Song for Eurydice, Part 2: Act II
He'd have to work on speeding up the bloody turbolifts. The damn things were already pretty fast, but certainly not fast enough to keep up with Montgomery Scott, that was for bloody sure. Not for the first time, he'd wished for Pavel back to help him work through the impossible amount of problems he was expected to solve in absolutely no time.
In that respect, Mister Sulu was just as bad as Jim. If Scotty needed two hours, he got two minutes. While his team had managed to seal the hull breaches on the lower decks, he'd be stuck mulling over the utter impossibility that an old D7 warbird had somehow fired straight through the shields. D7 class ships were as old as his wee granny and this one had somehow run rings 'round his girl!
But, he'd managed to figure out what had happened, or at least had about as good an idea as he would get in so little time. Just as well, because the lift doors had opened and the briefing room was waiting for him, along with the skeleton crew that was the senior staff.
As he came through the door, Sulu and Bones were already waiting, along with Lieutenant Uhura. The lass couldn't seem to stop pacing, though. That wasn't good.
"Am I late?" Scotty asked. "I mean, to be fair, there's only four of us now, and I've had me hands full patchin' the Enterprise up so I might have missed a beep or two."
"You're fine, Mister Scott. Have a seat." Sulu said, motioning for everyone to take a seat - including Uhura. "I think we all would like to know how that warbird attacked through our shields."
"Oh, aye, I'm sure." Scotty took a seat, already preparing to answer the question of the hour. "I ran through all the sensors readings from the moment we entered the Argelian system to see if I could figure out how that warbird got the jump on us. Used to be that cloaked vessels coming out of warp left a huge burst of tachyons, but whatever hole that was, those bastards plugged it."
"So that explains why we didn't know they were here until they were right on top of us." Uhura said, even though she still seemed so nervous she might jump right back up to pace again. "But, what about the weapons?"
"Ahh, that's where it gets real interestin'." Scotty said, leaning forward in the chair. "I dinnae how they did it, but just before the warbird powered weapons, while we had an open hail, they sent a signal to the ship through our comm channel. It sent back our specific shield and phase frequencies to the warbird and reprogrammed their systems so that they could slip right through the shields." He was almost impressed. Almost. The bastards had hurt his lady, and that could never stand.
"Well, how the hell did they do that?" Bones groused, the alarm plain on his face.
"They had our command codes. I mean, alone, it's… well, a nod's as good as a wink tae a blind horse." Scotty rattled off the parlance without hesitation, then caught the somewhat lost look on Sulu's face. Och, it wasn't the same without Jim around. At least when it came to their ship, he seemed to speak Scotty's language. "Without a ship or an idea of what to do with 'em, Federation Command codes are relatively useless. But, the moment ye know the system ye want to access, it's a bloody skeleton key." He shifted in his seat a bit. "I've locked 'em out, changed the command codes, but that's just a temporary fix. We'll need to report this back to Starfleet, make sure they plug the leak."
"So, how did they get it?" Sulu, as the acting captain, was all business. Scotty wouldn't get a chance to really talk up how difficult it had been to figure any of that out.
Resigned to his fate, Scotty shrugged. "Someone had to give it to them. These were command codes specific to the Enterprise. I suggest when we disable that ship, we ask them personally." He motioned to Uhura. "Well, I suppose you'd be the one to ask them. Any idea who they are? I didn't check the comms audio, but didn't seem like they transmitted much."
The comms officer frowned, running her finger along her lip thoughtfully. "No. They didn't say anything. It was an open comm, though, so…" A light practically went off over her head and she looked to Sulu. "I bet I can find something if I review the audio. If they sent the command codes, through, then there's a chance I can find some ambient noise."
Sulu nodded. "Great. Let's see what you can find."
As Uhura started to rise, Scotty scoffed, a bit confused and put out. "Now hang on a minute. Doesn't anyone want to know if the bleedin' ship's gonna be all right?"
"As one healer to another," Bones drawled. Scotty wasn't sure if he was being indulged or not. "How's your patient?"
As the resident miracle worker on this ship, Scotty felt like he was entitled to a few moments to talk himself up. "Oh, she'll be fine. Purrin' like a kitten." He puffed up a bit, proud of his team's work. "Course, she'll need a real refit back at the Yorktown, so sooner we're done with the captain's bloody errand, the better."
