A Risk Worth Taking

by Art-Over-Matter

The Enterprise and her crew go to investigate the disappearance of the USS Monitor, only to meet up with a nearly indestructible foe. Rated T for violence. I wrote this about a year ago; it's not my best work, but it's enjoyable for any Trekkie!

The USS Monitor soars through the small solar system at a low warp speed. It's there to investigate an uninhabited planet, supposedly one that has the potential to be like Earth, but is in a fairly early stage of development.

The small ship slows down and slides into a standard orbit around the planet. The crew is preparing to beam down a landing party to explore the surface. They never notice the other ship approach from a different direction, its underside sliding open as it releases its fatal delivery. The ship warps away to wait while the 'delivery' does its job.

Something hits the Monitor and knocks it out of orbit. Momentum keeps it moving backward until the crew slows it down, trying to raise its shield at the same time. Then the something comes back, firing on the bridge. There's an explosion and the ship is attacked again, this time being crushed from the outside. The pressure on the warp nacelles causes the matter-antimatter balance to tip, and the engines explode in a show of colored flame and smoke. Then the fire dissipates almost instantly.

The killer floats away, rippling back to the ship that brought it there.

Kirk *

The small, dark shape of the planet appears on the screen, growing slowly larger as the USS Enterprise approaches it at warp speed two. The planet is supposedly uninhabited, though a landing party is to investigate it anyway due to the mysterious disappearance of the USS Monitor in the planet's area.

"Captain."

Captain Kirk swivels his chair to the right. "Yes, Mister Spock?"

"The sensors are identifying a vessel approaching at an approximate warp speed of eleven, though it appears that no one is commanding its actions," the Vulcan replies. "The sensors cannot pick up any signs of life inside the vessel. It seems that this is not because there are none, but because they cannot penetrate the ship's hull."

Kirk frowns and looks back to the screen. There isn't a ship appearing yet, though he wasn't exactly expecting one.

"I don't believe there are any Federation vessels that are authorized to be out here," he muses. "Lieutenant Uhura, are you getting any communication from it? A distress signal or something?"

She frowns and puts a hand to her earpiece. "No, sir."

"Mister Spock, is it on a collision course with our ship?"

Spock looks back at his screen. "No. It seems to be directed around the other side of the planet."

Kirk pauses. "Mr. Sulu, slow us down to sub-light. Switch to impulse engines. Don't start orbiting the planet yet. Mr. Chekov, get the phasers ready."

"Yes, sir." Only Chekov responds.

Before the Enterprise is below light speed, the unidentified ship is on the visual. It's smaller than the Enterprise, though not considerably, and a shining black. This is all the captain can notice before the ship has passed them at an alarming speed.

"Give me a rear degree visual, Mr. Chekov," he orders. The screen changes, showing the view out the back of the ship. The black ship is still charging away, its intentions unclear. "Mr. Sulu, can you lock onto it with a tractor beam?"

It's a moment before Sulu replies as he checks his instruments. "I don't think so, sir. Not when it's moving that fast."

Kirk pauses again in thought. "Well, stand by."

"Captain," Spock begins, "the ship is already out of our range of action. If you intend to do anything, we will have to follow it."

Kirk stands up and walks over to Spock. "Do you have any… logical guesses as to what that ship was?"

"I do not, Captain. I do not have enough information to logically reason out a single possibility. The sensors did not indicate that it was anything that matched the records of any ship known to this side of the galaxy."

Kirk nods. He's unsure of whether or not he should go after the vessel. There was nothing that urgently suggested they needed to send anyone down to the planet, but on the other hand, wouldn't it be a waste of the Enterprise's fuel to try to follow a ship traveling at warp eleven?

"I'm getting a life form reading from the surface of the planet," Spock says. "It wasn't appearing on the scanners earlier."

The captain's frown deepens. "Did something just beam down? From where?"

Mister Spock's eyebrows are raised. "It is possible that whoever was on that vessel was able to beam down to the surface. That would rather suggest that the vessel was in some type of danger."

"You're saying the ship was out of control and part of the crew was able to escape by transporting to the planet?"

"I am saying that is one possibility." He looks back to his instruments. "There are not many of the life forms, so if the commander of that ship attempted to beam down some of his crew, he did not get many of them."

"We should go down to investigate," Kirk declares. "Mr. Sulu, set standard orbit around the planet. Lieutenant Uhura, send a message to Starfleet regarding that vessel." He turns back to Spock. "I'll want my science officer to come with the landing party."

Spock frowns. "Captain, I do not think you're taking the logical course of action."

Kirk stops and raises his eyebrows at the Vulcan. "Why not?"

"Logically, you would follow that vessel. The life forms on the planet do not seem to be a threat, nor do the sensors detect any danger for them. The ship, however, must either be on an unauthorized mission, or be in peril. Though it is traveling at warp eleven, a vessel that size could not continue the speed for an extended period of time. That is why it would be logical to attempt to catch up with it."

As usual, Spock has an excellent point. Nevertheless, Kirk has a feeling—the kind of feeling Vulcans don't get—that whatever is down on the planet, he should know about.

"I see your point, Mister Spock, but I still intend to go down to that planet. I hope you will assist me?"

Scott *

Scotty is in charge of the Enterprise. Kirk, Spock, and a few security lads beamed down to the planet's surface, leaving Mr. Scott in charge as usual.

"Mr. Chekov?" is the first thing Scotty says when he enters the bridge.

"Yes, Mr. Scott?" Like always, Chekov's 'mister' sounds exactly like 'meester.'

"Are you getting any readings of the alien vessel?"

Chekov turns to his screen, adjusts a few things, and answers, sounding perplexed. "Yes, sir. It's on the scanners again, and heading toward us at a slower speed, maybe… warp four."

Scotty frowns and walks to Uhura. "Lieutenant, can you communicate with the vessel at all?"

"No, sir. My communication signals aren't reaching its interior."

"Mr. Sulu, Mr. Chekov, get us out of orbit. We're going to intercept that ship."

"But Mr. Scott…" Chekov begins.

"I had orders from the captain, lad." Scott turns away from Chekov to look at the main viewing screen, which is still showing out the back of the Enterprise. "We have to go after that ship."

Kirk *

The planet's surface is barren and lifeless, the only thing able to support life being the atmosphere. It's surprisingly windy in the valley of dark rock, and also cold. The sky is a bright green-blue, which contrasts with the gloomy rock except at the horizon, where the sky is tinted red-orange from distant volcanoes. There is a strange liquid, thin like water but dark violet in color, running in a thin stream away from the landing party.

"Well," Kirk concludes, "whatever life-forms are down here, they can live in an oxygen-nitrogen based atmosphere."

"Not necessarily," the ever-so-technical Spock counters. "There is the possibility that they have—"

"I just heard something," one of the security guards interrupts in a loud whisper. "From over there, behind those boulders."

Kirk ducks behind the nearest rock that can conceal him and motions for the others to do so as well. His first instinct is to go over to whoever made the noise and find out if they need help, but he knows there is as much of a possibility that they're dangerous than there is that they are in danger.

"Spock," he says quietly, "use your tricorder and see if it identifies what's over there."

Spock is already doing so. Almost as soon as the tricorder is on, Spock turns it off and looks at the captain. "Klingons."

"Where's Mr. Bradburn?" the redshirt crouching next to Kirk asks.

The captain looks away from Spock in moment of panic. If the life-forms are indeed Klingons, and Mr. Bradburn went after them, he'll be killed on sight.

"We have to find him, captain!" the man insists.

"I have a feeling I already know where he is," Kirk answers. He stands up, draws his handheld phaser, and orders, "Spock, you go around that way. If you find the man, bring him back. If you don't, stay out of sight. You," he turns to the other security officer, "can come with me."

They cross the stretch of rocky ground, and as they're almost to the collection of boulders the Klingons had been identified to be behind, Captain Kirk freezes.

The guard stops beside him.

They can see a Klingon, and the other security officer. Kirk aims his phaser at the Klingon, but Mr. Bradburn steps unknowingly in front of his shot.

"A Federation officer," the Klingon sneers in a low, rough voice with an accent.

Mr. Bradburn, doing what security men do, draws his phaser and points it at the Klingon.

There's a rustle of movement and the low-pitched sound of a weapon being fired. Mr. Bradburn doubles over with a grunt.

Then he collapses. The captain doesn't need Bones to know that he's dead.

The man at Kirk's side stands up to charge at the Klingon, but Kirk grabs him and drags him behind a rock.

"You go out there and you'll end up like Bradburn."

The redshirt looks, stunned, at the rock in front of him. "Captain, you ordered the ship away, I know you did," he says, "so they can't beam us back up. What are we going to do?"

It's not Kirk who answers. "You're going to drop your weapons and stand up."

The two men slowly stand up and turn. Kirk drops his phaser as directed.

The Klingon is tall, with dark, plated skin… and a weapon. Behind him stands another Klingon.

With a Vulcan.

The security officer beside Kirk prepares to drop his phaser, but then flips it up and aims it at the Klingon. A shot is fired before the officer can press the trigger, and he falls. The captain would catch him, but knows quick movement could result in his death as well, so he stands stiffly, looking at Spock.

A Klingon comes to Kirk and holds his arms behind his back. His communicator is taken from his belt and cast aside.

The Klingons march the captain and his first officer away, until they approach the leader. Then they're halted and held side by side.

"I am Kor'saon," the Klingon leader says. "You have—"

Kirk starts speaking. "We didn't come meaning you any harm. As I recall, this isn't Klingon terri—"

"It is irrelevant that you don't mean harm, Captain," Kor'saon answers in a Klingon accent. "We are at war with the Federation. We've been wanting a Federation captain for some time now. Convenient that you should arrive now."

"At war with the Federation? We did not declare war on you," Kirk says incredulously. "You declared war on the Federation?"

The Klingon nods. "We did."

"Why?"

He snorts. "Don't play games, Captain. We would like information. We have a simple way of getting it. Unless you are willing to give it freely?"

