7/1/2259
Skinar's Quarters
10:45 pm

Skinar quietly sat on the cleansing rug that his two current Attendants had spread out for him on the floor.
One Attendant, Captain Kirk, knelt behind him gently kneading his shoulders. While he wasn't in pain,
the Tausian's rapidly approaching Time led to increasing stiffness in his joints.

Kneeling in front of him was his other Attendant, Crewman Darshana Nehru from Calcutta. Skinar had taken
her under his wing when she had transferred to the Saratoga three years before and it was obvious to everyone
on the ship that her mentor's rapidly approaching death was devastating to her. She was now gently wiping
his face and torso with a cool washcloth. Another symptom of his approaching Time was an increase in both
perspiration and peeling of the skin.

At length the two finished and after gently drying him, they helped him back onto the sofa, both mindful
of his increasingly labored breathing. It had concerned McCoy as well and he had started giving him regular
injections to ease his breathing. Nehru took the cleaning items to the bathroom while Kirk handed Skinar
a glass of ice cold water which he slowly drank.

The entire time the Tausian stared fixedly out the window at the stars. "They're so beautiful," he whispered
at length, his voice ever more grating. "I hear them calling me."

Kirk had taken a chair and pulled it closer to the sofa. "You know, as much as your people love the stars
I'm surprised that there aren't more of you in Starfleet," he said quietly. When the Tausian glanced at him
the young Captain went on. "I looked it up; there're hardly any Tausians in the Fleet and they're all enlisted.
One would think that Starfleet would be the perfect place for your people and considering your skills one
would think that there'd be a lot of officers too."

Skinar shook his head. "To become an officer requires four years of training at the Academy, Captain.
That's four years on a planet. No Tausian could endure being separated from the stars for that long.
Training for Enlisted personnel only lasts for one year and few are able to endure even that. The year that
I spent training was literally the most painful of my life. I was only able to endure it by going on shuttle trips
into orbit every day and by sleeping outside beneath the stars every night. My spirit couldn't have endured
it if it had been longer."

Nehru had returned from the bathroom and sat on the sofa beside Skinar. "But you lived on Tausia,
your Birthworld, for ten years," she pointed out.

"From the moment that we leave the womb our spirits cry for the stars," Skinar explained. "But during
our time on Tausia we're able to endure being separated from them. Some feel that the Birthworld itself
shields us to an extent, and others feel that we're able to endure because we have not yet felt the stars'
touch. For our first ten years we only see them from afar and hear their song from a distance.
The first time that we leave…the first time that we actually feel their embrace…" He closed his eyes
and stopped speaking for a moment, obviously lost in memories. "From that moment on we can no longer
endure being separated from them. From that moment on being on a planet, is for us, being imprisoned."

"But you go back to have children."

"We're only there for three months, just long enough to procreate. During that time the mating and birthing
instincts aid us, and perhaps the Birthworld does as well. But despite that, the entire time we're 'counting
the days' until we can leave."

Kirk felt his curiosity piqued. "What about the Legislators, Archivists and Guardians?"

"There are a few among our people who are able to endure being separated from the stars. It may be a genetic
trait, it may be spiritual or, once again, it may be due to their being on the Birthworld, but they are able to endure.
To be one of them is not only the greatest honor among our people, but the greatest sacrifice.

"A thousand years ago, when our people first achieved space flight, all of them wanted to leave, every single
one of them. But a few pointed out the problems that might arise if they did. "Most species form communities,
my people don't; we were and still are by nature solitary wanderers. But despite that we occasionally came
together to combine our resources. It was combining our resources that enabled us to develop the technology
of space flight. Even though we didn't have true communities we did have a history, a culture. And even though
most of us lived alone we all recognized the importance of procreation and it was easy to find mating partners
during our fertile period. The dissenters pointed out that if we dispersed ourselves throughout space, we could
easily lose contact with each other. Our knowledge and history could be lost, fewer offspring would be born,
our entire race could die out.

"Our people heeded the wisdom of the dissenters and so, even as the Great Exodus began, the Great Sacrifice
was made. While most of our people joyfully ventured into their true home, a few chose to remain behind:
to guard the world where our race was born, to raise our offspring and to preserve and pass on our knowledge.
They chose to stay behind even though their spirits cried out for the stars every bit as much as the others.
They became the first ones to take on the Mantle of Sacrifice. The first ones to bear both the Chain and the Tears."

"What are those?" Kirk asked.

"Those who take on the Mantle bear the Emblem of the Chain, as a sign that, for the sake of our people, they have
willingly bound themselves to the Birthworld. And they bear the Emblem of Tears as a reminder of the constant tears
they shed at not being able to roam among the stars."

His dark eyes solemnly bored into Kirk's. "Make no mistake, Captain, they yearn for the stars as much as every
other Tausian, but they never leave the Birthworld because they know that if they did even for a moment…"

"They couldn't bear to come back," Kirk finished softly.

Skinar nodded. "They are honored above all Tausians because they have made the greatest sacrifice possible
for a Tausian. For the sake of our people they have willingly denied themselves the stars. The stars for which
we were made and for which we all yearn."

Kirk nodded solemnly. Trying to imagine what it would be like to deliberately deny yourself what your every instinct,
every fiber of your being longed for the most. It would be like being an artist but deliberately wearing a blindfold
and keeping your hands tied behind your back.

Nehru's eyes were moist. "Don't any of them ever get to go?"

"A few do. Whenever a young Tausian chooses to assume the Mantle, an older Tausian may be released from it.
Most however, especially those who are particularly skilled at their tasks or who have increased responsibilities,
choose to remain on the Birthworld until their Time is upon them."

He was silent for a few moments. "Anaser, the man who sired the woman who bore me was such a person. He was
an Archivist and computer programmer and highly skilled. He made several improvements in the computer systems
of the Great Archives and put together multiple works on both history and computer programming. His writings are
still studied on Tausia today and I have no doubt will continue to be for years to come. It was perhaps because of him
that I was able to endure Starfleet training-he passed his endurance on to me."

"He passed his skill with computers on to you too, I think," Nehru said softly. "And your skills with organization."

Skinar gave a very slight, hardly noticeable smile. "Perhaps." He was silent for a several moments. "His sensed
his Time approaching at the same time I came of age. We both left the Birthworld together on a small transport
and I served as his Attendant. During the four days that I was with him, those four days when he was finally,
after seventy three years, able to feel the stars' embrace, I knew that he was happier then than he had been
in his entire life. And when he took a small shuttle for his Final Journey I knew that he was at last complete."

He was silent for several moments before turning to Kirk. "I have served in Starfleet for sixty years, Captain
and have been honored to do so. In addition to exploring the vastness between the stars, those who are part
of it protect the worlds of the Federation and give aid to countless others. What they do is both necessary and noble."

He paused. "But I have noticed in some of them, particularly, their officers, a certain haughtiness. I think that
some in Starfleet believe that they are the only ones who make meaningful contributions. That they are the only
ones who make sacrifices."

His dark eyes met Kirk's. "Never forget, Captain, that those who don't roam the stars make sacrifices too.
And sometimes the sacrifices that they make are unimaginable."