Disclaimer : I do not own any of these characters except for the Ebola and her crew and the people on the planet an various other things created for this fic and thank god.

Spock groaned as he sat up. His head was throbbing. He wasn't bleeding , and nothing seemed to be broken so that was good. Confused for a moment, he wondered what had happened. Then he remembered : heading back to the Enterprise ,getting caught in an ion storm and much of a very bad crash. He slowly rose to his feet, his sore muscles crying out in violent protest. The inside of the shuttlecraft was spinning ,or was it his head that was spinning? The Vulcan wasn't sure but he had to check on his comrades.

"Chekov? Doctor? Are you alright?" he asked as they picked themselves of the floor.

"Fine. How about you?" McCoy asked.

"I seemed to be unharmed, although I am very dizzy."

"You probably have a concussion," McCoy said.

The Vulcan raised one eyebrow in his usual looking of general confusion. He could argue but this was not the time nor the place for such an argument. They needed to figure out where they were and how to get home. Chekov groaned as he stood. The three men stepped out of the shuttle and surveyed the area. The shuttle itself was beyond repair and the ion storm was interfering with their communicators. It was amazing that the ion storm didn't harm the planet in anyway and that it was far enough away that it couldn't be seen.

Spock leaned against the arch of the shuttle door, the dizziness starting to fade. The planet's crisp air was clearing his head. They'd crash landed in the middle of a forest. The planet appeared to be M class. Nothing but trees so far as he could see. McCoy was several feet away and Chekov was surveying the damage. A flock of birds passed overhead. The Vulcan stepped down onto solid ground. Suddenly everything went black.

When he opened his eyes , he was staring into darkness. For a moment the Vulcan thought he'd gone blind, but as his eyes began to adjust he discovered he was in an enormous cell. He sat up and looked around. He was unsure of how many people were there but there must have been more then fifty. His two companions were still unconscious. Most of the other people were asleep on cots that lined the wall and were so close the looked like on big one. Then he realized that some of them were wearing Starfleet uniforms . They were probably crewmembers from the Ebola ,which had vanished in that same area almost two weeks previous. Wincing, Spock rubbed the back of his head. He was sore all of and it was not a good feeling. One of the officers, a nurse, sat next to his cot.

"Are you alright sir?" she asked.

" Yes," Spock replied, hiding his surprise at the nurse's appearance; she looked like Nurse Chapel.

McCoy and Chekov woke not long after. While McCoy spook to the nurse, and Chekov talked to another officer, the Vulcan laid back down . His head was spinning again but it was slowly returning to normal. The sound of the door opening was loud enough to startle the sleepers into full wakefulness. Spock sat up , unsure of what to expect. The prisoners that were not Starfleet officers , and most likely local life forms, were terrified. Two officers stepped into the filthy cell , the more senior officer glaring around.

He looked at the prisoners , his gaze pausing for a moment at Spock before continuing . There were men ,women and children inside the cell. One woman was pregnant. There were several elderly people as well. The officer's eyes fell on a small girl , who scuttled back like a crab and clung to her mother. The man smiled evilly and pulled the girl out of her mother's arms. Her mother desperately tried to hold onto her daughter ,begging for mercy in her own language. The man wouldn't listen.

"What's going on?" the Docter asked the nurse quietly.

"I'm not quite sure ,but apparently the government of this planet is trying to get information on something so they're torturing local prisoners," she said, her voice reveling her disgust." Luckily , almost all of the people here, including the guards and officers , know our language so we can communicate."

Spock raised an eyebrow. He could never understand the need for torture for any reason and the torture of a child was wrong. Before either of his comrades could stop him, the Vulcan grabbed the man's arm.

"If you're going to torture someone it might as well be me," he said in a stern voice.

"You are willing to risk your life to save people that are not your own?" the officer questioned.

"Yes. I will go quietly if you give me your word of honor that you will not harm any of these prisoners ever again," he said , calm as a button , knowing perfectly well that his actions were illogical.

The officer gave his word and the silent Vulcan was lead out , leaving his shocked companions behind. The room was dead silent ,except for the sound of the little girl crying in her mother's arms. They stared at the door for a moment before Chekov spoke.

"D-Doctor…. Did he just do what I think he did?" the ensign asked hoarsely.

All McCoy could do was nod.

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