"Kirk to shuttle one, where are you?!"

"ETA 40 seconds, Captain," Sulu replied. "What is your situation?"

"Still under attack!"

Kirk glanced over his shoulder to see the Nakarii continuing to chase them through the long grass, firing phaser-style weapons at their backs. Running through the dense brush was slowing down the fleeing Starfleet officers, but the natives were used to it, and thus gaining quickly.

Spock ran directly behind and just slightly to the side of the Captain, reining in his greater speed to protect Kirk. The three security officers ran behind him, doing the same for their First Officer and the other crewmembers.

"I still hate this!" McCoy shouted, and Kirk grinned (just a tiny bit).

"I know you do!" he shouted back.

Phaser fire from above them pulled their gazes to the arriving shuttle. Sulu was the best pilot in the fleet; though it had almost been beyond his skill to get a shuttle through the oddly virulent atmosphere of the planet, he'd still managed to arrive just in time.

The phaser bursts from the shuttle vaporized a large area of the grass and pulled the pursuing Nakarii up short, their leader holding up a hand to halt her warriors. She eyed the craft as it hovered protectively over the landing party and then shouted a command to her people.

They all entered the clearing and dropped to the exposed ground, sitting on their feet with their heads bowed and their hands on their knees, weapons forgotten. Struggling to catch his breath, Kirk looked at the gasping Uhura.

"What did she say?"

"I think she just told them to surrender, Sir," was the breathless reply.

"Sound off; anybody hurt?"

Replies of "Negative," "I'm fine, Jim," and "Okay here, Captain," from his friends and simple "No Sir's" from his security team brought Kirk a relief that made him tremble for just a moment. He looked at his officers and then back at the natives, thinking. "Okay, stand down, but stay alert," he said after a moment, pulling out his communicator. "Kirk to shuttle one, Sulu, land but keep those phasers on standby."

"Aye Captain," came the reply. The shuttle repositioned and then carefully landed, flattening more grass as it came to rest next to the landing party. Two more security officers jumped out, Sulu with them. Through the shuttle viewport a third security officer could be seen hovering by the weapons control board of the shuttle.

"Are you all right, Captain?" Sulu asked.

"Yeah, we're good." A voice speaking words he did not understand brought him around, phaser lifting again slightly. One of the Nakarii was having a passionate argument with the leader; Kirk didn't know what was being said, but the exchange reminded him vividly of every time he wanted to do something reckless and Spock absolutely didn't. Gesturing to Uhura, he walked the several yards to where their former pursuers knelt.

The woman looked resigned, but the man appeared to panic at their approach. Lurching to his feet (and making the Enterprise officers train their phasers on him) he planted himself in front of his leader and threw himself at Kirk's feet. The man's face was anguished, his eyes begging as they met Kirk's.

"Vatarai," he said, his voice breaking. "Vatarai…" From the side Uhura translated.

"He said please, Captain."

"Please what?"

"I have no idea."

The woman snapped a command at her subordinate, who drew himself up again very, very slowly, kneeling once more behind her, beside another woman whose eyes were fixed on Kirk. Her gaze was wounded and furious, and the old phrase 'if looks could kill' drifted through his mind at the sight.

Haltingly, the leader spoke.

"I may die now?" Kirk was thunderstruck.

"Taa'vik," the other woman said softly. The leader cast a brief smile over her shoulder at the other, and then spoke again.

"Apology. May I die now?"

"Die? Who said anything about dying? Are you injured? Bones!" The doctor immediately dropped to the woman's side and began scanning her. She eyed the tricorder almost curiously, a hint of wariness in the narrowing of her brows.

"Nothing wrong with her that I can tell, Jim," McCoy said. "No obvious bleeding or anything, but I don't know much about their biological makeup."

The woman reached out and gestured to the tricorder with the back of her hand.

"This die?"

"What?"

Moving slowly, her eyes fixed on Kirk's, she loosely wrapped her fingers around McCoy's hand and pulled the edge of the tricorder against her throat.

"Die now?"

"Ashta!" the man said from behind her, his voice bleeding an agony that transcended language. The other woman wrapped an arm around his back, her glare intensifying.

Suddenly, Kirk got it, and he dropped to his knees as well, pulling the tricorder away from her throat, as Bones was still staring at her in shock.

"We're not going to kill you," he said slowly, clearly, hoping she could understand. Uhura translated the message from off on the side. Many of the Nakarii glanced around at each other nervously, and the woman's face paled dramatically.

"Vatarai," she begged. "Please. I die. They live." Kirk was silent for a moment, trying to understand why she was so intent on dying, and his pause upset her further. She yanked at the collar of her tunic and pulled her braided hair to the side, baring her throat. She even tilted her head to expose herself further.

"We're not killing you!" He insisted, and she shuddered, her eyes shimmering with the barest hint of tears.

"Please!" She threw her arms out in supplication. "My responsibility. My people. I give all your desire. They live."

My crew…All I ask is that you spare them. I'll do anything you want, just please, let them live.

Now Kirk understood, and tear burned behind his eyes as well. Uhura sniffed. The woman must have seen the dismay in his eyes, the continued refusal to end her life, and she turned to those gathered with her.

"Ratak van," she said sadly. Someone in the small crowd sobbed.

Kirk recognized that too, and the apology only made the memory that much more vivid.

"Uhura help me," Kirk said, reaching out and seizing the woman by the shoulders, turning her to face him again. "Vatarai," he said forcefully, "listen. Your people will live. We did not come to kill." She frowned, glancing at Uhura as though she was uncertain she'd understood his words correctly. The translation widened her eyes as she looked at Kirk again. On impulse he removed his rank insignia and held it out to her on an upraised palm.

"No die? People live? I live?"

"Everyone lives. We wanted friendship, knowledge, trade. Peace. Vatarai?" When the translation came, the woman laughed, then reached out and took the proffered gift.

"Yes."

She pulled herself to her feet, fastening her tunic once more and turning to her people. She said something to them which shattered the tension like fragile glass, the shards felt in the hysterical edge to the relieved laughter of some, and the occasional sob of others. The Nakarii rose, looking decidedly friendlier than they had an hour before.

Smiling, the woman looked at the two who'd knelt behind her, the smile on her face not quite covering the pain of the last several minutes in her eyes. She opened her arms, and they both ran into her embrace. The other woman looked over her leader's shoulder at Kirk, who'd risen to his feet as well.

"My sister," she said softly through her tears. "Thank you."

"You are very welcome."

Hey all!

Starting a bit of a 'drabble' series…not sure the 'chapters' are short enough to be drabble, though. Anyway, these won't be in any particular order and probably won't relate to each other at all, they'll just be little snippets I found in my head.

If you want any of the full stories, let me know and I'll put telling that tale on my to-do list!