From This Day Forward

by WolfLibre

This is a Jim Kirk/Spock slash story. After a bit of a rocky start, Jim and Spock become friends and then fall in love. Of course, they are classically clue-less while this is happening, and Uhura has to help get things moving in the right direction. Slow build and lots of romance with some drama and hurt/comfort thrown in.

14. Separated

Disclaimer: I don't own nuttin', not no way, not no how.

Author's note: Here's a reminder that F© stands for Federation credits.

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Chapter 14: Separated

Jim and Spock had barely started up the creek-bed when the captain stopped abruptly, turned to his first officer and exclaimed, "Spock, I'm so sorry! What was I thinking? We should take care of that gash on your face and then we should eat something before we set out. We have a long way to go, and a few minutes' delay won't make any difference…" They both had numerous scrapes and bruises, but the place where the bullet had grazed Spock was the most serious injury either of them had sustained.

To forestall any argument from Spock (Jim could just hear the man saying, "Please do not concern yourself, Captain"), he grasped his friend firmly behind the elbow and led him over to a large fallen log that was close to the base of the escarpment. It offered the most comfortable-looking place to sit anywhere at all nearby and it was also in the shelter of the vines trailing from the last eroded terrace just above them. It didn't seem likely that Watkins could hit them at this distance, but Jim didn't want to bet the farm on that, and he felt much safer out of view from the top of the mountain. Spock still had his phaser, but that wouldn't help them if the man somehow managed to get in a clean shot.

Seeing the set of his captain's mouth, Spock did not even attempt to protest. He sat where he was told and waited obediently for his friend's ministrations. Jim first washed the accumulated dirt and plant sap off of his hands using water from the bottle in the emergency pack and the small bar of soap he found there, for despite all the advances in medicine, it was still hard to beat plain old soap and water for removing dirt and grime. The pack also included some basic first-aid supplies—a small roll of gauze, adhesive, a tiny pair of folding scissors, sterilizing solution, band-aids in assorted sized, topical antibiotic and anti-itch creams, etc.—so he was able to followed up the wash with some of the sterilizer. Under the circumstances, it was the best he could do; his hands weren't operating-theater clean, but they definitely weren't filthy, either.

The captain now cut some gauze from the roll and soaked it with water from the bottle. With as light a touch as he could manage, he dabbed away the drying blood where the bullet had grazed the half-Vulcan, going slowly to avoid reopening the gash and causing more bleeding. As he worked, he carefully inspected the injury and was relieved to see that it seemed to be clean; Spock's blood had apparently done its job very well and had already washed away what ever plant bits and dirt had gotten in the wound on their way down the mountain. But to further minimize the risk of infection, since they were on their own out in the wilderness, he decided he should use some of the sterilizing solution on the gash as well. Jim cut off more gauze and used it to apply some solution to the wound, and Spock winced slightly at the sting of this substance.

When he was finished treating the cut, the captain said, "OK, we'll let that dry really well and then I can put some antibiotic cream on it," holding up for his first officer's inspection a small tube declaring "Safe for Andorian, Human, and Vulcan Use," which made sense in light of the fact that these were the two most prevalent races sharing starships with humans. Designed to cope with unknown as well as known pathogens, the antibiotic worked primarily by stimulating the body's own defenses.

Spock glanced at the tube and merely nodded, not trusting himself to speak. His mother had been the last person to do something like this for him, years ago now, and Jim's tender care strongly reminded him of her kind and gentle ways. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing to regain his composure. After a moment, he felt more in control and said, "Thank you, Jim. Perhaps, though, I should apply the antibiotic myself, as the injury is quite sensitive." His friend acquiesced and handed it over.

The first officer washed his hands using the same method as his captain, and by the time he had finished that, the cut had dried. He rubbed some of the antibiotic cream into the gash and then washed his hands again, as he would have to eat with them—never a comfortable thing for a Vulcan in any case—and he did not want to ingest any of the cream. They decided to leave the wound open to the air, as Spock was leery of using any of the adhesive, having had allergic reactions to some types of such things in the past.

Jim sat down beside his first officer, and they looked in the packs for the emergency field rations. As expected, they found individually-wrapped dry bars made up of "essential nutrients"—proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals—and there was also some chocolate, really included as an all-purpose stress-reliever but justified for its high nutritive value. In addition, though, stuffed rather awkwardly into a corner, there was a small plastic bottle of whisky in each pack. Spock held up his bottle and looked at Jim questioningly, surprised enough for there to be a slight "What the hell?" expression on his face.

The captain stared at the bottles, completely at a loss. He knew for a fact that they weren't standard issue in the packs—from the way Spock was turning his bottle over in his hands, as if it were one of the most mysterious things he had ever seen, he apparently knew so as well—so how…? Then the blindingly obvious answer came to him and he started laughing, and despite putting his hands over his mouth to stifle the sound as much as possible, he laughed so hard he almost fell off of the log. The half-Vulcan was starting to look alarmed at his captain's sudden irrepressible mirth when Jim finally got control of himself and managed to say, "Scotty, bless ye!"

Jim's laugh died down to chuckles and he turned to his first officer and said, "Spock, this is Scotty's doing, I'm sure of it. You and I both know the official list of the contents of these packs doesn't include little bottles of whisky. See, yours is even a different brand than mine, so that pretty much proves it! And I know he collects these things. I was coming on board with him for this mission, and he had this little tote bag practically full of 'em; it was open a bit and I could see inside. He told me he picks these up wherever he finds 'em, if it's anything he would consider drinkable, and puts 'em away for 'emergencies.' Well, the situation we're in down here certainly qualifies! Bless his heart, he must've put a bottle in each of the packs on that shuttle, just in case anything went wrong—when he said it was ready for launch, he wasn't kidding! If we'd made it back without having to open these packs, I'm sure he would have just taken the things back out and no one would have been the wiser."

The first officer nodded and replied, "I believe you must be correct, Jim. I cannot think of any other way to explain their presence."

The captain continued, "And as much as I'd like to have some of that whisky right now, I think it would be better to save it until we stop for the night."

Spock had to agree with this last sentiment in regards to the chocolate. They then set about opening a couple of the wrapped bars. The packaging of such things had barely improved since the 20th century, when individually wrapped food items became common, and the package Spock was trying to open suddenly split apart and spilled its contents onto the ground.

Jim, who knew by now how fastidious Vulcans tended to be about food, watched in near shock as his first officer calmly picked up the bar, blew the dirt off the surface, and then bit into it. He proceeded to chew and swallow, and in response to the captain's goggle-eyed stare, the half-Vulcan said, "We cannot afford to waste food, Jim." He paused for a second and a twinkle came into his eye as he said, "And truthfully, I suspect the dirt improves the flavor…" The captain shook his head and rolled his eyes before grinning at his friend and biting into his own bar. As he chewed, he reflected that Spock was probably right about the dirt and the flavor, and he resolved to see if there was any way Star Fleet could make the things more palatable.

They each ate two of the bars and drank some of their water. It was now time to be on their way, but they first refilled the bottles from the stream—the purification filters would take care of anything in the water that would be harmful for them—and they started out for the second time. Following the same rule that the captain had given Giotto, the two men did not talk except when absolutely necessary, just in case…

They went as rapidly as they could, but they had to be careful where they put their feet. Some of the rocks in the creek-bed were very small, like gravel, and could be trod on with no problem, some were large and flat-ish enough to be almost like stepping stones, but there were many of middling sizes that could trap a carelessly-placed foot between them or roll under one's weight and result in a turned ankle.

On their left, to the north, a sea of grass stretched away from them, rippling and shimmering in the soft wind that blew in from the west, the ripe seed heads bending low on their stalks. A broad river wound through the grassland, and on each side there were herds of grazing animals rather like a cross between a donkey and a prong-horned antelope: dark-furred, short and sturdy, with blunt noses, prominent ears, and short flipped-up tails, paired incongruously with deadly-looking branching horns. Some of the animals on the near side of the river raised their heads to stare curiously at the two men, but they soon lost interest and went back to grazing. Toward the northeast, some miles in the distance, another escarpment topped by a plateau reared up abruptly like a colossal stone ship plowing the waves of grass. From its shape and its reddish color, they took the cliff to be primarily sandstone; a broad waterfall spilled over its western edge to become the river that fed the lush grassland.

On their right, to the south, the mountain they had been on loomed above them, the vegetation-covered remains of terraces clearly visible as far up the creek-bed as they could see. A number of colonies of the bird-like animals had made these their home, and they passed the news of the two-legged intruders along from one to the next in noisy squawks and whistles. An increasing number of these animals took to the air as the afternoon wore on, climbing, diving and gliding much like earthly larks, gorging themselves on the insects that rose in ever-larger numbers from the grassland.

