The BLTS Archive- Rain by Istannor (Istannor@aol.com) --- Disclaimer: These are the characters of Paramount and Viacom, they own them I only check 'em out from the library. I promise to bring 'em back. --- "What a lovely place to visit." "I sense sarcasm, Doctor." "Where, where?" "Bones, don't be such a pessimist. I bet we can find something that will interest you here." Kirk assured him from where he sat perched on a rock looking wistfully at a rocky formation in the distance. "Sure you can, Jimboy. Tell me again, why are we on this dump, Spock?" McCoy turned to the Science Officer who was taking readings on his tricorder and pointedly trying to ignore him. "Doctor," he gave up. " There is every indication that the soil on this planet is rich in all the essential building blocks for a stable ecosystem for humanoids. It has no native animals larger than an earth arthropod, and the sun is in the spectrum conducive to human habitation." "Sure it is, if you want to suffer from seasonal affective disorder all of your life. This place is a dark, gloomy, windy, mournful dump. It has scrawny, crooked, gray plants, not a single thing of beauty, and it is boring. Just the ticket for a Vulcan, I'm sure. Look at those mountains; even they're scrawny, nothing but rock piles and holes in rock piles." "Geologists would term those crags, moraines, steppes, and caves, Doctor." Spock lectured from where he was bent over a plant, taking readings. Kirk snorted. He turned his full attention to his friend. "I don't think it's that bad, Bones. It has a sort of rugged beauty to it, like something out of Arizona, or Siberia." "See, you just made my point for me, boring. Well, let me get my team together and go look for some plants or animals that might have a medicinal value. Yeesh, that is also known as digging in the dirt and playing with the critters, tiny as the damn things are." "Be careful, Bones," Kirk admonished. "Look who's talking," McCoy retorted and walked away, radiating disgust. Spock continued to take readings for a while longer while Kirk sat in silence and looked out over the hills and rocky landscape. "I think I'll go explore those hills, Spock, while you finish up here." "Jim..." "I'll be careful; I promise." "Here, take this with you. I will secure another one from the ship's stores." "Spock, I am just going over the ridge ahead. I have my communicator, a phaser, and one emergency pack already. I don't need two." The Vulcan continued to hold it out towards him and he took it with a sigh. "Thank-you, Mother." "Jim, what time do you wish to meet to compile and review our data?" "In two hours. Let me know as soon as the meteorologist finishes his readings. I didn't like the uncertainty he gave us in that first report." "Very well." "See you, First Officer." Kirk waved vaguely and walked off with his gaze already on the horizon. He was going exploring and there was nothing Spock could do about it. There were no natural predators, fault lines, circling Klingons, poisonous plants, and he was not going far. It was possible he would not get into difficulty. Spock resisted the impulse to shake his head; it was possible, but not likely. Nonetheless, the Vulcan recognized the futility of attempting to stop James Kirk from exploring. It seemed to be in the Human's very pores. He would scramble over the rocks and through the hills until an hour was up, and be back for the meeting with a smile on his face, and hopefully no more than a few scratches and bruises from his explorations. The Vulcan sighed and turned back to his work. He kept a wary eye on the retreating back of his Captain until Kirk disappeared from sight into the rocks. --- Forty five minutes later, Spock was perusing an especially rich deposit of diamonds, and dilithium residue. It was a good indication that pure dilithium might be found on the planet, if they continued to search diligently. He felt a gust of wind pull the hair from his forehead, looked up to see rapidly approaching storm clouds, and flipped open his communicator. "Spock to Mr. Helena. Are you tracking the storm front that is approaching from the northeast?" "Sir, that thing just appeared on the screens. I swear it didn't develop like it was suppose to. I have readings from five minutes ago, and there was no evidence of pressure drops, or changes in ambient air temperature. I don't know what is going on, but the weather in this place is not normal. I have been looking at the weather patterns world -wide and I have monitored two hurricanes on the southern hemisphere that developed and ended in twenty minutes, and a blizzard on the east coast of this continent that dropped eight inches of snow since we started to monitor it. The system that is approaching you is moving at forty miles per hour, has wind gusts of up to fifty miles per hour, lightning, and has dropped significant precipitation in the last five minutes." "Beam up to the