Scotty was used to getting a bit more of a chuckle from something like that. After all, he loved being on away missions as much as Jim - if it meant good drink and good women. Given that the captain was on the planet with Ambassador Prince, he'd half-expected it to not really be much of an away mission at all. With all his time in Engineering, he'd barely seen Jim in the last week. And when he did, the captain didn't seem too keen to talk about the ambassador. Normally, that was a sign he was trying - and failing - to pursue a lass.
So, the oddly conspiratorial and guilty look Bones and Uhura exchanged dinnae sit well with him at all. Especially since Sulu seemed just as distracted by it, too. "What? Look, I've been down in Engineerin' workin' all day, but last time I checked, wasn't this some sort of archaeological observation? We dinnae even know if that warbird was Romulan or Klingon, and the cap'n's busy making friendly with the natives. I'm just sayin' we should probably pull him back soon as we can."
After a moment's consideration, the doctor finally broke whatever private, non-verbal conversation he was havin' with Uhura and stood, pacing. "This ain't exactly a barn dance, Scotty. What Jim's looking for down there might be the key to saying his life. Least, he thinks so."
Scotty's brain completely stalled out at the words. "I… No, I just saw Jim this morning, he seemed fine." He said, at a loss. "What the bloody hell is going on?" As the moments wore on while Bones paced and didn't explain, Scotty felt that utter shock and confusion turn to frustration, then to worry. When the Scotsman had a chance to look over at Sulu, it gave him a small amount of comfort to know that the acting captain seemed almost as confused and frustrated as Scotty did.
Sulu turned to look at the doctor. "Bones, what are you talking about? I know the captain's been on the bridge a lot, but, he said that it was just a side effect of what Circe had done. It helped keep his head clear."
"You thought it was because Jim didn't want anyone to know." That had come from Uhura. So she did know what had been going on with the captain. "But… the truth is much more complicated than that."
"Without going into too many details, on account of Jim himself not being here to decide how much he really wants to tell anyone, he looks a helluva lot like a man Diana knew back in her days as Wonder Woman. And Circe dropped the neural pattern of that guy from Diana's past into Jim's head."
The silence stretched as Scotty tried to process the utterly impossible-sounding situation. When he finally spoke, all he could say was: "Are ye daft, man?!"
"I sure as hell don't like it, either," Bones groused. "But, if Jim had had his way, he wouldn't have told anyone. I had to give him medical orders to tell Spock, only so he could keep an eye on him. When he was on the bridge, he was Jim. It was only when he started to see Diana that things got rough."
"And that's when he had the seizure…" Sulu said. He seemed to be taking all of this in stride, which made Scotty wonder if he'd been seeing signs from all the time on the bridge.
Scotty, on the other hand, spent all his time in Engineering, so no one had seen fit to tell him! "Ye've got to be putting me on," He said, somewhere between a growl and a disbelieving sigh. "Ye mean to tell me that Jim's been, what, goin' mad as a hatter, and that it might kill him? And no one thought to tell two members of the bloody senior staff?" He motioned to himself and to Sulu.
Sulu almost sheepishly held a finger up to stop him. "I actually knew the basics about the memories. The captain thought this temporal anomaly in the planet's cultural and scientific records might be the key to fixing this." He glanced over at Bones, annoyed. "I would have liked to have known there was medical risk, though, doctor."
Uhura chimed in, trying to soothe the brewing tension as usual. "The only reason I know is because Spock knows I've struck up a friendship with Diana. And Jim was avoiding her to keep his head on straight. We were all worried about the toll that would take on both of them."
"That explains why Diana thought the captain really had sent me to check on her…" Sulu had gone thoughtful. If he was angry that he had been excluded from this very important conversation, it didn't seem to bother him. But, to be honest, very little seemed to get under the lad's skin. "And the captain never even let on that he was anything more than tired. That seizure has started countless rumors across the ship that I've been trying to shut down."
Scotty practically exploded at that. "He had a bleeding seizure! He's dyin'! I was there for the last time he died! Don't ye think we had a right to know what was going on? What if he'd had another one when he came to Engineerin' later that day! I thought he was just tired, that he'd just forgotten why he was down there!" Before Bones could speak, Scotty had gone red-faced, all Scottish fury and ferocity. "Ye're off your head if ye think I wouldn't have respected his bloody privacy, but I had a right to know! Sulu had a right to know!" He shoved away from the briefing room table, standing angrily. "Unbelievable! We've spent years together and after all this time, ye'd think I deserved a little more courtesy!"
