"I'm telling you I'm needed at the hospital!" McCoy argued for the fifth time. A few others waiting for tables in the restaurant stared in his direction. And they're not even Vulcan, he thought sourly, but he lowered his voice to a hiss. "Sa'd and Srre found that the three hybrids who came in yesterday have the disease! They're coming down here from the orbital station tonight. And Rrelthiz is coming in too. Someone's got to show her around, and I said I would."
"Sorry, Bones." Kirk didn't look sorry at all. "But I have my orders. Sorel and Daniel said it was time for your night off, and I was to drag you out bodily if necessary."
Amanda patted his arm. "Give in, Leonard. At least have dinner with me since I can't get my husband or my son to do it. I wish someone would throw them out for a night."
"See?" McCoy hollered. Now the Vulcans turned pointedly with other waiting patrons. "No one's dragging them out to a dinner they don't want!"
"I'm insulted," Amanda said cheerfully. He hastily apologized, but she waved it away. "And the truth is, they took breaks earlier today. Sarek was needed for other duties and came home afterwards. He brought Spock with him. Now, you will have a good meal and clear your head. Doctor's orders."
"Not from this doctor."
Kirk patted him on the back. "Face it, Bones, you lose. Be gracious about it."
He couldn't argue because the maitre d' came up to Amanda with a huge smile just then. The place was a favorite of both hers and Sarek's, and they had brought McCoy and Kirk here before. It was an Italian restaurant with authentic food, run by a human family who immigrated here from the Deneb system years ago. It was popular with Vulcans and non-Vulcans alike.
Amanda was talking with the owner himself, but too low for McCoy to hear. He tried so hard that he jumped when Kirk spoke to him.
"I'm leaving my own work, you know. But Spock's filling in for me just like other people are filling in for you. We don't do anybody any good by pushing ourselves into collapsing."
"I know the clichés too, Jim."
"Good. Listen to them."
Amanda turned back to them with a smile. "Table's this way."
They followed their host, who paid effusive attention to Amanda, to a table much larger than they needed. A semi-circular bench curved around it, able to hold at least six people. Two more chairs stood at the head. The table was within sight of the door, so they were taking their seats in a few seconds.
"Are we expecting other people?" Kirk asked. McCoy slid to the middle of the bench seat and Kirk went next to him.
"Possibly." She glided in from the other side and took the handed menu, exchanging words with Angelo in some other language.
McCoy waited for him to leave. "Spock and Sarek coming after all?"
"Maybe." She passed the menus around. "Maybe others that I will need your help with. I had to clear my schedule too if it makes you feel any better." She didn't smile, but she gave them a calm, confident look. "I asked that you be spared tonight for a reason."
Why didn't someone just say so? McCoy wondered, but realized Amanda would tell them if it became necessary.
Their drinks came, and he took in a big mouthful, letting the coolness seep into him.
"Leonard?"
His eyes met hers over the glass rim.
"Can you tell us what's being done at the hospital? The three people at the orbital station, now that Sa'd diagnosed them with the disease, what does it mean?"
He sipped this time, long and slow, then put the glass down. "It means a few things. The first is that our theory about the planet causing the disease is blown away. So we're left with something in their chemical or genetic makeup acting like a time bomb, or that the Romulans are killing them off for some other reason. Or some bigots are attacking them. I know Sarek, Jim, and Spock are doing what they can to track that down. The second change is our work searching for an environmental cause was a waste."
Seeing Amanda's lips press together made him wince.
"It happens sometimes. But we had to do that work, we couldn't know it wasn't necessary. And it's not like we didn't do any other research. The first priority now is halting Phase III before someone else dies. We talked to all the patients about putting the worst cases in stasis chambers. We're almost tempted to put everyone in Phase III in them, but they're digging their heels in anyway. But the worst cases... eight have said yes so far and we think we'll have two more. With those ten safe, we go ahead and do everything possible for the others. Worst comes to worst, we can put them in stasis too."
"To buy us time."
"Yeah. We got to find that cure. Whether that means finding the Romulans or a hate group or just finding it. But this move with the stasis chambers gets us time to do that. We even talked to Saavik about using one before Phase II hit. She shot that idea down before we got it out of our mouths."
Amanda's mouth twitched and then sadly stilled. "I'm sure she did. She woke up out of healing sleep into this nightmare. She's not doing that again if she can help it."
"You saw her?"
Amanda sounded defensive. "I try to see her everyday. She doesn't get many visitors, Len."
"I know, I stopped by too." He glanced at Kirk who looked suddenly guilty.
"Do you know, I got so caught up with pressing Spock and then the work -- No, I haven't. I will."
"I'm glad Spock tried to see her that one time." McCoy sighed loudly. "I told her he tried, but she didn't seem to believe me." He shook his head. "Just so you're prepared, Jim, it's no better on her side. She's damned stiff whenever I pop in, and I have a medical excuse to be there. I don't know what bothers her more – that she hasn't seen Spock coming by or that my being there emphasizes he's not coming by. Or just that I'm a friend of his. She doesn't know what the hell to say to me. She's polite -- don't get me wrong – we both are. That's the hell of it."
Amanda's eyes sparked. It was the only indication she was angry besides her carefully setting her own glass down. "This has to stop. Now. And I'd be grateful if anyone has any ideas."
"If I can just get that information from Michan!" Kirk lamented.
"What good will it do?" Amanda was as mad as McCoy ever saw her. "Spock was there when we discussed it, and I told Saavik what we thought. But he hasn't tried to see her since that once, and every time I visit her, she chases me out in case it upsets Spock!" She snapped her napkin as she laid it on her lap. "Do you know, I actually understand what they're going through? I think that frustrates me more. When Sarek was ill with his heart problems, you must have wondered how I didn't know. I'm bonded to him and had no clue. Because he thought he'd save me from the situation and put me at a distance so I wouldn't sense it. It took me some time to get over that hurt." She looked over at them. "And now Spock and Saavik are struggling with their trust, and even though I understand, it's more frustrating than being one of the people doing something about. I'm two steps away from throwing them in a room together and not letting them out until they deal with the whole thing."
