The Victor

By Elise Deal

“”This is intolerable,” Sarek asserted.

“Intolerable?” Amanda echoed, an edge of anger creeping into her voice.

Sarek nodded. “Perhaps I should use a term you are more familiar with. This is asinine.”

At that insult, Amanda’s face flushed red with anger. “You dare to call my video choice asinine,” she yelled, “after I sat through Shitake Mushrooms: The Best of Fungi last week?”

Sarek’s brows drew together over his eyes. “That video was highly informative,” he defended his choice of entertainment.

“Oh, please,” Amanda cried, “so is a stop sign, but that doesn’t make it interesting.”

His frown deepened. Sarek of Vulcan was the best orator and debater in the Federation, possibly in the known galaxy, but he could never seem to best Amanda. He never knew how to counter her statements and, thus, was constantly off-kilter. She did not argue fairly. She fought…illogically.

“Amanda,” he softened his tone, trying another tack, “you must admit that the plot was most predictable if one was foolish enough to overlook the patent illogic of the story-line in the first place. The ‘“special effects’” were hardly so, and the impossibility of the script as a whole should have effected the writer’s immediate banishment from his or her profession.”

Her lower lip protruding in an almost pout, Amanda stood firm with her choice. “King Kong is considered a classic.”

“A classic?” he asked sarcastically. “A giant ape falls in love with a human woman, so much so that he abducts her, climbs a tall building, and falls to his death?”

Stated so plainly and from a common-sense point of view, Amanda was forced, at least in her own mind, to half-way agree with him. But that didn’t mean she was going to let him know.

“Well, you agreed to watch it with me,” she replied, “so you have no one to blame but yourself.”

//From whence came this line of argument?// “When you told me we were to watch King Kong, I presumed it to be a historical account of a monarch,” he replied.

Unable to respond to such a Vulcan-like statement and unwilling to laugh and let him know he’d won, Amanda made the only logical choice for a reply. Snatching up one of the throw pillows from the sofa, she whapped him quite soundly.

Sarek sat in stunned disbelief. She had assaulted him. With a pillow. “You assaulted me,” he announced the obvious.

Amanda grinned now and belted him with the pillow a second time.

Sarek blinked and blinked again. He could not believe Amanda had now assaulted him twice with a pillow. Was this some type of ancient Earth challenge to do battle? There will not be a third such attack, he vowed.

But before he could complete this promise to himself, Amanda launched her third attack, hitting him squarely atop his head. Unfortunately, and to his utter amazement, the pillow burst its over-stuffed seams causing the immediate release of hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny down feathers to explode forth.

Amanda squealed with delighted surprise and giggled loudly.

Sarek sat bewildered for a moment. //On Earth, they say to ‘fight fire with fire’,// he thought to himself. //In this case, I infer that I must fight illogic with illogic.//

Moving quickly in order to gain the element of surprise while his opponent was laughing herself silly, Sarek grabbed the remaining pillow and launched an attack of his own. Three separate blows in rapid succession rained down upon Amanda, bursting the second pillow as well and sending a cascade of feathers around her head.

Curbing her initial shock, Amanda leapt to her feet and continued the battle with zeal. Sarek, fighting off her renewed assault, gained his feet as well and launched a counter-attack aimed at ending her resistance.

No matter how hard he tried, Sarek was unable to stop Amanda’s swinging pillow, emptied now of most of its feathers. He was able, however, to force her to retreat as he blocked her every hit.

Around the living area, she backed slowly away from Sarek, laughing all the while, as he parried her swings. The entire apartment was soon covered in feathers as the couple fought their way around the room.

“Give up yet?” she yelled, spitting feathers.

Eyebrow raised, Sarek answered, “When I am winning?”

“Oh, yeah?” she queried as she broke and ran down the hallway.

Dropping his pillow, Sarek sprinted after her, catching her as she reached the bedroom door. He tackled her, but broke the fall as she fell beneath him to the floor. He grasped her tiny wrists in one hand and stretched her arms above her head, pinning her beneath him.

“I am the victor,” he stated proudly. Then, remembering long ago such mock-battlesgames he had played with his brother, Silek, Sarek could not resist ordering her to admit her defeat. “Say it,” he told her. “Say I am the victor.”

“I’m the victor,” she laughed beneath him.

He could feel her breasts heaving against his chest as she laughed, and his eyes darkened with desire. It is not near my Time, and yet I burn for this woman. What is wrong with me? He seemed to be losing control of himself.

