Loire Valley, France
Wednesday 26th January 1994
If that awful journey from St Philippe sur Loire to the London prison had seemed much longer than normal, to Chrissie's perspective the trip home seemed much faster. She was not wrong. Aware that his boss's condition was deteriorating, Kay'vin had pushed the engines to maximum and only six and a half minutes after taking off, he brought the shuttle in for a smooth landing right outside Krang's house.
The young Klingon was not the only one to be concerned. Sitting next to Krang, Chrissie was inwardly frantic with worry for him. He had boarded the shuttle without help, carrying himself with his usual pride - which she suspected had a lot to do with not letting the various subordinates who were watching see any sign of weakness - but once inside, he had quickly sunk into the nearest seat. He remained very quiet during the journey and she could not help noticing that his dark skin seemed paler than usual. He needed medical attention but she knew better than to suggest it again. He would only get angry and refuse.
With the adrenaline fading, she was once again becoming aware of her own injuries. It was not that they had ever stopped hurting, but she'd been kept busy enough that she hadn't had a chance to focus on her own pain. Sitting here on the shuttle with nothing to do but worry, however, all the aches and pains were once again making themselves known. Her injuries were minor, she reminded herself, and not life threatening in any way. Even so, the pain was enough that if it were not for Krang's presence and his need of her, she might have curled up in a ball and cried. Tears would have to wait until this was over, though.
He needed a doctor, she thought again. If only her brother were not on the Enterprise. Her mind went to the communicator safely hidden in the toilet cistern. Would it still work after being immersed in water for a week? And if it did… She glanced warily towards the two young officers at the front of the shuttlecraft. How could she pull this off without getting herself either killed or arrested again? Her mind raced as she tried to find a solution.
With the shuttle safely landed, Krang got up to disembark. He staggered as he did so but quickly righted himself. "I am fine," he insisted, pointedly ignoring the outstretched hand she offered him.
She looked up at him. "Do you mind if I lean on you, then?" she asked hopefully, doing her best to sound sorry for herself, something that in the circumstances, really wasn't difficult. "Everything hurts and I'm struggling." It wasn't even a lie; everything did hurt. She held her breath, praying he would respond as she hoped, and to her relief, he fell for it, stepping closer to her and placing an arm around her shoulders, drawing her against him. She frowned at the feel of him. His skin felt unnaturally cold and clammy to the touch. That was wrong, Chrissie knew; he'd always felt like a furnace. She remembered the teasing conversation they'd had on the subject on their second night together.
She'd snuggled against him, enjoying the heat of his body. "Mmm, you feel so warm!"
"My body temperature is a little higher than yours," he told her absently, his attention more on the soft curves pressed against him than the conversation – until she wriggled, bringing her feet in contact with his calves, making him jump. "Stop that!" he protested. "Your feet are like blocks of ice!"
She giggled, wriggling again as she moved her feet to a warmer spot. "You make good central heating."
His growl was menacing as he moved in an attempt to protect himself. "You are a heat vampire!"
"Well you have a lot of heat to steal," she told him wickedly. "Although, it will be 'I love you but don't touch me' when summer comes."
He laughed, bringing up a hand to caress her intimately. "I assure you, Chrissie-oy, that summer or not, you will not complain when I touch you."
Relaxing into his embrace she conceded, and afterwards, neither of them had been sure just who had won that round.
It was a difference of two degrees, she'd learned later, more than enough to explain why he always felt so hot when she touched him. That he felt cold now was to be expected after getting caught in that awful, torrential rain, but it was more than that and she thought his body might be going into shock. One way or another she was going to get a doctor to him. She had no choice.
Giving no indication of her worry, she slipped an arm around his waist, ostensibly leaning on him, but in reality, supporting him as best she could. Together, they made their way down the ramp and along the path to the front door of the house. Opening the door, he stepped away from her and promptly collapsed in the entrance.