The captain narrows his eyes. "What kind of information do you want?"

Kor'saon smiles. "Enough for us to take over the Federation."

Kirk looks to Spock. His first officer raises his eyebrows.

"We will not give that willingly," Kirk answers.

"Very well," the Klingon says. "We'll start with the Vulcan."

Scott *

Ship's Log stardate 2365.5. Lieutenant Commander Scott reporting. Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock beamed down to the planet Inkarion and have not communicated with us since. We are now nearing our confrontation with the mysterious ship. I—like the rest of the crew—am hoping it will be a peaceful one.

"Mr. Scott, the ship is within visible range," Chekov reports.

Scotty turns off his recording. "Good. Put it on the screen."

The visual appears. The ship is closer than Scotty expected; he can make out some of its detail even though it blends in with the darkness of space. It is, as he had heard, slightly smaller than the Enterprise, with a long, cylindrical body and two triangular wings out the sides. On sight, Scotty can identify its two huge, powerful warp engines on either side of the body, its deflectors and sensors, and although he can't see them, he would guess it has some form of torpedo tubes and disruptor banks.

Though it's like no ship he's ever seen, it appears to be vaguely similar to a Klingon design.

"Sir," Chekov says slowly. "That looks like… like…"

"A Klingon ship. Aye," Mr. Scott finishes for him. "Put the deflector shields on full. Lieutenant." He turns to Uhura. "See if you can open a communication channel with the Klingon vessel. I'd rather not try to fight it. That thing looks like it was built for combat."

"I've tried, sir. I'll try again, but if the scanners can't penetrate the ship's hull, I don't believe my communication signals can." She flips a switch and waits for a moment. "No, sir. The signals are dying, just— Wait. I have something. It's Klingon."

"Activate the computer's translator and put it on the speaker."

The Klingon's voice comes through to the bridge. "We can sense that your shields are not fully activated, and our disruptors are prepared and aimed at your ship. Surrender your vessel or be destroyed."

"Surrender the vessel? Oh, laddie," Scotty says without the intership communication on, "you'd get this darlin' only over my dead body. Open a two-way channel, Lieutenant." He clicks the switch on the captain's chair and says, "This is Lieutenant Commander Scott in temporary command of the USS Enterprise. We did not come to threaten you or your vessel. We're on a peaceful mission for the United Federation of Planets."

"Surrender your vessel or allow yourselves to be destroyed with it. You have thirty of your minutes to decide. There is no alternative."

The channel goes dead.

"But why?" Scotty says. "We're not at war with the Klingons!"

"It would appear… they forgot that," Mr. Sulu says helpfully.

Scott sits there, not taking his gaze off the viewing screen.

He's always had mixed feelings about taking control of the ship. Scotty loves the Enterprise; he has never doubted that. But taking command of her in a situation like this… that was different. He never felt like he was making the right decisions when he had the weight of the Enterprise and the entire crew on his shoulders. He needed the captain. Or at least commander Spock.

"Uhura, see if you can contact the captain."

She frowns, probably in the doubt that her communications can reach that far, but attempts anyway.

"Enterprise to Captain Kirk. Come in Captain Kirk." She pauses. "Enterprise to Captain Kirk." She shakes her head and presses a different button. "Enterprise to Commander Spock." Uhura looks to Scotty. "The signals seem to be reaching their communicators, but they're not answering."

Kirk *

Spock is delivered to the rock Kirk's chained to within what Kirk approximates to be an hour.

"Spock!" the captain exclaims as his science officer is chained next to him.

"Yes, Captain," Spock replies, without a tone of inquiry, when the Klingons leave.

"What did they do to you?"

"It was a simple mind-reading device. It combined computerized telepathic powers with interspersed shocks of pain; intended to weaken the victim and convince them to give up information to make the experience end faster. They forget that I am a Vulcan."

"It wasn't the Vulcan part of you I was worried about," Kirk says, looking at the way Spock is leaned against the rock as though he couldn't hold his own weight up.

"I assure you, Captain, I am fine."

"Alright," Kirk concedes. "So now what do we do?"

"I do not know. I suggest we consider the possible alternatives and choose the most logical one."

"Of course you do. But what are our possibilities?"

"I am still contemplating that."

They stay silent for a moment. While Spock is probably thinking of their 'logical alternatives,' there is something different on Captain Kirk's mind.

"Why would the Klingons risk declaring war on the Federation? They know we have more advanced technology than they do," he says to no one in particular.

Spock cocks his head slightly in thought and answers anyway. "The information I know of is too insufficient for me to ascertain a logically valid response to that, but I can assume it is one—or both—of two things. Either the Klingons have developed something, a weapon of high intensity and effectiveness that they believe is powerful enough they can use it to destroy the Federation, or they believe the Federation has committed an offense, a crime on their standards, deserving of a declaration of war."

Kirk runs this through in his mind several times. It seems, unsurprisingly, logical. "But if—"

"You two," a Klingon says roughly, approaching them from behind. "We are going back to our ship. You're coming."

Another Klingon joins the first and they unchain the two men. As soon as the metal leaves them, each Klingon clicks a button on a small handheld device and an energy field surrounds Spock and Kirk's wrists, keeping them together as effectively as chains would.

The captain looks at his first officer from the corner of his eye. He sees Spock raise his eyebrows. Kirk gives a small nod.

He twists out of the grasp of the Klingon, seeing a blur of motion to his left as Spock takes action as well. He jumps to land a kick on his Klingon, sending both of them sprawling onto the dusty rock. Kirk uses his time down to pull his hands, still linked by the energy, around himself to his front.

The Klingon is already on his feet, and there are shouts of others coming to join him. He draws a weapon, but as soon as it's out Kirk kicks it from his grasp and swings a blow to the Klingon's back, which causes him to grunt and step forward. Then Kirk delivers an uppercut to the creature's face that makes him to go unconscious.

Spock, of course, is already done fighting. He holds the small device that created their energy bonds, and he clicks both of their restraints off.

There's the dull sound of other Klingons firing weapons and the shots land near their feet, sending dirt flying into puffs of dust. Kirk grabs Spock's arm and drags him behind a rock.

Spock has a weapon; it's one of the Klingon guns. Kirk frowns at it.

The Vulcan asks, "Did you get a weapon from that Klingon?"

"No."

"Wise. I recommend—"

"The communicator!" It's the communicator the Klingon had taken from Kirk and tossed aside; it's laying only a matter of yards from them, but if Kirk were to go after it, he would be visible to the Klingons. "That's our only chance of getting out of here. Cover me."

"Captain—"

He doesn't hear anything else. He lunges to the communicator, the shots from the Klingon guns raining down around him. His grasp reaches the small object and he holds it as though his life depends on it—which it probably does.

"Spock! I've got it! We need to get out of here!"

"That would be wise, Captain."

They start to turn only to find the leader Klingon, Kor'saon, a mere few feet away from Kirk. Spock raises his weapon and fires. There's a dull thunk as the discharge hits the Klingon in the chest. He goes down as Spock and Kirk sprint away through the boulders to put as much distance between themselves and the fired weapons as possible.

Finally, when the shots of the Klingon guns are no longer audible and Kirk's sprint has slowed to a jog, they stop.

"I think…that should be…enough distance… for now," Kirk says through heavy breathing.

"Five hundred and twenty-five point seven-three-four meters," Spock supplies unnecessarily.

"Thank you," Kirk says, still panting.

Spock casts a disapproving glance at the Klingon gun he's holding. Kirk frowns. "What's wrong? I thought… you made a nice shot back there."

"I did not."

Kirk raises his eyebrows.

"These weapons do not stun. They only kill, if aimed correctly. I knew this, but it was only logical to fire, as the Klingon leader was closing on you."

"Spock, I understand what you're thinking, but right now we have a more imperative problem."

"I am aware of that. But I am not the one with the communicator."

"Ah. The communicator." Kirk flips it open and adjusts a small knob on it. "Kirk to Enterprise. Scotty. Come in, Mr. Scott." He pauses and adjusts it again. "Kirk to Enterprise. Come in Enterprise." He swears. "They're probably too far after that ship for the communicator to reach."

"That does seem likely," Spock says with raised eyebrows.

"Captain, I read you," Scotty's voice comes over the communicator.

"Scotty!" Kirk says in relief. "The life forms down here are Klingons."

"Aye. We figured that much out for ourselves. Are you in any danger?"

Some distant Klingon shots are heard hitting the rocks a few hundred yards away. Spock and Kirk exchange expressions. "You could say that. Can you beam us aboard?"

McCoy *

"The transporter is malfunctioning, sir," the transporter officer says to Scotty through the communications device.

"We don't have time for transporter malfunctions!" Mr. Scott insists.

Doctor McCoy watches the man adjust the switches on the transporter device, to no success.

"I can't figure it out," he says to Scotty. "There seems to be interference, probably from that Klingon ship."

"Have you tried disconnecting and reconnecting the sensor circuits?"

"Yes, that didn't seem to work."

"Have you tried using all the pads?"

"Of course, sir."

"Well, I'm not there, lad, I can't identify your problem!"

The transporter officer, who is clearly new, looks to McCoy. "Do you know anything about this thing?"

McCoy, incredulous, says, "I'm a doctor, not a transporter repairman!" But he goes up to the transporter anyway. He crouches and looks up to the bottom of the transporter device, then grabs a wire.

"Sir, I don't think that one—" the technician starts.

McCoy yanks the wire and plugs it back in, then flips a switch whose functions he has no guesses on. Then he presses a small button at the side.

The transportation manager frowns and checks the transporter again. "Sir," he says disbelievingly to Scotty, "the transporter's working now."

"Good! Now beam the captain up here!"

He slides the levers up slowly and Jim and Spock start to appear on the transporter pads. When they rematerialize successfully, McCoy can't help but look at the transporter officer with undisguised smugness. The man blinks.

"Did they come in successfully?" Scotty asks through the transporter's communicator.

