((ADDENDUM: I changed the last name of the CMO of the space station to Rasul. I don't normally do that, never have before, but in this case I had a good enough reason to do it.

The more I have happening in a chapter, the more difficult I find it to name it. Damn. Choose who you want to pin that line on. It's from the song Wunderbar by Deine Lakaien. No, I didn't translate this into English. The song itself is (mostly) English, horribly sad, I love it to pieces, and I hate to think about it because then it starts rotating in my head for eternity. What have I just done to myself?))

'This thing telling you anything other than that you really need a haircut, Jim?' Bones's voice was tired but amused. He sauntered over to the bed and fell into the chair Spock had left there. 'If it is, maybe I can borrow it. I'd like some answers. Like why the hell everything's falling apart here. Or what I did to that tricorder down on the planet. It's not working right since then.' Jim placed the nara capsule on his bedside table and looked at his friend.

'What do you mean, not working right?'

'I was too lazy to manually change the settings back, so I set it to default. Only the thing is giving me different readings than the rest of them now.' He shrugged. 'Spock was down on the planet.' Jim sat up abruptly, only to be pushed back into the sheets. 'Calm down, man. I said was, not went down and vanished. He found a few more brushes like our trees. Took them back here. He's going to return the tricorder later. Apparently he didn't even tell Bligh he was going. Stubborn Vulcan.'

'He's all right, though?' Bones smiled.

'He's fine. Except like I thought his thyroid is feeling a bit off-centre. So's mine. You, by the way, are fine again. I don't get this, to tell you the truth. These things don't just come and go. Trouble is, this makes it tough for Melczuk, and tough for us to prove she wasn't herself. I showed her the other capsule, by the way. I think she knows something, but she's not spilling. Maybe you could talk to her.'

'Me? I don't know Bones.'

'I do. You're a people person. Talk to her. Oh, and you're good to go.'

Irina Melczuk sat in a chair in a private room. Her look was sombre and not very promising. She tried to smile but failed magnificently. Jim set the two nara capsules down on the desk – Bones had returned the second one – and sat down. 'Commander, I wonder if you know anything about these.'

'I already told McCoy that I know nothing.' Jim rubbed the bridge of his nose.

'Yes, you did. And I must say, I believe you. Strange things seem to happen to people here. These … things aren't easy to get, and considering where they were placed there are only so many people who could have done it.' He leaned forwards. 'If you were to lock these, what would you say? If you wanted them closed to anyone but you?' For a moment, Melczuk looked as though she was about to kick Jim out of the room, then she took a deep breath.

'Darja Marija.' A low humming sound started to fill the air, swelling to something close to a whine. Then something clicked, and the two opened simultaneously.

'Darja Marija?' Jim echoed. He never stood a chance in hell to guess that.

'My daughter. She died when she was three.' Jim swallowed, unsure what to say. 'Go on, look. I'm as curious about what's in there as you.' Her tone was back to the brisk snappish voice she normally used. He nodded.

In both capsules there were small, see-through chips. He inserted the first one into a slot in the computer. 'The sarium krellide cells are under the transporter pad,' he read out loud. Without looking at the Commander, he inserted the second chip. 'Something has to break to fill the space.' He frowned.

'That makes no sense at all,' Melczuk pointed out. Jim frowned and opened a channel to the science department.

'Kirk to Commodore Bligh.'

'Bligh here, Captain.'

'Is the transporter room in engineering accessible?'

'It is, but the transporter is still unusable, of course.'

'I know. Thank you. Kirk out.' He did look at Melczuk now. 'I don't know what is happening here, Commander. But I do know that nothing is ever unsolvable. I'll come back to you when I know more.' A slow smile formed on her face.

'You wear a captain's uniform, and now that you do, you also have his voice. I can see what makes you such an excellent leader.' She seemed to steel herself. 'I'm told I signed the PADD that said the transporter was repaired. Tell me true, Kirk, did I also sabotage it?' Jim took a moment to consider. It seemed to be the only logical conclusion, but in order to be certain, he had to check under the transporter pad.

'I don't know, Commander. I'll find out.' He lowered his voice slightly. 'Look, if you had what Kresar had, whatever happened isn't your fault.'

'So I've been told, Captain Kirk. So I've been told.'

