AURORA ASCENDING                 

It hungered. It sensed distant tantalizing beacons of energy in the blackness that it identified as sustenance. Turning inward, it activated sensory units and examined the spectrum of surrounding energy too weak to feed its hunger.  It extended magnetic nets to ensnare approaching energy sources. Realizing it was wasting precious reserves, it shut down unnecessary systems to wait. Dimly it remembered executing such programs before, waiting and feasting, waiting and feasting.

They played.  Across uncounted light years and through a hundred worlds' credit reserves, they played.  The games changed, the players moved on, but the play continued.  Their ship, the Golden Regina, slid smoothly between the empty spaces that separated planetary systems, pausing occasionally for essentials and frequently for luxuries.

The current owner of the fabulous yacht was Sabinyo Manning, a man born of dark rumors and sensational press releases.  Tall and attractive, with a gaudy taste in attire and an even more colorful taste in companions, Sabinyo was a popular figure with the Subspace News and Entertainment Service, which kept the galaxy informed about his romantic interests, extravagant life-style, and questionable business practices.  As the fifteenth richest man in the Federation, he rarely made personal decisions concerning his money; countless aides and advisors handled his many businesses and used them to extend his power while he played.  He used and discarded friends and lovers as often as he changed hobbies, and his latest avocation was commanding a space vessel.

Sabinyo scratched his incredibly square jaw and looked around the bridge.  It appeared to be a large, overly decorated amphitheater, whose golden walls were inlaid with precious stones from a thousand worlds.  Mirrors covered the few surfaces not studded with gems.  Two giant staircases led to the owner's private suites located aft of the control room.  In the center of the large room stood an elaborate sculpture of entwined glass tubes filled with colorful circulating liquids.  Soft furniture and colorful cushions accented thick rugs and tapestries to give the impression of an opalescent robber's cave.  Spotlights shone on rare sculptures and unique holoprints; music and fragrances mingled in the air above a disinterested Sabinyo.  As always, he was bored, bored, bored.

He could hear Amber DeVine, a recent addition to his entourage, making a fuss over his expensive Auroradroid's selective clumsiness.  It was odd that the servobot seemed to spill things only on and around Miss DeVine.  Sabinyo had come to ignore the holovision starlet's dramatic outbursts of temper.  Her plastic beauty had quickly become tedious.  His gaze passed over Diens, the genetically-altered ship's controller, without registering his presence.  He was just another part of the furniture, connected as he was to the small console.  Restlessly Sabinyo looked around for his cousin.  Sinclair was always willing to make a wager, and, even though it was his own money Sabinyo won, he found it an interesting pastime.

Later, a strikingly dissimilar spaceship passed through the same quadrant enroute to Earth.  Functional and sleek, the scoutship USS Marco Polo was small in comparison with the Golden Regina.  However, it was a powerful package.  The Marco Polo was a prototype transwarp-drive ship capable of crossing the galaxy at improbable speeds.  On the bridge of the Marco Polo, the officers were quiet but alert.  The crew rechecked equipment in preparation for engaging the transwarp drive.  Lieutenant Howard carefully monitored the experimental systems designed to propel them at multiples of normal warp speed.

"Transwarp in six minutes," she announced.  Young, blonde, and pretty, she did not fit the crusty stereotype of a ship's engineer, for which Captain Uhura was grateful.  Amanda Howard could put together transwarp drives blindfolded, something most crusty engineers were unable to do.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Uhura acknowledged with a smile.  She tried not to let the Marco Polo's return to Space Dock depress her.  As her first command, the small ship with its complement of forty crewmen had a special place in her heart.  The mission on Nataka Ru, a surprisingly complacent Klingon colony, had been lengthy--she could use some rest and recreation, but she preferred a starbase far from Earth where there was a chance she'd remain as the Marco Polo's captain.  Returning to Space Dock could very well put her behind a desk again until Admiral Kirk got her another deep space assignment.  "Estimated time to Space Dock?" She refused to sound as tired as she felt.

"Thirty-six hours," responded Ensign T'Challa, the helmsman of the newest ship in Star Fleet's registry.  He was cool and capable, and, except for an aloofness that kept the rest of the crew at a distance, was an excellent officer.

"I wonder why we're suddenly due a maintenance check at home base," mused her first officer, Commander Jonathan Grayhawk.  Not receiving an immediate reply, he answered his own question.  "They're afraid that with the recent disappearances of spacers around here, their pride and joy will turn up missing." Uhura agreed with her tall dark Amerindian friend.  Recently, several small ships had been reported missing in the quadrant, and the disappearance of an experimental transwarp-capable scoutship such as the Marco Polo would be a great loss.  She wished she could investigate.  Perhaps after the maintenance check...

"Captain!" Lieutenant "Mr. Adventure" Heisenberg called from his communications console.  "We're receiving a distress signal on all channels."

"Location?"

After a moment of manipulating the controls to tie in with the helm sensors, he reported.  "Close, probably within the Epsilon system ahead."

Despite his evident youth, Heisenberg was highly competent, and his establishing a general direction was enough for ex-communications officer Uhura to proceed.

"Change course," she instructed, and T'Challa entered the new coordinates.  "Feed in the exact coordinates as soon as you get them." Without pausing for breath, she palmed the communication panel on the arm of her chair and opened a channel to sickbay.

"Dr. Chapel to the bridge." The more Christine knew about the emergency, the better prepared she would be.  Uhura's experiences on board the Enterprise had taught her the importance of having a medical advisor in attendance to assist in directing rescue operations.

“It's the Golden Regina, a private vessel," reported Heisenberg.  He routed the fuzzy incoming signal to the main screen.  A severe-looking brunette woman was speaking calmly and forcefully.  The image was unusually broken up by magnetic disturbance, but Lieutenant Heisenberg boosted the power until her message became clear.

"This is the Golden Regina with an all-band distress code for any vessel.  We are caught in a magnetic storm emanating from Epsilon VII, and we cannot pull free.  Mr. Sabinyo Manning is on board.  A substantial reward for any--" The signal faded, but T'Challa indicated that he had the location.

Shades of the Kobayashi Maru, sighed Uhura.  Thank heavens they weren't anywhere near the Neutral Zone.  Grayhawk fed background information from the ship's computer onto the screen.  Everyone stared when a picture of the splendid yacht and the printout of its operating parameters appeared on the main screen.  It seemed to be made of gold and ivory, a clever and expensive visual effect, thought Uhura.  Relatively weak in power, it was designed for appearance, with disregard for speed and defense.  Staffed by a small crew, it was all facade; its spaciousness was a symbol of the owner's tremendous wealth.

"Put that on my Christmas list!" exclaimed Lieutenant Heisenberg.

Most of the command crew smiled and nodded in agreement.

T’Challa overrode the file tape to bring the approaching Epsilon system onto the screen.  Heisenberg shut off the warning beacons' tirade as the Marco Polo went into orbit around Epsilon VII.  "THIS IS A HIGHLY DANGEROUS SYSTEM.  ALL SHIPS--"

The Golden Regina was even more impressive up close.  It hung gracefully in orbit, bright as a Dumleri star and fragile as a Xenian crystal.  Cautiously, the Marco Polo maneuvered within range of the planet's magnetic fluctuations.  Careful coordination between the ship's sensors and the helm kept the Marco Polo out of the danger zone.

