It was moments like these that McCoy wished the Enterprise had those old-fashioned doors on hinges so he could make his entrance that much more impactful. Instead he had to settle for the gentle swoosh of the doors as he stormed onto the bridge, Spock just behind him. "Turn around," he snarled to Sulu, who swiveled around in the captain's chair. He stood and stepped away, allowing for Spock to take his position. "There's nothing I can do, Doctor," Sulu said, taking his customary place at the helm.

"Bullshit," McCoy had to fight to keep his voice in check, hardly able to hear it over the pounding of panicked blood in his ears. Spock was as cool and collected as ever, lowering himself into the captain's chair and steadfastly ignoring the doctor's rant. The reports came flying in from all stations- speculations on the attackers' identities, unfamiliar communication frequencies, strange weapon technology- Jim's crew, moving in a wild, unscripted dance as they all tried to ascertain an answer.

But there was no quicksilver gaze, no impulsive mind here to interpret and make a slapdash decision. There was only Spock, unfazed, steady, a glacier where there should have been starfire.

McCoy was at the chair in an instant, spinning it around so Spock was facing him, one acrobatic eyebrow arched gracefully. The rampant commotion on the bridge grinded to a stop, eyes not currently focused on maintaining warp paying rapt attention to the developing altercation. The doctor placed his hands on the armrests, leaning forward and glaring deeply into the Vulcan's oh-so-human eyes. This close up, they're mirrors, calculating and observing but ultimately reflecting, bringing him no closer to the answers he sought. "Spock. Turn around."

Something flashed across Spock's face then, something that made him look old and so very, very young. In a split second it was gone, leaving his face like a plane of glass, unbearably smooth. "As Lieutenant Sulu said, Doctor McCoy, there is nothing I can do." There's a smudge of soot across his cheek, and his usually immaculate bangs are slightly askew- it's more disturbing than it should be. "It is a choice between our captain and the entire crew of the Enterprise. The needs of the many are greater than-"

"Don't give me that shit!" McCoy snarled, a muscle in his jaw jumping, his teeth grinding audibly, red burning across his face and neck, rage leaping to the delicate capillaries underneath his skin. "You mean to tell me you are willing to leave Jim Kirk, your best friend, alone and bleeding and under attack on an alien planet?!"

Tension was palpable in the air, the steady beeping of machinery hardly a comfort when not a soul was speaking. Some shifted uncomfortably, some stared with bated breath, some pointedly ignored the battle of wills. All around, hands clenched onto nearby objects, holding on for dear life, this chaos so unlike the kind they'd all become accustomed to.

The doctor's breath is coming hot and heavy across Spock's face and he can see the tremors now, quaking in his broad shoulders. The science officer opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped himself, looked away, a convulsive swallow shivering down his throat. "The captain ordered it," his voice is soft, too soft for the rest of the bridge crew to hear. "I could not refuse him, Doctor, and I know for a fact you would not have been able to, either."

For several moments more McCoy stared at him, a new shininess in his heavily lined eyes. He nodded jerkily, moistened his lips, and stood up in a manner that was stiff beyond his years. Without another word he left the bridge, leaving Spock to stare after him, still facing where the doctor had stood a moment before. "Commander Spock," Uhura spoke from her post, her deep, sonorous voice resonating like a drum over the bridge, "the enemy spacecraft is no longer pursuing us."

Slowly Spock rotated back around, facing the great expanse of blurring stars as they hurdled through space. He was surprised by Uhura's use of the word 'enemy' when referring to the unfamiliar spaceship; usually his lover was friendly, verging on complacent, when it came to alien life. But in this case he agreed. The beings who made him turn his back on his captain were scum of the galaxy. "Thank you, Lieutenant Uhura. Open up communications with Admiral Archer."

"What happened to my crew?" Jim asked, some thirty minutes into his conversation with Zlinzee. Over the course of their short discussion, he'd found himself becoming more and more enthralled with the alien woman's easy, light-hearted charm and grace. She guided the conversation firmly but gently, steering him through the events that had occurred while he'd been unconscious. But the question burning within him would not be content to smolder any longer, and it came out somewhat harsher than he'd intended.

