Wedding Sequence: June 29, 2988

“Places, everyone!” Pisces called. The piano had started up. Uhura had started her walk with Scotty; Chapel was waiting with McCoy, and Rand was set to go with Ares. Kirk was set to give Dusha away. She'd been so honored when Dusha had asked her to be the maid of honor. She started her walk with her head high, beaming at Ares as she passed him at the altar, smiling at a nervous Chekov and a proud-as-punch best man, Sulu.

From the sudden intake of breath she heard, she gathered that Dusha had started to walk down the aisle.

* * *

Dusha walked on Kirk's arm, closer to Pasha and her dreams. She glanced briefly at the minister. She simply acknowledged him; she was so close to happiness and he was a mere stepping stone to the man beaming lovingly at her.

Kirk gently placed her hand into Pavel’s and kissed Dusha’s forehead. Father Dionysus opened his book, cleared his throat and began speaking. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join these two people in holy matrimony. Dusha, do take Pavel to be your lawfully wedded husband, to honor, cherish and love until death do you part?”

*Y’know,* Pisces thought, *there are ways around that...*

“I do,” Dusha said clearly.

“Pavel, do you take Dusha to be your lawfully wedded wife, to honor, cherish and love until death do your part?”

Pavel said nothing until he looked into Dusha’s eyes. “I do.”

The minister gestured to Kirk. “The rings.”

Pavel placed the band on Dusha’s finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

Dusha placed the ring on his finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

“By the power vested in me but our Divine, Heavenly God, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Pavel leaned in and kissed her. Cheers erupted through the chapel as the strangest wedding in Crystal Tokyo’s history concluded. They lead the way out of the chapel to the reception.

* * *

Sulu tapped his wine glass with his knife, getting the crowd’s attention. He cleared his throat. “Pisces, the Captain and I got together to try and come up with a decent toast for these guys. I’ve known Pavel since he signed onto the Enterprise crew three years ago. I’ve seen this guy be phasered and play victim to damn fate. But fate’s finally shined on him and I’ve seen him married now too." Here Sulu stepped aside and let Kirk take over, smiling.

"Pavel being the youngest of the bridge crew, we tend to look at him like the child the rest of us are bringing up. I believe I speak for all of them when I say that we would've picked a girl like Dusha for him. Pavel,” he turned to him, “I wish you and Dusha the best.”

Pisces continued where he left off. "Dusha, being an outsider like me, doesn't have much of a family. Now, with this marriage, she's gained a husband and the Enterprise's entire crew." The guests laughed. "I find it relevant to note that if I hadn't kidnapped her, she wouldn't be standing with this man today." More laughs. Pisces grinned at the newlyweds. "Dusha is one of my dearest friends, and I've got to warn you, Chekov...you hurt her, and Pluto will be the least of your worries." At Chekov's grin, Pisces raised her glass. "To Pavel and Dusha: may the stars steer you through the maelstroms."

The crowd repeated this strange toast. As Pisces sat down, Dusha whispered to her, “We’d be honored if you’d sing the first dance for us.”

Pisces smiled. “I’d be honored.” She headed for the microphone. “Ladies and gentleman, distinguished guests, the bride and groom have asked me to sing their first dance. But, I think I’m gonna need a little help. Ares?” she turned to him, and he joined her at the microphone.

Pisces began to sing:

“We were strangers, starting out on a journey

Never dreaming what we’d have to go through

Now here we are, I am suddenly standing

At the beginning with you.”

Ares continued:

“No one told me I was going to find you

Unexpected, what you did to my heart”

Together:

“When I lost hope, you were there to remind me

This is the start...”

(Chorus together)

“And life is a road and I wanna keep going

Love is a river I wanna keep flowing

Life is a road, now and forever

A wonderful journey

I’ll be there when the world stops turning

I’ll be there when the storm is through

In the end I wanna be standing

At the beginning with you”

Pisces turned and looked at the two. They were totally absorbed in their world, swaying gently in time with the music, while the crowd looked on. *For you both,* she silently toasted, *you’ve brought light to my life...* A gentle shower of rose petals came down on them, and a light breeze kicked up to keep them floating.

Pisces began again:

“We were strangers, on a crazy adventure...”

Then Ares:

“Never dreaming how our dreams would come true...”

Together:

“Now here we stand, unafraid of the future

At the beginning with you...”

(Chorus Together)

“And life is a road and I wanna keep going

Love is a river I wanna keep flowing

Life is a road, now and forever

A wonderful journey

I’ll be there when the world stops turning

I’ll be there when the storm is through

In the end I wanna be standing

At the beginning with you”

The couple continued to be totally absorbed in themselves, and several members of the Enterprise crew dabbed at their eyes. Pisces felt the need to dab at her own eyes, but left them. She caught Bones’s eye and smiled at him, glad once more that her father knew that she was alive.

Together:

“I knew there was somebody somewhere

Like me, alone in the dark

Now I know my dreams will live on

I’ve been waiting so long

Nothing’s gonna tear us apart...”

Chorus Together:

“And life is a road and I wanna keep going

Love is a river I wanna keep flowing

Life is a road, now and forever

A wonderful journey

I’ll be there when the world stops turning

I’ll be there when the storm is through

In the end I wanna be standing

At the beginning with you”

Together:

“Life is a road and I wanna keep going

Love is a river I wanna keep going on..”

Pisces:

“Starting out on a journey..”

Together:

“Life is a road and I wanna keep going

Love is a river I wanna keep flowing

In the end I wanna be standing

At the beginning...with you”

Pisces briefly harmonized with the piano before the piano faded away. Dusha and Pavel had come out of their reverie, just in time to see Pisces blush as she got a standing ovation. As she stepped off, Dusha gave her a hug. “That was beautiful,” she said, “but you harmonized off key.”

Pisces rolled her eyes. “If today wasn’t your wedding, you’d be dead. Be grateful. So,” she said, changing her tone. “Where ya goin’ for your honeymoon?”

Pavel smiled. "We don't know yet," he admitted sheepishly.

"And when we do," Dusha said sweetly yet sarcastically. "You can bet that you'll be the first to know."

* * *

"You promised, okay? Remember? You promised."

"I know, I know, but I can't help it. I feel like I'm deceiving them somehow."

"Well, you're not, because I'm doing the same thing to Pisces."

"Yeah, but Uhura and Sulu are my best friends!"

"And Pisces's mine."

The newlyweds' "argument" abruptly came to a halt as the subjects that had stemmed the discussion walked through the doors of the rec room. The couple had been discussing possibilities for their relaxing honeymoon. They had unanimously decided not to tell their all-too-curious friends of their plans for fear of being followed.

