Carnival

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Chapter Nine

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Heart and Mind

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When the shape of Miramanee emerged within the shadows of the Tunnel of Love, Kirk leaned forward in his seat and shouted her name. There was disbelief in his voice, but a definite note of joy upon seeing her again. Beside him, Vienna smirked and braced herself for the Captain's inevitable jump from the boat. For someone whom was viewed as complex, his actions could be very predictable. The splash echoed around the painted walls, and to the ill-fortune of the Captain, it had also suppressed the sounds of other women forming from the shadows to join their leader.

Soon Jim was facing more ghosts of his past then he ever remembered having. The delight and tenderness that rose in his heart at seeing the native he fell in love with, turned into confusion as he made contact with Edith Keeler - the woman he couldn't save… and behind her… a woman whose name seemed to escape him for several moments.

The women surrounded him in the water, and the feelings all melted into fear. They weren't looking at him with adoring eyes. No, that was hate - definitely hate.

"Miramanee… Edith… Andrea…" He breathed with a coaxing voice to try to soothe the abhorrence that was radiating from their eyes. When that didn't seem to work, he took a few steps backwards and addressed a different set of faces. "Drusilla…? Miri…?" This was not going well. "Kanutu…?"

They advanced, making Kirk pull out his phaser reflexively and become serious. "All right ladies… I don't know how you all got here, or what you want from me… but how about we talk this over nice and easy?"

As if cued, they started to shriek like banshees and rush him. Kirk ducked and flipped a few shapely bodies over his back to cause a scene that he could disappear into. Through the arms and limbs of the massive pile up created, Kirk managed to dive into the shallow water and crawl his way to freedom. The women soon realized that their prize slipped their grasp and they turned as one to face him. The sight nearly made the Captain's knees give out.

"Oh…. Shi-"

It was like a bad nightmare. Jim noticed their attention fall back on him and he tried to increase speed, but his drenched uniform was weighing him down. The crowd began to give chase and the captain yelled in angst. He was going to be in a painfully slow chase scene for several long minutes. With some irony, Kirk realized that the stamina that was being used to save him from his own personal hell, was the very thing that created it.

After some intense wading , Kirk came across his missing officers. He didn't even want to fathom why they were chained to one another in a Love Tunnel swan, there would be time for that later. Now all Jim could manage was a weak feeling of gratitude for 'the powers that be' for his friends being safe. He couldn't allow relief to show on his features however, since there was still a very wet mob wishing to tear out his heart fast on his heels. If the situation wasn't so dire, it might have been hot.

"SPOCK! BONES! Help! They're trying to kill me!"

Spock stared at the crowd with passive inquisitiveness. Due to the situation at hand, he was completely unable to aid his captain. There was the option of shouting encouragement, but it wouldn't influence the outcome since he had calculated the relative speeds of Jim and the horde and estimated that the man was going to be overtaken in 6.7 seconds.

Bones on the other hand, looked overwhelmed by the sheer amount of estrogen in the tunnel and shouted what Spock considered the opposite of encouragement. "Damn it Jim, I think you deserve it!"

This comment made Jim want to kick his physician. "I'm serious McCoy-! " He was going to continue his tirade, but Droxine managed to get her skinny arms around his waist just as Marta performed a dexterous cartwheel and wrapped her legs around the Captain's neck. The weight brought him down into the water like a sack of potatoes.

Bones panicked when he saw Jim go under and looked to Spock with desperation in his eyes. "We need to do something! They're going to drown him!"

The Vulcan didn't seem to hear the doctor. Instead Spock was staring at the collection of women flanking the Captain with an intensity normally reserved for the scanner at his station. "Doctor… there is a ninety-nine-point-eight percent chance that those beings attacking the Captain are merely illusions."

That information did nothing to calm the doctor down. "Well that water ain't! If we don't help him there's going to be a ninety-nine-point-whatever chance he'll DIE!"

