Kirk sat alone in the empty briefing room. He had just finished the last interview concerning the mess on Aminta, as he had begun to think of it. He was tired, he had a headache, and the person he wanted and needed as a sounding board was both in charge of the landing party himself as well as a patient in his own Sickbay.

Over the busy two day period, he had debriefed each member of the landing party. His brig held four Orions, Arnette, and an injured Vartheb. He had filled out the paperwork for Vartheb's extradition to Vulcan to face murder charges. He had teams on Aminta dismantling the lab, looking for Kelan, and working with the sentient native species as a first contact situation. He had the director of the Aminta project in his Sickbay being treated for poisoning, a failed attempt at murder. His CMO and best friend was recovering from the Klingon Mind Sifter, and possibly had been under the influence of a powerfully telepathic 'bird'.

The intercom whistled with a message. He punched the button.

"Kirk here."

"Zandra here, Sir. We just received a communication from Starfleet Command."

"Pipe it in here, please."

It was a written communique. ' Science ship Christa McAuliffe is enroute and should arrive Aminta stardate 9301.14. Pursuant to her arrival, Enterprise will ferry passenger and prisoner/s to Vulcan and await new orders. Signed Admiral Komak. Starfleet.'

He worked out the stardate to be almost twenty-six hours ahead. He rubbed his temples. He had one more interview to do before he could file the preliminary report. He sighed and stood, deciding it was time to make an official visit to Sickbay.

Nurse Chapel greeted Kirk from her work station as he entered Sickbay. She looked tired, just like the rest of the landing party during the debriefing. Kirk thought maybe it had been worse for her, she had been strongly afraid of the birds and concerned about McCoy's relationship with them.

"Miss Chapel. I need something for a headache."

"You'll find Doctor M'Benga in the sub room, I believe."

"How is Bones?"

"He is about the same. No real change to report."

Kirk saw the little worried frown flit across her professional demeanor. It caused his own worry meter to jump a notch. He thanked her and went to find M'Benga.

M'Benga was immersed in reading one of several tablets on his desk, his stylus making a tic tic sound as he absently tapped a steady rhythm. Kirk tapped on the doorframe and entered.

"I have a patient who is asking to talk to you."

"I came to discuss that with you. First, I have a headache."

M'Benga left and returned with two capsules and a glass of water. Kirk tossed them in his mouth and downed the glass of water.

"How is Bones? Nurse Chapel said there's been no change."

"Physically he is improving. He was already run down before this happened. So it's a slow but steady process."

Kirk thought back to how thin the doctor had appeared in the past few weeks.

"How is his mental status? I need to talk to him about what happened on Aminta. Is he up to it?"

M'Benga rubbed his jaw. "I'm not sure. He's withdrawn, not talking much. I don't know what he'll be able to tell you. He doesn't need the stress of strenuous questioning."

"You said he was wanting to talk to me."

"No. I said a patient wants to speak with you. Jasso. He's anxious to get back to his office.."

"Giotto has already interviewed him about the poisoning. Is he recovered?"

"Enough for office work."

"All right, tell him he can beam down first thing in the morning. A science ship will arrive tomorrow night. I don't know what the disposition will be on the Aminta research group."

Kirk took a deep breath, tugging down his uniform shirt. "I need to talk to Doctor McCoy."

M'Benga slowly nodded. "Very well. I'll ask you to keep it short and careful."

"Thank you, Doctor. I won't be long."

Kirk paused in the door before he entered. McCoy was in a tshirt and scrub pants, reclining in a small chair at bedside. The room was crowded with a straight chair and the bed. McCoy appeared to be dozing, but his eyes opened at Kirk's knock.

"Bones." Kirk stepped in and sat in the other chair.

McCoy nodded, shifting the chair into a upright position. "Hi, Jim."

"Sorry I didn't get by earlier. There's a lot going on. How are you feeling today?"

"I'm all right." He reached for the glass of water on the table. Kirk noticed the faint tremor in his hand. McCoy took a sip, replacing the glass slowly, carefully, as if he was afraid he might drop it.

"How are things going on Aminta?"

Kirk brought him up to date. McCoy listened without comment until he finished.

"I need to see Piasa and Little Birdy before we leave."

Kirk leaned forward. "You 'need' to see them, Doctor McCoy?"

The switch to formality was noticed.

"Yes, Captain. I have to tell them thank you for saving my life."

"I understand you're still recovering, but there are some things I'd like to talk to you about. First, your abduction."

"I remember finishing the physicals that morning and sending them to Jasso. I don't remember anything more until I woke up in the cave. Ludedmi and Uboq took me to a flyer, then straight to the lab."

"You were drugged?"

"Yes, I think so, and hit on the head pretty hard."

"And in the lab?"

"They wanted me to help concoct a drug. They presented a tablet loaded with data. They had my medical tricorder and were able to access the lab report on the bird DNA.

