Side Effects
"Well, Uhura, he did it again," Sulu said cheerfully as he entered the turbo lift with the comely Communications Officer. Uhura gave a shaky laugh and gripped a handhold.
"Just barely. Every time we get into a scrape like that last one, I get the jitters."
"Bridge," Sulu instructed the turbo lift controls before he turned a surprised look on his fellow officer. "You never look nervous to me," he observed as lights flickered by outside the turbo lift.
"I don't have time to look nervous," Uhura smiled. "There's too much to do. But after everything's over . . . " She held out one slim hand, which trembled slightly.
"Me, too," Sulu informed her. "It beats me how Spock and the Captain can be so cool about it all." Uhura shrugged.
"It's normal for Spock, but Captain Kirk he just sits there and watches the stars go by."
"You'd think he'd never even seen a Klingon," Sulu joked. "Who would know he just fought off four of their ships?"
"It wouldn't bother me if I never saw another one." Sulu nodded agreement as the turbo lift stopped and the doors opened. Uhura slipped into the seat vacated by her relief, and checked her control panel. The Captain would want to send a report to Starfleet soon.
Perhaps it was her unsteady hands, perhaps not, but as she adjusted the knobs, a faint sound came through her earphone. She pressed it closer with her left hand as she searched for better reception with her right.
"Captain," she reported, "I'm receiving a distress call very faint, and broken up." Kirk swivelled in his chair to face her. Everyone on the Bridge tensed, ready to respond to orders once the Captain heard Uhura's report.
"It's an epidemic alert," Uhura's face showed her intense concentration, "From the planet Mendel . . . " Spock's hands busied at his station. ". . .requesting any available medical aid, situation urgent."
"Mendel?" Kirk was puzzled. "Where in space ?"
"The planet appears to be nearby, sir," advised Spock.
"But the message sounded so faint," objected Uhura, a faint crease between her eyebrows. Suddenly she was uneasy about this.
"Nevertheless," Spock persisted, "sensors indicate that the planet is ahead, and just slightly off our course."
"Very well, let's investigate. Mr. Sulu?" Kirk motioned for the Helmsman to alter their course to the planet. Then he pressed a button on the arm of his chair. "Have Doctor McCoy report to the Bridge immediately," he said.
Excerpt from Captain's log:
While escaping an encounter with hostile Klingons, the Enterprise has intercepted a medical distress signal and is proceeding to the planet Mendel to offer assistance. The nature of the medical emergency signal indicated that an epidemic is ravaging the planet, but no further data is presently available.
"Mr. Spock." Kirk swung his chair around to face his First Officer. As usual, Spock had all the pertinent data the computer could give him, but Kirk detected an instant's hesitation before the Vulcan spoke.
"Sir, we have taken a little travelled route through space." If Kirk didn't know Spock better, he would have thought his science officer was dithering.
"I am aware of that, Mr. Spock," Kirk prompted him as McCoy entered the Bridge.
"There does not appear to be much information available about the planet. I have a few tales and myths, but not much more."
"What's it all about, Jim?" McCoy asked from beside Kirk's chair. Kirk turned his head to see the doctor, who stood, hands behind his back, curious as to why he had been called.
"There's been a medical SOS a planetary epidemic alert." Kirk watched his friend's mobile face become serious.
"That's all you know? You don't have any contact with his planet for more details?" McCoy heard the dismay in his own voice. Going blind into a medical emergency was one of his professional nightmares.
Kirk cocked his head at the Communications Officer, who was busy with knobs and dials.
"Sir, our reception is extremely poor, and they don't seem to be receiving us at all. We may have to be in orbit over Mendel before we can make contact."
McCoy grabbed the arm of Kirk's chair, who looked up at the doctor in surprise, then alarm.
"McCoy! You're as white as a ghost!" He shook the doctor's blue clad shoulder. The medical man shuddered.
"Did you say Mendel?" he croaked, obviously hoping he hadn't heard correctly.
"You seem to recognize it, Doctor," Spock observed calmly.
"Of course I recognize it, you green blooded " McCoy realized that he had an audience, and censored his remarks. "Every first year medical student knows about Mendel. If someone has a particularly bad performance in genetics, they say he's `going Mendel'. It's kind of a joke a bad one.
"Two centuries ago Mendel was the base for amazing and illegal attempts at genetic engineering. You could get any kind of being made there. Human freaks were sold to the Klingons as pets and laboratory animals, the story goes. The Federation moved in and cleaned it up, and they left it under a medical quarantine that has never been lifted."
"Doctor," Spock began in his didactic way, "the story told to you by your professors is given here in the computer, with a note that much of it is based on conjecture."
Sensing a fight brewing, Kirk spoke up just as McCoy opened his mouth.
"Given that it is just a story, Mr. Spock, may I remind you that many such stories have their roots in fact? Such illegal activities would naturally go undocumented. However, the Federation's part in it would be accurate, would it not?" Spock nodded, conceding his captain's point. "Is the planet in fact under medical quarantine?"
"It is." Kirk heard the officer's unspoken warning in his tone.
"Jim," broke in McCoy urgently, "they may need our help badly. But what kind of disease is sweeping that planet? What kind of beings are down there? And how can I help them if the planet is quarantined?" McCoy was torn between his professional ethics and his oath to obey the Federation.
Kirk considered the situation before he made a decision.
"Doctor McCoy, prepare a team to beam down to Mendel as soon as possible, to aid in their medical emergency."
"But, Captain," began McCoy, then shut up. Kirk knew how he felt without him saying it. Spock sat at his post, stiff with disapproval. Kirk ignored them both. With a bit of a twinkle in his eye, he turned to Uhura.
"Lieutenant, contact Starfleet Command and alert them to this emergency; request that the medical quarantine be lifted temporarily until the situation can be assessed by the medical personnel on board the Enterprise." From the corner of his eye he saw McCoy head for the door and Spock turn back to his viewer, both satisfied that this time the Captain was going by the book. So intent was he on his friend's reactions that he missed the Communications Officer's response.
"Yes, sir," she said, but did not immediately face her board. She opened her mouth to say something, then checked herself. All she had to go on was a feeling a sixth sense that told her this wasn't as it appeared. How could she explain that to the Captain? With a shrug, she sent the message.
()
Several hours later, after a conversation with a doctor on Mendel, McCoy assembled equipment in the Sick Bay. Nurse Chapel made two set of all the items he listed, one kit for McCoy and one for herself. She paused as a thought struck her.
"The doctor you talked to was human, wasn't he?" she asked. "I mean, do we have to take non human medicines?"
"He was a she," McCoy corrected, "and she was definitely human." Chapel looked at him in surprise as he gazed dreamily into space.
"Doctor?" she questioned.
"Ah yes," he focussed his eyes on his notes, "the symptoms she described were very strange; First a high level of physical activity, and a dangerous radiation reading in the bloodstream. A fever follows, with delirium, and finally madness, loss of physical control, and death. I can't find anything in the computer files that even comes close. We'll just have to play it by ear. Pack a few specifiable antibodies, will you? The doctor down there says their medicine is centuries behind the times." The nurse moved efficiently to carefully pack the antibodies in the medkits.
"Come on, Nurse," McCoy fretted at the door. "They're ready to send us in that blasted molecule mixer." They joined their three accompanying aides in the Transporter Room.
