EPISODE 1: Turnabout

"Captain's log, starduate 3547.2."

The captain's whole body let out an exhausted sigh as he crumpled to the side of his chair, resting a weary brow against his fist. Looking around listlessly, he saw mirror images all across the bridge, crewmen slumping in their chairs or dazedly punching buttons on control panels. Except Spock, of course, he noticed. His back was rigid as ever as he peered down into bluish light that made his hair look even blacker than usual.

"The crew … needs rest. Concentration's ebbing, and tempers are wearing thin. We've been promised shore leave soon, but who knows when 'soon' will be. For now, we're gonna focus on our analysis of this planetary system - which seems pretty routine so far, even if it is in uncharted territory."

He clicked the log off with unnecessary force and leaned back, sighing again.

"Captain," said Spock softly, as if trying to avoid grating on Kirk's nerves.

"What is it?"

"Detecting unusual energy readings, sir."

"From the surface?"

"From underground. There would seem to be several large hollows deep within the planet; readings are emanating from those locations."

"These hollows… were they naturally or artificially produced?"

"Unknown at this time, sir."

"Well, keep looking. Alert me if you find anything - I'll be in my quarters, talking to Starfleet. Again."

He gave his friend a disgruntled look and raised his hands in futility. Spock said nothing, but Kirk knew he was understood. Before making it to the turbolift, he turned abruptly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, and-" He waved his hand absently. "You have the conn."

His friend watched him leave with something like concern.

Stepping onto the correct floor - he hoped - Kirk almost walked right into some idiotic yeoman trying to offer him a PADD and stylus.

"Wha -"

"Sorry, sir. Just something for you to sign."

"I - ugh. Where's Rand? Doesn't she usually deliver this stuff?"

"Dunno, sir."

"Of course not."

"She just said to give it to the captain right away."

"Right. Okay, fine." He took it, a little roughly, and continued down the hall.

He groaned, immediately feeling sorry for the guy. He was just doing his job.

He turned wearily after a few steps. "Hey, yeo-" But he was already gone.

Kirk sighed again, hoping he would be able to recognize the man next time he ran into him so he could apologize. He hadn't deserved that.

When he reached his quarters, he literally fell asleep on his bed, no time even to remember the situation with Starfleet.

"Ah, Jesus."

McCoy awoke to find his temple stuck to a hard surface. Where had he fallen asleep this time? - his desk? the lab? the mess? or …

"Sickbay." His voice even sounded groggy. Lifting his head with great effort, he pried his eyes open and rubbed them irritably, squinting against the sudden blast of light. He was right, sickbay again. His eyes adjusted to the brightness remarkably quickly, however. Bet the lights are worn out again. Better get 'em replaced soon.

McCoy stood with remarkable agility, as if he hadn't been sleeping at his desk all night. Maybe I'm not gettin' old after all. He went about his work quickly, hoping none of the nurses would notice he'd slept here when they came in for the morning's shift. And when they did get here, he'd give 'em hell for turning off whatever they did to make it so damn cold in here.

Enter Chapel! Right on time. He hoped he looked busy.

"Doctor," she started, staring down at data of some kind. "Have you-"

She looked up and stopped abruptly. "Oh."

That bad, huh?

"Sorry," she continued, exuding nervousness. "I was looking for Dr. McCoy. He's probably fallen asleep in the lab again."

She started to turn back around, but he stopped her. "Very funny. Come back here, Nurse."

He coughed slightly. His voice still sounded weird.

Poor Christine looked even more confused, for some reason. "S- ?"

"Well, go on, what'd you need to see me about?"

She took a few slow steps toward him. "Are… you alright?"

McCoy gave an exaggerated sigh. "Yes, Chapel, I'm in sickbay because I work here. What is it? I'm gettin' old over here."

"You - ?"

Whatever this is, it's startin' to get on my nerves.

"If you don't out with it in just a damn minute, I'm gonna have to-"

"Doctor McCoy?"

McCoy eyeballed her for a minute before responding, "Well, who the hell else-"

Chapel covered her mouth, eyes widening, which actually started to worry him. He could practically feel the shock coming from her in waves, especially when he reached out to touch her shoulder gently and began, "Now what is-" But he couldn't finish.

Long, pale fingers had brushed against the sleeve of her dress - not his.

