Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

It seemed now that life aboard the T'Kumbra was as pleasant as it was painful five months ago. It seemed everyone had gotten over the initial news of having a human permanently aboard their ship and now were determined to make this change as smooth as possible. I noticed a sharp decrease in pointed comments from my superiors; instead I received more compliments. I felt deep down that this was Solok's doing, and it bemused me, and yet it was an exciting thought.

We played volleyball together regularly, at least twice a week. I played against Torik as well, but ever since he returned from his trip to Vulcan, he and I had become a little more distant than usual. We spent less time together, but he was still my dearest friend.

I sat quietly on the bleachers in the holodeck, occasionally taking a sip of water. I had finished stretching five minutes ago, and Solok still had not shown. He was the more punctual of the two of us, often beating me here. If he had a good excuse for being late or was unable to come, he would have contacted me by now.

Another five minutes passed. I took a sip of water.

Five more minutes.

"Computer, where is Captain Solok?"

"Captain Solok is in his quarters."

I stood up, gathered my things and headed toward the door.

…

I ran the buzzer twice before the door finally opened. I stepped inside, confused and slightly frightened at this point. The room was nearly pitch black, the only light coming from a few small candles burning on a table. It smelled heavily of some strange incense that almost made my head swim. I could barely see the outline of Solok's body seated silently on the other side of the low table.

"I'm afraid that I will not be able to play with you today, Ms. Valentin. Please excuse me." His voice was no more than a hoarse whisper in the dark, and I stopped myself from shivering. That voice was so hollow, so lonely, so stark that it made the hairs on my arms stand on end.

"If I'm interrupting anything, I'll go."

"Perhaps that would be best," came the hoarse reply. I considered asking if there was anything I could do for him, but thought better of it. Solok, for all his recent improvements, probably didn't want to accept my help. I turned to leave.

"Tia."

I turned back to him and saw the dark shadow stand and come forward. I could barely make out his features in the soft, dim candlelight, but I did notice bags under his eyes. I nearly winced at the sight; he looked exhausted, and I noticed a few strands of hair were out of place on his head.

"Are you all right, Solok?"

"I am fine, thank you." If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn he had just snapped at me. He sighed.

"I am all right, Tia. You do not need to worry about me," he repeated, his tone softer. "I need to inform you that tomorrow morning, you will accompany me and the Bolian ambassador to Gamma Phi Six for his negotiations."

I nodded. "Aye, sir. But...may I ask why I'm going?"

"The ambassador requested your presence. It is not unreasonable to assume that he desires more...emotional company than I can provide him. We will take the shuttle, as the T'Kumbra cannot negotiate the asteroid belt in the Gamma Phi system. 0800 in the shuttle bay. Dismissed."

I nodded, then strode quickly from his quarters. I didn't even think about what had happened, didn't let myself dwell on it until I was alone in my room. I laid down on the bed and frowned.

Something wasn't right with Solok. I had never seen a Vulcan display that much emotion (even such subtle emotion) in my six months aboard this ship. Solok would be the last one to let anything show, and yet I had heard traces of anger, irritation, and even despair in our short exchange. My perverse pleasure in scouting out his emotions had left me capable of seeing their little glimpses, but his emotions just then had been borderline obvious. But then, there was nothing I could do. A feeling deep in my gut told me not to report this to sickbay, that Solok could take care of himself.

Uneasy, but resigned to stay out of my captain's personal matters, I eventually drifted off to sleep.

…

The two hours passed by like molasses as the navigator skillfully guided the shuttle through the asteroid belt. The Vulcan bridge officer and Captain Solok sat at the helm, silent as stones as they worked. I sat in the back with the ambassador. The Bolian diplomat was cheerful and boisterous, and I could understand why Solok and the other Vulcan kept their distance. This man was the exact opposite of the calm Vulcan facade my colleagues wore, but he was opposite in a good way. He too asked me why I was accepting a permanent commission aboard the T'Kumbra.

"It's a long story," I said shortly, "but let's just say this is where I belong."

