"Vulcan Honeymoon" A Green Hell, Inc. production Written June to July, 1990 Public Domain - Unlimited distribution permitted.
T'Shaul was a young vulcan female of uninspiring appearance. She was a bit
short, even by human standards. Her cheeks were too narrow, her nose too
pointed, and her ears were large. Her body always remained hidden under the
folds of a robe, but there was not much indication that she was of any great
beauty. Vulcans, though, do not judge by appearance only, and T'Shaul was not
ever overtly considered ugly or unattractive. Still, her parents found it
difficult to arrange a marriage when T'Shaul had been a child. And then they
had learned that she did not *wish* to be betrothed. Being somewhat liberal,
her parents conceded to T'Shauls request for no interference on the order of
marriage. There would be other children for Silvak and T'Peruv. T'Shaul kept herself unusually isolated for a vulcan, though never from her
family. She emersed herself in studies, and proved very apt in both biology
and ecology. As Vulcan was a planet with a rather small and limited biosphere,
she concentrated her studies on other planets, especially Earth. Its vast range
of environments and sub-ecologies was eternally fascinating for T'Shaul, and
her parents concern for T'Shauls self-imposed isolation was buffeted by the
knowledge that she would be well respected for her chosen field of application.
That she had already passed the age of marriage without any apparent concern or
interest was unusual, but not unheard of.
It was in a class on Earth human society that T'Shaul met Ethan Cook. He
was a human, actually *from* Earth, who taught the course for the Vulcan
Science Academy. T'Shaul had only met one human before, a friend of her
mothers. Ethan did not match those early impressions at all. He was cool and
reserved, modeling himself a great deal after vulcans. He taught the class
efficiently, and was willing to discuss topics not directly covered, after the
class. Over the weeks, T'Shaul found that Ethan was not modeling the behavior of
vulcans at all. One of the human classmates told her that he had known Ethan
when on a colony planet a few years ago, and he had been the same back then. "I think he just doesn't like people much," the student said, "he doesn't
associate with anyone very much. Acts kind of snobby, actually." "Perhaps he is just shy," T'Shaul suggested in her quiet voice. "Yeah, well... I wouldn't be surprised, I doubt he's been able to get any
girlfriends with his looks..." The student immediately looked embarrassed and
hurried off. T'Shaul had easily felt his reaction, though, to her own
appearance. It was a typically shallow emotional reaction for a human. Yet it
somehow disturbed T'Shaul slightly. She had not admitted, even to herself, that
her appearance was part of the reason for her isolation.
It was towards the end of the course when T'Shaul discovered Ethan in the
desert, crying, one night. She had been frequenting it herself because of the
effectiveness of the sterile environment when meditating. One night she came to
a small outcropping of rock, still radiating heat absorbed from Vulcans brilliant sun, which had set. Her first reaction upon seeing the human, bent up
against the rock and sobbing into his hands, was to leave immediately. It was a
display of emotion distasteful to any vulcan, even from a human. But she
recognized that it was Ethan, and her curiosity overcame the vulcans usual
regard for privacy. That, and something that radiated with his emotions,
something that was familiar. When Ethan recognized T'Shaul as a student in his course, he hesitated to
leave. Then, figuring that no vulcan would really care about his personal
troubles, if they even understood them, he ended up inviting her to stay. She
was hesitant but obviously curious. Feeling the need to purge the depression
that was looming in him, Ethan told the quiet T'Shaul about the pain that led
to his sobbing in the desert, alone. It was with some amazement that T'Shaul learned that Ethan also had a
self-imposed isolation. In the human society, he had been unable to live with
what was generally viewed as an unattractive visage, as well as a social
clumsiness. Ethan Cook had eventually given up on forming relations with his
own people, especially female. He had been greatly hurt by rejection inflicted
on him by several different callous women. T'Shaul found herself listening intently as the young and lonely man droned
on, rating his life lower and lower. She found herself sympathizing so greatly
that before she realized it, she was telling Ethan about her own deeply buried
self-doubts over appearance and a purpose in her life. She didn't notice the
humans eyes growing wider as she described a strange emptiness she had always
felt in her soul. Than she started when his hand touched hers, and found
herself staring into hidden eyes that somehow gleamed without light.
