.o0o.

The first thing Kirk did was scurry over to Spock, who was being held loosely by one of the spindly branches. He felt for a pulse and for a breathless moment, he couldn't find one. Then, a slight flutter met his fingertips. The Vulcan was alive, but just barely.

Having not been allowed to bring a communicator on board, Kirk had to fish Spock's out from the folds of his clothing, and he tried to raise the Enterprise. Static met him. The Captain spun around and scanned the room. Nearly every inch of the bridge was occupied by a Romulan, vines twisting out and about in every direction, many more propping open the doors and trailing down the hallway. He could barely make out the consoles through the tangled mass, and each one seemed to be crackling with static as well. Still, he maneuvered around until he'd reached one and tried again to get ahold of the Enterprise. He wondered if the Indyrin was causing the interference, and glanced back to where his best friend had been standing minutes ago. No sign of him remained, only the Indyrin.

Frowning, Kirk turned his attention back to Spock who was the most pressing of the two. If the disruptions were the same as around Andar IX, the Enterprise wouldn't dare attempting to use the transporter. They wouldn't be able to use the transporter here either. Without being able to lock onto the coordinates, they might very well end up in space somewhere, assuming the transporters worked at all. That left shuttles, and shuttles meant he'd have to get Spock through the ship.

Carefully, the captain tugged out Spock's form until the vines released him and he pulled his First Officer close to his chest. It'd been easy, like Spock hadn't actually been linked with the tree. He grunted under the sudden weight. The dense muscle mass on a Vulcan made them very strong but also very heavy. He gently brought the man down to the ground.

First, he tore off his own shirt and quickly ripped it into long strands, binding Spock's torso to reduce the still heavy bleeding that had already stained most of his shirt. He doubled up on the bandages, padding the worst of the blood and tightening the knots as best he could. Feeling a bit better, he started the task of moving him.

It took quite some effort to maneuver them both around the Romulans and to the doors across the bridge. The door was mostly blocked and Kirk wasn't really sure how he was going to finagle the body through the unfortunate space when he heard a welcome voice.

"Captain!"

"Chapel!" He sighed as he caught sight of the woman wriggling through the passage at the bottom of the tangled vines. Kirk laid Spock down, more on top of Romulan forms than on the floor, and helped push back the door to give her some more room. Chapel rushed to the Vulcan as soon as she was clear, flipping open her tricorder as she went and cursing as the device proceeded to not work.

M'Benga was the next through, and Kirk caught sight of Sulu working on the door from the other side.

"We saw what happened." Sulu was already explaining. "Terik was broadcasting what was happening on the bridge. We saw him shoot Spock and Dr. McCoy transformed and took out the Romulans. Then we lost reception when those giant stormclouds appeared around the ship. Baker ordered us over on a shuttle just as soon as we lost connection."

Kirk nodded; he was beginning to like this captain a bit more than he wanted to. Before he could respond, M'Benga was talking and Serin had slipped through the doorway, making a beeline for the Indyrin.

"I've given him something to stabilize him and increase his blood production. I think he'll make it, but we're going to need to get him on the Enterprise where our gear will work properly. There's no way I can operate over here."

Chapel and M'Benga were already working Spock onto a stretcher which had appeared under the door. It was the old fashioned kind which was basically a piece of cloth between two sticks. Kirk and Sulu held the door wide while they worked the stretcher through the opening and lifted it up on the other side. They then started working their way through the mass of Romulans.

Kirk turned back to the Indyrin. He would hardly have believed that Bones was inside of that thing if he hadn't seen it himself.

"Captain." Serin drew his attention. "I will do what I can for McCoy. You should see to Spock."

Kirk hesitated a moment longer but it was clear which of his friends was in greater danger right then, so he snaked under the vines. "See if you can't get the tree to release the Romulans one at a time. I'll send some people over to escort them to the brig."

Serin nodded, so Kirk followed the pilot down the corridors to the shuttlebay.

Sulu managed the vessel like he was sailing on calm seas but every slight shift made Kirk cringe and look to Spock. M'Benga was nothing short of hovering, his tricorder already out and waiting for the interference to clear.

