Dragon's Mind

by karkovice

I wrote this story a few years ago after watching a few episodes of Dragon Booster, a show that I really loved. I thought it would be very entertaining, but didn't think about putting it on any kind of site, until now. Hope you enjoy!

DRAGON'S MIND

Captain's log, stardate 5942.3- Our search for Mr. Spock has brought us to this mysterious planet in the Vega system. Exactly 2 weeks ago, a freak transporter room accident has propelled Spock through time and space. We were finally able to triangulate his last known rematerialization coordinates to this unknown planet. I'm preparing Dr. McCoy, our Chief Medical Officer, for his away mission. I can think of no man better capable than he to locate Spock and bring him back to the Enterprise.

The doors to the transporter room slid open to reveal Dr. McCoy walking into the room. He was greeted by Captain Kirk, who then handed him the standard equipment for an away mission.

"We'll beam you down to the highest population concentration" Kirk began. "Chances are, that's where you'll find Spock. I want you to maintain contact with the ship at regular intervals. Now, since we have no information as to the culture of the planet's inhabitants, we couldn't manufacture any native clothing for you. But we'll beam you down to an isolated area, where you shouldn't attract too much attention."

Bones simply nodded as he took his equipment. He began to walk towards the transporter pads, but Kirk stopped him. "And, Bones," he said, as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck." Kirk said, as he flashed a smile.

"Don't worry, Jim. I'll find him." McCoy simply said. He then walked towards one of the transporter pads. He was dressed in his usual Starfleet uniform. He decided to wear his long sleeved shirt for this mission, as he had no idea what the ambient temperature on the planet's surface would be. All he knew was that it was the typical oxygen nitrogen atmosphere capable of sustaining humanoid life.

As McCoy stood ready, Lieutenant O'Neil, who was assigned this shift at the transporter controls, pressed several buttons in order to charge the transporter. "Energize!" Kirk ordered once the transporter was fully charged, and the Lieutenant complied. Both watched as McCoy shimmered, and eventually vanished in the transporter beam.

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On the planet's surface, McCoy's form started to materialize. As he beamed down, he had hoped that he would reappear in an area where no one was around. Lord knows what sort of detrimental affect a person rematerializing out of thin air would have on any of the native population who would happen to see him.

When he had fully rematerialized, Bones looked around. He saw immediately that he was in a rather dark alleyway in between a couple of buildings, and that he was alone. Isolated enough, he thought to himself. He then switched on his tricorder and proceeded to take readings. After a few seconds, he took out his communicator and opened it.

"McCoy to Enterprise."

"Kirk here. Status report?"

"I can't pinpoint Spock's location. Not with all these life form readings."

"Continue your search, and keep us posted on your progress every half hour…"

Bones then heard movement right in front of him. He looked up, and was greatly surprised at what he saw. "What the Devil!?" he was heard saying on the Enterprise's bridge.

"Bones? What's going on down there?"

After a moment's silence, McCoy finally answered. "You know those large animal life forms we detected earlier?"

"Yes, what about 'em?", asked Kirk.

"Well, I just saw one of them. They're some sort of… wingless dragon!"

In his chair on the bridge, Kirk was dumbfounded. "Dragons, Bones?"

"Yeah… Apparently, the people on this planet domesticate them; and ride them like elephants."

Kirk couldn't help but smile. And so did some of the other officers on the bridge, who overheard the conversation. "Interesting…" Kirk said, almost to himself.

What McCoy had seen would have been considered a "taxi" to the local population. It was a dragon who served as a conveyor for foot bound people who wanted to get to various places in the city. This one in particular was a massive 4 ton monster who looked more like a bull than a traditional dragon, but the people of the city would've called him a "dragon" nonetheless. "Keep us posted. Kirk out.", Kirk said as he switched off his intercom.

On the planet's surface, McCoy closed his own communicator, put it back in his belt's holster, then continued to take readings. The sounds of laughter and the banging on a metallic garbage can coming from behind caused Bones to turn around. He saw four young men coming towards him. He suddenly grew nervous, for he knew he would be discovered within the next few seconds. There was no place to hide where he was at. There was nothing but solid brick walls to either side of him. And it was also too late to run out into the nearby street. Lord knows how they'll react once they see him in his Starfleet uniform. But Bones noticed that the clothing that they wore looked to be pretty sophisticated, even if they were just street youth. Then Bones realized that he'd might be in big trouble if these 4 young teens turned out to be violent gangsters.

The one who seemed to be the leader of the group, a tall youth of about 18 with long blond hair, stopped his companions when he finally did see McCoy just standing there.

He smiled slowly, then turned to his friends and said: "Well, well, well! What do we have here? Another victim!" This brought a chuckle from the other members of the group.

McCoy was frozen in fear. All of his concerns were realized. These youngsters were about to mug him.

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Space…The final frontier…

*SWISSSSSSSH*

These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five year mission: To explore strange new worlds… To seek out new life and new civilizations… To boldly go where no man has gone before!

*SWISSSSH*

Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry

*SWISSSSH*

Starring William Shatner

*SWISSSSH*

And Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock

*SWISSSSSH*

And DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy

----------------------------------------------------

The 4 youths slowly sauntered over to McCoy… He had his hand near to his phaser, but knew he wouldn't have a chance to draw it and fire in enough time. So he just stood there, looking nervous, and wondering what their next move was going to be. They were all gazing at him with evil grins.

"I have nothing of value!" McCoy heard himself say. "So you're wasting your time!"

"Yeah… sure… That's what they all say!", the youths leader said as he approached the Doctor. "That's some pretty fancy equipment you got there.", he said with a smirk.

"It's not worth anything to you! So leave me alone!"

Then the youth exploded. He grabbed McCoy by his shirt and threw him against the brick wall. "Hand it over, loser!" the youth said angrily.

"HEY!" came a voice from the street. With that, the 4 youths left McCoy there and ran down the alleyway. As McCoy slid to the ground, he thought he saw lightning come out of the dragon's back and propel the man riding it to the ground; but he wasn't entirely convinced that what he saw was real. The man hurried over to McCoy, checking him out. He saw that the man was carrying some sort of staff. Obviously, a weapon for self defence. The four youths had disappeared into the shadows, and were probably long gone.

"Are you alright?" the man asked as he helped Bones back to his feet.

"Yeah… I'm alright now, thanks."

"You're lucky I just happened to be patrolling this area at this particular time of the day. If it wasn't for me, you'd certainly be done for." Then he smiled and extended a hand to McCoy. "Benjamin Mok! Dragon City Security Detail. And that's my dragon Sirene." The dragoness snorted in reaction to her name.

"McCoy… Leonard McCoy.", the Doctor said, as he politely shook the officer's hand.

"So what are you doing down in this part of the city, anyway? This particular sector is pretty dangerous, even for security officers like me."

But before McCoy could come up with an answer, the officer asked: "Are you lost?"

"Yeah…" Bones slowly replied. "Yeah. I AM lost."

"Well, maybe I can help you find your way." The officer said.

"Well, I don't know about that… You see, I'm not from around here-"

"Ah! Yes. That much is obvious, judging by what you're wearing… Are you part of some sort of military unit?"

Bones nodded… "You could say that."

"I must admit, I've never seen a uniform like yours… Is it a new design?"

"Yeah… Yeah, it is! I'm a Medical Officer…"

Benjamin smiled and nodded. "I see… So how may I assist you, Doctor?"

"Well… I'm looking for a friend of mine… A fellow officer of my unit, if you will… But I don't know where he lives… I just know that it's somewhere in this city…"

"Say no more!" the officer said as he held his hand up. "A good place to start looking for your friend would be at the Dragon City Archives. Every new arrival to this city has to register there. I can take you there, if you'd like."

"Much appreciated. Thanks!" McCoy said.

"All right, then! Let's go before the Dragon Eye Crew comes back with reinforcements…"

"Dragon Eye Crew?"

"Yeah… That was the gang who attacked you. And that blond kid who grabbed you leads that gang. His name is Moordryd Paynn, son of the great corporate magnate Word Paynn. I haven't heard too much good about him, and his son's obviously a chip off the old block." Benjamin said sadly.

"Well, let's hope we don't run into them again."

"Right.", Ben replied. Just then, Bones was surprised when the lightning bolt he saw earlier came back out from the dragoness Sirene's back, picked up Ben, then deposited him back in place on the dragoness' back in the specially designed aerodynamic saddle that was standard issue for all dragon riders.

"Climb aboard!" Ben said as he extended a hand down to McCoy. "Have you ever ridden a dragon before?"

"No. Can't say I have." McCoy admitted.

"Well, don't worry. We won't go too fast. Just hold on to my waist, and you'll be all right."

"Okay." With that, McCoy grabbed hold of Ben's hand, then used Sirene's knee as a foothold as he climbed on. The dragoness was of the two legged variety, and looked more like a long extinct dinosaur than a traditional dragon. By the shape of the body, McCoy noted, this dragoness was obviously bred for speed. I guess a person of Ben's profession needed a fast dragon to catch any fleeing criminals.

Once McCoy was in place, Ben looked back at him. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready.", McCoy replied.

"Okay, here we go! Don't forget to hold on!" Ben said. Then Sirene took off. Bones was almost jerked out of his place on the dragoness' back as she took off like a dart.

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A short time later, they had arrived at their destination.

"Here we are. The Dragon City Archives!" Ben said. "You're sure to find out something about your friend here. You can just ask one of the attendants for help, should you run into any problems."

McCoy slid down off of Sirene's back, and landed on the ground a bit wobbly. He almost crashed right into Sirene's hindquarters.

"Whoa! Easy there!" Ben said as he bent down to lay a steadying hand on McCoy's shoulder.

"This is gonna take some getting used to." McCoy said sheepishly.

The officer Ben just smiled. "Here. I'll leave you one of my cards. It's got my VidCom number on it and everything, so you can call me, should you need more assistance. Or, you can always come see me at the precinct; which is, ironically enough, right next door. Since this "is" City property."

After glancing at the card, he pocketed it, then extended a hand up to the officer. "Thanks for everything!"

"Always a pleasure to serve!" Ben said happily as he shook it. "Good luck!" Ben waves as he and Sirene darted off.

McCoy waved back as they both departed. He then turned his attention towards the archive building. It looked to be a pretty impressive structure, rich in architecture. A lot like any of the old Earth Government buildings of the late twentieth century. McCoy then climbed the steps and entered the building.

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Inside, he was directed to the research booth area where the archival computers were located. Not wanting to waste time with these self serve terminals, he made his way over to the attendant's booth. The young woman was typing at her booth when McCoy's approach made her look up.

"Hello!" she said in a high pitched, bubbly, smiling voice. "How may I help you?" She glanced down at McCoy's uniform, but she wasn't about to question his origins. She sees all kinds of people day in and day out at her help desk.

"Uhh… I was wondering if you could help me find someone."

After blinking her eyes twice. She then said: "Sure, okie dokie! Just let me log into the system… Name?" she then asked after typing on a few keyboard letters. Letters that McCoy noticed were in the archaic local alphabet that McCoy has yet to decipher.

"Uhh… Spock!"

"Spock? That's an unusual name."

McCoy said nothing.

The attendant lady just shrugged and typed in Spock's name. After a few seconds, she hmmed and turned to McCoy. "I can't seem to find anybody by that name in the registry. Could he have registered under a different alias?"