Looking up, Jim's breath caught in his throat at the sheer beauty of the sight as the westering sunlight struck the dark underside of many pairs of wings and turned them to red-gold. Wanting to share this wonder with his friend, he stopped, briefly touched Spock's arm, and pointed up. The half-Vulcan stopped beside him and let out a tiny gasp as he looked upward. He reached out then and laid a warm hand on Jim's shoulder as they stood quietly watching. After few moments, the captain turned to smile at his first officer; both sides of Spock's mouth tipped up slightly in return as he inclined his head in silent thanks. He removed his hand, ending the contact, and they pressed on.

When they started out, the wind had blown steadily from the west, carrying the sweet scent of the grass and the wet smell of the river, but it had since become variable in direction. When it blew from the east, and especially from the northeast, it brought with it a very faint sulfurous odor. Jim wondered if there might be hot springs somewhere in the area, perhaps some distance away on the top of the plateau. He suppressed a sigh when he gazed at the still-distant landmark, for despite the length of time they had now been walking, the plateau never seemed to be any closer.

They walked on.

The sun was getting low in the sky when they were finally almost abreast of the plateau, for despite the captain's glum assessment, they had in fact been drawing ever nearer, step by step. It stood just beyond the creek and a wide flat stretch of the grassland which came to an abrupt end at the base of the plateau, now almost due north from where they were standing. They had also reached a point where the escarpment on their right and the creek-bed they were following, which had both been running almost due east, turned sharply to the south. This was very close to the area where the mountainous land took a substantial dip downward and where they would hopefully be able to climb up and then begin the long walk back west to rejoin their fellows. But as the afternoon was now sliding into evening, the captain decided that they should find a place to stop for the night, not wanting to try the climb in the dark.

Jim was looking over the mountain on their side of the creek for a suitable place to spend the night when Spock touched him lightly on the arm and then pointed to direct his attention toward the waterfall and the escarpment that formed the western edge of the plateau. The early evening sunlight pierced the waterfall, revealing a grotto behind it, some distance above the level of a wide pool, the outlet of which joined the streams and becks that drained the mountain to become the river that ran on into the grassland. The grotto was in a place where the sandstone was quite undercut relative to the top of the plateau, and the waterfall appeared to flow past it at a fair distance away, giving a good chance it would be at least relatively dry inside.

The captain and the first officer agreed that if they could get to it, the grotto would be a perfect place to spend the night. They would be in a place where it would be very difficult for Watkins to sneak up on them, assuming he was even down on this level. It seemed more likely that he had remained on the top of the mountain they had been on earlier, but since such an assumption could have life or death consequences, it seemed better to err on the side of caution and assume that he might be stalking them even now. And, behind a waterfall, they would be able to talk—quietly, anyway—without fear of Watkins hearing them and honing in on their position, as he might if they were anywhere else.

The water in the creek at this point was low enough that they were able to walk across it on some exposed stones, not even getting their feet wet (dry socks—bonus! Or at least, as dry as one could expect after walking for several hours). As they crossed the flat land between the two escarpments, the occasional sulfurous odor from earlier became almost constant, although it was still faint. The two men commented on this to each other but pressed on with finding a way to get to the grotto.

While inspecting the cliff, they noticed a shallow ledge of what appeared to be granite protruding from between layers of undercut sandstone. The granite protrusion looked like it would be just wide enough to walk on and, except for a gap of several feet about a third of the way along, it went almost all the rest of the way the grotto, falling short by two feet at most. The cliff was severely undercut in many places, including the area directly below the grotto, as well as the entire way from the gap onward. If they wanted to climb up, they would have to do it from where they were now, as it was the only place they could see that offered any kind of useful hand-holds and foot-holds. Some of these would be a stretch, but they both judged that they could manage it. At any rate, they had to try, as the granite protrusion was the only possible way they could see for humanoids to get into the grotto.

They could also see that the rock was scored in places by what appeared to be claw marks, now somewhat eroded-looking. Apparently, one of the local animals had been able to simply claw its way up the rock and so had once made the grotto its home. From the amount of erosion on the marks, they suspected the animal no longer claimed the space, but they would have to check it very carefully to be certain, and they would have to be prepared to beat a hasty retreat if they were wrong.

Spock climbed up first and made it to the ledge. He took a moment to stabilize himself before he turned to look back at Jim and motioned for him to climb up. When they were both on the ledge, Spock began inching along toward the grotto, with Jim following behind. They made good progress until they reached the large break in the ledge, and Spock looked for a way to get past it. He realized that he could just reach a good hand-hold on the far side and he pulled himself over. Knowing that he had a longer reach than his friend, as well as being significantly stronger, he then turned back toward the captain and said, "Jim, give me your hand and I will assist you over the gap," as he raised his shields to maximum and reached back.

Jim started reaching toward Spock but then he abruptly jerked his hand away. The half-Vulcan was so surprised by this that he was unable to completely suppress the look of hurt that briefly crossed his face before he set his features back to a stony neutral. Jim missed it though, as his sudden motion unbalanced him slightly, and he had to grab the cliff face and look down to keep from falling, and it occurred to him how ironic this was, in light of what he was about to tell Spock. When he looked up, he wondered briefly at the tension in his friend's face, but he let that go to focus on what he had to say. He took a deep breath and said, "Spock, umm…I probably should have told you before, but, well…" he trailed off.

As Jim paused for a moment, Spock wondered apprehensively what it was that his friend had not told him, if the reason his captain was apparently so reluctant to touch his hand was perhaps because the man was not, in fact, completely comfortable with the amount of physical contact that had become normal between them. But then he pushed this aside as illogical—it had only been a few hours since that impulsive hug—and waited for the explanation.

The captain took another deep breath and said, "I, uh, don't know it will happen or if you'll be able to feel it if it does, but I sure as hell will and if you do, too, well I don't want you to be startled and, uh, fall off this ledge." He paused again and then went on, "Umm, see, the thing is, sometimes when we're, uh, in physical contact, and especially when it's directly on my skin like earlier today,"—Jeez! Was that really just earlier today?—"the, umm, index and middle fingers of my hands start up with this, uh, buzzing, vibrating sensation. And if you can feel it, too…well, it might be startling, and, uh, like I said, I don't want us to fall…" he trailed off again.

Spock's expression relaxed, and he breathed an inner sigh of relief, though just why he should be so relieved was something he refused to examine right then. He replied, "Jim, thank you for the warning. I will do my best not to let the sensation disturb me, if I can indeed feel it," and he reached toward his captain again.

Jim took hold of the offered hand, and as he thought might happen, his fingers set up a strong buzz, again with the sensation being much stronger in the hand that was enclosed within Spock's. He noted that the buzzing happened even though he wasn't getting any emotional transference, and it seemed that the vibrations occurred solely as a result of the half-Vulcan's contact with his skin.

Spock's eyes widened quite perceptibly as he felt the vibrations in his captain's fingers, although with his shields at maximum, he did not pick up any of his friend's thoughts or feelings. He was glad then that Jim had warned him, as he might in fact have been startled enough to lose his balance on the narrow ledge. He pulled the captain across the gap and when they were both stable on the ledge again, he let go of Jim's hand.

They made it to the grotto without further incident and slipped inside; it was indeed dry, as they had hoped. They stood in the opening, listening intently for any sounds that would indicate an irate animal was about to charge out and chase them off, but the only sound was the waterfall outside. Jim sniffed the air but didn't pick up any odor that seemed to come from an animal; the only smells were of warm rock, the slight metallic tang of damp from the waterfall, and the now ever-present faint whiff of sulfur. Being half human, Spock had a somewhat more acute sense of smell than most Vulcans, males especially, and he did not detect anything reminiscent of an animal, either. They both relaxed slightly as it now appeared likely that they were alone in the grotto.

It was significantly warmer inside than they would have expected—toasty, even—and as understanding came to him, Jim exclaimed, "Now I know why we keep smelling sulfur! There must be hot springs somewhere off on the top of this plateau, and the magma that heats them must come up through the rock here." The first officer placed his hand on the wall of the grotto, confirming the unexpected warmth, as he nodded and replied, "I believe you are correct." They had both noticed how warm the rock of the cliff had been; it had seemed warmer than one would have expected it to be just from sunlight, and this oddity now made sense in light of the new information.

