It was morning when she woke. All the curtains were neatly opened letting the light into the room. Sherisse needed a moment to realize that she lay on the couch in the cabin's main room, only someone had taken down the huge pillows so it was more of a bed. Her head rested on a smaller one while the rest of her was covered by a huge quilt.

There was no need to even move to feel her body ache. Moving made it worse, albeit not as worse as that one time when someone had thought it wise to consume about twenty different kinds of alcohol from all over the galaxy. She had regretted about fifteen of those shots, when her head had pounded in a manner that made her throw up for the entire next day.

Sherisse sat up, ignoring her body's protest and trying not to moan too loudly.

"You should remain in bed."

Looking around her now very bright surroundings, she saw that the Ambassador sat in a chair at the other end of the room. He was already dressed and had a look about him as if someone just died. Not that his expression was very emotive, nonetheless she could tell he was not particularly pleased. Obviously, having crazy wild sex with the natives had been very high on his list of things never to do.

Forcing her body to sit properly on the bed with her feet on the ground, she realised it was probably a bit too early for getting up and walking around. Too bad she needed to head back to the ranger station, to get a new communicator and send a report back before anyone came looking for her. Not that anyone would send out someone for her that early. Maybe in another day or two, they knew she valued the solitude of her job.

"I'm good," she replied.

"Forgive my candour -but that is obviously not true."

A look at her wrists and arm showed a sufficient amount of bruises. More severe than after her usual outdoor activities. Focusing a moment on where exactly her body hurt, she figured she probably had at least half a dozen bite-marks and many more love-bites on her neck, breast and other parts of her upper body, the hips, her butt and her thighs.

"No - basically I'm okay."

"You bled."

His tone was reproachful, with overtones of "I told you so" and massive guilt. She shifted and looked around. While sore didn't quite cover the sensation between her legs, she certainly didn't hurt as if he had torn her insides. If she could go back, she would do it all over again. Sherisse suddenly laughed until the grave, serious look on his face made her stop.

"I am obviously a bit early," she tried to explain.

"Early - for what?"

"My period."

He continued to look at her with the same expression, moving his head slightly to the side.

"We - human females - bleed every month for a few days. Completely unrelated to what happened... here."

While Sherisse had no way to be sure, she had the feeling that what she said relieved him a bit. At least he leaned back as if to think about something.

"What about you? Are you now all better?"

"My ailment has passed. I shall be able to return to my duties in another day or two."

Speaking those words the ambassador got up and crossed the distance until he stood only a few feet away from her.

"Tell me your name."

This was certainly the most awkward morning after, ever. It was even worse than picking up someone drunk and then when sober wondering, what possessed one to do so. There was nothing left of the man who had passionately trapped her against the wall. The sweating was gone and his entire demeanour had changed almost 180 degrees. He was like a completely different person.

"Sherisse .. Warren."

"How old are you, Miss Warren?"

Suppressing the urge to laugh at being called Miss by the same person who had her on all fours the day before, she opted for a smile.

"I am 25, almost 26."

"You are a still a child." His tone was loaded with self-loathing. After a little pause he continued. "I can only say that my judgement had been severely impaired. I know this does not right the wrong ..."

"Oh please hold it, I know you're trying to apologize here - but just don't. You are doing it wrong."

The ambassador looked at her with raised eyebrows, at least more raised than usual.

"You might not realise it, but on Earth it is considered very insulting to tell the person you had sex with that you only did so because you were under the influence of something. You don't need to apologize at all. I think when it comes to sex, I'm a lot more grown up than you."

His mimic made her smile, it was such an odd mix of doubt and curiosity. At least if she read it right. Since the fever had passed, his face was often an unreadable mask. He didn't say anything. However well he hid his emotions on the matter, considering what she knew and seen so far, his problem was not hard to guess.

"You rather risked dying, then ask someone to have sex with you. I think that counts for being very immature."

"I was not willing to hurt anyone, while still of sound mind. I came to this place, hoping to resolve my condition with meditation."

"Yeah - how was that going for you?"

"Not well," he admitted. "You did save my life. I am grateful for that."

"But?" Sherisse could feel the word hanging in the air.

"You know who I am. This is an extremely ... delicate situation."

"Don't worry, I don't kiss and tell." Again, he did that thing with the raised eyebrow. For an older guy with grey hair, he was very cute. "That means I have no intention of telling anyone."

"I appreciate your willingness to protect my dignity."

Sherisse sighed, this was too weird. He had been the one to ravish her for hours, unable to even slow down when she pleaded for it, yet somehow she felt like she had done him a terrible wrong.

"I know you say, you are good. That there is nothing unusual about you bleeding. But I need to make sure you have not sustained any serious injuries."

Shooting him a sceptical look, Sherisse asked. "How do you plan on doing that?"