"No! No… He only goes by that name."

The attendant lady hmms then tries a different subroutine on her terminal. She then shakes her head. "No. Sorry. There's nobody on record by that name."

McCoy sighed.

"Maybe your friend forgot to register. It happens sometimes."

McCoy just looked at her blinking eyed smiling face and nodded. "All right. Thanks anyways."

"Sorry I couldn't be of any more help!" she called out to him as he walked out.

Outside, McCoy heard his communicator beep, indicating an incoming transmission from the Enterprise. After making sure no one was looking at him. He opened it. "McCoy here."

"This is Kirk. Status report?"

"No luck! I still can't locate Spock."

"Keep trying. Don't give up until you find him."

"Understood. I've made contact with one of the locals down here. He's a sort of city police officer. Maybe I'll ask him to help me out."

After a momentary silence, Kirk replied. "All right. Do what you can. Just remember the Prime Directive, Bones."

"Don't worry. McCoy out." He then closed his communicator. After looking around once more, making sure he wasn't drawing any attention, he brought out his tricorder and took some readings. He sighed once more before turning it off. He still could not locate Spock's whereabouts. Dejected, he headed over to the Dragon City Security Headquarters next door.

---------------------------------------------

Inside the precinct, he was directed to Ben's desk, where he found him handling some paperwork. "Ah! Doctor!" Ben said, after seeing Bones standing at the foot of his desk. "Any luck?"

McCoy shook his head. "No, unfortunately. My friend apparently never registered at the archives."

"I'm sorry to hear that. It happens sometimes that people forget to register. Nothing much you can do about that." Ben shrugged.

"Yeah… Well, I'll just have to keep looking."

"I guess." Ben nodded. "Of course, I'm willing to help in any way I can."

"Thanks. You've been very helpful so far." After a moment's silence, Bones continued. "Uhh… I was also wondering if you could recommend a place for me to spend the night, since I'm obviously not going to locate my friend before nightfall."

"Say no more!" Ben said, hand upraised. "Why don't you stay at my place? From what I understand, the boarding houses of this city are pretty run down, and hotels are expensive enough as it is!"

"Thanks!" Bones said happily. "Much appreciated."

Ben smiled and shrugged. "It's nothing, really. I just have to finish my paperwork here. Shouldn't take me more than an hour. In the meantime, why don't you help yourself to some coffee and stuff down in the lobby? I'll come meet you there as soon as I'm done."

"All right. Will do! I could use a cup, after all I've been through today."

Ben laughed. "I don't blame you! See you in a bit." he then said as McCoy left.

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Captain's log, supplemental- It's been 24 hours since Dr. McCoy has beamed down to the planet's surface. He's befriended a member of the city's Security Detail, a man named Benjamin Mok. McCoy decided to spend the night on the planet, so as not to arouse suspicion to the Enterprise. McCoy's friend doesn't seem to have any suspicions about us as of yet, though he's been very careful not to reveal anything about the Enterprise. Meanwhile, the search for Spock goes on.

------------------------------------------------

McCoy was sitting at the kitchen table of Ben's apartment, looking out the patio door that led to the balcony. Ben lived in a modest apartment in a somewhat upscale neighbourhood. At least, it seemed pretty upscale to McCoy. Compared to some of the squalor McCoy had witnessed the previous day, his newfound friend must do well for himself.

"Here you go!", Ben said as he set down a cup of freshly brewed coffee in front of McCoy.

"Thanks." McCoy said, before he raised it and took a sip from the mug. He had slept well the night before in his host's guest bedroom. He was pretty tired from all the excitement of the previous day.

Ben offered him a spare set of clothing that he could wear; but McCoy refused, saying that his uniform was just fine for him.

"Any ideas where your friend may be located?" Ben asked as he handed McCoy a freshly brewed cup of coffee.

McCoy shook his head. "None."

"Well, since today is my off day, I thought I'd take you down to the local track to watch the dragon race."

"Dragon race?"

"Yeah! A dragon race. What? Don't tell me you've never seen a dragon race before."

"My… military obligations… didn't allow me to get out much…" McCoy offered as an explanation.

"Well, my friend, today, you're in for a treat! To me, there's nothing more exciting than watching those dragons race! And who knows, maybe you'll see your long lost friend in the crowd today…"

McCoy stifled a chuckle. "Somehow, I don't see him as the kind of person wanting to attend a sporting event like that."

"Well, you never know… Anyway, let's get ready! The race is in an hour, and we've got a few miles to walk in order to get to it…"

So after breakfast, Ben and McCoy both headed out. McCoy allowed Ben a few minutes to tend to Sirene in her stable, then they made their way to the track. On the way, Ben explained to McCoy a little bit more about the fundamentals of a dragon race. McCoy was just astonished by the breakneck speeds these dragons can run: Over 200 Miles per Hour! Or over 320 kph… McCoy thought of the old Earth NASCAR style racing vehicles he had seen in an old archive film back at Starfleet Academy. And came to realize that these dragons ran just as fast as those powerful gas engine racing machines, if not faster still!

"Sounds dangerous!" McCoy said finally.

"Well, there is an element of danger involved… But it's usually no more than bumps and bruises, in the case of a fall… Dragon hides are tough, and the racers' double padded suits they wear prevent any serious injuries. What's more: The magnetization from the dragons keeps the riders from flying off uncontrollably, should they fall…"

"Still, I wouldn't wanna be racing on one of those things…"

Ben laughed. "My friend, I think you're gonna love what you're gonna see today…" and patted him on the shoulder.

-------------------------------------------

At the race track, Ben and McCoy found good seats that allowed them to have a decent view of the proceedings. Again, McCoy was reminded of the old Earth car racing circuit he saw in the archive movie back at the Academy… It was a similar sort of design… Only instead of asphalt, the track itself was some sort of artificial turf. No doubt, specially designed for running dragons. As were all the roadways of the city. McCoy also saw that there were numerous obstacles and challenges at various points on the racing circuit. He concluded right away that not only speed, but a reasonable amount of dexterity was needed for a dragon to win. A dragon who lacked either of both was never going to win a race such as this, assuming the races were all held in this fashion.

They arrived just in time for the first preliminary race. Some junior class dragons and riders. Not as fast as senior or elite class dragons, Ben pointed out, but still exciting to watch. McCoy thought it made for an interesting spectacle. The ambience of the stands made for an electric atmosphere. The roar of the crowd whenever a favourite won a race, or the moans whenever a dragon and/or rider fell- McCoy winced whenever there was a fall- and then the cheers and applause when they got up again to continue racing, much to McCoy's relief. McCoy was also amazed by the various types of gear the dragons came equipped with, and were all perfectly legal, and used strategically… Like for example, he saw what looked like extendable aircraft wings deploy suddenly on one dragon to fly over an obstacle. Then some sort of rocket boosters activated on another dragon to overtake an opponent on the main straightaway. Greater still, he saw, at one point, what looked to be a spiked ball being shot out of the chest armor of one dragon in order to break off one of the extendable airplane wings of an opponent and knock him off balance. Ben tried to explain to McCoy that these were varying levels of something called "magna gears" that the dragons can incorporate onto themselves, depending on their abilities. But McCoy only half listened to what his friend was saying. He was too amazed by the spectacle of the race.

For the rest of the afternoon, he listened to the announcer introducing the racers and dragons of each individual race, watching the action both with the naked eye, and with the help of the giant monitor mounted over the grand stands, as well as listening to the play by play.

Then came the moment of the big race featuring the elite class dragons. The crowd erupted once they came out onto the track. This was the moment they were obviously waiting for. Ben pointed out a particular dragon once they reached the starting gate. "See that red and blue coloured dragon there? That's Beau. The fastest and most agile dragon I've ever seen! He's always favoured to win. He belongs to Penn Stables, one of the bigger racing outfits of the city… At least, it was… Just before Connor Penn, the Owner, disappeared under mysterious circumstances a short time ago… Now his oldest son, Artha, handles everything. But it's tough going… I mean, he's only 16!"

"So that dragon's kinda like their pride and joy?" McCoy said. He had to practically scream in order to be heard due to the roaring of the crowd.

"Yeah! You could say that! Although the rider today is not the usual rider. Must be a substitute…"

When he looked at the rider, McCoy noticed a vague familiarity with him. His behaviour also seemed very familiar. While the other dragons and their riders were introduced, the rider either took off his or her helmet in salute, or waved to the crowd smiling; Beau's rider just sat there like a statue, unmoving, unblinking. His name wasn't announced, because he was a last minute substitution; and therefore, his name wasn't registered. He was simply listed as "the rider subbing for Artha Penn for this particular race."

The crowd silenced as the dragons all lined up on the starting grid. Then, when the gate was dropped, the dragons took off like bullets under the cheer of the crowd. The red and blue dragon named Beau quickly took the lead, while the rider remained impassive. Almost as if he had trained extensively for this. The race itself was a 3 lap race with varying obstacles. Beau and his mysterious rider led throughout the whole race. They both fended off numerous challenges from the pursuing dragons, and conquered the course obstacles with ease. When Beau finally crossed the finish line well ahead of his nearest pursuer, the crowd went wild. Beau was a huge fan favourite, and his win today was their icing on the cake. McCoy wasn't sure if there was any kind of betting on these races; but he thought that if there were, some people probably made money in whatever currency this society bartered with.

Ben was cheering and applauding along with the crowd when Beau crossed the finish line. Apparently, he was also partial to this dragon Beau, McCoy noted. Ben then motioned to McCoy to follow him down to the proximity of the winner's circle where the rider was to be presented with the winning trophy. He wanted to be up close and personal when Beau's rider accepted the trophy. It was only until after the rider accepted the trophy during the ceremony that he took off his helmet. It was here that McCoy was shocked when he saw who it was "That's him!", McCoy said as he grabbed Ben's arm. "That's my friend!"

"Spock!" McCoy called. But Spock couldn't hear over the roar of the crowd. "SPOOOCK!" McCoy called even louder. Spock turned in the direction of McCoy, but was unable to spot McCoy before Beau walked out of the arena towards the racing stables.

McCoy tried to follow after Spock, but was held back by security; as the racing stables was off limits to the spectators.

---------------------------------------------

A short time later, McCoy was back at Ben's apartment, trying to convince him that the man he saw riding Beau was Spock.

"Are you sure it was him?" Ben asked.

"Damn sure! I'd recognize those pointed ears anywhere!"

"Pointed ears?" Ben asked. "Oh, yes! That was rather odd. I've never seen a birth defect like that before."

"That's no birth defect!" McCoy said. "Listen, this may be hard to believe, but that man doesn't belong here! He came here by accident, and I was sent to find him and bring him back to our unit by whatever means necessary!"

"Okay!" Ben held a hand up. "Let's assume for a minute that you're telling the truth. That you were sent here to get that man we saw there today. Answer me this: Why have you come to get him?"

"That's…a bit hard to explain…" McCoy said after a moment. "But I will tell you this: Anything he says or does while he's here may have dire consequences, which is why I need to find him as quickly as possible. Why? I can't say… Call it 'classified information'" McCoy said with a shrug.

Ben sighed and seemed lost in thought. McCoy wondered if he was debating whether he should continue to help him find Spock, or arrest him for lying to a City Security Detail Officer.

