A/N: Last chapter folks! Thanks for sticking with me and I hope you've enjoyed the story!

Chapter 10

U.S.S. Enterprise, 2277.134, 0845 hours. "Selas, we're here." They'd already dropped the older kids off at their classrooms and now she and Selas crossed the threshold into his room, her son holding tightly to her hand. His classmates all rushed around putting away their bags and getting to their seats but he refused to let go. He'd been like this ever since she'd returned, clinging to her pant leg like a shy toddler, and even taking to sitting in front of the bathroom waiting for her to finish her business. The only time he ever left her side was when he was asleep.

Nyota leaned over and kissed the top of his head, trying to ease out of his hold. "Your father and I will be right back to get you as soon as our shift is over, I promise." His grip tightened and he wordlessly sent her wave after wave of anxiety. Such a promise, although unspoken, had been made the day they thought she'd died.

"I'm always with you. Even if I'm not here," she squeezed his hand, "I'm right here." Carefully she placed their entwined hands over his heart and he seemed to relax. She kissed him again as he reluctantly let go and went to join his friends.

U.S.S. Enterprise Ready Room, 2277.134, 0903 hours. "People!" Jim called out for the third time. "If everyone could take their seats!"

The crew continued to ignore him as they gathered around Uhura, welcoming her back. While it did his heart good to see everyone back together this debriefing was promising to be a long one and they'd all have to get back to their posts when they were through. "I know we're all happy to see the Lieutenant Commander but we don't want this to take all morning. I promise you'll all have a chance to catch up with her afterward." With that guarantee and a few last words everyone slowly trickled to their spots around the table.

He took a quick sip of his coffee and sat down. "Alright, let's get down to business, shall we?" Heads nodded. "First, I'd like to add my own words of welcome. Uhura, what can I say except the ship wasn't the same without you?" She smiled and blushed while the others chuckled. "Glad you're home. Now I know everyone in this room is somewhat familiar with what occurred on Unohdettu, but before we start our next mission I'd like for us all to be on the same page. Uhura, if you don't mind…?"

She cleared her throat as she blushed. "Of course, Captain. I'm just not sure how much insight I can provide. Spock knows more then I do."

"And we'll get to him in just a minute, I promise."

Uhura shot her husband a sideways glance. "Ok…first off, I want everyone to know that this isn't Gary's fault. I'm the one that gave him the order to leave the room which was why I was alone when the quake hit. I tried to seek cover but must've been knocked out because the next thing I remember is waking up underground with a huge lump on my head and I couldn't find my kit anywhere.

"The room itself wasn't anything special. It was all made of dirt and clay; the bed, the dishes, everything. It wasn't a cell as far as I could tell, maybe more of an isolation room or something, but it might as well have been a prison. The Unohdettuans didn't try and restrain me but they didn't let me just get up and leave either.

"I was still trying to get my bearings when three of them came into my room. They just stood back and watched me for I don't know how long. One of them tried to talk to me but the one in charge wouldn't let him. They were intimidating looking, but I wasn't afraid; at least, not right then."

"What'd they look like, Uhura?" Sulu asked.

"The Unohdettuans were about two meters tall with yellow eyes and long limbs. They had dark skin that was really rough-looking, like tree bark. Some of them also had really strange growths on their head, arms, hands and legs, again, similar to tree branches. But like I said, even though they were initially scary looking I wasn't really afraid, just curious about what they wanted from me and what they were going to do. In a lot of respects I almost felt like they were more afraid of me then I was of them. Either way, that's when I tried to let Spock know through the bond that I was alright, only he and the kids weren't there.

"That's when I lost it. The Unohdettuans didn't know what to make of me, I was just crying and raving like a lunatic. I got up and tried to push past them but they wouldn't let me and they were just too strong."

With a trembling hand she reached for her orange juice, her eyes searching for Spock's. There it was again, the look he'd come to recognize whenever a silent conversation was going on between. Jim felt himself relax as she shot her husband a small smile before continuing her story.

"The time after that is a bit of a blur. I must've exhausted myself because when I came to again the men were gone. This went on for awhile, but without my chronometer I couldn't tell you if it was hours or days. Finally, when I was 'calmer', one of them was allowed in to try and talk to me.

"The Unohdettuan language is extremely difficult, and most of the time we had to resort to drawing pictures and glyphs in the dirt. The man that I spoke with told me the Enterprise had crashed into the caves. He didn't know how or why but when I asked about survivors he said I was the only one. I tried to get him to let me go so I could see for myself but he stopped me, calling me a 'Gaita' over and over again; I assumed the name was something significant but I never figured out what it meant.

"I made a few more escape attempts after that. I studied their routines, watched for holes in their patrols. The farthest I ever got was the ramp but they caught me each time and…" Ever the professional he watched her cool, detached demeanor crumble as she choked back a sob. "I started to give up. After all, what was the point in trying to escape if all of you were dead?"

Out of the corner of his eye Jim saw Rand, who'd been taking the meeting mutes, get up and give her a hug. Murmurs of 'there, there', 'it's alright now', and 'you're home' were heard around the table and Nyota soon settled back down.

"So they never gave you any explanation for taking you or gave you any indication as to why they were holding you?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, they didn't. As I came to understand them a little bit better I found out they were going to move me, but where to and for what purpose I can't really say."

The others looked thoughtful but no one had any questions, not wanting to burden Uhura with further reminders of her ordeal.

"Perhaps now it would be best for me to speak, Captain."

With a nod to his XO Spock began explaining the information he and the children had gathered. All of it was stuff that Kirk had heard before until he began speaking about the altercation with the people on the surface.

