((ADDENDUM: I changed the last name of the CMO of the space station to Rasul. I don't normally do that, never have before, but in this case I had a good enough reason to do it.

Chapter heading … dare I say it … is a line taken from an Arioso (which is basically a recitativo accompagnato) of Bach's St. John's Passion (Mein Herz indem die ganze Welt). Given the amount of stuff this chapter encompasses finding something was tough as hell, and not for the first time I wonder why I bother and don't just not write a chapter heading. Also, I could invent one. There was a time where I was reluctant to use quotes. Now I keep looking for them. O tempora, o mores!))

Leonard's eyes were glued to the screen. It was obvious why this work was done in pairs. In the past half hour they had told approaching starships just why they had to dock manually, and for some reason, they had found that highly entertaining. One of the two people at the terminals had to communicate, the other had to see that nothing happened. That the computer was actually functional and going to prevent a catastrophe was comforting but the pressure was still there. Glancing to his left for a split second, he caught T'Kray smiling. 'What?' he asked softly.

'You look so concentrated.' Her answer was equally quiet. The red blinking light signifying that they had to control manually went out and didn't turn back on. 'Cristóbal de Morales to USS Marvel. Automatic control has been re-established. The computer will guide you now. T'Kray out.'

'Thank you, Morales,' the answer came with an amused tone. Leonard leaned back and stretched.

'Hell. How did anyone ever survive an entire shift of this?'

'Practice. Don't be too hard on yourself, Len. You are not trained for this, and neither am I. We will not excel in that area, and I for one am glad we do not have to. This isn't for everyone.'

'Clearly.'

'I actually think we're being tested.'

'Of course we are. We're tested for vigilance and that sort of stuff.' T'Kray thought for a moment.

'That's what they want us to think. It's what I would say if I were testing something different entirely. Frustration tolerance maybe.'

'Wouldn't that be an impossible scenario?'

'For us, with our backgrounds, this nigh on is. We're expected to perform at the level of those that usually do this kind of thing.' Slowly, a smile spread on Leonard's face.

'Interesting. Well, I guess we can relax a bit, then.' He glanced at the chronometer on the wall. 'Speaking of which, how about lunch? I think Jim and Spock have a break now, too.' T'Kray nodded.

'They would.'

The other two were already in the mess hall at their usual table. For once, Vral had joined them. He looked rather dejected, his ears drooping ever so slightly. Leonard couldn't blame him. 'How's Kresar doing?' he asked. Vral offered a baleful look.

'Same as before. I have no idea what's happening to him. He yelled at me, I wondered if he even recognised me.' T'Kray looked highly concerned.

'I shall see to him after this. Len, please tell STC I need to attend to a patient and will be a bit late.' He nodded. Vral frowned at his food, then pushed it away.

'Do you have any idea what is happening to him?' T'Kray took a few seconds to consider.

'I do not know what is causing his problems. We are working on that, not only the two of us, but really the entire sickbay personnel.' Vral's eyes widened.

'That bad?'

'We cannot say how bad it is, Vral. Only that we do not know how to help your brother.' Vral offered a curt nod.

'Excuse me, I'll go and see him again.' Leonard followed him with his gaze.

'Pour soul.' He took a deep breath. 'Well, here's a real problem and we're wasting time in that control section. Talk about frustration tolerance.' The door swished open and Doctor Rasul rushed to them, followed by two security officers. His face was sheet white, which was a very bad sign given his usually dark complexion.

'Kirk,' he said without preamble. 'This will get you into court martial.' Jim stared at him, obviously at a complete loss. Leonard gaped at his superior, trying to comprehend and process what he had heard. Jim was the first to find his tongue, even if his reply wasn't very eloquent.

'What?'

'You know what.' Jim and Spock exchanged a short glance.

'I … have absolutely no idea what I am being accused of. I haven't done anything.'

'You reported the transporter functional.' Jim blinked, then his mouth fell open and he paled visibly.

'No. No, I have done no such thing.'

'Yes you have, there's your signature on it! You didn't even have a right to sanction its use, that's Irina's job!'

'My signature? Can I see that?' Rasul thrust a PADD into his face.

'That is not my handwriting,' Jim said evenly and with visible relief. 'The computer will prove that.' Rasul took a few deep breaths.

'Indeed it will.' He dropped into a chair next to Leonard and buried his face in his hand. 'Do you have any idea what happened?'

'I can imagine.'

'I just … These are the days I hate being a doctor.' Leonard felt with him. Examining bodies was never pleasant, and transporter accidents were particularly gruesome. He collected himself and looked at them. 'I'll find out who this was. They'll answer for it.' T'Kray answered in a quiet voice.

'They may not even know.' Rasul stared at her. 'I am done with my examinations. No-one seems to remember having tampered with the transporter or the shuttles in the first place. I am half convinced whoever did it has no recollection of it whatsoever.' Rasul swallowed.