Finally, Ben looked at him and asked: "Is this man dangerous? Is he a hardened criminal?"

McCoy shook his head. "No… I don't think so… He's not that kind of man. The only time he'd commit to something illegal would be if… logic… dictated it…" McCoy almost forced himself to say the word. Damned Vulcan logic! He would often say. "But as far as I know, he hasn't committed any crimes."

After a moment, Ben nodded. "All right. I'm still willing to help you find your friend. Matter of fact, I may know where you're most likely to find him."

McCoy looked hopefully at Ben."Where?"

"At Penn Stables, on the other side of town. If your friend is a part of their racing team, that's where you're most likely to find him."

"Good a place as any to look. When can we leave?"

"Now, if you'd like." Ben replied.

"All right. Let's go!"

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It was evening by the time Ben and McCoy arrived at Penn Stables. The sun had just set, and it was pretty dark, but still lighted enough for them to see reasonably well.

"Here we are! Penn Stables." Ben announced as they were both demagnetized from Sirene's back. Ben had loaned McCoy one of his spare magnetization suits for the purpose of riding on Sirene. Those specially designed suits that the dragons can magnetize and demagnetize with ease, it was just a matter of reversing the polarity, and they were off her back. In fact, if she wanted to, she could throw them 20 feet away into a brick wall; but she wasn't about to do that to her rider, unless he mistreats her; which he never did. While Ben, having done this hundreds of times before, landed square on his feet, McCoy stumbled and almost fell.

"That's gonna take some getting used to, as well." He said as he regained his footing. Ben smiled at the poor Doctor again.

"Looks pretty run down." McCoy commented as he looked around. Obviously noticing the scene of some previous destruction caused by a fiery explosion that was never repaired.

"Yeah… well… like I said: Things got pretty tough for them since Connor Penn disappeared… But you're most likely to find them, and your friend, in the dragon stables; which should be this way." Ben pointed as he started walking. McCoy followed.

They entered the now pitch black area of the stables. Ben pointed out to McCoy some light in the distance. A sure sign that there was somebody home!

"Hello?" McCoy called out. Silence. "Hello!" McCoy repeated more loudly.

It was then that a shaky voice cut through the silence. "W-w-w-w-w-who goes there?

WHO GOES THERE!?" Whoever it was, McCoy noted, was obviously scared. So scared, that he almost lost his voice when he repeated his question.

"It's okay, kid!" Ben cut in. "We're friends."

The youth then lit a flare to light up the stable's hallway… "You sure?" he asked. He was a skinny, red haired kid who looked to be about 18, and was sporting a goatee which matched his hair colour.

"Yes! My name's Benjamin Mok. I'm a Dragon City Security Detail officer. Look! Here's my ID badge." He showed his ID badge to the youth, who examined it closely. "And my friend here is named Leonard McCoy. He's a Doctor, and he means you no harm."

"What's going on here?" came a distinctively young female voice from the shadows. A young girl of about 15 came into the light just then. She was wearing a multi coloured skin tight jumpsuit and had purple dyed hair. McCoy was struck right away by her feminine beauty! "And who are these two? Parm, I thought you could do a better job than that as a sentinel! ARGH!"

"I-I-I'm sorry… They caught me off guard! Besides, they're friends… I think…"

"Yeah, that's right!" McCoy said immediately. "We're not here to hurt you. We're just looking for a friend of ours. We thought he'd might be here."

"Really?" the young female, who went by the name of Kitt, looked skeptical. "What's your friend's name?"

Meanwhile, an adult form was slowly approaching from the darkness behind, though nobody seemed to notice.

"His name is Spock." McCoy answered. "We saw him racing today at the track, and thought we'd might find him here."

"You are correct, Dr. McCoy.", came a familiar deep voice from the shadows. Then Spock emerged from the darkness with a boy of about 10 years old in tow. Must be Artha's younger brother Lance, Ben thought to himself.

"Spock!" McCoy cried out in joy, then rushed over to greet the Vulcan, almost running into the young girl, who just barely got out of the way.

"How are you doing!?" McCoy asked.

"Fine, Doctor." Spock said evenly.

Then McCoy's communicator beeped. He then took it out and opened it. "McCoy here."

"Bones!" came Captain Kirk's voice through the comm.. "We were getting worried. You haven't reported in since this afternoon. Are you alright?"

"Fine, Jim." McCoy answered. "I just got busy, that's all. I've got great news: I've found Spock!"

"Great, Bones, great! Where is he?"

"Right here! I'm passing him to you now." With that, he handed his communicator to Spock. Meanwhile, the other four people assembled, including Ben, were mumbling amongst themselves and wondering what was going on.

"Captain…" Spock said into the communicator.

"Spock!" Kirk cried out happily. "It's good to hear your voice again!"

"It is… agreeable to hear your voice too, Captain." Spock replied.

On the bridge, Kirk chuckled. "Same old Spock! You haven't changed a bit!"

"Captain, why should I change my behavior just because I became trapped on an alien planet?" Spock asked rhetorically.

"Exactly, Spock, exactly!" Kirk teased. "We'll beam you and McCoy aboard right away!"

As Kirk was about to signal to the transporter room, Spock's voice came over the comm.. "Captain, I'm afraid I must refrain from beaming back aboard the Enterprise for the time being, as there are several tasks I must accomplish down here on the planet first and foremost."

Kirk was taken aback. "What!? Spock, what are you talking about!? Why are you refusing a direct order to beam back aboard this ship!!?"

"I am not so much refusing your orders; as rather, I am delaying my obedience in favor of… other important matters that have higher priority."

Kirk was dumbfounded. After a few moments, he said "In that case, I'll be beaming down to your location so that you can tell me face to face why you're refusing a direct order to beam back aboard this ship!"

"Captain, I must advise you that-"

"Don't argue with me, Spock! I'm beaming down!!" And with that, he switched off his intercom.

"Have you lost your Vulcan mind!?" McCoy then blurted out. "Why won't you come back aboard the Enterprise!? You don't belong here!"

"Please understand, Doctor. What I must do here, now, is necessary in order to avoid any further contamination of this culture from my part, or yours, or the entire crew of the Enterprise."

After a moment, McCoy conceded. "I suppose that it's the… logical… thing to do?"

"You are correct, Doctor."

"Excuse me!" the young girl named Kitt interrupted. "What's going on here?"

"Miss Kitt, everything will be explained to you in due time." Spock offered as an answer.

With that, she threw her hands up in the air and sighed.

Then McCoy's communicator beeped again. McCoy took it from Spock's hand and opened it. "McCoy here."

"Kirk here! Tell Spock I'm beaming down immediately." Said the voice of Kirk through the communicator.

"Yes, Jim." McCoy said before closing it.

He turned to Spock and began to say: "Spock, Jim said that he-"

"I overheard, Doctor." Spock interrupted.

He then turned to the confused Dragon City foursome. "Everyone, please do not be alarmed if you see a man appearing in front of you right before your eyes. It is just a harmless piece of technology used by my shipmates for what you would call 'teleportation.'"

With that, Kirk's form began to materialize in the midst of them. Once he had fully materialized, he immediately marched over to Spock. "All right, Spock. Let's have it. Why are you refusing to come back aboard the Enterprise!?"

"Captain, instead of me telling you why, it is better that I should show you."

Kirk then waved a hand. "Lead the way!"

Spock nodded slowly, then turned to walk back towards the distant lighted room. Everybody followed.

"Parm, what's going on?" the young boy named Lance was heard to ask.

"I'm not sure, Lance." Parm replied. "But I think we're about to find out."

-------------------------------------------------

They all followed Spock back towards the lighted den that he shared with the Penn Stables youngsters. All three of their dragons were there lounging on the floor: Cyrano, Parm's bull class dragon; Fracshun, Lance's smaller pale blue quadruped runner; and Wyldfyr, Kitt's fiery red bipedal runner. Cyrano growled at Kirk, McCoy and Ben when they entered the room; but Spock silenced him with a raise of his hand. A gesture indicating to Cyrano that they were friends.

"Looks like you've got 'that' one pretty well tamed." McCoy commented. Spock said nothing. Instead, he led them to an adjoining room where he had set up his workshop. Inside, all three men saw a large clutter of dragon magna gears of all kinds. But also, a console that looked very familiar to Kirk and McCoy. They didn't ask Spock, however, as they both saw that he was about to explain everything.

"Gentlemen" Spock began. "During my time on this planet, I have familiarized myself in maintaining and repairing all the various dragon "magna gears" that you see here… I did so because I felt that was the thing I would be most… apt… at doing while I remained stranded here. I knew that the Enterprise would come looking for me… I just wasn't sure when… I felt it logical to make the most of my time on this planet, which turned out to be very accepting of me… especially these Penn Stable youths.

"I have earned the reputation of being a… magna gear repair wiz… as these youths put it… As a result, not only have I taken it upon myself to repair the gear that these youths use in their races, but also the gears owned by private citizens…"

"So all the gear we see here is what you have to fix?" Ben asked.

Spock nodded. "Yes."

"Looks like you've got your work cut out for you!" Ben said in astonishment.

"There is a lot to do!" Spock said matter-of-factly. "However, I have been teaching young Parmon here how to maintain and repair these gears by himself. As he, too, is a… 'techno wiz'…After I leave, he will be quite capable in repairing and maintaining these gears on his own."

Kirk and McCoy both exchanged glances at the mention of the phrase "techno wiz". Obviously, Spock had picked up some of the dialect of the people on the planet. Kirk smiles knowingly at Bones.

"But" Spock continued. "This is the main reason why I cannot leave immediately."

He moved over to the nearby console and switched it on. The console whined to life. "Computer… ready!" came a familiar female robotic voice.

Kirk stood open mouthed. "You mean to tell me that… you built a replica of the ship's computer… from scratch!?"

Spock nodded. "I have…"

"But… such a feat takes more than a mere 2 weeks! Not the 2 weeks that you've been off the ship!"

Spock raises an eyebrow. "Captain… it has been a little over a year since I've beamed off the Enterprise…"

"A year???" Kirk said in amazement . "But how??? Why such a huge difference? Does time move differently here?"

"… I did travel through time and space…" Spock said matter-of-factly.

"Time and space…" Kirk repeated. "Yesss… of course…" he then said, once he had realized what Spock implied. "When you beamed off the ship, the transporter accident not only beamed you across the galaxy, it also sent you back in time!"

Spock nodded. "It would explain everything that has transpired…"

The Dragon City dwellers, however, just stood dumbfounded. The only one who spoke was Parm, when he said quietly: "A time warp through space… Amazing!"

"During that time, I was able to amass a vast quantity of data on this planet's culture, and its inhabitants… I felt it necessary to do so, as this is a pre-warp civilization, and Starfleet would be most interested in learning about this culture…"

The Dragon City dwellers exchanged puzzled glances. This was obviously over their heads for them.

"It is vital that we beam this computer aboard the ship, and connect it to the main database. But before we can do that, we must essentially "disconnect" it from it's power source down here" he said, indicating the various outlets leading from the wall to the console. "and then reconfigure it to the ship's power matrix, as its power source is very different from the one located on this planet… A task that will take-"

"That will a take a week to complete… even by our most skilled Technicians!" Kirk completed.

"Exactly!" Spock nodded.

