They had been together on that planet for two months, Ty had been recovering after all that had happened and now, now Ty lay possibly dead in his arms. Captain James T Kirk was fully aware of his Vulcan First Officer and his Chief Medical Officer watching him as he held the body, suddenly unable and unwilling to let go of it. There was the sound of Commodore Halls being taken away to the brig, Chekov taking control of getting the crew back to their stations and the sounds of normal activity around him but he could not let go of the body he held. He heard Spock telling him to let McCoy take care of him but he could not let go.

He knew Ty could possibly still be alive but he could not, would not let go. Not yet. Not yet. It was all too soon, too familiar. Seeing the knife stabbing Ty was like seeing it all again.

Two months ago he, Commodore Halls, Chekov, and Officer Ty Baylance had beamed down to the planet Starfleet had sent them to investigate. It had been a well-laid trap by the Commodore. As soon as they landed they were attacked, Chekov stunned first by a phaser while a large band of men attacked him and Ty, finally subduing them for the Commodore to look at. It had clearly been a planned attack.

"I will take Chekov back with me, Kirk. I'll need proof for that Vulcan that we were attacked and he saw the attack start. You two will be left here. There is a civil war going on down here and you know we cannot get involved as we are here to try to get the two parties to talk, with luck they will kill you on sight. I, of course, will be given the Enterprise, to finish the rest of the mission. And then another mission but still the same ship. My ship. Having this group attack us gives them weapons and agreeing to return later for the recovery of your bodies, or the search for them when the conflict dies down will help the crew accept me. "

It was clear the Commodore had it all arranged as the group holding them had taken delight in systematically beating them before hauling them, semi-conscious to their camp and dumping them in a pit.

That had been the start, two months ago. They had survived though the bloody civil war they had been sent to help because Ty had proven to the group that had taken them captive after killing the party which had originally captured them and kept them in that pit for a week, that they could be trusted and they cared about life. They had survived the last two months in a small hut with a family that had taken them in and been sheltered and protected by the entire village, after Ty had saved the village's children, twice. They had heard how Commodore Halls had offered a reward for their bloodied bodies or at least bloodied uniforms, a reward more than almost any family could turn down but that the village that had helped them had only hidden their uniforms for when their people came back for them. .

The small village they had been befriended by had first held them as prisoners and had them tethered by their ankles to a stake in the village centre. They had been left tethered with no shelter and fed only scraps. It had been on the fifth day that it all started. The village's children had all gone onto the lake on a raft, members of the waring faction on the other side of the lake that divided them has seen the children and blew up the dam so the raft the children were on started to float away. For a moment there was total panic. He had been aware of Ty doing something then saw him running, diving into the water with some rope over his shoulder.

How still everything seemed to be as Ty reached the raft, secured a rope to it, and then started to swim back, pulling the raft. One man came over and cut the thong around his ankle and pushed him towards the lake.

Excited and relieved parents hugged their children to them and Kirk sat beside Ty for a minute unsure of what to do, saw how the rope had cruelly cut deep into him, saw how he had obviously smashed his foot to get it free from the binding, and saw how he struggled to get his breath back to normal. Ty had only rested a moment then very slowly got up and hobbled back to the stake in the centre of the village. That had clearly surprised the villagers as Ty made it clear to them that he understood and accepted he was a prisoner.

A villager roughly grabbed him, taken him back to where Ty had collapsed by the stake they had been tethered to, "You fix him."

"He needs medical," he had started wanting to let them know he did not know exactly what to do.

"You fix him."

Some time later a woman brought him some hot water and cloths, another woman brought him some hot thick soup, it seemed that every woman in the village brought him different things but they were still left tethered to the stake. Ty had made no sound as he had wiped his foot with the hot water and did the best he could to bind the shattered foot. He had felt the tension in the leg and heard the changes in his officer's breathing as he finished binding the foot. Ty had just nodded his thanks and rolled onto his side away from him and gone to sleep.

Ten nights later four men from the opposing group infiltrated the village and were headed toward the hut Kirk knew housed three new born babies and their mothers. Before he had time to know what would be the best thing to do he was aware of Ty moving, of Ty rushing at the four screaming as loud as he could. There had been a moment of bewilderment when the four invaders first saw him then they rushed at him and Kirk had seen, by the firelight, that each one of them had a long, thick-bladed knife. The village men were almost instantly there swarming over them.

One villager had quickly removed him from the stake and taken him into a hut, pointed at the fire, "Get warm. Stay here."

He moved to the fire and felt the warmth of the small fire. The only furnishing was a small bed but it was a warm hut. The upheaval outside had not lasted long.

Ty had been carried in, unconscious, bloody. As before, the villagers brought him all they could and Kirk knew that his medical skills were sadly lacking as he did all he could for his officer, knowing that the stab wounds were not only numerous but also deep, and was thankful that his officer was unconscious as he cleaned them and tried to dress them. When he had finished he sat beside him, trying not to sleep but the sudden feeling of security and the warmth of the fire defeated his attempts. He had woken in the morning to find he was covered by a blanket, the fire was still burning, and somehow Ty was still alive.

