An unexpected sensation overcame Spock's sense of being as he and the mysterious woman were transported into a room that was separate from the chamber that he had once been imprisoned along with Uhura and Dr. McCoy. This new room was just as poorly lit but somehow felt darker. It was cold. The room was cold, the emotions in the room were cold and the strong metal shackles that restrained his wrists were cold.

Spock looked at the massive restraints that bound him helplessly in the secondary chamber. The shackles were attached to two separate but equally strong platinum chains that ran from the ceiling and hovered just a few feet above the ground. Suspended two feet off the ground Spock found himself helplessly dangling by his shackled wrists and face to face with his Vian captors.

Standing behind the two Vians, cowering with righteous fear, was the mysterious woman who had been taken away from the main chamber as Spock had been.

"Shall we begin?" Thann asked Lal, his voice colder than the room and his eyes locked onto the Vulcan prisoner.

"Yes." Lal nodded with an almost cruel indifference. "I believe this shall be a very enlightening experience."

Thann had taken a small, beige metal device from his robe pocket and lifted it until it was level with Spock's chest. "Vulcans are said to be of the highest emotional resolve of any known intelligent being. It is also stated that the Vulcan's ability to endure great amount of physical stress and pain is just as formidable as their emotional restraint."

Lal turned his head and looked at the woman who seemed to be pleading with her eyes for the Vian's to stop the inhumane 'experiment' before it began. "Such a strong mind could prove useful for our future endeavors."

Spock, who remain stoic and unphased by the idle threats of the Vians, broke his silence in a manner befitting his reported resolve. "Your experiments are both a waste of time and energy. There is no benefit in physical or mental tortures to 'break' an individual, as a broken individual would be rendered inert by said experiments. Your entire experiment is illogical and therefore arguably invalid."

"Well said." Lal complimented dryly. "However, we are not interested in logic. Only results."

On that final statement Thann turned on the bizarre device in his hand using a powerful telekinetic command generated from his own mind. The device screeched to life and instantly sent a violent shock of pain through Spock's chest and core.

Spock managed to keep his composure and didn't flinch at the searing pain that was now burning through his chest.

"Curious." Thann remarked as he used the device again. "I do believe your notion of enlightenment is justified, Lal."

Wave after wave of unseen and nearly unbearable pain wracked Spock's entire body as he remained suspended by chains above the floor.

The cowering woman fell to one knee and shielded her eyes from the brutality that was taking place before her. A violent act that she was unable to stop or even protest.

Spock chose to focus his mind elsewhere, to block the pain before it had a chance to affect him. Using his keen observation skill Spock analyzed his situation, memorized the layout of the chamber, eyed the device in Thann's hand and spotted Dr. McCoy's medical kit sitting on a circular desk in the center of the room.

The woman only rocked herself fearfully on her knees as she silently begged for the experiment to end.

Dr. McCoy and Uhura walked side by side as they carefully examined the walls of the dark chamber, desperate to find some opening or weak point that could be used a possible escape route. The circular chamber was completely sealed yet it seemed to stretch into infinite nothingness.

"Great, no way out." McCoy grumbled as he and Uhura made a complete circle. "So how in the hell did we get in here to begin with?"

"I'm not sure." Uhura was trying to focus on Dr. McCoy's words but her mind kept wandering back to Spock. "The last thing I remember was hearing some kind of high pitched frequency before waking up here."

"Yeah, I heard it too. And I'm pretty sure that same frequency is what took out our missing scientists on the security footage."

"What're we going to do? We can't leave, we can't signal for help, we can't find Spock..."

McCoy heard the hope in Uhura's voice beginning to fade with each word she spoke. "Don't worry, that pointy eared boyfriend of yours it too stubborn to be held prisoner by anyone." He put his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "And Jim isn't the kind of Captain to leave his crew behind, let alone his friends."

Uhura only nodded as she was unable to find a confident enough to tone to answer properly.

"Besides, Kirk needs Spock, Spock needs you, you need to keep Spock in line so he keeps Kirk in line and, God help me... I need Spock to help keep Kirk in line."

Uhura couldn't help but grin at Dr. McCoy's attempt to lighten the overall gloomy situation. "I'm sure Spock will be happy to know that."

"Spock? Happy? When pigs fly..."

A sudden flash of light filled the chamber and in the center of the chamber near the bench was Spock, who was leaning against the bench wearily. The mysterious woman had also been returned to the chamber and was kneeling beside Spock, her hand hovering just near his shoulder as if she were afraid to touch him.

"Spock!" Uhura rushed over to her injured love as McCoy followed close behind. Uhura wrapped her hands around Spock's arm in an attempt to help him stand up. "What have they done to you?"

McCoy grabbed Spock's other arm and assisted Uhura in standing the injured Vulcan up and then to help him lay down on the bench. "Easy Spock, don't move too quickly."

"I can assure you doctor, I will not be moving quickly in this moment or any near future moment."

"Good." McCoy was almost relieved to know that Spock wasn't going to be as stubborn a patient as usual. "Just lay there and let us help you."

Uhura took Spock's hand in her own and saw the painful green bruises that encircled his wrists. His hands had grown pale due to the cut off blood circulation and his fingers were unusually cold beneath Uhura's warm touch. "Spock, did they put you in chains?"

Spock merely nodded and winced as he tried to take a breath.