"And we can't just upload the files to our main computer, either… We must take the whole console!" Kirk continued.

"Indeed, we must." Spock confided. "If we simply leave the computer here, as powerful as it is, it could become a potentially harmful weapon, were it to fall into the wrong hands… Like those of Moordryd Paynn and his father…" he finished as he turned to the Dragon City youth. McCoy shuddered at the mention of the name "Moordryd Paynn", vividly recalling his unfortunate encounter with the unstable youth.

Spock then turned his attention to the computer. "Computer, please accept the following voice print identification as that of James T. Kirk, Captain of the Federation Starship Enterprise. Authorization: Spock, Theta, Pi, Alpha…"

The computer whined to life. "Voice… print… identification… protocol… ready." Said the robotic voice.

Spock indicated that Kirk should approach the console. "This is Captain James T. Kirk, of the Federation Starship Enterprise."

After a moment, the robotic voice came back. "Voice… print… identification… complete…" and then repeated the information Kirk had just given it. He then repeated the same process for Dr. McCoy.

"You now have access to the files situated in this computer. You may examine them at your own leisure." Spock then said when the voice print recording was finished.

"No wonder I couldn't access those files! You set up a password that only you could give!" Parm said.

"Indeed!" Spock replied. "It was necessary in order to prevent any… prying eyes… from accessing the highly sensitive data."

Parm looked embarrassed.

McCoy then chimed in. "Okay, Spock, you've just explained to us why you need the time you say you need to essentially "undo" what you have done… But there's one thing you still haven't explained to me: What was all that about racing that dragon out there today?"

Spock raised an eyebrow in typical Vulcan fashion. "Quite simply, Doctor, the dragon's usual rider was… injured… a slightly sprained ankle… I merely took his place for the day…" he finished with a hands-behind-his-back shrug.

McCoy simply eyed Spock with a now I've seen everything! Look about him.

"And he's become quite good at it, too! This is not the first time he's raced, but this "is" the first time he's actually won a race!" Parm said with great pride.

After a moment, Kirk smiled at Spock. "All right, Spock. I'll give you your week… Complete whatever it is you have to do down here before coming back aboard the ship permanently." He then turned his attention towards the Dragon City dwellers. "But let me make one thing clear: Not a word of this has to leave this room! No one has to speak of what happened here tonight to anybody else!" He then eyed Ben. "And that includes any members of the local police force."

Ben nodded. "You have my word, Captain."

He then turned to the Penn Stable youths. "What about you three?"

"Oh! Our lips are sealed…" Kitt said immediately.

"Sealed!" Parm repeated.

"Wait" the youngest one, Lance, finally spoke up. "So that's it!? You're just gonna take Spock away from us? No questions asked? He's been with us for over a year, Mr. Kirk. You can't just take him back to your ship just because you say he's gotta go!" He looked at Kirk with his best sad puppy dog eyes.

Kirk smiled and bent down to be at eye level with the youngter. "I understand how you feel. I, too, would feel sad if I were to lose a dear friend…" The young boy Lance sniffed as he was near to tears.

"I am, however, willing to make a compromise!" Kirk then said to the group. "When this week is out, I can take one of you aboard my ship for a private tour… as a way of introducing you to Spock's universe before he became stranded on your planet… That person will be one of my choosing…" Kirk continued, raising a finger. "It will be whoever I think is most deserving of this privilege… One of you four…"

McCoy could not believe what he had just heard. "Jim!" he began as a protest, but Kirk signaled for him to remain silent.

"Wait a minute!" Kitt interrupted. "What about Artha?"

"Artha?" Kirk asked.

"Artha Penn! My big brother." Shane said with enthusiasm.

"Yeah…" Ben then followed up. "Where "is" Artha Penn tonight?"

"He's out on… business." Parmon said rather nervously.

Ben felt that the youth was withholding something, but didn't press the issue.

"All right." Kirk said. "He may be part of the choosing as well… One week from tonight, I want you all to gather here on this very spot… That's when I'll make my decision."

He then turned back to Spock. "Do you still have your communicator?"

"Negative.", Spock said. "I had to disassemble it for spare parts…"

"All right. Bones!" he then said to McCoy. "I want you to leave your communicator with Spock, so that he can maintain contact with the ship at all times…"

After McCoy gave Spock his communicator, Kirk opened his own and signaled the ship. "Kirk to Enterprise, Transporter Room."

"Transporter Room here." Came the voice of Lieutenant O'Neil.

"Lock onto my signal. Two to beam up." Kirk ordered, then closed his communicator.

"One week, Spock. No more, no less." Kirk said.

Spock replied with a nod.

As soon as McCoy went to stand beside Kirk, they started to dematerialize as they were beamed back aboard the Enterprise.

All stood silent in Spock's workshop for the next few minutes. Some were feeling a bit awkward, or were still trying to wrap their heads around what had just happened. Spock just stood silent, like a statue, hands behind his back, in his usual fashion.

Finally, Ben spoke up. "Well, I must be getting back home. I have work in the morning, and Sirene needs her sleep. I'll see you kids later, okay?"

"Okay." Was their collective response.

"Mr. Spock?" Ben nodded to Spock while leaving. Spock nodded in return.

From that point on, everyone was left to their own devices. Later on that night, when Artha finally returned to the stables, everybody was excitedly retelling him the events of that evening. It turned out to be everything he had suspected of Spock. He knew Spock was too different to be from Dragon City itself, but he had no idea just how "different" Spock was until then. After digesting everything that was told to him, he could only smile, shake his head and say: "Amazing!"

---------------------------------------------------

Captain's log, stardate 5943.1- It's been a week since we've been in orbit around the planet known as Draconia, where Spock was stranded all this time. He had asked that he remain on the planet for that long in order to complete his business with some of the local population. Meanwhile, our Technicians have been working feverishly at converting Spock's home made computer to our main database. Spock's thorough data compilations have proven quite informative of this planets culture… and it's somewhat violent history. Everything is nearly complete, and Spock will soon be rejoining the Enterprise permanently; that means the time has come for me to uphold my end of the bargain with Spock's acquaintances on the planet below.

In Spock's workshop on the planet, the Technicians had just finished preparing the computer for it's transferring aboard the Enterprise. It as only until after the computer and the Technicians were beamed aboard that Kirk brought the group of Dragon City residents and Spock together.

"Now that the computer is safely aboard the ship, the only thing left to beam aboard is us." Kirk said, indicating himself, Spock and McCoy, who was giving Spock a complete physical, as per the Captain's orders.

"How is he?" he asked the Doctor.

"Everything checks out!" McCoy said after switching off his medical tricorder. "We've got one healthy green blooded Vulcan on our hands."

"Good!" Kirk smiled. "Now, the moment you've all been waiting for has arrived, where one of you will be fortunate enough to come aboard my ship for this first hand exposure of life aboard a Starfleet vessel. I must remind you that whoever gets chosen must not speak of this to anyone else, other than yourselves. Agreed?"

They all nodded their consent.

Then Kirk looked around. "Where's Artha Penn?"

"He should be here any minute…" Parm shrugged.

"Shame I never got to meet him." Kirk mumbled. "You have time for one last goodbye." He then said before turning away.

Then the group gathered around Spock for their last moment together. Young Lance plowed right into Spock, giving him the biggest sad hug a kid his age could give. Ever since Spock came into his life, he had grown quite fond of him. Like a surrogate father, almost. Spock tentatively returned the hug to the youngster, but was unable to return the young boy's sentiment.

"I'll miss you, Spock!" Lance sobbed.

"I… will miss you, too, Lance." Spock replied. More out of politeness than of actual sentiment.

It was only until Lance finally let go of his hug, after some prodding by Kitt and Ben, that he joined Kirk and McCoy.

Kirk then opened his communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise. Transporter room."

"Transporter room here." Came the voice of Lieutenant O'Neil.

"Three to beam up." Kirk ordered.

As he closed his communicator, the three of them started to shimmer in the beam.

"Spooock!" Lance cried out as the three of them began to dissolve. They all disctinctly heard Lance cry out Spock's name before they vanished.

-------------------------------------------------

Aboard the Enterprise, the three of them rematerialized in the transporter room; and were greeted by O'Neil, who was manning the console.

"Welcome back, sir!" he said to Spock with a smile.

Spock nodded. "It is… good… to be back!"

"Dismissed." Kirk told the Lieutenant, who nodded, left the console and walked out of the room.

"All right, Spock! Let's get you out of those Draconia clothes and back into a proper Starfleet uniform. Then I want you to assist me in deciding which one of them we'll beam aboard the ship."

---------------------------------------------------

Back on the planet's surface, the four of them were gathered around, anxiously awaiting the moment of truth.

"So, who do you think Captain Kirk's gonna choose?" asked Ben.

Parm and Kitt shrugged.

"I hope it's me!" Lance said with enthusiasm. "I think visiting this ship Spock has gone back to live on would be Drak!"

Then the sound of a dragon approaching from behind made them all turn around. Artha Penn, in his Dragon Booster disguise, had returned. And he was riding Beau, his dragon, in his true form as the reincarnation of the black and gold dragon of legend. They both looked quite heroic! Benjamin Mok had eventually learned from the Penn Stable youths that Artha Penn was the Dragon Booster. He thought that the young Penn kid being a legendary herioc figure was both amazing and surprising at the same time.

"Well, stable boy," the girl Kitt teased. "You're just in time! Captain Kirk's about to make his choice."

"Scales!" Artha said, slapping his forehead. "I almost forgot! So who do you think he's gonna choose?"

"Nobody knows." Ben said. "Nothing to do but wait."

---------------------------------------------------

Back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk, Spock and Scotty were all assembled in the transporter room.

"Are you sure about this, Spock?" Kirk asked.

"He IS the logical choice." Spock answered. "Of course, if you choose to beam the dragon aboard as well, you'll have to beam them both directly into the shuttle bay, as the dragon will not be able to rematerialize fully on the transporter pad, given its size."

Kirk nodded and then turned to Scott. "Think you can do it?"

"Aye!" Scott said in his typical Scottish accent. "It'll take some recalibrations, but it's definitely feasible."

Then the nearby intercom whistled, signaling an incoming message. Kirk walked over to it and opened it. "Kirk here."

"This is Sulu." Came the voice of the Chinese helmsman. "Chekov just detected Artha Penn and his dragon. They've just arrived."

"Thanks, Sulu." Kirk said before he closed the intercom.

"All right! Let's do it." He then told Spock and Scotty.

------------------------------------------------

On the planet's surface, the four Penn Stables youngsters were arguing as to who gets to beam aboard the Enterprise.

"There's no sense in arguing about it!" Ben cut in. "Kirk's the one who ultimately gets to choose, no matter what anyone says."

"Yeah, I know, but it's taking so long!" Artha said from atop Beau.

"It 'is' a big decision!" Ben said with finality. "He has to take everything into consideration."

"What is there to consider!?" Artha argued. "We all promised we wouldn't tell anyone else! What difference does it make who goes!?"

"It matters to him!" Ben said. "I'm sure he has his reasons for choosing whoever gets to go."

Artha scoffed at this.

"Well, I don't about the rest of you, but… I find that whole thing with the "beaming" to be quite scary…" Parm said. "I mean… what if I were to come back on the other side… not whole… or… deformed in some way!"

