Spock knew his own mind well, he had needed to ever since childhood what with growing up amongst telepaths and participating in mind melds with his father, because of that he soon deduced that the feelings and memories inside his mind were not his own. Instead of moving away from the alien thoughts he embraced them and analysed them clinically, letting his curiosity get the better of him.

He let all the feelings flow into his mind freely and started to break down what each one was telling him; pain, hunger, terror, cold, thirst, worry, fear. The overwhelming emotion he was feeling was fear, and the further he reached out the more he realised the thoughts didn't belong to just one mind; no these were the fears and worries of hundreds of people.

Spock continued to let his mind open up and with it came not just emotions but tangible thoughts.

Everything hurts…

It's so cold… and dark…

Water… please water…

Spock tried to discern whether anything he was feeling or thinking was real, this felt like a dream but also it didn't. He was usually able to distinguish between the two but everything felt muddled and fuzzy. One particularly loud thought eradicated all else with the force of hundreds of voices screaming at once - "Help us!"

Spock jolted awake. He sat up and immediately regretted the action when it caused a blinding flash of pain to strike through his head; he brought his hand to the back of his head and winced when he prodded the wound. He fingered the injury carefully and felt a lump and a nasty gash, which was sticky and had clearly been seeping blood. Spock confirmed his suspicions when he brought his hand in front of his face and saw it was smattered with green blood.

Well at least they took the restraints off.

Spock felt around his immediate surroundings and noticed the cold concrete floor beneath his hands, heard the fizzling of an energy barrier and deduced that he had been placed in some kind of cell or holding room. He came back around to the blood on his hand and frowned at it, trying to remember exactly how it had happened. The cell, the head wound and the flippant remark about the restraints suddenly brought it all flooding back.

All of the memories slammed back into place at once and Spock was now very aware that they were all in danger, and that a rebel band of Klingons had captured and now clearly imprisoned them. The revelation brought on a new concern for Captain Pike and Number One who had been in the Klingon's clutches, and had been as equally banged up as he felt.

Spock took a deep breath in an attempt to stave off the dizzying effects caused by the knock to the head. It took a few moments but eventually his vision grew clearer, and he felt confident that he could move his head without the consequence of seeing double everywhere. He used his newly regained sight to seek out his crew-mates; he soon found Una standing at the entrance to the cell and zeroed in on her and looked for any obvious injuries. From what he could see the first officer looked just as she did back in the hall, she was steady on her feet and appeared to be studying the force field for any sign of weaknesses.

Abruptly Una turned on the spot and her eyes widened when she noticed that he was conscious and relatively aware; she frowned at his seated position and gestured to his head. "Take it easy Spock, you took a nasty knock to the head."

That was frankly an understatement, he felt like several somethings were still cracking him over the head but he did not want his weaknesses spoken aloud for the enemy to hear.

"I am fine." He eventually replied steadily.

The incredulous look from Una told him she believed his lie even less than he did. Spock stamped down hard on the thought and brushed his own discomfort aside; he looked around the rest of the cell for Captain Pike and felt severely disappointed when he noticed it was just he and Una in the space.

He started to pick himself up off the floor and even though he was careful and kept his movements slow it was still painful; he winced when a slight twinge along his side twisted into fiery agony. Spock was almost certain that the Klingons had broken at least a couple of his ribs when they had captured him, and this pain and tenderness all but confirmed it. Spock straightened up slowly and held his ribs protectively, pushing aside the injury in the face of more pressing matters.

"The Captain?" Spock asked although he didn't suspect that Una would know anymore than he did.

Number One shook her head sadly. "He wasn't here when I woke up."

Spock closed his eyes and took in a deep breath; he swallowed down the terror that such a statement brought on. They both knew what that meant, if Pike wasn't here then he was in the hands of the Klingons. The Captain was likely being interrogated and probably tortured right now. The thought alone made Spock nauseous and he had to clench his hands into fists to stop them from trembling. It wasn't often that he actually had to stamp down on his emotions becoming physical, the level of rage he sometimes felt scared even him.

It was happening again now, just like it happened earlier when he saw the Klingons attacking Pike and Number One. Spock tried to push the feelings aside but he was finding it more and more difficult to do so, he hated seeing his colleagues, no his friends in danger.