Despite his conversation with the human looking doctor, McCoy wasn't really sure what kind of beings he expected when they beamed down. He steeled himself against the beaming process, and hoped he wouldn't be too surprised when (and if, he thought darkly) they got to Mendel. The nurse beside him took a deep breath as beaming began.
When they emerged on the planet McCoy and Chapel found themselves inside a building, at a junction of narrow grey corridors. Before them was a party of women. Chapel noted the uniformity of their dress, though they wore different colors, and saw that they were drawn up in precise formation. A military escort, she decided. Something about the way they looked at McCoy and the aides made her edgy.
McCoy, on the other hand, saw the pretty faces, each one prettier than the last. Maybe after the emergency was over he could become better acquainted.
"I'm Doctor McCoy," the medical man introduced himself with a warm smile, "and this is my assistant, Nurse Chapel."
"McCoy, Chapel," said one woman, obviously the leader. She was all business, sergeant style, Chapel thought wryly. "Welcome to Mendel. McCoy, our doctor is anxious to consult with you on the data she has collected. Chapel, no doubt you will want to verify this data with your own observations. We have quarantined all cases. Section One, escort Chapel to quarantine quarters."
The nurse was swept away down a corridor in an efficient cloud of pretty faces. The three aides followed her. McCoy shook his head in confusion. Maybe these girls weren't his type after all. Spock would probably be more at ease here.
"Follow me," ordered the sergeant, and McCoy obeyed. They walked down bleak, barren corridors, and stopped outside a small undistinguished door. It opened and McCoy entered, but his escort did not, and the door closed behind him.
"Hey!" McCoy whirled around. There was no one there.
After becoming accustomed to the idea of being alone, McCoy began to explore. He was in a laboratory, but it was clearly from a past era. In awe, the doctor examined ancient equipment, some of which he only knew from pictures in old medical texts.
A door at the far end of the room opened, and a stunningly beautiful redhead entered. She wore a white lab coat that failed to mask her femininity, and she carried an old fashioned clipboard. McCoy recognised her as the Mendelian doctor with whom he had talked while on board the Enterprise. The communications screen didn't do justice to her uncommon beauty.
"Ah, Doctor McCoy," she said warmly. "I thought you might be interested in my collection of the latest in medical equipment available to me. How do you like it?"
McCoy was tongue tied. He wanted to be diplomatic, yet was disarmed by her frank gaze. She had sea green eyes.
"It's very . . . very. . ." McCoy stumbled.
"Very old?" she prompted, with a laugh that was half sigh. "Yet when it was installed, it was years ahead of its time. But it's not all I have, Doctor. Come into the other room." She led the way through the door, and McCoy entered her office, which was complete with a communications screen and a computer terminal.
"I should introduce myself," the beautiful woman said. It was on the tip of McCoy's tongue to ask her name, if he had been able to form the sentence. He felt strangely disoriented. Perhaps he'd been without R and R too long.
"I'm Aela," she said, and made the name sound like music. She shrugged out of her lab coat, threw it over her chair, and went to the computer. McCoy couldn't take his eyes from her figure, revealed by a form fitting blue dress.
She collected a computer printout and returned to stand near him. He suddenly became aware of her scent; it was floral and spicy, and all woman. "I can't begin to tell you how much it means to us that you came, though I don't know how you managed to get the quarantine lifted."
"It's it's only temporary," McCoy mumbled, confused. What was happening to him? Why couldn't he get his thoughts together? He should look at data, not concentrate on the charms of the woman beside him. And she was charming.
"Oh. Yes," she said as if she understood perfectly. "Here is more detailed data that you will no doubt need." She handed him the computer printout, but he couldn't make sense of the words on the paper. As she moved closer, he felt her warmth, and knew that he had never before met a woman like this one. Why did she have such a powerful effect on him?
"You will see my preliminary conclusions," and Aela pointed at the paper. "I may not be correct, though . . . Doctor, are you listening?"
McCoy breathed her perfume, imagined his hands running through her red gold hair, her arms around his body
"What? Oh. Yes. Yes," he gulped and tried to regain his composure. Aela looked at him closely, and her deep green eyes gently reached into his soul. Softly she touched his face, and a tingle like an electric shock went over him. His heart pounded madly as Aela melted into his arms and their lips met. He barely felt the tiny pinprick at the base of his neck, and didn't see the look of profound sorrow on the Mendelian's face as he crumpled to the floor.
()
Christine Chapel swallowed to keep her stomach calm as she walked through rooms of the sick and dying. She stopped to examine some and compare her findings with the data on the printout she held.
"This is the first stage of the disease," her guide told her. They paused by a barred door. Men inside the room paced angrily, and snarled through the bars at her.
"May I go in and examine them more closely?" she asked, not sure if she wanted permission. The escort leader, whose name she could not discover, shook her head.
"They are much too violent," she told Chapel. The nurse determined to obtain at least minimal data.
"Hand me your tricorder," the nurse said to an aide. She activated the device to get a reading on one of the hostile patients, who bared his teeth at her.
"Whew," Chapel said finally. "His radiation levels are unbelievable." She handed the tricorder back to the aide, and made quick notes. That's all she could do with these. She needed calmer patients.
"We'll take you to the next stage," came the brusque offer, and she and her aides filed down more corridors.
The second stage rooms echoed with the moans of the fevered and the shrieks of the delirious. Chapel took more tricorder readings and tried to keep her professional manner in front of her escort, but she was very disturbed. She felt that she was missing an important detail, and it was trying to get her attention. Perhaps the next group of patients would give her the clue.
"You'll want to see the next stage of the disease," stated the leader of her escort.
"Yes, please." The leader moved away, and the other guards fell in step behind the Enterprise men.
After the noise and confusion of the two previous stages, Chapel was unprepared for the tomblike stillness of the next room. Immobile men lay on beds while their vital signs on the old fashioned monitors gradually slowed, and stopped. Nurses quietly disconnected dead bodies for removal, and the machines were quickly used to treat new cases. It was a macabre scene, and Nurse Chapel swallowed again. She needed to get away and think.
"Chapel?" the escort leader questioned. The nurse heard no trace of sympathy in her tone. "Will you need a place to do your data correlation?"
"If you please." She would prefer anything to be away from this awful spectacle. They led her to a small cubicle that had only a desk and a computer terminal, and left her, with three girls outside her door. They'll keep the aides company, she thought.
Shakily she dropped into the chair. There had to be something that had escaped her notice. She forced herself to relax. If she chased the idea, it often ran away, she found. Slowly she replayed the scenes of death in her mind: Rooms of violent men, fevered bodies, screaming for help; men laying comatose, waiting for the inevitable slowing of the pulse and covering of the sheet.
Suddenly, all the information and impressions she gathered fell into a pattern. She sat up in shock as she considered it, then rose and tried the door. It wouldn't open.
"We could be in big trouble, Nurse," she muttered, and activated her communicator. McCoy didn't answer, and she uttered a short oath. "Once more into the breach," sighed the nurse, and switched on the computer. "Doctor, I hope you appreciate this."
()
Leonard McCoy was in heaven or, if he wasn't, he was next door. He was with a gorgeous redhead who seemed to anticipate his every move, and responded like no one had ever done before. He gave a low moan of pleasure and snuggled closer to the pillow, oblivious to the conversation in the next room.
Aela stood stiffly before the communications screen. The serene face of her leader looked out from it.
