The following days passed without any sighting of the creature that'd managed to kill three of Kirk's crew. Neither did we meet any other creatures save the occaional lizard or snake, both of which I kept a wide berth of. Of course some of the men went off hunting for both creatures and we supplemented our diet with their meat, but bascially I had to close my eyes and pretend it was chicken or else I'd never had been able to swallow. More scouting patrols were sent out, in opposite directions from the cliffs where the creature dwelled. It was around five days after the first-hand encounter with death that some ruins had been discovered along another cluster of cliffs to the east of our camp.

"Oi Brenna!"

I turned from my spot in the hot shade--yes it was hot and it was shade at the same time. I couldn't help but smile in amusement. He looked excited, and when he looked excited he looked much like a kid.

"What's up doc?"

He made a face at my choice of words but smiled anyway, "Jim gave us permission to go visit those ruins, and Spock gave his consent as well as long as we promise not to touch anything suspicious looking and are back in an hour."

"Spock gave us permission?" I raised my eyebrows.

McCoy smiled at me, obviously enjoying himself, "Jim's coming with us."

I groaned and McCoy only smiled more. He found our mutual dislike for one another quite amusing. As long as it didn't interfere with others and it didn't jeopardize any of the crew he thought our annoyance with one another was actually quite good for our mental and emotional health. I never thought I'd see the day a doctor would prescribe a pain in the ass for health.

"Lovely," I sighed as I turned and followed Mac as he went back towards the main camp, "just lovely."

We gathered together some supplies then met Kirk near the edge of the camp. We traveled in near silence and reached the ruins three hours later. As I watched Kirk I reflected back on the occurances in the past few days. He hadn't really spoken to me much after our disagreement right before the attack. He'd been civil with me but every time I was near him it brought back memories of both his words and what'd happened right after our arguement.

"So did Spock tell you anything about this culture?" Kirk's voice brought me back from my unpleasant memory lane.

I shook my head and I heard Mac laugh, "I know he told me they were obsessed with the differences between men and women when it came to brain functions and personality traits. Though that much can be understood from their drawings here."

I turned to look at the mural Mac was studying and nodded in agreement. Nearly everything depicted represented the differences between men and women--the yin and yang of the sexes. I supposed that was part of what made life interesting. Men were so odd, and women were so complex, the differences in emotional patterns and brain tendencies were fascinating to say the lease. I know I'd always had a grand time studying human sexuality and gender differences in school.

"Hey Bones!"

Mac and I turned and made our way over to where Kirk stood on an oddly shaped platform in the middle of a half circle of ornately carved pillars. On each pillar was a different aspect of man and woman, divided up with the feminine on the left and the masculine on the right, each with six pillars. The platform itself had a system of circles and swirls that curved in and out of each other with the sign of infinity as the background to it all. It was probably the most fascinating part of the ruins we'd found thus far.

"I think this was a marriage platform or something." Mac commented as he stood on the platform opposite Kirk and studied the carvings on the platform itself.

"Why do you say that?" I asked as I climbed up and stood beside Mac, studying the area around my feet.

Mac pointed to the interconnected swirls and circles over the infinity sign, "Well I would think all the swirls and circles represent a uniting of two beings and the infinity sign would mean that they are to be united for all time."

His theory made sense. However, why would they suddenly have a marriage platform in the middle of all this yin and yang of the sexes? Didn't really fit in with the rest of the culture of this ancient society, at least not in my mind. I shrugged and continued to study the platform while Mac stepped off and went to study the columns more closely. Kirk seemed to be occupied with studying his side of the platform, and thankfully not interested in talking to me.

At some point in time we moved opposite each other and studied the side the other had been on then circled back around and studied the original side again. When I looked up I found his eyes on mine and we both shrugged at the same time before stepping off the platform in opposite directions, him going to study the feminine columns and me to the masculine columns. Again, at some point in time, we crossed over the platform to study the opposite side then back to the original again. We were both off in our own world of exploration until Mac cleared his throat.

"Spock will send out a search party if we don't get back now."

I nodded and Kirk and I both stepped onto the platform to make our way towards Mac. Suddenly a loud humming exploded in the air and a bright light encompassed Kirk and I. We screamed as one, a white hot pain torching through my body and more than likely his as well. When the humming stopped and the pain eased, I faintly heard Mac calling for Spock through his communicator. I saw and knew black after that.


When I woke up again I was aware of two very odd sensations. One, my body didn't feel right. It felt harder, stronger, and more awkward. Two, my mind didn't feel right. It felt more one tracked, more aggressive, more focused and hardened. When I opened my eyes and looked around I nearly screamed at what I saw. I stopped before I actually screamed; noticing the noise coming from my throat wasn't at all a scream but more of a loud grunt.

