Mister Kyle was trying to hide his nerves, but having both Captain and First Officer waiting in the transporter room for the return of Doctor McCoy was making him jittery. Both were known to lash out at even minor infractions if they weren't in a good mood and Kyle had no idea what sort of mood the two were in currently. He nearly jumped out of his skin when the signal came across.
"McCoy to Enterprise. Two to beam up."
Even knowing who was beaming up with McCoy, it took a moment for it to register with Kirk that it was the same T'Pring from the arena. Her long hair had been shorn until it was now barely longer than Spock's. She was dressed in the plainest Vulcan robe he had ever seen - straight black with absolutely no ornamentation or embroidery and both hands were encased in gloves. From her expression, she clearly would have preferred to be almost anywhere else. Not that anyone present cared about her preference. In fact, she was totally ignored as Kirk moved to greet McCoy.
"About time you got back, Bones. I seem to recall promising you something if you won."
"I suppose I didn't exactly win, Jim. Things ending on a technicality and all that."
Kirk's hand made a dismissive gesture.
"Close enough. I expect you in my quarters in an hour."
"Can we make it two, Jim? I need to have a chat with Nyota first."
Snapping his fingers as if he'd forgotten, Jim clapped McCoy on the shoulder.
"That's right. We need to keep the Bridge relatively blood-free, after all. Head to Sickbay. She'll be there shortly."
As they began to exit the transporter room, T'Pring followed behind them sullenly. Kirk glanced over his shoulder at her, then looked over to McCoy.
"Bones? Are you sure about having your back to her?"
Instead of answering Kirk directly, McCoy spoke to T'Pring without ever turning his head.
"The Captain has a question, T'Pring. Tell him how many allies you have on this ship."
Kirk dropped back so that he could watch her and saw her gloved hands clench as she answered.
"None, Doctor."
"Now, tell the Captain what will happen to the first time if you should you ever touch me in any fashion without my permission."
"You will break each of my fingers one at a time, leave them untended for at least a day and then reset them without any medications before allowing them to heal naturally."
"And the second time?"
"You will remove the ends of each of my fingers down to the first knuckle."
"And should you manage to actually injure or kill me?"
"Your nurses have permission to do whatever they will with me for so long as they are able to keep me alive."
The last answer had Kirk chuckling.
"I trust you did warn her about how very inventive your nursing staff can be?"
"Oh yes. I'm quite proud of my girls."
Turning toward Spock, McCoy's features shifted to a more sober expression.
"I'm pretty sure I can get you back in Nyota's good graces, but I'll have to tell her about some of what went on. I swear I won't tell more than I consider to be absolutely necessary, but she's a genius herself and likely to figure the rest out on her own."
Spock stopped walking, which was immediately followed by Kirk and McCoy stopping as well. Turning, Spock looked McCoy straight in the eye.
"I trust your judgment in this matter . . . Leonard."
The smile that formed on McCoy's face was echoed on Kirk's as the trio started walking again, Spock turning to enter the labs as McCoy went toward Sickbay with T'Pring. Still smiling, Kirk headed for the turbolift to return to the Bridge.
As Kirk stepped through the open door and headed toward the Captain's chair, he gave his orders.
"Lieutenant Uhura - call a replacement for Communications to the Bridge. Once they arrive, report to Doctor McCoy immediately."
The look on Uhura's face was a mix of suspicion and curiosity, but she obeyed orders. She knew as long as she didn't backstab Kirk, she didn't have anything to fear from McCoy or his staff. When she arrived at Sickbay, Chapel just gave her a rare smile and gestured toward the CMO's office.
"The doctor is expecting you. Go right in."
Entering the office, she heard McCoy humming, but his back was to her.
"You wanted to see me, Doctor?"
Straightening up from what he was doing, McCoy turned with a smile. Now that Uhura could see past him, she saw a Vulcan woman restrained to a chair. The woman looked vaguely familiar, but Uhura assumed she might have been among the Vulcan refugees who had been aboard the Enterprise for awhile.
"Informal visit, Nyota. Have a seat."
McCoy moved to take a seat himself, choosing one so that his desk wouldn't be between them.
"What's all this about, Leonard?"
"I want to straighten out a little misunderstanding is all, darlin'. I know you speak Vulcan fluently, but how fluent are you in their customs? Such as their marriage rituals?"
There was no question about it from her body language - the combination of the word Vulcan with marriage hit a nerve.
"The Vulcans as a whole are extremely secretive about all of their social rituals. The only thing I know is that they do marry."
"Well, I can provide a little more than that. Vulcans follow a custom that used to be followed with some of the Terran cultures. Parents make marriage contracts for their children. They do it when the tykes are around seven, so obviously there aren't any love matches done that way. They're business arrangements between families."
Her forehead creased into a frown as she thought that over, then she shook her head.
"That can't be right. Spock's father was married to his mother."
"It is right. Spock's mother wasn't Sarek's first wife."
Sitting back and draping one arm over the back of the chair, Uhura studied him again.
"And how would you know something like that?"
"Would you believe I have a friend in high places on Vulcan?"
The laughter from her lips was short-lived, but welcome.
"Oh, Leonard - every time I think I might know you, something like this comes up. However, we've gone off-topic. What little misunderstanding is it that you want to correct?"
"The Vulcan word for the person that is your other half in a marriage contract doesn't have a literal translation into Terran common. Spock picked the wrong word to describe his relationship with old T'Pring here."
