A/N: Happy late Thanksgiving! Thank you for the reviews! The video I was working on throughout 'Belief in Falsehood' is done, but I'm running into some copyright problems in uploading it to YouTube (even with 3rd party acknowledgement and all that; sighs). I'll try and maybe let y'all know once I get all of the kinks worked out. In the meantime, enjoy this long chapter! I originally had as two chapters, but I lumped them together. Here it is!:


"Chief Medical Override Alpha-1 0227!"

The doors opened and he stepped in. Good. No one around. Normally the only person to be here would be Mr. Scott, but he was in Sickbay, safely out of the way. Carter darted forward, repeating the steps to himself.

"Slit the nozzle, minutely, slow drain to go unnoticed until arrival, aaaand okay. Um, charge failure! Right, find the threshold… 55.5 %, initiate the failure once reached, okay, um, what's next? Shields, phasers, speed speaks for itself… I think that's all…" He chewed his lip nervously. This really was outside his field of expertise. He sighed. "Well, they're bright guys; they'll figure out a way to work with anything I forgot."

Anxiously, he retreated out of Engineering.


McCoy looked sternly at the ensign in front of him.

The ensign twitched.

McCoy glared some more.

"Okay, fine," he caved, slumping his shoulders in defeat. "I'll go get that physical done."

"Now, Ensign," McCoy admonished, turning sharply on his heel. His actions read 'you had better be following me.' "You've been skipping way too long." Ensign Rogers hurried after him, keeping his distance. After all, he was the first aboard the Apache to feel the wrath-of-the-missed-physical. But he wouldn't be alone for long. McCoy had a list built up.

In Sickbay, the boy grumbled incessantly as McCoy conducted the exam. "Something particular on your mind, or do you just hate this this much?" McCoy asked.

"Well, I admit I'd rather be back in Engineering than sitting here," Rogers relented.

"Most would agree with you," he replied. "Your blood pressure's a little high."

Rogers snorted. "I don't doubt it. Ever since we entered this space I've been on edge."

"The Neutral Zone has a tendency to do that to people."

Rogers still huffed. "Yeah, but I agree with the Alpha crew. This whole thing's just a disaster waiting to happen. Why, Romulans will snap us up any day now! This whole exploration agreement- enemies exploring the same territory- it's not going to end well. We'll both come across a planet we like and then conflict will start and we'll be thrown into a whole 'nother war!"

"Maybe not," McCoy said, watching the fallacy. "You said the whole command crew thinks this?"

"Of course," Rogers asserted. "They'd be idiots not to."

McCoy frowned. "I don't know about that… does Captain Brahms think this?"

Rogers looked at him like he was crazy. "Well, yeah. He's not captain for nothing, you know."

McCoy grunted, and filed it all away. "Well, you're completely healthy, but I want you to watch that blood pressure. If it gets any higher, let me know and we'll nip it in the bud."

"Okay, Chief," Rogers shrugged, hopping down. "Hey, while I'm at it, should I send Ferenger over to you? I think he's been working around coolant gas a little too long…"

"Oh?" McCoy raised an eyebrow. "Well, yes, send him over. And anyone else putting themselves at unnecessary risk."

"It's not unnecessary," Rogers waved off. "We're upgrading the phasers so we're bound to run into coolant gas. I'm just turning Ferenger in because he played a prank on me two weeks ago and I'm getting back at him." He cast a devilish wink.

"Alright, well, tell him to hightail it over here before I have to drag him," McCoy said. He frowned. "Oh, Rogers," he called, just as the ensign was about to leave. "Why are you upgrading the phasers?"

"Orders," he said. "Upgrade phasers and shields as if for battle." Then, more irritated, "we are in the Neutral Zone."


Captain's Log, 5251.3: We are entering orbit around Vialis. Preliminary scans show it to be class M, slightly smaller than Earth, with an almost equal land-water ratio. We shall continue to scan the planet for a few more orbits before sending down landing parties. Mr. Spock informs me that traces of lithium have been detected in the atmosphere, but remain at non-toxic levels. It is also Mr. Scott's last day in Sickbay; Engineering will be grateful to have him back for tomorrow.

No Romulans, or any other ships, have been sighted. Kirk out.

Kirk sighed, and rubbed his face. While they hadn't had to put up with Romulans (so far) he'd had to endure an extremely awkward conversation with Dr. Carter. Spock had brought M'Benga's and Chapel's concerns to him first thing in the morning, after which Kirk questioned the doctor's tale of events. Inwardly he cringed. It was terrible.

