Kirk awake sat in his quarters late into the night. He had pitched the idea of volunteering as a "gift of flesh" for the Princess Lena to the male members of his crew and had gotten had 50 volunteers. Some had requested to see a picture, but Brok had protested quite vehemently. He assured the men, however, that they would not be at all disappointed. Bones seemed particularly keen to go, if only to get off the ship for 12 days.

Trouble was, when he had pitched the swap to Laveen, she had gotten very upset. It was almost as if Spock was rejecting her personally. He toyed with the idea of trying to convince the Virosa that Spock was actually the Captain or that they switched around sometimes, but nothing was working. Without a gift Princess Lena would be slighted and they would be escorted out of Virosa space, and since she was to be Queen in a few years, it was unlikely that they would be able to reestablish contact. He thought briefly about what Marcus said, that maybe leaving them alone would be best. They were certainly proving to be more trouble than they were worth.

"SHHHHHHHH SHUH"

Kirk heard an ironically loud shhh-ing outside his door. He opened it to find an exceptionally drunk Carol Marcus.

"Carol -", he started, "please, do we have to…"

"Oh shut up Jim, I'm not here to see you, unless you wanna…" she finished with a giggle, running a hand down his chest.

"Carol…" Jim said with a warning tone.

"SHHHHH - I'm trying to get her back home, but she won't let me. She is quite stubborn hehehe."

Jim peered around the bend that Uhura was sitting on the floor, tears in her eyes, clearly intoxicated. He walked over to her and squatted down as if he were talking to a small child. "Uhura, are you OK?" he asked, concerned. He had seen Uhura drink before, even drunk once or twice, but she rarely cried, even when sober. She looked at him with her big brown red rimmed eyes and shook her head. Jim gently pulled her to his feet. "Why don't you come inside, sit down, do you want some tea?"

"Don't fall for that one, Nyota!" Marcus interjected, with a hiccough.

Kirk glared at her, "Considering she's Commander Spock's girlfriend, I'm going to assume that was a poor excuse for a joke, Carol."

She said nothing. An ensign walked by, trying not to stare at the odd situation.

"Ensign" the Captain called, bringing the young man to a halt. "Please escort Dr. Marcus back to her quarters."

Kirk looked at Carol one more time-"Goodnight Doctor."

Once inside, Jim wrapped a blanket around Uhura, who was shivering. It crossed his mind that she was probably more accustomed to the heat in Spock's quarters.

Jim cleared his throat, "Do you want me to call Spock?" he asked gently.

Apparently he had said the wrong thing because suddenly she started to sob. "I can't, Jim, I can't. Please don't do it. Please don't give him to her", she cried. "I know that it's the only way to make contact with them, but the Winged Daughters are this perfect specimen of beauty, and, and, and, he won't want me anymore!"

"Uhura!" Jim said, startled, "that is not true, it's not true at all. Spock wouldn't even go through with it. He cares you more than anything. He would never do something to hurt you!"

"I know!" she sobbed, "but you don't get it! You don't know anything about Vulcan mating . . . he can't control certain things. . ." she trailed off.

"Is that what happened today?"

"No" she actually smiled, "that was technically my fault, but, but . . . it's the fucking pheromones, they affect him like a drug. I'm scared they'll trigger pon farr for him and then he'll bond with her!"

"Wasn't he bonded once before?", Kirk asked.

"He broke it for me" she answered, "but it was . . . hard. . . . and she was awful, not some beautiful sex goddess."

"Uhura . . . you are beautiful, and brilliant, and wonderful, Spock knows how lucky he is to have you; he wouldn't trade you away for some bird-Princess." He was so tempted to tell her about the conversation he had had with Spock just four days ago, about his mother's ring, and how he considered her to be his family. But it was the first time Spock had ever trusted him with something so deeply personal, and he didn't want to betray that.

"I KNOW I know, I'm being stupid and crazy", Uhura said. "I should just let him do it-he would if I said it was OK – it's the LOGICAL course of action, and lots of species, hell, lots of couples, are non-monogamous, and our relationship isn't just about sex, but I just can't stop crying when I think about him touching someone else."

She kept crying, and was somehow crying freely into his shoulder and hiccoughing. Jim wrapped his arm around her soothingly and stroked her hair, like his mom used to do when he was upset as a child.

