We are now four years into our five-year mission, and will shortly be passing out of communications range. Interesting developments in our observations of a series of collapsing stars have led me to write a short paper, which will soon appear in the Federation Science Journal.

Captain Kirk and I recently bonded in an onboard ceremony in traditional Starfleet fashion; there were many logical reasons dictating the choice to bond, which I cannot detail here for reasons of security.

I enclose an original copy of my article for the Federation Science Journal. It is possible that the editor will fail to publish it with my conclusion intact and this copy should prove my original intention.

Please excuse the use of a paper document in place of subspace communication. We are having certain difficulties with transmitting messages, and as the Vulcan research ship BX-864 (and her captain, Tarvek, whom I know to be a friend of yours) is returning to Vulcan, it is logical to send a message this way.

Spock.

"Sarek!" Amanda shouted, rushing up the steps and into the house, having thanked the messenger, a Vulcan scientist known for his frequent contacts with Starfleet. Normally, for the benefit of the calmer and more logical neighbours, she would have carried the PADD slowly and with dignity. Normally, it would be a PADD, if it didn't come by subspace radio in the first place, and not a paper letter, carefully sealed into a paper envelope, something she had only seen a couple of times before. She tried, but this--a letter from her son--was not normal, and it was simply too exciting to allow her maintain the semi-Vulcan facade.

"Yes, my wife?" Sarek enquired, appearing from his office.

"A letter! A paper letter!" she shouted, waving it in his face as the door banged shut behind her.

Sarek's expression subtly indicated that yes, she was quite correct about that, but that he failed to perceive the reason for such behaviour.

"From Spock!" she added, and watched his face carefully. It betrayed no sign of emotion, as usual.

He nodded, slightly. "Have you read it yet?"

"I'm just about to..." Amanda told him, and took a deep, steadying breath, a control technique she'd learnt over the years. "I wanted to share it with you."

Sarek nodded once more, and passed her the butter knife, with he thought an adequate replacement for the paper knife they'd never needed before.

He stood behind her, not quite touching, and they read in silence.

"The Federation Science Journal?" Sarek said when he'd reached the end. "Why not the Vulcan, I wonder?"

Amanda swung round--narrowly missing elbowing him in the stomach--and stared. "Our son's just married his captain--another man--and all you're worried about is which journal he's publishing some stupid paper in?" Her voice rose sharply.

"I see no reason to concern ourselves with his personal affairs," Sarek said, stiffly.

"Well, I'm sorry, Sarek, but I do. My son's married Kirk, and I'd like to know a little bit more about why!"

"He says he cannot detail the reasons because of security concerns," Sarek replied. "Do you not trust his logic?"

"Not so long ago," Amanda reminded him, "it was you who criticised his logic."

"My judgement may have been made without full knowledge. It appeared to have improved when we met him on the Enterprise," Sarek told her loftily.

"Oh, did it? Can you actually suggest a logical reason for him to marry Kirk?" Amanda was starting to sound hysterical again, and Sarek guided her gently into a chair.

"Sit down, and calm yourself. Firstly, he hasn't actually married Kirk; the Starfleet bonding ceremony is similar to a marriage, but gives fewer rights under law. Secondly, yes, there are possible logical reasons."

"Give me an example," Amanda said.

Sarek nearly refused, on the grounds that it was easy to create thousands of logical situations, none more useful than the next, and then recalled that he was dealing with his human wife and not a fellow Vulcan. "It could have been a matter of protecting one of them--there are races which will allow certain things, perhaps information, to a bonded man which they will deny a single person."

"The tradition that you have to be thirty and married to study Kabbalah?" Amanda said.

"That is one example from Earth's history."

"You also have to be Jewish," Amanda said. "Who would give information to a married stranger they wouldn't give to a single stranger? No one."

"I maintain that it is possible," Sarek said, and then caught the death-glare in her eyes, and saw that she was still holding the--surprisingly sharp--butter knife. "There are other logical reasons, however," he added hurriedly.

"Oh yes?"

"Yes. It could have been a necessity--the only way to get one or other of them out of a prison cell."

"Or a charge of breach of promise," Amanda suggested.

Sarek raised one eyebrow, inviting further explanation.

"I mean, having met Kirk and heard what people say about him, a dangerous woman could have been attempting to enforce a right to keep Kirk as her husband--casual kisses, normal in our culture, being regarded as a bond of engagement in theirs--and Kirk had to be bonded to someone else in order to put her off."

Sarek considered the scenario, and then nodded. "Indeed. And Spock--unwilling to lie--would have insisted on a genuine bonding ceremony."

