Mad, Bad, and Dangerous

Their routine vaccine run was taking longer than expected. The government of the colony wished to speak to Captain Kirk about security measures and emergency procedures for the outpost since it was so close to the neutral zone. Kirk agreed to meet with them and he was taking along various crew members from different departments for consultations.

"Lieutenant Uhura, Ensign Chekov, join me in the transporter room. Mr. Spock, you have the con," Kirk said as he hopped into the turbo lift.

"Aye, sir," Spock said. He gave Uhura a long lingering look as she joined the Captain on the lift. He didn't know why but he felt apprehensive about Uhura going on an away mission without him. It was quite illogical. Though the vast majority of her missions had been routine, incidents like the mirror Enterprise and the Triskelion affair left a bad taste in his mouth, to use a human phrase. But this was hardly a hostile planet, it was a Federation outpost. She would be fine. Still...

/*-/*-/

Uhura was assigned to assist the colonists with their communications array. She gave them advice on how to boost their signals and how to cut through atmospheric interference with the latest information available from Starfleet engineering. As the consultation with the communication engineers was winding down one of the colonists approached Uhura with additional questions. He said he would be in charge of the array's maintenance.

As the other field agents walked ahead, Uhura stayed behind to answer the Chief's follow up questions. Geological technician Fisher had even volunteered to stay behind with her and take some readings of the area surrounding the array while they talked.

"Lieutenant Uhura, you are a very beautiful woman," Chief communications engineer Rogers said to her as his hazel eyes roved up and down her body. Uhura was used to men checking her out but this felt very inappropriate. She was there on serious business.

"Thank you, sir. But you said you had some additional questions for me?" Uhura asked trying to steer the conversation back to the business at hand. She was feeling a tad annoyed now. This engineer said he had follow-up questions but so far all he had done was stare at her and ask questions she had already addressed in her presentation.

"Yes, I do. But I understand the Enterprise will be in orbit for the next day or so. How would you like to have dinner with me tonight and discuss things then?" He asked moving into her personal space.

"No." She said taking a step back. "I'll be busy. I suggest you get your questions answered now as there will not be another chance."

"Come on now. Don't be shy," He moved in close again. "I'm sure you've noticed this outpost is short on female colonists. I would really like to have dinner with a beautiful woman for a change. It may not look like much but we do have some excellent food here. All grown fresh, farm to table as they say." The chief said. He was a tall man and Uhura supposed women would find him attractive, however, she did not. He had dark hair and hazel eyes which reminded her of the Captains but his eyes were cold where the Captains were warm and rich. This guy was just a handsome jerk.

"Chief Rogers, I am sure your food is excellent, but I am just not interested. I am not available. Now if that was all you really wanted to ask me I'll be joining the rest of my landing party."

Uhura turned to walk away but Mr. Rogers was not done with her yet. He grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Now wait a minute Miss-" he said pulling her up short.

"Take your hand off of me right now before you lose it," Uhura said finally reaching her boiling point with this jerk. How dare he touch her!

"Now hold on, you can't talk to me like that. I just asked you out for dinner. You think you're better than me because you're in Starfleet? They got you thinking because you wear that little uniform that you're above the rest of us civilians? I know you female officers only join up looking for husbands anyway. Well, what's wrong with me? Ain't I good enough for you little Miss Lieutenant?" he yelled at her and shook her arm.

"What's going on here," Uhura heard Technician Fisher ask but his voice seemed to come from far away. Suddenly all her training kicked in and her mind focused on one objective. Protect. Before she knew what was happening she had pivoted, flipped chief Rogers onto his back and proceeded to kick the shit out of him. Maybe she felt one of his ribs crack but she didn't care, he had threatened her and she had to protect herself.

Uhura knew she was out of control. She was as angry, angrier than she had ever been in her life. It washed over her and she could do nothing to control it. Red hot rage consumed her and she let it have its way. How dare he touch her! She who belongs to Spock!

Someone grabbed her from behind trying to restrain her and she fought them off too. Finally, the security detail that had beamed down with the landing party restrained her enough for Dr. McCoy to administer a hypo and sedate her.

By the time Captain Kirk came running up on the scene, Uhura was still straining to get to Chief Rogers.

"Bones get her to sickbay," Kirk said.

"Kirk to Enterprise two to beam aboard, medical emergency."

M'Ress, who was manning the communications station in Uhura's absence took the call and ordered Mr. Kyle to beam the party up.

Spock had been manning the con and when he heard there was a medical emergency he was alarmed. What was the emergency? Who was injured? It was not Jim, he had given the command. So was it McCoy? Nyota?

Spock kept his shields in place for both his and Uhura's protection when she was on duty but he was tempted to let them down now. He recalled her scolding him for not showing emotion when a crew member was killed during an away mission on planet M-113. She had been disappointed in him and reminded him that the fatality could have been the captain, his closest friend. But Spock could not allow his emotions to cloud his judgment or interfere with his job. It would have been illogical to react emotionally until he knew all the facts. Now he was sorely tempted to do just that.