"Shhhhh - it's OK", he said. "We'll find another way, or we'll just leave, no harm no foul. We'll encounter so many other races - I don't need to put you guys through this for one more."

"Really?" she squeaked at his collar bone.

"Really, I promise."

She pulled away and nodded.

"I… I think I need to throw up" she said, and ran to the bathroom.

While she was in there he called Spock, who somehow made the three minute journey in what Jim could swear was thirty seconds.

"Nyota", he breathed upon keying himself into Jim's quarters.

"I'm here, Spock" she said, emerging from the bathroom. "I'm OK … I just don't feel well."

Spock quickly crossed the room and took her in his arms. He started murmuring to her in Vulcan, listening to her answer back. Kirk didn't mean to stare but it was so odd to see Spock so emotionally expressive. He pulled her onto the couch gently and stroked her back and hair, kissing her forehead and nose over and over. Abruptly he picked her up and carried her into Jim's bedroom. He emerged a moment later, and closed the door softly behind him.

"She is sleeping", he said to Jim. "I temporarily commissioned your bed. I will take her back to her quarters when I leave."

Spock looked at him "She told me you intended to deny the Virosas' request, and leave their system if needed to avoid their gift of flesh."

"Oh course!" Jim said.

"That . . . while I appreciate it, would not be logical."

"Fuck logic, Spock - that's your future wife in there. And you are . . . my best friend." It was the first time Jim had said it aloud. "I'm not going to let you screw up something that good, that special. She is special, Spock. More special that these Winged Princesses -"

"Daughters.

"Whatevers."

Spock looked at him. "Thank you", he said. "You really believe she will say yes?" he asked.

"YES" Jim grinned, "I'm actually weirdly excited to be Uncle Jim!"

"I am sure our child will learn much from you". The words "our child" filled Spock with joy. But there would be time for that later.

"What will you tell them, tomorrow?" Spock asked.

"Well", Jim began, "I have an idea."

Jim quickly outlined the details of his plan. Having gotten nowhere with the ambassador he had done what he would do at a restaurant when arguing with a waiter, escalate. He had asked to speak with Princess Lena herself, intending to plead his case to her. He was sure that they had come farther than anyone the Princess had encountered, and considering her penchant for alliances with outsiders, Jim felt she would be very interested in the Federation. He highly doubted she would just walk away. Unfortunately the ambassador, in addition to refusing his swap, had balked at the idea of Jim contacting the Princess directly. So now he had spent the past four hours trying to decode the messages being sent across their space, he would figure out how to hail the Princess himself.

Jim explained to Spock that he remembered how the Laveen's bracelet glowed when someone from the moon had tried to contact her, but had emitted different colors at different times. Laveen had been highly responsive to some colors and pulsing rhythms, and had completed ignored others. Jim realized she could tell who was hailing her before answering, meaning each person had their own personal hailing frequency. The issue he had was he couldn't determine which belonged to Princess Lena.

Spock quickly agreed to help him, and they worked into the night trying to decipher patterns in the communications. Jim had already isolated the frequencies associated with the 12 messages that had come to Laveen's bracelet during her visit, but then was no clear way to determine which, or even if, one of them belonged to the Princess.

At 03:00 hours Jim and Spock were interrupted by a rustling sound coming from Jim's bedroom. A sleepy Uhura emerged, her hair in a rumpled halo down her back.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked.

Jim and Spock looked up, "Chasing wild geese, apparently", Jim said.

He looked at Spock, "Get some sleep, this isn't going to work. I'll just tell tomorrow -it's off."

Spock nodded, a human habit he had picked up from Nyota. She looked at Jim and said, "Thanks . . . for everything. . . I'm sorry . . ."

Jim smiled at her; he was exhausted. "Don't worry about it. This was a stressful situation for everyone. But I'm not going to hand over your boyfriend to some spoiled teenage bird-brat to make an alliance. But, if you want to thank me . . . Stop it with the disappearing act. I already told Spock, but I think it was made pretty clear today that it's actually you in charge."

She smirked, "Noted, Captain."

Kirk couldn't sleep. He was so frustrated. He had been unbelievably close to making contact with another sentient, warp capable species, but had failed. He did not regret his decision to decline their offer, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there had to be a way.