Epsilon VII produced magnetic storms similar to a sun's solar storms, and ships were warned of the danger by beacons located at the edge of the solar system.  Uhura didn't understand how the Golden Regina could have accidentally wandered into trouble.

"Open a hailing frequency," she told Heisenberg.  "This is Captain Uhura of the USS Marco Polo.  State the nature of your emergency.  Are there any casualties?" She asked that for the benefit of Dr. Chapel who had just arrived on the bridge.

After a lengthy pause, a blond man with a thin face appeared on the screen.  "Thank the thirty gods!" He smiled in obvious relief.  "This stinking planet has us pinned, Captain.  We have no damage and no injuries yet, but our orbit is steadily decaying."

"Understood, Regina," said Uhura.  "Please stand by." She turned to Grayhawk and her crew for counsel.

“The tractor beams couldn't hold her," the first officer informed her.  "She masses too much for us; about all we could do is nudge her a little to heighten her orbit and let her pull herself out of the magnetic field."

“An accelerated flyby could shift the Regina enough," offered Lieutenant Howard from her engineering station.

"Or get us caught as well," Dr. Chapel said.

Uhura decided they had no other choice.  "Prepare for flyby, Mr. T'Challa," she instructed.  "Warp three." She watched as he shifted their orbit from a parallel to an intersecting one.

The speedy Marco Polo was designed to investigate new systems, planets, and lifeforms.  It was not meant to tug vessels three times larger.  With an aerodynamic saucer, similar in appearance to the top disc of a cruiser, it was capable of planetary landing, if necessary, and transwarp speed on demand.  Uhura considered her hasty plan of action as her ship approached  the yacht at warp three.  There could be structural damage to both ships, they could get snagged by the planet's magnetic grip, or they might have no effect on the trapped ship at all.  She wondered how Captain Kirk had always made handling life and death situations seem so effortless.

At their speed they were abreast of the Regina almost immediately and beyond a split second afterward.  The scoutship rocked hard to port and sent crewmen clambering for more secure handholds.

T'Challa announced the good news.  "The Regina is increasing its orbit!"

"We have no damage," Howard added.

"Very smooth, Captain," complimented Dr. Chapel.  "But next time, call me to the bridge after it's over, all right?" Uhura smiled.   Actually, Christine had been spending more time on the bridge.  With the small number of crewmen on board and the rare incidence of disease or accidents, the ship's doctor found herself filling in occasionally as the science officer.  Initially trained as an astrobiologist, the transition from sickbay to bridge had not been a difficult one for her.  Uhura was grateful for her expertise and her companionship.  Chapel smiled in response and walked over to the science station to begin her own systems checks.

The viewscreen lit to reveal a handsome face, tanned by a hundred suns and animated with a dangerous charm.  "Captain Uhura, I am Sabinyo Manning of the Golden Regina." He paused as if expecting some reaction, but seeing none he continued.  "I'd like to thank you personally for your timely rescue."

Uhura, possessing a certain amount of charm herself, smiled coolly at the wealthy shipowner.  "I am curious to see how you and your ship got into this situation, Mr. Manning.  Stand by for boarding party in three minutes."

Within the allotted time, Captain Uhura, Commander Grayhawk, and Lieutenant Howard materialized in the huge control room of the Regina.  Uhura was intrigued at the colorful band of travelers gathered there.  In addition to the charismatic Mr. Manning, there was the blond man they had spoken to earlier.  His rich clothes and haughty manner marked him as Manning's equal and not a flunky.  The Siren bodyguard, the brunette who had sent the distress signal, openly regarded the armed landing party as a potential threat to her employer.  Uhura was familiar with the legendary Sirens: women trained from birth to be fierce fighting machines and daring protectors.  The Siren's black costume with leopard trim indicated her status as a veteran, experienced in battle, and skilled in self-defense.  Beside Manning stood a beautiful woman with lilac-colored hair and matching facial stripes.  Her vogue appearance and clinging manner indicated she was Manning's latest plaything, although he seemed to be ignoring her.

Two of his entourage demanded more than casual attention.  A cyborg controller sat in a padded chair at one end of the large room.  His eyes were closed, and electrical cables connected inputs around his throat to various pieces of machinery.  His head was misshapen with bionic implants, his eyes were external sensors, and his mind activated the warp engines.  The large vessel was piloted by the controller's electronically enhanced abilities; without him, the ship had to be navigated manually.  He was the ship as long as he was plugged into it.

Altered controllers were banned on most worlds, and the Federation itself frowned upon the practice in the name of sentient beings' rights.  Uhura felt Manning's affluence had salved many a guilty conscience in securing the controller's employment.

The other fascinating member of Manning's crew was an expensive Auroradroid. Uhura was familiar with the Aurora fairy tale.  Supposedly, a terminally ill actress in the twentieth century had authorized her brain to be encased in an android body and used to pilot one of the first colony ships out of Earth's solar system.  Over the centuries, her subsequent deeds had become colored by legends, and several classic holofilms depicted the almost indestructible android rising from the ashes of apparent destruction to begin another fantastic adventure.  It had been several decades since any new tales of the beautiful silvery android surfaced, but shrewd manufacturers continued to build skilled servobots in her image.  The first Aurora had been constructed of titanium and platinum.  This one was probably composed of a trillium and plastic combination with platinum plating.

Of the group, Uhura found herself most intrigued by Sabinyo Manning.  She was reminded of a dashing swashbuckler swinging on a rope with a dagger between his teeth.  His dark eyes sparkled, and his red and purple robes made his mane of curly hair seem as black as space itself.  She wasn't surprised to see a gold ring in his ear lobe.  He approached her, took her hand, and kissed it gently.

"You have my undying gratitude, Captain, and my apologies for placing my rescuers in a dangerous situation.  However, had I known I would be rescued by such a beautiful representative of Star Fleet, I would have traveled to Epsilon VII sooner." Uhura considered herself completely in control as she accepted his thanks, objectively observing his bearing and behavior.  She didn't realize he hadn't given her back her hand.

"It was my fault," the blond said.  "I dared him to see how close he could get before the magnetic flares got him.  He lost." Uhura felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck as she understood what he meant.  She removed her hand deliberately.

"You jeopardized my crew and my ship for a game?" She was incredulous.  How dare they!  She found herself attempting to maintain control as she took a step forward.  Suddenly the Siren bodyguard leaped at her.  She had read the fury behind Uhura's actions and wasn't taking chances.  The trained killer never reached her target.  Two hundred and fifty pounds of muscle known as First Officer Grayhawk became an effective wall between Uhura and the now-sprawling Siren.

"Stop!" Manning stepped between them before the Siren could regain her feet.  Grayhawk scowled, and Howard placed her hand on her phaser.  Both actions had the same result: paralysis on the part of the rest of the Regina crew.

Suddenly the Siren was on her feet and in Grayhawk's face.  "Interfere with me again, red man," she hissed through clenched teeth, "and you shall taste death." She bared steel nails at him, but he stood his ground and calmly crossed his thick arms.