Pisces sauntered up to Dusha and Pavel, who had been sitting serenely at a table, flanked closely on both sides by Uhura and Sulu. They looked as if in formation to strike.

"So how are the two lovebirds doing?" Pisces asked as nonchalantly as she could, but there was still a hint of mockery in her voice. Sulu caught the joke and laughed loudly. Going up behind his friend, he mussed his hair, much to Chekov's annoyance.

"Aww, my little Pavel's all grown up and gotten married. I'm so proud!" Chekov groaned, but much to his dismay, he was used to this treatment.

"Sulu, leave the poor boy alone. He's been through enough with having to deal with you." Uhura quite forcefully pushed Sulu out of arm's reach of Chekov's vicinity.

Properly chastened, Sulu replied, "Sorry, old habits die hard. Pavel's like a little brother to me, so I have to treat him as such." This evoked laughs from the women gathered and an aggrieved look from Chekov.

"So where are you two going to snuggle on your honeymoon, huh?" Pisces asked, a mysterious glint in her eyes. She knew that they had been debating their little jaunt before the trio had walked in, and she wanted to know.

The two sitting down blushed at the implication and Dusha replied huffily, "Wouldn't you like to know? Well, we're not telling." In unison, the two officers and one senshi's faces fell.

"Now Pavel, that's not fair!" Uhura protested.

"Yeah! It's not like we're going to do anything!" Sulu added.

"Dusha, just what are you up to?" Pisces fumed. This was going to ruin her whole idea of spying on them and getting some juicy blackmail.

Getting his courage back, Pavel explained their view. "No offense, please, but we don't really want anyone following us." Sulu, Uhura and Pisces opened their mouths in protest, but Chekov hurried on. "We've been running around being shot at and such and Dusha and I just want some time alone." Dusha placed her hand on his shoulder, and he quieted. Now, they were just waiting for how the news would be received.

"That's so romantic..." Ever open-minded, Uhura smiled on the two and elbowed Sulu hard in the stomach till he did the same.

Pisces sighed but said, "Fine, be that way."

"I mean it Pisces, leave us alone," Dusha warned.

"Right, right, just burst my bubble why don't you." Pisces turned and huffily stalked out the door.

Dragging Sulu after her, Uhura also made her way out. "Don't worry, you two, I'll keep these two in line," Uhura assured the couple. "Have fun!" she yelled as the automatic doors closed behind her.

Relief clearly written across their faces, standing up they hugged. As Dusha let go, she pumped her fist in the air. "Australia, here we come!" The rest of her exclamation was cut off by a celebratory kiss.

* * *

Pisces was fencing with Sulu in the gym after the brief episode in the rec room. "Where do you think they've gone?" Sulu panted, parrying Pisces's sword.

Pisces shrugged, jabbing at Sulu again. "I don't know and have ceased to care. But," she said, dodging Sulu's sword, "they probably went to the last place we'd think to look."

Sulu frowned, jabbing at her again. "That leaves a ton of places."

Pisces grinned, jabbing at Sulu's wrist. The sword gave him the tiniest cut. "They're probably still on the ship. Wouldn't surprise me at all."

Sulu abandoned the sword and went for hand-to-hand combat. Finally, he had Pisces pinned against a wall. "I win."

Pisces snorted lightly. "I let you win."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes, because I knew it would get your mind off Pavel and Dusha." Pisces looked as smug as one could get when pinned against a wall.

Sulu released his grip, sighing. "Yeah, you're right."

"I'm always right," was Pisces's quick reply.

"A little modesty wouldn't kill you either."

Pisces grinned. "When your uniform consists of a sleeveless, tight-fitting, short skirted ensemble, you get used to having no modesty. Besides," she said, rapidly changing the subject, "It's difficult to watch your best friend grow a little farther away from you."

Sulu sighed. "Yeah. It kinda is." He grinned maliciously. "That doesn't stop us from spying, thought."

Pisces smacked him lightly. "Sulu! I can't believe you!" She returned the grin. "Besides who'd want to watch them...well...having fun?"

Now it was Sulu's turn to snort. "Yeah right. Pavel'll do something like that when the universe stops expanding. I swear, chivalry is his middle name."

"Well, that's no fun. Still, when he doesn't have big brother watching he may be different. There's only one way to make sure those two are behaving themselves. We have to find them," Pisces declared with a vicious grin.

Just then, Uhura stormed through the door. "I heard every word! I can't believe you!" she ranted. "After everything Pavel and Dusha have done for us! The immorality of it!" She calmed significantly. "I can't believe you were planning something without me."

Sulu's face broke into a wide smile. "I knew I could always count on you, Uhura." They exchanged a significant glace, turned military-style, and marched towards to the door.

"Wait!" Pisces called. "We have no idea where to look for them!"

"We may not, but we know someone who does. Oh Scotty!" Uhura mockingly called their new quarry, though she knew he was on the bridge.

Pisces's eyes lit up and she briskly crossed the distance to them. "What are we waiting for?"

* * *

Dusha sighed in her husband's arms and rested her head on his shoulder. Chekov, in turn, put his hand on her head and smiled contently. Both of them had never been happier in their lives.

"I wonder what our friends are doing right now," Pavel mused.

"Do you really care?" Dusha asked, looking up into his eyes.

"No, not really." He looked into her eyes and she smiled. He loved how those bright smiles came to her so easily. They sat, snuggled in the sun's warm rays, unknowing of the catastrophe that was about to befall them.

* * *

Scotty was cornered. He looked pleadingly at his fellow bridge officers, apart from the two who had accosted him. It was taking Kirk everything he had not to fall out of his command chair; he was about to break out in laughter. Spock was watching the exchange as if watching a particularly interesting celestial phenomenon.

"I promised! I'll nae tell you where they went!" Scotty tried to duck past the threesome. It was to no avail. "I swore on pain of death!" he explained.

"Oh yeah, like Pavel or Dusha would actually hurt you." Sulu rolled his eyes.

Pisces stepped forward until she was standing directly in his face. "Tell me! Now! I can hurt you more than both of them combined," she threatened. To prove her point, little sparks of energy sparkled around her.

Scotty winced at the implied physical harm. "Captain?" he pleaded.

The esteemed captain couldn't open his mouth without a squeak of laughter escaping. "I didn't know my crew could be so ruthless. Sorry Scotty, but right now you're the only one on this ship that knows where they are. Ensign Chekov didn't even tell me." Kirk smiled, remembering the overly polite, but nonetheless 'no' that he had received when he had asked his navigator his destination.

