Eriecho - Star Trek Kelvin Timeline fanfiction

Across the Universe - 1 - Mean Mr. Mustard

Mean Mister Mustard sleeps in the park
Shaves in the dark trying to save paper

"Spock, what brings this communication?" Sarek peered at the image of his younger son, Spock, on the view screen. It was a few years since the destruction of Vulcan and the death of his wife, the human, Amanda Grayson. Spock rarely called.

"Tell me about him, Father."

"Who are you inquiring about?"

"My brother, Sybok."

The elder Vulcan looked down. A flicker passed over his face. It was the tiniest registering of emotion. He looked down, and then up. It was a look of the barest element of the Vulcan equivalent of surprise. It was even a smidgen of fear. "I had thought that you would have forgotten," Sarek admitted.

"I could not have readily forgotten such a man. He came to our home, and he was larger than life," Spock said, "I recall he kissed Mother on her cheek, and he embraced her, and he made her laugh. I did not often hear her laugh."

"That is true," Sarek confirmed.

"He spoke to me briefly during that visit, in private."

"You have never mentioned this incident before, my son."

"I had occasion to recall it recently, Father. Sybok told me then; he said that I should play more. He said that Vulcan society would turn me into a – these were his very words – boring adult, far too early. And he said that I had many decades to be an adult, but only a few years to be a child. He said that, while I was still a child, that I should continue to play, and to be a child, and to hold onto that for as long as I possibly could, for I would only experience one lifetime."

"You were, perhaps, three years of age when he was able to visit, that one time," Sarek stated. "But you have mentioned that there was an occasion for you to recall this incident in our lives. Tell me, my son, what was this occasion?"

"I was contacted by the man we are referring to as Spock Prime. He has gotten settled a bit, on Earth, and he has asked me if Sybok yet lives. And that has triggered my all too few recollections."

"I would speculate," Sarek said, "that Sybok is somewhere, and is yet among the living. He was, after all, neither on Vulcan nor on a Federation ship at the time of Nero's attacks."

"I will request that an investigation be conducted," Spock vowed, "If he lives, then he should be protected, perhaps in one of the sanctuaries, like on Andoria, or on Mars, even."

"You may not recall him too well," Sarek cautioned, "but he is V'tosh ka'tur. That is, he does not suppress his emotions. He was not properly trained by his mother. She was ill, and her death at an early age meant that Sybok was often moved from home to home. I lost track of him when he was not much older than you were when you met him that one time. Still," Sarek explained, "I believe that, much like this man you are referring to as Spock Prime, Sybok will not be satisfied with the kind of overly regimented life such as is offered at a standard Vulcan sanctuary."

"That is likely true. Father, Spock Prime has told me that he would like to be able to speak with you, and perhaps even to see you, if you are willing. Would you grant him a meeting?"

There was another very brief flicker over Sarek's features. "It is," he paused, as if he was searching for the proper words, "a rather unsettling thing, to have, in a way, two versions of one's one child."

"No, Father," Spock gently corrected Sarek, "two versions of your younger child."

"Yes, and more are on the way, from those volunteer surrogate mothers. And my eldest," his eyes darted to one side for a second, "to even speculate that he might be alive. I must meditate regarding this matter."

Once the communications link was severed, Sarek tried and tried, but he was unable to attain the release normally afforded to him by meditation.

=/\=

Nimbus Three was a barren desert of a world, scarcely fit for man or beast. Or Vulcan. Astride an imported horse, a bearded man rode through the scrublands. As he met others in the wastes, he would often stop and dismount. Mind melding with them briefly, and allowing his touch telepathy to do all of the work, he was addicted to the sensation of feeling others' pain.

During one such session, his hood slipped, and pointed ears were revealed. The man he had melded with looked on in surprise. "You are a Vulcan?"

"I am," the bearded figure replied, "and I thank you for unburdening yourself to me. I am here to accept your pain."

"But surely that cannot be your overarching desire? There must be more to you than that, than to be a dark mirror's reflection."

"Oh there is, Brother, for I am on a quest, to find Sha Ka Ree. But I'll need your help."

"Anything for you."

"Good. We will be a Galactic Army of Light. We need to contact Vulcan, and tell them that Sybok needs a starship."