McCoy's office. I have never seen him sitting in that chair, Kirk thought. Most of the time McCoy came to him when they talked. The bridge, or a conference room, or the rec room, his quarters, the transporter room, the surface of a planet, an alien leader's palace, tent, or dungeon, but he seldomly had talked to McCoy in the doctor's office. And when he had, McCoy hadn't been sitting in that chair, but had been standing, just as Kirk had, showing him something, like a bottle of some alien alcoholic drink that he'd wanted to try out.
He somehow felt awkward sitting down at his friend's desk, thinking that it looked cleaner and better organized than he would have suspected. Immediately he felt guilty for having believed that McCoy was a bit of a slob, on the one hand because he knew that he was one of the best doctors in Starfleet, on the other hand because he realized how seldomly he had actually visited Bones in his office.
He turned on the screen and was greeted by Coltan, Prime Minister of Meriah Five, who looked a bit embarrassed, something that Kirk didn't intend to smooth out for him.
"What do you want?"
"How is Dr. McCoy, Captain?"
"He's been better. I hope you have found the attacker."
"Yes. We have viewed the surveillance tapes. It was Secretary Delihan. You have met him at the meeting."
"You mean your Secretary of Defense?" Kirk didn't even try to hide the accusation in his tone. Not only had one of the members of the Meriahni government assaulted his CMO, but the Secretary of Defense, who had claimed that his government was interested in staying absolutely neutral, had made an attack on Starfleet, possibly with the intention of selling information to the Klingons.
"Captain, I assure you, this happened without our knowledge."
"Where is Delihan now?"
"We don't know. We are searching for him at present."
"Are you? Well, I would like to conduct a little search myself." Kirk mentally bit his lip. He should be careful with what he said. At the moment, Coltan was surprisingly cooperative.
"Captain, I understand your worries. Please be assured that we are doing our best to find Delihan. We apologise about the incident, however we cannot allow you to conduct a search by yourself, Delihan is a Meriahn, he will be put to trial, according to Meriahni law."
"What do you know about your Secretary of Defense? What are his motives?"
"Delihan is not a man of great passions. He is a rational person, he never makes premature decisions, Captain. I am telling you this only, because I believe he has planned this in advance."
"What do you mean, Prime Minister?"
"Captain, as you know, the Klingon Empire has been engaged in diplomatic efforts towards our world."
"You think Delihan sides with them, in spite of your politics of splendid isolation."
"We have observed that Delihan was very - impressed - by their weapons and their ideology, Captain. He believed the Klingons posed a considerable threat to our world. He may have decided to do them a favour in order to avert any danger."
This is getting worse by the minute, Kirk thought. "Coltan, are you sure Delihan is still on Meriah Five?"
"Yes. Space traffic control has confirmed that no ships have left Meriah in the last 24 hours."
"Have any arrived?"
Coltan hesitated. "Captain, this is information that would normally be considered none of your business. However, since I understand your concerns - no, no alien space ships have arrived on Meriah in the last 24 hours. Yours is the only space ship in orbit."
I don't need your stupid space traffic control for information like that. Kirk smiled at Coltan. "You will keep me informed?"
The Prime Minister seemed relieved. "Of course. You are allowed to stay in orbit of Meriah until we have more information."
"You are too kind." Kirk hoped sarcasm was a concept the Prime Minister wasn't too familiar with. Coltan just bowed his head and the view screen went black.
"Kirk to Bridge."
"Scott here, Sir."
"Scotty, check our sensor logs, I want to know if any ships or shuttles have left Meriah Five in the last, say 24 hours."
"Aye, Captain. Anything else?" Kirk chewed his lip. Scotty had been in the Captain's chair for hours now, since they had beamed down to Meriah Five. He had only come down to the transporter room for a few minutes, at Kirk's request, in order to beam them up personally. When they had materialised on the platform, Spock carrying a bleeding and wheezing Bones in his arms, Scotty had looked shocked. Bones had pressed his face into Spock's shoulder pretending to be unconscious. Scotty hadn't asked any questions, he had just escorted them to the turbo lift, asked if there was anything he could do, and after Kirk had shaken his head, he had gone wordlessly to the bridge. He deserved an explanation. However, other things were more pressing, Kirk decided.
"Yes. Let our long range sensors search for starships, in the vicinity."
"What kind of starships?"
