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When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
Charles A. Beard
The place to be happy is here,
the time to be happy is now.
Robert Ingersoll
Part I
CHAPTER ONELight. Hoshi Sato stirred in her bed just long enough to bury her face in her pillow. She tried to ignore the cheerful humming grating against her sensitive eardrums.
"Malcolm, if you don't shut up and get that light out of my face, now, I'm going to hurt you. A lot."
A weight bounded onto the bed beside her, jarring her. She grunted in annoyance.
"Oh, come on, luv. It's a beautiful morning—and I'm glad to see you."
"We're in space. Every morning looks the same—just like the night before. Now go away and send back the Malcolm that I love—quiet Malcolm."
Malcolm chuckled and planted a kiss on the top of her head. She raised her head just enough to squint one eye at him. "God, how could I fall for a morning person?"
"Easy darling. I wore you down. Four years at space, in close quarters with a man of my charm and dashing good looks. It was bound to happen." Hoshi snorted. He continued, "Now you really should get up. We've dropped out of warp, which can only mean that we've arrived at Massum. The landing party will be disembarking soon."
He stood up then and moved to the mirror, checking his already meticulous appearance. Hoshi dropped her head back down, relishing the feel of the soft cotton pillowcase against her face. Malcolm's bed really was much more comfortable than hers. Before she could drift back off again, she drug herself into a sitting position, swinging her feet onto the floor. Malcolm turned to look at her, grimacing. "Someone looks as though she had a rough night," he teased, softening the jibe with a grin.
Hoshi didn't return the smile. She stood, eyeing him darkly as she shuffled across the room and into his washroom. She turned on the water and stepped gratefully into the shower. Outside, Malcolm was humming again.
"Malcolm?! Could you grab me some shampoo? This one's empty."
"Really? I just used it today…" She heard him digging through a cabinet, then his voice got closer. "Here you go." He opened the shower door slightly, holding out a bottle of shampoo. When she didn't take it immediately, he opened the door wider and looked in. "Here it is, Hoshi…HOSHI!"
He yelped when her hand closed firmly around his wrist and she yanked him under the water stream with her, fully dressed in his uniform. "Hoshi! I've just gotten dressed…now look at me. Why did you do that?" Hoshi laughed loudly, maintaining her grip on Malcolm even as he tried to escape. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "You're right. It was very wrong of me. I guess I'll just have to make it up to you," she said huskily.
Malcolm took in her wet hair and slick, bare skin. He stopped struggling and smiled a little. "Well, I guess if you were very, very sorry, I could be persuaded to forgive you…"
"Oh I am," Hoshi said silkily, reaching for the zipper on his uniform. "Very, very, very sorry."
***
"Ow," Trip Tucker hissed. Hoshi, looking straight ahead and smiling brightly, said softly, "Commander, you are going to insult our hosts."
Trip snorted. For the past two hours they had been enduring a tour of Timral, the capital city on the planet Massum. Well, he was enduring it, while Hoshi, the Captain, and T'Pol listened to their Jafari guide with great interest. Malcolm and Travis, lucky bastards, had headed back to Enterprise hours ago, to would gather and bring back a load of medical supplies for their new acquaintances.
This was the first trip humans or Vulcans had made to Massum, and admittedly their ancient culture was interesting. But Trip got into this business for adventure—and he did not consider staring at dusty artifacts and ancient buildings adventurous. Listening to the guide lecture, he had yawned widely just before Hoshi jabbed him sharply in the ribs.
"This guy's been dronin' on 'bout these carved stairs for fifteen minutes." Trip whispered back. "And we haven't even gotten to the temple where the stairs actually lead." They were nice stairs, he supposed, but cutting steps outta rock was no great feat of engineering. Warp five, now that's a great feat of engineerin', he thought fondly. He was just beginning to daydream about his warp core when the guide's voice pulled him back. "Now we will move up to the Temple of Keyia."
"Crap. There's gotta be two hundred stairs here," Trip complained. His whispering earned him a look from the Captain, and he shut his mouth while they trekked up the hillside to the temple. By the time they reached the top, the humans were all gasping. While they caught their breath, they looked up at the face of the temple, slightly awed. Like the stairs, it had been carved into the mountainside rather than constructed. The face of the temple was elaborately decorated with intricately carved pictures—people, animals, plants, and landscapes.
"It reminds me of the doors that led into the mountain in Lord of the Rings, " Jon remarked.
"'Cept we don't need a password," Trip answered with a smile, indicating the open doors.
T'Pol and the Jafari looked at them blankly. "An old Earth fairy tale—a legend," Hoshi explained. They both nodded, satisfied by the explanation. The Jafari indicated that they should follow him inside.
A squat statue sitting directly before the doorway guarded the entrance, face locked in a hideous grimace. "Well, ain't he pretty?" Trip murmured to his human comrades. Hoshi and Jon chuckled at the distasteful face Trip made as they passed the statue. Inside, the structure was a series of back-to-back rooms, leading into the mountain. Each room was lit by a bluish light source. As they moved through the rooms, the Jafari began to explain the history of the temple.
