Now in the sweltering belly of the garden, Jim shrugged off the heavy robe, deciding the lush foliage was ample camouflage. With the extra weight gone, he chased after the renegade as she darted away, unhindered by her short stature. Despite being so petite Soona was incredibly agile. All he saw as she turned the corner around a blossoming bush were her bare, blue feet.
An unexpected surge of adrenaline rushed through him and Jim charged. He turned left in an aisle parallel to hers. The move well-staged, this time it was his turn to surprise her as he crossed the barrier of brush, thorns tearing his uniform in the process. Her muscles flexed under his grip but she lurched to a stop, hair whipping around her face.
"Let go of me," she hissed.
He stared down at her, her petite size throwing him again. "Soona, I cannot allow you to run free. You kidnapped Prince Lequa's children and were charged by the prince himself."
"I did no harm, I told you."
"Good men and women were killed," he gritted. She flinched but made no apology. "I demand an explanation for your presence here and I will find it whether you tell me or not, Soona."
"You do not have the understanding, but you will." Her eyes glistened with emotion. She leaned forward, breath hovering beside his cheek. Jim's fingers involuntarily loosened on her arm. Only a portion of her eyes were full of life, the other part near the scarring had unnatural sheen, her skin smoothed too perfectly. He could see this now. Although peach colored, her eyes were not Re'an eyes. "Follow me, and I'll show you."
"You...you are..."
You are...not Re'an, Jim wanted to say but there it was again. The scent of snake. The world stopped and Jim inched his face forward. He bent his head, stopped a hairsbreadth from her neck, and breathed deeply where the scent was stronger. She arched her neck and his face pressed against it. As he breathed in her skin, his mind opened. The dark cloud that had hung over his head parted, leaving him feeling freer and lighter than he had for months. How many times over the past months had he longed for the darkness to leave him? He'd been desperate for an escape and now, here it was. He smiled in contentment and breathed again.
"Where are they, Soona?" The whisper fell despairingly from his lips. His fingers clamped around her wrist. He had to see the snakes. "Where," he growled deeply into her skin.
"Where is...who?" Her whisper taunted him with its ambiguity. "Your crew, Captain- would you like to see your crew?"
"My...crew..." Why would she ask him that? His crew was safe enjoying Re'an hospitality in the banquet hall. A voice in his head jeered they probably hadn't even noticed that he'd left. Besides, they hadn't wanted him to come in the first place. Soona twisted away in his confusion. "No...the snakes...wait..."
"Follow me," she taunted and swirled away in a dance of silence.
Uhura rested McCoy's head on her lap, looking on helplessly as Prince Lequa and his guards slipped through the overgrowth in the room and past each creature without effort or fear. Poisoned tip, Lequa had smiled at them, and not much time. She exchanged a worried look with Sulu who placed the doctor's hand against his chest and above his heart. McCoy needed care - now. There had to be a door there, and if they could somehow...
Uhura's sigh morphed into a frustrated growl. There was no way they could slip past those creatures themselves, unless they killed them.
She said as much to Spock in her concern for McCoy, and Aleyah's eyes widened.
"No, you can't do that!" the xenozoologist protested. "The animals here are far too sacred to the Re'an and far too unique in the universe - killing them would be tantamount to an act of war. Even if we wanted to kill them, we have no weapons and no knowledge of what it takes to do that."
Spock stood as a silent protector, closest to the creatures in his attempt to keep his crew safe. Sulu stood as well. The creatures maintained their distance from the small group, circling them repeatedly. The significance of the monotonous pattern was lost on the Enterprise crew. Uhura shot Spock a wary glance, wanting him to offer an explanation. But he said nothing as he watched the creatures' endless movements.
"Jim...forgive me...'m sorry...didn't mean... to throw ya out," McCoy's tortured whispers came from cracked, bleeding lips. "'m sorry...sorry..."
"Shh," Uhura hushed him, stroking the pale and fevered cheek of the doctor. McCoy had been mumbling those exact words in his semi-conscious state since Lequa had left them. The one time he added the word "sickbay" to his delirious murmurs Uhura had glanced at Spock in dismay. That single word was enough for her to deduce the depths of the grievance McCoy had committed against Jim. "Spock, he needs medical care from the Enterprise now."
"Jim will come," Spock stated.