A man who was clearly the leader came into the hut, followed by two women each carrying a pile of clothes, "You will wear these. Your uniforms show you are dead. They no longer look for you as we told your ship of your death and one asks for them as proof.." he had looked at Ty, "He has shown us the truth. When he wakes we will talk. Give me uniforms when you have changed and changed him."

It had been strange to change another officer out of one uniform and into other clothes. He had, on occasion done it to Spock and Bones but, as he had stood looking down at Ty, dressed in the local garb, he knew it was the only thing he could do, what he had to do. Almost every movement had caused Ty to moan in pain but Kirk had continued. The man had taken the uniforms, looked briefly at Ty then back at him, "You are safe now. We will again contact your ship and tell them where to meet us. Our healer will care for him now." Five villagers had come in, one Kirk recognize as their healer for he had been the one to watch how he had tended to Ty earlier and nodded approvingly, and four lifted Ty while the healer gave instructions.

When he had started to follow the healer had turned and looked at him, "You stay. I will come back. He is beyond your help. I will do all I can but you stay here."

Stay. Eight days of being kept in the hut, briefly escorted out each night for a few minutes so he would stretch and get fresh air, and the healer only saying that Ty was still alive when he visited each day. The healer had told him that the four who had attacked had been outcasts and wanted to be put to death by their own for killing two children as sport. On the ninth day the healer had said, "He asked for you." and had led him across an inner compound to another slightly larger hut. "He has moments of awareness then the fever claims him again."

Cautiously Kirk reached out and placed a hand on his officer's shoulder, not allowing himself to look at the heavily bandaged chest and arms and trying not to hear the strained breathing, "It is Kirk."

For a moment a hellish pain was so clear about the light brown eyes that looked up at him made him look away, "Tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Take you, Comms. Contact ship."

Talking clearly was a strain for him but Kirk understood and looked at the healer who nodded. "They say when?"

"Only," a spasm of pain shook his body and Kirk realized both he and the healer had reached out to hold him. There was a weak strength in the hands that griped his arm as a series of spasms wracked the body. The effort to breath shook the whole body.

"The poison from in their knives is claiming him. I got most of it out but they stabbed him thirty-eight times so I did not get all of it. He will be in pain till it is done."

"How long before it is done?"

"In some it is only ten standard days and in others it has been up to twenty-nine days. But this many times," the man pulled back the blanket and Kirk saw the inflamed wounds, the tracks under his skin that Kirk knew indicated blood poisoning, "not many survive from. As with the others he will be like this till it is done. You will stay with him as he needs one of his own with him to cope and to encourage him to hold onto life. You will be safe in this hut."

"He said I would be taken to contact my ship."

The healer looked at him and Kirk knew the look from grey-green eyes meant the man was appraising him, "You would leave him like this?"

"No. I did not mean I want to go right now. If someone is with him. When he is sleeping, perhaps."

For a long time the healer looked at him in silence. Kirk was aware the older man saw how he was massaging Ty's shoulder, was trying to reassure him and comfort him while finding out what he needed to find out. Without taking his eyes from Kirk the healer reached out and placed a hand on Ty's forehead, then rolled him slightly and looked at his back and nodded, "Tomorrow I shall sit with him while you are taken to the place. We made contact with somebody called Uhura, I believe. One called Halls spoke over her and asked if your bodies and uniforms had been found. He was told yes and will tell us when they will return. You may talk briefly with this one called Uhura as we are only allowed a short time each day there. I do not like the sound of that one called Halls."

How hard it had been to contain his excitement at hearing they had made contact, that he would be allowed to talk with Uhura. He felt the hands gripping his arm and looked down at his officer, almost in a fetal position and clinging to his arm as wave after wave of pain wracked his body. The healer had not said if he would live, only said they would know when it was done, said his officer would endure this agony for ten to twenty-nine days.

"I'm here. You're safe now. I'm here." Ty's body was shaking and his forehead was shiny with perspiration. Slowly he had dipped a cloth into the small container of water and wiped his officer's face and neck. A mocking voice in his head saying, "So this is how Starfleet's finest captain looks after his crew. You should be the one in pain. It should be you, it should be you, it should be you."

"I will come early. Care for him."

Tomorrow he would he would able to talk to Uhura. If only he could talk with Spock, hear his voice, know what the situation was. Uhura would relay, verbatim, to Spock what he said. Spock would know what to do and would find out from McCoy what they could use as an antidote

Just as his Captain was clearly recalling the events up to that attack by Commodore Halls First Officer Spock was looking down and Kirk and also remembering all that had happened during Kikr's absence. He wondered if his friend and Captain was reliving the memories as clearly as he was and hoped not.

He had stared disbelievingly at Commodore Halls when only two had been beamed up after the emergency call to beam up that one signal. When it had only been the Commodore and Chekov. Almost immediately the Commodore had been on the defensive even as he helped get Chekov on the gurney he had said, "There was a group there waiting for us. We beamed into an ambush. Kirk and the other officer got us the time to beam back. They are both dead."