The Pon T'Keshtan

CHAPTER FIVE

For its relatively young age and small size, the planetoid Jagusch-McGillis was a wonder in that it had a Class M (1) atmosphere and a burgeoning ecosystem of primitive plants and animal life. There were no native sentient life forms, however, so the Federation had annexed it as a star base almost a century ago without any political or humanitarian difficulties. Since its settlement, Jagusch-McGillis had grown to be one of the favorite stop-offs in the quadrant because of its proximity to a variety of other worlds and travel routes, and because it boasted one of the best interplanetary bazaars in that part of space. Most crewmembers of the Enterprise were anxious to visit the base and partake some much deserved R & R (2). Most, but not all...

Spock, bored since his command duties were curtailed by his present "incapacity," had taken onto himself the tasks of coordinating a general maintenance itinerary for the Enterprise with Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott and doling out shore leave to the officers and crew over the five-day period the ship would be orbiting Jagusch-McGillis. Although he seldom took shore leave himself, and found no "relaxation" in gallivanting around, Spock knew Nyota would need time off, and that she would expect him to accompany her, so he scheduled time for them to be together on day two, the same day he had designated for the senior officers to disembark. He spread the leave-time for the rest of the crew over days three, four, and five, but also allowed for periods on those other days for any crewmember to be planetside for short periods whenever their duties permitted. Adding that bit of flexibility into the schedule always seemed to mollify the Humans, who sometimes balked when rigid frames were constructed around what they perceived as their "play time".

Spock assigned himself several onboard shifts assisting the engineering staff since they would have very little time away from the ship due to the scheduled maintenance. That way the staff could get their shore leave, while he could be sure the repairs assigned were completed before departure.

"Are you suggesting that I cannae oversee my own staff, Mister Spock?" Scotty asked him as they walked the engineering deck together just prior to the Enterprise arriving at Jagusch-McGillis.

"I have no doubt of your capabilities, Mister Scott. You are an exceptional engineering officer."

"Well, that's true enough, so... Thank you," Scotty muttered as he stopped to rub a spot from the surface of a warp coil interface panel. He kept his engine room tidy, which was quite a feat, considering how large the space was.

"However - "

"Och, I hate your 'howevers', Mister Spock."

"Regardless..." Spock continued. "I also have no doubt that while on shore leave you will likely eat to the point of nausea and imbibe more than a little."

Scotty grinned. "Aye, that's a fact," he said with a chuckle and a nod. "Work hard and play hard; that's my motto. I've heard the Pantinkin Café serves a Cobalt-Derivian Cocktail that'll knock you on your ass."

Spock scowled slightly. He had never understood why Humans found pleasure in being knocked onto their behinds by anything. "Yes, well, in light of such an eventuality, I am simply offering my assistance."

"In that case, Mister Spock, I'm glad to have you aboard," Scotty said slapped Spock hard on the back, twice. Spock stood still for a moment while Scotty walked on. He had also never understood why Humans insisted on hitting one another in such a fashion. It was meant to be an implicit expression of camaraderie, he knew, but he saw no logic in striking someone that one considered an ally.

In Briefing Room 2, Nyota set out the visual aids for her presentation on "The Twelve Slithian Dialects" that afternoon. Although she knew all command crew designees were required to teach and mentor for a preset number of hours, she couldn't help feeling that she was being assigned "busy work". Since witnessing Spock's hallucination, she was acutely aware of being kept off the bridge and away from the Communications station. The captain had been cordial enough in reassigning her, suggesting that he was giving her time to get the teaching requirement out of the way while the Enterprise enjoyed a few peaceful moments, but still... She felt she was being kept out of an important loop. On top of that, no one had spoken to her about her report on Spock's hallucination, or had given her a medical or psychological update on his condition. She knew Spock had also been stripped of command duties for the time being, but the informational vacuum gave her imagination fits. She conjured up scenarios in which Spock completely dissociated himself from her, or was institutionalized, or went rouge and killed himself rather than continue struggling against a mind he could not control. Between her fears and his nightmares and hallucinations, they made quite a pair.

Still, in her own defense, Nyota thought, the distancing was already starting. Spock allowed her to share his bed, but he had not shared his mind or feelings with her to any degree since the hallucination. The other evening, after he had brought her to a nerve-sparkling climax but had failed to achieve orgasm himself, Nyota had asked to share his thoughts. She had hoped to use the opportunity to reassure him, to let her mind speak of her commitment to, and her support of him. Instead, he had taken her hands, kissed her knuckles and drawn her against his body so she could share his warmth... but not his emotions.

