At the tactical station, the Assistant Chief Security Officer ran another scan, nothing to note. Vulcan had avoided much of the chaos that the war with the Dominion had brought, though it was only logical to be prepared for any eventuality. T’Val was anxious, though she did not show it. Returning to Vulcan and once more to a family that did not approve of her leaving her educational background behind to join Starfleet. It was another chance for a lecture on parental disappointment. Not that the Vulcan showed the tension, as with most of her kind she buried it deep, and instead exuded a detached indifference to their destination.

Similar in her outward appearance of detached calm was T’Leya at Ops. Having nothing to do in the immediate, her relevant tasks all zipped up and ready, she watched the viewscreen with interest for a view of the planet that should have been some sort of home but was yet so unfamiliar to her.

As the ship dropped out of warp, Farl Ferrus immediately engaged the ship’s suite of active sensors. He knew tactical was looking for ships, but Farl was more interested in checking for scientific anomalies. So far as they knew, the Dominion didn’t possess cloaking technology, nor did they have any kind of super-advanced warp drives, so there was no reason to think they had a trick up their sleeve… but it was good to be sure. Technological innovation can strike at any moment, so there was never any guarantee their enemy wouldn’t immediately exploit a new development. Still, scans showed the Vulcan system to be as normal as it always was, so Farl shrugged and relaxed his shoulders. That done, he looked up at the view screen to take in the sights. He loved seeing different starships, so he took a moment to look around at the system’s occupants.

Being extra cautious, the Denver dropped out of warp just inside the edge of the Vulcan solar system. It would give them the time so that surprise would still be on their side. “Dropping to half-impulse. Time to Vulcan, three hours, twelve minutes.” Arin Jones commented per SOP.

“No sense in delaying shore leave Ms. Jones,” Rebecca announced without looking up from her report. “Maintain full impulse.”

“Full impulse. ”Aye, Captain.” Arin said as her fingers made the adjustment to their speed.

Riandri showed her agreement with a quick nod, “We could also use the break, Mr Jeter, double check the shore leave rota and send all crew. I expect most people will want to stretch their legs pretty quickly.”

“Not a problem commander, I was working on it already. It will be shared shortly,” Jeter responded.

“If it is of assistance I shall volunteer to remain aboard to facilitate a minimum number of necessary hands,” T’Leya offered Jeter.

Jeter looked over to T’Leya, “I appreciate the offer Lieutenant and I will take you up on that; I expect we will have a full engineer team going over the ship anyways but someone needs to watch over them. Everyone will still have time to get their boats on the ground.”

After what seemed like an eternity the orange ball of Ni’var, colloquially called Vulcan started growing large on the viescreen. Ships of every conceivable size, design, and structure from all over the Alpha Quadrant darted about. Starbase 3 was a large station of Vulcan architecture, but still tiny in compassion of the Spacedock class Starbase One that orbited Earth.

“Ms Jones slow to one-quarter impulse. Lt. T’Leya contact orbital control and request approach vectors and docking instruction,” Rebecca announced.

Arin replied, “Slowing to one-quarter impulse, Captain.”

“Yes Captain,* T’Leya replied and once vectors were obtained passed them over to Arin’s console. Arriving at Vulcan was an experience that elicited various mixed emotions which, being Vulcan T’Leya was immediately aware of and she kept them well in check. It was reassuring and easy to be surrounded by many of her own species, and yet Vulcan was not really her home. She fit in, yet she also didn’t. Apprehension was the strongest of the emotions T’Leya kept thoroughly subdued, but with a minute frown of pointed brow she made a note of this experience and continued her work.

Riandri smiled slightly watching the planet steadily grow larger on the screen as she recalled her years spent on Ni’var. With a sideways glance to the Captain that she couldn’t help she said, “Let’s hope for no abductions this time.”

“That was Earth,” Rebecca said with a smirk. “This time it’s Vulcan.”

“Statistically there is no significant amount of abductions on Vulcan,” the Assistant Chief Security Officer said, “Though of course will remain vigiliant.”

Riandri just smiled at that inwardly, “Always a good course of action. It will be good to have the crew able to get some fresh air.”

Emimi Qetax nodded, “Being off a ship can be therapeutic. Though hopefully the rather sedate Vulcans aren’t offended by our crew, we can be rather rambunctious.”

Farl turned his head slightly, to throw his voice towards the others instead of his console. “What kind of trouble can one really get into on Ni’Var? I would assume the general nature of the population would limit opportunities for… high jinks.” Farl stifled a smile as he turned back to his panel, now lost in his imagination of a human crew playing practical jokes on the unsuspecting Vulcan civilians.

“There are a few large sections near Earth embassy, that cater more to alien species. Sadly, you are about a millennium too late for Vulcan fun.” Arin said. “Rumarie was the last Vulcan pagan fest. Think of a very adult beach party and you get the idea.” She made a waah-waah sound as a sad reply. “Though that doesn’t mean we can’t have our own version.” 

“Not sure what you are looking for, Farl. Klingon pub crawls are probably out.” Arin said teasingly. 

“No no, I’ll pass on the bloodwine, thank you. I can’t have the doctor thinking all I’m good for are near-death experiences, strong alcohol, and a mixture of both.” Farl replied with a grin. “Actually, I’m only planning on hitting up the Vulcan Science Academy. I’ve been sending them some of my research for months, which they have ignored. I’m hoping a little visit will elicit a response. I could really use some outside assistance…” Farl trailed off, realizing he was dangerously close to launching into a monologue about some niche stellar phenomena.

Riandri laughed a little at that, “A good call, a Klingon pub crawl is not something I would ever recommend….”

“I expect there’s not a lot of Klingon bars on Vulcan,” Rebecca observed, though she had never spent a lot of time on the planet.

Riandri smirked slightly. “True, there aren’t many, but there is one in ShiKahr, though that was many years ago.”

As she finished speaking she glanced at the display on the arm of her chair. “Their space control system should be reaching out to us any moment Captain.”

As if on queue the comms system chimed,. ‘USS Denver. This is Vulcan Space Control. Please prepare for orbital insertion at the following coordinates

Arin Acknowledged the comm. “Space Control, this is the Denver, coordinates received and inputted.”

‘From all of Vulcan, we bid you welcome.”

Rebecca glanced at Riandri and gave her a slight smile, “Take us in Ms. Jones.  Operations secure all stations and prepare mooring clamps.”