"Oh, come off it, man, it's not like I did it to spite you! I wanted Jim to go right to Starfleet Medical, but he got this - this Delphi thing into his head and wouldn't let it go!" Bones fired back, only to confuse the engineer more. "He thinks there's some sort of temple or alien or something down on Argelius that could fix him. Since I don't have the first clue how to treat him, he and Spock decided that was where to go. And Diana volunteered herself, because of course she did."
"Och, now hang on a minute," Scotty had fired himself up so badly, the change in focus from the captain to Ambassador Prince was what he needed to steady his nerves. Taking a deep breath, he wiped his mouth, a hand propped on his hip while he considered what Bones had said. "Ye mean to tell me Diana's gone with him while she might be the whole bloody reason he's in this mess in the first place? Did anyone think that maybe he had a reason to keep her at arm's' length?" When he realized he had everyone's eyes on him, and Uhura seemed especially rankled, he felt the need to explain. "Look, I dinnae think any of us believes that Diana would ever try to hurt the cap'n. But, if she's at the center of it, it doesn't matter how sweet and noble she is, if she's makin' it worse, maybe the best thing to do was to go back to Starfleet and let them sort him out."
"You've met Diana, you know she wouldn't agree to that." Uhura said. Her body language made it pretty clear she would defend Diana no matter what.
"No one says she has to agree to it. He's the cap'n. And if we'd known that seeing her would give him seizures - "
"Dammit, Scotty, I had those conversations, with Diana and the captain. This was the option they went with." Bones said, effectively putting his foot down. "Do I tell you how to fix the warp core?"
"If I'd gone bloody mad, I'd like to think ye'd not let me blow us up and kill us all!"
"Hey!" Sulu stood. Without Jim and Spock there, it had been easy to let tempers flare. Normally, the captain did a good job of keeping debate a little more low-key. When Scotty and Bones turned to face him, Sulu's jaw was set, and his expression suggested the discussion was over. "Mister Scott, if you really want to take it up with the captain when we get back, I suggest you file a complaint. But, what's done is done. He's on the planet, and we're now on the other side of the system while the Romulans or Klingons are chasing us. So, let's figure out where the ship is and get back to Argelius. With any luck, this temporal anomaly that the captain's tracking will have the solution he's been looking for. But, we trust Captain Kirk. Let's act like it."
Sighing, Scotty nodded, conceding the point. "Aye. Of course, you're right. Jim knows his own head." Glancing up at the doctor, he sighed. "And I'm sorry. I know if ye could have, ye would've told me."
Bones shrugged. "Patient-doctor privilege has to go a long way, Scotty. It wasn't intentional."
With that, the group was dismissed. As Scotty stood there, still trying to get his temper back down to normal levels, Bones clapped him on the shoulder as they filed out.
Alone in the briefing room, Scotty had only his thoughts to keep him company. Jim was dying. Again.
He couldn't stop recalling the haunted, pained expression on Jim's face when he'd slumped into the containment chamber. He just hoped he'd never had to see that again.
Long after Scotty had left the briefing room and the crew had returned to their stations, Nyota's stomach refused to settle. Even after she'd returned to her comms console and began to play back the minutes of open audio leading up to the warbird attack, the argument between officers had left her worried.
She knew that Scotty had every right to be upset with them. But, she also knew that after several years together, Scotty knew it had not been a personal slight. That being said, even when Spock told her about why the seizure had occurred, she'd asked him to bring the rest of the senior staff in.
But, Jim didn't want the crew to know how badly he was doing. Nyota had a feeling he'd be making it up to Sulu and Scotty for weeks. But, then again, knowing how the trauma of Steve Trevor's memories had been affecting him, it was entirely possible that was why he'd been so unusually cagey. Since Nyota hadn't had the opportunity to really ask him about it - she wasn't even supposed to know - she would have to demand an explanation after he returned to the ship.
And they would certainly have that conversation. Sometimes, Jim was his own worst enemy.
Something caught her ear and made her pause. Tilting her head, she reached for a particular dial and ran the audio log back. This was common. Aural sensitivity like hers often relied on repetition, and so she spent the next few moments running back a section of open audio then playing it again.
In the moments before the warbird had transmitted the federation command codes, there was a three second span of quick fluctuation. She could hear it, but she couldn't quite place what it was. "Lieutenant Sulu," Nyota said, using the more formal designation so that he'd realize it was related to the task he'd set her on. "I think I've found something." The more she listened, the more clearly recognizable the signal was.
Sulu made his way over to her station. "What is it?"
