Jim Kirk sat in the hospital waiting to see Bones. He frowned as he looked out the window at the darkness that had taken over the planet now. He could see the glow of some fires that were still burning after the battle. A doctor had already taken care of his wound, although it was still sore, and so were his muscles from that battle they had been in. He had realized that the Klingon attack stopped because they had accomplished their goal. The crews had found no bodies in the debris of the government building that had taken out the floor where Admiral Carson's office had been. Jim had no idea where the Admiral or the two Klingon representatives were now. Uhura had contacted Starfleet and told them the situation. They had ordered Jim to stay there in command until someone else could arrive.

"Jim, you should eat something," Carol said.

"I'm not hungry," Jim replied.

"Jim…"

"Carol, please."

Carol stroked his hair that still had dirt and sweat in it. "Jim, there was nothing you could do," she said.

"I should have stayed there."

"Not even Doctor McCoy saw something like that coming, and he was there."

"I know, but I was responsible for…"

"Jim, you were responsible for trying to stop the Klingons and that's what you tried to do. You could not have predicted that they would get past you and attack the building."

Jim looked at her. "A lot of people died today, Carol. A lot of them were very young, and inexperienced in battle."

"I have to say I have never been in a battle like that. But you have. If you had not been leading them, there may have been even more deaths. Do you even think of that?"

"Bones is hurt bad, Carol. I just left him there."

"Jim, I know he would not want you blaming yourself like this."

"I left him there because…because I didn't want to hear his complaints. How could I do that? What kind of friend am I?"

"You were in the middle of a battle."

"That's no excuse."

Just then, a nurse came out to them. "Captain Kirk, you can see Doctor McCoy now," she said.

Jim and Carol went to Bones' room. He was lying in the bed with his eyes closed, but he opened them when he realized someone was standing beside his bed. "Don't stand there staring at me," Bones said.

"How do you feel?" Jim asked.

"Like I was crushed by a big piece of concrete."

"I shouldn't have left you all there."

"What do you think you could have done by being there? Be killed yourself?" Bones grimaced. "Stop thinking like that and think about what you need to do now."

"I'm not sure what to do now. I haven't heard anything from Starfleet except that I am to stay here until someone else arrives. We're basically on guard duty. There's no headquarters anymore."

"You should set up a temporary one, Jim."

"They're working on that. They didn't find any bodies in that rubble. The Klingons had to take the admiral and the two Klingons."

"I don't know what happened."

"I know you don't."

"I'm gonna be here a while, Jim."

"Don't worry about that either. Just get well."

"Did they tell you anything?"

"No."

"I have so much swelling and bruising around my spinal cord, they really can't tell if it's damaged or not. Not to mention my legs." Bones looked at him. "Jim, I don't wanta…"

"Bones, don't think about that. They can help you."

"I know but…"

"No buts. I have to get out there and see how everything's coming along. You just call me if you need me."

Bones nodded. He watched Jim and Carol leave. He did not think he had ever felt so alone, but he could not expect someone to stay with him all the time. He figured he would be asleep most of the time anyway, and would be in treatments the rest of the time.

Jim and Carol went outside, and he took out his communicator. "Spock."

"Yes Captain," Spock answered promptly.

"How is everything going?"

"We are making progress. We will have an office ready soon."

"Still no more word from Starfleet?"

"No. It is odd that we have not heard from them."

"Well, there were supposed to be ships arriving in two days. I guess maybe they're still on their way here."

"It would seem that they most likely are, Captain. However, we do not know what is happening elsewhere."

"Get a message to Yorktown, and find out what's happening there."

"Yes, Captain. I will relay the message to Mister Scott. The Enterprise should be able to get a message through."

"Good."

"Once the office is ready, it will have communication abilities, and it is in a bunker, Captain."

"A bunker? Have anymore Klingons been spotted on this planet?"

"Not that has been reported."

"Alright. I just can't believe they would give up that easy about taking over this planet. I want everyone to be vigilant. Something is just not right here. I'll get in touch with Scotty."

"Yes sir. I will let you know when the office is ready."

"Thanks, Spock."

Jim ended that transmission and opened a channel to the Enterprise. "Scotty."

"Go ahead, Captain," Scotty replied.

"How's everything on the ship?"

"Just missing her captain. Otherwise, everything is fine."

"Be vigilant, Scotty. Keep the ship at yellow alert. I have a feeling this isn't over yet. I want you to get a message to Yorktown. Find out what's going on over there."

"Yes, Captain. Do you think the Klingons will be returning?"

"I can't say anything for sure, Scotty, but I just can't believe they would give up so easily."

"It is strange, Captain, but you said they took the admiral and the two Klingons. Why?"

"I don't know. Those three may be dead by now. These Klingons didn't want the peace talks to happen."

`"I don't like being in the middle of a battle, Captain. That's not what we're supposed to be doing."

"Scotty, sometimes you have to improvise. We're in the middle of this whether we want to be or not. We don't have a choice. That's why our ship is equipped with weapons. Now, just let us know if anything shows up out there."

"Aye, Captain."

Jim ended that transmission. "Jim, what are you going to do?" Carol asked.

"Right now, I'm going to see where they're making a command office," Jim replied. He looked out toward the city and could not see much since it was dark, and power had not been restored yet. He wondered just what the Klingons had destroyed that caused this power outage. "They could be out there somewhere."

"Klingons?" Carol asked.

"Yes. Come on."

