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A small smile crossed Saavik’s face-an event so infrequent yet so charming in its exotic flair. “I confess that when I read your profile, I was…intrigued by you.”

“Oh, really?” David said with interest.

“Certainly. You’re young, intelligent, idealistic…and I’ve always enjoyed the company of humans. You’re not weighted down by this pointless, constant repression of your feelings.” She spat out the last sentence with subtle but palpable bitterness.

“And what are you feeling?”

She laughed nervously and looked down at her lap. Beside her, David’s tricorder continued to flash its incessant warnings of their imminent doom. “Right now, I am…terrified. I feel like that damn ten-year-old girl back on Hellguard again…running…hiding…” She lifted her head to look at him, and a single glistening tear ran down her cheek. “I do not wish to die here.”

David gingerly slid closer to her, until their knees were practically touching as they sat on the cold stone floor, and he took each of her hands in his own, clasping them gently but firmly. “We’re not going to die,” he confidently stated. “Not here. Not now.”

“Is that your logic?” she asked, her voice steady but her eyes betraying her desperation. “Or just a feeling?”

“A feeling, I guess.” He confidently raised his chin and nodded. “A human intuition.”

“What else do your feelings tell you?”

He reached up and tenderly wiped the wet streak from her face. “That no woman so beautiful should ever be so troubled.”

As David lowered his hand, Saavik raised her own hand to meet his, and they pressed their palms together. Their eyes remained locked as Saavik slowly slid her hand around to the opposite side and caressed his fingers with a slow downward motion. David sharply caught his breath as a warm, tingling sensation of pleasure flowed freely through the palmar nerves and upward through his arm. Their palms rejoined, and then David began the process anew, softly stroking Saavik’s long, supple digits as she closed her eyes, her breathing slowly accelerating, her limbs trembling with excitement. As they clasped their hands together again, David could feel the intense heat from her body, while his own heart pounded fiercely, threatening to burst from his chest. Their lips met, and in perfect unison their bodies slowly sank down to the ground.

On the distant horizon, another volcanic mountaintop erupted, its hot magma shooting forth into the air. And the ground once again trembled, shaken by nature’s primal throes.

The sharp concussion of an explosion rocked David from his slumber, and he shot up to a sitting position, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the morning light. Slowly, he shook off his dream-induced stupor and regained the memory of his present whereabouts. Saavik sat beside him, appearing fully awake and looking oddly neat and well groomed, as if every hair on her head just effortlessly fell into place. The recent noise seemed to have had no effect upon her composure. “Hey,” David called to her.

“I’m glad that you’re awake,” Saavik said. “I was going to have to rouse you myself.”

Taking a deep breath, David’s olfactory nerves were assaulted by a smell of sulphur hanging heavy in the air. He shook his head in an effort to clear his senses. “What was that noise?” he asked.

“Another eruption,” she said, “but not a volcano. Fissures are opening in the continental crust. Readings suggest that it won’t be long before the planet’s tectonic plates begin collapsing into the mantle.”

“My God,” David said. He looked out across the landscape, observing the plumes of smoke billowing out from several newly created vents, the morning sky becoming painted with a hazy red glow.

“It’s not safe here,” Saavik announced.

“You can say that again.”

“I’m not referring to the geological instability,” she explained, picking up the tricorder and pointing to the display. “The search party is closing in on our position. And the life-form readings appear to be Klingon.”

“Klingons? Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of meeting any, but it doesn’t sound promising for two stranded and