ϡ

It seemed the engineering department had died out. He was certain that there were people around, but after what had happened a deathly quiet had settled. Respect to those lost and the need to process what had happened silenced everyone. Jim felt like an intruder, which was absolutely ridiculous. He waited patiently. What he wanted to do he couldn't do alone. Vral arrived after a few minutes. 'We need to look under the transporter pad,' Jim told him in a hushed voice. Inwardly, he reprimanded himself. He cleared his throat. 'Remember the little things we found where the sarium krellide cells were supposed to be? I think we'll find them there. So, just how do you raise the transporter pad nowadays?' For a moment, Vral hesitated. Jim couldn't blame him. They had been instructed not to do anything without checking with Melczuk first. But now, that was no longer valid. Vral came to the same conclusion.

'You know the differences in the construction?' Jim nodded, and Vral grinned at him.

'Then you know how.'

'Stop me if I do something dramatically foolish.' He stood behind the controls, looked at them and took inventory of what did what. 'Right.' He entered the sequence he thought was correct, then waited before the final one. 'That good?' Vral shrugged.

'Only one way to find out.' Jim glanced at the Caitian.

'True.' He gave the final command and slowly, the pad was lifted. It took a full five minutes until it was raised, the sound it made indicating that something was wedged into a place it shouldn't be. 'Oh, yes, that's how I like it.' They both stepped closer, and suddenly, Jim felt hesitant. Steeling himself, he glanced at the interior of the transporter. 'Looks different.' He found something suspicious and frowned. 'However … I am very certain this doesn't belong here.' Two longish metal tubes that looked suspiciously as if they fit into the slots he had taken the nara capsules from were stuck in the cramped space of the transporter. One of them had bent and broken a relatively spring. 'That's the Heisenberg compensator.' Vral nodded.

'As we suspected. But … why?' Jim wished he had an answer.

'Why … I don't think we'll ever know. Unless I can persuade someone to do something … unorthodox.'

ϡ

Leonard hadn't taken care of a half Vulcan for a good portion of his career for nothing. He had learned that what was right for humans wasn't necessarily right for Vulcans, but that was nothing he hadn't expected. He had struggled a lot more with the fact that what was right for a Vulcan wasn't right for a half Vulcan. Especially when physiologically he was so Vulcan no-one would have suspected him of being anything else. But in due course, he had learned how to change the composition of certain medication to something that didn't cause the poor soul cramps.

By now, he quite enjoyed his task. It was something different than dealing with the carnage left after a huge accident. So when the door opened while he was mixing the carrier substance he knew would do no harm, he glanced at the door with a serene face, which turned into a grin when he saw who it was. 'You can stay right here. I'll transform you back into your accountable self.'

'That would be appreciated.' Spock leaned against the door frame and watched the doctor from there. 'I have returned the tricorder.'

'You give me an opening? Very well. What the hell do you think you're doing, going down to a planet where people turn into trees and die? What do you think it'd do to Jim if that had happened to you? Did you even think about that? I think not.'

'I doubt that whatever caused this is compatible with me.'

'You doubt. You don't know.' He prepared the hypospray and approached Spock with a frown. 'I'll blame that on your freaking thyroid, too.'

'Perhaps,' Spock allowed. 'I noticed something strange about the tricorder. I changed the settings on the planet and now I wanted to return them to default.' Leonard applied the hypo and screwed up his face.

'Now don't tell me that it's registering enormous amounts of something it can't really pin a name on.'

'I am afraid that is precisely what it is doing.'

'Yeah. So did mine. How can that be?'

'The logical conclusion would be that for some reason all tricorders are set to ignore these readings.'

'Well, but that's insane.' Spock looked at him.

'I believe I will talk to the Commodore. Maybe he has an explanation.' Leonard nodded.

'Yeah. Tell me what he said, will you? Because I wonder if everyone's nuts here.'

'I fear this entire situation is a combination of multiple suboptimal circumstances and an irritating degree of incompetence.' Leonard glanced at the door and lowered his voice.

'On whose part?'

'Look up the history of all our respective superior officers, Leonard. Draw your own conclusions.' Leonard watched him go, then he sat down at the computer and frowned. 'McCoy to engineering.'

'Tilak here.'

'Hello there. You saw Captain Kirk somewhere down there? Please get him to the intercom for me.'

'Bones. I was going to come back up in a minute, but this damn thing isn't moving back down.'

'I don't even want to know what you're talking about. Remember what I said about the tricorder? The one that Spock had too is going nuts too.'

'Oh?'