"Good solution!" McCoy cheered. "Remind me to use it sometime."
But Kirk was still on his original point. "Proof goes a long way with a Vulcan."
She almost rolled her eyes.
"If we have proof, they have to listen."
McCoy snorted.
"And if not..." Kirk grinned. "… I'll help fling them into that room. And at least I'll be happy to have one mystery cleared up. In the meantime, I'll stop by Saavik's room. At least she has Vi'hai and the others for company until we straighten this out."
But Amanda negated that idea immediately. "They don't go near each other if they can help it. Vi'hai and Pekhi's marriage is – was a rare exception. They'd never be in that ward jammed together if they weren't all in the same phase."
Their waiter came back with salads, and no one said anything while he was there. McCoy almost ordered another drink before remembering Amanda's comment about possibly needing his help. He ordered lemonade instead – or what tasted like lemonade here on Vulcan.
With the waiter gone, he said, "I wondered why the privacy walls are closed so often. And I couldn't figure out how they could stand being together. Never thought of the simple answer: they can't."
"But why not?" Kirk asked. "After what they've been through together."
"But that's just it, Jim." Amanda suddenly stopped eating and just poked at her dinner salad. "They didn't go through it together. They went through it in spite of and against each other. Nothing they needed to live existed in enough quantities for all of them. To get food, you had to beat someone else to it, and then be prepared to fight to the death to keep it. You read the report, Jim, you know what they did to each other."
McCoy began to feel ill by the abundant smell of food in the restaurant. Kirk looked down at his plate, his lips going tight, and he shoved the salad away. "But if they banded together--"
"What then? Spread a piece of food not filling for one person to five people? That's how they looked at it."
"And then five die instead of one. By the time Symmetry arrives, a handful are alive instead of thirty-three." His hazel eyes clouded. "But I still think they're better off together. Didn't any of them try? If not then, what about now on Vulcan?"
She nodded. "As I said, Vi'hai and Pekhi. A few others. And then the Vulcans on Hellguard helped some. Look at Saavik and T'Pren."
"T'Pren?" he asked. "The woman who escaped to my ship? She knew Saavik?"
"You haven't heard that story? It's a good one... if you can pry it out of her."
"Why wouldn't she--"
McCoy saw everything that meld years ago between Spock and Saavik had revealed: her desperate bid to fight the guards so T'Pren could escape; stealing a knife from a Centurion's boot; Vulcans refusing to enter death cages, but going in for Saavik's sake; the vile beating from the guards raining on her small body until she escaped by using the knife, living in fear of the enemy coming back for her, killing her… "The story has a lot of bad turns to it, Jim. It's hard to separate it out."
Amanda patted his hand, held it, and he realized he was clenching his knife in a fist.
The waiter returned, took away the unwanted salads and told them their entrees would be out shortly.
Kirk tried to pick up the threads of the conversation. "So some Vulcans tried to help out anyway. Just like some families are supportive here."
"Yes, some are," Amanda said quietly. "They don't let the past color their thinking or they learn not to."
"Like Srre?"
"Yes, like him. What's interesting is Srre's mother and sister never blamed Mal'Shik for what happened on Hellguard, they always accepted him. But Srre didn't and his half-brother knew it. They competed too. Mal'Shik wanted to be a healer, and he actually was the more talented of the two of them, especially his telepathic senses. He could have rivaled Sorel or perhaps even surpassed him. Srre's working with the survivors now is his way to make peace for the years he shut Mal'Shik out. At least that's what I think."
"Shame he didn't realize that before his brother died."
"Yes, it is. I wonder how many others will be like that. The ones that can't see beyond the pain of what happened in the past and do only what is required of them. Some even let an association with the issue bias them. T'Pren's family has rejected Saavik's request to discuss her with them. They do not want Saavik to even mention her prior relationship with T'Pren, and they weren't related."
McCoy wished he had ordered that second drink. At length, he broke their silence. "Is anyone besides me desperate for good news?"
His companions gave very small, breathy laughs for the sake of it more than feeling like it.
"Look," he said. He stunk at being the cheerleader and he knew it, but someone had to say something. "We're going to beat this thing. We will. We're going to keep the worst cases safe, we've narrowed down causes – okay, not a lot, but we're not looking in the wrong direction anymore. We've got the best minds and resources at our disposal, and… and ..."
Amanda smiled weakly. "And Saavik's out of Phase I."
"Right. And Saavik's out of Phase I."
"Which reminds me, I have to talk to her about something. Perhaps after dinner."
"Uh..." McCoy cleared his throat. "If it's what I think you want to talk over with her, she's already given her answer. She's not… um, choosing anybody for Phase II."
Kirk frowned while Amanda gave another little laugh, more heartfelt this time, and shook her head. "I should have known that given the chance, she'd defy a forced choice. It's not like when we thought Phase II was for real, and the first few hastily picked bondmates." She suddenly sobered. "It was a good decision for those who wanted each other anyway, like Pekhi and Vi'hai, but for the others--"
She trailed off, and the men waited, Kirk finally asking, "The others?"
"We're only talking about a few people, but some used it as an opportunity to ally themselves with greater Houses." Her temper flared. "It's wrong and it's sad because it's not the usual circumstances. The hybrids are rejected enough. They didn't need spouses using them. Not when--" She stopped.
"Not when they thought they were finally getting acceptance," Kirk finished.
She nodded sadly. She looked up suddenly. "Don't get me wrong. I've played my share of matchmaking and we have a higher rate for successful marriages than Earth. Everybody plays matchmaker here, but this was something different."
"Nizar," McCoy asked, "what about his marriage?"
"There's something else. She came to his bedside, I hear. So she found he meant something to her after all, or she had enough integrity to be with him when he really needed her. That raises my opinion of her. Nizar was the last one to marry. The others didn't when it wasn't necessary."