'I'll keep it in mind.' He started walking away, then turned back to face them. 'Hold on. There's a new rule for the planet. Don't leave the premises. Another pair of scientists have vanished. Our scans cannot find them, so a few of us were going to look for them and were told to use the engineering transporter. Well.'

ϡ

There were a number of things T'Kray had to keep in mind. One, Kresar was innocent, no matter what he had done. Two, there was an excellent chance he had something to do with the misinformation. Three, it might be anyone, and very likely was not him because in real life it was never that simple. Vral had left by the time she reached sickbay. Kresar was awake and very close to panic. When she got close, T'Kray felt the heat emanating from him. Caitians were warm, but not that warm. She hit the emergency button at the bed and wondered why Kresar hadn't already done so. The half minute it took Rasul to arrive seemed stretched. The doctor, still pale, glanced at Kresar. 'He's not well,' T'Kray said evenly. 'Feverish. But I don't know the first thing about Caitians.' Rasul nodded and ran a medical tricorder up and down Kresar's body, hovering over his throat for a while.

'How the hell …' He looked at her as though he expected an answer. 'How the hell does a perfectly healthy Caitian end up in a thyreotoxic crisis?' Whatever that was, it didn't seem to concern Rasul overly much. He started digging in a drawer, eventually producing a vial for a hypospray. 'Well. There you go, Kresar.' He looked up at T'Kray again. 'I mean … really.'

'I am not a medic, doctor,' she told him flatly.

'Good thing you got me here, or he'd be very dead very soon. Dangerous business that.' Kresar's head rolled to his side with his eyes closed. 'Yeah, rest. You know what, McCoy is done with his tower for today. Contact him, tell him I need him here. If Victor has any objections, he can have a piece of my mind.'

ϡ

Leonard stared at the results of Rasul's scan and shook his head. 'Maybe we just didn't know he had some sort of hyperthyreosis.' He looked up. 'I never ran a medical scan on him.' Rasul sighed.

'Anything similar with your test subjects?' Leonard shook his head, then he bit his lower lip.

'Wait. Yes. In one sample there was a rather high thyroliberin and thyrotropin level. It was one of the earliest samples I tested, and I had to take another after a while. There, the levels were normal. That's why I didn't think too much of it. Mind you, I did scan all the samples for TRH and TSH levels.'

'Who was it?'

'Commander Melczuk.' He frowned. 'Hyperthyreosis can lead to a certain degree of hysteria, but it doesn't alter a personality. T'Kray, did she appear at all stressed?'

'Of course she did. But no more than she should, given the fact that I tested her only a week after the first transporter accident.' Leonard nodded slowly. He walked over to the intercom and signalled engineering.

'Kirk here.'

'Hey, Jim. Any idea what happened?'

'None.'

'Listen. I need you and Melczuk up here. I've got to take a look at you eventually, and I need another blood sample from her.'

'She's not really in a cooperative mood,' Jim said quietly.

'Oh really. Not my idea anyway, Rasul's. He's not very cooperative either, you know, seeing how Kresar nearly died of something he wasn't supposed to have.' Leonard took a deep breath. 'Jim, tell her not to force me to make it an order. McCoy out.'

ϡ

Jim expected to have to wait while Bones took a blood sample from Melczuk and scanned it, but instead, he was intercepted by T'Kray. The Vulcan let him fill in a form that was vaguely familiar. He was certain he had taken a similar test before his first command, something about five personality factors. This test was followed by various computer scenarios. In the end she merely said that he was stressed but otherwise fine and sent him to the next room.

When the door closed behind him, Bones raised his hand in greeting and kept talking to the computer for a moment. 'Sit down,' he said then. 'I'd need your hand.' He smiled vaguely. 'This is one of the few things that can't be done without a bit of pain. But you'll live.' He picked up a small metal plate and rammed the sharp end into Jim's middle finger. 'Sorry.' He squeezed, collecting a drop of blood with a dropper. Turning away, he fumbled with an apparatus. After a minute he shook his head at the result. When he sat back down, he allowed himself a sigh. 'You need to come back here tomorrow.'

'Why? Am I … Bones, am I …' His friend shook his head quickly.

'No, Jim. You're not going insane, and you're not ill. But your thyroid is a little overactive right now. Only very slightly, but that's what nearly killed Kresar. You haven't got it that bad, luckily, and the actual problem is probably not the thyroid, that's just an effect. But I can give you a hypo and you'll be fine.'

'Why did you need Commander Melczuk?' Bones tilted his head.

'What sort of answer do you think I can give you?' Jim's eyes widened.

'Nothing! Of course you can't. I … didn't think.' It was way too easy to fall into his usual routine with Bones. How could he forget that right now he couldn't just tell him whatever he found he needed to know about the staff? Who was he to even ask it?

