"Might I inquire what you mean by he gave you silence?"

"It was because of our failing communications system that we had limited time to receive or transmit messages. He informed the Federation who obviously contacted that man and he used you to come here. What he gave us was a disguised older version of what we had and it was failing. It completely failed shortly after you left."

Kirk had seen the raised eyebrow, "How were you able to tell it was an older version of what you had had?"

The leader smiled and said, "Come, as you are the first who have wondered about our history we will show you what few off-worlders have seen. You will see that while we prefer a more natural approach to living we are highly advanced, technologically."

They climbed an obviously created walkway behind a large waterfall and into a huge cavern,continued passed what would have been turbines, passed rows of piping, to an area where Kirk saw what his mother used to call a "little-boy-in-a- toy-store" look about Spock's face for before them was an area with a computer terminal and installation unlike any he had seen and could tell his Vulcan friend had also not seen anything like it before. Next to it was an obviously equally more advanced communications center than the site he had been taken to.

"There is no need to look so surprised, sirs. If you know your history you will know that Bella Vista was one of the early planets to join the Federation at a time when the Federation was eager to get new planets and when new planets could state their terms of joining."

Spock looked at Kirk then back at the leader, "If memory serves your only condition was that those who visited were to leave nothing behind but their footprints in the sand at low tide and take only those gifts given to them and memories. It was thought that your planet did not even exist of many decades."

The youth and the leader smiled and took them into a small room. On a screen was a view of the planet from an orbiting drone. "You mean like this." The youth switched a few switched and the planet disappeared.

Almost immediately Kirk's communicator sounded, "Kirk here."

"Sir, tis good to hear ye. The planet, it disappeared. It just,"

The leader and youth again switched switches..

"Sir, I can nae explain it but, but it was there then wasn't and now it is again."

"Don't worry, Scotty. All is well here. Kirk out."

"If you want to look in here you will see why we fear no attackers," the leader stood at a large door and slid it open.

"Keptin, isn't that?"

Kirk looked unbelievingly at Spock and then at the leader, "We scanned your planet and,"

"You detected nothing as that is how we have lived here for the past three hundred years. Our forefather's forefathers had seen what the likes of your forefathers had done to Earth, from where we originated, back in the twentieth century, and wanted very little of that. The original seven hundred and sixty pioneer colonists mixed with the one hundred and twenty humanoid natives and adapted to live in harmony with the planet. History has shown how too many civilizations fail when they fail to live in harmony with their planet and the nature of it. In there," the leader indicated the room they only looked in, "is what would ensure that should we ever be attacked we would eliminate the threat. There is also, in there, as you no doubt detected, is our ability to obliterate our own planet. Every five years we have a planet-wide vote on our planetary defenses. Every five years fifty young people from each of the one hundred countries come here to learn how to operate the system and then they go to the other center which is a back-up system. Our people want none of the ways that caused your worlds to have such destructive wars, your ways that had one person judge another on material things or what they believed in, nor your belief that a person needs to own more land than what is needed to feed their family. We do have collectives where everybody gets a share. We have our teachers and our medical people as well as our government representative. We have all our young ready to take our place. What we do not have is anybody who does not contribute in some way to the well-being of the planet."

"You said you have medical people and yet officer Baylance had no doctor, no medication, no,"

"We have had no need for manufactured medications for hundreds of years. Our medical people know how to use what nature provides to cure and heal. What was most difficult in treating your officer was that his body has had many unnatural substances in it that our methods had to first rectify. No doubt, if you have kept treating him as you were shown, by now he should be back on your medicines, he will have fully recovered."

Kirk shook his head and looked at the leader, "He was attacked again on the ship by the officer who left us. He,"

"He stole the study knife!" The youth who had handed him the phaser looked at the other youth, "You were right. He stole it." then looked at Kirk almost pleadingly, "It had more powerful poison than the hunting knives."

"He is very sick." Kirk had nodded. "We came back for some plants.

"Go get the healer and her, now!" the second youth ran out as the other youth turned back to Kirk, "I would not believe him when he said that man had stolen it as we had done what he told us to do. Even when we realized the part was wrong and that we had been tricked I did not want to believe him."