While many believed Vulcans to be bereft of emotions because they did not display them, in truth they were, at their core, an exceedingly passionate species. Although he had never shown her everything, the times Spock had shared himself with her - body and mind - had overwhelmed her. His lust, like molten iron, burned through them both, searing them together; while his love for her was like a tidal surge that flooded up through his body, filling him, cooling, and supporting them both. She had wept when she first felt that from him.

"I am sorry," Spock had said, concerned his feelings had somehow injured her. She had shaken her head, fighting to compose herself and told him the tears were tears of joy, not sadness or hurt. She had explained that experiencing his emotions was like trying to take in the visage of an archangel - a beauty so grand and inconceivable that it reduced mere mortals to tears. She wasn't sure if he had understood the analogy, but he had accepted it in deference to her.

But now... Now Spock wouldn't let her in and she felt certain he feared any profound mental contact between them might result in infecting her mind with the same frightening imagery to which he was being subjected, and he would not allow that to happen. In protecting her, however, he was shutting her out.

His closed-off behavior had been going on for about a day, but it made Nyota angry, nervous and fearful for him - for them, for their relationship. Patience had never been her strong point when it came to issues surrounding people she cared about. She wanted answers, and wished someone would tell her what they were dealing with so they could do something. But things usually proceeded slowly when medical or psychological issues were being investigated. She understood the necessity for the process, but the time-lag was still infuriating. She resented the fact that this thing, whatever it was, had come between her and Spock, that she couldn't combat it because it hadn't yet revealed its face to her.

In her mind, she screamed, "Show yourself!" But nothing answered. Nothing was revealed.

When Nyota tried to engage Spock in discussions about his hallucination, he skillfully - and maddeningly - redirected the conversation. When she tried to ignore the fact the hallucination had taken place, putting her mind to mundane tasks, she felt guilty, as though she were somehow abandoning Spock or betraying his faith in her. She wanted to hold him, to caress him, to cry for him (or with him) if that was what he needed; but she didn't know what he needed because he was not yet able or not yet willing to verbalize it. So an insatiable frustration chewed at her insides putting her whole body on edge.

As Nyota stood at the podium, trying to put her lecture materials into a neat and manageable pile, a PADD slipped to the floor with a clatter. The sound seemed to cut through her brain like a snag of rusty wire. She picked the PADD up... and hurled it across the room with enough force to shatter it when it hit the wall.

Despite their mechanized forms, the interaction between the Haulat and the Enterprise seemed like a computerized tango when viewed from a distance in the silence of space. As the Enterprise settled itself into orbit around Jagusch-McGillis, the Haulat settled into the womb of the starship's shuttle bay. Once there, being significantly larger than the Federation shuttlecraft lining the walls, the Haulat took up the lion's share of the floor space.

Neither Human nor Vulcan in design, the Haulat was comprised of two distinct saucer-shaped disks, stacked on top of one another. A dense, greenish-black, metallic-looking "skin" blanketed the Haulat's outer surface, and there did not appear to be any portholes, windows, doors, weapons banks or protrusions on its exterior. However, as the ship hovered a fraction of an inch above the floor, the skin pulled taut in one area, and an orifice, like a large mouth with dark lips opened on the lower saucer, and with it, a shallow airlock and door exposed a circular-shaped interior somewhat like any other Federation or Vulcan spacecraft. The electronic devices, scanners, dials, monitors, view screens and crystal panels were pristine and colorfully lit. The ship's walls appeared to be thick glass through which the underside of the dark exo-skin could be seen. The floors were buffed to a high polish. The lower deck held flight-seats, a small engineering section, a transporter platform and a supply area. The command stations were on the upper deck. Between the two decks, a cylindrical shaft housed the ship's turbolift.

Sa'aat rode the turbolift down from the upper deck, exiting the ship through the opening in the Haulat's skin. As soon as he was out, the orifice closed and the Haulat returned to its former unblemished condition. Sa'aat was inspecting his craft when Spock and Scotty arrived.

Scotty, after quite a bit of after-hours research, believed he had found some correlations that would explain the Haulat's construction and drive systems, and he was anxious to discuss his theories with Sa'aat. As he reached the ship, he grinned brightly. He slapped the Haulat's skin, saying, "So, we meet again, eh, lassie?" From somewhere in the ship's interior, a distinct, low rumbling growl emanated. Scotty winked at Spock. "She kicks up a fuss like a crabbit (3) cow, but she loves me," he said.

