Spock had disabled the self-destruct on the Enterprise, but he did not unlock the ship's systems yet. Then they had gone to the medical bay so that Bones could do something about his broken nose and sore face. He did not take time to do anything about the swelling yet, but he took care of the broken nose. "At least that's better," he said. "What do we do now?"

"Since we are unable to contact Jim, I suggest we stay aboard the Enterprise," Spock replied.

"Well, how are we supposed to know what's going on?"

"Maybe we could hail this ship from the Bridge," Uhura suggested.

"Not without unlocking the ship," Spock said.

"Right. Are we going to just sit here?"

"Now that the ship has stopped, it may be wise if we stay here so that we can prepare the Enterprise for a quick escape."

"I think one of us should take a communicator to Jim so we could talk to him at least," Bones said.

Spock considered that. "I do not want to leave the Enterprise now that we have managed to get aboard."

"So I'll go. If they made it to the Bridge of this ship, then the path may be clear by now."

"You should be careful, Doctor. Do not assume that everything is clear. You must carry a weapon and you must not hesitate to fire it. Otherwise, we will have another situation on our hands."

"I know what you mean. I'll make it to the Bridge and I'll take a medical kit with me in case anyone is injured."

"Stay in touch."

"You know, I think you're starting to care about us."

"Doctor McCoy, that is such a nasty remark," Uhura said. "Even for you. You know Spock cares for his friends and this crew."

"Well, excuse me. I was just joking."

Bones picked up one of the most powerful blaster's in the Enterprise's arsenal. "Wish me luck," he said.

"Good luck," Spock replied.

Bones grabbed a medical kit and two communicators and headed out of the Enterprise. He stopped when he reached the back of the ship and the boarding ramp which they had closed when they came into the ship. He took out a communicator. "Hey, Spock, are there any blood-thirsty enemies outside this ship?" he asked.

Spock was scanning the outside of the ship already. "I do not see any," he replied.

"Good. I just wanted to make sure before I lower this ramp."

"I believe you are clear."

Bones pressed the button to lower the ramp, and he held the blaster ready just in case Spock missed something. He realized he was already sweating, but he went on out of the ship and down the ramp. He clipped the communicator to his belt so Spock could hear him without him having to let go of the blaster with one hand to talk. "I don't see anything so far," Bones said.

Spock and Uhura could hear his rapid breathing and knew he was nervous. After all, he was a doctor, not a security officer. Bones got over to the corridor that led out of the hangar bay and would lead up to the Bridge. "Next time I volunteer for something like this, sedate me," he said. He shined the light he had down the corridor and saw no one so he went on. He could not help but have the fleeting thought that the light he carried just painted a target on him. He got to the end of that corridor and looked around the corner, and right into the face of Duras.

Bones was so startled, he did not have time to react, and Duras slammed his armored forearm down on Bones's arms so hard that he wondered if he broke his arm and then he elbowed Bones in the face. Bones hit the floor hard and was then jerked up facing Duras. He could taste blood in his mouth and he thought that repair on his nose had been for nothing.

"Now, we will see whether your Admiral wants to talk," Duras said.

Bones thought strongly about spitting his blood all over Duras's face, but he did not. He had gotten Jim into worse trouble.

Spock and Uhura had heard what was happening but they could do nothing from where they were, they could not alert Jim. "Wait!" Uhura said. "Scotty must still have his communicator!"

Spock grabbed his own communicator. "Mister Scott," he said.

Scotty was still studying the isolinear chips when his communicator chirped. He was surprised to hear it. "Yes," he answered.

"Mister Scott, can you contact the Admiral?"

"Yes sir."

"Alert him that Duras has captured the doctor and is planning to use him as barter. We must find a way to free the doctor. Can you restore the lights in the ship?"

"Yes sir."

"You should, and has the tractor beam holding the Enterprise been turned off?"

"Yes sir. You should be able to move the ship."

"We need more people to operate the ship properly."

"But Sir, if I leave here, I cannot keep control of this ship."

Spock thought a moment. "I will attempt to transport everyone back to the Enterprise. We must work fast!"

"Yes sir. I'm working on the lights now."

Jim was surprised when the lights came on, on the Bridge, and then the intercom began flashing again. "Mister Scott, I'm glad you restored the lights," he said.

"Admiral, we have a big problem," Scotty replied. "Duras had captured the doctor and he is on his way to you!"

Jim felt cold inside with that news. "Where was he?"