"We shall see, little one.  We shall see." 

"Mr. Manning," Uhura said with forced composure, a report of this distress signal and its irresponsible cause will be made to Star Fleet." She raised her communicator.  "Mr. Heisenberg, prepare to beam us--" She never finished her instruction.  As the Golden Regina began to rock violently, its crew members became entangled in the colorful trappings, and even the experienced ones from the Marco Polo had difficulty keeping their balance.  The massive liquid-encased sculpture teetered on its base, toppled and fell over, sending streams of liquid and shards of glass everywhere.  Uhura, standing in an unfortunate spot, was doused with several colors of whatever sticky stuff had filled the sculpture.  She rubbed a palm down her soggy tunic and spoke again into her communicator.  "What was that?"

Mr. Heisenberg's voice came back.  "Magnetic flare directly below us, Captain.  You'd better come back aboard."

Within minutes she and the others were on their way to the bridge from the Marco Polo's transporter.  "Status," she called as she took her seat.

"Ship systems operational but affected by magnetic disturbance," Ensign Chang reported as he relinquished his chair to Lieutenant Howard.

"Same with communications," Heisenberg informed her.

"Get us out of here, Mr. T'Challa," she ordered, but it was soon obvious his efforts wouldn't succeed.

He frantically ran overrides on his helm control, but the magnetic forces were too strong for the small ship.  The view-screen revealed that the Regina was having similar difficulties.  "Captain," T'Challa said, "we're in some type of magnetic bubble, a force field generated from the planet and holding both ships."

“The magnetic beam is extremely powerful, Captain," added Chapel from the science station.  "I can pinpoint the source on the surface below." Christine looked up from her monitors to see the look of determination and purpose on Uhura's face.  Gone were the traces of fatigue and depression she had noted earlier.

“We don't have the power to break free," determined Lieutenant Howard.

"Get me Manning," Uhura spoke to her comminations officer.  "Inform Star Fleet and prepare to launch record buoy." Heisenberg got to work without comment, and soon the features of Mr. Manning appeared on the main viewscreen.  "Mr. Manning," she began, "if we are to get out of' here, we will have to do it together."

Before he had an opportunity to reply, Lieutenant Howard spoke again.  "Captain!  The Marco Polo is being pulled into the planet's atmosphere."

"Full power," Uhura commanded the helm.  Mr. T’Challa valiantly tried to force the scoutship through the invisible globe that surrounded it but succeeded only in overheating the ship's engines.  Uhura ordered the engines shut down and turned to the waiting Mr. Manning.  She noted signs of apprehension in the dark eyes.  Another good-looking man with an ego directly proportionate to his bank account, she decided with a sigh.  "Together?" she repeated.  He nodded in agreement.

“I shall send the android over with our controller's telemetry tapes." He tried to smile, but Uhura had already broken the connection.

"Christine," Uhura turned to her new science officer.  "How long until we reach the atmosphere at our current rate of descent?"

"Approximately one and a half hours."

Grayhawk examined the split screen with its view of the Regina and the planet.  "We will probably survive the reentry; however, the Regina doesn't stand a chance."

On the planet's surface, automatic tractors activated subterranean alarms, and an ancient hunger began to awaken. Still too weak to drag the vessels close enough to completely drain their magnetic energy, it slowly leached precious energy reserves from the distant ships.

As promised, the Auroradroid, accompanied by Mr. Sinclair, arrived on the Marco Polo to deliver the telemetry data and coordinate a joint escape attempt.  Uhura hoped that the combined power of the two ships could break them out of the force field in time.  Impatient, but too disciplined to interfere as her capable engineer briefed Sinclair, Uhura accepted the tapes from the android and passed them on to Chapel for review.  Perhaps the Regina had obtained additional information--it was unlikely, but the captain wasn't going to pass up any possibilities.

The Auroradroid standing complacently beside the command chair drew her attention.  It was almost painful to look at, completely coated in highly reflective platinum alloy.  It had eyes without pupils and long flowing hair, each strand a slender wire.  Uhura knew that under the supple and smooth artificial skin worked micromotors and fluid pumps, but she was finding it difficult to consider the humanoid a simple machine.

"Thank you," she told the servobot.  The Auroradroid looked at her oddly as if hearing an unfamiliar term.  "You're welcome," it replied in a surprisingly deep, rich voice.  Of the few Auroradroids Uhura had seen, this one was the most perfectly made.

Dismissing the robot, Uhura checked the time and excused herself from the bridge.  The unknown liquids from Sabinyo's sculpture were becoming odorous.  She needed to shower and change and didn't know when she'd get the opportunity again.  Noting that Lieutenant Howard and Mr. Sinclair had already left for the engineering section, she left the con in Mr. Grayhawk's experienced hands.  She didn't notice the android following her until she reached the door to her quarters.

"Yes?" she asked as the robot followed her into her cabin.

"Captain, Mr. Manning requests the pleasure of your company at dinner this evening after this situation has been corrected." The captain smiled at Manning's optimism and accepted the invitation.  She dismissed the android again, but as it turned to leave it passed the video cube Uhura kept on her desk.  Innocently, the Auroradroid picked it up and cocked its head in puzzlement as the sounds of a Vulcan lyre floated through the cabin.  Mr. Spock, in miniature, sat within the cube and softly plucked the strings of the ancient instrument.

"What is this?" inquired the android, silver eyes watching the lifelike recording.

"A memory cube," Uhura answered while she removed her tunic.  "It contains pictures of my friends and family aboard the USS Enterprise.  Each of them placed a personal message on this cube for my birthday one year."

The android continued to listen to the soft music, staring at the cube intently as if seeking the answer to an unspoken question.  "It is very beautiful." Uhura was puzzled; she hadn't realized androids could be programmed for music appreciation.  Luckily it had not picked up the cube with Captain Kirk's message on top.  It's not easy explaining dirty limericks to a machine.

The Auroradroid continued to listen to the recording for a time and, when Mr. Spock finished the piece, returned the cube to its proper place.  As it did, the picture of the USS Enterprise came into view.  "This one is not 'friends or family,"' it said looking at the big cruiser.

"Yes, it is," Uhura laughed.  "That's the best friend I ever had and an old member of the family."

"But it is a machine,” wondered the android. “Machines are not 'friends or family."'

"This one was." Uhura was sincere in her description.  “It may have looked like just another cruiser, but to me, it was the best part of my life.  So far," she added with a smile.  She had been undressing during the conversation and stood in her robe ready for her shower.

The android snapped out of its reverie and asked if the captain had any further messages.  Saying that she did not, Uhura offered her unusual guest a tape of Vulcan music.  She explained that she didn't own one of the rare Vulcan lyres, but she did have a great tape library.  The android declined the offer but thanked her for the consideration.  Uhura was still shaking her head when the android left. What will they think of next in robotics? she pondered.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Howard had decided that Sinclair was a fair engineer, but as a human being he was definitely substandard.  He seemed to believe himself irresistible and her just another opportunity for conquest.  Lieutenant Howard had informed him otherwise after he'd placed a comradely arm around her for the third time.  In spite of his obvious conceit, he did know the capabilities of the Golden Regina and was openly impressed with the Marco Polo's transwarp drive.  Lieutenant Howard tried to keep him out of classified areas, but somehow he managed to keep working his way back to the experimental drive.  Having completed their plans for a joint escape attempt, she tried to lead the way back up to the bridge. 