'Oh. Jim, I don't like this at all. Would you mind going up to science and … wait, there's someone at the door.' He saw Rasul with a murderous look on his face and swallowed. 'Look … this isn't good. Spock will fill you in.'

'Not good at all. Who ordered security for Irina?'

'T'Kray did. For the Commander's own safety. We agreed on that.'

'Did T'Kray order it?'

'Didn't I just say that?'

'Check.' Leonard suppressed a sigh and opened the corresponding log file.

'Yes, she did. Right after she had brought her here. And no-one ordered them away.'

'Because they are gone. Find out who they were. They're in real trouble.' Leonard frowned.

'Why? Did she run away?' Rasul growled.

'No. She killed herself.'

ϡ

Jim was as curious as the proverbial cat, but he decided that whatever had happened in sickbay was under control. He didn't own the place, he reminded himself, no-one had to answer him at all. And if they did, he couldn't make decisions. He wished this would be more of a relief. In truth, it was a burden.

In the science department, Spock and Kresar had their heads together over a group of small shrubs. 'And what exactly are these?' he asked, dreading the answer.

'Remnants of small animals that share the fate of the human scientists,' Kresar replied. 'We also seem to have an answer why the trees die and the shrubs don't.' Jim hadn't intended to address the subject at all, but he couldn't help himself.

'Spock … about that trip of yours. Would you mind telling me next time? I'd have come with you. Anyone could have gone with you.' Spock's lips tightened.

'In hindsight, I acted slightly recklessly.' Jim waved him away.

'Just … try not to be the fool that I sometimes am. I'll do the same. Now what about these?'

'Jim, do you know how plants transport nourishment from the soil?'

'They have similar vessels to our blood system.'

'In essence, that is correct. Now imagine your aorta were the size of that of a much smaller animal. What would happen?' Jim raised his eyebrows.

'Well … I guess, I'd die. Maybe because there wouldn't be enough oxygen transported … wherever, but it sounds dangerous.'

'The same happens to the trees. They are large, because humans are large. The relative amount of vascular tissues in these trees is nowhere near sufficient to sustain the trees. That is, luckily, something we can help with by adding extra nourishment to the water. We can keep them alive.'

'Well, you at least have good news. Spock, I don't know what Bones wants me to do about that, but he says the tricorders aren't working right.' Spock nodded.

'Ah, yes.' He turned and picked up a tricorder – a normal one, not those from the medical department – and handed it to Jim. 'Take a look.' He did. One undefined substance was shown in a quantity so high it was displayed in a power of ten.

'What is that even?'

'Pollen.'

'Oh. And … is that in any way significant?'

'I do not know. But according to the log files, Commodore Bligh ordered the results for this kind of pollen be ignored. He recorded that they were everywhere, clung to clothing, but were perfectly harmless. There were at least ten pollen per cubic centimetre.'

'Ten per … that's nothing compared to … this!'

'True.' He frowned. 'Spock, I'm not a scientist, so this is a shot in the dark. Can this cause the hyperthyreosis and the madness?'

'Negative, Captain, although the thought has occurred to me. The pollen were tested very thoroughly, they cannot have any such effect, at least not directly. However, I shall do further research.'

'You think they are significant.'

'Jim, a short time ago, this place was very peaceful and harmless enough to send people here that need training. Now, the situation is all but out of control. We can communicate with vessels but not from the tower. Luckily, they do receive our warnings. There is a saboteur on the station, and I doubt that it is only one. We may never know who it is, and even if we did know, it would hardly matter. I cannot believe that the dramatic increase of this specific pollen is a coincidence.'

'So … what can be done?'

'Kresar and I shall conduct further research. The Commodore has other things to take care of – to re-establish communications and automated control of the docks being the most pressing ones. I will, eventually, return to the planet surface. And I shall not go alone. Did you have any success with the capsule?' Jim's eyebrows shot up.

'Indeed. I talked to Commander Melczuk, you know, and she opened them. I don't think she remembered them, she just … chose a command that was close to her heart. Long story short, the missing power cells from the shuttles were rammed into the Heisenberg compensator. You can imagine the rest.'

'You know what the conclusion is.' It wasn't a question.

'Indeed, although I don't like it. She must also have manipulated the computer, but if she doesn't remember, she can't … Look, could you or T'Kray … help her remember, if she agrees? That would make it a lot easier to start fixing things.' Jim thought that Spock very nearly sighed.

'The thought has occurred to me, too. I do not like the idea, but it may be the only way to get to the bottom of this situation, as the saying goes.'