"Will you show me what is missing in your system?" Spock looked from Kirk to the youth. "I have skills in the communications area."

The healer and the old woman walked into the large cavern, two teenagers walked behind the old woman, and before he said anything the old woman looked at Chekov, "You will find the plants you need and these learners will show you which to take and what clay to also take. Go!"

Clay. That had been what he had been missing. Kirk had just thought it was just a dirt colored hot herbal potion but it had had clay in it.

"Captain Kirk, can you hear me?" It was the voice of the youth who had gone with Spock coming from a small speaker on the main desk.

At the nod of the leader Kirk had gone to the mirophone, "Kirk here, hearing you loud and clear."

"How about now I am whispering?"

"Still loud and clear."

There was undisguised in the youth's voice, "This open test one."

Other voices were heard up to twenty-five, each giving thanks. Then, "That you Bella Vista? You were off for longer than usual. Was getting worried. Said you were having a man named Halls from Starfleet give you the piece you wanted, did he give you a bad part like he gave us?"

"He was here and caused trouble but friends of a friend have given us something that will see us never go silent again."

"Good news. That was quick as it took us one hundred and nine days to get the part from the Federation and that was through Star Fleet Your friend must have good connections."

"He has good friends. All is well here now."

"Good to hear. Same here on Cannido Four. Take care."

"Same to you.

The leader looked from the youth to Kirk, "We thank you and your people, Kirk. It has been a long time since we had such clarity in transmissions."

By the time the three reunited near when they had beamed down Chekov was laden with plants and clay, Spock had a youth listening to every word as though committing it to memory, and he felt the youth studying him.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Certainly,"

"Those with whom we had been fighting believed, and we allowed them to, that we commanded that other officer. They believed we had what those four who tried to kill the children on the dam and then the babies but who were wanting to die had said, that we had a warring man. But he was following your orders, wasn't he? You were the one who told him what to do, right?"

Before he could answer Spock said, "Your cessation of war was based on."

"We had no war. We have not had war nor any major conflict of any sort for at least two hundred years."

Spock looked at Kirk, "Halls came aboard to help mediate a peace treaty that need not have been required. I fail to understand why,"

"He knew it would be the Enterprise, he had the oratory skills to make the higher echelon believe it was more than a disagreement, from there he knew what to do to get the ship."

"Unfortunately, Captain, we have no way to prove it."

The second youth looked at Kirk then at Spock, "I saw him. I found where he left the faulty part. I knew the four who caused all the trouble, they resented change and feared off-worlders. They tried to stir up feelings against you and some frightened people believed it. Believed it till they did what they did at the lake when they destroyed the dam. If I am allowed," he stood up straight and looked at the leader, "If I may be granted the opportunity, I will go with them to their ship and identify the man. It is our way that we must point out any wrongdoer."

The leader half-smiled at the three Enterprise men, "Do not look so surprised, we know of the ships out there, of the likes of the Romulans and Klingons. As you have seen we are, in some ways, more advanced than yourselves and more able to defend ourselves. We just prefer a slower more natural pace to really get to know one another and ourselves, to fully expand our knowledge of life, and to live life to the fullest without relying on anything but ourselves and one another when necessary. Many of our people have been on various ships, have even been to other planets, but have always come back. If Paullee pointing out the man to yu will help you and wishes to go he may."

The old woman had walked up to stand before him and Kirk saw her really look at him before taking his and reaching out and taking one of Spock's hands then closing her eyes before nodding and opening her eyes and releasing their hands, "This is the one who is like your brother and the blue eyed one waits with the one before. What you take up will help him but it is for you two and the blue eyed one to make him stay."

While Chekov had rushed off to Sickbay with his big sacks of clay and plants Kirk had Spock take the youth on a tour of the ship when he went to see Halls.

As Sulu had said, the brig was darker and cooler than usual and Halls had nothing but fury on his face when Kirk had opened the cell and asked him to follow him. "It is good to see you are finally seeing reason, Kirk. We both know that you would have had a difficult time to prove anything against me without any witnesses."

When they had walked into the briefing room Halls had laughed when Kirk had pushed the button for the recorder to start, "This is just a waste of time, Kirk. There is nothing to record as there is nothing I have to say. It is up to you to,"

"That is him! That is the man who said to take the two he did not take with him. To take them and not let them escape. To kill them if they tried to escape. He said if we did that he would give us that part for the communications center."