The waterfall was too far away for them to touch it, but they both suspected it would be warm, too, or at least warmer than an ordinary waterfall going over an ordinary cliff. Had they not been in so much danger, Jim would have suggested a swim in the pool, but then, if they hadn't been in so much danger, they would never have ended up in this place to begin with. It was a beautiful spot, though; maybe they could come back and go camping here at some point in the future… (for the captain was steadfastly refusing to think that there might not be any future for them).

Spock wanted to ask Jim about the buzzing in his fingers, but he realized that they needed to explore the grotto first. They could see that it was larger than they had originally thought, as it bent into a passage that led back into the cliff. They stopped to extract the flashlights from their emergency packs and then headed into the passage, needing to be absolutely certain that the grotto wasn't already occupied. The passage twisted back and forth on its way and then widened into another small open space before coming to an end. There was a large nest-like mass of dried grasses in the space. A few hairy-scaly thick strandish bits clung to the grass, evidently some of the outer body covering of the animal that had made the nest—and almost certainly the claw marks on the rock of the cliff face as well—but nothing else of this previous inhabitant remained. As there were no other creatures now in evidence, they concluded that they really did have the place to themselves (whew!).

Jim paused to gather up the dried grass nest as something to provide a little padding from the hard rock of the grotto floor, while Spock went on back toward the entrance, not wanting to leave it unattended for long, just in case... Then the captain headed back to the main part of the grotto himself. As he approached the last twist of the passage, he switched off the flashlight, seeing a strange eerie light ahead; he turned the final corner and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight that greeted him.

Directly in front of them, the sun was now close to setting, and its rays had turned the waterfall into a glowing golden curtain. Spock was sitting at the opening of the grotto, with his legs dangling over the edge, completely absorbed in the scene before him. Somehow, Jim had the presence of mind to quietly set the things in his hands down against one wall instead of simply letting them fall to the floor where he stood. As he watched his first officer watching the sunset, he felt an almost overwhelming urge to go up and put his arm around his friend, but he didn't want to interrupt Spock's quiet contemplation to ask permission. But then he wondered: did he really even need to ask anymore? Perhaps not. For they had now stood together on the bridge between life and death…and together, they had walked off side by side, back to the land of the living.

Taking a deep breath, the captain headed over and sat down very close to Spock, likewise dangling his legs over the edge, and then simply wrapped an arm around his first officer's shoulders. He turned toward the half-Vulcan to gauge his reaction, and he knew what he'd done was alright when his friend looked back at him with a small but quite visible smile as the man looped his arm across the captain's back and settled a hand on his shoulder. They looked then for all the world like a painting of two bestest chums by Norman Rockwell fused with the dazzling light and exotic setting of a painting by Maxfield Parrish, if Mr. Rockwell had somehow decided to give one of the boys beautiful pointed ears.

Spock felt his heart swell within him and he said very softly, "While I admit that I regret the circumstances that brought us to this place, I cannot say that I regret being here now to share this moment with you, Jim."

The captain's mouth dropped open slightly and he stared back at his first officer, wide-eyed at the half-Vulcan's quiet admission. An up-rush of feeling tightened his throat, and he had to swallow before he was able to say quietly, "Likewise, Spock."

They turned again toward the spectacle in front of them, and as they watched in awe-struck silence, the vanishing sunlight turned the shimmering curtain from gold to orange to blazing red and then to pinkish grey as the sun slipped below the rising horizon. Jim was stiffening up from the extreme exertions of the day, and he reluctantly unwrapped his arm from around his friend. Spock briefly closed his fingers over Jim's shoulder before dropping his hand as well. The captain leaned back on his hands while they sat on side by side, watching the clouds in the west continue to glow in deep reds and golds with all the colors reflected below in the pool and the winding river, before the spectrum slowly shifted to purple and finally on to grey as the night closed in.

By unspoken consent, the two men stood up and stretched. Jim retrieved the large mass of dried grasses from where he had set it down and arranged it into two piles close to one wall so they would be able to sit in relative comfort and he gestured to Spock to choose one while he took the other. The captain said, "Since I think we can talk here without being overheard, I want to check in with the ship," and he flipped open his communicator. Uhura's familiar voice answered him immediately. Kirk frowned and said, "Lieutenant, not that I unhappy to talk to you, but what are you doing still on duty? You should be off watch by now." She replied, "I'm going soon, sir. I had a feeling that when you stopped for the night, you would call in if you felt you could, and I talked Sulu into letting me take a few extra hours so I could be here." The captain let the smile he felt at that come through his voice as he said, "Thanks, Lieutenant, I appreciate that. Anything to report?"

Uhura answered, "Yes, sir. Dr. Morgan continues to do well. All the others down on the planet are gathered in that cave you chose as your bivouac; per your orders, they haven't called in, but I know they're alright because their life signs are all strong, including Crewman Ferreira's. He's getting the best care down there that he could, I think, thanks to Dr. Marinescu."

Jim said, "Yeah, that's true, and that's all good news; thanks, Lieutenant. What about Watkins? Any sign of him?"

Her voice reflected her frustration as she said, "No, sir, none at all. None of us have been able to figure out how he's hiding from our sensors." Concern replaced frustration as she asked, "Are you in a safe place, sir? It's just the two of you after all…"

Kirk replied, "Yeah, we're actually behind a waterfall, so if Watkins is down here instead of up on the mountain, I don't think he could hear us where we are. And even if he's down here and knows where we are, I don't think it would be very easy for him to get up here. We'll take turns keeping watch anyway, of course, so we should be OK. Which reminds me: how long will the night be where we are? The sun set,"—here he looked at Spock, who supplied, "26 minutes ago"—and he repeated to Uhura, "26 minutes ago." He wanted to know so that he could divide the hours of the night into suitable watch periods. She consulted the sunset/sunrise data for their location and replied, "From sunset to sunrise is 12 hours and 32 minutes, so you have right at 12 hours to go. Luna-gee's day is 26 hours and three minutes long, and during late summer like it is there now, the days are still longer than the nights."

Kirk answered, "Thanks, Lieutenant." He paused a moment and then asked, "What about the Gray's particles? Any change there?"

The communications officer's voice turned unhappy as she said, "Yes, sir, but unfortunately, the level has increased rather than going in the direction we'd prefer. Ensign Gyo said this is now the highest level of Gray's particles ever measured. Of course, the number of particles could drop off or they could even stop entirely at any time, but they also might continue at this level for several days, or even increase further. There's just no way to tell." She was silent for just a moment and then said, "Sorry, sir; I really wish I had better news on that score."

The captain said, "So do I, Lieutenant, so do I." He thought for a moment and then said, "OK, I think that's all I need to ask you right now, but I'll contact the ship again before we leave here in the morning." After her soft, "Aye, aye, sir," he asked, "Can you patch me through to Scotty?" She complied and then they heard the chief engineer's brogue coming over the line.

"Captain! I hear ye're on yer own down there with Mr. Spock."

Kirk got out, "Yeah, but we're doing OK…" before Scotty interrupted, "Well, 'a course ye are! Ye're tegether, after all. It's only as Ah'd expect."

Jim glanced over at Spock and the two shared a fond look before the captain replied, "Thanks, Scotty! And thanks for the surprise in the packs. We haven't gotten into that yet, but we will here directly, and it's going to be really welcome, let me tell you!"

Feigning innocence, the Scotsman said, "Ah really don' know what ye're talkin' about, Captain…"

The captain said, "OK, OK, I understand. Mum's the word." He chuckled softly and then said, "Say, how are you coming on the modifications to one of the shuttles?"

Disappointment dripped from the chief engineer's voice as he said, "Well, we've finished the modifications, but it's still nae good, Captain, because the level 'a those damnable particles just keeps goin' up! We recalibrated the shields to work against those bullets, and we decreased the weight as much as we possibly can and put in as large a power pack as we can and but it's nae enough keep the shuttle in the air and provide adequate shieldin' with the Gray's particles as high as they are. According to my calculations, there's no way to give the shuttle a large enough power pack to simultaneously maintain the shields and provide enough lift under gravity with the level where it is now: it's simply a physical impossibility. Now, if the level 'a particles falls enough, we can send the shuttle—it's ready to go—but as things stand now…"

Jim did his best not to sigh; this wasn't Scotty's fault, after all. He said, "Ok, Scotty. Thanks for all your work on this. I know you're monitoring the level of the particles up there and will launch the shuttle as soon as it looks safe." He thought for a moment and then asked, "Anything else to report?" The chief engineer replied, "Nae, Captain," and Kirk ended the call.