"Yes, Commander," she said. "Doctor McCoy is . . . having pleasant dreams, and should remain so for the necessary length of time."
"Good," approved the Commander. "Soon the men who went on the tour of the quarantine quarters will return to the Enterprise, and will be replaced by three others. When the good doctor rouses, you know what to do."
"What about his assistant?"
"She has access to a computer, but she is not allowed to leave. If she discovers anything, who can she tell?"
"Commander Raena," Aela blurted. "You saw how quickly they responded once they got our signal. They had the quarantine lifted, even if it is temporary. Now that we have the doctor here, won't just a simple statement of facts " She stopped abruptly when she saw her leader's mocking expression.
"Doctor Aela," came her sarcastically sweet tones over the speaker, "do you think that the Federation really wants to help Mendel? We're a sore spot on their memories; a planet of freaks. We aren't supposed to do these experiments. How do you think they will react if they find out? How would that doctor of yours look at you if he knew what you are?"
"The fact that I am a product of genetic manipulation is immaterial," Aela intoned dully.
"Oh, is it?" asked Raena, her face serene as ever (or was it cold)? "Genetic manipulation is taboo, even if it's in a good cause. So what if our percentage of mutants threatens us with extinction? You've seen them the stillborn monsters." Aela closed her eyes in anguish. "You even gave birth to one yourself," the cruel honeyed voice continued.
"Enough!" cried Aela.
"It is not enough," Raena persisted. "You know that if we had the advantages of modern medicine this whole situation would never have arisen. The Federation helped get us into this mess, and now a Federation starship will help get us out. You are too soft hearted, Doctor."
()
McCoy's eyes opened slowly to an empty bed. He lay still and groggily tried to remember where he was, and who oh, yes. Aela. What a woman. McCoy raised his head to look for her.
"Aela?" he called softly as he sat up. He heard voices in the next room, and went to the door. He opened it a crack. The Mendelian stood at the screen. She talked to a woman in military dress, whose beauty was as golden as Aela's was titan. It took a second look before McCoy concentrated on Aela's words.
"No, Commander, it shouldn't be too hard," she said listlessly. The face on the screen took on a stern expression for a moment.
"I sense, Doctor Aela, a certain reluctance on your part. We could always continue to use local volunteers." The doctor averted her face, and McCoy saw she was involved in some sort of inner conflict.
"He's very nice." It was said so softly, McCoy wasn't sure he heard correctly. Commander Raena smiled in cold sympathy.
"So are healthy babies, Doctor. Our survival depends on your work. Do not fail us."
"I will not, Commander." McCoy didn't believe Aela for a minute, but the commander appeared satisfied, and broke the connection.
Too late, McCoy realized he was peeking through the doorway, and as Aela turned, she saw him. For a moment she looked wary, then broke into a radiant smile. She crossed the room, and kissed him. McCoy's knees went weak at her touch.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I thought I closed the door." For a moment McCoy toyed with the idea of lying, and then looked at Aela and knew that she knew the truth.
"Your Commander is almost as beautiful as you are," he said honestly. She laughed.
"Do I detect flattery, dear Doctor?" she teased and ran her fingers through his hair.
"Not at all," he protested over his thumping heart, "I much prefer redheads, though the Captain " At the thought of Kirk, the doctor's mental feet thudded back on solid ground. People were dying, in need of his care, and here he was philandering. In consternation, he looked at his chronometer, then relaxed.
"No, not much time has passed," Aela said perceptively as McCoy pulled out his communicator and pushed some buttons.
"Nurse Chapel," he barked, "report please." Aela looked startled.
"Doctor, I have just one new observation to report," the voice of his nurse came from the small box in his hand. "The patients I saw were all male. Does this coincide with your data?" McCoy raised an eyebrow at Aela, who nodded. Oh, boy, told himself.
"Yes, it does, Nurse. Do you have anything else of interest?" There was a pause, then the nurse used her best Spock imitation.
"Perhaps. Further research is required."
"Understood. Continue your work. McCoy out." Chapel is on to something, he realized. He was glad that at least one of them was doing their job. How was he sidetracked so easily? Why did Aela affect him so much that he would neglect his duty? Didn't she feel that the matter was urgent? In anger at himself, and confusion, he turned on Aela.
"What is going on?" he rasped, and gripped her shoulders. She bit her lip and looked as confused as he felt.
"I gave you the data," she evaded. "You looked at it, and it didn't seem to pose any great problem to you." She pushed away from him. "For all I know, a simple wave of a modern medical wand, and you'll have things under control. Don't you understand?" Her voice grew desperate. "Medically, we might as well be in the Stone Age. I have no idea what advances have been made in the last two hundred years."
She sank limply into a chair, and buried her head in her hands, her elbows propped on the desk. Moved by her outburst, McCoy crossed to her side and put his hand gently on her shoulder. She looked at the wall and spoke as if to herself.
"We tried everything possible. We determined to solve the problem ourselves, and not beg for help from those who shut us in a medical prison. Now you open the cell door, only to tell us you can't help, that you have no cure." McCoy felt his heart sink when he heard the hopelessness in her voice.
"You don't know that "
"Yes, I do, Doctor," she interrupted. "That's what you were about to tell me when you first came in here, wasn't it?" McCoy was astounded.
"Well, yes, it was," he admitted. "But that doesn't mean a cure can't be found," he added hastily, and took her hand. He looked into her eyes, almost willing her to take new hope. She gave a small smile, and pulled the computer printout across the desk. He scanned it as she summed it up.
"So far, only males have been affected. We developed a vaccine "
"If you have a vaccine, why did you send the medical distress signal?" McCoy asked quickly.
"The vaccine is very unstable, and is only effective if given within hours of exposure. The disease spread so rapidly that we were only able to contain it by quarantine, which is why you were brought here, and your female assistant went to examine the patients " McCoy jumped for the communications screen. "What's wrong, Doctor?"
"Nurse Chapel had three male aides with her," he said, rapidly pushing buttons. How would he explain this to Kirk?
()
The doors to the Bridge swished open, and Kirk entered. He descended the stairs to his chair.
"Lieutenant Uhura, has Doctor McCoy reported yet?" he asked, seating himself.
"No, sir," the officer replied. She didn't hide her anxiety very well. Spock regarded her with a fractionally raised eyebrow, while Sulu and Chekov exchanged puzzled expressions.
"Lieutenant?" Kirk asked in surprise.
"I'm sorry, sir," she said, embarrassed. "It's just that wait. There's a message coming in now. It's Doctor McCoy."
"Put him on the screen," Kirk said. McCoy looked ill at ease, and seemed unable to meet his captain's eye.
"Jim, those three aides that came down with Chapel and I; are they back on board?"
"Yes," Kirk confirmed. "They completed their tour of duty and were relieved by new men. As a matter of fact, I just talked with them. They report that you have quite a problem."
"And now so do you," the doctor sighed. "Those aides were inadvertently admitted to a quarantine zone. I'm afraid that the Enterprise is now a plague ship."
Kirk jerked forward, hands clenched on the arms of his chair.
"Wait!" McCoy forestalled his outburst. "Before you explode, there is a vaccine that is effective if it is administered within the first few hours of exposure." Kirk relaxed visibly. "Unfortunately, they tried transporting it, and it loses its potency. The only thing I can recommend is that you transport the men here to be immunized as quickly as possible. I must stress that this is only effective if given immediately."
