I'll go ahead and put this chapter out now to help hold you guys over until when I can write/add the next chapter (maybe Sunday or Monday). Enjoy...or be scarred for life; whatever floats your boat...

Chapter 21

Broken bones, alien diseases, and extreme fatigue, he could deal with.

Crying children…?

Not so much.

"It's alright, hey, you're okay. Look at me, kid. Calm down. Just stop…please. Please stop crying. I won't hurt you. Look, see…it okay…oh, damn it…Uhura! I think I broke it!"

McCoy scowled as Little Wolf slipped off of the medical bed and cowered in a corner. Uhura moved in slowly and crouched a few feet away from the scared child. The other children, picking up on Little Wolf's panic, had begun to cry and scream as well.

"Oh, hell." McCoy shook his head. "'It'll be fun', he said. 'Well catch Khan', he said.'Just watch the kids, there won't be a problem'." McCoy sighed. "If I ever see that corn fed captain again, I'll strangle him!"

Uhura frowned and sniffed the air, her gaze settling in on Beaver.

"Uh, Bones…I think this one just…you know."

"Oh, hell. Just kill me now."

…

"Captain, the probability of success is less the twenty point three percent. I highly recommend that we regather with the Fleet and challenge Khan that way. It would be more advantageous do to the higher numbers as well as the extra fire power."

"Relax, Spock. It'll be fine. We just need to out bluff him. How hard could it be?"

"Captain, let me remind you about the last incident in which we 'out bluffed' him. If I remember correctly, you had died along with several crew members and the Enterprise was out of commission for three months while it received the necessary repairs. Half of San Francisco perished and the Federation very nearly went to war with the Klingon Empire."

"See? Easy as cake." Kirk smirked and Spock resisted the urge to give Kirk a Vulcan Neck Pinch. "Everything will be fine, Spock. Relax. So, about how long until he finds us, do you think?"

"Thirty hours, maximum."

"And minimum?" Kirk asked.

Spock inhaled slowly before answering: "Twelve hours."

"Well, we better get ready then." Kirk clapped him hard on the shoulder. "Has the second containment cell in the brig already been modified to hold him?"

"Mr. Scott is still making the appropriate modifications, but he is confident they will be done within the hour." Though, it wouldn't matter if the modifications are done if Khan destroys their ship…again, Spock thought ruefully.

"Good. Have the women in the brig eaten already?"

"I am unsure."

"Alright, have something sent down to them. How are the children adjusting?"

"…As well as can be expected." Spock decided to leave out the fact that all the children were currently sobbing their eyes out as they spoke.

"Just make sure McCoy keeps them contained in medbay—I want to keep them out of this as much as possible."

"Affirmative, Captain." Spock left the room, his thoughts whirling. All they had to do was keep Khan from killing them all and transport him back to Earth without incident…Kirk was going to get them all killed. One does not simply kidnap Khan's family and walk away unscathed.

…

"It's alright." Uhura sat down on the cold linoleum floor and sat motionlessly as she waited for the girl to wear herself out. Slowly, but surely, the screaming stopped. "So, what's your name, hmm?" Uhura asked.

Little Wolf watched her suspiciously and shivered from the cold.

"Here," Uhura held a blanket out to her; Little Wolf shied away. "I'm going to hurt you. My name is Uhura and this is Doctor McCoy," Uhura gestured to a very disgruntled McCoy as he tossed a dirty diaper into the waste bin.

"The things I do for my job," he muttered. "One day, I'm going to quit and then what will you people do?"

"He'll a little grumpy," Uhura smiled and Little Wolf smiled back shyly. This woman didn't seem mean at all—and that mean guy was kind of funny, Little Wolf thought. Maybe they weren't bad people after all…

"You can say that again," the girl agreed and Uhura laughed.

"So, what's your name?" Uhura smiled calmly.

"Little Wolf…" The girl shivered again and goose bumps began to form on her bare arms.

"Are you cold, Little Wolf?" Uhura asked and Little Wolf nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

"Come here," Uhura said and the gather the girl up in her arms, wrapping the blanket around the both of them to help her warm up faster. "Better?"

"Yeah," the girl yawned and snuggled closer.

Before too long, she had dozed off. Uhura carefully put her back onto her bed and covered her with a blanket. One by one, she checked in on the others and made sure they were comfortable. Beaver wailed, and Uhura picked him up and sang a soft lullaby.

