Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which is in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
(Ulysses)
[Family estate in Kir province, East of Shi'Kahr, Vulcan]
19th Day in the month of D'ruh , YS 9022
He found her leaning against the stone balustrade, morning winds plucking at her heavy robes. Halting his approach, the tall Vulcan with the aquiline features simply appreciated the beauty of she who was his wife, bathed in Nevasa's early rays. It was a harsh light, unforgiving, one that outlined every flaw as mercilessly as it killed the weak. But there was no flaw to be found in the still figure, her silver curls as yet unbraided falling nearly to the back of her knees, and a face that had sent poets and composers to near despair for nothing ever seemed … sufficient to describe such beauty.
For a surety, there were lines in the ancient features now, few and graceful, but somehow they only seemed to render the elegant mouth a little softer, the sharp eyes a little deeper, without taking away the clarity of polished steel that shone from her silhouette.
Solkar's heart leapt in his side, silently and invisibly, but as always, she knew. Robes rustled over warming stone as her dark eyes settled on him, the deep color of ancient, smoked topaz. Tender acknowledgement radiated towards him, felt even across the length of the terrace, and he bowed gracefully.
"Adun'a. Te-m'hal, r'hi."
"Yeht'aya. Hi tab-mhav isha."
He crossed the distance between them and gently placed his paired fingers onto hers, worry shining in the depth of a deep brown gaze but she merely wrinkled her aristocratic nose with impatience. It happened so fast, even he barely saw it but the sensation floating through the link was clear. Gently, reasonably, he pointed out it was his right to be concerned and he was relieved to find she did not erect impenetrable walls as she was sometimes bound to do, but indulged his whim.
"There has been no word?"
"There has not."
He nodded, then. Nothing else needed to be said, nor could it. He knew what was tearing at her heart, even as he sought the horizon with an unblinking gaze, illogically avoiding the view of the gardens, magnificent and peaceful at this early hour. Illogical, because he did not need to look to know the stone bench under the ancient Gespar tree was empty and the sweet, spicy scent of the Favinit went unnoticed, floating into the warm air and dispersing into nothingness.
She caught him before his thoughts drifted too far, with a firm glance that he knew full well to be a lovingly chiding 'tsk' and he bowed again, hesitating for a split second before taking his leave. There was a limit to his beloved's patience, and he was expected to teach classes today. And perhaps, ..
Warm, fragrant air toying with soft curls, T'Leia watched her mate leave, a thoughtful smile flickering in the depths of her eyes. She knew this stride too well. Illogical to wait for him with dinner tonight, he was … focused.
[Late that day, Vulcan Science Academy, Shi'Kahr]
Chin resting on his steepled fingers, Solkar stared at the screen hovering before him. Rendered the color of glittering garnet by the late evening light filtering through his office window, the letters danced over the desk, floating in mid-air.
The young one who had brought this to him had done rightly, although the steel haired Vulcan wondered if the other truly knew what they might have done. Nor was he certain he wanted to tell him. For all he knew, the young ones would be... mortified. A healing shock, perhaps, to force them to look closer before acting so rashly again, letting curiosity and enthusiasm overrule reason and logic.
But before he would consider such a thing, he needed to know if they truly had done the harm he suspected. He needed to know more about … Savant.
"Computer, link with offworld resources and download any information pertaining to this query."
The tea by his elbow had grown cold by now and Solkar moved towards the replicator – he anticipated a somewhat lengthy wait. In the end, however, he did not have to wait long at all. An article came to his attention almost immediately, served from the planetary Sciences database.
"Captain Savant - Survey and Meta-Analysis of Greater Hadean Supercluster With Regards to Zero Point Energy Tesselation
OVERVIEW
Synthesis of the data points created by Deep Space Missions 221509.1, 233623.12, 239712.9, and 240001.4 lead to a conclusion of the development of zero point energy tesselations within regions of a specified subspace density and Higgs field tensor..."
He read with interest. This Savant had generated scientific papers right here on Vulcan - though by the tag appending the file they were pending acceptance for peer review. The long list of contributing authors made him wonder whether Savant was in fact the creator of the theory, or whether it was simply merging the works of others.
Whoever had written it, it was a fascinating paper, discussing the various chaotic patterns written into the fabric of space throughout high-density regions such as the Hadean Supercluster. There was a certain poetic logic in its clarity. He almost didn't notice the chime of his desk intercom.
"Solkar." A slanted eyebrow rose marginally at the interruption – of course it was not entirely unusual for a call to be routed directly to his office, however it was something to warrant attention.
"Hello, Sir," An unfamiliar voice replied, "May I come in?"
Come in?
Curiosity battled with mild bemusement and won by a considerable margin.
"Proceed."
There was the harmonic hum and phantasmagoric blue cavalcade of a transporter column, sweeping a human woman into the room. As tall as his wife, with the same inky black hair as she who was his granddaughter (though not as long) and similar aristocratic features - what strange circumstances drew the close comparison between this woman and the ones so close to his secret heart. A heartbeat later and the Starfleet Officer smiled the subtle smile of the humans. Her voice was a dozen tuning forks struck in unison. "You wanted to see me, Sir?"
There was but one logical explanation for the woman's words – and her rather unceremonious appearance in his office. Still, this was rather ... unexpected. Astonishing, even.
"If you are a representation of the one who is named Savant," dark, inquisitive eyes rested on the unusual being, and only the way a steel grey slanted brow climbed nearly towards the Vulcan's hairline betrayed the fact he was silently …. delighted "then the observation may be deemed correct. I was indeed attempting to 'see' you."
"And you are successful in the attempt. This representation is an android. I was in luck, sir; I have a copy of my transport pattern local to the Eridani supersystem. I thought it a bit more social to give you more than a voice to talk to." She smiled again, though not as vibrantly as many of the more illogical races would do so - perhaps it was the software's nature to be emotionally reserved. Or perhaps it was simply respect for the place it found itself. Though, was it even capable of emotion at all? Savant continued.
"I don't often have such broad inquiries about me, Sir; usually questions are a lot more pointed. Is there some specific field which I can help you in?"
Thoughts formed in rapid progression behind the smooth, lightly tanned forehead, chains of logic building and creating new theories, dismissing others.
A software capable of utilizing an android, while simultaneously occupying memory banks spread out over lightyears. Not to mention Savant had recognized his inquiries as directed specifically at .. her? Did she think of herself as female or was this merely one of many aspects this lifeform chose to display? And a life it was, of this Solkar was certain now. She – and for the moment, the Vulcan decided it would be polite to address Savant as such – had responded, not with an impersonal counter-query but .. curiosity.
And even if some would argue he was merely addressing a most sophisticated jumble of algorithms, imitating life but not living, the Vulcan found such statements rather disrespectful.
Realizing he had stared like a first year student at a line of the most fascinating code he had ever come across, Solkar reminded himself of his own manners and gave a brief but outright friendly nod of greeting.
"Your effort is of course greatly appreciated, Savant, as is your courtesy in responding to my inquiries so … directly. However, is it your customary approach to personally appear whenever one exhibits an interest in your unique nature?"
It was one of a million … well, three hundred and sixty four, actually, questions that were racing through his mind, but it was the first he had been able to formulate. Senior professor Solkar of the Vulcan Science Academy, reckoned as one of the institution's most brilliant minds, was … fascinated.
[To be continued …]
The Semi Autonomous Varied Algorithm Network Trainer (Savant)
Senior Professor Solkar
Vulcan Science Academy