As she entered the corridor, Sinclair put his arm in front of her.  "What's the hurry, Lieutenant?" He smiled as he spoke.  "We've got plenty of time to get to know each other."

"Mister," she said slowly, "if you don't want to lose that arm, you'd better move it." He didn't.  He just kept smiling his smug smile.  Expertly she reached out and applied pressure to the back of the elbow joint.  With her left leg, she kicked his supporting leg from under him and took his entire weight on one elbow.  She released the arm before it snapped and let him fall to the floor with a look of amazement on his face.

"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked, clutching his elbow with a grimace of pain.  It would be numb for an hour or so.

"It's just something my little brother taught me," she said as she smiled and continued down the corridor to the elevator.

"I want it." Sabinyo turned from the tiny viewscreen to his assembled crew.  The Siren and the others were clustered around him like the ardent followers he wished them to be.  Diens had disconnected from the stabilized ship and joined in the planning session.

"It's an incredible ship," agreed Sinclair.  He'd been very impressed with what he'd seen of the transwarp drive.  "You could go from here to the casinos on Tralfalmador in two days, the dragon races on Pern in a week."

Manning was obviously swayed by his cousin's grand scheme.  It was incomprehensible to him that Star Fleet should have something he couldn't buy.  Sinclair grinned at his greedy cousin.

"What about the crew?" The Siren's voice sounded eager.

"We'll convince them of the sensibility of relinquishing their vessel to us.  Otherwise, we'll let them rot in this magnetic field." Sinclair seemed to find the idea appealing.

"Hopefully it won't require such drastic measures." Sabinyo smiled as he thought of the effect of his charm on the unsuspecting captain.  At the very least she would be inconvenienced for a time.

"Beautiful," gasped Diens, resting uncomfortably on his divan.  His voice startled several of the crew who had never heard him speak.  He looked weaker than usual.  The plight of the Regina was beginning to affect him physically.

"What?" Manning asked dramatically.

"Polo …beautiful." As if using up the last of his feeble energy, he closed his eyes and sagged into the cushions.

Sinclair turned to Sabinyo.  "I'll handle the details.  You just take care of that captain and the rest of her bloody crew.  I've installed a little insurance in the warp drive equipment just in case."

On the planet's surface, a series of relays burnt out as the magneforce recognized a small but strong magnetic field two hundred miles above it.  No one noticed the look of surprise on the android's face as she felt a familiar distortion in the magnetic stream surrounding them.

Uhura returned to the bridge to find that Mr. Sinclair and the Auroradroid had departed.  Lieutenant Howard had all the systems reset for the escape attempt, and Lieutenant Heisenberg had Mr. Manning on the line.

"Captain," Manning began as soon as she appeared on his viewscreen.  "Mr. Sinclair has told me what our two ships must do, and we are prepared."

Uhura looked at each of her officers before committing herself.  "We are ready," she said.  "On my command, we will lock our tractor beam onto you and engage our warp drives simultaneously.  Both ships' deflector shields pressing against a small area of the field should break us free.  A projected course has been laid in and transmitted to your controller.  Are you ready?"

"Whenever you are, Captain."

Once more she looked around the tense bridge.  "Lock on tractor beam."  Commander Grayhawk, sitting at the ship's defense station, affirmed the lock, and Lieutenant Howard monitored the stress and power levels of the ship.

"Half ahead!" Uhura commanded, and Mr. T'Challa engaged the warp drive.  If the ship moved at all against the invisible wall, it wasn't evident to the crew of the Marco Polo.  The tractor beam was holding, but the Golden Regina was showing stress damage.

"Full power," she instructed.  The sensors revealed the Regina's main engines were on full thrust, but even the combined power of both ships pressing against a section of the bubble was not enough to break through.  "Descent is slowing!" Chapel announced.  "Warp three thrust with no effect," said T'Challa.

"Engines overheating," added Howard.  Heisenberg relayed the Regina's similar condition.

"Stop engines," Uhura commanded finally.  "Status reports."

"The force field is still intact; however, we are no longer being pulled toward the planet's surface," Chapel informed her.

“All decks green," Heisenberg reported.

"Our ship's systems are within normal limits," submitted Howard.

"The Regina reports it is losing air pressure," said Lieutenant Heisenberg.

"Tell Mr. Manning to have his crew stand by for transfer," instructed Uhura.

"Aye, aye, Captain." He turned to his console to contact the transporter chief and the Regina crew.  For a lengthy minute, Uhura and the rest of the bridge crew watched the main screen's view of the other ship.  Evidently, the Regina's automatic maintenance systems were not functioning.  Miss DeVine, Sabinyo, and the Auroradroid beamed over first, followed closely by the Siren, Sinclair, and the sagging controller.  Two more teams of technicians arrived, completing the evacuation of the Regina staff.  Commander Grayhawk was waiting for them with a security detail when they arrived.  He led them to their quarters and left instructions that no one was to move about the ship without an escort.  The Siren made evident her desire to rip his throat out, and he departed quickly.

"The crew of the Regina is stowed," he reported as he entered the bridge. "I've put Rogers and Booth on security detail."

"Very good, Mr. Grayhawk." She tried not to smile at his choice of verb.  She didn't expect them to be cooperative; she just wanted them to stay out of her way.

Their situation seemed hopeless.  An invisible force globe trapped the Marco Polo and they had to get free before whatever had trapped them resumed its attack.  Time was against them, but time was their only hope.  Perhaps the magnetic force was the last dwindling defense of an ancient civilization.  Perhaps they would be able to pull free on their next orbit.  All they could do was wait until the planet made its next move.  Their planning session was interrupted by a call from the crews' quarters.

"Captain Uhura here." Her voice was cool and confident in spite of her exhaustion.

"Captain, this is Sabinyo Manning requesting permission to come up to meet with you to discuss our next plan of attack."

"Of course, Mr. Manning.  One of the escorts will take you to the conference room.  I'll meet you there."

The lighting was subdued, the music soft and intimate.  The candles on the small table cast warm shadows upon the two quiet diners.  Uhura's smile lit the room, and Sabinyo responded with equal magnitude.  Their conference room interview had moved on to her quarters, and as their glasses clinked, the conversation progressed in feints and parries.

"A moment's respite."  Sabinyo raised his Brandywine glass in salute.  "How calm you are, Captain."

"Everyone has a way to relieve tension, Mr. Manning." Uhura lifted her sculptured chin and successfully stifled another yawn.  She had switched from her uniform to a flowing robe that wrapped around her suggestively.  Her motive was to discover as much as she could about the legendary man and his colorful crew.

"How like this Brandywine you are, Captain." He swirled the liquid around in his glass.  "Dark and warm and full of fire."

"And how like a holovision advertisement you are, Mr. Manning.  Slick and sly and full of--" She stopped herself with another smile.  He laughed and summoned the Auroradroid to clear the table.

