Wuemsel - Definately gonna upload it to W*attpad, I think. Thanks to Kirklover & Kalima…also, Kalima, it is a mystery so there are more clues coming. FF only lets me describe it in 2 categories, but AGEE 1-17 could also be put in both the mystery and the horror category. 😉 I take your reviews to heart so please keep in touch.
~ Coop
CHAPTER 14
"Chakek?"
Horror spread through McCoy as he realized that this was the Romulan that Mudd had intended to sell Aggie to.
"Len? Who is this?"
The Romulan's grin broadened, revealing teeth that had been filed into points. "And I believe you have something that belongs to me." Glittering black eyes turned slowly to look at Aggie. "Greetings, my pretty weapon."
"NO!" McCoy shouted the same time his leg snapped out, striking the Romulan in the knee. There was a sickening crunch and a roar of pain as Chakek fell to his good knee, the other leg remained extended out to one side but bent at an odd angle. He bared his teeth like an animal, and with a savage growl, yanked a blaster from his belt. McCoy slammed into him before he could fire. The fierceness of McCoy's attack drove the large Romulan backward, but his momentum prevented him from keeping his own balance, and they both rolled over the edge of the hill, still struggling for control of the blaster.
Halfway down the hill, the blaster went off. It lit up the half-dark sky like lightning and was instantly followed by a piercing scream. The blaster slipped from both their grasps, and with a frustrated roar, Chakek lunged for McCoy's throat. McCoy twisted so that the Romulan only got a handful of his blue shirt, and with a loud ripping noise, a large section of the material tore free. Flinging out one arm, McCoy was sent tumbling off in a different direction, away from his attacker.
A sharp pain exploded in McCoy's wrist as it connected with something hard and then, without warning, his body changed from tumbling to skidding to an abrupt stop.
Cradling his wrist, he struggled to his knees. "Aggie?" He called out, feeling a cold dread well up inside him. The blaster had gone off during the struggle. He'd heard the scream. Had she been hit? "Aggie, where are you? Answer me!"
"Right here."
The voice was not Aggie's, and before McCoy could raise an arm in defense, a hand made of durasteel seized him by the throat and lifted him from the ground.
McCoy swung his booted feet toward Chakek, desperately trying to make contact with the injured knee, but he could feel his strength draining away like water down a drain. In despair, he clawed feebly at the Romulan's wrist with his good hand.
He felt dim surprise at the Romulan's strength—he held McCoy's weight out in front of him as though he were a rag doll—and thought that if Spock ever lost control, it would be a terrifying sight indeed.
Small bones in his neck began to snap and crack as the Romulan squeezed.
"Hey, asshole! Let him go!"
Surprised, and clearly confused by the insult, the Romulan jerked around to see Aggie standing a short distance away. McCoy felt a brief moment of relief—she hadn't been struck by the blaster fire—but then he saw the Romulan's blaster in her hands. Even with sight blurry from pain, McCoy could see that its barrel was bent, making it useless.
Go! Run! McCoy tried to wave her off as Chakek jerked his head back, roaring in laughter as he took in her trembling hands as she grasped the broken weapon.
McCoy, barely clinging to consciousness, watched as Aggie's face suddenly changed. The fear slipped away, replaced by one of complete calm. With deft fingers that Security Chief Giotto would have admired, she slipped the protective cover back on the blaster, exposing the power cell in the hilt. It was shaped like a large pill, and glowing red with fully-charged firepower. She plucked it from its casing and tossed the useless case aside.
Then, with the speed of a Terran cheetah and the grace of an Orion dancer, Aggie leapt forward. She gripped the Romulan's outstretched arm, the one that held McCoy, and swung herself up high enough to jam the glowing pill into the laughing Romulan's mouth. She hooked one bare foot into his belt, lifted herself higher, then clamped both hands over his mouth. His throat looked grotesque and deformed as the power cell worked its way down.
McCoy hit the ground with a hollow thud, but Aggie's scream left him no time to recover. Lurching to his feet, he saw that Chakek had hold of Aggie's shoulder, his fingers digging into the flesh. But the Romulan didn't seem to be aware of Aggie, much less his grip on her. His eyes were bulging from their sockets as his tongue protruded straight out like some twisted version of a child's insult.
He's trying to vomit it up, McCoy realized, and hoping that Romulan physiology really was similar to that of a Vulcan's, he balled up his good fist and punched Chakek right where his stomach should have been. One of McCoy's finger bones snapped, but he didn't feel the pain. He grabbed Aggie as the Romulan's hand opened reflectively, quickly pulling her a safe distance away.
The Romulan didn't move to follow them; it was as if he'd forgotten them entirely. And then McCoy saw it: the Romulan's eyes had begun to glow bright with a strange inner-light, brighter and brighter. A look of horror crossed Chakek's face, and he opened his mouth as if to scream, but no sound came out. A thick, lava-like ooze of melting flesh poured from his mouth, burning his chin and falling onto his tunic which immediately caught fire.