"What in the name of-"

He brought his hands up to his face, staring intently. These were definitely not his. But who… And for that matter, how?

He gingerly reached up to touch where his face should have been, but found one that was slenderer, more angular. Even his hair was rigid, straight and blunt; he pushed it back away from his forehead, only to brush against the tip of a pointed ear.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Chapel had not removed her gaze.

"SPOCK!"

It was unnecessary for him to speculate as to who might be attempting to contact him - the better question was how McCoy had managed to locate him so quickly.

Spock pressed a button on the lab's table. "Yes, Doctor?"

"You better tell me what you did in about five seconds, or I'm gonna come down there and rip off your pointed-"

While the doctor was re-evaluating the applicability of his statement, Spock took the opportunity to assure him that "I did not, in fact, do anything, doctor. I am currently attempting to identify a remedy for our current situation, so if you would make your way to the lab, your assistance would be useful."

"Wait - our situation?"

"You did not imagine, did you, that you could occupy my body while I, also, retain the use of it?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"You mean you have mine?"

"I believe I said that."

Spock cut off the transmission before the doctor could waste any more time with his complaints and colorful metaphors. He knew, of course, that he would be arriving shortly.

"Dammit, Spock!" came the reply, much earlier than expected.

He raised an eyebrow. "It appears I overestimated the time it would take you to-"

Spock narrowed his eyes and adopted an even stricter posture as if to compensate for the undisciplined way that McCoy was inhabiting his body.

"Did you run here?" he asked wearily.

"You bet I did!" The doctor grinned with a face unused to the gesture, and Spock winced internally. "I'm not even outta breath!"

Spock looked up, back down, returned to the computer.

"I have been running tests-"

"Find anything?"

"Negative."

…

"Please cease your staring."

"Sorry. What on Earth could've caused somethin' like this?"

"Evidently, doctor, and obviously, nothing on Earth, as we are lightyears-"

"It's a figure of speech, you green-blooded hobgoblin!"

"Ordinarily, I would be extremely satisfied with the fact that my internal anatomy differs from yours, but on this occasion, doctor, I would like to point out your error, as I am not, at this moment, green-blooded."

The doctor had still failed to notice the yeoman who had walked in moments before, standing in the doorway as if waiting for an opening.

"Yeah, well," McCoy blustered. "At least I'm not a computer who-"

"Gentlemen!" announced the stranger loudly. "What's going on here?"

Both men looked, surprised at his manner.

"May I ask-"; "Who the hell-"

The crewman squinted, puzzled, then spread his arms with a charismatic grin.

"I don't know what you two are trying to do here, but although it's extremely entertaining, I-"

The doctor was growing more and more vexed with the young man's audacity, but Spock-McCoy stopped him with a gesture of his hand and stepped forward, approaching the newcomer slowly as if analyzing him. He stared into the man's face wordlessly for a few moments before- "Captain?"

The man struck his forehead with an open palm. "I forgot! Look, I know I look different, but I swear-"

Looking between Spock and McCoy, he seemed to fully realize the gravity of the situation. "Wait- did you guys get switched too?"

McCoy grinned mischevously, to which Spock responded with a non-expression that in no way resembled a frown.

"Whoa ... " the captain circled them, staring, then halted inches in front of his First Officer, his new eye level slightly lower than Kirk was accustomed to. "Wait. How'd you know it was me?"

He was addressing Spock now, staring in bafflement at the familiar stoic expression superimposed on Bones' normally gruff face, which made him seem at once younger and, impossibly, even less approachable than usual. Beside Spock-McCoy stood his inverse, the elegant features he knew as well as his own contorted into McCoy's habitual grimace, edged with amusement as the real Spock looked elsewhere, seemingly configuring a response to Kirk's question. After a moment, his confidence returned and his eyebrow lifted subtly.

"Simple logic, of course," he answered.

"I gotta hear this." McCoy rolled Spock's eyes, an uncanny gesture.

Kirked smirked. "Yeah, Spock, how'd you manage that?"

His friend straightened in attempt to reclaim his usual height advantage - probably an unconscious adjustment, in fact. Fas- … Interesting.

"Captain," he answered in feigned frustration, "You are the only man I know who walks into every room as if it is his own."

McCoy laughed unexpectedly - a short sound, unrecognizeable in that deep voice. "He's got you there, Jim."

