Jim and Bones walked back into the town wondering what they were about to get into when they met Zander. He had been in the Klingon prison with them, and when they escaped, they had taken him with them. That had been a long time ago, and Jim figured he had forgotten most of it.

They found their way to the communication center which was a building much like the communication centers on every world…a tall, gray building with lots of windows. They went inside, and of course, there was an attendant at the front desk. "May I help you?" he asked.

"We're looking for Zander," Jim said. "He's a friend of ours and we'd like to talk to him a moment if we can."

"Just a moment."

Jim and Bones looked out the window as they waited. "You think he's gonna be angry when he sees us?" Bones asked.

"I don't know," Jim replied.

"Just what if…"

"Don't ask any what ifs…okay?"

Bones tried to stay quiet but it certainly was not keeping his brain from being in overdrive. Soon, Zander came out to see them. He had not changed much since they had seen him last. He still had that short cropped brown hair, dark eyes, and the chiseled chin and he definitely still looked like he worked out a lot. "Admiral Kirk," he said and offered his hand.

Jim shook his hand. "Zander," he said. "How have you been?"

"I've been great. I've certainly been hearing a lot about you."

"Oh you have?"

"Yeah. About bounties and stuff like that."

"Well, the bounties are gone now, so…I'm not gonna pretend about this. You know why we're here."

Zander frowned. "I can't betray my own father, Admiral Kirk," he said. "I'm not involved in this, but I can't betray him."

"I want to ask you one more thing: Is Mac here?" Jim asked.

"If he is, I don't know it."

"Was your father angry about what happened to him? Is that why he wanted that bounty?"

"Admiral Kirk, I'm not gonna tell you anymore. It was nice seeing you both again."

With that, Zander turned and went back through the door. Jim and Bones went outside. "You believe him?" Bones asked.

Jim considered that a moment, and then nodded. "I do," he said. "Zander was never a criminal."

"I don't like the idea that Mac is around here somewhere. He could be anywhere, Jim."

"Let's go tell the others."

They went to the hotel where the others had gotten rooms. Jim found out where they were staying and went to Ajah's room. "We found out something," he said as he walked in. "I want you to get in touch with the Enterprise. Get Uhura to find out if Mac has been released from prison."

"Mac?" Ajah said. "Why would he be?"

"His father just got an eighty-thousand-dollar bounty."

"You think that's why he got it?"

"Could be…and I'm not sure how much it would take to get someone fitted with a prosthetic."

Ajah was shocked by this revelation. "Can you imagine Mac with a metal fist?"

Jim shook his head. "Please don't mention that to my face," he said. "Just find out."

"Yes, Sir. I'll get right on it."

Jim left there and went on to his own room which he was sharing with Bones since he was not about to bring Carol to this planet now. He flopped on his bed and stared at the ceiling. "What are you thinking about?" Bones asked.

"You should know what I'm thinking about," Jim said. "I wonder if Mac is on this planet."

"How could his father just walk in there and get him out of prison without someone informing us?"

"I don't know. He was supposed to be in a penal colony. He couldn't work because of his arm. You think his father got him a prosthetic?"

"If it was my son…I would. Wouldn't you?"

Jim considered that. "I don't know. If he was a criminal like Mac, I'm not sure I would." Jim frowned. "I hope Alex grows up to be a good guy."

"Jim, there's no way he could become like Mac. You're not like that."

"I think Mac just got too far out with his intelligence gathering and got in too deep with stuff."

"Nothing can be done about that now. If he's out and his father paid his way out, that means he's not wanted."

"Why weren't we informed?"

"Ask someone else that question," Bones said.

Later, Jim was awakened by the door chime. He got up and went to the door. Ajah was there. "Admiral," he said.

"Come on in," Jim replied. "Did you find out something?" he asked as he closed the door.

"I did. Mac is out of prison. His bail was paid by an anonymous person. We also found out that he was in a medical facility for a few days."

Jim frowned. "And we can guess why he was there," he said.

"Only guess. You know you can't find out things like that without authorization."

"Right. Zander doesn't even know whether Mac is on this planet or not…but that sister probably does."

"What do we do?" Ajah asked.

"We have to get Admiral Simmons no matter if Mac is here or not."

Jim opened his communicator. "Solan." He waited a moment. "Solan."

"Yes, Sir," Solan answered sounding sleepy.

"I need to talk to you."