Jim went to find Solan whom he had not seen in quite a while, but he was not hard to find. "Solan, where's your ship?" Jim asked.

"Right out there," Solan answered. "Why?"

"I want us to get an aerial view of the area out beyond the city. If there are Klingons out there, I want to know it."

"Maybe we should go on foot."

"That would take a long time."

"What about horses?"

Jim looked at him. "Where are we going to get horses?"

Solan smiled. "I've been exploring, Captain."

"You should have joined Starfleet a long time ago."

"Who says I didn't, but I didn't like following so many rules."

Jim was silent a moment wondering if he really meant that. "Well, let's get going." He looked at Carol. "I want you to go to Spock and let him know what I'm doing."

"Jim, I want to go with you," Carol said.

"Carol, just this one time, will you do what I say? I am your captain. I don't want to get you into something. Please."

"Will you at least be careful?"

"I will. Solan and I are simply going to see if there are Klingons hanging around out there. We don't want to alarm them, and maybe we can catch them by surprise."

"Not alone."

"No. Carol."

"Okay, Jim, but you better come back to me."

Jim smiled slightly and kissed her. "Don't worry. I'm going to be driving you nuts for years."

Carol could not help but smile then. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too."

Jim made sure his blaster was ready. He looked at Carol. "Well, you know me. I'm always attracting trouble…but I'll try not to."

Jim followed Solan to get horses. Carol watched him a moment and then went on to find Spock. He was overseeing the office headquarters. "Spock," she said as she went into the bunker which was well-lit inside.

"Doctor Marcus," Spock said. "Is there a problem?"

"I don't know. Jim sent me to tell you that he and Solan are about to go scouting to see if there are any Klingons lurking."

"Why did he not contact me and tell me this himself?"

"They're going on horses. He says they're only going to spy. That's why he's not using Solan's ship, but he's taking weapons with him."

"Where are they getting horses?"

"You know Solan. He's very resourceful. He's been exploring this place."

"He is very resourceful indeed."

"Are you worried?"

"I do not like the fact that Jim would do something like this without telling me himself."

"He probably didn't want to hear your reasons why he shouldn't do it."

"Most likely."

Spock took out his communicator…

Jim was putting a saddle on a horse when his communicator chirped at him. He got the saddle into place and then got his communicator. "Kirk here," he said.

"Captain, Doctor Marcus has informed me that you are going on a scouting mission," Spock said.

"Yes, I am, Spock. I can't just sit around here and do nothing."

"Do you have reason to believe that there are still Klingons on this planet?"

"Spock, I already told you to make sure everyone is armed and be ready for anything."

"We are."

"I'm going to find out for sure while it's dark. They won't be as likely to see us, and we can know where they are. Maybe they have the admiral and the others out there too."

"Captain, it is likely that they beamed them off the planet."

"We don't know that for sure. I have never known the Klingons to attack without trying to take over a planet. I just have a feeling that it's not over yet."

"You may be right."

"Take care of things till I get back."

"I will. Be careful."

"I will."

Jim ended that transmission and finished fixing the saddle on the horse. Solan mounted up and waited for him. "You really think they're out there?" he asked.

"Only one way to be sure," Jim said. He got into the saddle and turned his horse toward the door of the stable. "I haven't ridden a horse in years."

"Space travel takes some of the funner things away."

"Funner?"

"Yeah."

Jim smiled at that as they headed out. He stopped as they came around the former government building where there were some Starfleet officers. Lieutenant Taylor was there. "Captain, where are you going?" he asked.

"We're going to find out if there are still Klingons on this world," Jim said. "Or attempt to. Commander Spock is in charge while I'm gone. Report anything that happens to him."

"Yes sir."

Jim and Solan rode on through the city, looking at the devastation. The Klingons had definitely left their mark throughout the city with bombs and whatever else they had brought with them. They soon came out of the city into the forested area where he supposed the Klingons would be hiding if they were there…or he was not sure he would call it hiding. Maybe he would call it waiting for the right moment to attack again.

After riding for a while, Jim thought he saw a flicker in the darkness ahead. "Hey, stop," he whispered.

They drew up and waited a moment as they looked toward the dim light they had seen. "You think that looks like a camp fire?" Jim asked.

"Could be," Solan replied. "It's like a flickering light."

"We should probably go on foot to look in on it."

"I agree. I just hope there are no Klingons out here seeing us."

"They most likely think that we think they left the planet."

Jim got down from his horse and tied it in a secluded spot, as did Solan. Jim drew his blaster because he did not want to be having to grab for it if he got into trouble. He also had a sword with him.

They headed through the woods toward the light they had seen, and soon came to a place where they could see that there was definitely a big camp fire out there. As they drew closer, they could hear Klingons talking. Solan listened. He had been around Klingons enough to learn their language. "He said they will completely annihilate the humans on this planet and create a Klingon connection here on their path across this galaxy to take it over for the Empire," he said and looked at Jim.

"I wonder if they're holding the admiral and the others here," Jim said.

"Only one way to find out."

They sneaked around the edge of the camp, trying their best to be quiet. Jim pointed to a small cave out there where there were guards standing. "Where there are guards, there's something to hide," he whispered.

"There's no way to know what though."

"Unless there's another way in there."

"It would probably be impossible to find."

"We shouldn't get too close to them until we have more help with us."

"I certainly agree with that, Captain. No telling how many are out there."

Jim wished he could hear something from Starfleet, but he had to get back to the city and let the others know that there would be another attack. He just hoped they could be as lucky as they were the last time.