Jim stretched again and then looked around him. It was getting lighter instead of darker, which puzzled him for just a moment, and then he remembered: the "planet" they were on had its own "moon" in the form of the gas giant they were orbiting. Although summer was ending and autumn was fast approaching—it was the equivalent of late August on Earth—they were still in the part of Luna-gee's orbit around the planet that put them between that body and the sun, where the moon experienced a true day, but this would change as they headed around to the other side of the gas giant.

The "moon" had risen an hour or so earlier, and it was providing a large amount of light, even though it had started to wane and was no longer the full orb of high summer. Because of the size of the gas giant and Luna-gee's distance from it, the planet looked perhaps a third larger than Earth's moon, and the night was consequently brightly illuminated by the sunlight reflecting off the colorful bands of gas—primarily orange and pink—that ringed it. This "moonlight" therefore had an orangey-pinky tinge that lent an alien, eerie otherworldliness to the scene.

As the moon continued its orbit, the day, when Luna-gee faced the gas giant, would become progressively darker as the sun gradually disappeared behind the planet. This extended solar eclipse would come on gradually and then would last for weeks instead of minutes while the entire sun disk was obscured for a time before it slowly grew into a full orb again as Luna-gee's orbit brought it out to the sun side once more.

Unlike on Earth, where the disk of the sun and the disk of the moon were almost exactly the same size as seen from the ground, the "moon" here appeared somewhat larger than the sun as seen from Luna-gee. However, because the "moon" was not a solid body, a fair amount of light filtered through the gas around the edges, so even when the sun was completely behind the gas giant, it would not be as dark on the ground as was the case with a solar eclipse on Earth. But then when Luna-gee faced away from the planet during this time, out toward space, it would experience the darkest of dark nights, with only starlight to see by. Jim mentioned this to Spock, who reflected that truly, the animals and plants of Luna-gee had evolved to cope with a large variety of strange light and dark conditions.

They were both hungry, as it had been hours since their last meal, and they decided to remedy that situation now. The captain and the first officer continued sitting side by side with their backs against the wall of the grotto, each on their pile of grass. They both had another couple of the cardboard-like bars and drank some water before moving on to the fun provisions: the whisky and the chocolate. These they also shared, so that neither had too much of an intoxicating substance.

Unthinkingly, the captain bit off some of the small bar of chocolate that Spock passed to him after eating some of it himself first, and he was amazed when the half-Vulcan unhesitatingly consumed the rest after he passed it back (if Jim had thought about it, he would have broken off a piece instead). He was also astonished when Spock drank out of the bottle of whisky after him, apparently without a second thought. It felt quite nice to share like this, although they both had to acknowledge that the whisky was not, regrettably, nearly as good as what they had shared after the surprise party.

Jim reflected that his first officer seemed…freer somehow, and despite the circumstances in which they found themselves, the half-Vulcan almost seemed to be enjoying himself in a weird way, even before he started in on the chocolate. The captain had to wonder if it was being out in the wilderness, just the two of them, away from other people and all their expectations, that allowed the man to at least partially shed that constricting Vulcan skin and at times act so, well, human.

The tension they had both been feeling began to drain away as the mild doses of intoxicants had their intended effect. As they slowly relaxed, Spock decided it was time to ask Jim about the buzzing in his fingers. He still hesitated, though, as for some reason, he was feeling unaccountably shy about broaching the topic. But then he mentally shook his head at himself for his reluctance and said, "Jim, tell me about these vibrations in your fingers. When did they start? Under what circumstances do they occur?"

The captain answered, "Well, the first time was right after Ny-chan apologized to me in the mess hall. When you put your hand on my back, I got this very slight buzzing sensation in the index and middle fingers of both hands. It was stronger in the hand that she was holding at the time, but it was still pretty faint, and I don't know if she felt it or not. But anyway, the buzzing stopped when you took your hand off my back. I thought it was just coincidence, but then, at the surprise party, it happened again, after you came in with Chekov. My fingers buzzed the whole time I had my hand on your back, and it was especially strong in that hand. But they stopped as soon as I wasn't touching you anymore. Both times you were feeling really strong emotion—believe me, I could tell!—so I thought that must be the trigger."

The half-Vulcan said, "Fascinating," very softly but then fell silent again, waited for his friend to go on.

Even though it would be several hours before the planet-moon would be visible from the grotto, the light coming from the gas giant was so bright that it was relatively easy for them to see each other, and the captain noticed that his first officer was staring at him intently.

Jim took a deep breath and continued, "It happened again today in the ready room…when you grabbed my shoulders to keep me from leaving and making just about the biggest mistake of my life. Then during the meld, the buzzing was by far the strongest it's ever been, which probably isn't so surprising, what with your, uh, touching my face and all and purposely letting me feel your emotions. And since we've been down here, it's happened two times besides when you helped me over that gap: once when I was, umm, about to freak out in that passage and you touched my hand, and then again when we were, uh, hugging."

The captain felt his face heat up (for some reason) and to distract himself from that, he said almost in a rush, "So that makes five times today, but I guess that's not too surprising when you consider what kind of a day it's been, 'cuz even though we have kinda dangerous jobs anyway, it's not every day we get shot at twice and then fall down a mountain, plus it's been a really long day, too…" he trailed off. He realized that he was babbling and he forced himself to stop before he made a complete idiot of himself.

It seemed to Jim that Spock was now looking at him a bit strangely, and who could blame the man after his blathering, but soon the half-Vulcan set his face back to neutral and said noncommittally, "I see."

For the next few moments, the only sound was the rush and splash of the waterfall, but then Spock shifted his position to face his captain, rustling the dry grass beneath him. He raised his shields to maximum and held out his hand to Jim, asking, "May I?"

The captain was so surprised by the request that he found himself reaching back without thinking. Spock said, "Palm up, please," before their hands made contact, and Kirk complied automatically. Jim sucked in a breath as his hand settled into the warmth of his first officer's and his fingers started vibrating strongly. The half-Vulcan touched the tip of the index finger of his other hand to the tip of his captain's; with his shields where they were, there was no transmission of thoughts or feelings in either direction, but none-the-less the buzzing became stronger, and Spock's eyes widened as he felt the vibrations himself. He then laid his index and middle fingers against Jim's, and as he made contact, he felt something almost like a mild static spark jump between them. He continued pressing his fingers to his captain's, and the vibrations intensified further before tapering off and subsiding to a more comfortable level. After a few more moments, the first officer said, "Thank you, Jim," as he released his friend's hand.

Although the buzzing sensation in his fingers had stopped, Jim's whole arm was now tingling. Something tickled the edge of his memory, and before he could think about it and stop himself, he blurted out, "Spock, di...did you just give me a Vulcan kiss?" For some reason, he then blushed furiously, and he was grateful for the color-concealing effect of the "moon" light.

Spock looked at his captain with just a hint of amusement hovering around his eyes as he replied, "No, Jim; that is another common misunderstanding about Vulcans. We kiss in the same way that humans do. Touching index and middle fingers together is a gesture of affection that may be used in public between parents and children, bonded pairs, or even very close friends. Normally, the fingers are positioned like so"—here he held up his hand with the index and middle fingers extended and the other two fingers folded against his palm, with his thumb on top of them—"and the two people press their fingers together." He saw then that Jim had copied the gesture, and on impulse, he extended his hand toward his friend.

Jim's eyes widened momentarily but then he grinned broadly and reached back toward Spock. His heart gave a hard thump in his chest as their fingers met and a soft buzzing started up again in that hand. They remained in contact for a few seconds before they both dropped their hands, and the captain noticed that the tingling sensation in his arm had intensified.

The two men grinned/almost smiled at each other for a moment before Jim asked, "Am I right that this buzzing is as much a mystery to you as it is to me?" At Spock's questioning look of "How did you know?" he said, "Oh, come on now! If you knew what was going on here, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts you would've already told me all about it."

Hmmm, well, the captain had him there, but "dollars to doughnuts?" That was an expression he had not heard before; he would have to research it when they got back to the ship (and they were going to get back to the ship, somehow). The half-Vulcan answered, "You are correct, Jim. This is not a phenomenon with which I have any familiarity."

The buzzing phenomenon was surprising in and of itself, but what surprised the first officer even more was that he had never heard of such a thing before—a human whose fingers vibrated and buzzed when in physical contact with a Vulcan—given his extensive knowledge of human/Vulcan relationships. He had already known a great deal about the various ways that humans and Vulcans could interact, having grown up with a human mother, and then when he and Nyota had begun their physical relationship, he had made it a point to read literally everything he could find about the topic. But nowhere had he run across any references to anything at all similar to what was happening with Jim's hands.

