Authors Notes: This story is based upon the Season 3 episode of TOS, " Plato's Stepchildren ". I wanted to write a story that would put the 09 Enterprise crew in a similar situation. What would Kirk do? Bones? How would Uhura and Spock react by being forced into situations that humiliate each other? While S/U, it is not the driving force of this story and I like to call it more genfic then anything. I hope I've captured the spirit of all the characters. Bones is a fun character to write!

I've tried to maintain as much canon/elements as possible, though I have deviated a bit to conform to the progress of this story.

Condition green - A code which states that if the landing party is in distress, the officer in command can not do anything to interfere directly, but is within grounds to find a loop hole if possible to assist. Memory Alpha explains this a lot better.

I've planned this to be 3 to 4 parts long. Reviews and critiques encouraged! Not beta'd/proofread.


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Part I

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Captain's log, stardate twenty-two sixty-one point seventy-eight; It is amazing… Three years, we've finally reached mid-point of our five-year mission. Many discoveries have been made on our journey as well as many tactical engagements that have had many lives in danger. All in all, I must say that our mission has been a success thus far. Which brings me to the primary focus of this entry.

I've received word from Starfleet Command on a missing research vessel, the USS Apollo, carrying a group of scientists. Apparently the vessel had diverted and disappeared six months ago. All attempts at contact have failed and I've been ordered to take the Enterprise to the ship's last reported location and search for any survivors….

" How much longer till we arrive?" The cool and collected sound of Captain James T. Kirk's voice set the tone of the atmosphere on the bridge. Low tension, content, and idly working was how the young twenty-seven year old captain preferred his bridge. They were sailing amongst the stars, searching for the unknown, and that in it self would make any average individual tense – Kirk wanted to avoid that feeling amongst his crew.

" One more minute at present speed, Captain." Helmsmen Hikaru Sulu replied smoothly as he glanced at his control panel. Kirk looked around his bridge and mentally patted himself on the back; a relaxed crew, that was how he wanted it. " And… coming out of warp in three… two…"

The stars on the view screen ahead of him quickly began to expand, then contract, before becoming nothing more than speckles of lights against a black background. There was a planet off into the distance, farther away a star, but nothing else where they currently stood.

" Lieutenant Uhura, anything yet?"

The chief communications officer held her earpiece closer against her right ear, as if it would improve the signal, and shook her head. " Nothing yet, Captain. It's completely dead out there."

" Strange… a vessel just doesn't disappear like that." Kirk spun his chair around to face his first officer's science station. " Mr. Spock, is your scanner picking up anything in the area?"

" Nothing immediate, Captain." Came the cool, stoic, and unemotional answer from the ship's resident Vulcan commander. " The chances of even finding an plasma imprint are slim given the lapsed time."

Kirk pursed his lips in thought and turned his chair around to face the front of the bridge again. He rapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair and rubbed his chin, a habit he did when he was in deep thought. A Federation research vessel simply does not disappear without a trace. There has to be something out there; even if the crew died, the ship would be floating somewhere. Kirk sat up in his chair and crossed his arms.

" A research vessel does not disappear. Even if it was attacked and blown to bits, there would be something out there. Debris, gas, dilithium… something. Now, Starfleet believes that this ship is out there…" He leaned forward. " Question is where."

" I can only think of two scenarios," Spock said as he stood up from his station. " Logically, given that this vessel shows no signs of being attacked or that it is stranded within this system, the ship has either crashed upon the only planet within this system or," He was at Kirk's side, hands behind his back, standing ever so rigid and commanding as he looked forward at the view screen. " It has made an emergency landing on that same planet. Either way, the ship has to be on the planet."

" Hmm, and what's the status of that planet?"

Spock returned to his station and looked at his sensor board, " Sensors show that it is a Class M planet. Atmosphere is oxygen and nitrogen, much like Earth, suitable for life. Vegetation and… apparently rich in kironide."

" Kironide? What?"

