Hey everyone! I have posted the first chapter of the next Isara story, if anyone is interested. :-) It may or may not include a summer road trip and Spock and Uhura being added to the group of friends.

If you're not interested in the vacation stuff, I'll let you know here when I post the NEXT story, which will take place when everyone is back on the Enterprise. That will include a bossy xenobiologist, a shape-shifting, romantically-roving alien, and, of course, all the antics of the characters that you know and love.

As a reward for being such good little readers, I've included part of the first chapter of "Isara Jones: New Friends and Old Flames" here. If you want the chapter in its entirety, you'll have to go to the other story. :-) Enjoy! And love from Isara.

New Friends and Old Flames Chapter 1

Isara's POV

The club was pretty rowdy by my standards, but Kirk and Alanna were obviously having a good time. Alanna was in her trademark fuscia, this time manifesting itself in her cropped tank top and Converse sneakers. Her faded denim shorts were nearly invisible what with the throbbing mass of dancers and the dizzying way that she was twirling around. Kirk, in his plain white t-shirt, kept trying to get close enough to her to dance, but she would twist away with a flirtatious hair flip and make it look like she hadn't even noticed him. I had to admire how finely she had honed her teasing skills.

I leaned against the wall, which pulsed against my back with the intensity of the music. It was a popular new dance song- "The Growl"- and all the clubs were playing it. I allowed my head to nod slightly in time with the beat, though it wasn't really my kind of music. One time I took a 20th century art history class, and I did a report on jazz and swing from the 1920s through the 1940s. From the first strains of Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, I had been hooked. I missed the sounds of real instruments played by real people, and voices that hadn't been synthesized and adjusted until they were robotic.

I was jolted out of my reverie by Bones touching my shoulder and gesturing towards the dance floor, one eyebrow raised. I smiled and nodded. I was finally out of my uniform for a while, and had dressed specifically for dancing- jeans and flats would be comfortable, and a sequined blue top wasn't too revealing but would sparkle nicely under the lights.

Bones obviously didn't know how to dance to this kind of music any more than I did- he looked confused for a moment, then started bobbing up and down by bending and straightening his knees in time to the music, hands in his pockets. I laughed and shook my head. I grabbed his arm and pulled him through the crowd, heading for where I had last seen Kirk and Alanna.

Alanna squealed and waved at us, grabbing Kirk in a similar manner and dragging him over. She immediately saw our dilemma and illustrated how to dance to the club music, bouncing and jumping around, waving her arms and twisting her hips. I thought that I imitated her fairly well, but Bones was failing miserably. Alanna laughed at him and gestured to Kirk, who was doing similar dance moves but in a more "manly" fashion. After a few tries, the four of us were dancing in tight group and grinning away at each other like the slightly insane people that we were. I sighed happily, the sound masked by the thumping bass of the nearby speakers. It was great to have everyone together again.

After a while we all got tired, so Bones, Alanna and I parked ourselves at a table off to one side while Kirk grabbed drinks. I fanned myself halfheartedly with my hand, my shoulder slumped up against my chair. Bones gave me a concerned look and I smiled happily at him. It had been a very long time since I had been out dancing.

I scanned the crowd of people all around us, wondering where Kirk had wandered off to and what poor girl was being aggressively flirted with. My eyes fell on a very specific face and widened in alarm. I ducked under the table, much to Bones's surprise, and stayed hunched down by Alanna's feet.

"Isara? What is it?" Her worried voice wafted down to me.

"Be quiet!" I hissed. "It's Jimmy!"