If she had accepted the food they'd offered her, her stomach would have been rid of it by now. Lexxi's whole body ached sickeningly, with specific spots pinpointed by daggers of pain. She was positive her cheekbone was broken and suspected she'd suffered from a concussion in the past week. She gave up trying to stay afloat in the murky clouds her mind was swimming through. More like sinking through. But the sound of a raspy deep whisper beside her alerted her and she opened her eyes. Spock was alive.
The captain revealed that he had a plan and all grew quiet. Lexxi did not listen to the argument between Kirk and their captor; she concentrated on the figure beside her. She could sense his growing alarm and saw his hands, tied behind his back as hers were, begin to shake. She could not remember the words! T'Lan had taught her the words, reluctantly, after she'd witness the calming power. They were very controversial, only practiced by the bravest of Vulcan healers. Lexxi still could not understand how mere words could have such power over a strong, steadfast Vulcan, but she wracked her brain, flipping desperately through the filing cabinet of her mind to find them. They might not even work, he was half human, and T'Lan had told her that they didn't even work on all full-blooded Vulcans. Suddenly, she had them.
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"You've destroyed a Federation starship, threatened another, kidnapped a Starfleet officer, and captured six more the charges are adding up. My crew has orders to use force if you do not give in peacefully…whether I…whether we are there or not. I suggest you let us go and surrender," Kirk stated bluntly, with forced calmness. He was running out of options and once more used the force bluff. By the panic radiating from the usually stoic Vulcan beside him, he also knew that he was running out of time.
As he carefully studied the reaction of the dark man in front of him, the captain saw, out of the corner of his eye, the girl…Lexxi…lean toward Spock. He, too, began to panic…he was out of time.
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Repeating the words over and over in her mind so as not to forget them, Lexxi worked her hands from the bonds that held them behind the back of her chair. This was a skill she'd acquired quite early in her life. Blood dripped over her fingers from the large, raw gashes in her wrists as a result of her work. Turning to Spock and slowly leaning toward him, she brought a hand up but hesitated. Vulcan's detested physical touch. It brought unwanted telepathic contact. Thoughts and feelings bombarded mental shields. But she had to risk it…she had to touch him…had to support him. He might fall unconscious. But anything was better than a total burnout.
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Spock was unaware that his hands were suddenly free, as he still could not feel them. This was one of the causes for his growing concern. Another was the unsteady pace of his heart. Foremost, though, was the captain. Kirk seemed to be fighting a losing battle with the man in front of him, though Spock could only catch pieces of it through the roaring in his ears. This frustrated him…the continuing loss of control. He could not concentrate. Anger rose within him and he recoiled. Anger was a human emotion. This infuriated him even more. His head began to shake as numbness spread through his shoulders and into his chest.
The icy touch of skin on his arm brought life to it as a pinprick awakens a sleeping limb, even through the sleeve of his uniform. Concern and fear broke through the murky waters of his mind. The same frigid touch brushed his hear before a calm, raspy whisper broke the cacophony in his head. The breath was cool against his fiery cheek. Those words… The emotions he'd been experiencing drifted away as he focused on the halting, weak string of words spoken in his own language. With focus can control, and with control came steadiness. His heart still raced, but the clouds in his mind slowly dispersed and, as the feeling crept back into his limbs, their shaking ceased.
Concentration restored, Spock looked to his left and straight into the piercing green eyes of Lieutenant Montgomery. Masking his gratitude with puzzlement, he opened his mouth to speak, but felt the ice at his lips as she hesitantly brought a finger to them and shook her head. Stay here, she said silently.
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Lexxi breathed a sigh of relief and immediately regretted it. Searing pain ripped through her chest and she added broken ribs to her growing mental list of problems. Putting it out of her mind, she focused her eyes on Kirk. She watched his shoulders and upper arms moving back and forth and realized that he, too, was freeing his hands.
Kirk's eyes met Lexxi's and read volumes. He nodded slightly and continued arguing with the one man left. "Keep us, but let me order the ship away." Kirk was close to pleading.
"We can't have your crew telling Command what they found here, Captain, they have to die. Just like the Armstrong."
Kirk grit his teeth and held the man's attention as each of his security officers slowly brought their hands forward. "Command knows," he whispered.
"What?" the man exclaimed, leveling his phaser at Kirk's chest. "You told them?" Kirk and Spock both stood as Lexxi crawled back toward her chair, unaware of what was happening.
She heard a strangled "Captain!" from her left as the red shirts she'd just freed rushed forward. Standing, Lexxi placed a hand on each of the backs of the captain and his first officer and shoved with all the strength she had left.