"I, Kirk I don't know,"

"Mister Spock has a recording of you speaking to me. Your technology will be able to verify that it was you. You would have left us in silence."

"You, like Kirk, have no proof. Your system was faulty. You could not have,"

Spock slipped a little disc into the terminal an the desk, "This is Commodore Gordon Halls, as arranged I will have the piece you want. All you have to do is be there at the transport site and stun the officer I ask to assist me and attack the other two. Do what you will with them but do not let them escape. You can tell those you are fighting that if they do not stop the war with you we will use the full force of my ship to annihilate them."

"I should not have trusted him as we have not had a war in recorded memory, we do not believe in it solving anything, and we would allow the annihilation of others. He left us silence."

"If you will excuse us, Captain, I wish to show our young guest something down in the sciences and then return him to his planet."

"Fine." Kirk held out his hand and the young man took it, "Thank you for your help."

"Thank you. And take care of the one who did help my people. Without him we would still be in silence."

Halls had been quiet all the way back to the cell. As Kirk started to walk away from the cell he paused and looked back at Halls, "You should be thankful that it was Mister Sulu who thought of how you were to be treated while the maintenance of the system is going on. If it had been left to me I would have not even allowed lighting as you belong in a dark hole. It is only unfortunate I could not give you any of the pain your action is causing Officer Baylance but be assured if he dies you really will not enjoy your trip to the nearest Star Base."

Spock met him just outside Sickbay, "Our visitor get home safely?"

"Yes, he was most surprised at how the right alignment of those stones with the right application of a slightly nitrous liquid can easily produce the reaction needed for that transmitter. With the planet having so many of those rocks and a natural supply of the liquid they should not need any replacements for a very long time." Spock half-tilted his head, "A rather simplistic way of power generation while also having the metallic properties necessary. I was surprised at how they appeared to be living on a barely subsistence level yet were all well educated, very fit and healthy, and a well blended society. While largely Human there were beings clearly from other planets who have been accepted. When I had the chance to look at their technology I was at a loss as they are well in advance of what we have in many areas and yet seem so content to ignore how much easier the use of this technology could make their lives "

"I think that is the very reason, Spock. They do not want it all that easy. They have seen how it was and like it as it is. I have to admit that had it not been for my concern for Baylance and getting back to the ship I would have enjoyed staying there a bit longer. I had no idea that they had technology like that. The communication center they took me to was very basic. There was an ebb and flow the to day, there was a peace to it yet an earned peace. They," for a moment Kirk closed his eyes, "they also knew and appreciated one another."

"Jim, do we not,"

"We do but what do we know of the crew outside of the bridge crew, Spock? Did you know how Baylance would react? Did you even know about thim? I didn't."

"Jim, there are four hundred and,"

"Four hundred and twenty-nine crew who know me and I really only know about what, fifteen of them at the most? What sort of Captain does that make me?"

Spock gripped Kirk's arm, "It makes you the Captain that Baylance needs now just as you needed him down there. It makes you the Captain who takes care of what must be dealt with first and then what needs doing. It makes you the Captain that those four hundred and twenty-nine crew members would do and give anything for. It makes you the Captain who is going to go into Sickbay and, without feeling a sense of debt, help his officer recover."

Kirk nodded, "I wonder how that old woman knew, Spock. She had told me before about you helping me help Bones help him. She had said you and Bones could help me with him but," he closed his eyes as he again heard that voice, 'Spock and the one with blue eyes may help you but you must decide how to make him fight and accept what is to be done for and with him. It will be most painful for him and take a long time. You all must be willing. He will not fight when he knows you are safe unless you all help him to fight for life.' "But apparently I have to come up with a way to make him fight although what is going to be done to him will cause him severe pain and take a lot of time. I, I have to make him willing to suffer even more because of me."

"You know that it is not just McCoy and myself who will help you? While we will be with him the most there are many, many others who will want to help him."

They entered SickBay together and stopped just a few steps in the intensive care area. It was not often that McCoy had the door to it shut but it was not only the odor but the sight that had made them stop