'Jim, over the next few weeks you've got to listen into yourself. Or maybe Spock can help you. When you're … together, you meld, I assume.' Jim glanced towards the door, and Bones smiled. 'No-one here but us. Come on, you were never shy about a conquest. I know this is different, but still.' Jim smiled innocently. At least he thought he did.

'I'm getting a feeling I'm really here to be questioned.'

'Well, can you blame me?' The doctor grinned. 'But it's not just that. Look, I'm sure that there's a connection between Kresar's psychosis and the physical aspect. Only there was nothing physically wrong with him when he was brought here. That's new. And you have the advantage that there's someone who knows you, maybe better than you know yourself. Tell him what I told you. Tell him to let you know if there's something different.'

'I'll do that.' Bones leaned forwards, a glint in his eyes.

'Now … Jim … How do I ask that … is there a … difference?'

'Physically? Shouldn't you know that?' The doctor made a dismissive gesture.

'No, I know those. I meant … Jim, look, you know how I am about telepathy.' He understood.

'Nothing to fear, Bones. You won't feel like you're losing control or the sense of yourself. You'll just … you'll feel yourself and her. And it's brilliant.'

'Anything I need to know?'

'Nothing that would be news to you. Why aren't you asking T'Kray, anyway?' Bones flushed, the mere thought apparently outrageous. It was all Jim could do not to laugh.

'I can't do that. She's … We haven't … got there yet. She's too Vulcan to push me, and mind you, I'm glad about that, but by now I'm getting impatient with myself.' Jim sighed.

'Well. Let it happen, Bones. You can't compare this to a mind meld as you know it. Maybe she can, you know, simulate it to you. They cannot only read thoughts, can they, but also suggest. Ask her to let you experience what it would be like.'

'Bonding for beginners, eh?' Bones's face lit up. 'You know, maybe that's a good idea.' He lowered his voice. 'There's something else. Related though. Did Spock teach you any Vulcan?'

'No. He said something but didn't translate.'

'T'Kray said something the computer claims means thank you, back on Dainam. But the last is apparently not a word.'

'What was it?'

'It sounded like Lenkam, but I misheard the other too. Good thing the computer found enough similarities to offer a translation. Some language.'

'You have access to language files?' Bones grinned.

'Sure. Computer, Vulcan language dictionary.' The Computer announced itself ready. 'Lenkam.'

'No such word.' He shrugged.

'See? I just guess I misheard it.' Jim smiled.

'Small wonder. Spock ever tell you his last name?' Bones snorted.

'No, the computer on the Enterprise did. I thought it was broken. What was your Vulcan word? Maybe the computer knows it.' Jim opened his mouth and closed it again. He considered a moment before he spoke.

'I don't know Bones. I haven't the faintest idea what it meant, it might have been something he wouldn't want me to … repeat.' The smile on Bones's face grew a little wider.

'When exactly did he say it?' He laughed. 'Come on, chances are you got it wrong anyway.' Jim swallowed, reprimanding himself to let himself in for such a conversation in the first place. Then he saw the look on McCoy's face. Expectant and curious, yes. But there was more, something softer and more caring. Before he could stop himself, he repeated the word Spock had said to him.

'T'hy'la.' The computer searched for two seconds. The answer, when it came, was as clear and cold as one expected from a database. And yet, with every bit of the definition it told them, Jim's heart got closer to melting into a puddle right there.

'Friend. Lover. Lifelong companion. Blood brother or sister. Soulmate. Soul-brother or sister.' Jim felt Bones's eyes on him and met his gaze. The doctor spoke quietly.

'You look surprised. I'm not. Didn't you know that he loves you, Jim?' He swallowed.

'Yes. I knew. But … I have a feeling this is a huge word.'

'I'm still trying to get over the fact they even have such a word. Try and say it back, Jim, see how he reacts.' Jim's face split into a grin.

'Yes, I'll do that.' Bones's eyes narrowed slightly.

'While you're at it, ask him what my word means, will you? The context was completely innocent, so it can't be overly worrisome.'

'Have you tried asking T'Kray?' Bones huffed.

'Tried. All she did was chuckle and tell me to find out. Well, I'm doing that.' Still grinning, Jim rose.

'Very well. I'll …' The bleep of the intercom interrupted him. Bones rolled his eyes.

'McCoy here.'

'Kirk with you?' Bligh's voice asked.

'Yes, he was just leaving,' Bones answered, eyes fixed on Jim.

'Tell him he's to lead an away team to the planet. Time he earned some laurels. He can choose whom he takes. Four people, two of them security. Bligh out.'

((Away team is another such term that's a TNG thing. TOS said landing party.

The definition of T'hy'la is the one you get from the (previously mentioned) VLD.))