The bridge crew of the Enterprise hurried to break open all of the locks on the jail cells, and soon, they were surrounded by Talosians. Kirk pulled out his communicator.
"Giotto, Kirk here. Beam up all the Talosians. Immediately. Once they are on board, get them in the same place as the Sinclair 12 survivors."
"Aye sir." The communications died and they watched as the twenty Talosians were beamed up in groups of five. After four trips, they were alone in the brig level.
"Captain!" said Uhura, cocking her head to the side. "Listen, Captain. Did you hear that?"
They stood there, listening. Kirk shook his head and Scotty said,
"No, I don hear anythin' lass." The others were about to follow Scotty's example when Sulu stopped.
"No, wait." They paused and looked at the navigator. "There!" This one they all heard: pounding and crashing from the adjoining room. McCoy walked over and he and the others took out all of their phasers, aimed them at the door, and blasted it down with full force. They blew the last circuit and the lights went out.
Spock turned to the blown down door and felt a sense of defeat come over him.
"She's dead. I didn't get here fast enough." He said it so emotionlessly and calmly that McCoy felt a deep sense of unease in him. "And I have killed in the process. Killed for no reason than revenge and –"
"Spock," interrupted Uhura softly. "What's going on? Who's dead?"
With seemingly desolate and despairing movements, Spock turned around, knelt and they all hear the rattle of chains. When he turned back around, whatever back up system the Reaver ship had rebooted and half of the lights came back on. Uhura shrieked as she saw the dead Romulan at her feet, the two Reavers pinned to the wall, and the two Romulans with their heads twisted at unnatural angles by Spock's feet.
Sileia was laying limply in Spock's arms chains dragging on the floor, her normally clean and pristine hair drenched and dripping with green similar to what was running down the side of Spock's head. Her ears were pointed and eyebrows delicately sloped upwards. Now that she was Vulcan, Chekov felt the pieces fall in place in his head.
"Mistar Spock," he said softly. Spock just looked at him and his protege could see the faint glimmer of grief in the back of his eye. "Who's zhe mother?" Spock slowly closed his eyes and when he opened them, they all could see the barely restrained emotions in him. Without answering, Spock walked forward and eased through the broken door.
As Kirk, Bones, Chekov, Sulu, Scotty, and Uhura walked behind the Vulcans, the breaking out of small talk was inevitable.
"You really think that's his daughter, Pavel?" whispered Uhura, gently placing a hand on his arm.
"I'm positive, Nyota. Look at zhe vay he's valking. Stiff and cautious. And zhe vay he's holding her. Like she's a delicate flower he's afraid to crush." Chekov shook his head. "And zhen zhe vay that Jim and McCoy vere talking about telling us vhat vas going on...I believe zhat Sileia iz hiz daughter."
"Then, who's his wife?" came Sulu's voice in wonderment. "She has to be at least part Vulcan, because the chances of Sileia looking like a full Vulcan with only one quarter being Vulcan...I raise plants, so I should know. His wife or the mother has to be at least half or a quarter Vulcan."
"Well, can ye think of any at least half Vulcan that Mistar Spock has had at least the slightest interest in?" asked Scotty thinking aloud. "I canna think of anyone...can ye?"
Uhura gasped and grabbed Scotty's arm.
"I've got it." Everyone looked at her, asking her nonverbally to share her discovery. Up ahead, the trio of friends looked back at the communications officer, hoping that she had the wrong name. When she spoke again, Spock's heart sank.
"Saavik. Remember that sweet half-Romulan half-Vulcan girl that he and his family saved off of Hell's Guard? They became friends immediately and she was like a younger sister to him remember?" Uhura looked ahead at Spock's retreating form. "I'm happy for them...but sad at the same time. To lose a daughter..."
Spock sped up and continued walking down the hall, Sileia's chains clinking in a methodical rhythm that sounded like a strange funeral march.
When Spock finally slowed down enough for his two friends to catch up to his stride, they didn't speak. Jim and McCoy exchanged several looks and tried to get the other to say something first. When the silence stretched out to the point of being awkward, McCoy cleared his throat.
