The captain drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair, sitting back with a pensive frown on his face.
Everyone on the bridge clearly heard the sound, and would look up occasionally to see if they could pinpoint the cause.
It seemed to bother them all, and somewhat get on the nerves of the first officer.
"Captain," Spock began, "you seem to be fixated upon something."
The bridge took in a breath and forgot to let it out.
Kirk looked to the side, not meeting Spock's eye. "You could say that." He twiddled his thumbs. "It's Bones' niece."
"His niece, Captain?"
Kirk nodded. "He said she contacted him out of the blue, for the first time in years. Asked for help, but wouldn't say with what. So I contacted Starfleet for information on her."
Spock raised an eyebrow, prompting.
Kirk leaned back in his chair. "Uhura?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Any word from Starfleet?"
"No, sir, nothing more."
He clasped his hands under his chin and lowered his voice. "Her name is Mae Thompson, she studies at the Academy, or did –she went missing. She volunteered for a survey mission to a deep space quadrant on a ship and was supposed to dock at station K12. Last contact was a few weeks ago, then nothing. Her assigned shuttle is there, and the crew roster on the ship said she was there, but when they checked-"
"She was not," Spock supplied.
Kirk nodded.
"Yet she reached out for help to Doctor McCoy?"
"Mm, she said she was on a planet near K12, but transmission cut out before she could say where."
"Captain, may I ask you not to take my next question personally?"
"Of course, Mr. Spock."
"I notice we are currently entering the quadrant nearest to station K12. Could this perhaps have a direct correlation to Doctor McCoy's niece?"
"Why, Mr. Spock, you wouldn't accuse me of using the Enterprise for personal missions, would you? We just happened to be in the area on Federation business, and it can't hurt to take a look."
"I see."
"Dig up what you can in Starfleet records on Mae, would you? Bones will drive himself completely insane trying to look on his own."
"Yes, Captain."
"You have the bridge, Mr. Sulu," Kirk called.
The Helmsman turned in his seat and acknowledged with a nod, then returned his gaze to the starry void in front of them.
The Captain walked to the lift, arms crossed, drumming his fingers on his arm, deep in thought.
...
Sick bay was vacant when he walked through the doors, their hiss the only sound in the empty room.
"Bones?" he called.
"Back here," came a muffled reply.
Kirk walked through the beds, peering around the corner to see McCoy hunched over his desk, eyes fixed on the screen in front of him.
"What is it?" he asked, rather snappily.
"I have a splitting headache, and it's entirely your fault."
The chief medical officer looked up. "Join the damn club." He sat back and rubbed bleary eyes with a groan.
"When was the last time you slept, Bones?" Kirk asked, leaning against the wall with a concerned frown.
"I sleep plenty," the doctor replied.
"For more than an hour at a time."
He looked back to the screen. "I don't need you playing doctor, Captain, that's my job."
"And it's my job to make sure my crew is fit for duty. And right now, you don't seem to be." He leaned closer. "It's Mae, isn't it? What's keeping you so preoccupied?"
"Jim, we're so close to finding her. I've scoured every communication she sent me, her records from the Academy, the travel logs from the ship she was on-"
"And?"
"Nothing, absolutely nothing." The Captain found the strange note of desperation in McCoy's voice alarming.
"I've got Spock on it-"
"I don't need help," McCoy snapped, then pressed a hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry, it's-I need to find her."
"We will, Bones," Kirk put a hand out, squeezing his friend's shoulder, "please, get some rest. Have Nurse Chapel take over for you."
McCoy began to protest when the intercom sounded: "Spock to Captain Kirk."
Kirk tapped it to reply, "Yes, Mr. Spock."
"I've found information on Mae Thompson."
"Excellent," Bones sat forward in his chair as Kirk answered, "McCoy is here listening, go ahead."
"She has two entries in Starfleet records."
"Two entries?" McCoy asked.
"Yes, Doctor, one from her time at the Academy and another which is inaccessible."
"What do you mean, 'inaccessible'?"
