Spock fell backwards as he severed the connection with West.

"Spock!" Kirk caught the Vulcan as Gordon looked his friend over. The mind meld had been difficult, and a few times Spock had nearly been thrown out of it, only to dive right back in. What ever was going on in West's mind was making it hard to find the real James West.

"I… I am all right, Captain;" Spock gasped. "I found him. He is sleeping… needs time for… his mind to recover… He also said… you may call him James, Captain."

"Thanks, Spock;" Kirk said, smiling. "Now you should get some rest as well."

"Thank you, Captain;" Spock sighed, and promptly passed out.

"Will they be all right?" Gordon asked.

"Spock will be fine, that much I can say;" McCoy said. "As for James, Spock said he found him, so I'm assuming he'll be all right once he wakes up. But they're both exhausted. Given time, he'll wake up, but for now, just let him sleep."

Gordon and Kirk carried Spock into Gordon's small stateroom, and then moved West into his own bed. McCoy, after a few false starts, managed to get the little stove working, and cooked up a nice meal for the three of them. Though they didn't feel like eating at that moment, they were all starving, and ended up wolfing down the food. Gordon asked for the recipe, which McCoy gave him. The rest of the evening was uneventful. Kirk spent most of his time staring out the window, McCoy read a book, and Gordon tinkered with a new invention. Finally, much to McCoy and Gordon's amusement, Kirk fell asleep and crashed to the floor.

"He's done that a few times on the Bridge;" McCoy said as he draped a blanket over the softly snoring Captain. "He works himself so hard for his crew and the Enterprise. Jim's just a kid, but he has so much responsibility."

"We should probably turn in as well;" Gordon yawned. "We should reach the siding pretty soon and Orrin will pull off there. We can head out in the morning once Jim…"

"He'll be fine, Artemus;" McCoy said. "Don't you worry. Now get some rest, we don't need you falling over too."

"Yes Doctor;" Gordon said. He turned the lights down in the car, and made himself comfortable on the couch.

Artemus Gordon wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when he heard the footsteps. He barely breathed as he listened. Slowly, the door to the hallway leading to the staterooms opened, and a figure appeared, outlined in the growing light of dawn. Gordon slowly sat up, and gasped before crying out; "Jim!"

Dr. McCoy and Captain Kirk both awoke at the sound of someone yelling (Kirk mostly thinking that he was in trouble for something), and then something large falling to the ground.

"Jeeze Artie! Get off'a me!"

"Sorry Jim."

McCoy fumbled with the knob to turn the lights up as Artemus Gordon helped James West up.

"James, you're all right!" Kirk cried. "It worked!"

"What worked? What's going on?" West asked. "Last thing I remember, I was in Loveless' lab, and then…" He shuddered.

"Loveless drugged you, Jim;" Gordon explained. "The drug caused you to go mad. So Spock preformed some mind meld thing to bring your sanity back."

"He did what?" West cried, and his eyes went wide. "Oh my God, I remember that! Spock as in my head! But how?"

"Spock is a Vulcan;" McCoy said. "They're a minor telepathic species."

"Uh…"

"Never mind. Basically, he fixed your head."

West was still confused. "Okay, I guess. Where is Spock? I need to thank him, I believe."

"He's still asleep;" Kirk said. "Performing three mind melds in one day took a lot out of him."

"Artie, would you stop looking at me like that;" West said. "I'm fine, really, hey!"

McCoy had whipped out his tricorder and scanner and was scanning West. "Other than the fact that you could use a good meal and a good night's sleep, I'd say you are fit for duty, Mr. West."

"Thanks Doc."

"I think we still have leftovers from dinner;" Gordon said, headed for the galley. He looked out the window at the growing dawn. "Then again, breakfast sounds more appropriate right now."

"How about your eggs and bacon Artie?" West requested.

"I'll start the stove!"

"Oh wow, an actual sunrise!" McCoy gasped. He and Kirk rushed out the door, followed by West.

"I've forgotten how beautiful a sunrise is;" McCoy muttered. "It's been so long. There are no sunrises in space."

"I know;" Kirk said.

"Welcome to Earth, space cadets;" West said. Kirk and McCoy smiled.

The sun appeared over the horizon, turning the three men, the train, and the entire landscape gold.

Twenty minutes later, breakfast was ready.

"Do you think we should feed out prisoners?" McCoy said.

West shrugged. "Don't see why not." He went into the galley and made up two small plates for Antoinette and Loveless. "I won't let Loveless say I am a bad host;" he said with a wink. West walked down the small hallway, and jumped across onto the other car.

"Rise and shine, I've got… WHAT THE HELL?"

"Uh-oh;" McCoy, Gordon, and Kirk all said at once. They jumped up and rushed into the other car where the holding cells were.