"I – I'm sorry, Spock." Spock didn't respond, but they noticed the slightest tightening of his jaw. "Do you...do you want me to make sure? I can scan her once we arrive at the beam up position." Spock continued walking and his friends began to grow very concerned over his prolonged silence. Then, he spoke, his voice soft and gentle.
"If it will satisfy your curiosity, doctor feel free. But if it is the way it seems, do not verbalize it." McCoy nodded in respect of his friend's request and Jim took up the conversation.
"I see you took to closing every single door as you went. Care to explain why?"
"It was quite logical. The doors were locked under my voice command and there was no way that I could be ambushed from behind or pursued as we made our escape. However, you have successfully sabotaged that idea." Jim smiled wryly.
"Well, we had to get to you didn't we?"
"I recall putting in that tape to not return to get me." Spock cocked his eyebrow slightly, but his friends could see that this was all a facade for them, trying to ease their worry by him acting like himself. But nothing could mask or change the ugly truth: he was carrying the corpse of his daughter.
"We're approaching site for beam up," said Kirk softly. Then, the ground seemed to tremble with pounding. Sulu turned around and he and Pavel raised their tricorders.
"Sir, we seem to have some visitors," said Sulu, turning to look at his captain. "The Reavers are coming. And they are coming fast."
"Zhere are Romulans among zhem too, Keptain," said Chekov, taking a full scan of the situation. "Zhey have phasers." The loyal bridge crew stared at each other and Uhura and the others pulled out their phasers as Kirk pulled out his communicator.
"Giotto! Kirk to Enterprise, Kirk to Enterprise!"
Giotto, here captain...we seem...communication problems..."
"Beam us up, immediately!" he nearly shouted into the communicator. "Beam Mr. Spock up first and –"
"No, Jim." Those present turned to look at him. "You, McCoy, Mr. Sulu, Lt. Uhura, and Mr. Scott beam up. Then, beam up Mr. Chekov and Sileia's body. I have some things that I need to discuss with my protege."
"What about you?" Spock looked at his friends and paused before answering.
"I will beam up with Mr. Chekov and Sileia. Go now before their transporter beam is affected as well." Reluctantly, Kirk gave the order.
"Beam up McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, Scotty, and myself. Then beam up Mr. Chekov, Sileia, and Mr. Spock...have a medical team standing by."
"Energizing." Spock watched as his friends Nyota, Hikaru, and Montgomery vanished. But mostly he watched his two best friends he ever had: Jim and Bones.
"Vhy didn't you beam up, Mistar Spock?" asked Chekov, staring at his mentor.
"I want you to take her to McCoy, Mister Chekov," said Spock to the startled ensign. "I want you to know that you have been one of the best of my proteges in my life of teaching students."
"Thank you, Mister Spock," said Pavel dazed. Spock rarely gave comments. "But vhy don't you take her to McCoy yourself?"
The approaching footsteps were coming louder and the animal shrieks and yells were getting louder as well. He set Sileia down on the ground and moved to the door, putting the bodies of the Reavers he had previously killed in the way of the door. Hopefully, that would keep them at bay for a time. He paused in his work and cocked his head. He had thought that he had heard something that hadn't been normal...
"Spock to engineering," said Spock. The voice of Kyle came through the communicator.
"Ready to beam up, sir?"
"Kyle, only beam up Mr. Chekov and Sileia. I need to short circuit this ship so it can't go any where any more."
"Aye sir."
Mr. Spock?!" cried Chekov reaching out to grab his mentor before he vanished so that he would be beamed up as well. But the Vulcan deftly stepped out of his reach, Chekov's hand brushing his sleeve.
He watched in satisfaction as Chekov and Sileia disappeared. Then, he picked up a pike and braced himself for the storm that was certain to come through that door.
"Where the hell is he?" asked McCoy as he saw Chekov and Sileia appear on the receiving pad.
"He said he had to short circuit something on the ship to make sure that it didn't run again," said Kyle.