When the captain did not say anything else, the first officer asked, "Jim, is there anything else you can tell me about this…sensation in your fingers?"

His friend almost answered, "No," but then he realized there was something, something that perhaps went to the very heart of the matter. The captain replied, "Yeah, yeah there is, actually. It's kind of weird, but, umm, the best way I can describe it is to say that it feels like there's something…waking up in my hands. Like it's, uh, something that's been there my whole life, but it's been asleep. And now, for some reason, probably because of the, uh, physical contact with you, it's, uh, waking up." He struggled for a moment trying to think of some other way to describe what he felt, to explain, but then he just shrugged.

The half-Vulcan sat up very straight and if possible, intensified his stare as he murmured, "Fascinating" for the second time. He was thinking back to when his own telepathic abilities had begun to manifest themselves, and it had been exactly as Jim described it. He had been much younger, of course—a toddler, really—but he vividly remember that it had felt as if something was coming awake in his hands, and it had involved a vibrating sensation in those very same fingers. But for Jim, a human, to be feeling such a thing?

Surely, the first officer thought, there was some other explanation, as only a relatively small portion of the human population had any kind of psionic sense, and only a vanishingly small number of those people had any true psi abilities. It seemed very unlikely that Jim would be among that tiny number. But then again, there was that time in the passage through the hills when he had simply known that his captain was beginning to panic, despite the fact that he had no visual or auditory clue that this was the case. So perhaps Jim did have some here-to-fore unknown telepathic capabilities?

Spock considered for a moment and then said, "Jim, I would like to try an experiment, if you do not object." His friend answered, "OK?..." slightly hesitantly. The first officer went on, "It is possible you have some telepathic abilities, and they are now beginning to become evident."

Jim's mouth dropped open in plain shock. He shook his head as if to clear it and asked, "What?" Responding more like a human would, the half-Vulcan said, "Telepathic abilities; you may have them." In another nice role reversal, the captain's eyebrows shot up Vulcan-style as the first officer elaborated, "The feeling you describe, that something is awakening in your hands, is the same thing that I felt when I began to be aware of my telepathic capabilities when I was a very young child. I cannot be certain that these feelings have the same root cause of growing psi abilities, but it is at least possible and perhaps even probable. If true, it would certainly explain how I was able to sense your growing panic in that passage, which otherwise, I cannot. Therefore, I would like to try something with you to test this hypothesis."

The captain took a deep breath and replied somewhat more confidently, "OK; what do I have to do?"

Spock said, "If you are willing, I want you to ask me a question with your mind, not your voice. Doing so will involve your touching the psi points on my face just long enough to ask your question. However, if you do indeed have such abilities, you are completely untrained. I may therefore be aware of unguarded thoughts and emotions in addition to the question you ask, despite the brevity of the contact, for I will, of course, need to lower my shields for the test."

Jim thought for just a split second and answered, "Yeah, I'm OK with that." He didn't feel he had anything he needed to hide from Spock, so why not? Almost certainly his friend was wrong, the feeling in his hands had to be from something else, but his first officer had piqued his interest, and now he really wanted to find out. Then a possible complication came to him and he asked, "But Spock, if you can actually hear me ask you something, how will you know it was me asking you the question rather than you just picking up the thought from me yourself?"

The first officer responded, "I can control the source of the input by putting my mind into 'receiver' mode only, which will effectively block my being able to extract the thought directly from your mind. Among telepathic beings, it is a very serious matter to enter another's mind without permission. The ability to select the input source is a way to avoid doing such a thing. The effect during this experiment will be that I will only be able to 'hear' you if you can actually project the question into my mind."

The captain nodded as he digested this information and said, "OK, makes sense. So, now what? Do I touch your face in the same places you touched mine this morning and then, well, just ask?"

Spock replied, "It is not quite so simple. First you should prepare yourself by focusing your mind on what you want to ask me. When you are ready, you should reach toward me while saying 'My mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts,' which will ready your awareness for the mental contact. Only then should you touch my psi points and ask your question, but be aware that some other thoughts may come through as well, as I mentioned. Afterward, you should remove your hand quickly to prevent any additional thoughts or emotions from coming through to me. If I 'hear' you, I will repeat your question and then provide the answer. If I do not 'hear' you, I will tell you so." He paused for a moment and asked, "Should I show you where the psi points are, or do you remember?"

With the memory of both the elder and the younger Spock's fingers on his face practically burned into his consciousness, Jim almost laughed at the question but he said only, "Oh, I remember, all right, don't you worry about that!" The half-Vulcan raised an eyebrow in response but then merely nodded and said, "In that case, let us begin…"

Jim took several deep breaths while he thought of a question and proceeded to follow the steps the half-Vulcan had outlined. As his fingers came in contact with his friend's face, he felt an intense buzzing in his hand and an electric feeling traveled up his arm. Somehow, though, he managed to not let himself get too distracted by the sensations and he asked his question…

Spock sucked in a breath as Jim's fingers landed on his psi points, feeling the electricity that accompanied the action himself. At first, he heard only a noise like static in his head but this was soon followed by a sense of skeptical wonder (Will this really work? That would be so cool!)along with the deep affection his captain felt for him (Spock is just the best friend ever!) and then the question came through. If the half-Vulcan had been prone to laughter, he would have guffawed at what Jim asked him. As it was, both corners of his mouth twitched upward as he said, "You asked, and I quote, 'Say Spock, what's up with those bowl haircuts pretty much all of you guys have?'" Even though, in retrospect, he should have been prepared for something like that, he had not been, and he asked, "Really, Jim? You could ask me anything at all, and that is what you picked?"

The captain's initial gape of surprise (Well, I'll be damned! It worked!) was quickly replaced with a slight look of embarrassment, but then his face cleared as he gave a soft chuckle and just shrugged before replying, "Hey, that was just the first thing that popped into my head! I didn't know I was supposed to ask something all profound 'n shit. And besides, I really want to know the answer!"

The first officer decided to have a little fun of his own (blame the chocolate). He wanted to see if the captain would recognize a reference to one of the musicals he had heard as a child, thanks to his mother, and so he answered with just one word. Picking an accent he hoped would sound reminiscent of a Russian Jew, he pronounced, "Tradition!" as he held up one hand with his index finger pointing straight up. True, he managed to make a joke of it, but the answer was still accurate: it was tradition!

Jim recognized the allusion immediately, having gone to see his high school's production of Fiddler on the Roof in his junior year (or what would have been his junior year, if he hadn't been more or less expelled most of the time). He looked around with a puzzled expression and then asked, "But Tevye, where's the fiddler?" Spock did not miss a beat as he replied, "He is on the roof." The captain smacked himself on the forehead as he groaned and said, "I should've seen that one coming…" and his friend inclined his head in agreement.

Putting comedy aside for the moment, the captain said, "Well, it looks like you were right about that buzzing in my fingers being related to telepathic abilities." Spock nodded and said, "I am not surprised. If you have growing psi abilities, it might also explain another mystery. Up on the mountain, I heard nothing to indicate that Watkins was anywhere nearby, and I know my hearing is substantially more acute than is yours, so I am certain you did not hear him, either, but still, somehow, you knew to pull me out of the way of that bullet. In general, Vulcan psi abilities do not include premonitions, although I seem to sometimes be the exception to that rule, but among the small number of humans who have true psi capabilities, they often manifest as strong premonitions."

Jim considered for a moment, tilting his head back and forth as he thought, He then just shrugged and said, "Yeah, it seems possible, at least. And I can't sure explain it any other way—you're absolutely right that I didn't hear him—so, maybe that's the answer."

The captain was quiet for a moment and then said, "You mentioned that I might let unguarded thoughts or feelings come though because I'm not trained, so now I'm wondering, is there a way I can get training on how to control those things better? I mean, if I've got this ability, I might as well learn to use it, right? And if we didn't have that complication, maybe we could even communicate this way sometimes, which would be fucking awesome! Is that something you could help me with?"

Spock answered, "No, Jim, I do not have sufficient knowledge of how to train another to control thoughts and feelings during telepathic communication. However, there is a Vulcan healer on Earth, T'Remberal, who assisted my parents when they were first bonded. She is very adept at working with humans, and she would be the best person I can think of to guide you. If you are truly interested, I would be happy to contact her upon our return."

Jim's face lit up at that and he said, "Hell, yes! That would be great!" His look then turned thoughtful and he said, "Do you think she'll know why it is I seem to have this ability, or anything else about it? Other than apparently being set off by, uh, touching you, it's a total mystery to me."

