Chapter 2 - Dungeons and Drugs

In the middle of the night, when no light reached down into the dungeon, Spock woke up from a slight scratching sound. Rats? No, louder. The conclusion was inevitable.

"Captain, doctor, wake up!" Kirk was shackled to the wall next to Spock, asleep on his feet but McCoy had been left on the floor because of his injuries. Kirk raised his head, McCoy just groaned. It was hard to tell if he was awake. The noise increased and got closer, coming from some place high up on the opposite wall. Something fell on the floor, a bag of some sort?

"Hsst. Anybody here?"

"Lily-Lee, is that you? I can't see a thing!" Kirks voice was clear and strong, so he was in pretty good shape considering the circumstances.

"Captain? Are you alone or are the others with you? I have been looking all night."

"I'm here with Spock and McCoy, I don't know what happened to ensigns Jacobsen and Khaled." Kirk could hear her bare feet walk across the floor towards his voice until he felt her outstretched hands on his thighs. "Yes, that's me. Spock is to my left, McCoy is on the floor to my right."

"On the floor? Hey, what's up, doc? Doc? What's the matter? I smell blood, but it's two days old." She leaned down and ran her hands across the unconscious body of the doctor. When she reached the chest, he flinched and groaned. Spock answered her question.

"Before he passed out he diagnosed himself with broken ribs and possibly a punctured lung. The doctor was no longer in possession of his medikit and he has not received any medical treatment, except for not being shackled along with us."

"Damn, damn, damn. I'll see what I can do, but it won't be much. Listen, I'll go out again but I'll be back as soon as I can."

It was hard for Kirk to tell how time passed in the dark, but Spock was able to inform him that Lily-Lee had been gone forty-five minutes, and later one hour and thirty-six minutes, and two hours and one minute and Kirk was just getting ready to ask again when he saw a dim light. The light got stronger and turned out to be a pig-bladder lamp attached to a rope. The lamp was lowered slowly from a hole and carefully placed on the floor. After the lamp came the bag, and after the bag came Lily-Lee.

"Water first, I suppose? She got a jug and a scoop and came over to the two standing men. She couldn't reach their mouths, so she used an overturned bucket as a stool to stand on. Next to Spock were some kinks in the masonry that she could climb on. "I have some salted fish here. If you like to keep to your vegetarian diet even under these circumstances, I can feed you carrot slices."

"Thank you, I would appreciate that." Lily-Lee got a knife out and alternated between feeding Spock and Kirk small pieces each. They weren't starving yet, it had only been two days. McCoy stirred and looked up at them.

"That - *cough, cough* - that carrot is not orange." His voice was faint and rasping. Lily-Lee jumped down from the bucket and ran up to him.

"No, it's white. They must have had different cultivars way back then. Let that be the end of the agricultural debate for now. How bad are your injuries?" She sat down on the floor and took his head in her lap. His forehead was wet with sweat.

"Not as bad as I feared. The lungs are intact but the ribs . . . hurt like hell. It stops me from breathing properly and . . . the wounds are getting infected. You didn't . . . find my kit, did you?"

"No. All I could get was this." She took out a small carved wooden jar from the bag. She twisted the lid to open it and McCoy saw a black thick substance. "I broke into the priory's medicine cabinet. Most of the stuff there are just superstition, but this is useful."

"What is it, Bones?"

"Lily-Lee found opium paste, probably real Persian produce. Dangerous stuff, I think I'd rather be in pain."

"Hardly. I'm going to have to clean out your wounds. With soap and water and a brush. This brush."

After that persuasion, McCoy followed her suggestion and ate some paste. Soon, he felt no pain and she could move him to take care of his wounds. She wrapped him in clean bandages and put his torn clothes back on to hide them. He was asleep, or in a stupor.

"There is still a bit of candle left. Do you want some more food?"

"I don't suppose you can get us out?"

"No. Water?"

"May I point out that we are due for trial tomorrow. It will be easier to escape when we are taken out of the dungeon. Supposing we can be provided with food and water in the meantime."

"I agree with Spock, just hang in there."

"This is not the time for stupid puns." Kirk looked annoyed.

"Excuuse me! Just trying to distract you." Lily-Lee packed up the bag and looked up at Spock.

"You are pretty helpless there, aren't you?"

"Your surmise is correct."

"Do you remember how hard I used to try to sample you? Your chemical composition is so delightfully different, but you always evaded me." Lily-Lee climbed up on the kinks in the wall so she could get close to Spock's ear and whisper. His ear was so close she almost touched it with her lips and her whispers invaded his personal space. "I could lick you now and you would not be able to stop me."