"Well, I am the captain," Kirk replied defensively, still staring at McCoy-Spock.

No one moved.

"We'd better get you both fixed fast," he remarked. "I don't think I can handle this much longer."

"You think you've got it bad?" Bones retorted. "I'm freezing over here!"

"This is bad. This is really bad."

…

"Captain, may I request that you refrain from pacing."

"Sorry."

Kirk shook his head quickly as if to rid it of water, made his way back to the chair, hovered over it for a moment, then resumed his march back and forth across the lab. Spock did not sigh, although he was tempted to when McCoy ruffled his hair for the fifth time that day; it was oddly … disconcerting, to see himself in such a state of dissaray. He would not protest, however, as he was faintly certain that the Doctor persisted in this behavior largely to annoy him, and Spock refused to be annoyed.

"We ought to go to the bridge," he said instead. This blind grasping was getting them nowhere.

Suddenly, he has his companions' full attention.

"What?!" bellowed McCoy, wincing at his own deafening tone. Spock was suddenly more content with his new, less sensitive human ears.

"Like this?" the doctor continued momentarily. "Tell me, Spock, how exactly do you plan on explaining us?"

"Firstly," Spock began wearily, "I find it difficult to believe that we are the only ones affected by this bizzarre development. And in either case, we will soon be missed if we are not at our posts. As a matter of fact, it is surprising that Lt. Uhura or Mr. Scott has not yet attempted to ascertain our location."

Kirk groaned. "He's right, Bones, as usual."

"Well, at least I don't have to come up there with you. I'm needed in sickbay - my post."

Kirk grinned. "Oh, no, doctor, you're coming too. You can't possibly heal anyone in your condition."

McCoy sighed. "Nah, you're right. They'd book it outta there at the first sign o' me."

Following them to the turbolift, Spock wondered if the doctor had indeed willingly subjected himself to this for the sole purpose of taking advantage of an opportunity for an insult. The matter would need to be investigated further.

"Meester Spock!" yelled Sulu as he came scrambling down the hall. "Vee haf a zerious problem!"

When he reached McCoy, who he had obviously and reasonably mistaken for Spock, he bent over his knees, panting and holding up a finger. McCoy-Spock backed up slightly in alarm, but obviously-not-Sulu didn't seem to notice.

"Chekov?" Kirk asked incredulously.

Clearly failing to recognize the captain, he turned back to who he thought was Spock and continued breathlessly, "Yes, I know, trust me. I don't know vat happened, but somesing happened to Sulu and me and -"

McCoy-Spock preemptively interrupted what was certain to be a long-winded non-explanation.

"Yeah, kid, we know," he assured him. "It happened to us, too. Spock's over here, and that there's the captain."

Sulu's mouth gaped in a very Chekov-like way. "Keptin? Vat do ve do?!"

"Relax, Pavel," Kirk answered reassuringly, gripping his shoulders. "We're working on it. Do you know who else has been affected?"

"Geez," interjected McCoy. "I hope whatever this is isn't contagious."

At Chekov's panicked expression, Kirk shot a glare at the doctor.

"I … don't know, Keptin," he answered hesitantly. "Ze two of us haf been running around all morning looking for you."

"All right. Find Sulu and meet us on the bridge - we're gonna find out what's down on that planet."

After a last stunned look between Spock and McCoy, Chekov took off in the opposite direction.

As the three entered the turbolift, Spock straightened and McCoy made a low sound of amusement at his friend's predicament, but wisely made no comment.

Scotty occupied the captain's chair when they arrived - at least someone had managed to set things in order before the bridge crew had begun running about the ship.

"There y'are, Mr. Spock," he said, standing. "I best get down tae the engine room before some idiot makes the bairns explode."

"I'm afraid, Mr. Scott," Spock-McCoy responded, "that will have to wait. It appears we have a situation."

The entire bridge turned to stare; McCoy's uncomfortable smile decidedly was decidedly unhelpful. Before Kirk could say anything to prevent it, everyone had jumped up and there was a great deal of shouting. After a few seconds of this, buttons also began flashing and beeps mixed themselves in with the rest of the chaos.

"Will everybody SHUT UP!" McCoy bellowed, and Spock's voice echoed around the room in the sudden silence. "It's too damn loud in here," he muttered.

