After two days, Admiral Simmons's ship dropped out of warp at the edge of Klingon space. He hailed Omakh who was waiting for him to bring Jim Kirk to Kronos. "I am here," he said.
"I want to see him," Omakh replied.
"He's in a cryotube. You can't see him until I wake him up."
"Then wake him up. I will not help you come down to the planet until I see him alive."
"Fine. I'll call you again soon."
Simmons hid his ship close to a small moon and then went back to the room where he kept Leonard McCoy and Jim Kirk. McCoy lay on the cot. Simmons deactivated the cuffs on McCoy's wrists. "You're going to help me wake him up safely," he said.
"And if I refuse?" Bones asked.
"I don't think you'll refuse."
Bones frowned. He flexed his hands as the cuffs were now off his wrists. "I'm not sure I can with my hands feeling like this," he said.
"Then you'll oversee," Simmons replied. "Now, move it."
Bones went over to the cryotube. He looked at his friend's face in the window, and he wished there was some way to get him out of this. He punched in the right sequence to wake Jim up, and they stood to wait. "It'll be a couple of hours," Bones said. "If you do it too fast, he'll die."
"I'll just take your advice, Doctor," Simmons replied. "I'll leave you unrestrained, but I advise you not to try anything."
Bones glared at him as he left the room. He remembered the knife he had hidden in his boot. He had learned some tricks from Jim and Solan who always seemed to have weapons somewhere on them, especially Solan. He wished Solan were here now, and he hoped Solan was okay after being forced to get out of his hospital bed.
Solan was lying on a hospital bed aboard the Enterprise because he had almost passed out while telling Spock what he knew in the conference room. He did not like being out of commission during a time like this, but Spock assured him that they would find Jim. He was informing Korax and Grakar of what was happening. Solan knew they would do what they could to find Jim and get him away from Omakh, who was on Kronos himself. However, they had not been able to locate him.
"He is very elusive," Korax said. "We believe he is here alone but intends to call others to the planet when he is ready for his attack. He hides in the great forest."
"Then that is where we can expect Jim to be delivered once Admiral Simmons brings him to the planet," Spock replied.
"There are many miles of the forest, and also many dangers. Looking for one in the forest who is hiding is like…looking for a needle in a haystack, as I have heard some humans say. Although, I have never known why one would search for a needle in a haystack."
Uhura almost laughed at that analogy but she forced herself not to. She was not sure Spock would understand that. "Humans have many sayings of this kind," Spock said. "It is simply to express the difficulty."
"As I surmised. We will find him eventually. He cannot hide forever."
"Our first concern is finding Jim and preventing this admiral from handing him over to Omakh."
"We will find him."
The transmission ended. Spock sat in the captain's chair where Jim had sat so many times. He was quite worried about his friend…both his friends. Since Doctor McCoy had not contacted him, he had to assume that he had also fallen prey to Admiral Simmons's agenda. Would he turn them both over to the Klingons? He would go down to that planet himself to find them. He would not have Solan, Helek, or Ajah with him this time.
After almost two hours, Jim was starting to wake up in the cryotube. Bones stood beside him watching as the skin tone returned to Jim's face. When the cycle was ended, Bones opened the cryotube. "Jim," he said. "Jim."
Jim opened his eyes feeling rather confused. "Jim, wake up," Bones said. "He's about to hand you over to Omakh."
Just then, Admiral Simmons walked in. "Well, I see our patient has revived," he said. "I assume he's doing fine."
"How should I know? I don't have any medical scanners."
"No matter."
Simmons opened the cryotube the rest of the way to get Jim out. Bones bent and pulled out the knife he had in his boot. He took one step, and Admiral Simmons turned toward him. "You've outlived your usefulness, Doctor," he said aiming the blaster at Bones.
Bones backed up, but he felt the red hot bolt as Simmons pulled the trigger on the blaster. He fell to the floor on his stomach. He had never felt anything as painful as what he was feeling now. He did not move and hoped Simmons thought he was dead.
