Vulcan Shadows.

By Estellio

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Spock goes missing and all evidence points to McCoy while he is following cryptic clues to find him. However, after discovering one of Spock's most shocking secrets will McCoy still be able to help or will he condemn his friend to death and commit professional suicide? First, do not harm.

Chapter Two: Secret One.

Doctor McCoy shook his head and tossed the tiny triangular item across the desk.

"I just don't know who put it there or why? Or even how it got there?" Dr. Steven Andaman looked at the chip on his desk then at Dr. McCoy.

"Who put it there? A surgeon. Why the put it there? Because they wanted to kill Spock. How it got there? Someone put it there on purpose…someone very skilful too." Andaman said, picking up the item.

"Don't be so sarcastic! This is serious."

"I recognise this."

"You do?" McCoy stopped his pacing and looked at Andaman in surprise.

"Yes, I saw it once before…the man who had this in them was dead though. Spock was lucky."

"Where did you see it, this could give us a clue to who's responsible for this!" Steven shook his head.

"It is a Romulan device. It can be gotten easily on the black market. It holds two tiny vials of poison. Neither lethal on their own, but combined…" He trailed off as he picked up the tiny, innocent looking device and traced the edge of one side. "It kills rather fast. It only takes about a minute but it's a minute of unending agony. When the liquid combines and is entered into your bloodstream it is like a fire being pumped through your veins. With each beat of your heart it gets worse and the more pain you feel, the faster your heart beats, making it more and more painful." His fist clenched around the device, his eyes squeezed shut. "And there is no cure, no relief…just pain then death." McCoy's mouth had dropped open, his eyes wide as he mouthed the words 'oh my god' his voice unable to say them. If he hadn't caught this in time, what kind of agony would Spock have gone through?

Steven finally opened his eyes and released his fist, looking at the device and the red mark it had made on his hand.

"It happened to someone you knew?" McCoy asked.

"Yes, someone I cared deeply about…Your Mister Spock was lucky. One of the vials ruptured causing the liquid to be entered into his bloodstream. They are harmless on their own so his body fought it like any foreign body. White blood cells, or at least the Vulcan equivalent. Would they be called lime blood cells I wonder? Ah well. You probably wouldn't even have noticed if he hadn't taken a stimulant."

"A what?"

"Thorpine, it is the Vulcan equivalent of the coffee bean. A small yellow bean that is put into almost all their drinks. He must have brewed a large and strong cup of T'sae with plenty of Thorpine in it to try and combat the tiredness he was feeling while fighting the drug. It caused a reaction and adrenaline began pumping through him like blood. He was lucky he didn't have massive cardiac arrest." He shook his head and put the device back on the table. "Vulcan's are built long-lasting. He'll be fine. He just needs rest." Doctor McCoy nodded and sank wearily into the chair.

"Who would want to do this?"

"I don't know, Leonard. I just don't know. Do you want to see him?" He nodded dumbly and got up.

IOIOIO

The lights in the recovery unit were dim in simulation of night. The only two occupants of room didn't notice or care. One, because he was asleep under the powerful influence of the sedative he was given almost four hours ago and the other because they had night vision goggles on. Only one was meant to be there, the other was an intruder.

Silently the intruder crept forward, keeping low and to the wall, just in case Spock were to wake or someone entered. Slowly, they reached for the dagger on their belt and as they reached Spock they raised it. Ready to strike. The dim light cast odd shadows over Spock's face and the goggles made it even harder to see the mans face. The intruder paused. There was something familiar about the figure on the bed, something which set off alarm bells and made them remove their goggles.

"Oh my god."

The light's clicked on, blinding her for a moment and causing Spock to wake. Dr. McCoy and Dr. Andaman both spotted the girl next to Spock's bed, the dagger still clutched in her raised fist. Dr. Andaman dove for the emergency button. The girl threw the dagger towards Andaman and it embedded itself in the Comm. Panel causing it to short and sparks to spurt out. She turned to run but Spock caught her wrist.
"KROYKAH!" She shouted. "MET'EN WAY!" Spock instantly let her go and they stood there staring at each other for several moments. Disbelief on both their faces. Suddenly the red alert sounded and she looked over to McCoy and Andaman, noticing that Andaman was holding a portable panic button.