" Not much is known at the moment but it is assumed to be a mineral that has some sort of a power. As to what that power is, no one knows." He turned to face the Captain. " If I recall correctly, Starfleet Intelligence reported that this vessel was doing research on kironide."

" So, maybe… they're on that planet."

" But a research vessel can not land on a planet like a shuttle." Sulu piped in from his station.

" It's too large." Chekov added.

" Then it seems that our Mr. Spock's assumptions are correct yet again." Kirk said lightly with a chuckle.

" But, even if they're on the planet, why haven't they sent out a distress call? If they crashed or were in danger, why was there no distress call?" Uhura pondered aloud with her arms crossed.

" That, Lieutenant, is where the mystery begins and for us to find out."

The doors to the turbolift swished open and the ship's doctor emerged onto bridge. His usual disgruntled appearance seemed to have been at ease as of late, but that was primarily due to the fact that his best friend, the ship's Captain, had not engaged in any crazy death defying acts of heroics (as the doctor put it plainly) for the past month.

" Bones!" McCoy froze in his spot. He knew that infliction on his name from anywhere. It meant something bad. It meant something not good. It meant it involved him going somewhere and having his molecules spread across the universe. It meant that he was closer to sticking a hypo in his friend's neck. " You're coming with me. Uhura, let the transporter room know we're coming. Four to beam down."

" Damnit." The doctor mumbled under his breath as he turned around and went right back into the turbolift.

" Mr. Spock, Lieutenant Uhura, you're with me as well. Mr. Sulu, take us there, warp factor zero point five. We'll be waiting in the transporter room, Scotty has the conn until we return."

" Aye, sir." Sulu said as he piloted the ship.

Spock and Uhura followed Kirk into the turbolift where McCoy waited. The doctor grumbled a greeting, which prompted a chuckle from Uhura and a raised eyebrow from Spock. Kirk slapped his friend on the back with a laugh.

" Bones, we've been doing this for three years and you're still not used to it yet?" Kirk asked with amusement.

" Because I didn't sign on to Starfleet to be a human target for unknown, belligerent, aliens! If I may remind you, I am a doctor. Not a scientist, not a security officer, not a mediator, not a repair man, and definitely not a human target!"

" You're still angry about that last mission."

" Of course I am!" He crossed his arms. " Signed up with the intentions of staying on board this ship, not to be beamed across this damned galaxy."

" Well, unfortunately, Bones, we might have a crew of injured Starfleet personnel that may need your medical expertise. So, we're gonna have to beam you across the galaxy again."

" I figured as much. "

The turbolift stopped and the doors opened revealing a busy deck of officers from various divisions. The four officers stepped out into the bustling crowd and continued their way to the turbolift.

" Well, if it makes you feel any better, Bones, Mr. Spock is also chased by belligerent unknown space aliens."

" But he's the science officer. That's apart of his job."

" If I may recall, Doctor, when we enlist in Starfleet, we are required to sign a contract that directly stipulates the dangers of our enlistment. Which includes the possibilities of death." Spock looked at McCoy from the corner of his eye. " In short means it is apart of your job. Also, the chance of death onboard a starship is just as high, if not higher, than on a field mission; of which, I am certain you have had first experience with on multiple occasions."

" You green-blooded hob—"

" Alright, boys. Let's wait until we get back." Uhura interjected chastising the two. Arguments between the science officer and doctor were the norm, but Uhura knew when they would escalate beyond the normal exchanges of comebacks and that was usually her mark to try and break it up. In the situations that she wasn't there, Kirk would gladly interject himself in the middle to break up the impeding clash of words and wits.

Wordlessly, the two complied, and with a small smile to herself, they entered the transporter room where they were greeted by Scotty, the ship's chief engineer.

" Aye, I hear that I have the conn this mission?" Scotty joked gleefully behind the transporter controls. Kirk nodded at him as he was handed a phaser and a communicator from one of the transporter room engineers.

" Yes, sir." He knocked on top of the control panel. " Treat her, nicely, will ya?"