"Really?" Spock asked innocently, tapping his human ear lightly. "I find it rather difficult to hear you."

McCoy glowered at him intently, but Spock pretended not to notice.

Suppressing a laugh, Kirk took the opportunity to explain the situation as best he could, with Spock's periodic assistance.

"We're not moving from this planet," he concluded, "until we figure out what's going on here."

With a swoosh, the doors to the turbolift opened to usher in yet more irregularity.

"Sulu - I mean, Chekov, there you are. Did you find Sulu?"

"Them too?" exclaimed Scotty. "Tha's jus great."

"Yes, Keptin," Chekov-Sulu answered. "He vas wery excited ven I told him zat ze doctor and Meester Spock had been switched, too."

"Have you found out anything else about those energy readings you saw earlier?"

Spock could tell the captain was agitated, and the doctor's obnoxious presence on the bridge was not overly helpful.

"Negative, captain. However, I find it unlikely that they were the source of our current predicament."

Kirk smiled at him, obviously attempting to 'lighten the mood'. "'Unlikely', Spock? That's unusually imprecise of you."

Spock looked up and raised an eyebrow. "I would estimate the probability is…" His eyebrows furrowed for a fraction of a second before he turned his face away to continue his investigation of the planet. "- low."

"Low? Are you trying to-" He stopped himself, seeming to realize that something was amiss. "Spock, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is 'wrong', Captain," he replied calmly, "I simply do not have the equipment to perform that function at this time."

"Function," McCoy mouthed to himself with an eyeroll, but was ignored.

Kirk would not drop the subject. "What do you mean, 'equipment'? I've seen you do it in your head a million times."

Spock resigned himself to the discussion. "That is true, but as you can see I am not currently in possession of 'my head', as you put it."

The doctor stared. "Wait - does that mean I can do that now?"

He squinted furiously, small creases forming on the bridge of the nose that was not his own, as if he believed he could conjure up the requested probability by magic.

"I am afraid not, Doctor," Spock remarked as he returned to stare down into the familiar blue light. "While you do have my more efficient brain, you yourself lack the logical capability to assemble the necessary equation."
"Now see here-" McCoy began, but Kirk interrupted him.

"Interesting. So our brains didn't transfer, it's something else… The soul, perhaps?" he speculated, hand outstretched.

"I'm a scientist too, you know," McCoy grumbled in the background, still stuck on Spock's earlier comment.

"I believe so, sir." Spock ignored the doctor. "Our 'katras', as Vulcans call it, have evidently been scrambled independently of the bodies to which they belong. While inconvenient, it is nonetheless quite-"

"Spock," growled McCoy, "if you say it's fascinating, I swear to god I'll smash both your heads together!"

Kirk and Spock fell silent then, seemingly considering the weight of the doctor's threat. Considering that he now possessed the full strength of a young Vulcan, they elected to discontinue their conversation.

"Why us?" the captain mused, sitting back down in his chair. "Spock and Bones, Sulu and Chekov, me and this yeoman whose name I don't even know…" He paused. "There's a guy, somewhere on this ship, who looks just like me. And I don't think we're the only ones, either."

Kirk shook his head and turned to Uhura, thinking. "Lt. Uhura, I need you to open a shipwide channel. Order anyone who's suffering from… a bizarre condition, of any kind, to go down to sickbay immediately. I have a sneaking suspicion that people have been hiding in their quarters."

Moving towards the door, he called, "Spock, Bones, let's go. We're gonna get to the bottom of this."

McCoy shivered again as the three of them sat in sickbay, the doctor examining an unfortunate married couple who had been interposed overnight.

Kirk looked at him incredulously. "Spock, are you really this cold all the time?"

McCoy snorted. "Typical. I'm freezin' my ass off, and you worry about him."

"Doctor McCoy simply lacks the self-discipline to suppress his discomfort, as he fails to realize that it is a thing of the mind."

McCoy turned to scowl at him. "Now just what is that supposed to mean?"

"I merely state facts, Doctor."

All medicine forgotten, McCoy left his tricorder with the bemused couple and used his extra inches of height to loom over Spock, the aggressive posture and expression combining with Spock's already-imposing figure to appear rather frightening; Spock, however, was not fazed. Staring defiantily into his own eyes, he linked his hands behind his back as the doctor spluttered at him.