ship, Mr. Helena, and take your entire landing party with you. I will notify the Captain and we will sit this out on the ship." "Yes, Sir." Spock turned an eye towards the hills that Kirk had disappeared into. They were the same ones the storm was approaching. "Captain Kirk." He waited for an answer. "Spock to Captain Kirk." Still no response. "Mr. Spock to the Enterprise." "Enterprise, here." "Lt.Uhura, begin emergency beam up of all surface personnel. Target the Captain first. He is not responding to my hail. There is a storm approaching us rapidly from the northeast, therefore begin closest to the storm front and work your way back." "Yes, Sir." He waited for her to tell him that they were able to contact the Captain. "Mr. Spock, we are not getting a response from him." Spock stepped forward, and willed himself to stop. "Scan for life signs, at 1.5 miles and 23 degrees to the northeast of my position." "Mr. Spock, we are not picking up any life signs. There is an unusual interference pattern coming from the rocks at the coordinates you gave us. I could not pick up anything, even if it was there." "There was no mention of a pattern of interference before, Lieutenant" "I did the planetary scans myself when we made orbit, Mr. Spock. There was no interference patterns: I'll stake my reputation on it." Uhura answered with a touch of indignation. "Control yourself, Lieutenant, and find a way to break through the interference and beam the Captain out, or beam me into the area." "Yes, Sir." --- Spock watched the approaching storm front with a sense of growing unease. It definitely was moving faster then normal on this type of planet. A loud crack of thunder rent the air, followed by a flash of lightning that buried itself into the hills ahead of him. He considered taking a shuttle into the storm and the hills, but discounted the notion as being illogical. He also would not be able to run fast enough to get to the hills ahead of the storm and the torrential rainfall that accompanied it. He flipped the communicator open again and continued to page his Captain until it became patently obvious that it was time to leave the planet surface himself, and that he would not receive an answer. The storm passed as Spock and the bridge crew watched from the security of the Ship. It dumped six inches of water in two hours, and vanished, as quickly as it had developed. Uhura cursed quietly behind him when each new effort to break through the interference from the hills failed. "Mr. Spock, the storm has completely dissipated, but there are now flash floods in the hills, and the lower caves are flooded." Lt. Helena had moved his station to the bridge to keep them up to date by the minute. The tension on the bridge was oppressive. Sulu ducked a look at the Vulcan, and saw a face of stone. Only the faintly lighter knuckles made it obvious how hard Spock gripped the arms of the Center seat. "Any life signs, Mr. Chekov." "No, Sir." "Very well." Spock stood. "Lt. Uhura, have security send a fully armed and outfitted landing party to the transporter room. Tell Dr. McCoy to meet us there and be prepared for casualties." He moved towards the lift. "Mr. Spock," Uhura shouted. "We have a signal from the Captain." Spock turned around so quickly, it startled Uhura. "Put it on audio quickly, Lieutenant." "Kirk to Enterprise." "Captain, we are relieved to hear your voice. How are you and are you ready to beam up?" "I'm fine, Spock, just a little wet. I spent the storm in a cave up on the side of the highest hill. The fireworks were beautiful, just cold. I'm a farm boy and the one thing all farm boys know is how to get out of a storm. When I figured that there was something interfering with my communicator, I just took cover and waited for the storm to blow over. I don't want to come up right now. Come down to my coordinates, and bring a team with you, especially Lt. Helena. Oh, and Spock, bring a portable comp pack and some dry clothes for me. I think I have found something that might make McCoy reconsider the boring part of this planet." "On my way, Captain. Spock out." The mood on the bridge was completely changed. The crew began to bounce and smile at each other in simple relief. "Mr. Sulu, you have the Con." The door closed on his answer. --- Spock and the landing party solidified on a plateau at the coordinates Kirk gave them. The Captain was waiting for them, dripping wet, with his hair plastered to his head. He had a giant grin on his face and looked nothing like the most famous Captain in Starfleet. "Mr. Spock." Spock found he was unable to resist searching the human for signs of injury. Finding none, he answered his Captain. "We were concerned when we were unable to locate you." Kirk ducked his head in momentary chagrin. "Sorry. I had no way to know that these hills would interfere with communications. Just when I was thinking I would have to hike back out, the interference