Spock had managed to remain distant and estranged for most of his adult life and it had served him well, no attachments and no emotions. But on Enterprise… The Captain had ensured that Spock became part of the family whether he wanted to or not, and against his better judgement Spock had opened up and somehow all these people had wormed their way into his heart. He blamed the Captain most of all, Pike had made it his mission to befriend Spock and somewhere along the way the human had succeeded.

So now Spock was left with these feelings that he did not want and that he struggled to control, because he cared for Pike he could no longer turn off or control his emotions like he once could. It was getting worse as time went along, as the Captain ended up in more life and death situations than statistically likely. Even now feeling like this and hating the fact that he was so compromised, Spock couldn't bring himself to truly regret letting Christopher Pike become his friend; he was a good man and he enjoyed his company. If these feelings were the price of that friendship then Spock would just have to figure out how to cope with them.

He buried the distracting thoughts and made his way over to join Commander Una. He studied their surroundings meticulously and noticed for the first time that there were two armed Klingons standing outside the cell; so even if they found a way through the force field they would still have opposition to deal with.

Spock watched the Klingons and flashed back to the moment in the hall when he had seen them rushing in carrying Bat'leths, and ready for battle. He had been concerned about the gatekeepers that was true, but he had never suspected anything like this to happen.

He began to replay the day over in his head, and thought about what he could have done differently to prevent this chaos. Spock knew he should have been more vigilant; he should have realised something was deeply wrong before a Klingon was literally running to incapacitate the Captain. Spock should have done more, he knew he should have.

Spock turned his back to the guards and scoured the rest of the cell, finding nothing out of the ordinary. "Have you identified any weaknesses?" He muttered discretely to Number One, not wanting to make the guards aware what they were talking about.

Una's face fell. "None. I can't see a way to get to the force field controls from here, if we had a laser scalpel perhaps..."

Spock was not surprised but that still didn't soften the news. They needed to escape this place; they needed to help the Thennollians and most of all they needed to rescue the Captain from what was probably a living hell.

Spock turned back to the force field and noticed other cells directly across from theirs, from the limited view they had he could see a corridor stretching down and could hear dozens more force fields in place. He was pretty sure that all of them would match what was opposite, dozens of Thennollian prisoners caged up, tired, afraid, broken. Women, children, the young and the old. The Klingons didn't show mercy to any of them.

Seeing all the cells and the people in them caused Spock to remember his dream and he realised it may not have been just a dream; he knew in a lucid state his telepathy was more acute. There was a good chance that the thoughts and feelings he had felt were from these prisoners, as horrifying as that was. These poor people had got mixed up in this mess, clearly the Klingons had set up the planet as bait, and the Enterprise had walked right into the trap. Speaking of which, he had burning questions and he'd had them ever since K'tach strode into the hall.

"Have they said anything?" He indicated to the guards. "About why we are here or why they asked for the Enterprise?"

"Nothing." Una responded darkly and glared at the guards, clearly pissed off. "When I tried to talk to them they said if I didn't stop they would kill one of the Thennollian children."

Spock resisted the urge to react visibly to the threat. No wonder why he could feel so much fear in the space; the Klingons had threatened the lives of the Thennollian's young. The Klingons clearly knew Starfleet's weakness, and they were utilising it brutally. First with Captain Pike to force him to call Enterprise and now to stop he and Una asking questions.

It was an effective strategy but one that threatened Spock's control over his temper, listening to K'tach's threats earlier had been nauseating. He didn't know how the Captain had stayed so calm; how he hadn't snapped. These Klingons had demonstrated that they would stop at nothing to get what they wanted.

Una suddenly turned to him. "You and the Captain were talking earlier, what was it about?"

Spock had planned on revealing everything when they beamed back aboard the Enterprise but clearly that wasn't going to happen anymore. Una's question reminded him of his own failure to act, or at the very least act enough.

"I sensed that something was wrong, with the Thennollians and the gatekeepers." He clearly failed to keep a lid on his bitterness because Number One picked up on it.

"That's what you told the Captain?"

"Yes. He suggested I pass on my concerns to Lieutenant Amin, and remain vigilant."

I didn't remain vigilant enough. Was the unspoken thought.

Una nodded like she now understood something. "That's why you were on your tricorder most of the night and why you scanned the drinks."

Spock tipped his head in acknowledgment. "I was suspicious."

Una scoffed. "You had good reason to be."

