I am so very sorry for the time it took to update this. To all my loyal readers, thank you for your patience. I hope this chapter and the following ones make up for my lack of updating.

The meal progressed smoothly, even with Drella's frequent visits to the group to make sure everyone had what they needed. Wena and Uhura had joined the group and conversation came easy, as usual.

"So, is food the only thing planned for tonight?" Kirk asked, curious and dreading an answer in the positive.

Wena smiled knowingly at him. "Not to worry, Captain. You'll get your beauty sleep tonight. Tomorrow night, though, is a different story."

"Oh really?" He asked, interested.

Nia rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah." Wena replied. "It's anticipated that the work will get done by early afternoon, and then the games will begin."

"The games?" McCoy asked.

By this time all three women were smirking, Uhura having been told earlier of what the colony's leadership was planning.

"Don't you know? It's apparently tradition for Paladians to throw a party when loved ones come home." Uhura supplied.

Nia shook her head. "Drove me crazy every time. At least this time, it won't be for just me it'll be for everyone who returned home from the desert planet."

"From what was this tradition contrived?" Spock asked.

"From Palad's first mission into the 'outer heavens'." Nia answered.

"Outer heavens?" Kirk was surprised by the term.

Uhura gave him a look. "It's what the Paladian word for 'space' literally translates to."

"Exactly." Nia said. She shrugged. "Anyways, our history has it that the first mission was perilous for the small crew taking part. It was not expected that they would return. The team did return, however, and then the day after they touched down the whole planet celebrated." She took a bite, chewed, swallowed. "Or that's what we are told, by any means. The information is nearly a millennia in age."

Kirk nodded in understanding. "Now when people return home…"

"The families celebrate." Nia finished for him.

Wena savored a sip of her drink. The juice it was made with was hard to find on planets lacking in the optimal temperature range, and the demand simply wasn't high enough on Earth for farmers to gain any profit from the fruit trees. Clearing her throat, she said "Since there are so many families celebrating, the governor decided to just hold one large celebration. After the games, there will be another meal like this one and some singing and dancing."

"Which I will not take part in." Nia stated, firmly enough that the others present realized this was a prior discussion being addressed.

"Yes, you will." Wena insisted, confirming the thought. "Grego is more than capable of carrying you around."

"No, I won't." Nia returned. "Being carried is not the same as dancing." She waved a utensil in Wena's direction. "And being carried is for children. I'm not a child and I can't dance. Therefore, I'm not dancing."

Leaning forward, Wena pointed out, "But you want to. If you didn't want to, you wouldn't have bothered to come up with reason, you would just say so."

"Right, but who was the one who knocked over the table and candles on top of it which caught the curtains of my family home of fire?" Nia raised her eyebrows as she waited for an answer.

While Wena struggled for a comeback, Kirk leaned forward.

"You did what?" He asked. He couldn't have heard that right.

Nia's face turned a brilliant pink. "Can we forget I ever said that?"

McCoy and Uhura started laughing, while Kirk patted Nia's shoulder. "Sorry, sweetheart. I don't think anyone is capable of forgetting that. I am definitely going to keeping any and all open flames away from you."

Nia gaped at him, offended. "Excuse me, but I am perfectly capable of handling an open flame. I have even done so on your ship."

"Say what?"

This time, Spock spoke in her defense. "This is true. Open flame is needed for some experiments and Nia has proven herself capable when handling such a tool." He was quiet for a moment. "However, the same does not seem to be applicable for dirt or sand."

"That was only on- twice!" She stumbled over her explanation. "I just spilled a little dirt. It got cleaned up, didn't it?" The harassed scientist shook her head. "I think I hate you all."

"Then your thinking is incorrect." Spock replied, much to everyone else's amusement.

Wena had to put a hand to her side to ease the stitch she'd developed from laughing. "Well, at the very least you'll be going out there to dance once, even if I have to get Spock's help to do so." The half-Paladian winked at the half-Vulcan, even though she knew he wouldn't get it.