Zlinzee looked sympathetic, enough so that Jim felt panic rise in his chest. But she pressed on quickly, easing his growing dread with a placating murmur of, "they are safe, Jim, as long as they left orbit."

Jim swallowed hard, looking away from the woman's searching gaze. "Who attacked them, and why? We had permission to investigate your planet- we were here on a peaceful mission, we had no intention of-"

"I know you meant no harm, Captain," Zlinzee assured him, "and all will be explained, I promise you. But-" She cut herself off, presumably seeing something on the captain's face that made a bone-deep sadness flit across her own. "I should not keep these secrets from you, should I?"

Confused, he shook his head, not sure what exactly the yijuuf had seen.

"I will not toy with your trust," her voice was very low and very solemn, intimidating in its sincerity. He nearly flinched away from the force of her gaze, accentuated by her rapidly dilating pupils and the rippling of her ridged cheekbones. "I only hope that those who have done so before me paid dearly."

If his nod is a little shaky, his smile a little broken, she doesn't comment on it. Instead she launches into her explanation and he is dragged along with her, down the histories of the lives around him, condensed and sapped of tragedy and love, left with only the most barren, clinical essence. It was heartbreaking, and it was exhausting, but Jim kept up.

"Long ago, when my grandfather ruled, a woman arrived on our planet. A human, like yourself, with her own crew. She was benevolent, and strong, and wiser than even our oldest, our most sensitive. My grandfather welcomed her, as was tradition, and she in turn shared tales of the stars and space." The yijuuf smiled wistfully, and Jim imagined her as a child, listening intently to the same story he was now being told.

"During this time, our people did not live in small, isolated tribes, as they do now. We lived in large villages, each governed by chosen bloodlines. The woman taught us the value of character, how to choose leaders based not on heritage but on characteristics needed to keep us safe." Seeing Jim's skeptical look, her lips twitched. "She was not part of your Federation, Captain. She called herself a pirate. To this day, that word is nearly synonymous with 'hero.'

"The woman was good and brave, but she was idealistic, and somewhat naïve. In the midst of her crew was an evil man who spread doubt where she spread hope. He said the things she taught our people were unholy, said the stars held more danger than they did opportunity. He uprooted her, so discreetly nobody saw it coming, until my grandfather found her one morning with ten knives lodged in her chest.

"The evil man took control. He pitted the villages against one another, made them divide more and more until they were broken tribes. He fed them lies until the people all looked to him as the one supreme wisdom, never once questioned his motives. Unlike the good woman, who wanted only to see and feel and experience, the evil man wanted to own. He wanted the world at his feet, wanted adoration and devotion. The man was a foolish god, and he soon found his end.

"My grandfather had loved the woman desperately, and that desperation turned to rage after her death. He bided his time, waiting until the man thought he could trust him, and stabbed him through the heart, just as the woman had been killed. My grandfather told the people that the man told the truth; the stars were too dangerous. He cut off any communication with life outside our planet, for he had grown cold and distrustful of outsiders.

"His distrust was mirrored in the people, who stayed isolated and peaceful, never questioning what history had told them. They would always remember the foolish god who abused their trust and set fire to those who did not follow his footsteps. But some clung to the memory of the good woman, and they recognized that the stars held both good and evil." At this point, Zlinzee looked away, candlelight casting shadows over her cheekbones and making her seem much older.

"My older brother, as a child, was very brave and very strong. He wanted very badly to someday become yijuuf of our tribe. But there was something… dark about him. He yearned deeply for the stars, but not in the way you do, Captain. Like the foolish god, he wished only to own, to conquer and enslave. It soon became clear, when he began hiding his feelings, just how dark he had become. When I was chosen to become the next yijuuf, my brother left us. We have not seen him since."

The silence was nearly deafening now as Zlinzee stared at something only she could see, her eyes misted over, a slight tightening in her jaw. Candlelight jumped across her red skin, and she looked like fire, but still she sounded as cool as the river. "Ruhn believes Janin, my dear brother, is the cause of all this."

Jim shook his head. "You can't know that."

Zlinzee looked at him sharply, and now she was fire, leaping through her eyes and over her skin and into Jim's soul, scorching everything. "Your crew was not given permission to come here, Jim. My people are still too afraid to ever give the Federation direct landing privileges on our planet. There is a bigger force at work here. My people are not advanced- we prefer to live simply."

