Ch 10: Fighting Like Cats and Dogs

Spock and Kirk stood in the elevator waiting to arrive at the bottom floor. Excitement sparkled in Kirk's eyes, but Spock looked clearly displeased with their evening plans. They were both clad in short-sleeved button down shirts and tight blue jeans, Kirk's shirt a blue-gray that complimented his eyes and Spock in a black shirt with silver stripes that shimmered in the light.

Kirk looked over at the gloomy looking Vulcan as the elevator descended and said, "Jeez, lighten up! We're not going to a funeral; we're going to a night club! It's going to be fun!"

Eyes straight forward, Spock replied, "I hardly understand how the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages and dancing uncomfortably close to loud music can be considered 'fun'."

Smirking, Kirk said, "Trust me, dancing uncomfortably close isn't all that bad if you're dancing with the right person." He cut an eye at Spock and asked, "What's your diversion to alcohol about though? Are you just not a fan of the stuff?"

"Vulcans are affected on a greater scale than humans are when they consume alcohol," Spock said, still not looking at Kirk. "Just as with humans, we become completely unable to control our more primal instincts and become violent, lustful, and unreasonable. However, given our low tolerance for alcohol, the effects of alcohol in the bloodstream are experienced much quicker and result from a much smaller amount of ingested alcohol. Our greater strength and inherently turbulent natures make us extremely dangerous when alcohol enters our system. For that reason, I find it very discomforting to surround myself with those that would deliberately ingest alcohol when they are just as aware of the affects of alcohol on their behavior and control. This is just one of the many reasons Vulcans find humans to be one of the most illogical intelligent races in existence."

Kirk looked at Spock as he spoke and took his words painfully to heart. When it was put that way, he understood exactly why Vulcans stayed away from alcohol. There were quite a few times that he had dealt with his drunken step-father as a child whenever his mother left on a trip. His step-father was already unbearable when he was sober; dealing with him when he was drunk made him wonder why he hadn't left with his brother when he tried running away from home. What made it worse was he would never drink when his mother was home. He would either wait for her to go on a trip or he'd go to a bar and stay there until he sobered up. It was like he wanted to hide it from her and save it up for when he and his brother couldn't run to her for help.

"I'm sorry Spock," Kirk said in a small voice. "I didn't know. If you want, we can go back to the room and just stay there tonight. I can make up some excuse for why we didn't come."

Spock finally turned his head toward Kirk and looked at him. He saw a pain in his eyes that he didn't like. He knew that Kirk really did want to go to the night club, but couldn't bear to force Spock to be uncomfortable just for his sake. Spock considered suggesting that Kirk go ahead to the night club without him and enjoy his night, but somehow he knew that would make Kirk feel even worse.

Taking a deep breath, Spock said, "When you were officially assigned as captain of the Enterprise, I felt the same way about going to the bar as I do about going to the night club. I went not because I thought it would be fun, but because I wanted to bond with my fellow crewmates and because I wanted to celebrate your achievement. By that same token, I wish to go with you to spend time with our crewmates and learn more about human behavior. Also, I wish to make you happy; when we are apart, you are unhappy, which brings me a greater discomfort than surrounding myself with inebriated humans. I assure you that while it is highly likely I will not enjoy myself tonight, at the very least it will be a learning experience and make you happy."

Kirk gave a half smile and said, "Guess I should start thinking about what I want to make for breakfast now, huh?"

The door of the elevator opened on the bottom floor. Returning Kirk's half-smile, Spock said, "It would not be a bad idea," and exited the elevator.

There was a sizable crowd waiting for them in the lobby. Among the group were McCoy, Eliza, Chekov, Sulu, Scotty, Uhura, and about three dozen other crew members. Spock wasn't sure how such a large group of people could enjoy their time efficiently, but it wasn't up to him to decide. He was merely accompanying Kirk and appeasing his desire to participate in social activities with his crew members.

The group left promptly after Kirk and Spock arrived. There had been others invited, but the group of crew members present was the only one confirmed to leave at the time. The other crew members would meet up with them later in waves. Arrangements for transportation had been made earlier that afternoon to transport everyone downtown. The night club Sa'Fron would be an hour walk away in comparison to the swift two minute drive by hover bus.

Said hover bus coasted to a stop in front of the hotel as they group stepped outside into the warm evening air. A door to the sleek and shiny dark blue hover bus slid open and allowed the group to enter. The inside of the hover bus was silver, its seats upholstered with gray and dark blue fabric. The driver was a floppy eared Sirian with baggy eyes that looked much like a beagle. He smiled wearily at his passengers and gave an occasional nod when they passed by him.