Again Spock remained vigilant for something to intervene in their stead, "No. Your ill-placed sarcasm is incorrect." His voice was lowered as if he were talking to himself. "This is not what Zira wants, she cannot achieve fear if her subject dies. These illusions are for another purpose."

Laughter rolled around Spock's head and he was forced to wince. It seemed that whenever Zira chose to speak inside of his mental barriers it caused a large surge of pain. Such a side-effect was easy to overcome for a Vulcan. Spock only needed to predict when she'd cut into his processes.

"Almost 'too' clever Mr. Spock. You are right of course… he cannot die, there is still so much more fun to be had."

Vienna stepped over the writhing females and reached her arm into the water over Kirk's form. She managed to fish out the man's communicator from his belt without a problem. She then retreated a few meters from the Captain before throwing the device back into the water and crushing it with her heel. The more buoyant pieces of the appliance floated to the surface and the woman looked satisfied.

As soon as this action was taken, the mob vanished and Kirk broke through the surface of the water gasping for breath.

Spock wondered if the illusions would have lasted longer if he hadn't seen through Zira's intent so quickly while Bones sat down heavily in his seat and placed a hand over his heart. He wasn't liking this show of Zira's one bit.

Vienna went to help pull Jim back to his feet, but the Captain waved her away and turned to his friends. "You two all right?"

Doctor McCoy couldn't help but smile in relief; at least there was no mistaking this Kirk for the real deal. "You nearly drown and your asking us if we're okay? Jim, for a Starship Captain you sure don't have your priorities straight." At his side Spock tucked his hands neatly behind his back, causing the chain that bound them to rattle somewhat. "Though it is rare, I agree with the doctor on his conjecture. I had ordered Mr. Scott to keep you aboard the Enterprise if you sought to try and rescue us. I see you disregarded my advice."

Kirk gave a cocky grin, "I never turn down your advice Spock. You told me there was danger and so I am here ready to face it. Did you really think I'd do otherwise? I'm not letting you two have all the fun." He turned to Vienna, a grin still on his lips. "What do you have to throw at me now? Please don't tell me it's every guy I ever punched… we'll be here all week."

"No…" The Terran woman said lowly, not even cracking a smile. Her large blue eyes were suddenly transfixed by the ruby she found in Spock's chest. "That is T'Lai's crystal." There was no guesswork in her words, she knew this instinctively.

Spock raised an eyebrow, "Indeed. Is this of some concern to you?" As soon as Spock spoke, he felt the presence of Zira being lifted from his mind.

Vienna shivered and brought her hands up to her head as if trying to protect it. When she straightened, it was Zira's signature grin rather then the usual refined countenance of the human facing them. "Of course not. My dolls know what they signed up for." The woman weaved through the water as if enjoying the feel of the current on her borrowed skin. She stopped once she stood between the Captain and his subordinates before giving Kirk a simpering expression that didn't look good coming from the usually elegant blonde.

"So, the Captain has found his friends at last. The finale is at hand."

Kirk rolled his eyes, "Cut the drama. You've violated several regulations that my First Officer will list off-"

"I already have Captain."

Jim looked to Spock, surprised by the interruption. It was as if his First wanted to get this over with as fast as possible. It unnerved Kirk, but he continued, "… so you know what waits for you as soon as we return to the Enterprise."

The Captain went to move towards Spock and Bones, but Vienna/Zira stuck out a hand to stop him.

"No no, there are rules to this game Captain! You see… you can only take one of them back." The ringmaster gestured to the ceiling, and instantly what Jim could only describe as a death ray slowly descended and aimed at Spock. "It's up to you to choose - the Vulcan or the Doctor."

The ray moved with a grinding noise to change targets and point at the doctor. McCoy sucked in a shaky breath and moved closer to Spock.

Jim was not expecting this. His eyes met with his First Officer and instinctively they both knew what the other was thinking.

"I chose the Doctor"

There was a moment of silence that caused even Vienna/Zira to look momentarily taken back by the speed of Kirk's reply. Bones however, was not going to accept the decision no matter how touched he was to hear it.