"Priority-level security, Captain. Open only to a select few."
"Hold on, Spock, we'll be right there."
...
They leaned over Spock's shoulder, staring in bewilderment at the red 'ACCESS DENIED' on screen.
Bones had his arms crossed and was weaving back and forth slightly as he stood, the dark circles under his eyes from days without sleep casting his whole face in shadow. Kirk had one hand on his hip and the other on the back of his first officer's chair.
"Try my security clearance," he suggested, and Spock entered the code.
"Go ahead."
"Kirk, James T.," Kirk said.
"Access denied."
Kirk's eyebrows knit together. "Kirk, James Tiberius," he tried again.
"Access denied."
"Son of a-" McCoy began, but Spock interrupted.
"Perhaps, Captain, this is Federation business to which we are not privy."
"Privy, my ass."
"Bones," Kirk said, holding up a hand. "Why would it be protected under that level of security, Mr. Spock, what do you think?"
Spock's eyebrow raised in the closest gesture the Vulcan had to a shrug. "Priority-level security is reserved for information which the Federation deems fit to keep near-secret. I am not in the game of guessing what that could be. It is, however, fascinating."
McCoy angrily threw his hands up. "Fascinating, he says. She could be dead, or some Federation experiment, but it's fascinating!"
"Doctor McCoy," Kirk said, reprovingly, but McCoy moved away from him toward the lift. He stepped after the doctor and grabbed his shoulders. "Bones, calm down. Go to your quarters and rest." McCoy began to angrily reply, but Kirk cut him off with a glare. "That's an order."
McCoy pursed his lips and stalked to the lift.
"Uhura," Kirk asked, turning back around. The bridge crew quickly faced their stations and pretended as if they weren't watching the scene with mouths agape. "Are we in range of station K12 yet?"
"No, sir."
"When we are, make arrangements to start the shore leave cycle for off-duty crewmen. And tell whoever's in charge that I'd like to speak to them about Federation activities in the area."
"Yes, Captain. And Captain-"
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"No new information from Starfleet about Mae," her tone was hesitant, "Do you think they-could they be hiding something?"
Kirk leaned heavily against the railing, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. "If I were another captain, I'd tell you to hold your tongue."
Uhura tilted her head, prompting.
The Captain sighed. "We've got to be careful assuming, Uhura. But I have to admit I agree with your concerns -it does seem rather suspicious." He looked around at the faces who were watching with varied levels of concern. "But we'll do what we can."
Giving what he hoped was a somewhat-reassuring smile, Kirk stood up. "Alright, everyone, back to work."
He sat heavily in the captain's chair, resting his chin on his fist. The bridge crew reluctantly turned back in their chairs, glancing at one another as they sensed the mounting tension in the air.
...
"Sir," Sulu said, breaking the silence, after a time, "we're nearing a planet. It's unmapped, and not in Federation records."
"Thank you, Mr. Sulu," Kirk, said glancing over to Spock.
He raised an eyebrow in reply. "It may be the planet Ms. Thompson mentioned in her communication."
"Any life signs?"
"Negative, sir. There are some ruins but they appear to be abandoned."
The Captain quickly weighed the options. "Either way, it's in the best interest of the Federation if we send an away team down to see what's there," Kirk said, mostly to himself. Aloud, he continued, "Uhura, I'll lead a team from security, four crewmen should be enough. We can't be too careful, since we don't know what's down there. Tell them to meet me in the transporter room."
"Captain Kirk!" a voice came from the arm of his chair.
"Kirk here."
"Captain, it's Doctor McCoy," Nurse Chapel said quickly, "he's not in his quarters or in sick bay, I don't know where he is."
Kirk frowned, "I'll be right there." He called down to engineering. "Scotty, drop what you're doing, you're leading an away team to the surface of this planet. Be careful, the Federation hasn't been here yet so we're not sure what's waiting for us."
"Aye, Cap'n."
"Uhura, relay that to the transporter room, if you wouldn't mind."