The hover bus took off as soon as the last passenger had seated themselves. Its engine ran silently and those aboard were barely aware they were moving until they saw the city whipping past them quickly. They arrived at the night club in record time, spending more time unloading the hover bus than the spent riding in it.

Sa'Fron stood before them, its neon lights beckoning them to enter. Somehow the club looked even bigger on the inside than it had outside. The bar stretch in an arc around the dance floor, tables available for those who needed to rest their feet or to just enjoy their drinks and the music sitting down.

The night transpired as one would expect. Loud music played on the speakers, men and women alike dancing together on the dance floor or enjoying drinks and conversation at either the bar or at the tables. Sitting at one of the tables were Sulu and Chekov, sipping their beers as they watched Eliza dancing.

"So, what do you think of her?" Chekov asked, playing absentmindedly with his drink.

Sulu shook his head and replied, "She's half-Orion, Pav. There's not much to think about."

Chekov stared at his friend briefly and then returned his attention to Eliza. "Half-Orion or not, she ees ze most beautiful woman I hawe ewer seen een my life."

Sulu laughed at his young friend. "What, are there not that many beautiful women in Russia?" Chekov shot an angry look at Sulu. "Of course there ees! Eet ees just zat…"

"It's just what?" Sulu interrogated. Chekov muttered something under his breath that Sulu was barely able to hear. "What?" Sulu smirked. "Did you just say they don't want to go out with you?"

"No!" Chekov said, a little too quickly. Sulu smirked again and leaned back in his chair, looking at his best friend. "I… I merely said zat zey all seem to find someone before I come along…"

"And you think Eliza might be the one?" Slowly, Chekov nodded. Sulu shrugged. "Good luck, man… she's half Orion. She won't be easy to tame."

"You seem to hawe tamed her well." Chekov said slyly, looking at Sulu with a slightly envious gaze. "I'm not as stupid as you think, Hikaru! I see how much she prefers you. Out of all ze men she flirts with, you are ze only one zat she looks at with a burning gaze."

Taking another sip of his beer, Sulu said, "I never said you were stupid, she might just like older guys. No offense to you of course," Sulu added with a grin. Chekov simply rolled his eyes and focused his attention on Eliza's seductive dance.

Once the song ended, Eliza sashayed up to the table and leaned on her elbows, showing off ample cleavage with a smile. "And what would my two favorite boys be talking about, hmm? You wouldn't be talking about little ol' me, would you?"

"Uh…" Chekov's eyes were so magnetized to the sight before him that he lost all ability to speak properly. Eliza smirked and turned her emerald green gaze to Sulu.

"What about you, Hikaru? Want to tell me what you were talking about?"

"You…" Sulu said, his breath catching in his throat. Eliza smiled again and batted her eyelashes at them both.

"Would either of you like to dance with me?" She asked in her most lilting, sultry voice. "While I enjoy your intent stares, I don't like dancing all alone when I have two handsome men to choose from."

Stumbling over his chair, Chekov got up hurriedly and offered his arm to her. Eliza giggled and slipped her arm through his. "Don't worry, Hikaru…" She said as a song started up. "I'm saving the next dance for you." She blew him a kiss before leading Chekov to the dance floor.

A pair of disapproving eyes watched from the bar as the two made their way to the dance floor. Yeoman Jeanette Sanders murmured to her friends, "Can you believe that slut? I heard she's done every male on the ship at least twice. It seems like she's sinking her teeth into Sulu and Chekov now. At this rate it seems like there won't be any good men left for the rest of us."

"Oh, shut up, Jeanette," her friend Anja Liubov said as she took another sip of her drink. "There's an old saying Earth saying that says, 'If you can't say anything nice about anyone, keep your mouth shut.' Maybe you should take that to heart and mind your own damned business."

"Anja's right," Yeoman Janice Rand added. "The moment you speak ill about someone, you leave the door wide open for someone to do the same to you. Anyway I think you're getting Eliza mixed up with Mesmire. Eliza's pretty good about controlling her Orion half for the most part, but Mesmire spends more time fornicating with her patients then actually treating them."

Jeanette made a face at the two girls and turned around in her seat, scowling at the dance floor. All the men who had been eyeing her suddenly got the feeling she wouldn't be very good company and went to find other girls to dance with. She drank deeply from her glass of Andorian ale and crossed her arms irritably.

