THE BOUNTY HUNTER
A STAR TREK STORY
JUANELL HOPPER
With a bounty out on Captain Kirk, it is hard for the crew to enjoy themselves even on a Federation world. While on Ogus 1, they encounter a bounty hunter who makes them realize that they have to be wiser than whomever has a twenty-five thousand credit bounty out on the captain.
He was simply called Mac. No one knew any other name that he went by. He liked it that way. No one knew much of anything about him because he had been a secret agent for just about as long as he could remember. For one thing, he was good at it, and no one could deny that. He had also been a bounty hunter to get extra money from time to time. Right now, he was in the bounty hunter mode, and he had one target that he wanted to capture. It would give him enough money to settle somewhere for at least a while, and if he did it right, he could stay there permanently.
James Tiberius Kirk. Mac had been hearing that name a lot lately. It was the talk around all the information grapevines like bars and anywhere else that lowlifes hung out in space stations. The bounty on Jim Kirk had grown to twenty-five thousand credits now. Mac found that very hard to resist. After all, Kirk was not his friend. He had made that clear after their encounter. He only had to capture him and get the money. What happened to him after that was not his concern. The last time he had met up with anyone from Jim Kirk's ship was when none other than Carol Marcus met him in a bar trying to find information, and she was with that Solan character.
Mac had worked with Solan when they managed to get Kirk, Spock, and McCoy out of Rura Penthe, which was no easy task. However, Mac had gotten caught up with Admiral Fern, who decided to go against orders from Admiral Carson and go after a weapon on Badoran that had started the whole situation where Kirk had been imprisoned.
Today, Mac sat in a dark corner of a bar on Magus III. Magus 3 was known for being a rough planet where if one wanted to get into a fight or get into trouble, all they had to do was land on it. He supposed it was impossible to get control of such a place, but he also supposed the more conservative planets would rather the riff raff would be on this planet than theirs so not many people bothered this planet.
Mac had allowed his light brown hair to grow out more and he had a scruffy beard as well. He was dressed in attire almost like what they wore on Denobula. It was only a disguise to hide what he usually looked like. He had been tracking Jim Kirk across the galaxy, and it was not easy to keep up with him. He had been staying around Federation worlds since his encounter with bounty hunters. However, Mac had found out that Kirk and his crew had delivered medical supplies to Makus III, which was not far from where he was now. He had learned from a source that their next destination was Ogus I. He supposed the captain and his crew intended to have a little recreation since that was just about all Ogus I was about, and it was a Federation colony.
Mac was waiting for his opportunity to get onto that planet. He was not considered a criminal, but he wanted Jim Kirk and his bunch to be settled into their vacation before he struck. He was not like most bounty hunters…he never moved until he knew he would get the results he wanted. He had seen Kirk not long ago, and the worry was showing on his face. He had faced more than one bounty hunter since he left Lemma II. No one had succeeded in capturing him yet…but he, Mac, would succeed.
Jim Kirk sat in the captain's chair as the Enterprise came into view of Ogus I. He was glad to see a Federation colony, and a place to relax for a while. They had been going for three months without taking any recreation time, and he had felt like he was running from an unseen chaser. When they had stopped on Meles II, he had felt like someone was watching him all the time and he could not enjoy himself. It was starting to wear on his nerves and he hardly enjoyed traveling through space anymore. He could not go near a planet without wondering if there were bounty hunters there looking for him… and he still did not know who had the bounty on him. The Klingons were engaged in talks, although they were not very peaceful yet. However, Chancellor Gorkon had assured Jim that the Klingons did not have the bounty on him. Not only did he have his own worries but Solan watched over him like a body guard. He had made Solan a part of the crew as a security officer. He definitely took his job seriously, and most of the time, he did not wear his red shirt uniform when he was on a planet, but wore his usual attire of a brown leather jacket over a white shirt and brown pants with boots, and a strapped down blaster. He still kept his hair cropped short and he was still as annoyingly nonchalant as ever.
Sulu guided the ship easily into the docking bay and Jim sighed a sigh of relief. "We're all set, Captain," Sulu said as he turned his chair around.
"You're all free to go," Jim said.
Everyone on the Bridge looked like they were escaping as they were happy to get off the ship. Jim just sat there in his chair. Spock and Bones came over to him. "Captain, are you coming along?" Spock asked.
"Sure," Jim said.
"You can hang around with me, Jim," Bones said. "Come on. We'll go play golf or something."
"Captain, you should do something enjoyable," Spock suggested. "You have imprisoned yourself in the ship."
"What do you expect him to do?" Bones asked. "He's being hunted by those lunatics! He hasn't done anything to himself!"
"Bones, just…" Jim stood up. "Let's go."
Bones and Spock went with him to the turbo lift. Bones still limped a little from the injury he had sustained on Lemma II when the Klingons had attacked the planet. He was just glad he could walk around without the pain he had been experiencing before.