lifted, with the storm." "That is why a landing party is suppose to exercise caution, Captain." Kirk sighed, shrugged his shoulders and looked up at Spock with a slight grin. "Criticism duly noted, First Officer. Your Captain stands before you contrite and repentant." The Vulcan's eyebrow quirked as he finally allowed himself to relax. "Truce?" Kirk prodded him. "For now," Spock relented. Kirk laughed. "When I show you what I found, I suspect I will be back in your good graces." Spock was unable to resist the full force smile aimed at him. The rest of the landing party stood in quiet amusement as they watched their command team play. Spock silently held out the package containing dry clothes and Kirk stripped off his wet uniform and changed in front of the landing party. "What have you found?" Spock finally asked begrudgingly. "I went exploring while I was in the cave, and I found what is making the weather screwy. At least I think I found something like that. And," he paused for dramatic affect, "I found some ruins inside the cave, big ruins, really big ruins." Kirk watched Spock for his reaction and was rewarded with the slight flaring of both nostrils that meant he had the Vulcan's complete attention. "Are you interested?" "I believe I may find something of interest in a weather machine and "really big ruins", Captain." Kirk laughed and turned to lead the way to his discovery. They scrambled up over rocks, wet, and slippery from the recent downpour. Little rivulets sluiced down the side of the outcropping on the way to the ravine below. Kirk led them straight for an opening in the rock wall and walked through into the interior without the slightest hesitation. Spock was surprised to find the interior to be significantly warmer than he expected it to be. It was lit by bioluminescent fungus, and was completely dry. "So this is where you were; safe, dry, and comfortable, while we searched for you." Kirk turned and grinned, "Only for a little while. I noticed, as you have no doubt, that the place was too warm for a normal cave, so I thought I'd go and see if it had any natural hot springs, or anything to explain the air temperature." Spock stood silently and refused to ask. "I followed the increasing heat in the walls and it led me to my surprise." "Logical," Spock acknowledged. Kirk realized he still was on fragile ground so he turned and led the way towards the rear of the cave. The interior of the cave glowed from the coating of yellow-orange fungus that coated it. The fungus was at least 5cm in depth at spots, and radiated heat as well as light. "Watch the stuff on the walls. It gets pretty warm in patches. It took me a while to figure out that it was the major heat source in the tunnels." Spock stopped frequently to take readings on the phenomena. As they traveled deeper into the cave, the air became warmer and warmer and it was filled with the smell and taste of moisture and something else, which Spock could not place. "Mr. Spock, Captain," Lt. Helene announced, "the air temperature has risen by fifteen degrees Fahrenheit." Spock looked at his tricorder and checked the readings. "I am reading a definite power source ahead of us. I am not familiar with this pattern." "Radcliff, leave an emergency beacon every twenty five meters from here on. I don't want anybody getting lost. The place is a warren of tunnels from this point forward." "How did you get through here without getting lost, Captain?" Helene asked. "Take a deep breath, Lieutenant" The young man did as he was told and looked at the Captain in confusion. "Do you smell anything familiar?" Kirk asked. "I smell human urine." "There are many ways to mark a trail, Lieutenant. Use the tools you have at your disposal." Helene fought with the decision over whether to laugh or take his Captain seriously. "You really used urine?" "It was that or rations from the e-pack. Urine is much less edible." Kirk turned to Spock with a grin. "What are they teaching the youth nowadays, Spock?" "I rather not answer that question, Captain." They followed the "trail" until the path widened out and began to slope downward at an alarming rate. Finally, as if following some Vid script, a metallic archway spanned in front of them and light shown forth, filled with motes of dust dancing in a light breeze that tickled at their faces. Kirk walked forward with an air of eager anticipation and when they followed through the doorway they stopped and stood in awe. Several gasps and at least two calls to deities rang out from the group. A cavern over twenty miles across stretched out in front of them. In the center, spiraling towers and minarets were strung together by spider web delicate bridges which glittered enticingly in the distance. All around the city a shining river of water flowed, cascading from a wall off in the distance. The river made its way to the city and then plummeted down into the interior of the planet