"Eliza… I was just wondering…" Chekov said as they danced to a slower song. "Would you like…" He cleared his throat, his cheeks turning pink. "Would you like to go out with me?"

Eliza smiled winningly at the young Russian and traced one finger down his cheek. "We'll see, Pavel. It was very kind of you to ask…" She brought her face close to his and kissed him soundly. So unprepared was Chekov, it took a few seconds longer than normal to react and kiss her back, which caused Eliza to giggle into the intimacy. Pulling back after a few seconds, she winked at him slyly. Chekov felt his throat constrict and his pants tighten slightly.

Eliza smirked and led him back over to the table where Sulu was sitting. "Hikaru, would you like to dance with me?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Sulu grinned, getting up with a lot more grace than Chekov had and leading the girl onto the dance floor, leaving Chekov to stare after Eliza as she left. Seeing the two dancing together killed all desire to remain in the club. Muttering Russian profanities under his breath, Chekov got up from the table and started to make his way out of the club.

Spock sighed as he stood against the wall, staring at the many crew members that danced in front of him. He had no idea what the appeal was in thrashing about along to horrible music; he also had no idea why Kirk insisted on dragging him along. Even as wave after wave of their companions arrived, he couldn't find one that didn't really want to participate in the frivolous activities.

Kirk came over to Spock with a sloppy grin on his face. He had just gotten back from the dance floor after dancing with Uhura and was making his ninth attempt of the night to get Spock to dance. "Heeeey Spock!" he said, slinging an arm around him. Spock smelled the alcohol on his breath and cringed. Kirk poked him in the chest and said, "You sir, need to come out to the dance floor and dance."

"For the ninth time, I do not desire to dance to this cacophony you refer to as 'music'," Spock said, clearly annoyed.

"Aaaw come ooooon," Kirk said, facing Spock and pressing his body against Spock. Reluctantly, Spock put his hands on Kirk's hips, sighing. Kirk purred, "Just one smaaaall dance and I swear I'll leave you alone."

Spock raised his eyebrow at Kirk and said, "I know you much better than that Jim. After you manage to get me to dance with you once, you will repeatedly come back asking for more." With a smirk, he added, "That is an admirable trait in the bedroom, but in this case it is not."

Kirk returned Spock's smirk with a sexy kiss that almost convinced him to leave his spot on the wall, but his feet remained firmly planted despite Kirk's effort to pull him toward the dance floor. Kirk broke the kiss and pouted cutely at Spock, who simply smiled and shook his head. With a humph, Kirk crossed his arms and said over his shoulder, "Fine. I didn't wanna dance with you anyway," and walked off. Spock couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Kirk stomp over to the bar before returning his attention to the gyrating crew members in front of him.

McCoy's head turned when he saw Kirk flop dramatically onto the bar. Smirking into his drink, he asked, "Spock turn you down again?"

Lifting his head, Kirk said, "He's such a stick in the mud. I wanna make him jealous. Why don't you dance with me?"

"Ooooh no," McCoy said, raising his free hand. "Don't you dare try to tempt me. I came here to drink, not to dance. Besides, I'm finally getting over you and things with Christine are starting to develop. The last thing I need is to remember how insane I was to fall for you in the first place."

Kirk grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Ooooh, that's riiiight!" he said, wiggling his fingers tauntingly at McCoy. "Someone's finally gotten over me and is finally making progress with Christiiiine!" He laughed and placed a hand on McCoy's shoulder, shaking him. "I don't wanna mess with that! I wouldn't want to start a cat fight unintentionally!"

"Somehow I get the feeling she could take you," McCoy replied, taking another sip of his drink before putting it down.

Kirk laughed and placed a hand on his chest. "Oh ho! Ooooow! That hurt Bones!" He placed a hand on his hip and added, "So if I can't get you to shake your butt out there with me to get Spock jealous, who the hell can I get?"

"There's always me..."

Both Kirk and McCoy turned to see Russell Northrop and his boyfriend Jake Lozano standing behind them. Russell smirked and said, "I'm sure Spock still remembers the rumors that circulated about us a while back. You may have quelled his doubts after hooking me and Jake up, but I'm sure seeing us dance together would rattle him enough to get him out on the dance floor."

"Seriously?!?" Kirk said in shock. It was true that he had drank his fair share of alcohol that night, but he was drunk enough to dance with Russell "Cupcake" Northrop. He turned to Jake and asked, "Are you okay with that?"