"Not a snowballs chance in hell!" McCoy looked to Spock then to the Captain. "As much as I'd like to live – and don't get me wrong… I'd really like to live - this is a damn farce! Spock is far more useful to you, especially in this type of situation! I'm an old man, I only have decades left to live while he has what… half a millennia?"

Spock fixed the doctor with a cold stare. "That is incorrect, the average life span of a member of my species is 250, and that is not accounting for my human genetics."

Bones raised his arms in a gesture of frustration, "You know what I mean you knuckle-headed robot!"

Vienna frowned, apparently annoyed at how quickly this stage of her game was progressing. "Is this your final decision?"

"Not it's not!" The doctor answered for him, still indignant at being made into the fragile one yet again. "If Spock's going to be all noble by sacrificing himself to save me – I won't have it!" He crossed his arms and shot Spock a glare. The look didn't last long before it melted into one that was practically pleading with Spock to find any alternative. He did not want to live at the expense of one of his closest friends. No one would.

Spock seemed more irritated at the physicians conduct now that his stubbornness was kicking in. "Doctor. You will do as your Captain orders you to do."

"Not if it's stand by while some psycho pumps you full of god-knows-what!" His voice was starting to adopt the commanding tone which Spock knew was going to cause trouble.

Zira looked quizzically at the both of them before adopting a vacant expression. At this, Spock knew that Zira had pulled out of Vienna's mind and he could only assume where she was heading next. Sure enough, he felt the woman push against his thoughts and sit there like an evil spirit. He vaguely wondered if one of the ringmaster's limitations was only being able to possess one mind at a time.

"You have already figured out much of my powers. I am starting to really despise you Vulcan." She probed hard and searched his knowledge for more information. Upon finding his latest discoveries, she let out a screech of anger. "And you have also learned that my death ray is an illusion! How! You were hoping that the Captain would chose you over the Doctor... whose body would shut down on its own accord if targeted." She was acknowledging his thoughts as if reading them from a book. "You have encountered similar illusions in the past... and thwarted them thusly. I have underestimated you." There was no laughter in her thoughts anymore, just a note of cold steel.

"It is your own errors that guided me to these conclusions. You led me to believe you murdered Dr. McCoy… when he was not an illusion as you pointed out - nor was T'Lai whom you were possessing. By deduction that meant the rifle was the falsity. With that in mind I assessed this ray of yours and in my examination I found your ability to replicate sound limited by the standards of the form you are possessing. For instance, the sound of the glass and the gun in my trial was satisfactory to my Vulcan hearing only when you were in the mind of T'Lai, but now that you are using the Terran as a host, the illusions you are projecting are only enough to fool a human - but not my sensitive ears. This is an oversight that made it easy for me to ascertain your ray is simulated since I do not hear the electricity running through its circuits. Furthermore, the Captain was 98.2% more likely to choose myself over the doctor since he is far more necessary to the Enterprise and if I manage to survive, which is marginally more probable for me since I am superior in anatomy, the doctor would be available to revive me. Finally, the damage sustained to my jaw in my earlier battle with the false Kirk existed only when I assumed that it would. Now that I know better, I have sustained no injury. This implies I can survive the ray if I know if cannot harm me. The puzzle has come together Zira, you cannot win. "

Spock felt a brief feeling of relief spread throughout his mind – but it was not his own. Doubt chewed at his logic. Zira's ego should be deflating, not swelling with some unknown oversight on his part. His eyes scanned the room as if anticipating the walls to come down or something to come out of the water and swallow them whole.

Bones and Jim were staring at Spock with worried expressions due to the sudden silence of the tunnel. Vienna was still vacant, and Kirk was poised to move in case she tried anything. McCoy was curling and uncurling his fingers nervously. "Spock…?"

"I have under estimated you, but you have over-estimated yourself. You are clouded by your genius Mr. Spock. Your friends are less predictable to you then they are to me – who can see inside their hearts. One of you will die… and you have forgotten that it doesn't have to be you."