Uhura stared at him in shock. One of their friends lay dying in her arms - did they really want another one to walk into the trap?
McCoy's eyes peeled opened for the first time since he fell. "What...happened...where's..."
"You have been poisoned, doctor, by the lethal tip of the spear," Spock said. "At the present, your symptoms are shortness of breath and increased body temperature. Judging by your unrest and outbursts during the time you were unconsciousness, I estimate that you are experiencing severe pain. We do not know the location of the captain, but Prince Lequa has indeed informed us that the captain will be joining us in this room shortly."
"No," McCoy whispered.. "Help me get up. Jim...he can't..."
"Stay down," Uhura ordered the stubborn doctor. Sulu moved down beside McCoy and gently held a hand against the doctor's chest to keep him from trying to rise. "You need to save all your strength, Dr. McCoy, for the time we figure a way out of here."
"How mu...how much...time."
"If the captain arrives and he cooperates, the Re'an will give us an antidote and send us to the Enterprise," Spock said evenly.
"Time?" McCoy growled.
Uhura swallowed, but refused to reveal her deeply rooted concern. "Two hours." At most, she failed to clarify.
McCoy's head fell back onto Uhura's lap. His eyes fluttered shut effortlessly. "Ya know...he'll...cooperate."
Spock nodded, attention still fixed upon the Re'an creatures. "To save your life, I have no doubt."
"Ya can't...let 'im."
Jim brushed aside the vine at his shoulder and stood breathless at the entrance of what had to be the sacred room of the Re'an. He reached out to touch another vine, relishing in the satisfaction that he'd been correct about this room and therefore not losing his grip on reality. In his contentment, he completely forgot to wonder if Soona already entered the room this way.
He wasn't crazy. He wasn't...Jim expelled a breath. He tipped his forehead and rested against the door.
"They are waiting for you."
"Soona?" He peered down the cramped brushy aisles, left and right, but saw no sight of her.
"Go in. What you want is in there," she said from his left, shimmying out from behind a narrow fruited tree.
"Will you show me?" he blurted out. Far be it from him not to share the experience.
She crossed the dozen meters over to him and obliged. Once inside, he stared in subdued delight, wanting to tell her to stop so he could revel in watching and listening to what he'd craved since first hearing their cries. She continued along a narrow path through the brush. Jim followed both her and the threads of light pointing the way to a clearing at the far end of the room.
Jim halted in his tracks.
"Bones?" He croaked, blinking rapidly from Spock, down to McCoy on the floor, and to the fierce but incredible display of Re'an snakes.
Confused, he barely registered that a figure now stood beside him. Soona, possibly, he vaguely hazarded. Not just possibly, but probably, seeing that none of his crew had moved a muscle. Struggling to clear his foggy thoughts, he furrowed his brow. Why had he followed her here aimlessly? He knew better, but something had overcome him. What, Jim did not know. Upon noticing that Spock's expression of concern tinted with anger, he grew more confused as the rage appeared directed at him.
"What...what are you doing in here? Spock?" Jim swallowed and glanced over at Bones, who lay unresponsive on the floor. Scared out of his wits for the doctor, he took a step forward - and faltered. A sea of snakes moved as a continuous wave towards his crew. Realizing that the snakes stopped when he stopped, Jim saw the better choice - again, since they were at odds, would they ever forgive each other? - was to remain far from his best friend. He exhaled a short breath. "What's wrong with Bones?"
"The doctor has been poisoned. Prince Lequa informs us that it is lethal, but that they will supply us with the antidote if you cooperate with their demands."
"What?" Jim snapped in disbelief. He turned his head to Soona. "Get them out of here."
"Only you can rescue them. The doors before you are locked. They may exit through the garden way..." She paused and peered at him. "But Prince Lequa insists that you stay."
"Tell him I will stay." It was the only choice.
"No, Jim," Spock argued.
"I'll stay, Soona. Just get them out," he ordered. It didn't matter to him that he'd been pulled from command. His crew was endangered and he knew what he must do. He stepped forward, cautious as each step he took forward led the snakes towards his crew. Frustrated, he glared at the warrior. "I said, get them out!"
"You must do this alone." Soona backed into the brush, a look in her eyes that he could not decipher. "I'm sorry."