"But I promised," Scotty protested weakly. He sounded more like a bullied-upon child than the chief engineer of a starship.

"We won't get caught, so no one will be the wiser," Uhura tried to convince him.

"Uhura! I can't believe you! If poor Chekov found out..."

"Yeah, well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him." Uhura looked slightly hurt. That, in turn, made Scotty's resolve crumble.

"Oh, all right, lassie. I can't believe I'm doing this--"

* * *

Dusha and Pavel were enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner when Pisces, Sulu, Uhura and McCoy approached their secluded beach house. "This is boring," Pisces declared. "Not even holding hands."

Uhura snickered softly. "They're eating, hon. Can't do it properly with one hand."

McCoy snorted. "You could if you wanted."

Sulu yelped. "Roses!" he sputtered. "They've got thorny roses all around this place!"

Dusha looked abruptly at the window. Pisces smirked evilly and vanished with Uhura and McCoy, leaving Sulu to the wrath of Dusha and Pavel.

* * *

Dusha couldn't stop raving. Like an over-boiled pot that was still on high, she just kept spilling over. It had taken all of Pavel's diplomatic skills to get her not to kill Sulu, and then keep him from being tied up until she decided what she was going to do with him. As of the present, Sulu was cowering in the farthest corner of the room while Pavel tried to placate his wife. "Now, now, honey, you knew this would happen..."

"I know! Still! I was hoping someone would have the decency--" she abruptly cut off and an evil smirk came to her face. She turned to her husband. "Pavel, dearest, I want revenge. You and Sulu are gonna help," she stated firmly.

"You won't get a dissenting vote from me, our so-called 'friends' abandoned me so they deserve what is coming to them." Sulu crossed his arms in front of him. Boy, were they going to pay.

"They do outrank us, though," Chekov pointed out.

"Well, we'll just have to show them what we underlings are capable of. All I have to say to them is this: Beware!" Dusha shouted. Then they started to plan.

* * *

Pisces, after getting back to the ship, had quickly shut the raiding party into her quarters. Uhura glanced at her. "Why are we here?"

"Sulu'll squeal," McCoy said with finality. "They may show mercy if he does."

"No one's getting in here," Pisces said wryly. "Jim thinks we're bar-hopping in Cancun anyway."

McCoy chortled. "Nothing like uprooting the mole before it digs."

Uhura sighed. "I just hope he tells Chekov that."

* * *

When Dusha and Pavel returned from their honeymoon several days later, Sulu was nowhere to be found. That wasn't the only noticeable difference in the two. When they arrived on the transporter pad with the last sparkles of energy still around them, they noticeably took two large steps away from each other.

"Now what's this? Are you two all right, now? Where's Sulu?" Scotty was still feeling guilty about disclosing the place they had been.

"For all I care, Sulu's still tied to that chair. Pavel wouldn't let me hurt him, nooooo. He said, 'No, he's my friend. You can't hurt him.' That was the first strain."

Dusha dropped off into silence, but Chekov picked up where she left off. "We then realized that our friends, contrary to what we thought, didn't like our marriage. We decided that we had to either break this off, even so soon, or run away. We haven't decided yet, but we thought we might get used to the thought of a dismal life without each other."

"But, but..." Scotty couldn't believe how horribly everything had backfired.

"You'd better go get Sulu, those ropes are probably cutting off his circulation," Dusha added tersely. With that, she stalked out the door, Chekov following a good three feet behind.

Too stunned to worry about Sulu, Scott jabbed at the intercom. "Pisces! Engineer Scott calling Pisces!"

* * *

Down in her room, after throwing a curious glanced at the others gathered with her, Pisces hesitantly pushed the intercom button with a satisfying click. "Pisces here."

Scott relayed everything that had transpired in the transporter room. "I'm going to get Sulu now," he added, "as soon as I can round up something to cover for me. You need to figure something out."

"Did they sound serious?" Uhura asked.

"Och, it's difficult to tell," Scott answered. "Could just be mad, and playin' a trick. Would nae surprise me."

Pisces got a crazed look in her eyes. "Yeah! Could be. Dusha would; she'd see it as us abandoning Sulu."

"I think it's a bluff," McCoy countered. "They're tryin' to cause us to feel guilty for spying on them."

"Maybe," Pisces mused. "Either way, they need a taste of their own medicine."

* * *

Pisces finally found Pavel in an anteroom of the rec room. "Hey Pavel."

"Hello."

"Heard about you and the evil Russian. What a bummer." She laid a hand over his.

"Yeah...well, life goes on.." He was clearly uncomfortable.

"I could kiss it and make it better..." As she leaned toward him, Dusha chose that moment to walk in.

"Argh! What is this?!"

"Thought you split. Guess not." Pisces was the picture of innocence.

Pisces’ witty remark didn’t even faze Dusha as she stalked up to stand squarely in front of Pavel. In a voice that could be heard even in space, where no one can even hear you scream, Dusha began to yell rapid-fire Russian at Pavel. Pisces could tell that Chekov desperately wanted to get in a word, but once Dusha was on a roll, there was no stopping her. Pisces had limited knowledge of Russian, but what few words she was able to pick out were insults of the most derogatory kind. Not quite sure what was happening, Pisces tried to interject but her attempt was met by a forceful shove by Dusha.

Bewildered by her friend’s harshness, Pisces was stunned, and continued to be until the unmistakable sound of a slap was heard. Pisces stared in disbelief as Pavel was still sitting, now with a cheek stung red by the blow. Obviously concluding the one sided ranting with that exclamation, Dusha spun on her heal and left, the tears that had threatened to fall through the whole ordeal spinning out as a reminder of her pain.

Jolting out of her momentary freeze, Pisces asked in a stunned voice, “What in all that I hold dear was that all about?”

“Sh-she-" Pavel sat stunned, as if immobilized by a phaser, “She just told me that she would have liked it better if she had known that I just got close to her to get close to you and that I should go rot in hell. She said that she...she never wanted to see me again and that she was sorry I had to go to such extravagant measures to ruin our relationship. She said she knew it was a ploy by you to make her feel better and more wanted, but she kept hoping that maybe that wasn’t true, but now she knows that it was. Pisces, she’s leaving.”

Pisces wasn’t sure if this was still part of the ploy to get revenge. If it was, it was going a little to the extreme. “Don’t worry, you’ll be able to get her back.”

“No, no you don’t understand. She’s leaving everything. You, the ship, me, her life, everything.” He explained somberly. His head seemed so heavy, like it weighed three times as much as it normally did, and he couldn’t seem to bring his eyes up to meet her face. In the awkward silence that followed, an announcement could be heard through the ship. “Security to the transporter room, security to the transporter room. Captain to the transporter room.”