"So Ruhn thinks your brother is getting help from another alien race," Jim murmured, the pieces falling into place. "And they're the ones who chased my crew off? But who called us here to begin with?"

"Someone asking for help," Zlinzee answered coldly, with clenched fists and darkly dancing eyes. "Someone who was likely then silenced, like all the rest. Ruhn believes the tribes being bombed are the ones who do not agree with Janin's ideals."

Jim stared forward blankly at some point past the woman's head, his wildfire mind running over the situation and coming to the same conclusion. "That's an awful lot of faith to put into a kid," he muttered, if only to say something, anything. In this case, he thought the kid was probably right, but maybe his opinion was too biased, influenced by events that occurred years ago.

Zlinzee smiled the first real smile in what felt like hours, and it was like sunshine breaking through the clouds. "That kid, as you call him, is the most empathetic of us all. His abilities to sift through truth and fiction are prodigious- I trust his judgment more than I trust my own, or any of my older advisors'."

He grinned a little bit at that, thinking the boy was very lucky he was so believed in. But still Jim was on edge, anxiety glittering on the edge of his consciousness. "Zlinzee, your people aren't safe here," Jim said, sobering the mood. "None of the people on this planet are. If what you tell me is true, then very few of them are going to side with your brother. They'll be wiped out." Genocide, hissed the voice in his head. He silenced it with a knife through the heart.

"I know," and she sounded exhausted, but she looked at him with defiance and sunlight. "But there are pirates among us."

The moss had begun to glow when Jim and Zlinzee exited the stone cathedral, and it seemed the entire village had poured out of their houses into the square. They surrounded the huge fire pit, laughter and songs and drum rolls resounding. Some looked up at the emergence of their leader and the stranger, but most continued chatting until Zlinzee sang. It was soft and simple, three notes drawn out, leaping an octave and falling gracefully into silence. Immediately, all went quiet, watching her with glowing intensity.

Jim shifted Jamie in his arms, unconsciously shielding her from the curious gazes all around. The tall fire flitted and licked across their faces, accentuating their fearsome features but framing them in an angelic gleam. It was only after searching through the sea of faces that he managed to spot Ruhn on the far side of the fire, standing with his mother and the rest of his family. Discreetly, Jim peeled away from Zlinzee to circle around the congregation.

He was just falling into step beside Ruhn when the yijuuf began to speak. "As many of you know, another bombing has been reported not far from our tribe." A chorus of murmurs rose, not surprised, but concerned nonetheless. Some looked at him sympathetically, likely having heard that he was injured in the attack. He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner, holding Jamie a little bit tighter.

Zlinzee looked at her feet, suddenly seeming unsure of herself when presented with the weight of what she wanted to say. For an instant she caught Jim's gaze, then looked away just as quickly, a new resolve etched in her stance. "It is no longer wise to assume that we are safe, if it comes to light that what I believe is true." Briefly she summarized Ruhn's theory about Janin, waiting for the shocked cries to die down each time a particular bit of information struck a chord.

Jim watched with some degree of familiarity the chaos around him. It was much like his own crew, rampant and seemingly disorganized, but comfortable to one who was accustomed. "It is at this time I would like to remind you all of the story we've all grown up on, and the true meaning behind it: outside our planet, there is both great evil, and fantastic good. Gather now, those who wish to perform." With that, Zlinzee disappeared into the crowd.

Confused, Jim turned to Ruhn to ask what was happening- but the boy was gone, weaving through the ocean of bodies to stand in front of the reaching fire with six other men and women. All but one of them were slim and lithe- it was only the seventh, a blue woman, who was curvy and heavy-breasted. The rest of the Frooliins spread out, making a large semicircle around the seven in front of the fire. As one the crowd sat down- Jim being pulled down by Frunize- all watching the small number.

It was a tall violet man who began. He held out one hand, slim and six-fingered, towards the ever-cloudy sky. The hand curled into a fist at the same time it began to shimmer, the violet coloration slipping into something black and deep. Jim watched with fascination as the color glimmered up his arm, spreading rapidly over broad expanses of skin. Chromatophores, Jim realized. Spock would have had a field day with this.