Spock was none too certain about the accuracy of Scotty's statement, but kept his opinion to himself as he headed around the Haulat to where Sa'aat stood. His former instructor was dressed in dark brown leather and a plain white shirt with a rimmed collar. He was surprised however to find the older man also sported a dark green, jagged, but healing wound on his left cheek.

"A run in with a very drunk and very persistent bekk (4)," Sa'aat explained as checked the Haulat's skin for injury or damage of any kind. "- The Klingon did not have a good day."(5)

"You should exercise more caution," Spock suggested, touching his fingertips to the ship's skin as well. It shivered at the contact.

"You will forgive me, Spock, if I take on advisement any caution issued to me from the man who took down the Romulan ship Narada with a collision-course suicide run in a stolen spacecraft."(6)

"It was not suicidal." Spock replied, "I survived, did I not?"

"You were reckless."

"This coming from a man whose occupational hazards include engaging in hand-to-hand combat with very drunk, very persistent Klingon bekks."

"True," Sa'aat conceded. "We are both brazen in our temerity."

"Evidently."

" - A very unusual trait among Vulcans."

"Undeniably," Spock agreed. He then added an honest, "It is good to see you, osu (7)."

Sa'aat raised his chin slightly, a Vulcan physical cue which implied agreement.

While both Vulcans maintained contact with the Haulat, they then shared a receptive gaze, minds joining without direct touch on a very surface level. In short bursts, such contact was somewhat akin to a warm hello, a sort of mental hug. Prolonged contact, however, was considered far more intimate, and most Vulcans extricated themselves from such an exchange before it tipped to that side of the meter. Sa'aat, however, did not want to extricate himself.

Then something Scotty did made the hide of the Haulat sparkle with static, and the Vulcans could hear the engineer yelp when the shock of it hit him. Their thin link shattered at the sound of him, and Spock blinked against the suddenness of it.

Sa'aat lowered his eyes, somewhat ashamed of his desire to keep Spock connected to him, if only in that feeble way, and then said softly to his ship, "Haulat, kloshah(8)."In response, the vessel's skin rippled like a visual purr, and the interior gave out a small sigh.

"She's alive, isn't she," Scotty asked - or actually stated - nearly breathless, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he approached the Vulcans, his face radiant with anticipation. He cradled in the hand that had gotten the worst of the static shock, but he didn't seemed discouraged by the pain in the least.

"Mister Scott has been preoccupied with your vessel since he first encountered it," Spock said, looking at Sa'aat, his expression a mask of composure again. "I do not believe you will have a moment's peace until his questions are answered."

"Then, perhaps, I should answer them," Sa'aat concluded.

"Oh, that'd be grand!" Scotty beamed. "I have about a million of 'em!"

"A million - " Sa'aat looked less than overjoyed by the prospect.

"I will leave you to it, then," Spock said. "When you are finished here, Sa'aat, Doctor McCoy requests your presence in the Medical Bay. I can have someone escort you there, if you wish," he added.

"I remember the way," Sa'aat answered. Once given directions to a place, a Vulcan never forgot them. "May we speak later?"

"I am on duty until seventeen-hundred hours," Spock stated. "But... perhaps afterward."

"I look forward to the opportunity," Sa'aat said with a bow.

Spock returned the gesture with a bob of his head and left the Bay.

Sa'aat's eyes were still on Spock when Scotty, oblivious to the Vulcan's conversation, gushed, "She's of Coh'Lie (9) construction, isn't she?"

Sa'aat focused on the engineer. "Not precisely. The inner engineering is my own, but the sheath is from the Coh'Lie. And it is not a 'she'; it is a 'he'; a male koko'dan (10)."

Scotty's eyes lit up. "A koko'dan..." he repeated. "And what is that, exactly?"

In his quarters, Spock stood with his head against the wall beside the door for a moment. He needed to compose himself after his soft-link with Sa'aat, and the quiet and dark in his rooms helped to lull him. Even as he stood there, however, he chided himself for needing such moments of privacy. He was Vulcan, he repeated to himself; he should have more control.

"In hiding, are we, Little Brother?"

Spock startled, turning toward the voice.

