The entire remains of the Enterprise crew watched the bare screen where the red-faced human once was in complete silence. There was nothing to be said. Here they were, on a planet where they weren't welcome with a wrecked ship. Their captain had unintentionally pissed off possibly the only bilingual representative of 'The Emperor,' and now they had a real death threat to consider.

"I think they're savages," announced Scotty to the crew boldly. "All of them. They don't even have a damn representative that can speak a proper language. What the hell are they gonna do to us? Beat us with rocks? Oh wait, no. They don't even have rocks. The dirty bastards. . ."

No one responded to Scotty's rant. There was no need to. He was arguing a moot point. The so-called savages possessed technology. How else could they have contacted them? God knows what else. So far, the Begoens had been living up to their reputation. And deep down in each little member's mind, they all had a hunch that they were undoubtedly, absolutely, and utterly fucked.


"When my heart breaks. . . Life isn't so simple. . . I loose my breath, and no one sees my dimples. . . For a while, just forget about that smile. . . I just drift away from our happy days . . . . And my life keeps a-moving along. . . Do-ba-doo. . . Dooobie-da, da-dowhooo. . Hmmm mmm mhhm mmhhh. . . ."

"ELVITRA!"

Elvitra jolted suddenly and stopped singing at the sound of her companion's strident protest, causing the mount she was own to backpedal a few steps.

"My god Andre. . ." Elvitra gasped as she pulled the reins back, taking control of the mount once more. "You just about scared the life out of me. . . What could possibly be your problem?"

Andre gave a scoff and glared darkly at Elvitra. "You have been singing I don't know how many ancient songs for DAYS. I just need you to shut up. I can't think. I can't hear. I can't even sleep without another achy-quaky love song replaying in my dreams! So please! Just – STOP!"

Elvitra looked over at Andre with a large, blank stare. "I'm sorry. I had no idea I was traveling with such an uncultured, distasteful human. I think you need a visit to a theater before we go any further."

"As long as it's not a musical theater," snipped Andre spitefully as he gained speed. Elvitra rolled her eyes and refrained from giving a comeback as she sped up as well.

They were traveling across Riti Sandland, the only area of Bego that remained unsettled. Not one life form could exist in the wasteland for extended amounts of time, for the Sandland was infamous for its storms. Usually the only creatures to ever venture into the Sandland were banished prisoners. But if crossed at the right time of year, the desert was virtually harmless. There was could be a full month to a full year of no weather. No wind or breeze, no rain or clouds. Just peace.

After covering a few meters in silence, Andre wiped dust off his forehead and looked up into the sky. Abruptly he stopped and examined the air meticulously.

"Holy hell. . ."

"What now. . ." interrupted Elvitra quietly, looking into the sky as well.

"D-d-dust. There's dust."

"There are no sandstorms this time of year; you know that as well as I do."

Andre then began to breathe faster, as if he was expecting the sky to rain showers of fire and sulfur. Panicking, Andre looked directly at Elvitra murmuring, "But. There's. Dust."

Elvitra considered her fearful companion's words carefully. It seemed like he was speaking in some kind of secret code that she should know. But there was no one around to hear. Not able to come to any conclusions, she simply said, "I think it's about time you have something to drink. . ."

"NO! You don't GET IT!" roared Andre, his veins nearly bursting out of his head. "There is NO DUST this time of year. None! No wind even gets to this side of the atmosphere!"

"Relax Andre! It could just be our mounts kicking up dust! You're overreacting, as usual."

"No. No. NO. It's not our mounts!" Andre spat in a fuming tone. "Our mounts are Gloren. GLOREN! Do you not understand? They leave no prints! They kick up no dust! NO DUST!"

Elvitra glared harshly at Andre and clenched her teeth. She had certainly come to expect Andre's fits of paranoia and rashness, but she by no means accepted it. Giving a perturbed sigh, Elvitra began to move onward, ignoring Andre.

"Elvitra! STOP! Do you know what this means?"

Refusing to stop, she called back to him, "Yes Andre. I do know what this means. It means that you and I will choke on the mystery dust, then the sky will rip open and start raining blood. After that, what's left of our corpses will be devoured by a black hole that will suddenly appear just to spite us."

"This is no time to joke! I'm serious! You need to listen–"

"Yeah, yeah I'm listening. . ." trailed Elvitra as her mount walked further and further away from Andre.

Then without so much as moving a muscle, he bellowed, "It means something else is here. Something that churns up dirt, and leaves behind a trace. Something that is so close, the dust it tore up is affecting us."

"Something that couldn't possibly be Begoen."


"Captain. . . I'm receiving traces of four corporeal life forms less than two hundred meters of our ship!"

"What? How is that possible? They should have been detected far earlier that that. . ."

"I don't know how it happened; they just appeared on the radar. . ."

"They could be hostile, Captain."

"That is an illogical assumption. If they were hostile, they would not appear on our radar at all. It is only logical to conclude that they wished to be detected."

"Captain, two of the corporeal beings seem to be human. The other two bio forms remain unidentified."

"Try and get in contact with them. I don't think they're aggressive."

"They have nothing to get in contact with. . ."

"Flag 'dem down somehow. They may not be able to see our ship."

"If we flag them down, the Begoens may be able to pinpoint where we are. . . Unless you want to invite them on the ship too. Hell who knows, we could just host a corporeal party on the Enterprise. . ."

"Shouldn't you be doing your job in sickbay?"

"There's not much of a job to do. The majority of the crew are in stable condition."

"And the people who aren't in the majority?"

"There's nothing I can do for them. They're dead. And unless we find a way to leave this God forsaken mess of a planet, well all be in the same–"

"Enough!"

The bustling crew of the Enterprise all looked toward Kirk as he shouted over his crew. Kirk glanced at every member, not knowing exactly what to say to them. Tapping his hands against his chair, Kirk swallowed.

"Don't invite them onto the ship just yet. Let them come to us. Spock," Kirk turned to the Vulcan who stood a little more erect as he was addressed.

"You and Sulu will be stationed outside the ship. If these life forms are not hostile, invite them to the ship. If they are hostile, stun them."

Spock nodded and walked smoothly away. Sulu followed swiftly after him.

Once the two exited, Scotty shook his head in disapproval. "The damn savages. . . I think you should just do away with them. It's not like we'll be able to talk to them."

"Maybe I should join them captain," added Uhura. "I might be able to pick up on the dialect, or use something close to their language."

"Uhura, we need you here if any more transmissions come in. Spock and Sulu will be able to handle themselves."

Uhura nodded in agreement, but Kirk could see that she wasn't pleased about his decision. But in all truth, Kirk felt a certain pang of doubt about the strangers approaching that he couldn't quite explain.

And doubt was something that he had never been accustomed to.


End of Chapter Two! :]

I hope you are liking the story so far. Any feedback is appriciated! So far, this story may seem slow. It will pick up, I promise ;]