Horrified, McCoy turned away and held Aggie against his chest just as Chakek's head collapsed in on itself. The headless body hit the ground as the rest of the Romulan's clothing continued to burn.
Aggie had begun to shake uncontrollably as adrenaline spilled into her system, and without allowing her to look back at the smoking remains, McCoy wrapped an arm around her and led her back up the hill. By the time they reached the top, dawn had officially arrived on the moon. Blooms of moths rose up from the grasslands, swirling and weaving in a uniformed dance, celebrating the birth of a new day.
"I need to see your shoulder," he said, reaching out with his good hand. Aggie looked at him and frowned.
"It's fine," she said evenly. Her eyes were somewhat glassy, pupils dilated, and McCoy recognized the beginnings of shock. "Aggie, I need . . . please." She let him examine her shoulder then, his (mostly) good hand working deftly. When he could only find five pink dots—budding bruises from the Romulan's fingers—McCoy finally allowed himself to relax a fraction. Unfortunately, it only emphasized the throbbing of his own injuries. He flexed his wrist and felt bone grate on bone.
He needed to get Aggie off this moon and back on the Enterprise. And what of the Enterprise? It was impossible that Jim would have missed a Romulan beaming down, much less another space vessel in the area. Troubled, McCoy reached for his comunicator but found it missing. Damn it. It must have fallen off during the fight.
"Len, what did I just do?" Aggie asked, her voice rising in pitch. "What did I just do? I murdered someone!"
"No," McCoy said firmly, standing so that she had to look at him. "You defended yourself, Aggie. That's all. Now listen to me: We need to find my communicator. We have to contact the Enterprise, okay? I need your help to find it."
His firm words and his request for help cut through her rising hysteria. "Yes," she said, nodding rapidly. "Yes, I can do that."
"Good girl," he said, hobbling over to the flattened grassy area where they'd been earlier. He supposed it could have come off then. He started moving the grass around with his boot, telling himself that the fading stars overhead were not pieces of the Enterprise orbiting the moon. But why hadn't his friend warned him? Jim would never have abandoned them. Troubled, he tried to ignore his own rising heartbeat.
"Tada," Aggie said, offering him a weak smile as she held up his communicator like a prize. "Found it." Then she held up her other hand which held his medkit. "And this, too."
McCoy could have kissed her—then decided to do just that—quick, yet appreciative. He fumbled the communicator open with one hand as he instructed Aggie how to load the hypo with a painkiller. "McCoy to Enterprise. McCoy to Enterprise." The silence was heavy with implications, and McCoy's imagination started to grow wild. "Jim, are you there? Answer me, damn it!"
Static, a clicking sound, then, "Bones? Bones! Listen to me, you've got company down—"
"We had company," McCoy corrected him quickly. "Chakek's dead."
"What? Dead? Hold on a second; I just had an idea." There was a long pause and McCoy used the time to take the hypo from Aggie and press it against his neck. There was a slight sting followed by a familiar hiss as the meds were blown into his system. Instantly a wave of relief flowed through him. His broken wrist and finger were forgotten. He reloaded the hypo with a milder dosage and pressed it to Aggie's neck.
"All right, Doctor." Kirk's voice came over the speaker louder than usual. "You're communication is being transmitted on external frequencies. Repeat what you just said."
"Transmitted outside . . . ?" McCoy started then did what the captain asked. "We had some unexpected company down here, Captain. A Romulan by the name of Chakek. At least that's what he used to go by." McCoy's voice grew rough as remembered those horrible, glowing eyes. "He's dead, Jim."
There was another clicking sound and then he heard Jim speaking again.
"Attention T'Nok of the Romulan vessel. As you have heard, your captain is dead. His mission to seize the property that was offered by Harcourt Mudd has failed. Any further attempts to claim that property or seek retaliation for his death will be met with the entire firepower of this starship. Disengage now and leave the neutral zone, or face the consequences. Kirk out."
The captain's voice had the hard ring of command that told McCoy that he was deadly serious. He would, without hesitation, fire on the Romulan vessel.
McCoy waited anxiously, his eyes scanning the blue sky for explosions. He had never felt quite so exposed or defenseless before. The Romulans were highly intelligent life forms but they also tended to be arrogant and spiteful. Would they torpedo the moon before making a run for it?
"Captain Kirk," A cold voice crackled through the communicator, and McCoy realized that he still had an open connection to the Enterprise. "We accept your condition to leave the neutral zone. And as for Captain Chakek"—McCoy could almost picture a cold, reptile-like smile behind the voice—"I never much cared for him, anyway. Captain T'Nok out."
A minute passed before Kirk was on the communicator again, speaking to McCoy.
"They're gone, Bones. I hope you're ready to come back. I'm afraid the moon excursion has come to an end." There was a hidden question just beneath Jim's words and McCoy's lip curled at the corner. Even in a crisis, Kirk was a nosy bastard, he thought fondly and turned to look at the woman he loved. She gave him a tentative smile that made his heart skip a beat.
He grinned foolishly into the communicator grid.
"Yeah, we're more than ready, Jim," he said happily. "Bring us home."
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