"An old Russian saying, 'There is more than vodka that intoxicates a man.' I believed him to be intoxicated by power, Sir."

"Have you been spending much time debating with Lieutenant Uhura?"

"No more than usual, Sir. She is almost at your level."

Spock rested a hand on Kirk's shoulder as he had seen how Kirk was glaring at Halls, "Captain?"

"I, I'm fine I just wish,"

"Excuse me Captain but I must report myself for dereliction of duty."

Kirk had looked at Sulu in almost total shock as it was not like him to neglect any duty. "What?"

"I did not report that I, while being the most senior officer on bridge with the Commodore, Miser Spock, and yourself away, agreed with Chekov that we should add to the standard biannual maintenance checks an extra annual total maintenance check of the systems in the brig. Mister Scott agreed with us that it would be a good thing and that, while ninety percent of the system would be shut down there would be minimal life support so it would not disrupt the operation of the ship nor place the life of any person in the brig at the time in any danger."

Spock looked at Kirk and wondered if his human friend understood what such an action would do and could see that he was contemplating what had been said. He looked from Kirk to Sulu, "So you did consider the fact that there might be prisoners in the brig at such time?"

"Yes, but as the only difference will be in decreased lighting and less warmth I did not consider it a major factor. Mister Scott confirmed that during a total maintenance check anybody in the brig would be issued with extra blankets and would find the dimness restful. Such periods would be intermittent as all systems are checked and only be for a period of four days at the most."

Kirk had looked at Spock and seen about his eyes the same sort of satisfaction he was feeling. "I regret that the Commodore has to be in the brig during the time of such checks but I will allow nothing to impede the necessary checks to maintain the efficiency of my shi . I am sure it will not be too unpleasant. It will be cold and dark but not unpleasant."

"Captain, I will report this. You will be up on charges."

Kirk walked closer to the cell, "Will they match the planned murder not just of me but also Ty Baylance? Will whatever charges you imagine you have match up to abuse of powers on at least two occasions? Will they match up to dereliction of duty and derogatory comments to personnel?"

"You have the power of command and you must show that power. You must show no weakness. You know that. If you were weak you would not have survived that first beating, you would not have lasted this long. If you,"

"Had I not had Officer Baylance with me I would have died." Kirk saw the man slowly accepting the reality of his situation but still clinging to hope, "If Officer Baylance dies then you will be charged with murder."

"But I meant to kill you, not him. It is his own fault he got in the way."

"You may have wanted to kill me but if he dies you will have killed him and you will stand trial for that."

Kirk saw the way Chekov looked at him and Spock before he looked at Halls, "If Ty dies the Keptin will have to watch you to see you live long enough for a trial. If Ty dies you will have to sleep with your eyes open, test all the food and water brought to you, and keep your back against the walls at all times."

"Kirk, you heard that - I was threatened."

"Threatened?" Kirk turned and looked at Spock, "Did you hear any threat, Mister Spock?"

"No, Captain. All I heard was Chekov warning the Commodore, advising him of actions that might be necessary in the future."

"Yes, advice. Now, if you will excuse us, Commodore, we have a ship to take care of. Any time you are ready to start that total maintenance check of this area you may start, Sulu. I will advise Mister Scott myself and have him officially make it a required procedure. Shall we go, gentlemen. I am sure the Commodore needs his rest."

"Kirk!"

It was a silent walk to Sick Bay and Kirk stopped just short of the door as though terrified of going in.

"Jim?"

"We have no witnesses to state that Halls set this up. We have no proof he is behind it. Yet I know,"

"We know, Captain. It is most unfortunate we have nothing and nobody to substantiate that fact." Spock had kept looking at Kirk and could see there was more. "What is it, Jim? You know you could not have done anything."

"U should have. I was weak, Spock. Not just that first fight but two other times, those two times I waited and Ty reacted. I should have. I am the Captain. I, I"

"Jim, listen to me. I had time and looked into his records. More than impressive to say the least. You had no way to match that which is instinctive in him. He was reacting to the situations he found himself and you in out of pure instinct and not training. An instinct that has made him an exceptional officer."

"But I,"

A hand tilted his head so he looked into two dark friendly eyes, "Jim, you are one of the strongest beings I know. There is not a weak fiber in you in any way. What happened on that planet you had no control over. You are not responsible for what happened. He was doing what he instinctively, innately, knew had to and nothing and no living person could have changed that. In his mind he had to protect you and return you to the ship."

"What, what can I do, Spock? What do I do? There has to be, "

"Be the Captain of the starship Enterprise, Captain. Go in there and help your officer the way only you know how."