"Oh really and why is that?" Kirk asked before Nia could voice yet another protest. Nia glance at him was rather perturbed.

"Because tomorrow won't be just about celebrating our loved ones return, but also respecting those who didn't." Wena stated matter-of-factly. "The list of names has been posted, and because of the direct cause of the resettling in the first place, two additional names have been added."

Nia suddenly slumped in her seat, all protest dying in her form. "Oh." Was all she said.

"Oh wow." Uhura muttered. "Henry's name had been added, hasn't it?"

Wena nodded as Nia leaned her arms on the table.

"Who did it?" Nia asked.

Wena knew just how much Nia was asking. "Your parents, who else?"

Nia's brief chuckle was humorless. "Who else, indeed?" She sighed and sat up straight. "That still isn't a guarantee for me to dance."

With narrow eyes, Wena evaluated her stubborn friend. That argument was weak, and they both knew it. Just like how they both knew that if she didn't dance it would be taken as a sign of disrespect not just for her deceased husband, and then a shadow would be cast on new relationship with Spock. Both women knew Nia would be a part of the celebrations, and for more than a single song. Even if she broke a toe doing so, Nia was going to prove herself to her peers.

Looking a little disgruntled, McCoy asked "Why is dancing such a big deal?"

Wena saw where that question was going. "Don't worry, it's not required for everybody. It's just…" Wena's eyes drifted over to Nia. "I don't know how to explain it without sounding like your people are crazy."

Nia glared at her half-heartedly. "They are your people too." She sighed. "But I see your point. Alright, after a person dies, there is a celebration on the second year anniversary of their death. This is for the family, to allow themselves to be released from the grief of their loss."

"While that's the nice way to put it, the reality of it is that if the family doesn't respect this time period then they are considered emotionally weak and clearly unable to move on from their grief in an acceptable time frame." Wena told the others.

"Oh that's really not a good way to put it." Nia was tempted to drop her head in her arms. After living with humans for so many years, Nia had an idea as to how they thought.

Kirk looked between the two women. "I'm still lost." He said, looking at his other companions.

Spock seemed to be the only one to have a semblance of understanding. "Your husband died two years ago." He stated to Nia. "I was not aware the anniversary had passed."

"It passed on the way here." She told him quietly.

Considering the significance of the date for her people, Spock did not understand her inaction. "Why did you not say so?"

Nia looked at him surprised and then her expression turned sheepish. "Considering the setting, I did not find it to be a relevant topic."

"Do you have to do this thing tomorrow?" Kirk asked, waving his hand around in the air as he said 'thing'.

Nia turned to him with a frown. "What do you mean?"

"We may be human" McCoy glanced at Spock "and Vulcan, but we understand grief. If you aren't ready for something like this then you don't have to do it." Left unspoken was the fact that she had their support.

It was because of the odd tension she felt, but couldn't see emanating from Spock, that it finally clicked in Nia's head.

She shook her head vigorously. "No that's not it! I just didn't think it was that big of a deal. Come on, you guys are human! I didn't think you'd understand the significance of the custom. And I was still relatively new to the ship." Spock's tension increased beside her.

"Significance?" Kirk sputtered.

McCoy growled at her "We aren't a group of tools for brains."

Uhura reached across the table to pat Nia's hand. "Sweetie, you're a part of the crew and that makes you family."

"Exactly." Kirk said. "We could have done something. Maybe not on the scale you were expecting, but still."

Not willing to look at any of them, Nia raised an eyebrow at Wena, very annoyed. "This is your fault."

No longer able to keep a straight face, Wena started giggling madly. The others of the group stared at her baffled until she finally gained control of herself. Nia just watched her expectantly, drumming her fingers on the table.

"For-for a widow or widower to celebrate" she fought back another round of giggles. "To celebrate the second-year is to announce that they are ready to-," a snort escaped her lips, "to date!" Unable to keep it together any longer, Wena dissolved into laughter, patting her legs hard.