They went down to the docking ramp and disembarked from the ship. Jim looked around the area at all the beings whom he did not know. "Jim, come on," Bones said and grabbed him by the arm. He was not about to let him stand there and fret over bounty hunters. Spock followed behind them, and soon, Solan was with them.
Jim felt like he was surrounded and he hated it. He could not go anywhere alone except to his own quarters. "Hey, why don't we go have a drink?" Bones asked as he slapped Jim on the shoulder to interrupt his thoughts.
"I don't want a drink, Bones," Jim said.
"Come on, Jim."
Jim was about to get angry. "There are other things to do," Spock said sensing Jim's tension. "Perhaps a game of…golf would be relaxing."
"I think it would," Solan agreed.
Jim rolled his eyes at that. He supposed he should be thankful for having such good friends. They were only trying to help him. He knew that, but he also knew they did not realize they were making him claustrophobic. They stayed with him all the time and right now, they were walking on all sides of him. He could not even go anywhere with Carol without at least one of them showing up and pretending that it was just a coincidence. Carol was with some of her friends right now.
"Okay," Jim finally consented. "Let's go play a game of golf, but I don't want to wear this uniform. They have quarters for us here. I want to see my room."
"I made sure they put our rooms in the same vicinity," Spock said.
"Thank you, Mister Spock."
Spock did not think Jim sounded very pleased by that revelation. However, he was also concerned with his safety. They had encountered bounty hunters and the end result had not been good as they had left a trail of death since they left Lemma II, and still had no answers as to who had the bounty on Jim.
They soon came to the "hotel" where they would stay while they were on Ogus I. "Does it have to be solid glass?" Bones asked.
"Doctor, I would rather be able to see out than to be in a place with no windows," Spock stated.
"I didn't say I wish it didn't have any windows. I said does it have to be all glass."
"At least we can see everything around here," Solan said as he was looking up at the lobby of the place. He was always amazed when they saw buildings that were made different than anything he had seen before.
Jim just listened to the banter between them and remembered when he used to join in with them. Lately, he had not felt like playing around with them, and could not seem to think of anything to say much. Bones grabbed his arm and shook him slightly. "Hey, why don't we go get some clothes to wear while we're on the golf course?" he asked.
Jim just looked at him a moment. "Whatever you want to do," he said.
Bones did not like what he had seen happening to his friend over the last few weeks. He liked the fun-loving Jim Kirk, who liked to throw sarcastic insults at him and even Spock. He did not see that humor in Jim's eyes anymore, nor that smile that was usually there, and easy-going nature. He and Spock had talked about it, and had decided that when they got to this planet, they were going to try to help him any way they could.
"Perhaps I will wear traditional golfing pants," Spock said as he walked along with them.
Bones looked at him. "Traditional?"
"Yes. What is it you call the pattern? Plaid?"
Bones could not imagine such a thing. "Are you serious?"
"Quite."
They looked at Jim who would normally chime in, but he was simply walking along with them consumed in his own thoughts, and he seemed to be looking around them at the others who passed by.
They finally reached their rooms. Spock looked at a data card he had brought along. "This room is yours, Captain," he said and gave him the card that would allow him entry.
"Thanks, Spock," Jim said and took the card. He went into the room, halfway expecting the others to follow him, but they did not. "Lights."
The lights came on and he could see it was just a large, empty room like an apartment. He looked around him, wondering if anyone else knew he was here. He did not like being nervous.
Bones and the others stood in the hallway. "We have to do something to get his mind off this bounty hunter trouble," Bones declared. "Don't you see what it's doing to him?"
"I see if clearly, Doctor," Spock said. "However, I do not know the answer to cheer Jim up."
"Maybe the game of golf will help," Solan said. "Let's check out our rooms and then go and get some golfing clothes. Maybe it'll be fun to just be out."
"At least he's not cooped up in that ship," Bones said. He took his data card and went to his own room. He was almost disappointed that the room was blue. "Why does it have to be blue?" He knew one thing…when he got something to wear to play golf, it would definitely not be blue. He got very tired of that color sometimes.
They soon all returned to the hallway, and Jim even came out. "You guys been waiting long?" he asked.
"No," Bones said. "Let's go."
They went outside and got a transport. "Just look at this place," Bones said. "It's nice to be on a planet, isn't it?"
"Sure," Jim replied.
"Jim, if you don't cheer up, I'm gonna tell Carol to start tickling you."
Jim looked at him. "I'm trying, Bones. Everywhere I look, I wonder…never mind."
"No. Tell us. We're your friends."
"I know that."
"Then tell us."
"We get around a lot of people we don't know. How do I know one of them isn't a bounty hunter? I try not to think that, but I can't help it. How do you stop it?"
"You're gonna get your mind on something else," Bones declared. "We're gonna go out there and you're gonna play golf and have fun."
Jim took a deep breath. "I'm gonna try."
"You're gonna do more than try."
They arrived at the golf club and went inside. "Good thing you can get golf attire in here," Bones said.
Jim thought about that a moment, feeling like he had been in a daze for a while. "So, maybe I'll wear something traditional too," he said.