Scotty grinned widely, " Oh, ye don't hafta worry about that, Captain."

From the transporter room intercom, Sulu's face appeared, " Sulu reporting. We're in orbit around the planet."

" Thank you, Mr. Sulu." Kirk responded. Sulu nodded with a small smile before terminating the communication. " If anything goes wrong—if you don't hear from us within the next twelve hours," Kirk stepped onto the transporter pad with the rest of his landing party. " Don't send anyone down to the planet. It maybe the reason why the Apollo's crew has disappeared. Assume condition green and go from there."

" Aye, Captain." Scotty typed some things into his control panel. " I'm getting readings of some architecture on the planet, so if it's like what I think it is, I should be puttin' ye within the center of it all."

" Energize."

oo

McCoy felt his stomach twist, which he mentally want to blame on the feeling of momentarily loosing all consciousness as his body's molecules broke apart and converted into bits of energy, but it was really his sickening dread of the evil contraption. Knowing that there was always that four-meter margin of error never made the transportation device anymore comfortable – even if Mr. Montgomery Scott was the best at his job – and if he could take a shuttlecraft instead, he would be the first to sign up.

It felt like forever to the doctor, but it was only seconds before the landing party rematerialized on the surface of the planet. Like always, Scotty was pretty accurate in his predictions and they were most definitely in the center of several stone buildings. Spock grabbed his tricorder and began scanning the vicinity.

" Fascinating." He said to himself. " I'm picking up no life forms."

" Yet, there are clear signs that this city is currently occupied." Kirk remarked as he looked around. " Amazing architecture."

" Seems to be similar to the architecture of your Earth's Roman empire."

It was a lavish, to put it plainly. Large white stone building with tall columns and statues scattered around of what was assumed to be their deities. There were water wells and small patches of various flowers and bushes accenting the landscaping of many of the buildings. Not a single sign of neglect or decay; there was people living here—the question was, who?

A teenaged boy, dressed in a modest tunic, emerged from the largest building and it caught the attention of the four officers. He hastily made his way down the steps, the slap of his sandals against the polished stone steps were the only sound that could be heard in the open area as it echoed against the walls. Uhura pulled out her tricorder and began to set it to record the possible alien language while McCoy tried to figure out why the boy's life sign was not picking up on either his or Spock's tricorder.

The boy finally reached the group and cleared his throat, " My name is Gaius. We've been waiting for you." Uhura raised an eyebrow. They were speaking in Federation Standard. The young chief communications offer was sure that this planet was not registered in the Federation's database, let alone a member of the Federation.

" Waiting for us?" Kirk asked, perplexed. The teenager nodded.

" Follow me. I'll take you to see him."

" To see who?"

" Our leader, Lucius."

Kirk looked at his crewmembers to read their expressions. McCoy was most visibly confused as he looked between the teenaged boy and his tricorder while Uhura seemed as if she was interested in what was transpiring, and Spock… well, it was impossible to ever read what was going on in that complex mind of his and he definitely did not show it on his face.

" Well, if he was expecting us, I guess it would be rude to make him wait, no? Take us to him."

Gaius nodded and lead the landing party to the large building he had first emerged from. Spock made his way to Kirk's side as they walked up the steps.

" He apparently is not bemused by our appearance, Captain." Spock noted, lowly enough so that Gaius could not hear. Kirk nodded in acknowledgment.

" I've noticed, Spock. There might be a connection here."

" I have to agree, Captain."

oo

They made their way through the intricate halls of the building, each member of the landing party mentally taking note of every single detail from the stone used (a type of marble, Spock noted) to the written language etched along the pillars and sculptures (some form of old Latin, Uhura confirmed). Eventually they reached a large opening where the cool breeze occasionally blew in. There were chairs, benches, and areas with game tables. This had to be the recreation room, or something akin to it, Kirk noted to himself.