She tugged her goggles back over her eyes and secured the mouthpiece as the sound of footsteps approached before grabbing the chair near Spock's bed and putting it so the legs were facing away from her. With a final glance over at Spock who leaping out of bed to grab her, she began to run towards the window at the end of the ward.

"NO!" Dr. Andaman shouted as it became clear what she was going to do but it was too late as she plunged it through the glass and was sucked out into space. The forcefields activated only seconds later, stopping anyone else from being sucked out. They watched her shoot away from the station, propelled by the momentum for a few moments only to press something on her wrist and disappear in a transporter beam.

Spock was still half out of bed, his hand out to grab her arm. He stood staring at the shimmering blue field that battled the vacuum on the other side for several moments before McCoy came to his senses and ran to check on Spock.

"Spock, are you all right?" He asked, easing him back into the bed. He was surprised to see the look of pure shock and disbelief on Spock's face.

"Spock? Did you…know her?"

"Doctor." Dr. Andaman said quietly, placing a hand on Leonard's shoulder. "I think we should let Mister Spock rest a little while." Leonard looked down at Spock's fatigued face.

"Alright." He said to Steven before he turned back to Spock. "Spock, be a good boy and cooperate with the doctor's here, okay?" With a grin he turned and began to walk away with Dr. Andaman. "He's a real baby when it comes to his health." Steven chuckled and clapped McCoy on the back.

"Most Vulcan's are."

IOIOIO

V'au sat unearthly still in the pilot's chair of her vessel.

It's him. Spock! He's found me. He knows I'm not dead now! Oh God, what have I done? I nearly killed him! I nearly killed him! NO! I was tricked! Who, who would do such a thing. What if I hadn't realised, not noticed who it was. I could have killed him! I WOULD HAVE KILLED HIM! NO! NOT SPOCK! He's the only person I this entire galaxy who ever understood me, who ever cared. If I had killed him…no! I didn't. It is no use dwelling on what might have happened. Kaiidth. What is, is. I was tricked. I'm going to find out who did this and make them pay.

She sat up straight and reached for the overhead panel.

"Time to find out what exactly is going on and why someone wants him dead." She moved her vessel to within a few meters of the Enterprise and hooked up her navigations control to the ships. Every move they made, she made and if their shields went up she'd be well within its sphere. The nacelles on either side of her thrummed happily and she began sending out subspace messages, knowing the interference from the nacelles will block the signals from being detected until they were out of range. She tapped into ship communications and listened in to the goings on of the ship as she worked.

"Assassin? I'm no assassin!" She said to the screen as a man with golden hair spoke to someone on the station. She tapped into the ships systems and began to monitor ship transmissions.

She discovered nothing of importance, just gossip. A man named called Pavel lost to a guy called Scotty in a drinking competition, Yeoman Smyth was supposedly in love with Lt. Riley and Nurse Myers was rumoured to be seeing Sulu off duty.

"How boring your lives are." She said absent-mindedly and ran a search for anything relating to Spock. His file came up and she downloaded it while the search went on. Over a million hits later she realised Spock was a very popular guy.
"Oh my, better narrow it down." Her console above her beeped, she was receiving a sub space message. Opening it she frowned.

"Oh dear. It seems dad has made a few very nasty enemies indeed." She looked at the man on screen. "Think he can help me with this?" She asked to no one in particular then shook her head. "Nope, Starfleet are about as useful as feather duster in a sandstorm." She kicked the console in front of her, propelling her back across the floor where she collided with another console. "Time to call in some favours." She received to more subspaces messages and upon opening the first she began to swear.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NOT HIM! NOT HIM! SPOCK'S AS GOOD AS DEAD! NO! I gotta act fast. If he's on the trail then I don't have much time before he strikes again."

IOIOIO

It was another four days before Spock was well enough to return to the ship and he had been studiously avoiding McCoy ever since. Jim still had no clue of what transpired below except the Spock was nearly assassinated and Scotty was half demented chasing ghosts around the circuitry. They were awaiting orders from Starfleet and taking the chance to refresh their medical supply when they were contacted. Spock had literally just walked onto the bridge when Uhura and Pavel both leapt up from their console. Uhura pulled out her earpiece fast and cradled her ear as if she had been struck.

"Transmission are being jammed, Sir."