"Captain, would you rather I lead the away team?" Spock asked.
"No, I want you here working with the data they send up. Tell me who lived there and why they're gone. Keep me updated, I'll be in sick bay."
He quickly made his way down to McCoy's quarters, right off the infirmary. "Bones," he called, "Bones, are you there?"
"He's here, Captain," he heard Nurse Chapel say, turning to see her standing with her hands on her hips in the door of sickbay. Beyond her, McCoy was sitting at the desk in the back corner of the room, his arms crossed and a scowl twisting his face. "I found him sitting in the lounge with that grumpy look on his face."
"What the hell were you doing?"
"I went for a walk to clear my head, what, is that a crime, now?" McCoy snapped back.
Kirk mirrored the chief medical officer's body language, crossing his arms and leaning forward. "We found a planet, may be the one Mae was talking about."
McCoy sat up straighter. "Really?"
"It's not yet mapped by the Federation, I sent Scotty down with an away team." He called the bridge. "Uhura, is that away team down yet?"
"They're on the surface, sir, and relaying information to Mr. Spock."
"They're there now, checking what's there."
"Any life signs?"
Kirk shook his head.
"So she's not down there."
"Not that we found."
McCoy lifted a fist as if to pound it on the desk in anger, but reason seemed to strike him as he thought better of it and slowly lowered the hand. "She's a smart girl," he said, a glimmer of what could be hope in his eyes, "always has been. She can handle herself, I know, I just wish I knew where she was."
"She didn't say anything specific about where she was going, what she was doing?"
"No."
"Did she say who she was with?" Nurse Chapel spoke up, a hand perched thoughtfully on her chin.
"She sent me a message about two months ago saying she was going on a survey mission to this quadrant, on the USS Lewis. I checked Starfleet records, and-"
"There is no Lewis," Kirk offered.
McCoy nodded. "Not officially."
"Bridge to Captain Kirk," the ship-wide intercom blared overhead, "Report to the bridge immediately."
"Bones, with me," Kirk ordered.
...
"An unidentified ship is approaching, warp seven," the helmsman reported.
"Any word from the away team?"
"They're still gathering data," Uhura replied.
"Tell them to be ready to beam up immediately. I don't want them stranded down there if that ship isn't good news."
"The ship's nearly here, Captain," Sulu called.
"Uhura, get that away team up here, now!"
"Yes, captain-"
"Captain, they have nearly completed transferring the data, an attempt to beam them up now would disrupt the transmission."
"Spock, are you seriously suggesting we leave them down there?"
Spock met Kirk's eyes evenly. "This is an opportunity we must not pass up."
Kirk frowned, not wanting to admit the Vulcan was right. "How much longer do you need?"
Spock glanced at his screen. "I am unsure, Captain."
The Captain held up his hand. "You have two minutes." He thumbed a switch on the arm of his chair. "Transporter room, be ready to get that team out of there on my mark."
"The ship has arrived, Captain," Sulu said, "Looks like a trade vessel, unmarked."
"On screen," Kirk commanded. "This isn't a trade route, what is it doing here?"
The bridge crew seemed to shrug at once.
"Try to raise it, Lieutenant," he said, to Uhura.
"No response, sir," she replied.
"Captain," he turned to face Spock, who continued, "The transmission has been interrupted. It appears the ship has scrambled our communication with the surface."
Kirk swore and slammed a hand on the arm of his chair. "Transporter room, can you get a lock on the away team?"
"Negative, sir, something is blocking it."
McCoy was standing silently behind the captain's chair, arms crossed as he scanned the screen for any answers. The doctor leaned forward. "Enhance the view of the hull, I think I see something." He squinted and suddenly swore. "I'll be damned, look at the name."
Kirk followed where he was pointing. "The Lewis."
"That would certainly explain why it does not appear in Starfleet records," Spock pointed out.
"We're being hailed," Uhura said, surprise obvious in her voice.
"On screen."
A man in dark, plain clothes -what looked to be the remains of a weathered and only partially intact uniform- stood with a small smile. "Greetings, Enterprise. Welcome to Lewis' Planet."
