Dolls: Chapter 4

Humiliation. A factor in this seemingly simple mission. Deliver a princess to a Starfleet base on the other side of the galaxy. Easy. But not when your lives are in the hands of a six year old girl.

Spock had managed out of the room and was now wondering what to do. The doctor may not approve of what he had wanted to do, but he knew for the time, it was certainly a logical decision. If it would only work…

He carefully ran to sickbay, quickly moving aside the objects barricading the door and conjured up a potion. It would increase the adrenaline, thus allowing his atoms to be less easily manipulated and give him roughly five minutes before it would either stop working or make him pass out.

He inhaled it, seeing as the substance could be potentially poisonous, but the scent was enough to stimulate the electrons. He would have to make quick work of this.

To the elevator and off right outside the door of the room…in which the girl sat. Even more reason for this. As he got closer to the door, the pull on his clothing was beginning to bear weight, but his tough Vulcan exterior could resist this. The door squealed open and Spock ran in. Cahili had no time to say anything, but had fully grasped the situation. Spock laid his fingers on her neck and she collapsed like a fly.

Spock looked up to see Kirk, Scotty, Chekov and McCoy looking at him.

"What did you do?" Bones asked, not too accusatorially, but still unsure.

"I simply knocked her out. We have about an hour to get her in to confinement. I suggest we start now."

Kirk, seeming a little dazed and embarrassed, lifted her up and followed Spock to the nearest confinement sect. He put the princess down gently, they turned the force field on and set it on high magnitude. The five men walked down to an empty room and locked the door.

"What happened?" The captain, engineering officer and helmsman all stared at Spock and McCoy.

"She took control of everyone. Ship wide." Bones told them.

"A girl…took control. Of my ship!" Kirk threw himself back from his position on the bench they sat on and raised his arms in the air.

"Spock, do you think that the room will hold her?"

"I do not know, captain." However badly Jim wanted that to be a rhetorical question, it wasn't going to work. He was scared. Truly and honestly scared. Life or death situations, ha, been there, done that. Torture was so last planet. Meeting greek gods? Strange but fine. Mind control : Not okay.

He wanted Spock to tell him this horrible chapter was all over. They were going to deliver the princess and she wouldn't bother them again.

"Doctor, I contacted Starfleet."

"And?"

"And they said they were sending reinforcement ships." They all seemed to let out relieved sighs, Bones in to a full out grin.

"How long will 'ey take, Mr. Spock?" Scotty asked.

"Lt. Royinger had told be they would be commissioned in a week."

"Scotty, Chekov, please return to duty. We need to get her to warp seven." Kirk commanded.

"But captain-" Scotty objected.

"That's an order, Scotty." He spoke in a not very commanding voice.

"Alright sir." Scotty was defeated and left.

"Wait…a week? We can't hold her for that long. What if she breaks out again?" He panicked as soon they left. Jim's eyes got wide as he spoke. Mind control had always been extremely scary for him. If it was a little girl behind it, that wasn't reassuring.

Silence met his ears.

"Thank you." He said quietly. Jim looked up at his officers. His two best friends. "You saved our lives." His eyes seemed to twinkle in affection for them both.

"I'm afraid our mission hasn't ended yet." Spock looked down at his feet. "If she wakes and the accelerated electrons aren't enough, there could be a major problem."

Bones sighed. "Nothing's ever perfect in space, is it?"

"No it is not." Kirk put his cheek in his hand. "What to do now?

"I guess resume normal positions. What are you two going to tell crewmen?" Bones asked.

"Possibly to say an alien force has controls, so remain in caution."

"I thought Vulcans didn't tell lies." Bones said skeptically.

"I am simply not telling the whole truth. I believe you call this a 'White lie.'"

"Alright, make that announcement. Bones, could you get a sedative for her? Keep her under as long as we can?"

"Jim, I can't."

"Why's that?"

"The legal rights of the princess were given to me since I am in charge of medical arrangements. The contract simply forbids me doing so. If I do, Malkans could secede from the federation and potentially kill. They weren't okay with Cahili leaving, except for something…what was it?"

"Go check. Me and Spock are going to return to the bridge."

"Have fun telling that white lie of yours."

"Believe me doctor, fun is certainly the incorrect term."

XXX

Back in sickbay, Bones sighed. It was good to be back where he belonged. Still, the weight of the uncertainty of Cahili waking was worrying. McCoy wasn't entirely sure if Spock would be right with his estimate of an hour, so better make quick work of this.

He turned on the med-record computer.

"Computer, Malkan files." The computer whirred.

"Analyzed. Fifty-Seven results."

"Result; Princess Cahili Agreement, open and print." Even though McCoy always preferred regular records and books to newfangled devices and technology, he was still happy Spock had taught him that computer speak. Even if he was incredibly reluctant to have a hobgoblin teach him.

The paper print speedily and Bones snatched it up, reading every word of it. "The federation prohibits any lactose, gluton…blah blah…" the doctor skimmed through the print. There was an incredibly long list of things she wasn't allowed to have, sedatives being one of them. But why? Why?

More reading and it was there in the fine black type. "Test results of analyzing Conjalytic command in bloodstream could be effected to give untrue consequence…oh my god." McCoy got up and was about to slap on the intercom before remembering his friend Jim must be busy. It didn't matter, Spock or Kirk, he just needed one of them to know.

"McCoy to Bridge."

"Kirk here. Did you find something, Bones?"

"I did. I need someone to come down here, stat."

"I'm on my way. Spock, come on. Kirk out."

