The first thing Kirk heard as he drifted back to consciousness was noise. It was loud and surrounded him from where he lay on what he assumed was a bed. The air was cold as he slowly breathed it in and in the back of his mind the observation struck him as odd. The air shouldn't be this cold. It was wrong. But why?

As he attempted to gather his thoughts, the voices around him started to clear, manifesting themselves into the controlled bark of orders that seemed to be directed at the bodies he felt rushing around him. He sensed a presence drift closer to him and was aware, even through his closed eyes, that someone was leaning over his body.

Recent memories suddenly came flooding into his mind and he snapped his eyes open, lunging upright, his arm reaching out to deflect any attack from the enemy he faced.

"Captain!"

Kirk blinked in confusion at the familiar, but strained female voice. His vision clearing from the illusion of his cloaked attacker, he stared at his hand wrapped around the throat of Nurse Chapel. The hint of fear and shock in her eyes after the sudden burst of activity from her patient morphed into desperation and a silent plea as her hands struggled to release his tight grip on her.

Kirk quickly released his grasp on her throat and she lifted a free hand to rub softly at her neck, attempting to soothe the small ache that had started.

"Sorry, Nurse."

Looking around the room, Kirk noticed that the only source of light in the room came from the few flashlights being held by the personnel hurrying around. The rest of the room was bathed in an inky blackness, the light of the emergency lights noticeably absent. It took a moment, but he soon recognized the layout of Sickbay around him, the other biobeds occupied by what he could only assume were the engineers that had been down in Engineering with him. They all appeared to be relatively conscious now, as most were arguing with their nurses, and he picked up snatches of the conversations to piece together that that they were trying to persuade the doctors to release them so that they could return to Engineering as soon as possible. Kirk returned his attention back to Nurse Chapel, who had proceeded to run a scanner over his head as he was getting his bearings.

"What happened?"

Nurse Chapel's gaze flickered briefly to his own before returning back to the scanner in her hand.

"I think you could answer that better than I can, Captain. The nurses and I found you and the other crewmen a couple hours ago. You were all unconscious, but you were the only one who had any noticeable injuries. We treated you as best as we could before deciding to move everyone back here for further work."

Kirk winced as he swung his legs over the biobed and righting himself completely, his hand reaching up to rub at the back of his head.

"What happened to the lights?"

Nurse Chapel snapped her scanner shut with a click and met his eyes seriously.

"Soon after we found you passed out on the ground in Engineering they all went offline. Not really sure why, but you can ask Mr. Scott when you have the chance. He's down there now."

Kirk felt his mood lighten at her words and hopped off of the infirmary bed, stretching his stiff muscles.

"So Scotty's back on board?"

Chapel sighed heavily and leaned her hip against the bed, her arms crossed tightly against her chest as she surveyed the rest of the room. The line of her shoulders was tense and her mouth turned down in a barely concealed frown. Kirk tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder, offering silent support while also urging her to voice whatever was bothering her. She seemed to collect herself quickly upon his touch, as if remembering where she was and who with.

"Captain, Mr. Scott has informed me that we're steadily losing life support. The internal temperature is dropping about seven degrees every thirty minutes. Oxygen levels are dropping as well, but with the small amount of crewmembers actually onboard right now we should still have enough to last us a few days. However, at the rate we're going the cold will kill us before the lack of oxygen ever does."

Kirk grimly nodded as he took in the new information. He couldn't say it was unexpected, what with the power failure on the ship, but it did show the extent to which the ship had been affected. He could only hope that Scotty could handle whatever damage had been done in Engineering before it got too bad.

He grabbed his communicator and a flashlight sitting on a table near the bed, only just then noticing that his uniform shirt was still slashed from his run-in with the attacker. Kirk flashed a small but guilty looking smile back toward Chapel, but she seemed to get the meaning as she returned it with a knowing smile of her own before quickly slipping out of the room. She returned a few moments later with one of his casual green shirts and he took it out of her hands with a small thanks. As he discarded the ruined yellow shirt and pulled on the green one instead, a quick glance over to the nurse revealed that she once again wore a hesitantly worried expression.

"Is there something else I should know, Miss Chapel?"