"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the Enterprise, who are you? Why are you interfering with our communications?"
"I am Xenon, captain of the Lewis. We interfere merely to gain your attention. And we've gained it."
"For what purpose, may I ask?" Kirk pursed his lips.
"We have captured five of your crew from the planet, Captain Kirk. If you wish them returned, you'll beam down to the surface. Alone."
The viewscreen went blank.
"Captain, we've got a signal from the away team. We've locked on to their coordinates."
"Beam them up, now," Kirk shouted. He turned to Spock. "Check the crew roster, get me the names of everyone who beamed down."
"Captain, he's taken them!" came a shout through the intercom.
"Scotty?" Kirk replied.
"Aye, Cap'n, the rest were captured, taken by that man who calls himself Xenon. I managed to get away and hail the Enterprise."
"Are you hurt, Scotty?"
"Just cuts and bruises, sir, but I'm afraid that-"
"Get to sick bay, Mr. Scott, we'll meet you there. Kirk, out."
"The four members of the away team are the only crewmen not accounted for, Captain," Spock said.
"But Xenon mentioned five, but Scotty is here. So who's the fifth?"
"Jim," McCoy breathed, hand reaching out for the captain's shoulder, "could it be-?"
"I suppose there's only one way to find out," Kirk mused. "Spock, you have the conn. Bones, go check out Scotty."
"If she's there, I want to-"
"No, Bones, I need you here. Besides, we don't know what Xenon is planning, and I'm not sure I want to risk testing his definition of 'alone.'"
"Captain," Spock said, as Kirk turned to leave, "Jim-"
His tone caught Kirk's ear, and he looked to the Vulcan.
"This may very well be a trap," he said.
Kirk gave a small smile. "I know, Spock," he looked to the viewscreen at the little green orb that was floating below them, "but that's my crew on the line."
...
Kirk materialized on the surface, phaser drawn. He looked around:
Rolling hills surrounded him, full of rocks and swirling dust. A dim green haze hung in the air, emitted from the few plants which emerged from the dry earth.
There was nothing around, though he could see something in the distance -likely the ruins they'd seen on the initial scan. He started moving toward them, eyes on the horizon for any sign of movement.
A sound behind him made him turn and frown at the faces who materialized before him. "I told you to stay on the ship."
"I realize that, Captain," Mr. Spock said, stepping forward, "and it is my duty as first officer to ensure you do not rush blindly into danger."
"Directly disobeying my orders," Kirk managed to hide his smile, but not his awe, "how human of you."
"I know, he's slipping," McCoy said.
Spock said nothing in reply, merely raising his eyebrow sternly and scanning their surroundings with his tricorder.
"Bones," Kirk began, but the doctor held up a hand.
"I'll break your fingers if you try to order me back to the ship, so don't even think about it."
"You heard Xenon-" Kirk began.
"Xenon be damned," the doctor snapped. "We weren't going to let you do this alone."
Kirk glanced up, and quipped, "You two agree on something, yet the sky isn't falling." They sent him mirroring scowls and he sobered. "Let's not keep Captain Xenon waiting any longer."
They walked a few steps more before Spock halted. "Captian, I'm reading life signs all around us."
"They've surrounded us," Kirk murmured, before the man who called himself Xenon appeared in front of them. Heads arose from the hills around them and it quickly became clear how outnumbered the three men were.
...
"Captain Kirk," Xenon called, "A pleasure to speak face to face, finally. I've read so much about you."
Kirk cast diplomatic niceties aside. "Where are my crewmen, Xenon?"
"In the city," he replied, pointing to the ruins. "They haven't been harmed -much. One put up quite a fight."
Kirk felt McCoy stiffen behind him, and ground his jaw. "What is it you want, Xenon?"
"Nothing so trivial as money, I assure you. An action."
"What action?"
Xenon ushered the three men toward the ruins. "From your Federation. A cease in exploration of this quadrant, specifically this planet."