"How in the world do you do it?" McCoy asked and Uhura shrugged.

"I'm just awesome that way," she sat down on an examination table and looked down at the toddler. He blinked sleepily at her and yawned. "Why are they so tired?"

"Younger children sleep a lot. I guess right now, it's nap time. When they wake up again, let's try to get some food into them. Except for that one," McCoy gestured to Beaver, "I don't feel like changing it again," McCoy pointed at Beaver and Uhura smiled.

…

A black ship warped towards them at full speed and Kirk raised an eyebrow at his second in command.

"Twelve hours, huh? I've never known you to be wrong. How's that feel, by the bay?"

"It was merely a rough estimate," Spock raised his eyebrow.

"Scotty," Kirk pressed the comm button. "How's that brig looking?"

"Top notch, Captain. I just finished with the alterations a few minutes ago."

"Good. Get back to engineering and wait for further orders. Let's see how this works out," Kirk sat lightly into the captain's chair and wrapped his hands around the armrests just as Khan's face jumped onto the screen.

"Captain," Khan growled angrily, "You have made a very grave mistake."

Kirk hung up on him.

…

The comm crackled.

"Look alive everyone. Things are about to get a little tense," Kirk's voice instructed.

"Oh, hell. That was fast!" McCoy complained as Uhura began to strap the kids securely to the beds. Little Wolf frowned at the two but held still as a seatbelt type contraption was secured over her chest.

"What's this for?"

"It's in case our ship is fired upon. It'll help keep you still and minimize any injuries you could receive from whiplash," McCoy answered and Uhura glared at him.

"It'll help to keep you safe," she explained.

"Who's going to attack your ship?"

"A very, very bad man," McCoy said softly. "But don't you worry a bit; we're going to make sure all of you stay safe—that's why we grabbed you: to keep you away from him. That man is very dangerous. Where he goes, death follows."

Little Wolf shuddered and Uhura kicked McCoy in the leg.

"Don't worry about it. Everything will be alright," Uhura insisted and the floor jolted under her feet. She caught herself on the bed and winced as another blast shook the ship. "I'll be right back. Can you be good for the doctor?"

Little Wolf glanced at McCoy.

"I guess so. Do you have any toys?"

"Do scalpels count?"

"McCoy!" Uhura gasped and McCoy chuckled.

"Just joking; get out of my medbay," he swatted at Uhura playfully and the woman rolled her eyes before racing out of the room and into the corridor.

…

Uhura ran onto the bridge and slipped into her seat.

"How are they?" Kirk asked.

"They are settling in nicely." Uhura looked at Kirk over her shoulder. "So, what are we doing?"

"I have no idea," Kirk answered honestly.

"What?" Uhura's eyes went wide. "There's no plan?" A light started going off on her monitor. "Captain, he's hailing us."

"Patch him through," Kirk ordered.

"Captain," Khan's voice growled again. "Give me back what is mine and perhaps, I'll grant you and your crew a swift death."

"I don't think so," Kirk stated calmly. "You're going to surrender to us and stand trial for your crimes on Earth."

They heard Khan chuckle darkly and chills ran down the collective spines of the crew members seated on the bridge.

"Oh, Captain," Khan smiled cruelly, "it would appear that you're still as much as a fool as you were when we first met. Here's what we're going to do: you are going to turn over the people you stole from me or I shall destroy your entire ship."

"If you destroy our ship, you destroy the ones you seek to take from us," Spock stated calmly.

"Oh, Mr. Spock. I was wondering when you were going to join the conversation." Khan glowered at the Vulcan.

"Are you going to surrender or do I need to start shooting people out of airlocks?" Kirk asked calmly and Khan, within the span of a single heartbeat, hesitated.

"With your level of integrity, Captain, I highly doubt you would do that," Khan's voice was flat as it snarled out of the speakers.

"Captain, his locking weapons on our ship!" Uhura stated.

"Security, please escort the women to the airlock," Kirk stated and they could hear Silver Moon scream as she was forced from the brig and into an airlock. Khan paled slightly.

"Disable your shields," Kirk said calmly, "Or they die."

"You're bluffing, Captain," The Augment snarled. "You would never slaughter innocent—"

Kirk interrupted Khan, "Shoot them into space."

The airlock released its load.

"So, which child should we shoot out next, Khan? Or would you like to surrender now?"

Looks like things are starting to get dark again. Oops.