“Come on.” Pisces ordered using her commanding officer to little weakling voice. “This has gone far enough.” Deciding now was a good time to put these shenanigans to a stop, Pisces hauled Pavel to his feet and dragged him to the door. Chekov flinched at her touch, as if any contact with humans would hurt him now. “We’ve got to go to the transporter room.”

The scene that met them there was one of chaos. The transporter chief, Kyle, lay unconscious on the floor, being tended to by a calm Chapel. Kirk, along with 2 security officers, Scotty and Sulu, were huddled in two orbits around the transporter console. The senior officers in the inner orbit and the security officers in the outer.

“What’s going on?” Pisces demanded, temporarily forgetting that she was ordering around the captain of the ship. Chekov just stood warily out of place at the edge of the transporter pad.

“Dusha seems to have gone against regs and beamed down to the planet. I forbid it to my crew for fear of them contaminating the time or universe stream. I didn’t know what affect Dusha would have, since unlike you she too is human, so I thought it safest if she remained on board. I only let her and Ensign Chekov go to the surface together because they promised to have no contact with the natives. Kyle seems to have tried to stop her, so she stunned him.” Kirk relayed all relevant details as tersely as possible.

“This has gone far enough.” Pisces’s eyes narrowed to slits as her anger began to heat. “I meant this to be a joke, but nothing like this. I’m going to get her.” Showing the first amount of life since entering the room, Chekov added, “So am I.”

“You are not. This was my fault and I’m going to clean it up. There is no point in you coming to apologize when you’ve done nothing wrong.” Pisces stepped on the pad without any more argument. “Energize.”

After she de-coalesced into a beam of shimmery particles, Chekov’s demeanor changed drastically. He smiled and looked at those assembled,

“Don’t worry, Pisces will find Dusha, apologize, and everything will be good as new.” The Captain, Chief Engineer, Pilot, Head Nurse, and newly awakened Transporter Chief looked at the Navigator in disbelief. “Well,” he explained somewhat embarrassed, “We had to teach you a lesson.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dusha waited for the cry of recognition, hasty apology and beg for forgiveness that she knew was coming. As she walked the beach to calm herself, she dismissed the shadow coming up behind her as Pisces. Putting on her angry façade she spun and started,

“Pisces, what the hell are you—“ she broke off as she realized who the silhouette really belonged to. “No, it can’t be, we—“ was all she was able to get out before her air supply was cut off by the hands that gripped her throat and she slid into unconsciousness. Now only one voice could be heard in the coming twilight

“I will never go down that easily, and I will have my revenge.”

* * *

Pisces was not a happy camper. Dusha had so-cleverly picked a beach with surrounding woods, and it was quite difficult to see. "When I get my hands on her..." Pisces grumbled to herself.

She scanned the beach carefully, but being in the dead of night wasn't helping either. After a few frantic minutes, she conjured up an orb of light, gasping as the sands were revealed.

Dusha's boot prints paralleled her own, from the beam-down site. Another set of boot prints began randomly, following Dusha's.

Following both sets, Pisces came upon a disturbing sight. The prints stopped abruptly, and something had been dragged away. "Shit!" Pisces said savagely. She teleported back to the ship.

On the edge of the woods, someone smiled evilly.

* * *
Chekov was in hysterics. Pisces had just finished her report. "Where is my Dushka?" he wailed.

Kirk patted his shoulder awkwardly. "I'm sure she's fine," he said with a look that dared someone to debate it.

"He's right," McCoy said, an arm around his daughter. "She can certainly take care of herself."

"Still," Pisces interjected, "we ought to find her."

Chekov snorted. "Don't be naïve; she's dead."

* * *

Actually, he wasn't that far off. Dusha awoke to a stinging pain in her arms. It was only when her awareness of the situation around her came back, that she realized that the pain was coming from her hands being twisted uncomfortably behind her arms. Tied behind her and lifted slightly, there was an unwritten promise of more pain should she not cooperate.

Slightly annoyed at the position she was in, and desperately wanting to know what or who had kidnapped her, Dusha called out, "All right, what's the meaning of this? What's going on? Where the hell am I? Somebody answer me!"

The only answer Dusha received was a sharp, quick upward pull on her bound arms. Tears springing forth, she cried out, oblivious to the cackle of laughter. Someone was obviously enjoying her torture.

"Well, child, you will be a nice little poker chip with the new 'heroes' of this world. Until then, though, I would make your friends pay a little by hurting you." Through blurred eyes Dusha thought she saw a glowing mass of energy throwing glimpses of evil light on a lanky, gaunt figure.

"No...I thought you were dead! This is impossible!" Dusha's head began to droop. With a vicious jerk of his hand the Wiseman used his telekinesis power to jerk her head back up.

"Now that I have something of worth to those infidels, I will not let you go without a testimony of my power. Since you are not a Senshi of that infernal Queen, you have no power against me." Releasing his mental hold on Dusha, she collapsed as much as her bonds would allow.

* * *

On the bridge, amidst the squabbling of everyone discussing possible courses of action, Pisces clutched her head in pain, doubling over from where she sat on the steps. Kirk, turning at her cry of pain, spoke softly. "You okay?"

"Whoa.." was her muffled reply. Her eyes met his in a clearly communicated look of fear. "That was a powerful surge of dark energy."

Sulu frowned. "Didn't the Queen purge the world of dark energy?"

Pisces had gone very pale. "I think it's the Wiseman," she whispered. "His energy signature is like a cold chill." Already she was shivering.

Kirk frowned. "That's not good."

McCoy snorted. "Dammit, Jim! Of course not! Dusha's still down there!"

Pisces sprang up. "I'm going down there."

Kirk put his foot down. "Not without a security team."

Pisces laughed. "Honestly. A phaser has little effect on the magical. You'll just kill the red shirts." She became very somber. "Dusha has no magical ability, so she's defenseless. The longer you keep me here, the more trouble she could be in." A smile lit her gaunt face. "Besides, Ares is going to meet me there."

McCoy stepped towards to Kirk. "If she's hurt, she'll need a doctor."

Kirk threw an accusing glance at Pisces. "Are you going to lead my crew into mutiny?"

Pisces sighed. "If I'm lucky, there'll be a crew left." She turned to her father. "You are not coming with me. It's dangerous enough."

"Like hell I'm not!" McCoy exclaimed.

She shrugged at him. "Sorry, Dad. It's for your own good." She disappeared.

McCoy turned to Kirk. "There she goes again!" he ranted. "Risking her life for others!"

Kirk smiled. "But you're still very proud of her, no matter how mad you are."

