Jim heard the pool before he saw it. It was so strange to him that just a few days ago he had met Lena; that she had brought him here; and how they had kissed for the first time. No- that was a lie too - she had been trying to win her fucking bet. What was he even doing here? He knew why though - he had come because there was some small part of him that wanted to believe she gave a damn about him. This is stupid. He was about to leave when her heard her say his name, and felt a faint whisper of her pheromones.

"Jim."

He turned. She was so beautiful standing there in the starlight. She had changed out of her cat suit - flight suit, she called it - and wore a loose fitting light green dress. Her hair fell over her shoulder to her waist; free from its regal braid. She looked almost human with her wings neatly tucked away behind her back, save for her slopped ears. Even in the darkness he could tell he had been crying - the green of her eyes stood out again the reddened whites. Jim felt his heart ache.

"Hi Lena," he said quietly - he didn't have it in him to fight with her anymore.

She motioned for him to follow her into her cave-like room.

It was the same as he remembered it, but it somehow felt colder, quieter. She gently took his hand and sat him down at the table. She then reached over and poured a glass of wine for him and for herself. Jim noticed the empty bottle next to the full one she had just poured from. Drinking deeply she turned her beautiful green eyes back up to him. "I don't know where to start", she said. "What would you like to know?"

He knew he should ask about the scans, but not for the first time that night, he followed his heart instead of his head: "Your mate."

"Bay-Lou?" she asked, dispassionately. "He's technically still my intended."

"But he IS coming here in less than a week, so that you can have a kid with him."

Lena closed her eyes. Not looking at him she said, "Yes."

Jim got up to leave. "Wait", she said, "you don't understand. Virosa are not monogamous until betrothal. We're not like humans!"

"Oh I know all about that", Jim said, "but when I ASKED you you made it seem like that was years away, like this, like I…" he almost said meant something to you, but his pride wouldn't allow it. He didn't need to.

"You do…", she said, "You DO mean a lot to me, but that doesn't mean we can be together."

Taking a deep breath she continued, "Bay-Lou was chosen for me 15 years ago, based on genetic compatibility. I need to birth a Winged Daughter to secure the Queenship- It is our law that I must have a Winged Daughter as an heir before I can ascend to power, and his DNA has a high likelihood of fathering one. Combined with my own, we have almost an 86% chance that any girl we have together will be a Winged Daughter. I don't...like him though. He's fine, I guess, but we do not have a relationship outside out duties. I have been putting this off for almost a year. But I'm starting to get too old to run a colony."

"I could have changed my mate at any time. Asked for someone else to be selected for me, but no one will match me as well as he will, and I… I never really cared. I assumed he was as good as anyone would ever be, and I have bigger things to worry about."

"What things?"

Lena froze - but she had promised to be honest with him, against reason she made up her mind to tell him anyway. "You must swear that this will remain a secret."

"I swear."

Taking a deep breath Lena told him everything.

The Virosa had been warp-capable for quite a long time. Significantly longer than the Federation, in fact, but had never felt the need to expand beyond their own solar system. While it was one of the more inhabitable ones in existence - they would never be lacking for colonies, the real reason for this was the Winged Daughters. Their large wings required daily exercise or would atrophy - killing them, as their nervous and circulatory systems were so integrated. Because no Winged Daughter could ever endure an extended stay aboard a starship, and because they, as the ruling class, dictated the resources of their people, the culture had stopped developing technology for space travel. Simple shuttles to get them where they needed to go were enough.

The Winged Daughters themselves presented an enormous problem in society. They were trained from birth to be intelligent, compassionate, and selfless rulers, and a mystique had formed around them. They were not technically deities- Virosa were inherently atheist, but they were at the center of Virosa culture; the shining light of their people, and their leaders. Because it was a great honor, and brought great political persuasion to birth a Winged Daughter, and because Winged Daughter families wished to remain in power, genetic testing became common among children. While genetic alteration was considered to be abhorrent, genetic stacking -i.e. selecting mates based on genetic compatibility was encouraged. In truth, Winged Daughters should have only made up perhaps 8-10% of the female population, but instead they made up closer to 12%, most being from long lines of Winged Daughters – as Winged Daughters were given first pick when they selected their mates. Because of this, the same families remained in power, almost indefinitely; nothing ever changed, and their society had stagnated.

