Don't Look Away

Chapter 10

"Oh! what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive!"

Sir Walter Scott

"Spock, I want you to meet Tareem in the transporter room by yourself. Keep your comm open so I can hear what he has to say. I'll give you a couple of minutes then I'll come in through the transporter doors; I want him to be thrown off balance by seeing me."

"You will be quite a surprise, Captain, since he thinks that you and your entourage are still missing. What his reaction will be when he sees that you are back on board the Enterprise will be interesting."

They made their way to the transporter room to wait for Tareem, Jim stopping just outside the door; Spock would beep the comm once to signal Jim that it was time for him to come through the door.

Scotty, himself, was manning the transporter for safety sakes, since the dampening field was a constant danger. Spock stood still in front of the pad, his hands clasped behind his back. He nodded to Scotty. "Have you received the coordinates, Mr. Scott?"

"Aye, Sir. They've just come in."

"Very well, Mr. Scott, energize."

They waited while the silvery whine of the transporter signaled incoming traffic. Tareem appeared on the transporter pad, took a look around the room, then stepped down and bowed his head to Spock. "I am Tareem, First of Niobe. Do I have the honor of addressing Spock, of James' entourage?"

Spock inclined his head. "I am Spock, Tareem."

"Spock, of James' Entourage, it is my sad duty to inform you that James, First of Enterprise, his Second, the Healer McCoy, and the other three of his entourage, have disappeared. I had, to our shame, sequestered them on the second floor rooms of my domicile. They used a rope made from linens in the rooms to climb down the walls. We have not had any success in finding them. We fear some ill has befallen them." He lowered his head in submission. "I accept whatever punishment it is you wish to give me. It was my decision to have James and his entourage sequestered and to keep them from contacting you. My Second and Third argued strenuously against my doing this, but I did not listen to their counsel."

"I see," said the impassive Spock, very conscious that his Captain was listening to every word of Tareem's confession. "May I ask why you took this action when your Second and Third adviced against it?"

"It was an ill-conceived action brought about by my desperation of what has befallen my children and many other Niobian children, as well as some of their mothers. I believed that if your healer McCoy could help them, i would keep him on Beta Niobe until all were healed. I can assure you that I did not intend to keep them sequestered forever."

"Tareem. The healer McCoy, James, and the others would have been happy to help if you had been forthright and honest with them."

Tareem sighed. "I see that now, Spock. James and the healer McCoy tried to tell me this, but I would not listen. At the time I felt if we told them the truth they would flee back to your ship in fear of the disease. It is a disease unknown to us. Our children are generally very healthy, almost never in need of medical intervention. This illness caught us unprepared. We have closed all the schools because so many of the children have been struck down. My own two children are in hospital with the illness. They sleep and do not wake. I have been most distraught, and so, also, has my wife. She will not leave their side. I fear she too, will soon be struck down with the illness."

"I see," said Spock.

"As I said, I am prepared to accept whatever judgement you deem correct. I ask that you spare my Second and Third, they tried to convince me of the wrongness of my actions. I take full responsibility and ask that you punish only me. I have told my Second that if I do not return, he will become the First. You may feel confident that he is an honorable man and will not follow in my footsteps."

"I see," Spock said again. He pressed the communicator button and Jim came striding in the door, fire in his hazel eyes. He stopped short by Spock's side.

"James!" Tareem said, his face utterly shocked! He turned deathly pale and suddenly pitched forward. Only Spock's lightning reflexes saved him from a nasty fall on the hard floor of the transporter room.

"Damn," Jim said softly. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

Spock was already on his comm. "Dr. M'Benga, Nurse Chapel, please report to the transporter room stat. We have a medical emergency."

Spock gently turned Tareem over and laid him head up on the cold floor. The First's face was very pale, his breathing shallow. Jim knelt and put a finger to where he thought his carotid artery would be; he felt the pulse beating there, sluggish and thready.

"Spock, what's wrong with him? What happened before I came in?"

"I am not sure, Sir. I believe Tareem has been under tremendous stress. You heard him on the comm unit, his two children are very ill. His distress and guilt about your disappearance have also taken a toll on him. It seems that his Second and Third tried to dissuade him from the path he took and he did not heed their advice. When he saw you, it was too much for him."

The Medical team came hurrying through the door and M'Benga knelt on the floor beside Tareem. He ran the tricorder over him and looked up at the Captain. "His vitals are poor, Captain. They show that he hasn't eaten and he's very dehydrated; his stress level is very high. Let's transport him to Sick Bay where I can get some fluids and nutrients in him. I'll also give him antianxiety medication. He should be fine in a couple of hours. How long has he been unconscious?"

"Four minutes 45 seconds, Doctor."

"He'll be coming around soon, then. I'd like for him to be in bed when he does. The floor is not the best place to regain consciousness." He nodded to the med techs and they transferred Tareem to a hover stretcher. "Nurse Chapel, get him started with fluids and nutrients. I'll be there shortly to give him the antianxiety medication. I don't want to give him anything until I check the Sick Bay software to be sure it's safe for his species."