A mischievous thought came to Spock then (blame the chocolate for this one, too!) and he replied, "I do not know, but it has occurred to me that there is perhaps an untapped source of information on this subject." He paused for a moment as Jim looked at him questioningly and he continued, while watching his friend intently, "Yes, when we have the opportunity, we should call me."

Jim answered impulsively, "Yeah, we should totally do th…" before he stopped abruptly. After a brief moment of stunned silence (during which Spock came as close to actually laughing as he ever had), the captain asked, "Wait, you know about him?!" His first officer nodded and replied, "Yes, Jim; I have met him." Kirk looked around them and then slapped his hands on the stone floor, as if to reassure himself that the universe was as solid as ever, and he asked, "But, but…how are we still here?"

The half-Vulcan looked at his captain levelly and waited for the answer to occur to the man. If wasn't long before Jim's face took on a bit of a scowl as he said in a dark voice, "That son of a bitch! He lied to me—he actually lied to me!" The first officer titled his head to one side and said, "When we met, I…accused him of lying to you and his answer was that he merely implied that there would be universe-ending consequences if you broke your promise and told me of his existence."

The captain's eyes went wide as he replayed his conversation with Spock the elder in his mind, and his expression became rueful when he realized that his friend was actually correct. The old man really hadn't quite said the universe would end… That realization was followed by another, and Jim's face lightened considerably as he nodded to himself. Spock tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at him, and the captain said, "Well, I guess I can't be too pissed at him! If he had come with me, or if he'd given me some proof of his existence which I could have then given to you, I somehow don't think we would've ended up friends like we are now, and I wouldn't have missed that for the world! Course then, you probably wouldn't have tried to kill me, but hey! Since you didn't succeed, I can say it was totally worth it."

Spock's expression shuttered momentarily as he said, "I do regret trying to kill you, Jim, very much so, perhaps more than I have ever regretted any other action in my life"—with the one exception being his inability to save his mother, but he was not going to bring that up here—but then his face cleared and he said, "but I do not at all regret our becoming such close friends. Like you, I 'wouldn't have missed that for the world.'"

Jim felt another strong up-rush of feeling at his first officer's words, and on impulse, he arranged his fingers in the way the half-Vulcan had shown him and then reached toward his friend. Spock suppressed a tiny gasp of surprise, but he did let both corners of his mouth curve upwards slightly as he reached back and met his captain's fingers with his own. Jim's fingers buzzed softly while they kept their hands in contact for a few seconds as they grinned/almost smiled at each other before moving their hands apart.

Before things could turn awkward, Jim said, "OK, now it's your turn to ask me a question. And the more trivial, the better, as far as I'm concerned."

The first officer thought just a moment and then came out with, "Jim, can you tell me why your country never completely converted to the metric system? I know you all use it for such things as scientific measurements, but in your daily lives, you do not. Why?"

The captain grinned and affected an Eastern European accent as he said, "Because NHGH likes de old vays de best!"

Spock raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "Nhee-ghee, Jim?"

His friend answered, "Yeah, 'Nhee-ghee' spelled 'N-H-G-H.' He's the rebel trickster god of Bad Luck, the Anti-Bob of the Church of the Subgenius. And by Anti-Bob, I mean that he's the polar opposite of the chief prophet of the Church, J. R. 'Bob' Dobbs, the ultimate salesman of the cosmic principle of Slack and an ascended master of Surfing the Luck Plane."

Jim laughed then at the half-Vulcan's slight look of confusion and explained, "The Church of the Subgenius is basically a joke religion that pokes fun at actual religions. It was started way back in the late-ish 20th century, I forget when, exactly, but anyway, it's still going today and has adherents all over the Quadrant, and it's now one of the longest running jokes in history. To give you an example, one of their slogans is 'Pull the wool over your own eyes!'. There are some academics who at least appear to take it seriously, but I think they're just part of the joke, too, even if, or rather especially if they don't know it. Some of that bunch might object to my opinion, but as the Subgenii say, 'Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke!'"

The half-Vulcan was now staring at his captain with an expression that said, "You cannot fool me—I know you are making all this up," so Jim laughed and said, "No, no, Spock, it's all true, every word! Believe it or not, I learned all about the Church of the Subgenius from one of the girls I dated at the Academy. She knew it was a joke, of course, but she was really into it, I think because the silliness of the whole thing was a good stress reliever from the pressure of school. But anyway, that was really just a digression, and I'll tell you more about the Church of the Subgenius some other time."

The captain went on, "Nah, about the metric thing, I think it's because we're rugged individualists who just have to buck the rest of the world on something other than the side of the road we drive on!" He grinned to show this was a joke, too, and then said, "Seriously, though, I think the most likely reason is because nobody wants to retool all the factories and rewrite all those building codes and shit like that, and people don't want to have to refigure the measurements in grandma's cookbook to get the recipes to come out right. There've been a number of attempts to convert us to the metric system, but it's never happened yet, and somehow, it doesn't seem likely to me that it ever will.

"And ya know, I don't mind at all, because in my opinion, making everything evenly divisible by 10 is highly over-rated! Don't get me wrong; the metric system works great for science, makes calculations a whole lot easier,but the English system of measurements has some advantages for dealing with the real world. Take in building, for instance: the basic unit of the English system, the foot made up of twelve inches, can be evenly divided in halves, thirds, and quarters. Try that with the metric system! Yeah, I know, the rest of the world has been putting up beautiful buildings using the metric system for centuries, but hey, I like our way better. And I think it makes our brains work in interesting ways to have to make all those fractional conversions."

Spock digested this information and said, "Thank you for the explanation, Jim; it makes more sense than the Vulcan theory on the matter, which was that the failure to convert to what, to Vulcans, is a clearly superior system was due to pure contrariness. And I can see that your view has some merit in regards to even divisions into halves, thirds and quarters." The first officer was quiet for a moment and when he spoke it was to change tack by saying, "Now, if you wish, you may ask me another question, Jim."

The captain replied, "Sure, Spock; I'd like that." He thought for just a moment and said, "That Ferengi we captured. How did you get him to help you get in touch with the loan shark who held the debt on Palmer's mother? I know you said he agreed to help because you reminded him that he might end up with a hefty fine for violating the Prime Directive and that helping you might look good when he went up before the judge. But I also know he'd turned in his buddies in that smuggling ring, and it seems to me he'd get so much credit from the Feds for that, he wouldn't need to work with you. Plus, the Ferengi are notoriously uncooperative unless there's some obvious profit to be had.

"So how did you do it? And I don't want the synopsis version. I want the blow-by-blow version, what you said and did and the same for him, what he looked like, what he smelled like, the whole schmear. I want you to paint me a picture, Spock; I want it to be like I'd been there, because, really, I should have been…" he trailed off as his expression turned bleak. He mentally shook his head at himself once more for being such an idiot after the Captain's Mast.

The half-Vulcan responded by laying a warm hand on his captain's forearm and saying, "Jim, please do not castigate yourself over that point. Had you been with me, the interview with the Ferengi would have gone very differently, of that I am sure, and I might not have been able to secure his cooperation. Based on his reaction to being left alone with me after I dismissed the human security crewman who was guarding him, I firmly believe it was for the best that I was the only one interrogating him. So please, no more bad feelings over this, alright Jim?" The captain hesitated a moment but then nodded as he gave his friend a slightly shaky smile and said, "OK; thanks, Spock." The first officer let one side of his mouth tip up slightly in return, and he briefly closed his fingers over the captain's forearm before ending the contact.

Spock thought back. It was not that long ago, but so much had happened since then… He began, "I read his file before I spoke with him, and from the data it contained, I determined that there would be no point in trying to appeal to his 'better nature,' or to use logic, that to get the information I required, I would have to intimidate him. I started by having him taken to an interview room in the brig after he was informed that the Vulcan commander wanted to interrogate him, and then I let him wait.

"My intent was for him to become nervous, and I believe I succeeded because he was sweating rather profusely when I came in. You asked about smells. He did have a noticeably unpleasant odor, best described as a 'sharp' smell, somewhat reminiscent of ammonia. He initially looked quite defiant, despite his obvious nervousness, but when I dismissed the security guard, it appeared to completely unnerve him, and the look of defiance was replaced by something that was close to terrified panic. Being alone with a Vulcan seemed to unsettle him greatly, although precisely why, I do not know. Perhaps it is because Vulcans cannot be swayed by attempts at financial manipulation, which is utterly incomprehensible to the Ferengi, with their emphasis on profit. Or perhaps he had had an unpleasant experience involving a Vulcan at some point in the past.

