Spock opened the helmet of his biohazard suit and helped Kirk with his own. Fresh air flooded his nostrils and he could already feel his headache go away. "So, five hours until we can go back?", Kirk asked after a while. "Affirmative.", the Vulcan agreed. They sat there in silence after that.

Four days earlier

The day after the concert was rather uneventful. Kirk forwent the pretense of going to the bridge entirely. Instead, he made his way down to the security team's part of the ship. Lieutenant Giotto greeted him. He had a half-eaten bowl of porridge standing on the table before him. "How may I help you, Captain?", Giotto asked. Kirk sat down on another chair that was placed around the round table. "I want you to find somebody."

"And who might that be?", Giotto wondered. "Whoever is responsible for the lights overloading.", the Captain answered. "Giotto laughed, almost chocking on his porridge. "I'm pretty sure it was just a technical failure. Should I hunt down Mister Scott for you?", his Chief of Security teased. "We have a witness to the fact that it could not have been a simple overload."

Now Giotto stopped laughing. "Oh. I'm sorry. Who is this witness, Sir?" "Mister Sulu's telepathic plant from Regulus IV.", the Captain stated. Giotto forced himself not to laugh. "You must be joking!", he exclaimed, incredulous. "I am not. You have your orders.", Kirk said sharply. After that, he strode out of the room.

Still considering whether or not he should discipline Giotto for insubordination, Kirk arrived at the Rec Deck. After entering, he found that the place was still wrapped in darkness. To his surprise, he saw Harb Tanzer, holding a flashlight. Somebody was kneeling on the floor in front of him and doing something behind an access panel. "Hello, Captain." Harb greeted him. "Mister Scott is just trying to figure out what exactly has burned through." He pointed to the man on the ground. Scotty looked up to them. "There's nothing wrong with the bloody thing.", the engineer swore. "If there had been an energy surge, these circuits would have been fried." Kirk frowned.

"Mister Tanzer, please try plugging one of the game machines in, will you?", Scotty asked the man with the flashlight. With the Captain's help, one of the machines was taken of the stack, placed next to a socket and plugged in. The screen and the lights of the machine came on. "I don't understand.", Scotty said, eyes a bit wider than usual. "This is physically impossible!" Scotty looked quite angry. "Apparently it isn't.", Kirk retorted. The engineer turned to Mister Tanzer. "I will go down to our maintenance stock and get you some new lightning elements." "Thank you, Mister Scott.", Tanzer said weakly.

After Scott had left, Kirk moved over to the board games. "Do you mind if I borrow one?", he asked the Rec Deck Operator. "Of course not.", he heard the man answer through the darkness. While Kirk looked through the games, something occurred to him. "By the way, where's Wendy?", he asked. Tanzer answered from behind the bar where he was cleaning glasses. "Mister Sulu took her back. The darkness is apparently bad for her, you see."

After Kirk had chosen a game he liked, he took a turbolift to the science department. Not much had changed since his last visit. Again, there were several of Spock's people walking around while looking busy. Spock was entering some data into one of the consoles. "Report.", Kirk ordered. "The project is mostly coming along according to schedule.", Spock reported without looking up. "Mostly?", Kirk wondered. "Yes. Earlier today, we had a power loss in the sensory array. The problem was, however, solved within minutes." "Let Scotty have a look on it, okay?", Kirk more than suggested. "I have already informed Mister Scott of this situation, and he has agreed to do so as soon as his resources allow."

Now, Spock's attention moved to the cardboard box under Kirk's arm. "A game?", he asked, obligatory eyebrow lifted. "I'm going to try to keep Bones from dying of boredom.", Kirk explained. Spock seemed amused. "Would you be partial to a game of chess tonight, Captain?", his First asked. "Surely.", Kirk nodded in agreement. Satisfied, Spock turned back to his data.

This time, he was greeted by Nurse Chapel upon entering sickbay. "Is there something I can do for you?", she asked, checking his appearance for signs of illness or injury. "I'm just here to visit Bones.", he explained, shaking the cardboard box with both hands. "He is cleaning out our stock and doing some counting. He's probably finished in a few minutes.", Chapel said to him. "I'll wait in his office.", Kirk decided.

The Captain spent the next few minutes taking the game out of its box and placing the colorful board on Bones' desk. He mixed the action cards and put the stack next to the board. He was just determining which of the small game piece he should choose for himself and Bones, when the doors behind him hissed and McCoy came running inside. He ignored Jim completely, circled his desk and hid under it. He could hear him mutter obscenities. Jim found himself laughing nervously. "Bones, you alright?", he asked. When there was no answer, Jim slid down his chair and under the table. He saw McCoy, curled up on himself. Upon seeing Jim, his friend stumbled closer and threw his arms around him. They stayed like that for a few seconds, Kirk worrying about the fact that his CMO had suddenly become unusually handsy.