Kirk interrupted. "How did they ever find out it wasn't – that it was part of the disease and not fatal?"
"One of them was trapped alone and survived. And the fact the women were going through it with male symptoms." Amanda shared a glance with McCoy. "Have you heard--?"
"Yeah, it's something I wanted to check out while I'm here. I'll tell you later, Jim."
"So what's Saavik going to do?" Kirk asked.
McCoy knew Jim was thinking of the ritual combat and feeling old aches. "Just live through it. It's not going to be fun, and she's kind of giving a tidal wave an obscene gesture right before it hits her rowboat, but it's certainly an option. It's something you would do, Jim."
"Me!"
"Uh huh. I know you're thinking you'd never turn down a chance to--" He suddenly remembered he sat next to Spock's mother. "—to... uh..."
Amanda laughed, bright and sparkling and for real. "You two really are sweet." Something made her look towards the restaurant's lobby. "Ah yes. Our guests came after all. Gentlemen, you wanted to be useful."
Like hers, McCoy's seat faced the door so he got a clear look that made his heart freeze. His reaction came from too many missions near and against the inhabitants behind the Neutral Zone.
Three Romulans stood in the lobby.
No, wrong -- he reacted like a doctor this time -- three of his patients stood in the lobby, a woman and two men. They spread out in the space, the woman leaning on a wall to the left, the tall, almost painfully lean male looking at the pictures and artifacts on the right wall, and the shorter – in comparison to the other – but more muscular male stood dead center. They tried very hard, too hard, to appear normal; at least, the woman and the skinny male did. Her hip and shoulder lay against the wall while her ankles and arms crossed nonchalantly, but her eyes darted in every direction. The veins in the tall man's neck stood out like chords, and he jumped as people flowed around him.
But the last male's feet were spread apart in the stance of a fighter, his hands in their fingerless, leather gloves were almost in fists, and his eyes challenged everyone in the room. Antonio and other waiting patrons gave them a wide berth.
The saying went "If it looks like a Vulcan but acts emotionally, it's a Romulan." Not in this case. Not quite.
But what do you call a half-Romulan that chooses not to be Vulcan? And not to be a Romulan for that matter. McCoy wondered. Especially with that last guy just itching for a fight.
Amanda ignored that or didn't see it; she was crossing the room, calling a friendly greeting as she got closer. Antonio looked enormously relieved.
McCoy scrambled to his feet and ran with Kirk to get behind Amanda.
"I'm glad you found your way with no problems," she was saying.
"I still don't get why we're here," the half-Romulan woman said. "They told us we were going to the hospital."
Only one other female hybrid turned down the genetic scan besides Saavik. So this is Jdehn. She wore a khaki colored jumpsuit with work gloves sticking out of one pocket and a few tools clipped to her belt. Heavy ship boots protected her feet and rose her another few inches so she was as tall as McCoy. Her hair was a medium brown as were her eyes, and she bore a few extra pounds giving her a rounder figure than any of her compatriots. But then, the only other hybrids McCoy saw were in Phase III and, of course, Saavik whose build was completely different.
"You'll have to eventually," Amanda answered. "But I wanted your first time on Vulcan to be more pleasant than that."
"Didn' you hear?" the well-built male sneered. "We're the ones that don' like Vulcan."
Amanda smiled. "That's why we're in an Italian restaurant."
His voice was heavily accented. He was as tall as Jdehn without needing boots for it, although he wore them, and he had darker coloring. The bulky muscles in his arms made them form an A-line to his body. Scar tissue bordered his eyes, and his nose was broken at least once without being healed properly.
He is a fighter! McCoy realized, recognizing the signs of a boxer or some other similar type of athlete. What he couldn't do was identify who the man was. The pictures in his head of the rescued Hellguard children didn't help without a name. They had changed too much with time and a decent diet. This dark eyed, angular faced male was similar enough in that respect to the taller one that McCoy didn't know which of the two names in his head he should use. Would it help if he just guessed and called it out?
McCoy eyed the strutting confidence. No, it wouldn't. Damn, I feel old.
That strutting confidence became worse as it focused on Amanda. "Ain't that sweet. Slayin' the fatted calf for us, eh?"
"Well, not quite. This is Vulcan."
The tall male smiled, once and quickly, but otherwise looked too wary to move. Jdehn was… waiting, not sure. In the next second, she stepped away, showing she was no part of the problem. Her tall companion nervously did the same.
Kirk bristled next to McCoy as they stood at Amanda's shoulders. The younger man took them in with one glance and disregarded them disdainfully, not even caring he stood alone. Worse, he looked back down on Amanda, and suddenly, the predator saw weakness. He ignored McCoy's shout and Kirk's step forward.
We are so going to get our asses kicked.
Someone darted in, slipping between Amanda and her assailant so smoothly, no one saw her coming until she was just there: Saavik.
"Stand back," she ordered the male.
McCoy couldn't see around her so he took a step sideways, using this opportunity to slip a hand into the medical pouch on his hip. He felt the length of the hypo, calculating how much time he'd need to load it with a tranquilizer. He glanced at Kirk who also moved a step aside as a backup to Saavik's ready stance. He nodded that he understood the doctor's plan.
Saavik had a bit of height over her opponent, but he had the muscle. Everything was in his favor. They made an incongruous picture. She wore a cream dress that flowed down her lines, sleeveless so her arms were free to move, and slits on the sides giving her legs the same liberty. He wore his thick vest like a warrior's chest plate.
Except, from this angle, McCoy saw physical stature wasn't what counted. Neither did arrogant behavior. Saavik was staring her opponent down. Staring him down!
The male blinked and gathered himself again.
A punk like that will strike out just so he doesn't lose face. Why doesn't somebody get help? He wished Amanda had told him what he'd be facing. He didn't have anything to knock out a bull elephant.
Saavik stopped it from going further. "Do you know whom you address?"
The male's conceit was rising again. "I know you, Saavik."
"Not I. Her. Your clue was seeing the only human woman who is this Vulcan. Think on that and remember who saved your life years ago." Her voice was calm but hard, and her eyes drilled with dominance.
