The Intergalactic Highway

Author's Note: I am just doing this story for fun. I do not own Beast Wars, Star Trek, or Transformers in general, all I own are the OCs. This is just the prologue and the first chapter, but more will be coming eventually. My co-partner and I have only just begun to work out the major details that happen next. BTW, my co-partner for this story is thomasthecat from deviantart. Anyway, please let me know what you think of what is written so far!

Prologue

The colony world known simply as Jade was located on the outer fringes of space that had been explored and mapped. Jade was an M-class planet with ideal conditions for growing various forms of vegetation, and thus was designated the perfect garden planet. It already had a fair variety of native plant life, some of which was quite edible and most delicious to most humanoids.

Through years of breeding and genetic manipulation, farmers and researchers on that world managed to produce a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and edible roots and leaves that no one had thought imaginable before.

Jade was not the ideal vacation place, due to its constant rain and dampness, not to mention the high temperatures and sometimes intense humidity. But some of the plant life on that world loved those conditions, plus there were several green houses across the planet that could support other forms of plant life.

There was a settlement on the world of several thousand humans. There were a few Vulcans and a small assortment of other species’ that lived and worked there as well, but the majority of them were humans. They had homes scattered about the planet’s surface in different areas, although the main settlement was where most of the homes were located.

Everyone on this world did some form of work, whether it was independent and for their own survival, or for the purpose of providing food for other worlds in the Federation. The majority of the population worked hard to produce food for the entire settlement and for any other world that wanted to buy from their rich surplus.

The only potential turnoff for business was the fact that Jade was so remote, on the very edge of known space. However, freighters would make it a point to head out there and pay for a shipload of the fresh, rich produce. Usually it was well worth their while, for as soon as anyone in other places of the galaxy heard that a freighter had fresh produce from the Jade settlement, they couldn’t sell it off fast enough.

Unfortunately, no one had any way of knowing that someone had taken notice of Jade. Since the world was located on the very edge of space that the Federation had explored, there was not much known about the space that lay beyond. Not even the Klingons nor Romulans knew what lay beyond that world, for that area of space was past the far end of Federation territory, well out of their reach, and since they couldn’t care less about Jade, it never mattered to them.

But something was about to happen, something that no space-faring species in the Alpha Quadrant could possibly ignore.

Chapter 1

Rachel Harris sighed as she leaned forward, resting her elbows against her windowsill and pressing her forehead against the smooth, cool glass. “I am so bored,” she muttered under her breath. Although she wasn’t sure why; she’d already said that at least five times.

To most of the people who lived on Jade colony, it was a planet where you had something to do every day, and you did your work with the satisfaction and knowledge that your efforts benefited the colony and other worlds, because there was always plenty to eat.

Well, Rachel was grateful for the fact that there was plenty to eat, at least she wanted to believe she was grateful; it was quite easy to take that sort of thing for granted. But otherwise, she found this planet quite boring and dull. Oh it had been alright when she was younger; she used to love learning all about the different plants and how they grew and how to take care of them, plus she used to love learning about the local wildlife and the animals that were being gradually domesticated.

But now that she was exactly twenty-one years old, this place just didn’t seem like enough. All that anyone did on this world was tend to the massive gardens and green houses, tend to the animals, and harvest the goods in order to store some of the produce and sell the rest. Nothing ever changed, and nothing exciting ever happened.

Rachel sighed as she moved away from the window, sitting down on the edge of her bed and laying back on it, resting her head against her pillow and staring up at the ceiling. She had dreams, although she supposed that a lot of people had them at some point or other. She wanted to see other worlds, she even wanted to see what space itself was like.

She had been born on Earth, but when she was about six years old her family chose to pack up everything and move out to Jade. Why? Because they wanted a fresh start, apparently. Most of her life she had enjoyed life on Jade, although sometimes the heat and humidity were difficult to bear. Nevertheless, part of her couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like if she’d never left Earth. What if her family had stayed there, instead? Perhaps she would have more to do, or have more opportunities at least.

“That’s the problem with this place,” she grumbled as she turned over onto her side, sighing as she propped her elbow on the bed and rested her chin atop her hand. “Around here, you either have to be some sort of farmer, or there is nothing to do. I don’t want to be a farmer!”

Her family was fairly wealthy on this world, as were quite a few people who sold the produce well. She had a fair amount of credits herself, but not enough to go anywhere or be able to do much off-world. Since this planet was so remote, it would be a bit expensive just to get anywhere… especially if she wanted to get back to Earth.

Plus she was worried about what her family would think. Would they feel she was turning her back on them, on the life they’d chosen? In some ways they seemed to have their hearts set on her staying on and doing this sort of work for the rest of her life. Still she couldn’t see it happening, not unless she wanted to be bored and restless for the rest of her life.

In some ways though, she’d never been good at talking to people about what was on her mind. She was a private individual by nature, a bit of an introvert, and sometimes she simply couldn’t find the right words to express the way she felt or what her thoughts were on something.

She sighed and pushed herself up off the bed. If she kept dwelling on that train of thought, she’d probably end up depressed or at least moping around for the rest of the day. And that only aggravated the people around her, since they were happy with their busy lives here for the most part.

