round 1 Lt. Commander Velana: The Truth Is Out There

[Sedrin Belasi]

((Vulcan, 239007.03))

::Perhaps, being a doctor, she was simply more in tune with her body than the average being, but Velana knew she was pregnant before she even performed the necessary diganostic tests. When the results came back and the truth lay before her, the reality wasn't so much of a shock.::

::The consequences of her actions were now growing inside her. It was time to face a very different future.::

::Her sister-in-law stood in the doorway of the guest room which Velana had been occupying since her arrival on the planet. It hadn't been in her plan to confide in T'Sar about the possibility of the pregnancy, but there were only so many times one could lose their balance or nearly lose their breakfast before suspicions became logical. When T'Sar had confronted her, Velana had been unable to lie.::

::Many years earlier, on the day Velana had given T'Sar the news that she was expecting her own child, their entire world had exploded. Although she doubted Vulcan itself was going to perish in the next few minutes, Velana still felt jumpy and unsettled as T'Sar stared at her, waiting to hear the results.::

Velana: Positive. ::She paused.:: I'm pregnant.

::There were a lot of questions T'Sar could have asked right then, but she lowered her chin in silent acknowledgment. Velana looked down at her flat belly, only looking up in time to catch T'Sar looking as well.::

Velana: You can ask. It's all right.

T'Sar: ::after a moment:: You seem surprised by this, and yet...not. As if it is something you wanted and did not want at the same time. I am puzzled.

Velana: ::whispering:: So am I. ::She drew in a breath and released it.:: Before I learned that Mother was ill, before I left my last ship, I was...involved with a man. Intimately involved. ::She hesitated.:: I loved him. I wanted to believe he loved me, too.

T'Sar: He was not a Vulcan.

Velana: No. ::Again, she hesitated.:: I started...reconditioning my body to be more...receptive to his DNA. Gene therapy. ::She looked into her sister-in-law's eyes.:: I wanted him to know that there was at least the possibility that we could have a family together.

T'Sar: Then surely he will be pleased to hear that it worked.

::A shadow crossed Velana's face, followed by a wave of shame. Dropping her head, she looked down at her hands.::

Velana: When news of Mother's illness reached my ship, I just left. Isaac didn't follow. ::She lifted her shoulder.:: I gave him no reason to, I suppose.

T'Sar: Perhaps this news will help you reconcile with him.

Velana: It might have. ::Her cheeks burned.:: If the child was his. ::Unable to look at her sister's face, Velana rushed on.:: It happened on Earth. While Mother was in the hospital, I needed to get away. I went to a bar that I frequented when I was at the Academy. ::She stared at the floor without really seeing it.:: I never imagined he would be there.

T'Sar: Who? ::A moment passed.:: Velana. Who?

Velana: ::blinking:: I hadn't seen him in six years. But it was like...no time had passed at all. I wasn't even really surprised when I saw him across the room because... ::She smiled sadly.:: It was Cade. It was always Cade.

T'Sar: Cade is not Vulcan?

::Under different circumstances, T'Sar's hope that Velana might have found a nice Vulcan male to have nice Vulcan children with might have annoyed Velana, or at the very least amused her.::

Velana: No. Cade is Human. ::She touched her belly.:: My baby is half-Human. ::Finally, she dared to look at T'Sar.:: The gene therapy worked. Only by the time it did, I wasn't with the right man.

::Velana closed her eyes, remembering that night in San Francisco. The way their eyes had met across the crowded bar, the way he'd remembered exactly what she liked to drink, the way his hand had covered hers so entirely...and the way it had felt to kiss him, to touch him, to be with him again.::

Velana: Or maybe...I was.

Lt. Commander Velana
Chief Medical Officer
USS Vigilant