Spock felt his guilt flare up again and stamped down on the unwelcome emotion, instead he kept his mouth shut and remained tight lipped. Una glanced his way when he was silent for some time; he could feel her study his expression and posture and she was soon frowning. "Spock you're not blaming yourself for this mess are you?"

Spock blinked rapidly, surprised that he was so transparent especially when he had tried to school his reaction. "I am in fact at fault. If I'd only-"

"What been a mind reader, developed x-ray vision?" Number One interrupted strongly. "Spock, the Captain and I didn't notice anything amiss until we clocked something had you spooked. You brought your concerns to the Captain, kept Enterprise updated and stopped us all from getting drugged."

Spock waited patiently for her to finish, but the list of events didn't abate his guilt or the fact that he should have done more. "It wasn't enough." He replied softly, remembering the moment hoards of Klingons descended on his friends and being so helpless to stop it.

Una's face softened and she placed a hand on his arm gently. "That wasn't your fault. You did all you could; we all did. They were armed Spock and expecting us; they had us completely outnumbered. This was a well planned and executed trap."

Spock realised what she was trying to do so he tried to visibly let his body relax, and let go of some of his feelings of the past. It could not be changed now and Number One was right about one thing: realistically they had never stood a chance against the Klingons.

A smile slowly made its way onto Una's face and she looked happy about something. Spock studied her and their surroundings carefully but found no reason for the sudden change in mood. Una moved away from the doorway and indicated for Spock to do the same, she leaned in and spoke in soft tones clearly not wanting to be overhead by the guards. "You said you passed on your concerns to Lieutenant Amin?"

Spock nodded and his eyebrow rose as intrigue took over, he still had no idea where Number One was going with this. Thankfully Una clarified. "She is one of the most suspicious people I have ever served with, she wont let your information rest. I imagine alarm bells are already ringing, especially with the abrupt change in plans and deviation from proper protocols."

Spock now understood the first officer's change in mood but he did not share it; he was not one to indulge in wishful thinking. It was true that perhaps his urgings and the Captain's call had made Enterprise aware of a problem, but it was dangerous to think such thoughts and get caught up in hope. Still that was no reason to dash the Commander's.

"Perhaps." He eventually replied.

Before either of them could say anything more on the matter there was a blood-curdling scream that echoed down the corridor; a haunting scream full of agony from the deepest depths of hell. Spock and Una snapped to the sound and their hearts fell when they recognised the voice; it was the Captain.


Chris drifted in and out of lucidity; when he was becoming more aware everything began to throb so he shied away from the misery his body was feeling. Every time he drifted closer to conscious thought his chest throbbed, his ribs burned, his face ached and he could actually feel where his head was smashed open. In between the flashes of pain and grief he heard faint noises; screaming and yells of outrage. Pike was fairly certain that his body was dragged somewhere along the way; now he felt heavy and oddly there were constricting feelings around his chest.

"Wake him up." A voice floated through the haze in his head; he tried to place the familiar tone but he couldn't.

Out of no where something heavy and big smashed into his face; he grunted against the fresh spark of pain and his head swung to the side from the force of the blow. As soon as his brain stopped ping-ponging around inside his skull and he tried opening his eyes; he eventually figured out that he had been slapped back into the land of the living.

Chris tasted blood in his mouth and realised that his teeth must have cut his gums during the slap; he spat out the disgusting material and focussed on clearing away the remaining fog swamping his memories. He tried to focus his vision on something, anything really but he was already seeing double and his sight was greying at the edges. That was when a hand gripped his hair and painfully yanked backwards. Chris cried out and grunted whilst allowing his head to follow the hold; his head eventually collided back against a hard surface which did not do his headache any favours.

Pike blinked wearily up into the pissed off face of a Klingon; he squinted until the Klingon had two eyes rather than four. The Klingon growled down at him and sneered when he saw that the Captain was at least conscious and becoming more aware. Chris winced and hissed sharply when the Klingon released his grip, and gave his head a hard swat as a parting gift.

Chris used the unpleasant sensation to ground him in the here and now; he latched onto the agony rather than shying from it and allowing himself to fall back into darkness. On auto-pilot he went to lift his hand but frowned heavily when he felt resistance and his limb refused to move.

The Captain glanced down and took stock of his predicament. He was sat in a chair; his legs, arms and chest were held in thick leather straps so he was held securely and tightly. He tested each limb in turn which confirmed that struggling against the restraints was useless.