"Well, sir, I'm not sure if it's anything, but Mister Spock and Doctor McCoy were not in the private room when we got back into Sickbay. I haven't seen a hint of them since we've been back either."

"Strange, but I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. We'll probably hear from them soon enough."

He gave her one of his confident smiles and she returned it softly before rushing off to see to one of the other patients in the room. With a small sigh, Kirk flipped open his communicator while looking around for his phaser.

"Kirk to Spock. Spock can you hear me?"

There was a moment of silence broken only by the noise of the doctors and nurses working around him before Spock's calm voice came back over the device in his hand.

"Spock here, Captain."

Kirk let a grin steal over his lips at the sound of his Vulcan first officer. There had been a small amount of worry in him after hearing Nurse Chapel say his two best friends had been gone from Sickbay and hearing Spock elevated some of that tension.

"Spock! Where are you? And where is Bones? I thought you two would still be in Sickbay when I returned. Did the meld go ok?"

"The meld went well and without any unexpected complications considering Doctor McCoy's condition, Captain. However, there was an unprecedented occurrence after we finished."

"Yes, it seems the Enterprise has been the target of an act of sabotage that wiped out her power. I was attacked by someone when I went down to Engineering, but whoever it was kept their identity a secret. Scotty is down there now trying to correct whatever the problem is."

There was a pause over the link and Kirk could practically see Spock take in his information with his ever calm expression.

"Indeed, Captain, however the ship's power failure is not the occurrence I was referring to."

"What do you mean?"

"Soon after we came out of the meld, the doctor and I were attacked by three individuals. They were able to subdue me long enough to knock out the doctor and transport off the ship with him."

Kirk clicked on the light in his hand and gave up on locating his lost weapon for now as he charged out of the infirmary's open door, the communicator still grasped tightly in his fist. Anger and worry warred within him over this new information, though he tried not to let it show as he purposefully strode down the corridors.

"Where are you now, Spock?"

"In my quarters."

"I'll be there soon."

The captain broke into a sprint as he closed the connection and made his way towards the necessary Jefferies tube.

Spock's quarters were painfully obvious as Kirk finally managed to reach level 5. In the all encompassing darkness it was the only source of light in the whole area and he didn't hesitate to make his way straight through the wide open doors. The sight that greeted him wouldn't have been that strange under normal circumstances, with Spock avidly concentrating on his computer terminal, skimming through some unknown data with that stoic Vulcan interest of his. Kirk welcomed the familiarity of the scene if only for the fact that it grounded him at a time where everything seemed up in the air with unknown variables. He wondered briefly how Spock even had the power to browse through a computer terminal, but his need for answers to more pressing questions overrode it.

"Spock. What have you got for me?"

Spock turned his eyes from the computer and focused on Kirk; the hardness in his gaze belying the calmness projected by his body language as he sat in his chair.

"I believe that I have determined the identity of the beings who attacked us."

"Really? Who?"

"The Covilli, Captain."

Kirk was surprised by the declaration to say the least. The idea that the calm and nonviolent beings they had met a few days ago would resort to what seemed like an unprovoked attack on his ship and crew, when they had left on such good terms, seemed unthinkable. Plus, with the treaty attempting to form between the Federation and Covillis II, an attack now could severely damage the planet's standing and any trust they had strived to earn so far, which, considering the logical mind of the Covilli, seemed completely illogical in nature.

"Why them?"

"The main reason for my consideration of the Covilli is that during the altercation and abduction of Doctor McCoy, I was able to remove the face covering of one of our assailants. Without it, I was able to perceive that the person had the distinct purple eyes and vertical eyelids associated with the Covilli race. There is also the kidnapping of Doctor McCoy to consider."

"Bones?"

Kirk was surprised by Spock's mention of the abduction of McCoy as being an integral factor for his deduction. While he had been making his way to his first officer's quarters, he had been thinking about the taking of his CMO and as he thought about it, the fact that Bones had been targeted at all was strange in of itself. Though the doctor was important to the ship, or at least its crew, and certainly its captain, there was no real reason for him to be taken against his will that Kirk could think of.

"Yes, Captain. The three individuals who attacked us in the Sickbay did so for the sole intent of capturing Doctor McCoy, and considering his current condition, I believe there may be some link between the two."

"How so?"