"Eh, sir…it is ze controls…navigation has been locked out." Sulu tried to work his console.

"Helm is unresponsive, Sir." Kirk stood up from his chair.

"Science!"

"Instruments are jammed." Spock reported.

"Engineering!"

"Them damn ghosts are playin' havoc with me systems. I dinnae know what's wrong but nothin's working, Sah."

"I've lost control of my ship?"

"Yes, Mister Kirk. You have. Don't worry. It's only a precaution. Can never be too careful these days. Don't you agree?" They all looked to the view screen. The ship they saw was dark grey and completely bare of everything except one leather chair and a girl of about seventeen in it.

Her skin was the kind of pale you only see if you don't go planet side in years and dirt smeared her hands and face. Her golden hair was short at the sides but spiked on top and she had a long, narrow braid over her shoulder. Everyone noticed the pointed ears and Vulcan like eyebrows as well as the black tattoo that curved around her left eye.

She was lounging back, completely relaxed. Her feet were up on the console and hands behind her head. She wore a small smile as she looked around the bridge.

"It hasn't changed much, I'll give you that. Starfleet can always be relied upon for its unerring consistency. Wouldn't you say so, Mister Kirk?" Jim glared.
"Who are you and what do you want with my ship." He growled. She looked offended a moment but quickly scowled back.

"Oi, watch your mouth, pretty boy. I want nothing with your ship, like I said, jamming your systems is a precaution. In my line of work you must be very, very careful or you could make mistakes." She stared intently at Spock who was looking back, his face a stony mask. Suddenly she smiled and brushed off the bad humour as if there never had been a disagreement. Idly she began to play with the thin braid of hair that reached over her shoulder. "Now, my name is V'au, some of you might know me…hell, one of you definitely knows me, but what you don't know about me is why I am here." She flicked the golden braid back over her shoulder and dragged her feet from the console, sitting up straight and looking serious. "Kirk, you believe me to be an assassin, sent to kill Spock, and while I suppose being caught by his bed with a poison tipped dagger in my hand could be incriminating…the fact of the matter is that I would never harm Mister Spock and I was tricked into believing he was someone else. A mistake which I have speedily rectified." She gave a small smile and linked her fingers together in front of her. "Mister Spock, I ask humbly for your apology." Spock's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Is this one of your games, V'au?" She scowled at the screen.

"Yes, Spock, this is a game but I am just a pawn in it. Someone is playing me to be a fool and I am no fool. Take your precious chess for example. You are the King, the aim of the game is to kill you or to protect you. It is up to you, Sa-mehk, to decide which team I'm on because someone is playing a very dangerous game and the aim of it is to have you dead." Uhura stiffened at her station and glanced at Spock for a moment. She may not be fluent in Vulcan but she knew enough of it to know what V'au had just called Spock.

"A calling which you seemed to readily respond to." She leapt to her feet, slamming her hands at the console.
"I TAKE OFFENSE! YOU SPOCK, OF ALL PEOPLE, SHOULD KNOW I AM NOT CAPABLE OF KILLING IN COLD BLOOD!"

"I have not seen you in over fourteen years, V'au, you could be capable of anything…even of being an assassin." The look of hurt that passed over her face would have been heart-wrenching if Kirk were inclined to care but right know he was just concerned with getting his ship back.

"If not an assassin…then what?" She looked up, her face that of a petulant child in a mood.

"I am not an assassin." Her tone left no doubt of what she thought of those. "I am a bodyguard. I have been assigned to protect someone, he had a bounty on his head a while back for betraying a known crime-lord to the Federation authorities. He was smuggling cargo and when he found out it was slaves he was disgusted, even smugglers have morals, Captain. He turned himself into the authorities and freed the slaves, he is needed to testify at a trial and if he is killed then it all goes to the Le-maytas. I was hired to protect him and have been doing so for some weeks. Recently I was given word that a Romulan assassin was sent to kill him. He was posing as a patient to get near him and was in recovery…the only one in recovery was a Vulcan. I'm sure you're all aware of the physical similarities of Vulcan's and Romulans…I had to act to protect my charge. Luckily for you, Spock, I recognised the way your left nostril wheezes when you sleep and stopped before I killed you. Unfortunately a bunch of Doctors came bursting in and I had to make like a Shavohk and fly." She sat back, gauging their responses. "And before you say it, yes you do! You're like an eighty year old asthmatic, Spock. Now, I didn't come here to discuss yours nasal habits but rather to impart some information which I believe you will find…" She paused, clearly amused at something, and in a tone, not unlike Spock's, she said "Fascinating."