"Probably close to the Bridge. He intends to use the doctor as barter. Mister Spock is going to attempt to transport us to the Enterprise."

"No. We'll lose this ship!"

"But sir, if they capture you again…"

"I know, Mister Scott. Tell Spock to hold off on that. We have to take this ship if we can. We have to fight for it. If we can't…he can transport us then."

"Yes sir."

"Kirk out."

Jim just stood there a moment. "What should we do?" Solan asked.

Jim could see the troubled look on Solan's face. He had asked them to put their lives on the line too many times, but he could not do it without them. "We're gonna fight," he said.

"We're ready, Admiral," Ajah said. "How do we rescue the doctor?"

Jim frowned. "I don't know."

"I'll try to get to him," Helek said. "When they are occupied with the fight, I will attempt to rescue him."

"Just be careful. He may be…injured."

Jim did not like the fact that Bones was probably being tortured because of him. He had talked Bones into coming on this mission. "Don't worry," Solan said. "We'll do something."

"If I have to, I'll give myself up. I can't let them keep Bones."

"Jim, you can't do that."

"Well, you can always shoot me."

Solan was appalled that he even said that. "You know I couldn't do that."

"Yeah, I know."

Jim and the others went over to the entrance to the Bridge. "I don't know of any other way they can get onto this Bridge besides this door," he said.

"I haven't seen anything," Helek replied.

Duras was not on his way to the Bridge just yet. They had taken Bones to another room in the ship. "Let me torture him," the Nausicaan said.

Bones wanted to try and get away but he figured that would just result in getting him hurt even worse. "You can help with the Admiral," Duras replied. "This one is bait. We will use the nerve cruncher."

Bones did not like the sound of even the name of that. He was trying his best not to look afraid, but he was trembling inside. "I can smell fear," the Nausicaan said.

Bones glared at him. "Jim won't give in to you!" he declared. "I'm just a member of his crew!"

"On the contrary," Duras said. "You are very close to Admiral Kirk. You are Leonard McCoy, are you not?"

Bones frowned. How did they even know his name? "Whether you answer or not, I know who you are, Doctor McCoy," Duras said. "When I am done with you, you will answer any question I ask…even betray your best friend."

"I will not!"

"Remove his shirt and put him on the table."

The Nausicaan brought Bones over to the table in the center of the room and practically threw him onto it on his stomach. Instead of completely removing the shirt, they pulled it up over his head along with his arms and strapped him down like that. He tried to struggle, but they strapped him down so he could not move. Bones thought it was very disturbing that he was lying on his stomach instead of his back, and now he could see nothing.

"I will not scream," Bones told himself silently. "I will not scream." He thought not seeing what was happening was worse than seeing it coming. He figured that was part of the torture though.

Bones felt something on his back between his shoulders. He tried his best to struggle but he could not move much. Then he felt a pain that felt like a pin prick mixed with what felt like a hard punch to the back. It reminded him of the time Jerah had put that device on him to shock him. He sure hoped this was nothing like that but he was sure it was nothing good. Next, he felt whatever it was boring into his back. He wanted to cry out but he made himself not do it. As it bore deeper, he felt a cold sensation that went all the way to his feet. Then all his muscles seemed to jerk involuntarily as something seemed to snap into place.

Bones just lay there wondering what was going to happen next. "It is in place," someone said.

They got Bones up next and let him get his shirt back on. "What did you do to me?" he asked.

"You will know soon enough," Duras said. "Put him back on the table."

The Nausicaan was too glad to oblige. He restrained Bones again and then stood at the end of the table at his feet. Bones figured he was the one who would do the torturing if there was any done. Duras activated an intercom on the wall. "Admiral Kirk," he said.

Jim was startled when he heard that. He went over to the console where the red intercom light was flashing again and pressed it. "Yeah?"

"I am Duras."

"I thought you were a little stunned."

Duras almost snarled at him. "I have your beloved doctor. I believe you call him…Bones."

Jim frowned. "I don't believe you," he said, hoping he would let him talk to Bones.

"I will prove it to you."

Bones thought his fear tripled, but he was determined that he would neither say anything nor scream no matter what they did. He would not let them use him to get Jim. "Speak, and let your friend know you are here!" Duras demanded.

Bones just glared at him as best he could and did not say a word. Duras nodded to the Nausicaan. "Break his leg," he said.

