In his dream, he was in the torture chamber again. The images were blurred but the pain was real, and he couldn't wake up. Then, he heard the soft voice of a woman, and he could see her face for a moment. She was blond and beautiful, with tipped ears and wise green eyes full of worry. He could feel that she was worrying for him. He slightly realised that she raised his head with her gentle hand, and poured some kind of liquid in his mouth, which had the taste of herbs. – Drink, it will help you to recover – her voice echoed in his mind. Then, he fall back to sleep, but this time, without nightmares.


Spock opened his eyes, and could see wooden ceiling high above. In the same moment, he felt incredibly thirsty. He was lying in a soft bed, and there was a night-table next to it with a glass and a porcelain jug. He automatically reached for it, and he cried out of pain. He just realised that his left arm was plastered.

The blond woman from his dreams stepped in the room – this time, she was totally real – in a light, long, blue silk dress.

- Wait, I help you – she told, and poured some water in the glass. She reached it for him. Spock leaned on his uninjured hand – sharp pain twitched in his fingers, it wasn't unharmed at all – and sat up with a groan. He grabbed the glass, and drank the water in no time. The woman refilled it.

- I believe you're terribly thirsty after sleeping three days – she said. – But you are over on the worst. Your body recovers amazingly quickly.

- Captain Kirk... – he asked immediately.

- He's well, such as Dr McCoy. They were very worried about you, so they'll be happy to see you awake.

- I suppose, I'm still on Tritan III – Spock said.

- Yes.

- And who are you?

- I'm Kyrian. And I'm really ashamed of that you met the worst of our kind at the first time. Laurel was evil and mad. He took notice of your starship before us, and he made a trap for you. He also tried to destroy your ship, with high power energy, but he failed, fortunately. However, it takes a few more days to repair it, as your chief engineer, Mr. Scott said.

- But who was this Laurel?

- He was one of the outcasts. They can't keep the rules of our society, because they have lust for power, or they are selfish, or psychopaths. However, we can't judge in life or death, so, we isolated them to another part of the planet, and we have the intrsuments to keep them there. But now, he was one too many for us this time. I am really sorry that you had to suffer from his ferociousness. As soon as we noticed what happened, we contacted the Enterprise.

- It's not your fault. Blaming yourself is illogical – Spock said.

Kyrian smiled, and a moment later, the Vulcan could hear the voice of Kirk and McCoy.

- Have I just heard the word 'illogical'? – McCoy asked. – This means that our annoying Vulcan survived again! Do you see, Jim? I told you that he's too stubborn to die!

- Willpower really can control the reactions of body, Doctor – Spock said in his usual 'scientific' voice – and it is quite important in such situation in which I was.

- Anyway, I'm glad to see you alive, Spock – Kirk said. – The Enterprise has been damaged, when Laurel started to shoot it with pure energy, and according to Mr Scott, it will take two or three days to repair the engines. Therefore, I allowed to the crew to visit this part of the planet – it is safe, as Kyrian told it for us. I advice for you also to take a look around, it's really beautiful, and interesting.

- And, I would like to invite all of you for a dinner tonight, to celebrate your visit – Kyrian told with a smile – and also the recovery of Mr. Spock. – When she turned to the Vulcan, her smile was even more kind.

- But I have 400 people on that starship – Kirk said.

- Don't worry, Captain! We have a huge hall for celebration, and also enough food for everyone. Fortunately, our planet is very rich in plants and animals. I can understand that after what happened, you don't want to leave the Enterprise unguarded however, I don't think that anyone else would try to destroy it. You can leave some of your people on board, and they can be changed after a few hours, so nobody will miss the the feast.

- It sounds logical, Captain – Spock said.

- Well, then I can't do anything but say thank you for your hospitality, Kyrian – Kirk said.

When McCoy and Kirk left, Spock woke up from the bed. His wounds hurt but it was tolerable. He just realised that he was wearing a comfortable linen trousers and a dark green shirt which was motive with golden piles. He found his boots next to the bed.

- It fits to you perfectly – Kyrian winked coquettishly.

Spock looked at her doubtingly, but he followed the woman. He could see the rest of the house now. Its back wall was natural rock, but the other sides were made of wood. The girders were artistically sculpted with floral motives, which were simple but beautiful. The rooms were separated with thick drapes and they had big windows which let in a lot of light. The furniture was made from wood also, and the colours of nature – green, brown, white – dominated. The whole home diffused grace and naturalness at the same time.