"Yes. They did."

"Good job, lad. Send the—"

"I didn't actually do it, sir."

There's a pause from Scott's end. "Who did then?"

Kirk and Spock, still standing on the transporters, watch with their eyebrows raised.

"Doctor McCoy, sir."

The doctor attempts to hide his smile. He looks to the two standing on the transporter pads. "What did you do to your arm, Jim?"

The captain steps down and looks at his left arm. There's blood soaking through his uniform, though McCoy can only guess what started the flow; the uniform sleeve doesn't show any signs of being cut or ripped.

"Oh," Jim says. "I'll be fine."

"Well, you're going to let me check it first." Bones pulls Kirk's sleeve up until he can see the wound. It appears like a bruise, but one hit in such a way that it broke the surface of the captain's skin. "So what happened down there?" He asks as he takes out a few medical supplies.

"The Klingons have declared war on the Federation. We still don't know why."

"Declared war?! What makes them think they can stand a chance against the Federation?"

Spock answers for him. "We do not know yet, Doctor. However, I have formulated two logical conjectures."

"Basically," Jim interjects, "the Klingons have either developed a very powerful weapon, or they think the Federation has done something deserving of war."

"Well what could that be?" McCoy asks as he finishes and pulls Kirk's sleeve down.

"Obviously, Doctor, we do not know," the Vulcan says.

McCoy ignores him. "Alright, Jim. It was a severe bruise, but you'll be fine."

"I believe I already said that. Now enough talk; let's go to the bridge. I assume I'm needed there."

Kirk *

"Sir, we've got quite a situation here."

"Yes, what is it, Scotty?"

"The Klingons have asked us to surrender the Enterprise or be destroyed. We were given thirty minutes—"

"Now twenty-one minutes, sir," Lieutenant Sulu provides.

Scott gives him a dismissing glance. "To decide on what we wanted. So far, they'll take no alternatives."

"I see," Kirk says as Scotty stands up out of the captain's chair. "Uhura, can you contact the ship?"

"No, sir. At least, not unless it's on their terms."

"Try again," he says shortly. "Test all hailing frequencies." He starts to turn away.

"I have, sir. Nothing will go in or come out of that ship unless they allow it to."

"Well, try again!" he bursts out. "Two of my men have died and I want to know why the Klingons declared war on the Federation!"

There is a moment a silence. Then Uhura says firmly, "Captain, I assure you, I have tried every possible channel and frequency and nothing will go through their ship."

Kirk stops. Then he says more quietly, without looking at her, "Yes. I believe you." He turns the chair to the screen, which shows the black ship, suspended, still, its wings stretched out on either side of it.

"Scotty, is there anything unusual acting up in the engines?"

"Uh, no sir. Everythin's normal down there, at least."

"Mr. Sulu, reverse impulse engines. Pull back slowly."

The ship starts to reverse, slowly putting distance between itself and the Klingon vessel. There seems to be no reaction.

"Alright, switch to warp engines. Reverse warp factor one."

The Enterprise's speed increases and the enemy ship still doesn't respond.

Then Uhura says, "Hold on. I'm getting a message, sir. The Klingons are telling us to stop. It seems I could put them on the visual."

"Yes, do so. Open a channel for me, if you can."

"Aye aye, sir."

The image of the Klingon appears on the viewing screen.

"You will not escape; I can deactivate your engines. It is obvious you have chosen to be destroyed. Do you have any objections?"

Kirk freezes for a moment. The Klingon that has appeared, though it takes him a moment to realize, is Kor'saon, who Spock had supposedly killed on the planet. "I'm… I'm Captain James Kirk of the USS Enterprise, as I'm sure you're well aware. I believe we… met down on Inkarion. I demand to know why the Klingons have declared war on the United Federation of Planets."

"It is obvious by now that the Federation will not bow to us. We believe that it would be better off as part of the Klingon Empire—you Federation captains have the most inefficient ways of solving problems—and indeed, we've been trying to get the Federation on our side for years. You have so little discipline, so little honor. And now that we have something sufficient for killing your starships, we can convince the Federation of our superiority."

"Your way of honor is by killing or dying. You've tried to convince the Federation to join you by fighting. Your method of solving problems is to control as much as you can. You own an empire, and we believe in freedom. That is why you can never control the Federation." Kirk pauses, waiting for the Klingon's reaction. He seems unconvinced.

"Very well. You will be destroyed. We need not keep your vessel; another Federation ship will be bound to come here to search for you."

"Do you have to destroy the ship?" Kirk says, trying to sound reasonable. "Your main target should be the high Starfleet officials, like the captain. You could spare the crew and command them later."

"Clever, Captain Kirk, but your plot is simple to see. No. You cannot return to warn your Federation of our intentions. We can conquer them in a battle, but we need not deal with too many ships at once." He stops speaking and gives a signal to a Klingon woman to his left. She nods sharply and leaves. The visual disappears suddenly.

The captain stares at the blank screen for a few moments. No one moves or speaks.

"Ensign Chekov, reverse impulse engines. Warp factor point seven."

Chekov looks down to his controls and presses a few buttons. Then he frowns and shakes his head. "I can't, sir. The engines aren't responding."

"What about the warp engines?"

"They're inaccessible as well. I don't know why."

Mr. Sulu checks his controls. "He's right, sir. I can't find a way to turn them back on."

"Scotty."

"No luck from here, either, Captain," Mr. Scott reports. "I can try to fix them from the engineering room, though."

"Yes. Try engineering." Kirk stands up and turns to Spock, saying more quietly, "Spock. Why is that Klingon still alive? I thought you said you killed him."

"Logically, he should be dead," he replies in a reasonable tone. "Those Klingon weapons will kill if aimed correctly. As I am sure you recall, they killed two security guards with one shot each. I am quite certain the discharge hit the Klingon in the chest."

"Then why," Kirk says in angry confusion, "is he still alive?"

"The information I have is inadequate for drawing a conclusion. But I do not believe this is our most pressing issue." He gestures at the main screen, which someone has turned on to the view in front of the Enterprise.

The captain turns around. The Klingon ship is rising slightly, so Kirk can see its underside. The bottom of the ship seems to be opening up, the panels retreating into the vessel. Something is delivered into space from the bottom of it, lowered down until it's free of the ship. The robotic arms that carried it fold back inside and the panels slide back into place.

The thing now floating in the space below the Klingon ship is unidentifiable. It seems almost spherical, and made of black wires and plates of gray, dully shining metal. As the crew of the bridge watches, the object begins to move. It starts to… unroll, stretching out into a long, serpentine shape. It has a length that's longer than the Klingon vessel, at least as long if not longer than the Enterprise. Its body is made of interlocking plates that can ripple and move side to side like an Earth serpent. Its long body tapers at the end, also like a snake, but the entire thing is somewhat flat, similar the Klingon ship. The machine has a head—or what could be considered as one—with two circular blue lights facing forward.

"Captain…" Chekov starts.

"I know, Chekov," Kirk says quietly. "This is what killed the crew of the Monitor. That's why the Klingons are so sure they can take over the Federation. They've already tested their weapon." Behind him, there's the sound of Uhura clicking a button. He turns to see what she's doing.

"I'm getting a signal from it. But it's not in any language I know… or the translators know." She winces and takes out her earpiece. "It's extremely high-pitched and unintelligible. I don't think it's meant to be a communication signal."

"Captain, it's getting closer," Sulu says. "I already checked the phasers and they're inoperative. Same for the photon torpedoes."

"What are we going to do?" Chekov asks, not taking his eyes off the visual.

I don't know…He knows since he's the captain, he should come up with a command, or at least something to say to make them believe he has a plan. I'm your captain and I have no idea…

Kirk remains silent.

Scott *

The warp engines are completely useless. The impulse engines are broken, and there's no auxiliary power available. Scotty feels like a failure of an engineer.

He's pacing back and forth in front of the engine room control panel. The engines are inoperative. What can be changed to make them turn back on? Technically, they're not damaged, but they won't respond to any controls from the engineers. There is one—

"Bridge to Mr. Scott."

Scotty goes to the wall, where the communication panel is. "Scott here."

"Scotty," the captain's voice says, sounding stiff, which Scotty knows to mean he's unsure of himself for once. "The Klingon ship just released a, uh, visitor for us. It seems to be a giant mechanical... I don't actually know what it is, but it's coming to attack us. Have you figured out what's wrong with the warp engines?"

"I'm afraid not, sir. I can't find a damn thing that's not workin', but they just won't respond!"

"Understood. But Scotty, if we can't move, and our phasers don—"

"The phasers are broken too now?"

"Yes. If we can't move, we're prey to whatever this machine is going to do. Even if we try to beam down to the planet, we'll hardly get anyone out in time. We're not yet sure what combat capabilities it has."

"Could we beam onto the Klingon ship?"

Silence meets him on the other end.

"Captain?"

"Scotty, you're brilliant. Get the warp engines back on if you can. Kirk out."

"But—" The communication is off. "Curse you, Captain, I didn't really mean it!" Scotty stands there with his lips pursed at communication panel, hoping the captain isn't about to do something stupid.

"Sir," an engineering officer says, "did you think of a way to save the engines? I haven't come up with a thing yet."

Scotty takes a moment to answer. "I think I just might have."

Kirk *

"Captain, you will not beam anyone into that ship, will you? It seems illogical, since dealing with the Klingons is not the most pressing task at present."

"I'm still thinking, Spock."

Kirk watches the viewing screen warily, watching the mechanical snake start powering up, engines somewhere inside it making it glow blue from within. The Klingon ship has moved out of the vicinity but not too far from the Enterprise. Kirk estimates he could still beam aboard if necessary.

"Still nothing from the phasers or photon torpedoes, Sulu?" he checks again.

"Nothing, sir."

The captain's agitated mood shows through the nervous vibrating of his right leg and his clenching and unclenching fists. He can't help it. His ship is facing two threats that could probably destroy her within a few instants, and he has nothing to do because his precious Enterprise isn't working.