This had never been a problem until the Zezians stumbled across them almost a century ago. Though at first the Zezians appeared to be democratic, electing all of their officials, they were actually a plutocracy. One of their moons contained a very valuable substance that was the most efficient fuel ever discovered. The group of families that owned the moon essentially ruled the Zezians through bureaucrats. Similar to the Virosa, all of their leaders came from within the same small faction. Differing from them, however the Zezians were heavily patriarchal. The Zezian males were enchanted by the Winged Daughters - the beautiful god-like creatures, who spend their lives on a pedestal. The Zezians were also particularly affected by the pheromones of the Winged Daughters, and had decided them to be the most desirable creatures in the universe. Everything was fine, until, during a feast one night, the Zezian Vaa's son raped a Winged Daughter. He had drugged her, but when she came too, she killed him in cold blood. In retaliation, the Zezian landing party kidnapped her and five other Winged Daughters - though the Winged Daughters were much stronger, the Zezian's had significantly better weapons. No one ever heard from the six kidnapped Winged Daughters ever again, but four years after the incident the Zezians abducted a transport ship with eight Winged Daughters en route to Ya-Mo. That was how it all began.

The Zezians, whose males were also non monogamous, did not have respect for the females in their society. This objectification extended far beyond their own people, however. The upper echelon of the Zezian males kept what were essentially harems of females from many species for their disposal. The initial fourteen that had been captured were trafficked throughout their harems. They had to be drugged at all times to be kept under control, but, because they could not fly under heavy sedation, nor were they even allowed to, their wings atrophied and they died within a year of their capture, most sooner. Through their actions were horrific, the Zezians viewed Winged Daughters to be little more than animal, female promiscuity was considered to be highly immoral in Zezian society. Having a Winged Daughter in one's harem quickly became the most powerful statement a bored, rich Zezian male could make, but because they died off so quickly, it was not easy to maintain. So they started to raid.

The Virosa were horrified, but instead of fighting back they strengthened their defenses within their solar system, killing many of the Zezian raiders. They also increased their policy of isolationism - to the point where a Winged Daughter was not even allowed to transmit her image - their sacred rulers had to be protected. Other species in the galaxy noticed an ongoing conflict, but neither side would say why they attacking each other so frequently. The Virosa and the Zezian had an interesting stalemate: The Zezians knew their activities with the Virosa might not be looked favorably upon by their alliances, and the Virosa were concerned that, should another species realize exactly how much Zezian fuel a Winged Daughter would be worth to a Zezian plutocrat, they might have to fight off even more raiders.

In the past decades it had grown worse - The Zezian home planet was in decay. The ruling class had stripped and polluted it to the point where it was scarcely habitable. They needed to leave. Before the incident with the Vaa's son, the Virosa and the Zezians had been in negotiation for Ya-Mo. The Zezians were going to buy it. In fact – they had already paid for it when the offer was rescinded. The Queen at the time did not feel it was necessary to pay them back. The Virosa had much more to offer than just the Winged Daughters.

Ten years ago Lena had gotten wind of a young Zezian rising through the ranks who had a particular obsession with the Winged Daughters. He didn't understand why they just did not conquer the species. It became the platform on which he ran for the Vaa-ship. In addition to the wanting control over Winged Daughters themselves, the Virosa solar system was also one of the most habitable ever discovered. It was rich with natural resources, and perfect for colonization – not just on Ya-Mo, which he viewed as theirs anyway. Of course he was not the first to suggest this, but for some reason he frightened Lena. She had her spies watch him closely, and realized five years ago that he would one day become Vaa, and when he did, he would attack. The Virosa were not ready.