“On Vulcan in ancient times, a warrior was forced to fight for the right to mate with the female of his choice. Often the fight was to the death,” he told her as his voice deepened.

Her eyes widened as she took in his words. Desire coursed through her, and she could tell that his control was precarious. Something in their playmock battle had roused his blood. “What happened if the warrior won?” she asked breathlessly.

Sarek leaned back, pulling himself away from her and pressed his free hand against her heart. His eyes broke from her blue eyes and traveled to where his thumb was brushing against her nipples, making ithem stand taut. “The warrior would then possess his mate,” he spoke softly.

Slowly his eyes moved back up to meet hers, and his hand roamed boldly downward towardsuntil he held her sex cupped in her sexis hand. What am I doing? How have I allowed myself to be drawn into this illogical situation? Sarek’s hands trembled as the modern, logical Vulcan fought with the primitive Vulcan inside him. Almost, it seemed, of its own volition, his hand continued downward until he cupped her sex.

Amanda could feel the heat of his hand burning against her most private parts, but it was nothing to the heat she felt as his eyes burned into hers.

“Shall I possess you, Amanda?” he asked. His words were like embers burning her thoughts as well.

Amanda swallowed, wet her lips with anticipation, and made the only response she could. “You are the victor,.” she whispered, barely able to hear her own words.

Sarek’s face and his grip on her wrists relaxed, and Amanda could almost swear he smiled. Quickly, now that she had her arms again, she reached up and pulled his face down to hers.

Sarek, inunexperienced with such a gesture, allowed her to kissed him while he busied himself with unbuttoning and removing her blouse. Human or Vulcan was of no consequence. Logical or irrational thought was of no importance. Males ofr either species, it seemed, were fascinated with a female’s breasts. And Sarek was most definitely male.

Amanda deepened the kiss, taking his mind away from the onerous task of locating and undoing buttons without tearing the delicate fabric of her blouse. Her hands, innocent of Vulcan psimind meld positions, held his face on either side, forming a tentative meld.

As Sarek touched her mind gently, wave after wave of love swept over him. He was staggered, shocked to the core, at the depths of her feelings for him. And the most frightening aspect of it all was that he felt the same for her. The knowledge that he possessed such love for this woman completely unnerved the great ambassador. The heir to the house of Surak should have better control of his emotions, shouldn’t he?

It does not matter, he argued with himself fiercely. This woman is mine. I am the victor!

By now, Amanda’s blouse was gone as was her undergarment. Sarek’s trousers were nearly removed as well. When and how they came to such a state of near undress, neither of them would ever be able to explain. They only knew something life -altering had occurred during Amanda’s kiss, and neither of them would ever be the same again.

When Sarek’s mouth left Amanda’s, she gave a cry of disappointment, but it soon turned to one of joy as his lips pressed against her breasts. Her fingers twined in his hair and tickled the tips of his sensitive ears.

Ears aso sensitive as his had no trouble recognizing the sounds of someone entering the apartment. Breaking away from Amanda, Sarek sat up, urging Amanda to silence.

“Hello, Amanda?” the cry of Silek carried throughout the place. “Are you home?” The polite greeting immediately turned to one of alarm as Silek took in the sight of the feather-covered apartment. “Amanda, are you here? Are you safe?”

Sarek and Amanda wrestled themselves back into their clothing and hurried back to the main room.

“I’m here, Silek,” Amanda called as she rushed into the living area. She cringed with embarrassments when she saw the condition of the room and wondered how it must appear to Sarek’s brother.

Silek turned to her, his eyebrows raised. “You are…” H- hHe paused, his eyes narrowing as they examined her appearance.- “…well?”

“Yes,” she smiled thinly. “Oh, you mean the feathers.” She gestured about the room. “A couple of sofa pillows burst.”

Nodding as if such wasere an every day occurrence. “Of course,” he replied. Then as his elder brother Sarek, frowning like a bad-tempered le-matya, entered the room, he cried out. “Brother! What has happened?”

Silek was shocked that Sarek’s usual impeccable grooming had vanished. His brother’s hair was a riot of curls, and – cCould that possibly be feathers that adorned the great ambassador’s hair? Feathers in his hair were the least of Sarek’s problems. Flicking his gaze downward, Silek noted that his proud brother had feathers caught in the fastening of his trousers. Eyes widening and eyebrows shooting skyward, Silek fought the urge to laugh.

