Chapter 2

Gun For Hire

'Captain Kirk, Mr Spock, Dr McCoy, may I introduce agent Anya Petrov,' Pike said. 'She's very kindly agreed to be on loan from Sector Six'
'Hello,' she said, avoiding Bones' surprised gaze.

'Agent?' Bones asked.
'I think the Admiral actually means thief,' said Spock giving her a strange look.

'I'm a special agent actually,' Anya said. Spock rolled his eyes.
'Yeah right, look at her,' Kirk guffawed. Anya raised her eyebrow at Kirk as he looked her up and down.

She wasn't a beautiful woman by any means, in fact she was quite plain and blended in with the hundreds of other crew that had milled onboard. Average height, thin with medium length dirty blonde hair, Anya was just another face in the crowd. Kirk, who fancied himself a ladies' man, saw nothing that he liked and had dismissed her instantly on the grounds of her looks.

Spock on the other hand had sensed something alien about her - her eyes sharp and too wise for a woman who looked only 25.

'Don't let appearances fool you,' Pike smiled. Anya threw something silver at Jim.

'Hey that's my watch!' he said, putting it back on his wrist and glaring at her. She smirked at him.

'How is a cat burglar going to help us?' Spock asked.

'Because whether you like it or not this was an inside job, and Admiral Pike says that you three are the only people to be trusted on the Enterprise now,' Anya said.

'Anya is something of a specialist in missing persons, and you need another person on the inside that I can trust,' said Pike.

'I still fail to see how she can help,' Kirk said. 'We have our own spies'

'Anya will find out who the mole is whilst you will continue to look for the missing crew through normal channels,' Pike instructed. 'No one else on board knows her, she'll blend right in'

'What will her cover be?' Bones asked.

'She'll be coming in to replace Nurse Griggs,' Pike said to him. Bones folded his arms in front of his chest.

'Do you know anything about being a nurse?' Bones asked.

'I was a nurse for five years before I started at Starfleet,' she said. 'I assure you that I'm fully qualified'

'Now, captain, what can you tell me about the men who were taken?' she asked, turning her attention Kirk, who instinctively checked that the contents of his pockets were still there.

'Hikaru Sulu, our helmsman, Nurse Ian Griggs and Montgomery Scott, our chief engineer, were all taken at the same time two days ago from all different parts of the ship. I was talking to Sulu when he disappeared in front of me,' explained Kirk, tapping the computer and bringing up holographs of the missing crew.

'We checked the warp logs and there are no traces of any transmissions from when they disappeared, we haven't heard from them nor have we had any ransom demands,' said Kirk. 'They just vanished'

'So how can you be sure that they were kidnapped?' she asked.

'We've been tracking some interesting transmissions from various planets and this has happened to several other Starfleet and trader ships,' Pike said. 'There are a total of 15 missing. All from this galaxy, all from Starfleet'

'I had no idea it was this bad,' said Bones.

'Do you have a list of the missing people?' she asked. Kirk pulled out a file and handed it to her, and she scanned the list. 'Was there anything unusual about the way Sulu was transported?' she asked him. 'Any anomalies in the beam, any unusual noises before or during his abduction?'

'No, nothing out of the ordinary, here you can see it,' he said, pulling up the video on screen. 'We've already analysed this'

She watched the helmsman disappear partway through a sentence in a flash of light, then a confused looking Kirk walk off screen. 'Play it again'

'Stop, there!' she said suddenly, freezing the image and pointing to a tiny red fleck of beam that flashed for a fraction of a second. She looked at Pike, her eyes narrowing in recognition.

'This has happened before,' she whispered. She turned to Spock. 'Check the transmissions from the planet Caspian X'

'The trading planet in the Sector 5 galaxy- why?' he asked.

'Just do it,' she said. He tapped a few keys and the rasping language of the Caspian's filled their ears. Kirk and Bones looked at each other in confusion, but the others concentrated as they listened to the ships discuss trade.

'They are talking about food,' said Spock. Anya's eyes met Pike's and they narrowed in anger.

'I need to talk to the Admiral. Alone,' she said.

'As Captain I'd rather stay-' began Kirk.

'You want my help? Then fuck off!' she snapped.

Kirk raised his eyebrows at the Admiral in protest.

'Leave us guys,' Pike said. Kirk stormed off, followed by Spock. Bones narrowed his eyes at Anya but left after his friends.

Anya waited until the door to Pike's office slid shut before she started to speak again, not noticing the shadows of the three as they listened through the crack in the door.

'Dammit Chris you told me this was a simple missing person's case! How long have you known that this was linked to what happened?!' she demanded. 'How could you bring me back?'

'I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't come otherwise,' he said. 'Look I'm sorry, but I had no other options, you're the only one who knows what he'll do. They have my men, I can't just abandon them!'

She sat down and buried her head in her hands.

'I have spent the last thirty years trying to forget what happened in that place,' she said.

'That's why I need you!' said Pike. 'You saw what happened last time, we have to stop it before it turns into another massacre'

She looked up at him, angry. 'Have you been already intercepting their transmissions?'

He nodded. 'It's all in code like before, that's why Spock thought they were only talking about food. They're stockpiling weapons. And they have a new leader - someone named Avery'

'Avery? I've never heard of any Avery before,' she said. 'Where did he come from?'

