Leonard McCoy told Solan, Helek, and Ajah what he had planned, and that Spock agreed to it. "You have to be kidding," Solan said. "You actually want to go back down to that planet?"

"It may be the only way we can help Jim," Bones replied.

"You haven't given yourself time to help him yet. You don't know that you'll need their help."

"Solan, Jim is in serious condition. I'm going to do everything I can to help him."

"I'll go with you," Ajah volunteered.

"I will too," Helek said. "We'll just fight if we have to."

"Are you sure we're not going to get into trouble by going back down to this planet?" Solan asked. "What is Starfleet going to say?"

"I don't know," Bones replied. "I'm not even sure Spock has gotten in touch with them yet. You know communications here are non-existent."

"Right."

"Since you said we, I assume that means you're going."

"Of course I'm going. What did I come here for? To sit on the ship and twiddle my thumbs?"

"Speaking of sitting on the ship…I'm not staying with the ship this time," Helek said.

"Someone has to," Bones replied. "You remember what happened last time. What if you had not been there? Besides, it won't take all of us to go to that village."

"I'll stay with the ship," Ajah volunteered. "I don't mind being alone."

"Great. We have to go to the Elders' village because they are our only hope of getting any help."

"And what if they don't want to help?" Solan asked.

"Then I'll take samples from those trees and I'll do something myself."

"Why don't you do that anyway? How do you know you can trust them? After all, Cax said nothing on that planet is what it seems. It's all a lie. You're relying on some the word of some birdman who is from that planet. You don't know if he's telling you the truth or not."

Bones paced back and forth. "No, I don't know," he said. "But if he's lying, he's very convincing."

Helek held his hand up with glowing eyes and made electricity dance between his fingers. "Why don't I give him a lie detector test?" he asked.

Ajah shook his head. "You think that would really work?" he asked.

"It might."

"We can't torture him," Solan declared.

"Who said anything about torture?" Helek asked. "I'd scare the truth out of him. He wouldn't know I won't shock his hide. I could just give him a little zap and…you know, threaten him. After all, he did see our display down there."

"Who didn't see it?"

"You may be right," Bones said. "But we wouldn't know for sure if he was telling the truth."

"Get Spock to do a mind meld," Solan suggested.

"If it comes to that. Just be ready."

Bones left the mess hall and went back to the medical bay to check on Jim again. Carol still sat beside his bed. "You should get some rest," Bones said.

"I wouldn't rest if I left here," Carol replied.

"So, use that bed over there."

Carol looked at the empty bio bed beside Jim's. "Okay, if I look that bad," she said.

Bones got her a blanket and she lay down on the bed. Then he went back over to Jim. He looked at the readings and they were all still the same. He knew Jim would be climbing the wall if he was not sedated. "I'm going to figure this out, Jim," he said. "You just hang in there."

Bones left the medical bay and went to the Bridge where Spock sat in the captain's chair reading something on a pad. "Spock," he said.

"Yes, Doctor," Spock answered.

"Did you get in touch with Starfleet?"

"No. We were unable to reach them." Spock stopped what he was doing. "I do believe that fact may work to our advantage."

Bones scowled at that. "What do you mean?"

"They may not approve of our returning to the planet and causing more havoc."

"Spock, are you being sneaky?"

"If I am, I learned it from my friend who is in dire need of our help."

"Yeah. Solan, Helek, and Ajah agreed to go with me."

"Doctor, can Jim overcome this without any special treatment?" Spock asked.

Bones frowned. "I don't know," he said. "This is one time I truly don't know."

"I will remain aboard the Enterprise. You are in command of this mission. You must remember that we cannot know if you are in danger."

Bones nodded. "I realize that. If we're gone too long, you will come and find us, right?"

"Most likely. One other question: if Jim regains consciousness while you are away, is the medical staff ready to deal with such a contingency?"

"I'll make sure they are. Spock, if he wakes up and gets out of that medical bay, he would be more of a danger to himself than anyone else, I think, but if he felt threatened, I don't know what he might do."

"Understood."

"Don't let anyone hurt him, Spock."

"You needn't worry about that."

