Lieutenant Brooks reached the man and lunged at him, knocking him to the floor. The phaser fired, missing the captain, who tumbled forward from a force form behind, by a yard and Lieutenant Montgomery by inches. Kirk bounced up and back to his feet, aware that Spock slowly stood next to him. Turning, he registered what was about to happen and ducked, pulling Spock down with him.
Lexxi fell weakly back, her reserves spent, trying to catch her breath. Suddenly, a loud explosion ripped through her eardrums and she was thrown forward into the line of chairs with such a force that two collapsed beneath her. Fire spread through her as blackness claimed her mind.
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Kirk stood and looked around, first at the astonished expressions on the landing party's faces and then at what they were staring at. Seconds later, he snapped to attention and began giving orders.
Lt. Brooks had a phaser aimed at the captor gone captive's head while Lt. Weigel and Lt. Jones held him. "Tie him down," Kirk commanded, pointing to a chair still standing. "Spock," the captain paused before placing a wary hand on the Vulcan's shoulder, "you okay?"
"Quite well, captain," Spock replied, returning Kirk's concern with indifference.
"Okay then, call the Enterprise. Seven to beam up. Have a medical team ready."
Spock nodded slightly and made his way to the table with their communicators and phasers as Kirk turned to Sulu.
"Help me," he said as he knelt by Lieutenant Montgomery's lifeless body under the smoking pile of unidentified debris. He checked her pulse on a limp wrist, frowning. "Just barely," he mumbled as he stood. Taking a large sheet of metal from on top of her, he tossed it out of the way. After a few silent minutes of working, he and Sulu had cleared most of the deformed remnants of a large computer system from the area. Kneeling once more, Kirk contemplated how to lift Lexxi. Her back was badly burned and, he was no doctor, but from the difficulty she had had breathing, he was sure she had several broken ribs. Kirk mentally tossed a coin and picked Lexxi up, cradling her like a baby. He turned to face the dark contemptuous man now tied to a chair.
"I have one question for you," Kirk stated, glaring hard at him. "Why all of this?" His eyes darted around at the mess encircling him. He nodded at Spock before his eyes fell on the limp figure in his arms. "Why all of this?" he mumbled as the transporter claimed them.
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"My god, Jim! What the hell happened down there?" Those were the first words out of Dr. McCoy's mouth. Kirk gave him a look of impatience and staggered to the medtable. He paused, uncertain. McCoy ran his bio scanner over the girl in the captain's arms and sighed. "If you could, just…"
"I understand," Kirk nodded, "let's go. Come along, Spock, you're not off the hook yet."
Running softly through the halls, catching the attention of the passersby, trying not to jostle her, Kirk felt Lexxi stir slightly. She looked up into his eyes, her own shot through with pain and desperation. Her words, muffled and hoarse, pierced his heart as he stopped dead in his tracks, "Let me die."
Lexxi went into a fit of spasms, trying to catch her breath, She lifted a slender hand to her throat before blacking out, letting it fall to rest on her unmoving chest. A gasp escaped Kirk's lips as he saw a drop of silver fall from the deep gouges in her wrist. Silver. She wasn't human. He broke into a full sprint, Spock and McCoy on his heels.