"Are you suggesting I may have been incompetent?" Carter's shocked, open expression made Kirk wince.

"I am trying to follow the processes surrounding the event as closely as possible," he covered. "When a crewmember is poisoned, it serves to investigate it thoroughly."

"Of course, of course," the doctor agreed. "And I feel terrible that I may have cost Scott another day in Sickbay for not catching it in time. I'm certainly not Dr. McCoy-" Kirk grimaced. "-but, I'm trying. It's not easy filling his shoes, and I get the feeling that Nurse Chapel and Dr. M'Benga aren't too comfortable with me, but, it won't happen again, Captain…"

Looking at those wide eyes, Kirk suddenly felt like he kicked a puppy.

"Look, don't, don't worry too much about it," he said. "Just keep all dangerous drugs and chemicals locked, okay? In case someone tries to use them again."

"Of course," Carter vowed. "I'll never take my eyes off them."


"Jim! Jim, are you there?" McCoy frantically stabbed at the computer. "Enterprise, come in Enterprise!" Still nothing. Swearing, he double-checked everything. They weren't out of range. No, something was blocking his signal. It wasn't interference, or any anomaly…

Cold gripped him as one possibility crossed his mind. What if, what if they had cut his communications with the Enterprise?

McCoy glanced at the time and cursed. His break was almost over. "Jim!" he tried one last time.

No signal.

Angry, and more than a little worried about the unusual circumstances (they were still headed for Vialis- why?) McCoy left his quarters.


Nurse Chapel was seething. Their suspicions about Dr. Carter had gone nowhere- and now she was on lab duty! The other techs stayed away as she grumbled to herself, organizing experiments and cleaning up messes. She didn't know where Geoff was; he'd wisely made himself scarce. Granted, there had been little evidence of their claims, but something about Dr. Carter still made her wary. It wasn't his cheerful demeanor, it was something… else. For some reason, she was reminded of old horror movies where the child turned out to be the demon.

Muttering, she came across yet another mess in a corner. Sighing, she ran the tricorder over the substances so that she would know what she was dealing with.

Arelyn, Goggradxine, Axolin…

Axolin.

Chapel froze and double-checked the reading. It was Axolin, just a very small trace, mixed in with everything else.

But it was there.

"Oh, no, oh no…" Running to a computer terminal, she checked the logs to see who was there last.

Dr. Allan Carter.

Shit.

Chapel dropped the tricorder. "Dr. M'Benga!" she shouted, running out of the lab to find him. "Geoff!"

Something was very, very wrong.


McCoy scowled. "Well, if you didn't want me to come up here, then you would've reported to Sickbay when I first called. But your records show that you're at least four months late on your physical, so I'm here to make sure you get it done!"

The whole bridge was silent. They probably had never seen someone chew out a Vulcan before. No matter. McCoy was in a bad mood and he wasn't going to take some roundabout excuse from Saolos for not completing his physical. The two men eyed each other for a long time.

The tension was broken by a chuckle. They turned to where Brahms was laughing quietly. "I don't think he's going to back down, Saolos." He grinned. "Maybe you'd better go take that physical."

"Captain," Saolos rumbled. There was a fleeting, dangerous look on his face.

"Go on, Saolos," Brahms waved. "If you want, you can tell him the story of Epnek to pass the time." His eyes glittered. "It's only an hour until our destination."

McCoy didn't understand everything said, but it seemed to do the trick. Saolos straightened and adjusted his uniform. "Very well," he said. "Let us proceed to Sickbay, Doctor."

McCoy gave a curt nod and they strode into the turbolift. The entire trip was done in silence, and McCoy grew wary. Everything seemed off, seemed wrong. He knew they were still going to Vialis- they were only an hour away. Why wasn't Brahms concerned? Maybe it Jim who got the wrong orders…?

No. It wasn't that. He had a sinking, gut feeling that things were about to get a whole lot worse.


"You can sit down right there," he gestured to a biobed. Saols stretched out languidly. "So, who's Epnek?" McCoy asked casually, running a scanner over him. Inwardly, he was determined to find out, having heard Brahms mention that name to some Admiral.

"Oh, someone very close to me," Saolos said distantly.

"Oh?" McCoy frowned at his scanner, and glanced at the biobed panel. "Must have been very special to get close enough to," he frowned again. "… a Vulcan…"

He looked up. "Excuse me, I'll have to recalibrate this." He clutched the scanner.

"Of course." Saolos eyed him, and McCoy could feel his gaze on his back as he walked into the adjoining lab.

