Chapter 25: The City on the Edge of Forever, Part 4

"Well, you look just fine, Doc!"

The teen from the car sat in the pew in front of him. McCoy rose from the pew he'd been laying in and the first thing he noticed was how much easier it was to think.

His headache was gone. Body aches too. His skin was no longer splotchy.

"Thanks to you, kid. What's your name?"

"They call me Junior."

The teen looked over his shoulder and McCoy's eyes followed him. The driver, Mack, and his gun-pointing passenger Paul were on the other side of the church in the Sanctuary. Mack looked over at him and then continued speaking to Paul too quietly for the doctor to hear.

"Doc, do you know where you are? What's the last thing you remember?"

The kid seemed nervous and Leonard wondered if he was worried he would have to break the news to him that the world had gone to hell in a handbasket.

"Don't worry about my mind, kid. I've convinced myself that this is all a cordrazine hallucination."

"Is that the drug you ODed on?"

"Something like that. Listen son, I came here with a group of folks. I need to get back to them. I-"

"-Don't worry! We ran into your people a ways back, in town before the horde hit. The guys are putting up a message to them now."

"A message?"

"Yeah. And if they are looking for you and they made it through the horde, they'll see it."

At the mention of the horde, McCoy's eyes were drawn to the church windows. They were boarded up from the inside, but he could see fingers pressing through the gaps between the planks.

The laughing and cheering from down the hall was loud enough that he was sure Nyota could hear it. Together they entered the space which, from all appearances, was once a kitchen and dining area.

On the right hand side of the large room, long tables and chairs had been cleared. Captain Kirk was circling one of the human survivors.

His shoulders and neck tightened as his body instinctively primed itself for a fight. Preserving the Captain's life was in his job description as First Officer.

Then he felt a hand on his left forearm sleeve.

"It's fine. They are just sparring."

He looked down at the Lieutenant. She was looking around the room, reading faces and body language.

"She's right. Teaching fighting and other 'survival' behaviors is very normal for this period," McGivers added, coming up beside them, "and the Captain was challenged. It would have been rude of him to refuse."

Laughter drew his attention upward. The large room was crowned with a balcony around the top. Humans were leaning over and against metal barriers. The sparring seemed to be getting a good bit of attention.

He looked down at the Lieutenant again for a read on the room. She was relaxed, her arms at her sides.

"Commander, a word?"

Spock nodded to the Specialist.

"I know my memory is not as reliable as the tricorder, but I'm pretty sure I knew the young guy at the bar in Henning."

Her arms pulled together in front of her and her hands were intertwined in an action his mother would have called "worrying".

"Go on," he prompted her.

"The way he talked about the future, he easily could have been David "Junior" Michaels, the first mayor of New Nashville."

At this Spock reached under the coat he had been lent and pulled out his tricorder. He had preserved as much power as he could, and there was no display, nor was there access to the ship's databank, but he should be able to pull up stored library records.

David "Junior" Michaels, 2038-2100

Notes: Mayor of New Nashville, access files here; First Terran political figure to meet non-Terran life form, access files here;

Spock clicked to access the files on New Nashville. Without a display, the pictures would be inaccessible.

"Click on the speeches. 2061."

The Specialist leaned over his left arm. He followed her instructions and a speech began to play at low volume.

"I know the world has gone to shit, but we are going to pick ourselves back up and, when we do, we are going to be able to harness incredible energies. Energies that could ultimately hurl us to other worlds, feed our families, and cure disease. We might be few in number, but there are just enough of us for each man to have hope and a common future, and those are the days worth living for…"

He cut the tricorder off and set it to low power mode.

"Your memory is correct, Specialist. When we return, you can include in your report that you encountered a person notable in your planet's history…"

She shook her head. Clearly he was incorrect in his assumption as to why this information was important. He nodded to her to speak.

"If that was David Michaels, that means he-and probably at least a few of those guys-survived the army of zombies. They are probably taking cover close by, just like us. And if we meet them again we cannot hurt Michaels."

"—or we risk causing another breach, just as we were diligently working to repair one."

"Exactly."

"Good work, Specialist."

Spock worked to increase his positive affirmations to subordinate crew. Naturally he would not give them so often, but Captain Kirk insisted they were essential for crew morale and would increase efficiency.

Above their heads, the humans were very vocally critiquing Captain Kirk's sparring techniques.