"There's a signal delay in the open hail. It corresponds to their comms array frequency. Those D7s can't switch frequencies as well. It leaves a sort of echo when they switch to frequencies that are too close. I think I can use that to listen in on the ship. Right now." She glanced back at him, smiling as she switched frequencies.
"Great, let's find out who's on the other end."
Nyota turned into the other frequency, hoping that whoever was on that warbird hadn't maintained a complete ship silence.
The frantic chatter on the other end of the communication was panicked, worried. But, Nyota instantly recognized the language. "Romulans." She said, scowling. "They're definitely speaking Romulan."
"Any idea what they're talking about?"
Uhura pursed her lips as she tried to concentrate on the overlapping voices. "They're talking about…" For a moment, she wasn't sure she had translated the words correctly. "About a…" She waited, listened to the orders and the confused voices again. No, she had heard it the same every time. "A woman deflecting their disruptor beams to the surface." She swivelled in her chair to face Sulu. "I think they're firing on the planet. And I think Diana's stopping them."
Sulu turned to his operations officer. "Is the warbird firing on Argelius IV?" The officer nodded. He glanced back at Uhura, determined. "What do you say we go help Diana?" When Uhura smiled, he turned back to the captain's chair and took a seat.
"Set course for Argelius IV. Let's get that heat off her back."
Uhura swiveled in her chair to watch the viewscreen as the ship pulled free of the gas giant's atmosphere and sped towards the planet. Within moments, they could clearly spot the warbird in orbit around the planet, green disruptor fire streaking at the surface. On the far side of the planet, the temporal anomaly that they had seen earlier was seemingly stuck to the northern continent like a fish on a hook.
A planetary bombardment like that would have been devastating to the planet, not to mention a clearly inhumane act to colonize it similar to how they'd taken other worlds. The Romulans were notorious for obliterating colonies from other races, but never leaving enough evidence to definitively point to them.
But, the disruptor fire never made it to the surface. A streak of that same fire came right back at the ship, striking one of the lower decks.
"That must be Diana." Nyota said with a smile, unable to contain her sheer amazement that Diana was somehow fending off a warbird.
"Well, she's probably a bit tired, so let's give her a break and test out our new systems. Target phasers and strafe their bow. Let's see how Mister Scott's calibrations worked out." Sulu was still level and relaxed, but Nyota could tell he was formulating multiple strategies. Most likely, he was trying to figure out if the cloaking device could be hit before they went back undercover.
The phaser fire ripped across the bow of the warbird before they could get their shields up. Explosions flared, then suddenly vanished in vacuum across multiple decks. From the ops console, the officer reported:"Direct hit to primary systems. The warbird is breaking off the attack from the planet and moving to leave."
"Pursue them, do not let up!" Sulu ordered, then glanced over to Uhura. "Lieutenant, see if you can raise the Captain."
Turning back to her console, Nyota quickly tried to raise the captain, but received no response to the hail. She switched over to Spock's frequency, but still no answer. Suddenly, her churning stomach seemed to make more sense. Her intuition already knew what was wrong, even as she used her console to switch to an ops view long enough to scan for lifesigns.
"Lieutenant Sulu," She said, careful to keep the worry out of her voice as she turned to face him. "The captain and commander aren't on the planet. Their lifesigns and comm signals are gone."
If Diana was in the atmosphere fighting a warbird somehow…. Where was the captain? Where was Spock?
Spock was gone. One second, Jim had heard an explosion or rumble behind him, and the next, he was standing in a field alone. No, not entirely alone. Apollo, still resembling his father, stood beside him. As Jim turned to look behind him, only to see more grass and blue sky, an ever-expanding and lush green pasture, he ignored the beauty of it as he worried over where his friend had gone.
"Spock?" He called, not bothering to hide his sudden worry.
I am here, Jim. It seems I will be unable to join you while you are in the Nexus. His friend's voice was faint, but immediately soothed him. My thoughts are with yours, and I shall endeavor to keep you connected.
"Your commander is grounded to the Temple. He cannot join us in Elysium." When Apollo spoke, he heard less of his father's voice now The timbre of it was right, but the tone, the inflections, they were all wrong. It was just far enough from normal to make Jim recognize that for as pretty a picture as this all was, it wasn't real. And that they were connected telepathically to this place, thanks to Spock. That was why Apollo had known what he was thinking.
