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It's a short one, but there will be longer ones coming

Cool under pressure was a job requirement for a physician, but this would be testing Bones' resolve. Litha kept her eyes zoned on Bones as she made her way from across the room. His heart was hammering in his chest; this situation just went from bad to much, much worse. Something was not right. Litha was not interacting with the other nurses like she should be, she was not paying attention to any other patient, except Duk, and she did not seem to like how the other women were interacting with him and he doubted it had anything to do with the fact he was a good-looking male. Bones' senses were heightened; the hair on the back of his neck was standing up. It was not like he could run any where; she would probably know every twist and turn on these alleys. Of course, he could just be paranoid. Why would a nurse who had been here for so long not want to be rescued? But with the way his luck ran these days, his day was heading towards hell - fast.

She slowly made her way to sit at the table across from him, her face gave away no emotion. "You believe you have found a way off this planet, made a plan, don't you?" Her eyes twinkled as she laughed. "I did not expect you to be such a resilient character. I knew there was a fire in you, I like it." She folded her hands neatly on the table as if she were discussing tea time.

Bones made no motion only lifted an eyebrow. "Care to explain what in the hell is really going on?" He snarled his lip. It was quite obvious that she had been deceiving him. Bones was not some puppet to be led on a string, he was going to fight – stand up for himself and all those in his care. Even without Jim and Spock beside him, Bones was not going to allow this horror to continue if he had any chance in hell to stop it. He had been played.

Laughing again so loud the other women flinched, she shook her head. "Always so direct and to the point, Dr. McCoy." She smirked. "I am not the woman you believe I am, which is funny, in a way. I am the one spouting off about hope and freedom, yet there is none – atleast not for you and the rest of this motley crew. You will be part of the Prisoner Rehabilitation Team, that's just a fancy way of saying that you will be keeping these slaves in top form ready for transport." Her eyes narrowed in on his face waiting his response. She wanted to watch him rebel and fight against her, to rally when there was no hope.

Bones made no motion only growled his response. "And if I refuse?" He was gripping the table so hard his knuckles were white. This was not something he would do willingly. He might be a good ol' boy who brimmed with racist comments, but he was not a killer, not a slave trader.

Leaning closer, her face darkened. "If you refuse my gracious offer you will be shipped with them to slave the rest of your life away. I am offering you the best chance you have left. Either accept it and stay here, or don't and die. It's a really simple, McCoy." She shrugged and sat straight, her nonchalance further kicking Bones while he was already in the dirt.

He had trusted her, believed her and now she had cut his throat, hung him out to dry. The clues had been right in front of his face and he had ignored them. The first faux shine of light and Bones had dropped his defenses like a child, clinging to the hope she had offered. Was he so weak that he could not see a wolf in sheep's clothing? How had he let her worm his way into his mind? She had offered him a few lies, food and a soft bed and he had bought her act hook, line and sinker. Now he was left devastated. Another twist of the knife buried in his heart, in his nearly-broken soul. But, he would not fall. This might be another step further away from everything he knew, but he would not give up faith.

He took a deep, shaky breath. Star Fleet officers were trained to gather as much information as possible, deflecting the enemy as long as they could without letting their emotions interfere. In other words, Bones was going to have to stall and keep her talking. Enterprise might be headed on their way to pick him up right now, or he might actually be forced to make a deal with the Devil, but he had to get all the facts straight first. How many times had he watched Jim do the exact same thing? Surely he knew how to work people over as much as the blonde stud. "Where are they shipped?" He jerked his head towards the men lying in the cots, his voice gruff.

Smiling, because she thought he was accepting her offer to stay, Litha answered casually. "The Xindi need slaves to mine their dilithium. Some how these natives got in on the slave trade a few years back. It is very lucrative. I was brought here from the original site that some how the Federation had locked onto. I weed them out. If they are strong they go with the Xindi, if they are weak they go with the Orions. I watch them here, milling around with their false sense of freedom, having the whole encampment to muddle around with a false warning about going as far as the 'sea'. I watch the fire in their eyes either intensify or extinguish." These people lives hung in the balance and she acted as if it were merely separating livestock.