"This brother fights like a cave man!"

"KeeeYAW!"

"Boy can kick those legs up though. Get him with those legs, BOY!"

Spock checked Uhura's face again. She had a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were alight with mirth.

If she were amused, surely they were still safe.

"It's like Greco-Roman wrestling…"

"Dude, this is like if high school wrestling was really teaching you how to fight!"

"Yeah! And the wrestling team was really Fight Club!"

"He's rolling like a bowling ball!"

"DO A BARRELL ROLL!"

The voice caught his attention and he looked up at a man whose face resembled a small mammal of the Leporidae family.

"Amanda's gone."

His mind picked her name out of the cacophony. Above his head and to his left stood the survivor Jamarco and the Nomad Nekae.

As she has no belief in privacy… he thought, listening in on their conversation.

"Your point?" Nekae's tone was one he had heard before. Annoyance.

"My point is, she's the only one who could tell you what to do."

"What does that mean?"

"You know what I mean. You're strong. Fast. You can get abnormally single-minded. I've watched you go days without eating, drinking, and sleeping without getting tired. You can be dangerous."

"I feel so dangerous in this giant pillow coat."

This elicited a laugh from Jamarco.

"You've got a weakness. Thank goodness. But you know what I mean. You weren't made for this world. You don't belong here."

Nekae's exhalation was audible.

"Don't you think I want to go?"

"Then what's stopping you?"

"They aren't exactly where or when I'm from. They're behind a bit. And he told me about their wanting to meet the Guardian, but then he stopped talking to me about it. Right after that something happens. I can't go back-I'll be right in place to tear time."

"It sounds like you know enough not to do that. And this is a hell hole. Any one of us would get out if offered the opportunity. Take it."

A static sound interrupted them and Jamarco reached for something on his belt. An ancient device. He held it up to the side of his face.

"What?"

*The old church in town has guests. Two men are painting a message on the roof.*

"What does it say?"

*We have your Doctor.*

"J, can you round them up? I need to go to Admin Seg."

Spock watched her back as the Nomad bolted for the stairs. The crowd cheered and then the Captain was approaching them.

"Guess they shouldn't have called me a Cave Man…"

"They've found the Doctor," he informed the Captain, motioning up at Jamarco, who was coming down the stairs towards them.

"Captain, permission to…"

"Go. We'll regroup shortly out front."

The human who volunteered to take him to "Admin Seg" was called Gerry.

Gerry's body language made it clear, even to one as unskilled at reading emotions as Spock, that Admin Seg was not a place he wanted to go or be.

"I have a good memory for directions," Spock mentioned casually, "and if you wish to leave me when we find Nekae, know that I will be able to find my way back to the first floor exit."

The idea that any being would not be able to navigate themselves out of a building, even one where all of the rooms and halls were similarly shaped, colored, and adorned… the only reason he had any context for imagining that a sentient, intelligent being could get "lost" in this way was his mother.

She could lose the flitter in a lot of less than 30 vehicles.

"Oh good good. Yeah, I'll just leave you here. Alright, Admin Seg is just through there."

Gerry pointed at a metal door at the end of the hall.

Spock was not bothered or unduly emotional about the fact that the human survivor had no intention of going through the door with him.

The door scraped loudly, metal on stone, echoing in the empty halls. He moved it as little as possible and then squeezed into the room.

It was once again silent. Then he heard a lowered voice.

"That was wrong of them."

It was Nekae, but changed. He was reminded of their time on Ardana, in the mines. Her voice had gotten deeper, her tone more removed.

"Where can I find allies?"

Her words made Spock think she was speaking to someone he could not hear. A ka'dri, perhaps?

"Even small towns on occasion harm their own."

Spock walked slowly down the side of the room. Bars to cells ran past him on the left and the voices seemed to come from closer to the end of the hall.

"I can get there. Where are their bodies buried?"

The Nomad's back came into view. She was sitting in a cell on the lower bunk, her body facing the back wall.

"Fortunate for me. Thank you."

At the expression of gratitude, the Nomad put her hands together and bowed her head.

He stilled a feeling of horror as the Nomad turned. Her eyes were a solid black. She stood and walked forward slowly, her eyes focused on nothing he could see.

"Spock?"

It was then that he realized that, with her eyes dark as they were, she was unable to see.

"I am here."