"When I was melded with Doctor McCoy, I discovered that specific sections of his emotions had been suppressed or completely removed. I have not been able to determine exactly how this was accomplished, however the only recent occurrence that could account for it was our meeting on Covillis II. While we were on the planet, the doctor was the only one who went off alone and since leaving, has shown some of the symptoms associated with mental tampering of this type. If, while on Covillis II, the doctor did have certain emotions removed, that would explain his strange behavior and outbursts for the past several days. It would also explain why the doctor's mind tried to deal with the trauma by shutting off the emotion completely."

Kirk sighed in exasperation and not a little bit of annoyance. Everything he learned seemed to create more questions than answers.

"So, you think what happened to Bones, if something did actually happen to Bones on that planet, and if it was indeed the Covilli, was somehow the reason behind why they sabotaged my ship, attacked my crew, and kidnapped the doctor? Spock, it just doesn't make sense. The Covilli aren't a violent people. Why would they attack instead of talking first if they really had a problem?"

"I am unsure. I have attempted to research the matter more fully and learn about the society of the planet. The information available is rather insufficient. Until recently the planet was closed off and there are certain aspects of the culture that are still unclear at the present time."

Kirk scowled and crossed his arms as he looked around the room in thought; as if something there would give him the answers he needed. Covillis II had practically been in isolation since the Federation came across them a few years back. As an already well developed planet that had been aware of them before contact had even been made, the need to undergo covert surveillance on the planet and its people had been deemed useless by the Federation in favor of garnering diplomatic relations with the people as fast as possible once it was found they weren't going to start a war with them on sight. In fact, diplomats had probably seen more of Covillis II's culture and inner workings than any researcher had yet been able to. With that thought an idea occurred to Kirk as he quickly turned back to Spock for his opinion.

"What about Ambassador Polestig? He's been there for awhile now. He may know something we don't."

One of Spock's eyebrows lifted as he considered the idea.

"It is possible. The Ambassador would be the most logical source of inside information at this point. If he is willing to talk with us about the matter."

Kirk couldn't suppress the broad smile overtaking his face and he didn't try. They at least had a course of action to work with now. As Spock rose from his seat, Kirk's gaze flickered back to the terminal screen in front of him.

"Spock, how do you have power when the rest of the ship doesn't?"

Before Spock could open his mouth to answer, a beam of light from the doorway shined into the room, blinding Kirk right in the eyes so that he had to raise his arms in a meager attempt at staving off the light. It quickly lowered and in its place stood Mister Scott, his face changing from one of disbelief to annoyance.

"Why am I not surprised. Ach, I should've known. Cannae keep his hands away from a computer for twenty minutes and now he's messin' with my ship!"

Kirk watched his Chief Engineer in confusion as he shifted his attention to the tricorder in his hands, sweeping it around the room before focusing on a wall in the corner, which Kirk just noticed had been ripped open, its internal wiring exposed to the open air. Catching on, Kirk turned to Spock with an amused smirk. For his part, Spock looked unconcerned with what was happening around him as the Scot quickly made his way over to the open panel and began scanning the workings vigorously.

"What did he do, Scotty?"

Scotty didn't even turn around as he addressed Kirk, his tone still annoyed as he worked on reversing whatever Spock had done to it.

"He rerouted every last bit of spare power in the ship is what he did! Couldn't wait ten minutes for me to get back to the ship and try and fix the problem. How do ya expect me to work with the engines when there's no power flowin' through them? Poor things were suffering from two power drains instead of just the one."

As he finished speaking the emergency lights suddenly flickered back to life and the computer terminal dimmed before shutting off. Mister Scott stepped back from the wiring, snapping his scanner closed and making his way back out of the room. Kirk could see the dim lighting restored back to the once completely dark hallways beyond Spock's doorway. Scotty stopped in front of Spock briefly, giving him a stern look.

"I'll be askin' ya not to mess with the wiring again, sir, if that's not too much trouble."

"Of course, Mister Scott."

Scotty gave a quick nod and then quickly walked out of Spock's quarters. Kirk followed him out the door with a smile, Spock following behind him.

"Well Mister Spock, first we'll fix the ship and then we'll pay a visit to our dear Ambassador. Then we find Bones and bring him back."