Captain and Science Officer regarded each other soberly.
"It seems we have no alternative, Captain." Kirk looked away, irritated at Spock's bland assessment of their situation.
"Is the local doctor there?" Kirk asked, and McCoy gave Aela a reassuring smile as he drew her into sight. His captain's eyebrows rose as he threw a sideways look at Spock, but the Science Officer kept his thoughts to himself.
"Doctor, is what McCoy tells me true?" Kirk didn't really expect McCoy to be wrong, but he could hope it wasn't as bad as the ship's doctor had said.
"I'm afraid so. However, it seems to affect only males, so the women on board won't have to come down. Once vaccinated, the men should stay an hour or two to make sure they have no side effects. Then they can beam up again."
"I don't want to have more than half my crew off the ship," Kirk grumbled.
"I'm sorry, Jim, but it's the best we can do." McCoy was apologetic. "Think of it as unscheduled shore leave, if that helps." Kirk grunted reluctant acceptance of his Medical Officer's perspective.
"Well, since we're working against time, we shouldn't stand around and talk. Be ready to receive more landing parties than we've ever sent ashore before. Kirk out."
When McCoy was off the screen, Kirk punched a button that allowed him to address the entire ship.
"This is Captain Kirk. The ship's crew has accidentally been exposed to a contagious virus. The vaccine can only be given on the surface of the planet below. It seems to affect only the, ah, male members of the crew, so only they will find it necessary to Transport. Every male on board report to the Transporter Room as your sections are called. Time is a crucial factor. Female crew members, stand by to ma er run the ship. Kirk out." Captain Kirk leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Mr. Spock." The Vulcan turned from his survey of the planet.
"Yes, Captain?"
"Did you notice anything strange about Doctor McCoy's manner?"
"Nothing beyond his usual idiosyncrasies, Captain," Spock said coolly. Kirk frowned. He wasn't convinced.
"Mr. Spock, take the conn. I want to be on that first landing party. Something's not right . . . " His voice trailed off as the turbo lift doors closed behind him.
()
Commander Raena stood before a roomful of beautiful women.
"See that every man receives individual attention. They will be vaccinated, then you may escort them to the Keep. Entertain them. Ensure they are not alarmed until all the men are on the planet. They must not leave the Keep. When I give the signal, you will discreetly administer the paralyzing injection, and await further orders. To your posts." Each one smiled unpleasantly, and Raena saw their reaction, and was pleased.
()
McCoy turned to Aela when the screen went dark. He wondered if they had enough vaccine for the whole crew.
"By the way, even though the serum is delicate, we have enough for a planet full of people," Aela reassured him before he could ask.
"Hey!" McCoy had enough of this. "What are you, some sort of mind reader?"
The redheaded beauty chuckled, and put her hand on his forehead in a mock Vulcan mind meld. "You are deeply in love with a red haired woman," she intoned in a teasing, half serious voice. McCoy held her close, but this time he wasn't distracted completely.
"No, really. I want to know," he persisted, then buried his face in her fragrant hair. Her perfume
"I'm not a mind reader," Aela denied, "but I sense what you want, or will want to know. Call it intuition, if you will. It seems to be a racial characteristic with the women on Mendel." She spoke between the kisses McCoy gave her.
"And are they all as beautiful as you are?" he murmured.
"Yes. Another racial tendency."
"Then I'm sure the crewmen will enjoy their time here immensely." Speaking of the crew...
"We have a big job ahead of us, Doctor. Shouldn't we get ready?" Aela asked. McCoy laughed, and released her.
"You took the words right out of my mouth. After you, Doctor." And he ushered her into the laboratory, his communicator forgotten on the desk.
()
When Kirk and the rest of the first crew sparkled into existence in the laboratory on Mendel, there was a small group waiting to welcome them. Commander Raena had exchanged her uniform for an even more attractive garment. Aela and McCoy stood ready with medical equipment, and a number of pretty girls smiled at the men behind Kirk.
Kirk intended to have a private conference with McCoy, but before he could step forward, a woman who looked like a goddess approached. Golden hair framed her lovely face, and she wore a white dress that both concealed and revealed a perfect figure. Kirk stopped mid intention and stared.
"Captain Kirk, I am Commander Raena," she introduced herself, her voice warm. "I regret that we must meet in such inauspicious circumstances." Kirk regretted it, too, but he seemed to have lost his voice.
"I offer my sincere apologies for my women's carelessness in allowing your men to come into contact with the virus." Her eyes were so blue and innocent.
"I'm sure it was an honest mistake," he managed to say as he collected his thoughts.
"Excuse me, Captain, but I need you to roll up your sleeve," said a voice at his elbow. He looked into Aela's pretty eyes. She smiled sweetly, and held up an evil looking instrument. Kirk automatically recoiled.
"Sorry, Jim," McCoy interjected as he held a crew member's arm while he jabbed in the hypodermic needle. "When in Rome, you know. It will hurt for a bit, but I'm sure the girls will help take your mind off the pain," he said to the crewman, who was led away by a sympathetic beauty.
Kirk submitted to the unfamiliar injection, and moved again to collar McCoy when Raena came to see how he had fared.
"Captain, we an area ready for you and your men to rest while you learn if there are any side effects. You understand, of course, that since you have been exposed to the virus, you are a danger to the general population of Mendel, who have not?"
"Of course," Kirk agreed. He should probably look at this area.
"If you would care to take a tour of inspection to ensure it meets your needs?" Raena suggested. Kirk looked for McCoy, who was busy organizing new arrivals. He would talk with him later, he decided as he was led away. Raena smiled angelically up at him, and soon he forgot about Doctor Leonard McCoy.
()
Nurse Chapel leaned back from the computer terminal, and rubbed her sore back and neck. Once again she tried to contact McCoy, and once again she failed.
"Where in space is he when you need him?" she grumbled. She looked at her chronometer. For more than an hour she gleaned alarming information from the computer. She needed just a few more details before she could be completely sure of her story. After she tried her communicator again, she shook her head, and once more bent to her work.
"If he doesn't answer next time, I'll go over his head to the Captain," she vowed.
()
Kirk and the men of the crew received royal treatment, and enjoyed every minute. They were in a large open building with semi private booths. Gorgeous women anticipated their wishes, and did their best to entertain them. Music played while dancers whirled on the stage in the center of the room, and smiling girls served refreshments. From the windows, green lawns, trees, and flowers pleased the eye.
Kirk rubbed his sore arm, and looked around. He heard laughter, and realized that this interlude was indeed like an unexpected shore leave. Raena watched him relax, and smiled. Things were going as planned.
()
It was almost time for the last beamdown, and Spock walked to the turbo lift to go to the Transporter Room.
"Mr. Spock." Uhura stopped him with her upraised hand, obviously listening to an incoming message. Spock motioned the others to go without him, and signalled Uhura to pipe the message over the Bridge speakers.
"Captain," Chapel began, and Spock interrupted her.
"This is Mr. Spock, Nurse Chapel." The woman paused as she realized to whom she was speaking.
"Mr. Spock, ah . . . "
"Nurse?" he asked quizzically. Nurse Chapel should not be calling the Enterprise. It was not logical. She would call Doctor McCoy first, unless she was with him and he was too busy to use his communicator. But that was not typical of the doctor. Therefore, she could not be relaying a message from him. Interesting.