"No," he reached for her hand but she'd disappeared behind a series of widely trunked trees. "Soona!"
He whipped his head back around, for a moment breathless as he realized McCoy's skin pallor. "How much time does he have?"
"If he continues to decline at the present rate, I estimate a maximum of one hour thirty-two minutes.," Spock said tersely, eyes fixed on the wall of snakes. "We cannot move towards the exit."
"Okay," Jim's gaze darted along the floor. "Okay. It seems that if I move closer to you, so do they. So, listen. I'll move to the other side. It should make a path."
"Jim, there are other details I must explain-"
"Start moving, Spock. Get them out of here." Jim managed to keep his tone neutral until he noticed one of the largest snakes he'd ever seen appearing from the thick of the trees and brush. It barreled over the sea of snakes themselves, heading straight towards him. "Shit. Awww...shit."
"Stay calm, Captain."
"Shit." Jim hissed.
"Captain, you must remain calm."
"Calm, right. With a hundred snakes at my feet and one the size of a mammoth coming straight for me." He laughed shakily but managed two steps to the right before said mammoth came to his boots. Jim couldn't look up, couldn't make himself for fear he'd make a sudden movement and startle the snakes into a lethal chain reaction. "Are you away from the snakes yet?"
Spock held the doctor's deadweight in his arms. "Our progress is slow but acceptable."
Jim lifted one of his boots and took a slow, deliberate step to the side. As he prepared to slide another step, the head of the mammoth slipped onto his boot and immediately coiled its body around his ankle. He looked in dismay as it hooked its tail around his other foot, trapping him.
"Captain, you cannot move," Spock's voice raised. Jim could feel the worried vibes coming from the Vulcan, and that, in turn, promptly caused Jim's heart to race.
"Dammit, I know, I know." Jim swallowed nervously, unprepared for the fight or flight reaction that had hit him. Another pair of snakes joined the first by coiling around his legs and still another slithered up his torso. Unlike the one that had been wrapped around him days ago, these behaved aggressively. "I know. Just get to safety. Bones needs their help."
"I will come back for you."
"No," Jim clenched his jaw. "You can't. It's too dangerous."
"I can re-"
"Spock, you know it's illogical to come back for me! The damn snakes want me. Not you!" He snapped.
"Jim?"
"I've felt their pull...ever since...ever since we arrived at Re'an V," Jim reluctantly admitted. "Go, Spock. Just go!"
Spock nodded stiffly and led the others away with caution, the fact that Jim was no longer in command having no affect on Jim's words or Spock's actions. Other snakes followed the lead of the first four and coiled around Jim's body. He straightened, Lequa's words that the creatures would not hurt him coming to the surface. Remaining calm was the key to his crew's survival. He evened his breaths and soon the awe for the creatures he'd had days before enveloped him. His crew were halfway to the thicker, enveloping foliage of the room when Bones chose to awaken.
"Jim," Bones mumbled, peering at him through heavy lidded eyes. "What the hell...is going on."
"A walk in the park, Bones. With snakes." He tried to laugh for their sake, to keep them moving to safety, but the scales of the larger snake swept across his shoulders and neck. The laughter died in his throat when he saw the concern growing on their faces. "They recognize those with strength of spirit, from past experiences, whatever that means. It happened before, Bones. Not to worry."
"A half-dozen snakes...wrapped around you...sure, pal," Bones said weakly.
"It was only one, actually, that time. Piece of cake." The first time they were talking to each other since his removal from command, joking when their lives hung in balance.
"It happened before?" Bones looked at him in disbelief.
"That is how the Re'an knew of your past, when the snake coiled around you at the banquet," Spock said. "It is how they knew you were the one they needed."
"What?" Bones' eyes widened at Jim. "The snakes are goddamn fortune tellers?"
"On the contrary, doctor. The snakes do not predict the future, but rather communicate the past. According to Prince Lequa, these creatures have the ability to seek out beings with powerful memories, memories vital to the Re'an's ability maintaining their culture of peace. That is how they have determined that Jim possesses these memories and that they need him-"
"Hold on, Spock. What do you mean, how they knew I was the one they needed? The Re'an need me?" Jim asked incredulously.
"They find those whose violent or troubled memories make them stronger. They will then meld with them to ward off violence within their society. They need your memories to keep peace amongst them, Jim."