Well, then again… if they wanted to think of her as a rain on their parade, so be it then. Just because everyone else was happy here it didn’t mean she had to be.

“I’m going for a walk,” she muttered under her breath. She had a habit of talking to herself out loud when she was alone, though it didn’t feel weird to her at all.

Once she was out of the house that belonged to her and her family, she found herself wandering aimlessly down some of the pathways paved with colorful stones. If an off-worlder had been in her place, they may have been awed by the lovely polished stone in the paths and the wide assortment of flowers, trees, bushes, grasses and ferns, not to mention the colorful fruits that hung down from some of the trees and the colorful birds that sang softly and flew about. But to someone like her, who had lived here all her life and was a malcontent, it all seemed dull and monotonous.

However her little walk did prove to be worthwhile, at least in one way. When she came to the end of the path and ended up near one of the greenhouses, she saw her father talking to the colony Prefect—the leader of Jade, in other words.

Rachel was often a very curious individual, and sometimes she had no problem with crossing that thin line to borderline nosiness. She moved off of the roadway before they could see her and quietly slipped through a few of the bushes, then crouched down behind the bushes that were closest to the two men, keeping silent and trying to keep her breathing still.

“I don’t know, I don’t like it,” the Prefect was saying, shaking his head a little.

Walter—Rachel’s father, had a somewhat thoughtful expression on his features, from what little she could see of his face from where she was. “Well the Enterprise is already on its way, so there isn’t much we can do about it now.”

The Enterprise? Rachel felt her heart skip a beat with excitement upon hearing the name of Starfleet’s flagship. It was coming here? Was there some chance she would get to see it? In spite of herself, she began to hope.

The Prefect shook his head, beginning to pace just a little. Rachel ducked down lower, pressing herself against the ground to prevent being seen. “I still don’t like it,” the man was saying as he moved. “We should have a say in who comes here, or we should have had a bit more warning.”

Walter smiled wryly. “They have us plenty of warning, although we ignored them long enough,” he said. He was on the Council for the colony, along with eleven other people. The Prefect was the leader of the colony, and the leader of the Council. Each Council person had their own duties and matters to attend to, in areas of farm work and dealing with selling and trade agreements and any issues that might arise within the general population.

And since Jade was such a remote world, it was easy for the population to feel like they were all alone in the universe and that they were simply an island in the sky that ships came to visit, purchasing some of what they had to offer, then departing again. It gave the population of Jade a sense of sheer independence, which was something that was necessary for them to have. But at the same time they could be rather… territorial, not liking it when they felt like outside worlds were meddling in their affairs.

“I think the Federation fears that we have become too independent,” Walter was saying, “to the point where we don’t even think of ourselves as part of the Federation anymore. That’s why they’re sending a representative out this way.”

“I still don’t see why this is necessary,” the Prefect said, waving a hand in agitation. “We are doing fine out here. We sustain ourselves and we sustain other worlds. So why should they care enough to send someone to look into the way we do things?”

“Our… policies have changed over the past few years,” Walter pointed out with a sigh. “We stopped reporting our general activities of produce to the Federation, and we’re no longer quite as charitable as we once were.”

“Well we shouldn’t have to just give away shiploads of the produce,” the Prefect stated firmly. He had stopped pacing by this point and was now simply standing there, facing Walter. “We do all the work to grow it here, and we should be allowed to sustain ourselves and charge a fair price for everything we’re willing to sell. I believe the entire Council agreed that we could no longer afford to give large amounts away for free, especially since this colony has grown over the past few decades. People need to support their families.”

“True,” Walter nodded in agreement. “But the Federation may simply be curious as so why the growth and production of fruits, vegetables, and other edibles has decreased somewhat, even as the colony has increased.”

The Prefect scoffed. “Like I said, people have families,” he said. “They need to spend time raising their children and spending time with them, not just doing work. Plus,” he added, looking at Walter indicatively, “I believe its people like your daughter who helped worsen this situation. They don’t appreciate what they have here and they don’t do their share of the work load.”

Rachel seethed quietly, narrowing her eyes. She had to resist the urge to growl softly or grumble under her breath. Oh, so that was how the Prefect felt about her? That she was just some lazy, ungrateful bum who didn’t do any work?

And her father’s next words made her feel as though she’d had a knife thrust into her heart: “I know, she should be doing more around here…” Walter sighed, then went on, “I don’t know what it is with her, she used to be a lot more diligent in her work. Nowadays it seems like she just wants to laze around.”

“Perhaps you should do something like that,” the Prefect suggested with a small shrug. “People like your daughter are simply setting a bad example.”

Rachel placed her index finger into her mouth and bit down on it bit, not hard enough to draw blood but enough to keep herself from making a sound. Plus it helped distract her a bit from the hurt and anger she felt rising up with in her. I am not lazy! She thought to herself. I just don’t like being here! The farmer’s life isn’t for me, why can’t they just see that?

You haven’t exactly been forthcoming about your feelings on the subject, part of her mind pointed out, but she shoved it aside. The two men were talking again.