through an opening in the cave wall five miles in the opposite direction. The ceiling of the cavern was over a mile above their heads. It glowed with the same fungus whose massed phosphorescence cast the cavern into eternal daylight. It was magical...and completely empty for as far as the eye could see. "Oh, my world." Helene gasped out as he stared at the ceiling above their heads. "Fascinating." Spock murmured. "You should be proud of me, Spock. I did not go any further than the edge and then I turned back. Never let it be said I am totally without a sense of caution." Kirk turned and fanned his hand across the view. "Pretty spectacular for a cave. I think we should set up a communication relay with the surface and bring down teams to explore the city as soon as the scans give us an all clear." Spock turned to look at his Captain, who never failed to amaze him. "Where is the machinery?" "Over there," Kirk pointed to a small trail that branched off to their right and sloped down the side of the cliff they stood on, towards the plateau below. He led them down the path and they came to a large opening in the cliff wall. He entered and they followed into a large alcove, completely dominated by a silver green metallic object that flashed and sparked continuously, in silence. "What makes you think this controls the weather, Captain?" Kirk walked to the side of the machine and pointed behind it. Spock circled the machine to its rear and saw a huge, infinitely detailed bas-relief map of the entire planetary surface. The map crawled and shimmered like a live beast. It took scant seconds for Spock to realize that the surface reflected active storms, rain, sun, wind patterns, all entertwined in a pattern played out on an abandoned machine. Kirk left the Vulcan to look on in total fascination and went out to set up the team for the task of exploration. --- "Jim, this is beautiful." McCoy sat down next to him with a groan of fatigue. "I'm too old for this kind of stuff, though. Climbing through buildings and scrambling over suspension bridges is tiring work. There are still no traces of the former inhabitants. We haven't found any food, any crops, any personal items, any children's toys, or any artwork. This place is as empty as my Aunt Sadie's bank account after Saturday night Bingo." "Bones, where do you get those sayings?" "Make 'em up, of course." He laughed at his own joke and laid back on the sand next to the river, with Kirk. "Where is Spock?" Kirk pointed over to his right and McCoy could just make out the Vulcan in the distance. "What does he think about all of this?" Kirk shrugged. "What's wrong, Jim? The only time you are this quiet is when you're asleep and I can see your pupils. Why aren't you exploring with the rest of the crew. They're having a ball, you know. This isn't like you to not be climbing over everything and making a nuisance of yourself." "Nothing is wrong, Bones. I'm fine. There's nothing I want to see in the city anymore. It was never alive; no-one ever did anything in it." He sat quietly for a moment. "This place makes me sad." "Why, Jim? It's a wonderful treasure trove of artifacts and information on an alien culture." "It's empty. All this beauty and it has been empty for one thousand years according to the science department's readings." "A thousand years and no-one has ever lived in it?" "Not a soul as far as we can tell. Spock did find robotic building machines over towards that part of the city." Kirk pointed away at the part where most of the teams were concentrating their efforts. "He thinks the city was built entirely by robots for whoever was to occupy it." "Damn. Why would anyone build something this magnificent and then never use it?" "I don't know. But I have a hunch we will find out soon enough." McCoy felt his gut clinch. That phrase had taken on a whole new meaning for him. "What kind of hunch, Jim?" Kirk turned instantly at the tone in McCoy's voice. "Bones, I am still the Jim you have known since you woke me up in your sickbay years ago. Nothing has changed about me. Please, Bones, don't change; don't be afraid of me." There was such naked need in the voice that the doctor found all of his fears falling away, like the sands that sifted through his hands. McCoy found himself smiling despite the situation. "You threw up on me 8 years ago. I still owe you for that" Kirk plopped back onto the river bank and laughed. "You shouldn't have tried to get me drunk on Orion skuzzwaz. That stuff is worse than cleaning fluid; it's green, too." "You are a man of plebian tastes, James Tiberius Kirk." They sat in companionable silence while they watched the teams working their way through the city, methodically. McCoy found himself drifting off to sleep, lulled by the closeness of his friend and the warmth of the cavern air. --- "Dr. McCoy," a voice repeated his name, bringing him reluctantly back to wakefulness. He had been