"Any ships. Meriahn, Starfleet, Klingon..."
"Klingons, Captain?"
Kirk nodded, although Scotty couldn't see him. "Yes, as I said. Tholian, Romulan, whatever. I just want to know what kind of ships passed through this sector in the last 24 hours. Maybe some still are in the vicinity."
"Aye, sir."
"Thanks, Scotty. Lieutenant Uhura?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Is it possible to find out if there was any communication between Meriah and an alien world, or ship? In the last 24 hours?"
"Other than us, Captain?"
"Yes."
"It is possible, although it would be a violation of the diplomatic protocol."
"Do it."
"Yes, Sir."
"Thank you. I will be coming up shortly. Kirk out."
Right. Now to the nasty part. Kirk knew he had to talk to Bones now. Or maybe M'Benga first. He stood up and looked over to the bio-bed, where McCoy was sleeping. It was empty. What the ...
Kirk rushed out of the office to find Bones suddenly standing in front of him, holding a cup of water in his hands.
"Hey, Jim. I swear, I could have died of dehydration on that bio-bed, and no one would have noticed. Where the hell is everyone?"
Kirk gave him a once over. Bones was still in his torn and bloody uniform, although the cut on his shoulder had been cleaned and bandaged, as had his wrists. Other than that, he looked quite normal. The haunted look on his face was gone and his breathing was alright. "How do you feel?" Kirk asked carefully.
"Well, that is no answer to my question, but thank you, Jim. I feel fine, just a little headache." He touched his temple. Kirk looked alarmed, but immediately schooled his features back to something that he hoped looked reassuring.
"Maybe you should lie down again."
"What? No, I'm okay, really. What happened?"
M'Benga had been standing at the door, quietly observing, and finally he stepped in. "Welcome back, Leonard. What do you remember?"
"Uh. I was looking at some plants in the botanical garden on Meriah Five. There was a sort of cactus I found interesting. It had these strange looking thorns, and I ..." he stopped. His eyes went wide and he looked at Jim in embarrassment. Kirk braced himself.
"Sorry, Jim. I didn't touch these thorns and got myself poisoned, did I? I mean, I should know better than to poke an alien plant that looks dangerous."
Kirk didn't know if he should feel alarmed or relieved. "No, Bones, don't worry about that. It's okay. Really." Yeah right, he had used too many words to be convincing, he realized. And Bones was eyeing him with suspicion now.
"Yes. So, ... why is sickbay so deserted?" McCoy decided to change the subject, for now. It was somehow disconcerting to be all alone in sickbay. No patients, well that was all right. But no nurses? What if there was an emergency? Well, at least M'Benga was here, he had been hiding in the laboratory, and Jim had been in my office ...
"We just wanted to give you a little privacy." M'Benga said and pushed him back towards the bio-bed.
That had been quite thoughtful of them, McCoy thought. He should feel grateful, but on the other hand, it seemed to be a bit exaggerated. Unless, ...
"What did I do? Did I scream nasty things at everyone?"
"No, you didn't do anything, Bones. We just wanted to do you a favour. We know how much you hate being a patient in your own sickbay."
"What were you doing in my office?"
"What? Is this an interrogation? I was talking to Prime Minister Coltan. He wanted to know how you were."
"Oh. And - how am I?" McCoy looked at Jim, not at M'Benga, who would have been able to give him a more qualified answer. There was something Jim wasn't telling him and he wanted to know what it was.
"You ..." Kirk was searching for an answer. Bones had forgotten about the forced meld. He was acting himself again, and Kirk was actually relieved to have is friend back. On the other hand, they still needed to know what Delihan had wanted. How should he tell him? He needed to confide with M'Benga, and Spock. "Well, you ... smell, Bones."
"What?" McCoy looked down at himself and then up at Jim again. "Well, Jim, you try and get attacked by an evil plant, get poisoned and then almost die of thirst in your own sickbay, and then we'll see what happens to your body odor."
Kirk smiled at him affectionately. "Well, I suggest you take a shower, before the nurses come back, Bones."
"You think this is really funny, don't you? Well, I will go and wash myself, so as not to disturb your olfactory senses anymore, then I will put on a uniform that is more becoming of an officer. And then I want to know what really happened!"
McCoy got up and trodded towards the bathrooms, leaving Kirk and M'Benga alone.