"Facts, Spock? Oh, I bet you know all about facts. Now that your precious numbers are gone, that's all you have left, isn't it?"

"Doctor, I am well aware that you are attempting to elicit an emotional response from me, however-"

"No, I don't think so, Spock. You can't read my mind anymore! Don't even bother trying to tell me what I'm doing."

"It would not be so easy for me to 'read your mind', as you put it, if you did not simply exude every emotion that crosses your mind. My considerable mental barriers are barely sufficient protection against your veritable waves of illogic."

McCoy smiled. "You forget I have an advantage - I've got your brain, and you and I both know what's stored in there."

"I was unaware that you, too, had been able to access the foremost host memories, and am frankly surprised that-"

"I wouldn't go there if I were you, Spock. You see, I know exactly how you feel about-"

"And I know what really took place on Alpha-"

"All right, all right!" McCoy resolved to shut up; Spock refrained from protesting his use of the word 'feel' for fear of provoking him once more.

The two stared each other down for a few seconds before Kirk broke the silence.

"Don't stop now, it was just getting interesting." He grinned. "You two are worse than them, you know that?" He was pointing at the couple that McCoy had left, who were already busy arguing intently in low voices, fur bristling.

His expression changed as he stared at them. "Maybe it wasn't random…"

Spock stepped towards him. "Captain?"

Kirk turned back to his friends. "This yeoman,-" he gestured vaguely at himself- "I've only seen him once or twice, but last night, I yelled at him in the hallway. And then you two… You're fighting constantly, so it's a pretty good bet you were doing it yesterday too."

At this, McCoy looked slightly sheepish; Spock's mind was too busy whirring to notice.

"I understand," he said slowly. "It seems likely that those two crewmen were also engaged in an argument of some kind, as well as the few others we have seen."

"But what about Chekov and Sulu?" the doctor contested. "They never fight."

"You're right…" He paused before decisively marching to the intercom on the wall. "We'll just have to ask 'em."

Click.

"Sulu here," said a voice much higher than Sulu's.

"Is Chekov still with you?"

"Yes, Keptin," came the distant reply.

"Good." Kirk leaned against the grey wall. "What were you guys doing yesterday, the last time you saw each other?"

"Uh…"

"Oh yeah! We were sparring- fencing, in the rec room. Why?"

"We're just down here developing theories," the captain answered. "I'll let you know when we have anything definite."

He clicked the button again as McCoy sighed, "So they weren't fighting. Guess that theory's out."

Kirk sat down, pensive. "No, I don't think so, Bones. They weren't arguing, true, but they were fighting."

"This is valuable data," Spock observed, continuing the thought. "If your conjecture is true, captain, that would mean that a fallible entity is responsible for this."

"Exactly," Kirk agreed. "Whoever it was… misinterpreted."

"Even if you're right," said McCoy wearily, doctor again, "Why did he do it? Revenge? Instigation? Some confused kiss-and-make-up?"

The captain demonstrated the emptiness of his hands. "Who knows? Either way, it looks like the best way to subvert it is to stop it at the cause."

He made his way back to the intercom, followed by McCoy. "What does that mean?"

"Lt. Uhura?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"Patch me in to shipwide, will you?"

"Yes, sir, hold on. You're on in three… two…"

"This is the captain speaking; we have a situation. Some members of the crew have been… attacked, with minor effects, by an alien force. There's no need for alarm, however. It appears the alien focuses exclusively on pairs of people who were recently engaged in some type of altercation, physical or verbal. That's why it's imperative that no one do anything remotely aggressive, like yell, fight, spar, or argue- even in a friendly way- until we get this under control. Don't even glare! The security officers are ordered to confine to quarters anyone who even remotely approaches this. If you're not on shift, or if you don't think you can contain yourself, please remain in your quarters as a preventative measure. This is serious, but we can handle it. It's absolutely necessary that everyone remain calm. Thank you."

Turning from the wall, he regarded his two best friends with a worried look. They looked at each other, wondering what Kirk was scheming about.

The captain pointed at them. "I'm your new chaperone."

McCoy groaned and left for the adjacent room.

"You know you'd mess everything up if I left you alone!" Kirk shouted after him.

McCoy-Spock brought two coffees back to the table in the conference room - deciding that isolation was best, he, Spock, and the captain had started camping out in here during the day. The other two were going to go back to the bridge, but Kirk didn't seem to think McCoy could refrain from starting a brawl if he wasn't supervised.

