Author's Note: The short but action packed penultimate chapter! Dun dun dun… Thanks to Smile or else.
"One step closer and the captain dies."
"Any sudden moves and I'll shoot."
Neither one of them moved. They stared defiantly into each other's eyes, refusing to back down. Suddenly a red-shirted security officer appeared around the corner. "Sir, we-" Livilla took advantage of Spock's momentary distraction, unhesitatingly shooting the security man dead, slitting Kirk's throat and running for the shuttle bay.
"JIM!" Spock yelled, desperately applying pressure to the gushing jugular. "Hold on, hold on!" He grabbed his communicator with one bloodstained hand, the other still applying pressure to the point on the neck between the muscles and the Adam's apple, where the blood flow from the brain back to the heart could be most easily stopped. "We need medical assistance immediately! The captain has suffered a severe neck wound."
"Where are you located?"
"Just outside Rec Room 2. And someone should stop Livilla, she's headed for the shuttle bay."
"A security team has been dispatched to the shuttle bay. The medical team is already on their way."
"Jim, t'hy'la, stay with me. Just a few more minutes. Hold on." His pulse was becoming weaker.
"Ashaya, don't leave me, please. I already lost you once. I can't lose you again."
He heard running footsteps just behind him. The medical team had arrived.
Ten minutes later…
"Well?"
"He'll live."
"I am… relieved."
"Mm. Livilla escaped, didn't she?"
"She killed the entire security team we sent after her, and made off with the only warp-capable shuttle we have. Also, she will almost certainly be back."
"How do you know?"
"Call it instinct."