Resisting the urge to grab a sleeping pill, he got out of bed, took off his clothes and went into his bathroom, thinking perhaps a hot shower might soothe him to sleep. As the water caressed his body he thought about Carol; her enormous breasts in particular. He remembered how the water trailed off them, how slippery the soap made them, how she screamed when he sucked on them... Maybe he should call her. Judging by how she had acted tonight, he was sure she would come to him.

Getting out of the shower and wrapping a towel around his waist, he went back into his bedroom to grab his com, when he saw Uhura's hair tie on his night stand. Spock must have placed it there when he put her to bed. Suddenly he felt an overwhelming pang of loneliness didn't want to call Carol anymore.

Sighing he padded barefoot back into his living room and pick up his PADD, which he had left on his couch. It was still monitoring the communications streams being sent around Ya-Mo's atmosphere. It was silent though - the whole colony must be asleep.

Suddenly he saw an amethyst hailing frequency cross the screen in a familiar pulsing pattern. Kirk was sure it was one of the 12 he saw the ambassador use, and, if his memory served him correctly, it had been one of the ones she was particularly responsive to. Without the distraction of other frequencies, he was able to isolate its pattern in seconds. He paused for a moment; he really had no way of knowing for sure who this was - it could be anyone. He wasn't Uhura, and hadn't had time to read all of Brok's notes on their culture. This could be a really terrible idea. No, he thought, shaking off his apprehension. This is worth the risk.

He sent a hail.

Immediately his he hailing screen lit up across from him. He sucked in his breath. He saw the back off a girl in a white dress backless dress; backless to accommodate her enormous translucent wings. He had done it.

From the other end he heard her gasp in surprise, and turn to show only a sliver of her profile. She had a gracefully sloped, pointed, heavily pierced ear. Suddenly his screen went dark. He thought he had lost her when a clear, authoritarian voice called out to him.

"Who is this?"

"Um, uh, this is Captain James Tiberius Kirk . . . of the Starship Enterprise - I was trying to contact the Princess Lena." It now dawned on him that he hadn't actually planned out what he was going to say.

"What gives you the right to contact me?", she answered. Perhaps he should have read Brok's notes on the Winged Daughters, never mentioned them being so bitchy. At least he had the right one.

Trying to regain his confidence Kirk answered her "I wanted to deliver a message to you – personally - through Ambassador Laveen - we are declining your invitation."

"Oh?" she said. "Are you now? I assume this has something to do with the Vulcan."

"Yes" Kirk answered. "I'm glad you're aware of the situation, I have talked to my crew and…"

"I know what you are going to propose, don't waste my time explaining it. I am uninterested in a swap."

"He won't consent, Princess, and I'm not about to order him to."

"What are you suggesting, Captain? That I am not appealing enough?" Though he could not see her, her voice betrayed an arrogant smirk. Kirk was starting to like this Princess less by the minute. She sounded like a spoiled brat.

"I'm sure you're everything Brok described you to be," Kirk said, he'd be damned if he was going to pay her a compliment "but Commander Spock has his reasons - he said no, and this will not proceed without his consent."

"I'm sure I could change his mind", her voiced dropped to a husky purr.

Kirk was annoyed now, "Princess, with all due respect, I'm not sure drugging him up with your pheromones until he can't see straight qualifies as consent. Where I'm from it sure as hell doesn't."

She was silent for a moment, "Are you finished insulting me?" she asked, a dangerous hint of anger in her voice.

This was not going well. Kirk decided to try backpedaling. "No, I'm sorry. That's not what I meant, what I mean was . . . Look, I really want to meet you. Make peaceful contact with your people. That's our mission, but you can't have Spock. He's taken, alright? He has a . . . mate . . . and she would be devastated.

"We saw nothing of a mate."

"I KNOW!" Damn Spock and his discretion, "but he has one, alright? It's sort of a secret because it's not really allowed, because they work together, so they don't tell people, but they have been together for years. He loves her."

"He loves her?" The Princesses voice softened considerably - what was it about girls and that word?

"Deeply", Kirk said. "More than his own life. She's . . . his family. She's all he has, really. He would never want to hurt her, and this would, without a doubt, make her incredibly upset. And, yeah, I think they would both get over it eventually, but it's not worth it to me to do that to them. What they have is really . . . special. It's real, you know?"

