In two days, Solan settled his ship down in a hangar in New York. He secured it and then headed for "The Nest" which was where Cax wanted to meet. Solan had not been there in quite a while, but it still looked basically the same.

Cax was leaning on the bar when Solan walked in. "Solan, you didn't chicken out," Cax said.

"I don't know what chicken out means," Solan replied. "I'm surprised you showed up at all."

"Have a drink, Man. It's on me. You aren't playing bodyguard today."

"Playing? That's not playing, my friend." Solan ordered a drink although drinking had never been very appealing to him anyway.

They headed for the game room, and the pool table was free. "Well, I guess you don't have any excuses," Cax said.

"Me?" Solan asked. "I think you're just trying to put it off on me." Solan set his drink on a shelf near the table.

Cax thought maybe he could get Solan drunk but he was not drinking. He would have to find another way. If Solan would not drink, he could not slip something into the drink.

They played the games of pool, and Solan won. "Okay, now pay up," Solan said.

"You're really gonna hold me to that?" Cax asked.

"Are you kidding? You would hold me to it."

"You're right." Cax paused a moment. "We'll have to go to the ship. I don't carry a lot on me."

"Lead the way."

They went outside into the dark street. Cax's ship was in a hangar not far from where Solan's was. He opened the boarding ramp, and Solan followed him in. "Man, don't you ever clean this thing?" Solan asked.

"When I feel like it," Cax replied.

Solan looked out the front viewport while he waited for Cax. He heard Cax coming back. "You ever thought of having a co-pilot?" Solan asked. "Maybe you and I should…"

Solan did not finish that sentence as he looked around to see Cax aiming his blaster at him. "Hey, point that thing someplace else," he said.

Cax was almost trembling. "Stand up, Solan," he said.

Solan just stared at him with a confused look. "What are you doing?"

"Get up, Solan."

Solan was completely shocked, and Cax could see the look of betrayal. Solan stood up. "Is this some kind of joke?" Solan asked.

"No. Take off your blaster."

Solan frowned as his look was turning to anger. "We're supposed to be friends you stupid jerk," he said.

"Take off that blaster, Solan," Cax demanded.

Solan hesitated a moment but then he unbuckled his blaster belt and unbuckled the securing strap from his leg. Cax took it from him. "Now, come on," he said.

Solan glared at him but he moved out of the cockpit. Cax closed the boarding ramp by remote. "Get down into the hold," he said.

Solan turned to face him. "Tell me why!" he demanded. "Why?"

"I need the money."

"What money? I don't understand this…" Solan stopped as realization came to him. "You're after Jim."

Cax could see Solan's anger now. Solan lunged at him but Cax fired a stun bolt hitting him square in the chest. Solan crashed to the floor, but he tried to get back up. He could not and fell on his back. "I'll kill you," Solan declared and passed out.

Cax had no doubt that Solan would kill him if he survived. He dragged him into the hold and cuffed him to a rung in the floor where he kept his quarry when he was bounty hunting. He was usually on the side of the law but not this time. He just stood and looked at Solan a moment. He had been a good friend. He could not go back now.

When Solan woke up, he had a headache and he thought the ship was moving. He pulled at the cuffs. "Cax!" he yelled. "Cax!"

Cax came to the hold. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Let me go! You can't do this to Jim!"

"I can't back out now, Solan."

"Yes you can! Turn me loose!" Solan pulled at the cuffs.

"If I let you loose, you'd kill me."

"Bet on it!"

Cax could see Solan was furious. "You hungry?"

"NO!" Solan yelled. "Don't you know Jim has a family? A new baby? Don't do this to him!" Solan paused a moment. "You had this planned!" He glared at Cax. "You planned this!" Solan pulled at the cuffs so hard, his wrists bled.

"Stop that," Cax said.

"You let me out of this!"

Cax set his blaster to stun and fired at Solan. When Solan was out, Cax looked at his wrists. He would have to keep him cuffed the entire time because if he let Solan loose, he would kill him. He wrapped his wrists where he had bled. What was he doing? He was betraying his friend. He would have to keep him stunned until he got Jim Kirk.

The next day, Jim sat in his office still feeling sleepy, but he thought he might be a little more alert. He looked at the duty sheet. Solan had reported delivering his load, but he had not reported being back. That was not like Solan.

Jim pressed the intercom button. "Ajah, have you seen Solan?"

"No, Sir," Ajah answered.

"See if you can contact him. Patch it through."

"Yes, Sir."

Jim continued with his work while he waited for Ajah's reply or Solan's. After several minutes, Ajah called. "Sir, he's not answering," Ajah said.

"Can you trace the signal?" Jim asked.

"Not if he doesn't answer."

"That's right." Jim frowned. "Why would he not answer? Did he tell you when he got back to Earth?"