There is no such thing as a no-win scenario….

"Spock. Do you think I could deactivate the snake—weapon, whatever it is, from inside the Klingon ship?"

Spock comes to stand next to Kirk's chair. He shows no signs of being nervous, standing perfectly still as usual. "No. It seems that the serpent has programming of its own. It operates independently."

The mechanical creature approaches the Enterprise smoothly, as though moving through water. Kirk stiffens as it draws closer.

He smacks a button on his chair. "Scotty. Engines."

The reply doesn't come from the Scotsman and instead it's a woman's voice. "Mr. Scott is attempting to fix the problem. He's—not available right now."

Normally, Kirk would be concerned, but just then the serpentine machine fires—indeed, the 'eyes' were glowing disruptors—on the Enterprise. The shot hits the front of the ship's saucer, sending it rocking backward.

Kirk issues a creative sentence of profanity and stands up. "I'm going to the Klingon ship. If I can't deactivate the thing from there I can at least use the disruptors to try to blow it up." He rushes to the turbolift, saying, "Mister Spock, you have the conn."

Before the lift's doors can close, the Vulcan says, "Mr. Sulu, you have the command until Mr. Scott returns," and follows Kirk.

"What are you going to do, Spock." The question turns out to be a demand.

"I am going to accompany you to the Klingon ship."

"No, you're not." Kirk begins to feel desperate. "Spock, I need you to be in charge of the Enterprise. If I'm not—"

"You cannot expect yourself to go there alone. I insist that you take me with you."

"Spock." Kirk puts a hand on his first officer's shoulder. "I would trust Scotty or Sulu with my life, but the Enterprise and its crew—that's different. Please, Spock. Stay."

He looks as though he's going to argue, but then nods.

Conveniently, at that moment the turbolift doors open. Kirk starts to walk out.

"Jim."

He turns back. He can see indescribable emotion in Spock's dark eyes and it pains him to imagine what Spock would be like if he were to die.

"Be careful."

McCoy *

"You're not going in that ship, are you?" McCoy asks instantly upon seeing Jim in the halls before the transporter room.

"How did you guess?" Kirk answers flatly.

"Jim, this is a terrible idea. You don't know how many Klingons could be in there. Who are you taking with you?"

"No one. Bones, I'm going alone. Just let me do it."

They enter the transporter room, where the new officer stands nervously—Jim had told the crew the situation, and since no one could see what was happening, it felt as though at any moment they could be destroyed.

"How's the situation out there?" McCoy asks, losing his naysaying tone.

"About as you would expect. The ship is in danger, the crew is in danger, and Scotty still hasn't gotten the engines back—" The ship suddenly trembles and shifts, then jerks hard enough that it sends all three occupants of the transporter room to the floor.

Jim stands up first and goes to a transporter pad. McCoy follows and says, "You're takin' me with you."

"Bones, I don't believe I'll need medical assistance. Stay with Spock."

"I'm not coming as your doctor; I'm coming as your friend." He stares resolutely at Jim, knowing that there isn't a way the captain could convince him otherwise.

The transporter room door opens and Uhura enters. "I'm coming with you, Captain."

"Not you too…" Jim pauses at the expression on Uhura's face. "Alright, you're coming."

McCoy guesses Jim is wondering why they all saw directly through his plan. But the captain tends to forget how well his crew knows him.

"Can you lock onto coordinates inside the Klingon ship?" Jim asks the transporter officer.

"Yes, sir."

"Energize."

Spock *

Before long, the serpentine machine has caused damage to three decks of the Enterprise. The phasers are defective and the engines are still powered down. Mister Spock estimates the ship's probability of survival to be less than 3%.

The communications panel and the captain's chair beeps. "Engineering room to bridge."

"Spock here."

"The engines are working again, sir!" Mr. Scott says. "I've got them operating normally."

"Very well." This increases their probability to approximately 28%, but Spock doesn't have time to calculate the odds precisely. "Mr. Sulu, activate warp engines, warp factor two."

"Warp factor two, sir."

The Enterprise moans as it starts into warp speed. It quivers slightly before responding and then shoots forward toward Inkarion.

"Steer around the planet to the left and increase warp speed to three."

"Warp factor three, sir."

Their ship sails past the planet and continues away from the Klingon vessel and the Klingon destruction device.

Lieutenant Sulu and Ensign Chekov exchange glances.

"Sir," Chekov starts, "you're not going to leave the captain on that ship, are you?"

"I am not leaving the captain. I am taking the logical course of action, based on a hypothesis I made."

"You mean you're guessing?" Sulu asks, seemingly perplexed.

"I did not say that." Spock mentally shoves the human half of him away, which tells him that he is, indeed, playing a hunch.

The door to the bridge opens and Mr. Scott enters. He has a bandage on his right hand—normally Doctor McCoy can do better, but the engineer was clearly in a hurry—but otherwise looks well.

"I assume Doctor McCoy saw to you, Mr. Scott, and you are fit for duty?"

"I am fit for duty, but it wasn't Doctor McCoy who saw to me. McCoy went with the captain. It was Nurse Chapel."

Spock pauses for a moment. "Go to your post then."

He complies.

Spock has only just pondered whether or not he ascertained the correct action when Mr. Sulu says, "The phasers and torpedoes are back and functioning. I don't know why."

"That was my conjecture," Spock says. "It must be that the Klingon influence on our systems is only possible within a certain range. Helmsman, turn us around and direct course back to the planet and the Klingon ship. Hopefully the systems will not go offline again once we reenter the Klingons' range."

"Hopefully, sir?" Mr. Scott asks, looking doubtful that Spock can 'hope.'

"It is an English expression, Mr. Scott. You should be well aware of that, as that is the language you speak predominantly."

Mr. Scott looks exasperated.

"Mister Spock," Chekov says. "The serpent…or whatever I'm supposed to call that thing—has followed us. On our present course, we'll meet up with it before we get back."

Spock internally chastises himself for not considering this logical possibility.

"Then we will meet it."

Uhura *

Wherever they have beamed together inside the Klingon ship, it's dark. It feels like a large room, but there's no way to tell until they get some light.

"Damn it, Jim, why did you have to choose a place with no lighting?"

"I didn't choose this place, Bones, the transport officer did."

McCoy grumbles something unintelligible.

Uhura pulls out her phaser. Though she knows this is a bad idea, she sets it to overload. The tip of the phaser glows steadily brighter and brighter as it starts to whine. "Over there. The lights can be turned on over there," she says, looking back at the men. They glance at each other.

Uhura flips the phaser off before it overloads too far and heads in the direction of the light panel. She feels her way to the switch and flips it on. Bright, yellow-tinted light flares up to illuminate a large, mostly empty room.

"I find it strange that there isn't a single Klingon here," Uhura says.

"I think I know why," the captain says, looking up at the ceiling. Uhura follows his gaze to see, many, many feet above them, four massive mechanical arms.

"This is where that machine was," Uhura realizes. "No wonder it's so big."

"We're also lucky we beamed here. Anywhere else and there probably would have been Klingons." Kirk tears his stare from the ceiling and looks to the door behind Uhura. "Now come on. We need to find the disruptor controls, which will probably be on the bridge. Phasers on stun."

The strangely shaped door opens automatically and the captain leads the way out. Uhura follows him, with Doctor McCoy bringing up the rear. The hallway they enter is empty; its walls are a dark, shiny black, like the exterior of the ship and unlike the interior of most Klingon ships. The grated floor they walk on is lighted, so they can see their reflections distorted on the walls.

The captain heads to the left and pauses before entering another hallway, checking both ways for Klingons before moving again.

They continue through the ship stealthily, every corner seeming eerie with the lack of Klingons.

"I never thought I'd say this," the doctor says, "but not seeing Klingons is making me kind of nervous."

"It is strange, isn't it?" Uhura says quietly, matching McCoy's pitch. "This is a large ship. Captain, why are there so few Klingons?"

Kirk shakes his head. "I have a guess, but I'm not sure."

"Well, let's hear it," McCoy says.

"This ship was built to carry that robotic serpent. In case you didn't notice, that room we beamed into is huge, taking up a large portion of the ship's interior space. This isn't the kind of ship that requires a lot of management, because there isn't a lot to be manned."

They pause and think about this. "Well, that makes our job easier, doesn't it?" McCoy says.

"It might," Kirk says, "or it might not."

Uhura frowns, unsure of what he means, until she realizes he's staring at something down the hall.

There are six Klingons approaching them, each of them armed. Somewhere, an alarm is activated and a line of lights along the top corners of the hall turn red.

"Phasers," Kirk says hastily. "Wide-range. Fire."

All three of them shoot at once and four of the Klingons go down. The other two fire their weapons. One shot dents the wall next to Uhura and she starts at the loud crunching sound. The Klingons fire a few more times and Uhura throws herself to the floor to avoid being hit. From there, she pulls the trigger on her phaser and the beam hits one of the Klingons.

"Uhura, take out the last one. Cover us," McCoy says from where he's kneeling on the floor next to a fallen Kirk.

Uhura stands up and steps in front of the two of them, trying not to worry about what happened to the captain. She ducks under a Klingon shot and fires her phaser. The Klingon dodges easily. Seeing no better alternative, she charges at the Klingon and kicks his weapon from him after sidestepping another shot. He tries to punch her, but she's faster. She dodges around him and fires her phaser point-blank.

"You alright, Jim?"

Uhura turns to McCoy and Kirk as the Klingon falls.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine."

McCoy raises an eyebrow. "You weren't lookin' too fine there for a moment."

Kirk sits up and Uhura can see why he went down in the first place. His left shoulder is bloodied; clearly a hit from one of the Klingon weapons.

"Well, we still need to find the bridge," the captain says as he stands up. "I don't think we should split up, so let's—"

Uhura grabs the doctor and the captain and yanks them down as a round of Klingon shots are fired into the hallway.

