Not Wholly Our Own
Author: Joanna Bordelon
Email: mail@sandsofvulcan.com
Series: TOS
Rating: PG-13 (child abuse)
Character Code: S/Saa, Rua/T'Sel, McCoy, f
Summary: When Spock and Saavik's child is taken in the Romulan custom of rrh-thanai, they try to rescue her
Disclaimer: Star Trek is copyrighted by Paramount/Viacom. I do not own any of their characters. I have used characters and background material from "Double Helix: Red Sector" by Diane Carey, "Vulcan's Heart" by Josepha Sherman and Susan Schwartz, and "The Pandora Principle" by Carolyn Clowes. Vulcan Language is from the Vulcan Language Institute's website.
Archive: Ask first.
PROLOGUE
Central Medical Complex
Pojjan
As T'Selis supervised, Spock placed his fingers on the katra points in Ruanek's face. Ruanek had not regained consciousness since a Romulan disruptor blast nexus had removed the tissues of his right shoulder revealing bone. A better shot would have caused his organs to destruct within him. But why hadn't the shot been better? In the close quarters of sickbay, how could a trained centurion miss? Spock knew he could not risk Saavik discovering what had happened to their child. Saavik's condition was too unstable. Charvanek had suggested Ruanek knew something, something Spock must know. Without Ruanek's consent, Spock would only go deep enough into the meld to make contact at first, then deeper if consent were granted. Spock began, "Your mind to my mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts. Ruanek?"
Contact.
Saavik! Save her!
She is safe, Ras. They have taken T'ai. Why have they taken T'ai?
They have taken her as rrh-thann! They will use her to continue the Imperial line!
Spock felt panic from Ruanek, he struggled to regain consciousness, in his mind he closed a door and locked it.
I will not force you, Ras. Please. Tell me what I need to know.
The door opened to Spock. It was the consent he had wished for.
You will know everything now my brother. All that I know, all that Sarek knew of it. I only sought to keep them safe, my brother. I have failed.
"Where are we?" asked Spock. They looked quickly to ensure no one else saw what they did. A question on a computer screen. Are children of dishonor marked? They knew it was from their father. Spock's younger hands typed the answer, "Children of dishonor have never been marked. Rihanssu children are no longer marked. There is no longer any recognized mark except that of the emperor's line." Quickly, remove the trail of this message! Deep Breathing, calm returning. Strangely, his left shoulder burned, he reached with his younger right hand and felt the mark."
I am Spock. You are Ruanek. I am Spock.
Spock.
T'Selis steadied Spock as he wavered slightly. Curiously, Spock had removed the covers from Ruanek's body. Ruanek wore only medical pants. Gently, he sat Ruanek up, supporting his whole weight against his chest. Spock saw what Ruanek had successfully hidden for so long. His mark. Identical to that of his sister. To Saavik.
Rrh-Thannai
Day One
2369
Spock sat next to McCoy's bed in the Pojjani Medical Complex. At 130 years of age Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy was still a bad patient. He was propped up in bed nursing his sore ribcage. His cracked ribs had been fused. In his hand he held a padd similar to the one Spock was studying. However Bones was using his padd to annoy all the medical personnel within earshot. "Flush Saavik's bioline. She's gonna have enough fluid in her to swell her up like a balloon." Spock raised his head to look at McCoy in concern.
Healer T'Selis calmly walked over and took the padd from McCoy's hand. "I will thank you Doctor, not to intercept telemetry from my patient's monitors. I am hardly overtaxed tending to only two patients. Furthermore, none of my patients has ever 'swelled up like a balloon.'"
"Sorry, I guess I'm just restless. Shouldn't we be doing something Spock?"
"I am doing something," replied Spock as he went back to reading his padd.
"How can you sit there and read when the Romulans have taken off with your child!" retorted McCoy. He wanted to add that Spock was an unfeeling, green-blooded...no he didn't. Spock was Spock. He would decide what to do and then accomplish it. McCoy had learned from previous missions with him that it would be done according to Spock's timeline and no goading from McCoy would alter that.
"Nine days, Leonard." Spock looked up at his friend. "According to the information you supplied me with this morning, I have nine days, and as of now I have lost 8.45 hours. I need a ship." McCoy knew Spock could get a ship. Spock had been in and out of the Romulan Star Empire several times during his attempt to reunify the Romulan and Vulcan people.
"I don't understand Spock. You've gone in and out before. Hell, I've gone in and out as much as you. It was never a problem."
