Myriad Universes 02_ Echoes and Refractions - Keith R. A. DeCandido [5]
Thelin was unyielding. “All right. Fine. Then it’s time for us to pursue other avenues. We’ll find an Aenar couple to bond with. We have discussed that possibility. The Aenar aren’t subject to the decrees of the Council. We could arrange a bonding entirely on our own, without interference, and begin right away.”
Thali snorted. “Honestly, Thelin…would we really want our children to have a blind, helpless zhavey trying to raise them?”
This, Thelin thought, was entirely uncalled for. He felt his frustration giving way to outright anger. “What are you saying? My zhavey was blind, and she raised me practically on her own!” His mother may have lacked sight, but like most Aenar she was also a telepath, enabling her to nurture him in ways that most other Andorians could never understand.
Thali sighed. “It doesn’t matter, Thelin. Don’t you think that my zhavey and I have looked into every possible option? She contacted the Aenar Ministry of Health more than a year ago. She even posted inquiries, trying to gauge the reception of potential Aenar mates. It seems that your work is quite well known among them.”
Thelin had no idea that such an effort had already been under way. He suddenly found himself bewildered as to why no positive news had been relayed to him concerning this. “And…?” he anxiously prompted her.
“The Aenar don’t trust you, Thelin. They aren’t convinced that your intentions at the Science Institute are in their best interests.”
“What are you talking about?!” Thelin shouted, feeling his blood beginning to boil with stunned outrage. “I gave up everything to come back here and try to help them! Everything!”
“I know,” Thali whispered, tears now streaming down her cheeks. “Starfleet was always everything to you. You’ve always looked back. Never forward; never embracing our efforts to build a new life together.”
For a moment he had no reply. “That’s not true,” he eventually blurted out, not at all convincingly. “I’ve supported you every step of the way.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “But it’s not about me, Thelin. It’s about us. I’m sorry, I just…I can’t do this anymore. I have to move on while I still have time. Zhavey has already withdrawn her appeal to the Elders and released you from our bond. She will contact you later to finalize everything.”
“Thali!” Thelin shouted, reaching out to grip the screen with both hands. “We can still talk about this! Don’t…”
“Good-bye, Thelin.” The screen blinked off, and her face was replaced with the emblem of the Science Institute.
Thelin picked up the screen and violently flung it from the desktop, smashing the housing and spilling the various electronic components from within onto the floor. As he did so, another loud thunderclap shook the room as the storm front intensified outside the building. He fell back into his chair, breathing heavily, waiting for the spell of rage to pass.
His mind was racing, his thoughts a chaotic maelstrom as he attempted to process what had just transpired. Had the last three years of his life truly been spent in vain? His resignation from Starfleet, his efforts using science to try to reconcile his two parent races…. Had it all been for nothing?
Andorians were taught from birth that they could not subsist as mere individuals. They had to be made whole. The shelthreth would provide that. But how could one become a whole vessel when he was unable to reconcile the two halves of his own self?
Minutes went by, and as the intensity of his emotions gradually began to diminish, similarly the questions surrounding his future came slowly into focus. Thali was right. He had come back to Andor out of a sense of obligation, to make right the wrongs of his own thavan, to honor the commitment to family that society demanded. But he already had a family-the only family he had