Hey, cutiepies!

On vacation in Martha's Vineyard with the family, so the chapters will come a little slowly...

Disclaimer: I want it, really badly... But I do not own Star Trek or its characters. I only own Niburan, its inhabitants, its language, its plantlife, and other random crap I've mentioned in the past chapters. Oh, and my version of how they bond, but you can use that if you want, I don't care. It's open to interpretation. :)

It was nice to shower in my own quarters again.

The Enterprise may have been a new ship, endowed with the latest technology, but I was grateful that whoever assigned quarters considered personal preference. Sonic showers were fast, but traditional showers were long and pleasant. I have always loved the feeling of hot water dripping down my back as I leaned against the cool tile of the wall, my eyes closed. I did the same now, my body finally relaxed. If I was to meet Spock at breakfast I had to be faster than normal, so after a few minutes of happiness I finished washing and stepped out of the shower to get dressed.

"Bridge to Lieutenant Uhura."

I walked over to the communicator, making sure my towel was wrapped firmly around me before responding.

"This is Lieutenant Uhura."

If the woman was surprised by my state of dress, she didn't show it. "Please report to the bridge as soon as possible. Bridge out," was all she said before the screen went black.

"Uhura out," I muttered, "Computer, what time is it?"

I allowed the towel to pool at my feet as I reached for my uniform, slipping it over my head.

"Zero, eight-hundred hours and thirty-two minutes," the computer responded as I pulled my hair up neatly, the action familiar so it was relatively easy. I didn't bother taking off the necklace and threw on some fast makeup before leaving the room. I didn't know why the bridge would need me, but I supposed I was about to find out.

I turned the corner to see Spock standing before the turbolift, as if waiting. His body was stiff and his ears a little green, but beside that he looked just as he did earlier this morning. I almost asked him if he was feeling ill, but decided against it.

"Waiting for me?" I asked him, reaching around him to press the button to the lift.

"Yes. I felt you coming," he told me softly and we both stepped through the opening doors.

"I didn't know you could do that," I remarked, watching his fingers press the buttons to the bridge, "You were paged, too?"

"Yes, to my immediate surprise," he responded as the doors before us opened, the blood that pooled in his ears already having circulated to the rest of his body so he looked less flustered.

'We can later explore our full capabilities together,' he thought to me in response to my earlier comment, and that made me smile.

We were met by the chief who was obviously frustrated. He was pacing before he realized we had arrived, his hands held tightly behind his back and his square jaw set.

"Lieutenant Uhura, Commander Spock," he acknowledged, turning to us after a moment. His gray eyes were hard as they looked over us, "You must retrieve whatever you may need to beam down with you to Abrigon and report to the transporter room in fifteen minutes."

"Sir, I thought you said we were docked for the time being?" I asked him. It was a mistake - his eyes turned to me critically, but didn't lash out like I thought he would.

"The Joremur asked for you two. It would have been unwise to refuse - he wanted to personally apologize for what had happened."

I felt doubt in Spock's mind and a small grain of anger. It made me wonder what the Joremur might have done to him to elicit this response.

"Beaming down with you will be Lieutenant Wilkins, Communications Officer of the USS Shenandoah, and two guards disguised as ensigns," he told us before turning back to the main screen in dismissal.

I couldn't help but think he was a little cranky.

- - -

I walked into the Transporter Room with my replaced phaser, communicator, and PADD. Spock and the three others in our beaming party were already there. I smiled when I saw Scotty behind the control panel.

"I say when this is all over we all break into my whiskey reserve and toast our departure of this miserable planet," he said to me incredulously, setting the location of where we were to beam down, "Of course, you are invited too, Commander."

I had the vague impression he was peeing on his territory by the look he gave the others, as if to say 'Sorry, Enterprise personnel only!' like a child. I wondered what I missed.

"Thank you for the offer, but Vulcans do not drink."

"Oh, really? I thought you all fermented wines. Vulcan Port?"