"No."

"Contact Priscilla."

"Yes sir."

Ajah got an immediate reply from Priscilla. "Have you heard from Solan?" he asked.

"Not since last night," Priscilla said. "He was going to meet Cax for a drink and a game."

"Where?"

"In New York, at a place he calls The Nest. Why?"

"We haven't heard from him and we can't raise him."

"He is not there?"

"No. I'll talk to you later."

"Yes. He said he would be in this morning."

"Okay."

Priscilla ended the call. She could not believe Solan would worry them this way.

Ajah called Cax who answered after only a few minutes. "Cax, do you know where Solan went last night after you guys met?" Ajah asked.

"Uh…no," Cax said. "He went to his ship when he left the bar. I'm on my way home now." He was glad he had taped Solan's mouth. "Should I go back and check to see if his ship is still there?"

"I'm…well, yeah. Do that. I'll inform Admiral Kirk."

"I'll get back to you."

Cax ended the transmission. He could not believe he made that lie believable. They trusted him and had no reason to think he would be lying. Did that make him one of the worst people in the galaxy? Only to them. If he could deceive them like this, he thought maybe he should hunt bounty more often.

Ajah informed Jim of what was happening. "Why does he not know whether Solan left?" Jim asked. "If they were there together, weren't they talking?"

"I guess maybe their ships weren't close together, or when they left the bar, they just didn't talk anymore."

Jim thought maybe he was just too groggy to sort all this out. "Okay. Just keep me informed."

"Yes sir."

Jim yawned as he turned off the intercom. He worked on his duty roster more. Some of his fleet had not returned yet, including the Enterprise. His communicator chirped. "Yes."

"Jim, are you coming home for lunch?" Carol asked.

"I'm not sure," Jim said. "We're having trouble locating Solan."

"What? Trouble?"

"Well, he hasn't checked in, so he either overslept or has a hangover."

"That doesn't sound like Solan."

"Yeah I know. I'm sure we'll find him later. I'll let you know. How's our little one?"

"She's fine. She's wide awake right now."

Jim smiled. "You should have called me on the intercom so I could see her."

"I should have but we're on the bed. Doctor McCoy wants me to rest."

"What have you been doing?"

"Cleaning."

"Carol. I told you I'd get someone to do that."

"Don't worry. Andrea is on her way here. I'll have plenty of help then."

"Right. You just take it easy, don't be worrying."

"I love you, Jim."

"I love you too, Carol."

Carol laughed. "I'll see you later."

"Count on it."

Jim ended the transmission. He thought maybe he would get some roses today. He went out to Ajah. "You haven't heard from Cax yet?" he asked. "How far was he from New York?"

"I don't know," Ajah said.

Jim yawned. "I'll be in my office." He went back into his office and lay down on the sofa. He could sleep while he waited.

Solan was awake again. He was puzzled about why his wrists were wrapped. His mouth was still tied however. He kicked the wall and tried to yell. Cax was landing his ship in New York. He went to the hold. "I have to pretend to find your ship," he said.

Solan glared at him and kicked the wall. He thought Cax was enjoying this. He kicked the wall again. "No need for that," Cax said. "No one is going to hear you." He stunned Solan again.

Cax closed the hold and then walked out of his ship. He made sure he had his communicator and went off to the hangar where Solan's ship still sat. He lowered the ramp and went inside. As he got up to the front, he flipped the communicator open and called Ajah.

"I'm on Solan's ship but he's not here," Cax said.

Ajah was puzzled. "Then where could he be?" he asked.

"Don't know, but he's certainly not here. Doesn't look like he made it back last night."

"I have to report this to Admiral Kirk. Better yet, you should tell him. I'm gonna transfer you."

Cax waited, trying to prepare himself to lie to Admiral Kirk which he did not think would be easy. However, he found himself enjoying the challenge. Kirk appeared on the viewscreen. "Admiral."

"Cax, you're saying Solan isn't on his ship?" Jim asked.

"Right. And it doesn't look like he made it here last night." Cax was starting to believe that lie himself. After all, he knew Solan did not make it back.

"Why?" Jim asked.

Cax was surprised by that question. "Sir?"

"Why do you think he didn't make it back?"

Cax felt like Kirk was seeing through his plot. "The ship was still sealed."

"How did you get in?"

"Well, I know his code."

"Oh." Jim just thought something did not sound right. "Whatever happened, it's not normal for Solan to be out of touch. See what you can find out. Kirk out."

Cax saw the transmission end. How could Kirk think he was lying?

Jim sat at his desk a moment, and then he pressed the intercom button. "Ajah, have a shuttle prepped for me," he said.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"I'm going to New York. I want to see that situation myself."

"You're not going alone, are you?"

"I want you here to monitor messages."

"Admiral, I don't think you should go alone."