"Mr. Spock, I gained access to the medical and historical records of Mendel, and we may be the victims of an elaborate hoax." Spock's eyebrows rose in surprise, and every woman on the Bridge sat up straight.
"Indeed?" Chapel wasn't sure if he was sceptical or not, and she hesitated. Uhura suddenly understood.
"You mean there is no disease that the crew has been lured down to Mendel for some other reason?" she asked Chapel.
"The crew is on the planet?" Chapel's voice showed her alarm. "No. It would just be the male crew members, wouldn't it?"
"That is correct, Nurse," Spock confirmed as he tried to follow the women's leaps in reasoning. "We were informed that the ship was exposed to the virus, and that the crew could only receive vaccinations on the planet. All male members of the crew except myself are now on Mendel."
"We have to get them back," Chapel insisted.
"Hostages?" asked Uhura, dismayed.
"Or guinea pigs," glumly asserted Chapel, much to Spock's mystification. This conversation had not progressed logically.
"Nurse, on what information do you base your conclusions?" That should calm her down and give him an idea of events. Nurse Chapel began to explain.
()
While Chapel made her report to Spock, the last crewman on Mendel was inoculated.
"Well, that's everyone except Spock and I," said a weary McCoy, and put down his hypodermic syringe.
"Spock?" asked Aela, who looked at the waiting girls closely, then turned back to McCoy.
"The First Officer," McCoy explained. "He's a Vulcan. This serum won't harm Vulcans, will it?" Aela shook her head. "Good. I wonder what's keeping him?" He felt for his communicator, which wasn't there.
"I believe you left your equipment on the office desk, Doctor," Aela said helpfully. McCoy did a double take.
"Uh . . . thanks," he finally said. He just couldn't get used to it. As he reached the office door, the red haired woman seemed to remember something.
"Doctor McCoy," she asked seriously, "would you bring the equipment into the lab here before you operate it? I would like you to demonstrate it for me." She gave him an engaging smile, and he shook his head good humoredly.
"All right, curious," he grinned. When he returned, the last of the girls who had been waiting closed the outer door, and left him alone in the lab with Aela.
"Where's everybody " he began, but Aela interrupted.
"Sit down, Doctor McCoy," she said curtly. McCoy heard echoes of a certain Starfleet sergeant, and sat. She drew up a stool beside his, took the communicator from his hand, and set it on the table.
"I didn't want you to use this in my office because Raena has the computer bugged," she said in distaste.
"Bugged?" McCoy tried to recall what the archaic expression meant.
"Bugged, monitored, spy eyed, call it what you will. The view screen is two way, and she uses it to keep an eye on me." There was a darkness in her voice, and her green eyes had shadows of grey.
"But why would she do that?" McCoy asked. Aela looked at him silently for a moment.
"It's time you learned the facts of life on Mendel," she decided, "and it'll have to be fast." She looked at the antique timepiece strapped on her wrist, then spoke rapidly.
"A century ago, the percentage of stillborn or fatally malformed births rose at an alarming rate fast enough to wipe out the population in the next two or three generations. Scientists tried XX chromosomal splicing, where female chromosomes from genetically `clean' donors were joined to produce a new, stable gene pool."
"But such splicing produces only females," pointed out McCoy.
"Right," agreed the doctor, "and the percentage of mutations didn't drop appreciably. Then it was found that the females produced by the XX splicing shared some startling similarities. They were all uncommonly beautiful, and possessed an uncanny ability to anticipate a person's thoughts or actions . . . the intuition I talked about before."
"Then you're " McCoy gulped as he realized the truth about Aela.
"Yes, I am," she said calmly, "and so are most of the women here." She searched his face with her eyes. "Does that bother you, Doctor? Are we no longer human? Am I repulsive to you now?" she challenged. McCoy rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then made up his mind.
"Well, even though the method is outdated and impractical," he said carefully, "I can see that the side effects were definitely worth the trouble." Aela gave him a brief smile at the compliment, and lightly touched his hand as she dismounted from her stool.
"There is another side effect that went unnoticed until it was too late," she paced the lab floor. "Many of us display an utter ruthlessness an extreme callousness towards the value of life."
"Then why are you a doctor?" McCoy asked, dismayed.
"I haven't manifested that characteristic yet," she answered, with a set look on her face. "I wish I had. I would have wrung Raena's neck years ago, and saved hundreds of lives."
()
In a quiet corner of the Keep, Raena listened to the girl that Aela had sent to report.
"All human men have been inoculated, Commander. Doctor Aela wished to have Doctor McCoy explain the equipment he brought with him before she brings him here, if that meets with your permission."
"I suppose I must indulge her in this whim," Raena sighed. "Soft hearted fool. Maintain surveillance of her office." The messenger turned to go, but Raena called her back. "Take a detail and move the ship's nurse to the cells with the rebels."
"Yes, Commander," and the messenger left the building.
Commander Raena slipped something from her pocket, and hid it in the palm of her hand. She glanced around, and caught the eye of a woman who leaned casually against a wall. The woman inclined her head to indicate the control panel on the wall beside her. Raena smiled to herself as she joined Kirk at the table.
Kirk was uneasy. Spock still hadn't come, and McCoy wasn't here yet, either. His own highly developed sense of danger warned him about something, too. He looked around, but only saw Raena's eyes as she sat beside him.
"Doctor Aela persuaded your Doctor McCoy to reveal the wonders of the modern medical miracles he brought with him," she said. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Kirk recalled the pretty face of the Mendelian doctor, and raised his eyebrows even as he returned her smile.
"Really," was his only comment. When they got back to the Enterprise, McCoy would hear from him about transparent excuses.
The lights suddenly went out, and plunged the room into darkness. Kirk felt Raena grasp his hand, and heard shouts and noisy protest. He tried to stand but a sharp pain in his arm immediately spread a numbness over his body.
()
As Chapel recounted to Spock the same information that Aela gave McCoy, the door to Chapel's room opened. Two cold eyed guards stood in the doorway. She flipped down the screen of her communicator abruptly. She hoped that Spock or Uhura would understand the significance of the action.
"You will come with us," came the order. She stood, and hesitated as she slipped the communicator onto her belt.
"Where are we going?" she asked nonchalantly as she picked up her medkit.
"You will find out," one woman said curtly, and the nurse marched off down a grey hallway, flanked by the two guards.
()
Uhura pressed buttons while Spock waited patiently.
"Chapel broke the link deliberately shut it off mid transmission," she said, then balled her fist and hit the panel in frustration. "I knew there was something wrong."
"Lieutenant?" Spock asked, one eyebrow near his hairline. Uhura tried to explain.
"When I heard the distress signal, it didn't feel right, somehow. But, since one's feelings aren't submissible evidence, I kept quiet. Now, just as Nurse Chapel tells about a group of violent women, she breaks off in the middle of a sentence. Something's wrong, sir." Spock pursed his lips.
"I would tend to agree with you, Lieutenant. But in the absence of further evidence ", he stopped. "What about Captain Kirk? Can you reach him?" After a minute's work, Uhura's shoulders slumped in discouragement.
"No answer, sir." Spock was convinced of the unusual situation now, Uhura saw. He stood with his hands behind his back, his eyebrows drawn slightly together, and his dark brown eyes stared at the screen display of the planet below.