"During our prolonged skin-to-skin contact I came to learn the history of the Unohdettuan people, or the Du'Quan, as they call themselves. Their ancestors were indeed survivors of a nuclear war, outliving the more advanced Biseth and Maalan tribes. Prior to the devestation they had retreated to the caves for safety and were spared the worst from the 'War Fires'; that is until the radiation began to seep into the soil and contaminate the ground water. At that point their existence was well and truly threatened.

"Physically, the early Du'Quans previously resembled other known humanoid species throughout the galaxy; however, each successive generation born after the 'War Fires' suffered from genetic defects and mutations, and it is because of the resultant radiation that they continue to fear prolonged exposure to the surface. Their somewhat unnatural evolution spanning roughly 42 generations over 2 millennia mean that they have literally become one with the earth, which is why they were physically able to overcome myself and the Lieutenant Commander as we made our escape."

Scotty shuddered and anxiously rubbed the top of his balding pate as he asked, "Pardon me, Sir, but were ya able t' figure out what 'n they wanted her for?"

"When the mutations became more pronounced the priests prophesized that one day a 'Gaita'—a person of their true form—would come, signaling a return to their original state. Lieutenant Commander Uhura's skin tone and physical characteristics resembled their early ancestors, hence they mistook her for their 'Gaita'. They had no intention of kidnapping her when they first emerged yet once they had her they had every intention of keeping her—and telling her that her people had perished was the surest way of gaining her compliance."

Most everyone in the room gasped, including Uhura. Apparently even she hadn't been privy to this information beforehand but that didn't stop Jim from mentally kicking himself for not finishing Spock's lengthy report.

"Ok, but then what in the hell brought them up there anyway? You just told us the Duckens didn't like going out onto the surface," Bones spit out somewhat angrily.

"The Du'Quan's returned to the surface on the day in question to complete a funerary ritual; this is the only time they leave the safety of the underground cities. By depositing the ashes of their comrade we were led to believe that the Lieutenant Commander perished and they were able to return with her underground and place her under quarantine. Their plan, once it was determined that she was neither infectious nor contagious, was to return with her to the city of Yultique to confirm the prophecy."

Jim guffawed and rather insensitively blurted out, "Uhura, you could've been a goddess! You could've been revered."

With a mischievous smile and a wink towards her husband she replied, "Who says I'm not revered already?"

Epilogue

Kirk had the remains of the late-Du'Quan beamed back down to the surface before they broke orbit. After their ordeal no one needed any reminders of Unohdettu on-board.

Nyota and her team submitted their official report on the planet to Starfleet, complete with Selas' and Rebecca's findings. Their recommendation was that they follow the Federation's Prime Directive and leave well enough alone until or unless the Du'Quan's achieved warp capability. Given the people's primitive nature they deduced that that would be several more centuries in the making.

Although many would've considered it previously impossible, Spock enjoyed a much closer relationship with his family then he had prior to Nyota's kidnapping, especially with regards to Se'tak. In their shared grief he discovered that he and his son were not as dissimilar as they appeared, despite their greatly different outward temperaments; and though he would not have characterized his notions toward Selas as such previously, he learned never to underestimate his youngest son's capabilities ever again as well.

With time, patience, and attention, T'Alora regained most of her lost weight and all of her previous composure. Her parents kept continuous watch over her for several months before both were satisfied that she no longer suffered from an eating disorder; it wasn't long after this that both conceded their daughter was not a child but a magnanimous young woman.

Unnerved by her encounter in the Transporter Room with Ensign Brock on the night of the mutiny she avoided him like the plague for the duration of their mission.

It was five months before Uhura felt ready to be assigned to any away missions again. Her first time out she was accompanied by her husband, her captain, and several other members of the Command and Security teams, and although she put on a brave face she was quaking inside. The children spent the entire day tense and anxious, continually feeding the bonds they shared with their parents to ensure their safety, almost to the point of distraction. It would take some fourteen months before any of them were completely at ease with her being off-ship.

Those that had been duped by Se'tak—or 'the captives', as they came to call themselves whenever the stories were re-told in the rec rooms—were quick to forgive…all except Doctor McCoy. He never let his guard down around another Vulcan ever again, and if he hadn't been ridiculed so mercilessly he would've taken to wearing an old fashioned neck brace just for safe-keeping.

He still has a tendency to rub the side of his neck whenever he's in S'chn T'gai company.

Meanwhile, back on Unohdettu…They stood mid-way up the ramp arguing long after the star people left. "There were too many! We could not have kept fighting!"

"But we lost her, Pizlin, we lost the Gaita! How long have our people waited for this sign and we just let her slip through our grasp…"

"It couldn't be helped, Horash! They carried weapons with power like the War Fires, we couldn't risk them following us back to Yultique; our people barely survived the last disaster!"

"How many more do you think they'd have sent…?" Artas started to ask.

"Brothers." Genz, the lead priest, stepped forward quietly asserting his authority. "What you have not considered is that perhaps we were never meant to possess the Gaita; perhaps it is enough that we have seen her and can report her presence back to the others."

"But Mighty All-Father," Horash argued, "The prophecy proclaimed that the Gaita was to be lavished and praised…"

"Besides," Pizlin interjected, "We are the only eyewitnesses. We have no proof that she was ever really here."

Artas noticed something in the dirt and shuffled off. "Lift up your heads," Genz commanded. "Breathe deep. That is not our air. No, the Gaita has opened up the passageway in readiness of our return. We will be above-dwellers once more." Artas bent over and picked up the small object, holding it between two fingers and examining it closely while drawing the attention of the others. "Brother, what have you found?"

He turned and gave Genz a smile; in his hand he held out the oval pin with the arrowhead and shooting star symbol. "I have found another gift from the Gaita. I have found proof."

Awed, all four turned their heads up the ramp, eyes glistening as they dreamed of the promised land—a gift from the Gaita.