We don't have time for this! Uhura is fairly certain it's going through all of their minds right now.

She finds out she's right when McCoy says, "Jim, we don't have time to stay together and fight these Klingons. Uhura and I will stay, you go find the bridge." He glances at Uhura, waiting for her approval or support, and she nods.

The trio duck behind a corner to buy themselves a few moments.

"No," the captain insists. "I won't leave the two of you. The answer's simple."

"Captain, please go," Uhura says. "We'll be fine."

Kirk looks angry in his indecision, probably not at Uhura and McCoy, but at himself. Nevertheless, he says, "Fine. Find me when you're able to."

Spock *

There's an explosion from somewhere below, causing the Enterprise to lurch and tip backwards until the stabilizers activate.

"Fire photon torpedoes," Spock gives the order through the smoke that's beginning to billow into the bridge.

The visual is damaged and not working, but Lieutenant Sulu's scope is evidently still operative, because he's able to fire at their opponent.

"The sensors say we hit," Mr. Chekov says, "but there was no damage." He looks over to Spock, frowning. "How can it be resistant to phasers and torpedoes?"

"Obviously, it is made out of a material resistant to our weaponry. In which case, it would be useless and illogical to attempt to fight it. Evasive action, Mr. Sulu. Do whatever is necessary to avoid more hits."

"Aye aye, s—"

The Enterprise is thrown to the side, and everyone on the bridge is tossed out of their seats. Before Spock can even right himself, a disruptor shot hits a deck near the bridge and sparks fly out from the wall to Spock's right, followed by more smoke. The Vulcan coughs a few times before saying, "Mr. Scott, damage report."

"Looking—" Mr. Scott coughs as well "—bad, Commander. Damage to all decks. The warp engines are still workin', but I don't think the impulse engines are. Our lower phaser banks are destroyed too."

"Mr. Chekov, is the visual still inoperative?"

"I can probably get it back."

"Do so."

"Yes… sir." Chekov, if Spock is interpreting him correctly, is confused as to why Spock would be interested in the visual at a time like this.

The screen lights up before long. Despite color distortion in the upper right corner, the image is surprisingly clear. The mechanical snake is not in view when the visual comes on, but appears within a few seconds. It looks completely undamaged, though sections of it are stained black from the explosions off the Enterprise.

"Fascinating," Spock mutters as he examines the machine. Something has occurred to him, and it is something that could turn their entire situation around. Something that James T. Kirk would hate to see him do.

And it was utterly logical.

Kirk *

There are two Klingon guards outside the entrance to what Kirk assumes is the bridge. From the angle he's at, he can't stun both of them at once, even on wide-range.

He wishes he had Spock, who could just go up and stun both the guards at once with his bare hands. Kirk wishes he had Spock with him for other reasons too. Like a reason to be confident. Yet he knows that Spock is of more use back in the Enterprise than he is here.

Kirk sets his phaser off wide-range and starts into action before having a plan. He leans around the corner and fires down the hall at the Klingon closer to him. His first shot misses, but he's able to fire again before the second Klingon is in the way. He ducks back around the corner to avoid the first few shots from the second guard's weapon. When he leaves his safety to try to shoot again, the Klingon is closer than he expected. Before he knows it, his phaser is knocked out of his hand and he's sent sprawling backward onto the metal-grated floor.

The guard says something in Klingon, pointing his rifle-like weapon at Kirk's chest.

"I… don't… speak Klingon," Kirk says slowly from the floor. The Klingon frowns at him, as he clearly is unable to understand English.

The captain takes this moment to his advantage and lunges at the Klingon's weapon. Three shots are fired, and Kirk has no idea where they hit as he yanks the gun from the Klingon and tosses it aside. As soon as the weapon has left his hands, the Klingon delivers a hard blow to Kirk's stomach. He doubles over, gasping, unable to respond fast enough as the Klingon shoves him into the wall. He cringes at the pain of his left shoulder from where it hit the wall.

Kirk manages to land a punch on the side of the Klingon's face, which buys him enough time to step around the guard and sweep his phaser off the floor. As the Klingon turns around, he's met with a stunning beam that sends him to the ground.

Kirk collapses against the wall, breathing heavily. He holsters his phaser and grabs his communicator. Previously, he hadn't wanted to use it because the Klingons would sense the signal, but it's obvious they already know he's here.

"Kirk to Enterprise." Rather than the usual silence met by a communication signal unanswered, Kirk gets a loud static. He turns the communicator volume down and glances warily down the hall to check for Klingons. "Kirk to Enterprise." The captain begins to become anxious. He had been expecting an answer; not getting one hadn't crossed his mind. "Come on, Spock!"

"Spock here, Captain." Spock's voice sounds rough, and the static sound continues even though he's speaking, so there must be some trouble on the Enterprise. However, Kirk is still immensely pleased to hear the Vulcan and know that his ship is not—yet—destroyed.

"How are things back there?"

"Altogether, I would say they are not well. However, I have a plan of action that should salvage the ship."

Kirk frowns. A plan that 'should salvage the ship' doesn't sound promising, but he's in a hurry and doesn't have time to ask. "Well, you know what to do. I had to—had to leave Bones and Uhura back somewhere to fight Klingons, so if you get communication from them and they seem like they're in trouble, beam them up immediately, no matter what they say about going to find me."

"Yes, sir."

"I believe I've found the bridge, but haven't gotten to any disruptor control and I don't think that machine can be controlled from here, though it's still possible."

"I would have to agree with you. It is programmed on its own, not following—" There's a crashing sound through the communicator and Kirk tenses, hoping that whatever happened wasn't as bad as it sounded.

"Spock?"

"Yes…Captain." Spock coughs before continuing. "The phasers and photon torpedoes have little effect on this machine. The ship's warp engines are still serviceable, but we've had little time to move."

"Spock. I think I should go back to the Enterprise. If that machine isn't controlled from here or the disruptors don't work on it, there's no point in the captain's absence from his ship."

"No. The Klingons are still a threat and you, Doctor McCoy, and Lieutenant Uhura are the only ones currently capable of stopping them. Besides, I am not certain the transporter is entirely functional."

Kirk shakes his head. "Well, it seems we both need to hurry. Spock, I'll see you back on the Enterprise—or wherever we can meet up next."

"Good luck, Captain."

Kirk pauses. "You too." He flips the communicator shut and pulls out his weapon again. Then he goes to the Klingon bridge doors and enters with his phaser at the ready.

Spock *

"Can you adjust it so that it will beam at least one person?"

"I could try. I don't know that I can pull enough power to beam someone to a location and back here."

"That is not the concern. All I require is that you make it possible for it to transport one being from this location to another. Return is not necessary. However, if you find the capability to beam someone to the ship, that would be more convenient. The captain and the two he took with him have yet to return."

"Right," Mr. Kyle says. He kneels and starts adjusting the transporter.

Spock stands with his hands clasped behind his back, waiting. From outside, he would look the way Spock always looks: emotionless and attentive. However, his mind is racing with possible outcomes of his plan, possible outcomes of Kirk's plan, and the statistical probability of them both surviving. Also the likelihood of the USS Enterprise holding together much longer.

The ship vibrates and shakes violently from time to time, but nothing hard enough to knock Mr. Kyle or Spock off his feet. The groaning of the walls around them suggests that the Enterprise's exterior is weakening.

Spock closes his eyes. He needs more time…. For the sake of the ship, he needs more time….

A few minutes later, Mr. Kyle says, "I think it might be working, sir. I have enough power for two pads, beaming to a location and back. I could probably fix it completely, as long as I have more time and this deck isn't damaged anymore. Who are you beaming, sir?"

"I intend to be transported myself. Are you able to lock onto coordinates inside the creature attacking us?"

Mr. Kyle's eyebrows go up and he flips a few of the transporter's switches, trying to identify the coordinates. "I believe I might, sir. But you realize that there are numerous things that could go wrong; I don't even know if there's any open space inside it, much less breathable oxygen."

"I am aware of the risks. Obviously, I am willing to take them, or I would not be here at all."

Mr. Kyle nods, looking doubtful. Spock knows, from the experience of being one, that it is difficult to argue with a Vulcan.

He walks up to the transporter and goes down on one knee in the attempt to make himself take up less space.

Spock knows that when he rematerializes, he might die immediately, due to an entire list of possibilities Mr. Kyle had only touched on. Or simply, something might malfunction and he might not rematerialize at all. There's a feeling in him, a feeling he would rather not identify, that comes entirely from his human half. He recognizes it, so he's forced to identify it anyway.

I am a Vulcan. I do not feel emotion. I do not feel fear.

"Energize."

Kirk *

"Drop your weapons. I have this set to kill and I'm not afraid to use it."

The Klingons turn to look at him, one appearing surprised, a few hostile, the last, apathetic. Kirk guesses there are about six Klingons in the bridge, but he's too distracted even to figure it out.

None of the Klingons drop their weapons as the leader spins his chair around to look at him. Kirk's phaser is pointed at him, but if any of the others move, he whips the weapon around to point it at them.

"I said," Kirk says more hesitantly, "drop your weapons."

Barging in on the Klingons wasn't as hard as it seemed. Standing and facing all of them as they look at him, seeming to regard him as no threat, is definitely another thing.

Kor'saon—who Kirk is still thinking should be dead—says something in Klingon to his crew. They take their weapons out and toss them on the floor with disgusted expressions.

Kirk narrows his eyes. "You're not actually part of the Klingon Empire, are you?" The only thing that would allow him to guess this is that the Klingons, all but the leader, don't seem to speak English. Most Klingons from the Empire speak Klingon and English, especially if they are high enough in rank to have a ship.

"Why are you here, Kirk?" Kor'saon growls. "You should realize how hopelessly outnumbered you are."

Kirk's eyebrows lift. "I'm the one with a weapon."

The Klingon pats his holster, which does contain a gun.

Kirk pauses, shrugs, then continues his act. "Do you control that—machine—from in here?"

