Uhura watched the text scroll across the tricorder. She took samples of the writing and fed them in, allowing the computer to build up its map of the languages. So far she had identified the curly tailed script of Rizan, the block-like Procyon, the dots and lines of Tellarite and the complex hieroglyphs of Ursan. The texts mostly spoke of the glory of the Providers and the humility of the thralls. The Providers were bountiful, all-powerful, all seeing. The thralls were lowly, born to serve and willing to die. She had started with what had looked like the oldest writings but she was starting to regret it. They were dull and devoid of significance. She couldn't be sure how old the inscriptions were. The data pointed to possibly two or three thousand years old. It was all very dry and dusty. She scanned around, looking for something more modern. The tricorder pointed towards the walls near the fallen gates where the script shone white I the grey blocks. She went over and began to scan again but the computer didn't recognise the languages. She looked up to where the captain was talking to Greenemeier and Judd. They were conversing hurriedly and in hushed tones, the security guards pointing to the walls and back down to the henge. She gave a shiver. Those sorts of conversations never boded well. Kirk gestured to a gap in the walls and the two guards headed off and out of the arena. Uhura suddenly felt very exposed without their back-up. She glanced at the readings. Preliminary data scrolled across the small screen. Words and phrases started to form: civil war… outsiders… doctors…uprising… escape… Cyliss…navigator…She had to let the computer process the words and add in the grammar. She let the tricorder continue as she walked over to the captain.

"Trouble, sir?" she asked. She could see worry tugging at the edge of his mouth. It occurred to her that they had been there longer than she had realised, so absorbed had she been in her work. "Where's Chekov?"

Kirk shot her an absent look, rubbing his chin. He was obviously thinking the same thing. Sweat glistened on his brow. "I don't know, Lieutenant. We can't raise either him or Elazari on their communicators. Judd has looked all round that henge over there and there's nothing. No sign of them at all. And evening is coming in fast".

Uhura looked out between the gates and the stone circles. The looked back at her, grey and menacing. "Do you think they've gone on? Perhaps they found something beyond the stones? Gone out of communication range possibly?"

Kirk shook his head. "Elazari wouldn't do that without checking in first."

Uhura watched as Judd reappeared at the gates and moved into the henge. The heat made his image shimmer and reflect in the sand which was starting to turn pink in the setting sun. She could feel a growing concern rising within her. Her worries about Chekov resurfaced. Why had he been so scared when the planet was mentioned? He had been like a taut string all the way back here but he hadn't been willing or able to explain his reactions. Strangely she got the impression that he hadn't even been able to explain it to himself. It was if an abyss opened up every time the name Triskelion was mentioned. He had thrown himself into his affair with Lita Morrell in the past couple of weeks, spending almost all his free time with her, avoiding everyone else. He seemed happy – kept on going on about how in love they both were. Like a love-sick teenager, Sulu had noted with annoyance. He still wasn't entirely at ease about the fact that Chekov was seeing her. He knew that, although Chekov always told himself at the time how in love he was, it was never long until work or other girls vying for his attention got the better of him. Sulu was convinced that Chekov knew exactly how much of a catch he was and played it for all it was worth. And he didn't want Lita to fall head over heels. She was on the helm control team and was Commodore Morrell's youngest daughter – an old family friend who he could really do without upsetting. She was expected to work hard and sit her lieutenant's exams, not waste her time sighing after Russian ensigns. Uhura gave a half smile to herself at the tangled web. He'll be alright, she told herself firmly. The Captain had the guards out looking for him. They'd come across him soon. He's old enough to take care of himself. And yet the torment of doubt preyed on her mind. Something about him always made her want to look after him and make sure he stayed out of trouble. She remembered the horror she had felt when she had heard that he had been killed on Melkot – shot dead by what they thought were aliens acting out an inevitable execution. She had stayed as brave as she was able on duty but in the privacy of her own cabin she had cried on Sulu's shoulder all night. She wasn't sure why he had that effect on her. In some ways he reminded her of her younger brother, Jahi. She missed his easy-going character and stupid humour and she saw a lot of that in Chekov. He could be earnest one minute and joking the next but his emotions were always raw and honest. But to a certain extent the simplicity of Jahi was worlds away from Chekov. With the young Russian there was a tension between his upbringing, with what he was expected to be and what he expected himself to be, carried along by his keen intellect, and an unbridled passion that expressed itself in his firey temper, recklessness and series of short-lived but intense love affairs and flings. But that wasn't it either. Most of all, like all of her crewmates, it was the living and working together, the fact that they faced life and death together, that created an intimacy and care that went beyond being just colleagues. She knew Sulu felt the same way. Chekov was the youngest of them in their family on board ship and that warranted all their special protection. They knew he relied on them and the mutual trust was unspoken.

"He's been gone a long time. It will be dark soon," she hoped that saying the words might make them sound not quite so bad.

Kirk nodded silently. He pulled his communicator off his belt and flipped it open. It gave its familiar chirrup as it started up.

"Greenemeier, come in."

The communicator gave a brief crackle before Greenemeier's gruff voice sounded from it. "Here, sir. No sign of them yet."

"Where are you now?"

"At the far edge of the henge, sir. I had a look inside. The earth looked very disturbed, like there had been a fight."