"I'm not going alone. Just have the shuttle prepped."

Jim contacted Bones since Spock was gone on a mission. Bones answered promptly. "Yeah," he said.

"Bones, I need you to go somewhere with me," Jim said.

"Where?"

"New York."

Bones stopped what he was doing and looked at the monitor then. "What for?"

"Solan is missing."

"What?"

"You heard me. We're going over there to find him."

"When?"

"In a few minutes. Carol's okay, isn't she?"

"Yeah. She's fine. Just needs to rest. She's about as stubborn as you on that front."

"Just get here. I'm having a shuttle prepped."

"I'm on my way."

Jim ended that transmission. He changed into his blue uniform that was more comfortable for missions. When he walked out into Ajah's office, Bones was coming in. "Ajah, let me know if you hear anything," Jim said.

"Yes sir," Ajah replied.

Jim and Bones left the office and headed for the shuttle bay there at headquarters. "You think he's in trouble?" Bones asked.

"I think something's wrong," Jim replied. "It's not normal for Solan to be out of touch."

"Right."

"He hasn't even contacted Priscilla."

Bones shook his head. "What are we getting into?" he asked.

"Hopefully just maybe he got drunk and…" Jim knew that was not right, not Solan.

They both knew something serious had to happen for Solan to be out of touch, and not even on his ship. They boarded the shuttle and blasted off toward New York. "What would keep Solan out of touch?" Bones asked.

"We both know the answer to that," Jim said. "Trouble."

"I guess that's why you're taking me along."

"Just in case."

"Jim, what if it's more than trouble?"

"We'll call security."

"Right. I sometimes forget we're not out in strange space."

They arrived in New York after four hours. Cax was there when they came from the shuttle. "Admiral," he said. "Doctor." He had not expected Doctor McCoy to come.

"You found out anything?" Jim asked.

"No," Cax said.

Jim secured the shuttle. "Bones and I are gonna do a little searching ourselves," he said.

"Admiral, uh, do you think it's a good idea for you to go into the Nest?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, everyone knows about the bounty on you."

"I'm gonna find Solan."

Bones followed Jim down the alley to The Nest. They went in and went over to the bar. The bartender was surprised to see Jim Kirk. "What can I get you?" he asked.

"Nothing. Thanks," Jim said. "Do you know Solan?"

The bartender chuckled at that. "Who doesn't know him?"

"Right. Did you see him last night?"

"Sure. He and Cax met here and played a game of pool."

"Was Solan drinking a lot?"

"No, of course not. He didn't even drink the one he did get."

"Did he leave alone?"

"No. He left with Cax."

Jim scowled at that. "So they left together," he said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, and they weren't drunk. As a matter of fact, Solan was talking about getting home."

"Well, he never made it. His ship is still out there in its hangar. We're checking it next. Did you see anyone following them? Did they get into it with anyone?"

"Nah. Solan's an easy-going guy. I didn't see anything. I hope he's alright."

"Me too."

Jim and Bones walked out of the bar. "Jim, if Solan left with Cax, why wouldn't he know it if something happened?" Bones asked.

"Maybe someone was waiting for him at his ship," Jim said.

"But why?"

"Let's just find his ship."

Solan's ship was in hangar 12. Jim and Bones walked in seeing the old familiar ship. Jim just stood there a moment. "Something's wrong," he said. "Solan would never abandon this ship."

"I agree, Jim. What if this has something to do with that bounty on you? What if it's a trap?"

"What kind of trap? And by whom?"

"I don't know. Jim, how well do we know Cax?"

"Are you suggesting…" Jim could not deny he thought Cax's story sounded fishy, and why was he not more concerned about Solan? "That would be the worst betrayal I ever knew of."

"Would he do it?"

"I don't know, Bones."

They went on into the ship remembering as they walked through, all the times they had seen Solan working on this thing. Jim sat down in the pilot's seat. "Whatever happened, we have to find him," he said.

"Where do we look?" Bones asked.

"Maybe someone around here saw something. Maybe some security cameras got it."

Jim activated the communication system and contacted Ajah. "Ajah, I want you to do a research background check on Cax," Jim said. "I want to know if he's dabbled in bounty hunting."

"I'm on it, Admiral," Ajah replied. "Did you find something?"

"Not yet. Just get that for me and send it here."

"Yes sir."

Jim ended that transmission. "Jim, if Cax is involved in this, it could mean Solan is over there on his ship," Bones declared.

"We'll just have to find out."

"How? Without getting ourselves in trouble?"

"We have to try. Anyway, if something happens, Ajah will know we're checking out Cax."

"Right. So what do we do?"

"First of all, you're gonna strap on a phaser. Then we're going over there to…visit."

They got a phaser for Bones, and then headed for Cax's ship…