"Hah! So that means Kirk's not gonna choose you, then." Lance teased.

Kitt sighed. "Parm, you have nothing to worry about. You saw Kirk and his men beam down many times during the past week. It didn't affect THEM any!"

"I never said I was worried!" Parm retorted. "It's just…" he paused.

"Captain Kirk sounds like a great man." Artha said. "I wish I'd've met him in person when he was down here…"

With that, the Enterprise's transporter had caught one of them in it's beam, and was beginning to beam them aboard the ship, to the disappointment of the others.

Parm gasped. "Looks like Captain Kirk has chosen!" he rapidly padded himself on the chest. "And it isn't me!"

"Aw, scales!" Lance cried out. "It's always him!"

Kitt nodded and sighed. "Always is… Figures!"

-------------------------------------------------

Aboard the Enterprise, in the main shuttle bay, Kirk and Spock were waiting to greet the one they have chosen. He and his dragon started to rematerialize. When they were fully formed, they both began to look around astonishingly at the vast shuttle bay.

Kirk approached the pair, smiling. "Welcome! I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation Starship Enterprise."

The individual atop the dragon was demagged to the floor right in front of Kirk. He landed on his boots with a light "thump". "Artha Penn, Dragon Booster."

Kirk extended a hand to Artha, who shook it with his own gloved hand. Kirk thought his uniform made him look quite heroic. He was also certain he was a hero, in a sense.

"And this is my dragon, Beau." Artha said as an introduction to Kirk.

Kirk bowed to the dragon who warbled in greeting to Kirk.

Then Artha unbuckled his helmet and removed it. For the first time, Kirk saw the young man's face. To him, he looked no older than 16. Quite young, he thought, to be such a figure of importance for his people. After all, according to Spock, he is the binding force that keeps Draconia from falling into complete and total chaos; which could lead to another major war between the humans and dragons of that planet. The first dragon/human war, Kirk learned, was quite destructive. So destructive, it almost annihilated both sides. It took the original Dragon Booster to restore peace once again. Now, a second dragon/human war seemed omnipresent, and the Dragon Booster was reincarnated into this slender youth. Such a responsibility must be very demanding on a boy his age. But he wasn't alone, Kirk thought. He had the loyalty of his friends, and he would always have his highly intelligent and legendary dragon at his side.

"Pleased to meet you, young Artha." Kirk said. "Your friends speak highly of you, and you came in highly recommended by Mr. Spock for this special privilege."

"He did?" Artha Penn asked, looking at Spock.

"Yes!" Kirk smiled. "He said you would be the…logical choice."

Artha laughed. "I could never understand his logic!"

"Neither can I." Kirk agreed. "But… it works for him."

Spock simply raised an eyebrow, and remained silent.

"My decision wasn't an easy one…" Kirk continued. "I thought you were all equally as deserving… But, you're here now, and without further adue. Shall we?" Kirk said, indicating the shuttle bay doors that led to the outside corridors of the ship.

Artha started to walk out, but then stopped and turned back to gaze at his dragon. "What about Beau?"

"I'm afraid your dragon will have to remain here in the shuttle bay" Kirk said. "As our ship's corridors weren't built for creatures his size. I'm sorry."

Artha sighed and looked down in deep disappointment. He felt that, since Kirk had beamed he and Beau aboard his ship, that Beau should also take part in the tour as well; but the news that Kirk's ship wasn't built for dragons meant that Beau would be missing out on an excellent opportunity to expand his knowledge. After all, Artha felt he should let his dragon experience the same things he does most of the time, especially on a once in a lifetime occasion such as this.

Spock, however, spoke up. "Captain, there may be a solution to this dilemma: I could, essentially, meld with the dragon, and assume his consciousness for the purposes of this tour…"

Artha's eyes lit up, as well as Beau's. "Yeah, Spock! That's a great idea!"

But Kirk raised a hand. "Spock. Wait a minute! Are you saying that you can… take on the consciousness of this dragon!?"

"Of course he can!" Artha said his enthusiasm. "I've seen him do it before!"

"Really?" Kirk looked skeptical.

"Uh huh!" Artha nodded. "One time, he was able to transfer Beau's consciousness into a large crystal ball! It was the first time I've ever heard Beau speak like a human… I admit, at first, it was pretty freaky… but also quite amazing… And then there was that time Spock took on Beau's consciousness so that he could describe to us the layout and strategy of a very important race."

"It was then that I finally realized the importance of those… dragon races of yours." Spock said.

Kirk just shook his head in utter astonishment. "So were talking about a special kind of mind meld here?"

"More than a mind meld, Captain" Spock said. "A consciousness meld, which is a small step above a normal mild meld. Not many Vulcans have been able to master this technique. I happen to be one of the few Vulcans who can."

Kirk nodded. "And no harm will come to the dragon?"

"No." Artha said. "As long as someone monitors his life signs."

"Good point." Kirk said "Best not to take any chances." He then walked over to the intercom and switched it on. "Sick Bay! McCoy."

"McCoy here." Came the voice of the Doctor.

"I need you in the main shuttle bay, and bring your medical equipment."

"What's wrong? Is somebody hurt?"

"I'll explain it to you when you get here."

"Acknowledged." McCoy said.

Artha's face was beaming. "You don't know how much this means to me. Means to both of us!" He said, eyeing his dragon, who seemed to be smiling and nodding out of happiness himself.

"It's Spock you should be thanking, really. After all, not everyone can do what he can do."

Artha nodded. "Yeah. You're right about that. You're lucky to have him as a part of your crew. But that thing you spoke of awhile ago? The mind meld? He's done that, too, with Beau… and Fracshun, my younger brother Lance's dragon. From that, we found out that he's not as intelligent as Beau, but Lance loves him anyway!" Artha spoke of this with great admiration. Not only for Spock and his abilities, but for his younger brother as well. Clearly, he loved his younger brother. As any good heroic figure should.

With that, the doors to the shuttle bay slid open revealing Dr. McCoy, who walked in.

"Ah, Bones!" Kirk began. "You're about to witness something quite extraordinary: Spock is going to perform what he calls a "consciousness meld", and essentially take on this dragon's consciousness into his own all while maintaining the dragon himself alive. I want you to monitor him while Spock does this."

McCoy raised his eyebrows. "Well, this is new! Is what Spock's planning to do safe?"

"Spock assures me it is." Kirk replied.

"Don't worry, Doc." Artha said. "He's done it before, and we've never had a problem."

"Indeed." Spock said. "Except for the fact that, as I take on Beau's consciousness, I also take on a part of his personality. I must warn you that there is no telling what I may say or do."

Kirk nodded. "Point taken."

After a moment, McCoy said. "Now, this I've gotta see. I wonder what other tricks this Vulcan has up his sleeve." He then moved off preparing his medical equipment.

"Well, Spock. Whenever you're ready." Kirk gestured.

As Spock approached Beau, Beau settled himself onto the shuttle bay floor, preparing himself, well aware of what was about to transpire. Meanwhile, McCoy switched on his tricorder and started to take readings. Remarkably, the dragon didn't seem at all anxious about the upcoming procedure. His heart rate and pulse remained the same. Perfectly relaxed. McCoy, on the other hand, was anything but relaxed; as he always is, when one of his patients' life was even remotely in danger.

Spock stood at Beau's head, gathering himself. He joined his hands together for just a few seconds before he then placed them to the side of Beau's head. There was a momentary jolt from both of them that surprised both Kirk and McCoy, but not Artha, who's seen this before. Matter of fact, he was smiling! He knew that Beau would greatly appreciate this favor that Spock was doing for both of them. Beau's massive head slowly fell to the floor as he closed his eyes. Spock's eyes closed as well, and his face began to contort slightly as he took on the dragon's powerful mind. Then, something happened. There was a flash of light, and Beau suddenly reverted back to his red and blue racing dragon "camouflage". He looked less magnificent than in his black and gold format, but still quite sleek. Artha also lost his Dragon Booster outfit in that flash of light, and reverted back to his conventional dragon racer outfit. Kirk was quite surprised when this happened, but didn't ask Artha how it happened. Instead, he chalked it up to some sort of holographic projection by a means he has yet to establish.

After a few moments, Spock's eyes opened again, and he slowly removed his hands from Beau's head. Spock then looked around, then turned to face Kirk and Artha. He flashed a smile. Which caught Kirk a little bit off guard, as he wasn't used to seeing the Vulcan smile.

"Captain Kirk!" Spock said brightly, more brightly than usual for the Vulcan. "It is I, Beau, the golden dragon of legend!"

"Beau!? Is it really you!?"

"Yes, Artha!" Spock said with a grin. "It is I, inside Spock's body."

Meanwhile, McCoy was running his medical tricorder over the motionless form of Beau, taking readings.

"How is he?" Kirk asked.

McCoy switched off his tricorder. "I don't know how, but he's in a perfect state of unconsciousness. All of his life signs are stable. Now I've "definitely" seen everything!"

Spock/Beau laughed heartily. "That's pretty funny, Doctor!"

McCoy was quite surprised to hear that from the Vulcan. Let alone, to see him laugh. This is gonna take some getting used to, like everything else on this bizarre mission.

"If it's all right with you" McCoy continued. "I'd like to hook him up to a life support system, as an extra precaution. He should be fine, as long as nobody unplugs him."

"I have complete confidence in your abilities, Doctor!" Spock/Beau said. Again, to McCoy's surprise.

"Do what you can, Bones." Kirk said. "Now, gentlemen, if you'll walk this way." He then said, guiding his guests out of the shuttle bay. As soon as the trio had left, McCoy walked over to the intercom and switched it on.

"Nurse Chapel." He said into it.

-----------------------------------------------

Captain's log, supplemental- After bringing aboard Artha Penn- Spock's friend from Draconia- and his dragon, Beau, Spock performed what he calls a "consciousness meld", where he essentially took on the dragon's consciousness. Now, with Beau residing in Spock's body, I am taking he and Artha on a grand tour of the ship; while Dr McCoy monitors the dragon's unconscious body in the main shuttle bay.

"This ship has a current contingent of 431 crewmembers, all working independently." Kirk said as he guided both of his guests down on one of the ship's busiest corridors, where several people were moving past, hurriedly going about their duties. "There are several such starships in our fleet, all with relatively similar designs."

"I can see why I would have trouble moving about on a ship like this!" Spock/Beau said, looking around. "Fracshun, however, might be able to move about freely!"

"Yeah, I actually think he would, Beau." Artha said.

"So, on your planet, dragons come in all sizes?" Kirk asked.

"Yes, they do!" Spock/Beau answered. "Fracshun's breed is one of the smaller varieties of my kind, though he has not fully grown yet. He still has a few more lengths to go!"

"And, hopefully, Lance can grow a few feet taller as well." Artha then said.

Kirk smiled at the happy conversation between the two. They have obviously grown quite close to each other. Kirk wondered is there was a similar strong relationship between all dragons and their riders on Draconia.

"Ah! Here we are! Right this way, gentlemen." Kirk said, indicating a sliding door, which opened once they approached.

When all three men entered the room, Kirk continued with his tour description. "This, my friends, is Main Engineering, where our warp drive and impulse engines are located. It's essentially the heart of the ship, as it also controls the life support systems, and other essential functions of the Enterprise."