When they stepped outside, Spock stuck at for a moment. The scene in front of him was really impressing. The village was located in a long and narrow valley, surrounded with high and steep mountains, covered with green forest. Creeks deflected the blanket of forest, and in one point, a gorgeous waterfall pitched down into a little lake. Signs of agriculture seemed in the valley, and terraces were formed in the hillside here and there to provide more places for crops. On this side of the valley, where Spock stood, there were terraces also, but these gave place for the village itself: large wooden houses and 'streets' from white freestone. The levels were connected with white stairs.

The whole was so perfect, even Spock had to admit that it has effect on him. The valley emanated peace and harmony.

- This planet is infrequently habited, there are other villages and towns, but no big cities – Kyrian told. – The whole population can't be more than a million, including the outcasts, but fortunately, their number isn't so much.

- Earth is only twice as large as this planet, and it has billions of humans on it – Spock told.

- We had to fight with the problem of overpopulation in the past also. It was not as bad as Earth a few centuries ago, but it caused worries.

- And how could you deal with it?

- Some of us decided to die.

Spock halted in his step. – You mean they killed themselves to save your civilization from overpopulation?

- Actually, yes, but not in the manner you think. Our kind is immortal. We don't get old, and we don't have natural death. We can die because of murder, accident or disease, or we can choose to die. It's just like someone goes to sleep and never wakes up again. I think, you can imagine – if not understand - that immortality can be very tiring after a while.

Spock nodded. – And...how old are you? – He asked.

Kyrian laughed. – Isn't it an improper thing in your culture to ask a woman about her age?

- I'm just half human, and I grew up on the Vulcan. There, we don't care about such things, since we don't have emotions to feel offended.

- It's okay, don't take it seriously – the Eldarine smiled. – After a while, we don't really count our years, but I can be around 800, I think. You could say, I'm young among our kind, but this word has no meaning here. The oldest who I know is about 2500 years old. Usually, we can't bear immortality longer than 2000 years. One has to have a very serious aim to stay alive longer.

- I am really sorry, but I have to go and help with the preparing of the dinner – Kyrian apologized. – You can come with me, if you want, but you can join to your friends also. They know a lot already about our culture Dr McCoy barely left our library since he's here. Of course, you can use it too, or you can ask anybody, they'll answer for you happily.

- Thank you, I think I'll take a look around.

- Well, see you at the dinner then. Oh, and the captain told that you're vegetarian. Don't worry, we have very delicious meals made purely from vegetables – Kyrian said, and she hurried off.


Spock found Kirk and McCoy one level below, on a little square, sitting on elegantly sculpted wooden benches.

- Beautiful, isn't it? – asked the doctor.

- It's apparent that the place has an atmosphere which has a calming effect – answered the Vulcan.

- Oh, Spock, would it hurt you if you would say 'beautiful' one time? – McCoy rolled his eyes.

- 'Beautiful' is a subjective word. Therefore, it's not logical to apply it, because its meaning is different for each culture.

- Oh, please, stop it - said the doctor resignedly.

- One thing is true, for human eyes, this valley is wonderful... – Kirk connected in the conversation - ...and not only the valley – he said, turning his head after a slim, red-head Eldarine woman who has just walked in front of them.

- Their culture is quite strange. It seems to be primitive and modern at the same time. The know electricity, starships, they can focus energy, but meanwhile, they don't have industry – Spock stated.

- The answer is in their history – said McCoy. – In the past, they wandered the space just like us. And actually, they weren't so peaceful like now, they had even conquering plans, but it was eons ago. Then, they realised it's not the way they have to follow, and they created a sustainable society, which is close to nature, meanwhile, they kept those elements of technical development, which they need. However it isn't that stagnating society like on Omicron Ceti III, where the spores of that plant caused the settlers to forget the desire for development. Some Eldarine starships are exploring the space in the moment also, just like Enterprise, gathering new knowledge.

- Just like Vulcan – Spock remarked.

- But, fortunately, they have emotions – McCoy riposted.

- If they have, their society cannot be perfect. Emotions always cause the breaking of rules.

- It's not perfect – said another man's voice, and Spock saw the Eldarine with the black hair approaching them, who was there when he was saved. – I'm Beriq, nice to meet you, Mr. Spock – he slightly bowed in front of him. The Vulcan returned the movement.

- If our society was perfect, there weren't outcasts. Of course, not all of us want, or able to live by our rules. When we recognize such behaviour, we try to speak to the person first, and if we cannot convince him, he will be banished. They're so few in number that they can't be a threat for us. We can protect ourselves. Concerning emotions, we think that only the dark ones are dangerous. Selfishness, lust for power, jealousy. However, love, in every form, is necessary. It makes us happy. Happiness and logic are not opposites.