Gaius stopped in place and so did everyone else. They watched as the boy stumbled away, as if he was being controlled like a puppet, with bewildered expressions. Silently, Gaius stumbled out of the room and two individuals emerged from behind the thick curtains that hung in the front of the room, behind a dais that sat upon it Roman chair. A smooth, low, voice began to speak.

" I hope Gaius was hospitable. Did he cause any discomfort?"

The four turned their attentions to the direction of the voice. There stood an older man in rich robes and at his side a petite, yet graceful, woman in delicate, regal, robes that clung to her form. He took her hand into his and they walked over to the landing party. They were clearly human in appearance.

" No… he was the perfect gentleman…" Kirk said warily. He looked over his shoulder at the direction in which Gaius disappeared and back at the two hosts. " You must be…"

" Lucius." The man cut in quickly, yet with the grace of a king. " And this is my wife, Aurelia."

" I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise and these are my senior office—"

" Yes, yes. I know, quite well, Captain." He interrupted with a smile. " Doctor Leonard McCoy, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, and Commander Spock." He regarded each member with a nod much to the astonishment and interest of the crewmembers. " I know this seems bizarre, but, I've known about you all for quite sometime. I'm familiar with your expedition, Captain, as well as to the reason why you're here."

Kirk paused for a moment. Here they were faced with a man that not only knew who they were but the reason why they were on their planet. Yet, despite all of this, there was no record of this civilization in Starfleet's databases and they had not picked up their life readings on the tricorder. A bizarre situation, indeed.

" Then, if you know why we're here, Lucius, you can tell us what happened to the team of science officers that have landed on this planet? Assuming that they have landed here, of course."

Lucius chuckled and walked to his dais with his wife. He let her hand go and sat on his chair, resting his arm on the rests. His back straight, chin up, gold civic crown gleaming in the light… He looked like a god.

" They did and they were here as well."

A flood of relief spread through Kirk's mind, " Then, where are they now?" He asked with a smile.

" They're dead." Lucius replied nonchalant, with a flick of his wrist as if they were nothing less than trash. Uhura gasped and covered her mouth from shock. McCoy stiffened, wide eyed from the revelation, and Spock raised an eyebrow. Kirk frowned and stepped forward.

" What do you mean they're dead?" Calm, cool, and with authority.

" I killed them. Well, it could have been prevented had they done what we had asked of them but they continuously refused and, well, unfortunately they died. It was completely preventable." The Captain opened his mouth to retort, but Lucius held up his hand to silence him. " May I also state that they offered their services, we obliged."

" By killing them?"

" That was an unforeseen consequence, Captain." Lucius crossed his legs. " We've grown accustomed to their… services. Medical assistance of your skill level is truly needed here, as we are highly susceptible to disease and our doctors simply cannot prevent death." He looked at his wife and she looked back with him with a gentle smile. "It was thanks to them that my beautiful wife, Aurelia, managed to survive her fever. If they had not offered their services, she would have died."

" That still doesn't give you the right to kill them!" McCoy step forward and yelled. He glared at the man atop of the dias, which seemed to not intimidate the man at all. Instead, he lifted his left hand, and with one swift hither, took control of the doctor's body. " Gyah!"

" Bones!"

" I-I don't—I can't control my body!"

McCoy stumbled forward, as his body was no longer his but in the control of Lucius. No matter how hard McCoy fought against the force that controlled his body, it would only become stronger, straining his muscles and becoming painful. He fell forward, bracing the impact against the hard marble surface with his hands, and winced from the pain. Lucius forced him onto his knees and he looked up at Lucius, glaring at him.

" We need you, Doctor McCoy. I've lost many of my people due to fever and disease… Your knowledge can help prevent us from dying." McCoy tried to move away and gasped from the force that kept him in place.

" Like hell I would." He rasped out. " My duty is to the Enterprise and my Captain."

" Doctor, I'm offering you a great opportunity and you're foolishly refusing." Lucius sounded offended and no one in the room, besides the man's wife, could tell if he truly was. McCoy shook his head in refusal.

" You're a murderer."