"Yes, Doctor," Christine nodded to the three men and followed the stretcher out.

"I'd like to question him when he regains consciousness, if you think he'll be up to it, "Jim told him. "Also, I don't want him to see Dr. McCoy until I'm ready to tell him about Bones contracting the virus."

"I'll let you know when he's ready for questioning, Captain. He'll be in the main Sick Bay area Dr. McCoy's quarantine room is not where he can see it."

"Good," Jim told him. "I'm going to go check in on Bones so I'll be there when Tareem regains consciousness. Spock, you have the con again. I may need you after Tareem regains consciousness."

"Yes, Captain."

Jim followed M'Benga back to the Sick Bay and went directly to see Bones. Ordinarily he was the most compassionate of men, quick to feel for those who were ill, injured or less fortunate, but he was still very angry with Tareem. Bones could have died if the ship hadn't found them in time. He shuddered at that thought.

Jim walked into the quarantine room surprised and happy to see Bones sitting up in bed. "Bones! You look a hell of a lot better."

"Hey Jimbo," Leonard's blue eyes were clear again and his face had regained its usual color. He smiled at Jim. "I'm feeling lots better. Geoffrey says he'll release me late this afternoon to my quarters." He sighed. 'It'll be good to sleep in my own bed again."

Jim sat on the edge of the bed and patted Bones blanket covered leg. "That's great news. Just be careful and don't overdo it, Bones. We don't want you to have a relapse."

"Jim. I am a doctor, you know. I think I know how to monitor myself while I recuperate," Leonard huffed, irritated.

"Maybe, maybe not," Jim said, serenely. "We all know how you are, Bones, so you better believe that I'm going to keep a very close eye on you and if you don't behave, I'll sic Spock on you. You know he's like a dog with a bone when he's got a project in hand." He grinned. "See what I did there? "Dog with a bone."

"Don't pun around, Jim. I'm not up to it." Bones' frowning glower just added to Jim's amusement and he laughed in delight at seeing his usual growly Bones back again.

Bones kept frowning at him. "I'm not a project, Jim, so you keep that hobgoblin away from me."

"I will if you behave yourself," Jim told him, still grinning.

"Alright, alright, I'll follow Geoffrey's orders to the letter. Will that make you happy?"

"Yep, it will." Jim's hazel eyes suddenly clouded. "Let me tell you, Bones, that I never want to go through that again. You being so sick was hell. I don't know how you do it all the time."

"It's my job, Jimmy, I have to do it," said Leonard, softly, "I have lots of practice, but sometimes it's harder than other times." He gave Jim a meaningful look.

"I know, Bones. I'm a trial to you; don't think I don't realize it." He patted the sick bay pajama clad shoulder affectionately. "Be that as it may, better for it to be me than you." He moved closer to Leonard on the bio bed and lowered his voice. "I have something to tell you."

"What?" Leonard looked alarmed.

"Nothing about you, don't worry. You're doing fine Geoffrey says. It's just that something's come up that you need to know about. Tareem is here on the ship."

"Here? On the ship? "Leonard looked shocked. Then he stared hard at his Captain. "How did you manage that?"

"I'll tell you about all that later, it's not important. The point is that he's here and he's collapsed."

"Collapsed? Did he contract the virus too?" Bones pushed back the bed covers. "I better check him out, the sooner he gets the antiviral the better."

"Bones" Jim said exasperated. "Didn't we just this minute have a conversation about you following Dr. M'Benga's orders to the letter?" He pushed Leonard gently back on the bed and winced when he felt how fragile Bones felt under his hand.

"Yeah, we did, and I'm not going to exert myself, Jim. I'm just gonna' examine Tareem and get him started on the antiviral," Leonard said, his blue eyes looking pleadingly at his Captain.

"No Bones. Chapel and M'Benga are taking care of him and besides he's not sick with the virus. He's stressed, exhausted and feeling guilty as hell about what he did to us on the planet. Now you just relax and stay put." He looked sternly at the doctor.

Leonard looked at the implacable look on Jim's face and gave in. He relaxed again on his pillow. "Alright, I'm relaxed. See how relaxed I am? Now tell me the rest of it."

Jim told him what Tareem had recounted to Spock; how he'd gone against the advice of his entourage to sequester them. "So it seems holding us were the actions of one desperate man, Bones. He more or less panicked and he knew you'd be able to help the kids and the mothers who are also sick. He was afraid if we left, we wouldn't go back."

Leonard nodded. "Well it's understandable, who knows what we all would've done if all the kids on Earth were getting sick like that. But we'll help them, Jim. I'll have Spock put all his Science labs to work and start replicating the antiviral as soon as I check the components Geoffrey used. A Medical emergency comes before any existing Science experiments as you well know. We gotta' know for sure it's gonna' works on the Beta Niobians. They are humanoids, but genetically they're slightly different from us."