"To court." Nia corrected. "Humans date." She delicately ran a hand over her hair. "You can see how having to explain that might have been a little bit awkward."

"Oh yeah." Kirk said. "Announcing it's ok in your people's eyes to date, and then having a party for it? Yeah, can't see how that would have been weird. Especially if Matt got invited."

Wena's recently regained cool was completely lost as everyone but Spock joined in on the laughter this time. Even Nia couldn't deny the humor. She knew she and Spock were never going to live that one down.

When she stopped laughing, long before the others did, Nia lightly grazed her fingers along Spock's left hand. "Henry was my husband. He was important to me. The date of his death is not what was significant of his life. Tomorrow, I will celebrate the way he lived, and I will celebrate the joy he brought to me." Taking a chance, she gripped his hand tightly. "I will not dwell on him. I loved him, but he died and I can no more hang on to him than I can command the movement of the stars across the sky." She held her breath for a moment. "Spock, you are important and that is the other part of what tomorrow is about."

Subtly, he flipped his hand underneath hers. He applied gentle pressure with his fingers, slowly gripping her hand back. "Such a mindset," he seemed to hesitate and Nia held her breath, "is logical."

Fighting the urge to sigh in relief, Nia let the breath out slowly. "I'm glad you think so." She said with a soft smile.

And just like that the moment was over. They released each other's hands and returned to the conversation before them.

Later in the evening, Nia and Wena found their way to Nia's parents' home. The small house was one of several outside of the temporary housing. More were being put up each day, and the ratio would be greater with the greater number of hands now available to help.

When they arrived, Drella made sure 'her girls' were comfortable in the makeshift beds in the small living room.

Exhausted, Nia settled down without complaint, said goodnight to her parents and to Wena, and shut her eyes to help her brain shut out the world.

Crack!

Nia's eyes snapped open. When she didn't hear the sound again, she closed her eyes. She started to drift off.

Snap! Crack.

This time Nia lifted her head up and looked around. What the…? She thought.

Pop!

Looking around wildly, Nia tried to find the source of the sound. Houses sometimes make noise. It's probably just the house. Just lay your head back down and go to sleep. She tried to tell herself, going so far as to lay her head back down and shut her eyes. She couldn't quite get her body to relax, though.

Crack crack!

Heart pounding, and unable to take it anymore, Nia asked Wena in a harsh whisper "Did you hear that?"

Wena pulled the cover away from her face. "What?" She hissed back.

"That noise. Did you hear it?"

"No. What noise?" Wena asked, baffled.

Both women were quiet as they listened.

Crack!

"There! That! That noise!" Nia whispered as loud as she could.

"Wait, shush, I didn't hear it." Wena replied.

Snap!

Wena looked at Nia, eyes wide "I heard it!"

"You see! What is that?"

"I don't know. Is someone walking around?"

Nia shook her head. "I don't think so."

Crack!

"Ok, that's really starting to drive me crazy. What is that?" Not knowing definitely wasn't helping her heart rate. She heard the sound one more time.

Snap!

"That's too weird." Wena said.

"You're telling me." Nia replied.

The room was silent for a few moments.

It was silent for a few moments more.

Just when Nia was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, she was imagining it and had influenced Wena to hear it too, she heard a soft "Dang" from Wena.

"What is it?" Nia asked, a little worried.

"I ran out of toes to crack and my fingers never do." She replied.

Nia went completely still. "Why, you little…" With as much force as she could muster, Nia hurled her pillow at her deceitful friend. The resulting "Oof!" was highly satisfying. "I can't believe you! I can't believe me!"

Wena held her pillow over her face as she laughed and laughed. Pulling it away, she informed Nia "You aren't getting your pillow back."

"Oh the heck I'm not!" Nia made to get up to retrieve her pillow and for her efforts was hit in the face with her own pillow.

With a huff, Nia settled back down. "You're lucky I'm so tired or I'd come over there and kick your butt."

"Promises, promises."

Nia could hear the grin in Wena's voice.