"Oh shit."

"That little son of a bitch!"

"How'd he do that?"

Loveless' cell was empty, as was Antoinette's. They were both gone.

"Well, I'm not that surprised;" Gordon sighed. "He does always manage to escape, one way or another."

"Yes, but how did he do it this time?" West asked. "You did search him, right?"

"Oh yes, quite thoroughly;" Gordon replied. "We even checked Antoinette. They were both clean when we put them in here."

"Hey, look at this;" McCoy picked up a small lock pick. "Where'd this come from?"

"That's my lock pick;" Kirk gulped.

Everyone looked at Kirk. "This is yours?" West asked.

"Gordon, remember that lock pick you gave me earlier?" Kirk said. He flipped the lapel of his jacket to show the little pocket where the lock pick was meant to be. It wasn't there. "Loveless must have grabbed it when I was carrying him in for the mind meld. I had thought that it had fallen out earlier, but now… I'm sorry, I should have said something. It's my fault."

"Jim, it's not your fault;" McCoy said, putting his hand on the Captain's shoulder. "You didn't realize this until now. Besides, you've made bigger mistakes before, and those were on purpose."

"Like what?"

"Kirk, don't worry about it;" West said. "Loveless will show up again, he always does. We'll get him next time."

"Jim's right, we'll get him next time;" Gordon said; 'I hope'. "Now come on, our breakfast is getting cold."

When they returned to the parlor car, Spock was sitting on one of the couches waiting paciently.

"Sorry if we woke you up, Spock;" Kirk said glumly. "I meant for you to sleep in."

"This is when I normally wake up, Captain;" Spock replied, noticing they all were upset about Loveless' escape (he had heard the entire episode in the other car). "So 'sleeping in' was never really an option."

"Well, you're up now!" Gordon said, trying to sound up beat. "Would you like some breakfast, Spock?"

"I am not in need of food at the moment. Though do you have any tea?"

"Sure do. I'll make you a cup;" Gordon headed back into the galley while the others assembled at the table.

"Today we go home;" McCoy said. "In theory, at least."

"How do you plan to do that?" asked West.

"First, we must find the place that we first came through;" Spock said. "Then we must find a way to reverse the process."

"I was kind of out of it at the time, but I remember a cave of some sort;" Kirk said. "Bones and I wandered around for a while before we came across the train, so I don't remember the exact direction."

"There's a group of hills off to the east of here;" West said, pulling out a map. "That's probably the best bet of where your cave is. Artie and I came from the northwest, which is fairly open space."

"Was that the right side, or the left side of the train?" Kirk asked.

Everyone looked at him for the second time that morning. "What do you mean right side or left side?" West asked.

"I mean, if you were looking at the train from the back;" Kirk stood up and demonstrated what he was talking about. "Do you come towards the train from the left, or the right?"

"Oh! The left, I think;" West replied.

"Okay then, Bones and I came in from the right. Now what's that direction?"

"Southeast, I believe;" Gordon answered, coming in with Spock's tea. "Here you go, Mr. Spock. I wasn't sure if you wanted cream or sugar…"

"Thank you, Mr. Gordon, I prefer my tea plain;" Spock said, picking the cup up. The tea had a slightly funny taste to it, but it was still tea.

"Okay, so we start our search in the Southeast direction;" West said. "Once everyone's done with breakfast, we move out."

"Yes sir!" Kirk said, and West gave him a quick 'shut up, Jim' look.

W~W~W~W

It didn't take long for the five of them to finish breakfast and clean the dishes (actually, Kirk cleaned the dishes, much to McCoy's amusement). Kirk and McCoy changed back into their uniforms, unsure of what to do with the clothes West and Gordon had bought them two days earlier.

"Keep them;" West said. "We don't need them; Artie's got an entire wardrobe back there. I have a feeling you'll get more use out of them."

"Not sure where or when we'll use these, but thanks;" McCoy replied. He had become quite fond of his light blue jacket.

Not to make Spock feel left out, Artie gave him a hat. Kirk ordered his First Officer to wear it; causing McCoy to fall over laughing. And after the Doctor recovered, they set out to find the cave with the time portal.

"I don't remember it taking so long the first time;" McCoy said. "Then again, I was yelling at Jim the entire time, so I probably didn't notice much."

"Shut up Bones!" Kirk snapped.

Gordon laughed. "You know, I think those were the first words I heard you say when we met!"

"Maybe, he's been telling me to do that a lot lately."

"You told them we are from the future!"

"And aren't you glad I did?"

Kirk smiled. "Yes Bones, I am. Hey, wait a second, I know that rock!"

"It looks like every other rock out here, Captain;" Gordon muttered.