Jake shrugged. "I know he's not gonna carry you off into a corner and ravage you, so I'm not worried."

Russell smirked at Jake, "You don't know that. Anyway, didn't I hear you mention how cute you thought Kirk was once?"

Before Jake could reply, Kirk raised his hands and said, "Oookay, before I have horrible images of the world's weirdest ménage a trois, I have to respectfully decline."

Grinning, Jake turned to Russell and said, "You know, I hadn't considered us both dancing with him. I bet that'd be more than enough to convince Spock to quit being such a wallflower…"

"Whoa, wait, both of you?!? I don't think…"

Kirk was being pulled to the dance floor by Jake and Russell before he could properly protest. He turned his head and shouted behind him, "Bones! Help me!"

McCoy simply waved and laughed. "Don't have too much fun Jim, or they'll throw ya out!"

The three moved further onto the dance floor until they were within Spock's sight and began dancing. Kirk resisted at first, but when one of his favorite songs began to play, he forgot that he was dancing with Jake and Russell and went wild. Spock's eye twitched as he recognized the two men with him as Jake and Russell. Jake was of no consequence to him, but seeing Russell made him more leery of the situation. His leeriness was justified when he saw the two men begin to run their hands over the dancing captain. He clenched his jaw at the sight, knowing this was only a ruse to get him to dance with Kirk. However, when he saw Russell wrap his arms around Kirk and Jake grab on to Kirk's hips, something in his brain snapped.

He stomped onto the dance floor and tapped the two security officers on their shoulders. They saw the livid look on Spock's face and almost dropped their act. Smiling, Jake said, "Oh hey Spock! Did you want to join in?"

"I would like to dance with my fiancé," Spock said, "so if you two do not mind, would you kindly vacate and allow me to do so?"

"Aww, but we're having so much fun with him Spock!" Russell said, teasing Spock. He put his head on top of Kirk's head and nuzzled it, making Kirk shudder in ill-suppressed disgust. Teasing Spock didn't seem to be the right thing to do at the moment. Grinding his teeth, Spock said, "It would be best if you two let us dance. Alone."

Being security guards and having observed Spock's behavior over the last two years told them that listening to his wishes was the best thing for their health. They promptly stopped dancing with Kirk as the song ended and smiled innocently. "Alright," Russell said. "We'll let you and Kirk dance."

"Enjoy yourselves!" Jake said, patting Kirk on the back. "Maybe we can get the next dance," he added with a wink.

Spock's eyes narrowed. "I highly doubt it."

Jake and Russell walked to a different part of the dance floor to give Kirk and Spock a chance to dance together. They exchanged smirks and high fived each other as they walked away. The song that played next was a slow song, much to Spock's relief. Taking a deep breath and composing himself, he said, "Since the song is of a much slower tempo, I have no aversion to dancing with you. But I will only do it this once. Do not think that I will bend to your will and dance whenever you request."

Kirk kissed Spock sweetly on the cheek and wrapped his arms around him. "Alright, I'll try to keep that in mind."

Bryce Peters watched the two men dance together from his seat at the bar and shook his head. He couldn't understand how a couple so vile could dance openly in public like that. He was probably the only man on the entire ship that thought their relationship was disgusting. Bryce was a rare breed in the 23rd century; he was a close-minded, arrogant, pompous bigot who thought anyone that wasn't human wasn't worth his time. He made an exception for Mesmire simply because the only thing she wanted was sex. It was just as well, because in his mind, the only thing Orion women were good for was sex anyway. He could push the thought of her sleeping with men of all races out of his mind when her legs were wrapped around him. Besides, when it came to Eliza, the half-Orion, half-human science officer, they thought alike.

Speaking of the half-breed, he looked across the room and saw her dancing with Sulu, another of the many crew members he avoided contact with as much as possible. Times like this made him very glad he spent most of his time in engineering so he didn't have to interact with many people. He turned his head and spotted Jeanette watching Eliza as well, frowning deeply with arms crossed.

Jeanette was one of the few women who caught his eye on the ship. From what he observed of her, they thought and felt alike. He rose from his bar stool and sauntered cockily over to her. Leaning his back against the bar, he said, "Disgusting isn't it, watching that half-breed dancing with the chink."

The look Jeanette shot him could have melted a diamond. "I may not approve of Eliza's promiscuity, but I'm not a bigot. I don't appreciate you addressing me like I am." She rose from her stool and addressed her friends. "Come on guys, I'm not interested in staying here anymore. Apparently they'll let anyone in. Let's head back to the hotel."