Somewhere down there were the men of the Enterprise, and they could be in danger. Kirk's silence when signalled suggested that this possibility was now a probability. But he still had very little idea of what kind of danger it was.
"I need more information," he said to Uhura. The Communications Officer turned back to her panel, and pushed buttons.
()
McCoy listened; Aela's story was hard to understand.
"You say this Commander Raena is really a geneticist who worked with you and your husband to solve your population problems? How did she become Commander?"
Aela ran her hands through her long hair, turned a white face to the ceiling, with her eyes closed. She spoke, and the words sounded strangled.
"I guessed her intentions too late, though I never really trusted her, and neither did Jared, my husband. She insisted that the way to solve everything was one of her wild ideas. She called it `XY cleansing'. It was an attempt to inject a substance that would act on mutant Y sperm and destroy it. Instead, it destroyed all the Y chromosomes in the experimental subjects unravelled them, you might say. It was an awful death." Her eyes closed against some remembered sight, her face deathly pale.
"Raena convinced enough women of her type, and they staged a coup a political takeover. The men in charge were immediately put to use as experimental subjects, my husband included." Her face twisted, and she bit her lip. "She made me watch."
The back of McCoy's throat tasted sour. He slipped from his stool and folded Aela in his arms. She made no sound, but the man who held her felt her tears soak into the fabric of his shirt.
"There was no opposition?" he asked, curious. She pushed away from him and dabbed at her tear blotched face with her sleeve.
"Of course there was. You can't take men as guinea pigs and not expect some objections. But all the resistors were imprisoned, or pressured into submission. But she's no fool. When she saw how unpopular her methods were, she looked for an alternative." Aela refused to meet his eye. McCoy's blood suddenly congealed.
"And the alternative the men from the Enterprise?" he rasped, and held her arm in a viselike grip. She bit her lip and looked away. McCoy roughly held her chin up to force her to look at him. Her eyes betrayed her agony, and gave him the answer he did not want to have.
"Tell me," he ordered with cold anger.
"The men in the so called quarantine are products of Raena's experiments. There is no epidemic, and the solution you injected was plain old saline solution. Raena dreamed it all up so that your crew would be trapped." He pushed her away, revolted, and looked at her as if she were a disgusting, low form of life. She stood limply where he left her, slumped in defeat. A tear trickled down her face.
"So now, when they're all trapped, you feel remorse and cry." His voice held loathing for her, and at the way he had been duped.
Aela didn't react. Her eyes were glazed, like a victim of shock. The doctor in McCoy responded automatically. He slapped her. She cringed from his upraised hand, again in control of herself.
"Raena did that to me, too," she said, "when I refused to do it."
"You told her you wouldn't do it?" McCoy asked skeptically. "What changed your mind?"
"I had two children," she said woodenly. "One was stillborn a mutant defective; the other, a healthy baby boy. After she killed Jared, she took my son. She's holding him as insurance for my cooperation." McCoy's stomach tightened, and he swallowed hard.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry." He gently cupped her face in his hands. "Aela, will you help me, if there is any way at all to rescue them?"
"You know I will," she answered, and he found he did.
His communicator squawked. Quickly, he snatched it from the table and flipped up the screen.
()
Kirk could see and hear, but when he tried to move or speak, his body would not respond. It was the same for the rest of the men from the Enterprise. They were bound to their chairs by sadistically cheerful nurses, and the women who so shortly before entertained them now moved the chairs to face the center of the room.
Kirk stared across the room at his Chief Engineer, Scotty. If Kirk rolled his eyes, he saw Chekov on his right, and beside him, the Helmsman, Sulu. The door to the building was to his left, and it opened to let in a team of white robed lab assistants, who carried various pieces of hideous equipment.
They moved to the platform in the middle of the room and hastily commenced assembly of a huge, macabre restraining table, complete with leather straps and clumsy, painful monitoring devices. Raena slowly circled the platform. She occasionally gave direction to the workers, but mostly looked over the men. Kirk had seen that look in the eyes of a cattle dealer, inspecting his herd.
He tried mightily to will his body into motion. He failed, and fought his panic. He wondered what was to come, and where the missing members of his crew were.
Raena stopped, and pointed. Two women stepped to the side of the man she pointed out, and untied his bonds. Kirk tried to recall his name. He was from Scotty's department, and did good work: Williams. Kirk looked at Scotty, who regarded Williams with all the sadness his eyes could express. Kirk felt that whatever was about to happen, it would be very unpleasant, both for Williams and for everyone else.
The limp body of the engineer was carried to the table, and strapped down. Raena strolled leisurely to where she knew Kirk could see her, and then gave a signal to one of the women by the table. The woman injected Williams, and stood back. Raena turned to face Kirk.
"We will use you and your men to further our research. Your appearance in response to our distress signal was most fortunate, Captain Kirk. Just think: you and your crew will make medical history," she smiled sweetly as sweat broke out on Kirk's forehead. He frantically tried to move.
"We have given your crewman an injection that will restore his power of movement sooner than you will regain yours. This is to ease our observations of his reactions." Kirk only wished he could react, as he gazed into the eyes that no longer appeared innocent and trusting.
Williams groaned and struggled against his bonds. Raena went quickly to a table, selected a hypodermic syringe, and administered a dosage to the protesting man.
"What's going on?" he demanded irately. "What are you doing? Where's my C.O.? Chief?" His voice rose to a screech. "Captain Kirk?" He tried to move his head, but it was held immobile by a helmet that bristled with wire leads.
Kirk saw Williams' body spasm with pain, and then jerk uncontrollably against the restraints. His shriek of agony echoed the length of the building. Kirk finally closed his eyes against the sight of the thrashing body, but the man's screams and shrieks cut deeply into his mind, burned forever into his memory. Where were McCoy and Spock?
()
"Doctor, it appears that we have been deceived," Spock said coolly.
"So I just discovered," McCoy replied. Each wondered how much the other knew. "Who told you?" he asked the Vulcan.
"Nurse Chapel could not contact you, so she started to report the results of her research to me." McCoy's eyebrow rose.
"She started? You mean she didn't finish?"
"That is correct. She was interrupted in the middle of her transmission, and activated the tracking device of her communicator. The signal emitted has moved to a new location, approximately one half mile to your north, but several feet under the surface."
"That's the prison for political prisoners and hostages," whispered Aela, her eyes wide. "It's heavily guarded." McCoy relayed this information to Spock.
"Political prisoners?" Spock asked dubiously.
"The gal in charge here is a geneticist who seized power, and jailed everyone who opposed her. She will stop at nothing. The crew is being held for experimental purposes." There was silence on the other end of the connection.
"Spock?" McCoy finally broke the silence.
"A moment, Doctor," Spock delayed him. "This has developed into a political situation, and I must consider Starfleet protocols."
"Starfleet protocols!" sputtered McCoy. "The captain's about to be dissected by a mad scientist who wants his genes for building blocks, and you talk about the Starfleet protocols?"
"Doctor, I must also remind you that thus far in this situation, your information has been unreliable, and may have precipitated any danger that the captain and crew may be in." McCoy's blood raged, partly because he knew the Vulcan told the truth.
"You rabbit eared, green blooded abnormality," he fumed, "I may have been misled before, but I'm not now. If you doubt it, contact Chapel and get confirmation from her."
"I am attempting just that, Doctor," came the Vulcan's disembodied voice from the little box. "Please stand by." McCoy angrily banged his unit onto the table.