The male glanced sideways at Amanda, keeping his face and body to Saavik. The arrogance suddenly drained from him, changing to sophomoric remorse. "Sorry. I didn' know."
"The point is treat no one as you just did her, Mekhai. Understood?"
He bridled at his name, but said nothing. Amanda tapped Saavik's arm with clear affection. "I'm sure it is. And with that settled, why don't we sit down?"
"Amanda," someone called.
Three Vulcans stood purposefully behind them and to the side, dressed in the uniforms of the Vulcan Science and Exploration Division. McCoy felt a wave of relief. What do you know? The cavalry was here all the time.
No police force existed on Vulcan. In the centuries of peace following Surak, such an organization wasn't necessary. But with the large intake of offworlders, problems arose. Thankfully, they were rare, extremely rare as Vulcan and its sedate style was not enticing to a rowdy crowd. But for the sparse problems, the VSE was asked to expand its duty towards maintaining order with Starfleet's aid.
Amanda saw the group and addressed the Vulcan male standing at the point of his trio. "Stron! I didn't know your ship was home. It's good to see you, although I apologize for the inconvenience. Let me introduce you."
Stron glanced over Mekhai, Jdehn, and the remaining hybrid who McCoy now knew. That Vulcan expression revealed nothing except the usual stoicism, but he must have recognized Mekhai and the others for what they were. Criterion, Perceptor, Constant, and Diversity -- even the Symmetry -- were Science and Exploration division ships and the existence of the Hellguard survivors was well known.
Stron was familiar with Kirk and McCoy's names even though Amanda didn't give ranks or titles, and he bowed his head in respect. So did the man and woman at his shoulders.
"You've met Saavik," Amanda continued pleasantly. "And this is Commander Stron and Subcommanders T'Mes and Soluk, all of the VSE." She turned to the newly arrived half-Romulans. "I'm sorry, but I'm unsure of your names."
"If I may," McCoy said and indicated each person. "Jdehn, Mekhai, and Arik."
Three heads swivelled in his direction. "Who are you?" Mekhai demanded.
"Your doctor."
Jdehn snorted. "Good job, Mekhai. Nothing like pissing off the guy who's trying to save your life."
McCoy winked at her while Mekhai bounced in his boots with embarrassed temper. He snapped at Stron, "You can take off now. You heard her." He jerked his head at Amanda. "Everythin's under control."
That boy is too damned angry at the universe. He's going to hurt himself or someone else if he doesn't get that chip off his shoulder.
Soluk's head reared back. He was one of the few Vulcans McCoy ever saw with a beard, and if that powerful gaze was aimed at him, he'd shake.
But T'Mes broke formation and exchanged light glances with Amanda. "Then we will return to our dinner. Peace and long life to you all. Amanda, I wish you well with your situation. My husband--" She held out her two first fingers, and after a pause, Stron touched them with his. They walked away, Soluk trailing.
Amanda's smile was contained to her eyes, acknowledging T'Mes' amusement. She turned to her own party. "Now there's an example of an arranged marriage that works. Shall we be seated?"
Saavik kept between Amanda and the other three, and when they reached the table, she sat on the end -- Amanda protectively on the inside -- across from them where she could watch and get out quickly if necessary.
McCoy grumbled to himself as he and Jim took their previous places. Nice of Saavik to assume we don't need protecting.
Kirk turned his body in his seat so he too was watching the three hybrids. Arik sat next to him, still anxious, just as Jdehn on his left was still wary. Mekhai deliberately took the end seat so he was crosswise from Saavik whom he watched intently. She remained unfazed by him, which only rankled him more.
Amanda signaled the waiter over. "Can we get you something?"
Arik answered so quietly the waiter asked him to repeat it. Mekhai bit out his order, and then addressed the silent table. "How comfy, all us pals sittin' here."
"Why did you ever keep the accent?" Saavik asked, drawing out the acerbic question.
Jdehn turned to him too. "Yeah, I meant to ask you the same thing. What the hell is that?"
His answering scorn targeted Saavik. "I ain't the one tryin' to pass."
She arched her eyebrows, still unintimidated. "I am not 'passing', as you put it. I am Vulcan. I obtained my citizenship."
Arik burst out, "You got that without the gen scan?"
She nodded.
But Jdehn was scoffing at Mekhai. "It's got nothin' to do with passin', you moron, it's just not smart to wear a sign that shouts 'I used to be a Romulan'."
"At least I ain't pretendin' to be somethin' I ain't."
Jdehn snorted again. "Poetry."
Kirk asked Mekhai calmly, "Is that what you think everyone else is doing? Lying about who they are?"
McCoy saw Saavik finally register Jim's presence. He smiled at her, and she looked hesitant, confused, before dipping her head in return.
"Well, lookit her!" Mekhai stabbed a finger at Saavik. "Sittin' there like a tame pet! She's the worst of us!" He leaned forward across the table as far as he could go. "You think I forgot? On the ship, we're out, it's all over, and you still terrorizin' us! I gotta let what happened on the planet go, but not the ship. You pounded on me. Don't try lyin' about it!"
"I had no intention of lying."
His fist slammed down on the table, making everything shake and bounce together with metallic clinks and glass pingings. People at other tables scowled in his direction.
"Knock it off!" Jdehn hissed. "You're making it worse! You got Arik so worked up, he's afraid we'll attack him! He's the youngest, he's the next to go if this place runs out of food." She paled before the sound of her words died out in the air. "Arik, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Arik pressed back against the bench seat like he wanted to slide behind Kirk. His long legs kept bumping into McCoy's as they scrambled from their tangle around the table's.
"I didn't mean it like that," Jdehn begged him. "I was tryin' to make a point that--" She swept the faces around the table with a desperate plea. "I'm not like this anymore, I swear. I bet none of us are, and we're not together one day..." She dropped her head on her hands, her thumbs digging into her closed eyes. "Shit."