Kirk then got the attention of Scotty, and motioned him over. "This is our Chief Engineer, Montgomery Scott. Scotty! I'd like you to meet Artha Penn, from the planet's surface… and Beau… his dragon, who's consciousness presently resides in Spock's body."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Scott!" Spock/Beau said with enthusiasm as he shook Scott's hand.

Scott, of course, was stunned at this revelation. "Are you saying that… Spock managed to take on the consciousness of that dragon in the shuttle bay, and that he's now inside Spock's body!?"

"Yes… and he is quite friendly, as you can see." Kirk said with a smile.

Scott eyes the grinning Vulcan standing before him, and nods in understanding. "I must say… this is the most amazing I've seen that Vulcan do!"

"He sometimes even amazes me, Mr. Scott!" Spock/Beau said.

"Which reminds me…" Kirk said as he walked over to an intercom console and switched it on. "Bones!"

"Yes, Jim?" came the voice of the Doctor.

"How's our patient?" Kirk asked.

"About as comfortable as he can be… I've got him hooked up to the repirator, and it's ready to kick in at the first sign of trouble… But up until now, his life signs haven't fluctuated an inch, one way or the other… Nothing but constant stability…" McCoy said through the intercom. In the shuttle bay, a couple of orderlies were doing a final inspection of the respirator functions, checking all the connections.

"Keep me informed!" Kirk said from his end. "Oh! Bones! If you're not too busy, later on, I'd like you to join me in the rec room in… let's say… 2 hours time?"

"Sure thing, Jim!"

"Very well. Kirk out." He said, switching off the intercom.

"I don't think your Doctor will have anything to worry about, Captain." Spock/Beau began. "I don't know how, but Spock is somehow maintaining me alive while I inhabit his body. I find it quite fascinating!" he finished with a laugh.

Kirk and Scott definitely heard shades of Spock in that last comment. It was then that Kirk suspected something, but didn't want to say anything just yet, for fear of causing concern. Instead, he allowed both Artha and Spock/Beau to look around the Engineering room a bit, as they seemed quite intrigued by it. After awhile, Kirk lead the group out of Engineering and onto the next leg of their tour.

A short while later, the trio entered another room. "And this, gentlemen, is Sick Bay, where Dr. McCoy spends most of his time. And this is Miss Chapel, the Head Nurse. Miss Chapel, I'd like you to meet Artha Penn…"

"Hello" she said as she shook Artha's hand.

"Hi." Artha replied back.

"… and Beau, Artha's dragon, inside Spock…"

"Please to meet you, Nurse Chapel!" Spock/Beau said.

Of course, this was the umpteenth time they've seen this stunned reaction today. The trio have all gotten used to it by now. Matter of fact, Artha rolled his eyes upon seeing Miss Chapel's stunned look.

"You mean… the dragon's mind is really inside Spock?" Miss Chapel asked.

Kirk nodded. "Yes."

Nurse Chapel forced a smile. "That's quite amazing. I didn't believe Dr. McCoy, at first; but now, I guess it must be true."

Then the intercom whistled. Nurse Chapel walked over to it. "Nurse Chapel!" she answered.

"Is Kirk there?" came Dr. McCoy's voice.

"Yes, Doctor." She said, before turning the com over to Kirk.

"Yes, Bones, what is it?"

"Just thought you should know… I've been detecting some rather strange readings from this "sleeping giant" I've got here… His vital functions seem… almost identical to those of Spock… almost as if a piece of Spock is currently inside this dragon!"

Kirk smiled. "Curious… it would seem to prove my theory… A theory that no doubt Spock will confirm once he's back to his normal self."

"Theory, Jim?" McCoy asked.

"Yes, I'll explain to you later, when we all meet in the rec room… in another 15 minutes or so… Kirk out."

Kirk then allowed the duo to continue looking around Sick Bay, asking any questions they may have to Nurse Chapel. They seemed particularly fascinated by the life sign monitors on the walls over the bio beds. They even allowed themselves to have their vital signs displayed on the monitor! They were quite taken by the clearly audible rhythmic thumping of their hearts coming from the monitor when they lied down on the bio bed!

Then Kirk mentioned to them that it was time to move on. They left sick bay satisfied with what they've learned. Nurse Chapel was almost sad to see them go. They seemed like such nice people to her. Although she was still getting used to Beau's behaviour from inside Spock's body. So unlike Spock, she thought to herself. In any case, they certainly brightened up her day.

A short time later, they were all gathered in the rec room together: Kirk, Artha, Spock/Beau, McCoy and Scott… They were all sitting around the same table, sipping some replicated coffee. All except for Spock/Beau, who was munching on some replicated chocolate bars he was shown how to make. They were all talking about the day's events and just being quite joyful.

"I'm telling you, Jim:" McCoy spoke up. "Based on what I could gather from Spock's data, this society is pretty amazing! They went through an industrial revolution without the need to burn fossil fuels. Matter of fact, the only pollution in that society comes from the vast amounts of dragon manure that gets produced, but even that gets completely recycled as fertilizer for plants, gardens and trees."

Artha shrugged at this. "With the amount of draconium we harvest, we really have no need for what you call 'fossil fuels'. We get enough power from it as it is!"

"And Spock used those multi coloured crystals to power his computer." Kirk said. "But there's one thing that puzzles me: How could Beau be capable of changing shape and colour like that, seemingly at will?" He then looked to Spock/Beau for a possible answer.

Spock/Beau took a break from munching on his chocolate bar to offer a simple shrug. "I really can't explain it, Captain. That 'shape changing' I do comes naturally to me… I don't ask how or why… I just do it!" He smiled, and took another bite from his chocolate bar before going on. "But you must admit, what I do does offer a convenient disguise from our enemies, including one named Moordryd Paynn. As, no doubt, my ancestor did to hide from his enemies."

Kirk smiles to Artha. "You have a really special dragon there, Artha!"

"Yeah… He is kinda special… And he also likes chocolate a lot." Artha said, noticing what Spock/Beau had in his hand.

"I can see that!" Kirk said. "Especially with the five different kinds of chocolate bars he replicated."

"And so much like the real thing, too!" Spock/Beau said, when he finished munching his last bar. "Beats the usual dragon fodder, anyway."

While this was going on, McCoy and Scott were just sitting there listening to this happy conversation. They would occasionally smile at each other, when something quite amusing was said.

At one point, Artha got up to replicate a second cup of coffee; and while his back was turned, Spock/Beau quietly pulled his chair away from the table, motioning to the Starfleet people to be quiet. When Artha came back to the table, he first set his cup down; and, not noticing that the chair was no longer there, he moved to sit… and fell straight to the floor with a scream. Everybody in the room broke out in laughter.

"As you've also noticed, Beau's also a bit of a prankster." He said as he brought himself back up.

When the laughter died down, Scott turned to McCoy. "Don't I wish our Mr. Spock were more like him. There's a man you can joke around with!" he finished with a nod.

Spock/Beau continued laughing, proud of himself at having played another trick on Artha.

"I'll get you for that, Beau!" Artha said in mock vengeance.

"You wish!" Spock/Beau scoffed. And they both playfully shoved each other. When Spock/Beau finally stopped laughing, Kirk stood up.

"Well, gentlemen, we've now come to the highlight of this tour. If you'll follow me." He then turned to McCoy and Scott. "You two can return to your stations."

"For me, that means tending to our 'sleeping giant' in the shuttle bay. I'll catch you later." McCoy said as he walked out.

The remaining trio then walked into the nearby turbo lift.

Inside the turbo lift, the conversation began anew. "And you say you have several of these turbo lifts inside your ship?" Spock/Beau asked.

"Yes!" Kirk replied.

"And they're capable of moving from one end of the ship to the other?" Spock/Beau then asked.

"It 'is' a big ship!" Kirk said matter-of-factly.

"Fascinating!" Spock/Beau said with a smile. Again, Kirk heard a little bit of Spock in that last statement. "This reminds me of that elevator shaft that leads down to the underground."

"Yeah, it does." Artha admitted.

Kirk didn't bother inquiring about that. He thought it must be some type of game they played on the surface with an old abandoned elevator. The turbo lift finally slowed to a halt, as they reached their destination.

"Here we are, gentlemen!" Kirk said as the doors to the turbo lift opened to reveal the all too familiar sights and sounds to him, as he practically lived on this part of the ship. "The Main Bridge! The virtual brain of the Enterprise. This is where I oversee the day to day operations of the ship. And this… is the Captain's chair." He continued, indicating it as he approached it. "The throne of my kingdom, you could say."

Artha was looking at something in front of him. "Whoa! Is that our planet!?" he said, pointing at the view screen in front of him.

"Yes!" Kirk said.

Artha was mesmerized by the site. Spock/beau, however, merely raised his eyebrows in true Spock-like fashion. To Artha, the planet looked to have a light blue colour, with all the oceans and continents he remembers from school books he read.

"It looks so different from up here!" Artha commented. "How far off the planet are we?"

"We are in standard orbit at around 250 miles from the planet's surface." Kirk replied.

Artha whistled. "That's pretty far up!"

"Artha, Beau, I'd like you to meet our helmsman, Mr. Chekov; and our Chief Tactical Officer, Mr. Sulu."

"Pleasure." Chekov said as he shook hands with both Artha and Spock/Beau. They didn't seemed surprised at Kirk's calling of Spock by his alternate name, as word obviously got to them about what happened in the shuttle bay.

"You talk funny." Artha commented to Chekov.

Chekov smiled. "That is because I come frwom a pwlace called Russia."

"Well, I've never met anybody who talked like you." Artha mentioned, much to Chekov's disappointment.

"Don't feel bad, Chekov!" Kirk said as he smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Not every alien culture has it's Russians."

Chekov felt a little bit better.

"But you." Artha said as he turned his attention to Sulu. "I've met someone who kinda looks like you."

"Really?" Sulu said with interest. "You mean there are others on your planet like me?"

"Yes!" Artha nodded. "Matter of fact, the guy I know, Khatah, is a former dragon racing champion."

Sulu smiled. "Sounds like a nice guy! I'd like to meet him."

"I don't think that will be possible, Sulu." Kirk said.

"Not necessarily, Captain." Spock/Beau said. "There may be images of Khatah in Spock's computer archives. I do remember him taking pictures, and filming him with a video camera during a few races where he was featured."

"Worth a look." Kirk said to Sulu with a smile.

Sulu smiled back and nodded. "I certainly will."

With that, Kirk turned his attention towards another person on the Bridge. "And I'd like you to meet our Communications Officer. Lieutenant Ahura, this is Artha Penn and Beau, his dragon."

Ahura exchanged handshakes with Artha first… and then Spock/Beau. Who brought her hand up and kissed the back of it. Ahura quickly squealed and pulled it away.

"I'm sorry, did I frighten you?" Spock asked.

"No." Ahura said after a moment. She smiled. "It's just that… Spock doesn't usually… do… something like that…"

"But I am not Spock." He said.

Ahura smiled again, then extended her hand out to him. "A real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Beau." She said, smiling widely.

He took her hand and kissed it properly this time.

"He has a certain… penchant… for a few select human females…" Artha whispered to Kirk.

"I can see that." Kirk whispered back.

"Forgive me." Spock/Beau than said to Ahura. "But I cannot resist the charm of a beautiful creature such as you."