* * *

Pisces found Ares waiting for her on the surface. "Ready for this?" he whispered, having been filled in through the telepathic link they shared.

She nodded, closing her eyes. "I always wanted to save the world twice in a month," she said wryly.

They stalked into the woods, following a path only Pisces could sense.

"Do you always make jokes when your friend is in mortal peril? You know that she can't stand up to the things that we wouldn't think twice about. She's human, through and through, in case you forgot," Ares remarked, reaching to take her shaking hand. "Are you prepared for the fact that we might get there too late?"

"And just what you trying to say?" Pisces shot back, alarmed at the direction the conversation was heading.

"Now don't get all worked up--"

"You sound like my dad."

"Like I was saying, don't take this wrongly, but you have to be prepared for the worst. One of your most endearing qualities is that you see the best in people, Stella. That also leads you to think that everything will come out happy in the end. It doesn't always work that way," Ares attempted to reason with her.

Pisces's face took on a faraway look, and all she could see in her mind was Chekov's distraught face, not even acknowledging the presence of his best friends, let alone anyone else. He just kept his eyes downcast and made no movements. What Ares didn't know was that one of the things that Pisces couldn't keep out of her minds was thinking of all the horrible things that the Wiseman could be doing to her friend.

"I know that the Wiseman is not going to simply give Dusha to me, and I know that she could very likely be dead by the time we find her," the words caught in her throat, "but we have to try."

Ares smiled. "I know we do. Despite our fights, I would hate it if anything happened to Dusha." Pisces nodded back, reassured, and once again concentrated on the path she could nearly see through her eyelids. Ares followed her silently after this, until Pisces gasped and suddenly turned pale. "What is it?" he asked, concerned.

Pisces shook her head. What she wasn't willing to tell was that she had felt a noticeable drop in the life-force of her friend. They had to hurry.

* * *

Dusha couldn't discern the times when the Wiseman was torturing her from the times that he wasn't. All she knew was that she always hurt. The amount or sharpness of pain was now only thought of as an afterthought. She didn't know how long it had been since she had gone missing, a day maybe, or longer. She had lost all sense of time, which wasn't hard to do in this God-forsaken place.

She licked her parched lips and once again wished for something to drink. It was amazing how something so little could be wanted so much, she mused to herself.

Obviously the Wiseman saw her action, for his voice called out of the darkness, "Oh, are you thirsty? You poor thing..." Dusha had lost the ability to speak a long time ago, a consequence of screaming and not enough water, but she satisfied herself by thinking up the most horrible ways for someone to die.

*And to think, at one time I considered being a pacifist,* she thought ironically as she imagined the dismemberment of the Wiseman again.

"Oh, I know what you're thinking," the Wiseman cackled. "I'm sorry to say that I don't think that's allowed here. I'm afraid you'll pay dearly for it."

*No...not again...* Dusha didn't know how much more she could take.

The Wiseman wasted no time, trying to get in all the revenge he could while he had the chance.

* * *

Pisces and Ares stood outside the looming walls of the simple fortress. On the outside it seemed simple, non-imposing, and there was not a guard in site. Sliding cautiously around the corner of the entrance, the duo couldn't help but feel the apprehension of a trap settle in.

The inside was a totally different scenario. Optical illusions twisted their every step with a dark magic that was bearing down on both immortals. Longer and longer they wandered, and more and more they lost hope, until they had a breakthrough.

They entered a door that she'd been sure wasn't there a moment ago. Ares led the way through, peeking cautiously into the large chamber that was revealed. In the middle of the chamber, bloody and suspended from the ceiling, dangling a few feet off the ground, was a battered Dusha.

Pisces took a few cautious steps forward, the standard-issue heels of her uniform making no sound. Suddenly, Pisces gasped and Dusha screamed.

Wiseman's cackle filled their ears mercilessly. "Come to get your little friend, have you? How touching."

"Give her to me," Pisces commanded.

"Go and get her if you like," Wiseman remarked airily. "But if you step on the wrong stones, she'll suffer all the more." He cackled again. "It's too bad that I've turned the gravity up," he said snidely. "I've accounted for your telekinetic powers."

*Fantastic,* Pisces thought sarcastically. "Don't move!" she called to Ares, who had wisely thought of it already. Closing her eyes, as she'd done in the woods, she could picture the chamber clearly in her mind, a faint blackish glow around the evil stones.

Ares peered around. "There's probably traps in here," he said, the pessimism evident in his voice.

Pisces opened her eyes. *I can see the ones that hurt her,* she thought, *but I'm not sure if I'm right. Dusha's so close to death. Too many wrong choices will result in a very painful end for everyone.* She took a step forward; each successive step becoming hard to make as the gravity pressed against her, making it harder to breathe. She kept trudging on, closer to Dusha and higher in gravity.

Her lungs were strained to the breaking point, and it wasn't very comforting to her right then that she didn't need to breathe if she couldn't. All she knew was that it was getting harder to breathe, and she wasn't getting to Dusha fast enough. "Ares!" she called weakly. "See if they can beam her out."

It took all of her concentration and powers to simply discern the reply. "It's no use. Whatever he's doing to increase the gravity is also blocking mechanical operations." Ares fretfully fiddled with the communicator that Captain Kirk had given Pisces, who had in turn given it to him.

The Wiseman cackled at the feeble attempt at rescuing Dusha. "Oh, so you think you can get to her that easily, do you? Well, I've actually grown quite fond of her screaming, believe it or not, and I think I'd like to hear them again." With a flick of his evil, skeletal wrist, the glowing square that Pisces had been standing on turned black. She was on the wrong square, one that would cause her friend pain.

The cry of agony that came, just as she suspected it would, and it took everything Pisces had not to look up at Dusha. Instead, she collapsed to her knees, slowly being overcome by the gravity.

The Wiseman laughed. "The longer you stay there the more she gets hurt. Do you really want to do that to her?" Dusha's strained voice echoed in Pisces's ears, a testimony to the truth he told. "For every second you stay on that square, the amount of torture she receives doubles. You're killing her." Obviously, he was enjoying playing off Pisces's emotions.

With the last of her reserves, Pisces forced herself to her feet and, concentrating with every fiber in her, located the nearest glowing square and made her way to it. The moment her foot landed on the square Dusha's painful screaming stopped. *I can't take much more of this, and neither can Dusha.* Pisces knew the truth in her mind if not her heart. *Ares, please help me!* Having no idea whether or not she had the strength to project her wishes anymore, she relied heavily on praying that her mental capabilities were still intact.

Fortunately, Ares was barely able to recognize the voice that filtered into his mind. Waiting for this signal, he sprang into action.