I blinked a couple of times, slapped my face, and then pinched myself. But even after all that my body still lay on a bed beside me, slumbering away without me. Mac hurried into the tent and came to my side.

"Jim, are you feeling okay? You and Brenna were caught in some alien light and passed out. She hasn't woken up yet but I'm glad to see you're awake. We were afraid you both might not wake up again."

I blinked a few times at Mac, shock on my face. Jim? I closed my eyes, squeezing them tightly shut, and then opened them again. Nope, that didn't help. My body was still on the bed beside me, and Mac was still conversing with me like I was Kirk. It was about time to put a stop to that.

"Mac," it was so freaking weird hearing Kirk's voice come out of my mouth which was currently his mouth but sheesh, "I'm not Jim."

Mac blinked a few times then leaned back onto his heels, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," I waved a hand over Kirk's body, "this is Kirk's body but the consciousness is Brenna. I've got a sneaking suspicion that when my body wakes up it'll be Jim's consciousness inside it." I sighed and dragged a hand through my hair, marveling at how odd it felt to have short hair. "I think that light that got us switched us somehow."

Of course this wouldn't be the first time they'd encountered this. Kirk had had that psycho ex Janice take over his body, but this was a bit different. One, I wasn't a psycho ex, and two…wait I could wreak havoc in his body couldn't I? I let a half smile grace my features, oh the mind games I could play with unsuspecting victims.

"If that's true and it is Brenna inside there, then I'm going to guess that you're already thinking up ways to play pranks on people and I'm going to put a stop to that right now." Mac clamped his hand down on my wrist and tugged until I sat up fully and had to hop off the bed to follow him outside the tent.

Once outside he called for Spock who appeared nearly out of thin air it seemed. Mac quickly relayed the information he understood, along with my belief of me being me just inside Jim. Boyo was I going to get a headache before this was over. Spock seemed intrigued, obviously for good reason, and immediately set off towards the ruins in hopes to glean a way for me to be me again and for Jim to be Jim again. Wait…I just referred to him as Jim more than once in one train of thought! Argh!


I stood beside Mac and shifted from side to side while we watched Spock disappear with a few of the others, heading off towards the ruins where we'd come from. I seriously hoped they'd find a way out of this because it was exceedingly uncomfortable standing here with an overwhelming urge to burst at the seams. I paused and blushed when I realized the need for bursting was manifesting itself in my, or Kirk's, bladder.

"Ah hell." Mac turned to look at me and I glared down Kirk's body at his crotch, "I need to pee."

Mac was silent a moment before he nearly fell over laughing at the irony. What a help he was. Later, when I wasn't faced with the idea of having to pee in a man's body, I'd beat him up. I growled as I pushed past him and made my way to the dugout latrine some meters away. My initial movements led me to the female side and one of the officers, who didn't know that I was me in Kirk's body, gave me an odd expression. I merely nodded before I turned on my heel and went to the men's side, grumbling the entire way.

"This is so…" I opened up his uniform and grimaced as I stared down at the general area I needed to divert my attention to, "Disgusting, disturbing, and downright uncalled for."

I took a deep breath, slowly let it out through my nose, and tried to view this as objectively as possible. I tried to block reality as I reached inside my, or Kirk's, uniform, drew out his junior, yes I was going to call it that, and proceeded to urinate like any other man. Let me tell you, peeing as a man feels completely different than as a woman. As a man it takes longer for it to come out, yes, but you can also control where the stream goes. Yes, I admit to it, I drew pictures with my pee. It was totally awesome! Initially having to touch Kirk's penis was disgusting but now that I've discovered a natural talent for drawing with pee it's not so bad.

I was still grinning with pride when I came back and relayed my newfound talent to Mac. He looked horrified and quite nauseated for a moment before his shoulders slumped and he preceded me into the tent where my body still lay unconscious. It was odd, to say the least, being able to see my body through someone else's eyes. Sure I see myself in the mirror every day but seeing an actual 3-D picture of myself is completely different.

"Just remember to respect his body."

Mac's voice brought me out of my mental wonderings, "Huh?"

"He'll be more obliged to respect your body if you do the same with his." Mac fixed me with one of his parentally stern looks and I couldn't help but feel sheepish even though I hadn't done anything, yet.

"What do you mean?"

"For one thing, don't strip down and ogle yourself, aka Kirk, naked. Don't 'molest' Kirk, I'm sure he'd have issues with that, and don't try to give him more scars or bruises."