This made Ahura giggle.

"What? And you don't think Kitt's cute!?" Artha teased.

"Of course she is!" Spock/Beau answered. "For a girl… But we have a WOMAN here." He then said smiling as he gazed back at Ahura.

"And what about her dragon, WyldFyr?" Artha then asked.

"She would be a suitable mate, except that she doesn't want anything to do with me." Spock/Beau said.

"Well, maybe you're not trying hard enough." Artha cockily said.

"Artha!" Spock/Beau glared back.

"Gentlemen!" Kirk quickly intervened. "No arguing on my Bridge. Please."

"Oh, we do this all the time." Artha said.

"Maybe so, but I don't tolerate any…discord… No matter how good intentioned it is." Kirk smiled. "And, this concludes this tour. I hope it was very informative, and well appreciated by both of you. Any questions?"

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Meanwhile, in the shuttle bay, McCoy was still monitoring the prone form of Beau, when he then realized something. His hand went instinctively to that place on his belt. "My communicator!" he whispered harshly to himself.

-------------------------------------------

Back on the Bridge, both Artha and Spock/Beau were about to ask Kirk some of their questions, when Ahura interrupted.

"Sir! I'm getting a signal from the surface! Audio only."

"Put it through." Kirk ordered.

Amongst some static, everybody on the Bridge heard: "Hello-ooo… Anybody home?" It was a voice both Artha and Beau knew.

But before Kirk could answer, his intercom whistled. He went over to switch it on from his chair. "Kirk here."

"Jim! I just realized something." Came McCoy's voice over the intercom. "I left my communicator on the planet's surface. I must've forgotten it just before we beamed aboard."

"Yes, and I think I know exactly where it is." Kirk said after a moment. He then switched off his intercom.

"Hello? Anybody there!?" the voice said again.

"Open a channel." Kirk ordered.

"Channel open." Said Ahura after pressing a few buttons from her work station.

"This is Captain Kirk of the Enterprise. Who's this?"

"The name's Paynn… Moordryd Paynn…"

Both Artha and Spock/Beau exchanged horrified glances.

"I know you've got that stable brat, Artha Penn, there with you. I want you to tell him that if you give me what I want, I'll let his friends… and his younger brother, live…"

With that, Lance's voice came over the comm.. "No! Artha! Don't worry about me! Save yourself!!" He was quickly silenced by one of Paynn's men. You could hear his faint muffled screams as Lance was dragged away. Then Moordryd's maniacal laughter could be heard over the comm.., much to the horror of all the Starfleet officers on the Bridge, as well as Artha and Spock/Beau.

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Captain's log, additional entry- A startling turn of events has taken place: Artha Penn's nemesis, a Dragon Eye Crew youth named Moordryd Paynn, has infiltrated the hideout he shared with his friends, and is now holding them hostage for a ransom I have yet to find out.

"What do you want!?" Kirk said over the comm..

"Quite simple, Captain." Moordryd began. "I want some of that fancy equipment you've got. I'll exchange that for the lives of Artha's friends. Are we in agreement?"

Kirk then made a motion to Ahura to cut off audio, which she did. He then gathered around Artha and Spock/Beau. "How crazy is this person were dealing with?" he asked of the two.

"Very crazy!" Artha emphatically said. "He's done some nasty things before, but this is the first time I've seen him go this far."

Kirk nodded, then turned to Spock/Beau. He shrugged. "He is highly unstable. There's no telling what he'll do."

Kirk thought he detected a bit of Spock in that last statement. His theory of both personalities somehow merging became more and more plausible, in his mind, as he got to see Spock/Beau in his actions and words.

"All right." Kirk than said. "I have an idea that could get us out of this, but I'll need your help."

"Anything to save my little brother's life!" Artha said.

"And the lives of my dragon brothers and sister." Spock/Beau added.

Kirk nodded. "Okay. Leave everything to me."

He then motioned for Ahura to reestablish audio, which he did. "All right, Moordryd." Kirk began. "I'll give you what you want. Just don't harm the hostages!"

On the surface, Moordryd smiled wickedly. "Wise decision, Captain!" he said into the communicator. "You have two hours! I think you can pretty much guess what it is I want in terms of equipment. Preferably, the fanciest ones you've got. Bring that to me, and I'll let the Penn Stable brats go!"

With that, he closed the communicator, and grinned in an evil manner at the scene before him. Three of his Dragon Eye Crew members were keeping an eye on Ben and the Penn Stable youths, and five wraith dragons were holding all three of the Penn Stable dragons at bay. Two more guards were posted outside the entrance to prevent anyone else from getting in. He had it all well planned! And if it got him what he wanted, he'll be sitting pretty on his father's executive chair… eventually. He laughed wickedly at the thought of him leading his father's empire with an iron fist, thanks to the cooperation of one named Captain Kirk of a starship named "Enterprise".

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On the Enterprise's Bridge, Kirk was consorting with Artha and Spock/Beau, and going over the final details of his rescue plan.

Is everything about the plan understood?" Kirk asked of the two.

Artha nodded. "Clearly! But to pull it off, it'll take impeccable timing."

"And to make this plan work, I'll need to be back in my own body. I should warn you, though: Last time Spock did this, although it took mere moments for my consciousness to be taken out of my body, it took him several minutes to put it back."

Kirk nodded. "Understood. Take all the time you need. Get down to the shuttle bay!"

With that, Spock/Beau left, leaving Kirk and a very worried looking Artha. Kirk placed a reassuring hand in his shoulder. "Don't worry, Artha. We've been in similar scrapes before, and made it out okay. This one is no different. We'll get them out."

Artha looked up at Kirk. "Thanks, Captain. I really appreciate all the effort you're putting into this."

"What are friends for?" Kirk smiled.

He then moved over to the intercom on his chair and turned it on. "Engineering! Scotty, you there?"

"Right here, Captain!" came the Scotsman's voice.

"Meet me in Transporter Room 3, and get a security detail down there, as well."

"Aye, sir!"

After switching off his intercom, he turned to Artha and said: "Let's go." And then they made their way to the turbolift.

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A short time later, Kirk and Artha were in the Transporter Room with Scotty and 2 members of ship's security. They were going over Kirk's rescue plan together.

"Is everything understood, Scotty?" Kirk asked.

Scotty nodded. "Aye, sir! Just say the word!"

Kirk nodded, and then switched on the intercom. "McCoy! Status report…"

"Spock just initiated the meld." Said the Doctor, who was there with Nurse Chapel monitoring the proceedings. "They seem to be locked in pretty tight, at this point. You couldn't pry those two apart with a hot iron, in my opinion!."

Kirk smiled. "Keep an eye on 'em, Bones. We're on our way. Notify Scotty the minute those two come out of it."

"Will do!" replied Bones.

With that, both he and Artha left for the shuttle bay.

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When Kirk and Artha arrived in the shuttle bay, McCoy and Nurse Chapel were busy monitoring both Spock and Beau's vital signs. Despite the serious mental strain a meld such as this would impose on each of them, they both appeared to be perfectly relaxed. McCoy had bothered to have an entire emergency life support system set up, complete with a vital sign monitor placed next to a bio bed that he had to bring down, as it was interconnected with the bed itself. Everything was there ready to revive the dragon, should he go into cardiac arrest. Always thorough, Kirk thought to himself with a smile. You can always count on dear ol' McCoy. Fortunately though, in terms of vital sign fluctuations, no such occurrences had happened, the whole time Beau remained unconscious. Matter of fact, he seemed perfectly relaxed the whole time!

"All right!" Kirk began. "Let's do it. I'll go first, then you follow a few minutes later."

Artha nodded. Then he thought of something. "Wait! There's something I must do first."

He then took out a star shaped amulet that was tied around his neck, removed it, then raised it up. "RELEASE THE DRAGON!" He shouted. Then placed it in a matching slot on his forearm band, a band that Kirk never noticed was there, until now. Once the amulet was in place, there was a flash of light coming from Artha, then from Beau; bright enough to make everybody in the shuttle bay shield their eyes. Then, instantaneously, they both resumed their original forms from when they came aboard the Enterprise. He as the Dragon Booster, and Beau as the legendary black and gold dragon. The whole time, Spock remained unmoving, deeply entrenched in the consciousness meld; and Beau remained unconscious.

Once the light had dissipated, Kirk unshielded his eyes and saw both Artha and Beau in their original guises, then smiled and shook his head. "I guess I'll never understand how it is you're capable of doing that, but I know that you two are pretty special."

"Indeed we are!" Artha said with pride.

Kirk then opened his communicator. "Scotty!"

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On the planet's surface, in the Penn Stable youths' hideout, Moordryd was pacing back and forth slowly. After checking his wristwatch, he groaned. "What is taking so long!? The two hours ended five minutes ago!" He said while lashing out in frustration.

"Maybe Kirk finally decided not to give you what you wanted!" said the brazen Kitt, who was immediately silenced by a back hand slap to the face from one of Moordryd's henchmen. A hard slap that made her cry out and fall to the floor.

"You… YOU BRUTE!" said a surprised Parmon, who was then shoved by the same well-built guy to the floor, which made everybody in the room chuckle. The three youth's dragons wanted to intervene, but were still being held back by the wraith dragons.

Then somebody pointed and cried out. "Look!"

Moordryd turned to where he was pointing at, and saw the form of who he felt could only be the Captain of the Enterprise shimmer into existence by a means he has yet to determine. Regardless of which, he was somewhat relieved that the good Captain finally decided to show himself. He saw a small trunk appear right beside him. A trunk that he felt could only contain what he had asked for.

"Well, well, well." Moordryd began in a wicked tone. "Captain Kirk, I presume?"

Kirk nodded. "That's right!" He then continued angrily. "I brought you what you wanted, now let the hostages go!"

"Show me first!" Moordryd insisted.

With that, Kirk bent down and opened the small trunk to reveal what was inside. Moordryd saw an array of phaser rifles, communicators and tricorders. Exactly like the ones he saw on Dr. McCoy a short while ago.

"Satisfied?" Kirk asked harshly.

Moordryd smiled and nodded, and motioned for Kirk to close the trunk, which he did. But before he could do anything else, another form began to appear to the right of him in the same manner Kirk did a few moments earlier. He turned to look, and saw the Dragon Booster shimmer into existence.

"Well, if it isn't the mighty Dragon Booster!" Moordryd said cockily. "Where's your black and gold dragon of legend?"

"That's not your concern, Moordryd!" the Dragon Booster said in answer. "You should be more concerned about getting out of here unscathed."

Moordryd laughed. "Don't make me laugh! You're outnumbered, Dragon Booster. If my men don't get you, my wraith dragons will."

"We'll see about that." The Dragon Booster said as he charged towards Moordryd. But Ben, the Dragon City Security Detail Patrol Officer, moved first. He came behind the Dragon Eye Crew henchman nearest to him, who was distracted by what was going on, and tried to subdue him. He was carrying a dragon lance, which made it harder for him to do. Kirk attacked the man beside him, hitting him with an elbow to the abdomen; which made him flinch; followed by a hard right hand to the jaw. Meanwhile, the Dragon Booster struggled with Moordryd, trying to keep him from using his energy draining whip on him. The three Penn Stable youths took advantage of the distractions to attack the remaining Dragon Eye Crew henchman. Kitt was on his back, trying to rake his face, while young Lance was biting his ankle, and Parmon was trying to push him to the ground; which he finally was able to do. Then all three jumped on him, pummeling him with their fists. The three youths' dragons distracted the wraith dragons from attacking anybody with a series of repeated charges. Cyrano, the large bull dragon, took on three of the wraith dragons while the other two each had their own to worry about.