A strange shiver ran through Kirk as he remembered what the elderly woman had said. He had had some of Baylance's blood on him after the attack in Sick Bay and now Spock had encouraged him to help him fight.

Taking a deep breath James Kirk shook his head, smiled at his closest friend and walked into Sick Bay.

McCoy was sitting by the bed Officer Ty Baylance was on just holding his hand.

All the monitors on the diagnostic panel were in the critical range.

"Bones?"

"Can't leave him, Jim."

"Doctor," Spock spoke softly as the tiredness about McCoy was plain to see, "You need rest. You can leave him as there are others who,"

"Watch," carefully, gently McCoy pulled his hand away and the registers flashed to just below the top as McCoy quickly grasp the hand in one of his and placed his other hand on Ty's forehead, "I'm right here, Ty. I'm here and you're not alone. You are not alone." then looked back at Spock as the indicators dropped, "You are not alone."

Slowly Kirk walked over and placed one of his hands over Ty's and pulled McCoy's hand free. "I will sit with him, Bones. You go sleep."

"Jim, he's."

Kirk picked up the wet cloth he had seen McCoy using earlier and wiped Ty's face and neck with before looking up, "Bedtime, Bones. I will be right here. You too, Spock." he looked at the two of them and half-smiled, "You two need the regulations on that?"

It was four hundred hours when Spock walked into Sick Bay, he had had six point nine hours sleep and woke with the urge, no, the need to come here. He saw his Captain sleeping with his head on the bed and Officer Ty had his eyes open and a hand on Jim's head. As he approached Spock was amazed to see Ty struggling to sit up, to move more of him arm over Kirk, to protect. As he stepped forward the light sensors detected his motion and brightened the lighting slightly and Spock saw Ty look at him in an uncertain almost searching manner, "It is Spock, Ty. Spock from the Enterprise."

Spock took another step and saw how Ty struggled and managed to get more of his arm over Kirk's head, protecting him. From under the arm came a muffled voice, "Don't move, Spock. I must have dozed off. Ty, Ty it's Captain Kirk."

"Safe. Safe."

"Yes, I am safe now. Let me up. I am safe now."

"He,"

"I'm safe now. I know him." Free from under the arm Kirk beckoned Spock forward as he restrained Ty who was still trying protect him from Spock, "It is okay. He is a friend. You know him. He is the First Officer."

Once Spock was close to the bed Ty relaxed as he obviously saw who he was, shut his eyes, and lay back."That's it, you just rest." All the registers were still far too high and Spock had been somewhat amazed at Ty's ability to do what he had. Move to try to protect Kirk.

Cautiously Spook put his hand on top of Kirk's and Kirk nodded as he slid his hand away, "I have to go for now, Ty. Spock will stay with you. I will be back. l be will back."

Once Kirk had gone Spock picked up the wet cloth and wiped Ty's face and neck. Reaching further out Spock got a larger cloth and more antiseptic and eased back the sheet and in long motions wiped Ty's body in steady, rhythmic strokes, making sure he kept hold of the officer's hand at all times.

McCoy came in just as he was finishing and Spock merely looked at him for a moment, "I, I am pleased to see you Doctor. I am unsure how to take care of his ablutions beyond this point."

"Jim?"

"I relieved him just over two standard hours ago. I found he had fallen asleep."

"Damned readings are still too high."

"I may be partly responsible for that, Doctor. It was dim when I entered and he reacted as though I were about to attack Jim."

"He move much?"

"He appeared to only be able to move his right arm with minimal upper torso flexibility. But I would not like to confront him when he is fit. He would be most formidable. You slept well?"

McCoy finished the ablutions and washed up then looked over at Spock and smiled, "Better now Jim is home."

"I found it easier as well."

"Prognosis?"

"Before Halls attack I was talking with Jim and told him it would take a very long time for him to get to the basic level of even light restricted duties and that for full rehab to get to that stage he would be taken by StarFleet. They do not like starships having crew in Sick Bay who are going to take over one standard month to recover for duties." McCoy looked at the diagnostic panel then at Spock, "That was before that knife with that much poison. If by some miracle he lasted to a Starbase I would have had to sign him off but I couldn't do it, Spock. What he did for Jim, seeing him fight here, I couldn't do it."

"Doctor," it was not often that Spock had used such an incredulous tone, "You couldn't do it?"

"Oh, semantics. I could physically do it, there is nothing stopping me that way. It, is an emotional thing, another one of those human emotional things. Truth is I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't do it to him, not after all he has done, all he has suffered, I wouldn't do it. If you would not mind staying a bit longer I want to take another good look at that stab wound, it should not take long. There may have been something I missed."