"Thanks, Bones," Kirk said wearily as he accepted a cup from the doctor, lifting his head up from his arm. He looked up. "Why do you even need this? You look perfectly fine."

McCoy shrugged as he sat across from him. "Yeah, I feel great. Just bored." Forgetting he did not need to whisper - Spock could not possibly hear him from accross the room today- he added, "Maybe this green stuff in my veins really does have its perks."

Grinning, he took a sip- and spat it violently out. "Ugh!"

Confused, Kirk looked at his own half-downed drink. "What the hell's the matter, Bones?"

"Jesus!" was all the doctor would say.

At the commotion, Spock approached. "Vulcans cannot taste sugar," he explained. "It is also mildly toxic, so I suggest you forgoe it until we solve our current predicament."

"Why didn't you warn me?" McCoy demanded.

Spock started to reply, but all of a sudden his eyes went glassy and he staggered forward as if about to faint.

"Spock!" Kirk yelled, somehow managing to catch him by the shoulders.

It proved unnecessary; he caught his own balance just in time and gently removed his friend's hands, careful - out of habit - to avoid making direct contact with his skin. He then looked down at himself as if confused.

"Fascinating."

"Dammit, Spock!"

"Sh!" Kirk put an urgent finger to his lips, warning the doctor to remember the alien force.

Turning back to Spock, he remarked, "No wonder though, you look terrible. When was the last time you ate?- or slept?"

Spock regarded him quizically.

"You do know," sighed McCoy, "that you need to sleep?"

The first officer's spine straightened, head lifting minutely. "Vulcans do not require the amount of food or sleep that humans do. Simple meditation-"

"Jesus, Spock!" exlaimed McCoy with a hand to his face. "What the hell-" He cut himself at Kirk's glare, then took a deep breath before continuing. "You know you have to rest. You don't have your bizarre physiology to help you right now, and don't pretend you didn't know what the consequences would be. Now get to your quarters and don't come out until you quit makin' me look even older than usual."

No one moved as the captain attempted to suppress a smirk at what he reognized as 'the doctor voice'.

"That's an order, Spock!"

Spock shot a glance at Kirk as if asking for help, but he just shrugged helplessly.

"Doctor, I would oblige, but as you can see, the captain's peace strategy has not, as of yet, been effetive, and I must continue my search before-"

"Spock!" The doctor's familiar glower appeared on Spock's face, now with the advantage of black eyes and a few extra inches. "Out!"

With a slight exhalation and a look toward the ceiling, Spock made for the door.

"If I find out you've been on the computer…!" McCoy threatened vaguely.

"He's right, you know," Kirk observed after the door had shut behind him. "I thought maybe if we could placate whoever did this… but I haven't heard any reports of violence, and you've been good, so why has nothing happened for two whole days?"

"I'm telling you, Jim, I don't think it's gonna do any good. I think they always intended on leaving us like this."

"That can't happen."

McCoy shot him a disapproving look. "And what exactly do you plan on doing about it?" Reluctantly, he added, "Especially with the hobgoblin gone."

Kirk waved that argument away. "He would've been useless in that condition anyway."

There was a pause.

"You're gonna try and talk to them, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Anything, Uhura?"

"Sorry, sir. I'm broadcasting in all known languages and codes, but I'm not hearing anything."

"Chekov?"

"Nossing here, Keptin. Like Meester Spock saw earlier, vatever vas there before ees gone."

"Damn. We're gonna have to go down there."

"Keptin?"

"Uhura, try and collect everybody that came to sick bay the other day, everybody who got switched. We're doing this once and we're doing it now."

"Yes, Captain."

"Come on, Bones!

"Just what makes you think it's a good idea to beam all your top officers and your CMO and some random crewmen - two trips, mind you - down to an unexplored planet in the maybe you'll find whoever did this and that, for some reason, they'd want to help you fix it?"

"You got a better idea?"

The intercom chirped.

"Kirk here."

"Captain, Spock isn't responding. Would you like me to send someone-"

"No, it's alright, Lieutenant. I'll go check on him. Is everyone else in the transporter room?"

"Yes sir, except for Dr. McCoy."

"He's coming. Kirk out."

The two exchanged a worried look.