“Perhaps the suggestions that the Federation gave us are worth consideration,” Walter said thoughtfully. “If we allowed more people to come here and do work, our farms and greenhouses would continue to grow and flourish.”

“But then we would become nothing more than a job market for the galaxy,” the Prefect said, shaking his head at the thought. “I never wanted that, Walt. I wanted this world to be its own self-sustained world, taken care of and flourishing because of us. We have been here for a long time, and the only people who’ve ever come here to work are those who came to live here, to make a life for themselves.”

“What makes you think any new people who come here would be any different?” Walter asked. “Or is it just the fact that the last new people who came here arrived here about fifteen years ago, such as me and my family?” He cocked his head to one side. “That’s it, isn’t it? We’ve been alone out here for so long, taking care of ourselves and sustaining everything that we’ve reached the point where the idea of newcomers makes us queasy.”

“We shouldn’t need anyone new, if more people could pull their weight… such as your daughter,” the Prefect said, his words pretty much confirming what Walter said.

Rachel bit down harder on her finger.

“I really don’t think it would be so bad,” Walter was saying. “But if nothing else, we should listen to what the Federation representative has to say.”

The two men continued to converse quietly, but Rachel began to move away. She’d heard enough and she wanted a chance to sort out everything she’d just heard.

On the one hand, she was hurt and angered over what the Prefect said about her. So, apparently just because she was Councilman Harris’s daughter, that meant she was some sort of ringleader amongst those who were “lazy” or not pulling their weight? Or that she could be pointed out and used as some kind of example on how not to be on Jade?

“I gotta get off this planet, somehow,” Rachel growled under her breath once she was far enough away from her father and the Prefect. Her index finger was smarting and she could feel teeth marks on it, but she ignored it. “And maybe the Enterprise could somehow be my ticket out of here… even if I have to stowaway or something.”

The way she felt right at this very moment, she didn’t care where she ended up, just so long as she got away from here. And just so long as she got away somehow or other, the Enterprise could dump her off on some Starbase for all she cared. They probably had more interesting things to do on Starbases than they did here…

A/N Yeah, I know, there aren't even any cannon characters yet. But they will be coming in the next chapter, I promise!

A/N Alrighty, thomasthecat from Deviantart has teamed up with me to write this story XD This chapter was mostly written by him, and we shall be continuing to write this thing together for the rest of the fic. Please enjoy and let us know what you think!

Chapter 2

Captain’s Log, Stardate 4215.23. The Enterprise is en route to Asimov’s Rift, a region of space on the edge of Federation territory in Alpha Quadrant. Starfleet has sent us to explore worlds only previously charted by remote telescope and catalogue them as suitable for colonization. While I am expecting a relatively routine mission, there have been many stories from rogue privateers and independent merchants about strange sightings in the Rift, but those claims have never been verified.

It should be noted that we have a special guest on board; Ambassador Sarek, one of Vulcan’s premiere diplomats and the father of my first officer, is a member of a special diplomatic envoy to the independent settlement on the planet Jade. We have been instructed to ferry the diplomats to Jade and facilitate negotiations with the reclusive agricultural colony.

“Lieutenant Janzow, if you ever, EVER pull a stunt like this again I will bust you clear back to CADET faster thank you can spit. Just because your father is a Commodore doesn’t mean you can get away with anything like this. Not on MY ship.”

Captain James Tiberius Kirk glowered at the young woman in front of him. She was several centimeters shorter than he was, and up until his last sentence had an intrinsic twinkle of defiance in her cold blue eyes.

Inwardly, Kirk recognized that twinkle; he remembered seeing it in the mirror every day when he was Janzow’s age. It wasn’t until the Farragut incident that he was able to control that sense of invulnerability and learn to respect the treacherous dangers of the universe at large.

Hopefully it wouldn’t take the deaths of hundreds of people for Lt. (JG) Janzow to realize how hazardous the world could be if you stepped on the wrong landmine. No, hopefully all it would take is the ire of one Very Angry Captain.

The young woman began to speak, but a chopping motion from Kirk’s right hand cut through the air and silenced her.

“Not a word, mister! I frankly don’t think anything you can say will excuse you for putting shaving cream on exercise equipment. Even a joke like that could result in serious injury. This is a starship, dammit! Not some damned sorority house.”

Janzow looked at her feet after that last remark. It was a starship. While Starfleet’s mixed mission of exploration and defense made the organization not QUITE military, there were still strict codes of conduct that kept crewmembers safe in an environment full of giant moving parts and materials that could take bites out of planets if not harnessed properly.

Kirk made a long exaggerated sigh. “Lieutenant, I’m going to keep this out of your official record. But I’m not kidding. If anything like this happens again you can kiss any hopes of a starship career goodbye. You’re confined to quarters and duty stations for the next three days and I’m docking you a week’s pay. Dismissed.”

The young woman’s eyes flashed at her punishment, which Kirk knew was just about the maximum he could justify for what amounted to a relatively minor prank. But if she didn’t learn her lesson this time, the next time someone might end up suffering from more than hurt dignity.

