Chapter Fourteen – Missing in Action
McCoy rushed over the open ground, hoping the seize fire wasn't broken. He entered the Research Center and stopped for a moment to catch his breath, after all, he wasn't a marathon runner.
"Doctor McCoy," a young nurse called as she recognized him. "Thank goodness, your presence is required on level three."
He nodded and made for the turbolift. The corridors and examination rooms seemed filled with injured, bruised and shocked people from various planets. Bones grimaced as he kept going, every fibre in him told him to stop and help but even he knew he couldn't help them all by himself. "Meaningless violence," he muttered as he finally got into the turbolift and stepped out on level three within a minute.
"McCoy!" Slox hollered.
Enterprise's CMO spotted the head researcher and quickly made his way over to help.
"This might not be the right time," Slox began sheepishly, his eyes never wavering from the patient. "But I'm sorry, for everything."
"Don't mention it," Bones said with a tight-lipped smile.
Slox broke into a traditional Denobulan grin and McCoy involuntarily groaned as he imagined the pain that grin would cause if he was to try it himself.
"The injuries are mostly superficial, but I have two humanoids that are in need of repair surgery in the next room," Slox informed.
Bones nodded and was about to walk away as Chekov and Sulu burst into the room, the latter sporting a gash on his forehead.
"What happened to you?" Bones asked grumpily.
"I was caught by debris," the young lieutenant mumbled as Chekov gently helped him sit down on a chair nearby. "It's like a war-zone out there."
"Doctor McCoy, we have been unable to reach any of the ships," Chekov reported in concern. "Why aren't they answering?"
That was a question McCoy didn't want to answer, not even speculate on. The good doctor knew there could be a number of reasons but none of them seemed appealing. "I am sure they will when they're able," he replied curtly, his voice shorter than he intended.
"Maybe they're hunting the monsters," Chekov mumbled, answering his own question.
Bones frowned as Slox walked over to tend to Sulu.
"We saw them," the Japanese lieutenant relented. "We saw them grab Mrs. Grayson."
McCoy froze for a second, and swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. Without a word he turned around and headed for the communications panel on the wall. "This is Doctor McCoy, get me Ka'la. We have a security breach," he said darkly. "It may have something to do with the pirate vessel."
OOOOOO
Kirk suddenly felt cold as the adrenaline started to leave his body and he fought to keep his heavy eyelids open. He felt his friend's presence next to him and heard the whirring of the scanner. "Are you all right, Spock?" he whispered.
"I'm functional," he admitted, but something in his voice gave him away. "The mine is gone, captain, there is not much left of it."
A faint smile crept over Kirk's lips. "It doesn't matter, we still have our readings and the material from the Coridan agent. I don't care what is being claimed – we have the necessary proof."
"Unfortunately, much of it is circumstantial," Spock said seriously as he put the scanner down.
"Not when we tie everything together. They can't hide anymore, it's out in the open," Jim persisted tiredly as he reached out with his hand. "Help me up, Spock."
"Jim," the Vulcan cautioned and then he suddenly disappeared in a swirl of colors.
Kirk gasped as he felt the tingling of a transporter beam engulf him.
"Captain Kirk," the now familiar voice of the Andorian Captain Scheck called jovially. "You do get the most exciting away missions."
Jim felt his eyelids close and the darkness that had threatened to claim him for so long finally closed in on him.
OOOOOO
Blindfolded and terrified, despite all the hours of meditation on Vulcan, Amanda sat on the floor propped up against a cold metal wall. She had no way of knowing where they were taking her and she didn't know what had happened to her husband. The ship seemed to be falling apart around her judging from the alarms she'd been hearing moments before. Something or someone had hit the vessel just after they'd boarded.
She raised her head as a door whooshed open not far away from her. "Who is it?" she demanded worriedly, trying to keep her voice steady.
No one said anything, but she could feel the presence of another being in the room with her. It felt like someone was staring at her for a moment and she heard faint steps on the cold metal floor.
"Who are you?" she tried again.
The person stopped for a moment and then began to walk toward the door, leaving her alone once again.
OOOOOO
"Mr. Scott!" Uhura shouted. "Communication has been restored."
The viewscreen suddenly blinked on again.
"Incoming call from Babel," Uhura reported. "It's Admiral Carter."
Scotty braced himself and nodded toward her. "Put him through."
"Have you heard from Kirk," he said brusquely by way of greeting.
"I'm sorry, Admiral, but we've lost contact with the captain," Lieutenant Commander Scott informed regrettably. "They've missed the two latest checkpoints. I'd like to break orbit-"
"Permission denied, Commander Scott," Carter returned sharply. "I am afraid I'm the messenger of bad news. As of two hours ago Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan disappeared from site, his staff that joined him on the planet have been indisposed, most of them dead. I have several dead Starfleet security officers. Tensions are running high down here. The hotel is burning, the research lab is smashed up and the diplomatic zone is chaotic at best."
"What?" Mr. Scott said somewhat upset. "They cannot have come from space. We would have detected them."
"It's the ship that we can't see, Commander Scott," Carter said unamused. "I've been trying to call you for the last thirty minutes. When you failed to reply to our hails we began to fear the worst."
"They jammed all the frequencies and tried to overload the circuitry but we're alright, sir. Should I bring down more people?"