"Our newly developed weapon? No, it operates independently. What do you care?"

He swears. He wasn't expecting anything but a highly advanced robot, but he had managed to get his hopes up. "Where are your disruptor controls?"

"Captain," the Klingon says sneeringly, "if you expect us to just hand over our ship, you are mistaken. You are from the Federation; you are fortunate I haven't declared you a prisoner of war."

"There is no war," Kirk counters, keeping his phaser steady as Kor'saon rises from his chair. "You aren't part of the Klingon Empire; therefore you're no threat to the Federation. I don't—"

"You think we aren't a threat to the Federation?" he hisses. "See this, Captain." He hits a button on his chair and the visual screen lights up. Kirk freezes as he sees what the image is.

It's the Enterprise.

Her saucer has holes torn through it, with sheets of her exterior warped and blackened. One of her warp nacelles is billowing smoke into space. Her body has black streaks across it and there's an entire section of metal on her side that's peeled back like paper.

The snake-machine is coiled around the back of the Enterprise, crushing the area containing the shuttlecrafts and heading up toward the support pylons. That means there's no escape for the crew.

Kirk swallows hard and tears his gaze away from his precious, ruined ship. The pain in his mind is not only for the Enterprise, but mostly for Spock, Scotty, and the rest of the crew, including whoever has undoubtedly died.

"So," Kor'saon says, "we are no threat to the Federation?"

In a rush of anger he can't control, Kirk swings a punch aimed straight for the Klingon's face. This takes them both by surprise and the punch hits, sending Kor'saon staggering backward. A Klingon behind Kirk starts to move, and he whips around with his phaser and fires a shot. The beam hits the Klingon and he collapses.

The phaser was never set to kill; Kirk has had it on stun the entire time, but the Klingons don't know that.

What Kirk failed to consider was that the Klingons would get angry if he 'killed' any of them. Before he knows it, the Klingon leader has drawn his weapon and fired. Kirk ducks and the shot hits the doors behind him with a crack.

"Listen!" Kirk says as all the Klingons start to move to grab their weapons. "We don't have to fight. Perhaps that was a move I shouldn't have made. That man isn't dead, my phaser's on stun. You don't have to fight the Federation; we could… make a peace treaty. Just stop that machine from killing my crew."

The leader orders something to the other Klingons. He says to Kirk, "Peace is not our way, Captain Kirk. And we have no way to stop our weapon until its programming has completed the destruction of your vessel."

Spock *

Spock's rematerialization is successful, though he finds that the cloth of his right sleeve is intertwined with a large wire. With some effort, he tears the sleeve free and starts to stand up. He's almost all the way straightened when the top of his head collides with the roof of whatever compartment he's in. He raises his eyebrows and keeps his head bowed as he examines his surroundings. The room is long and segmented, presumably running the length of the machine. Spock can't see much more than a few yards to either side, as the serpent seems to be coiled around something, more than likely, the support pylons.

The air is thin and the gravity is lighter than on the ship, but plenty to keep him on the floor. The room seems to be an access tunnel, not intended to be entered while the robot is in motion. It's only lighted by a blue-tinted glow from somewhere between each section of wall and floor.

As Spock heads up the incline of the snake's interior toward its front, he is fascinated by the pure complexity of the machine. He knows Klingons are advanced, and usually he does not underestimate other life forms, but he never would have expected Klingons to have developed such an interesting device.

The interesting device moves suddenly, throwing Spock against one wall. He stays against the wall as the serpent begins to move, slithering backward through space. There's a flash of bright light from ahead of him and he hears an explosion from outside. He can't help but imagine the disruptor shot hitting the bottom of the Enterprise's warp nacelle.

Spock, against his mentality as a Vulcan, is fond of the Enterprise, beyond a sense of duty. He does not know why, making it an irrational, illogical, human affection, but it is there nonetheless. He cannot help but assume it has something to do with James Kirk.

The snake straightens enough Spock can see to the front, and he starts toward it. Every now and again, the floor beneath him slides to one side and he's left bracing himself until it has slowed, but he has been beamed near the head, so it doesn't take him long to get there.

The disruptors look similar from the inside to the way they look from the outside; large, circular blue lights. From the back, though, the energy source for them is visible: a roughly cylindrical object made of a material Spock recognizes, but has never seen physically. Otherwise, the front of the robotic snake is a mess of wires and metal arranged together in a disorderly fashion.

"Fascinating," Spock says quietly, running his hand along one of the wires coming from the ceiling.

He draws his phaser.

Kirk *

Kirk's mind is whirring with his few alternatives for escape. He can try to convince the Klingons they don't need to declare war on the United Federation, but he has a feeling that won't work. He can try to make a run for it and find his way back to Bones and Uhura, but the Klingons probably wouldn't allow him to do that without a fight, and he doesn't have time for fighting.

"You leave me no choice but to blow this place up," Kirk says. The Klingons look at him with surprise. Somehow, they seem to have assumed he didn't have the capacity to be a threat.

Kirk nods and takes a step back. "I didn't intend to harm any one of you. And yet, it's my duty as a Starfleet officer to avoid war. Since I think the Klingons on this ship are the only ones who claim to have declared war, I can blow this bridge apart to avoid the conflict."

The Klingon leader barks a command to two of his weapon control officers. They step behind Kirk, blocking his way to the exit. Kirk glances behind him warily and stops moving backward.

"You would have to destroy yourself as well, Kirk. No human would destroy himself in such a way, would he?" Kor'saon says challengingly.

"You underestimate our sense of duty. I can destroy this room without a second thought. I was stalling only to ask if you are willing to change your mind."

He narrows his eyes. "We do not surrender, Federation Officer. And there is no way to deactivate the weapon. There is your answer."

"You have left me no choice," Kirk says regretfully. He pulls out a small object and tosses it behind him, toward the Klingons blocking his exit. They step away in surprise and Kirk dives for the door. It opens automatically and then shuts behind him. There's no sound behind him as he barrels down the halls, back to where he left McCoy and Uhura.

"Bones! Uhura!" Kirk finds them both sooner than he expected, but they aren't in great condition. McCoy is visibly limping and Uhura has blood running down the right side of her neck, among various hits from the Klingon weapons distributed between the two of them.

"Jim. How are you?"

"Fine. You?"

Bones shrugs. "We made it. What'd you do with the Klingons?"

"I threw a communicator at them. I'll explain later. We need to get out of here, the Enterprise is in terrible condition and there's no way to control or damage that weapon from this ship."

"But what about the Klingons?" Uhura asks. "They're still a threat."

"We don't have time. I hope to find a solution to this supposed war, but right now my ship is near destruction and we have to get back to Spock."

"How do you intend to get out of here, Jim?"

"We'll see if the transporter is working. Let me borrow your communicator."

Bones hands over his communicator and Kirk flips it open. "Kirk to Enterprise." He hopes the Enterprise is in good enough condition to receive a signal. "Kirk to Enterprise."

The message back comes with static. "Scott here, Captain. What is it?"

"Scotty? Why are you in command? Where's Spock?"

"Mister Spock…beamed into the machine, Captain. He thinks he can deactivate or destroy the beastie from the interior. I don't… expect he plans to come out."

Kirk's grip on McCoy's communicator tightens. "Curse him. Does that mean the transporter is working?"

"It was working well enough to beam him to the coordinates he wanted, but Mr. Kyle's been havin' some issues with it since. I don't think it could beam the three of you."

There are some noises down the hall, probably Klingons angry over Kirk's trick.

"Can you beam McCoy and Uhura?"

"I don't think so. You're going to have to hang—" Scotty's voice is cut off and the noise through the communicator becomes considerably louder. Then the signal dies.

"Kirk to Enterprise." No response. "Damn it. McCoy, Uhura, did either of you see any kind of a shuttlecraft in the room we beamed into?"

"I think so," Uhura says. "I know birds of prey don't usually have shuttlecrafts, but I suppose this isn't one anyway."

"Fine. We'll get back to that."

Some Klingons round the corner behind McCoy and the trio take off running toward the cargo compartment as shots dent the walls behind them.

Spock *

The wires melt and spark, disintegrating under the power of the phaser's beam. They appear to be the main wires connecting the machine's computer chip to the engines controlling its body. If Spock can destroy another ten of them or so, the serpent won't be able to move at all.

Meanwhile, it still has full control of its disruptors. Spock can hear it firing continually on the Enterprise, and he calculates how long it would take the machine to destroy the ship compared to the amount of time it will take him to deactivate the entire device. The statistics look grim, but achievable.

Ever since the first wire was cut off, the machine has been acting unusually, and most likely increasing Spock's probability of death by a few percent.

As Spock starts melting through the next group of wires, an engine blows behind him. The explosion forces him forward as the fire billows around him and then dies. Spock pushes himself away from the hot metal to find his right forearm has a long burn across it from where the wires touched his skin. He passes the phaser to his left hand and continues working. Somewhere down the back of the machine, he hears another engine explode.

As the metal around him begins to warp, one way or another, Spock begins to calculate the likelihood of Mr. Kyle having fixed the transporter. If his beaming is stalled, Spock might not be able to make it out in time. He had known that was a possibility, and a likelihood, but he still finds the prospect interesting. The cease of physical existence…

Scott *

"Mr. Scott." This, of course, is 'meester' Scott. "The machine seems to be slowing down. The disruptors are active, clearly, but all its movements are uncoordinated now."

"Good. I suspect Mister Spock is having some luck deactivating it. Can you reverse the warp engines?"

"They seem to be in good enough condition," Mr. Sulu answers for Chekov.

"Back us up, lads. The faster we can get away from that thing, the better."

The ship creaks and jerks backward, then stops.

"What happened?" Mr. Scott asks Sulu.

"I don't know. The engines say they're working, but I can't get them to move any more than that."

Scotty turns to the screens where he usually sits. The image of the Enterprise, with its sections glowing when damaged, is nearly entirely lit up.