Enlisting the help of her one-day co-ruler, Princess Suria, they enacted a plan to attempt to prepare for what they believed was an inevitable conflict. The Virosa were pitfully behind in technology, alliances, everything. The Queens of the past had been content to sit in the Palace on their home world, and shut out the rest of the galaxy, while the Zezians had been developing their own technology. Though the Virosa had a jump on them at first, the Zezians were surpassing them day by day. The Conclave had made a fatal error. Struggling to catch-up Lena and Suria took a post on Ya-Mo, the furthest colony from the homeworld, and began to prepare. They made contact with every passing species they could find, formed an alliance, and invited them to stay on Ya-Mo for 17 days. Once they landed their ship they would collect scans of their visitors' technology to infuse with their own, jumpstarting their progress; that's where Veelia came in. She was given the scans to break down the formulas and technology into usable knowledge, figure out what it could be used for, then disperse instructions to Lena and Suria's contacts throughout the Empire, other young colony rulers who also believed war was coming, for development. They would use the technology collected from the scans to prepare themselves. Lena and Suria were the only ones who could do it. Ya-Mo was closest colony to the border or their Empire, so the Conclave could not complain that they were exposing the Virosa to too much risk. Additionally, as Lena was to be Queen, and Suria her co-ruler, no Conclave member dared cross them, lest they lose power in years to come. Lena and Suria told a select few their suspicions; they did not want to entice the Zezians to attack before they could finish their preparations, but all people on the Ya-Mo colony were trained in combat, the Winged Daughters especially.

"That's why I stole the scan of your ship, Jim. We are NOT ready, and I don't have the time to make up for the decades lost not working on developing useful military technology."

Jim couldn't speak. He was stunned. He had not picked up on any of this when he had encountered the Zezians himself, though he was now reminded of the uneasy feeling his female officers had around the Zezian Ambassadors. He was also shocked by Lena. She was so beautiful, so lively, he had forgotten the enormous weight that rested on her shoulders, and now that she had told him about the impending war, it was almost too big to comprehend.

She looked at him from across the table, "Say something, please."

"The Zezians...that's...oh my god."

She took a sip of wine. "From what I can tell they are not all like that- just their elite."

"Lena, this is really fucked up."

"Yeah…" she said, "It is. But we are pretty fucked up too. Genetic stacking to stay in power? The way we treat our males? The way we worship Winged Daughters, to the point that we let them destroy our society, just because we have a pair of fucking wings?!" She slammed her glass down, "The Zezians are sick, but we spent a millennia putting Winged Daughters on a fucking pedestal, and let them run amok. We could have eradicated the Zezian threat years ago, but the Conclave chose to hide. We should have the best technology in the galaxy- we should be able to defend ourselves - we should have fucking alliances that are older than 5 fucking years- this should NOT be a problem!" She stopped to glare at him, "But it is…I am trying to prevent the mistakes of my ancestors from destroying us."

"Lena- this isn't anyones fault but the Zezians-they're...monsters."

"They are", she conceded. "But if they didn't conquer us someone else would. Our solar system is too perfect for colonization. You can't go through life alone, Jim. That goes for societies as well as people. We all need each other in some way…"

Jim could scarcely believe what he had just heard. If what Lena said was true she was in grave danger, all the Winged Daughters were. Suddenly he thought of Veelia, and her musical laughter - she was just a child. Lena was trying to keep her safe, keep them all safe. He made his decision. Jim got out of his chair.

"Where are you going?" Lena asked, fear in her voice.

"You took the wrong files," Jim said. "You got them from my PADD, right? When I went into my bedroom to get clothes for you? I don't keep anything extensive on there."

She looked as her hands, "Yes", she said, "I tried to grab some on the bridge too- but I kept setting off alarms."

Jim shook his head and sat down at her large con-sol.

"What are you doing, Jim?"

"You're not the only one who is good with xenotechnology."