With Kay'vin's assistance, Chrissie had managed to get Krang lying on the sofa. About to close the shuttle's hatch in preparation for take-off, Kay'vin had seen his boss collapse and had hurried to help. Working together, they had placed him more or less in the recovery position so she could check his wound. He was still bleeding and it had soaked through the dressing she had applied.
Chrissie cursed under her breath. Why could he not have waited a moment longer, until the front door was shut and the Klingons were safely out of the way before he collapsed? She'd had the crazy idea of contacting the Enterprise and asking them to beam down a medical team to treat Krang but with Kay'vin and Marla present, that had just become impossible. Nor did she think there was any way of persuading them to leave. Now what was she supposed to do?
Despite her promise to Sarah, she had not yet dared speak to Krang about the Federation, a little too afraid that he might not give her the benefit of the doubt and listen to what she had to say. Chrissie did not doubt in the slightest that these two Klingons were loyal to Krang but if they found out she had any connection with the resistance, let alone the Federation, they would never believe that she had his best interests at heart or that she was not a spy. She shivered. No, that would not end well for her.
"It needs more treatment than I can give," she told the two Klingons worriedly. "It's very deep and I don't know how to treat the internal damage. He needs a proper doctor. Maybe there's one in the village."
Marla shook her head. "The local doctor has no experience of treating Klingons."
"It will have to be the Klingon doctor whether he likes it or not," Kay'vin agreed. "There is no one else. The surgeon did not pick a good time to go missing."
Chrissie took a deep breath, praying she was not about to make a massive mistake. "He is not missing. Karg almost tortured him to death. He is recuperating in a safe place."
Marla frowned. She did not completely trust her boss's Tera'ngan lover even if Kay'vin seemed to like her. "How would you know that?"
"He's my brother," Chrissie admitted. "You've been to my house in London, did you not realise that he lived at the same address? It must be on the records, surely?"
The Klingon woman relaxed slightly at the explanation. "It would have been one of the London officers who investigated his disappearance. Neither Kay'vin nor I were involved with that."
"We did not give them any information about you," Kay'vin added. "Regardless of that, can you contact him?"
Yes, she could contact him, Chrissie thought. At least, she hoped so. But could she do it without getting herself into trouble? Her mind raced as she tried to figure out the best way to proceed. A plan began to form in her mind and slowly, she nodded. "I think so. He was going to stay with a friend for a while and then go home."
"Then you will tell me where to find him," Kay'vin growled, "and I will bring him here."
"If I can slow the bleeding down a bit, I'll go and find my address book," Chrissie responded. Let me go and get some fresh dressings." She turned, taking a step towards the door and promptly tripped over the edge of the cloak that, made for someone of Krang's size was far too long for her and trailed along the floor behind her. If it hadn't been for Kay'vin quickly putting out an arm to steady her, she would have ended up flat on her face. "Oh damnit!" she muttered, futilely trying to cover herself as the errant cloak gaped open. "Thanks."
"I'll get them," Marla volunteered. "You should go and clean yourself up a bit and find something more suitable to wear. Just tell me where you keep your first aid supplies."
Chrissie hesitated before nodding. She didn't want to leave Krang but Marla was right; she would be more help to Krang if she sorted herself out. "There's a first aid box in the kitchen, in the drawer to the left of the sink." Taking care not to trip again, she made her way towards the hallway. Remembering what her brother had taught her, she glanced back, adding, "Don't remove the old dressings, just keep adding new ones and keep some pressure on the wound. I won't be long."
Reaching the staircase with no further mishaps, Chrissie wisely decided to discard the over-long cloak before attempting to go the stairs. With Kay'vin and Marla busy with Krang there was no-one to see her semi-nakedness and she didn't want to trip and fall. Draping the cloak over the banister, she hurried upstairs and made her way into the bathroom.
Approaching the toilet, she lifted the lid off the cistern, and pulling a disgusted face - she knew the water was clean but somehow it felt unpleasant and unsanitary - she put her hand inside the tank and removed the communicator, leaving the phaser where it was.
Replacing the lid, she rinsed both the communicator and her hands under the tap and drying it off with a towel, she made a dash for the bedroom she shared with Krang. Muttering a quick prayer that it would work and that she would not be heard by the Klingons downstairs, she pressed the switch, holding her breath as it turned on.