The shimmering robot entered the room but did not place their dishes in the disposal chute.  Sabinyo stared at the android.  "It gets more unreliable the longer we remain in this godforsaken place," he told Uhura.  "Are you functional, robot?"

"Yes."  The robot seemed confused.  "No."  It turned to Uhura with a puzzled look on its face.  "We must go to the planet's surface."  Both Uhura and Manning were momentarily stunned by the android's sudden independence. Curiouser and curiouser, thought Uhura.

"I have been in contact with the source of the magnetic disturbance," explained the android.  "It is a machine intelligence with which I am familiar."

Uhura stood up.  "If the android is in touch with the creator of the force beam, it could be useful in stopping the attack on my ship."

"You will beam down with the Captain," Sabinyo told the android.

"Both of us will beam down with the captain," the android told him and turned and left the room.

"If you'll excuse me, Mr. Manning," Uhura said to the bewildered man.  “Perhaps we can conclude this some other time."  She flashed her warmest smile (touched with the barest hint of regret) and held out her hand.  He brushed it with his lips and departed.

What a slime worm, sighed Uhura.

Putty in my hands, thought Sabinyo.

The threesome regrouped in the transporter room after Uhura had turned the con over to Mr. Grayhawk.  He did not like her beaming down with two potential enemies, but the Auroradroid would not permit any other members of the crew to join them.  Uhura wore an issue phaser, and Sabinyo carried a single disrupter, a small compromise that Grayhawk could not refuse.  With the possibility that the transporter would not be able to beam them back aboard due to the increasing occurrence of magnetic upheavals, he could not send the man down unarmed.

Uhura saw the familiar scene of the transporter room replaced by the strange shapes of what she thought was a city--a series of spires and domes, silver and blue and black.  It seemed empty, and Uhura's tricorder reflected no lifeforms within a kilometer.  The source of the magnetic disturbance was nearby; but when she turned to the Auroradroid for information, she was stunned at the android's transformation.

Gone was the rigid, expressionless machine, and in its place stood a vibrant woman with silver skin and a flowing mane of hair.  The eyes twinkled, the sleek body struck a natural pose, and the expression on her face was one of blissful satisfaction.  She laughed.  "Thank you," she told Uhura and the city.  "It has been too long."

"What has been too long7" Uhura inquired.  Suddenly the cause of the android's previously incongruous behavior became crystal clear.  Uhura stared at her.

"I had forgotten so much," the android said.  Her eyes were wide with wonder, and she turned slowly and gazed at the splendid structures around her.  A smile came easily to her lips.

"Aurora." Uhura said the name slowly, identifying her.

Yes.  Aurora." She fluffed her platinum hair and raised her arms wide.  "Isn't it lovely?  I built it as an architectural experiment and sanctuary." She paused and touched slender fingers to a temple suddenly creased with pain.  "There was an accident." She frowned as the recollection disturbed her. “I forgot where I was, who I was."  She turned to the surprised Mr. Manning.

"Hi, boss.  Never realized what a bargain you were getting, did you?  The one and only Aurora prototype! I feel sorry for you.  You have neither purpose nor satisfaction in your life.  And I thought I had outlived my usefulness."  She laughed suddenly and Uhura got a glimpse of what she must have been like when totally human.

"What about my ship7" Uhura asked.

“The city has malfunctioned during my absence.  Something has disrupted Computer Prime, which controls the city.  I must correct the disturbance at the key terminal." A ground shock wave suddenly hit them and knocked them off their feet.  Cautiously they stood, anticipating another upheaval.

"The city knows I'm here," explained Aurora.  "It will use its ground defenses to keep me from the key terminal.  Let's go." The landing party followed her between a row of buildings.

"That can't be the original Aurora," Sabinyo whispered to Uhura as they walked with weapons drawn.

"I don't see any reason to believe otherwise," she replied.  "And she's looking pretty good for a lady who's three centuries old." “But on board the ship," he still doubted the evidence before him, “she was so...”  He stopped, lacking the proper word.

"Servantile," supplied Aurora.  She shrugged.  "I was damaged.  I suspect my memory cells are still not functioning correctly, but all that will be repaired if we make it to the terminal."

"How far?" Uhura asked the swiftly moving android.  Another violent quake preceded Aurora's answer.

"Not far," she answered from a prone position.  "But the robot maintenance crew should be onto us pretty soon."

“Robot maintenance crew?" Manning repeated.  He was still stunned by the sudden emergence of the Aurora personality.  His perfect bought-and-paid-for world wasn't as predictable as it should have been.  For the last several months he had owned a legend and never even known it.  He felt annoyed and a little helpless.

"Mr. Grayhawk!" Heisenberg called to the commander.  "Security reports problems with the Regina crew."

"The menu doesn't appeal to them?" Grayhawk asked sourly.

"Among other things," Heisenberg answered sheepishly. "Mr. Sinclair is accusing Captain Uhura of kidnapping his cousin."

"Take the con, Lieutenant Howard," the large man instructed as he headed for the elevator.  He strode down the hallway, trying to control his rising anger.  With both the ship and the captain in danger, he didn't need to waste time being a polite babysitter.  As he entered the corridor to the crew's quarters, he understood the security guards' complaints.  Sinclair's demands could be heard above the din.  The Siren was screeching, the actress was whining, and the cyborg--

The first officer ignored the rest in getting to the thin form on the couch.  There was no discernible life in the small figure as he picked Diens up and cradled him in his thick arms.  Evidently the struggle to free the Regina had damaged its already fragile controller.  The complaints stopped as the others saw the fury on his face.  "I'll be in sickbay," he thundered.

Dr. Chapel asked no questions when she saw Grayhawk's burden.  She quickly activated a life-support bed, and Grayhawk laid his charge gently onto the gray material.  It was hard to believe that the pile of dry skin and thin bones was a man.

"Pulse weak and thready," Chapel informed him as she connected tubes and probes.  "Massive internal hemorrhaging," she stated a moment later.  Her crisp bedside manner momentarily slipped.  "God, I don't know how he's still alive." The little man opened his watery eyes and looked at Grayhawk imploringly.

"He's trying to talk," Grayhawk told Chapel.

"Please relax," Christine soothed her restless patient.  His struggles increased, and she watched the indicators above his head dip even lower.

"Whatever it is," Grayhawk decided, "it's very important to him."  He took a feeble hand in his own and gave the dying man his support.

"Can you help him?" He looked at Christine.

"I'm afraid not, and a stimulant to enable him to talk would just shorten the little time he has left."

“He's dying already." Grayhawk looked down at the spirit struggling within the frail form.  "Let him keep his dignity.  Give him his last words." Christine considered the weakening patient before she reached for the hypo and administered it.  Diens stopped struggling, and some color returned to his sallow cheeks.  Grayhawk bent closer to catch what he was trying to say.

"Ship…"he gasped, squeezing Grayhawk's massive fist.  “in danger.  Bomb in warp…drive.  Sinclair..."  Diens fought to get the words out.  Suddenly he released his grip and whispered something Christine couldn't make out.  When Grayhawk straightened up, she didn't need the blank indicators to tell her that Diens was dead.