"So… Spock stays put and we're here." Jim said, almost tiredly assessing the situation. "And we're… in the Nexus. Which looks like something out of an old pastoral." Jim strode forward, not realizing he was near the crest of a hill that overlooked another portion of the fields. Sure enough, as if in those pastoral paintings from Earth's history, a group of women were laughing and running in the distance, chasing each other with handfuls of… blackberries, maybe? The innocent fun he had seen on countless pieces of artwork, both in class and from casual exposure. The women wore flowing chitons of radiant white cloth, their hair freely dancing in the wind as they ran. At the front of the pack, one woman ran faster than the rest, holding an apple in her hand. "This feels a bit… uncanny." Jim finally managed, glancing over at Apollo. Jim didn't give much thought to what might be on the other side of death's door. He'd been there once before and as far as he knew, he didn't remember any of it. But, to be honest, this seemed a little…
"This is not your Elysium, James T. Kirk." Apollo said with a chuckle. "This is that Elysium that my family gave to our people. Those were simple times, and required simple joys." He pointed to that woman at the head of the pack. "Atalanta requires very little but the land to run and the freedom to never grow tired. In life, she honored my sister Artemis with an oath of chastity. She would not marry until a man could best her in a race. A young sailor called to Aphrodite for assistance and threw golden apples to steer Atalanta off her path. And so she married. And now, in her paradise, my sister has promised her the freedom to run these hills, unencumbered, through all eternity. Such are the rewards we promised to our great warriors and heroes."
Jim smiled a bit as he watched the woman race through the fields. For a moment, it was easy to lose himself in the story, in the sheer… joy of it all. Guinan had been exactly right. For that girl below him, sprinting freely through the fields, she was living in a constant state of joy.
It was a temporal anomaly, though. A higher state of existence, but an anomaly grounded in scientific fact all the same. And it might remain beyond his understanding for his entire life, and that would be just fine. But, if he started to think of the place as some otherworldly, spiritual equivalent of heaven… well, that would make it harder to leave.
"I'm not exactly what you could call spiritual." Jim remarked, glancing over at Apollo as he voiced his rational skepticism. "So forgive me if I don't understand why there would be a version of this place that's mine at all."
"Elysium, the Nexus, it is infinite in its capacity, and manifests as an extension of an individual's desires. I have only brought you here because this is how I enter the Nexus, where I see those supplicants that honored me in their life and are now here in everlasting paradise after death." Apollo began to walk down the hill. As he did so, Jim followed with ease until they reached the same path the women had trod only moments before.
Where there had just been more grass, now Jim could see trees in the distance. It was still a bit of a hike, but the weather seemed perfect somehow. It was the kind of day he loved back home: it was warm and sunny, but the breeze was cool.
It was idyllic. He could understand it being called something like heaven. And as they walked, Jim was more and more aware of the fact that he didn't have someone else in his head. Even when they had been in the temple, he'd felt like he was in control but there was some sort of itch at the back of his mind. He still felt like he knew Steve's memories were his own and felt foreign.
Here in the Nexus, though, he was definitely just Jim Kirk. It was a breath of fresh air, but also somehow... empty.
Guinan had said something about Steve choosing to leave the Nexus. That Jim was supposed to be his reincarnation. If he remembered his religion courses in school and the academy, then there was something odd about that notion.
"I don't remember the ancient Greeks having a concept of reincarnation." Jim said as they walked. The longer they kept on their path, the more he felt almost absurdly at ease.
"Mythology has a purpose. Religion and ritual has a purpose." Apollo replied as their feet rustled through the long grass. This should be itchy… Jim thought idly. "The Fates have all mastery of the threads that mortals live by. As they spin your thread, they wind it through the great tapestry of time. But, we have had occasion to pull great heroes from the tapestry to weave into another great task. We have recalled Odysseus several times to defend the people of earth. As a man who faced unspeakable adversity and hardship, he is uniquely situated to inspire others." The man chuckled, and for a moment, it felt like hearing his dad on some of those logs. "Of course, we learned early on: if Odysseus is called, so must his great love Penelope. For a great journey requires great reward."
Jim rose an eyebrow, chuckling a bit. "That sounds a bit… far-fetched."
"Any more far-fetched than your exact resemblance to Steve Trevor? Or that you have empowered my sister with your faith in her?" Apollo laughed as Jim bristled from the remark. "You are a contradiction, James T. Kirk. A man of science and a man of faith and disbelief. You pride yourself on seeking out that which cannot be quantified, yet when presented with the supernatural you falter. Your heart and your head continue to conflict."