* * *

Kirk adjusted the collar on his dress uniform as the turbolift doors opened. The incident with Janzow had required immediate attention, and had made him a few minutes late for the briefing with his senior staff and the Federation diplomats.

His thoughts raced through all the relevant facts about Jade as he strode through the corridor to the briefing room. This would be the second time he had met with the entire diplomatic team, and while they weren’t the most unpleasant guests he had ever had to host on Enterprise, there was an undercurrent of tension between them that made his stomach ache.

The most notable was the Vulcan ambassador Sarek. Already approaching a legend on his own world, Sarek was quickly accumulating a reputation in the Federation at large as a top negotiator. More than that, he was Spock’s father and their complex relationship always made the hairs on the back of Kirk’s neck stand up.

Despite his growing interplanetary clout, Sarek was not the one in charge of the diplomatic envoy to the Jade colony. He was simply representing Vulcan’s interest on behalf of the Vulcan Science Academy. The real leader of the diplomatic mission was a woman named Ellen Hughes, PhD. Kirk smirked as he reflexively tagged the post-nomial title onto her name. The woman had made it clear, after all, that she wished to be referred to “Doctor Hughes” at all times by the Enterprise crew while she was a guest there. Should anyone forget the fact she would politely remind them of the letters her schooling had earned.

Not that I can really blame her too much, Kirk thought to himself as he rounded a corner and nodded to a couple of engineering techs working in the corridor. She might feel her authority being threatened by the presence of such a powerful colleague as Sarek looking over her shoulder the whole time.

Kirk was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt because she had, other than her unflinching insistence on respect due her title, been respectful of the fleet personnel acting as her chauffer to Jade. She was also, Kirk was willing to admit to himself, a very handsome woman, with striking green eyes and golden hair.

The final member of the envoy – excluding the clerical support staff the diplomats had (of course) required – was another woman, Lenora Jones. Jones was a trim woman in her mid forties who wore her fiery red hair in a tall beehive. She was also a doctor, but of xeno-biology and not xeno-sociology. Jones, unlike her civilian colleagues Sarek and Hughes, held the rank of captain in Starfleet. But she was in the Department of Special Research, and her commission had her removed from the same chain of command as Kirk’s status as a “line officer,” which meant that even though she held the same rank as Kirk – and even had joined Starfleet before he had – she would always be junior to him when it came to running a starship.

Which was just as fine in her eyes, Kirk supposed. Her file stated that she was a gifted scientist and she had been appointed for this mission to help analyze the biological miracles the Jade colonists had managed to perform with their agricultural engineering. And she seemed pleasant enough. But Kirk’s own impression of her is that she much preferred to roll up her sleeves and get the work done instead of sitting around and tossing diplomatic platitudes around like a game of hot potato.

He allowed his trademark smirk to play itself across his face as the doors to the briefing room swooshed open. He nodded at Spock and McCoy in their familiar positions at the table. Sarek, Hughes and Jones were also there, but so was Amanda, Spock’s human mother and wife to Sarek.

Kirk nodded to her as well and took his seat. It wasn’t completely out of the ordinary for her to be in this meeting, though it did pique his curiosity. Amanda frequently attended meetings with Sarek and Kirk had wondered, since their first meeting on the Babel mission, if there weren’t some unreported tele-empathic consequences of a human and vulcan mated pair.

That was hardly the point now, at any rate, and he spoke up as he swept his gaze around the room .

“Sorry I’m late, everyone,” he said, taking extra time to smile at the visiting diplomats.

Lenora Jones shrugged, but Dr. Ellen Hughes nodded to accept Kirk’s apology. “No problem Captain, we were just getting ready to attack the meat of the Jade question.”

Spock and Sarek raised an eyebrow in what Scotty had once defined to Kirk as the “Vulcan Maneuver” and looked at Hughes with interest.

“An ironic turn of phrase, Dr. Hughes,” Spock observed dryly, “as vegetation and horticulture is the actual crux of our conversation.”

Out of his peripheral vision Kirk could see McCoy grimace at Spock’s reply and raised his hand before the grumpy doctor could begin another one of his legendary tete-a-tetes with Spock.

“I think that Dr. Hughes understands the nature of task at hand Spock, it’s just an expression. And I think we should move on to actually discussing Jade before we jump down yet another rabbit hole about human eccentricities.” He paused and looked at Dr. McCoy. “Wouldn’t you agree, Bones?”

McCoy furrowed his eyebrows in slight consternation and began to reply. “Well, I…”

“Excellent!” Kirk cried in feigned satisfaction, clasping his hands together in a grand gesture. “I’m glad we’re all on the same page. Now Dr. Hughes, if you could be so kind as to open discussion on the Jade colony?”

The Doctor stroked a stray lock of red hair behind her ear and began. “Thank you Captain. As you all should know by now, the Jade colony is an independent settlement of humans and Vulcans on the Alpha Quadrant’s edge of explored Federation territory.”

Kirk nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Independent? How independent?”