Kirk was finally able to knock his opponent to the ground, who was slow at getting up. He heard noise coming from the stable hallway and sounds of shouting. It could only be the sentries who, having heard the commotion, were running up to help out their comrades. There wasn't a moment to lose! He opened his communicator and screamed: "NOW, SCOTTY!"

And with that, the two ship's security officers, phasers in hand, appeared in front of the two sentries rushing in from the outside, they stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the two men appearing right in front of them. Then, after a moment, one of them moved in to attack. The other followed. The security officers fired their phasers and stunned the two attacking sentries.

Back inside, Kirk, Ben, and the Penn Stable youths were getting the upper hand on the hostage takers. Ben finally was able to disarm his opponent and knock him out with his staff. The one being pummeled on by the three youths got to his knees and was only able to cry out "I give up! I give up!" before Kirk knocked him out with a hard right hand.

One of the wraith dragons broke free from the struggle, and was now charging the humans all while letting out a terrifying roar. But the security officers came rushing in. "STUN THOSE DRAGONS!" Kirk pointed and ordered. They switched their phasers to wide field and fired at the charging wraith dragon, knocking him out. They then stunned the other four wraith dragons, who immediately collapsed to the floor. Meanwhile, Moordryd and the Dragon Booster were continuing to struggle. They were rolling about on the floor. Then a hard thump knocked the Dragon Booster's helmet off. Now, for the first time, Moordryd Paynn saw the Dragon Booster's true identity.

"Artha Penn???" he said in complete shock. "YOU'RE the Dragon Booster!!?"

Artha simply eyed him.

Then another event made him look up. He saw the black and gold dragon of legend appear in front of him, in the same fashion as Kirk and the Dragon Booster, whom he now knows as Artha Penn. But the dragon was not alone. There was someone on his back.

"Spock!" Kirk cried out, as Spock was demagged to the floor by the dragon. He had on the specially designed suit that was fitted for him for this purpose.

Moordryd just stood there with a wide eyed look of shock on his face.

Meanwhile, his fellow hostage takers had regained their senses, and were about to start attacking again, when Beau started to get a glow about him. He then let out three magnetic jolts that propelled the three attackers against the wall, knocking them out.

Moordryd looked wildly around at the carnage. All of his men were defeated, as well as all of his wraith dragons. He stood alone against Kirk, Spock, and their friends.

"Would somebody mind telling me just what is going on here!!?" he cried out.

"Quite simply, Moordryd." Spock said, approaching him. "Your presence here is unauthorized." He then applied the Vulcan neck pinch to his left shoulder. Moordryd immediately grew limp and fell to the floor unconscious. The Dragon Eye Crew's defeat was complete!

"Too bad you never could teach me that." Artha mentioned.

"I have tried, Artha!" Spock commented. Everybody had a good chuckle at that.

"So, you're the Dragon Booster." Ben said to Artha.

Artha nodded. "Yeah… That's right. So are you gonna arrest me now for being an 'illegal vigilante'?"

After a moment, Ben smiled and shook his head. "No… Your secret's safe with me."

Artha smiled back. "Thank you. I can't say the same for them, though." He said, as he looked around at the prone bodies of Moordryd Paynn and his cronies.

"Well, you won't have to worry about them for awhile." Ben said. "I have enough evidence here and eyewitness testimony to put them away for a very long time!"

"Be that as it may." Kirk intervened. "They already know too much about us. We've already violated our Prime Directive many times over, and this is the price we've got to pay."

"So what are you saying, Captain?" Ben asked. Then his face took on an expression of horror. "Don't tell me we have to kill these poor kids!"

"We won't need to, Benjamin." Spock chimed in. "I could perform a memory purge on them. Wipe their memories clean of these events, so that they will never again remember ever meeting us, and performing this botched hostage taking."

Ben looked astonished. "Can you really do that?"

Spock nodded. "I can."

"But…" Ben continued. "If you do that, that means I can't arrest them."

"Don't worry about that, Ben." Kirk said with a smile. "I mean, after all, you've got… bigger fish to fry… Right?"

Ben nodded. "Right."

"Of course" Spock continued. "We'll have to take them away from here, once their memories are purged. We cannot allow them to wake up in this place."

"That won't be too much of a problem." Artha said with a smile.

Kirk smiled in return and nodded. "Good!"

"But what about us?" Ben then asked. None too happy about the idea of having his memories, and that of the Penn Stable youths, purged.

"I don't think we'll need to purge your memories, provided you can keep 'us' a secret." Kirk said with another smile.

"You can count on me, Captain!" Ben said proudly.

Kirk then turned to face the Penn Stable youths. "Oh! Uhh… Sure… You secret's safe with us!" Kitt immediately said.

Then one of the Dragon Eye Crew captors started to moan and regain consciousness.

"Best get to work, Spock!" Kirk said immediately.

With that, Spock moved in to subdue the youngster with his memory purge mind meld.

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Later on that day, the entire group of friends were in the Penn Stables hideout, now free of Moordryd Paynn, his Dragon Eye Crew henchmen, and the wraith dragons. Kirk and Spock were preparing to return to the Enterprise for good.

"So you're saying that some of your Scientists are already talking about space exploration?" Kirk asked with keen interest.

Artha nodded. "Yes! They're talking about maybe launching satellites into orbit with rocket boosters powered by draconium crystals in the near future. Of course, they're seen as crackpots by the scientific community; but they maintain it's possible."

Kirk smiled. "Our Scientists, too, were seen as 'crackpots' when they first talked about launching satellites into orbit around our planet. Of course, this was centuries ago, for us; but it was a step in the right direction. It's an ambitious project that really shouldn't be wasted, no matter what anyone says!"

"I'll certainly keep that in mind." Artha said. He then extended a hand to Kirk. "It's been a real pleasure meeting you, Captain. Me and my friends'll never forget what you did for us."

Kirk took the hand and smiled. "Pleasure meeting you, too, young Dragon Booster. When your society finally develops warp technology, and want to join the Federation, I'm sure you'll come in highly recommended by myself… and Mr. Spock, of course."

They all laughed. Then everybody went around shaking hands, saying their final goodbyes to Kirk and Spock. Young Lance held Spock in another long embrace.

"I really am gonna miss you." He told the tall Vulcan.

"I… am going to miss you too, young Lance." Spock replied. He could feel Lance smile against his lower abdomen. It was only until Lance finally relinquished his embrace on Spock, after much prodding from his older brother Artha, that he joined Kirk in preparation for beaming.

Kirk then opened his communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise." He signaled to the ship.

"Scott here, Captain!" came the reponse.

"Two to beam up." He said, and closed his communicator.

Moments later, the two of them began to shimmer and dissipate as the transporter beam captured them. The Dragon City residents all waved their goodbyes as they finally disappeared.

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Back on the Enterprise's Bridge, the three of them: Kirk, Spock and McCoy were gathered around the Captain's chair in their usual chatter about the day's events.

"I must say, Spock!" Kirk began. "Your thorough collection of data on that society will keep our cultural experts busy for awhile."

Spock raised his eyebrows in true Vulcan fashion. "I simply did what any Starfleet officer would have done in a similar situation."

Kirk smiled and nodded. "Yes! Of course. And from what I've seen today, it confirmed my theory on how you were able to maintain the dragon Beau alive while his soul was removed from his body."

This peeked McCoy's interest. "Oh? And what theory is that, Jim?"

Before Kirk could answer, Spock intervened. "Quite simply, Doctor: The Vulcan technique of consciousness melding allows the Vulcan host to partition his own consciousness so that it maintains the other being's vital functions while that being's consciousness gets transposed into the host's own body."

McCoy looked baffled. "You mean to tell me that that Vulcan was able to somehow split his consciousness so that a piece of it moved into Beau, maintaining it alive in it's state of soulless unconsciousness!? All this time!?"

"Yes, Bones, that's exactly what he's saying!" Kirk said with enthusiasm. "If you need further proof, why don't you allow Spock to perform a consciousness meld on you!?" Kirk then teased.

After a few moments, McCoy said. "Well, I don't know about that. But I do know this: I'd better get that Vulcan down to Sick Bay for a blood sugar analysis. With all those chocolate bars he's had, his glucose level must be through the ROOF!"

Spock raised his eyebrows in total confusion.

"Yes, Bones, why don't you do that?" Kirk smiled.

"Oh! And Spock…" Kirk continued, as Spock started leaving to follow McCoy. "Tell me something: Aren't you going to miss your friends down on the planet?"

Spock turned back to face Kirk. "Captain, a Vulcan does not… 'miss'."

"I see…" Kirk muttered. "So all that hugging stuff with the boy Lance down there was mostly for his benefit?"

Spock nodded calmly. "Yes, Captain, as he had grown somewhat fond of me."

Kirk smiled slowly. "Why, Spock! There's hope for you yet!"

Spock moved as if he wanted to say something in reply; but instead, closed his mouth, placed his hands behind his back, turned and moved towards the turbo lift. This brought some smiles from the officers on the Bridge.

"Mr. Sulu! Plot a course back the way we came. Warp Factor 3!" Kirk ordered, stifling a laugh.

"Course laid in, sir." Sulu said, after pressing a few buttons on his console.

"Engage!" Kirk ordered.

You could hear the warp drive whine into action as the Enterprise left orbit from the planet. The viewscreen showed a scene of the rear of the ship, so Kirk watched as the planet began to shrink in size as the Enterprise sped away, onward towards its next mission.

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Back on Draconia, Moordryd Paynn and his cronies were slowly regaining consciousness. They looked around, somewhat disoriented, at the alleyway they were in. Ironically enough, it was the same alleyway where they had set upon Dr. McCoy just a couple of weeks earlier. But they didn't remember ever doing that, as the memories of that event was purged from their minds.

"Where are we?" one of them asked.

"I don't know." Moordryd said. "I don't even remember how we got here!"

Then his Vidcom band on his wrist signaled an incoming message. He turned on the virtuo screen and saw who was sending him the message. "Moordryd! Where are you?" said the all too familiar voice. The face and voice was that of Word Paynn, his father.

"Uhh… in Worktown." Came Moordryd's unsure reply.

"Come on home! It's getting late." Came Word's order to his son.

"Yes, father!" was his son's reply before the Vidcom was switched off.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said to his friends as he left to go on home.

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That evening, back at Penn Stables, there was much celebrating going on. The gang and their dragons had all gathered around a makeshift fire, happily talking about the events of the day, and how they had narrowly escaped another one of Moordryd Paynn's attempted coups. Ben was there with them, as he had become fast friends with the dragon city youths; as well as a welcome ally among the Dragon City Security Detail. He would surely be a welcome asset to the racing them, they all said to themselves. And they did their best to make him feel welcome.

There was much hearty laughter as Beau, at one point, stole another chocolate bar from Artha and flipped it into his mouth.

"We'll miss you , Spock!" Artha was heard to say amidst all the laughter.

Tomorrow was another day, and life went on as usual in Dragon City.