It was that moment McCoy chose to burst onto the bridge.

"What in the blue blazes is going on up here? Not a thing works in Sic…YOU!" He pointed to the screen. "You're the one who tried to kill Spock."
"How very astute Doctor, considering I had a mask on at the time you are very perceptive." She smiled pleasantly. "But while you were pottering around sickbay, we cleared up the misunderstanding that led everyone to believe I was an assassin. I'm sure the lovely lady in red will fill you in while I try and make sure no one gets killed." She turned back to Kirk but paused. "hold on. Oi, you, the one in blue." Spock and McCoy looked up. "Not you Spock, the other one. You wouldn't happen to be, Leonard H. McCoy...would you?"

"Maybe I am, who wants to know?" She looked confused a moment then grinned.

"Ah, we haven't properly been introduced. I am V'au, I don't have a second name and if I did I wouldn't be able to remember it. I'm a bodyguard, not an assassin and I'm here to protect, not kill, Spock."

"Coulda fooled me." McCoy mumbled.

"Probably could have. Now. Once I realised my mistake and that Spock was not an assassin sent to kill my ward, I realised I had been used and I set out to find out by who. I did a little routing around and found a lot of people want the crew of this ship dead but this is the most interesting. Listen up, Doc." She sat forward as if she was confiding a big secret and said."

"Spock has enemies, doctor, powerful ones and clever ones. If you hadn't caught the Gann-Ki on his heart when you did then you'd be in the brig at this very moment." McCoy's head shot up.

"What!?"

"Doctor, only a very gifted surgeon could have put this in. You are the only surgeon on board Enterprise and also the only one who would have access to these chemicals and any idea what effect they have on the nervous system…also…I checked. The very two chemicals in that little chip were bough using your account about a year ago."

"WHAT! I DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS! SPOCK IS MY BEST FIREND! I'D NEVER…" V'au's hand shot up to silence Leonard.

"I am not accusing you of anything, Doctor. I know it was not you. The chemical's were not delivered to the Enterprise or to Earth…they were delivered to a less than reputable space station and not a place I believe that you'd frequent. I've done some digging and have been asking the right questions of the right people. There is a price on Spock's head. A big price. I'm tempted to knock him off myself for it. He's pissed someone off and he didn't do it by half. The contract was taken by an assassin known as Kek. They want to take both of you out of the picture without much fuss. Spock dieing and you going to jail will do just that, but, what I don't know is why. There is something going down and something big and ye two are in the way of it. Also, there is a contract on Captain James Kirk from the Klingon government. They must like you an awful lot." She said with a grin. "Sixteen thousand in pure, Latinum pressed, bars. Enough to make a Ferengi's mouth water."

"A what?"

"You'd be surprised at the diversity of cultures that you'd find in the armpits of the galaxy. I know of more alien races that the Federation hasn't catalogued than twice what they already have. Trust me, you wouldn't want any of them in your Federation. They're all scoundrels and maggots and cheap lousy…well…let's not get vulgar here but none of them are very nice. The Ferengi have about as much respect for life as I have for space dust. They care about nothing but Latinum, Latinum, Latinum. Their entire civilization is built around it. You'll encounter them soon enough. The little pigs are everywhere, you can't miss them. Their ships look like they've got big smiles on the back, it's kinda funny really, but lets not talk about those slime devils. We're talking about Spock and McCoy. Now, it is floating around that the contract is coming from corrupt Federation officials and lets face it. You'll never find a corrupt Ensign that'll order assassinations. It's the admirals, Captains and Ambassadors that do that…especially if they can afford Kek…" She shook her head at their blank looks. "You have no idea of the danger you're in, do you? Kek is this best assassin in the galaxy! He'll kill you all if he has to!" The dawning on their faces was too slow for her liking. "MY GOD! YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS!" She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"If you say one thing about control I'll shove a dilithium crystal where the sun don't shine, Spock." She snapped and Spock closed his half open mouth. "Why can't you see I'm trying to help, but if Spock and Doctor McCoy stay on this ship…you might as well paint a big bull's-eyes on the seat of their pants!" She looked up, her eyes pleading with Kirk. "I can help them, but not here. Let me take them, I'll bring them somewhere safe, find out what's happening, fix it, and return them. I promise." Kirk shook his head slowly.