His first shot caught the Wiseman by surprise. Too busy mocking Pisces and changing the safe squares into the pain-causing ones for his own twisted amusement, Wiseman hadn't been expecting an attack from the silent observer. "What? You little ingrate!" He summoned a sphere of energy to throw at Ares.

Dodging swiftly, Ares prepared for a prolonged battle. Throwing volley after volley of his own attacks; he did everything he could to distract the Wiseman from his other battle so Pisces could regain her concentration. Fuming, the Wiseman didn't notice when his main power drifted from keeping the gravity at five times Earth's to battling Ares. It was his fatal mistake.

Pisces immediately noticed the drop in gravity, and with a smile realized what Ares was doing. *Thank you, my love. That's exactly what I needed.* With a renewed sense of strength, and along with that hope, Pisces pulled herself towards her goal, much easier than before. At the base of the area where her friend was strung up like a rag doll, Pisces could see the splatters of blood on the floor. Looking up, she couldn't bear to keep her eyes focused on Dusha for more than a few seconds. When she did, she could see that her friend was on the verge of death. Dusha's hair, at one time a chocolate brown color, was now heavily tinged with blood. What parts of it that weren't sopping with blood were held in sweaty clumps. They dangled around her pale face and it seemed as though Dusha's very will to live had disappeared. Pisces had to look away, at the floor, but she was once again faced with the pools of blood that slid down Dusha's legs to rain onto the floor.

Dusha, by some miracle, looked down at her, flinching, but didn't look away. Her face showed no recognition, and her eyes were distant and clouded. Lines of pain, now permanently etched in her face, seemed to tell her story like no words ever could. What chilled Pisces the most though, was the soft, yet strained voice that came out of Dusha's mouth. It could barely be heard over the explosions, but she was able to make out, "Please, tell me you're not here to hurt me too..." Dusha's head lolled dangerously as she threatened to pass out again. Pisces could not believe this was the same woman who'd laughed and shouted at her only days before.

"D--don't worry Dusha. I'll get you down from there." Pisces's voice wavered because of the atrocities she saw. Summoning the last of her magic, she was able to form one last knife of energy to cut Dusha from her bonds. It was also the moment when the Wiseman happened to catch out of the corner of his eyes what Pisces had accomplished.

"No! You shall never leave here with your friend alive! She will die before you can get to her!" he thundered. With plenty of his own dark energy left, he quickly conjured a ball of energy and hurled it to the place where Dusha hung.

As if in slow motion, Pisces saw the energy coming. She threw the knife, watching it slide through all Dusha's bonds like a boomerang, releasing her. Pisces caught her, noting distantly how limp and light she was. She sprang away, just as the sphere sliced the air where Dusha had hung seconds before.

Pisces ran, heedless of where she stepped now, and sprinted with renewed strength for the door, followed by a battle-weary and slower Ares. She ran through corridors, trusting her legs to guide her. Ares was a good half a corridor, panting and struggling to keep up. *How does she do it?* he wondered, watching her speed up as she killed a giant spider and leap over flesh-eating plant.

Up ahead, Pisces had spotted a glimmer of daylight. But one thing stopped her from leaving: Wiseman. "Get out of my way." Pisces's tone was even, but her features betrayed the immense anger contained within.

Wiseman cackled. "No. I don't believe in yielding to the demands of one of the Queen's backstabbing senshi."

Giving him nothing more than a smirk and slow nod, she raised a hand. The energy flowed from her fingertips like a waterfall, incinerating the former obstacle. As Ares came to a halt behind her, the meager bits of his cloak and bones swirled in the winds and vanished.

Pisces basked in the simple radiance that the sun offered. Barely registering the feel of the wind in her face, she couldn't believe that they'd actually made it. She'd been so sure that Wiseman's last attack would destroy them all; it seemed like nothing short of divine intervention.

Thinking back to last moments in the fortress, she looked down at the bundle in her arms. "How is she?" Ares put a hand on Pisces's shoulder as they both looked down on their mutual friend. In the light, they could see the full extent of the torture she had been put through. Her face was smudged with red and brown, her eyes were closed tightly, almost like she trying to keep out the pain by not looking at what caused it. Dusha's skin, where could be seen, was as white as snow in Russia.

"I--I don't know." Pisces couldn't free a hand to check for a pulse. She glanced at Ares, who understood her unspoken question. With a cursory glance he couldn't tell if her chest was rising and falling. If it was, it was imperceptible and Ares was afraid that he would have to deliver horrible news. Just his soft touch on her carotid artery made her whole body shiver in pain. She began to cough as if she couldn't breath.

Pisces shifted to try and keep Dusha from gagging on her own blood, which was sliding down her throat. Despite this, Ares looked up with a tired half-smile. "She's just barely alive, but she is. She must have some of you in her." He paused to gaze at Pisces. "We need to get her away from this place so the Enterprise can beam us aboard." His face took on a demeanor of worry. "She may not stay that way for long."

"I know, and neither you nor I have the power to help her." Pisces looked down at Dusha and wished that everything would simply go back to the way it was. Her arms were now covered in Dusha's blood and were going numb. She saw her friend begin to shake violently from the cold, caused by her lack of blood. Ares ceremoniously took off his cloak that he'd been wearing and draped it over the pitiful bundle.

"Let's move." Ares looked in Pisces's sorrowful eyes and began to move. Pisces walked slowly, trying to minimize the bumping that Dusha had to endure. Each jostle pulled a small cry of pain from Dusha and it seemed like an eternity until the communicator expertly clipped to Ares's belt went off.

He flipped it open. "Ares here."

"Situation?" It was Kirk's voice.

"We're got her, Captain," Ares replied. "But she needs medical attention. I'm okay, and Pisces," a quick glance at her assessed her condition, "may have a scratch or two."

"We're preparing to beam you aboard." Even as he spoke, the beam engulfed them and they appeared in the transporter room, where Pisces handed Dusha off to a medunit.

She was about to follow when Ares touched her shoulder. "Go clean up first," he commanded softly. "You look almost as bad as she does."

Pisces sighed. "You're right." She paused. "But I don't care. It's my fault she's in this condition. If I hadn't flirted with Chekov just to make her mad..."

Ares raised an eyebrow, trying not to let the slight hurt he felt into his voice. "What prompted such a dastardly action on your part? You are, after all, mine."

Pisces groaned. "Needless to say, it's a long story. The bottom line is that I love you."

He kissed her cheek. "Let's keep it that way," he said gruffly.

Pisces stripped off her bloody gloves and stared at them. "I--I'd better go clean up."