"I'm going to interrogate him first. What he did was wrong. I don't know how Admiral Boyce is going to feel about this. He sent us down to the planet in good faith and look what happened to you?" Jim's cheekbones flushed with anger as he thought again of what Bones had gone through. "Star Fleet doesn't take kindly to that kind of treatment of its officers, especially when the Niobians asked us to go there in the first place."

"Now Jim, Dr. Boyce is first and foremost a doctor, that hasn't changed since he went to Command, and he's a damn fine one at that. When we tell him what's happenin' to those kids, he'll want us to help. Now I know you're mad about what happened to me and I don't know what you're gonna' do about Tareem, but what's important here is the children, you know that Jim."

Jim ran his hand through his sandy hair. "Yeah, I know, Bones, but you could have died." He took a deep breath, pulling his gold tunic down. "Okay, I might as well get this over with. Tareem is here in Sick Bay. Geoffrey thought it best that he didn't know you were so sick, Tareem is very stressed already."

Leonard nodded. "Yeah, guilt and worry will do that to you. Go on, Jimmy, go do what you do best, then come back and tell me what went down; oh and keep a tight rein on your temper, Captain. I'm fine now."

Jim walked to the back of Sick Bay until he spotted Chapel and M'Benga. The door was open and he could see them monitoring Tareem. He walked into the room and stood silently until M'Benga finished what he was doing.

Dr. M'Benga looked up. "He's doing better, Captain. He should be coming around momentarily. Please stand back. I don't want him seeing you to shock him again. I'll just tell him that you're here; that will give him a little warning."

Jim nodded. They waited silently, Jim rocking on his heels impatiently. He still had to report to Admiral Boyce and he knew the Admiral would be angry. Finally Jim saw Tareem's eyes flutter open. He looked up at Chapel and M'Benga. "What has happened?"

"I'm Dr. M'Benga and this is Nurse Chapel. You collapsed on the Enterprise transporter room, Sir; you are on the Enterprise in our Sick Bay. You were dehydrated and your blood sugar was low from lack of food. Also your blood pressure was very high. We've given you nutrients and medication for your stress. You'll feel much better in a few minutes." The doctor cleared his throat. "Sir, Captain Kirk is here, and wishes to speak with you." He waited for a few seconds until Tareem nodded then stepped aside.

Tareem looked at Jim; Jim looked at Tareem, neither man saying a word. Finally, Tareem inclined his head. "James, it is good to see that you are well. For a time I was very concerned something had happened to you and to your entourage."

Jim took a deep breath trying to control his anger. "Something did happen, Tareem. Something happened to Healer McCoy. He contracted the virus. You exposed him to it when you took him to that hospital without taking any precautions for his own health. He almost died and it's no thanks to you that he didn't. Enterprise found us just in time."

Tareem closed his eyes, his expression anguished. "James, I offer no excuse. Do with me what you will. I deserve any punishment you wish to mete out to me. I can only tell yout that I was desperate because of my children, because of all the children on our planet."

"If it was up to me I'd put you in the brig, Tareem….you deserve no less for putting McCoy's life in danger and for kidnapping us. However, it's not up to me. I must report to Admiral Boyce first. He acted in good faith after you reached out to the Federation and he's not going to be happy when I report what you did to his Star Fleet officers and how one of his best Star Fleet doctors almost died as a result of your carelessness."

"I understand, James. I will wait for the verdict." He lay back in the bed and closed his eyes wearily. "How is Healer McCoy," he asked not opening his eyes.

"He's improving, no thanks to you." Jim's voice was cold. "Only Dr. M'Benga's swift intervention saved his life."

Dr. M'Benga, looking closely at his patient, interjected, "Captain, that's enough for now. He needs to rest. You can resume your questions after he rests for a while."

Jim nodded. "I'll be back later, Tareem. Right now my first duty is to report what happened to Admiral Boyce." He pivoted on his heel and left the sick bay room.

He took the lift to the Bridge; everything was quiet and Spock was in the Captain's chair. He got up to give Jim the chair, but Jim waved him back down. "I have to report to Admiral Boyce, Spock. I'll be in my ready room; it may take a while, so just keep the con until I'm finished."

"Yes, Captain. How is Dr. McCoy? And Tareem?"

All bridge personnel eyes turned to Jim. McCoy was universally loved by his crew; they were all worried about him. "He's doing much better. Dr. M'Benga is going to release him later today to finish recuperating in his own quarters. As for Tareem, he's not doing great, but he's improving. Dr. M'Benga is monitoring him. I'm going back there after I speak with the Admiral and he tells me how he wants us to proceed." He sighed; angry Admirals were never a good thing and he didn't look forward telling Admiral Boyce what had happened on Beta Niobe.

"Lt. Uhura, I'll be in my ready room, please pipe Admiral Boyce's comm there." He sat in front of the main comm unit until Admiral Boyce's smiling face appeared.

"Captain, Jim, how did your visit to Beta Niobe go?"