"He lied!" said Chekov, feeling traumatized. He slowly lowered his arm from where he had tried to grab Spock. McCoy swore loudly and realized what the Vulcan had done.
"Ship's different..." came a soft voice. "She's slowed down..." Everyone slowly turned around to look at the transporter pad. There she was, sitting with her back perfectly straight, but resting mainly on her hands which were pressed flat on the ground behind her. She seemed tense and wide eyed.
"Sileia?!" cried the whole bridge crew. She turned to look at them, her green blood dried on her face and stiffening her hair. Her head tilted ever so slightly to the side, eyes distant.
"There's no moon on Vulcan..." she said softly and zoned out. "Nothing to wish upon or hope for...Nothing for them to say goodbye to...not at night...No moon here either...just dark and dark and dark!" Her voice started to escalate and she pressed her hands to the sides of her head. Christine Chapel ran over to her and gently placed a hand on her arm.
"Sileia, it's me...It's Christine." Sileia looked at her and began whispering.
"Come and come, you can't run...they come and come, and they won't stop until they get what they came for." Christine looked at them and whispered what the poor girl was trying to say.
"Reavers. We're their next target." Sileia shook her head.
"There's no moon on Vulcan...nowhere for them to hope...Orders...just following orders..."
"Order 66. It's us then Vulcan," said Sulu from the back of the room. "That's what she's trying to say. Order 66 eliminates us and then Vulcan has no moon to wish for hope upon."
"Kirk to bridge," Jim said into the comm. "Get us out of here."
"All on board?" Kirk looked at the transporter pad and swallowed.
"Just get us out of here. Kirk out."
"Jim!" said McCoy, voicing the stunned silence in the room. "Jim, Spock's still over there!"
"I know. But its what he told us to do. It was his final orders." With that, Kirk walked out the door and up to the bridge.
Uhura ran over to Sileia.
"Sileia, you need to help Spock." Sileia regarded her with a tilted and puzzled head. "Spock! Your dad!" She racked her brains trying to remember what Spock had said to her that day on the bridge. "Tirang? Tirang? Does that name ring a bell?" Still that blank look. "T'nash-veh ha'su. T'nash-veh ha'su." Sileia's eyes lost that fog and that confusion.
"Sileia..." she whispered. "No! Sileia, not Aislinn, not Chotwl'! Sileia!" she pressed her hands to her head and repeated the muttering to herself and she slowly regained control.
"Where's Spock?" she asked, looking around. "Where is he?" Uhura whispered gently.
"He's still on the Reaver's ship." Sileia straightened and looked Kyle in the eye.
"Get these chains off. Beam me down. Clear the pad and beam me down before it's too late."
Spock knew he was going to lose this one. There wasn't anything he could do. He was already cut in several places and he knew that he was tiring. These beasts seemed to have the advantage when it came to unrelenting force and energy. He lashed out a few more times before he felt one of the pikes plunge into his side. He was glad it was his right side and not his left, otherwise he would be dead.
He gasped and fell down on the ground, clapping one hand on the open stab. He looked up at the ring of Reavers about him as they crowed in delight and pure, bloody-minded glee. They threw their heads back and screamed, howling in the excitement of drawing blood. Then, the Romulans came up to him. They looked down at him and one of them raised a phaser and slowly and deliberately aimed for his forehead. Then, with a quick alteration of aim, the phaser beam went into the stomach of a Reaver. Mayhem broke out again and Spock found himself back to back with the Romulan who had blasted a hole in the stomach of the Reaver who had been eagerly raising a chipped, rusty scimitar, just about to bring it down on his head.
Then, there was a whine of a transporter beam and the Reavers backed up into a semi-circle to face the form that was materializing. Spock stared in shock and disbelief at the form before him. Her face was turned to the floor and either hand was open, tense. Her hair was still stiff with her drying blood and it dangled before her face, concealing her emotions and expressions. She was dressed in the same black dress she had been wearing before hand.
She relaxed her hands and the tension in the air lowered. The Romulan took Spock and dragged him to the wall seconds before the deadly ballet began.