"Maybe it'll help to look a little silly today."
Solan could not believe he was in this but he was going along with what they were doing because he wanted to get Jim's mind off his problems too. He thought if golf could not occupy his mind, they might as well give up. He could not say he was an expert at golf but he had played.
When they were ready, they rented a golf cart and went out to the green. "Probably one of the only planets where you can actually play golf like this," Bones declared as they got out. "At least where it's not virtual."
"I believe the galaxy relies too much on the virtual," Spock said. "Indulging oneself in reality is very enjoyable."
The other three just looked at him a moment. "Yeah," they all said at the same time.
"Man, we have been spending way too much time together," Solan said as he grabbed his golf clubs. "Tonight we should get Carol and her friends and do something different."
"We would still be together," Bones reminded him.
"Yeah…but with women."
Bones could not help but laugh at that. "That would make a difference, I guess."
"I would not say that in front of Uhura," Spock said.
"Not Carol either," Jim added.
They soon moved on to the first hole of the green. Jim finally forgot his trouble and concentrated on the game which was quite fun with the banter between Spock and Bones. Spock looked at the game logically, and Bones looked at the fun and relaxing side of it.
"It would be more logical to study the direction of the wind and the slope of the green when one is teeing off," Spock said.
"You don't have to be logical to play golf," Bones replied. "It's supposed to be relaxing, not some puzzle you're trying to figure out."
"Is it not always your goal to have the best score possible in a game such as this?"
"Of course."
"Then calculating the best way to achieve that score is logical."
Bones looked at Jim who was finally smiling and chuckling at them. "You guys are hilarious," he said.
"Aren't they?" Solan asked. "Just imagine if things hadn't ended up like they are. We would have never met these two clowns."
"It would have been more likely that we wouldn't have met you," Bones said.
"It was a pretty big chance that I met you, Bones," Jim said. "If it hadn't been for Captain Pike, I…might still be in Iowa drinking myself silly…or in jail. My life is…very different than I thought it would be."
"Yeah. We're in the middle of deep space with nothing but…space, so get over here and do your thing."
Jim walked over to his ball which was not far from the hole. "Captain, putting the ball from that angle will…"
"Spock, just let me do it my way," Jim said.
When the golf game was over, Jim was definitely feeling better. It had been a very interesting game, mostly because of Spock and Bones, but golf was interesting anyway. He definitely felt relaxed now. He had not thought about bounty hunters the whole time he was playing, and he owed that to Bones and the others. They had kept his attention on the game and on what they were saying.
"So what do we do next?" Solan asked as they arrived back at the hotel.
"I'm staying in my room a while," Jim said.
Jim went into his room and sighed as he felt relaxed and thought he might sleep now. He had not been sleeping well, even on the Enterprise. They would be here a whole week.
Mac was arriving on Ogus I in his own ship. He was not a criminal…not a convicted one anyway, and there was no reason for them not to allow him on the planet. No one knew his real agenda was to find Jim Kirk. If he found him alone…or even with Carol Marcus, he would capture him, and make sure he was unable to escape. He was not one to play around with being moral or humane. He was sure nothing he could do to Jim Kirk would be worse than what he faced when he arrived at the person who would pay twenty-five thousand credits for him.
Mac left the ship hangar, where he could also see the Enterprise docked, and headed out onto the planet. He was sure there were certain members of the Enterprise crew who would know him if they saw him…maybe. However, he looked a lot different than he did when he rescued Jim Kirk and his friends. He had also rescued his own brother, Zander, from that prison. His brother was now living on earth and had no desire to explore space anymore. He was content with his job he now had. He would not be happy about what he was doing, but he did not have to answer to his brother or anyone else. He answered to himself. Mac usually hung out in bars, but he had a feeling that he was not going to find Kirk in there. However, as he was about to enter the bar, he saw a familiar face that looked quite different than the last time he saw it. He smiled slightly as he saw that she was not with Kirk. He thought she might be his ticket to getting that bounty. It had not spread around the galaxy much that she was Kirk's love, but he knew it because he had been on the ship with them.
Carol was on her way back to the hotel when she suddenly felt like she was being watched. She tried to ignore that feeling now because she felt like that most of the time. She feared it was just because of the circumstances. She had seen the fire die out of Jim's eyes and he had become rather depressed, although she had tried to help him. She hoped having this vacation would help.
Carol found out which room was Jim's and rang the door chime. She waited and finally the door opened. Jim was standing at the door. He smiled when he saw her. "Come in," he said.
Carol went in and they kissed. "Well, how was your golf game?" she asked.
"It was…relaxing, and interesting."
"I'm sure it was with your three friends along."
"I took a nap after that."
They sat down on the couch and then shared another kiss. "So what did you do?" Jim asked.
"We shopped. I didn't buy a thing."
"Why not? You didn't see anything worthy of your beauty?"
Carol smiled shyly. "I see you're feeling better."
"I am, and I've been neglecting you."
"No. We've both been a little depressed."
"Why don't we get un-depressed together?"
"Sounds wonderful."