This day and age almost every new colony that was established by humans, Vulcans or Tellarites applied for a Federation Colonial Charter, making it a protectorate of the United Federation of Planets at its conception and also requiring it to uphold the principles of the Federation’s Constitution, all of its military and economic treaties and involving it in the Federation’s lucrative trade apparatus.

Young Federation colonies traded a significant amount of self-governance for an even greater guarantee of protection and supply. Forging a new home on an alien world was rarely easy, and things often came up during the colonization process that necessitated outside intervention to prevent unfortunate incidents.

Some people were willing to give up Federation protection and resources for more complete autonomy, however. There was a certain romance to it, Kirk mused. Conquering a completely virgin world with nothing but the tools and people you brought along was a romantic image that still held an appeal to explorers of even his generation.

Even then, if anyone wanted to register a new colony on a world claimed inside the Federation’s recognized interstellar borders, they had to agree to at the very least accept Federation credits as legal tender (in addition to any local currency they might establish) and offer emergency services to Starfleet and civilian ships flying the UFP flag.

But there were degrees between the two extremes. A world could begin its life as a protectorate colony with the intention of eventually earning full status as a member world and direct representation on the Federation council, or it could declare its complete independence (with the aforementioned provisos), or it could opt for a middle ground, adopting federation currency, basic civil liberties and major trade agreements while retaining an independent military and forfeiting representation at the federal level of the UFP’s highest echelons.

Where Jade fell on that scale had serious implications for how much leverage the ambassadors across the table could wield.

“I’m afraid that the Jade colony is registered as a completely independent world.” Hughes said, and she made a face. “Not only that, but it was actually established BEFORE the treaty of Altair expanded the Federation’s recognized sphere of influence out this far.”

“You mean,” McCoy spoke up at Kirk’s side, “That they don’t have to even suffer us medical aid or take our money?”

Hughes shook her head. “I’m afraid not, Doctor. The fact that we can’t pay them in Federation currency is one of the main reasons we need a diplomatic team this big in the first place.”

Sarek leaned forward in his own seat and planted his elbows on the table, crossing his fingers in front of him. “Until recently, all trade with the colony has been on a fairly straight-forward equation of barter. Jade produces a variety of highly valuable plant life and produce at record volume and trades those goods for various quantities of both raw materials and manufactured goods. It seemed to be a mutually beneficial, if atypical arrangement.

Now it was Kirk’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Seemed? Until recently? What happened?”

Captain Jones spoke up, finally assuming an attentive pose from her seat at the table. “We’re not sure exactly HOW it happened. But output on Jade has been steadily decreasing for the last 18 months. The colony has been there for almost 80 years, and certain worlds in the Federation have come to rely on exports from Jade as a major food source. Now their coffers are running low because the merchants from Jade are making them pay much higher prices for much less product.

Spock glanced inquisitively at Jones. “Has there been any way to ascertain the reason for the decline in Jade’s rate of export?”

The woman shrugged. “No. No good reason, anyway. When this problem got bad enough that it landed on my desk I immediately got my hands on some samples of foodstuffs exported from Jade. We ran a million tests on them to see if there was some sort of new parasite or mutagenic virus or anything at all that could be causing a decrease in local harvest. So far as we could tell though, our samples were squeaky clean.”

“Could be simple avarice,” McCoy chimed in. “Maybe the Jade colonists know they’ve got a corner of the market on their produce and decided the rest of the galaxy owed them a bigger piece of the pie.”

“Not likely, Dr. McCoy.” The reply was from Sarek, who had now steepled his fingers in concentration. “There is a moderate population of vulcans on Jade, and they even have representation on the ruling council there. I believe the trade minister himself – an elected position if I am not mistaken – is also vulcan. His office regulates their export prices and I highly doubt that any vulcan would find logic in simple greed.”

Kirk thanked the stars outside that even McCoy had enough tact not smart off at that comment, though Kirk could feel the consternation radiating from him like a malfunctioning fusion reactor.

But Bones wasn’t the only one unhappy about Sarek’s interjection. The expression on Dr. Hughes’ face wasn’t exactly pleasant, and she picked up from Sarek’s remark with a cool, if respectful, tone.

“Honestly, my gut says that there is more to it as well. The Jade colonists are very protective of their intellectual property, but they have a pretty long record of equitable trade up until now.”

Captain Jones nodded and picked up the thread of Hughes’ thoughts. “They hold genetic patents to over 40 different varieties of fruits and vegetables and have made a pretty penny selling the blueprints to about 20 more. No one is sure HOW they do it, but the remarkable output of the world means that they can get away with keeping the gene sequences to themselves and still make a profit on shipped volume alone.”

“...Until recently, anyway,” McCoy said, looking at Jones. “But if they’re so protective of their secrets, won’t they balk at us when we show up with 300 meters of starship and a few of the Federation’s top minds ready to liberate them of their divine knowledge?”

“That is a valid concern, doctor,” Sarek said, as he traced his eyes to Kirk. “The Enterprise’s presence might be misinterpreted as a strong-arm tactic, but I am confident we can convince the colony’s administrators that it was merely a coincidence that you were headed this way.”

