Post 329: Guinea Pig Part Three

Stardate: 70729.1700
Title: Guinea Pig Part Three
Author: Commander Salvek
Time: Immediately following Part Two
Scene: Inside Salvek's Mind
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"Greetings, Lair Kellyn." the doctor replied.

"How do you know my name?"

"Salvek knows your name."

"Of course." Kellyn had almost forgotten that the things taking place around her were memories of what Salvek had seen, that had been long repressed. Apparently not by Salvek's choice, from what she was seeing here. "What have you been doing to him?"

"I'm not supposed to discuss that with anyone."

Kellyn looked towards the ceiling, addressing her husband. "Please Salvek, remember, we are so close."

The room around Kellyn dissolved away, and Kellyn found herself in what looked like a doctor's office. The tall and short doctors were here, both much younger, along with several men wearing dress clothing, bearing the symbol of the Vulcan government.

Also in the room was Salvek, as a child. He huddled in the corner, appearing frightened of whatever was going on around him.

The tall doctor spoke.

"This child has just lost his parents, he is the perfect choice for the project. No one will be looking for him. We will be able to condition him for two years before the bonding."

"Are you certain this will work?"

"Not entirely certain, but the principles are sound. Pon farr is the last remaining vestige of emotion in our society. We are all in agreement that it needs to be eliminated, are we not?"

"I question the ethics of this proposition." One of the government officials spoke up. "You are suggesting we turn this child over to the medical community for research. Orphan or not, I do not think that is ethically justified."

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Another replied.

"Indeed. There is no doubt if your research is successful it will mean much to our people. How will you proceed?" A third chimed in.

"He will be conditioned to suppress the Pon farr process both psychologically and physically." the tall doctor explained. "Any memories of the procedures, even this conversation we are having now, will be buried deep in his mind so he will not remember them."

Kellyn could not believe what she was hearing. Salvek was basically going to be turned over by the government for use as a test subject in experiments to try to find a way to rid the Vulcans of Pon farr. Her heart ached for him, knowing the things they must have put him through.

It all made sense to her now, the intensity of this Pon farr, the internal struggle raging inside him as he fought to recall memories he did not even know he had.

Once again the scene around Kellyn changed. She stood now with T’Elani, Salvek’s first mate, at the bonding site on Vulcan.

"Who are you really? What went wrong?" Kellyn asked.

"They underestimated Salvek. When the time for the bonding came, the blood fever overwhelmed the conditioning they had put into him."

"So Salvek was bonded to you?"

"No, Lair Kellyn. I was recruited to help cover their mistake; I was their backup plan. They conditioned me with memories of bonding with Salvek, which I would place into his mind through the meld in case their research failed. The memories Salvek has of us are nothing more then figments of his imagination. The doctors did this to protect themselves from the backlash against the medical community and government if Salvek ever remembered and revealed what happened to him."

"And they did this to him EVERY seven years after he came of age?"

"Indeed. When the time came, Salvek would return to the appointed place. The Doctors would take him to the lab and summon me to once again place memories in his mind. When the process was complete they would suppress his memories of the entire procedure and return him to the bonding place."

"But, if his memories told him that he was bonded to you, then why, when he met me, did he. . ." Kellyn asked, stunned.

"The measures they had put into place to physically suppress Pon farr in Salvek were failing, and the medical researchers knew it. They gave up on their experiment and sealed all records of what they had done. The last time he was at their facility, they implanted memories in him that I had perished. They knew that after seven years passed, he would have to take a mate or he would die. He met you at the point in time when it became imperative for him to choose and bond with a real mate."

"Then I am..."

"You are the first Lair Kellyn. Salvek’s first, true love. His memories will return to him now. This will not be an easy time for either of you."

T'Elani bowed respectfully to Kellyn, and vanished. Kellyn felt her mind withdraw from Salvek's, and opened her eyes, to see their quarters around her. His hands fell from her face, and his eyes fluttered open.

"What have they done to you, Salvek?" Kellyn asked shaking her head.

"Thank you, my wife. I feel as if a great veil has been lifted from my eyes."

"But they treated you like an animal."

"Indeed, that is a demon I must face in my own time, but the truth has already soothed the torment in my soul. Right now I desire only your companionship, my first."

Salvek leaned forward, kissing her gently.

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Commander Salvek
Acting First Officer
USS Independence