"Yes, Sir. We'll be there in a few minutes. You got a room?"

"Yeah. Two-eighty. Not far from you."

Jim ended the transmission. "Zander works in the communication center," he said. "We don't need to communicate through transmission too much."

"I encrypted the message I sent to the Enterprise," Ajah replied.

"Good. I'm sure Spock will know not to say things right out too."

"He's already suggested that we not talk over the communicator."

"Good."

Jim thought about all that information as Bones came from the bathroom followed by a cloud of steam. "What did I miss?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing much," Jim replied. "Except confirmation that Mac is out of prison. We don't know whether he's on this planet or not, but since there's no bounty on me anymore, he may not be interested."

"You're kidding right? You think he's not interested in the man who has beat him at least three times? Not interested in the man who is responsible for him losing a hand? Spending time in prison?"

"I didn't cause him to lose his hand. He lost that from being a criminal, trying to kill me."

"Well, since criminals tend to blame other people for their shortcomings, I doubt he's gonna just let it go."

"I'm trying to be a little optimistic, Bones."

"This is no time for optimism. It's time for realism. You know the guy's out of prison, his father got him out, most likely got him a prosthetic hand, and he's gonna want to use that on you! He won't even need the brass knuckles now!"

Just then, the door chime sounded. Jim let Solan and Priscilla in. "So, what's going on?" Solan asked.

"I'll tell you what's going on!" Bones said. He blurted out the whole story before Jim could say anything. Of course, Bones' version was with more detail and dire consequences than Jim would have told.

Solan's mouth dropped open as he looked at Jim. "I thought we were done with that guy," he said. He thought he could feel the ache in his ribs where he had tangled with Mac before.

"Bones doesn't know that he's here," Jim declared. "He's just predicting doom and gloom like always."

"I am not!" Bones said. "You have to face the facts. He's more likely to be here than not!"

"Let's not start a shouting match!"

"You don't listen to reason! Don't go out alone!"

"I wasn't planning to! I'm staying right here all night cause I'm tired!"

"Good!"

"You guys," Solan interrupted. "Are you just letting off steam or are you really arguing?"

Bones folded his arms. "He never listens anyway," he said. "I might as well not argue with him."

"Good. Why don't we all go to bed and get some sleep for tomorrow then?" Jim asked.

"That's a good idea."

Solan just looked from one to the other. "Am I missing something?" he asked.

"No," Jim said. "It's all just nerves."

"I'm glad. What should we do tomorrow?"

"I'm gonna think about that tonight. I'm not sure yet."

"If anything happens during the night, call all of us, please."

"Don't worry."

The others all left the room, and Jim went to bed. "I'm sorry for yelling," Bones said.

"Forget it," Jim replied. "I yelled too."

"Don't you think it's worth being concerned about?"

"Of course I do. Did I tell you I wasn't concerned?"

"Sometimes you just don't act like it."

"I'm gonna complete this mission even if we do meet up with Mac."

"You need a plan."

"I'd try to think of something if you would stop talking."

"Good night."

"Night."

Jim stared at the ceiling in the dark room. He knew they had to figure out how to get Admiral Simmons, but they had to watch out for Mac as well. He thought maybe their best chance was to follow him if he came to the bar rather than confronting him there. He certainly did not want to get into a barroom brawl on this planet. He had been in enough of those in his time. He fell asleep in his thoughts.

Jim was a bit startled when Bones shook him awake. "Jim, wake up," Bones said.

"Bones, what is it?" Jim asked.

"Nothing. I wanted you to know I'm going up to the Enterprise."

Jim looked at him feeling very groggy. "Why? Is your bed uncomfortable?"

"No. The bed's fine. I…I miss my wife. I just didn't want you to wake up and think the worst."

"Oh. Well, good night, Bones."

Jim turned back over the other way, and Bones walked over to the window. He opened his communicator, but before he could say anything, Jim said, "Hey, Bones?"

"What?" Bones asked.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Bones rolled his eyes at that remark as he heard Jim laughing. "Shut up," Bones said. He turned back to his communicator. "McCoy to Enterprise."

"Enterprise."

"Beam me up before I kill Admiral Kirk myself."

Jim laughed out loud then.

"Getting your coordinates…"

Bones soon saw light encircling him and then he was on the transporter pad. Scotty was at the controls. "Doctor," he said. "Something wrong?"

"No. There's nothing wrong," Bones replied. "I just wanted to come back to the ship."