Bones nodded. "Right. We'll do this as quickly as possible." He left the Bridge and went to his own guest quarters. He had to pack a few things to take with him including some things from the medical bay. He got into his electro-suit once again and then headed for the medical bay. He met Solan on the way, who was already wearing his electro-suit.

"I've got a shuttle prepped for this trip," Solan said.

"Good. I have to get some things from the medical bay. Are the others ready?"

"Yes. They're waiting for us."

"I'll be there shortly."

Bones went to the medical bay and began filling a medical kit. Carol came over to him. "You're going down there," she said. "How did you get permission from Spock to do that?"

"He wants to help Jim as much as I do," Bones replied. "Don't tell me that you want to go."

"No. I don't. I want to stay here with Jim."

"I thought you might."

"Doctor, what should I do if he wakes up while you're gone?"

Bones stopped what he was doing. "He won't know you," he said. "Unless I'm completely wrong about this. He could be violent, he could not. You'll have to assess what to do. But they should sedate him again."

"What has this thing done to him?"

"Scrambled his brains. We just have to figure out how to unscramble them."

"I'm going to do some research while you're gone."

"Good. I'll be glad for all the help I can get."

"Don't get captured down there."

"We won't. We're going to be careful."

Bones finished his medical kit and then went over to Jim again. "You behave yourself while I'm gone," he said, but then frowned. He looked at Carol. "I'll see you when we get back."

Carol hugged him. "Be careful."

"We will."

Bones left the medical bay. He was just a little angry about this situation. Could no one in the galaxy live in a little peace without some crazy maniac trying to do them harm? He went to the shuttle bay where Helek and Ajah stood at the boarding ramp of a shuttle. "The shuttle's ready," Ajah said.

"Let's get going," Bones replied.

They boarded the shuttle, and Solan closed the boarding ramp. They were soon turning away from the Enterprise and back toward Garresant. "You think any of the moons have life on them?" Solan asked.

"I don't know," Bones said. "But if it's no better than this planet, I don't want to see it. You have the right coordinates, right?"

"I do but the atmosphere of this planet makes everything go crazy, you know. It's like flying blind."

"Well, can you figure out where the right forest is?"

"I'm trying. I studied it and created myself a map so I wouldn't need the scopes."

Bones scowled at that. "You did what?" he asked.

"Haven't you ever had a map?" Solan asked.

"What kind of map?"

"A map of this terrain."

Bones unbuckled his harness and leaned up to see what Solan was looking at. "You made this yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah. After you told us we were going down here again, I knew we needed some way to find the right place."

Bones shook his head and sat back down. "Solan, you should have joined Starfleet and become a captain."

"Me? I could never do what Jim did."

"You were in it with us a lot of the time."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't want to be responsible for other people's lives like that."

Solan soon found a clearing that was not too far from the village of the elders. Ajah stayed in the ship while the others exited after they activated their helmets. He closed the ramp and watched them disappear into the forest. He would be glad to have some quiet while he sat there. He had been trying to write another novel but had not been able to get one going. Since everything would be quiet in the ship right now, he thought it would be a good time to try.

Bones, Helek, and Solan headed into the forest of giant trees, dodging around gigantic leaves. "Stop a minutes," Bones said. "I'm getting a sample of this leaf." He cut into the leaf and it certainly had a syrupy substance inside it. He got a sample of that as well as a sample of the green part of the leaf. "That should be enough."

After about an hour, they arrived at the village. One of the bird people met them at the edge of the village. "Why are you back here?" Zish asked.

"We need help," Bones replied. "We need to know how to help our friend. We found him but he's in very bad shape. Please, if you know how to help him, tell me."

Zish looked behind him and then back at Bones. "I know someone who might be able to help you. Follow me."

They followed Zish through the forest behind the village, and then around to a tree which had one of the village cabins in it. Bones looked up at the cabin. "How do we get up there?" he asked.

"I will lower the ladder to you after I ask if Misha will see you."

They watched as Zish flew up to the walkway that surrounded the cabin. He went into the cabin. "What if this person won't see us?" Solan asked.

"We'll find another way," Bones replied.

Zish soon came out of the cabin and dropped a long ladder that was made from the vines they had seen in the forest. "I can't believe it," Bones said as he grabbed the ladder.