Dressed in pale, taupe-colored desert travel gear and soft boots, Sybok stood at the computer workstation and flipped the monitor on. Its glow bathed his face in blue-green light, making him look surreal. His hair, pulled back into a short ponytail by a leather thong, seemed uncontainable, and his beard needed tending to, but otherwise he looked fit and... happy. Sybok always seemed to be smiling. Even when distressed or nose-to-nose with an adversary, he had a smile on his face. Spock had always considered that an indication of Sybok's bravery - his ability to laugh in the face of danger - whereas their father, Sarek, saw it as an indication that Sybok was quite mad.

Born to Sarek by a Vulcan princess (11), Sybok had been a promising and brilliant philosopher on Vulcan when he was younger. Upon the death of his mother, he had come to live with Sarek and was raised alongside Spock for a time. However, when Sybok embraced the ways of the v'tosh ka'tur, and promulgated his belief that the key to enlightenment was the open expression of emotions, not their repression, Sybok was shunned and eventually banished.

His sudden departure had been difficult for the young Spock who, although he had already made a commitment to the Vulcan way, had cared for his brother and understood the pressures that emotions could exert upon the Vulcan psyche. Spock had wished his father had been more lenient, more open-minded about Sybok; but even as he wished it, he knew Sarek would not yield. Nonetheless, after being banished, and in quiet defiance of their father, Sybok would return to Vulcan briefly and Spock would meet with him in the mountains outside the city. Sometimes they would walk and confer for hours, sometimes for days, but in the end - always - Sybok had to leave. Eventually, he stopped coming back altogether. Even after that, Spock would go into the mountains to look for him, and then sit alone under the night sky, trying to imagine where Sybok was and what he might be doing.(12)

First Sybok...

Then Sa'aat...

Then his mother...

It seemed that one by one, all those he loved and esteemed the most were in one way or another taken from him.

"Where are you, Little Brother?" Sybok asked him.

"In the mountains - " Spock answered softly. He disentangled himself from his reverie, focused fully on Sybok and asked, "When did you get here?"

Holding his hands out at his sides, palms up, as though he had just completed a magic trick, Sybok smiled and answered, "Just now."

"Curious - "

"Why is that?"

"I was not informed of your arrival."

Sybok shrugged. "You were occupied."

"Still, Security should have informed me, and..." Spock's eyebrows tightened slightly in the middle of his forehead. "How did you get in here?"

"Are your rooms off limits to me, Little Brother?" Sybok indicated the door. "It was not locked." Sybok approached Spock, placing kneading hands onto Spock's shoulders. "Tell me you missed me," he said imploringly, with his head tilted.

"I... I am on duty," Spock said instead.

Sybok's smile expanded to a grin, showing bright teeth. He gave a hearty laugh, taking Spock's head between his palms and pinching the tip of one of Spock's ears, just as he used to do when Spock was a child. "One could never damn you for not doing your job, and that's a fact, Spock. Always the good sa-kan. That's why Father always preferred you to me. You are the one he was always proud of."(13)

"Not always," Spock admitted. "But we are becoming more adept at understanding one another." Spock slowly turned his head to one side to release himself from Sybok's grip, taking a small step back to avoid any further tactile contact. "I am on duty, Sybok, but we may speak later - "

"All right," Sybok said. "As you wish." He patted the floor twice with the soft sole of his boot. "I'll be here."

"Were you not supplied quarters of your own?"

"Oh, you know me; I always have a place to go, Spock," Sybok answered, still smiling. "But right now, I'd like to stay here... with your permission, of course."

"Very well." Spock stepped back toward the door, which, upon sensing his presence, opened with a slight "shish". He stood there for a moment, puzzling over his brother's unheralded arrival, and then said to Sybok. "I am off-duty at seventeen-hundred -"

"Then, I will see you then, Little Brother."

"We may have company. Sa'aat is also aboard; my former savensu (14)."

"The more the merrier, as the Humans say," said Sybok with a grin.

Spock nodded mutely and left his brother where he was.

When Sa'aat arrived in the Medical Bay, he was not surprised to find Dr. McCoy, Nurse Chapel, and Captain Kirk waiting for him. The males stood facing each other, arms crossed over their chests as they argued, the female observing them from a few feet away.

"You're telling me that a little R-and-R wouldn't be good for him, Bones? Come on," Kirk said.

"A little R-and-R is just what the doctor ordered," McCoy countered. "I just don't think he should be taking it planetside, Jim; that's all."

"Uhura will be with him. She can keep an eye on him."

"If he goes off the deep end, I don't know if she can handle it. And I don't know that she should have to handle it. That's my job; that's Surrey's job."

Surrey was a name Sa'aat had not heard before, and he looked at Nurse Chapel, cocking his head to one side in question. She stepped over to him and whispered, "He's the psychiatrist assigned to Spock..."