She kicked the nearest Reaver in the side of the head, planted her feet back on the floor, and used her momentum to spin across and kick another in the back of the head. Another came to take his place and she stepped down hard on the top of his head, knocking him to the floor.
There was a fallen and broken crate that she kicked across the floor into another's legs and he fell clean over. A screaming savage ran at her from the side and she ducked, swinging her leg out and flipping him clean over. She sprinted at another two and met them head on, back flipping and kicking both in the chest.
She sensed the one behind her and swung around, elbows at shoulder height, catching him a glancing blow to one side of the head and spinning around to hit him in the other. He fell on his back and she moved deftly to the side, dodging another as he ran past her. She grabbed his shoulders from behind and pulled him back on the ground with amazing force. She turned to get a fist in the face from another Reaver. Barely fazed, she took a half step back and kicked him in the chest, launching him backwards.
One ran at Sileia, arm raised and she kicked it down to the floor, pushing him onto his back. But strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her upright. She tried to break free, but saw another coming at her.
She leaned back and used the Reaver holding her as a backboard. She kicked her legs up and pushed the oncoming creature back. She planted her feet soundly back on the ground and leaned forward, kicking the man holding her in the back of the head. He let go in pain, and she seized his hand, stepping away from him and spinning under his outstretched arm so she was standing beside him, bringing a leg into his face. Still grabbing his hand, she spun back under his arm to face another Romulan. She elbowed him in the chest and brought a knee into his face. She flipped the barbarian who had been holding her head over heels with one arm. He crashed to the blood slick floor and she ducked a malicious swing with a sword, standing back up almost immediately.
A quick kick to his arm and another to his head landed him on the floor with amazing rapidity. The rest closed in on her and she ran at the wall, jumping from the floor to a ledge, kicking another Reaver in the head, sending him crashing back to the floor. She knocked two more down with her swiftly delivered, fatal kicks and punched another in the stomach. One more ran at her and she crouched on the ground, spread out, and lashed out with one leg, sending another him falling off the high loft.
She rose and with incredible grace and speed, front flipped down to the floor once more. When she landed on her feet, she kicked another man in the chest, sending him flying before leaning forward to kick a savage behind her in the back of the head who was raising an axe to strike her down. She ran and two Reavers approached at her from both sides at the same time.
She hit one in the head to slow him down, spun around to punch the other and ducked the first's malicious swing. He was thrown off balance and she stood back up, hooking him and throwing him to the floor. She spun back to the second and hit him in the throat. He too fell.
The remaining Romulan waiting for an opening and took his chance to run forward with a knife drawn. She spun in a tight twirl and brought her hands down to clamp on his knife arm and thrust it forward into the chest of an approaching beast. He fell and she twisted the knife man's arm back and kicked his face with her knee. She released him and let him fall to the floor. Another Romulan came at her with a phaser and she grabbed his hand before he could pull the trigger.
She yanked him forward and pulled the trigger for him, shooting another Reaver at the other end of the room. She spun around and aimed the phaser at the only two people left in the room: Spock and the mysterious Romulan.
Pressing one hand to his side, Spock gently made an "easy" motion. He looked around the room and raised an eyebrow in genuine shock and amazement. She had not only come to life, but had dispatched a whole battalion of Reavers.
Then, Sileia's eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the ground, passed out from something Spock didn't know.
Grimacing, the Vulcan pulled out his communicator.
"Wait." Spock looked at the Romulan above him. "I just want to tell you that you need to get to Vulcan before this ship. It's imperative. I've already sent her a message."
"Who are you? Why did you help me? Who is 'her'?" The Romulan allowed a small smile to play at his lips before he answered the injured man.
"You didn't seriously believe that your wife would leave you alone in this job did you?" Spock wearily raised one eyebrow and nodded in acknowledgement of that statement. Then, there was a loud bang and the Romulan went flying and was pinned to the wall with a large javelin. In his torn uniform, Spock could see the Hell's Guard brand on his arm. It was one of Saavik's friends, one of the survivors.