"My memories," Jim scoffed but then, it clicked. Of course. The drawing on the missile...a mind meld...They need...memories...Of his past that he couldn't even... "My damn memories..."
"Jim, look at me, please."
Jim could not gather the emotional willpower to obey Bones' whispered plea. Instead, he gave a harsh laugh, and an even harsher one as he fully comprehended his situation: at least six writhing snakes covered his body. He wished that he had not been distracted by whatever it was that the Re'an's had on him. His usually lightning quick instincts had failed him; if only he had been thinking clearly he might have figured things out faster. Now he could barely think of anything but the snakes clenching around his arms and draping over him like a wriggling cloak. The body of one larger snake nudged his neck until he was forced to tilt his head back.
"Isn't this what you wanted, Bones? For James T. Kirk to face his past?" He resorted to cruel taunts. Bones would see through his bluffs, but for once he was truly petrified. Not by the snakes, not by what they would do to him. But by the very real possibility that Bones could die if he didn't succeed. Even if Bones did survive, Jim had no idea what the Re'an had planned for either of them. Jim was resourceful but the Re'ans' trickery had been brilliant.
"No, Jim. That's not-"
"It isn't?" He barked out a laugh. "Finally, I have to do what you wanted me to. I have no choice."
"This wasn't...what I had...in mind..." McCoy pleaded.
Jim opened his mouth to utter another dismal comment, but swift movement from Dr. Jahnas distracted him.
"Aleyah," Jim hissed, utterly dismayed that she put her life on the line and placed herself between the snakes and the other crew members. "What are you doing?"
"You said they sense strength of spirit? From one's past?" Her eyes darted wildly from one writhing snake to the next. "Damn time that I see if my years of captured and forced enslavement are worth anything. You can't do this alone. Did you see how they begun creeping over here again? There are too many."
"No, Aleyah..." Jim fearfully saw only a poor end to her involvement.
"Too late, Captain." She gritted. "I can do this. It's my duty. I'm used to these creatures, after all."
It was too late, seeing a snake had already slipped around her legs, locking her into a hold much as they had Jim. "Whatever you do, Aleyah stay calm," Jim tried to assure her, indicating with his head for Spock to continue with the others.
"I am," she said, but her chest was heaving and the wild look in her eyes was as strong as before.
"Aleyah, take a deep breath. They'll sense your fear."
"I got it." She clenched her eyes shut. Jim commended her bravery but had she realized the sacrifice she had made?
"Aleyah," he said gently, "They can't come back for us."
"I know, Captain."
"Spock, if you are able to get to the Enterprise, do it. If I don't contact you within twenty-four hours, continue on with the five-year mission."
"The hell we're leaving you," McCoy weakly said.
"That is unacceptable," Spock protested.
"The Re'an were able to move undetected through space twenty years ago, Spock. You know that they are most likely to have other secrets. We've already lost too many crew and I don't want anyone else endangered. If I cooperate and am able to find a way to escape somehow, we will," Jim softened his tone, hoping they wouldn't waste any more time. "But you have to get out of here now."
For Bones, he silently pleaded.
"I will keep them safe."
"Spock...thank you. Now, just go." He winced, unable to disguise the subtle crack of his voice. "Get them to safety."
It was the logical thing to do and therefore, Spock could not refuse his order. The snakes had ensnared him and that is what the Re'an had wanted all along.
"Jim, please." The desperation in Bones' voice tugged his fractured heart, and with a mind of their own Jim's eyes met those of the doctor.
Jim didn't know if he would ever see them again and his friends' departure slugged him in his stomach. He tried to smile and belatedly realized that his mouth hadn't moved at all. It felt suffocating, as if full with thick cotton. His last view of the escaping crew and Bones' tormented expression would haunt him for the rest of his days - and he would never forgive himself for his purely selfish silence. Even when the time was right, he couldn't manage to say the appropriate things. In this case, goodbye.
Perhaps it didn't matter that words failed him now, especially when it came to Bones. Their goodbyes had been effectively said when they had fought on the ship. The hole in his heart was already there and had been for a long time.
Any words he could possibly offer Bones as an apology would never suffice. In Jim's mind, it was too late. He chose instead to simply watch as they all disappeared, including the one whom he had once called his best friend.