Several hours later, the door buzzer to his quarters chimed. He had left Sickbay and come here, hoping to get a little rest, but he only found himself pacing and glancing at the chronometer on his desk every other minute. He had tried to read his latest medical journal to take his mind off of what was going on up on the Bridge, but that, too, had proved useless.

"Enter," he called.

The doors swished apart and Kirk and Spock came inside. McCoy could tell from Jim's face that they hadn't met with success.

His hopes fell. "Damn."

"I'm sorry, Bones," Kirk said. "If there's an alien onboard, the scanners didn't register it."

McCoy sank wearily into a chair. "You did your best, Jim."

There was a long moment of strained silence, which Spock finally broke. "Whenever you are ready, Doctor, we can begin."

McCoy had hoped--they all had hoped--that it wouldn't have to come to this.

"Spock," McCoy began, "I'm--"

He suddenly stopped, and bit back the word "sorry," sensing that an apology would be more insulting to Spock right then than if he reached out and gave him a hug.

"I'm ready," he finished awkwardly. "What do I have to do?"

"Nothing," Spock replied. "Just sleep as you normally would."

"Hmph," McCoy grunted, rising from his chair and making his way over to the bed, "I haven't slept normally in days." He noticed Kirk standing near his desk, looking as though he didn't know what to do with himself. "Jim, you don't have--"

"I'm staying," Kirk interrupted emphatically, and presently sat down in the chair McCoy had vacated.

"Thanks," he replied simply, and made himself comfortable on the bed, and closed his eyes. "Whenever you're ready, Spock."

"I will begin the meld once you are asleep," Spock replied, "to minimize the interference with your ability to achieve REM sleep."

If that's what a mind meld does, I could have used one a few days ago, McCoy thought, but he only nodded.

It was hard for him to fall asleep. He had been fighting it for days, not wanting to experience the dream again, not wanting to see his little girl dying in front of his eyes. But somehow, knowing that he wouldn't be facing his demons alone this time gave him a strange sort of peace, and he soon drifted off into darkness.

He glanced up at the strange lavender sky, his eyes instinctively squinting in the bright light of the foreign sun. He turned around slowly, surveying a dry, brittle landscape he had never seen before.

Where the hell am I? he wondered.

He was reaching for his communicator when a plaintive voice from behind him froze him in mid-motion.

"Daddy." It was the sound of a little girl in distress.

And then he remembered. Joanna was dying, and he needed to save her. His eyes teared up at the sight of her. Most of her face, including one of her eyes, had been eaten away by disease. She had only one hand with fingers, and even then, it had only three. Her other appendages ended in stumps.

"Daddy, help me," she said, holding her arms out to him.

Without hesitation, he opened his arms to her, and was about to go to her, when he sensed another presence at his side. He turned his head. It was Spock.

"Spock, thank God you're here," he said. "We have to get Joanna back up to the ship. Call Scotty and have him beam us up."

Spock didn't move, his attention focused solely on Joanna.

"Spock!" McCoy snapped. "Are you deaf? What's wrong--" He stopped as he realized that neither Spock nor Joanna were paying any attention to him whatsoever. Instead, they were staring intently at each other.

"I know you," Joanna said to Spock, her tone of voice suddenly very mature. "I tried to speak to you, but you would not listen to me."

McCoy's eyes widened at the sudden change in his daughter. "What the hell is going on here?" he demanded. "Spock--"

"Who are you?" Spock asked, ignoring McCoy, and moving to within arms' reach of Joanna.

"We are a people in trouble," she replied enigmatically.

Spock reached out and touched the side of her head, his eyes closing in concentration. "My mind to yours," he said softly.

McCoy could only look on, confused. He wanted to protest Spock's blatant invasion of his daughter's mind, but the world around him faded into darkness before he could say a word.