having an especially good dream, but the bits of it were lost as he opened his eyes. "Dr. McCoy, where is the Captain?" It definitely had to be Spock messing up a man's nap without a concern, he thought. He opened his eyes and looked around. "I have no idea. He was here when I fell asleep." "It is time to go back to the surface. The rest of the landing party is ready to make the trek back through the tunnel. We are only missing the Captain." "Damn, that man can not stay put to save his soul. When we get back to the ship, I'm going to put a sub- dermal transponder on him so we can stop the Kirk search routine." McCoy got up and brushed the sand from his pants. "Did anybody see which direction he took off in?" "Yes, Sir. He said he was heading towards the wall over there," Ensign Radcliff answered. "What the hell is over there, Spock?" "Unknown, our explorations had not taken us in that direction yet." Suddenly, a giant ringing sound clanged from all sides of the cavern, followed by a loud whoosh, and a wind so strong that it almost knocked all of them off of their feet. The wind gusted, howled, then just as suddenly, was gone. Spock eyes glazed over momentarily, and he swayed like something had hit him. McCoy started to go to him, but then the look passed as quickly as it had come. "Mr. Spock, there are no natural cave weather patterns that ever approximate what we just felt. That was manufactured weather." Lt. Helena dropped down to his comp and began to take rapid readings. "The weather pattern originated over there." He pointed straight towards the direction Kirk had taken. Spock tensed. "Follow me, Dr. McCoy. You, Mr. Sugurt," he pointed at a redshirted security guard. "and you, Lt. Helena. The rest of you begin gathering your equipment." They began to walk, then trot, then in response to a silent signal, Spock moved. No Human could ever hope to keep pace with a Vulcan when he moved. McCoy watched the Vulcan disappear ahead of them at a pace twice what a human could ever hope to manage. He felt his chest clinch in fear while they ran behind Spock in hot pursuit. There was only one reason for Spock to move. Jim was in danger. When they finally reached the rock face, they could see a path leading into it that had foot steps in the dust that coated it. McCoy and the rest ran up the path into the wall and through the metal door before they realized it was there. Sitting on the floor clutching his silent Captain convulsively to his chest, was Spock. "He is alive, but I found him unconscious, Doctor." McCoy ran the scanner over the limp form and was rewarded with the pleasant beeps and whirrs that signified an almost completely healthy Kirk. "Roll him over to his side, Spock." McCoy probed the hematoma forming on the back of the man's head. "He fell down and hit the back of his head. Knocked the mess out of him, but he has no internal damage and the skull is intact." McCoy reached into his pack and pulled out a hypo. "Here, this ought to do the trick." The Doctor sat back on his heels and waited for his friend to wake up. It didn't take long before the man began to moan and reached up to hold his head. Kirk grimaced and opened his eyes, painfully and tried to sit up. Spock pulled him back gently against his chest. "Don't try to sit up, Jim. You fell and hit your head. What happened, do you remember?" Kirk took a few deep breaths and turned his head slowly to look at Spock. "Go down that tunnel over there, Spock. That's what happened. My presence already disarmed all of the locks; there won't be anymore winds." McCoy watched in amazement as a single tear traced its way down James Kirk's face. "I found out what happened to everyone." A second tear traced its way down the face, and McCoy knew without a doubt that it had nothing to do with his headache. Spock was gone ten minutes. He walked back in and silently sat down next to them. Kirk had fallen back into a light sleep. "What is back there, Spock?" "How is Jim?" "He'll be fine. He said the power discharge threw him off of his feet and made him hit his head." McCoy looked down at Kirk to make sure he was still asleep. "Answer, me. What is back there?" Spock nodded, rose, and signaled for McCoy to follow him. --- They walked up the dark path in silence until they got to another metal door. It looked exactly like pictures of old space locks. The door was standing slightly ajar and Spock shimmied through the opening; McCoy was forced to follow him. Inside, laying everywhere, were the dead, desiccated bodies of a vaguely humanoid race. Infants, adults, males and females, lined the rocky floor, all the way to the large pitch black ship that sat in the middle of the cavern. It had a ramp leading down from it, and it too, was lined with bodies. Dead, all dead for a thousand years. On the edge of a city of dreams, their corpses were the only remaining testimony to what they had wrought. McCoy stared for long