McCoy carefully examined Spock's wrists, using a gentle grip to ensure he didn't exasperate the injury site. "I don't have my med kit and the tricorder can only tell me so much, but I'm certain nothing has been broken." He allowed Spock to retract his hands and rest them across his chest, which caused him to wince in pain once more. "Chest pain?" McCoy asked, already knowing that the answer was 'yes'. Gingerly he ran his hands down the sides of Spock's rib cage, feeling the fractures in his ribs shift slightly under his touch.

Spock tried to deny the pain but he knew that it was pointless. Again he nodded.

"Where exactly? Can you describe it?" Despite already knowing the location of the pain McCoy continued to ask Spock as a means of keeping the Vulcan's mind distracted.

Spock tried to speak but a sudden cough caught him off guard and stole his voice.

McCoy put his hands on Spock's shoulders to try and steady him until the coughing fit passed, while Uhura kept on hand on his and used her other hand to gently run her fingers through his dark hair.

The woman, who had been watching will much fear in her eyes slowly pulled herself up from the floor until she was sitting on the edge of the bench. With a shaking hand she reached for Spock's chest but couldn't bring herself to touch him. She pulled her hand away and pressed her fingers to her quivering lips as the fear of pain halted her.

McCoy could see it in her kind eyes that she so desperately wanted to help Spock as much as he and Uhura. "It's okay." He spoke to her with the same calm compassion as a father would his daughter. "He's in pain but his injuries aren't life threatening. You can help him if you want to, you won't suffer anything permanent." He smiled at her to try and convince her. "And I'm a doctor, I'll take care of you, too. I promise."

The woman never spoke but she seemed to understand McCoy and believed him when he promised to take care of her. Returning her focus to Spock she hovered her hand over his chest and slowly laid her palm down on his chest. She began flinching and silently enduring Spock's pain as her healing touch soothed the coughing fit.

"Doctor," Spock spoke up suddenly, his coughing fit subsided. "you must refrain from-"

"Shut up Spock, she's helping you." McCoy turned on his tricorder and began scanning the woman's vital signs. As her heart rate climbed McCoy kept a closer eye on her physical reactions. "Okay, okay, okay!" He gently used his hands to pull her hand from Spock's chest. "He'll be alright now. You did great."

Uhura watched in amazement as the bruises around Spock's wrists faded and his breathing became more even. "That's incredible..."

McCoy help onto the woman's arms to support her until she had also recovered from the pain and regained her strength. "Thank you." He continued to offer his kind words of encouragement to the woman as her body trembled from the horrid pain she had only recently endured. "You're a real gem, do you know that?"

She smiled and blushed a little. Though she never spoke she understood all that was being said perfectly well.

Spock slowly sat up right on the bench and turned his gaze to Uhura. "Are you and Dr. McCoy uninjured?"

"Yes," she put her hand on the side of his face softly. "we're fine."

"But we're still trapped." McCoy grimly reminded the team. "And we can't communicate with the Enterprise."

"I am not so sure, doctor." Spock commented with a look of intrigue in his eyes. "I believe we can signal our location to the Enterprise by commandeering the same device that the Vians used to transport myself and the empath to a secondary chamber."

"If the device can be used as a transporter then why don't we just transport ourselves back up the Enterprise and get the hell out of here?"

"The device is of a technology that I do not fully comprehend. It would be unwise to attempt to beam four persons aboard a starship without understanding its full capabilities."

"Good point." McCoy admitted begrudgingly. "So, how do we get one of those devices? Ask?"

"I hardly think 'asking' the Vians for-"

"Sarcasm Spock, sarcasm!" McCoy cut him off mid sentence. "Just... tell me your plan."

"I shall. Once I devise one."

"Oh, great. So we just sit here and wait until you think of a new plan, meanwhile the Vians could take any one of us away again and do who knows what to us!"

Uhura tightened her grip around Spock's hand. "Then we'll just have to keep our heads and work together."

Spock looked at Uhura with a glimmer of pride in his intense gaze. "Well said."

"Scotty, give me an update!" Kirk checked in with his chief engineer as he hovered anxiously over Chekov's shoulder.

'Captain, if we stay for more than three hours then the Enterprise will be contaminated with radiation.'

"Can you do anything to boost our radiation shields."

'No. Yes. Well... Maybe.' The conflict in Scotty's voice resonated throughout the ship.

"Mr. Scot, I need a definitive answer: Yes or no."

'If I take power from another section of the ship and bypass it through the radiation shields I could theoretically give the Enterprise an addition five hours. But I'd have to reroute the power from somewhere that wouldn't endanger the ship as a result.'

Kirk's blue eyes flashed as an idea came to mind. "What about the transporters?"

'Aye, that'll do. But then we won't have the power to beam anyone else down to the planet's surface, let alone beam the away team back up.'

"Then I'll just have to take a shuttle to the planet's surface."

'A shuttle? You? But Sir-'

"Scotty do what you have to do. Keep the Enterprise safe and in orbit until I return with the away team.'

'But... Aye, Sir. I'll do my best.' Scotty obeyed the order, soundly practically defeated as he replied.

"Kirk out." Patting Chekov on the shoulder Kirk headed toward the turbo lift. "Mr. Sulu, you have the con."

"Aye, Sir." Stepping away from the helm Sulu sat in the Captain's chair and began analyzing his options in the event of an emergency. "Mr. Chekov, keep an eye on those readings."

"Yes, Sir!"

Kirk stepped into the turbo lift alone, determined on getting down to shuttle bay one. The doors slid shut and let out a heavy sigh as the immense weight of the rescue mission was finally beginning to press down against him.

...to be continued...