* * *

When she arrived in sickbay, the scene was hectic. Nurses dashed around, McCoy and M'Benga called for various hyposprays, and Chekov was tucked in a corner, twisting his wedding band on his finger, obviously sedated. "How is she?" Pisces asked softly.

"Her heart stopped," Chekov said dully. "They got it started again as you walked in."

Chapel walked over to Pisces. "You're hurt," she said pointedly.

Pisces followed Chapel's gaze to her bare forearm, where a long, bloody gash stretched from her wrist to her elbow. "Must've slashed it on those spears," Pisces said detachedly, turning her gaze back to the busiest bed in the diagnostic room.

Chapel gently steered her to the opposite end of sickbay and examined the wound. "It's not infected."

"Don't heal it," Pisces said. "I'll do it when I have the energy to spare."

Chapel, making a mental note to sic McCoy on his daughter, quietly bandaged the wound and allowed her back into the diagnostic room. Seeing the now-quiet room, Pisces's gaze flickered to McCoy, arms crossed over his chest. "You look like hell."

"Thanks, Dad," Pisces said wryly.

McCoy gingerly picked up her left arm and examined the wound. "Why didn't Chapel fix this?"

"I need magical healing. I don't think you prescribe that here." While McCoy saw through her attempt at humor, Pisces's eyes darted around. "How's Dusha?"

"Stable and asleep, which is good. She'll be drowning in physical, emotional and mental trauma for awhile. That was one hell of a nightmare she went through." He eyed his daughter. "Stella, go rest. That was some ordeal you went through as well. You'll need your strength, and you have to report back to Queen What's-her-face as well."

Pisces didn't hear him. She was fast asleep.

* * *

It took a week for Dusha to come out of the coma she had fallen into as a result of her heart stopping. When the brain activity monitor jumped with the waves flowing through her brain, Dr. McCoy thought he was going to jump for joy. Even Chekov smiled, just the tiniest one. This was the greatest, most noteworthy of events.

Over the past week he had receded into a person that shied away from all human and non-human contact. It wasn't that he didn't do as he was told, it was only that unless he was told to do something he could be found wandering aimlessly around the ship or at Dusha's bedside. It wasn't until Captain Kirk came down to sickbay and ordered Chekov to go and eat something, anything, that he did as was told. When Uhura and Sulu came to try and comfort him, Uhura with her empathic shedding of tears that he'd never do and Sulu with his silent sentry-like mourning, he didn't respond. He never talked to anyone, and it wasn't until Dusha finally awoke that he transformed back into the way he had been.

Dusha's wide brown eyes slowly opened and she took in her surroundings. At first she didn't seem to recognize anything, until her gaze landed on Chekov. Then, in the recesses of her mind a light bulb went off and she smiled weakly. "Honey, you look terrible. What did I tell you about working too hard on the projects Mr. Spock gives you?"

Chekov started at her concern for him, and couldn't help but smile back as he remembered that was one of the reasons that he married her. "I'm fine compared to you." He noticed McCoy calling the Captain, Pisces, and the rest of the bridge crew to tell them the good news. "You scared us quite a bit." It was then that Dr. McCoy walked into the room and Pisces finished transporting herself there. It was if they both materialized behind him at the same time. *Creepy,* he thought, *but then again, they are related.*

Dusha tilted her head to the side inquiringly and lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "Why? Oh, and do you mind telling me what I'm doing here? I don't think I'm really hurt..." She tried to sit up, but a stab of pain coursed through her and she gasped. "Ugh, what did I do to myself?"

The three gathered around her exchanged glances until McCoy realized what was happening. "Dusha, would you mind if I talked to Pavel and Pisces for a minute alone?"

"About me?" she asked mock-suspiciously.

"Well..." Dr. McCoy flushed.

"Just kidding, as long as it's nothing bad--"

"Oh I assure you it's not."

"Then go right ahead." With the free hand that wasn't tied up in the mounds of sheet she was covered with she was able to playfully push Chekov toward the other two. "Go on."

McCoy flagged everyone into his office and the door hissed to close behind him. Pisces was the first to voice what was going through her head. "Daddy, what's going on? Dusha's forgetful, sure, but not like this! What's wrong with her?"

"Why doesn't she remember what happened to her?" Chekov leaned forward, wanting to know what was plaguing his wife now.

McCoy sighed and collapsed into his unyielding chair. He prepared himself for a long medical explanation, but decided to go for the abridged version. "It seems that because of everything Dusha went through, instead of going through all the emotional trauma we expected her mind has decided to protect itself from it. By denying that it ever happened the body and mind don't have to go through the shock they normally would have to."

"Well, if we don't tell her then can't this work out for the best?" Pisces looked for the bright side of the new development.

"There's only one problem with that. The mind can't hide forever from the truth. Suddenly it will come crashing down on Dusha, twice as hard as it would have originally. Since it's already a heavy load, I'm afraid that it's going to be quite a doozy when it comes. I don't know if she'll be able to withstand something like that in her present condition."

"There has to be something that we can do!" Chekov cried out. "We came so close to losing her before; we can't lose because of this." Pisces nodded her firm agreement.

"I'm going to tell Jim so he can tell everyone not to force the issue. That will give me time to look through studies about post-war like situations to see if we can help. Somehow we'll do it," McCoy assured them.

"We have to, for her sake," Chekov added sadly.

* * *

Pisces sat, her head cradled in hand, contemplating the events of the past couple days. Dusha may have been discharged from sickbay, but she was far from being totally healthy. Chekov was constantly with her, protecting her from undue stress. She was happily oblivious to the fact that anything could be amiss. But Pisces was painfully aware of it.

It was her fault Dusha had been tortured and she knew it. Pisces had always haphazardly made enemies, confident in her ability to fend them off or make peace with them. She hadn't expected Wiseman to hide and strike again after the Black Moon War. Dusha had paid a heavy price for it and now Pisces felt like getting away from the world for a while. But if Wiseman had hidden, perhaps the others had. It was safer to track them now while they were unaware of her knowledge.

* * *

"Pisces?" The door to hers and Ares's quarters opened and Dusha walked in. "Are you here?"

Upon further inspection, she discovered that neither Pisces nor Ares were here. *Where'd that girl get to?* she fumed. *Every time I want to talk...* Her statement went unfinished as she stalked out, intent on finding one of the two.

* * *

Ares knew as soon as he spotted Dusha coming that something was wrong and he was going to pay for it. Watching her stern expression as she threaded her way through the daintily placed tables, she took a defensive stance in front of him. Not one to beat around the bush, she got straight to the point.