()
On the Bridge, Uhura made contact with Chapel.
"Is what Doctor McCoy tells me true? Is the crew being used for experiments, and you are now with political prisoners?" Spock asked quickly.
"Yes," Chapel confirmed in a whisper. She tried not to arouse the suspicion of the guards who paced in front of the cells. "Anyone who resisted Raena ended up here. There are quite a few of them, and when I told them about the Enterprise, they were very upset. Get them out and give them weapons, and they'll fight."
"Sir, I have an idea," volunteered Uhura. She quickly outlined her plan. Spock considered it, and nodded.
"Stand by, Nurse Chapel," he said. "Perhaps those prisoners will have their opportunity to fight."
"Yes, sir," came the whispered reply. "Chapel out."
()
"Doctor McCoy," Spock said, "prepare to receive a landing party. You will join them to discover the whereabouts and condition of members of the crew of this ship. You will start by locating Nurse Chapel."
"What about Starfleet protocols?" McCoy wondered how the by the book Vulcan would explain his actions.
"This is a reconnaissance mission, Doctor. Lieutenant Uhura will be in command," came Spock's reply. "I fail to see how a simple reconnaissance violates any Starfleet protocols." McCoy raised a brow at the Vulcan's innocent tone.
"And I fail to see how this will work," he rejoindered anxiously. "What's going on in that mechanical brain of yours?"
"Doctor, we understand that these women are extremely, er intuitive. If you know anything more than what I tell you, the entire attempt may fail. Please believe that I am doing everything in my power to recover the captain and crew."
"All right, Spock," McCoy reluctantly acquiesced. "I just hope it works."
"That is also my desire, Doctor," the Vulcan replied, and McCoy knew that the man who couldn't let his emotions show was as worried as he.
()
The screaming was over, but Williams was still alive. Kirk saw the sweat drip from the man's face, and heard his fevered moans. His body twitched, held in place by the leather straps. Scotty looked miserable, and Kirk shared his feelings of helpless anguish.
How had he been tricked? Why had McCoy deceived him? He fought his emotions of betrayal and despair. Was McCoy, too, a victim to the women's wiles, or an accomplice? He hoped that whoever was left would find out before it was too late.
Raena turned from monitoring her victim's condition, and her face wore a puzzled frown.
"I'm surprised that the Enterprise hasn't attempted some kind of rescue by now," she remarked to one of her assistants. "Are you sure there's no activity?"
"None, Commander."
"Could it be that they are even more gullible than we expected? I find that hard to believe. Put more guards around the building." The woman left to give the orders, and the blonde woman looked again at her machines, and sighed.
"I'm afraid that this variation of the treatment is also unsuccessful. We will need another subject soon." Her eyes travelled slowly over the ranks of motionless men. She stopped at Kirk. His heart thumped in fear, but he managed to meet her gaze without blinking. She smiled mockingly.
"Not you," Raena said. "Not yet." The inspection continued.
Her hand came up, and she pointed.
"That one," she said to her assistants. Kirk strained his eyes to see. Her finger selected Sulu.
()
Uhura and five of the women of the Enterprise beamed down into Aela's lab. Their bright sparkling forms solidified quickly, and the moment it was possible, Uhura pulled out her phaser and aimed it at McCoy and Aela. McCoy threw his hands in the air, alarmed.
"Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing, Uhura," he said nervously. "Have you gone mad?" The phaser didn't move.
"I'm watching it, Doctor," came Uhura's guarded answer, her brown eyes narrowed. "I'm also wondering whether this is yet another ploy to get more of the crew onto the planet."
"Oh, for " began McCoy, outraged.
"I don't blame you for feeling that way, Lieutenant," interrupted Aela contritely. "It was not Doctor McCoy's fault. It was mine. I lied to him, and tricked him." The two women regarded each other. Uhura looked wary, but the doctor kept her face open and honest.
"No one blames you, Aela," McCoy said. "They're holding her son hostage," he tried to explain.
"No, Doctor," Aela insisted, "I know now that even if they threatened to kill me as well, I shouldn't have done it." She looked down at the floor. "It's just . . . just that, after seeing Jared suffer so much " She choked back the emotion in her voice. McCoy put his arm over her shoulders, and used his free hand to brush a wisp of hair from her face. She gave him a watery smile as she pulled herself together.
Uhura watched the scene closely, then put away her phaser. She would trust her instincts, which told her that this woman was telling the truth.
"We'd better hurry," she commented. "Do you know where this prison is?" she asked Aela, who nodded.
"I'll lead you there," she offered.
"Good," said the lieutenant, and pulled out her communicator. "Mr. Spock, you are free to execute Plan A," she said to the box.
"Plan A executed," the First Officer's voice came from the little speaker. McCoy looked surprised.
"Plan A?" he questioned Uhura. "What's he doing up there, anyway?" The Communications Officer merely flashed him a quick smile.
"Oh, just running the Enterprise singlehandedly," she said airily. McCoy chuckled.
"He could almost do it, too," he remarked as he took a phaser and checked the charge. "He'll be so busy punching buttons he'll look like a whirling dervish, but if we ask him about it, he'll say he enjoyed the peace and quiet of not having us humans cluttering up the place." Uhura grinned.
"You're probably right," she agreed, and showed Aela how to operate the phaser. McCoy saw that the women of the landing party came with quite a number of the weapons: reconnaissance mission, indeed.
"Let's go," Uhura said. "I'm afraid that time is not on our side." Aela open the door, peeked out, and silently set out. Uhura followed closely. McCoy and the others were on Uhura's heels, and they all ran noiselessly down the ghostly, grey halls.
()
Chapel received her instructions from Spock. The little group of prisoners around her listened intently, then a brunette, obviously the leader of the group, took charge.
"You know what to do, everyone?" she asked. "Get your sections to lie down until it's all over. Wait for your weapons, then use the outdoor exits and go to your positions. Raena will have guards posted, if I know her methods. You won't get a second chance." The women hurried away to explain the details to the others.
The brunette looked at Chapel, who glanced nervously around.
"Calm down," she ordered. "You'll tip off the guards." Chapel stiffened, then forced herself to appear relaxed.
"Caera," she asked the brunette, "what about the little ones? They can't come." Caera thoughtfully regarded the cluster of small children, all of them Raena's hostages.
"There is a place where they may be safe until this is over," she said. "I'll get one group to take them there when we get out." She went to whisper to a group leader.
There was a shout, and the guards pulled out their weapons. Even as Chapel threw herself to the floor, she saw blue bolts of light stun the guards. More uniformed women ran in, and sprayed the distant hall with shots. The blue lights of phaser fire answered, and their peculiar whine added to the noise and confusion. Then there was an instant of silence.
Chapel raised her head as she heard people run down the hall. She scrambled to her feet and rushed to the cell doors. The guards all lay where they had fallen, stunned by the phasers.
"Doctor McCoy," she called when she saw McCoy and Uhura in the lead. The prisoners stood and grouped together.
"Have a phaser," Uhura thrust a weapon into the nurse's hands. Chapel automatically checked the charge and setting.
Aela and McCoy rummaged in the guard's pockets for keys, while Uhura and the women with her distributed phasers through the bars of the cell and gave terse directions for their use. Even the guard's weapons were retrieved to use.