I giggled. The little devil. Mac must be able to read my mind, or he just knows me really well, because every single thing he mentioned I'd thought of already.

"Aw, where's the fun in that?" I couldn't help but wink at him. Humor always helped me difuse serious situations.

He seemed a bit uncomfortable with the sight of his captain winking at him but he just shook his head, "I'm sure you don't want him to do anything of that nature to your body."

I tipped my head to the side and thought, seriously, for a moment. Did I want Kirk knowing what I looked like naked? Hell no! The prick was an ass…now that's a rather funny description for you.

"Okay, okay, you win, oh conscience mine." I bowed slightly to him with a sigh. "I really hope we don't stay like this for a very long time, not to mention forever. It'd really suck to be him; I've always thought that, and now I know it for a fact." I ran my hands down his body and shivered. "I always thought guys were weird, and now I know that for a fact as well. You're bodies are so…ugly feeling."

Mac frowned at me, "What do you mean?"

"Well," I pointed to Kirk's crotch, "penises certainly aren't aesthetically pleasing. All your muscles make it difficult to be smooth and light. And the bones of your bodies are so abrupt and out there." I shrugged. "It's just ugly feeling to me because I'm used to being soft, smooth, light, and definitely not used to having a junior between my legs." I shifted my legs around and grimaced. "No wonder he walks bow-legged."

Mac had an expressionless face for a few seconds then he laughed. I smiled and chuckled with him, glad he found my assessment amusing and not offensive. I don't know if he was about to counter my assessment because my body suddenly moaned and started to stir. I couldn't help but gape at myself. I didn't realize my voice was so husky, or that whenever I moaned it kind of sounded like a mini orgasm. Sheesh…I was going to have to watch out for that.

"Hell," Kirk opened his, or my, eyes and reached for his, or my, head, "my head is killing me."

Mac immediately administered some meds and took Kirk's vitals. Everything was hunky dory until Kirk's eyes rested on me, aka him.

"What-"

I grinned and struck a pose, "Ta da! I'm you and you're me! Isn't this absolutely wonderful?" My forced enthusiasm fell and I sighed. "It seems that the platform we were exploring somehow fired off a power while we were on it and it switched our minds into the other's body."

His, or my, face was blank, other than the shock, for a moment before anger, fear, and more fear, took hold.

"Can we change back?"

I shrugged, "Spock is on his way back to the ruins to check it out and hopefully find a solution. Until then we're stuck." I glared down at his body then looked back up at him. "Believe me, I'm not enjoying myself."

Kirk nodded and swung his legs over the table. He looked down at his new body for a silent moment and I could only guess what his thoughts were, probably not very pretty. We ate dinner in the tent together, not really wanting to venture out and be exposed to the others, who still were unaware of the switch. I couldn't help but imagine some of the troubles both he and I could get into now that we were switched.

"It seems there are a few options as way of a solution to this situation." Spock announced as he came in a few hours later once the sun was down.

I nearly bounced up and down in excitement, "Well out with them!"

"First of all, this culture appeared to be so obsessed with understanding and tapping into gender differences that they created a way for opposites to swap bodies for a time so they could better empathize and understand one another."

Kirk rolled his eyes, "I gathered that much. How do we fix this?"

"It also served as a form of punishment against men who perpetrated crimes against women and vice versa with women to men. They would be locked in the opposite sex for a time, depending upon their crimes, then released back into their original body. It is really quite fascinating the data they collected on the brain wave and emotional pattern differences between men and women."

Mac sighed, "Spock, the answer?"

"Well it appears that the platform is a primitive looking computer that senses the intent of those standing on it."

I raised my eyebrows, "Meaning?"

"Well if two researchers merely wanted to understand one another and experience the opposite sex merely for research, the computer would discern that and act accordingly. In that such case the minds would be swapped for a matter of hours then returned to normal again. However if it were punishment for those standing on the platform the computer would discern that and would swap the minds for an undetermined amount of time."

Kirk's face paled, "Undetermined? Meaning forever?"

"Not exactly captain. Undetermined in this case would mean however long it took the parties to reconcile their differences and have a change of heart towards their victims or the opposite sex."

I groaned and hung my head. It would take all eternity for me to be able to reconcile my anger with Kirk and he with me.

"So once everything was reconciled they'd immediately switch back?" Mac asked. "That sounds easy enough."

"That's not quite all."

Kirk ran his hands over his face, "I knew there was more."

"There has to be a demonstration between the parties to signify their change of heart and acceptance of one another. The computer can discern truth of action and character and would need this demonstration to finish the punishment."