Sa'aat mouthed the word "Oh," as Captain Kirk continued with, "Well, I'm not going to order Spock to stay aboard the Enterprise while everyone else is on shore leave. If he wants to go, he can go... Unless, you're going to make a big deal about this and throw the Chief Medical Officer card around again."

"When do I ever do that?" McCoy asked. Before Kirk could answer, the doctor realized Sa'aat was there and turned his perturbed expression on the Vulcan instead. "Well, it's about time you showed up," he groused.

"Dr. McCoy," Sa'aat said, unfazed, his voice and features level.

Kirk put a hand out and Sa'aat shook it as the captain said, "Glad you could make it. Did you get a chance to see Spock before you came up here?"

"Yes, Captain Kirk. He greeted me in the shuttle bay. I then spent an inordinate amount of time with your Chief Engineer answering somewhat less than his million questions. It appears he is enamored with the Haulat."

Kirk smiled a little and nodded. "That sounds like Scotty. Ships, food and drinks - in that order. That's what he lives for."

"That seems rather hedonistic, does it not?"

"He's Human," McCoy snapped. "He's allowed." From a biobed, the doctor then lifted the PADD holding the report beamed to it from Sa'aat's vessel; information Sa'aat had gathered on New Vulcan with the medical tricorder. "We need to talk, Buster," he said.

"Buster?" Sa'aat looked to Nurse Chapel for an interpretation. "What is Buster?"

"It's a term Humans use to describe a male who is the focal point of a speaker's annoyance," she explained.

"Ah, I see. The doctor is annoyed with me."

"You're goddamn right the doctor is annoyed with you, you green-blooded son of a bitch!" McCoy barked, stepping into Sa'aat's space to such a degree that he nearly tread on the Vulcan's feet. "Where do you get off sabotaging my medical equipment?"

Sa'aat was unflinching, his expression passive, his muscles relaxed; the look in his eyes was flat and dull in the Vulcan equivalent of calling an opponent a "wuss".

Unfazed by Sa'aat's lack of reaction, McCoy continued loudly, "Your actions interfered with my diagnosis of Spock's condition! I've been walking around in the dark, blind, for the last seven months because of you!"

"Whoa, Bones! At ease!" Kirk intervened, putting an arm between the doctor and Sa'aat to cordoned them off from one another. "Let's take this in the conference room."

"Fine," McCoy grumbled, walking toward Medical Conference One, not waiting for anyone else to follow him.

"Sorry about that - " the captain said to Sa'aat.

"He is Human," Sa'aat answered frankly. "He is allowed."

After her lecture in Briefing Room 2 - which seemed excruciatingly long for just two hours - Nyota unpacked her PADDs and visual aids, and went to her room's workstation to check her messages and the duty roster for the next few days. She "whooped!" gleefully when she saw Spock had scheduled eight hours shore leave for the two of them on the following day. Grinning, she said, "Computer, locate Commander Spock."

"Commander Spock is in Main Engineering, Deck 15," a computerized female voice answered.

Nyota was heading out the door when the overhead com-link system activated and Christine Chapel's voice instructed, "Lieutenant Uhura to Medical Conference Room One, please. Lieutenant Uhura to Medical Conference Room One. Acknowledge."

Nyota stepped back into her room, activated the verbal responder and said, "Uhura here. On my way."


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(1) Class M: The classification According to the planet classification system developed for the Star Trek franchise, Class M planets are those with an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere and an abundance of water (in its liquid state) to support complex carbon-based life. Earth is a perfect example of a Class M planet. The Vulcans refer to such planets as being part of the "Minshara class". There are A to Z classifications for planets. For more information see Mandel, Geoffrey (2002). Star Trek Star Charts. Pocket Books. ISBN 0743437705. According to Wickipedia: "In fiction, Class M planets are similar to those suggested to be found in the real-world astronomical theory of life supporting planets found within the habitable zone (HZ), sometimes also referred to as the 'Goldilocks' zone." The term "Goldilocks' zone" was coined in reference to planets with a habitable zone that is neither "too hot, nor too cold, but is just right" for humanoid life to develop.

(2) R&R: military shorthand for "rest and relaxation"

(3) Crabbit: Scottish slang for "bad tempered"

(4 ) Bekk: A Klingon Bekk is commonly referred to as a "warrior"; the lowest military rank for a Klingon

(5) This is in reference to the Klingon saying, "Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam" ("Perhaps today is a good day to die.") Sa'aat fought with but did not kill the Klingon bekk, so the Klingon didn't have a good day.