With that he pulled out a communicator between his robes. "There is a Vulcan ship back in orbit, they were supposed to pick me up. I would like to beam you on board as well and have our physician check you out. Treat you for the injuries caused."

"Me, in space?"

That was about all she could manage to say. Some humans took tours aboard Starfleet ships but the majority never had the opportunity and sometimes not even the interest to leave the planet.

"I assure you, once you have been treated, you will be returned safely."

"Oh, I wasn't worried, just ... I had not expected that."

He nodded and then spoke into his communicator. Not being able to understand his language, it left her wondering what he was discussing with the person on the other end of the transmission. She only understood one word, mostly because she remembered it to be his name: Soval.

Eventually he held out his hand to her. "Do you think you can stand up?"

Of course, she thought she could. Brushing the quilt aside, she took his hand. He looked a bit as if he had indigestion upon seeing her naked. Standing up hurt a lot. She might have been able to hide it better, if she had been prepared for it. His guilt was obvious when she groaned, despite attempting to keep his face composed.

She wasn't sure what to say, so for once she only asked. "Shall I get dressed then?"

Soval merely pointed at her clothes which were gathered on a small desk, the boots standing in front of it.

"I'll leave you for a moment. But call if you need assistance."

"I will."

Getting dressed wasn't pleasant at all, at least the part where she had to raise her legs. Walking of any kind was difficult. For some reason that hardly seemed to matter. So she was a bit roughed up, maybe her insides were bruised way past her comfort zone, but it had been damn good sex. She was exhausted, a bit dehydrated but she would not say she was seriously injured. Of course, she wasn't a doctor.

Just thinking back made her feel awesome. Especially, now that he wasn't around. Her memory was a bit fuzzy and she was surprised to see that it was early morning judging by the angle the sun shone through the windows. It had seemed they were going at it forever. The phases in between began to spread out more but there had been many. So much so that after the first few times, Sherisse had resorted to oral as a way to increase the time between the actual intercourse. She wondered how much the ambassador recalled. There had been rarely any talk but she began remembering asking him to stop at one point. He had not, that she was certain about. Shortly after that she had come yet again and then passed out. So Sherisse wasn't upset - but she wondered if he felt bad about it.

Trying her best not to limp too much, she joined Soval outside of the cabin. He didn't waste much time, and before she knew it, the world around her faded and she was some place else: the Vulcan ship. It was thrilling, especially since she had never been on a spaceship. Sherisse had seen footage of the inside of the Enterprise and other vessels on the news but actually being here was something else.

The only thing detracting from the fun was the mood in the room. The Vulcans looked as bored and neutral as in all the reports on the news but experiencing that behaviour for herself was different.

"Please follow my aid - he will escort you to our physician."

She nodded and followed at the Vulcan that had stepped forward. By the time they had reached the sick bay, she had already had begun walking normally again. It wasn't that the pain had gone away, Sherisse was just too stubborn to let it show.

"Please, lie down."

The doctor asked politely but without introducing himself. She wasn't here to find friends, so it didn't bother her. This whole thing had the potential to become a very awkward sex scandal. So it was probably for the best that names were withheld. Not that there was any chance of her revealing any of this.

The scan didn't take very long but she had to wait almost twice as long for a reply.

"To put in terms you can understand, none of the lighter abrasions and bruises will leave permanent marks. There is a small tear in your vagina. Considering you are also currently menstruating, I will give you something that will prevent further infection and something to reduce the pain."

"That sounds like a good idea."

As he gave her two injections, he continued. "I can also speed up the healing of your bruises but I would advice you keep those areas covered for a few days."

"I wasn't planning to go skinny dipping."

The Vulcan doctor shot her a look that amused her way more than it should. By the time the dermal generator began working on her neck, she already felt whatever drug he had given her lessen the pain significantly.

"How is she?" Soval had entered the room.

"There will be no lasting damage. I recommend that she rests for a few days."

"That is a relief."

The ambassador waited until the doctor was finished, then he said that he wanted to show her something. Soval wasn't very talkative otherwise. She did not blame him, even though she was curious to know what had been going on, if this happened before and if it happened often. In which case she honestly wouldn't have minded being helpful again. But she understood that this was a problematic issue for him and refrained from bothering him with questions.

They stepped into a room with large windows or energy barriers or whatever they used and below she saw Earth. Only at that point, she truly felt it. She was in space, that beautiful blue planet below was her home. For the first time, she understood why some people thought to travel into space. For as much as she loved those green forests on her planet, there was more and seeing this, she only appreciated her home more.

"Thanks."

She turned and gave the ambassador a smile. There was the tiniest movement in his lips as he looked back at her. With nothing left to say, he escorted her back to the transporter room. Before she was beamed down, he took her hand and placed a new communicator in her palm. Then he put his other hand on top and held it for a moment. She figured it was his final way of thanking her.