USS Enterprise NCC1701,
Wednesday 26th January 1994
"Chrissie to Enterprise… Can anyone hear me? It's an emergency…Please respond"
"Enterprise here." Hearing the urgency in the young woman's voice, Uhura was quick to respond. "Chrissie, are you all right?"
"Uhura! Oh, thank God! I need you to listen to me and do exactly as I ask with no arguments and no questions
"Chrissie, what are…"
"Please… just listen. I'll explain later, I promise but right now I have very little time if I'm to pull this off without getting caught."
"We are listening, Chrissie, tell us what you need."
"There was a fight and Krang is hurt," Chrissie said succinctly. "And so am I, but not as seriously. Captain, I need you to get David and Dr McCoy."
Fight? Sitting in the captain's chair, listening to the conversation, Kirk's ears pricked up. Was this the fight the DTI had spoken of? The one that would decide everything? He urgently needed to know. There was no possibility of his refusing assistance, even if the DTI had not made it clear that everything depended in this Klingon's survival. "Uhura, tell Doctors McCoy and Kendal to meet me in sickbay. Chrissie, don't worry, we'll be with you in a few minutes." He got to his feet, preparing to leave the bridge. "Spock, you have the bridge."
"No!" Chrissie interrupted him frantically. "You can't beam here direct! It's not that simple. There are two Klingons in the house with me and there are guards outside."
Kirk frowned. "Then what do you suggest?"
Quickly she explained her plan and Kirk listened carefully. At first hearing it seemed unnecessarily complicated but on consideration, he was forced to acknowledge that based on the time available to them, there was no other way of achieving their goal while remaining undetected.
Chrissie wanted the doctors - her brother and McCoy, nobody else - to beam down to her old home and wait there for further instructions. They would need to take med-kits with them, making sure that anything that was not twentieth century in origin remained well hidden. Likewise, they needed to wear civilian clothes, not anything a Klingon would recognise as being from the Federation.
"I've told the Klingons that he's been staying with a friend for a few days," she ended. "Tell them to stick to that story and act surprised when they hear from me. The Klingons here are loyal to Krang and they're worried about him, so I don't think they'll ask too many questions or cause any difficulty."
Kirk nodded. "Understood." He glanced towards Uhura, wordlessly asking for an update and she responded immediately.
"Sickbay have acknowledged, Captain, and confirm their readiness. They are on their way to the transporter room now."
For once, aware of the importance of the mission, McCoy had neither argued nor grumbled. He'd been engaged in a training session with the twentieth century doctor when the call had come through and in fact, was very pleased with his progress. The two men had immediately dropped what they were doing and after a quick detour to pick up the things they needed and change into civilian clothing, had made their way to the transporter room.
"Thank you." Chrissie hesitated, then added, "Captain, Krang is a good, honourable man and he's your best hope of fulfilling your mission peacefully. I promised Sarah I'd try to arrange a meeting. I haven't forgotten that promise. If you help him now, I am sure he will be willing to at least talk to you."
Over at the science station, Spock looked up from the screen of his console and spun his chair round so he was facing Kirk. "Captain, I have calculated the coordinates and sent them to the transporter room. They confirm receipt and are ready to transport."
Phew... yes, Chrissie's plan is complicated. My beta reader and I have been arguing over it for the last few weeks, trying to find a simpler, less complicated solution, but e very other way of her getting help for Krang ends in her getting into trouble. And unlike us, she only has minutes to come up with something. So complicated it is.
Klingon body temperature: As far as I am aware, this has never been dealt with and there is no canon here for me to follow, so I have chosen to have their body temperature just a little bit higher than ours.
By the way, I haven't forgotten that the phone in her house doesnt work. She has forgotten though.
As always, thank you to my wonderful reviewers, JDC0, Solasagreine and RobertBruceScott for their continued interest and support of this story. If youre reading this and havent checked out their work, please do, you won't regret it.