"What did he say?" she asked gently.

“'He said-- He said the Polo was beautiful." Jonathan pressed the dead man's eyelids closed and walked slowly from the room.

The avenue was long, wide, and strangely claustrophobic.  Stark buildings without apparent entrances towered, shining and bright, above them.  The street's surface was spotless, as pain-fully sterile as the rest of the city.  No people lived here.  This was a city built by machines for machines.  It was beauti-ful, but the beauty was the type one appreciated more from afar.

“We must be more careful from here on," Aurora warned as the three walked abreast down the avenue.  She scowled at the bright, functional surroundings.  "Something has gone terribly wrong."

"Wrong?” prompted Uhura.

Aurora looked at her with a confused expression on her molded face.  “I left trees, gardens, and animals with instructions for their continued survival.  Someone or something has deleted those instructions from the Computer Prime program."

"Someone--," began Sabinyo, raising his disrupter.

“Or something," finished Uhura, copying his defensive posture.  The three of them continued toward Computer Prime's key terminal where the resurrected Aurora would either repair her errant city or shut it down completely.

Aurora stopped suddenly and motioned them into a small passageway.  Before Uhura or Manning could question her actions, a roar shattered the city's silence.  A massive roller hurtled down the street at incredible speed and disappeared just as rapidly.

"What was that?" Sabinyo exclaimed.  He was pressed against a gleaming wall.

"A street cleaner," Aurora answered smugly.  "All the major streets have them.  I couldn't take the chance on its protection circuits being reprogrammed, too." She turned down the alley with an odd smile at the shaken Sabinyo.  Uhura suspected Aurora was enjoying teasing her former boss and followed her with increased respect.

They entered an eight-sided courtyard with several passageways connected to it.  Uhura thought the entrances unusually dark for the city of light.

"Down!" Uhura ordered as she threw herself to the ground.  She had her phaser out when the second electron beam sliced through the air above her head.  Firing at the beam's source, she rolled to the side.  Aurora and Sabinyo evaded the blue beams while Sabinyo fired indiscriminately.  When all three of them were back in the passage, the firing stopped.

"Automatic defenses?" Uhura asked Aurora.

"Yes,” she confirmed.  "Probably protecting the remote terminals of Computer Prime."

"Great," decided Sabinyo.  "Is there a back door to this Computer Prime key terminal?"

They continued their journey, making detours as necessary around those areas Aurora designated as remote terminals.  She had the basic city layout in her considerable memory; however, it was evident the city she had built was not the city to which she had returned.

Uhura marveled at the change in Aurora.  She was humorous, friendly, and concerned for her companions.  Uhura found she liking the silver woman and hoped they survived to become friends.  Their mutual opinion of Sabinyo Manning certainly meshed; he was becoming less of an asset as their quest continued.  As Aurora's personality emerged, his seemed to recede.  He was obviously nervous and content to let Aurora take command, and it was clear that he thought retreat (and retaliation from afar) was the best course of action.

They came upon the two maintenance robots too quickly to escape detection.  The robots were shoulder-high metal cubes, and, if they had been designed for maintenance, they had had some extensive refitting.  Each displayed weapons and scanners specially designed to handle trespassers.

Uhura scrambled for cover behind a low wall.  While she and Sabinyo dodged crackling beams of energy, she saw Aurora race toward the nearest robot, her movements a blur of acceleration and evasion.  At the last minute, Aurora managed to grab a protruding scanner atop the attacker.  She perched on top of the whirling machine and expertly removed a service plate to stick her hand inside the metal box, where she groped for the central power cable and yanked it.  The robot kept moving forward but lost its armament.  Aurora was thrown against a wall.

Uhura fired repeatedly at the remaining juggernaut, but the phaser fire seemed to barely slow it down. It locked on and Sabinyo and took shots at both of them as it drew closer.  As they returned the fire, a lucky shot sheared off a metal tentacle and gave Uhura the opening she needed.

"Give me a clean shot!" she shouted at Sabinyo.  He covered her while she got into position to fire at the only opening she'd seen into the interior of the robot.  Just one shot past that armor--

Carefully she took aim and fired.  Damn!  It was getting closer.  Again she fired.

It twirled, and the phaser blast bounced off ineffectively.  The robot was almost on top of her now.  She took a deep breath, waiting for another chance.  Her final shot caught the heavy robot where its mechanical arm had been, and it exploded with a deafening roar.

Dazed, Uhura slowly regained her feet.  Her ears rang.  A sudden slam from the rear sent her toppling out of the path of Aurora's robot, but her rescuer wasn't as lucky.  Sabinyo lay under the still-marching robot with Aurora attempting to lift it off.  Uhura helped her and soon had him free, his leg bent out at an odd angle.

On her knees beside the still form, Uhura asked, "What were you doing?  Trying to be a hero?" Dark brown eyes opened and a strained smile crossed his dirty face.

"That's something I've never been, Captain." He tried to sit up.  "A hero." He fell back with his eyes shut.

Uhura examined him to the best of her ability.  Aside from the broken leg and several bad bruises, he seemed to be all right.  There was no way she could determine the presence of any internal injuries, but she didn't like his pale color.

She told Aurora, "I'm going to splint that leg.  Otherwise we'll never get him out of here."

Aurora didn't bother to recommend leaving him behind, but positioned herself where she could restrain him if need be while keeping an eye open for more maintenance robots.

"Okay, my hero," Uhura told her patient, "we'll do what we can until we get you back aboard ship." She removed his belt and made a splint for his swelling leg with pieces of maintenance robot.

"How far?" she asked Aurora, tying the bandage.

"Not far.  These robots are probably Prime's last line of defense.  But we've got to get going before more come to replace these 'damaged' ones." Uhura was momentarily surprised to see the metal woman cradling Manning's head in her lap.  It appealed to the captain's sense of irony.  Once that man had considered the android beneath his notice, and now she was a comfort in his hour of need.

"Thanks," Uhura told Sabinyo when he again opened his eyes.  “I owe you one for pushing me out of the way."

"Admit it," he replied as he struggled to sit up.  "You're crazy about me." Uhura and Aurora exchanged knowing smiles.  Together they managed to get him up and between them without hurting him too much.  Their progress was slow, but Aurora felt they were very close to the key terminal.

They entered a well-lit passageway, and Sabinyo groaned when he saw how long it was.  "Watch." Aurora touched a dull square on the wall.  Instantly a portion of the wall extended and detached itself.  It was a simple metal box with sloping sides.

"Your chariot, sir." Carefully they lowered him into the cart and joined him.

"Can Computer Prime stop this?" Uhura was concerned as they skimmed along at ever-increasing speed.

“No, it operates on each machine's magnetic field."  Aurora's hands were in contact with dull circles at the front of the cart.  'Each machine,' she had said, reminding Uhura of her true nature.  They continued in silence.

Soon the cart came to a halt and, after Sabinyo's removal, returned to the wall.  The double set of doors in front of them was the first Uhura had noted in the city.  They were large, gray, and formidable.  "This all seems too easy," worried Uhura.  There had been no evidence of other maintenance robots or automatic defenses.