"I have no intention of leaving just yet and I did not expect you would sign him off," Spock moved slightly to enable McCoy to see the wound better, "In fact I would have been disappoint if you did."

McCoy finished and got them both a cup of coffee. "He would need more care and attention than we could give him. For at least another eight or nine standard days he would need somebody with him all the time in constant tactile contact with him, monitoring him while we try to find an antidote. We have not yet even clearly identified all that was in the poison." McCoy closed his eyes, briefly bowed his head and slightly shook it, "I just wish the end would be quick for his sake."

'Then you are expecting him to die?"

McCoy straightened up and looked right at him, "Yes. I expect him to die."

"May I ask what you are basing this assessment on?"

"Now don't look at me like that, I know there are endless possibilities but I think we are dealing with a certainty here. That poison is a multi hybrid combination we have never encountered before and it is killing him."

"Did the initial treatment he received on the planet not,"

"Dammit, Spock, it just stalled it. It let the poison attack his body slower than if there had been no treatment. Then Halls addition to it..."

"Nobody could have foreseen that, Doctor."

"I would hate for Jim to know but with those deeper organs so damaged there is no way I know to stop the poison."

"No," it was a decisive word and both McCoy and Spock turned and saw Kirk in the doorway shaking his head.

"We, we both were fairly fit, our treatment had improved, we saw some invaders about to attack what would be a maternity hut and Ty bolted at the group of four before I grasped what was going on. The healer told me only that he had been stabbed thirty-eight times. I just thought it was infection. I, I never thought of the knives having poison on the blades. It, it would have gone right to his blood,"

"And from there to the rest of his body. Jim, whatever the healer did may have started to work on the poison but blade Halls used and how he used it let the poison enter the major organs where it has started to cause major damage we cannot halt."

"There has to be,"

"Jim, I have used everything I have and it is not responding, it is not reacting."

"Bones," Kirk could feel himself shaking, there was something he remembered. Something they did in that tent that McCoy was not doing but he could not remember. "In the tent. They did something in the tent. Something about drawing the poison."

McCoy nodded, "Yes, in the sand they drew what they thought the poison looked like. It was a,"

"Jim, did you see them at any stage put steaming hot cloths on his wounds?"

Kirk looked at his Vulcan friend and could see he too was trying to think of something.

"In, in the big hut," slowly some images came to him, "A pot on the fire and the woman put cloths from it onto a thicker cloth. Then right onto his wounds. There was a strange aroma. He would whimper, trying not to scream. She kept doing it to him till he was unconscious. She took what was in the cloth and put it onto the wound. Tied cloth to hold it.. She came regularly and took off the old cloths and put ones from the pot on him."

"That's it!" McCoy quickly rushed back into the room Baylance was in calling out, "Get me boiling water and Spock, see if you can get some plantain from the replicator. Draws out the poison. Old fashioned very barbaric was of drawing out the poison. You two don't want to be here for this. He will be in agony."

"I saw him in hellish pain down there because of me, Bones. He is in pain now because of me and I am going to stay with him. Spock, you have,"

"Doctor, the amount of plantain you need for the treatment exceeds what we,"

'You use our ways and the ways of old. Use your healing on him later if he stays.' it seemed Kirk heard the words rather than what Spock had said. "Spock, are, are we sill orbiting the planet?"

"Yes, Captain. We have to go back down and find out if there is an enduring peace now that it is clear the fighting has ceased."

"Did you see any large areas of plantain?"

McCoy was suddenly animated, "Around one of the huts where I was beamed to . Lots of herbs and plantain."

An eyebrow raised, "Indeed, at the site we searched for evidence there was a considerable number of grasses. Is there,"

"Something I was told. We have to use their old ways and their plants as it is a poison of that planet."

"Well, don't just be standing there." McCoy pointed to the door, "Git."

"We'll take Chekov. He can help you while I thank a few folk and explain a few things to others."

"I have something I would like to take them, Jim. It would not be against the Prime Directive from what I saw of their civilization. I will merely show them how best to combine the stones they gave you to be of more use to them."

"Okay. I will meet you two there."

As they materialized on the planet Kirk immediately recognized the healer, the elder, and the youth who had handed him the phaser but what he was not prepared for was the second youth. For a moment the youth just looked at them all then just at Chekov and pointed at him as fury filled his voice, "The man who took you back gave us silence. He lied to us and ruined what we had. Is he too afraid to face us? We will not take you in his place!"