"Be that as it may, I sat down across the table from him and merely looked at him with what I believe you would describe as a 'poker face,' one that gives nothing away. It helped that he was very short, and so I could literally look down on him. He attempted to hide his…discomfort, and he wanted to appear tough, I think, because after a few minutes, he said, or rather snarled, 'What do you want?' I had not known that my tactics would force him to speak first, but it is fortunate that they did because it afforded me the opportunity to respond, 'I will ask the questions here,' quite sternly, which intimidated him further. I followed this up by asking him, 'What is your name?' This I already knew from Mr. Giotto's report, but I wanted to force him to answer a question, and I wanted him to think that I did not believe him important enough to bother ascertaining the information for myself.

"He obviously did not want to answer, so I stood up and walked over to stand behind him, as standing, the discrepancy between our heights was further exaggerated. I leaned over him and said in a severe tone, 'I do not like to repeat myself. Answer the question, now!' I do not think he expected me to raise my voice—it is not after all, a terribly Vulcan thing to do—for it made him jump, but it also made him answer. He said, or rather stammered, 'It's…it's Kroz,' and I replied, 'You will address me as "sir"—is that clear?' raising my voice a second time. He jumped again and shrank away from me somewhat, and I said, 'Now, answer the question again—properly, this time.' He had to force it out from between clenched teeth, but he did reply, 'It's Kroz, sir.'

"I walked back around the table and looked at him very coldly and then gave him a small smile that would not have been out of place on a shark and said, 'Now, that was not so difficult, was it?' He did not answer, so I repeated in a slightly louder voice, 'Was it?' He glared at me, but I could see that he was shaking slightly, and he answered in practically a whisper, 'No, sir.'

"I then let him sweat in silence for some time, merely scrutinizing him as one would observe a scientific specimen, and finally asked, 'What is the name of the Ferengi…businessman…who holds the debt on Ensign Palmer's mother?' I put a slight pause on each side of 'businessman' to make it clear that I did not consider this man's profession to be a legitimate business and would have preferred to call him something else entirely. Kroz managed to say, 'What's it to y…' before I cut him off by slamming my hand on the table and more-or-less barking, 'I will ask the questions here and you will answer. Do not make me remind you of this again!' He obviously was taken aback to see someone of Vulcan descent behave in this manner and he seemed to shrink in on himself but he still did not reply, so I said, 'I am waiting…'

"By now, he was sweating even more than when I came in. He licked his lips and told me, 'It's Blargh…sir.' He had answered me, however reluctantly, and I decided to press my advantage, asking, 'How do I get in touch with this…Blargh?' However, he quite understood that this was what I really wanted to know, and he became reluctant to cooperate unless some gain came to him as a result. He narrowed his eyes at me and said, 'Permission to ask a question…sir.' I granted his request and he asked, 'Why should I tell you? What's in it for me…sir?'

"At this point I said, 'Let me remind you that you are most likely facing quite severe financial penalties for violating the Prime Directive, despite your having provided the Federation with enough information to put an end to the smuggling ring. Cooperating by turning in one's fellow criminals to lighten one's own sentence is now expected, after all, but putting me in contact with the debt holder, who is not doing anything illegal, is not something that you are "obligated" to do. If you will assist me, I will pass the information on to the court. However, I cannot promise that the judge who presides over you case will take your "humanitarian act" into consideration, as that will be strictly at his or her discretion.'

"Kroz started leering at my describing his helping me as a 'humanitarian act,' and it was quite evident that he thought I wanted to 'buy' the woman from Blargh, no doubt for some immoral purpose. I did not attempt to disabuse him of this notion, as I doubt that he would have believed me in any case. However, he did not seem to set much store in the possibility that assisting me would benefit him, so he said, 'You know what? You can just go fuck yourself…sir. And I doubt you could pay the debt anyway. Just so you know, it's now up to F©319,000…sir.' He sat back looking quite smug, as if he thought this information would deflate me completely.

"I merely nodded and said, 'If you will not assist me, I am certain I can find someone who will,' and then I prepared to rise. His smug look persisted as he said, 'I really doubt that; you're bluffing…sir. You won't have any credits to use as a bribe, not if you're planning on paying that debt…sir.' I gave him a very slight sneer in return and blew air out of one side of my mouth, making a dismissive sound at the same time that I waved my hand as if pushing some trivial thing to one side. I said, 'That piffling amount? Please. It is what the humans would term "pocket change."' Admittedly, this was a bit of an exaggeration—it was not, in fact, quite 'pocket change' although neither was it by any means a hardship to pay that amount—but he did not know that. I then stood up and made it clear that I was about to walk out the door.

"His eyes bugged out and he began salivating. I knew I had him then, that he would provide me with the information. He said, 'Wait, now, don't be hasty, sir! I was just testing you there, no hard feelings, eh? Sir?' I merely looked at him as if he were some lower life form. He still hesitated, I am not sure why, perhaps because there was no guarantee that he would benefit in any way, so I borrowed a pressure tactic from the auction house and said, 'Going once…going twice…' and he blurted out, 'Alright, alright! I'll tell you!' and then he did. In the end, I suspect what swayed him was the thought that some other Ferengi, quite likely someone he knew, would receive a substantial number of credits, and he would miss out on possibly having his sentence or his fine reduced. And that, Jim, is the 'blow-by-blow version' of how I got Kroz the Ferengi to cooperate with me."

The captain had been listening with rapt attention to his first officer's account said, "Whoa, Spock, that's quite a tale! And you told it really well, too; you've got the makings of a first-rate story teller. I gotta tell ya, I do feel like I was there, so thanks! And congrats on being so adaptable and setting aside what most people would regard as 'normal' Vulcan behavior to get him to help you; that was brilliant! Who knew you could be such a hard-ass?"

The half-Vulcan inclined his head in thanks—it was nice get some appreciation for what he had done instead of the condemnation he knew he would likely receive from most Vulcans—and there was a hint of amusement around his eyes as he said, 'But Jim, surely this does not come as a surprise. After all, I did program the Kobayashi Maru scenario." His friend laughed a little and said, "Touché."

Jim was quiet for a moment and then said, "I do have one question, though." His first officer looked at him quizzically and he asked, "Spock, did you really say 'piffling'?" His friend let one corner of his mouth tip upward and there was a distinct twinkle in his eyes as he answered, "I did indeed, Jim, and it was quite gratifying to see the expression on Kroz's face when I did, almost as if he could not believe his…ears." The captain laughed at that and gave his first a very fond smile.

They sat in companionable silence for a few moments before Spock said, "Jim, I believe it is my turn to ask you to tell me a story…"

The captain sat up straight and said, "So you want a story now, huh?" At Spock's nod, Jim said, "Well, OK, I guess I do owe you one…" He thought for a moment and then started laughing as he said, "I've got a great one, and it's even pretty funny. As it seems to be a recurring theme in my life lately, this story involves a cow."

Spock settled back against the wall of the grotto to listen and Jim began, "It happened the summer that I was twelve. My older brother had left home the previous year, and my mother had divorced my step-father, so when her job took her off-planet for a few weeks, I would have been left alone. But because of an, umm…incident involving a car which landed me in the juvenile court system—that's a story for another time, though—my mom wasn't able to just leave me alone. And for some reason, maybe because of the reputation I was starting to get, she wasn't able to find anyone local who was willing to stay with me.

"So I got shipped off to her brother's place in rural Arkansas for the duration. I'd been there before, and I liked staying there because the food was great—it's probably where I got my taste for Southern high-blood-pressure cooking, otherwise known as 'comfort food'—and my aunt and uncle and my two cousins were all nice people. But it was rural Arkansas after all, and there wasn't a whole lot to do.

"My Aunt Martha and my Uncle Eddie both worked, and we kids had to entertain ourselves, so one day, my cousins and I were out roaming around the countryside when we came across a dead cow. It gets really hot in Arkansas in the summer, and this cow had been dead for several days, baking away under the sun, and it had bloated up like some grisly balloon. It was sort-of lying on its side, and its legs were all sticking straight out, like so,"—here Jim flopped over onto his side and likewise briefly stuck his arms and legs straight out before sitting up again—"but it was still intact, since, somehow or other, none of the local predators had gotten to it. It smelled a bit, but it wasn't as overpowering as you might think.

"Anyway, my cousin Jack, who was 15 and old enough to know better, said, 'It looks just like a big balloon with legs! Let's pop it!' My other cousin, Billy, who was the same age as me, said, 'Eeew, gross! I don' wanna!' By this time, Jack had found a stick with a sharp pointy end, and he handed this to me and said, 'Go on, Jimmy. Poke it 'n make it pop!'