Baker met them as they landed, and Kirk nearly cursed her despite knowing that he would be able to do nothing but sit and wait while Spock went through surgery. "All the Romulan vessels are empty."

"Good." He growled. "Pick one and we'll transfer all the Romulans to that one and send the bastards back where they came from. Or blow it up. Haven't decided yet."

Baker didn't seem inclined to dispute the decision. "Stark, too, I suppose."

Now that Kirk got a good look at her, he could see what a toll the situation with Stark had taken. Most of her confidence appeared to have been drained right out of her. He could understand. Bones own attack on him had given him a taste. He patted her shoulder to show her that he understood. "He'll go with his own kind."

There was a moment of silence that wasn't as awkward as he'd expected before Baker responded. "I already sent an update to Starfleet. They're waiting for us." Kirk opened his mouth to protest, but Baker cut him off. "There isn't anything you can do for Spock right now."

Kirk nodded tersely and followed the other captain to the debriefing room. "You don't suppose they'll ask us to take prisoners of war for interrogating do you?"

Baker shrugged helplessly. "I'm as in the dark as you."

Uhura assured them a secure channel as they entered and Kirk nodded his thanks.

"Captains." Komack greeted. "Good work." Kirk was shocked. The Admiral had never once complimented his work before. "We've just got off some intense negotiations with the Romulans."

"Let me guess, we're at war." Kirk snorted. Undoubtedly, the Romulans would claim this international incident as an act against the treaty.

"Quite the opposite." Komack countered. "They've agreed to a peace treaty. They seem to be under the impression that we've got more humans capable of what Dr. McCoy did over there. We didn't dissuade them of this notion."

"That's it? They're just quitting?" Kirk returned. That didn't sound very Romulan.

"They've agreed to cease all hostilities, remove all ships from the neutral zone and even increase the buffer between our territories." The Admiral appeared pleased with himself and Kirk supposed he had plenty to do with this arrangement.

"And what are we giving up?"

"We've agreed to return all Romulan vessels with every member of their crew unharmed."

"We'll be missing out on an opportunity to study their capabilities." Baker protested.

The Admiral frowned. "Half our fleet is disabled, we're behind technologically and even if we could replicate what occurred with Dr. McCoy, which I suspect from your report would be highly unlikely, they've now seen what happened and could easily evade that situation again. If they call our bluff, it could be the end of the Federation."

Kirk had to admit that Komack was probably right, but he couldn't help the sinking feeling in his gut even after the brief pleasure at watching someone else get chewed out by his least supportive Admiral. "Sir, if we return Captain Terik, we cannot be assured of the safety of continuing to employ any of the Romulan plants in Starfleet."

Baker tensed, and Kirk held his breath.

"Don't think I'm unfeeling, but that is a sacrifice I'm certain each one of those officers would make. Besides, we are making some great successes with the Vulcan Healers. Some former plants have even been cleared for duty already."

"And what if he's controlling others?" Baker insisted.

"That's a risk we'll have to take. The deal is made and you have your orders."

"And Stark?" Baker's fists were clenched as she cut in before Komack could disconnect. Kirk couldn't tell if she wanted him dead or not.

"By all official accounts, a Starfleet officer. The Romulans didn't mention him and he's not a member of any of the Romulan ships, so we have no obligation to return him. You will be bringing him back to Earth. He may be of some use to us yet."

"The Indyrin and Dr. McCoy are still on that ship." Kirk finally got in.

Komack grunted. "We will be returning that ship, but we can't afford for the Romulans to gain access to the Indyrin. You'll have to remove the Indyrin from that ship."

"Yes, sir." Kirk responded tightly as the screen blacked out. "I can't believe we're going to let that bastard live."

"Which one?" Baker responded darkly.

.o0o.

A/N: So... a bit more of a wait than I was hoping for, but I figured I've gotta just stop aiming for perfection and get this sucker finished before an angry mob comes after me. My reviewers appear to be increasingly tense, but I've certainly enjoyed reading the comments. :) More shortly!