- But, if you are happy, you will do anything to maintain it. Even to break rules – Spock argued.

- Not necessarily. Such rules are needed which allow happiness and not interfere with it. If the members of the society are raised up among norms they feel right, usually they don't want to break them. If happiness means that you share with others what have you got, and others happiness means yours too, you don't want to hurt others. And, it can't happen that you don't have something, which others have, because everything is everyone's. If you ask for food or anything else from, me, I'll give it to you. Of course, it is necessary in this mentality that we don't need superfluous things. We need a home, food, and the company of others, that's all. Therefore, we are not jealous. Of course, this model can work only in such small society like ours, where everybody knows everybody, and we can trust each other. So, the key is the solidarity for each other, and to inculcate our norms in our children. Probably our visit in other galaxies helps us also, when we saw that other societies how don't work, so we could learn from their fault.

- So do you say, that there isn't exist such as jealousy or hunger for power among you? – Spock asked astonished.

- Of course, there is. But we can explain for our children in time that these are unwanted things. And if they grow up, and they still have these feelings, we isolate them. But there have never been so much of these decadents who we haven't been able to control. If the society denies these elements consistently, they can't break up the harmony. If the majority's philosophy is that you can't be happy if others aren't, you can restrain decadence. It has been working for thousands of years. But as I said, it can be realized only in a relatively small population. That's why you couldn't do it on Earth or Vulcan. Earth chosen the way of disharmony: they have every kind of feelings, someone can handle them, and someone not. Vulcan chosen getting under emotions, and only use pure logic. But logic sometimes is very cruel, at least in my opinion. We need positive emotions to soften it. If you live in society where your only aim is to follow the rules, you won't be happy. Rules shouldn't be the aims but the tools of a society.

- I can't argue with you, and I don't want it either. We have a totally different point of view and such subjective concepts as 'happiness' can't be the manner of dispute. I can see that your society works well, such as ours.

Beriq smiled. – You are a quite intelligent dispute partner, Mr. Spock. You don't want to convince me, and I don't want to convince you. If every being of the universe would be such tolerant, there wouldn't be any war. – He nodded. – I'm sorry I have to go to help in the Great Hall now.

- Where is your stubbornness, Spock? He just stated that your society is not as superior as you think! – Dr McCoy japed.

- They reached the same general norms as us, in a different way. This doesn't mean that Vulcan society would be less than theirs. However, both of us could solve those problems, which humans couldn't.

- So, doctor, we should be ashamed to meet with the second society which is superior to ours – Kirk laughed.


The Great Hall was really huge. It could host more than 1500 people. Tables were put together in long lines, and long benches served as seats. There were at least twenty kind of meals: soups, steaks, salads, fruits, and vegetarian food. Wine, beer and fruit juices stood in jugs on the tables. Eldarines were munificent hosts.

- Can I sit here? – asked a familiar voice from Spock, and as he turned in his seat, he saw the always smiling Kyrian.

She was even more beautiful – if it is possible – than in the morning, her curly, long, blond hair fall playfully on her shoulders. She wore a light-green dress which had no sleeves, and the skirt was slit on one side, just to show enough to draw attention to her perfectly shaped legs, without being vulgar. She had an elegant golden necklace, and she wore some make up, to emphasize her emerald green eyes. Spock had to admit that despite the subjectivity of beauty, she really looked gorgeous. He poked Kirk in the ribs, because the captain sat agape, staring at her.

- Of course, take a seat - He could smell her light flower scent as she sat down next to him. He tried not to take notice about his increased pulse rate, and he convinced himself that he can regulate his body if he wants. Obviously, he gave biological reaction for the closeness of an aesthetically satisfying woman, that's all.

- How do you like our little village? – she asked.

- It's wonderful – Dr McCoy answered keenly. – I've just wondered if I want to leave this planet at all – he laughed.

- Well, Doctor, you're not immortal – Kirk smiled. – You would drive poor Eldarines mad with your impatience.

- Don't start it also, like Spock – McCoy answered with a fake pique in his voice. All of them laughed, and even Spock allowed himself a short smirk.

- The maegor will speech soon. He's the leader of our village, and he also has another very important role. He is responsible for writing down every happening of our life. We live forever, if we want to, but we can't remember everything what happened. That's why we knowingly write down our history, so the next generations will know our virtues and faults.