“I hope so, Ambassador,” Kirk replied. “I’d hate for the colonists to see our ship as a Sword of Damocles looming menacingly above to extort their generational secrets!”

Dr. Hughes bit her thumbnail for a second in thought. “I would like to avoid that as well, Captain. Ultimately, we hope to kill the Jade colony with kindness. We know their production quotas are down, and part of Captain Jones’ reason for being here is to offer them assistance in whatever problem they have that might’ve cropped up. I’d also like for you to detach any of your biologists that you can spare to support Captain Jones if the planet decides to take us up on our offer.”

Kirk knew that her polite request was anything but. His written orders from Starfleet were to provide her with any personnel she required, and guessed that the reason a Constitution-class starship like Enterprise was chosen for this assignment was because she was one of the fastest ships around with a collection of the types of specialists Jones, Hughes and Sarek needed to make this mission work.

He nodded after a half-second of thought. “Of course Doctor Hughes. Spock, can you select a pair of candidates to send with the envoy when we arrive at Jade?”

Spock didn’t need to write the order down, he just turned his gaze to Kirk and answered in the affirmative. “Yes, Captain. As to the presence of the Enterprise, might I suggest an alternate course of action?”

Kirk leaned back a bit and folded his arms. “I’m listening, Spock. What have you got in mind?”

“Captain, the least time course to our first objective in the Asimov rift is actually straight through the Jade star system. I propose that we detach a shuttle with the diplomatic team on board and proceed to the first survey location.”

Dr. Hughes nodded. “That could work, Captain. Without the Enterprise in orbit it’s likely the colonists would feel less threatened and might be more open to negotiation.”

Kirk rubbed his chin in thought. “What about the colony itself, Spock? Is it safe to leave the envoy there for a week if the Enterprise is out of communications range?”

This time, Amanda spoke up from her chair next to her husband. Everyone had almost forgotten she was there since she had yet to say a word about the situation on Jade. But she spoke with confidence now.

“I think we’ll be alright, Captain. In fact, I’m sure of it.”

He cocked his head to look at her. “Oh, Mrs. Grayson?”

She nodded confidently. “Yes. My sister Laura lives there and has lived there for the last 40 years.”

Something shifted on Sarek’s face, and then he cleared his throat. “Her husband, Walter Harris, is one of the council ministers on Jade. At least, he was, the last time Amanda received correspondence from her sister.”

“And how long ago was that? Kirk asked, curious as to why the couple hadn’t mentioned this before.”

“About 20 years ago, Captain” Sarek answered with a blank face.

McCoy let out a low whistle. “That’s a hell of a long time…”

Amanda formed a small smile as she turned to look at the doctor. “Far too long. But it was not our choice to lose touch.”

“Indeed,” Spock spoke up. His expression was blank but years of friendship let Kirk knew there was a well of pain underneath his cool eyes. “I was very young at the time, but I remember Grandmother’s funeral. Suffice it to say words were exchanged…”

“They couldn’t stand the fact that Sarek and I had married, and that I was going to Vulcan for him.” Amanda interjected. Kirk wondered what Captain Jones and Dr. Hughes were thinking of all this, but he wasn’t about to curtail an all-too-rare insight into Spock’s complicated family history.

Sarek nodded. “They blamed Spock and I for bringing an early death to Amanda’s mother. Her parents did not approve of our union either, and Amanda’s sister and her husband adopted that prejudice. Why humans must revel in such colloquial attitudes I doubt I will ever fully understand.”

Kirk could see Amanda’s eyes darken momentarily at Sarek’s condescending remark, but ignored it and looked back at Kirk. “After my mother died, my sister and her husband took their daughter and moved all the way out here. Family was very important to us, Captain, but all that fell apart once mother died.”

Doctor Hughes cleared her throat. “Well, I’m hopeful that you find some resolution to your family matters while we are here, Madame,” she said with almost-convincing sincerity. But Captain Kirk, I do think we will be safe. Jade has never been considered a violent world, and even if the colonists are suspicious of outsiders they are still peaceful. Besides, they know the Enterprise will be coming back, even if she isn’t quite looking over their shoulders while we are there.

“A point, Doctor,” Kirk said, standing up. “Spock, get calculations ready and contact shuttle control about our launch options. We’ll hail the planet as soon as we’re in range and let them know to expect you. Bones, I want you to go with the envoy, and take a portable lab with you. I imagine our equipment outclasses theirs by a considerable margin. Dr. Hughes, I will have a draft mission profile for you to look over in 3 hours.”

Kirk looked around the table and clasped his hands behind his back. “If that’s everything, ladies and gentlemen?”

Chapter 3

Rachel had wandered off the forest path and gone into a more secluded area in the forest. In a lot of ways the words of her father and the Prefect hurt more deeply than she thought they would. It felt as if they were judging her and calling her lazy behind her back, when she simply didn’t like her life here.

Was it so bad that she did not want to tend to the greenhouses and outdoor gardens for the rest of her life? She felt that she had a right to be herself, to pursue her own interests. She loved her family of course, and she cared about a lot of people on this world, and in her own way she loved this planet because it had been her home for almost as long as she could remember. Yet at the same time, it felt like it was all holding her back.