Bones walked out of the transporter room and went to the guest quarters where he, Andrea, and Mia were staying. He found that Mia was in the bed with Andrea. He just stood there a moment thinking of how Andrea had accepted Mia as her own child. He touched Mia's shoulder.

"Wake up, Pumpkin," he whispered. "I wanta put you in your own bed."

"Daddy," Mia said. "I thought you were staying on the planet."

"I changed my mind. Come on."

He got Mia into her own bed and kissed her good night, and then closed the door gently. When he got back into his own room, Andrea was propped up on her elbow. "I thought you guys were staying on the planet tonight," she said. "What? Did the admiral decide it was safer on the ship?"

"No," Bones said. "I'm the only one who came back to the ship."

Andrea sat up. "Did something happen?"

"No. I just missed you."

Andrea just sat there silent a moment. "Oh, really?" she asked.

"Yeah." He sat down on the bed. "I just didn't want to stay there."

Andrea put her arms around his neck and they shared a long kiss. "I missed you too," she said.

The next morning, Jim was up with the sun like he usually was when he was on a planet. He stood at the window looking out after he was dressed in his blue uniform, which was his favorite. Today, he would not hide the fact that he was a Starfleet officer. The hotel they were in faced the outskirts of the town and he could see that wide sky out there. It was not wide because it was a flat, barren landscape, but it was a green landscape with fields of vegetable growing in some places, flowers in others, and even some rolling hills in the distance. He wondered if there were mountains further out, but today, he could not explore. Today was trouble.

The door chime sounded. "Enter," Jim said.

Ajah came into the room. "Admiral, have you decided what we're gonna do?" he asked.

"First, we're gonna see what they have for breakfast on this planet, and we'll discuss what we'll do later."

"Helek and I are ready."

"Good. Let's get going because I'm hungry this morning."

As they got out into the hallway, Solan and Priscilla were coming out of their room, and Helek was waiting for them. They went on down to the restaurant which was there in the hotel. Jim sat at the table thinking after he got his food. The others were soon there. "I was thinking last night," he said. "I don't think we should confront him here because there may be others who wouldn't like it."

"I think I agree with you there," Solan replied. "There's bound to be people in this town who are friends with his kids and they're not gonna like it."

"I agree."

"I'll follow him. I'll watch out for Mac, and I'll be ready for him."

Jim shook his head. "I don't know if that's a good idea. I've been trying to figure out what is the best way to do this. What we need to do is see when he arrives and put a tracker on him somehow so the Enterprise can know where he goes."

Ajah nodded. "I think that's the best idea, Admiral," he said. "How do we do that?"

"We need someone down here that he doesn't know," Jim said thoughtfully. "Someone who can be in that bar and blend in like he belongs there, maybe act drunk, and get close enough to put the tracker on him."

"Who?"

Jim propped on his elbows on the table and thought. "Or maybe he wouldn't have to act drunk at all," he said.

"What have you got in mind?" Solan asked.

"Jim West. He's almost as slick as you are, and nobody knows him. He's still in security aboard the Enterprise."

"He'd probably like the challenge."

"We'll talk about this more after breakfast."

Just then, Bones walked in. "So you're eating breakfast," he said as he sat down at the table.

"Yeah," Jim said. "Anything wrong with that, Loverboy?"

"Don't even start with me. I'm your doctor, remember?"

Jim frowned. "Well, we're gonna try to track Admiral Simmons back to wherever he's staying," he said.

"How?"

"By getting a tracker on him. Then the Enterprise can track him and beam us to where he is."

When they were done with breakfast, they went outside and were beamed to the Enterprise. Jim called Jim West to the conference room. Jim thought he would never get over how much West resembled the person they had known when they traveled back in time because of Q.

West stood at attention. "Lieutenant James West reporting as ordered, Sir," he said.

"At ease," Jim replied. "Lieutenant West, I have a mission for you."

"Me, Sir?"

"Yes, you. I'll explain it to you and then let you decide if you want this mission, but I think you can do it."

"I'm ready, Sir."

Jim explained the situation to West, and he was definitely interested. "I could get Artie to create the device," he said.

"Get that done," Jim replied. "Be ready by this evening."

"Yes, Sir."

"Dismissed."

West left the conference room, and Jim thought West was just a little excited about that mission. He was glad of that because he was sure he could not sneak into that bar without being noticed. Now, all they had to do was wait…