Ignoring his brother’s concerned question, Sarek confronted Amanda. “Why does my brother possess the access codes to your apartment?”

“Oh.” Amanda swallowed hardword. For a moment she simply stared at Sarek, unsure of whether or not she should be angry. Deciding against anger, Amanda explained, “You gave Silek and me the responsibility for translating the counter offered made by the Andorians concerning the potential manganese trade deal.”

“Continue,” he stated brusquely.

“Do you remember last week, when the Tellaerite ambassador called to question you about some of the conditions of the proposal? Well, that only meants that someone who had access to the embassy and our offices was leaking that information.”

Sarek’s frowned deepened. “Yes,” he growled. “We have not yet found the source of the information leak. That still does not explain how it is that my brother has possession of the access code for your apartment,” -hHe turned to face Silek coolly,. – “nor why he feels the need to enter here without permission.”

Sighing gently, Amanda continued. “We thought it would be better to house all relevant data on the dealis here at my place. No one could have access to the information here except Silek and myself. That’s the only reason why he has the code.”

Sarek’s His frown relaxed and he as Sarek noddednodded. “That would seem a logical reason.”

“And we have left false information in our offices in order to feed the information leak incorrect facts. We hope, in this way, to find the culprit,” Silek added.

“That, too, is a logical course to take,” Sarek agreed. “However,” h– His frown returned,. – “that does not explain why you felt you could enter these premises without permission.”

Silek nodded. “I beg forgiveness,” he said sincerely. “I was returning a video that I had borrowed earlier in the week.” He held out a data chip.

Amanda took it. “I don’t mind, Silek,” she told him. “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have given you the code, but please ring or knock before entering next time, all right?” She smiled.

“I will do so,” Silek promised. He then turned to his brother. “Sarek, your aide , Selek, is searching for you. Amanda’s and my plan for discovering the identity of the informant has succeeded. Selek has the guilty party in custody now. I think perhaps you and Amanda should return to the embassy with me.” Silek paused. “Of course, I would recommend that you combgroom your hair and remove the feathers from your trouser fastenings before you leave here.”

Sarek sighed deeply and frowned fiercely at his younger brother, and then, without a word, walked quicklytreaded heavily towards the cleaning facilities.

Amanda would have dared to giggle at this if Silek had not turned to her with a twinkle of amusement in this eye. “Amanda, I hope you will forgive me for being so bold, but I feel I must point out that your blouse is inside out and that there are a few feathers in your, ah, cleavage.”

“Oh, my!” Amanda cried out, red faced. Mustering what she could of her dignity, she added, “Would you excuse me a moment?” Walking with admirable poise, she walked down the hallway to her bedroom.

***

Interrogating the suspect had been along and tedious business. The hour was now well past midnight. As the embassy security officers led the culprit away, Sarek dismissed everyone. Everyone except Amanda. He walked her to the transporter in the basement of the embassy.

“Amanda,” he spoke softly. He was nervous again. I have spoken before millions. Why is it that this one small human female makes me unsettled? He took off his formal outer robe and hung it over his arm. “This evening has not gone well. For that, I must apologize.”

Amanda smiled as one tiny feather swirled out of his robe and landed on Sarek’s chest. “Oh, Sarek, it wasn’t your fault. There’s no need to apologize.”

The edges of his mouth lifted slightly as he turned to face her. “If you would permit me, I would very much like to see you again. We could watch another video,” he suggested. “One that neither of us has chosen.”

“Oh? That sounds intriguing,” Amanda replied. “And whose choice shall we watch?”
“While security was questioning you, my brother suggested a video for us to watch. It seems Silek has acquired a taste for old Earth videos.”

Amanda’s smile widened. “That sounds great. What did Silek choose for us?”

“I believe it is a religious movie entitled God Zilla,” Sarek told her. “I know that you were raised in a very religious family. I trust this movie will not offend you.”

Swallowing her laughter, Amanda forced herself to stay calm. She quickly stepped on the transporter platform. Now she could look him in the eye. “No, no, I don’t think I’ll be offended,” she told him with her best poker face in place.

“Then I shall see you tonight? At 6:00?” he asked.

Reaching out, Amanda picked the tiny feather from his chest and handed it to him. “Whatever you want; after all, you are the victor,” she whispered to him as the transporter effect caught her.