Bones was alarmed and wanted to yell, but he stayed quiet. "Wait!" Jim yelled. "Bones, are you there? Tell me now! That's an order!"

Bones did not want to but he said, "Yes, Jim, I'm here."

"Let him go, Duras!" Jim demanded. "Holding him is not going to get you what you want!"

"It's going to get me exactly what I want," Duras replied. "You!"

"Jim, you can't give in to him!" Bones said.

"More of our allies are on their way here right now, and we will have reinforcements aboard this ship. You will not succeed, Admiral."

"You forget, we have control of Engineering and the Bridge," Jim reminded him.

Jim ended the transmission. "What did you do that for?" Solan asked.

"He's not going to do anything to Bones without me hearing it."

Jim switched the frequency. "Scotty."

"Yes, Admiral."

"How much longer?"

"We're almost there, Sir."

"Scotty, as soon as you get power back, we have to get moving! There are ships on their way here and we're about to have more than we can handle!"

"Just a few more minutes, Sir. It's almost there!"

"Great! Kirk out!"

Jim turned to Solan. "As soon as this ship gets power, get us out of here!" he said.

Solan nodded and sat down in the pilot's seat. He sure hoped they could get out before those other ships arrived. He pressed the communication button. "Scotty, can we at least get the shields up?" he asked.

"Just about," Scotty answered.

"If we could get that, we could stop them from getting onboard this ship."

Scotty was silent a moment. "Shields are coming up now!" he said.

Just then, all the lights on Solan's panel lit up blue. "Wow, we've got something," he said. "Nothing's red now."

"Power in a few more seconds."

Jim was trying to watch the helm and the door to the Bridge at the same time. Just as he thought they were going to win this, four ships dropped out of warp. "Mister Scott! We just ran out of time!" Jim said.

"Ten more seconds, Sir!" Scotty replied. "The shields will hold them off until we can get the warp drive working!"

Suddenly, another voice came over the intercom system. "Admiral Kirk, you have chosen to ignore me," Duras said. "Your friend here will pay for your ignorance."

Just then, there was a horrifying scream of agony. Jim's breath quickened as he knew it was Bones. "Stop!" he yelled.

The scream died down. "Now, do I have your attention?"

"No, Jim!" Bones yelled.

Solan, Helek, and Ajah were watching Jim to see what he would do. "You have five minutes," Duras said. "Or your friend here will know what true agony is."

The transmission ended. The others could see the agony on Jim's face. "Jim, you can't," Solan said.

"He's my best friend, Solan," Jim replied.

"We can go and search for him," Helek suggested. "Perhaps we will meet those who would try to take the Bridge as well."

Jim felt like he was frozen. Why had he not stayed on Kronos? Why did he not just stay on Earth? How would they ever get out of this?

"Admiral!" Ajah said.

Jim looked at him. Just then, the warp drive came online with a jolt. Jim whirled around toward Solan. "Punch it!"

Solan got the coordinates set for Klingon space and pulled the lever that put the ship to warp. Jim felt better then and looked at Helek and Ajah. "Go get 'em," he said.

Helek's smile even had electricity showing in it. "We'll find the doctor," he replied.

Helek and Ajah hurried from the Bridge, not forgetting to avoid the stun wave set up at the door. Jim heard electricity firing and surprised groans and yelling. He stood at the door of the Bridge hoping that they would find Bones. Someone had to stay on the Bridge…and he supposed that was him.

Spock and Uhura had heard some of the communications and had already known that Bones had been captured. Their top priority at the moment, however, was to protect the Enterprise. Locking it up did not seem to do any good with the mechanisms that these criminals had. They could not allow them to get the Enterprise if it was possible to stop them. However, he knew the other ship was now moving. "Spock, shouldn't we join the search for Doctor McCoy?" she asked.

"Perhaps we should," Spock replied. "I cannot contact Jim, however, and do not know his plans."

"If the ship is moving, we must be on our way back to Klingon space."

"Still, we do not know his plans once we arrive there."

"There's no way to find out if we just sit here."

"You are correct as usual. However, we can contact Mister Scott." Spock activated the communicator again. "Mister Scott."

"Yes, Sir," Scotty answered.

"Do you know what Jim has planned?"

"No. Right now, we're on our way back to Klingon space."

"Does he intend to try and rescue Doctor McCoy?"

"I don't know what he's doing about that, Sir. We could use a little help here though. Korax is good, but he's getting tired, and John is helping."

