A/N: Do I really have to state in each chapter that I don't own Star Trek? Thank you to all who have reviewed and/or favorited this story or added it to your story alert. I'd love to hear what people think in the form of reviews. Love it? Hate? Couldn't care less? Let me know.
Chapter 4
Bulta, the capital city of Istabul Major wasn't nearly as uptight as Jim had been expecting when he hopped out of the shuttle that had delivered Bones, Spock, and him to the planet's Federation headquarters. In fact, it appeared to be a modern city with all the amenities he'd gotten used to in San Francisco. Neon lights flashed everywhere. Vid screens were constantly in motion and depicting well-dressed people advertising the next best thing in fashion, and the street running parallel to the city square was clogged with traffic. The best thing he saw? An entire city block dedicated to nothing but restaurants. His stomach gurgled in anticipation.
Before he could make use of all those lovely credits Starfleet was paying him to fill his stomach he had to assess the Fuckability potential of the women he saw and then get through a meeting with Istabul's president. He chose to concentrate his efforts on the women first. All the natives of the planet had leathery brown skin. A darker strip of coloration ran from temple to temple across eyes that were covered by a protective opaque film. Their clothing was elaborate, colorful, and reminded him vaguely of Asian fashions, not that he would ever admit to knowing what the word "fashion" meant.
A smirk formed on his lips when a woman rushed past him and up the stairs leading to the Federation building, because her ass was clearly delineated by a tight skirt. If that was the norm for asses on this planet, he was going to enjoy a smorgasbord of them all lined up in a row Conga style. The fantasy was brought to an immediate halt when Bones' elbow chose that moment to jab him in the ribs, which had him turning a scowl in the man's direction.
"Unless your tongue has a special gland that produces semen, don't bother getting your hopes up, Jim," Bones said from next to him.
"They have sex with their tongues?" he asked in a flat tone.
"Basically, and your tongue just isn't gonna cut it with one of these women."
"Well, there goes France as the capital of the 'make love with your faces' movement. Let's get this meeting over with and go have some food. I'm starving."
"You're always starving."
"And you're always grumpy, so we're even."
"I believe what Doctor McCoy was trying to convey is that you should not have dalliances with the women of Istabul Major. Their hospitality is not to be taken advantage of," Spock interjected.
"I get it! No hanky-panky while we're on the planet. You two take the fun out of everything."
Flanked by the pair of party poopers, Jim trotted up the stairs and entered into a marble foyer swimming with people. An endless drone of conversation created a buzz in the air as the people gathered around large vid screens mounted over a reception desk that were currently displaying announcements in Istha Major, Istha Minor, and Federation Standard. A couple of the messages caught his immediate attention as did a snippet of conversation between a pair of visiting Utulians.
"A water sanitation advisory?" he asked of no one in particular.
"So it seems. Manually sanitizing water with purification tablets on the individual household level becomes necessary when the water filtration and sanitation plant has been compromised or is experiencing mechanical failure."
"Yeah, I know what it means, Spock." Jim would have elaborated on the correlation between the water sanitation advisory and the red national security alert to prove once again he wasn't as oblivious as they seemed to think were it not for the sudden arrival of a rather chubby man wearing wide-legged trousers and a pink wrap shirt.
"Welcome!" the man began enthusiastically. "I am Jong Je Jin, representative and personal assistant to His Excellency, His Most High Eminence, President Tien To Tobra, son of Tam To Tien, who was the last, best, and greatest emperor of Istabul Major before our transition to a federal republic according to Federation guideline P3C298 Article 12 Paragraph 3."
He kept leaning forward with every word the man rattled off in anticipation of the assistant taking a breath. Said assistant never did. "Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise. This is Doctor Leonard McCoy and my first officer Commander Spock."
"Tien To Tobra wishes me to convey his hope that our dry dock has all the facilities necessary for the complete repair of your starship. He also sends his greetings and personal relief at your timely arrival."
"Your facilities are adequate for our current needs," Spock responded.
"I couldn't help but notice your code red national security alert. Is that why President Tobra is relieved at our timely arrival?"
