Chapter 1: Artistic Value

T'Pol closed the communiqué and found it hard to reign in the frustration. Two years of thorough research had gone to waste, because due to her isolation from the home world while serving on the human vessel, she had not received the scientific bulletins that would have informed her about Doctor T'Lera's progress in researching micro-singularities.

Her extensive paper on the subject had therefore not received the scientific attention she had hoped for. Instead of presenting a breakthrough on the subject, her findings had merely substantiated and validated the results of her fellow scientist. Although many would consider it an unseemly emotional indulgence, T'Pol was not satisfied being second. She needed a field of endeavor that would be guaranteed not to be explored by someone else.

The obvious choice would of course be a topic involving humans and their behavior, but to her surprise there were already many studies about the emotional allies of Vulcan and the social interaction between them. Many of those studies were less that thorough and poorly substantiated, but extending and correcting them would make her be second yet again and that was totally unacceptable.

Even without researching every detail of human nature, she had soon noticed that two prominent facets of humanity were completely absent in the Vulcan database – religious beliefs and human sexuality. This was highly intriguing as they were obviously major factors in what defined humanity.

While religion had apparently lost much of its importance in the aftermath of Earth's World War III, it had been the reason for many violent conflicts in recent centuries. Studying the subject would however be difficult as the crew members with active religious beliefs were a very small minority and she would therefore be restricted in the amount of data she would be able to collect.

What she would have data for in bountiful abundance was research on human sexuality and, unlike religion, the intimate interaction between humans was a very current fact of human life. The recent incident involving the heiress apparent of Krios Prime was testament that humans did need intimate contact and were obviously not prepared to restrict themselves to their own species to have their tensions eased.

While it would be ninety-nine point nine percept guaranteed that no other Vulcan scientist would pursue this field of research, if nothing else for lack of willing test subjects, she would also have to overcome the reasons for her fellow scientists omitting such research so far. She would have to engage in sexual relations with humans. While most Vulcans would consider engaging in sexual relations for any other purpose than procreation or surviving the blood fever a distasteful and vulgar indulgence, it would be seen in scientific circles as a necessary empiric evaluation of her theories.

In a way she would continue a family tradition. Her mother was an esteemed expert on matters pertaining Vulcan mating practices and had – for her research – mated with at least thirty different Vulcan males, varying in ancestry, build, experience and age. To preserve her privacy, details about her research methods were of course classified, but none of her colleagues would have considered the necessary practical validations of her hypotheses deviant in any way.

It would therefore be logical that she would mate with humans to substantiate her results. In Commander Tucker she would certainly find a willing test subject and perhaps it would help eradicate those unidentifiable and disagreeable foreign emotions she was subjected to, whenever she thought of the fact that the human and the disagreeable Kriosian female had mated with each other.

Although it was a completely unseemly thought, she experienced a certain irritation that, since the Commander was obviously interested in intimate contact with alien females, he had not even discussed or practiced the matter with the one alien female he had known for a long time – herself.

Phlox's face was split by a wide smile when he noticed the identity of his guest. He had seen this look of mild apprehension and insecurity on Subcommander T'Pol's face before. It usually meant that she had the need for explanation, usually about some facets of human behavior she did not understand or – quite often recently – the behavior of a specific human, the ship's chief engineer. In most cases unusually enlightening conversations would develop over the topic and he had gained more inside into Vulcans and their behavior as a result.

"What can I help you with, Subcommander?" His smile went even wider.

"Doctor, is it possible that we convene in your office? My request is of a most private nature."

He indicated towards his small office and closed the door once they were inside. He sat down and looked at her expectantly. With her privacy ensured her apprehension subsided visibly.

"Doctor, I intend to study human sexuality in both theoretical and practical manners and I would be grateful for any guidance you may offer."

"A very interesting field of endeavor," the Denobulan answered. "May I suggest you ask Commander Tucker for assistance? He appears to be the human with the most ... interest in the matter, shall we say?"

She did not comment on his suggestion, but the slight blush made it obvious that the young Vulcan had considered that train of thought before.

"I was interested in medical details, anatomical differences or health risks, doctor."

"Oh, I would not be concerned about that," the doctor said. "Humans and Vulcans cannot conceive without intervention by genetic engineering, so you don't need to be concerned about an unwanted pregnancy. Except for very minor details, humans and Vulcans are anatomically perfectly compatible. The only noticeable difference is that the genitalia of most human males are slightly larger than those of a Vulcan, so you should make sure that whomever you engage in intercourse with applies the necessary finesse to avoid pain or even injury."

"Thank you doctor," she said dryly, her eyes cast down on her PADD to maintain a professional distance to this immensely intimate topic. "Is there any advice you can give me in regards to starting my research. As a Denobulan you might be better qualified to advise me on the matter."

The smile returned to his face.

"I would not quite rush into the practical details, Subcommander. It would help to first seek understanding of how humans approach the subject and what it means to them. I would start with researching the context of eroticism in an artistic context to understand the importance of the subject. If you need visual guidance on practical techniques; there is an artistic genre called pornography – although the term art applies rather loosely in this context. There are pertinent recordings in the ship's entertainment database, they can be ... volatile, even overwhelming, but also ... most enlightening."