"Computer Prime was not designed for excessive defense." Aurora pressed her palm against the door, but the reaction was not the one she expected.  She jerked as hot blue sparks fused her palm to the surface of the door.  She screamed as the sparks enveloped her, and she became rigid.  Uhura released Sabinyo and grabbed her new friend.  As suddenly as the sparks appeared, they vanished.  Aurora collapsed to the floor, her hand still fused to the door.  "Too easy," she repeated before the light went out in her eyes.

Uhura set her phaser on narrow beam and began to work on the door.  Carefully she separated metal from metal.  Her phaser had no effect on the door but melted the alloy of Aurora's palm just enough to detach her.  As Aurora fell to the floor, Sabinyo crawled over to help Uhura.  The android seemed intact, her palm barely damaged by its fusion with the door; however, her power reserves had been completely drained.

"What types of power does she use?" Uhura asked the android's former owner.  He didn't have to think about it.  He had actually read the owner's manual because she was an expensive novelty, impressing his friends with his in-depth knowledge.

"Magnetic, thermal, electrical, and solar," he recited.  He sat on the floor, his wounded leg held straight in front of him.

"Thermal," Uhura said, looking at the phaser in her hands.  "Get back."

She waited until Sabinyo was safely out of range before firing her phaser (on the lowest setting) at the limp form.  The phaser fire seemed to surround the figure with an orange aura.  After several minutes, Uhura stopped firing.  Waves of heat danced above the metallic form although her silver sheen remained unchanged.  Uhura hoped the door hadn't damaged Aurora's power receptor circuits.

As if in answer to Uhura's silent prayers, Aurora sat up, pushed back her hair, and smiled.  "Now I owe you one," she said.  She stood and frowned at the massive door.  "I don't think we'll be able to get through that." She turned toward Sabinyo, "and there is no back door."

"So close," Uhura mused.  Her phaser was drained, the door evidently invulnerable, but she refused to accept defeat as long as her ship was endangered and she was still alive.

"Wait," Sabinyo said.  "This may do the trick." He loosened one of his armbands and handed it to Uhura.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Antimatter transfuser," he said simply.  Uhura gasped and resisted the reflex to drop the lethal bomb.

Antimatter!  In such a small package!  Angrily she confronted him.  "And what of our one-person, one-weapon arrangement?"

"I cheated," he admitted with a smile.  "What are you going to do?  Break my leg?" Before Uhura could answer in the affirmative, Aurora stepped between them.

"How do you arm it, and how long does it take?"

"Touch the three green stones simultaneously, then the red one.  You have sixty seconds to be half a kilometer away." Aurora nodded and touched the gray square on the wall.  Uhura and Sabinyo got on board the wall cart while Aurora positioned the armband.  At Uhura's signal she pressed the correct stones, jumped into the cart, and pressed her hands to the controls.  The cart didn't move.

"What's wrong?" Uhura felt precious seconds trickle by.  "Computer Prime?"

“No," answered Aurora, "mechanical breakdown." To illustrate her point she held her palm out.  Whatever connection her palm had once made had been destroyed when it was welded to the door.  "Half power is the best we can do." As she talked, she ripped open panels and transferred wires.  The cart began to move but at a perceptibly slower speed than earlier.

"We're not going to make it." Sabinyo leaned back in the cart, pain reflected in his perfect features.  Neither of the women argued with him.  The door was still within sight.

"Come on," Uhura coaxed under her breath.

"You'd better get down, Captain," Aurora recommended, and squatted down herself.  Detonation came too soon and threw the cart against the wall.  It was pushed down the corridor on its side by the concussion of the explosion.  Only incredible acceleration kept the three passengers from being thrown free of the careening cart.  Several times it left the ground only to get slapped back down violently by successive shock waves.

"Mr. Grayhawk," T'Challa turned from the helm.  "Something's going on planetside, sir."

"What is it?" He had been concerned about Uhura's lengthy radio silence, but the sensor scans had been unable to pick up anything in the technically complex city.

"An explosion, sir, of incredible ferocity with tremors radiating a distance of ten kilometers.  Probable cause is an antimatter device."

"Are you sure?" Before T'Challa could answer, he followed his first question with another.  "Any indication of the landing party?"

"No report of Captain Uhura and the others; however, no antimatter power sources had previously been noted on the planet's surface."

More of Manning's treachery!  It had taken Lieutenant Howard and her staff an hour to find Sinclair's deadly bomb in the warp drive components.  Grayhawk's usually impassive face revealed his dislike of the man and his associates.  "Lieutenant Heisenberg, keep trying to contact Captain Uhura any way you can.  Have Dr. Chapel stand by for possible casualties." Helpless, he stared at the planet hanging innocently in front of him.

Uhura was coaxed from the darkness by a concerned voice repeating her name over and over.  She opened her eyes to see a worried android bending over her.

She smiled at Aurora and sat up.  Aside from scratches and assorted bruises, she seemed intact.  Aurora helped her to her feet, and together they pulled the cart off Sabinyo.  Miraculously, the splint had prevented any further harm to his broken leg, but a blow to the head had knocked him unconscious.

"We have to leave him," Aurora said.  "We'll only hurt him if we try to move him.  We must get to the key terminal." Uhura saw the wisdom of her words, yet she felt responsible for Sabinyo.  The door gaped open and ugly behind them, daring them to enter.

"Let's go," she said, after ensuring Sabinyo was as comfortable as possible.  Together the two women threaded their way through the rubble toward the opening.  Incredibly, one door was still in place, but large portions of the supporting wall were missing.

"That was some bracelet," noted Aurora.  Uhura agreed and found her anger at Sabinyo's treachery being replaced by her growing sense of responsibility.

Behind the massive door were more gleaming stacks of machinery.  Aurora led the way through a maze of equipment to a tower within the building.  "Captain Uhura," Aurora stopped, hands calmly on hips, "I'd like you to meet Computer Prime."

"We have to climb up there?" Uhura stared up at the hundred-foot structure bristling with flashing bits of machinery.

“No," Aurora answered.  "I have to go alone.  The key terminal is programmed to accept only my override, and the presence of a human might interfere." Before Uhura could argue, Aurora strode forward to a glass bubble that turned out to be a high-speed elevator.  Quickly it whipped Aurora to the top of a pillar, and Uhura watched her approach a lone console.

As Aurora neared the terminal, the familiar blue electricity danced across it.  Helplessly Uhura watched as the silver woman placed her undamaged palm on the console.  The blue light danced up her arm, but she did not release her hold.  Whatever had affected her before wasn't finding her an easy target the second time around.  It was apparent that Computer Prime was fighting her, striving to continue its deadly existence.  Aurora's hair whipped about her, and her body was bathed in the blue glow.  For a brief moment, Uhura considered leaping into the elevator, but she knew this was a struggle between the creator and the created.

She retreated from the increasing brightness.  Where Aurora stood, the glow had gone from sapphire blue to brilliant white, and she could no longer make out the shapes of Aurora and the terminal.  With the brightness came waves of force pushing her further from the tower.  Her communicator beeped, an oddly unfamiliar sound amid the noisy machinery.

