It was noon. Suria stood in the meeting room with the First Officer, Lt. Uhura, and Dr. Marcus. Both Captain Kirk and Lena had failed to show up for their morning meeting. No one seemed to know their whereabouts - they weren't answering hails. Suria could not shake the guilty feeling that she had made a mistake. She had deliberately told Bones about Lena's intended hoping he would pass it along to the Captain and break them up. Uhura told her that Lena had gone to the ship last night, had a huge fight with him, and then he beamed off somewhere a few hours later. They had awkwardly begun the meetings without them.

Suddenly there was a loud ruckus in the hall. Lena and the Captain barged into the meeting side by side.

Lena immediately went over to Suria and knocked the mini con-sol out of her hand; it shattered as it hit the wall.

"How dare you", she whispered.

"Lena...I...do we have to do this now?"

"YES - what were you thinking?"

Suria looked at the stunned faces in the room. The Captain was fairly impassive, but Uhura and Marcus looked stunned.

"I was worried you were losing your focus", Suria said, not backing down.

"That wasn't for you to decide. It wasn't your place to tell the Doctor about Bay-Lou", Lena snapped. "I'm leaving for a few days."

"Leaving?!"

"Yes...Jim is coming with me. Will we return when it is time for the ship to depart - You're in charge."

"Captain -" Spock cut in.

"Ditto", Jim said to him. "I'll see you in a few days."

"Absolutely NOT," Suria cried, "This is crazy, you two aren't going anywhere."

Lena's flex her wings back like she was going to attack, causing Suria to step back. "Try and stop me."

"Kale! Kale! Back me up -tell her!"

Kale, who had been quiet, walked over to Lena, who was shaking in anger. She whispered something to her, and kissed her forehead. Lena looked up and nodded, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"Let her go Suria, she'll return when it's time for the departure feast."

"Is this a JOKE?"

"No", Kale said, "I agree with Lena. Let her go."

Without another word, Lena left the room. Kirk turned to Veelia, who looked quite confused to see her mentor behaving this way. "Come with us Veelia, she wants to talk to you", he said.

When they had left Kale shook her head at Suria, "Why did you do that?"

Suria was shocked, "I...she is too attached to him. They should not spend any more time together. I was trying to do some DAMAGE control!"

Kale looked sadly out the window, "It's too late. The damage is done. She already loves him."

Under the table Uhura reached for Spock's hand, "I told you so", she whispered in Vulcan.

Veelia was beyond confused. Why was Lena acting like a crazy person? She knew Lena was fond of the Captain, but this was getting a bit dramatic for Veelia's tastes. They didn't even know each other that well! She followed the Captain into Lena's room - he was very attractive, she supposed, but certainly not worth all the fuss Lena was making. Oh well.

Once in Lena's room he closed and locked the door behind her. Lena was turning on her con-sol. "Sit" she said to Veelia.

Veelia obliged, "Lena what is going on?

"How is your analysis of the Enterprise coming along?" Lena asked, ignoring Veelia's question. Veelia was floored. The Captain was right there!

"Ummmm what analysis?" she asked, trying to salvage the situation.

"The one you got Ensign Chekov to do for you."

Shit! "Oh that one…"

Lena raised her eyebrows with impatience.

"It's good", Veelia said, "It will be done very soon…I was going to go to a lab on the other side of the moon. I might-might...I don't think I'll return for the departure feast." Veelia kept staring at Lena wide-eyed - did she not realize the Captain was in the room?!

"You'll make the feast", she said.

The Captain walked behind Veelia's chair and handed her a disk. "Open it", he said.

Veelia looked at Lena for direction, but she gave none. She took the file from the Captain's hand, and opened it on the con-sol. Her jaw dropped. It wasn't a scan - it was a copy; a full unencrypted copy of every single useful file on the Enterprise. All of their technology, warp drive, intelligence, weapons, everything. It would have taken her years to develop what they had. Veelia thumbed over a file mark "Classified" - it was weapons. The most advanced Veelia had ever seen.