When the man's skin had completely morphed into inky blackness, spiraling patterns of white, silver, and blue began to emerge at random points over his body. Within seconds, he was the night sky. Gently he touched the woman at his side, who began to change as well, and in turn touched another. Soon all seven were draped in the night, a shimmering firelight shawl over the stars reflected on their skin.

Someone was beating a drum in a slow, pounding beat, shaking the ground with its rhythm. The star people danced, blending into one another as they weaved and twirled. Ruhn was particularly agile, Jim noted with some amusement, and his small size certainly served him well. After several minutes, the beat sped up a bit, and the human-bodied woman stepped forward. Like the man before her, her skin began to shift, this time from the inky representation of space to deep, rich brown. She was becoming the good human woman, the one from Zlinzee's story.

The tall man from before now changed back to blue, likely representing Zlinzee's grandfather. He and the woman danced, holding each other close, before the woman broke away and spread out her arms, signaling three other Froolins to change back to their normal colorations and kneel to her, adoration and respect on their faces. She tilted their chins up, wordlessly told them to stand, held them in as high regard as they did her. A man in the background changed his skin to tan, becoming the human man who watched her with rage and envy.

The remaining star people returned to their normal colorations and they gathered around the evil man, listening as he pantomimed telling them lies. While this was happening, the good woman and Zlinzee's grandfather continued to dance, love in their eyes and in the gentle way they touched one another. Again she broke away, casting a smile over her shoulder. Before she could look forward again, the Frooliins listening to the evil man were upon her, miming the thrust of ten knives through her chest.

Zlinzee's grandfather fell to his knees in grief as the woman died, shifting again to the night sky and standing completely still, forever a reminder of the good in the stars. The evil man rose to power as the rhythm of the drums swelled and quickened, becoming violent and dark. The Frooliins bowed in trepidation, accepting the foolish god as their new leader, but that anxiety soon turned to resentment when he ordered several of them to death for daring to look unhappy. They too reflected space again, never forgotten to those still living.

Rage grew and grew in Zlinzee's grandfather, forcing out all the love and grief he'd once felt. He stood, and as the music rose to a heart-stopping crescendo, he shoved a ghostly knife through the back of the evil man. The music stopped, and the foolish god fell, turning pitch black on the ground where he lay. Zlinzee's grandfather breathed heavily, his rage decaying, his face collapsing into a terribly cold mask. His people gathered around him, staring down at the body of the foolish god with disgust before they looked to their yijuuf again.

He turned away from the bodies of the good woman and those killed by the foolish god, forever immortalized in the stars. In doing so he was turning away from the sky itself, from any and all beings to exist outside their safe little world. This was a man who had loved deeply and truly, who had had his security ripped away from him by the distrustful and the deceitful.

But as Jim watched, he turned to black, just as the other living Frooliin did. Then Ruhn, one of the living, returned to his normal green coloration. Slowly, curiously, he turned to look at the star people with wonder. Cautiously he stepped forward until he stood in front of the good woman's silhouette. He touched her face, and a surprised murmur ran through the crowd. Obviously, this wasn't a part of the normal play.

Ruhn smiled. He gestured to the other Frooliins, who returned to their normal coloration and gathered around him, staring at the star people with renewed hope, the new generation willing to learn from the mistakes of the past.

That was when Jim decided he had no choice but to stay here. Jamie gurgled in joyful agreement, reaching out a hand as well to the star people.

Information dump. Woo.

Bonesbonesbonesbones i want to write more Bones gah

Gosh doodly-doo, this chapter took quite a bit longer than the rest! Sorry about that! It is a little bit longer, so hopefully you'll forgive me.

My reviewers for the last chapter were Rolodexthoughts, Doodle0505, RachelVille, Eternal She-Wolf (Okay omg omg omg omg you wrote one of my favorite stories ever?! Long Road Home oh gosh I cried so hard ahhh thank you for reviewing ohmygosh), tarooso, lilyflower1345, SimplyOut, and TributeofTragedy. Thank you all so much!

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Um, um, so, uh... thank you all! Ily! You're all beautiful and wonderful and we'll all join Starfleet together it'll be awesome.

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