Jim opened up the page on the con-sol, and quickly broke into the Enterprises data-base. It was easy - he had most of the access codes memorized. He quickly unencrypted and downloaded the ships engines, medical technology, and basic weaponry. But there was one more thing. He wasn't supposed to have access to it, but he had seen her do it from his bed numerous times - Carol's files. She was working on experimental weaponry, completely confidential, even from him. She hid them in the ships software for lighting sequences in the hallways, where no one would think to look. He typed in her father's birthday- her password- he would have to tell her to change it. He copied all of it, loaded it onto a small disk, and handed it to Lena.

"If you really are going to war, you're going to need weapons. Send this to Veelia -it's completely unencrypted -I used my Captain's access code. All she has to do is read it."

Lena was speechless. She had not expected this.

"Jim- you...you're not supposed to be giving this to me."

"No...I'm not."

"Jim, I...you could be relieved of duty for giving this to me."

"Actually I would be decommissioned and arrested", he said.

"Then I should not…"

"Should not what?" he said. "Accept it? Yes, yes Lena, you SHOULD accept it. You said it yourself, you are out of time. That Zezian Vaa is coming for you - you're not ready."

Shaking Lena took the disk from his hand. "Thank you", she whispered.

Jim returned his wine to the table, "No problem. Maybe just ask me next time."

Lena let out a sob, "There won't be a next time, Jim."

Her words hit him like a ton of bricks. He looked at her; he felt tears starting to form in his own eyes as well, "Fuck it- come with me."

"What?"

"Come with me. You always said you wanted to explore space. You always wanted to go to the Falian Galaxy. We can go there! It's just a couple of months away at warp. I'll take you away from here, keep you safe. This war could kill you, it probably will. I...it doesn't have to end. We don't have to say good bye, Lena, I lo-"

"Don't say it!" she was crying fully now, "Please don't say it - I can stand it if you don't say it! You are going away, and I will never see you again. I can't hear it, and ever hope to get over it."

Stepping forward he took her in his arms, her hot tears running down his shirt as she sobbed into his chest. His own fell into her hair; she was asking him to leave her here to die. "Please", he whispered, "please come with me."

She backed away, "I can't", she said. "I can't be away from the sky - my wings will atrophy. And even if I could, I can't leave this -I have to fight -I have to win."

"Win?" Jim asked, "Sell yourself to a guy you don't like, to have babies by a process you don't agree with, to stick around and fight a war you're sure to lose?"

"Yes." Lena breathed. "Jim - turn off your translator for a second."

He did. "Vearr-ack" she said to him, and motioned to him to turn it back on.

"What did I just say?" she asked.

"Vey-ar-ak?" His translator whispered "princess" in his ear. "It means Princess, right?"

"Sort of" she said. "But only because you don't have a word for it. I read about princesses in your culture -I think you have gotten the wrong impression of me."

"Humans seem to be under the impression that Princesses are these beautiful twits that sing in forests and mate with the handsome ruler, and live out their days - what's the phrase? Happily ever after? But that is not what a princess is, Jim, not here. A princess is someone who is born into power and responsibility, someone who must work every second of everyday to ensure the well-being of her people. I don't get to be happy, Jim, not while there is work to be done. I barely sleep, I spent all my time training...analyzing...hoping something will work. I must mate with Bay-Lou because I MUST become Queen, not because I desire power, but because I am the only one who can save the Virosa. My mother is delusional, we will crumble under her rule; I need to be ready to take her place. I cannot walk away from this because I was born into this. If Suria and I cannot save us, we are lost. I am Vearr-ack, Princess, ruler. My life is not my own - it belongs to my people. I cannot abandon them. Please tell me you understand."

Jim knew she was right, that she couldn't come with him - she wouldn't. That she had never even thought of it as an option. They were finished.

"When do you think he will attack?" Jim asked.

"I don't know. A week, a month, a decade? It will be within my lifetime, but I cannot know for certain. I would have just attacked first, but we are not prepared to fight an offensive war."

"So I am just going to leave you here to await impending doom?"

"Yes!" she cried. "Jim, this past week and a half has been...wonderful. I had forgotten what it was like to be so happy. You...you are so….I care for you so deeply. I don't want you or your crew anywhere near here when the fighting breaks out."