"I do not, I have never loved with any sort of permanence", she said.

"Me neither", Kirk replied, "but, you know what? I would give anything to find someone like that . . . have what they do." Where had that come from? Kirk hadn't even realized it until he said it, but he instantly knew it was true. Why he had chosen to say something so deeply personal to a slightly hostile alien princess at 04:00 was another question entirely.

"As would I", he heard her say. "Is that why they are so special to you?" she asked.

"Yes, well, that and he is my best friend. You have one of those, right?"

"I do."

"Well, is there anything you wouldn't do for her? Would you ever force her to do something that would make her really upset, and screw up something she cared about?"

She paused, "I would refuse . . . as you are doing now."

"So . . . do we understand each other then?"

"I am assuming taking both of them is not an option, then" she said.

"Wha -?" Kirk wondered if the lack of sleep was getting to him. "You mean like a threesome?"

"Is that what humans call it? I just thought it would be polite to invite her as well. I've done it before."

"I . . . um . . . um . . ." Kirk was more than confused. He was sure Uhura wouldn't go for it. He was also sure, if this Princess was as beautiful as Brok said, he wouldn't be able to be friends with Spock anymore out of pure jealousy. How DID Spock get so lucky anyways?

"I'm joking, Captain." she said laughing.

"About wanting both of them, or having done it before?"

"I agree to your proposal" she said, purposely dodging the question. Kirk was about to press the issue, but it was starting to look like he had 17 days to get a straight answer out of her.

"Great!" Kirk said excitedly, ""who can I swap him for . . . I gave Brok a list but …"

"I have it," she interrupted him. "I can review it and make a choice, but . . . we have a slight problem, Captain."

"What? I thought-"

"You have broken our laws, Captain", she said, "one of our very strict ones. No male is ever allowed to directly contact me without permission, that goes double for outsiders. The punishment for the contact is death. Obviously, I entertained this conversation so I too would be in very deep trouble. That is why I turned off my screen when you hailed me. If I were to allow you to behold my image, I might be removed from my position on Ya-Mo."

"I'm sorry, Princess!" Kirk exclaimed, "I didn't know, I don't want you to be in trouble."

"No no", she said, "it's alright, I'm glad you contacted me, it's a stupid rule."

"Sounds like they have you under lock and key", Kirk said.

"You can't even imagine", the Princess answered back.

"OK -we need to arrange this swap, but it must seem impromptu, like we are arranging it on the fly. No one, not even your officers, including Commander Spock, can know we spoke tonight."

She outlined a script for Kirk to follow. She would send him her choices - she wanted two, but would not specify why. He would bring them down in a small landing party with Spock. She was not supposed to meet with them until the following day, but she would handle that aspect. He was not to tell anyone of the swap - he was to tell Laveen that Spock agreed.

Additionally, she wanted his log books.

"Why?" he asked.

"Your life seems . . . amazing . . ." she said with a hint of melancholy. "I will never leave this solar system. I would love to hear about what's out there from something that isn't a scientific survey."

Suddenly Kirk felt sorry for her. She was right, she would never leave; she was trapped by her own duties.

"Sent" he said, breaking eight or so rules Starfleet had about data sharing and vetting.

"Excellent", she seemed to perk up. "I will see you tomorrow evening then."

"Wait!" Kirk said. "How do I know you're going to hold up your end of the bargain? I'll be down there already- fully committed - when this all happens. Princess Lena . . . I haven't even met you, and this HAS to work, it can't . . .

His speech stopped - along with his heart. Princess Lena had turned her screen back on. Before him was, what he would swear for the rest of his life, the most beautiful face he had ever seen. She was older than he suspected - around Uhura's age - not a teenager. Her long thick dark brown hair was down, and formed a wavy cloud around her delicate face. Her large eyes were the color of the evergreens that grew in the backyard of his childhood home, and were quite striking again her pale, perfect skin. Around her forehead was a single metal chain - almost like a crown.

She smiled when she saw him and suppressed a quick laugh. She tilted her head to the side and said, "You can trust me."

His screen went dark.

Only then did Kirk realize that she had probably laughed because he was still in his towel.