The doors swung open as the doctors used the keys they found, and groups of women ran confidently towards their chosen posts. Chapel hesitated, and sized up Aela quickly before she went after Caera's party.
"Well, that's it for outside the building," said Uhura. "Now to get inside: look for someone your size," she ordered the rest of the landing party, who pulled uniforms from the prone guards.
"Mommy! Mommy!" McCoy heard a child's cry, and turned to see a small boy run into Aela's arms. He watched the tears of glad joy sparkle in her eyes as she hugged her small son, and felt his heart give a twist of envy. That joy he would never have.
"Who's he?" came the suspicious question from the youngster as he eyed McCoy.
"He helped us get you free, but some of his friends that Raena caught need to be free, too," Aela explained frankly. "He helped me find you, so I'm going to help him find his friends. You go with the other kids until I come and get you." The child frowned rebelliously. Aela stared him down, and he grudgingly gave in.
"You take care of her," he charged McCoy. The doctor gave the boy a crooked smile.
"I will," he promised, a catch in his voice. Reassured, the child scampered after the retreating children.
"Doctor!" Uhura called from the other hallway. McCoy looked, and the landing party, already in Mendelian uniform, was marching rapidly down the hall. He caught up Aela's hand, and they ran to join them.
()
Kirk was almost mad with desperation. The helmsman of the Enterprise was lifted from his chair as the body of the wretched Williams was carried from the platform. Again Kirk tried to move, but his body would not obey. He knew his face was wet with sweat, and his rate of breathing was rapid.
Raena watched him in amusement. She enjoyed his torment as he saw Sulu strapped to the table. Kirk felt his rage build, almost blinding him. He knew that if he could move, he would kill without compunction.
There was a commotion at the door, and Raena turned to see. Kirk could only use his peripheral vision, but thought he heard the voice of the pretty doctor who had inoculated him.
"He got too curious," Aela said to the Commander. Behind her six uniformed guards carried a stretcher. Aela moved to let them by, and they bore the stretcher into the room. Kirk's heart sank in dismay. McCoy lay on the stretcher, motionless.
"I gave him a shot of the stuff you used here," the Mendelian doctor continued blandly as she walked with Raena towards Kirk. The guards placed the stretcher down on the platform. Something about the way one of them moved attracted Kirk's attention. Uhura!
There were gunshots, and a burst of phaser fire from outside the building. The fake guards pulled out their phasers as McCoy sat up and brandished one of his own. The roar of shuttles overhead shook the building. McCoy looked around, and marvelled at the Enterprise's female crew's flair for the dramatic. Then he froze.
Raena had reacted almost before anything happened. Now Kirk was a hostage, with a tiny but lethal weapon pressed to his temple. Helpless, Kirk's eyes met McCoy's.
"Drop your guns," came Raena's shrill order. Uhura and the others hesitated before they moved reluctantly to obey.
Suddenly McCoy saw a flash of red hair. Aela rushed to grapple with the crazed Raena.
The Enterprise doctor tried to aim his phaser at Raena, but the women were locked in close combat. He didn't dare fire, and risk hitting Aela.
The sounds of gunfire and landing shuttles died, and the silence was filled only with the gasps of the two women as they struggled. Chapel and the brown haired Caera burst through the door. They froze as they took in the scene before them.
For a moment, McCoy saw Aela move Raena's arm down. She held her wrist tightly and forced her hand to open slightly. But Raena twisted like a cat, and spun Aela into Kirk's chair. She fell, and as she did Raena swung the gun to aim it at her.
"No!" McCoy heard himself scream, and his hand jerked automatically. A bright blue flash of light lanced from his phaser. Raena collapsed, while Aela lay where she had fallen, looking stunned and sick.
"All right!" came Uhura's authoritative shout. She motioned to the white coated lab assistants. "You! Into the corner." Women with phasers lined them up along with the guards from outside, while others cut the ropes that bound the crewmen, and carried them to the waiting shuttles.
McCoy jumped from the platform and ran to Aela. He swept her shaking body into his arms, and she clung to him without a word.
()
A group of Bridge personnel clustered around Uhura as she sat at the Communications Station.
"When I saw you there with your phaser," Sulu shook his head, "I didn't know what was going on, but I was glad you were on our side." There was a murmur of agreement from the others.
"Aye," burred Scotty. "Are ye sure you've nae Scots ancestors, lassie?"
"Oh, Mr. Scott," the Communications Officer laughed at his teasing.
"Well, now that the Federation will send medical and organizational aid, we can be on our way," Kirk said cheerfully to Spock, who stood by the Captain's chair.
"It would appear that the Federation will permanently lift the quarantine, and Mendel will have the advantages of modern medicine to solve their population problems," agreed Spock.
"Good. Now that you mention medicine, where's McCoy?" Kirk asked. He looked around just as McCoy stepped through the opening turbo lift doors.
"I believe he was saying goodbye to the doctor on Mendel," smoothly warned the Science Officer as McCoy stepped around the group of men, and glared at them resentfully. Kirk pursed his mouth in a silent "Oh" of comprehension.
"What's this? A party?" the medical officer growled as he motioned to the men on the upper deck. Spock regarded the group as if he had just noticed them.
"It seems that the men are grateful for the lieutenant's efforts to rescue them," he observed. McCoy grunted, and lapsed into silent brooding. Kirk shot a worried look Spock's way. They had to get him out of the doldrums.
"The lieutenant?" Kirk asked. "I thought you were in charge, Spock."
"The plan was a result of Lieutenant Uhura's listening to Nurse Chapel's report on the situation, though she told me that she considered proposing some form of action before that point."
"Really?" Kirk asked, puzzled. "But surely she didn't know that there was any danger until then." McCoy looked mildly interested.
"That is correct," Spock confirmed. "She credited it to a premonition, or a sixth sense "
"Or intuition," broke in McCoy.
"Concepts that are scientifically unproven, and somewhat illogical," pointed out Spock. He was deliberately Vulcan, and Kirk grinned his approval. True to form, McCoy rose to the bait.
"Why, you pointy eared elf, you wouldn't recognize intuition if it came up and kissed you." He stopped. "Mind you, I almost didn't myself." His eyes lost their focus, and Kirk shifted position in his chair: time to take the bull by the horns.
"And how is Doctor ah ", he hesitated.
"Aela," McCoy filled in the blank. "She's fine. As soon as the medical team comes, she's going off planet to medical school. She has two hundred years to catch up on."
"Should be quite a challenge," Kirk observed, glad McCoy was talking. "At least she won't have to jab people with barbaric weapons anymore. My arm still hurts," he flexed it.
"You'll recover," McCoy said unsympathetically. Suddenly Kirk gave a chuckle.
"You know something, Spock?" he said as he eyed the doctor with a twinkle, "She asked him for the name of a good medical school, and he recommended his old alma mater."
"Well yes, I did," McCoy admitted, then looked offended as Kirk laughed. "What's wrong with that? And anyway, how did you know?"
"Oh," Kirk managed between chuckles, "just call it intuition." McCoy looked disgusted, then grinned in spite of himself.
"Did you say it hurts here?" he poked Kirk's sore arm lightly.
"Oh! Ow!" Kirk yelped playfully. Then he laughed, and McCoy joined in while Spock looked on with a glint of humor in his eye.
THE END
Other Star Trek original series stories by this author on this site are: "Foundling's Keepers", "Physician, Heal Thyself", and "Skin Deep".