"You sound like a man with something to hide," McCoy snapped.
"Bones," the captain hissed. Then, to Xenon, "The Federation has no current exploration missions here, Xenon, this whole quadrant hasn't been mapped."
The other captain laughed coldly. "You cannot fool me, Kirk, what of your crew on the surface? Gathering samples, analyzing the ore -our ore. We found weeks of data in the hands of the woman, yet you claim no knowledge?"
Kirk kept his hands flat against his sides to keep from curling them into fists. The crumbling walls of the ruined city loomed up before them, and he turned to face Xenon, a hard edge to his jaw.
"There is no exploration," he insisted, "no officially sanctioned research mission. The only analysis we've collected is of our own merit, our own curiosity." He stepped forward, ignoring the armed guards who moved forward threateningly. "Return our crew and we'll part ways."
"It can't be that easy, Kirk, you understand," Xenon said, chuckling.
"My crew has no part in Starfleet decisions, let them return to the ship."
Xenon considered for a moment, then called to one of his guards, "Bring the prisoners." He turned back, "Listen, Captain, I don't want to have to kill your crew, I really don't. But believe me when I say I will, if you leave me no choice."
Five figures shuffled into view, hands bound behind their back. Kirk recognized four of the faces, but the fifth –though he'd never seen it before, the piercing blue eyes and harsh scowl was familiar.
The woman's lip and nose were bloody, obvious remnants of a brush with her guards.
"Mae," McCoy whispered, and made to move forward. Spock, without thinking, grabbed his shoulder to hold him in place, and the doctor bristled but stayed still.
"Should I allow you a moment to contemplate the choice?" Xenon asked.
"You won't kill anyone," Captain Kirk snapped, "You'll let them go. What do you hope to gain from this, Xenon? Do you think the Federation will let you walk away after you've threatened my crew?"
The woman in irons looked at the back of Xenon's head, furrowed her eyebrows in a split-second decision. And launched herself forward.
Head down, she drove her shoulder into the captain's side, bowling him over. The other four captives acted likewise, grappling with the other guards before they managed to get a shot off.
Kirk found a guard's fist swinging towards him and ducked in time to dodge, returning the swing and, in the process, dropping his phaser. Spock appeared at his side, deftly pulling him out of the fray.
The Captain scrambled at his side to find his communicator. "Enterprise, come in!"
"Uhura here."
"Stand by to beam us up, on my mark."
"Acknowledged," a note of panic entered her voice, "What's happening, sir?"
"Just tell them to be ready!" Kirk shouted, dropping the communicator and jumping to aid McCoy, who was struggling to make his way through the wall of guards who'd formed around Xenon. The other captain had his fists raised to pummel the figure below him.
McCoy managed to break through and grab Xenon's collar, pulling him off only to take an elbow to the chin and go down hard.
"Spock, get them clear," Kirk shouted, and Spock shouldered his tricorder, silently moving toward the crewmen with communicator at the ready.
"Lock on to my coordinates, five to beam up."
They vanished and Kirk breathed a half-hearted sigh of relief before turning to find Xenon with his hands at McCoy's throat.
Spluttering, the doctor clawed at the man's wrists with a weakening grip. Behind them, the remaining captive drug herself away, having managed to contort herself so that her bound hands were at her chest.
Kirk knocked Xenon to the side and McCoy fell back.
"Enough," Kirk shouted. He put himself in between the two men, hands outstretched. "Don't push this further, Xenon." He reached a hand for the woman on the ground, who took it without looking up. He pulled her to her feet and seized McCoy's arm, pulling the two back and keeping them behind him.
"Coward," Xenon spat, "Turn tail and run back to your precious Starfleet!"
Freeing a hand but keeping his eyes fixed firmly on Xenon, Kirk flipped open his communicator. "Enterprise, get us out of here."
"Run, Captain Kirk," Xenon shouted, blood and spittle flying from his lips, "You won't get far!"
...
"Captain," Spock stepped forward, as they materialized in the transporter room.
