K'hat'n'dlawa

Dismay

It was over.

Sarek had his revenge- even if he disliked calling it that. The Purist had felt his fury- suffered his wrath. He was now sentenced to life imprisonment for an attack against a foreign dignitary. He would never leave the prison he was now committed to unless he were dead. While he was only one of so many others, it was a beginning. And while it had been a particularly difficult affair, Sarek felt no regret over it. Ambassador Mayden however, was another affair.

Of all the humans Sarek had encountered over the years, he genuinely valued Mayden. The man had become almost akin to a 'friend' as Sarek would allow otherwise, and the level of deceit disturbed him in a way he found disquieting.

Mayden was arrested two days after the meld. Sarek would never understand his motives. Why would he, a diplomat who seemed to be an ally of Vulcans, turn on Sarek and his people? Was it political? Or had he, like the Purist, nursed a lifelong hatred that had simply become easier to disguise with civility over the years? How had he managed to conceal it so well? How had he gotten away with everything up until then? It bothered Sarek to no end that Mayden had managed to head an underground speciesist organization- plan his murder- while all along serving as a trusted ambassador. He had been one of the senior diplomats in the field. Why risk throwing all his good work away? What purpose did it serve?

Sarek knew he would never know the full story. And he was not sure he wanted to know any more. Some humans were so deceiving...he had met few honest ones. But then again- most of the Terrans he knew were politicians. Amanda often said they were the most duplicitous of the race, which was why she had first decided to teach him about her people in the first place. The end result of which he found most pleasing, because those lessons had resulted in them being married. It was odd how fate turned out. If one believed in "fate" anyway.

The others- the friends of the Purist who had committed other crimes- were being charged for them as well. Not all would be sentenced- after all, in most cases the only evidence was Sarek's word. While this should have been enough, Terran courts were strange. They demanded physical evidence. Perhaps if they were telepathic they would have a more accurate system. While Sarek did see the logic in material evidence, it was often difficult to find. The word of a Vulcan- who after all could not lie- should have been enough for a conviction.

The Terran Purist Movement had been publicly condemned by the media, and members who were not arrested quickly disbanded for fear of prosecution. It was a large victory- but only one in a line of many that would surely come. Sarek was not fool enough to think he had won the war.

There would be others to replace them. This one group, though large in scope, was not the end. If anything, they were the beginning. Hate never died out; it was handed down from one generation to the next. It could be covered with civility and smiles...but it existed nonetheless.

Breaking out of his own thoughts, Sarek looked up at Amanda. She sat sideways in a chair across from him, her legs dangling over the arm in a rather unflattering seating position. A PADD rested against her knees and she bit the tip of her stylus in concentration.

There were many negative things in this universe...but there were a few good ones as well. A wife...a family. A promising future.

He did not think she knew yet. He would not tell her if she did not. The knowledge he contained was something she must discover for herself. But it filled him with deep satisfaction, comforted with the knowledge they had achieved something thought impossible...it gave him the peace he had searched for and not found while seeking to destroy those who had tried to destroy him. He felt a deep affection as he looked at her, knowing the secret she held...

"Sarek, what time is it?" Amanda asked without looking up.

"1600 hours," he replied. She sighed, setting her stylus aside and looking over at him.