Jong suddenly went into an apoplectic fit and flailed his hands in the air, a spasm that was followed immediately with the fanning of his hand in front of his face. "No, you mustn't refer to His Excellency as anything but President Tien To Tobra. Bad luck will surely follow you the rest of your days if you speak of him in such a disrespectful manner, Captain James T. Kirk."
"Not even an hour on the planet and you're already starting interstellar diplomatic incidents, Jim. At this rate, we'll be running for our lives before the end of the day," Bones drawled in a manner that said running for their lives was inevitable.
Jim's brow flattened in a "you've got to be kidding me" expression, but he said, "Okay, then. About that national security alert?"
"It is a matter you should discuss with His Most Gracious Eminence, and we should not keep him waiting. Please, come."
Bones was right. They would be running for their lives before the end of the day. Of all the planets with dry docks they could have chosen, they'd picked the one currently involved in breaches of national security. Only the Enterprise could stop to make critical repairs and end up getting sucked into governmental subterfuge. Scotty obviously hadn't been wearing his good juju boxers when they'd docked. Of course, their chief engineer had also been in a flipping coma since the Klingon attack, so it was hard to put on underpants and dance the dance of the good juju.
Rolling his eyes at the expectant look Spock was giving him, he bounded after Jong Dong Bong to catch up with him as the man rounded a set of ornate stairs and stepped into a waiting lift. Hey, at least the building had lifts. The last Federation headquarters they'd set foot in had been after a disastrous mission that had left Sulu in traction for two weeks and hadn't had electricity at all. Jim was willing to count himself lucky.
Until the lift stopped on the thirteenth floor and the doors swished open. Then all he could do was groan inwardly when Bones muttered all the way down a long corridor about wishing he'd brought his good juju whiskey flask with him and how they were all going to contract Androban warts just from setting foot on the thirteenth floor. By the time they reached a set of ornate wood doors, he was deciding that Spock was the good brother today and Bones needed to be switched like a red-headed stepbrother.
Jim was expecting a stuffy old politician. He was expecting Tobra to be little more than a figurehead who had been elected simply because he was the son of a former emperor and could afford the campaign funds. Stuffy old politician couldn't describe the man seated behind a large desk when a pair of uniformed guards opened the doors. Tobra was younger, fitter, and far more intelligent if his assessing glance could be believed than anything Jim had anticipated.
"Enter and make yourselves comfortable," intoned Tobra. "Jong Je is a man who clings to traditions tighter than a woman clings to her mother's arm. Whatever customs he asked you to comply with are unnecessary. Which one of you is Captain Kirk?"
He didn't respond until he was seated in one of the chairs across from Tobra's desk. "Me, and this is Commander Spock and Doctor McCoy."
"The transmission detailing your situation couldn't have come at a better time for my people. A starship and crew of trained Federation officers will greatly benefit the situation we currently find ourselves in."
"To what manner of situation do you refer? Have you submitted a formal request to the Federation for assistance in resolving said situation?" Spock asked after having seated himself.
Overhead lights and lamps suddenly flickered and snuffed out, plunging the windowless room into darkness. A female voice announced over an intercom that power would be restored as soon as possible and that there was no need to panic. Bones had just taken up his grumbling again about unlucky thirteen when the pair of guards lit candles to illuminate the interior of the office.
"Part of our problem has just made itself aware. Our power grid was attacked last month, and despite endless hours of repair, we've been unable to create a stable connection. At roughly the same time, doctors informed me there was an influx of patients all showing the same symptoms that have since been attributed to poison. Traces of the poison have been found in all our water purification plants."
"Get me a list of symptoms or put me in contact with the CMO handling all the poison cases, and I'll see if I can do anything to help," volunteered Bones.
"I admit I was hoping you would say that, Doctor McCoy. Since receiving your transmission, I've looked into all of your records. You have an impressive crew, Captain Kirk, with credentials that are the best in their fields."
