"Jimmy? Jimmy!" There was a frustrated sigh and Jim Kirk felt a pillow slam into his head. "Come on, wake up already!"

"Go away," He mumbled, rolling over in his twin bed as he tried to fall back into the quickly dissipating dream.

Mumbling under his breath, Jim's brother stepped over to the bed and tore the covers off. Jim tried unsuccessfully to wrestle the blankets back. "What do you want?" He demanded, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

His older brother George just grinned. "You have to see this!" He said in a hushed voice.

With a groan, the young Jim Kirk slid his legs over the side of the bed and onto the cold floor. "See what?"

His brother headed towards the door, the grin still on his face. "Come on!"

Much to his reluctance, Jim followed, yawning and wrapping his skinny arms around his chest. George peered out into the hallway, quickly glancing down the stairs. He held a finger to his lips, reminding his brother to be quiet a he continued on his way.

Jim looked down the stairs as he tiptoed after his brother. Frank sat passed out on the couch in front of a screen. Several empty bottles of beer lay on the floor next to him. He looked pretty out of it but it was still a good idea to be careful. Jim instinctively flinched at the idea of getting caught. The bruises on his back were incentive enough to be quiet as he made his way towards the end of the hall, treading lightly over the creaking wooden boards.

George carefully opened the door to the spare room and stepped through. Once his little brother had entered, he closed the door behind them. A window was open, the faded curtains blowing in the chilly breeze. Jim shivered, goosebumps rising on his skin. George looked at his brother and then crossed to the old boxes stacked against the wall. He opened one and took out one of their dad's old leather jackets.

"Here," George said, handing it to him.

Jim pushed his skinny arms through the oversized sleeves. George headed to the open window and onto the steep roofing that lined the house. Jim followed as his older brother climbed up the rain gutter and pulled himself up onto the roof. He reached down, holding out a hand for his little brother. Jim took it and he was pulled onto the top of the old farmhouse.

George looked over his shoulder, grinning at the night sky. "Look!"

Jim's blue eyes widened, a smile spreading across his face.

The stars were clear as crystals. The dusty belt of the galaxy wrapped around them from horizon to horizon and pale streaks of light arced across the night sky.

"Whoa..." Jim marveled as he watched the meteor shower.

"Pretty neat, right?"  

"Yeah."

George laid on the roof, folding his hands behind his head.

"That's so cool," Jim said with a wide grin.

George didn't reply. He was content to just stare at the night sky and listen to the crickets chirping in the dried fields around them.

Jim sat down, wrapping his arms around his knees. His attention had turned from the meteors to the thousands of distant stars twinkling in the night sky. "There's so many of them."

"Hmm..."

Jim grew quiet. He tried to count the flashes of light but gave up after a while. Sometimes it was just better to just watch and enjoy it.

The crickets chirped loudly in the fields and the stars sparkled in the heavens above. He wondered what it would be like up there, sailing through the endless sky, surrounded by a sea of stars. From here, they just looked like faint slivers of light. Up there they would big, sparkling like gemstones around them, he imagined.

"Can't wait till I get outta here," George finally said, breaking the silence. "I'm gonna get on the first ship I can find and never come back."

Jim listened to his brother talk, his big blue eyes still lost in the sky above.

"Maybe I'll be an explorer. Get my own ship and just go places and not worry about anything. Just be able to do whatever I want, you know?"

"I guess."

George shook his head. "Yeah, what would you know. You're always doing everything right. Good grades, always doing what you're told," George sighed. "Then there's me. I can't be a Kirk in this house. I hate it. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to."

Jim's gaze dropped to the shale roof. He wished he could be more like his older brother. He hated pretending to be the good kid. He hated having to stand back and not say anything when George and Frank were going at it. Not that it helped much...

"If you get a space ship, can I come with you?" he asked in a small voice.

George grinned. "Yeah, sure. You can be my second in command, or something."

"Sweet," Jim smiled at the thought. "That would be awesome."

The millions of distant suns glimmered in the endless sky. A million distant worlds, a million endless adventures called out to the two young boys sitting on the roof. Perhaps one day...

Perhaps one day....

✵  ✵  ✵

Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the USS Enterprise climbed achingly to his feet.  He groaned and shook his pounding head. He was a little beat up but, all things considered, nothing too serious. Which was more cause for suspicion than relief. The fall should have killed him. And yet there he was, nothing more than a little bruised.

The bottom of the chasm had opened into a large, expansive network of caverns. A thick fog hung around him, highlighted by several glowing plants that hung from the large rocks making up the walls of the canyon.

He took a deep breath, leaning against a large rock and taking the communicator from his pocket. "Enterprise, this is Captain Kirk," he said in a tired voice. "Anyone there?"