Bones eventually sighed and let go. They both got up from underneath the table. Kirk looked at McCoy, his face one big question mark. Leonard leaned back in his chair. "I'm sorry, Jim. I don't know what came upon me. Kirk just kept staring at his friend. "I was just walking you see, when suddenly, I hear one of my professors from medical school talking, right around the next corner. I go and check; and as you can guess, nobody was there. So, I turn to leave, when out of nowhere, I heard him whispering into my ears. 'You are never going to make it, McCoy.', he said. Right then, I took off, and you have been there for the rest."

Now both of them where laughing. "Guess who is space happy.", McCoy intoned making his arms move like the director of a circus would. "Don't worry, I had it before, it's going away eventually.", Kirk told his friend, still chuckling. "Yeah. And in the meantime, I'm prescribing myself a shot of Bourbon." Kirk protested. "It' still morning." McCoy got the bottle. "Want some too, Jimmy?", he asked with a smile. "Yes, I do. And don't call me Jimmy, I'm not five." "No problem, Jimmy-Boy.", Bones returned, an even wider grin on his face. Kirk rolled his eyes.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. He spent almost two hours playing with Bones. After lunch, he went to his quarters to write some reports. All the strange incidents that had happened lately needed to be documented. After this was out of the way, the old boredom came back to him. He grabbed one of his antique bound books from the shelf behind him and began to read. Just like this, the day was over. He went to the mess hall and took his dinner back to his quarters.

Soon after he had finished, somebody knocked on his bathroom door. "Come in.", he shouted. The door slid open and Spock was standing in the frame. Just now Kirk remembered. "Ah, yes. Chess. I'm ready if you are.", he said as he got up. "I am.", Spock stated. He followed his First through their bathroom and into Spock's quarters. The three-dimensional chessboard was already set up on Spock's desk. Kirk was almost instantly hit by a wave of heated air. "It's hot in here.", he remarked. "I can turn the temperature down, if you wish.", Spock offered. "I can handle. I just wonder why." "I was rather cold. The heating in the astronomy lab is malfunctioning.", Spock explained. "Is everything on this ship broken?", Kirk growled, earning a raised eyebrow.

"I always wondered who has taught you to play chess.", Kirk stated and moved one of his rooks. "My father did.", Spock answered absentmindedly while studying the board. Kirk snickered. "I could have guessed." "He was rather annoyed that I would not accept the names of the pieces as they are. I believe he left the room to avoid further debate." Now, Kirk straight up laughed. "Annoyed? Sarek?", he asked, unbelieving. Spock looked at him, only now realizing what he had said. "I was of course speaking figuratively.", he corrected himself. But the damage was already done. Still laughing, Kirk moved his queen. "Checkmate.", he proudly told his Vulcan. "This was another term I had trouble understanding.", the Vulcan remarked. And then, he yawned.

Kirk looked at him, flabbergasted. "I did not know you could do that, Mister Spock.", Jim confessed. Spock looked a bit shaken too. And now, as Kirk mustered him, also quite tired. "When was the last time you have slept?", he asked his First. Spock thought for a moment. "Three days, five hours, Captain.", he finally answered. Kirk shook his head. "You go to bed, now. That's an order. I don't need any sleep deprived First Officers." "Yes, Sir.", Spock returned.

Red Alert was howling and the whole ship was shaking. Kirk was in his Captain's seat, a Klingon bird of prey on the view screen. They were hit again by the bird's torpedoes. "Fire, Mister Chekov.", he ordered, while trying to stay in his seat. "Weapon system is offline.", Chekov informed him, turning to him and smiling. "Shields are offline.", he heard Spock shout over the noise. Another torpedo hit them, and the Enterprise turned into a giant ball of flames.

Kirk was shaken rather roughly. He blinked and opened his eyes. Although it was rather dark in his room, he could still make out Spock standing over him. "Spock.", he croaked. "I have heard you scream, Captain. I decided to make sure you were not in some form of distress." "Thanks.", Kirk said, still shaken by the loss of his ship. Suddenly he realized something. "I have woken you, haven't I?", he asked somewhat guiltily. "I was merely meditating.", Spock returned. Only now Kirk saw that Spock was wearing his meditation robe. "I'm fine now. You may go back to your meditation." Spock nodded and disappeared through the bathroom door.

Kirk let his head fall back against the pillow. Something was happening on the ship, and he desperately wanted to know what. He curled up on himself, hoping that he would not have another nightmare. Some time later, he dozed off.