So she was going to cheat at her own game. The Vulcan looked up just in time to see the mock ray power up and fired a beam directly at his chest. He was confused as to how Zira thought this would effect the others since, like in the OK Corral, he knew it could not harm.

But as Zira stated, he did not anticipate the actions of his friends. With a speed Spock didn't think possible of the old doctor, Bones dived in front of him, determined to save him even though he did not need to be saved.

"NO! You fool!" Spock yelled as he devoted every fiber of his being into getting Bones out of the way. With his gift of lightning calculation Spock knew it would be possible - but at what cost?

He did the quickest thing he could think of, which was push McCoy as hard as he could so that there was no possibility of the man not clearing the beam. The was no time to pull his strength, so approximately three hundred pounds of pressure was put behind the thrust of his palms. In seconds Spock heard McCoy's wrist snap as the chain that bound them went taut, then limp as the Doctor's mangled hand managed to slip from the manacle. Bones had sailed out of the craft to land part-way out of the boat and mostly in the water. It was a very strange way to fall and probably resulted in a few cracked or broken ribs from the impact with the side of the swan, but at least he was free.

The beam went harmlessly through Spock, but the Vulcan didn't care. He stared at the Doctor with intense concern – bordering on anger. "How was that action logical?" He bit back his fury as he pulled on the chain to give himself more maneuverability in order to look over the doctor. McCoy was winded and sputtering blood.

"S-shoulda told me you have a…" He coughed, oozing more crimson from the corner of his mouth. "…plan. I wouldn't have gone an' made me look like an idiot."

Jim rushed over and pulled out some of the meager medical supplies McCoy always kept on his person. There wasn't a knitter, nor any of his hyposprays left. "Bones, you need to tell us what to do." The captain's voice was strong and commanding. Bones never liked the sharp edge Jim used when he was close to panicking and mused that it would make the man a terrible nurse.

"Rib punctured a lung… should be alright. S'why the almighty gave us two." He coughed again and looked to Spock. "You do have two don't you?"

Spock didn't comment knowing full well that it was only McCoy's attempt at being amusing despite his condition. He let the Captain mind the doctor's status while he straightened up to take a look around. Vienna seemed back to her normal self and was agitated beyond normal limits. She looked ready to have a mental breakdown. With fear in her sapphire eyes, she addressed Spock with a quivering voice. "Zira has severed contact with the Dolls… but I caught a glimpse of what she was up to before her presence completely disappeared."

Spock barked at her from his position on the swan. "Tell me."

Vienna covered her face and knelt into the water as if expecting to die at any moment. "You backed her into a corner… she's going to use her trump card." She sobbed then, and it took a moment for her words to become coherent enough for the Vulcan to comprehend. "She's going to shut down the Carnival. She's going to stop everything!"

Kirk and Spock looked at each other in horror, understanding just what Vienna meant. The captain picked up Bones with as much tenderness as he could and set him down on the swan before teaming up with his First Officer to free the Vulcan's bonds. They had to hurry, they didn't have much time. "That means life support Spock… and we're several miles under water…"

The Terran trembled, "Not only that… but the core of this park is a large gravity mechanism. If she turns that off…"

"We go crashing into the transparent aluminum casing…" Kirk whispered to himself.

"And thousands… millions of tons of water pressure will force its way through any crack." Spock started to calculate the probability of their survival.

"And we all die."

Bones chuckled to himself, his body high of natural endorphins fighting off the pain, "And I thought Carnivals were supposed to be funny."

Author's Note:

Poor Bones, he seems to be the one I like to torture the most. He's just too easy to put in bad situations. In the novel Demons I was laughing my ass off when he got himself injured on Vulcan when Spock and some chick needed to cross the Forge. Spock offered to carry him and he would NOT let that happen. T'was hilarious. Such a good book...

Sorry for the very late update. I was having problems trying to make Spock's conclusions regarding Zira believable. I kept thinking to myself, "is this too much of a stretch for Spock?" then I remembered this is TOS. Plot devices didn't need to be believable.