As the reason for the recognition hit, Uhura's gaze turned back to the Vulcan woman and wondered what had happened to obviously change her status so radically and so quickly. She continued studying the woman as McCoy keep talking.
"Wife was the wrong word to use because they hadn't been married yet - only contracted for it. I'm being nosey, but tell me, Spock ever promise you anything?"
Uhura's body language eased somewhat and she gave a sigh as she shifted her attention back to the doctor.
"The opposite, really. Spock told me from the beginning that there couldn't be a real future between us. I assumed I knew what the reason was and didn't question it any further."
T'Pring's eyes widened as she listened. If Spock had also broken their contract? She looked to McCoy, who gave her a wolfish grin.
"Not a lot of good that knowledge is going to do you now, girl."
Uhura pursed her lips as she considered and looked over T'Pring again.
"Are she and Spock married now?"
"Nope. That contract is about as thoroughly busted as a contract can be."
"Then why is she here?"
"Long story and most of it isn't mine to tell. Let's just leave it at this - she gambled and lost. I own her and I even have the paperwork to prove it. Or I guess it proves it. Damn contract's in Vulcan. I can speak some, but can't read it."
Uhura extended her hand and McCoy pulled out the scroll and laid it on her waiting palm. Pulling it to her, Uhura unrolled it carefully and slowly translated the script all the way down to the signature block.
"All yours without any conditions and signed by T'Pau? I'm impressed."
Re-rolling the scroll back neatly, Uhura offered it back to McCoy, but grasped his hand after he'd taken it.
"Spock damn near killed you. Why are you defending him to me?"
McCoy didn't bother to try pulling away from her, looking straight at her instead.
"Jim is good. Spock makes him better. You, me, Hikaru, Pavel and Scotty make him better. You know, a hexagon in nature is one of the strongest forms. Think about bees and their honeycombs."
"One problem with that. There are seven of us, Leonard."
"Six of us supporting one central figure, Nyota. Jim can take all of us a long way, but only with the right support system. Spock is part of that. If the six of us can learn to watch each others back while watching Jim's? I sure the hell wouldn't bet against us. Would you?"
Giving his hand a light squeeze before releasing it, Uhura's smile was a sly one.
"No. I wouldn't bet against us. But what about Gaila? What about Pike?"
"Bless her huge green heart, Gaila doesn't have the right kind of hunger to be part of our core group. Doesn't mean she's not an important support, but we both know that she'd be perfectly content with a nice room, decent food and plenty of sex."
Uhura chuckled at that accurate description of her former roommate, but otherwise remained quiet as McCoy continued.
"Pike is part of the outer part of our hive - like the crew is. He and they will benefit from what our core group can do, so it will be worth their while to keep us together. Think, Nyota. Who was called to witness the peace treaty signing? Wasn't Pike. The Klingon Emperor knows me, Jim and Pavel not only by name, but by sight. And hell, I'm pretty damn sure Jim screwed the Romulan princess. And now, we are also leaving Vulcan with some heavy debts to us."
"You're taking an awfully large risk talking to me like this, Leonard."
"Oh, I don't think so. Think again about our hexagon, Nyota. Every single one of us is multi-talented. Every single one of us is at genius level. You could sell us out, sure. But you'd be tossing aside unlimited potential for a pittance. I know you're smarter than that."
"You do know how to flatter a girl, Leonard."
Leaning forward, McCoy did something very few would ever dare. He cupped Uhura's face in his hand.
"Not flattery when it's the truth, lady. I know your worth and so does everyone else in this hunk of tin. So, think you can at least go to a non-hostile status with Spock?"
Running one long nail down the back of McCoy's hand just hard enough to leave a mark, Uhura nodded.
"I won't guarantee much yet, but I will promise you non-violent. Unless something happens to change that. So - what about her?"
"T'Pring? No need to worry about her. I already promised Spock I wouldn't allow her to run around unattended."
"You know what I feel like doing?"
"Not exactly, Nyota - but I could probably make a decent guess."
"May I?"
Withdrawing his hand, McCoy gave Uhura an unconcerned shrug.
"Be my guest."
Rising gracefully, Uhura positioned herself directly in front of T'Pring, studying her again silently for a minute before backhanding her.
"Thank you, Leonard. I feel much better now."
"Hey, what are friends for?"
After a long hard look into McCoy's eyes, Uhura quoted an Imperial Starfleet proverb.
"A strong foe is better than a weak friend."
McCoy's smile took on the edge that made many fear to enter Sickbay.
"Do you think me weak, Nyota?"
There was no hesitation.
"No. Others might be able to take you physically, but only if they took you by surprise. Even then, they'd have their hands full."
"Then that proverb has no application here, does it? But if we're going to drag out sayings, my grandmother was a bit of a rebel - kept some of the books in the family and hidden that the first Emperor banned. Ever hear of Mahatma Gandhi?"
"I think I remember that name from history, but not any details other than his writings had been deemed subversive. Why?"
"He had a saying she was fond of and drilled into me : 'Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.' Give that a minute's thought."
Uhura did as requested and McCoy saw it in her eyes when the implications sank in. She suddenly saw the events since their Academy days not as a series of incidents, but as links in a chain. Kirk had that indomitable will - he expressed it every time he said he didn't believe in problems that didn't have solutions. Every time he faced another variation of the Kobayashi Maru and forged another way through it.
"No wonder the Emperor banned his writings. We can really do this, can't we?"
Moving to her side with a chuckle, McCoy wrapped an arm around her waist as he escorted her out of Sickbay.
"Damn right we can, darlin'. The only thing that can get in our way is us."