Searching his memory on Orions, Bones could not remember any mention of manual labor slave trades. "What do the Orions want with the weak?" He kept his tone neutral, but his mind was whirling, afraid of her answer. His stomach churned as he remembered there were Orions in the camp. There own people would no nothing to protect them. He tried to narrow down to the important facts, ignoring everything else for the time being.

Giving him an incredulous look, she smirked. "My dear Bones, they become pleasure slaves. The weaker ones are so much easier to break than the hearty men." Her eyes lingering over his form, leering at the doctor before snapping back to business. "Everyone gets exactly what they want." Her outer appearance of a loving older woman had evaporated completely, leaving behind a heartless waste of space. The others of the group dared not even look in their direction. Bones was left all alone with the woman and her cruelty.

Belaying no outward signs of his shock, he shrugged as if he were also indifferent. "How often do these transports come?" Keep asking questions, keep stalling and keep her from finding the homing beacon. He had to make sure she had no idea how badly those words effected him, he would not let her have that pleasure. The Enterprise had saved thousands of souls from the same fate she was so willing to ship these poor unfortunates off to, how many of those had been sent by her order?

As if she was happy to find someone who was interested in her work, Litha kept supplying his answers, none the wiser to his plan. "They come every month to collect. The slaves are captured during the third and fourth weeks of the month usually, which leaves us with a week or two without anyone in camp. There are some they choose to keep, like that pregnant girl because a half-Deltan is hard to come by." She actually had the audacity to smile. "So Bones, are you going to choose which side of the fence you are going to stay on? The prison ship will be here in less than forty-eight hours. You will either be on it or helping to load the new 'recruits'." She lifted her eyebrow, weighing his options for him. She already expected him to stay by her side, to forget the life he once knew. Her arrogance was stifling.

Taking a deep breath, Bones mind began to click over the possibilities. If he chose to stay a prisoner, he would not have any access to the plans of this sick group and might not be here when the Enterprise came, but if he chose to stay with Litha, he would gain further access to help shut the operation down and might be able to lead Jim to where these poor souls were being taken. The choices were slim pickings. "I think I'll stay with you." He tried to sound cheerful and choke back the bile threatening to climb his throat. He was not lost; he was still the Country Doctor he had always been, but when in Rome… Deceit and deception were not his strong points, but he'd have to be a fast learner, he had watched a lot of classic Bond films growing up, maybe they would help him.

Litha nodded happily. "Good choice, McCoy. Now, first thing is first, if you are going to be one of us, you are going to have to meet with R'Url. So, keep your mouth shut and do what I tell you." She got up from the table sending glares at the other girls, who no doubt had not been offered such an option, and led him from the hospital. "You have proven your worth, Bones. We have needed a man with your talents these many years. So many of these scrawny ones die before we can hand them off to the Orions, waste of time and effort, but you will change that." Her head held high as if she was proud of tainting Bones' hands with the blood of her victims.

Bones gave one last apologetic glance towards Sesse and with a small nod as he followed Litha towards the massive structure. "What about those nurses? I need a team if I'm to keep all these people healthy?" He had to do something to save those young women from torment.

Litha shot him a look over his shoulder, sizing up his query. "If R'Url deems it acceptable, you may have your extra nurses, but I would not hold out hope, Bones. There will always be new ones, better ones." She shrugged and kept trudging forward.

R'Url sounded like a character he didn't truly want to meet, but he had no choice. He was a Star Fleet officer, he was undercover, he was unafraid, he was awaiting back up, he would make it through this terrible nightmare and he would have helped all these other lost souls along the way because he was Dr. Leonard McCoy – this was not the end of him.

A/N: thanks for reading

I'm thinking that in the next few chapters the action will start

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