Instead, Spock waited patiently on the bridge for a report. Captain Kirk appeared on the bridge a short time later and approached Spock at his chair.

"Mr. Spock, would you accompany me to sickbay, please? Mr. Sulu, you have the con."

Spock had a sinking feeling Nyota was the one in sickbay and he was ready to bolt off in search of her but Jim restrained him with a hand to his shoulder.

"Spock, don't... um...do whatever it is you do. Uhura is not hurt." Kirk said as he ushered Spock onto the lift and steered it to the sickbay.

"Where is my wife?" He asked trying to remain calm.

"She's in sickbay. Doctor McCoy is with her. And she's not hurt." Kirk reiterated. "I just thought you would like me to escort you so you keep your... uh... control," Kirk said.

Spock started walking quickly towards the sickbay as soon as the lift door opened. A conversation could wait until he saw to the needs of his wife.

When he entered the sickbay doors he was slammed with a wave of anger. In his haste to reach Nyota, he had lowered his shields.

"Spock are you ok? What's wrong?" Kirk asked.

Spock had unwittingly staggered back into the captain when the emotions hit him.

"The anger," he said. "So angry. How dare he touch!" Spock said.

"Spock, pull yourself together." Kirk shook him. "Uhura needs you to be calm," Kirk said.

Yes. Spock thought, control. "I must regain control." He did the exercises his father taught him when he was a boy on the verge of a meltdown. Calm. Peace. Control. He gathered himself and proceeded into the examination room.

Uhura was on the exam table with wrist restraints on.

"What is this?" Spock demanded of McCoy who was hovering nearby reading the display above Uhura's head.

"I did this so she wouldn't hurt anyone," McCoy said.

"What happened?" Spock demanded.

"One of the engineers attacked her and-"

Spock let out a growl but Jim ignored it. "And she defended herself. A lot," the captain explained.

"She kicked his ass, Sir!" Spock heard someone say from behind him, but he only had eyes for Uhura.

"You get back in that bed Fisher! I'm not done checking you." He heard a nurse say. "And watch your language."

"But she did, I've never seen anything like it." Technician Fisher said. "I didn't even have a chance to pull my phaser..."

Spock tuned out the useless chatter and approached his wife.

"Careful," Mccoy said "she's upset."

Spock ignored McCoy and reached out to her. He gently touched her face brushing away a tear from her cheek. Uhura opened her eyes. They were bright with anger for a moment and then when recognition struck she looked terrified and tried to sit up.

"Doctor, please remove the restraints," Spock said never taking his eyes from his wife.

"I don't know Spock. She was out of control a moment ago-"

"Remove them. I will...take responsibility."

"Okay, it's your neck..." Mccoy approached carefully so as not to startle Uhura. She was staring into Spock's eyes and neither one of them seemed to notice McCoy as he loosened the restraints from Uhura's wrists.

As soon as the restraints were gone Uhura lunged at Spock and he caught her in his arms.

Jim and McCoy were ready to step in and rescue Spock but he had it all under control. He held onto his wife as she sobbed into his chest.

"Let's give them some privacy Jim," McCoy said.

He and the captain backed away and closed the divider shutting them off from the rest of sickbay.

"Let's go to my office," McCoy said.

When they were settled in his office Mccoy produced a flask of Saurian brandy. He poured two shots and passed one to Jim.

"What the hell Bones!" Jim said after downing his drink.

Bones frowned. "I have no idea what I just witnessed. Uhura was out of control. Like a wild animal."

"What the hell is going on?"

"Jim, I tell you I don't know. It must have something to do with Spock and his damn Katra."

"His what?"

Bones explained what a katra was.

"Is it contagious?" Jim finally asked as he took it all in.

"No, I don't think so, near as I can tell it happened when he was healing her from the Nomad attack. Somehow he infected her then. Uhura said it was permanent."

"So why the hell is it only affecting her now?"

"I don't know Jim, I'm no expert on Vulcan medicine especially something like this psi business."

"What about Dr. M'benga? He's our resident Vulcanologist."

"He's not here, he went to some conference. As soon as he returns I'll be sure to inquire but in the meantime, I have to contact Vulcan and see if the healers there know what's going on. But you know how tight-lipped they are. Might have to transport Uhura to Vulcan for this one. No more delays."

"Gods Bones will we ever escape Vulcan?" Kirk asked as he poured another round of drinks.

"We don't have to go, Jim. She can go on medical leave. I'll write up the report."

"Spock is not going to let her out of his sight. If I've observed one thing during my stay on Vulcan its that Vulcan men protect their marriages with their lives."

"Of course," McCoy reflected, "the wives protect their husband's life as well."

"Why didn't you tell me about this katra thing sooner?"