Spock looked down the hallway and saw Cartwright, Mohinder and the others approaching. He wasn't waiting around for them to show up. Moaning once with the pain of standing up, he picked his daughter up and held her close, calling into the communicator,
"Enterprise! Beam up, now!" He felt the familiar tingling sensation as the transporter beam was energized. He watching in slight fear as Mohinder threw a syringe at him and he knew from Sileia's memory that the Indian had impeccable aim and strength. And he had a fair idea of what was inside that shot.
The syringe spun end over end, glinting in the faint glimmer of light that came from the half on lights. The transport was almost complete. Darkness.
When the world rematerialized, he was standing in the transporter room, staring at several people: Jim, Sulu, Chekov, Christine, Uhura, McCoy, Scotty, Kyle, a lot of medical personnel, and one or two security members. He passed Sileia to Christine and McCoy who placed her gently on the gurney. Then, he looked down at the pike stab. It was inconveniencing his ability to breath normally.
The medical instrument was firmly implanted in his side, near the wound. He grabbed the shot and pulled it out, handing it to McCoy.
"Be very careful with this. None of it was injected into me, luckily."
"Hell and damnation, Spock!" shouted McCoy, before three things happened. The first was that Sileia sat upright and screamed. The second was that McCoy caught Spock as he stumbled from blood loss. The third was that the ship suddenly rocked with a large impact and the red klaxon alert went off.
The Reavers had them.
"Get these two in sick bay stat!" yelled McCoy and the two Vulcans were wheeled away to sickbay, Spock having been given an oxygen mask to assist with his breathing. As McCoy left the transporter room, he told Kirk,
"I'll do everything I can for him, Jim." Kirk nodded his thanks before taking off to the bridge.
The whole bridge crew was back on duty except for Spock and the situation was dire.
"What's going on?" asked Kirk sitting down.
"It's the Reaver magnetic grappler, sir," said Sulu, looking down at his panel. From his worried tone, that wasn't a good thing.
"The Reaver what?" asked Kirk, leaning forward and peering at the strange contraption attached to the Enterprise hull.
"It's zhe Reaver equivalent of a tractor beam, but a magnetic grappler is much more...tangible," answered Chekov, turning to his captain. "A large, in zhis case, enormous, clamp is deployed and fired like a grappling hook at anozher spaceship. Zhis grapple is on a tezher, which is zhen reeled in. Zhe grapple has a relatively short range, roughly 2000 feet or 600 meters. It is very unlikely zhat breaking away is possible once zhe grapnel is attached. And even if ve do, it vill take about two minutes sir, for all our systems to get back on line."
"I don't need the whole encyclopedia, Mister Chekov," said Kirk half-heartedly. "Fire phasers
to try to sever the cord."
"Can't, sir," said Sulu, trying to get the angle right. "They've placed it just right."
"What do you mean, Mr. Sulu?" asked Kirk. "Sever that damn thing!"
"I can't sir!" repeated Sulu, angrily, turning to Jim."She has a blind spot with weaponry, she can't hit items that are right in front of her nose!" Kirk rose and began pacing in tenseness and worry.
"Shoot the Reavers then!" he said walking over to the battle-master's station. "Or can you not do that either?"
"Can't sir, they are operating without a central containment. That releases a lot of highly volatile radiation. We blow that ship up, or even hit her in the right place, we'll explode," said Sulu reluctantly.
"Gun the engines then; try to break free. Go to Warp 9 if you must!"
"Look at them struggling so, Commander Koln," said Cartwright gleefully as they watched the
Enterprise struggle to break free of the immensely powerful magnetic grapple. The Reaver beside him
grinned in their evil, bestial way.
"Imagine, a whole life of doing this to people you either want to make an example out of or
need to subdue." Again, that bestial grin.
"You have...done a service...to Reavers, Cartwright," he growled. The Admiral still found it amazing that those people had managed to defeat the primary boundaries of speech. The Enterprise continued to grow closer and the ship was nearly in the dock.
There would be no dawn for Kirk's grand old lady.