Simmons turned back to Jim Kirk and got him out of the cryotube. Jim was still rather dazed from being frozen so he was not giving any resistance. He saw Bones lying in the floor and thought that should be concerning to him…but somehow, he could not respond. Simmons took him to the front of the ship and hailed Omakh again. "I have your prize here," he said as the transmission was connected.
Omakh smiled only very slightly as he saw Jim Kirk. "I will pay you the bounty," he said. "Deliver him to the planet. I am sending the coordinates."
"I will be there shortly. I also have Leonard McCoy. Would you like him too?"
Omakh considered that. "Yes. I will only pay you five for him. If it were Solan, I would pay you twenty-five more."
Simmons frowned, wishing he could have gotten Solan. "Solan was impossible to get," he said. "I will bring McCoy and Kirk to the surface momentarily."
The transmission ended. He would get 75,000 for Jim Kirk, plus the five for McCoy. 80,000 would give him a good cushion to start on somewhere. He took Kirk back to the room where McCoy still lay, bleeding slightly. He got him up and took them both to the small transporter in the ship. Jim was still waking up from his frozen stupor as he appeared on Kronos in the great forest. However, when he saw Omakh, he started to back up, but Simmons grabbed him by the arm.
"I've delivered your quarry," Simmons said. "Now, I want my money."
Omakh gave him a data cube. "There's your money," he said.
Simmons put the cube into his own credit reader, which one might call a card, although it was not a card at all. It sealed around the cube, enclosing it, and he could see the amount immediately. He smiled slightly. "They're all yours." He pressed a button on his ship controller and was transported back to his own ship.
Bones had fallen to the ground, but Omakh jerked him up, and also grabbed Jim, herding them through the jungle. Jim was starting to realize what was happening now. He had been turned over to Omakh! He was not sure what was wrong with his brain at the moment, although he was sure it had something to do with being frozen in that cryotube. Yes, he had been put in a cryotube. He had been betrayed by Admiral Simmons!
Omakh took them into a cave and shoved them down. Bones lay on the floor wondering if he was going to die even before Omakh did anything to him. Jim also lay on the floor of the cave. He felt rather addled after falling, but he was trying to wake up. Bones pulled himself over to Jim and leaned over him. "Jim, are you awake?" he asked.
Jim looked at him and nodded slightly. "I'm awake…Bones, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I was trying to help you. I failed."
Jim realized Bones was clutching his left shoulder. "You're injured?"
"He shot me, Jim."
Jim tried to sit up but he felt incredibly lightheaded. "How long is this going to last?" he asked.
"I don't know. Your brain was frozen. It has to start functioning fully again."
Jim moved Bones' hand from his wound. "Bones, you're bleeding," he said.
"Jim, I don't wanta die."
"Admiral Simmons brought us here."
"Yes. I think that was his plan from the moment he found out why we were on his station."
Bones lay down on the floor feeling sick. "Bones," Jim said. He sat up, steadying himself with his hands on the ground.
"Jim, I don't think I'm gonna make it," Bones said.
"Yes, you are!"
"At least I…I got to know what real happiness was with Andrea."
"Bones! Don't you talk like that!"
"You were right about me, Jim. I was always grouchy because I didn't want to think about the seriousness of the situation. I wanted to go on all those missions…I just…" Bones looked up into Jim's blue eyes.
"You stop right now!" Jim said. "You are not going to die!"
Bones could see tears in Jim's eyes. "I guess I can't cheat death like you…"
Jim shook his head. "Bones, you can't die! You are not going to die! I'll find a way to get us out of here!" Bones closed his eyes. Jim felt of his neck for a pulse. He looked at the wound in Bones' shoulder, which was still bleeding some.
Just then, Omakh came back into the cave. Jim glared at him as he stood up. "I paid a big price for you, Kirk," Omakh said. "You began the peace process, and now, you will end it."
"I won't do any such thing," Jim replied feeling his rage.
