Captain Kirk's ready room

T'Pau's eyes gleamed. She turned back to Pock, but did not speak in Vulcan this time. "I will rally our clansmen and allies to your cause, daughter of Sarek. I will aid you myself as well. No one blatantly disrespects and threatens a child of Clan Surak and comes away unscathed."

Pock bowed her head respectfully. "Thank you, First Minister."

"Live long and prosper, Commander Pock," T'Pau said.

"Peace and long life, T'Pau," Pock said back.

T'Pau's eyes flickered to Jim, and she paused. "Try not to get Pock shipped to the edge of Federation Space, Captain."

Then, the screen went blank.

Jim let out a sigh of relief. "You," he said, looking at Pock, "have scary as fuck relatives." He shook his head. "I don't think she liked me."

Pock tilted her head in contemplation. "On the contrary, Jim, I believe she received you quite positively. If she had disliked you, she would have been far less warm and personable."

Jim shrugged. "Whatever you say," he said, slightly disbelieving and bemused. "Who else do you need to call?" A pause. "Uh... We should probably get our counterparts down here. After all, they were there."

Pock nodded. "Indeed we should. T'Pau will alert all my clan, though perhaps it would be best if we alerted my father prior to T'Pau doing so." She recoiled slightly at the thought of speaking to her father about the topic of her romantic relationship with Jim.

"Perhaps you should make one of your calls before we do so," she suggested.

Jim grinned. "You sure? We can get your father out of the way right now before T'Pau gets to him." He shrugged. "But if you insist, I can call Komack now."

Pock nodded. "Please call Admiral Komack." In truth, she was merely putting off talking to her father. It was not something she was looking forward to.

Jim smirked at her. He punched in the comm. code Komack had given him.

The call went through without a hitch. Komack appeared on the screen. "Jim!" he said, jovially. "It's good to see you again! What can I do for you?"

Jim took a deep breath. "I'm sure you've heard about everything."

The smile faded. "Everyone has. Most of the Admirals think it's bullshit. Some are pissed you didn't tell us sooner, and others are friends of Ferrus. Personally, I can't stand the rat bastard myself. What do you need."

"Support," Jim said, without hesitation. "Our case is up for appeal, thanks to Admiral Archer. He's going through the legal stuff for us while we're here."

Komack nodded slowly. "Understood. Support I can do. Anything I need to know?"

Jim quickly filled the older man in on the details.

"Good," Komack said, smiling coming back. "Also, Jim."

"Yes, sir?"

"Let me offer my congratulations to both you and Commander Pock. I hope that you two are happy together."

Jim's grin was bright. "Thank you sir."

"Komack out."

Pock sat calmly through Admiral Komack's exchange with Jim, quietly pondering how her father might react to the revelation that she and Jim were entangled romantically. Would he be upset with her, she wondered. Would he disapprove?

She let out a slow breath as the question came to an end.

"Anyone else?" she asked him.

"A few Admirals who owe me a favor, but they're not calling worthy. They'd prefer written messages anyway," Jim said with a small shrug.

She nodded. And thus, it is my turn once more.

"Very well," Pock said. "Then we will call my father next."

Jim nodded, sitting back. What would her father think. Would he approve? Disapprove? If he were in Sarek's position, he's not sure he would approve.

He wasn't sure what to think anymore.

She dialed her father's number, then sat back.

A Vulcan woman appeared on the screen.

"Commander," she said, her tone clipped. "Your father is in his office. One moment."

She nodded, and there was a brief black screen before the video reconnected to her father's monitor, and it was his face that burst into life before her, his eyes taking her in meticulously in the span of only a few seconds.

"My daughter," he said, bowing his head. "It is most fortuitous to hear from you."

He did not look at Jim with anything more than a slight glance, as if to inform him that he was intruding in the conversation with Pock. "Captain Kirk."

"Ambassador," Jim said, sitting back in his chair.

He really didn't want to piss of Pock's dad, but she hadn't asked him to leave, so he wasn't going to. He turned to Pock. "I can leave if you want me too."

However, it was best to keep on her Dad's good side.

"No," Pock said coolly, eyes locked on her father. "Please stay, Jim."

She and Sarek held each other's gazes with a calm, cold collectedness, as if speaking silently through nothing more than the weight of the silence. Finally, Sarek spoke, his tone clipped.

"What was the purpose of your call, Commander?"

"To inform you of a development in the course of both my life, information of which you are privy to as my paternal figure, and of my career."

"Please state such information."

"I have been engaged in a romantic partnership with Captain James Kirk for approximately one month and eleven days."

Sarek was silent.

His eyes turned to Jim.

Jim smiled slightly, nerves coursing through his body. "It's true, Ambassador."

"I did not assume my daughter was lying," Sarek said without missing a beat, his eyes cold and his voice razor-sharp. "I merely wished to address you with a new perspective."

"Elaborate," Pock said.

"The perspective of a father judging a potential romantic partner of his daughter," the Ambassador said. His eyes turned back to Jim, studying him carefully. "You are a criminal on Earth, are you not? A, as the term deems, "repeat offender."

"This is true," Jim said, voice and eyes hardening. He should have know Sarek would bring this up. Jesus wept, he thought.

"Mmm," Sarek said. He was silent for a moment more, continuing to look Jim over. "Do you have any children from previous sexual congresses?"

The tips of Pock's ears blushed slightly sage, but she did not interrupt. Not yet.

Jim shook his head, eyes and voice still hard. "No, sir."

"That is something positive," Sarek said. He turned back to Pock, eyes hard. "Have you spoken to First Minister T'Pau?"

Pock's voice was icy. "Affirmative."

"Her response?"

"Perhaps it would be best to inquire to her of her opinions toward my romantic union, though in our conversation she did not voice any objections."

Sarek looked at Jim again, then hmmphed. His eyes moved back to Pock. "Your betrothed, Saapring, died in the destruction of Vulcan."

Jim blinked. Who the hell was Saapring? Betrothed? What? She had been engaged? Why was he just hearing about this now?

Pock could feel the uncertainty suddenly conducive between her and Jim, and she gritted her teeth. He had done that on purpose, she knew.

"I am aware," she said.

"The Vulcan population has been decimated."

"I am acutely aware."

She also knew what he was implying: if Pock intended to take Jim as her bondmate, she would face scrutiny from the rest of Clan Surak for not mating with a Vulcan and attempting to rebuild the population of the Vulcan race. It was a real issue, she knew, but one she was willing to face.

"Of course you are," Sarek said, straightening in his chair.

"I remind you, however," she said, "that it was Jim Kirk who fought to save what remained of our people, and who stopped the decimation of countless other races at the hand of Commander Nero. Thus, I believe him to be of worthy character for my affections." Her eyes glinted like sunlight across a hidden dagger. "Additionally, I remind you that you have never succeeded in attempting to control my actions, Father, and I assure you this time will be no different."

Jim bit back a smile as she defended him to her father.

And she was also digging herself into a hole with her father. He hoped that wouldn't come back to bite them in the ass.

Sarek's gaze was unabashedly disapproving. "So why have you called?"

"Specify the reasoning behind your inquiry," Pock said, furrowing her brow.

"You would not have called simply to inform me of this," Sarek said. "I, as your paternal figure, know you, and know distinctly that you would attempt to keep this from me for as long as you could. Thus, something has forced your hand, as the Terrans say, and I would like to know what."

Pock was silent.

"No reply?" Sarek said. "Very well." He turned to Jim. "Will you tell me, or should I hang up?"