She let herself out, her hands moving for the bars fluidly, even without the benefit of sight. Her body language made it clear that she was familiar with this place.

Walking through the door she nearly walked into him. He put his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

"May I assist you? Until your tvi-bezhun-wein recedes?"

He watched her consider this. Perhaps the Modern Vulcan for inner eyelid was not close enough to the Nomad dialect for her to easily understand.

He held his right arm out to her. Taking her wrist over the cuff of her voluminous outerware he guided her hand to his arm.

"Oh. Yes." The black on her eyelids was already fading, leaving the flesh color underneath. She squeezed his arm and they began to move down the narrow corridor.

Spock knew that it could take minutes or even hours for the inner eyelids to recede and normal vision to resume. He had recent experience, having been blinded by the manufactured sunlight in an experiment during their mission on Ingraham B.

He was still mortified that he had completely forgotten about his tvi-bezhun-wein and declared himself blind in such a dramatic, emotional fashion.

The humans around him took it in stride. Apparently it was normal for them to forget about their own body parts. Conversations between Leonard and Jim made it sound as if human men frequently walked around ignorant of their own anatomy in ways that were shocking to Spock's Vulcan sensibilities.

Nekae squeezed his arm again as they started down the stairs. She was abnormally quiet-though, he corrected himself, perhaps this was normal for her now.

As they stepped down onto the first floor, where sunlight streamed through the barred windows, she loosened her grip.

She stood at his side blinking, her eyelids slowly rising. She put a hand up to cover her eyes as they adjusted to direct light and stimulus once more.

Outside near the hose the Captain, Lt. Uhura, and Specialist McGivers were assembled.

"Doctor McCoy is being held hostage in a church in town," the Captain briefed him as they approached.

"How do we know he is a hostage?"

With so many lives relying on their efforts, they must guard against illogical assumptions.

"The message said, 'We have your Doctor.'" Lt. Uhura answered, "It is more about us and them than it is Doctor McCoy. He is the object, not the subject."

"McGivers thinks that these might be some of the men we met at the bar," Kirk continued.

"If they are, we cannot hurt or kill the teen," the Specialist added.

"Then we'll need something smarter than the average zombie." Nekae's voice sounded back to normal.

"What does that mean?" Kirk asked. Now they were standing in a circle almost huddled together.

Even in the protruding outerware, the Nomad was still able to warm his side.

"It means that I'll need to run an errand on the way. And ya'll are going to need a bulldozer."

"To dig up some dead bodies," Jamarco added helpfully. "She can't even make a rescue plan without digging up some of the few dead lucky enough to still be lying down."

The Nomad and the survivor began to argue quietly and Spock turned to the away team.

"Captain, Nekae seems to think that just being reunited with McCoy will be enough to trigger the Guardian to open a portal back to our time."

"Let's hope she's right."

"We should take her back with us." Lieutenant Uhura surprised him by saying exactly what he was thinking.

"She is talking to pre-space flight humans about the future. She's talking about non-Terran life forms to Terrans who've not yet met any on their own. And her armies of zombies are tearing through this part of North America…"

"Agreed." The Captain nodded but didn't continue.

He was staring off into space. Clearly trying to reconcile a present that did not match what his mind told him it should be.

When Spock returned he would ask Selek about their mission on the Time Planet.

"Okay, here's the plan," the Captain said, coming back to himself much faster this time than he had in the past.

This lapse (12 seconds) was longer than the shortest Spock had observed (4 seconds) but much shorter than the longest (27 seconds).

"…Spock, go with Nekae and make sure she ends up at the church. Lt. Uhura, since Jamarco has volunteered to go with us, go with him to the lumber yard we saw on the way here and get a bulldozer. McGivers, you and I are going to the church."

Spock turned, hearing the louds sounds of a vehicle. A compact car was cutting across the grass, driven by the survivors Spock had seen up in one of the guard towers. The car pulled up next to them and stopped.

"J, we've got everything you asked for," a human woman with pale skin and a shaved head opened the trunk of the car as two others exited, "riot gear, helmets, and a giant garbage bag full of zombie parts. Enjoy!"

As he passed the ancient human armor around and Lt. Uhura opened the bag of human remains, Spock decided his enjoyment was a rather illogical request.

Nekae watched the car drive off, leaving her on the side of the road with the Aristocrat.

They were both covered in entrails again, and while the undead were attracted by the car, their stench quickly made them lose interest.