"Now, I didn't want to pop it either, so I said, 'No. You pop it," and I shoved the stick back at him. But he wouldn't take it and he said, 'Oh, don't be such a baby, Jimmy. Go on, just give it a poke.' I shook my head, 'No,' and so he said, 'I dare ya…' Well, this went back and forth for a couple of rounds, and you can guess where that led." The corners of Spock's mouth rose a tiny bit as he remembered his own response to being dared to come to the surprise party for Chekov, and he said, "Yes, Jim, I believe I can indeed guess."

The captain grinned back at his first officer and went on, "So eventually I agreed to do it, but I was having trouble actually making myself follow through. Jack was egging me on, saying, 'Poke it, Jimmy, poke it good!' and by this time, Billy had joined in too, saying, 'Pop it, pop it, pop it…' I stood as far back from the carcass as I could and I put the sharp end of the stick up against the bloated belly and gave it a hard shove. Now, cow hide is pretty tough, and it didn't puncture right away. You'd think that maybe I would have taken the hint that this was not a good idea and so would have had the sense to 'cease and desist' as the saying goes. But, being twelve, I didn't, so I tried again and this time the stick went in.

"I pulled the stick out and we all jumped back, since we were half-expecting that it might sort of explode or something, like a balloon would have. Because of that, and probably because we had become somewhat acclimated to the smell by then, believe it or not, the sound of the gas escaping was the first thing we noticed. It started as this tiny 'hsssssss' that grew to an angry-sounding 'HSSSSSSSS' before the hole blew out and the sound dropped in pitch. The edges of the hole started flapping, and I swear to gods, it sounded just like the loudest, nastiest fart you ever heard. And that was appropriate because by this time, a visible cloud of gas had reached us. Let me tell you, we booked it and we didn't stop running until we reached the house, which was close to a mile away.

"My aunt was home by then, picking beans out in the garden. She could smell us coming, and she made us strip down right where we were and take turns having a bath in this huge old washtub out in the garden shed, in cold water no less, before she would even consider letting us back into the house. And then we each had to take a couple of showers before she would let us stay in!

Spock looked at his friend solemnly and commented, "I take it that a rotting cow has a somewhat…objectionable odor, then?"

Jim laughed and said, "Are you kidding? We had to burn our clothes!" The first officer raised both eyebrows and nodded in understanding: that was some powerful stink!

The captain chuckled softly for a moment and then went on, "But we really didn't get in that much trouble for it. My Aunt Martha was, and is for that matter, a really sweet, even-tempered woman with a great sense of humor, so even though she scolded us, once she'd turned away from us, I could see that she was just about doubled over laughing. Uncle Eddie only shook his head and said he was just glad it had happened as far away from the house as it had. So it all came out alright in the end. But Spock, I would definitely advise, if you're ever given the, uh…opportunity…to puncture a dead cow carcass that you say, 'Umm, thanks, but I think I'll pass.'"

The half-Vulcan let one side of his mouth tip up as he said, "Thank you, Jim, but I do not think you need be concerned that I might ever consider doing such a thing."

Jim grinned back at his first officer and then gave a huge yawn as the day suddenly caught up with him. He shook his head to clear it and said, "Hmmm, well this has been fun, but we need to think about getting some sleep. We're probably safe up here, but I don't want to take a chance on it, so we'll need to alternate watches. We've got, what, maybe eleven hours of night left to go?"

Spock said, "Close, Jim; the actual amount is ten hours and 52 minutes. Although I need more sleep than a full Vulcan, I do not need as much as a full human, so I could be on watch most of the time while you sleep. Two hours' rest should be sufficient for me."

The captain considered this and said, "Well, this has been a pretty stressful day, even for you, plus, you've got that gash on your face, so I want you to double that and get four hours sleep." He could see his friend opening his mouth to protest, so he said, "And don't argue with me, Spock; that's an order." The half-Vulcan looked at his captain for a moment and then said, "Aye, aye sir."

Jim yawned again and said, "OK, here's what we'll do. You can take the first watch for three hours, then I'll be on watch for two. Next, you'll be up for another three hours, after which I'll be back on for two more hours. During the last hour," here Spock opened his mouth to state to actual amount of time so the captain amended, "err, make that the last 51 minutes, we can eat and get ourselves ready to go before we call the ship, and then we can start out before it's fully light. By the time we get back down the cliff and walk over to where we'll be able to climb up the mountain, it should be light enough to see OK."

The first officer nodded and said, "That is a sound plan, Jim." The captain replied, "Good, glad you approve, Spock," and then got up from the dried grass, stretched, and following a brief inspection, began brushing plant fragments from his clothes. The half-Vulcan did likewise and after considering a moment, he bent to pull the reflective blanket out of his pack. He said, "Jim, if you recombine our separate portions of the dried grasses, it will make a reasonably comfortable pallet. We can then use one of the blankets to cover it, for obvious reasons," as he handed his coverlet to Jim who laughed softly as he took it. The first officer continued, "And we can use the other one in your pack for its intended purpose. We should then be warm enough and still not appear to have slept in a hay loft."

The captain chuckled a little again before answering, "Good thinking, Spock." The commander nodded in reply and after stretching again, prepared himself to be on watch, double checking the one phaser they were sharing and his communicator. He then moved closer to the opening of the grotto so that he would have a better view of anyone approaching their hiding place and settled in for the watch.

Jim meanwhile had located his own reflective blanket, and after rearranging the two piles of dried grass into a thin pallet-like shape, he covered it with one of the blankets. He then pulled off his boots, not just to be more comfortable but also to allow his socks to dry out for the long march ahead of them the next day. The night was mild, and it was quite warm in the grotto from the magma somewhere in the depths of the rock, so Jim pulled off his gold command shirt and folded it up to use as a pillow, figuring that the long-sleeved black t-shirt underneath would keep him warm enough under the cover. He stretched out, pulled the other blanket over himself, and called softly, "'Night, Spock; be sure and wake me when it's my turn at watch," to which his first officer replied quietly, "I shall. Good night, Jim; sleep well."

The last thing that the captain saw before drifting off to sleep was his first officer sitting at the opening of the grotto, vigilantly keeping watch to ensure their safety…

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Author's notes:

There's some disagreement over the Vulcan sense of smell in the various sources I looked at. It's generally considered to be rather poor, but in Enterprise, T'Pol had a hard time with the smell of Archer's dog, Porthos. Plus, she also once mentioned to Archer that it was difficult for her to be physically close to him because humans had an unpleasant odor to Vulcans and she had not taken her nasal numbing agent (ouch!). So for this chapter, I handled this by making the male Vulcan sense of smell less acute than the female. In a later chapter, I'll make it clear that not all Vulcans find the scent of humans to be objectionable.

I wanted to have them behind a waterfall for the night so that they could talk without fear of being overheard, and since it would then be right at sunset, I thought, Hey, why not have them see the sunset from behind the waterfall? I found a number of pictures online with waterfalls at sunset, some of which are absolutely spectacular, but I couldn't find many from behind waterfalls, so I'm really guessing on that part, not at all sure that they'd see all those changing colors. But I made the waterfall nice and broad though, so maybe? Anyway, this is fiction, and so it doesn't have to be totally reality-based!

Interesting trivia tidbit: Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock, played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.

About Vulcan psi abilities, the sources I read indicated that they don't include premonitions, but I've obviously made Spock an exception to that rule. Having Jim and Spock discuss Jim's psi abilities in relation to premonitions was a good way for me to get that point in.

As to the crack about the side of the road we drive on here, I'm assuming that there will still be lots of wheeled vehicles using the roads, and even with flying vehicles, they'd still probably be relegated to a particular side of the "road."

I couldn't find anything online about how the day/night cycle through the year would play out on a non-tidally-locked moon orbiting a gas giant. But I talked it over with my husband, and we worked out something that seems logical. If anyone knows the actual details of how something like this would work, apologies if we got some of it wrong.

I don't think there's anything in TOS or the reboot about Jim's extended family, so the uncle, aunt, and cousins are completely made up. FYI, the incident with the dead cow really happened to a person I knew who grew up in Arkansas, although I changed some details to make it even funnier. But the line "Are you kidding? We had to burn our clothes!" is an actual quote from him, said in response to my asking (naively) if it smelled bad. And so yes, a carcass could remain intact for several days, even in a southern summer, and a twelve year old boy really would poke it with a stick if he had someone urging him to do it!

Oh, and many, many thanks for all the lovely reviews! I'm having a blast writing this, and I'm glad people are enjoying reading it.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!