"You better be standing on that transporter pad when Spock and I get down there," the captain ordered. "And when you get there, tell 'em to give me five minutes."

There was no answer when Kirk buzzed the door to Spock's quarters, so he called out to him - still nothing. He was considering resorting to the use of his override code when he realized that the door had not even been locked.

"Spock?" he asked quietly when it slid open.

A flood of light entered the room as he entered almost gingerly, and when the door closed behind him everything was dim, only visible thanks to a red glow from his bedchamber.

"S-"

Spock was sleeping, like he was supposed to; the exhaustion must have gotten to him after all. It was McCoy's face he saw looking down, but it held a stoic expression, even in sleep, that the doctor had never known, as well as something else - a slight furrowing of the brows, as if in pain. Kirk wanted to leave him be, but he needed him, and he was anxious to see his face again, as he had known it.

"Hey. Wake up," he said, then again, louder. This isn't gonna work, he's out cold.

At least his telepathy was significantly restricted, Kirk thought as he hesitated, briefly, then took Spock by the shoulder gently.

"Spock." He shook him a little harder, and was beginning to wonder if he was in one of his healing trances when his friend did not stir in the slightest.

Suddenly, however, there was an iron grip on his wrist, and Kirk was immediately glad that his strength was reduced, as he was obviously exerting all or most of his force. Spock-McCoy sat up, rod-straight, within an instant, blue eyes as intense as his black ones ever were.

"It's okay - Spock, it's me. Spock."

It was clear that he was, for a moment, unable to recognize his captain in his new form, but his voice called him back to reality and the hand left his wrist as abruptly as it had been placed there.

"Captain. My apologies, I had momentarily forgotten -"

"It's fine, Spock." He resisted the urge to rub his arm. "Are you okay? You've been dead to the world…"

"Of course, Captain." He looked around suddenly, seeming to wonder how he had got in.

"You left the door unlocked. Sorry, but I had to come get you. We're beaming down to the planet soon, to try and make contact with whoever did this."

"Yes, sir." Spock attempted to smooth McCoy's hair down as if it were his own, but it did not cooperate, and he was distracted from his efforts by Kirk's evident pain. "Captain, I-"

"Stop, Spock."

When they at last reached the transporter room, the first six crewmen had already beamed down.

"There you are!" McCoy remarked as he took his place on a transporter pad. "Come on, this is everyone now."
"The entity would seem to have limited capacity if only twelve of us were affected - there must certainly have been more arguments than that on a ship of four hundred at any given time."

"I see he's back to his old self."

"Not quite," said Kirk. "But he will be in a minute, and so will the rest of us. Energize."

The surface of the planet was composed almost entirely of grey desert speckled by rocks and minute shrubs, and the sky was more white than blue - breathable, however, as they had discovered early on. Now that they were here in the flesh, Kirk felt a little foolish. Had he expected whoever did this to just show up? They are here, though, he was certain now. Something lived there, below the surface.

"We're all here now," he called out vaguely. "Happy?" He was aware they could not possibly hear him, but perhaps they possessed some sort of telepathy, or at least a security system of some kind.

It was then that the captain spotted himself standing near the edge of the group.

"Yeoman," he called, moving towards him. "Or should I say, Captain." He grinned, but quickly sobered up. "Look, I'm sorry about snapping at you like that. Everyone's been on edge lately, but that's no excuse."

He watched himself shake his head. "No, Captain, you don't need to apologize. I know you're under a lot of pressure, I'm amazed how calm you are all the time. I don't blame you, really."

Before Kirk could think of anything to say to that, everything shifted. The air ceased to move, and grew heavier, and when he looked around they were in a cave of some sort, an unknown light source thouroughly illuminating the area.

"Uh… Spock?"

"Readings coming in now, Captain. I believe we are beneath the planet's surface."

"How-" But as if in response to his unasked question, something appeared. And then a few more of them. The one closest to him fizzed with electricity that he could feel on his skin and in his hair; it resembled a conglomeration of static shocks, or a thousand tiny lightning storms, and he heard a voice from all directions. They are the energy readings, he realized.

"Why have you come here, all of you?"

"Did you do this?" the captain demanded, attempting not to sound too hostile.

"We are the ones who sentenced you."

"Sentence- you mean this is our punishment?"

"Affirmative."

"For what? What did we do to you?"