Quickly, he dipped a hand through the force field into the water tank and splashed some on his face. He needed to stay clear-headed. He needed to think. For though not many would realize, the readings being so close to a Vulcan's, but Saolos was a Romulan.

Crossing swiftly to a computer, McCoy flipped on intraship. "Security," he whispered. "There's-"

A hand yanked on his shoulder, spinning him around. Someone's fist smashed the computer. McCoy lashed out, his fist colliding with something. There was a grunt and he kicked Saolos when he felt his arms get pinned to his sides. They crashed onto a table and McCoy dug his elbows into the Romulan's ribs. Saolos kneed him in the gut. McCoy felt his breath leave him and he slid off the table, gasping. He started to run, but his collar was snagged. Whirling, he delivered a right hook, but Saolos still gripped him. Their momentum sent them spinning around and around each other-

McCoy suddenly felt himself fall backwards over something and there was a tremendous SPLASH! Both of them collapsed through the force field and into Carter's tank of water.

What surprised McCoy was the silence. It was as if everything was suddenly muted. He thrashed, remembering he was in a fight with a Romulan at least twice his strength. His hand met something and he kicked.

Breaking the surface, he gasped, sucking in air. Somewhere, a gasp mirrored his own. Before he could turn, hands dragged him back down. Someone had his shoulders, holding him down. He kicked and struggled, but those hands wouldn't let him above the surface, wouldn't let him breathe.

McCoy thrashed more as his breath ran out. He thought his foot connected with something, but it didn't help. He spluttered when water rushed into his lungs. He could feel his heart pounding in his skull. His hands grasped weakly at anything, anything…

As he drifted out of consciousness, he thought he heard a muted scream.

"OH MY GOD!"


Saolos yanked the doctor out of the water and dragged him out of the tank. Nurse Granger was standing there, wide-eyed and trembling. "What happened?!"

"He fell in and almost drowned," he said gruffly, still heaving from the fight. He had to admit, the human packed a punch.

"Oh, no…" Granger rushed forward and started artificial respiration. "Help me turn him on his side!" she said frantically.

Warring between not wanting to help the man he tried to kill and keeping his cover, Saolos grudgingly settled for a compromise. He assisted the red-headed human in turning the doctor over, where her ministrations led him to start coughing up water. Saolos straightened. "I shall go and get Dr. Mason," he offered.

"Please," Granger said.

On the floor, McCoy was coughing and gasping. As his surroundings became clearer, he was aware of Granger near him and Mason approaching.

"Wha-" he rasped. He coughed and tried again. "Where-"

"Easy, easy, Doctor," Granger soothed. "Elias and I are going to help you onto a biobed, okay?"

He was still spluttering and trying to talk as they lowered him onto said bed and a scanner waved over him. "Where's, where's Saolos?" he got out. "Or, Epnek, as I suppose he's called. Where, you see-"

"Nurse," Mason said. "Get some Hystenine, please?" Granger cast a fearful nod at him then left.

McCoy gripped Mason's sleeve. "Elias," he hissed. "Listen to me. Saolos is a Romulan. I think he and the captain are planning something terrible, something at Vialis, for the Enterprise-!"

"You're still confused, Doctor," Mason said when Granger returned. "Thank you, Nurse. I'll handle it from here." When she was gone, Mason readied the hypo.

"Elias!" McCoy strained.

"Listen, Doctor," the AMO suddenly hissed. "I know. I know all of this. It's nothing new. I know that the exploration agreement was a terrible idea, and I know that any conflict between a Romulan and Federation ship would end in a war that no one wants. So if you can't keep your nose out of this by yourself," the hypo pressed against McCoy's arm despite his weak struggles. "Then you'll just have to sit this part out."

McCoy's world faded to black.


"Is this true?" Kirk demanded.

Dr. Carter cowered before him. The captain stood there, livid, with M'Benga and Chapel flanking him.

"Sir, I don't know what they're-"

"IS THIS TRUE?" Kirk bellowed.

"Yes!" Carter cracked. "Okay! Okay! I was working with Axolin. Yes, a little bit got into Mr. Scott's drink. But I had to! It was the only way-!"

"The only way to what!?" Kirk spat.

The comm whistled. "Bridge to Captain."

Growling, Kirk punched the comm. "Kirk here, what's the matter?" he said tersely.

"A ship is approaching, Captain," Spock said. "It's the Apache."


I have canon-character hostages in several places in this story. Review, or one of 'em GETS IT. (I'm kidding, of course, but reviews are very, very helpful). Please let me know what y'all think!