McCoy waited hesitantly for his friends to arrive. This entire incident could get a whole lot worse from here. With little delay, Kirk and Spock walked into sickbay, Kirk seeming his normal proud and charismatic and Spock his cool, sleek, cat-like steps. "C'mere. I found out why they need Cahili."

Bones ready through the contract, Spock occasionally raising an eyebrow and Kirk's forehead ruffled in confusion. McCoy finished the briefing. "What does Conjalytic mean?" Kirk asked, a little embarrassed of his lack of knowledge.

"Jim…" McCoy sighed, not wanting to think about it, but having to tell him anyway. "she can create things with her mind."

"Conjalytic coming from the word conjure, meaning to summon objects."

"That would explain the chairs…" Bones said under his breath, none of the other two bothering to ask what he had said.

"So the reason why the malkans agreed…?" McCoy asked. It still didn't seem to make that much sense.

"Because they desire this power." Spock said without faltering.

"There were no Malkans allowed onboard because they know the purposes of the mission and wanted nobody to be told." Bones finished, putting together the puzzle.

"What we need right now is a lawyer." Kirk sighed and put his cheek in his hand.

"Yea, if I could give her sedatives, we could easily make it there without any more playhouse crap." McCoy agreed.

"That was weird." Kirk said quietly.

"I will not disagree, captain."

"Uh huh."

They sat together in sickbay for a minute, savoring each others' presence. They were a triangle. Each trait easily balanced out the others, over and over again. When Kirk felt down or needed someone to empathize with him, he'd turn to Bones and maybe get a drink while playing hold 'em. When he needed someone to stabilize him and needed help getting his thoughts clear, he'd turn to Spock as they would play 3-D chess in the rec room. McCoy following this routine, obviously with his own variations between him and Spock and the Vulcan followed suit. They knew that their three was powerful, even if there were quarrels. They fixed problem after problem onboard the enterprise, now how to fix this one.

Suddenly, the ship began to shake, vibrating down to your bone. Things all of the sudden seemed to be fluorescent and brightly colored, melting in to a sickly cotton candy shaded pink. "What's happening?" McCoy screamed over the intense rattle. Things were breaking outside the room and Kirk had been violently thrown to the floor, soon to be joined by the doctor and first officer. Spock crashed his head against one of the benches, and he was beginning to go comatose.

"Spock!" Kirk yelled, seeing green liquid seep out of his head. The rocking became even more brutal, Jim holding Spock's shoulders so he wouldn't smack into anything else. McCoy was trying desperately to grab on to something when as abruptly as it had started, it stopped once more.

"Spock!" Jim shook him gently, trying to see if he was still conscious.

"Put him down on the bed." Bones signified the beds they had in med bay, one of the few things that was now still not frazzled post space-quake.

McCoy took a pulse. His heart beat was slow for a Vulcan. "I need something to still the bleeding…he's losing blood fast. I can't leave and neither can you under these circumstances." Bones turned to Kirk. The captain nodded, sighed just barely and took off his shirt. "That'll work."

He tied the sleeves around the green substance dripping from Spock's neatly kept hair. It was beginning to get matted and sticky from the blood. The doctor stared at his patient lying before him, seeing the steady rise and fall of Spock's chest. His eyes were shut and brows knitted together in what seemed to be distress. It was like he was asleep.

His expression would change, one of anguish to fear to anger. McCoy and Jim exchanged glances. "is he…going to be okay?" Jim asked, hoping the answer would be yes.

"Pretty sure. A minor concussion. He's been through worse…I just don't know about…" he trailed off, and both knew how the sentence was going to end. Cahili was only an elevator ride away.

Bones pulled over a chair to the bed and gently touched Spock's arm. His face muscles reacted and calmed. His expression seemed more tranquil. Jim had seen it too. "Do that again." Kirk said, stepping over to the bed, also pulling up a chair.

This time, McCoy held on to his arm tightly, and Spock's face returned to it's normal state, but with eyes closed. Spock…Bones thought. Pull through. We need you now. Now. Now.

As if Spock heard him, his eyes shot open, springing to sit up, Kirk's shirt thrown off his head. Bones jumped a little bit and Jim put a hand on Spock's chest. "Lay back down." He told him calmly.

It wasn't getting through. "Jim's right Spock," the doctor said more firmly after a second. "Lay back down. You're losing a lot of blood." As a response to that, his feet flew around the side of the bed and he began to walk out of sickbay. The strain in his muscles was incredible, and it seemed like he would pop a vein. He slowed down for words to force their way out of his mouth.

"I am not in control of my ac-" The tension held on his body was so intense, he couldn't even speak. Bones and Jim stood up and ran over to Spock, trying to push him out of the doorway and get him to the medical bed. One of Spock's arms flailed back and hit Bones squarely in the head, making him fly across the room. Kirk desperately tried to hold the door shut with his strength – and the little button. Spock merely punched the door and it crumpled.

His head seemed to be bent down a little. Not noticeable to the average crewman. But like a flashing motel light to the other two of the three musketeers. His humiliation in being manipulated was so excruciating, it was visible. He headed for the elevator in shame.

Kirk ran over to McCoy, dragging him up and helping keep him up as they limped to the elevator, waiting for it's return.

"Are you alright?" Jim asked, standing him up fully, supporting his shoulders which seemed to bear fifty pound weights. Bones put his hand on his forehead.

"Yea, I'm alright." He shook away from the captain, a way of saying, Yea, I'm okay, now get your grubby hands off me. But, of course, more kindly. "Are you?"

"I'm fine." Replied the shirtless Kirk. "But I can't say the same for Spock."