The ambassador nodded and changed the subject, and I was grateful. I didn't want to talk about my career right now. From the moment I had stepped into the shuttle bay, Solok had deliberately avoided my gaze. He mumbled out a 'good morning', but after that, he was cold and distant. I thought it might please him to see a human debating logic (and winning) against a skeptical Bolian, but he was seated tight at the helm, absorbed in his work. And maybe I was overreacting; after all, I still didn't know what had been wrong with him last night, or if it was still plaguing him this morning.

A thought popped into my head that I immediately banished: what if this was all a ploy? What if Solok, now that he had my permanent commission, had dropped the act and gone back to the way he was? Now that the six-month limit no longer existed, he was free to torment me at his leisure. And now the torment would be his absence, his distance. I could not live with that.

But I told myself no for two reasons: Solok was brilliant to be sure, but he wasn't that good. No one could feign being that genuine for three months, not even a Vulcan. And two, what about last night? I heard hollow regret in his voice after he had snapped at me, and I knew Solok was deep down a good person. I had to believe that, or else I would have locked myself into a cold, dark prison with no way out except to grovel to Solok and tell him that I had changed my mind. No, I told myself vehemently, Solok wasn't feeling well or something and that was none of my business.

I concentrated again on the ambassador and our conversation, determined to leave those depressing thoughts behind.

…

I opened my eyes and saw flickering light throwing soft patterns on a course gray material that was supporting my cheek. A siren screamed in my ear, and my ankle throbbed in pain.

I tried to jump up off the floor at the sound of the klaxon wails, but even as I got to my knees, I collapsed right back on the ground. I lifted my head an inch and saw blue blood trickling from the forehead of the Bolian ambassador; his eyes were glazed over, unmoving. Just to be sure, I felt for his pulse, but found nothing. I listened to his chest and heard nothing. I gave up and crawled toward the cockpit, and nearly threw up at the sight of the helmsman's nasty gash on his forehead. I checked his pulse and was met with silence. Praying harder than I ever had in my life, I turned to Solok. I started to cry when I noticed his chest rising and falling slightly; he was alive. I used the burned out helm as a support to haul myself to my feet, only to fall over again. Gritting my teeth, I tried again and managed. My vision blurred both by my tears and the black smoke that was slowly filling the cabin, I limped over to the captain and tried to lift him. I collapsed again, then realized I could not stand and haul a grown man at the same time.

I sat there for a minute as the smoke filled the cabin. I couldn't stand again lest I suffocate, besides, I couldn't stand up and hope to save the captain. I decided to crawl out, with the captain on my back. It would take some doing, but the adrenaline was already pumping through my veins, giving me the strength I needed to escape. Using every ounce of muscle I had, I dragged the captain onto my back, balanced him over my spinal cord, then, step by step, crawled out of the shuttle. His hands dangled over my back on the right, and his feet dragged the ground on the left. Flames danced around me, and I nearly screamed as a tongue of fire licked my arm. I jerked it away and the captain promptly slid off my back. It took a few minutes to readjust him, but I finally managed it. Two feet ahead, the shuttle door had opened in the crash. It felt like eternity before we made it out to the wind-swept sandy desert; I could hear the crackling flames even when we were twenty feet from the cabin. I realized the captain's shirt was on fire, and I slid him off of me and doused the flame with the amble sand. The sand was hot, but the air was cool, and two pale moons rose just above the horizon into the dark evening sky. I was grateful it was so cool outside, otherwise we would not survive. A dark line of mountains stretched on the horizon, and I knew we should head for those. In the mountains there might be water, or at least shade. Leaving the captain in the sand, I crawled back to the cabin.

Flames licked the walls, devouring the carpet and twisting the durable metal into a blackened, empty shell. The ration packs probably did not survive the fire, so I abandoned the shuttle in favor of making good time toward the mountains.

I waited about half an hour to get my bearings, sitting quietly as the captain laid in the sand, listening to the lonely, howling wind. I watched the shuttle burn into a hollow carcass, and I bowed my head in reverence for the Bolian ambassador and the helmsman. But my first priority was to get Solok and myself to safety.

I stood, wobbled a bit, then straightened myself again. But when I put weight on my left ankle, I immediately collapsed into the burning sand. It was either broken or sprained, I couldn't tell, and it explained the throbbing pain and the difficulty I had in standing. I heard a gentle moan from the captain and turned to him.

