had the chance to power down since arriving at the space dock.