" Let my doctor go, Lucius." Kirk threatened. The telekinetic man looked up at Kirk and raised his eyebrows in mild astonishment.

" None of you are in a position to demand anything." Lucius said plainly. He folded his hands in his lap. There was a moment of silence in the room as the man contemplated his situation. If he wanted these individuals, he needed to extend an olive branch. Gain their trust… make them think they had some choice in the matter. " Let me offer this, then. I'll let you all contemplate this decision in the comfort of our guest rooms and when you've reached a decision, I'll be open to hear it."

" Captain," Spock said lowly, enough so only Uhura and Kirk could hear. " This maybe our opportunity for escape. I suggest that we take his offer."

" Spock…"

" We may not have this opportunity again."

Spock was right; they were at the mercy of this man. Whatever opportunity presented itself, even the smallest, they had to jump on it if they wanted to save their lives. Kirk nodded his head.

" We'll discuss your offer." Kirk said. " But not without Dr. McCoy."

Lucius nodded, " Very well. "

The hold he had upon McCoy was lifted. The doctor gasped for air once he felt his muscles relax and control return to his body. Kirk ran over to McCoy and caught him before the doctor fell backwards. He helped him up, slowly, and swung his arm over his shoulder to support him as they walked back to Spock and Uhura. McCoy pulled himself away from Kirk, saying he was all right, despite the fact that he was completely sore.

Suddenly Gaius appeared into the room, obviously not in control of his own body. " Gaius will show you to your room."

" Follow me." The teenaged boy said softly. Wordlessly the four followed the, now assumed to be, servant to their rooms.

oo

" Uhura, try to contact the ship. Let them know the situation."

" Aye, Captain." Uhura took out her communicator and flipped it open. " Uhura to Enterprise. Come in, Enterprise."

McCoy rubbed his right wrist and winced. It was definitely sprained and definitely due to the impact of him trying to break his fall. Again, he ends up on a mission where he's the one that gets in the most danger. There was obviously something, or someone, out there that wanted to make his life a living hell. He sighed in frustration as he grabbed his first aid kit and opened it.

" God damn field missions and their god damn belligerent unknown aliens." McCoy grumbled under his breath as he pulled out a hypospray and a cartridge of painkiller. He inserted the cartridge into the hypospray, rolled up the sleeve of his Medical Division blues and pressed the spray against his skin. " God damn space." A hiss. " God damn Captain." He rolls his sleeve down and put the empty cartridge and hypo back in his kit. " God damn Starfleet."

" Mumbling under your breath is not going to help our situation, Doctor." Spock commented from his seated position across from the doctor. McCoy looked up at Spock and glared.

" God damn green blooded hobgoblin."

Spock raised an eyebrow in response. McCoy rolled his eyes.

" No response, Captain. I can't get through." Uhura said as she approached Kirk. She flipped the communicator shut and sighed. " It seems they're jamming communications."

" They do not want us to leave." Kirk surmised. " Damnit."

" Captain…" Uhura whispered with uncertainty.

Spock looked up at the two and felt the sudden rush of uneasiness from Uhura. He always felt her presence in his mind, as did she, due to their bond – but for some reason, as if not to worry the other, they've always managed to control their emotions, especially on missions. The fear, sadness, pain… it was a deadly concoction on an away mission that could cloud judgment. This situation definitely has made his bondmate uneasy; the fear of being stranded with a race of telekinetic beings was affecting her.

" You've told Mr. Scott to go to condition green if he has not heard from us in twelve hours, is that correct, Captain?" Spock asked.

Kirk and Uhura turned around in unison to face Spock, " Yes, that's correct."

" Then we have another ten hours to figure out our options. After which, Mr. Scott will take the appropriate actions to ensure our safety. At any rate, we will have a way out of this."

Spock saw Uhura smile and the worry he felt from her disappeared. That was all he needed.

" Ten hours…" Kirk said to himself.

" We need to find their weakness and exploit it to our advantage, Captain."

Then, suddenly, a quiet voice spoke.

" I… may know something."

It was Gaius.