"But," Amanda said, tipping her head to one side, "why couldn't he tell us that?"

"Lest she intercepted the communication?" Sarek suggested. "A woman from a planet capable of chasing the Enterprise in that fashion would have excellent communications, and be able to chase the BX-864, if she realised it was carrying a message. But even if she did so, she would find it more difficult to translate something which was not on computer."

"It seems plausible," Amanda agreed.

"But is it likely?"

"Well..." Amanda considered. "If I thought Kirk had promised to marry me, and then he didn't--I'd be annoyed about it."

Sarek watched her, and then asked, point-blank, "Are you physically attracted to Kirk?"

Amanda grinned--the closest Sarek ever got to showing jealousy was a question of that sort. "Not really, no," she said. "But he is handsome--objectively speaking."

"By human standards," Sarek admitted. "These are not the only options, however. There is a precedent for human male pregnancy."

"Trip Tucker?" Sarek nodded. "He didn't mate with a Vulcan, though, did he?"

"No," Sarek said, patiently, "but if Kirk--or for that matter Spock--had become pregnant with the child of an alien, and for whatever reason they were unwilling to perform an abortion (either through lack of knowledge--McCoy is not experienced in the area--or for some moral, ethical or other practical reason), they may have decided that it was preferable for both father and child if the father was bonded."

"The bonding ceremony doesn't give as much legal protection as a marriage, you said so yourself," Amanda replied.

"True--but Spock's bonding to Kirk, the captain, may provide as much protection in the circumstances as his marriage to any female crew member."

"You've assumed that Spock is the pregnant one," Amanda accused.

"If it was Kirk--and I admit that Kirk is the better known for mixing sexually with other races--then I conjecture that Spock was given some reason to feel responsible for the incident," Sarek said.

"I don't see how that would happen," Amanda said. "Surely Kirk is responsible for his own sexual adventures and potential mis-adventures? Thomas Ferdinand said Kirk was quite happy to take responsibility for giving his--Thomas's, I mean--girlfriend presents and... well, whatever else she wanted."

"Thomas Ferdinand?" Sarek enquired.

"A man I knew on Earth--his sister dated my brother for a while. He was at university with Kirk."

"I know the name," Sarek said. "He is a scientist, correct?"

"That's what he studied, yes," Amanda said.

"I suspect..." Sarek stood quickly, and went to the shelf where his past copies of science journals were neatly stacked. "Ah--yes. He took over the editorship of the Federation Science Journal in February this year."

Amanda's eyes glowed as she suddenly put this together. "That's why he doesn't trust the editor--because the editor has a grudge against Kirk, with whom he's just bonded..." Her voice was hushed with excitement, and there was a tense silence for a moment as they thought it through.

"But," Sarek said after a moment, "that still fails to tell us why they bonded."

"No," Amanda agreed, still thoughtful, and then she shrugged. "Why would it? Maybe their reason was more about diplomacy. Or about shipboard politics. Or..." she stood before Sarek, and reached out for his hand, "... maybe it was about being young and in love."

Amanda was no telepath, but her many years with Sarek had made her alert to all the subtle changes in his face. He was remembering, and smiling the tiniest amount--as he never would outside their home.

He nodded, and when she leaned forward, he permitted the kiss, but pulled back after only a few seconds.

"Surely," he said, "if Kirk was in trouble, someone other than Spock could be found to bond with him? There must be grave disadvantages in having bonded another man."

"And not of the same race, too." Amanda thought that over, and then added quickly, "Not that the problems are insurmountable, of course. But it's not what you might choose--there are human women on the ship."

Sarek considered the problem. "It is possible the Kirk needed to be bonded to someone who had the training to fight in a tight corner."

"I think they train Starfleet women exactly the same way they train men," Amanda said, frowning. "They certainly give them all basic combat skills."

"Equality is logical," Sarek agreed. "However..."

"Perhaps," Amanda said, cutting Sarek off, "they just wanted to be bonded."

Sarek looked at her without understanding.

"Like we did," she went on, smiling at him. "We were young, and--try as you might to make it a logical choice to promote good interracial relations--we were in love. A lot of people said it was a bad choice."

"It was logical," Sarek said, stiffly.

"And it was a good choice," Amanda replied, leaning forward again. "If my son's as happy with his choice as I am with mine," she whispered against Sarek's ear, "that's the best I could hope for."

Sarek, not given to declarations of love, reached out with two fingers of his right hand extended. Smiling, Amanda laid her fingers on top.