(6 ) This is in reference to the plot point of the 2009 film, "Star Trek" directed by J.J. Abrams in which Spock flew the futuristic Vulcan "jellyfish" ship into the heart of the Romulan mining ship Narada in order to stop the Narada from destroying Earth.

(7)Osu: The Vulcan word for "sir"; usually used as an honorific for esteemed males.

(8) Kloshah: The Vulcan word for "behave".

(9) Coh'Lie: Not associated with the Federation or any other planetary allegiance, the Coh'Lie are an ancient and enigmatic race of mystical warriors.

(10) Koko'dan: the Coh'Lie word for "husk". A koko'dan is a kind of symbiotic creature that can adhere itself to any surface - living or unliving. It pulls energy and low-grade radiation from the host, and in return supplies the host with a form of living armor and the ability to become invisible to the naked eye on demand. They live and breed in the vacuum of space, but they are readily adaptable to extreme atmospheric, gravitational, and temperature variations, and can survive in almost any environment. The koko'dan were originally genetically engineered by the Coh'Lie as a sentient outer sheath for their ships, the 'Mantas', to provide them with an extra layer of naturally ablative armor, and the ability to cloak without the use of the ship's power. A koko'dan could link to the Coh'Lie captain's mind through a conduit, and react with the speed of thought to any command given by the captain. In ancient times, they helped make the Coh'Lie invulnerable to attack. Legend has it: "No ship ever stood against a Coh'Lie Manta and survived." / Today, the Coh'Lie generally act only in defense of their own world, and are not predatory or exploratory in nature. Once their wrath has been excited, however, they kill without empathy or deference, and have been known to extinguish entire races in order to secure their privacy and self-supremacy. The Coh'Lie system, therefore, has been labeled a "quarantined area" and no Federation or Vulcan vessels are allowed to go there. Nonetheless, in my own back-story on Sa'aat, I devised that Sa'aat's expanded mental acuity and telepathic range were a result of his having spent time with the Coh'Lie people. It was also during that time when he acquired the koko'dan with which to sheath his own vessel, the Haulat. Author's note: The Coh'Lie, the koko'dan, and the 'Manta' ships are all my own creations and are NOT a part of Trek canon.

(11) Sybok: A lot of the information on Sybok is considered apocryphal; and there are a lot of blanks and unanswered questions surrounding his history and heritage. In the film "Star Trek: The Final Frontier" (1989) fans were first introduced to Sybok. The film suggested that he had been Sarek first's child, born of Sarek and a unnamed Vulcan princess, but the relationship between Sarek and the princess was never explained. According to the rest of Trek canon, it doesn't appear that Sarek was ever legally "married" to the princess, which opened up speculation that the two had been bonded as children, and that during a Pon Farr, Sarek had mated with the princess, but then either rejected her as a wife, or she rejected him. It is also possible that Sarek and the princess had an affair outside of Pon Farr, but Vulcans generally frown upon sexual trysts (as emotionally motivated and illogical). / Regardless of the conditions of his birth, after he was born Sybok stayed with the princess until her death (which isn't unusual; Vulcan children usually stay with their mothers regardless of who their fathers might be). How the princess died was also never addressed. In "Star Trek: The Final Frontier," Sybok commandeers the Enterprise and takes her beyond the rim of the galaxy to a planet he believes is Sha Ka Ree (the Vulcan's term for "paradise" or the place where the gods dwell). He is then presumably killed by the creature that lured him there... But his death was not entirely certain, and whether or not his katra (the Vulcan word for "living spirit") survived the encounter was never addressed... So, basically this means that fanfic writers can have a lot of fun with the character; including me.

(12) The Mountains: This bit is NOT part of Trek canon. I extrapolated it from a discussion Sarek once had with Jean-Luc Picard in which Sarek said: "... I never knew what Spock was doing. When he was a boy he would disappear for days into the mountains. I would ask him where he'd gone, what he'd done; he refused to tell me. I insisted that he tell me; he would not. I forbade him to go; he ignored me. I punished him; he endured it, silently. But always he returned to the mountains; one might as well ask a river not to run. But secretly I admired him, that proud core of him that would not yield..." (Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Unification: Part 1" (5.7) (1991)

(13) Sa-kan: the Vulcan word for a male child. Female children are called ko-kan.

(14) Savensu: the Vulcan word for "teacher".