"Oh- my….what is a photon torpedo?"

"Veelia", the Captain had squatted down next to her. "Is there anything else you need? Anything in here you don't understand? If have a question, now is the time to ask me."

"No…" Veelia was aghast, "It's pretty...wow...so this is how you build a starship. But Captain, why are you giving this to us… are you allowed too?"

"That is why you must tell no one Veelia", Lena put her hand on his shoulder. "You got this from my scan -you developed all of it. You must send it out slowly, piece by piece. No one must ever suspect. Jim is breaking many laws for us. The consequences he could face could be...dire. This is an absolute secret."

"But why?" Suddenly Veelia realized, "Oh my God, he knows!" She looked at the Captain, "What do you know?"

"Everything", Lena said, not looking at her.

"But…"

"Don't worry about it, Veelia…I- I trust him." Lena and the Captain shared a look.

Lena continued, "You must go away, to the other side of the moon, working on this, or at least pretending to. Stay there -you may return briefly for the feast though, if you wish to say goodbye to your gift."

Veelia had no idea why she would want to say goodbye again -she thought they had ended nicely - but, judging by how Lena was looking at the Captain, Veelia suspected she was projecting.

"OK - thank you…. This will only take me an hour or two to break down, though."

"Then find something else to do - just stay busy."

"OK", she said.

Veelia watched as Lena and the Captain departed. She closed out on the con-sol, and erased the history of the Enterprises file, unable to believe what had just happened. She would now have to go to the remote part of Ya-Mo and pretend to work on this. What was she going to do there?

Veelia would have flown, but it was raining. Wet wings didn't fly well - or at all, actually. She would have to take a shuttle. She noticed it was being flown by a very handsome young Virosa male. He blushed and stammered when she boarded. Watching his powerful arms steer the shuttle she wondered what it would be like to feel them around her. She went up to sit in the seat next to him, to watch him fly. He immediately tensed - he was attracted to her.

"What's your name?" Veelia asked, suspecting she had found something to do for the next three days.

The Virosa threw one more feast on the final day on Enterprise's visit. Suria was panicking. Lena had not yet returned. This would be problematic as she needed to kick off the party. The departure ritual was initiated by a Winged Daughter performing a complex aerial stunt in the sky. Suria knew how to do it, but usually Lena handled it - she was a significantly better flyer, and Suria was out of practice. No one had heard from Lena or the Captain since they departed four days ago. They were ignoring hails.

"Suria!" she heard a shout; Veelia had returned.

"Veelia - you have finished the analysis then?"

"Sort of - I think I will be able to get more out of it than we anticipated - I have everything I need though, no need to try and get more data - but it will take a few months to complete."

Suria frowned, but then, Veelia had gotten quite good at extracting information. She wondered how the girl was handling the departure of her first partner. "Veelia - how are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"I mean-sometimes it's easy to get attached?"

"Like Lena"

Suria sighed, "Kind of - Lena is...she has a lot to deal with right now...I suspect she is just stressed."

Veelia knew that wasn't the case- Lena wouldn't have risked their security because of stress, but she couldn't tell that to Suria.

"I am OK. I took a new lover, actually."

"What?"

"The shuttle pilot was very good looking."

Suria stared at her open mouthed. Well, that settled that then. Veelia had changed drastically in the last two weeks. Somehow, that shy boy had given her the confidence boost Lena had been trying to implant in her all along. Veelia was magnificent - everyone knew it, but suddenly she knew it too.

"Well then…" Suria said, "I have another task for you, if you're up to it?"

"Sure!"

"Could you open the feast?"

Veelia lit up, "Yes! Lena showed me how to! We have been practicing, though I have never done it without a spotter."

"Oh well then…"

"I don't need one, though. I'll do it!"

She ran off to change into her flight suit.

True to form, Veelia was perfect, to the delight of the crew, and the envy of the Winged Daughters. Not that Veelia cared anymore. Halfway through the feast Suria heard a ruffle of wings, and smelled a familiar set of pheromones, Lena and the Captain had returned. Lena took her seat next to Suria, while the Captain sat with his crew. "I'm sorry", she said.