Her thoughts wandered to stories from her ancient history courses in school. She thought about all the famous writers and painters that struggled to find a place where they could belong and excel. Back then they had to struggle and save just to move a few hundred miles to find a like-minded community.

Now, with interstellar travel and specialization possible on the planetary scale, Rachel wondered how many hundreds of light-years she'd have to go before she found a world that suited her.

“Yeah right, maybe that’s silly,” she muttered aloud, once again slipping into that old habit of talking to herself when no one else was around. Even when the Enterprise arrived, would she really be able to get off this planet? Or was she simply kidding herself?

She spotted a large rock sitting in the midst of some tall plants that looked like a cross-between of ferns and grass. She recognized the plants, but she couldn’t remember what they were called nor did she care. It wasn’t like she ever felt the need to familiarize herself with every single species of plant life anyway.

“Okay Rachel, think,” she told herself out loud, suddenly very pleased that no one was around to watch. She didn’t want them to think she was crazy, or even to hear what she was going to think about out loud. It would be embarrassing, not to mention most people probably wouldn’t like what she had on her mind. “You know that the Enterprise, or some ship, is coming, but what happens when it arrives? They probably won’t let you on just because you asked nicely.”

She didn't know much about Starfleet, but she guessed that they weren't in the business of picking up lonely natives with a case for wanderlust every time they stopped at some backwater planet.

She bit her lip. A distant rumble filled the sky and she looked up, shielding her eyes against the sun. A tiny black speck flew lazily above her, slowly increasing in size as it descended. It was one of the transports that routinely came to...

"A freighter!" she exclaimed out loud, mentally kicking herself for not thinking of it sooner. Even though Jade was isolated, there were plenty of freighters that came and went, picking up the crops and dropping off the trade goods that fueled Jade's economy.

She knew life on a merchant transport wasn't the most glamorous, but it's not like she would have to do it forever...

A slight rustle of branches and leaves caught her attention, distracting her from the boring—to her, anyway—sight of the freighter. She started, instantly looking over her shoulder, worried that someone was coming. She just wanted to be alone right now and she didn’t want anyone to hear her talking out loud.

To her surprise and relief, she saw not a person but an animal. It was one of the griffins—at least, that was what people called those creatures. They were native creatures of this world, non-sentient and skittish. From what she understood, those creatures were predators and they sometimes caused a problem for settlers during their early days on this world, but the wildlife in general soon learned to leave the colonists alone and to stay away from populated areas. Especially when some people began to hunt the creatures for food.

Rachel stared at the creature, curious but cautious and unmoving. She knew that the griffins were predators, being fully equipped with sharp talons, claws, brute strength and a razor sharp beak. The creature definitely looked like a formidable hunter and fighter, having a muscular, furry brown body much like that of a lion. Its head was fuzzy, having a pair of large triangular ears, wide yellow eyes, and a large beak-like mouth with a knife-like curve meant for biting. The front legs were like that of a bird, the feet were scaly and the toes each had a large amber talon, plus there was a spur on the back of each foot. The front legs looked like they belonged on a cat, having paws and claws instead of bird-feet. The tail was long like that of a lion, but it was lined with feathers. Then of course there were the wings—all four of them, one attached each shoulder and one attached to each hip, thus enabling the large creature the ability to fly despite its bulk. The wings, if they had been spread out, would have looked huge and feathered, but they were currently pressed and folded tightly against the creature’s body, making them look small—or at least compact.

But the thing that drew Rachel most of all was the eyes. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but for some reason she felt as if the creature was studying her… almost as if there was something intelligent about those eyes.

The creature stared back at her and twitched its giant fluffy ears. He cocked his head to one side the way that Rachel had seen terrestrial birds do and clicked his beak open noiselessly.

Rachel held her breath. She had seen pictures of Jade's native griffins before, but had never met one "in the flesh." They were about as majestic as the ancient artists who had anticipated their existence on Earth over a thousand years ago. Its feathers glistened with pale gold splotches on a field of soft white. His bright, sun-yellow eyes were giant orbs above a menacing beak.

She tried hard to think about what to do next. Griffins tended to avoid people, but they were still fierce predators. If she reacted the wrong way, finding a way off Jade would be the least of her worries.

Maybe if I just stay still, she thought, he'll get bored and...

The creature let out an intimidating "SCREEAA-K-K-K-K" and flared up on its hind quarters. At the same instant, Rachel felt a wave of blistering heat wash over her face and stepped back instinctively. She realized what happened only after she saw the bright flash of light from the phaser beam sizzle the ground between her and the griffin.

The creature back-peddled on its hind legs, wings flaring to an impressive span. Rachel was frozen in shock. That blast had almost hit her! What was going on?!

Realization dawned as another blast landed in exactly the same place. The griffin kept stepping backwards, more quickly now, and then landed on his front talons. The golden eyes that shone with uncommon intelligence darted to and fro, its feathery brow furrowed in apparent anger.

