Chapter Twenty-eight

George Woodhouse greeted Kirk and McCoy like the old friends they were, before extending his hand to the Enterprise's Vulcan First Officer.

"Mr Spock, it's an honour to finally meet the man whom Jim Kirk and Len McCoy hold in such high esteem."

"Admiral." Spock inclined his head.

"This is a sordid business, gentlemen, and a sorry day for Starfleet." Kirk had briefed Woodhouse days ahead of their arrival at the Starbase and Woodhouse had already set wheels in motion to root out Caton's accomplices – an easy enough task as Caton, predictably, was only too willing to name names and bring shame on the Service.

"Some of them claim to have acted in what they believed was the best interests of the Federation – all those lives lost on Ravik in exchange for a piece of technology that would give us an advantage over our enemies and advance our knowledge of space travel."

"The end justifies the means." McCoy commented, his tone ironic,

"Not in this case, doctor, since the 'end' as you call it remains elusive," commented Spock. "Leaving aside any moral considerations." He added, deflecting further comment from McCoy.

"What will happen to Piklamer and his people?" Kirk asked.

"Too soon to say." Woodhouse replied. "They were responsible for destroying Ravik using weapons salvaged from their crashed ship, but they must have had help from the Klingons to launch these. Caton persuaded certain friends of his at Starfleet to cover this up with the promise that he would work with the Morana to develop their hyperwarp technology for the Federation."

"When he was really developing it for the Klingons," said Kirk, "And the Morana had their own agenda."

"I'd like to believe that Piklamer's fate wouldn't be determinred by considerations about his usefulness in carrying on the hyperwarp research." McCoy said, cynically.

"Intergalactic technology will be a reality one day soon, with or without the Morana's cooperation." Spock pointed out.

"What I still don't get is what set Ben Caton off on his treacherous path." Woodhouse said, "He had a promising career ahead of him."

"But not a brilliant one." Kirk said, "Unlike you."

"Are you suggesting Caton did all of this because of me?" Kirk and McCoy exchanged glances. Woodhouse was sharp enough to notice. Kirk said,

"I asked my ensign to do some research into the Curie incident. He learned that Kort and Mark Hunter had been aboard and when he ran their profiles he discovered that both had been survivors of Ravik.

"He cross-referenced everything he had on Ravik and Curie, and Caton's name was one of the possible connections. Then he looked at Ben Caton's records and saw the information on Vascus.

"Chekov proved to be a pretty thorough investigator – he checked through records relating to Caton and this time your name kept coming up – graduated from the Academy in the same class, served together. Chekov looked farther back."

"I didn't know Ben before my academy days." Woodhouse said, puzzled.

Kirk paused, "George, there's no easy way of telling you this. Ben Caton knew all about you for years before he met you. Your father had a relationship with a colonist on Minerva II – she never told him that relationship produced a son, never contacted him again. The woman's name was Alana Caton."

Woodhouse stared at Kirk in disbelief.

"Are you telling me that Ben Caton is my half brother?

"I know this must be a shock to you, George."

"He never told me." Woodhouse said, "All those years and he never told me." He shook his head.

"Ensign Chekov had been on his way to relay his findings to me when he was attacked and Dr McCoy was obliged to put him in stasis until we reached Starbase Ten."

"From the psych tests Dr McCoy has run on Caton so far, it seems likely that he was motivated by a sense of betrayal and desire for revenge – on you for being the son who wasn't rejected, as he saw it, on Starfleet because your father was in the Service." Woodhouse was staring at Kirk as though the Captain were a madman.

"George, this is probably a little hard to take in, "McCoy said, "Obviously, Caton's actions were extreme by the standards of most rational people."

"You mean he's crazy?" Asked Woodhouse.

"I haven't ruled that out," McCoy answered, reluctant to tell the Admiral that madness in the sense that he implied, did not provide an accurate definition of Caton's psychological profile. "George, Caton didn't do what he did because of you – he did it because of the kind of man he was."

"If I'd known he was my brother.."

"It would have made no difference." Kirk said, "Do you remember telling me that you once believed that you and he were friends? That's not how Caton ever saw you, and he already knew that you were brothers. You helped him at the Academy, you got him his first posting – you were loyal to him – a brother couldn't have done more." Woodhouse nodded.

"You offered him the light of friendship but he saw only shadow." Spock said, ignoring the peculiar look McCoy gave him.

"I grew up an only child." Woodhouse said, quietly, "I often wished I'd had a brother." He smiled sadly, appreciating the irony.

For a moment the Admiral seemed lost in thought, then he said, more cheerfully, "Dinner this evening at eight. All three of you. Kat won't take no for an answer. And I've invited Diana King, too. She's been cleared, you know of having any knowledge of what the Westons were transporting. She did blackmail them to get you on board, but it was her knowledge of other questionable cargoes that they'd been transporting that gave her leverage, not the rocosyminite." As the Admiral turned his motorised chair towards his desk, Kirk nodded, glad that his old flame had been cleared of blame.