In this moment, the hall slowly went silent. A man stepped in with long, shiny, silver hair. His face was ageless and beautiful as other Eldarine's. He had a white robe with silver cloak and he wore a silver tiara which made his appearance solemn. He walked slowly near Kirk, where a seat was left empty for him. The maegor bowed towards Kirk who stood up and returned the gesture.

- Captain Kirk, I'm maegor Telinor. I'm very happy to meet you.

- It's honour for me that you welcomed me and my crew.

Telinor now turned to all of his audience.

- The Eldarine was always a curious race. We explore the universe with the goal of gathering as much knowledge, as we can. It is always nice to meet other peaceful adventurers. This day will be an accentuated one in our history, when we met another intelligent race with the same curiosity as we have. We warmly welcome all of you, and our planet will always be a place for you to take a rest in your long journeys. We offer our alliance for you, for humans, and Vulcans – he looked at Spock - however it's not an alliance in war, but in science. I'm sure both of us can learn many new things from each other. Now, take our food and drink to seal this alliance – he raised his cup as a greeting for everybody, than, he sat down.

- Well, let's celebrate! – Kyrian said, and poured some red wine in her cup. – Do you try it? – asked Spock.

- I don't drink alcohol – the Vulcan answered.

- As you wish – said the Eldarine a little disappointed. – But you don't know what you don't like until you haven't tried it.

- Do you see, Captain, that's what I use to say too – told McCoy.

- Alcohol dulls senses and logic – Spock answered.

- But not one cup of wine – Kyrian tried to convince him. – Actually, so little wine makes your reflexes quicker. It's a scientific fact.

- Maybe it's the effect in the case of Eldarines, but I don't know what would it do to a Vulcan body, and I even don't want to try it.

- Maybe it would release your non-existent emotions – the woman japed.

- In this case, I especially don't want to try it.

- It is ok, you don't have to – as she poured some fruit juice in his cup.

Soon, throbbing clamour of almost a thousand people's talking filled the Great Hall. Eldarines and humans formed smaller groups, and it seemed, that everybody have a good time. As they agreed before, in every two hours the guards on the Enterprise were changed, so everybody could participate in the celebration for a while.

Originally Spock planned to transport back to the starship and spend the night there, because he didn't think this feast could be enjoyable for him. However, Kyrian was a great debate partner, with always logical reasoning, and he realised, that he likes her company. They had discussed about the anomalies and virtues of societies, and an hour later, they already talked about biology of different life forms. The Eldarine seemed to be interested in everything. Spock decided to stay for one more day here, only because of the scientific value of these conversations.

After the dinner, some Eldarines brought instruments: harp, flute and violin, and they started to play music. They didn't have to wait much for the first dancers, and after that, couples changed each other on the empty space behind the table. Kyrian was called sometimes also, and at one such occasion, Spock remarked that he cannot understand how can so logical thinking, like Eldarine has, exist together with such unnecessary and illogical things like dance.

- Don't you believe that someone can be logical while enjoying life? – McCoy asked.

- There has to be some error in this formula – Spock answered. - I just haven't found it yet.

- Hopeless – the doctor said – you'll never admit that you adore them because they could realise logic and emotions in the same time, and it works.

- You're right, I would never admit.

Kyrian plopped back to her seat, exhausted but smiling. Spock's gaze unwillingly spent some time on her flushed cheeks. He had to admit himself, that beside he's a Vulcan and a scientist, he's a man also, and he couldn't disregard her beauty. It was a little bit uncomfortable, as he always tried to repress this aspect of his identity, but he decided simply ignore it, and he started and another conversation about geology. He was secretly amused that Kyrian is good in this also.

Later, the Vulcan got tired, as he hadn't completely recovered from his injuries. Kyrian accompanied him, and they walked back to the woman's house. Spock still was thinking that it would be the most logical if he would spend the night on the Enterprise, especially because of his evolved affection to Kyrian, which he wanted to dissolve, but he realised that he didn't want to go back to the ship. He convinced himself once again that he can handle his emotions, and he stayed.


- Don't you think that Spock is attracted to this woman? – McCoy asked later from Kirk. They were on the feast yet, wandering from one talking group to another.

- Well, it is obvious that she has an effect on him, but I think it is true for every humanoid man – the captain responded.

- I wonder if she could persuade him to show his emotions.

- I think Spock would run back to Enterprise instead – said Kirk with a chuckle. – He's so afraid of feelings.

- Well, he stayed here yet – McCoy stated with a smile.