"Welcome back Captain."

Chris followed the voice and his eyes soon found the Klingon Commander; he was sitting in a chair of his own nonchalantly, his eyes gleamed and his arms were crossed showing just how at ease he was. K'tach was flanked on both sides by an armed Klingon guard and there was also another Klingon who was fiddling with some kind of machinery. If being restrained to a chair wasn't enough to keep him in place then the occupants of the room were.

Pike glanced around the room and swallowed when he spotted sharp implements, torture instruments and lots of blood. The Klingons had been busy. Chris suddenly realised that Spock and Number One weren't with him, what with the startling observation and the recent signs of torture…

"Where are my crew?" He snapped urgently.

K'tach smiled and waved an arm dismissively, getting to his feet as he spoke. "They're safely locked away." He moved to stand in front of Pike. "You should start worrying about your own wellbeing."

Chris ignored the threat and the way K'tach's hand strayed near his sheathed knife. He leaned back into the chair and picked a spot on the wall, choosing to stare at it rather than K'tach. "I'm not cooperating with you."

K'tach barked a laugh and clapped Chris on the shoulder jovially, it was an odd reaction and one which made Pike flinch despite his promise not to react. The Klingon Commander shook his head and walked over to one of the tables which was covered in equipment. He picked up a wooden box of some kind and turned around. "I'm afraid you won't have much choice Captain."

Pike had wanted to keep staring at the spot on the wall; to block out K'tach, his threats and any pain coming his way. Curiosity got the better of him though and he watched K'tach carry the wooden box over to the Klingon who started connecting equipment. What the hell?

K'tach deposited the box and eyed the Captain, smiling when he saw that he had his attention. "I assume you're wondering what I plan on doing to you?"

Pike scoffed and returned to the spot on the wall, not willing to play along with the game. K'tach didn't seem phased, in fact he pressed on without missing a beat. "I imagine that after seeing the contents of the this room you're expecting to be tortured. Technically that's not wrong."

Pike wanted to ignore the words; he wanted to fall into his training and make the room go away. The Klingon's vague threats wouldn't let him though, what the hell was K'tach talking about?

The Klingon opened the box and withdrew something which looked rather like a helmet with electrodes attached. He carried it and some sensors over to Chris. "Tell me Captain, have you ever heard of a mind probe?"

Pike snapped to the thing coming his way, already feeling his heart thudding painfully. It didn't take a genius to understand the purpose of such a device; the clue was in the name. He eyed the equipment warily when the Klingon Commander stopped just shy of his chair.

"No." Chris eventually replied. "But I can guess it's purpose."

The Klingon beamed and proceeded forward, undoing the clasps and fitting the strange looking helmet over his captive's head. If Chris wasn't so well restrained he would have struggled more, but the Klingon grasped his head in a tight hold before he shoved the probe down and secured it tightly.

Chris fought to stay calm but that was easier said than done with something strapped to his head, which had already started to whir and make noises. He had been getting prepared for physical pain, he was well accustomed to that. A mental attack on the mind however… How on earth would someone defend against such an attack? His brain threatened to flash back to Telos, where his mind was torn apart and grimly wondered if this was going to be anything like that.

Pike needed to take his mind elsewhere, thinking about that was the last thing he needed. "What do you want K'tach?" He questioned forcibly, his irritation shining through.

K'tach stepped back from the chair and Chris saw the Klingon scientist begin to trail leads from his equipment to the chair. "Information Captain." K'tach answered simply.

Chris sighed. "I don't know if you're aware but whilst the Federation were at war they began to create new protocols to protect sensitive information, incase senior officers became prisoners of war."

K'tach remained silent; he simply watched his captive and showed no concern throughout Pike's speech. "All of our access codes expire daily. Mine did whilst we were eating at the feast. My information is of no use to you, not anymore."

It was the truth, and he supposed K'tach would see that when he insisted on using the damn mind probe, all this had been for nothing. He wouldn't be getting any sensitive Starfleet information from any of them. It had been an effective measure in the war; someone couldn't give up information under torture that they didn't know.

Chris waited for K'tach's violent reaction, he was expecting him to grow angry or snap. He wasn't expecting him to smile and laugh. "I could see that being a problem if I wanted information about Starfleet."

What? What the hell else could he want? What the hell else did Chris even know?