"How do I know you wont just kill them?"

"What kind of a monster do you think I am! I would never dare to raise a hand against my own Skan! Spock is my Sa-mehk and McCoy his friend. No harm will come to them, you have my word." Kirk didn't look convinced. "On my honour…and that means more to me than life itself. No harm will come to them. I promise you."

"She speaks the truth, she will not harm myself or Doctor McCoy. She cannot." Spock said and V'au smiled.

"So you haven't lost all hope in me then?" Spock raised an eyebrow.

"I am still making my assessment of you." She gave him a lopsided grin.

"You're still mad at me, aren't you? I suppose you'll never understand my reasons for running away from that god awful place, but lets let bygones be bygones." Spock remained silent so she turned back to Kirk.

"Okay Jim, here's the jig. If you wont let Spock and McCoy come to me then I'm going to have to go to them. It's the only logical solution. I won't be able to protect them as effectively but it'll be a damn sight better than me here and them there." Her grin faded and she turned deathly serious. "When I beam over I'm going to be armed. I'm telling you this advance, I have no intention of using them but it's better to have and not need that to need and not have. Secondly, I want full access to your computers. I won't mess around with anything serious but I do need access and I will keep you appraised of everything I'm doing at all times. I will need a quarters near their own and I don't want red shirts tagging me everywhere. I'd like a single red shirt that you know you can trust, you have to trust him completely now, to stand outside their quarters 24/7. I'm going to need help since there's two of them and only one of me, so I've arranged for a friend of mine to arrive shortly. I trust her completely, she will arrive unarmed and probably will consent to escorts but that's her way, not mine." Kirk shook his head.

"Those are quite some demands, V'au."

"If you think about it then they're not. I want no one who could possibly be corrupt tailing me, I want someone you trust outside their quarters and I want to be able to do my job. I can't do that without unlimited access to the ships computers and someone to help me. This is a very big ship and it has a lot of potential murderers. I can't protect them without weapons. If you want then I'll let your security officer check them before I bring them on board. Your engineer may supervise me at all times while I am in your system. These are the only concessions I will allow. I'm here to protect them, not to please you." Kirk scowled.

"I don't like it."

"Sorry, buddy, them's the breaks." She said, sitting back and she asked in a solemn, sincere voice, "You won't condemn two of your officers to death because you don't want a little girl flaking around your systems, will you?" Kirk sighed.

"It seems like I have no choice."

"You wont regret this Captain! I promise you! I'll be on my best behaviour and I'll get to the bottom of this. I'm a trained professional who's been in the body guard business all my life and I've never failed a mission. I don't intend to start now. Of course I shall send you my credentials and references and stuff. I'll shall have to be hired by official contract but I will work for no charge. Sariel will be here by tomorrow. She'll be covered under the contract. I'll need you to sign this but I suggest you read it first. I'll beam over shortly. Eh…where'd you want me?"

"Transporter room three."

"Right, good, great…fine…Eh…V'au out."

Uhura turned to Spock.

"Mister Spock, now I'm not fluent at Vulcan but did she just call you…Sa'mehk?" Spock turned to Uhura and nodded.

"Indeed she did."
"But doesn't that mean…father?"

"Yes. It does."

"And Skan…that means family!"

"I am aware, Lieutenant."

"But…if you're her father then that would make her your daughter!"

"Yes, Lieutenant. V'au is my daughter." McCoy did a double take."
"WHA!"

"Will I reiterate, Doctor? V'au is my daughter." McCoy's eyes went wide.

"Well I'll tell you this much, Commander." Uhura said with a smile. "You never cease to amaze me."

A/N: Can anyone spot the line from a song? It's a Christmassy song I was listening to and I just had to put it in. Still, how's that for a secret shocker? Spock having a daughter, well, before you bite my head off I'll ask you to wait till chapter 3. Trust me on this one, it's not as AU as you think. There are no secret lesions for Spock or mistresses in the closet, trust me. Wait till the next chapter before you flame. All will be explained once someone picks McCoy up off the floor and revives him. Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review.