"Not to us," the entity corrected, "to each other. Hostility is not permitted in this realm."

"We'll leave!" promised Kirk. "If you just switch us back, we'll never bother you again."

"You have been fittingly punished. It is done."

"What right-"

Before the captain exploded, Spock stepped up beside him. "Captain." He nodded towards the entities, and Kirk made a gesture that said, Jump in.

"Your analysis is flawed," said Spock simply.

"We have observed in detail."

"You are not familiar with human custom; your test is therefore unreliable."

"Explain."

"You have seen, but you have not understood. I propose an intermediary."

"Spock!" interrupted the captain in a whisper, realizing his plan. "What are you doing?"

Ignoring him, save a brief glance of reassurance, Spock continued.

"In my own body, I am telepathic. I can give you the lens through which you must look in order to determine the true state of affairs."

The entities drew closer together and, touching, sparked. Communication? Kirk wondered.

"How are we to know this is no ruse?"

"My aim is to restore all of my companions, not myself alone."

They seemed to consider.

"We shall accept, under one condition. Rather than transposing the two of you, we shall restore you and keep the other, safely outside his own body, as insurance."

"Do it, Spock!" ordered McCoy before anyone had a chance to respond. "I need to get out of here, even if it is into a box or something."

Spock turned to the three entities. "He will be safe until the process is complete?"

"He will. Are you prepared to serve as the representative for your companions, in order to prove a lack of ill will?"

"I am."

"Spock!"

"Captain, no one else could transmit the information to their satisfaction. They obviously have a limited capacity to understand aliens such as ourselves."

Before he could protest further - although Spock was right, of course - McCoy's body slumped against him, and he lowered him gently to the ground. Kneeling, he saw Spock's appearance suddenly shift, and he was filled with relief that his friend had returned.

"Show us each of them," commanded the entities, "beginning with the one that we have taken."

Wordlessly Spock stretched a hand toward them, coming close but not making contact, and concentrated in order to project across the space.

Not a minute had passed when the first entity stated, "You may cease projection."

Spock's hand fell, and the other went to his temple; Kirk found himself standing beside him before he even realized he had moved.

"Your claims have been proven, and confirmed," acknowledged one of the entities. "We shall release you."

In a matter of seconds everyone was staggering about the cave, jolted back into themselves with a mixture of relief and exhaustion.

"We regret that we have needlessly detained you. You shall be returned to your ship."

"Thank you," Kirk answered, but they were already in the transporter room.

"You alright, Bones?"

As answer, he said loudly, "Everybody. Sickbay. Now."

"God, it's hot in here," he added on his way out.

He's fine.

"So, Spock…"

"On course, Captain. Readings unchanged."

"We have a… scientific question, Spock," added McCoy.

Spock turned from his post. "Hello, Doctor. I was under the impression that you had remained in sickbay.

"Quit changin' the subject. We want to ask you somethin'."

"I see."

Kirk perched himself on the railing. "We're all curious… what did you show those 'entities' down there?"

"Just what I said I would show them."

"Proof, right. But what exactly did they see?"

Spock raised an eyebrow. "I fail to understand your aim, Captain."

"You had to show them you had no 'ill will' towards any of us," the doctor chimed in. "How'd you do that?"

"I demonstrated the absence of that emotion."

"You can't demonstrate an absence, Spock," Kirk interjected, "I know that as well as you do."

"So what did you tell them?" McCoy demanded. "How you really feel about us?"

"Vulcans do not have 'feelings', Doctor."

"I may not be in your head anymore, but I do remember what I saw there."

"You merely filtered logical processes through your human mind which, failing to understand them, misinterpreted them as something more familiar."
"Pretty sure you didn't send some damn mathematical equations to those guys down on the planet."

"Mathematics and logic, though related, are not the same thing, Doctor."

"You really didn't send them feelings, then?" asked Kirk.

"Of course not, Captain. I find these accusations not only preposterous,-"

"You know I'm pretty good at poker, eh Spock?"

He raised both eyebrows now. "I fail to see what relevance-"

"Because the tips of your ears turn green when you lie."

After a second, Spock replied, "Vulcans do not have 'tells', Captain, and neither do we lie."

Kirk and McCoy simply ambled back towards the turbolift; when Kirk saw him reach hesitantly for the point of his ear, he considered the argument won.