At that untimely moment, the food was laid on the table. Four bodies stiffened, four pair of eyes targeted each other, watching for opening moves. Saavik looked away first, taking a deep steadying breath that didn't seem to work. Mekhai's hands clenched together, and McCoy thought he saw Arik tremble.
Silence.
Then Amanda spoke with a voice both gentle and teasing. "Do I have to take the silverware off the table?"
Everyone stared at her, except Saavik's disbelief lasted only a second. She conveyed plainly that nothing Amanda did surprised her anymore.
Jdehn was wide eyed. "I can't believe you just said that."
"It is a diplomat's maneuver," Saavik answered, eyes on Amanda who smiled beautifully in return. "Disarm a difficult situation with the unexpected."
Kirk chuckled from experience.
"It usually works," Amanda said cheerfully.
Mekhai gave a laugh that was a short, dark, explosion. "You wanna get rid of weapons, more than the silverware's gotta go."
"Really?" She made it sound like a debate on etiquette. "What else? Come now, no use hiding as you said before. What happened, happened. You needn't be afraid to discuss it."
He gaped at her, then "The candle" was pulled out of him in a whisper.
"The plates," Jdehn half-sobbed, looking down at her lap.
"The glasses," Arik murmured with furtive glances at the other three.
A heartbeat of silence before McCoy saw Amanda nudge Saavik under cover of the tabletop. She wasn't going to let her favorite ruin the peacetalks.
Teeth nearly clenched: "The tablecloth."
"Indeed?" Amanda's surprise changed to thoughtfulness. "Do I want the explanation?"
"No."
Mekhai jeered at Saavik. "Yeah, you'd think of that. So much for playin' Vulcan."
Again, she bent her will against him. "Quiet."
Again, he yielded even as he seethed.
Into this tense stillness, Arik turned to McCoy. "If we're talking about all this, maybe you can you tell me? Are we really dead in a year?"
Mekhai shot up, but made the mistake of keeping his fork in his hand. Instinctively, he spun it so he grasped it like a dagger. Saavik saw it and was on her feet before he shifted it in his hand. Her lunge made Jdehn bounce up and step back, hitting Arik who almost leapt over the bench for safety. The latter two watched the former pair, quivering with the anticipation for the assumed outcome, and even McCoy swore they'd never get out of this without bloodshed.
Kirk was making a move to get in the middle, the table blocking his way, and as he wrestled with it, Amanda's voice announced in authority words that McCoy couldn't translate. The four hybrids stopped, and even Saavik now stared incredulously.
With their attention on her, Amanda switched to Federation Standard. "Sit down," she ordered quietly. Like the chameleon she was, she went Vulcan.
In the best sense of the word, McCoy thought. For lack of anything else to say, he asked, "Is that what that meant? All those words to say sit down?"
Arik grinned, and it made his plain features alight with beauty. "That and a whole lot more."
Saavik was scowling darkly at her. "You agreed not to learn the language."
"I agreed not to learn it from you," Amanda corrected evenly. "I never said I wouldn't learn it from someone else. You're not the only one who speaks it on this planet."
Jdehn gawked at her. "But why learn it at all?"
"Because that is what I do. I serve in the diplomatic corps and one responsibility is to learn languages wherever possible. Frankly, it gave me my first job here. I translated everything in Vulcan into Federation Standard for any offworlders. That started me on the path of linguistics. Yours is a subset of the Romulan common tongue, so it wasn't so difficult once I learned that. Your grammar is different, and words are abbreviated and combined. Plus frequent cursing is required."
"You did that part well," Arik remarked admiringly, although Saavik obviously had other opinions.
"You are kind to say so. The food is getting cold."
When each person snuck surreptitious glimpses at the other, Kirk's mouth pulled to the side. "I think no one's hungry anymore. Better tell the waiter to take it all away."
Arik snapped out of his shell, reprimanding Kirk in a scandalized tone. "Never waste food, never. You can't swear you have a next meal comin'."
The former captain nodded solemnly. "You're right. I'm sorry."
Arik exchanged looks with Jdehn. She eyed her plate like it was an enemy trying to get the best of her. Amanda suddenly reached out and pulled her dinner towards her, and only McCoy saw Kirk wink out of his right eye before he did the same. McCoy followed suit. Good one, Jim. He counted another minute gone before Jdehn slowly dragged hers forward, picked up a fork and tasted. Arik watched Saavik, seeming to need her approval.
"Go ahead, Arik. I ate before I came. I was hardly aware Amanda planned a dinner party for this evening." The last was said dryly.
He stared at his plate, but did nothing. With a resigned expression, Saavik took one of salads, and he only darted a quick glance at Mekhai before he started eating. Jdehn grinned and gave him a friendly poke in the arm. He jumped, and she leaned over.
"I'm really sorry about before."
He quietly absorbed her apology with the offer of truce behind it, and suddenly beamed at her. It was a sweet smile, and it once more transformed his bland, medium brown looks made worse by his drab, floppy clothing. He appeared as a babe left amongst the wolfish other three, but McCoy reminded himself that Arik survived Hellguard with the other thirty-two. To do that, he committed the same acts they did even lacking their aggression.
Arik watched Saavik again with no unease this time, just open curiosity. She noticed. "Yes?"
"You're so… different."
Her eyebrows rose and fell in a shrug. "We all are."
Jdehn gave a bitter laugh. "Or we were before we ended up together again. It's like we're reverting 'cause that hellhole is pullin' us back."
Saavik spoke, the tense lines around her mouth revealing the depth behind the simple words. "Impossible. It no longer exists."
Three heads popped up from their meals in surprise.
"I'm damned," Mekhai muttered.
"We all are," Jdehn whispered. "Should've known even the Roms hated the world so much they'd destroy it."
Saavik spoke again. "Not them. Me."
McCoy saw the small swallow travel down the slim column of her throat, and his food turned to paste in his mouth. That horrid mission with him screaming at Spock to let Saavik come to Sickbay, and Spock's curt reply that she had paid a high price to watch Hellguard destroyed. And when she finally got on a medical bed, hands almost ruined, in shock from blood loss, she whispered without knowing it, "I sold my soul to see you die."