I tried to block the images my dirty little mind conjured at the thought of a "demonstration." I'll demonstrate a change of heart. I'll grab Kirk's nuts and-

"Well Brenna?"

Mac's voice thankfully stopped my more violently inclined train of thought.

"Huh?"

He pointed to Kirk, in my body, "You going to demonstrate no hard feelings with the captain?"

"How do we know we're not just the researchers wanting to experience the other's view point?" I knew my voice sounded pleading, but at least it was Kirk's voice and Kirk's body looking so pathetic and not mine.

Kirk glared at me and Mac sighed, "Because it's been over six hours since it happened and I'm sure that would've been more than enough time for the researchers to have their fill of the opposite sex. All of us here already know that the two of you don't get along very well and there is a lot of tension between you." I crossed my eyes at Kirk and he scowled. "Hence, the demonstration and change of heart instructions."

I growled and kicked at the floor. I knew I was pouting like a two year old, but darn it I deserved the right to. I was stuck in Kirk's body and he was stuck in mine and we had to learn to actually like each other then SHOW our like for one another before we could change back. Sheesh and I thought being trapped on a desert planet was hell enough.

"Miss Jones it is the logical course of action for you to reconcile whatever differences that you have with Captain Kirk." Spock, ever the dear heart, felt the need to reemphasize the importance of the situation.

I nodded but still didn't look up from the ground. I heard Kirk get off the cot and start to move around, very awkwardly. I looked up and started to seriously hope I didn't look as odd and awkward when I moved as he did in my body. If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation I would've laughed. I know Mac wanted to as well, I could see it in his eyes, but Kirk's grumblings and Spock's continuing narration on the culture and life of these ancient beings kept him silent, for the time being.

After Spock, again, emphasized the importance of our getting along, and Mac gave another lecture, Kirk and I were left alone. We didn't even look at each other at first. We stayed on opposite sides of the tent, looked at everything but each other, and did everything we could to remain quiet. At least we did until he broke the "truce" we had between us.

"So what do you think we're going to have to do get back into our own bodies?"

It was a legitimate question; I admit it was, but I was seriously tempted to tell him something ridiculous, lewd, or silly. That's always my initial reaction to serious situations, or if a conversation is getting too personal for my tastes. Humor always serves me well. It's safe, it's a shield, and it's easy to hide behind. Of course I hadn't used humor in the face of James' and Patricia's betrayal. Perhaps if I had it would've been easier to handle. However, I knew that if I tried to use humor right now it would only piss Kirk off and then we'd be yelling at each other in two point nine seconds.

"I honestly don't know. I mean you've managed to seriously piss me off, scratch at my heart, and frustrate me. Though it's usually easy to bounce back from such things, with you," I was surprised I was being so honest but for some reason I wanted to be, "well with you it's not. Sometimes I only have to look at you and I get angry with you." Of course I'm sure some of that anger and frustration was only manifested on him due to my past projections put on him.

Kirk looked surprised. He was probably surprised I was being honest, and serious, with him. And he was probably surprised that the mere sight of him made me angry. When he spoke it was my turn to be surprised.

"I must admit, Miss Jones, sometimes when I'm reminded of your presence on the ship and with my crew, it angers me as well. You of all people should know how I like to control the odds, keep things going in my favor, protect my crew and ship," as I continued to nod he finally stopped listing things I already knew, "well you are wild card Miss Jones, and unless I'm holding the trump card, I'm never in favor of wild cards."

After a moment or two I nodded and then he nodded. I felt that we'd made some progress for the night. But then Kirk started to shift around in a rather funny manner and I asked what the problem was.

"I need to urinate."

I laughed so hard it hurt my throat. Mac came back in when he heard me coughing and asked Kirk what the problem was. He related his dilemma to Mac and Mac smiled slightly before he pointed out the women's corner of the latrine to him. Kirk just glared at Mac, gave me an odd look, and then disappeared towards the bathroom.

"So are you two starting to get along? I didn't hear yelling or crashes." Mac handed me a cup of water as he spoke.

After I took a sip I shook my head, "I don't know if we're getting along better so much as we're starting to be a bit more honest with one another. It's going to take more than just a few hours, Mac; you of all people should know that."

Mac sighed but nodded. He rechecked my vitals and did the same with Kirk once he returned, his face a bit pale, from his little trip. I'm sure he already missed being able to pee standing up—every woman hates having to pee while she squats…its damned inconvenient. Once Mac was satisfied that we were both healthy, for being in each other's bodies, he left us to get some rest, if we could manage it.

Though it was odd settling back down on the cot in a man's body, I did manage to find a somewhat comfortable position and probably fell asleep around the same time as Kirk.