There was no response. Not that he was expecting any all the way down there. He noticed a long crack ran down the side of the communicator and several of the dials appeared to be broken.

"Perfect," Kirk mumbled as he put the broken communicator back and pushed away from the rock wall.

He started walking, slowly, his boots splashing through the puddles of glowing cyan colored water that lined the cave floor. He was unarmed now, no weapon of any kind. He guessed if he ran into anymore of those creatures he would have to improvise.

The white fog began to thicken, the blue luminescent lights glowing in the shadows. Kirk froze in his tracks as a figure passed through the fog a few meters to his left. He ducked behind the nearest outcropping of rock.

Whatever it was, the figure seemed to be heading away from him. It hadn't seen him yet. Kirk moved around the boulder and through the thick fog, treading carefully around the water puddles covering the ground. He could see the back of the figure, partially obscured in the fog, just in front of him.

Kirk lunged forward. The figure ducked the first blow, but captain Kirk's fist hit the humanoid square in the jaw. Kirk turned and stepped back, ready for a fight when he recognized who was standing in front of him. "Spock?!"

Spock straightened, holding his now bleeding lip. He looked at his hand as thick drops of green dripped off of his fingers. "Indeed," he replied.

Kirk stepped forward. "Sorry, I had no idea it was you."

"It was, as you would say, an honest mistake," Spock told him, wincing."If not a painful one," He added.

"What are you doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Oh, you know. Just decided to take a walk, enjoy the view."

Spock glanced around at the sides of the canyon.

Kirk rolled his eyes at his first officer's inability to understand sarcasm. "It's a long story," He said, not wanting to explain it all at that moment. "Why are you here?"

"I was leading a rescue party onto the planet's surface to attempt to locate you and the others," The Vulcan explained.

"I ordered you to stay with the ship."

"You were obviously in need of assistance—"

"Spock I needed you up there."

Spock raised a single eyebrow inquisitively. "It was imperative that we located you immediately."

Kirk realized there was no sense arguing. It wouldn't do any good now. "Yeah, well next time I give you an order. You follow it, okay?"

Spock nodded. "Affirmative, captain."

"Good," Kirk sighed.

A low murmur of what sounded like voices began to drift through the heavy fog. Kirk and Spock both turned, peering through the thick clouds of white.

"Rescue party?" Kirk asked in a low voice.

Spock shook his head. "You and I are the only ones down here at this moment."

"Awesome..."

"I fail to see anything of this situation that would inspire a sense of awe."

Kirk shook his head. "Come on," he said, moving cautiously forward. They walked in silence for several long minutes, hearing nothing but the light tread of their boots over the uneven ground. Gradually, the thick white fog began to dissipate. The dark walls of the cavern could be seen stretching high above them.

"How'd you find me anyway?" Kirk asked.

Spock's dark eyes were fixed forward, scanning the area as they walked. "Once inside the bio dome, I followed the emergency signal from your communicator."

"Oh," Kirk replied. "Thought that thing was broken."

"An understandable assumption, considering you often damage the equipment you are assigned to carry," Spock said with just a hint of amusement.

"Yeah," Kirk shrugged. "Well it's not my fault they don't build these things to last." Kirk stepped around a large puddle of glowing water. "So how are you holding up?"

Spock cocked his head curiously to the side.

"The whole, you know, getting shot thing?"

"I assure you captain I am functioning at maximum efficiency," He replied quickly.

"Right," Kirk mumbled. "Of course you are."

As they walked, Kirk continued to look over his head at the high walls of the cavern around them. He must have fallen hundreds of meters, and yet he was entirely uninjured.

"Captain?"

"Yeah?" Kirk turned to his first officer. "Oh, just um...just...this is a really weird place. Never seen anything like it before."

"I find it most peculiar as well."

"I thought you said this thing was a biodome. Looks more like a cave to me," Kirk said.

Spock gave a curt nod. "This structure is considerably ancient. It is likely its inhabitants built the structure beneath the ground to maximize protection from the environmental elements of the planet surface," Spock suddenly stopped. He crouched to the ground and studied the ground.

Kirk crossed over to him. "What is it?" He asked.

Spock ran his fingers over the faded impression of a boot in the rocky ground. "Most fascinating," He mumbled, "Considering neither you nor I came this way," he rose to his feet.

"Huh," Kirk studied the impression. "Looks recent too."

"I recommend we continue forward, exercising the most extreme caution."

Kirk nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

A loud shout rang through the musty air. Spock and Kirk both ducked behind a cluster of large rocks. They listened for a moment, but whoever it was, they weren't headed their way. The loud voice started to bark orders in the distance. Exchanging a confused glance, the two moved cautiously forward.