Her eyes were shining with tears again, "I want to know that you are safe and well, far away. It will give me a small comfort."

"I can't just leave you here - I have to help you!" he exclaimed.

She held up the disk he had just handed her, "You already have."

"It not enough!"

"Jim", she was crying again, "what if our positions were reversed? If you were ruler of the Virosa, and I were a Federation Captain? What would you have me do?"

"I…" Jim knew the answer, "I would send you away", he whispered.

Jim could feel his heart breaking - he had never known what that phrase meant until that moment. He loved her, but he had to let her go. He was a Starship Captain, and she was the Princess of the Virosa, they had been doomed from the start. He remembered the scene Carol had made in his briefing room, telling him to stay away from the Virosa. Perhaps he should have listened. No - she was worth this, this pain, he would do anything for her. But there was nothing left to be done. He had given her everything he had. He stood to leave.

"Where - where are you going?" she asked, panicked.

"Home", he said, "I don't think I have anything left to give you."

Lena approached him, and ran her hands up and down his arms, sending shivers up his spine. "I don't have anything left to give you either… I don't even have myself."

"Jim", she said, "stay with me. I can't have you, but...I want to be with you. I want you to stay...even if it's just for four days. Please…"

He kissed her then, kissed her with all the passion he might have saved up for a life time. She was everything, better than him in every way, yet she chose to love him back, even if they couldn't be together, even if she couldn't even say it. He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tight, like he never wanted to let her go. In truth, he didn't, but she was right. She wouldn't let him stay here, and she couldn't come with him. He had only known her for 12 days - 13, now - but he had fallen for her, irrevocably. She was so strong, so bright, so beautiful - he felt like Icarus flying into the sun. Suddenly he realized that he didn't want to waste one more moment wallowing in his own devastation. He had four more days with the only woman he had ever loved - he would make them count.

Jim reached up, and slid the straps of her dress down her shoulders. She hadn't been wearing a bra, so when it fell to the floor she was clad in her underwear alone.

"I wanna make love to you", he said.

She laughed through her tears, rolling her eyes "God, you're so corny,", she said, using an idiom he had taught her just a few days earlier - when they were OK.

"I don't care", he said, "If I can't tell you, I want to show you."

"OK", she whispered, nodding.

All at once he stood and his mouth was on hers again, his hands cupping her tear stained face. He laid her down on the bed, and started to remove his clothing while she watched and removed the remainder of her own. He had been with her so many times these last few days, his hands knew every part of her body, but this time seemed new. He had always heard people say it was different when you loved someone, but he had never given it much thought. He always wondered how people spent their entire lives with just one person, but he knew how they did it now. But he didn't have his whole life, neither did she. It wasn't fair.

Their bodies came together, skin on skin. She wasn't crying anymore, but rather responding eagerly to his touch. She straddled his waist, kissing his neck and lips over and over, while he ran his hands down her sides and over her breasts. He let his hand wander between her legs - it was amazing - she was ready for him already. "I want you", she said, smiling at him.

She lowered herself onto him and let him fill her, reveling in how good it felt to be so close to him. Her hands rested on his chest, her fingers tangling in his thick smattering of hair. He rested his hands on her hips and guided her movements until she cried out.

As Lena struggled to catch her breath, Jim rolled her over, onto her back. He looked into her eyes as he slide inside, causing her back to arch in pleasure. Propping himself up, he moved - slow at first, then building speed, showering her face with gentle kisses. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he dropped to his elbows. They were chest to chest, breathing each other's breath, when finally he heard the adorable moan that first enchanted him 12 days ago. He came too, and rolled onto his back, pulling her with him; he cradled her in the crook of his arm. Running his hands through her silken hair, he kissed the top of her head. She didn't seem to have blankets on her bed, but he realized why when her wing stretched out across the two of them as a cover. As she fell asleep, he felt her involuntary release of the same pheromones that knocked him out their first time together, but they were gentler this time, and seemed to be putting her to sleep too. Breathing them deeply, and holding her close, he allowed himself to drift off, just as the sun started to rise.