"Captain," Spock said after they had traveled down the tunnel for long enough that the pinprick of light from the entranceway had faded to almost nothing. "According to the tricorder, there is a powerful computer twenty meters to the right."

Kirk looked around, although he could barely see anything. "There must be a passageway leading to it." He held on to the right side of the wall, looking for any change in smoothness that might indicate a passage of some sort. As it turned out, he didn't have to wait that long.

The wall suddenly disappeared under Kirk's fingers and he nearly fell into the empty space left. "I think I found it," he said, pulling himself up.

"Yes," Spock said, following his tricorder's signal down the new passageway. "This may be where the energy field originates from. Of course, I will still have to determine how to take down the energy field."

"Let's just get there first, all right?" Kirk said. Without any light from the cave's entrance, they were in pitch blackness and they each kept one hand on the wall to steady themselves. Finally they entered a cavernous chamber. Lights in the ceiling came on as they entered, revealing what looked like rock formations. They quickly realized that these rock formations were the computer. Soon, panels and operating mechanisms were easily distinguishable and Kirk sighed in relief. This had to be it. Spock threw him one concerned look before heading straight to work. Soon he was laying on the floor with his head in the computer panel, trying to figure out how it worked. He was surrounded by wires and cables. Kirk sat against the wall, watching, still grateful for the cool temperature inside the mountain.

"The technology in this computer is highly advanced," Spock said.

"You need some help?"

"No. The problem is not lack of skill, but lack of tools. The components are extremely intricate. Working on them without the proper tools is not ideal."

Kirk smiled, "Stone knives and bearskins again?" It was the first time he had mentioned their time in Earth's past since the immediate aftermath.

"No. That would be simpler," Spock answered distractedly. Intrigued, Kirk got up and went over to see. The number of wires hanging out of the exposed panel would have been enough to run the Enterprise's entire auxiliary control room.

"You've got your work cut out for you," Kirk said, trying to keep his voice light. In reality, his heart sank as he saw how complicated the job was. Without the right tools, it could take days for Spock to figure out how to take down the interference, without accounting for any ill effects Spock was suffering from the three-day journey to get here. "You can do it, right?" With only Spock here, he didn't have to try to maintain the command aura, projecting confidence when he felt none. In a way, it was a relief. The situation had become increasingly hopeless as the days went on.

"It is not a question of whether I can," Spock said. "I have determined what most of the components do. It is simply a matter of how long it will take."

Kirk smiled, "That'll be time number…ten that you've saved my life?"

"I was not counting," Spock said, peering out from the panel. "You have saved mine on as many occasions. I believe the correct expression is 'we are even'?"

"I suppose we are," Kirk answered. They were, he thought, in more ways than one. Evenly matched, perfectly complementary to each other. It had truly been the luckiest chance of Kirk's life that he'd been handed Spock as his First Officer. He found his command had become a much friendlier place for him thanks to the Vulcan's presence, and he often wondered if Spock thought similarly; if the change from Pike to Kirk had been a good thing for him or if he still regretted that he wasn't transferred off the Enterprise.

Kirk was pulled out of his reverie by the sound of whirring coming from the strange, rock-shaped computers. "Spock? What's going on?"

"I believe I have isolated the components necessary to end the interference," Spock answered, getting up. "We should have no difficult contacting the Enterprise now."

"Remind me to write you a commendation when we get back," Kirk said, pulling out his communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise. Kirk to Enterprise."

Still no answer.

"I thought you said you fixed it," Kirk said, trying hard not to sound too frustrated. Every time we think we're catching a break…

Spock looked up at the high ceiling. "Captain, I believe the high concentration of iron might be blocking our signal."

"You mean, we have to go back into that desert out there?" Kirk asked. He groaned when Spock nodded. "All right, let's go. You better be right."

The journey back seemed to take twice as long. Kirk was barely able to keep going; he was pushing himself on the absolute last reserves of energy he had. Even Spock was slowing down, keeping one hand on the wall to avoid falling.

Finally, they reached the mouth of the passageway. Kirk wasted no time in pulling out his communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise. Kirk to Enterprise."


"Is the deflector dish modification doing anything?" Scotty asked.

"No, sir," Sulu answered. "We're picking up the energy field now but it envelopes the entire planet. That must be what's preventing them from beaming up. There are no breaks in the field's strength and no sign of a change so far."

The instant he finished his sentence, a light on the communication console started to flash. "Sir, I'm picking up a signal. It's from Captain Kirk!" Uhura said, her voice rising with excitement.

Scotty turned around, a wide grin lighting up his face. "Captain? Are you all right?"

"We've been better," Kirk's voice came over the ship's speakers. He sounded exhausted, in a very weakened condition. "We need an immediate beam-up and a medical team standing by."

"Absolutely, Captain. I'll have Transporter Room 3 beam you up right away," Scotty said. Turning to Uhura, he added, "Tell Dr. McCoy to meet them there."

"Sir…right when the captain contacted us, there was a decrease in energy on the planet," Chekov said. "That must have been the interference disappearing."

Scotty smiled, "Aye, laddie. Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock must have figured it out all on their own, as usual." The pride in his voice was unmistakable. The crew of the Enterprise had become aware very quickly that their command team was the stuff legends were made of. Within hours they would be telling each other they'd never had any doubt that Kirk and Spock would make it, but they would all secretly be extremely relieved to see them safely back on the ship. The bridge crew grinned clandestinely at each other as Scotty gave them their new heading, wondering how long it would be before both Kirk and Spock were clamoring to be let out of Sickbay.