“All right Ares,” she commanded, using a voice that she had heard Pisces use many a time. “I know that you have one of those mystic connections with Pisces so don’t even try to deny it. Where is she?”

“Um...why do you ask?” Ares asked as nonchalantly as he could. Like the rest of the crew he found it unsettling that Dusha was so assertive after her ordeal. He had held her when she was unconscious, right after they had rescued her, and the person in front of him was such a stark contrast that he couldn’t believe it was the same person. He also knew that Dusha’s mind could decide to stop hiding from itself at any time, and the healing from that could take longer than the physical had.

“Don’t “Um...” me, Mister. You know where she is, so cough it up. Pavel’s been hanging all over me and it’s taken every devious trick I can think of to get away from him. Now that he’s back on regular shifts, I have time to track people like you down. Pisces has been acting strangely, more strange than usual mind you. Tell me now!” she took firm hold of the collar of Ares's shirt in a threatening gesture.

It was true that Ares had easily been able to track down where Pisces was, but he was hesitant to tell the emotional Russian in front of him. He wasn’t particularly threatened by her actions, but he felt a moral obligation to tell her. It was obvious to anyone remotely close to Pisces that she was going through heavy guilt. Thinking that the best way for Pisces to deal with this unfamiliar feeling would be to let her deal with it her own way, Ares had let her be. Now though, he was having second thoughts about his decision.

“All right, fine, there’s no reason to get violent, Dusha. Pisces has gone down to the Moon Kingdom in search of something. She’s in sector,” he paused for a moment to get exact bearings on Pisces, “R33.”

“That idiot,” Dusha muttered as she stalked towards the door, “what is she up to? When I find out, I have a feeling I’m not going to like it and a real dressing down is going to be in order. Sometimes that girl needs someone to set it to her straight.” Ares couldn’t help but think of the hypocrisy as he heard Dusha was saying this. She was hiding something from herself, and disastrous things could happen when she finally found out.

With grim determination Dusha marched towards the transporter room, ordered Kyle to beam her down and stood on the platform. Still faintly afraid of her due to the memory of the petite Russian easily knocking him out, Kyle complied. When she rematerialized in the heart of the city she thought she saw a flash of green turning the corner at the end of the causeway. The turn was competed with a whisk of blond hair also turning the corner, and that cinched it. It had to be Pisces.

*You think I’m so oblivious,* Dusha thought, *I know something’s going on and I’m going to find out one way or another. You just watch me. You’d better explain what’s bugging you, Pavel, the Captain and everyone else or I’m going to have to find out the hard way.*

* * *

Pisces stealthily crept past the corner, all her sense heightened to pick up the slightest disturbance of evil in the pool of her consciousness. Consequently when Dusha's thoughts screamed through her mind, she stopped short.

*I can't deal with this right now,* she thought desperately. *Leave me alone, Dusha!*

Dusha couldn't hear her thoughts, so she didn't heed them. Turning around, Pisces saw Dusha running towards her. "Pisces! Stop! You'd better stop right now or I'm going to hunt you down!" Dusha panted as Pisces quickened her pace down the narrow street.

*I'm doing this to protect you like I should have been.* Pisces's train of thought quickened with her pace. *I don't know why you ever come with me; there was a reason I always worked alone before I met you. I was afraid I would hurt someone, like you.*

"Would you listen to me?" Pisces hadn't noticed that as she began to wallow in self-pity she slowed down, allowing Dusha to catch up. Dusha grabbed her friend's shoulder roughly and spun her around. "I want to know what's going on with everybody." Dusha glowered at her friend. "I know no one is telling me the truth, sheltering me from the truth. Now tell me what's going on!"

"I, uh..." Pisces shuddered, then froze. She had felt a disturbance and automatically threw out her arm to shield Dusha.

"What? What is it?" Dusha's demeanor changed, feeling the tenseness in her friend's arm.

Pisces didn't answer, but her defensive stance told what she thought. Her face darkened as she felt the disturbance grow as it closed in.

"Shit," was the first thing Pisces could say.

Dusha, however, dug her nails into Pisces's arm as horrible images flashed through her head: a dark chamber covered in blood; a leering face covered in a gray cloak with a skeletal grin; beams of dark energy racing to strike flesh; the smoke encompassing the room from scorched flesh, and all the while a jeering laugh pounded in her head. With those negative thoughts running rampant in her head, Dusha passed out.

Pisces felt Dusha slide to the ground and cursed inwardly for not catching her, but the current foe required all her attention. *Ares,* she thought desperately. *I need you.*

* * *

Onboard the ship, Captain Kirk was beginning to pick up on Chekov's anxiety and impending paranoia. "Are you sure she's not in your quarters?"

"Positive," the navigator replied. "She is nowhere to be found."

McCoy leaned over the rail, eager to offer his two cents. "Maybe you oughta find Stella," he advised. "She'll find her."

Kirk pressed the intercom. "Pisces to the bridge." They waited a few moments, knowing she'd sense the urgency and teleport. After ten minutes, Kirk pressed it again. "Ares to the bridge."

The words had hardly left his mouth when Ares fully appeared on the bridge. "Yes, Captain?"

McCoy beat him to it. "Where are Stella and Dusha?"

Ares wasn't about to face Dusha's wrath for sending the whole ship after her. "Why?"

"Dusha's a walking bomb! She could seriously injure herself or anyone else if those memories resurface!"

Ares took a deep breath and faced his consort's father. "Stella is going through some heavy guilt. She went down to the Moon Kingdom to think it through, and Dusha went after her." He gave the bridge crew a guilty look before turning his attention to the mental plea from Stella. "Excuse me. Stella seems to have run into an old friend there." With that, he disappeared.

* * *

Pisces turned slowly, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the permeating evil she felt. A crowd had begun to gather around them when Dusha had fallen, but a quick display of her power had emptied the alleyway, except for that force she felt. Oddly, the malevolence she felt didn't seem to be directed at her, but at her fallen friend. "I know you're out there! Show yourself!" Pisces wanted nothing more than to kneel down and check on the condition of her friend, but she needed to know what she was up against. Just then, she felt, rather than saw, Ares materialize a step behind and to the right of her.

"Glad you could join the party," she greeted him while rolling her eyes.

"Always loved parties. Who's the host?" Ares kept the play-acting going.

"I don't know yet, but tell me how Dusha's doing." She desperately needed to reassure herself.

Kneeling, Ares did what he could to check on Dusha's condition. Meanwhile, Pisces continued trying to taunt and goad the person or thing that had caused Dusha to fall to come out. Ares glanced up at her. "I don't know much, and we should probably get her to your father, but all I can say is that her pulse is slowing and that can't be good."