Epilogue

IT WAS LATE in ship's night when Kirk found himself in the lift which would lead to the lower levels of the Enterprise.Without understanding why, he knew he had to go to the gardens once again. There is an energy field between the two universes.And it worked both ways, he reminded himself. Soon, the time-door would be closing forever, separating him from a man very much like himself and a Vulcan very much like his own first officer.

As he entered into the surrealistic moonlit setting, he thought for a moment that he sensed another presence. It did not frighten him; instead, a feeling of warmth and familiarity lingered. He followed it, unconsciously walking faster toward the center of the garden and the old stone bench.

Parting the cascading branches, he slipped inside the circle of trees with a reverence, going to sit on the cold concrete slab which was moist with dew. For a long time, he remained there, utterly still, waiting for someone or something he couldn't quite define. A few times, there was a warmth by his side, almost as if an unseen hand touched him gently on the shoulder. But when he turned, only the darkness and the eerie sensation of loss remained.

He glanced down at his hand, caught himself absently twisting the gold ring on his fourth finger. Then, in a moment of dawning comprehension, he understood precisely why he had come here. There was one last tie to be severed. . . . One last duty to be performed.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he slipped the ring from his hand, held it for just a moment, then let it slip to the ground where he had first discovered it. For an instant, there was a sadness which seemed to wash in on him from everywhere and nowhere; but when he felt the surreal hand touch him on the arm once again, his suspicions were confirmed. The ring had been an offering—from one part of himself to another—and now the time had come to return it as freely as it had been given.

He opened his eyes to see the band lying on the cold ground at his feet; yet he dared not pick it up again. It belonged to a different man, another reality; and he wondered if, given the same circumstances, he would have been able to do what Ensign Kirk had done. The ring stared up at him … and without understanding how he knew, he also realized that it would not be there when morning came. Feeling a combination of joy and sorrow, he studied the serene surroundings, trying to catch just a glimpse of an illusion, trying to see a ghostly phantom which had once been himself.

There was nothing … other than the persistent knowledge that he was not alone.

For an instant, he felt like an intruder; but that thought departed when a gentle thread seemed to enter his mind for just a moment. He did not know if the warmth came from his alternate self, or from the Vulcan who had befriended that young ensign. Or, he decided, perhaps there was no real difference.

He rose slowly, and walked to the edge of the circle of trees, turning to see the glint of metal in the loose sand. In another moment …

But it was a moment he could not share, an instant out of time reserved for someone else. He had his own life now.

"'Luck walks with you,'" he murmured, stepping back onto the garden path without a backward glance. Whoever they were, they had found their peace, had made their own reality … and, without selfishness or regret, they'd given him back his own.

Look for STAR TREK fiction from Pocket Books

Star Trek®: The Original Series

Enterprise: The First Adventure• Vonda N. McIntyre

Final Frontier• Diane Carey

Strangers From the Sky• Margaret Wander Bonanno

Spock's World• Diane Duane

The Lost Years• J.M. Dillard

Probe• Margaret Wander Bonanno

Prime Directive• Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Best Destiny• Diane Carey

Shadows on the Sun• Michael Jan Friedman

Sarek• A.C. Crispin

Federation• Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Vulcan's Forge• Josepha Sherman & Susan Shwartz

Mission to Horatius• Mack Reynolds

Vulcan's Heart• Josepha Sherman & Susan Shwartz

Novelizations

Star Trek: The Motion Picture• Gene Roddenberry

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan• Vonda N. McIntyre

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock• Vonda N. McIntyre

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home• Vonda N. McIntyre

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier• J.M. Dillard

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country• J.M. Dillard

Star Trek Generations• J.M. Dillard

Starfleet Academy• Diane Carey

Star Trek books by William Shatner with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

The Ashes of Eden

The Return

Avenger

Star Trek: Odyssey(contains The Ashes of Eden, The Return, and Avenger)

Spectre

Dark Victory

Preserver

#1 • Star Trek: The Motion Picture• Gene Roddenberry

#2 • The Entropy Effect• Vonda N. McIntyre

#3 • The Klingon Gambit• Robert E. Vardeman

#4 • The Covenant of the Crown• Howard Weinstein

#5 • The Prometheus Design• Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath

#6 • The Abode of Life• Lee Correy

#7 • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan• Vonda N. McIntyre

#8 • Black Fire• Sonni Cooper

#9 • Triangle• Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath

#10 • Web of the Romulans• M.S. Murdock

#11 • Yesterday's Son• A.C. Crispin

#12 • Mutiny on the Enterprise• Robert E. Vardeman

#13 • The Wounded Sky• Diane Duane

#14 • The Trellisane Confrontation• David Dvorkin

#15 • Corona• Greg Bear

#16 • The Final Reflection• John M. Ford

#17 • Star Trek III: The Search For Spock• Vonda N. McIntyre

#18 • My Enemy, My Ally• Diane Duane

#19 • The Tears of the Singers• Melinda Snodgrass

#20 • The Vulcan Academy Murders• Jean Lorrah

#21 • Uhura's Song• Janet Kagan

#22 • Shadow Lord• Laurence Yep

#23 • Ishmael• Barbara Hambly

#24 • Killing Time• Della Van Hise

#25 • Dwellers in the Crucible• Margaret Wander Bonanno

#26 • Pawns and Symbols• Majliss Larson

#27 • Mindshadow• J.M. Dillard

#28 • Crisis on Centaurus• Brad Ferguson

#29 • Dreadnought!• Diane Carey

#30 • Demons• J.M. Dillard

#31 • Battlestations!• Diane Carey

#32 • Chain of Attack• Gene DeWeese

#33 • Deep Domain• Howard Weinstein

#34 • Dreams of the Raven• Carmen Carter

#35 • The Romulan Way• Diane Duane & Peter Morwood

#36 • How Much For Just the Planet?• John M. Ford

#37 • Bloodthirst• J.M. Dillard

#38 • The IDIC Epidemic• Jean Lorrah

#39 • Time For Yesterday• A.C. Crispin

#40 • Timetrap• David Dvorkin

#41 • The Three-Minute Universe• Barbara Paul

#42 • Memory Prime• Gar and Judith Reeves-Stevens

#43 • The Final Nexus• Gene DeWeese

#44 • Vulcan's Glory• D.C. Fontana

#45 • Double, Double• Michael Jan Friedman

#46 • The Cry of the Onlies• Judy Klass

#47 • The Kobayashi Maru• Julia Ecklar

#48 • Rules of Engagement• Peter Morwood