He woke up in the cold, dark, stone cave with a start.

Firelight flickered along the walls, held in primitive torches.

Captain James T. Kirk was sprawled out on the floor of a cell, head throbbing, not quite remembering how or why he was there, and simply knew at the moment that he was quite in over his head. And likely in trouble.

As usual.

He gingerly got up, rough fingers gripping the deformities in the rough-hewn stone wall. He dusted off his golden uniform as best he could, and reached into his pocket for his communicator.

Wasn't there. Figures.

Neither was his phaser. That bothered him.

He squinted into the darkness, and realized that even though he was in a cell...the cell had three walls. He wasn't trapped at all.

Caution and previous experience taught him to not go running into what could be an invisible death wall of some kind. Instead, he bent down, picked up a small shard of stone, and tossed it ahead of him. It clattered and did nothing.

Hesitantly, he reached forward...and again, nothing happened.

Well...maybe the invisible death wall was up head. He carefully followed the firelight, his leather boots clacking against the stone, echoing off of the wall. The path widened a bit, and daylight filtered through the smoky air. He looked up, as the cave blended seamlessly into a tangle of vine and tree.

It smelled wonderful, and reminded him of what he'd seen of the Pacific Northwest, back home. Huge trees though...larger than anything on earth, with gray bark instead of brown, rose up into the sky, almost seemingly into infinity. The ground was pocketed with smaller trees and vines, all clamoring for what sunlight they could get. The plants were more of a blue-green color, and all smelled vaguely of cinnamon.

The Captain glanced behind him. No sign of anything. He was trying to remember how he got here! Was he on an away mission? A landing party? But why couldn't he remember anything about this planet? Even if he'd gotten kidnapped by some ticked-off natives, he should remember something about this place...Spock always insisted on everyone having a decent briefing about the geology and local flora and fauna before anyone went on any away mission.

At this point, his uneasiness had grown into a cold apprehension. He almost wished that someone would appear...anyone, even a hostile, just so he could get his bearings.

He turned his back to the forest, and looked at the mouth of the cave, that he had just walked out of.

And looked at another man walking out of it.

Another man with a golden starfleet uniform.

Command gold.

An eerily similar face.

Except with green eyes instead of blue.

"Hello!" the starfleet officer waved up at him. "Seen anyone else around here?"

Even his voice sounded...it couldn't be.

"No, just me," he managed to say, even though his heart was beating a mile a minute. The stranger was older but...only by a few years, at least. Maybe a tiny bit heavier, and it showed in his face. But there was no denying it.

The stranger had noticed it too, and had stopped at the mouth of the cave.

"Are you...sure?" he said in the same, awkward tone that had just come out of Kirk's mouth.

"Absolutely...sure."

He wasn't sure if he should run, or fight. Every fiber in his being told him to run and fight at the same time. But the rational side of him was curious. Too curious to let him run away.

Spock would be proud.

"This is...a little weird but...what's your name?"

"My name? Why don't you give me yours, first?" the stranger said suspiciously.

"I asked you."

"How 'bout we do it at the same time, then?"

The other one nodded.

Then they both said, at the same time...

"I'm Jim Kirk."


If young Spock and old Spock can become friends, so can the two Jim Kirks! Thanks for reading this very short beginning, and hope you stick around for more chapters to come!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Paramount, I consider this story exercise fair use under commentary and and education.