"If you run, you can catch up to them. Seriously, I've done this plenty of times."

She spoke softly, using their trick from Ardana to keep from attracting the attention of the zombies all around them.

"How many?"

She ignored his question. They were on Highway 87 and a street the humans called Thumb Road. She looked around and then started moving towards the patch of woods that the undead seemed to avoid.

"It seems logical that, if I am to assist you, I should know more about the task…"

"I don't need your help. Honestly, you should just stay here by the road."

He followed her into the woods. Of course, why would she ever think a Dry One would listen.

She turned to snap at him again when she saw one out of the corner of her eye.

A ka'dri was hiding in the trees. Scared, even in death.

With what Ms. Violet had told her, the ka'dri had every reason to be afraid.

Ms. Violet was a ka'dri herself, the ghost of a woman trapped in a man's body, then trapped again in a men's prison.

Nekae stopped, then reached out to grab the Aristocrat by the arm.

"Pechau-ka…" she breathed, wanting him to stop but not wanting to scare the ka'dri away.

For a few moments they stood still, surrounded by towering Earth vegetation. Silent, the only sounds around them were the blowing of leaves in the wind and the crunching of brush by small, hair-covered Earth mammals.

The ka'dri looked as she must have in death. It was clear that she'd started out a great beauty, but at some point her face paints were smeared, her hair was ripped and torn from her head, and her dress was shredded.

Looking over at the Aristocrat it was obvious that he saw nothing.

She looked down at her wrists. Even in the layered cloth and fluffy coat she was still cold. The icy air seemed to leech her energy from her.

Thinking she might be able to save some energy for the church, she decided to make the Aristocrat useful after all.

"Since you're here, I guess you can help," she said generously.

In response he raised an eyebrow, ever the Patrician. She started peeling the more solid entrails off her and nodded at him to do the same. She knew they couldn't get completely clean-or risk the zombies again as soon as they left this cursed patch of forest-but would need to get clean enough that the ka'dri would recognize them as alive.

"We're here to gather the wronged. These woods are behind a church, and when members of this community strayed from the church's teachings and were… unapologetic… they were lured out here."

As she spoke to the Aristocrat she watched the ka'dri. If she could avoid assuming the mantle right now by talking about the ka'dri but not to them, she'd have that much energy left when they got to the church.

All around them other ka'dri slowly crept out from behind trees. Their clothing made it seem like this had been a site of atrocities for generations.

"You speak of ghosts, or ka'dri, correct? And when we have them, what will we do with them?"

She shook her head, frustrated.

"We never have them. They have themselves, even now. We can only ask them to help us."

The group of ka'dri drew even closer. There were seven women, all dark skinned and baring the marks of violent ends.

They deserved and would respond to respect far better than orders.

"The church down the road, St. Mark's, is filled with men who harm women. Men who saw the end of civilization as an opportunity to be as monstrous as they wished to be. These ka'dri understand how respectable men can sometimes turn brutal. With them at our side we can beat them and recover your friend. Without them, we will surely fail."

The desert Aristocrat seemed to realize that she was talking less to him and more for the benefit of others. He nodded slowly, a sign that he was willing to play along.

She had forgotten what a fun companion he could be. For her it had been years since Organia, Ardana, and the Federation Conference.

One of the ka'dri tried to speak to her. Without the mantle on it was garbled. Unclear.

"We know many of the restless spirits here have bodies at the cemetery behind St. Mark's. If they are willing, I can give them form for long enough to take some vengeance."

The ka'dri were willing. They stood tall and one motioned for her and her living companion to lead the way.

"It is a ways to the church, but we can walk it," Nekae said as she hiked back up to the road.

Behind her she heard the Aristocrat following. Now if she could just figure out how she was going to shake him.

The bullets ricocheted off the metal of the bulldozer.

"KEEP DIGGING!" Jamarco yelled. He was right beside her but he still had his riot gear helmet on and the large machine's engine to compete with.

Lt. Uhura continued digging, unearthing another row of coffins. Each row brought her closer and closer to the church. When she was finished, the plan was to steer the giant yellow digger at the church and ram it into the doors.

As a group they'd agreed in the car that getting into the church with Doctor McCoy and pushing the other men out was their best plan.

The church had already been surrounded by undead when she got there. The bulldozer only attracted their attention and now at least one of the men inside was shooting at them from above.