McCoy *

"Can you fly this thing, Lieutenant?" McCoy asks, looking at all the controls in the dimly-lit Klingon shuttlecraft.

"Well, I'd better," Uhura answers. "Besides, it's Klingon. I'll figure it out."

McCoy is unsure of why it being Klingon makes it easier to figure out, but for once, he doesn't say anything. He steps outside of the small ship.

"Jim, things are lookin' doable. She's going to get that thing powered up and we'll be on our way."

"Good. I hope it has some speed."

McCoy shrugs. "Who knows? But it's the best we've got."

Kirk starts to answer when Klingons burst into the room, weapons at the ready.

McCoy and Jim look at each other and swear.

"Go," Kirk says. "Get in the craft and leave. I'll cover you until it's powered up."

"No, Jim. Not a chance. We're not leaving you; the transporter's broken."

"I did it to you. Now we play the other game. Leave, Bones. That's an order." He steps behind some equipment and aims his phaser at the Klingons.

McCoy turns, going back to the shuttlecraft. He says to Uhura, "We're leaving without him. It was an order. And if we're stalled here for a few more seconds, I'm changing my mind, so you'd better get this thing going."

Spock *

The wires are destroyed and the disruptors are next. Spock knows the weapons will make an even larger show of destruction than the engines did, but even while immobile, the serpent is too dangerous.

Spock aims his phaser at the right disruptor and fires. The glass-like substance shatters. He fires again and this time the blue light flares and turns green, then gray. A quiet whining noise begins somewhere between Spock and the tip of the snake's head. Unsure of what it is, Spock just fires at the left disruptor. Twice, and it turns gray. The whining gets louder and steadily higher-pitched.

A small explosion goes off near the ceiling and pieces of metal scatter. One, a long beam, falls across in front of him, blocking him from the disruptors and the continual whining noise. He steps away and another explosion blows off his way back to the disruptors.

Spock grabs his communicator and flips it open when he realizes a flaw in his logic.

It isn't his logic as much as his process. The source of the whining noise is improvidently obvious now. The disruptors will explode unless their source of power is disconnected. As soon the whining noise grows to its highest and loudest, the disruptors will detonate, creating an explosion large enough to destroy the serpent and the Enterprise together. Without the power there, the explosion would probably be small enough only to terminate the snake.

Which means he has to get back to the disruptors before it is too late.

Kirk *

Kor'saon casts the other Klingons away to stay at the door, clearly wanting to deal with Kirk himself. The shuttlecraft has left, going into a different compartment before being released to open space.

"You've been quite the problem, Captain Kirk. But you cannot interfere. The Federation is ours, and that will not be changed."

"Why are you so determined to take over the Federation?" Kirk says calmly, stepping away from his shelter.

"We were exiled," a Klingon woman says with an even thicker accent than her leader's. "The Klingon Empire exiled us because of a mistake. We've been seeking a place in this galaxy since. The Federation, our enemy, was an easy target."

"You're not going to conquer the Federation. My first officer is destroying your weapon as we speak. There's nothing you can do about it. Now if you just stop and listen to—"

"You cannot destroy it!" Kor'saon rages. "We have made it indestructible. However he is trying, it will not work!"

Kirk raises his eyebrows doubtfully, but internally he desperately hopes Spock actually is having some success. "Your attack on the Federation cannot work. Stop deceiving yourself. You may think your plan can only be successful, but just because you destroyed one ship and killed more than a hundred people, that doesn't mean you can destroy mine."

The Klingon growls in anger and whips out his weapon, firing before Kirk has a chance to move. The shot hits him on the chest, a few inches from his heart, and knocks him off his feet. Through the ringing in his ears that accompanies his tunneling vision, he hears the woman shout something in Klingon.

Spock's words come back to him in a second that feels like an hour: 'These weapons do not stun. They only kill, if aimed correctly…'

Not today they don't.

Kirk makes his way to his feet. All his wounds he has gathered up to this moment are catching up to him, but the adrenaline is still keeping him up and moving.

A couple of Klingons are trying to talk the leader into doing something—or not doing something—to no prevail.

In the small window of time, Kirk flips open McCoy's communicator, and tries to contact the Enterprise.

"Kirk to Enterprise."

"This is Enterprise," the Scottish-accented voice replies.

"Is the transporter working yet? I could probably use some beaming right now."

"Well, we might be able to, but it's not lookin' too promising." Just as Scotty finishes his sentence, the communicator is kicked from Kirk's hand and he's pounced on by Kor'saon. His head hits the floor hard and his vision dances. The Klingon takes this moment to deliver a hit to his face, which tips him near unconsciousness.

"I could have… helped you," Kirk says breathlessly. "The Federation wouldn't have considered you… criminals if you hadn't destroyed the Monitor."

"I do not accept help. Help is weakness," the Klingon snarls.

"Your bad." Kirk brings his right leg up and shoves Kor'saon away. He reaches for his phaser, but it's a few inches too far away from him. He stands up to get it, but is intercepted by Kor'saon again. Dodging a punch, Kirk manages to hit the Klingon's gut hard enough he grunts and doubles over. In the few seconds he has, Kirk steps over and snatches the phaser. He aims it, then hesitates for a moment too long. Kor'saon gets a hold of his own weapon and fires twice. One shot hits Jim's upper arm, the other hits his left side, where he had already been shot earlier. The force sends him to his knees.

"I can only say," Kor'saon states, "I wish you had seen your ship's final destruction." He raises his weapon, level to the captain's head.

Kirk flips his phaser to kill and fires before the shot leaves the Klingon's gun.

McCoy *

From the front of the shuttlecraft, Bones can see why Jim had said the Enterprise was in terrible condition. At this point, its exterior is almost more black than gray.

"I hope the captain's alright," Uhura says for the second time.

"He's an idiot," McCoy states.

Uhura frowns at him.

He sighs. "I hope he is too."

Uhura nods. "But he is an idiot."

McCoy looks at her.

Their craft seems to be going exceptionally slowly. The NCC-1701 gets steadily larger. The mechanical snake is floating, not lifeless only because of its jerking, uncoordinated movements, as though it will come back alive within moments. He doesn't like to admit it, but McCoy hates the thought of Spock being in the thing.

Kirk *

"Will you agree with me, or end up like your captain?"

"You could not kill us. You are too weak," the Klingon woman sneers.

Jim nods. "At this point," he says as he leans against the wall to stay standing, "you're right. You could kill me right here. But I don't think you will."

She narrows her eyes and looks between Kirk and the two men standing next to her. "Very well. We will go to your starbase in a shuttlecraft to avoid seeming as a threat."

"You will have to face trial, you know."

She stiffens. "I am aware. But it is a risk we are willing to take."

Kirk nods and grabs his communicator and flips it open. "Scotty."

"Here, captain."

"Is the transporter functional?"

"Probably enough to beam you in, sir."

"Good. It's time."

The beams of light start wrapping around him. The last thing he sees is the Klingon woman boarding the last shuttlecraft with her two followers.

Scott *

Scotty meets the captain in the transporter room. James Kirk looks terrible; his uniform is almost as much red as yellow and he looks as though he's about to collapse.

"Good heavens, Captain!" Scotty exclaims. "What in the name of heaven happened to you?"

Kirk smiles faintly. "As Spock would say, this has very little to do with heaven, Mr. Scott."

Scotty can't help but smile at the captain's Kirk-ness. "I'll call Nurse Chapel in to take a look at you."

Kirk shakes his head. "No. I have to contact Spock. I don't know how long he's been in that machine, but it feels like too long."

"Captain," Scotty says raising his eyebrows and tilting his head down as though he were Kirk's mother. "You're staying right where you are until someone with medical skills has seen to you. I'll see if I can communicate with Mister Spock."

Kirk *

With Kirk's rush to get to the bridge, Chapel only gets to see him for a few minutes. She allows him to go early anyway, since he would hardly stay still until he heard of what happened to Spock.

Kirk exits the turbolift. "Scotty, did you get him to answer?"

Scotty shakes his head. "No, sir. The communicator's receiving, but he doesn't seem to be answering. And look."

Kirk looks up to the visual. The destruction machine is lifeless, floating silently in space. If Kirk can assume anything about the machine, it's that its hull is about to explode. There is very little chance that everything in a weapon so powerful could be deactivated from inside without something reacting explosively.

Kirk presses a button on his chair. "Transporter room. Get coordinates from Mister Spock's communicator. Beam him aboard immediately."

He has the strong urge to go instantly to the transporter room, but he has duty on the bridge. "Mr. Sulu, can you reverse the warp engines?"

"No, sir. There still doesn't seem to be a way to get them on again," he answers.

The deactivated robot on the visual starts to heat up and catches fire on the front. Whatever the machine was made of, it contained a fair amount of oxygen, because the flame grows and starts spreading down the back of it. Then there's an explosion, a flash of light with a surge of fire and energy that sweeps out and hits the Enterprise. The ship trembles under the force of it. Then she goes still.

A few occupants of the bridge can't help but laugh in relief. The snake had inflicted so much damage on the Enterprise it must be joyous to see it explode.

But Kirk doesn't feel that way.

"Transporter room," he says tightly, "did you get him?"

"Still holding onto his coordinates, sir."

"Scotty, take the com," the captain says slowly. Then he goes straight to the turbolift.

As soon as he gets to the transporter room, a communication signal comes through. "Bridge to Captain Kirk." It's the communications officer.

"Kirk here." He glances at the transporter, which is still glowing, trying to bring Spock in.

"The Klingon shuttlecraft containing Doctor McCoy and Lieutenant Uhura is within range for the transporter."

"Pull it in with a tractor beam. The transporter can't have them yet. Kirk out."

Mr. Kyle is still trying to get Mister Spock to rematerialize, and the wait is practically killing Kirk.

Then the transporter is successful and the Vulcan appears. Kirk is instantly relieved, until he sees Spock drop to his knees.