Kirk shot Uhura a worried glance. "Where's Judd?" There was no reply. "Greenemeier, come in. Can you hear me?" Suddenly the communicator gave loud crunch and fell silent. A roar went up outside the gates from what sounded like a crowd of running people. Kirk quickly turned the selector, trying to search for a link. "Greenemeier?" he said urgently. He tried again. "Judd, are you there?" But the communicators remained dead. He looked around the arena, quickly pulling Uhura by the arm as the sounds of roaring turned into the clashing of weapons and screams. "I don't like the sound of this," he muttered as he hurried her off to the side. "Phaser on stun, Lieutanant." Uhura threw the strap over her head and shouldered the tricorder. She pulled out her phaser, adjusting it as instructed, crouching low and following Kirk to the gap in the wall that the security guards had left by. They looked through. On the other side could only be seen low scrubby bushes sticking up out of the dry sandy ground. Some taller trees and grasses sprouted up in a clump to their left. Kirk motioned silently to Uhura to follow him. They crept slowly. The battle continued ferociously somewhere just out of sight.

"Can you see anything, Captain?" Uhura whispered.

Kirk shook his head. "Keep down."

Kirk seemed to be thinking that someone – or something – was lurking in the trees. She trusted his instincts and stuck low, like a panther stalking its prey. A slight rustle in the grasses caught their attention. Kirk froze. He indicated with his hand for her to stop. She knelt down on one knee at the ready, watching as the captain moved around the side of the copse. Suddenly a man sprung up out of the undergrowth. He was huge and hairy with two enormous fangs that overlapped his bottom lips. Uhura saw with horror that they were dripping with blood. He raised his powerful arm with a short spear and swiftly took aim at her.

"No!" Kirk's reactions were immediate. He flung himself at her and tackled her to the ground. The point of the spear landed next to her head with a soft thud. The both looked at it in shock.

"Drop your weapon. We have you surrounded." A strident, rough voice sounded through the thick air from somewhere behind them.. The alien spun round. About ten people – aliens of all different races, armed to the teeth with basic, but obviously lethal weapons stood in a circle. The alien gave a roar and ran off back to where the battle seemed to be abating, leaping over Kirk and Uhura as he did so. Kirk stood up, holing out his hand to pull up Uhura as more men and women emerged from the undergrowth and beyond like ghosts, perfectly camouflaged. They were completely outnumbered.

"Federation?" Another voice spoke up from their right. A man approached in what looked like torn and modified Starfleet medical clothing. His dark brown hair was wild and thick with dust and his face bore several scars. He pushed his way through the group of aliens. "Don't harm them," he said to the others, pushing down their weapons with his hands. "They're here to help, I'm sure of it." He stopped in front of Kirk and grasped his hand, pumping it in an enthusiastic and slightly manic handshake. He looked at Kirk's insignia with his wide dark brown eyes. "Captain? Thank god. I'm Dr Tabana. I was with the crew of the Aki medical ship. I've been here for months. I'm the only one left. No other survivors. I never thought I'd see another human again." He moved over to Uhura and began to shake her hand too. "Have you come to rescue me? What ship are you from? Have you heard from any of the others? It's been absolutely dreadful."

"Calm down, take it easy," said Kirk, pulling his hands away from Uhura's and holding his arms at his sides by the elbows. "Tell me what happened. What's all this fighting about?"

Tabana looked around him and at the alien group. "Not here," he frowned. "Too dangerous. Come. This is the Provider's territory. We need to get back to our camp before nightfall. It's not far. The others – they're defeated now. They won't trouble us for a while." He turned to pull Kirk after him but the tall man who had first spoken blocked his way with a spear. He looked like a Procyon to Uhura with his chocolate brown skin streaked with reds and yellows across his torso and arms. He stood in the doctor's way.

"Tabana, who are these people? Why do you trust them?" He looked Kirk and Uhura up and down with a deep hostility and suspicion.

Tabana turned back with a worried expression. "I'm sorry, captain. I haven't even asked you your name. I'm just so pleased to see fellow terrans I'm forgetting myself. But we must hurry."

"I'm Captain James Kirk of the starship Enterprise and this is my communications officer, Lieutenant Uhura. We were here several months ago. We've come back to make contact."

Tabana's frown deepened. "The Enterprise? Kirk? The one who freed the thralls?"

"Yes, that's right."

A ripple of surprise went through the group. The Procyon stepped forward. "Then we truly must make it back to camp. We must protect you from the Providers."

"Stop," protested Kirk as the group swept him off and away from the walls of the arena. "I have crewmen missing. My security guards. My navigator."

"The navigator… the betrayer…" they whispered the word amongst themselves with a strange significance. Uhura and Kirk exchanged confused looks.

Tabana paused. "Were there three guards?" he asked sadly.

"Yes," replied Kirk. "Do you know where they are?"

Tabana shook his head. "They're dead. The Provider's thralls killed them. We were too late. You'll find them in the henge. When it's safe we can come back for their bodies. Our comrades are there now. They will make sure they are not rouched".

"And Chekov?" demanded Uhura, the same hollow feeling opening up as it did at Melkot. "Is he dead too?"

"Your navigator?" Tabana shook his head. "I don't know. The Provider has taken him. She needs him. We don't know why and what she'll do with him we don't know. If he's lucky, he'll live."

The Procyon pushed his way between Tabana and Kirk. "Look, we need to get moving. Less talking. We must move out," he insisted. "It won't be long before they're back in bigger numbers". The group gathered round them and began to hustle them away from the arena.

Kirk didn't see that there was much choice but to throw their lot in with them for the time being. They couldn't leave till they had found Chekov. He motioned with his head for Uhura to fall in with them. She nodded and joined the silent hurrying group as they headed off across the scrub land and through the low remains of a ruined city and into the oncoming night.