"Eons ago, the Jafari worshipped Keyia as the God of Union and Fertility. Presumably, they built this structure in his honor. Unfortunately, we know very little about the era now. The temple alone is so old that there is no record of its construction in our history."
"There is no mention of it in your ancient writings?"
"Actually, Subcommander, our history is preserved orally. Each generation commits it to memory, in its entirety, so that we may pass it on to the next. The tradition is essential to our culture; we have upheld it even after we developed a written language."
Trip whistled, impressed. He thought of his own history courses—he could barely remember a few dates, like First Contact. He glanced at Hoshi. She looked enthralled by this new information.
The Jafari continued, "Several legends about the temple do remain." He stopped before an unusual stone structure in the center of the third, and last room. "This is the Sh'ron. It is said that Keyia used the Sh'ron to judge the validity of each union. The couple who wished to join stepped into the chamber, and if the pairing was approved, they received a gift."
"A gift? What sort of gift?"
"The legend is vague about the gift itself."
"What happens if the pairing wasn't approved?" Hoshi asked curiously.
"According to the legend, the couple would be consumed, their essences surrendered to Keyia." At Hoshi's disturbed face, the Jafari smiled. "The Jafari have long since abandoned those beliefs, Ensign Sato. We are a people of science; these legends are merely stories, created by our superstitious predecessors. Do not allow them to trouble you."
Jon smiled and patted Hoshi's shoulder. "Nothing to worry about, Hoshi."
"Yes, sir," she muttered, embarrassed. The rest of the party moved off to a beautiful carving on the wall, depicting the local landscape from long before the city was built. Hoshi started to follow but Trip, bored out of his gourd, caught her arm.
"Hey, it's kinda like 'The Mouth of Truth' from Roman Holiday. Ya know, put your hand in the mouth and if you're a liar, the sculpture will bite it off."
Hoshi pulled a face. "I always hated that story."
"Aw now, c'mon Ensign. I dare you to try it with me. Who knows, maybe we're meant for each other." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and grinned charmingly. "Course, poor Malcolm'll have to step aside…we could always fix him up with T'Pol?" At Hoshi's annoyed look, he tried again, "Name our firstborn after him?" He pulled her arm again. "All right, I'm kiddin'. But c'mon. I double-dog dare you—you can't turn that down and still keep your honor."
Hoshi laughed. "You're on, Commander. But you should know ahead of time that I prefer pink roses and I always sleep on the left side of the bed," she added flippantly. "Ask Malcolm—I'm not an easy woman to please."
Trip chuckled, enjoying the little sparring session. Hoshi was often too reserved in his opinion, although it made her a perfect match for Malcolm. Her sillier side rarely came out around Trip, even after all of their years of working together—he suspected he made her a little nervous.
A glance over his shoulder confirmed that T'Pol and the Captain were engrossed in their guide's description of the pictures carved into the walls.
"Ok then." He held out his open hand, palm up, to Hoshi. She chuckled and slipped her fingers into his. Together, they walked up two steps and moved into the chamber. It was a little smaller than it looked; they found themselves wedged in, face to face. "Man, I guess there weren't a lotta fat Jafaris." They both looked up at the opening in the top, squinting against the blue light, and turned their gaze back down.
Trip became conscious of her scent, mingled with the dust of the chamber. He looked down at the top of her head. Hoshi giggled nervously. "I was expecting some sort of glowing light to surround us or a big booming voice. Well, Commander, looks like it just wasn't meant to be…" Her voice trailed off as she raised her eyes to meet his. Her smile faded when she saw the sudden seriousness of his face. He was looking at her very intently. Their eyes locked.
Hoshi's eyes moved to the side. "Did you hear that?" she asked. Her normal tone broke the spell. Trip inched back, grateful, and shook his head. "Hear what?" Hoshi tilted her head, listening. After hesitating a millisecond, she shook her head. "Nothing, it's gone now." She looked back up at him. "I guess we should get back."
"Right. Don't wanna miss anything—I bet there are thousands of fascinating staircases in this city," Trip joked awkwardly. He squeezed back against the warm stone, allowing Hoshi to step outside before joining her. They both looked around expectantly. The Captain and the rest of the group were nowhere in sight. "Great, this oughta be good for a 10 minute lecture from T'Pol," Trip muttered. "Let's try and catch up."
The two moved quickly back through the temple, still with no sign of their party. "I guess they went ahead without us," Hoshi said, puzzled. Trip led the way through the enormous doors. The sight of the hilly landscape brought them up short. Trip looked back quickly, thinking they had made a wrong turn and found a new exit. But no, there was that ugly-ass statue. He turned back, taking in the scene that Hoshi was now gaping at. The city was gone. As far as they could see, there was nothing but trees, fields, and rocks.
"Uh-oh."
**
Captain Archer looked around him subtly. Although he was making a better effort to hide it, he was as bored as Trip. He glanced behind him just in time to see Hoshi and Trip slip into the chamber, disappearing from sight. 'Oh, no you don't. If I gotta endure this, so do you old buddy.' "Excuse me for just a moment," he said, smiling politely at the guide. The guide didn't even pause in his droning. Jon walked back to the chamber. "All right you two, I'm not doing this alone…" His smile faded as he reached the chamber entrance. The chamber was empty.