Co-authored with the effervescent SailingAwaySoftly.
Disclaimer: Don't own it, but we're working on that.
-_-_-_
Isla, Arlo, and Ben eventually made it to the control center. Kirk grimaced when he saw Lucy's body. Troy's pained expression tightened. Isla helped Ben sit down close to where Arlo laid out Lucy's body and went to tend to the injured commander.
"You've only got minor injuries," she informed him. He had a cracked rib and other cuts and bruises, but was other wise fine. She gave him a good painkiller though.
"Thanks," he muttered. Troy was obviously upset about Lucy, too.
"Isla, what happened to you?" Kirk asked.
"Another Klingon, sir," she replied. "It's nothing. I'll be fine."
"The Klingon was diseased," Arlo added. Isla shot him a dirty look.
"I think he was diseased," she amended. "His color looked off, and his attack was all wrong, but I have absolutely no experience with Klingon physiology, so I have no way of knowing."
"Did you scan him?"
"No, sir." But Isla pulled out her tricorder and scanned herself. "See?" she said, showing him the reading. "Clean as a whistle. I drowned it in hydrogen peroxide."
That seemed to satisfy Arlo, at least, but Kirk looked slightly less than convinced. But he was no doctor, so he didn't argue. Spock didn't seem to be paying much attention to the exchange. He was still hacking the computer.
"Ensign Bell, I have located the device blocking transporting signals. Please accompany me to disable it."
"Yes, sir," Arlo said, following the commander out.
"Hmm," Kirk said. "Bones'll be less than thrilled that I brought you back in the less than whole condition you left in."
"I volunteered. It's not like I hadn't expected worse. By all accounts, I should be half-dead by now. The Klingon literally battering-rammed me."
"So what's the deal with you and Bones anyway?" he asked.
"That's hardly any of your business, Captain."
"My best friend's well-being is my business. It just so happens that the rest of the crew's is too."
She couldn't argue with that. "Jim, I really don't want to discuss it with you. I'm sure he'll tell you if you ask."
"Hardly. Bones was always the better listener. Not that I wouldn't listen to him, but he never had much to say about that particular area of his life. You know he's divorced, right?"
"Yeah, of course."
"And you know he has a kid?"
Isla froze. "He has a what?"
"A kid. A daughter, actually."
"H-he does?"
Kirk's expression turned guilty. The last thing he wanted to do was unintentionally drive a wedge between the two doctors.
"He hardly ever talked about her, even to me. You should ask him."
Isla's face grew angry. "Oh, he is in trouble. He is in huge, gigantic, universe-ending trouble."
"Now, Isla…"
"He is so deceased."
Kirked shrugged and turned his attention to the command console. What were these Klingons hiding?
-_-_-_
"So…" Arlo said casually, "You and my sister…"
Spock had been expecting Arlo to bring it up at some point. He was perfectly entitled to do so. For humans, impregnating one's sister was a point of contention initially, at least. He hoped Arlo would be more forgiving.
"Ensign – Arlo – I cannot satisfactorily explain to you my situation. I am sorry for this. I had no right to ask this of your sister. In fact, I did reluctantly, and even then only under orders. I explained everything to her as best I could and gave her the opportunity to decline. She accepted, fully informed, though I do not think she completely understood what I was asking of her. Even… after, I told her it would be perfectly acceptable for her to… sever ties with me. She refused. Her pregnancy was unintentional and unexpected. I must tell you that I do not blame you if you are angry with me."
Arlo considered all this for a moment before answering. "I'm not angry with you, Commander. I used to be, but Bee asked me not to. She wanted me to try to like you, to at least accept what had happened because it wasn't going to change. And I do accept it. And I… don't feel any aversion to you. I'll admit, I was ready to kill you at first, and don't think I won't try if you hurt her." Arlo said this more out of fraternal obligation than with real conviction. For some reason, he didn't think Spock would be going back on his word any time soon.
"I would not exercise the authority of my rank in such a case." He looked sideways at the young ensign. "Though, if you tried to confront me hand to hand, killing me may prove somewhat difficult."
Arlo laughed. A fairly successful attempt at humor. He didn't think he'd ever be calling Spock 'brother,' but he really was starting to like him. He was surprised to see the corner of Spock's mouth turned slightly upward.
They located the blocking device. Spock guarded him unnecessarily, and Arlo had the thing dismantled and deactivated in a few minutes.
"That should do it," he said. "We should try to contact the Enterprise."
"Agreed."
-_-_-_
The Enterprise, in fact, was merrily on her way back to the planet, flanked by the other Star Fleet vessels. They would have no trouble in defeating the rest of the pirate fleet.
"Captain, we're receiving a subspace message from the planet," chimed the communications officer.
"Report, lieutenant."
"The away team has successfully gained control of the planet's command center. They have freed the two of the three hostages. One casualty."
Scotty swore softly, but he was secretly glad that they had not come to more harm. He needed Arlo, and he hated to see what it would do to Bee if anything happened to any of them.
"Ve'll be arriwing at ze planet vizin half an hour," Chekov reported.
"Thank you, Mr. Chekov."
-_-_-_
When Spock and Arlo returned to the control center, they found that Kirk had managed to finish Spock's hacking job and had sent a subspace message to the Enterprise. The captain's expression, however, was far from any positive emotion that should have been associated with this. His face was dark, his mouth compressed into a thin, tight line, his eyes full of a strange emotion. It was a mix of grief and anger. Could something concerning Lucy have happened to further the sadness of her death? But her body was just as it had been, Ben holding her head in his lap, his sedated eyes staring off into nothing.
"Captain, what is the matter?"
"I hacked the computer. Once I got past all the information concerning the pirates, I found data about the planet itself. It's mostly medical records. The Klingon that attacked Isla was diseased. Aside from the pirates we killed, so is every other Klingon on this planet. It's not a penal colony – it's a leper colony."
"That's why the population is so unbalanced," Isla said.
Kirk nodded gravely. "They've been abandoned. They were left here to die."
-_-_-_
Once the Enterprise arrived at the planet, three of the other Star Fleet vessels took the Klingon pirates prisoner and returned to the Neutral Zone. The other two stayed behind to destroy the Klingon ships and assist the Enterprise. Kirk was almost sick about the fate of the Klingon colonists. He disliked Klingons in general just as much as the next human, but they didn't deserve that fate. No innocent person did. There were children on that planet.
While he and Spock discussed their next actions, Isla searched for information on the disease. It affected the Klingon immune system, attacking their equivalent to white blood cells and then attacking the brain itself. It was a nightmarish mix of blood poisoning and brain fever. If there was a cure, no one had bothered to give it to them. Perhaps there was one, but the Klingon colonists were too sick for it to have any effect. Maybe no one cared.
After communicating with Admiral Pike, it was decided that Star Fleet could do nothing. The planet was under the control of the Klingon Empire. They would have to leave as quickly as possible. The only reason they weren't dead yet was because the Klingon fleet was allowing Star Fleet to take care of the pirate problem. They had been targets just as much as the Federation.
"I just feel so guilty leaving them all here," Isla muttered as they prepared to be beamed aboard the Enterprise.
"There's nothing we can do," Kirk reminded her. "I hate it too," he added.
She checked her wound as they positioned themselves. The cuts were almost only thin red lines. They would be completely healed in no more than two hours.
"Scotty, get us out of here."
-_-_-_
A/N: Aw, poor Klingons. Reunion goodness coming next chapter. We're almost done! REVIEW!