Doctor Leonard McCoy had been standing outside the lodge, not speaking and avoiding the curious glances of the Native American villagers gathered around for a few minutes when Captain James Kirk, still wearing the garments given to him months ago by the tribe, emerged from within and stood silently. McCoy read the look in the eyes of his captain and friend, recognising it as the same look as when Edith Keeler died, and knew what had just happened.
The elderly tribal chieftain carefully approached Kirk and, his voice shaking, said "Miramanee...?"
"I'm...sorry," Kirk said to the old man. "She couldn't be saved."
Hearing this, the chief closed his eyes and lowered his head in sorrow. "My people are safe, as was promised," he said, "but this is an evil day, Kirok. I told Salish not to go against you, to give you time, but he would not listen. Now he has fled, but he will be hunted down and punished with death for what he has done!" He turned and glared at the assembled onlookers, those who had taken part in the stoning hanging their heads guiltily. "What of those who followed him in this awful deed? How should they be punished?"
Kirk thought of Salish, formerly the tribe's medicine chief and lover of Miramanee until Kirk, stricken with amnesia, came and took both from him. He thought of how Salish had led the mob that hurled stones at him and Miramanee at the obelisk when Kirk could not gain access to it. Now, because of that vicious attack, his wife's body lay lifeless in the hut, and the child she carried would be forever unborn. But no...he could not allow further violence on his behalf; he had already disrupted these people's lives enough. "Forget Salish," he managed to say. "Let him live with the shame of what he's done for the rest of his days. That is punishment enough for his crime. As for the others...it was Salish who urged them on in their moment of fear. They have shown remorse for their actions. They have not ran. I ask that you forgive them."
"If that is your wish, then it will be so," the chief responded. He addressed the crowd again: "Remember always Kirok's mercy to you!"
Kirk continued speaking: "I...cannot remain with you. I must return to the sky, where I came from. Your world is beautiful, I value your friendship, but...after what's happened, I have to go."
The old man seemed saddened by this, but nodded his acceptance. "We will have to select a new medicine chief, who will have the knowledge of the Wise Ones. Kirok, before you go, will you choose one from among us?"
Kirk considered. The chieftain's request made sense; the tribe would need someone capable of activating the asteroid-repelling device left behind by the Preservers beneath the obelisk in case the planet was ever again threatened with destruction, and right now, only he, McCoy, and Spock back on the Enterprise knew the secret to accessing it which he had only stumbled upon accidentally. He looked at the faces gathered round, then fixed on one: The father of the young boy who almost drowned on the day he was discovered by the tribe, and whose life he had saved. He had also been one of the few who refused to follow Salish when he roused the crowd against Kirk. Kirk walked toward the man and said "I think this one would be worthy of being your new protector."
The man, upon hearing these words, blinked in astonishment, covered his eyes with his hands and bowed his head. "Great Kirok," he said, "I am honored."
"Good," Kirk replied. "Now come with me and my friend to the sacred place, and I'll show you the secret which you must one day pass on to your son, and he to his son." Later, when the new medicine chief returned to the village, he explained how after teaching him what he needed to know, Kirok and his friend both disappeared in golden light. And for many generations afterward, the story of Kirok, the saviour from the sky, and the tragic love he shared with the maiden Miramanee, was told among the people of that world.