minutes before he could speak. "Oh, Sweet Lord, what do you suppose did this to them? It is not fair to die so close to paradise." "From their positions, one has to surmise that it was an unanticipated toxin in the environment, or a poison. It obviously was almost instantaneous." "It was the glowing fungus that killed them." Jim's voice made them turn. Spock rushed over to help him to a seat. Lt. Helena and Ensign Sugurt trailed behind Kirk, sheepishly. Spock shot a look at them both that was a definite reprimand. "Leave them alone, Spock. They really can't tell me no, since I'm their Captain." McCoy protested his statement, "Jim, we examined the fungus. They do not emit any toxins, no fumes and no dust. It has no discernible toxicity to humanoid life. I checked since we are walking through gallons of the stuff all the time." "One man's joy is another man's poison, Bones. What do those things use for an energy source, Spock?" "Carbon dioxide and hydrogen." "And what byproduct do they give off?" "Oxygen and water, they retain the carbon as a source to generate heat. It is actually similar to the use of coal in older internal combustion engines. They are wonderfully engineered tools to adapt the biosphere to humanoid use." "Unfortunately, I think you will find they are naturally occurring fungus and not engineered. Go run your hand in front of that wall over there. I did it and that's what started all the energy release." Spock walked over to a softly glowing panel, recessed into the rock wall and waved his hand in front of it slowly. Suddenly, sounds wafted through the cavern. Loud engine noises thrummed for a long minute, then cut off abruptly. The sound of metal doors sliding open, made McCoy turn involuntarily to look at the ship lying silently behind him, coated with dust and corpses. They listened as voices began to rise from the speaker, tentative, then increasingly excited. Even without the use of a translator, it was obvious that the sounds were joyful. More and more voices filled the air, until a single voice raised in song above all the rest. Slowly, more joined it in a tune filled with obvious thanksgiving, until the walls reverberated with the echoes of long dead voices singing their joy at finally reaching home. The three men listened and McCoy did not try to stop the tears that ran down his face. "Damn. This isn't right. They should never have died. One thousand years, there they all lay, a half mile away from home and turning to dust; it's not right." No-one answered him. Finally, the voices stopped and a ring of command was heard, followed by the hiss of doors opening again. "I think those are the seals on these doors behind us opening up for the first time. This is when the two atmospheres mix." Kirk bent his head down and winced in pain. Spock moved towards him. "Sit back, Jim." Kirk sat back without any protest. That made McCoy walk over and check him out again, while the voices flowed around them, from long silent throats. It was the first scream that made McCoy's stomach turn and squeeze the breath out of him. Sirens, alarms clanged, wails of terror, gasping, dying breaths raised in the thousands and then horribly one by one, the voices were snuffed out, followed by silence. "They died, within 5.6 minutes of opening the airlock. You are correct, it would have had to have been an atmospheric problem. There should be records on the ship that detailed their correct atmospheric requirements. Why would they open the door to toxic air? Where were they from? Why did they not return to the ship and leave?" "Who knows? Maybe the trip was always one way. Maybe they just couldn't believe they were dying this close to the Promised Land." Kirk whispered. "Illogical." Spock took a walk along the machinery of the airlock, then he stepped outside the door. They heard his movements for minutes longer and then he entered back into the room. "It is illogical that beings capable of this type of journey, planning, and execution, would fail to check the atmosphere before they opened the door on a New World. I believe I have discovered the problem." He handed them a metal coupling which was coated in dust and mold. "This came from a wall module that was an air sampler. Here is the intake valve." Spock pointed to a small opening that was caked in fossilized mold. "Note that the mold is not only on the outside, which is expected, but," he turned it for them to see, " it is on the inside also. I think that they did not know that there were toxic levels of oxygen in the air, because the sampler was defective. One defective part killed an entire population, amazing." "Not really, one defective O-ring almost killed America's dreams of space." Kirk reminded them both. "Ah, yes the Challenger explosion, a clear study in the importance of even the smallest cog in a piece of machinery." Spock looked around, "Tragic, is it not, that they opened a door to a new