Kirk waved him off, reaching for the intercom. "Kirk to the bridge."
"Bridge here."
"Get us out of here, pick a direction, pick any warp you want, just get us out of here."
"Ye-yes, Captain."
"No," gasped the woman behind him, "you can't leave here, you can't let Xenon-"
"Mae-" McCoy began, but she stumbled off the platform toward the captain.
"Please, you don't know what they'd do-"
"Mae, sit down," McCoy grabbed her shoulder and turned her to face him. After a moment of struggle, she met his eyes and her jaw dropped.
"Uncle Leonard?"
McCoy's face cracked into the first grin Kirk had seen in days. He pulled her into a hug as she said, "It's really you? You got my message, you really came for me."
"Of course, m'dear." He looked up and smiled at the Captain. "Jim, this is-"
"Mae, yes," Kirk said, wiping sweat and dirt from his face. "And I've got plenty of questions for you, but first," he grimaced, "I think it's best for us to sit down."
"Captain," Mae's tone turned serious again, "please, you don't understand, the planet cannot fall into Xenon's hands. It's being explored by the Federation for-"
Kirk threw up his hands. "How many times today have I heard that?"
"It's classified, Captain, all the files are accessible only by top-level Starfleet personnel. No one knows about it, and no one will, if it's successful."
"What's the mission?" McCoy asked.
"To explore the quadrant," Mae replied, "the planet specifically. And what we found...It's a gold mine."
"A gold mine?" asked Spock.
"Not gold," she corrected, "but the ores here, it's beyond imagination. Enough to keep the Federation in control of the market for years. But the planet's unclaimed, the quadrant unexplored. Xenon caught wind of the plan, he's been tailing me for months."
"What about your ship?" Kirk asked, "There's record of a shuttle in your name at the K12 station, but nothing more."
She looked away. "I had a disagreement with command."
"What of Xenon? How did he find out?"
"He was the command." She crossed her arms. "The first officer and head of security. The captain put him in charge, or at least that's what he told us, and he-took the vessel. The Lewis. Ordered us to expunge our records and tell the Federation we found nothing."
"And the captain?"
"He beamed down to the surface with the first away team, didn't come back. When I made my way down, I found his body -some security personnel loyal to Xenon killed him."
"A coup," Spock supplied.
"A sort of coup, I guess," Mae affirmed. "I couldn't just keep quiet, so I hid my notes away and escaped to the surface."
"But we scanned the surface, it was lifeless."
"Underground caves," she replied. "Scanners don't penetrate through the surface. They didn't find me, until your team beamed down. I came out to see who it was, and Xenon's men jumped me."
"What can we do?" McCoy asked.
"Get everyone to sickbay," Kirk ordered. "Get far away from this quadrant -I assume you kept your notes safe?"
Mae managed a smile, fresh blood leaking from her nose. "The notes they took from me were only partial copies, the originals," she reached into her shirt and pulled out a thin, square chip, "are here."
"That's my girl," McCoy smiled gruffly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Alright, to sickbay, everyone. That includes you, Jim."
"I need to-Starfleet-"
"Xenon doesn't have the notes," McCoy waved off his attempts, taking Mae's hand in one of his and Kirk's shoulder in the other, and steering them both to the door. "Sickbay first, then cross the bridge of explaining what the hell is going on to Federation. And we've got catching up to do. Doctor's orders."
Kirk allowed himself to be pushed, glancing helplessly back at Spock.
"If you'd like to try to explain, Mr. Spock, you're welcome to."
"I believe I'll leave that to you, Captain," the Vulcan replied, raising an eyebrow, "Xenon has made it quite clear you and he are now the greatest of enemies."
"You really think so?"
Spock's words floated down the corridor after them. "You should be honored, Captain, that is a great show of respect in many cultures."
"I don't feel very respected," Kirk mumbled, and McCoy snorted.
"Yeah, my nose doesn't either," Mae scowled, "And you didn't even have to serve under him."
The Captain chuckled the rest of the way to the infirmary.