Her friends shot equally venomous looks at Bryce and nodded, also rising from their stools. Rand stayed while the rest of her friends made their way to the night club's entrance. "You know Bryce," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "racism isn't the best way to attract girls at a club Bryce, especially not in this day and age. You should seriously work on your pick up lines, as well as your narrow-minded view of the universe."

Her long blond hair whipped around her as she spun on her heel to leave and almost hit Bryce in the face. Grumbling, he downed his drink and made his way out of the club as well. Getting shot down in such a manner was a real killjoy, and if any of the women around him had heard their conversation, his chances of scoring were now slim to none.

Sulu held Eliza just far away enough where they could face each other and talk while they danced. "Chekov really likes you, you know," Sulu said. "I've never seen him so smitten with someone like this before."

"Who isn't smitten with me?" Eliza smirked softly, wrapping her arms around his neck as they pressed together. "I know you are…"

"I am because I'm lucky enough to have you…" Sulu murmured, kissing her lightly. "No other guys can really say that about you, can they?"

"None on this ship…" Eliza's eyes twinkled with mischief and she kissed him gently. "He's just a shy boy who needs courage to talk to women. If he's able to get the courage he needs by practicing on me then that's great. But you know me, Hikaru. I'm all yours."

Sulu grinned and kissed her forehead tenderly. "I'm glad." He murmured. Part of him felt bad for Chekov and his ineptitude with women, but another part was just glad he had Eliza to himself, at least for now.

In another part of the club, Chapel, Artemis, Astinder, Astinder's brother Zaqej and her sister Bojalena sat at a table laughing happily together. Zaqej and Bojalena were sharing childhood stories of their adventures with Astinder and her other siblings. Back on their home planet Siria they all played together in the woods on a daily basis, which naturally spawned lots of fond memories to reminisce over.

The club was owned by Zaqej and Bojalena, founded a few years after the success of their family's hotel. They had other businesses in the city as well, but Sa'Fron was their pride and joy. Just as their father did when he found out that Astinder's ship was coming to visit for shore leave, they reserved the club solely for the crew to enjoy a night of dancing and even rented the hover buses to transport them to and from the hotel.

As they spoke, three uninvited guests wandered over to their table. They were Felisian, two males and one female. Black and red sashes were tied around their waists, the marks of mercenaries among their race. Astinder was the first to spot them, alerting the rest of her group with a low growl.

The female Felisian sneered at Astinder as she and her companions drew closer. "Now, now, Tindy." The way the Felisian hissed Astinder's nickname sounded more like an insulting explicative than an endearing term used by her close friends and family. "We merely came to say hello. You've got a lot of nerve coming back to Kalthoria unannounced."

"Last I checked I didn't need to tell you anything," Astinder growled angrily, her ears pressed against her head.

"And last I checked I had requested you not enter our night club," Zaqej snarled in an equally angry tone. Both he and Bojalena glared at the trio before them with narrowed eyes.

"You requested, yes," the woman said as she sashayed over to Zaqej. "But unless you demand it, I won't comply." She leaned down and purred in Zaqej's ear, "You know I can't stay away from you for long…"

"Theca," the larger Felisian male hissed. "I've warned you about flirting with Zaqej."

Theca stood up and shot her elder brother an innocent look. "Aw, you're no fun Eli. You're just jealous because I'm not doting on you."

"Cut the crap Theca," Bojalena barked. "Why are you here?"

Sniffing and tossing her head back, Theca haughtily replied, "Well, we certainly didn't come here because we like your little night club. We would've walked right past this dump if Altes hadn't caught Astinder's scent and insisted we look for her inside." She grinned at Astinder and added, "You do recall how much Altes enjoys your company Tindy?"

"I enjoy money," Altes interjected, his tail betraying the embarrassment he felt inside. "I only mentioned it because the last of the Nayvolo pups had resurfaced. It was you Theca who wanted to…"

"I could care less what your reasons are! I just want you to leave!" Astinder shouted, attracting the attention of some of the people around her. "I wanted to visit my family in peace! If I wanted to see you, I would've looked for you! You've got a lot of nerve expecting me to be cordial to you after what you did to Christoph!"

Eli crossed his arms. "You're still blathering on about that? It's not our fault your brother was foolish enough to get himself killed…"

The three Sirians rose from their seats, growling low. The Felisians hissed angrily back. By now everyone around them was noticing the dangerous confrontation about to erupt and was slowly inching away. Their argument was becoming so fevered that Kirk and Spock had stopped dancing where they were across the room.