"No, seriously, I remember this rock!" Kirk said, bending over sideways. "I remember it because it looks like an ice cream cone that fell over!"

"An ice cream what?" Gordon asked.

"Oh, now I remember! You were thinking with your stomach!" McCoy cried. "We're on the right track boys! Let's keep moving."

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Kirk cried, and ran a head like a ten year old boy.

"He's your commanding officer?" West jokingly asked Spock.

Spock nodded. "Yes, but Captain Kirk is a good man. I wouldn't want to serve under any other in Starfleet."

West paused. "Starfleet?"

"Yo James, hurry up!" McCoy called, waving from the top of a rock.

Laughing, West shook his head and hurried after the others followed by Spock. "Do you have any idea where you're going?" West shouted.

"Nope!" Kirk yelled. "But I do know we're headed in the right direction!"

Spock pulled out his tricorder. It wasn't that he didn't trust Kirk and his sense of direction (though he did question it after the 'right side left side' back at the train), he wanted to make sure. An anomaly in space-time would show up on his tricorder, and one large enough to transport them would give a strong signal.

"Captain, I am picking up a reading from 200 meters in that direction;" Spock pointed to a group of rocks off to his right. "I believe it is the anomaly that brought us here."

"Let's check it out then!" Kirk said, and led the way to the rocks.

"I think you're right, Spock;" McCoy said. "I seem to remember this place… Hey! I found a cave!"

West pulled out a match and lit the lantern he had brought. The cave's entrance was only six feet tall, and four feet wide, but it clearly opened up inside.

"This is the place;" Spock said. "There is a strong reading ten meters back in that cave."

"Well then, gentlemen, time to go home;" Kirk said.

"I've got to see this;" Gordon said, following Kirk, McCoy and Spock in.

"Same;" West added.

The cave itself was nothing special, but all five of the men felt the strangest sensation that something strange was there, something mysterious, and powerful.

"I thought you said it was in here, Mr. Spock;" Kirk said, looking around.

"It is, Captain, it should be right… there!" Spock pointed at a blank stone wall. McCoy, who was the closest, walked over and knocked on the wall.

"It's solid, Spock. No time portal here."

"The readings do not lie, Dr. McCoy. The time portal is located where you are standing."

"Maybe you guys have to activate it some how;" West said.

"Ya, maybe there's a magic word or something;" Gordon added. "Like, uh, Open Sesame!"

Nothing happened.

"Abracadabra."

Nothing.

"Hocus Pocus?"

Still nothing.

"Please?"

"Artie, just stop;" West whispered.

"Sorry;" Gordon muttered. Kirk walked over to the wall, and Spock's tricorder suddenly started beeping.

"Now what Spock?" Kirk asked.

"The reading has gotten stronger, Captain;" Spock said. "As if, it was reacting to your moving towards it…" Spock walked forward, and again the reading spiked. "Gentlemen, I believe the portal will only activate when we enter it at the same time."

"So it needs all three of us to work?" McCoy asked.

"Precisely Doctor."

Kirk turned to West and Gordon. "I guess this is good-bye then."

West nodded. "Sure seems that way, Captain."

"We ever going to see you three again?" asked Gordon.

McCoy shrugged. "Who knows, we have a tendency to run into some pretty crazy stuff out there. It wouldn't surprise me in the least bit if some how we did meet again."

"Though the likelihood of such an event occurring is…" Spock never finished his statistic.

"Shut up Spock;" McCoy snapped.

Bones, give me your pin;" Kirk said.

McCoy blinked. "My pin? What for?"

"Just give it to me;" Kirk reached down and undid his own pin from his shirt. McCoy handed him his. Kirk looked at West and Gordon. "Gentlemen, for all that you have done for us in the last few days, I would like to express my gratitude."

West and Gordon snapped into attention out of habit. "Thus, I give you these;" Kirk replied, giving West his pin, and Gordon McCoy's. "Mr. West, Mr. Gordon, I name you honorary members of my crew of the United Starship Enterprise." Kirk gave a salute. "Welcome aboard, gentlemen."

"Thank you sir;" West returned the salute, as did Gordon. McCoy added his own.

"Captain, I do not believe you have the power to perform such an act;" Spock said.

"Quiet Spock;" Kirk hissed, and dropped his hand. "Now that that's done, I think it's time we went home."

"Good luck and Godspeed;" West and Gordon said, waving. Kirk and McCoy waved back, and Spock gave a small wave. The three turned to the rock wall, stepped forward, and disappeared.

"You know, Jim, I think I'm going to miss them;" Gordon said.

West nodded. "Me too, Artie, me too. They're going to be hard to forget." He patted Gordon on the back. "Come on, pal, let's see what the future has in store for us."