"They were working on an organic compound, with a DNA structure derived from the birds, that much I could tell. It also shares similarities with the substance Vartheb was using on the ship. I don't know what effect they were hoping for, but I suspect there is more to it than the hallucinogenic properties. I'm sure they had something else in mind other than a drug trip."

"You refused to cooperate."

McCoy's forehead wrinkled into a scowl. "Of course," he answered.

"And that's when they used the Mind Sifter"

McCoy looked down. "That's right."

"What can you tell me about that?"

"Not much," McCoy said quietly. "I remember the pain, and Little Birdy trying to help, and everything going silent and white." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "I was alone after that. Until Spock came..."

"How did you know Little Birdy was trying to help?"

"At that point, I could understand him. It's like he was talking inside my head."

"And before that? When did you first realize the birds were communicating with you?"

"I don't know. Neither Little Birdy nor Piasa spoke to me at all until Little Birdy was captured and brought inside the cave."

"But you were insisting they were sentient from the very beginning." Kirk's voice had a hard edge. "At the time, you said it was just a feeling, your intuition. It was more than that, wasn't it?"

McCoy fought back his own flare of temper, keeping his voice calm.

"The first time I had a two way conversation with any bird was in the cave."

"Two way conversation? Do you mean your communication with them before was not a conversation? Or it wasn't two way?"

They locked tense gazes, each taking measure of the other's resolve. It was an unaccustomed and uncomfortable reconnaissance for both men. McCoy had seen Kirk's piercing, laser-like quest for information honed on others, but never had been the subject of its intensity. Kirk knew of McCoy's recalcitrant leanings, but had never suspected him of hiding pertinent or relevant information.

Kirk drew in a deep breath and released it slowly, leaning back a little. "I realize you are recovering from a traumatic event. I'm sorry I have to press you. I'm sorry there's a need

to pressure you for the details. You've never withheld important information before. Why now?"

"I'm not withholding information. It's hard to explain how it was." McCoy sighed. "It was not speech, not at all like Little Birdy learned to do in the cave. At first I wasn't sure if I was receiving impressions or if I was making it up in my head. At the time, I told you everything I knew."

"Yet you endangered your life, and the life of a civilian under your care, by meeting a bird in the woods outside the compound. An event you failed to report or note in your official log. This occurred after you were advised to stop taking unnecessary risks. Apparently you learned something from that communication. That you were a central character in some part of their - mythology. A fact you also failed to report. What else are you not mentioning? The entire landing party seems to feel you were hiding something." Kirk leaned forward. "Are you hiding something, Doctor McCoy? Were you compelled to keep your communications with the birds hidden? Were they or are they controlling your mind? And to what extent? What would make you jepordize the mission and put lives in possible danger?"

"The mission was not in jeopardy. And lives were never in danger because of the Tribe. From what I hear, they saved the day. As for being a figure of note in their mythology, I am just a man. I tried to convey that to Piasa, that I'm not Endilinti." He ran a shaky hand through his hair. "I'm just a man." He looked away for a moment. When he met Kirk's eyes again the blue seemed alive with a spark. "I had a short period of doubt, when I thought it was possible I was under Piasa's influence. T'Phol thought it could be so, and her words caused some soul searching. After a lot of thought and self-inspection, I am sure I was not under their influence in any way. Whatever mistakes I made are mine. As a man."

Kirk nodded once and stood. McCoy thought the interview was finished, but Kirk continued, his voice softer, but oddly firm.

"There are some in the Admiralty, Komak, Cartwright, Nogura, more, who think Starship captains enjoy too much autonomy. They would like to see us as their pawns, only making moves that fit into their game plan, waiting on an OK from official channels before making decisions.

"I don't have to tell you how nonsensical such a directive would be. It would effectively tie our hands into inaction while waiting for approval from a paperbound desk jockey who may have been no farther from Earth than Mars.

"This sort of unintended First Contact is exactly the type of thing that fuels their kind of thinking. Aminta has turned into an untidy mess. Starfleet inadvertently stepping all over the FID, spies everywhere, apparent murderers posing as scientists and getting away with it for an absurdly long time, a new sentient telepathic species, a drug cartel, including an alliance between the Klingons and Orions. All of this happening right under our noses. It looks bad. It is bad."

"Those things were not your fault," McCoy said.

Kirk took a deep breath, stretching his back and flexing his neck. His eyes were warmer when he met McCoy's again.

"I have your logs. My official report is going to read that evidence indicates you were almost certainly under the influence of the new telepathic species without your knowledge or consent. Also that they saved you from the full effects of the Mind Sifter."

"Jim..."

Kirk held up his hand. "That will be my report. I want to get past everything here. I want you to get well. I want everything back to normal. Your priority now is to concentrate on your recovery." He softened with a crooked smile. "That's an order, Bones." Kirk turned on his heel and left, McCoy's protest left unsaid behind him.