Chapter Thirty-eight

"I should have stayed in research."

Muttering under his breath to himself Daniels slipped through the empty back streets of the Romulan city. They hadn't dared to beam him too close to the crowd in case someone spotted him materializing. Pike had made it clear that he wasn't under any direct orders to make a rescue attempt, but that hadn't slowed Daniels down in his demand to be sent to the planet's surface.

Daniels was almost to the crowd that could be heard in the background when his reflection in a glass window caught his eye. Skidding to a halt he reached up and pulled his hand through his blonde hair. Growling in frustration he tried to revert it back to being bald. When he failed at that he managed to at least turn it black. Holding the features that he'd never tried changing before had been painful, and Daniels was finding it physically taxing to keep them.

"At least my ears are still pointed."

The adrenaline coursing through Daniels' blood was not making staying Romulan any easier. His heart was pounding so hard that he was afraid that the true Romulans were going to be able to hear it and know instantly that he wasn't one of them. Pushing the idea to the back of his mind Daniels rounded the corner and found himself at the source of the commotion.

When no one instantly turned and accused him of being anything other than Romulan Daniels gained a bit more confidence. Diving into the excited crowd he began to make his way towards the center where he guessed Spock would be.

Any doubts on Spock location vanished when a raw cry of agony rose above the din of the crowd. The keen wail sent a chill down Daniels' spine and caused goose bumps to crawl across his skin unpleasantly. The rest of the Romulans laughed at the screaming. Daniels shot a dirty look at the man closest to him that was laughing. However when the man took notice Daniels was forced to laugh along with the others.

Feeling sick to his stomach Daniels continued to fight his way towards his Captain's strained voice. Getting through the sea of mostly drunken Romulans was like battling against a powerful rip tide. When he did get to the edge of the circular clearing that held the dais Daniels had to stop and stare at the ground right in front of himself for a moment to regain his composure to ensure that he remained looking like a Romulan.

Realizing he had to survey the situation Daniels forced himself to look up at the scene once again. Spock was right where Kirk had seen him last only now bright green blood slicked his suspended arms and ran down his bare chest from where the metal restraints had cut into his wrists.

With his head thrown back and his body arched Spock was actually lifting himself from the stone floor by the metal cuffs. At first Daniels didn't understand why he wasn't allowing his feet to bear his weight. However when he saw Spock twisting his arms he realized that the Vulcan was doing the logical thing and trying to make the cuts deep enough to allow him to bleed to death quickly. Unfortunately the metal seemed to only be doing superficial damage.

Whatever was causing Spock pain flared up once again. Daniels ground his teeth together to keep from being physically sick as Spock was thrown into a terrifying seizure. When it was over Spock bowed his head and panted for breath while he returned to trying to end his life against the metal cuffs. Daniels nearly forgot what he was doing on Romulus as he stared in horror at Spock.

"Not enjoying the show?" A deep voice asked suddenly.

"I am." Daniels replied instantly. "It's just...um...it's my first execution."

"Well enjoy it while you can, they are getting rarer."

Daniels forced a tight smile and nodded. He looked around again, memorizing everything so that when he went back to the Enterprise they could pin point Spock perfectly. There were several guards that looked like they weren't going to go anywhere that would make good markers. As well as four Romulans on the dais with Spock. They could bring them all up if they needed to and sort it out afterward.

Although Daniels didn't know his name Ty'rick was the one standing closest to Spock. Daniels noticed the hungry look in Ty'rick's eyes as the Romulan drank in his victim's suffering. His sharp teeth were showing through his bright smile. When Spock took a particularly shuddering breath Ty'rick slipped his hand under the Vulcan's jaw and brought his head up to force him to look at him.

"Come on, Spock," Ty'rick said sweetly "pain is just a construct of the mind, and therefore it can be controlled. Or are you not Vulcan enough?"

Other than narrowing his dark eyes Spock didn't respond.

"You don' t have to answer, the fact that you even came here is proof enough of your illogical mindset."

This time Spock did react. He jerked out of Ty'rick's grip while he brought his knee up in a wide arc so that he could slam it into Ty'rick's ribs. Knocked to the ground Ty'rick got to his feet with a roar of rage. He brought his fist back to strike Spock in retaliation but was stopped when there was a commotion from the crowd.

"Senators! Commander Ty'rick!" A large Romulan cried as he rushed forward. "The human, he's gone."

"Gone?!" Ty'rick demanded. "What do you mean 'gone'?!"

"It looked like he was transported away."

"Impossible! No Federation ship could get this far into our territory."