She was more uncomfortable than ever around he and Jim, now for reasons outside their friendship with Spock. Cracks showed tonight through her control, and for the first time in years, Hellguard peered through.
He hated admitting it, even to himself, but he was uncomfortable with this side of her. It made it harder and harder for him to push down Spock's memories, and every burst of them made McCoy feel he violated her privacy in a way she'd never grant.
And it was so hard to think of what she once did to live.
I'd give everything I own if T'Lar had taken this crap out of my head when she put Spock back in his.
Mekhai's fork had dropped to his plate. For the first time, his belligerence was gone when he spoke to her about Hellguard's destruction. "Good."
"Agreed."
Arik gaped open mouthed. "It's really gone?" She nodded once, curtly. "I can't believe it. Do the others know?"
"I believe they do."
"Are they like you?"
She frowned in confusion, but it was Kirk who voiced it. "What do you mean, like Saavik?"
"Are they… different?"
McCoy forced himself not to look at her, guessing at her thoughts that the years of living on Vulcan made the others better.
"Do you mean the Vulcan disciplines?" Amanda asked, probably just as or more aware of what was going through Saavik's head. "Everyone is an individual and obtains different levels, but as a whole, I am sure you will find them… different. May I ask? Do you regret not studying them, the disciplines?"
Jdehn and Mekhai each said no, but hers sounded sincere while his was just as likely truthful but came out defensive. Arik hesitated and then shook his head. "If I had, I'd never met my parents. My real ones, the people who adopted me, I mean. And they're good people. They're coming here when… when things get bad."
"Yeah," Jdehn said, swirling her last bite around her plate. "I got on the horn with some friends yesterday after we got diagnosed. I'm hookin' up with them during that break before – well, before the last stage. Some of 'em said they'd come here after that." She asked Mekhai, "What about you?"
"The same." He looked over at Saavik and a touch, but only a touch, of his ill will crept back. "How 'bout you?"
"I will return to my ship."
"Who's comin' back witcha? I mean, you doin' that mental thing when you die?"
"Could you possibly be referring to the katra ritual?"
"Yeah."
"Most likely."
He shook his head. "That's messed up."
"Don't start that!" Jdehn pleaded. She forced her last bite down with a large swallow of water, then dropped her fork with a clatter. She pushed back, fingers drumming the tabletop before asking in a hushed voice, "Who's still alive?"
McCoy finally felt he had something to contribute again. He pulled his tricorder off his hip, putting the detachable Feinberger next to his plate. Now didn't seem to be a good time to take readings, except they were entering Phase I… and he was their doctor.
He started down the list of names while remembering the ones now gone from it. "Ny'Jul, Sajjan, Eitan, Micar--"
"Wait a minute!" Jdehn exclaimed. "I don't know them real well by name."
He handed over the tricorder with its pictures of each person now and from their Symmetry record.
At her first glance, she snarled. "That's Micar? That sonuva--" She and Mekhai enjoyed a long string of the harshest possible expletives aimed at Micar's soul and how he should have died – painfully – a long time ago. For the fourth time that night, nearby patrons shot complaining glares in their direction and complained to the restaurant staff.
"Mekhai, Jdehn." Amanda was still in Vulcan mode so their names came out calm but firm. "This is one of my favorite places in the entire Federation. I brought you here as my guests, and I would like to do so again. However, we are testing the limits of acceptable social behavior when we colorfully describe modes of death."
Jdehn was still fuming. "What if we describe it in a lower volume?"
"That is acceptable."
A bit of humor peeked out of Mekhai's eyes for the first time. "You're really good," he told Amanda.
"Yes, I am. I should be. My experience goes back to before these two gentlemen," indicating McCoy and Kirk, "were even born."
Returning to the tricorder returned their bad tempers. "Has Micar seen you?" Jdehn asked Saavik incredulously.
McCoy swallowed.
And Saavik... The night was the worst to ever test her self-control. In the past few hours, people from her past and their old impression of her collided with whom she wanted and made herself to be. Hellguard and the behavior it buried in her psyche was resurfacing and giving no advanced warning so she could stop it. This layered onto the already difficult situations of being reminded continually of Spock with he, Jim, and even Amanda so close by. And she was going to die in a year.
Now Jdehn reminded her of… what? McCoy exchanged an uneasy glance with Jim, refusing to look at Amanda and especially Saavik. His insides turned over on what past troubles Micar might have given her.
But the only thing that revealed to him how deeply she reviled the idea is how rigidly she responded with, "No. My interaction with the others has been limited. Through my own choice."
But limited because she didn't want to see past victims and offenders, or because she feared this old behavior would reappear?
"Eitan is just as bad," Jdehn cursed. She peered over at Amanda. "Insert colorful death here."
"We swore no retributions," Saavik said.
"Who said?" Mekhai growled.
Jdehn's fast comment, showing she was too focused on who'd she be facing in the Phase III ward, stopped anyone from replying to Mekhai. "Who else is alive?" She didn't know it, but her upper lip pulled slightly back, baring her teeth.
Without his tricorder, McCoy didn't know. Saavik spoke up, showing she avoided personal contact, but she knew who was in the ward. The other three scrolled through images, matching faces to the names she gave. "Strahinja, Kf'iskjyk, Komal--"
At Komal's picture, Arik froze, alert and haunted. Jdehn came out of her trance to reassure him, half-soothing, half-mocking. "It's okay, Arik. That was then, it's over. And you tower above Komal now. Besides, Mekhai is lean meat. She'd hone in on him before your bony ass."
Mekhai's yelling, "Shut up, Jdehn!" covered Kirk's sudden bout of coughing. The waiter was approaching their table, but paused stunned at the outburst, and then hurriedly scurried away at Amanda's friendly dismissal.
Arik wasn't laughing. "Still..."