world and found only death. The fungus will prove useful to the Federation, however. There are many worlds and environments that can benefit from an enriched oxygen atmosphere." McCoy came and stood beside the Vulcan. "This place is going to be over-run with humans within ten years. I wish I could thank the builders." McCoy spoke softly to Spock so that only he could hear him. "How do you think Jim found this place all by himself?" "I will ask him when he is recovered." McCoy pursed his lips in thought. "Let's go; I feel ghosts at my back." "They're gone, Bones." Kirk's voice filtered over to him and he turned to see that Kirk was staring at them both in total concentration. "There aren't any ghosts here anymore." They both walked over to Kirk and McCoy knelt down in front of him. "How do you know that, Jim?" "I felt them go, I could hear their voices, feel their thoughts for just a minute before I fell. That was the wind you felt out in the cavern. They are free now; the place isn't sad anymore." Kirk began to rub his forehead. "It's okay now." "Jim..." McCoy grunted as he abruptly was thrust aside by Spock. He started to holler in protest when McCoy saw Kirk's eyes roll back into his head and he began a slow motion slump to the ground. Spock caught him effortlessly, picked him up, and left. McCoy and the rest of the team scrambled to follow. The Vulcan carried Kirk through the tunnels and all the way to sickbay. He left only after McCoy assured him Kirk was sleeping peacefully. --- "What are we going to name this place, Jim?" It was two days later and a fully recovered Captain was standing on the cliff overlooking the city that stretched below them. They had found the power generators, and the buildings were lit with a soft glow that cast the entire picture into a haze of fantasy. "What do you want to name it, Bones? You do the honors; I've had my share of naming planets." "Ain't fair, how's that sound for a name?" "It sucks." "Paradise, then." "There are currently 123 planets and planetoids in Federation space, named Paradise." A voice rose from behind McCoy. The doctor jumped. "Damn, Spock why do you have to sneak up on a fellow like that?" "If you would stay alert, you would hear my approach. The Captain was not startled." "He's a damn ninja. Okay, Mr. Genius, you name it. What do you want to call it?" "K'teri Saya." "What the heck does that mean?" "Literally speaking, it is Vulcan for clear water." "Rain, Bones. He is naming the world, Rain." "On Vulcan, rain is a thing of wonder, highly desired, and on Earth, farm-boys are taught to come in out of it," Spock elaborated. "Spock, I believe you are becoming a poet in your old age." McCoy kidded him. "Next thing you know, you'll smile and then I'll have a stroke." "If only I could be assured of that outcome, Doctor." Kirk chuckled, "Calm down you two. I'm going back to the surface." "I will join you," Spock responded. "There is nothing for me to do down here for the moment and I would like to check on the results of the computer search through the alien ship's records." McCoy grunted and they all three trudged to the surface. When they reached the entry cave it was raining, a gentle downpour, but rain nonetheless. Kirk continued out of the cave and walked to the middle of the plateau. He stood silently in the rain and then held his arms out to his sides and slowly began to turn around. McCoy and Spock watched in silence from the cave entrance. Finally, he turned his face up to the sky and let the rain run into his mouth and over its sides, to cascade down his chest. Distant rumbles of thunder sounded from behind them and during one especially loud one Kirk opened his mouth and screamed, as loud as McCoy had ever heard him scream. It seemed to last forever, then it died out with the thunder. He lowered his head to his chest, took a deep breath and walked back to where they stood. "What the hell was that about?" McCoy asked him. "Life, and dying a few steps from paradise. I needed to do that; I feel better now. In the rain and thunder, no-one can hear you scream. It is the only time I can let go." Spock reached out and gently touched his Captain on the shoulder. "Thank-you for sharing with us." Kirk looked up at Spock and for a moment McCoy felt absolutely alone. Then Kirk shrugged, breaking the spell, and spoke to both of them. "This is the real me. Let me know when you want off the ride." "Damn, Jim, and miss all the fun?" McCoy joked to break the mood. Kirk turned to him and smiled. The smile, free for a minute from the restraints he usually placed on himself, lit up his entire face. McCoy couldn't stop his answering grin if he had wanted to. He turned to look at them both, then looked out into the rain. "It's still raining, and I'm wet. Let's go home." He walked out into the rain and flipped open his communicator. They joined him on either side and disappeared into motes of light. --- The End