"Vulcan Port is meant to be strictly for cultural use, although - "

The petite blond woman I recognized from when they originally beamed down interrupted them. "We are to be on a mission. Now if you will stop, we should be preparing ourselves for what we will find down there!" she snapped at us. She must have been Lieutenant Wilkins, the communications officer from the USS Shenandoah.

I raised my eyebrow, remembering the tranquil setting when we first beamed down. True, we were abducted, but I doubted they would do so the exact time we were to meet with the Joremur - we were being too closely watched.

"That wee woman's a right nippy sweetie," he muttered as he finished setting the coordinates. I couldn't help but giggle.

"Alright, on the transporter," he said and we all piled on, stepping on each separate orb before, "Good luck."

- - -

We were beamed down to the same spot as before. The government building rose up before us, its white, stone structure cold and muted at this hour of the day.

"You are from the Federation ship Enterprise?" a man asked, standing beside a black hovercar.

"Who wants to know?" Lieutenant Wilkins asked brazenly in his native language and I came close to smacking her. A human picking a fight with a Niburan would not end well.

"The Joremur would prefer to meet you at his private residence," he explained to us, his face hard. I stepped toward the hovercar.

In my mind I was met with the image of the guard who kidnapped me. Spock agreed with the Lieutenant. I froze, watching as he pulled out his communicator.

"Your crew is no longer working on the bridge, it is my duty to confirm such things," she snapped.

He silently placed his communicator back in his pocket, and obviously couldn't care less who made the call. When the woman was satisfied she nodded in the direction of the hovercar, snapping her communicator shut.

It was small and a little outdated, but we all fit in just fine. One of the "Ensigns" held the door open for us. He was orion, which caused me a small pang of sadness in remembrance of Gaila. He slid in after me and we were on our way toward the Joremur's home. I watched in fascination as we drove into the city - I had studied the culture as a student, but was now experiencing it for the first time. I watched as we passed by the round stone houses - the heat wouldn't allow any other building material. I felt Spock's knee touch mine and I smiled.

'I did not know you enjoyed traditional showers so much,' he thought to me, causing a small blush to come to my cheeks, 'I found myself quite... Discomposed upon feeling your delectation.'

I remembered how the blood rushed to his ears when he saw me at the turbolift and my blush deepened a little to his quiet amusement.

"Are you feeling carsick, Lieutenant?" One of the Ensigns asked me and I shook my head.

"I'm fine, thanks."

It was then, when I looked back out the window, that I first noticed the strange houses. The were brick and stone, like the others, but they weren't distinctly Niburan as they should have been. The architecture was not of the norm.

The hovercar finally pulled up to the Joremur's home and, for a moment, I couldn't believe it even belonged to a Niburan. The Ensign held the door open for us again and I stepped out.

The house was completely symmetrical and made of brick, with large, modern windows and a tiny door smack dab in the middle. Upon closer inspection I realized it was shaped as an octagon. The home had a numerous amount of gardens with only two plants - a strange looking pink bush and a cactus that reminded me of prickly pears, much like the ones I had seen when I visited Arizona as a teenager.

"So I see you have noticed the future of Niburan," the Joremur said by way of greeting, exiting the bizarre house.

I took a double-take. He was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, something that severely went against Niburan's belief of modesty. I was both befuddled and a little angry at the man's blatant disregard for his home planet. I felt Spock's mind brush against mine, as if he had laid his hand at the small of my back in an attempt to help cool me down.

"The future of Niburan?" I asked him.

"We have been busy updating and building homes. This is our Earth-based one. All of the new homes are based on Federation planets," he explained with wide smile, showing us his bright teeth as he opened the very oddly placed white picket fence for us.

I had never seen a house like this on planet earth.

He invited us inside the house, which was even more bizarre than the outside. The rooms reminded me of a television set - only three walls to each one, opening up to the vast hallway that actually had more gardens. There kitchen seemed very fast-food American, their living room Moroccan, and their dining room African. I recognized the rugs and the wood used to make the table. All of the rooms, however, were bizarre - as if one of these countries came in and threw up all over the walls, making it look like it did.