Jdehn jabbed him again with a friendly elbow. "It'll be fine. We're not even in the same room as them. Right?" she asked McCoy. He nodded. "And remember, they're different."
An unconscious alliance took place. Jdehn, Arik, and Mekhai queasily anticipated facing their more Vulcan counterparts. They, who before couldn't even stand near each other in the lobby, now subtly united themselves against Saavik. She might have refused the genetic scan like they did, but she practiced Vulcan's ways and it was her home. She sat there in her Vulcan dress with its simple, clean, civilized lines… her single earring denoting an unbonded female… and her cool, composed appearance unwittingly drew a line in the sand.
For some reason he didn't understand, McCoy remembered the first time he saw her after Spock's death. In keeping with Vulcan custom not to wear adornments during mourning, the earring was gone and her hair cut out around her ears so she needn't wear pins to keep it back… and that look of carefully kept control.
That's what brought the image back now – that same look around the eyes.
Jdehn handed back McCoy's tricorder, and for all her bravado, suddenly returned to the cagey, mistrustful woman who had entered the restaurant. "I suppose we gotta go."
"If you're ready," he said.
Mekhai snapped, "I ain't ever ready for sittin' with that pack of--"
Here we go again, McCoy thought. "Son, listen to me--"
The other glared at him from the top of his eyes. "I ain't your son."
"Lucky for me. I'm just trying to tell you that this night doesn't have to be a battle."
"Watta you know about it!"
Kirk jumped in. "We don't. The only ones who know exactly what you went through are all of you. No one's saying anything different. But that doesn't mean we can't help in some ways."
McCoy leaned forward. "I'm only trying to give you this advice. You think the universe screwed you over, you're right. No one, I mean no one, should live like you had to. Did you get cheated? Absolutely, out of more than I care to think of. Do you have the right to be sore about it? Yeah, you do. But sooner or later you got to realize one thing: everything you lost is not coming back. You can rant and rave at the galaxy for the rest of your life, and all you'll get is regrets because you'll be on your deathbed still angry, still sore, and nothing to show for the part of your life you had control over. So go ahead and be pissed – I would -- just don't make it your whole life. That's all I have to say. Take the advice or forget I ever said it. Your choice."
Kirk spoke. "Let me add one more thing. Wait--" He held up a hand, and Mekhai subsided reluctantly. "When you see the people in the Phase III ward, or even looking at Saavik now, don't think they have it better than you. They don't. You said it yourselves -- they just have it differently. They have homes on Vulcan and everything that entitles them to, but only some of them are like Arik with good families. And Saavik went through more trials to get her citizenship than you can imagine."
She looked sharply at him, but said nothing.
"The same's true for all of them that study the disciplines. They get benefits from it, but it's not easy, and they face everyday what separates them from the Vulcans born and raised here. You made a different choice, the one that's best for you, and you may not have things they have here, but you're not face to face with the prejudice they are. It's why you live out in the neutral territories, isn't it?"
The three half-Romulans glanced at him and looked away.
"Isn't it? Because with the way you look and being emotional, you come too close to the core worlds, and people think the Romulans have invaded. So you stay out where it's safe. Bones' is right. It's not fair, but there it is. Just don't get angry because the grass looks greener on this side."
A few eyes darted at Saavik who appeared the epitome of Vulcan calm, and Arik's attention stayed the longest.
Mekhai, on the other hand... "Like you said, you know nuthin' about it."
McCoy's mouth pulled down at Kirk. "Well, Rome wasn't built in a day either. So, we'll leave for the hospital?"
They didn't bother answering. They were scared, frustrated, and ready to strike out with one emotion or the other. Amanda sat forward, ever gracious. "If I can be of any help, I teach at the Science Academy, and can be reached through my office there or at my home. You can reach Saavik there as well."
"Correction, I will be at the hospital," said Saavik.
Storm clouds crossed Amanda's blue eyes. "Excuse me?"
"I am staying at the hospital, at least until the house is complete."
What house? McCoy wondered.
"We discussed this," Amanda said, staying in control.
"Yes, we did. Perhaps you did not hear me when I told you my plans."
The three half-Romulans looked back and forth between the two, confused, while Kirk and McCoy pointedly stayed out of it, knowing too well why Saavik was not coming to Spock's home.
Amanda was back to being human, an angry human. "Maybe I thought your plans were--"
"Amanda..."
Mekhai chuckled, and like any other time he had done it tonight, it wasn't a happy sound. "Keeps the leash tight, don' she?"
It jabbed at Saavik's defenses and it hit home. Her independence meant too much to her, and the implied weakness fractured her armor. For the first time, he scored over her and didn't stand down under the weight of her will. He moved no further either, but still glowed with the victory.
Saavik's voice hardened. "I am staying at the hospital. You may reach me there."
McCoy saw Amanda become acutely aware of their audience and her loss of ground. She still leaned over to whisper to him, "Pick a room, any room. I have to throw two Vulcans into it."
He knew she was trying to be funny, but she wasn't laughing anymore than he was.
The waiter approached the table again cautiously, clearing away the dishes. "Lady Amanda, I believe you have another guest?"
McCoy glanced behind the waiter, but it wasn't Amanda who got up to greet the newcomer. Saavik did. "Rrelthiz!"
The Carreon slipped by and almost leapt into the empty chair at the head of the table. "Friend Saavik! I was worried much on thinking you ill! So good to see you appear well." The relieved tones came through her Universal Translator along with her uniquely applied Standard grammar.
She removed a robe that looked damp like an old style Terran rain poncho. She dropped it on the back of her chair revealing the black skin striped with neon blue that covered all her slender form. She checked behind her and seeing it clear, she slipped her tail out of the belt loop where she had tucked it.
"I am quite well," Saavik answered, her voice smiling for her. "It is you I am concerned for. I appreciate your help, Rrelthiz, but you should not have come. Vulcan is too dry a world for you, even at night, and during the day, the detrimental affects from our sun on your skin's necessary moisture is too great."