On the ground in front of the church Captain Kirk and Specialist McGivers were waiting for an opportunity to break into the building. Already the bulldozer drew attention away from them. Zombies rushed the back of the church and clearly the men inside were paying attention to her as well.

Uhura turned the giant wheel, bringing the bulldozer to the row of graves closest to the church. She let the massive shovel crash into the ground and carve out a deep gash. The door on the first level opened and a man took position in the doorway.

She dumped a mountain of dirt on him before he could get off a shot.

"FORGET THE LAST ONES! LET'S GET INSIDE!"

She turned the wheel abruptly and forced the pedal to the floor. The engine revved and the metal cage they sat in lunged forward.

The bulldozer rammed into the church. She watched the shooter in the doorway dive out of the way just in time.

Yanking the long brake level, the bulldozer jerked to a halt. She pulled up the crane, lifting the shovel-now filled with splintered wood and bricks-and lowering it behind the bulldozer.

It rained debris behind them. It didn't quite seal the hole they'd made, but it did create a barrier someone would have to climb over.

She was yanked by her sleeve out of the huge metal vehicle. Turning to fight she saw it was Jamarco, who helped her to get stable on her feet.

"Everything's fine! They aren't going to hurt you." The Captain was already in the church as well.

Lt. Uhura took in the scene before her.

The teen they weren't supposed to kill was up front in the pulpit. He was holding a knife to Doctor McCoy's throat.

Captain Kirk and Specialist McGivers were at the other end of the Sanctuary, clearly in the middle of some negotiations.

The teen was scared but the Doctor was happy. Happier than she'd seen him in a long time.

What a wild ride this must have been for him she thought, barely able to contain her joy at seeing him alive.

"I didn't want any of this! You remember, I told them to just let you go at the bar!"

"We do remember. Just let us have him. You can even stay in the Church, away from the zombies. We'll go."

She nodded. Kirk was on the right track.

"Holy fucking shit what the fuck!"

Her head turned as someone outside started cursing.

"I've got you man! Take cover!"

That came from above and Uhura cursed, having forgotten about the sniper upstairs.

She looked over at the Captain, who clearly hadn't realized there was anyone else here.

"Just let us have him and we'll go," Kirk begged the teen.

"HOLD HIM, JUNIOR! THAT'S AN ORDER!" the man upstairs shouted down from the rafters.

She felt herself being pulled backwards. Jamarco drug her towards the Captain as McGivers raised a weapon and aimed for the half-buried hole in the church.

"Whoa there," Jamarco cautioned her, "I think that's our calvary."

Brown hands climbed as zombie after zombie tore into the church. Outside she heard screaming as the man clearly fell to more undead.

Something was different about these. For one thing, they were clearly in various stages of decay. One was a recent burial while others were decomposed skeletons with soaked strips for clothing.

Then Spock climbed through the rubble, the Nomad behind him. Her eyes were black and what looked like a dark ink tattoo covered the exposed skin on her face, neck, and hands.

The Nomad looked around the room, the dark pools where her eyes should have been taking in everything around her.

"Fuck that! Here ya'll go!" The teen pushed Doctor McCoy towards Kirk and ran for the stairs.

"Spare the boy. Kill the man." Nekae spoke, her voice deeper and almost otherworldly. The zombies responded to her, climbing the stairs after the sniper.

"Captain, I think that's our portal!"

McGivers pointed to the rubble pile, which was now a doorway back through the Guardian. She could see Scotty, Cyani, and two other Security officers on the other side, though it seemed like they couldn't see her.

"Go!" she heard the Captain yell. She sprinted and then jumped at the doorway.

Spock saw the doorway before Nekae.

"Take her! I'll make sure the boy gets out!" Jamarco yelled, running for the stairs.

The Nomad turned, her eyes black and her body covered in lines and shapes.

"This door is not meant for me. Go."

Her voice had that far away quality it did when she used her Bridge abilities.

"You cannot stay here. I do not wish to hurt you, but you must come with us."

Before she could respond he rushed her, pulling her off her feet and through the portal.

He dove through fog. On the other side were the rest of the away team.

The Captain, Lt. Uhura and Specialist McGivers were all in their uniforms again. Looking down, he confirmed that he was back in his uniform.

"What happened, Sir?" Scotty asked. "You only left a moment ago."

In his arms he felt the Nomad slump.