Suddenly, Jim launched himself at Omakh and they were on the ground in a struggle. Jim punched Omakh twice before he could knock him off him. They both came to their feet, but Jim was not giving Omakh time to think as he plowed into him again. This time, however, Omakh drove his fist into Jim's side, but Jim was not giving up and his rage was driving him. He punched Omakh again, but then Omakh grabbed Jim by the head and slammed his head into the ground. Jim thought he saw stars and he was addled. Omakh turned him over and punched him hard…
When Jim woke up, he was hanging by his hands. His head hurt, but he opened his eyes and waited for his vision to clear up. Not only was he hanging by his hands, but he was outside and it was raining. He remembered he was on Kronos, and they were having one of their violent thunderstorms. It was so dark, he could not tell how far he was from the ground except when the lightning flashed. The next time it flashed, he realized Bones was hanging out there too. "Bones!" he said. He could not stand the thought that his friend was hanging there…dead. Was he dead? "Bones!"
Jim almost shuddered when the thunder crashed. It was incredibly loud. He hoped this rain would not last much longer. "Bones, do you hear me?" he asked. He started trying to swing so he could nudge him. "Bones!" He finally touched Bones' leg with his foot. "Come on, Bones, move or something!"
Bones did finally start to move slightly. "Jim?"
Jim was so relieved that he was alive, he almost forgot about the thunderstorm until the thunder crashed again. "Bones, you're alive!"
Bones opened his eyes slightly. "Where are we?" he asked.
"We're hanging in a tree, I think."
"Oh. That's a new one."
"Yeah. I can't remember ever hanging in a tree except when I was a kid. I think my hands are starting to go to sleep."
"Flex your fingers."
Jim looked up, but he could not look up for long because of the rain. He thought he was almost completely soaked and it was so dark, he could not see much. He thought of Carol, Alex, and his new baby girl. "Bones, we have to get out of here," he said feeling desperate. "I don't want to die here."
"I don't think I can help you, Jim," Bones replied.
"Don't worry. If I get out, you're going with me if I have to carry you."
"I don't know if you could carry me."
"I will."
Jim looked up at his hands, although he could not see them very well. Ropes were tied around his wrists and a chain was connected in the middle, holding him up. He kept trying until he got hold of the chain and began trying to pull himself up. It was very difficult since he could not move much with the ropes around his wrists. However, it relieved the constriction on his wrists and let the circulation back into his hands. He held himself up a few minutes but then had to let him self back down. "Why did he hang us out here?" he asked.
"I don't know," Bones replied. "But we can't say we've been hung out to dry."
Jim shook his head at that. "Bones, are you delirious?" he asked.
"No, just trying to make some humor in this impossible situation."
"That was really corny."
"You oughta know."
"I can't see how the ropes are tied," Jim said. "It's too dark, and it's raining too hard."
"Jim, I'm cold," Bones replied. "Maybe he wants to freeze us to death."
Finally, the rain began to slack off and came to a stop. Jim shivered as the wind blew now that the rain had passed. He began to doze as the night wore on but he was awakened the next morning when he heard Klingons talking. He looked around him and realized his feet were only about two feet off the ground. He looked at Bones who was still sleeping…or at least that's what he hoped, but he could see that he was still breathing. "Bones, it's daylight," he said.
Just then, Omakh came out there and stood in front of Jim. He said something to Jim in Klingon, but of course, Jim had no idea what he said. "As you were the beginning of the peace talks, you will be the end as well," Omakh said.
"Kidnapping me like this is not going to stop the peace talks!" Jim declared. "I'm not involved in the peace talks!"
"But you are their beacon. I will slay you before them. Of all the Klingons who tried, I will be the one who is victorious."
"You're nothing but a coward! You're afraid!"
Omakh glared at Jim and then rammed his fist into his side. He then used him for a punching bag and left Jim gasping for air. Hanging by his hands certainly did nothing to help with the pain from that beating. He groaned loudly as he tried to get a hold on that pain and get his breath back to normal.
"You've got a big mouth," Bones said.
Jim did not say anything for a moment. "Don't remind me of that right now," he said through gritted teeth.
"Are you alright?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm just peachy. I didn't know a Klingon would beat someone who's tied up. Isn't that a coward?"
"You already called him a coward."
Omakh came back out of the cave. He and two other Klingons who were there now got Jim down but kept his hands tied. "Before you cause trouble," Omakh said. "Remember, we have your friend here."