The two of them paused as they reached the tree line, the forest remarkably dark within. "For paradise, that doesn't look very inviting." Jim quipped, beginning to move forward.
A hand on his shoulder stopped him. Jim turned, and found himself no longer facing a man resembling his father…. But the god that Diana had described. Even down to the golden crown of laurels. "This is no light matter. Here, James, I can no longer travel with you."
Jim scoffed. "You're the one who wanted me to come here, and now you're saying you won't go?"
"I am a god of the Greeks and as such, have souls that worship me. But, I am not a lord of the dead. I cannot enter this place. It is a place of dreams." Apollo glanced over at the treeline before continuing, looking Jim in the eye. He finally felt like he'd seen the god, and could see that there was genuine concern. He didn't know Jim aside from one of any other short-lived humans, but he cared what happened nonetheless. "You must understand. While your people stopped believing in us, we did not abandon you. But, it took a great toll. And now: Diana, my sister, has returned to protect you. But, we knew it would be a long journey for her. That is why we sent for you."
"'We?'" Jim echoed.
"Soon, my sister Athena will explain. But, now is not the time for you to know. If you choose that path, you will learn." He motioned to the treeline. "But, much like Orpheus, you must take this journey on faith. You may not look back. If you do, then you will forever be James T. Kirk, and you will lose all knowledge that you were once Steve Trevor. But, if you push forward…" Apollo smiled. "You will be everything that she needs. And that he wants you to be. For you both." The god stepped back, another burst of that cool breeze between them. "Good luck. And I hope you choose the path of greater valor."
Jim turned back towards the forest. Idly, his hand reached for his phaser that should have been at his waist. He wasn't all that surprised to find it missing. You're in paradise, what would you need a phaser for, Jim? He asked himself. Steeling himself, he took a deep breath and considered looking back the way he came. Apollo had said if he turned around, he'd forget. He'd never know why he'd gone this far…
That wasn't Jim Kirk. He didn't let mysteries lie.
Jim pushed past the trees and began to move into the darkness. The forest was cold, a sudden onslaught of nighttime, winter air. As he kept walking, he knew that he should have been freezing. It was easily cold enough to snow, yet he felt entirely comfortable. And he recognized the terrain. This was Belgium. Again. Which mean that up ahead would be…
"Son." The voice made Jim stop in his tracks. It came from behind him, but he knew it. It had been the same voice on the probe reports, in his mother's logs, and used by the god Apollo only minutes ago. It was his father. His father was here in Elysium… "Where are you going? Let me see you. Turn around."
Jim began to pivot, then stopped. The realization hit him like a bucket of ice water. He couldn't turn back. This was what Apollo meant. Temptations to pull him back. That was what had doomed Orpheus in that myth, right?
"I shouldn't be surprised." Another voice. Jim shut his eyes as his heart clenched painfully, longing to turn around. Chris… "You have greatness in you, Jim, but not an ounce of humility. You can't even turn around to look at me and your old man." He stood firm, jaw set. He steeled himself against the temptation. If Chris Pike and his dad were here, well…. Then, he knew they'd be just fine without him.
But, he wanted to turn around and see their faces so badly…
To think, Diana had been dealing with that temptation since she had met Jim. Thinking of her, the way she smiled at him, as if both impressed and exasperated at times, the way he could make her laugh…
He couldn't leave her. Maybe that was selfish, but for the first time in years, he cared about someone as much as he cared about his ship and her crew.
Ghosts were just that: ghosts. He couldn't bring them back. That was why Apollo had chosen to look like his father. To stop him from the temptation to see him again.
Jim kept moving forward, ignoring the way they both kept calling his name. When he caught sight of a flicker of light in the distance, he sped up. His pace quickened as the voices became pained, pleading. For a moment, he thought he could even hear Ambassador Spock calling for him.
And then he spilled out from the trees and came to a stumbling halt just before a very familiar campfire.
Jim looked up at the figure standing next to the campfire, still stirring the soup pot. He grinned, a smile that reached his eyes as relief flooded him. "Chief…. You're here." Jim laughed a bit. "I thought maybe I'd imagined you."
Chief moved over to him. "I promised you that we could guide you. And I will." Pulling off one of his black gloves, clasping Jim's arm. He returned the gesture. "Here, I am Napi. And I will walk you through the visions so that you will understand."
"Understand…" Jim breathed, brow twitching with confusion. "I don't know that I'll understand any of this."
"It's all right," He replied, patting Jim on the back. "You are in the Nexus. Here, you have all eternity to learn."