K'tach took a seat opposite and watched the Klingon scientist begin to hook up wires to the mind probe, and he stuck sensor pads on his neck which most likely monitored vitals. Chris' theory was confirmed when he heard a heart beat begin to thump around the room; it was elevated but then again did he really expect anything else in this situation?

"I don't understand."

K'tach leant forward, and he shifted from casual conversation to more direct probing; he gazed at his captive with sudden focus. "You were recently in command of a starship named Discovery."

Oh no… not Discovery, don't probe my mind about that…

They all heard his heart rate spike, K'tach eyed the machine curiously but continued. "On more than one occasion you called upon the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire, and each time L'Rell came running with a D7 no less." He laughed incredulously like he had just told a funny joke, then he sobered and leaned forward the smile falling off his face. "How does a human call on the Klingon Chancellor personally? Why does she continue to come to your aid?"

Well this was perfect. Did it really appear like that to the outside world? That he had called L'Rell and she had come running to their aid? He supposed that with Tyler officially dead amongst the Klingon world it probably had.

"You're mistaken." Chris replied evenly, trying to keep his heart rate down so it didn't betray him. Technically he wasn't lying, he had never called on L'Rell personally he wouldn't even know where to start if it hadn't been for Tyler. "I have never contacted L'Rell."

K'tach studied the heart monitor but noticed no change, he shifted his scrutinising gaze back to Pike. "Do you know what a mind probe does Pike?"

No and I don't want to.

"No." He replied in defeat; he was well aware that he was about to get an up-close experience.

"It scours your mind, piece by piece for any information it's programmed to find. It leaves no stone unturned, no memory is safe. If you try and resist the probe it will rip your mind apart piece by piece, getting the information it needs and leaving a trail of dead memories in its wake."

Chris wasn't afraid of many things in life but this mind probe and what it would supposedly do to his brain did frighten him. Losing one's mind, your precious memories and being unable to stop the enemy from seeing anything they desired. It terrified him. What if K'tach saw that Tyler was still alive? What if he saw the truth about Discovery? Would Chris be able to stop him? His past experience with the Talosians pointed to the fact that it would be difficult if not impossible to keep K'tach from reading his mind like an open book.

K'tach picked up on the fear and noticed the increase in heart rate; he smirked triumphantly. "Of course you could just tell me what I want to know." The Klingon Commander got to his feet and stalked towards his prisoner.

"Tell me how you contact L'Rell, I want you to bring her here."

Chris remembered how K'tach had talked about the Klingon Chancellor, and how he had proclaimed that he and his men didn't follow her. Clearly this was his attempt to overthrow the Klingon power and take it for himself.

He met K'tach's glare evenly. "I can't tell you what I don't know."

K'tach searched his face for something, but clearly he didn't find what he was looking for as his face flashed angrily. "We'll see." K'tach promised threateningly; he tilted his head to the side as if remembering something. "I heard rumours that the Discovery wasn't destroyed as reported, I don't suppose you know anything about that?"

Pike schooled his features, and bit the inside of his mouth, focussing on the pain rather than the effect of the words. His heart rate didn't alter too much but his reaction was clearly enough for K'tach as his sour mood disappeared and he smiled knowingly; he catalogued the reaction for the future.

K'tach addressed the Klingon at the controls. "Is it ready?"

The Klingon scientist nodded an affirmative, causing Pike's heart rate to spike. He gulped and felt his body go tense; he was afraid of the unknown and hoped he could keep his mind clear and in one piece before the night was out.

K'tach took one more look at his prisoner before calling for the switch to be pulled. "Begin."

At first there was nothing, Chris stared at the spot on the wall and cleared his mind of everything, clenching his fists against the arms of the chair in preparation for what was to come. After a few seconds of nothing he started to relax, and he thought that perhaps nothing was going to happen. That was when the fire was lit.

Everything exploded at once; his mind lit up like a fireworks display and agony like no other raced through each and every one of his synapses. The flames burned and scorched everything in their way, branding a path through his mind so deeply he felt the effects in every inch of his body.

Chris screamed until his throat was raw, he arched back against the chair until his ribs buckled, and he yanked at his wrists until they bled. He retreated further into his mind as the probe knocked down all his defences, chased after and unearthed every one of his memories and left a pile of ashes and misery behind.

He ran and ran away from the voice that echoed everywhere.

Give me your mind. Surrender Christopher Pike.