Both felt the mood of the room change. Like the flicking of a switch, the mirth flipped to apprehension.

Nia knew what Wena was going to ask before she did.

"You trust Kirk, right?"

"Yep. Pike too."

"They won't, like, do anything stupid, will they?"

Nia just looked at her. "I think their track record answers that question." At Wena's glance, Nia stated "Yes, they will do something stupid. Do they have a high chance of getting themselves and us killed? Yeah, they do. Do I think that's going to happen? Now that's another question entirely." Nia settled down on her back, her words directed at the ceiling as she continued speaking. "We are going to get through this."

"Even though someone at Starfleet is siding with Chancellor Narsow?"

She nodded. "Even though someone at Starfleet is siding with Narsow."

"Even though your home is being slowly destroyed and eaten away?"

"Even though Palad is in danger, yes."

"Even though the data I stole has absolutely no logical meaning for anyone who has looked at it and the one person who could have explained it is dead as far as we know?"

"Even though it seems hopeless, we are going to get through this."

Wena was quiet for a moment. "Even though I lied?"

Nia looked at her and smiled softly. "Even then, too."

Wena looked away. "Do we have a plan?"

Snorting, Nia shrugged. "Not much to plan. Kirk fully debriefed Pike, who is figuring things out on his end. In the mean time, you now have a possibly permanent position on the Enterprise-"

"Which McCoy is totally happy about."

"Right, 'cause who wouldn't want to deal with a stubborn, bull-headed female on a daily basis?"

"Hey!"

Ignoring Wena's protest, Nia continued. "Now, based on all that, our only option is to deal with things as they happen, but I'm not worried. I have several great reasons. Number one, you and the research have to be kept safe. Number two, I trust Kirk and his A-team with my life and I fully acknowledge that he is a little crazy. Number three, and this is the most important: our biggest concern is that we are going to be working on the same starship."

Nia was quiet for a moment to let that last statement sink in.

Fighting a smile, Wena said "I hope they weren't expecting the safety deposit back."

Nia giggled. "Kirk and Scotty are already on board, not to mention the Russian whiz-kid, an Asian sword-fighter, a half-Vulcan first officer, and the fiercest xenolinguist I have ever known. And that's just the bridge crew. Lieutenant Casey from Engineering is a force all her own and Keenser, oh man, Keenser is a hoot. He climbs everything like a Paladian on stimulants." With a snort, Nia shook her head. "I think it has been a foregone conclusion that the Enterprise was going to get in trouble. We, well you, have just added to that possibility."

Wena was silent for a while. "What do you think Pike is going to decide?"

"Honestly, I imagine that he's going to want Nikolai and his group to be brought into Starfleet custody on Earth. There they can be questioned in a somewhat secure setting. Which means the Enterprise will be returning to Earth." Nia concluded.

"That's a long trip. It'll take a while. You think we'll make it?" Wena asked, anxiety beginning to creep in on her thoughts again. The subject had been plaguing her all day, despite the captain's reassurances and request that she behave as if everything were normal. Wena had wanted to laugh at him for that. Normal? What about any of this was normal? At least he'd checked her story by pulling Mig, Nethi, Jacek and Grego all aside to get their version of events. So far, Wena hadn't heard any complaints.

Except for Nethi. He was terrified that she had said anything. His wife was pregnant, and he was going to be stuck on a planet with limited resources available to him, should anything go wrong. It didn't matter to him that Mig, Jacek and Grego were all staying also. Because of Wena's involvement, she and Nia were the only ones authorized to return to Earth.

Not entirely aware to what was happening in her friend's mind, Nia finally responded "I don't know if anything will happen on the way, but we are going to get back to Earth. Somehow, some way, we are going to get there."

"Ok." Was all Wena said in response. She couldn't argue with Nia's conviction, knew it would be pointless.

Sighing, Nia rolled over and jerked her covers up to her chin. "Now go to sleep and keep in mind that tomorrow, we are going to have a blast."

"And you are going to dance."

"Yeah, yeah, just try it."