"Negative, I need you to aid Captain Rodgers. Pegasus bore the brunt of the attack it seems; she's limping on emergency power. I want the shield harmonics transferred to the Enterprise and as many repair teams you can spare on the Pegasus. This is getting closer and closer to war, Commander Scott, and if that happens we're all losers."
"It won't come to that, sir," Scotty assured him.
"No, we can't afford it," Carter replied bitterly. "I need something from Kirk and quick. Also, I've recalled the Vulcan ship V'Nara. She's travelling in a convoy of five ships but won't be able to reach Babel for another twenty-four-hours. Until then it's up to Enterprise to keep us safe."
"That means we can't pursue the enemy," Scotty mused.
"I have a feeling they'll get back," Carter replied darkly. "As for now we need to calm everything down. The Andorians are accusing the Tellarite delegation of deception, the remote Xindi group is talking about withdrawing. The Goldeans are running around in total chaos like there will be no tomorrow and the Plaxians are convinced Romulans will storm the place in cooperation with the Orion Syndicate and the Rigelian delegation was killed in the raid against the hotel."
OOOOOO
Spock watched as Kirk was gently placed on a stretcher and then whisked away to sickbay with several medically trained Andorian's hovering over him. Having taken readings of his friend's condition he was troubled.
"Commander Spock," Scheck acknowledged as he took in the dusty appearance of Kirk's XO.
The man looked ill, drained somehow. Green blood seemed to have trickled down his temple and he gently reached up with his left arm to prod his right shoulder.
"Perhaps we should follow them to sickbay," Scheck suggested.
"That seems like a logical decision," Spock agreed.
Scheck nodded and turned on his heels. "We followed you to Coridan," he said simply. "I was surprised at first but then we intercepted a message to a Coridan officer and I got intrigued."
"We were sent to investigate," Spock explained.
"You did more than that," the Andorian captain commended slyly. "You led us straight to the Orion Syndicate and their base of operations."
"May I remind you that the laws of the Federation don't apply here, captain," Spock said with a raised eyebrow as they entered the turbolift.
Scheck snorted. "Pirates don't follow any laws whether it's Coridan or the Federation," he said sourly. "For some reason it seems my men rubbed them the wrong way and they fled the area, perhaps even the planet. I've all my scanners directed and set for anything amiss. The moment they're leaving orbit I intend to pick them up."
Spock thought for a moment then turned to Scheck. "Captain, I suggest you beam me back to the planet. I need to take the Galileo back to Babel. I trust that Captain Kirk is in good hands," he said.
"Logical choice is it?" Scheck asked. "I know you think of yourselves as superior and levelheaded, but I have a suggestion for you. I beam you down personally and then you bring it up here, into my hangar bay. I will not leave you alone out there so they can kidnap you too."
"I don't understand?" Spock said simply.
"My communications officer was doing a random sweep when he picked up a faint transmission broadcasted by that infamous little ship you've been chasing. Now it took some time to translate the Klingon dialect, but we got enough to deduce Ambassador Sarek was abducted."
"Is there a way to contact Enterprise or Babel?" Spock asked, his voice suddenly clipped and urgent.
"We're too far out and even if we were closer we still wouldn't be able to contact either of them. Communications are dead," Scheck explained as they reached the transporter room once again. "Don't be long, Commander Spock."
OOOOOO
Amanda was roughly hauled up from the floor and yanked out the door. She yelped as the strong man pushed her forward in the corridor. There was a soft hiss coming from ahead. It was a familiar sound, something was being pressurized. They'd docked the ship with something. Within moments she felt a shudder as they passed into a larger room where the temperature was much lower and the air stale and badly recycled. They seemed to walk for ages until the man pushing her forward stopped and waited for a door to open. He said nothing to her, just left her on her own, still blindfolded with her hands bound behind her back.
Feeling her heart beat frantically in her chest she forced herself to calm down and take a deep breath, then suddenly the door opened again she heard steps, but no one said anything.
"Who's there?" she managed.
"Amanda," Sarek called, his voice flat and devoid of emotions.
She smiled at the sound of her husband's call, she could easily detect the worried undertone. After all, she had had years to look for it. "I am all right, Sarek," she assured him softly.
He walked over to her, his hands finding hers. "Turn around and bend forward so that I can take off your blindfold," he said.
Wasting no time, she did as she was told and then mimicked the procedure to relieve him of his blindfold as well.
Amanda knew he didn't particularly like being hugged but she needed the physical comfort right now.
Sarek gently placed his arms around her, having learned a long time ago that humans had a different need for comfort than Vulcans. "Amanda," he whispered. "Everything will be all right."
She inhaled deeply and let out a deep breath, drawing strength from the embrace before she took a step back and glanced around the room. "I don't feel the humming of engines anymore," she said in confusion.
"No," he replied. "That is because we're on a space station."
Amanda's eyes grew wide as she turned to him once again. "A space station?" she asked skeptically. "I don't understand. This place seems abandoned."
Sarek nodded darkly. "This is Deep Space Station K3. It no longer meets the requirements of the Federation and is scheduled to be demolished," he explained.
Amanda felt the hairs at the back of her neck rise at his succinct words. "When," she managed.
"Tomorrow," he replied simply.
She cringed and felt her knees grow week. "No one knows we're here," she whispered. "Sarek, they're going to kill us."
OOOOOO
To be continued