Spock's World

Introduction (blurb)
"I am Spock...I hold the rank of Commander in the Starfleet of the United Federation of Planets; I serve as First Officer of the Starship Enterprise. I am the son of two worlds.  Of Earth, whose history is an open book...and of Vulcan, whose secrets have lain hidden beneath its burning sands...Until now..."

It is the twenty-third century. On the planet Vulcan, a crisis of unprecedented proportions has caused the convocation of the planet's ruling council - and summoned the USS Enterprise from halfway across the galaxy, to bring Vulcan's most famous son home in its hour of need. As Commander Spock, his father Sarek, and Captain James T. Kirk struggle to preserve the very future of the Federation, the innermost secrets of the planet Vulcan are laid before us, from its beginnings millions of years ago to its savage prehistory, from merciless tribal warfare to medieval court intrigue, from the exploration of space to the development of c'thia - the ruling ethic of logic.

And Spock - torn between his duty to Starfleet and the unbreakable ties that bind him to Vulcan - must find a way to reconcile both his own inner conflict and the external dilemma his planet faces...lest the Federation itself be ripped asunder.

Summary
Ambassador Sarek is summoned back to Vulcan because one of the houses of the Vulcan legislature has voted to take the planet out of the United Federation of Planets. The High Council has decided this important issue must be debated and voted on by the population. T'Pau summons Kirk, Spock, McCoy and several others to also speak at the debates.

The Enterprise, which has been undergoing reprovisioning at Earth, sets out once all crew are aboard, and they fly to Vulcan, where Kirk and McCoy are received very rudely by a young Vulcan who supports secession.

McCoy develops suspicions of who is behind the secession movement, and traces it to Spock's former wife, T'Pring, and her support of various small splinter groups. She is financing the movement from the money she expects to make from groups expecting to buy, at low bids, Federation public property on Vulcan.

Meanwhile, the book also details Vulcan history, starting with the planet's formation and jumping to the early hominid species living in a lush, comfortable environment and slowly acquiring a language of words to supplement their telepathic imagery. Then, their star, Vulcan's sun, undergoes a serious malfunction, swells, and burns away the forests, melts the ice caps and kills nearly every living thing on the planet. As the Vulcan species arises to a tribal existence of family groups, they huddle in small family groups near the few water springs, eking out a difficult living.

One tribe has developed a mutation of eyes with an inner eyelid, and they successfully take a fortress with cascading water from a rich spring; their leader in battle forms a strategic alliance to share "the eye" with other tribes, and slowly, more alliances spread advantageous physical traits through the species, including such traits as an ability to sense the presence of metal in the ground, for Vulcan is metal poor.

Eventually, they have reached a stage of civilization where they are attempting to construct a spaceship to fly to the twin-planet T'Khut, which has metal laying on its surface, but there is a five decade delay because of a family incident resulting in one member killing many others with mind power.

Eventually, the history reaches the time of Surak. There has never been a time in recorded history that more than 10 percent of Vulcan was not at war. Surak is stunned to see a new weapon tested by his nation at proving grounds on T'Khut, and retreats into the desert to think, meet a sub-surface creature of great intelligence, and then begin writing. Surak eventually wins large numbers of disciples and logic sweeps the planet, while others reject his reforms and choose to construct spaceships and leave to seek another homeworld to settle -- they become the Romulans.

A young man named Sarek is appointed by T'Pau to serve at the Vulcan embassy on Earth, a new ally, and to explore and experience the planet and send her reports. Eventually, Sarek is made the cultural attache at the embassy, and he meets Amanda Grayson. Together, they are involved in the universal translator project, and ultimately, they get married. Vulcan geneticists study how they may have a child and undertake the necessary planning and then produce an embryo from Sarek and Amanda's genetic material.

Sarek is one of the first to speak and he is expected to speak in favour of secession, because early in his career he supported Vulcan autonomy.

Now back in the present, McCoy, Spock and Kirk each have their turn at speaking to the debates, but Kirk is interrupted by news that T'Pau is critically ill. They attend her and she dies, but not before she instructs Sarek to make public the information about T'Pring's schemes.

The debates end and the voting begins. One full Vulcan day later, the voting stops and the results strongly oppose secession.

Characters
Lia Burke | Amanda Grayson | Naraht | Sarek | S'task | Surak | Harb Tanzer | T'Leia | Ingrit Tomson | T'Pau

Starships and vehicles
USS Enterprise (Constitution-class)

Locations
Luna | ShiKahr | T'Khut | Vulcan

Races and Culture
A'Tha | Guidelines‎ | Sulamid | Tcha'besheh | Vulcan

States and organizations
Inshai Compact | Planetary Confederation of 40 Eridani | Vulcan Medical Association | United Federation of Planets | Yhri‎

Others
Ahkh‎ | Age of Expansion | Antimatter weapon | "Diasporan" | Da'Nikhirch | Eugenics | President of the United States of America | Rule of Silences | Vulcan language | Withdrawal‎