'No one knows, but there are rumours that he's Constantine's son,' said Pike.

'That's impossible,' Anya snapped. 'Constantine is dead! I saw that ship get torn apart, no one survived!'

'But he could've had a son, it is possible,' Pike said.

'No it's not,' she said quickly.

Pike gave her a strange look, but changed the subject.

'Anyway I'm sure there is someone on board who is working with the Caspian's and I want to find out who,' said Pike. 'They had people on the inside last time'

'What have you told the others about The Arcade?' she asked him.

'Nothing, no one remembers The Arcade in this world,' he shrugged. 'It was classified – only those who were there know about it. And there aren't that many who do'

The Arcade? Kirk mouthed at Bones, who shrugged. Spock's eyes widened as he realised what they were talking about. He held his finger to his mouth and they kept listening.

'I will investigate on the Enterprise,' Anya continued. 'But I'm not going back there'

'I'm not going to make you,' Pike said gently. 'All I ask is that you find out where my men are and I'll take care of the rest'

'Fine, but I'm still mad at you,' she said. He chuckled.

'It is good to see you again,' he said. 'It's been too long'

'Don't try and be all nice to me,' she said fighting back a smile. 'Congratulations on the promotion by the way'

'Thank you'

He kissed her softly. 'Come on I'll show you around'

Hearing this the three men outside ran off just as the door slid open and hid around the corner.

'What the hell was that?' Kirk demanded when the couple passed.

'This could be very serious,' said Spock.

'I know, isn't Pike married?' Kirk asked.

'I meant about what they said about The Arcade,' said Spock.

'Alright I have no idea what you're talking about,' Kirk said. 'What's that?'

'It was a massive war in the Sector 5 Galaxy nearly thirty years ago,' said Spock quietly. 'Millions died, but the whole thing was covered up'

'What? Why?' asked Bones.

'I'm not sure, but the whole thing ended when one of the prisoners blew up the ship with the Caspian warlord Constantine on it,' said Spock. 'An escaped prisoner'

'But that couldn't have been Anya, could it?' Kirk asked. 'She'd have to be in her sixties at least'

'She's probably much older than that,' Spock said. 'She's a Gyas'

'Oh god,' said Bones.

'She's immortal?' Kirk asked. 'How can you tell?'

'It is a common misconception that Gyas are immortal, however not many people know it is that they merely absorb the life force of any creature who is on the brink of death,' explained Spock. 'Taking the dying's remaining years can give them an extremely long life, though I'm told it is quite a painful process. It is why Gyas mostly work in the medical profession. Or as assassins'

'You've got to be joking. Are you telling me that tiny blonde thing is a fucking mass-murderer?' demanded Bones.

'Perhaps,' replied Spock. 'A Gyas' eyes change to those of their last offering, in Miss Petrov's case I believe it was a Romulan'

'Well that explains why you called her a thief,' Kirk admitted.

'And why the hell was she kissing Pike?' Bones continued, ignoring Kirk.

'You heard him, they probably knew each other back then,' Kirk said. 'I've always thought Pike must've been a ladies' man when he was younger'

'That's gross,' said Bones.

'What do you think happened back then?' asked Kirk. 'She seemed pretty freaked out'

'She has a bad scar along her back,' said Bones without thinking. 'Maybe they tortured her'

'I'm sorry, how do you know that?' Kirk asked with a smile.

'You could see it on the back of her neck,' Bones lied.

Spock began to walk towards his quarters determinedly.

'Come on, I want to find out more about this Anya Petrov,' he said to the others.

Ten minutes later they crowded around the computer screen in his room.

'Everything about her is classified!' groaned Kirk in annoyance as Spock tried unsuccessfully to hack into her personnel profile. All they could see is that it had been changed recently to say that she was a nurse.

'Try searching for the Arcade,' said Bones.

'There won't be anything,' said Anya from behind them.

They spun around and looked slightly guilty.

'The Admiral wants to see you two,' she said to Kirk and Spock. 'He also requested that Dr McCoy show me around the medical floor'

The three men gave each other disappointed looks and went their separate ways, Anya tagging along behind Bones.

'Why did you lie to me?' whispered Bones angrily.

'I never lied to you,' she insisted. 'I am an artist, I sell paintings all the time'

'Paintings my ass! It just slipped your mind that you're a spy?' he demanded.

'Well what kind of rubbish spy would I be if I went around telling everyone?' she laughed.

'I'm sorry, I was just surprised to see you here, that's all,' said Bones. 'How do you know Pike anyway?' he asked.

'It's a long story,' she said.

'Then what the hell happened at the Arcade?' he asked. She looked at him with sadness in her eyes.

'It was a massacre,' she whispered. 'There is no other way to describe it'

'Did you kill the warlord?'

'They never found out who did,' she lied.

Bones sat on an empty patient bed and looked at her. 'Are you ever gonna tell me everything?'

'No,' she said simply.

'Why not?'

'Because I don't know you, Leonard. You're just a guy I fucked in a bar and now we have to work together,' she said. 'It's awkward but I'm a grown up and I can handle it without whining, alright?'

Hurt, Bones nodded.

'Shall we continue the tour, Doctor?'