"Spock," Kirk says as he rushes to his friend's side, catching him before he collapses. Spock's uniform is covered in his green Vulcan blood, and he has a long gash on the left side of his head, which has left trails of blood down his face. Kirk is no doctor, but it isn't hard to tell Spock's right leg is broken as well.

"Jim," Spock says, his eyes focusing on Kirk. "The interior collapsed before it exploded. I was still attempting to deactivate the disruptors."

Jim nods and says to Mr. Kyle, "Beam aboard McCoy. It seems we're going to need a doctor."

"Doctor McCoy will not be able to change my condition," Spock says. "The only…logical outcome is that which you are trying to deny to yourself."

From the way Kirk is holding him, with Spock's head in his left hand and his shoulders across Kirk's thighs, he can feel that Spock is shaking, probably from pain, though it could have been emotion. It isn't visible, but it's the cause of his slowly, quietly-asked question, "Are you trying to deny it to yourself, Spock?"

It takes a moment for him to respond. But he says, "Yes, Jim. This once, I would much like to believe a lie."

The transporter begins to beam in McCoy and Uhura. It flickers their images in and out a few times before summoning them completely.

"What in the—" Bones begins.

"Get your medical supplies," Kirk orders, gesturing across the room. Bones does so. He turns his attention back to Spock. "I thought," Kirk says, finding it harder and harder to speak, "you might make it out of there in time."

Spock closes his eyes. It takes him long enough to open them again Kirk is almost afraid he won't. But then he does, saying, "I did as well. However, it was an… illogical assumption."

McCoy has returned already. "My god. The man's talkin' about logic at a time like this."

Kirk waves him to be quiet. Bones kneels next to them and hovers his sensor above Spock's chest. He finishes with his this-looks-bad McCoy expression.

"Mostly internal damage beyond what even I can heal. I don't think I can do anything for him, Jim," he says in a voice softer than his usual manner of speaking.

"Do the best you can," he says quietly.

"Like I would do anything but," Bones replies.

Kirk looks back to Spock. "There will be something to do. You're a Vulcan; you can withstand more than a human could."

"You are saying that more to yourself than to me."

"Damn you, Spock," Kirk says, his voice sounding choked. "Yes, I am."

They lapse into a momentary silence as McCoy injects a few medicines into Spock's blood. Kirk doesn't want to admit to himself that the Vulcan's condition is deteriorating. His breathing is becoming more labored and his focus is drifting to and away from Kirk, until he gasps, as though through a spasm, "I have never felt so much…emotion before." Kirk knows as well anyone else that emotion, when in large amounts, is hard for a Vulcan to deal with. But Spock calms himself and says softly, "Obviously, it is beyond something I am able to control."

Kirk shakes his head. "Why did you do this to yourself?"

"To save the ship. It was—"

"Don't you dare say it was entirely about logic," Bones says.

"It wasn't. It wasn't," Spock repeats. Then he winces and starts to reach his hand up toward the right side of Jim's face, but pauses. "May I?"

Kirk nods. He closes his eyes and feels his friend's hand touch him in the mind-meld position. After a moment, he can feel Spock's mind and his consciousness joining his own. He's struck suddenly by Spock's pain, his fear, his struggle to stay alive just a few moments longer. He tries to calm down, in an attempt to put his friend more at rest, but it's hard to work against Spock's mind.

In this moment of connection, however long it is, James Kirk feels what it's like to be dying. He understands why Spock mind-melded: the experience of death is comprised of a terrifying loneliness that no one should have to experience in solitude, and yet they always have to.

Through the joining of their thoughts, Kirk understands the reason why Spock insists on denying emotion. In this moment, when Jim and Spock are dying together, their emotion is a combination of fear and hopelessness, in a form that's confusing and inescapable.

Yet it is utterly human.

His mind goes blank. Kirk is completely unconscious, except that he's aware that the connection has been lost and his mind is beginning to die.

McCoy *

"Jim. Jim! Wake up, or I'll have to inject you with this."

Kirk opens his eyes and looks at McCoy. Bones can tell that he knows immediately what has just happened, not in the state of blurry confusion associated with sleep.

Jim sits up and looks to his left, where Spock is lying motionless, his eyes still open, staring sightlessly at the ceiling. Jim stands shakily, all his movements seeming somewhat numb.

Even though he's a doctor, McCoy can't stand the sight of the Vulcan. He's seen many dead men, but nothing compares to the sight of a lifeless friend.

Damn that Vulcan.

Mr. Kyle has brought in a few people to take Spock's body away to prepare it for burial on some planet, possibly Vulcan. Uhura cries silently on her transporter pad, and all is quiet.

"I'm going to my quarters," McCoy says, breaking the silence. "See if I can distract myself." He looks at Jim as he stares emptily at the dark green stain on the floor.

Kirk looks up to him and nods. He pulls something out of his pocket and hands it to him, saying apathetically, "Figure out what this is while you're at it."

McCoy takes the small bottle and says after a moment, "I'm sorry, Jim."

"You say that as though you don't feel the same."

Bones is appalled. "What the hell? You know I—I liked that Vulcan. As a friend."

Kirk closes his eyes and shakes his head, but says nothing. McCoy leaves him standing there.

Kirk *

Personal log stardate 2365.6. Mister Spock, my closest friend, is dead. After the event I know I am not fit for duty, but I assume no one here is willing to tell me so. They do not know yet what happened, but I will not hesitate to tell them. I will report to the bridge and continue my duties as though I am not in internal despair, but I know I can never be the same after the loss of my friend.

As soon as Kirk walks onto the bridge, Scotty stands up. "Captain, did Mister Spock—"

Kirk shakes his head. "He rematerialized successfully, but the collapse of that—that machine was too much. He's gone."

Scotty looks to the floor. "I'm sorry. He was a good man and every one of us knows that."

Jim makes no reply as he goes to his chair. He says to the communications officer, "Contact the nearest starbase and tell them a Klingon shuttlecraft is going to arrive."

The officer frowns, surprised, but she doesn't ask any questions.

"Mr. Sulu, are the warp engines able to move at minimum speed?"

"I'll see, sir."

Mr. Sulu flips the engines on and the Enterprise starts to move forward. She takes longer than usual to get up to speed, but as soon as she does the engines seem to be working well enough for warp one.

"Mr. Chekov, set course for the nearest starbase; we're going to need a few repairs."

"Yes, sir."

The communication panel on Kirk's chair beeps and Doctor McCoy's voice comes through. "Hey Jim, come down to Sickbay. You might want to be here."

"On my way," he replies.

In the turbolift, Kirk actually starts to consider what the message was about. Bones sounded surprisingly happy…. Why would he at a time like this?

Jim frowns in thought his entire way to Sickbay. When he walks in, he freezes. On one of the beds, sitting up and looking perfectly healthy, is Mister Spock.

"What in the name of—"

McCoy beams, a fairly unusual sight on him. "That liquid you gave me. As soon as I started studying it, I realized it must have been what that Klingon used to stay alive after he was shot. Ridiculous as it seemed, I had to try using it."

"Spock…" Kirk walks to the Vulcan as he stands up. "You…" He can't seem to find the right thing to say, so he just puts his hands on Spock's shoulders and looks him up and down. "You're alive. Perfectly alive."

Spock looks down at himself, then back at Jim. "Evidently so, Captain. That is an illogical thing to say." And yet he's smiling, just slightly.

Kirk has nothing to do but one thing he's never done before. He hugs Mister Spock right there. The gesture is not returned, but Kirk has a feeling Spock doesn't mind it; he just believes it's illogical, which it absolutely is.

"There is one unfortunate thing about this."

Kirk draws back. "What is that?"

Spock looks to McCoy with his eyebrows raised slightly. "I now owe my life to Doctor McCoy."

Bones takes a step back, looking appalled. "You green-blooded—"

"Doctor," Spock says with a small smile, "I will not regret it."

McCoy, now more unsure of what to do than he was when he was insulted, pauses. Then he says, "I guess, uh.… Thanks, Spock."

Jim smiles.

Captain's log stardate 2365.6. After the brief—absence—of Mister Spock, all has returned to normal except the Enterprise's condition. Doctor McCoy has discovered a cure for death. However, we have deemed it a dangerous power to humankind and endeavor to destroy it. I know Starfleet Command will not easily accept our solution, but it seems the only… logical choice.

"But why, sir?" Scotty asks incredulously. "Why would you blow up an entire planet?"

"The substance that brought Spock back to life is down there. It's wise to think that humans—or Klingons, or anyone else for that matter—shouldn't have the ability to be immortal. It's—it's just a recipe for trouble. I know that sounds harsh, but it is as it is."

"But sir, how did you get the stuff in the first place?"

"It fell on the floor when I was fighting Kor'saon, the Klingon leader. I picked it up just out of curiosity."

"That was a mighty lucky chance you did, too."

"I'm well aware of that. And I agree." Kirk sits in his chair and swivels it to Mr. Sulu. "Now that we're back in orbit, Lieutenant, aim phasers into the deepest volcano. Prepare torpedoes as well."

Sulu does so. "Ready, sir."

Kirk looks at the planet. It makes him feel horrible that they're destroying the entire planet, which has the potential to hold life forms in the far future, but he knows that no one should have the power of immortality. The destruction of the planet would not dramatically disrupt the rest of the solar system, and it was free of life anyway.

He takes a deep breath. "Fire."

The phasers fire first. From space, nothing seems to be happening, but Kirk knows well the destruction happening on the surface.

"Fire torpedoes and prepare to reverse warp engines and come out of orbit."

The torpedoes leave the ship and this time their impact is visible. The area around the collision explodes, creating a crater. Then the whole planet begins to redden with the magma being forced to the surface.

"Out of orbit. Warp factor two, Mr. Sulu."

"Warp factor two, sir."

Kirk looks to McCoy, on his left, and Spock, on his right. The Vulcan nods.

"It was the right choice, Captain."

"I know," he says, looking to the front of his ship. "I know it was."

The Enterprise, wearing her glory of winning a battle, warps away as Inkarion explodes behind her.