"That doesn't look good," Kirk said.

"Indeed it doesn't," Spock agreed. "Perhaps we should make our way over to them before things get too heated." The two began making their way over to quarreling group, pushing past those that were still dancing and those that were rooted in place, observing from afar.

As they came within eyeshot of the group, they heard the argument begin to reach a dangerous peak. Astinder shouted, "You took advantage of the fact that Christoph wanted to be different than the rest of our family and lured him into your vile mercenary group with your feminine wiles! After all he sacrificed for you, you just used him and let him die on one of your missions! You didn't even mourn his loss; you just looked for your next target, the next poor sap you could convince to stand in the line of fire! He loved you, and all you could do to thank him was betray him, you filthy whore!"

"Silence, pup!" Theca raised her hand with claws extended and brought them down. Before the claws could cut into Astinder, Zaqej stepped in front of her to take the blow. The claws never touched his skin though; Spock had swiftly inserted himself in the space between Zaqej and Theca and taken the blow for them.

Everyone stared at the green blood that dripped from Spock's forearm, including Theca and her brothers. Though the wound was shallow, Spock swayed on his feet as though he had received a fatal blow. Eyes rolling to the back of his head, Spock began to fall as his legs turned to jelly. Multiple people cried out his name as he fell, others gasped. Zaqej caught him easily in his arms before he could fall. Kirk and Chapel both rushed to Spock's side and held him, Chapel grabbing his arm to inspect the wound and Kirk looking worriedly at his paling face.

McCoy pushed through the crowd to get to him as well. He shouted, "Come on, move it, get out of my way! I'm a doctor and I need to attend to this man!" He reached Spock's limp body that was unnecessarily being supported by three people and began examining him. He was still breathing, but his heartbeat had dropped dangerously low.

"Is he okay Bones?" Kirk asked, though it was plain to see that he was far from okay.

"He's still breathing, but his heart rate is low even by human standards. We need to get him back to the hotel and fast."

Theca's mouth worked as she struggled to find the words to say. Her blow had been intended for Astinder, not for this stranger and certainly not for Zaqej. In addition, she couldn't understand how a simple rake of her fingernails against the Vulcan's skin could cause such a reaction.

Kirk glared at Theca with his frigid blue eyes and said, "I don't know who you are or what this argument is about, but if you know what's best for you, you better leave right now. I'm the captain of the star ship Enterprise and you just assaulted my first officer with dozens of witnesses to confirm it."

Realizing very quickly that lingering would get them placed under arrest for assaulting a Starfleet officer, if not beaten to a bloody pulp by the angry crew members that surrounded them, Altes grabbed Theca's shoulder roughly and said, "I think you've done enough damage, sister dear. We would be wise to leave now while we still can of our accord."

Theca hissed and said, "This is far from over, Tindy. Pray we don't meet again any time soon."

"I could say the same to you," Astinder growled.

The three Felisians hurriedly pushed past the crowd to make their way out of the night club. Astinder looked at Kirk with tears in her eyes. "Captain, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let her upset me. I didn't mean for Mr. Spock to get hurt."

"No," Bojalena said, "Zaqej and I are to blame. We simply should have ejected them from our club the moment we saw them. We told them we didn't want them to come here anymore, but they ignored our request. Until now we've had no need for bouncers to keep order, but it seems the time has come for us to hire some."

Kirk swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "It's no one fault. No one could have guessed that something like this would happen. We just need to get him to the hotel so McCoy can treat him."

Zaqej picked Spock up and held him in his arms. "We'll take you there. Bojalena and I have vehicles we can use to get you back to the hotel." The crowd parted to allow them through as they walked out of the club. Bojalena pulled a remote out of her pocket and pressed two different buttons on it. Two sleek hover cars, one a shiny black and the other a deep purple, zoomed from behind the club and parked in front of the entrance.

Zaqej placed Spock in the back seat of his car while McCoy and Kirk took seats inside. In Bojalena's car Chapel, Astinder, and Artemis piled in. When everyone was in the cars, Zaqej and Bojalena revved the engines and soared off toward the hotel. In the back of Zaqej's car, Kirk stroked Spock's hair and allowed a couple of tears to roll down his cheeks.

"Hang on, Spock," he whispered through the painful lump in his throat. "You're gonna be okay…" I hope, he thought to himself.