"Captain Uhura!" Grayhawk's voice was distant and urgent.  She opened the frequency.

“Uhura here."  She had to stand behind a computer bank to resist the buffeting caused by the battle going on atop the tower.

"What's going on down there?"

"Aurora is trying to turn off the machine.  How is the ship?" The smell of burning insulation reached her.

"The magnetic fields keep appearing and disappearing.  If we move, we'll be pulled apart."

"Hold your position, Mr. Grayhawk.  This shouldn't take--" She was interrupted by a loud explosion followed by the cessation of bright light, sound, and pressure.  Smoke billowed from the tower, now a burnt-out husk.  Uhura could see the top of the tower, and it was empty.  Both the terminal and Aurora were gone, destroyed in the deadly contest.

Sadly, Uhura found her way back to the still-unconscious Sabinyo, and signaled for transporter pick-up.  She grieved for the loss of her new friend.  Hadn't Harry Mudd's androids promised her the same thing years ago?  Eternal beauty, eternal humanity.  She refused to cry.  Aurora had sacrificed herself to save the human beings and proved herself the most human of them all.

The next day she sat in her control chair closing out her captain's log.  Her minor injuries had been tended by Dr. Chapel.  Repeated scans of the city had revealed no detectable remaining energy levels.  The city was dead.  Uhura still had trouble accepting Aurora's death.  For completely groundless reasons, she hoped the spirited android had escaped.  They hadn't found a trace of the body.  Sighing, she looked around the bridge as they prepared to leave Epsilon VII for Space Dock.

She recalled her farewell to Sabinyo in sickbay before he'd been carried on board the easily repaired Regina.  He had apologized for his crew's "independent" action while he was on the planet's surface.  Uhura expressed her condolences on the loss of Diens and her appreciation of Sabinyo's help in the adventure.  Dr. Chapel had bonemelded his leg, and his skull injury would be healed by the time his leg was mended.  Neither of them mentioned Aurora.

Sabinyo had extracted a kiss for his unusually gallant behavior on the planet, but he knew their relationship was fatally one-sided.  For the first time in his affluent life, he hadn't gotten what he wanted.  Uhura gently scolded him for his unethical behavior with the bracelet and recommended that he reconsider the choice of company he kept.  He had enjoyed being a hero, and somehow his friends and his ship didn't seem as exciting as they had before he met Uhura.  He absently touched his fingertips to lips that still tasted of her parting kiss.

Dr. Chapel and Commander Grayhawk joined Uhura on the bridge as they left orbit.  The Regina hung golden above the planet for a brief moment before it, too, broke orbit and headed for Earth.

"Bad memories, Captain?" Grayhawk indicated the shiny orb in the viewscreen.  Uhura smiled at her old friend.

"No," she replied softly, watching the planet shrink in the distance.  "Just a hard lesson in humanity."

Christine looked meaningfully at Grayhawk before replying.  "Aurora achieved her goal of being the best that she could be.  That's all any of us can hope for." Grayhawk nodded.

"Amen," Uhura sagged exhaustedly in her chair.  "Ahead warp factor one, Mr. T'Challa."

The Laurenau marketplace was loud, dirty, and busy. Business as usual, Skee thought to himself happily as he surveyed the milling crowd in front of his shop.  It was too early for the gift seekers who eventually found their way to his lucrative establishment, but the twin suns of Brun and Je were mercifully distant today, and the crowd was large and agreeable.  The nearby spaceport was full of ships, and he spotted several offworlders already mingling with the produce buyers.  It was going to be a good day.  He removed his embroidered scarf and wiped his already sweaty pate.  His large black eyes narrowed suddenly, and he stopped smiling as an approaching figure caught his eye.  A tall human female swayed gracefully through the crowd, her rich rainbow robes reflecting the bright sunlight.  The crowd parted at her passing and filled the vacant spaces behind her with surprised looks of recognition and excited whispers.

Skee rushed forward with his biggest smile.  "Madame Blaise!" He bowed three times before her, indicating his high regard.  His warm welcome hid all traces of the surprise and dismay he actually felt.  He hadn't seen Beauty Blaise for several decades, not since she had disappeared after ridding Laurenau of its illegal yet widespread slave trade.  True, her splendid tent city was still maintained by family servants, but Skee had hoped her long buried beneath the Suhudan sands.  He had heard Terrans were short-lived creatures, but the beautiful woman standing before him looked as she had when she had left so abruptly years before.  Tall and tan, she looked down at him, her pale blue eyes seeming to pierce through him.  He wondered if she had discovered that he was attempting to resurrect the underground slave trade?  He began to sweat even more.

Beauty Blaise glanced at the short shopkeeper and entered his shaded store without making the customary greetings. "Mr.Skee," she said in her oddly musical voice, “I am looking for a lyre."

At first he misunderstood the Terran word and his heart sank.

"A liar, Madame?" he gulped and produced his soggy scarf.

"A Vulcan lyre." In the dim light of the shop, her beautiful skin radiated a strange glow.

Skee regained his mental balance and found his fear replaced by greed, an emotion with which he was much more familiar.  "Very expensive, very rare," he said warily.

"'Do you have one, Shopkeeper?" Beauty looked around the cluttered shop, which contained trinkets from a multitude of worlds.  He waved aside an approaching assistant and scurried toward a stuffed cabinet to withdraw an oddly shaped box.  Strategically placing himself in the sunlight, he slowly opened it.

Beauty suppressed a gasp as the opened box revealed the masterfully carved instrument cloistered within.  The body of the lyre was dark wood and very beautiful.  The sunlight made the strings look like spun gold.

"Very rare, very expensive," Skee repeated.  He didn't need a sales pitch for this treasure; its value was apparent.  He strummed the delicate strings softly, and rich music surrounded them.

“I'll take it," she said simply.  "But the price--," he began.

"I said, I'll take it.  The price is unimportant."

Wary again, Skee carefully wrapped the instrument and accepted Beauty's gold credit bar.  He couldn't decide if she was toying with him or had simply lost her mind.  He started to give the package to her, but she handed him a slip of paper.

"Send it offplanet to this address."  Without further comment (or further funds for the postage, noted Skee), she gathered her robes about her and left the shop.  He glanced at the address card she'd given him. It read:

Captain Uhura, 501-988-2921
USS Marco Polo, NXC-0001
Via Star Fleet Headquarters, Planet Earth

Skee suppressed a sob as he saw his dreams of wealth from the slave trade destroyed.  He dispatched the shop clerk to warn his associates of Blaise and Star Fleet's involvement.  With their interference, there was no hope of making the slave trade profitable.  The slaves would have to be freed and the operation stopped.

He hated the subtle way she had told him that she was aware of his plans while pretending she knew nothing.  Her purchase was an excuse to enter his shop and force him into closing down his illicit sideline.  Begrudgingly he admitted that the woman's game had earned his respect.  He couldn't seriously consider the unlikely possibility of her visit being the innocent shopping spree that it appeared, but he prepared the package for offplanet shipment anyway.  For all he knew, it could be some secret signal that all was well.

Humans, Skee cursed to himself, you just can't trust 'em.

The End                                                April 1986                                    Published in Likely Impossibilities II