While Scotty, Timon and some crewmen were working on the machine, McCoy beamed aboard the scientists ship.
"Its one thing hearing Spock tell me how to do my job, but it really grinds my gears when Spocks words come out of Kirk's mouth" he ranted.
"Are they asleep?" Scotty turned to face the doctor.
"Yeah. I thought I could give him the update when they wake up." McCoy told him.
"We are not yet complete. Reversing the machine is a strenuous task. I am sympathetic to your captain and first mates situation, but patience is unfortunately the key in this task." Timon answered.
"Oh...okay... So... Um..." McCoy attempted to make conversation.
"Elena Lee is your daughter. Where's your wife?" He asked the scientist.
"She was infected with Ermagreen before I began working with Kal. The illness spread to the entire planet. Only a few individuals received vaccines." Timon explained
"What determined who got vaccines?" McCoy inquired.
"A lottery... I won two vaccine passes. I used one for myself, then for my daughter." He told the doctor.
"Ok, I see. I take it only a limited amount of vaccine was made?" McCoy said with confidence.
Timon nodded. "Kal and I have been studying as many planets as we could to find plants or animal species that could produce the cure. Our most recent study has been on Earth."
"Elena seemed awfully mad at Kal... Do you have any idea why?" Scotty blurted out.
"Kal is... Kal is a very wise man. But he cares not for children. I suppose with all the work we've been doing on trying to find a cure, I've ignored her... But she must understand, once we find a planet with the cure, Kal and I can separate and we could spend the rest of our days together... Kal would like to take his turn now." Timon told the group of starfleet crew.
His smile turned into a sneer. "He's right." Kal grunted. "Children ruined my life..."
"Now, that's not a nice thing to say. Children are the future." Scott said.
At that moment, Elena Lee entered the room somberly. She did not speak until she approached McCoy and tugged on his shirt.
"You're a doctor... Right?" She mumbled.
He knelt to her eye-level. "Yes I am, are you hurt?"
She shook her head. "Follow me."
McCoy looked at Scotty and a redshirt, he was handed a phaser by a crewman and proceeded to follow the girl into a separate room.
"My father does not know, please do not tell him." She pleaded.
"Tell him what?" McCoy asked.
"I sent the call to your ship." Elena admitted.
He raised his eyebrows, "You? How?"
Elena reached into a drawer of a nearby cupboard, she handed him a make-shift transmitter. One created from obvious spare parts of various toys and metal electronics.
"D-did you make this?" McCoy smirked, "you would make an excellent engineer."
"Kal thinks highly of my father, not so much for me. I read all books in the library, while they were making inventions. I've known how to make the cure for a little while. It's stated in an old book, almost like a recipe." She explained.
"If you've known, why not tell your father?" McCoy replied.
"It involves the blood of Earth specimens... Mixed with the DNA of a Vulcan. Other ingredients can be found on this ship." Elena's eyes began to water. "I thought if I put the two men into the machine, I could take their fused blood and cure Kal..."
McCoy stood up and shook his head. "You must understand what you did, you put my friends life in danger for a selfish reason. And it didn't even need to happen in the first place. It was for nothing, my friends lives are at risk for nothing..."
"What do you mean? I thought the Vulcan and human fusing would be enough of a mixture-" she was interrupted.
McCoy placed his hands on her shoulder. "Spock is half-human. That would have been enough of a mixture in itself... As well as, if you asked properly, I'm sure each man would have given some blood, then you could have manually mixed the two together... Elena Lee, you made a mistake. People do that..."
He could see her face was flushed with regret, her eyes were damp.
McCoy slowly smiled at the child, "do you want to help fix it?
She nodded eagerly.
"Ok. Let's go." He gave his hand to the child and they promptly returned to tending the machine.