"As you know, we are quite shorthanded. Once we arrive back at Kronos, we will be able to retrieve more of our crew."

"Yes sir."

"Contact Jim and ask what he would like Uhura and I to do."

"Yes sir."

Spock ended that transmission. He and Uhura watched the scanners outside the ship while they waited. "Although they want the technology from the Enterprise, their ultimate goal was to capture Jim," Spock said. "It is logical that they will attempt to escape from this ship with Doctor McCoy in order to lure Jim into their plan."

"He wouldn't let them do that, would he?" Uhura asked.

"You know as well as I do that Jim and Doctor McCoy have been good friends since they met on their way to the Academy. I believe he would have a difficult time allowing his friend to stay in their clutches and not try to save him."

"He couldn't risk the Federation."

"I believe the Federation would survive no matter whether they captured Jim or not. I am certain that he would believe the same thing. However, I am not certain that Jim, nor the doctor would survive."

"We have to do something besides just sit here."

"We will as soon as we figure out what it is that we should do."

John McCoy stood beside Scotty, but his mind certainly was not on what they were doing in Engineering. He was thinking about his brother. Leonard had given himself up and left him so that he could help in some way. John knew he had left him so that he would not be a prisoner.

"They'll find him, Laddy," Scotty said.

John swallowed hard as he could almost still hear his brother's scream that came over that intercom. "What if they kill him?" he asked. "They're torturing him, Scotty."

Scotty hated it too, but he had to make sure the warp drive kept working right. He had never seen a setup like the one in this ship, and he intended to learn all he could. "We have to think about what we're doing," he said. "We can't help him. We can only get this ship back to Klingon space."

"He shouldn't even be here."

"None of us should! This was never the intent of this mission!"

John had to admit that was right. "I don't ever want to go on anymore missions to Klingon space," he said.

"You don't have a choice, Pal."

"Yes I do. I'll resign from Starfleet."

Scotty supposed he needed to let someone else talk to John about that. "Let's keep our minds on what we're doing."

"Yeah…we can't let our feelings or care about someone get in the way of duty!" John said bitterly and moved to another console.

Scotty looked at him, but he kept on with what he was doing. Korax came over to Scotty. "The young one's concerns are not ridiculous," he said.

"I never said they were," Scotty replied. "I'm not heartless."

"It is difficult for the young to ignore anger and other emotions."

"I never thought Klingons ignored emotions."

"Then you do not know much about the Klingons. To be a warrior, one must put their goals first."

"Yeah. Well, you should be watching the door."

"The door is sealed, and has been coded."

"Right. So, we're on our way back to Klingon space. That's it for now."

Korax thought about Doctor McCoy. He enjoyed arguing with the doctor when he was onboard the Enterprise. He had even spoken with him briefly since he moved to Pacifica. However, he had stayed on Kronos for a long time. "I want to help find the doctor," he said. "You do not need me here."

"I don't think we should be here without a guard," Scotty replied.

"I will stay here at your orders, but I will not like it."

"I think we're all having to do things we don't like."

Helek and Ajah had met up with a lot of resistance, but now they were unopposed. "How do we find the doctor?" Ajah asked. "They could be anywhere."

Helek stopped a moment and thought. "I have studied this ship a great deal, and have studied about the admiral's last encounter," he said. "There was a room called 'the suffering room'."

"And you think this may be where they are torturing the doctor?"

"It's worth a shot…but where is this room?"

"I do not know."

"The admiral would know…perhaps."

Helek looked around them and saw an intercom connection on the wall. "I don't want this to go over the whole thing," he said.

"I hope you know how to use this thing," Ajah replied.

"I wasn't born yesterday. I happen to even work on these things."

Helek managed to find the connection to the Bridge. "Admiral," he said.

Jim pressed the button on the console on the Bridge. "Yeah."

"Where is the suffering room? We think that could be where they are holding Doctor McCoy."

Jim considered that. "I'm not sure where it's located," he said. "I don't think it's far from the Brig though. I didn't exactly get out the normal way, or go in the normal way either…but you're right."

"We will attempt to make our way to the Brig area. I will notify you if we find him."

"Good."

Helek ended the transmission. "Now, we must find the Brig since we have not been there," he said.

"The Brig is in a lower area of the ship," Ajah replied.

"Right. I guess we just have to find a corridor that goes down."

Ajah rolled his eyes at that. "That is the simple way to look at it."

"I like to look at things the simple way."