"Why would I tell you? If they wanted you to know I'm sure Spock would have told you. As far as I'm concerned it is a private medical matter. In fact, I didn't believe Uhura when she told me she had a piece of Spock's soul. I ran every test you can run on a human Jim, and ones we have for Vulcans to. I never found any evidence of this Katra. But then she caught the fever. Something is there and since I can't find a thing physically wrong with her it has got to be psychological."

"I wish I never allowed her to marry him," Jim said shaking his head.

"What do you mean? You had no say in the matter."

"Sure I did. I'm her captain. I could have stepped in and put a stop to it. I could have fought Spock again."

"And you think you would have won? Think we could have tricked him twice? Besides this is Uhura we're talking about not some random woman he found. She has a piece of his Soul Jim. And you've seen with your own eyes, they're in love. You couldn't have stopped them if you tried so don't beat yourself up about this. You did nothing wrong. It's just a hell of a mess that's all. Par for the course with our resident Vulcan."

"Yeah, I guess," Kirk said still unconvinced.

"Jim, Spock and Uhura are adults, you said it yourself. And now that they've reconciled nothing and no one is going to come between them so don't even think about it. I already warned you, you'll lose. Whatever is happening we'll deal with it. We'll find a cure and have Uhura as right as rain in no time. You have to believe that."

"Bones you keep saying I'll lose them, but what if we already have lost them? What if Uhura has to stay on Vulcan for treatment? You said it, Spock will not leave his wife. So Spock will stay too. What then?"

"Then we'll deal with it, if and when it happens. Until then we have a crisis to deal with right here on the ship. Uhura is still my patient and I still have some tests to run before getting to Vulcan. I suggest you figure out what we're going to tell Starfleet about this incident." McCoy said finishing his own drink. "I'll sign off on whatever you write up."

"She was within her rights to defend herself. That's all Starfleet needs to know. I'll demand a reprimand for that Rogers fellow too. Thank goodness Fisher saw the whole thing else it would be a case of 'he said she said'" Jim explained.

"Good. You take care of Starfleet and I'll take care of the Spocks's" McCoy said.

"Spocks's?" Jim asked.

"Well, I don't know his last name do you?" McCoy grumbled.

"You know Bones, I never asked him," Jim admitted.

"Let's just call them the Uhura's. It'll serve Spock right for not having a last name." McCoy said.

"Maybe Spock is his last name Bones. Either way, I'd like to be there when you call him Mr. Uhura." Jim smiled for the first time since the incident.

"Bah! He'd probably think it was logical. He's no fun."

"No, not lately he isn't," Jim said.

"When has he ever been?" Bones asked in surprise.

"He can be interesting," Jim said.

"I bet. He's plenty interesting now that he has a wife. Making eyes and dancing and growling. He's a real barrel of laughs. If this thing wasn't affecting Uhura I'd say it was a fascinating experiment to see Spock in love, but its no laughing matter." Bones said.

"No, it isn't," Jim said soberly. "I don't know about you Bones but I'm worried. Nothing is working out the way I thought it would."

"How did you think this was going to work Jim?"

"I don't know, I guess I thought they would end up like Sarek and Amanda, a nice stately couple." The captain confessed.

"Well, they may get there yet. But for now, they are just a young confused couple. And besides, you do know Ambassador Sarek is over a hundred years old? He has two lifetimes of experience compared to Spock. Sarek and Amanda probably went through similar growing pains and it'll be good for Spock and Uhura to talk to them and learn how to control... whatever this is."

"Do you think they can learn to control...whatever this is?" Kirk asked.

"They had better learn, or else I don't know if they'll be able to return to the Enterprise. I won't say they're fit for duty until I know neither one of them will fly off the handle in a fit of rage over a minor offense."

"You think this was a minor offense?"

"Jim, we both know the beating Uhura gave that man was excessive. I even had to treat a couple of security guards who subdued her for minor injuries. And Fisher has a black eye. She was out of control. She can't serve aboard with a temper problem like that."

"I agree with you Bones. I guess that'll teach that Rogers fellow not to mess with a Vulcan's wife though."

"Maybe that's part of the problem," McCoy thought aloud.

"What?"

"Nobody knows they're married. They still haven't announced it to the crew. I know Uhura wanted to go back to her normal life after Vulcan but things have changed, everything is different now. Being married and together is the new normal. Maybe they need to get it all out there in the open before some other fool tries to 'mess with a Vulcan's wife' as you put it."

"Bones that's their personal decision. But I agree with you it may be for the best if it is announced. I'll speak to Spock about it."

"Good, and in the meantime, I'll run more tests and try getting a hold of M'benga or somebody on Vulcan who knows what's going on, but Jim we have to get Uhura to Vulcan, Starfleet and Komack be damned."

"I know Bones, I know. I might have to call in a few favors but I'll get her there." Kirk promised and he left McCoys office to make it so.