Jim did not say anything. Omakh shoved him forward. "Where are we going?" Jim asked.
"You will see soon," Omakh replied.
Bones still felt almost sick, but he thought hanging like he was helped stop the bleeding of his wound. However, it still hurt. He looked at the two Klingons who stood close to the cave entrance discussing something. He knew he could not get away from them, but he wondered where Omakh was taking Jim. Was he going to kill him?
As Jim walked, he started to smell that familiar smell of the lily that Korax had shown them on a previous visit to Kronos. He sneezed…more than once. He would have nothing to help with that this time. He hardly ever dealt with allergies, but Bones usually had something for it.
Omakh shoved him. "Move on, Admiral Kirk!" he said.
Jim sneezed again. "I'm moving!" he said. "I'm allergic to your lily." Jim felt another sneeze coming. He thought about sneezing right in Omakh's face and running for it, but he thought he might end up dead for that.
After walking almost all day, they finally came to the edge of the jungle. By this time, Jim was ready to sit down, but he knew that was not going to happen. It had been a long walk. Omakh shoved him forward, and they were soon in the village around the First City, not far from the Great Hall. Jim could see the Great Hall glistening in the sun, which seemed much brighter now than it had been the last time he was on this planet, and he realized his sinuses were not burning quite as badly, although they were quite disturbed by that lily smell.
Omakh entered an abode on the outskirts of the village. Inside, it smelled like…bread, which was not something Jim had expected, but there were other aromas as well. A female Klingon greeted Omakh, and from the greeting, Jim assumed this was his wife. "I have brought Admiral Kirk," Omakh said. "I will contact Chancellor Gorkon and let him know that we have his ambassador. You secure this one."
The female Klingon turned to Jim. He did not move as she came over to him. "He will not escape," she declared.
Jim was herded into another room and tied, hands and feet, to a bed. The female Klingon was not slack about how tight those ropes were either. Jim lay there wondering what was about to happen. Why did Omakh bring him here? What did he possibly think this would accomplish? "Could I at least have some water?!" he asked.
The female Klingon came to the door of the room. "You are not here for comfort!" she declared. "You best stay quiet!"
Omakh sent a transmission to the Great Hall. As chief security officer, Grakar answered. He frowned when he saw Omakh. "You call to threaten again?" Grakar asked. "Why do you not attack if you think you are so well prepared?"
"I have your Admiral Kirk," Omakh replied. "Your beacon will not be shining so brightly for much longer."
"Where is Admiral Kirk? What have you done to him?"
"He is here with me. I want to speak to Chancellor Gorkon."
"I do not believe you have Admiral Kirk. I will see him."
Omakh glared at him. "You question my honor?" he asked.
"Your honor is always in question!" Grakar declared.
Omakh left the screen and went to get Jim. He got him loose from the bed and took him to the communication screen. "Now, you see him!" Omakh said. "Gorkon will surrender, or you will watch him die!"
Grakar looked at Jim, his friend. He did not feel the same way about one dying with honor as he did before, especially when that one was not a Klingon. "I will inform Chancellor Gorkon of this," Grakar said.
"Don't surrender!" Jim said. "Don't do it!"
Omakh slapped Jim down, and he could see the anger on Grakar's face. "You have become soft like the chancellor," Omakh sneered. "You care about the life of this puny one!"
"He is my friend," Grakar replied. "And if you kill him, you will not live to enjoy it! He has many friends among the Klingons. I will speak with the chancellor."
Grakar ended the transmission. They had received the transmission from the Enterprise that Jim was being brought to Omakh, but they had not detected the ship. He was sure that ship had made its way onto Kronos during a small battle. Now, their communications were non-existent. He walked out into the long corridor of the Great Hall where Korax stood watching. "We have problems," Grakar said.
"What problems?" Korax asked.
"Our friend, Admiral Kirk, is being held by Omakh."
"Where?"
"I do not know. I could not trace the transmission. I assume he is here on Kronos."
"But where?"
"I must advise the chancellor of this. Omakh demands that Chancellor Gorkon surrender or he will kill Admiral Kirk."
