The ascent back to the village was a quiet one. Or at least, it would have been, if not for Tanna describing, in detail, everything that happened once she stepped through the lichen curtain, punctuated by T’Luni’s Vulcan observations of “remarkable” or “fascinating,” or Craig’s gasps of surprise and wonder.

Once they were safely back in their quarters, Seru’nai bade them goodbye and told them they would inform the Elders of the away team’s decisions. Tanna changed back into her standard duty uniform, but she was reluctant to remove the beads from her hair, and Craig did not make her.

“I think they suit you,” he said, and she was alright with that. After everything that was shared between her and the Stone, she felt connected to this place, and she figured a part of her probably always would. Once their gear was packed, the villagers helped them stack it neatly onto a few hand-pulled wooden carts.

Tanna cried a little as she hugged Che’dik and her other teenage tour guides farewell, giving the small girl who had gifted her the beads an extra-long embrace. Their walk to the village entrance was lined with people, all smiling and waving, occasionally placing tokens or trinkets on the carts as they passed.

At the entrance, the Elders waited to see them off.

“You have been written into the history of our people,” Varu’lei said, placing their weathered hands gently over Tanna’s. “The Stone will forever remember your visit, and you will always be welcome in our Village, Tanna-of-the-Sky-Ship.”

Tanna wiped another tear from her cheek. “Just Tanna is fine,” she said with a chuckle.

Veru’lei tapped her hand lightly, but Tanna could not stop herself and pulled the ancient Palrillian into a tight hug. When they broke apart, Veri’lei’s face was wet with tears as well, and there was a smile on their face.

The away team began the long march back towards the surface along the path that Seru’nai had shown them, stopping occasionally for rest and rations. When they finally returned to the cathedral-like central hub, they decided to send a message to the ship.

Craig tapped his comm badge. “Away Team to the Falcon, I’ve got supplies to beam up.”

The voice of Commander Saberwyn greeted them, sounding oddly relieved. “Good lord, Craig, where the hell have you been? We’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday!”

“I know, Commander, and I apologise. We’ve made some… disturbing discoveries, and we were out of comms range.”

“Well, I’m sure the Captain will be glad to hear it when he rendezvous with you.”

“Rendezvous?” Craig repeated, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“When we hadn’t heard from you at your scheduled check-in, the Captain became worried that you had been captured or imprisoned, so he decided to come to the surface to make sure you’re alright.”

“Sir, how long has the Captain been on the surface?”

“He would have landed a few hours ago, if my math is right.”

Tanna felt her breath catch in her throat, and she stumbled, tossing a hand against the wall to avoid falling over. Some lingering connection with the Stone must still exist, because she was overwhelmed by an intense, urgent fear. Wide-eyed, she whipped her head around to look at Craig.

“Sir, we need to move. Now!”

Craig, noticing the expression on her face, slapped his comm badge again.

“Commander, we’ve got a situation down here. We believe there is a dangerous predator on the planet’s surface that drove these people underground, and the Captain’s life is now in danger. We’re headed to the tunnel system’s entrance, but we are still pretty far from it. Send a security team to secure Captain Bowman. We will explain when we make it back to the ship. Under no circumstances are they allowed to let him leave. Understood?”

Saberwyn must have heard the urgency in his old friend’s voice, because there were no questions. “Copy that. Dispatching the security team now. Get to the Captain as quickly as you can.”

Craig kicked open one of the crates and tossed both Tanna and T’Luni a phaser before grabbing one himself. The trio strapped on the holsters, then looked at each other and broke into a run.

It was another ninety minutes before they reached the doors of the cavern system, which still stood closed at the mouth of the tunnel. Tanna reached out and touched them as before, and they slowly began to swing open.

“That’s a good sign,” Tanna said through laboured breaths from the hard pace. “I think.”

“I do not believe they would have opened if there was a threat outside.” T’Luni agreed. She was not sweating or breathing heavily.

“Let’s figure out what’s going on here,” Craig said, wiping his brow on his sleeve and pushing his glasses up his nose.

They stepped out onto the grass. Once they were clear of the doors, they began to close again. With a loud crash, the seam that split them became once more almost completely invisible, and the Palrillians were once again safe.

Their optimism was short-lived, however, as it soon became apparent that some kind of skirmish was taking place behind the shuttlecraft. Flashes of red phaser fire could be seen, accompanied by screams of pain. The three looked at each other, horrified.

“Whoever that is, we cannot let them leave,” Craig said, his voice full of bravado, though his expression was grave. T’Luni and Tanna nodded, and they crept around the side of the shuttle.