A third shot hit the ground in front of the griffin, and Rachel noticed something strange. The beast finally spotted something behind her. It looked at that thing-whatever it was-with razor sharp focus-for a second before making a final "SCREAK" and trotting off quickly into the verdant brush of the terrain.

The phaser fire ceased and Rachel startled as a flat baritone called out from behind her.

"You should not be this far from the city perimeter, Rachel."

Rachel hid a grimace as she recognized the emotionless voice as belonging to Sovak, one of the Vulcan colony managers.

Very slowly she turned around to look at him. Indeed there he stood, appearing prim and proper in his formal clothing, perfect haircut (in the typical Vulcan style, of course) and even expression. Somehow though, she had to give him credit; he didn’t look cold or superior like some Vulcans did. He had a way of having a face that was totally blank, even devoid of a chilly expression. Though she wasn’t sure whether to find that a relief, or simply bizarre.

Then again, all Vulcans were weird, in their own way. She felt that she should know better than anybody, since her parents definitely did. They never talked about it too often, at least not in the present, but they had told her about her Aunt Amanda when she was younger. Rachel’s mother’s sister had apparently chosen to marry a Vulcan and leave Earth to be with the alien.

Rachel shivered inwardly at the thought. To think that anyone would want to touch, let alone sleep in bed with someone like Sovak, was really disgusting. To her, the very thought was no better than if a human went to bed with a dog… or maybe with that griffin that just took off.

Plus there was what her mother had always said, that Vulcans had a way of reading your thoughts if they touched you, thus contaminating your mind. Her mom had said that Aunt Amanda had been tainted by her Vulcan husband, because he’d performed a telepathic link with her and there was no telling what that would do to her over time. Apparently, it was believed that it could possibly drive a human insane after a period of time, or cause them to lose their identity, making them even more vulnerable to Vulcan control…

Was that why the Vulcan wanted a human mate, in order to control her in a way that he couldn’t control a Vulcan woman?

“Did you not hear me?” Sovak said again, his voice emotionless yet firm, breaking into her train of thought. “You should get back to the compound, where it is safer.”

“I will go back there when I am good and ready,” Rachel snipped. She didn’t want the pointy-eared non-human being telling her what to do. Part of her mind told her that she should be grateful he’d saved her from that animal, but she ignored the thought. Yeah, so the Vulcan served a purpose. Now she just wanted him out of her face.

Sovak’s face remained immobile, although she wasn’t really looking at him. Those point-eared things really didn’t feel anything anyway, did they? Or if they did, it was when they lost control of themselves and broke things or hurt people. At least that was what she’d heard, though thankfully she’d never seen it happen.

“You have already seen what can happen when you wander far from the compound,” he stated, placing the phaser back on his belt. “That creature could have harmed you.”

“Oh yeah, so now you’re my point-eared knight with a shining phaser,” Rachel said sarcastically, then laughed. “Yeah well, why don’t you be a good Vulcan and go back home? I can handle myself now.”

At this Sovak raised an eyebrow, and it was the first time she’d actually seen a change in his expression. “Without a phaser you would be unprotected out here. And you are not authorized to carry a phaser.”

In truth, Rachel did want to go back to the compound. The creature had frightened her more than she was willing to admit, despite how beautiful and majestic it had been in appearance. But she wasn’t going to give the hob-goblin the satisfaction of being able to boss her around.

“I said I can handle myself!” she half-shouted, intentionally raising her voice. She then grimaced in spite of herself. Both of her parents had been blessed with voices that were good and firm, and were excellent for giving orders. Her voice always sounded whiny or hysterical in comparison, somewhat lacking an authoritive tone.

“You are becoming emotional, which will not help you in this situation.”

“Oh don’t spout your logic at me. I could have handled myself fine even if you hadn’t come along. All I had to do was keep perfectly still.” Rachel folded her arms across her chest. "What are you doing out here, anyway?" she then demanded.

Sovak clasped his hands behind his back and stepped towards Rachel. "Security sensors have detected anomalous readings. Several small objects are approaching the main compound very quickly. The prefect is concerned they might be hostile and has ordered a safety lock-down until the nature of these objects can be ascertained."

Rachel screwed up her nose at Sovak. She wasn't nervous. How long had Jade been here? How long had the colony existed? It was on the other side of Federation space than the Klingons or Romulans, surely if there was an alien menace out here they would've stumbled onto Jade much sooner than now.

"Why don't you just run back to the shelters without me?" she said defiantly. "I'm sure it's just yokel traders who don't know how to work the radio on their shuttles."

Sovak began to speak, and then quirked his head up and touched a slender finger to the communications receiver that was always nestled in his pointy Vulcan ear.

When he spoke, his tone was different. Now Rachel knew that there was something wrong, for urgency seeped through his flat voice like water from a wet sponge.

"Come with me. There is no longer time to debate." Strong bony hands grabbed her arm and began to pull her along.

It took her a second to realize that something was strange, then another second to realize what it was. Sovak was pulling her away from the colony.

"Just a minute!" she gasped as she stumbled along. "Get your hands off me! Where the hell do you think..."

Her consternation died abruptly as the world around her erupted into heat and light and fire.