"Before," Spock answered, "I knew that I had supporters on the other side. Even those who follow me may not support me in this. We are not sure how much the general public knows, but the Rihannsu people overwhelming support the Imperial family and Narviat is the Imperial family." Out of the corner of his eye, Spock saw movement from Saavik's bed and handing the padd to McCoy, Spock rose to go to her.
McCoy studied the padd. It had to be kept within arm's length as it now contained highly classified data from a certain well placed Federation agent. Though the document it contained was official written by Terise Haleakala-LoBrutto, Spock and Leonard both knew it's author had for years been know to the Rihannsu as Senator Arrhae ir-Mnaeha t'Khellian. For this reason, the document was classified. McCoy had used his security clearance this morning to place the data on the padd. That he had let Spock read it was of course a violation that could get him busted to yeoman. Somehow though the thought of being a 130 year old yeoman didn't intimidate him in the least. The padd contained everything he could access on the Rihannsu tradition of rrh-thanai which Spock had said meant hostage-fathering.
The section on the padd was obviously part of a larger document. There had been only a short section on rrh-thanai. McCoy read.
Rrh-thanai, or hostage-fathering, was once a common form of revenge. Frequently it is mnhei'sahe for the killing of a child. Rrh-thann are usually the children of a sworn enemy. Most of the time the rrh-thann is raised in the house of the captor as the captor's own child. Occasionally, the child will be secreted away to be raised in a manner that the captor knows will cause his enemy great dishonor. In this case the captor may or may not claim responsibility. This much is a surety, a child taken as rrh-thann will never be returned to his house alive.
If the captor chooses to raise the rrh-thann as his own, strict adherence to ritual is expected in order for the child to receive legal status as the child of the captor. The first six days of captivity are the most difficult for the child, who is bound, and denied food, and water. This is symbolic of the stripping of the child's old house. Being without a house is almost a fate worth than death to the Rihannsu. Even in the lowest caste, the Rihannsu family structure is sacrosanct. On the seventh day, if the child has survived, the child's new parent or parents will expect the child to address them as such in front of witnesses, usually the captor's family. If the child refuses, he will be killed and his body returned his house. If the child complies, he will spend the next three days being cared for exclusively by his new parent or parents. This stage of the ritual symbolizes the bonding of the child with his new parents. In the case of an infant or toddler, the first two stages of the ritual are not deemed necessary. On the tenth day after the child's capture, a ceremony is held in front of all the captor's available family. The child is dressed in fine clothing marked with the captor's family sigil. The naming ceremony is performed and a feast is held. Before branding was outlawed, the child would have received a new family mark on this day. According to Rihannsu law, on this day the child obtains the same rights as all in his or her new house. If the child fails to bring honor to the new house, the head of household may ask for execution, of course this is true for any Rihannsu child.
It is important to note that those taken as rrh-thann and raised as their captor's children are in no way stigmatized in Rihannsu society. In fact, the more successful and powerful the child becomes later in life, the greater the dishonor earned by the child's birth parents, as this honor should have been given to the their house. Of course, this usually means the rrh-thann is afforded every advantage in childhood.
"Vazhau nash-veh akali."
McCoy stopped reading and looked up from the padd. "What did I tell you? They all say the same thing," said a smiling McCoy.
"Saavik-kam."
Saavik tried to mouth something, but the word caught in her throat. Spock placed a straw to her lips.
"Did she drink it?" asked T'Selis who had come over from Ruanek's bedside.
"A small amount," replied Spock. T'Selis replaced the glass of water in Spock's hand with a liquid nutrient replenisher.
"Get her to drink it all," she ordered.
Spock placed the straw again and Saavik responded by slowly drinking. After a few sips she pushed the straw away with her tongue. "T'ai. Is T'ai well?"
"She is my wife, and you will be soon. Finish the supplement." Spock replaced the straw, thankful that she had phrased her question in such a way that he would not have to lie. He was quite sure she would detect it if he did. Saavik fell asleep before she finished the glass and Spock returned to McCoy. "I'm taking the yacht," Spock informed him. "I will find a faster ship where I can."
"I'm coming too. You can't go alone."
"No, Leonard. I need you. I need you to keep her here."
"That's not fair, Spock. You're taking the easier job," replied his friend.
Spock returned to the CST Saskatoon and his docked warp-capable yacht. Ruanek had used it to transport Saavik and T'ai closer to the serum for the virus that had rampaged through the entire Rihannsu Imperial family. The yacht was capable of warp four but that would put Spock at ch'Rihan almost six days into T'ai's captivity. She might not survive even the first stage of the rrh-thanai ritual. She had only just recovered from the virus herself.