"Yeah, they are pretty awesome, but don't tell them that. There's enough ego on the Enterprise to totally break the universe without unnecessary stroking."
The president obviously didn't understand a word of what Jim had said, so he turned his attention to Spock. "To answer you're earlier question, I was preparing to submit a request for assistance when your transmission arrived."
"Do you have a list of suspects who may be responsible for both the poisoning of your water purification plants and the attack on your power infrastructure?"
"In this instance, Commander Spock, we are fully aware of who is responsible. Some members of our society expressed displeasure over the majority vote to join the Federation. They've since formed an anti-Federation movement called Sovereign Istabul and have been engaging in terrorist activity centered here in Bulta."
"I guess the next question that needs to be asked is why they're doing it. How can Federation membership be so terrible they have to stoop to poisoning their own people?" asked Jim.
"From what I gather, they believe in a free Istabul Major that will not be influenced by outside customs, asked to pay tax to the Federation, or conform to Federation guidelines. I believe they are afraid our culture and autonomy will suffer from outside influence rather than benefit from it."
Bones jumped into the conversation by asking, "What do you believe, President?"
"I believe existing in a vacuum while the rest of the universe progresses without us will hinder the people of this planet in the long run. Traditions are good, but all societies must evolve and shed the old when it stands in the way of remarkable benefits."
"And you haven't been able to apprehend the leaders of the movement yourselves?" Jim asked. This all smacked of Earth's entire first decade of the twenty-first century.
"Given our lack of experience with terrorist tactics, we have been unable to respond to these attacks with anything more than rudimentary efforts."
"If we are to conduct an investigation and apprehend the alleged terrorists, will they be given lawful trials according to Federation regulation C19 dash 73 which addresses the treatment and prosecution of criminals?"
"Anyone prosecuted for the activity will be given an unbiased trial. Our membership to the Federation may be in its infancy, but we are a fair and honorable people."
"Assuming we have the manpower to help you out, we'll need full access to any evidence you've gathered. You'll also need to put us in touch with your lead investigators," Jim said.
"Evorn En Elim is the minister of our law enforcement efforts and has been handling the case thus far. I'll arrange a meeting at your earliest convenience."
Further conversation was interrupted when a female voice emanating from a speaker on the president's desk informed Tien To Tobra the administrator of justice and law enforcement had arrived and required an urgent consultation. Without a word, he shot to his feet, an action that prompted the two guards to open the heavy doors.
"If you will excuse me. I will return to continue our discussion as soon as I see to this matter." Tobra swept from the office.
Jim leaned back in his chair to contemplate what they were being asked to do. Hell, it wasn't like they had anything better to do while they were on the planet. Overseeing the repairs on the Enterprise wasn't something he absolutely needed to do, not when he had such an awesome crew, so the alternative was getting himself in trouble and stuffing himself with too much food.
"Are we really contemplating hunting down terrorists for them?" Bones asked.
"You know what the Federation is, right? It's a peace-keeping and humanitarian operation…"
"Don't quote the Gospel According to Pike to me, Jim."
"Nonetheless, our duty as Federation officers is to aide in all situations in which Federation concerns or ideals are in jeopardy to the fullest extent allowable by Regulations. A young Federation planet has requested our intervention to bring peace to the native people. The better question, Bones, is to inquire how we could possibly turn them down."
"It wouldn't hurt to at least do some digging, so yeah, we're getting involved. Have Cupcake and a security detail shipped in from the dry dock along with Doctor Westin and Ensign Monroe. Westin will help you figure out this poison. Monroe will oversee repairs to their power infrastructure, and Cupcake will scowl people into forking over information."
The cracking of Bone's grumpy façade to reveal a satisfied expression wasn't unexpected. Bones loved a challenge no matter how much he bitched about it. Hell, half his bitching was just to keep people from realizing how much he cared. Spending three years in a dorm room with the man had given him enough insight to realize that.
The doors were suddenly opened again to readmit Tobra, who said, "Gentlemen, I hope you have decided to lend us aide. Intelligence has just arrived leading us to believe a food production facility is in the process of being attacked."