"We have yet to discover a way to put up wallpaper, so the walls lack color," he told us, sitting us down at the long table in his dining room. My fingers traced the knots in the table.

I looked up at the wall - it may have lacked color, but I recognized the masks that adorned it. The Joremur followed my gaze.

"I see you are fascinated by my masks. I have imported them from Kenya."

"Sir, I feel I must tell you that only two of them are Kenyan," I said, eyeing the one all the way to the right. I pointed to it. "That one is from Cameroon. It is a Tribal Ram Mask, most likely made by someone from the tribe Bamileke."

"Interesting," he said, standing up to scrutinize them. To me the difference was obvious, but to him it may have not been. "How do you know this, if I may ask?"

"My grandfather was a very gifted mask maker. I am indigenous to Kenya," I told the Joremur when I felt no warning from Spock.

He sat back down. "Thank you, I will consult the man who I had bought it through," he told me, and I hoped I had not just put a man's job on the line.

The conversation turned from there to the kidnapping, which I learned was the main reason for our visit. The chief wished to interrogate the Joremur in a respectable way. Lieutenant Wilkins asked the questions, and I just observed the scene before me. As I watched, I couldn't help but think of the holonovel my mother had given me as a child... 'Fish are friends, not food.'

And he was the shark.

I heard the soft purr of a hovercar arrive and turned my head as the true Zesthu walked in. She was neither ugly nor beautiful, but she walked with a regality only impaired by what she was wearing. It was not as revealing as her husbands shorts, but it was tight to the body - a definite no-no on Niburan. She was even wearing a denim jacket. I felt ten degrees hotter just looking at her. She looked out-of-place by not wearing her traditional robes.

"Brusmu," she said in greeting with a polite smile.

"This is my wife," he told us without looking at her. I remembered reading about the ways women were treated on Niburan and tried not to frown in disgust.

I felt Spock start to calm me, but I wasn't sure why. As if he was preparing me for something I was about to see. I didn't get the chance to ask him what was the matter. Because she entered the room just as I turned around.

"And this is my daughter, Abria."

She was beautiful, but she was...

White.

I looked at the scar on my arm, and then back to the child. It was the same milky blue-whiteness that was forever burned my skin.

I felt Spock still sending calming waves in my direction, and I realized how mad I was. My face was hot with my anger. I blocked the emotion.

They bleached a child! Not only did they bleach her eyes, but her body. I thought of all the possible scenarios - a bath, a sponge, a freaking paintbrush.

I heard the girl clear her throat and say something. I realized everyone was looking at me.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked in Niburan, my mind a little frazzled.

She shook her head, a charming smile on her face. "Oh, I just said 'Hello'."

The Joremur turned to me, his bullshit smile still on his face. "Abria has just been dying to practice her English with someone. She was so excited when she heard people from the Enterprise were beaming back down!"

I looked at her again, trying to screw my face back into a smile. It came out distorted, I knew.

Her features were obviously Niburan - a flat, petite nose, bow lips... But she was white.

"Hello, Abria. You have a beautiful name," I said to her.

"I thought girls didn't go to school here," I remarked to the Joremur, my eyes never leaving Abria. I noticed the uniform skirt she wore.

"Your women are educated. Times are changing."

I couldn't help but think something good had come out of their copy-cat actions.

"May I see you?" she asked me, holding up her hands before my face.

I tilted my head in confusion before comprehending. "Of course," I told her, "If it is acceptable to your parents."

"Not at all," the Joremur said and I bent before the girl, guiding her hands to my cheeks. I looked into her eyes and I finally understood.

Her eyes were not the same milky blue-white as her parent's eyes, or the same as the white that burned her skin. It was white like milk, like marble.

She was truly blind.

R&R and if you have any ideas I am always openminded and accepting, and very appreciative.