Spock cleared his departure with Saskatoon's Commander Eric Stiles. "Are you sure Spock? You know I owe you my life more than once."
"You would hardly pass as a Romulan, Eric," Spock replied.
"No, but I would." Spock and Eric turned to see Zevon approach. He was fully recovered from his encounter with the virus. He carried a travel bag. A disruptor was attached to one hip. Before Spock could protest Zevon began, "You will be less conspicuous in my company. Though I am out of favor with my family, many will not know this. They will see a Rihannsu noble and allow me to go where I wish. You, as my aide, will of course be expected to attend me." Zevon paused. Impossibly, he thought he might be winning this one.
"Eric can handle the construction of the constrictor barrier here. The Starfleet Corp of Engineers arrives tomorrow. My wife Sykora agrees I must do what I can to right the wrongs perpetrated against you by the royal family. It is a matter of honor." He paused again, but there was still no response from Spock.
"I have said many times that I hate them, and after consideration I am sure that Narviat has had a hand in my being held a prisoner here so long. He knew of the gravitational wave experiments that resulted in Pojjan being continually assaulted by constrictor waves. He could hardly have so vocal an opponent return to the empire. Could he?" Zevon could say no more.
"We will need a faster ship, preferably cloaked," replied Spock.
"Then we will have one," promised Zevon.
CHR Honor Blade
T'ai was not sure what had happened to her. She didn't recall Vadi Ruanek ever mentioning rrh-thanai to her. She had wisely not made it know that she understood the Rihannsu language. She hoped this would give her some advantage later. They had taken her to what she assumed was sickbay, but there were only two beds there. She had a sickening suspicion that the seriously injured did not make it to sickbay. The doctor had motioned for her to extend her arm. Logic and the two armed guards dictated that she do as she was told. The doctor had drawn blood from her and examined it. At once the doctor became quite agitated and called the bridge.
Charvanek and Narviat had come to sickbay. When the doctor indicated that they order the guards out, Narviat had reluctantly complied. Charvanek moved to a somewhat threatening position near T'ai.
"Doctor, time is of the essence. We must begin the ritual. In your opinion will the child survive? If not, we might as well kill her now." T'ai could not control the shiver down her spine.
"She is hardy stock," replied the doctor as she indicated that Narviat should look at the blood sample. Narviat looked at the biocomp, then up at the doctor, and again at the biocomp. "This is hers?"
"It is. I just sampled it for traces of the virus. She is completely rid of it, but ..."
"My wife, please." Narviat took Charvanek's position near T'ai as Charvanek viewed whatever they were interested in.
"Narviat," Charvanek replied, "what have we done?"
"What we must. The empire has already become unstable due to the crisis caused by the virus. This will be a great help."
"You don't propose..."
"I do," retorted Narviat.
"The child is half Vulcan, she will never be confirmed by the Senate."
"After the ritual, she is ours, by law. The law does not account for her birth parentage."
Narviat knelt down to face T'ai. He grasped her shoulders and turned her slightly to him. T'ai held his gaze. He pulled down the left shoulder of her tunic and seeing no mark on her he asked in Rihannsu, "Does your mother have a mark child? Here," he pointed to her left shoulder. T'ai studiously pretended she had not understood. Charvanek repeated the question in Standard.
"Why do you wish to know?" answered T'ai.
"Answer him," replied Charvanek.
"I will not."
"Do you understand what is happening child? You have been taken as rrh-thann. You will never again see your parents nor any in your family. They are dead to you, as you are to them. We are your family now," Charvanek told her. T'ai shuddered as Narviat reached under his tunic and withdrew a pair of leather strips. She maintained eye contact with him as he bound her wrists.
"When it has become clear to you that you have no choice in the matter, you will call me Father. And if a word of Vulcan ever escapes your mouth again, if you ever refer to them as your parents again, you will regret it," Narviat added in Rihannsu.
T'ai had of course understood and could control herself no longer. She wanted to test him to see how far he would go. They obviously needed her for something, she still did not believe they would kill her. "I don't understand," she tempted by speaking in Vulcan.
Narviat drew back his hand and slapped her so hard that she flew back and landed on the floor. "Make it clear to her," he told Charvanek as he left.
"That," thought T'ai, "was not a wise choice."
Charvanek gently helped her to her feet, explained briefly what was about to happen, and led her to the cell where she would spend the next six days alone.