Gray eyes slowly opened, and they stared at me with a bleary, confused gaze.

"What happened?" Solok groaned as he sat up.

"We crashed. Molik and the ambassador-" A gut-wrenching sob escaped my throat before I could finish, but Solok gripped my wrist tightly.

"Ms. Valentin, now is not the time to be emotional. We will mourn their deaths when we have returned to the ship."

I nodded and dried my tears. "You see the mountain range over there? That's where I was going to drag you."

The captain turned and stared at the dark line on the horizon, then nodded.

"Yes, it would be logical to head there. We should leave a mark for the rescue teams so they can find us."

He looked around and noticed the burning shuttle, and several pieces of hull had broken off. Some scorched conduits lay amongst the rubble, and Solok fetched them and arranged them in an arrow, pointing toward the mountains.

He turned to me. "Do not waste time, lieutenant, let's move."

"If you help me, I will. My ankle is either sprained or broken."

I swore he nearly sighed in exasperation as he knelt down in front of me and removed my boot. I gritted my teeth to stop from whimpering, and he quirked an eyebrow as he felt my ankle.

"Only sprained, lieutenant. Come, I will help you."

He hauled me to my feet, and I draped an arm around his shoulders. We limped together toward the dark horizon, hoping water lay in the distance for our parched throats. Solok was fine though; his Vulcan physiology allowed him to go several days without water or rest, but I was not so lucky. I would die from thirst in three days, less in the desert heat. We needed to get to the mountains.

We limped along the path all night, and as the first rays of the sun lighted up the eastern horizon behind us, we came to the foot of the range. We rested gratefully in the shade of a boulder, and I took the time to glance over him and assess if he had any injuries. Other than a nasty bruise on his temple, he looked fine. I knew that the Bolian's body had cushioned my head from the hard floor. How Solok survived was beyond me, but I figured it was luck.

"Come," he croaked after ten minutes. "We need to climb these hills before the sun gets too high."

I obeyed, using the boulder as a support, and he came forward and we continued on our way. We searched the foot of the mountains first for openings, but found none. However, Solok spotted what looked like a cave about twenty feet above us, and we decided to head for it.

"I will carry you on my back," he explained. "Clutch my shoulders, I'm going to need my arms."

He crouched down a little, and I scooted over so that I was behind him, then wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

"Wrap your legs around my waist."

I obeyed, and he held my knees up. We began a gradual accent toward the cave, zigzagging up the stony face of the mountain. Any other man might have given up halfway, but Solok was stronger than a human, and his endurance was very impressive. He did not stop until we were at the mouth of the cave, at which time he let me off and helped me inside. We rounded a corner and found a narrow passageway, and once the growing daylight was out of sight, Solok helped me sit on the ground, then collapsed on the floor.

I quickly crawled over to him, and it wasn't until I brushed his sweat-drenched hair from his forehead that I noticed a thick gash at his hairline. It was slowly oozing green blood, and I tore off the cleanest part of my uniform and pressed it to the wound, and it seemed to help. I made to tuck some stray hairs back behind his ear, but when my fingertips brushed his skin, I gasped.

His skin burned with a fire that I had never felt before. His skin was usually warm, yes, but where it was usually a warm sidewalk, now it was a wild blaze. I frowned and let a few tears escape me; I did not know what ailed him, so I could not help. And he was fast asleep, unconscious from the loss of blood, so he could not help me help him either. The coolest thing I had was my skin, which was now drenched in sweat. I recalled that I had a tricorder strapped to my side, and I quickly whipped it out and scanned for water. A small stream trickled not one hundred meters further back in the cave, and I knew I had to fetch water, to cool him and to quench my now-unbearable thirst.

I stood, using the boulders as a guide, and thirty minutes later, my undershirt was soaked in water to cool Solok's forehead and body, and I had managed to drink some water at the stream. I would have to squeeze some out of my shirt for Solok to drink, but that wouldn't be too much of a problem once he was awake.

There was nothing now to do but wait.

Next chapter: Solok's POV.