Korax was silent a moment. "I will get a party together. We will search."
"We must be careful in this search. He will murder Admiral Kirk."
"I know this."
"Where would he go to send such a transmission?" Grakar asked thoughtfully. "He could not have such technology in the jungle. It also means that he is the one who is interfering with transmissions."
"J'stala still lives in the village."
"We should inform the chancellor before we take this action. Our friend is in grave danger."
Grakar and Korax both left the corridor heading for Chancellor Gorkon's chambers. They were soon standing before the chancellor and informed him of the situation. Gorkon stood and stared out the large window. "We cannot allow Admiral Kirk to be killed for our cause," he said.
"If you surrender, all the work and danger he has faced will be for nothing," Grakar replied. "Korax would like to lead a mission to search for him. We believe he is in the village with J'stala."
"You mustn't let him kill Admiral Kirk. It would destroy the treaty."
"I do not believe the Federation would blame us for this."
"The Klingons are not fully trusted. Admiral Kirk's death would cause many within the Federation to lose their trust in us completely."
"I realize this…"
Just then, Grakar's communicator beeped. "Grakar, the Enterprise has arrived," Dapodi said. "Captain Spock wishes to come down to the planet."
"He is welcome," Grakar replied. "Do their scanners not detect the admiral?"
"I do not believe so."
"Give them coordinates to land a shuttle. Bring them to Chancellor Gorkon's chambers when they arrive."
"Yes, Sir."
Grakar turned back to Gorkon. "I'm sure you heard that," Grakar said.
"Yes," Gorkon replied. "Admiral Kirk will be in grave danger until he is found and rescued."
"It is not only Admiral Kirk. I have also learned that Doctor McCoy is held captive as well."
Gorkon frowned. "We must find them," he said. "At all costs."
"We will find them, Sir."
Korax nodded his agreement. After several minutes, Spock, Uhura, and Solan arrived in a shuttle. Solan had been determined to come with them, and the doctor aboard the Enterprise had done more for his injuries while they were in route to Kronos. "We believe the admiral may be held at the home of Omakh," Grakar said. "But we are not certain. We also have not seen the doctor."
"It is not logical that Omakh would try something like this without a backup plan," Spock said. "Have any Klingon ships been detected in the area?"
"They may be cloaked."
"I have left the Enterprise on red alert. I believe there is some sort of plan. Omakh cannot possibly think his current actions can completely disrupt the peace process."
"He's right," Uhura agreed. "There has to be more."
"Until it is shown, we cannot stop it," Grakar said. "We are also on high alert. We must find Admiral Kirk before he becomes a casualty of this conflict. Chancellor Gorkon will surrender to save his life."
Spock considered that. "I do not believe that is the action that Jim would want him to take. It would make everything that has been done before now to bring peace between the Federation and the Klingons worthless."
"I know this. But if our friend is sacrificed, the peace will be shattered. Do you not understand the importance?"
"I do see your point. However, the entire Klingon Empire would not be blamed for this action."
"You would let your friend be sacrificed?" Gorkon asked.
"No. I do not wish that to happen," Spock replied. "However, you cannot surrender to Omakh and allow him to take over the Klingon Empire."
"If he does take over, he will not be in power long," Grakar declared. "We would fight."
"We would fight," Korax agreed.
"I do not believe he would release Admiral Kirk even if the chancellor surrenders," Spock said. "He would kill him as well as Doctor McCoy. He has paid a large bounty for Jim, and if we do not rescue him, he will be killed."
Grakar frowned. "I did not see the doctor. I only saw the admiral. We should start a search. Perhaps only two of us should go. Once we have located them, we can inform the others."
Spock considered that. "That may be the best option. However, I believe Chancellor Gorkon should be ready to make Omakh think he will surrender if it is necessary. But I do not believe he intends to let Jim go."
"I will do what I must," Gorkon said.
"I will search," Korax volunteered. "I will find out if the admiral is at Omakh's abode."
"I will go with you," Spock replied.
"I want to go," Solan said.
"I believe two will be sufficient," Spock said. "Too many will draw attention."
Solan frowned. "Please, let me go."