Captain Bowman stood alone, facing away from them. He held a phaser in each hand. As they approached, they saw the bodies of the security team lying on the ground in front of him in a semi-circle. Commander Saberwyn was nowhere to be seen.

Craig spoke up first. “Captain?” he said slowly. “Is everything alright?”

“Commander…” Captain Bowman replied calmly. “I’m glad you are safe. I was beginning to worry.” He took a deep breath.

“Captain,” Craig began, “What happened here?”

“These officers attempted to stop me from boarding the shuttle,” Bowman answered. “They were being insubordinate.”

Craig looked to his teammates, and they all understood simultaneously. This was not the captain they knew. Bowman turned slowly to face them. In almost every way, he looked exactly the same. His uniform was clean and unwrinkled, and his posture was proper for a Starfleet Captain and veteran soldier. Even the way he spoke was identical. But where there were once piercing steel-blue eyes, the kind of eyes that could cut through any bullshit and bore down into a person’s soul yet still held kindness and compassion, there were instead deep black wounds.

Tanna collapsed onto the ground, crying and shouting as the pain and fear of hundreds of generations of people all flooded into her at once. A moment later, she was scooped from the ground and hurled backwards, as T’Luni picked her up and forced her back into cover.

From the far side of the shuttlecraft, they heard a groan and the laboured sounds of someone getting back to their feet. Commander Saberwyn appeared, holding a hand against his side and bleeding heavily from a cut above his eyebrow. His other hand still held a firm grasp on the phaser he’d been carrying. “Captain, Scott. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I cannot let you leave,” he said harshly, raising his phaser and aiming it squarely at Bowman’s chest. “Take another step, and I will fire.”

“Bema,” Bowman said, turning to him, “You can’t leave me here.” He took a step. “I am your captain, and your brother.”

Saberwyn didn’t move. His hand was shaking slightly as it held the phaser on his oldest friend. “I don’t think that’s true anymore, Scott.”

Bowman took another step forward.

“STOP!” Bema yelled. “Scott, whoever you are, don’t make me do this.”

“I will not stay here any longer!” Bowman hissed. His voice had become high and guttural. “I have been trapped on the surface of this miserable planet for millennia, and neither you nor any of the other pathetic lifeforms with you are going to stop me from finally leaving.” He fired a phaser at Bema, but Bema threw himself at the ground, and the shot went wide, flashing off the shuttlecraft’s hull. Bowman capitalised on the distraction and took off at a run towards the shuttle’s rear door.

Craig raised his phaser at the captain, but before he could fire, another phaser burst flashed by his ear and hit the captain in the shoulder, sending him off balance and tumbling into he grass. He turned to see who had fired. It was Tanna, who had regained her footing, panting heavily with her phaser drawn.

Her face was a mask of pain and rage. Her teeth were clenched together as she felt all of the Stone’s wrath spill forth, compelling her to move forward, towards the hill where Bowman had been thrown, to shoot him again, and keep shooting him until there was nothing left. She barely felt Craig’s hand on her shoulder, barely heard his words of calm and reassurance.

She also didn’t notice Bowman get up, evidently, because in the next moment, she herself buckled, collapsing to the ground as a phaser hit her in the abdomen. Craig fell next to her, and the Commander had not gotten up from his dive. Tanna wasn’t sure where T’Luni was, and began wishing desperately that she be okay. Her vision was blurring as the Captain moved towards the shuttlecraft, his tunic burnt and dark from her shot. She tried to get back up, but found she couldn’t lift herself from the grass.

There was a great rumbling then, and the ground beneath her began to shake and pitch violently. She felt someone grab her arm and pull her away from the shuttlecraft. Worried the shuttle was taking off, she forced her body to move, and she rolled onto her side. She could see the Captain’s face through the viewscreen, angrily attempting to lift from the ground, but the shuttle’s nacelles were being held to the ground by the glowing tendrils of the Stone.

The ground below the shuttle yawned open, and the Stone pulled the shuttlecraft down, beneath the surface. She could feel intense heat emanating from the hole as it closed, and the air was thick with the acrid smell of burning metal. A bubble of magma popped as the ground sealed itself again, and the shuttle was gone, nothing left behind but a small circle of burnt grass.

The danger was not over, though, because moments later, another huge earthquake shook the ground, toppling her backwards.

“The shuttle’s warp core has just exploded!” T’Luni said, tapping the comm badge on her chest. “Falcon, this is the away team. I have eight to beam directly to sick bay.”

The last thing Tanna remembered from the planet’s surface was the peak of the mountain over the door cracking and breaking free, falling in jagged pieces over the entrance of the caverns. Hopefully, the Palrillians would be safe now, forever. Then, she was enveloped in the shimmering light of the transporter, and let her eyes slide closed.