Suria turned to her, "No - I am sorry. That was wrong of me. I didn't know that-"

"It's OK-it's over now. He is leaving tonight. The ship will take off when the feast is over. He is not waiting until morning. He just informed a skeletal crew to lay off the wine."

"Are you OK?" Suria asked.

"I will be", Lena responded evenly. Changing the subject Lena asked, "Where did Veelia go? I saw her stunt - it was exceptional."

"Ugh- she ran off with that human boy one more time."

"Is she alright?" Lena asked, worried.

Suria smiled at her, "She's fine - she fucked the shuttle pilot who took her to the other side of Ya-Mo. I think she is going to become a problem."

Lena laughed and took Suria's hand, "Our baby is all grown up."

Right before the feast ended, Lena had a male attendant fetch Uhura - she wanted her to meet her inside. Entering Lena's room Uhura found Lena- sobbing quietly on her bed, the Enterprise glowing in the background outside her window. "Please don't tell him", she whispered, "we have said our goodbyes."

"I won't", Uhura promised, "don't worry."

"Good - I wanted to give this back to you. I'm sure you know by now that you are leaving tonight."

Lena reached out and dropped Uhura's ring into her extended hand. Uhura slipped it on -it was perfect. "Thank you, Lena". She didn't know what else to say.

"You're welcome -it has been a pleasure. I wish you happiness."

"And strength", Uhura finished the Virosa blessing.

"Hey wait up!" Kirk called out, watching Spock and Uhura get into the turbo-lift. They were about to take off. Spock held it for him.

Kirk had been unusually quiet during the feast. He hadn't drank, and he made the unexpected announcement that they were to leave that night. He sat with the crew, and he and Lena did not once make eye contact. Spock noticed a sliver of a gold chain around his neck, but when he had asked about it, Kirk had merely readjusted his shirt to hide it more effectively. Standing on the turbo-lift he was completely expressionless. Suddenly he spoke, "I see you got your ring back?"

Uhura smiled, "Yes, she gave it to me at the end of the feast, like she...promised. It fits now."

Spock was slightly alarmed. He assumed people would soon know about his and Uhura's engagement, but showing up on the bridge with a ring on her finger was quite the dramatic way of announcing it.

Kirk noticed his concern - "What now?" he asked.

Spock turned to Uhura, "I thought we were going to discuss how we would announce our engagement to the crew - it will be quite scandalous."

Kirk was about to say something when Uhura cut in, "They know, Spock."

"Know what?"

"That we are together."

"What? I… why didn't you tell me?"

Uhura laughed but looked oddly guilty, "Ear-muffs , Jim." Jim obligingly put his hands to his ears, but of course could still hear everything. "Would it be weird if I told you that I kind of liked sneaking around - it was kind of… hott? Plus... it was kind of adorable to see you obsess over being discrete, and I wouldn't have wanted to be out in the open until we were engaged anyways...I'm sorry…I just couldn't help it. But as much as fun as it was, I love wearing my ring -so apparently the jig is up."

Spock was aghast, "We will discuss this later….. But I do not think everyone knows. Not every member of the crew."

"Are you serious, Spock?" Jim exclaimed.

The door to the turbo-lift door opened and the three officers walked to their stations. Jim turned to Spock and said, "I am going to take care of this right now."

He opened a com, "The is Captain Kirk to the crew - Every. Single. Member. Of the crew. I would like to be the first to offer my congratulations to Commander Spock and Lt. Uhura on their engagement. May they live long and prosper. In case you missed this announcement-there will be a written memo to follow. Kirk-out."

The bridge burst into applause, and they could hear applause coming from other layers of the ship as well. Uhura walked brazenly over to Spock and planted a big kiss on his lips.

Kirk said to Spock, "Do you think everyone got that? Should I do it again?"

"I believe that was sufficient, Captain."

"Wait!" Lt. Sulu whipped around in his chair, "You mean...you two are together?"

END PART 1.