Captain James T. Kirk
USS Enterprise NCC-1701
C/O Starfleet Operations
Earth Central
STARFLEET DIPLOMATIC COURIER, CODED SECURE


George Samuel Kirk Jr.
Bioagricultural Industries, Kirk Inc
Deneva Central
17 Junque St.
Deneva, UFP


Dear Sam,

I hope this letter finds everybody in good health on Deneva.
I just got the letter from Mom and she's the one that let me
know every body was sick where you were with that new strain
of flu.  Please explain to me why you guys didn't get
immunized.  You must realize that it doesn't make any sense
to me.  Just because you are on a colony world, it doesn't
mean that the regular strains of viruses for the rest of the
Federation will not reach you.  I know you know better.  I'm
not going to say anymore on  the subject.

No, I take that back, I am going to say something else.  Big
Brother, if you end up dying from the damn common cold, I
will dig you up and beat you to a pulp. Don't forget, when I
fight for real I don't fight fair; there are no rules.  

By the time this letter reaches you, I have no idea where we
will be, or what we will be doing.  On our last planetfall,
I made a discovery in the rocks of an empty planet.  I
"officially" have no idea what drew me into those rocks, but
I felt something the minute my feet touched the ground. It
was all I could do to not run for them as soon as we
materialized.  As it was, I made sure the landing party was
deployed and everybody was doing their job before I told
Spock that I needed to go off and explore.  

He's funny, Sam.  Since he made his logical decision to be
my friend, he has become very protective of me.  Usually
that pisses me off, but for some reason when Spock does it,
it gives me comfort.  Anyway, he gave me his own survival
pack and watched me the entire way as I walked off into the
rocks.  I could feel his eyes on my back. 

You know your brother.  The next thing I knew, my
communicator wouldn't work and I was caught in a torrential
downpour.  I found shelter in a cave that I made sure was
above the flash flood line and sat out the storm. Guess what
I found in the cave? Sam, it was the most magnificent site I
have seen in years. I found a city, never inhabited, built
for people that died a thousand years ago in the depths of
the mountains. I felt it calling to me, and I traveled down
the cave tunnels like I had been there in a previous life. I
was overwhelmed with a sense of tragedy that kept pulling at
me. When I got to the end of the tunnels and found the city,
I was absolutely amazed. The cavern heights glowed with
bioluminescent fungus, and lit the cavern like  a sheet of
stars. I had to shake myself back to reality to return to
the surface and let them know where I was. Spock was pissed,
but he got over it when I showed him what I found.

Now comes the strange part. I kept feeling something calling
me, Sam, so I took off again and the call led me towards the
cliff walls and down through a tunnel. This will hit the
newsvids soon. We found everyone right where they fell,
dead, years ago. When I opened the door, I felt this scream
that blasted my mind and sent me reeling back through the
tunnel. It was thousands of voices raised in anger,
disappointment, frustration, grief, and then finally at the
end I heard this sweet note. It felt like joy and final
acceptance. I lost consciousness after that and I don't
remember anything until Spock found me.

To die so close to home and never reach it, is such a
painful concept.  Sam, it is giving me nightmares again.
Worse yet, it was a fungus that will probably become useful
throughout the Federation that killed them. I am sure you
can see why I am on your ass about your immunizations.

The knowing to go into the caves, I am use to. The sound of
all of those psychic screams is something new. I am not sure
I like this aspect of me, Sam. I may reject it. I don't want
to kill someone and have to hear their death screams, too.
Perhaps that is part of the grand scheme. That way, I will
never get too blood thirsty. 

It will be a while before the world is opened for
colonization. But it will be, and it has a city ready built,
with a functional weather machine and terraformer, also. Not
a bad find for a farm boy, huh?


Love,


Jim









March 26, 1999
Page 2