"That is why I wore the cloak." The amphibious woman pulled it eagerly off the chair and carefully handed it to Saavik. "You can see that it contains an inner layer of the emollient I use. It secretes through the porous layer near my skin, and I carry more ointment to apply directly. Plus, this is Vulcan! You have much accommodations here for offworlders. Your friend said she would arrange a mud bath facility for me, and I will stay out of the sun." Her bright blue eyes, matching her skin stripes, glanced hopefully at Amanda.
Who smiled back at her. "So I said and so you should. I'm glad to meet you, Healer."
Saavik nodded slightly at the reminder. "I apologize, Rrelthiz, let me introduce you. Apparently you have spoken with Amanda."
"I was very glad she contacted me. She said you were unconscious."
"I was. However, we will address that later. You have met Dr. McCoy."
"Sorry indeed I feel to keep meeting you in troubled situations, Doctor, but I am glad you considered working with me."
He gave her an earnest smile. "I'm happy you're here, we all are. Every fresh set of eyes helps."
"Yes, indeed." The lazy to and fro of Rrelthiz's tail switched to quick, disturbed twitches. "I have read the data sent more repeatedly. We face a challenge. So many unrelated symptom stages rigidly scheduled for appearance, created against one group. I am anxious to see the scans in more detail. I would think such dissimilar phases need separate causes, not one. And surely this disease trigger would appear in scans — but this is talk for us later. Accept my apologies."
"Don't apologize. I'm eager to get back to it too. You didn't meet Jim before. Captain Jim Kirk, Dr. Rrelthiz of Carreon."
She made what McCoy learned was the formal bow to those considered honorable. "We have not met, but I know of you very well, Captain. I am pleased at this chance to see you face to face."
"Just Jim, please. I understand you saved a lot of people on the Enterprise before."
The tail stilled. "That was a bad time, Jim. I caused that bad time and will never forget I did." She glanced back. "But Saavik gave me back my honor. I owe her my life."
She received arched eyebrows in return. "Rrelthiz, your tail."
"Whoops!" She rescued it from being stepped on by – or possibly tripping – a waiter, and stuck it back in its tail-guard loop next to the small storage pockets. She wore no other clothing besides the belt. "I have not been away from my nest-world in sometime. I must remember to be careful."
McCoy gestured to the remaining occupants at the table. "Rrelthiz, these are three of our patients. They just came in themselves. Arik, Jdehn, and that's Mekhai right next to you."
"They are like you, Friend Saavik?" Her slender snout pointed towards them as they stared at her curiously. The light, pleased tone she used up until now grew serious. "It is honored I am to meet you. Do not worry. Many good people are going to find a way to cure this disease. Then we will find whoever created such a wrong against you. They will make reparation for this."
"Reparation?" Jdehn asked.
"Perhaps we should not--" Saavik got no further since Rrelthiz was already answering the question.
"My people believe in honor which must include revenge for those who wrong us, as we make reparation for committing a wrong ourselves."
Mekhai's grin was feral. "I like you."
"That is good. We will work well together then." Rrelthiz's lidless eyes narrowed as they swept the room before settling back on Saavik. "But where is Captain Spock? I was most happy on thinking I would see him here."
Even McCoy didn't see any more of a reaction than Saavik drawing herself up straighter, but the Carreon's nostrils flared as if picking up something from the air. "What is it? Friend Saavik, if indeed I said something wrong--"
"Not at all," Amanda interjected smoothly. "My son is merely tied up with his research at the Science Academy or he'd be here."
Would he? McCoy wondered. Just why did Amanda ask Jim and me to come with her and not Spock? Jdehn and the others sparked up by the thought of seeing their main rescuer again. Did Amanda know Saavik would never stay away as soon as she found out the other hybrids were coming to the dinner party? Because if so, Amanda knew this was no place for Spock and Saavik to meet head on, no matter how much the confrontation needed to take place.
Jdehn suddenly grabbed the table, holding herself utterly still, as Arik paled to a light green. Mekhai started jumping to his feet. "What the hell--"
"Not so fast!" McCoy warned.
Too late. Mekhai swayed on his feet and fell on Rrelthiz. Carreons were small in height, reaching only the shoulder of an average human, but their supple muscles were strong. Rrelthiz held Mekhai, carefully handling him with the seven sharp talons she had on each hand, as McCoy struggled free from his seat.
"Move, Jim!" His tricorder was out and passing over the half-Romulan. "Thought so. The vertigo is setting in. Same for you two?"
Jdehn mumbled, not wanting to move her head, while Arik nodded, not willing to open his mouth. Weakened physically, their alliance broke down as they cautiously eyed one another and especially the healthy Saavik.
McCoy gave her a hard glance too, thinking a suspicion he didn't want to think. Had she waited for this, defusing the problem with Mekhai by letting Phase I sap the danger from him? McCoy hoped not, he really hoped not. He didn't want Hellguard coming that much back into her.
He watched her for some sign, anything, but she appeared normal. Until her head flung back and her lips parted.
Spock came through the door, but was so intent on McCoy bent over Mekhai, he never noticed her. "Doctor, what is the problem?"
Kirk vaulted over the bench seat. "Spock, did you bring a car? We got to get these three to the hospital fast!"
"I have one outside. However, we will need more than one for all of us--"
He saw her. They said nothing except with their locked stares.
Unaware of the situation, Rrelthiz called as she tussled with the fainting Mekhai, "Captain Spock, your help please!"
Blinking, he broke away, grasping Mekhai's other arm and slinging it around his shoulders. McCoy heard the Carreon's sibilant hissing without any translation from her Universal Translator until, "I will clear the path to the car and take a second one to the hospital!" Her clawed feet clicked on the tiled floor as she scurried out, calling for the waiters to help make a way out the door.
Stron and T'Mes were suddenly there, helping support the ill hybrids, and Soluk gathered the protesting Jdehn in his arms and hurried silently out the door. When McCoy looked up again, Saavik was gone.
The dark figure was gleeful.
At last they were all here. And eleven dead now. Better and better.