"Clearly they have, Commander."

Ty'rick rushed up to the Romulan and backhanded him hard enough to knock him to the ground. With everyone watching the new commotion in anticipation of a fight Daniels slowly started to reach into his pocket for his communicator. It was risky contacting the Enterprise in the throng of Romulans to give coordinates, but if a fight did break out he doubted he'd be noticed.

"Ty'rick," Vin'el said sternly "if Kirk has been rescued by the Federation they will come for Spock next."

"They won't make it in time." Ty'rick spat.

Daniels gasped in alarm as he saw a flash of silver as Ty'rick drew out a multi pointed dagger. He was a good ten yards from Spock, and Ty'rick was only five. However, Ty'rick wasn't running and before Daniels could rethink his plan: he was. Ducking under the guard that tried to stop him Daniels ran at a dead run towards Spock.

As Daniels made the mad dash up onto the dais phaser fire began to crack the stone under his feet as the guards fired at him. Moving much too quickly to come to a stop he simply slammed into Spock. He wrapped one arm around Spock's waist and ripped his communicator out of his pocket with the other. Flipping the communicator open in one smooth motion he held Spock tight against his chest and weld his eyes shut.

"Enterprise!"

Daniels' desperate cry for help was not left unheard. In the transporter room Pike had already been concerned that Daniels hadn't contacted them yet. Scotty had kept a lock on the communicator, waiting at the ready in case an emergency transport was needed. Having checked to make sure that Kirk was stable Bones had been recalled to the transporter room just in case.

"Energize, Scotty!" Pike barked.

"Already in progress, Admiral."

Just like when Kirk was finally returning to the Enterprise everyone held their breath waiting for Daniels to appear. There was a collective gasp when they discovered that Spock was with him. Being in such close physical proximity had caused the transporter to beam them aboard together.

"Spock!" Bones rushed up. "Daniels, you did it!"

Daniels simply nodded and peacefully allowed Bones to take Spock from him. It was difficult to know if Spock understood his new environment. He didn't fight against McCoy however he had his eyes weld shut and screamed like an animal being skinned alive. Bones sunk a hypospray of sedative into Spock's neck and he relaxed somewhat. Scotty helped Bones get Spock up on the gurney that he had brought down from medical.

Still standing on the transporter pad Daniels stared at the scene without really seeing it. His features had relaxed into his own for a moment, but now they were shifting slightly. His hair turned a few different shades before settling back to blond. Knitting his brow together in confusion he tried to take a step forward and found himself unable to move. It was Pike who first figure out that something was wrong.

"Salen!" Pike cried. "Catch Daniels!"

Salen had been at Pike's side but he leapt forward to help Daniels. The young Vulcan wasn't able to truly catch Daniels but he was able to help him down to his knees. Daniels eyes changed from gold to blue to black before returning to their natural amber. He opened his mouth to speak and dark red blood oozed from his parted lips.

"Doctor!" Salen cried.

"Bones!" Pike called out. "Get back here!"

McCoy had barely made it out into the hallway with Spock. He instantly turned and ran back into the transporter room. Seeing Daniels on his knees with blood running down his chin he jumped up onto the transporter pad. Salen moved aside and let the doctor take over.

Supporting Daniels as best he could McCoy frantically tried to assess the problem. Before he could even start Daniels' eyes rolled back to white. He arched his back briefly before relaxing. Bones eased him to the floor to lie on his side before pressing his fingers against his throat. Closing his eyes McCoy shook his head slightly.

"Bones, what's going on?" Pike asked as he came up to the edge of the transporter pad.

"I'm sorry, Admiral, he's dead."

"Dead?! Wh...why?"

Rather than answer Bones reached down and drew Ty'rick's sinister looking dagger out of Daniels' lower back and held it out where Pike could see it. The dark silver dagger was covered in red blood to the hilt. Salen gasped sharply and backed away in fright. McCoy turned a critical eye on the placement of the wound.

"This isn't where you'd strike a human or even a Romulan in the back if you were looking to kill them, this blade was meant to go into a Vulcan's heart from the front." McCoy noted. "It must have been poisoned as well or he'd still be alive."

"Daniels must have shielded Spock from the blow." Pike added as he stared at Daniels.

"I'll take him down to medical."

"No." Pike whispered and shook his head sadly.

"Admiral?" Bones asked concerned.

"Go take care of Spock, Doctor."

"Yes, Sir. I'll do everything I can to make sure that Daniels' sacrifice wasn't in vain."

"No matter what happens with Spock...Commander William Daniels is still a hero."