Spock paused a moment. "Solan, it is in no way your fault that Jim is in this situation."
"Oh it's not? How do you figure that? I'm the one who was stupid enough to let myself be captured!"
"You could not have known."
"I should have!"
"You can't know everything," Uhura declared. "Admiral Kirk would never blame you for this."
"How do you know?" Solan asked. "How do you know Carol won't hate me for the rest of her life if he dies?"
"Because she is not that kind of person. You were betrayed by someone you thought was a friend. So were they."
"I just want to find him."
"As do we all," Spock said. "Right now, you remain here while we locate him." He could see the turmoil within Solan. "We will inform you if we find him."
Solan reluctantly accepted that, but he was not happy as he watched Korax and Spock walk out of the Great Hall.
Spock and Korax left the Great Hall at the back where they would have to scale a hill to get down to the edge of the jungle. They used ropes and got down to the jungle level. "Omakh's abode is at the edge of the village," Korax said.
"What about Doctor McCoy?" Spock asked. "What if he is not there?"
"I do not know. He did not mention the doctor."
That revelation was troubling to Spock. "If he has separated them, we must be cautious," he said. "He may have it planned to kill Doctor McCoy if Jim is rescued."
Korax considered that. "Both of our friends are in grave danger," he said. "We must locate them before we create a plan."
Spock did not like the worry that he felt creeping into his mind. He worried that he was likely to lose one or both of his best friends. He remembered watching Jim die aboard the Enterprise after he sacrificed himself to save them all. He did not want to experience that grief again. If he did, it was certain that he would not let Omakh leave this planet alive. He had found that anger was the one emotion that he had the most trouble controlling. Do not try to…his father had said. He remembered breaking Khan's arm in rage just because Khan had said, "You can't even break a rule, how can you be expected to break bone?" Well, he had shown him.
"Are you ready?" Korax asked as he noticed Spock's silence.
"I am ready," Spock replied.
They went around the edge of the jungle, staying within the trees until they came to the village. "Omakh's abode is on the outskirts of the village," Korax said quietly. "It is the perfect place to hide."
"How can we get in there without them killing Jim before we can get him out?" Spock asked.
"I believe Admiral Kirk would say, 'we'll improvise'."
Spock raised an eyebrow at that suggestion. However, he knew that's exactly what Jim would say, but he was not certain it was the right solution.
They moved around the edge of the village, under cover of the jungle and finally came to Omakh's abode. They watched the house…or Spock supposed it was a house, although he had never heard the Klingons refer to it except an abode. He thought maybe that was because they had "Houses" which referred to families. However, he thought it was strange that Omakh would come to his abode. It made him uneasy and think it was some sort of trap. "It is not logical that he would bring Jim here unless he has some sort of plan," Spock whispered.
Korax squatted and stared at the abode. "It does seem rather odd that he would come here," he whispered.
"Yes, because he would know that this is where we would look. He must know the Enterprise is here."
"The Klingons are not cowards…but we have learned from your admiral that one cannot pass on their knowledge in death."
"I do not believe the word coward would ever be associated with you, but something is strange about this situation," Spock said as he tried to reach out with the Force. "Jim is there, and he is in great discomfort."
Just then, they heard a wailing cry of pain…and they knew it was Jim. Korax and Spock looked at each other. "That is Jim," Spock said feeling very distressed at hearing his friend in such agony.
"Perhaps Omakh knows we are here," Korax replied.
"But how?"
They heard the cry of pain again, and then the back door of the abode was opened. Jim was shoved out and he groaned as he fell to the ground. Omakh came from the abode next. He kicked Jim hard, and Jim thought he might die as he gagged unable to get his breath. "Get up!" Omakh demanded. "Puny human!" He kicked Jim again.
Spock fought the urge to step out of his hiding place, and so did Korax. They watched as Jim was forced to get up and walk after that brutal beating. Omakh and Jim headed back into the jungle. "Perhaps he is going back to his hiding place," Spock whispered.
"You may be right," Korax replied. "It may also be where Doctor McCoy is being held."
Without another word, they headed out after Omakh and Jim…