They climbed to the walkway, and Zish showed them into the cabin where an old bird woman sat perched on a chair. She had bluish feathers but she also had a blanket around her. "These are the men who want to see you, Grandma," Zish said.

The woman eyed them a moment. "You say you want to cure your friend?" she asked.

"Yes," Bones replied. "He was on this planet several days."

"Hmmm. We do not know why the trees have such an effect on humans. When it was discovered, it was used as an advantage."

"Why? Why would you want to integrate other species?"

"Well, Garath and his tribe were dwindling in size, and he developed a way to bring humans into his tribe. Not only that, he even creates a sort of…love potion for the females."

Bones was dumbfounded. "Not another love potion," he said. "Let me guess, it does nothing, and they just believe it does."

"No. It actually works."

"Is that why they have a violent mating season?"

"Violent?"

"Well…anyway. How do we cure my friend?" Bones asked.

"Did you see the mountainous region to the Northeast?" Misha asked.

"Not exactly."

"In the valley there grows a certain type of flower. A serum can be made from that flower that will cure your friend of the effects of the trees."

"What kind of flower?" Bones asked.

"The Chiono Heldrichi is a medium-sized plant. It blooms once a year, for 3 months.
It has huge, heart shaped leaves, which are usually forest green. It also grows quite large flowers, which are dark red. They grow in huge groups, and they can be brewed as tea. They rely on wind pollination to reproduce, and once pollinated, they produce edible nuts. You have to get to them before they begin pollination. It will begin with the winds. There are some flowers which are yellow, but you only want the red ones. The yellow ones are the ones Garath uses for his serum to break down the will."

"So, we have to go to the mountains. When do the winds begin?"

"They usually begin after the mating season. Several days now."

"We appreciate your help," Bones said. "I just don't understand why you all go along with Garath if you don't like what he's doing."

"I didn't come from Garath's tribe."

"A group of bird folk attacked us when we were on the planet before."

"Could have been the Jarre, or the Garre."

"They didn't intend for us to leave the planet."

"The Garre. The Jarre would have wanted you to leave or simply to kill you to keep you from becoming one of the Garre."

Solan blew out a breath. "I never heard of anything like this in my life and I thought I'd been everywhere," he declared.

"I'll be glad when we're out of here never to return," Helek replied.

They descended the rope and headed back to the ship after Zish got them out of the village. "Good luck," he said as they parted.

Bones, Solan, and Helek kept their weapons at the ready as they walked through the jungle. "You think they'll attack us again?" Solan asked.

"Better safe than sorry," Bones replied.

They moved through the jungle toward the area where they left the ship. Nothing happened in their trek through the jungle, but it was starting to get dark again. "We must have been out there longer than I thought," Bones said as they came to the clearing where the ship was.

They boarded the ship and closed the boarding ramp. "Should we wait till morning to go up there?" Helek asked. "We certainly can't find that flower in the dark."

"We could get some rest tonight," Bones replied. "Why don't we go back to the Enterprise and figure out our path to the mountains?"

"I'm with you whatever you say," Solan said.

"We can inform Spock about what we're doing."

They were soon on their way to the Enterprise. Once aboard, Bones filled Spock in about what they would do next. "I believe we could all use some rest," Spock said. "Now that we know Jim is safe, we should be able to rest."

"I agree with that," Bones replied. "I didn't want to stay down there all night worrying about some violent bird people attacking our ship. I'd just as soon be on the Enterprise. I'm gonna check on Jim and then I'm going to bed."

"I will accompany you to the medical bay."

They walked to the medical bay where Jim still lay unconscious. Carol was lying on the bed beside his. She was not asleep yet, however. "How is he, Doctor?" she asked.

Bones looked at the readings. "His vitals seem to be better," he said. "He's resting better too. That's a good thing. Has he moved at all?"

"No. What did you find on the planet?"

"We have to gather some flowers and make some sure for him. So tomorrow my team and I will be picking flowers in some valley with one hand and have a weapon in the other. If we ever get Jim cured, I hope I never see this planet again, and I may never go on another mission."

Spock and Bones left the medical bay, and Carol finally fell asleep…