As they neared the center of the ship, they could hear the loud humming sound of the warp drive which was contained within the sphere but was connected to the Nacelles further back in the ship. This area was rather dimly lit according to the rest of the ship that they had seen.

"We should be able to recharge here somewhere," Helek said. "Since this is where the power is made."

"A lot of power," Ajah replied as he looked around them.

"A lot more power to convert to electricity."

"You should be careful. This is the center of power. In the conduits that we have accessed so far, the power was relayed. This area would be raw power."

Helek looked at Ajah. "Are you always so cautious?"

"Yes."

"You could be right."

They continued on through that area and came to the back part of the ship which contained Engineering as well as the Brig. They finally came to an area where there was a corridor that slanted downward. "Maybe that's it," Helek whispered.

"I suggest we be careful," Ajah whispered.

"Well, I think that's obvious."

They moved slowly down the corridor which seemed to wind around the ship and had several hatches and doors along the way. Finally, they came to the Brig which was still occupied by the other prisoners who had been there before Jim and the others. "We should free them," Ajah whispered. "Perhaps they could help us."

"I never know whether to do something without the admiral's approval," Helek whispered.

"If they were free, they could help to rid the ship of other enemies."

"What if they do not want to help us?"

"Why would they not? We are all after the same goal."

Just then, they heard a scream of torture. They whirled around to look down the corridor. They knew that had to be Doctor McCoy…

Bones had found out just exactly what the "nerve cruncher" was. It sent pain through every nerve in his body. The Nausicaan had zapped him with it twice. "Do you know what happens after the third time?" he asked.

Bones did not want to think about it. All his nerves felt like they were buzzing. The Nausicaan leaned over him. "Tell us about the admiral's family," he said. "You won't escape us."

Bones could feel his nerves trembling, and it made him feel like he was extremely nervous. "You do not help yourself by refusing," his tormentor said. "We will take this vessel back once it stops."

"You underestimate Jim," Bones said trying to keep his voice from shaking, but failing.

"No, I believe it is you who overestimate your chances."

"Enough of this talk," Duras said. He grabbed Bones and pulled him off the table and dragged him over to the intercom. He threw him into the floor on his back and put his foot on his chest. Then he pressed the intercom button. "Admiral Kirk!"

Jim heard the angry voice over the intercom. "Kirk here," he answered.

"Your time is up!"

Suddenly, they heard Bones screaming again. Jim and Solan looked at each other. "Stop it!" Jim yelled.

Just then, Helek and Ajah arrived at the door to the "suffering room", which was exactly where Duras and the others were. They took out the guard outside the door, and then blasted the controls to the door. The ones inside the room were taken by surprise. Helek hit Duras with a huge wave of electrical power. Ajah ducked as a phaser blast went by and then he took out two Romulans in the room. However, the Nausicaan still had the control for the device attached to Doctor McCoy.

"This is the only thing that can detach the device from your doctor!" the Nausicaan said. "If you destroy it, he will pay the price."

Helek glared at him as he stood beside Doctor McCoy who was still lying in the floor. "I do not have to destroy it to incapacitate you," Helek informed him.

"But I can destroy it easily."

Jim could hear what was going on since the intercom was still activated. "No!" he said. "Helek, stand down."

"But Admiral…"

"That's an order!"

Helek glared at the Nausicaan and lowered his hand as though he would give up, but he looked toward Ajah, who exchanged the glance. Ajah suddenly let go a charge that hit the Nausicaan right in his nostril crests. They actually saw electrical strands come out his ears, and he fell backward.

"Nice," Helek said.

Ajah ran over to the Nausicaan and retrieved the device from him. "I suppose this is what he spoke of," he said. He searched the Nausicaan and found one other device. "I suppose someone else besides us will have to do this."

Helek was kneeling beside Doctor McCoy who was unconscious. "He's alive," he said. "But he is covered in sweat. I suppose I will have to…turn off my light show before I attempt to carry him out of here."

"I suppose you will," Ajah replied.

Jim was still hearing them. "Report to the Bridge now!" he said.

"Shouldn't we take Doctor McCoy to the medical bay on the Enterprise first?" Helek asked.

Jim was getting angrier by the minute. "Since it's on the way, go ahead, but then you come to the Bridge…and Ajah too!"

"We'll be there."

Jim turned off the transmission. They had blatantly disobeyed him…and it could have resulted in dire consequences for Bones. He would have a good chewing for them…