"By the way, Diana's particularly looking forward to being introduced to you, Mr Spock." At this, Kirk and McCoy exchanged conspiratorial smiles. Spock noticed, but the meaning eluded him.

After the memorial service for Kort, Mark Hunter thanked Kirk, Spock and McCoy for attending. He seemed to have aged decades in the past few days and had the air of a man for whom the best part of life was in the past.

Asked by Kirk, if Hunter would get over his latest tragedy, McCoy had replied, "I don't know, Jim. He lost his wife and children on Ravik, now he's lost a man who saw him through that time and whom he regarded as a brother. There's only so much getting over a person can accommodate – I suspect he'll be less than the man he was."

"T'Sorf needs him." Kirk had pointed out. He's going to look after the boy, but he won't be alone. Kravok and T'Hana have decided to throw in their lot with the Federation. They also want to provide support with T'Sorf. As for T'Sorf, he's been scarred by his father's death but he's determined to prove that Kort's belief in a future of peace and cooperation between the Klingons and the Federation will be a reality one day."

"And Blackstone," McCoy smiled, "Have you seen the way he's attached himself to Spock? I fear that young man is going to turn into another, emotionless, pointy-eared computer."

"I can think of worse fates." Kirk said,

"Yeah, me too," grinned McCoy.

McCoy found Spock resting in the quarters they had been assigned on Starbase Ten. To his surprise, Stephen was not with him.

"Have you arranged leave of absence to return to Vulcan to consult a healer, yet?" McCoy asked him.

"There is no need, doctor." Spock answered. McCoy looked at him, searchingly, "Are you sure, Spock? The mind-sifter?"

"Is no longer a problem." Spock replied, quietly.

"How so Spock? Without help last time you almost went crazy, remember."

"I have not been without help." McCoy looked at him, sharply.

"Blackstone?"

"Sevak."

"So, he's giving up his identity?"

"No, doctor. He is reclaiming it." McCoy nodded.

"What will he do now, Spock? Return to Vulcan, I suppose." He could not hide the note of disappointment in his voice.

"He too needs help, doctor. And he wishes to become a healer." The news seemed to cheer McCoy up. He thought of how the young Vulcan had tried to help Nyreea, how he had risked his own sanity to merge minds with Spock.

"Well, I reckon that's a noble calling for him to follow."

"Indeed, Doctor. I believe he is well suited to a profession for which a sense of humanity is a fundamental requirement." Spock said, and their eyes met for the briefest of moments before each looked away.

"Tell me Spock," McCoy said, lingering "What were you planning on doing when you said you wanted to make a deal with Piklamer after Jim was taken to the Klingon ship? Would you really have made that trade? After all, you weren't fully in control of your emotions and you were merged with Blackstone."

"I do not consider it logical to waste time speculating on what I might have done, only on what I did." Spock said, but, as McCoy turned to go, the Vulcan stopped him in his tracks.

"Dr McCoy."

"Yes Spock?"

"I would have done what was right."

"I know, Spock."

It was late evening. Kirk, Spock and McCoy had retired after a pleasant evening spent in the company of the Admiral, his wife and Diana King. Kirk looked around at the comfortable quarters and sighed.

"Missing the Enterprise?" McCoy asked, astutely. Kirk smiled. For a non-telepath, McCoy had a way of knowing exactly what people were thinking. He nodded. "I'm looking forward to resuming our mission."

"Captain, may I ask if you have contacted Starfleet regarding Sylviana and her people?" Spock asked.

"I've spoken to George. He knows the right people to contact. He's optimistic that Starfleet will be able to find a solution that will work for all the Skarrans."

"Especially now they know about the bretinium." McCoy remarked, sourly.

"Always the cynic, eh, Bones?" Kirk said, crossing to the window and looking up, seeking the spot where the Enterprise awaited them, and feeling impatient to return.

"Why isn't one galaxy enough? How long will it be before we perfect the hyperwarp and start reaching further out than ever before?"

Spock cleared his throat, ready with an approximation, but Kirk shook his head, smiling, "I don't want to know, Spock. I know it's our destiny, and I'm as impatient as the next person to embrace all that the Universe has to offer, but I wonder whether Kort's belief in a future of mutual respect and cooperation between all our peoples wouldn't be a nobler destiny to strive for? Kort and Hunter's friendship showed us what's possible. Whatever else is out there," he said, looking out at the sudden explosion of stars in the night sky, "Let's hope we can learn to face it as friends."

The End

Thanks to everyone for reading. Hope you like the way it all ends. Aurelan