When they were done eating, West offered to take the food to Spock. "Maybe he can come to the hotel when it gets dark," he said.

"Is there any reason why we can't walk around this town and visit?" Bones asked.

"I don't see any reason," West replied. "Just remember you're a stranger here."

"Sure." Bones straightened his jacket and tie and left the hotel. He wanted to visit the town doctor and see what kind of practice he had, and what kinds of medicines he used.

Bones looked around him at the people moving down the street on horses and in buggies. He liked looking at how the women dressed as well. He did not forget to tip his hat. He felt like he was on a western movie set, but he was not. He thought it was rather overwhelming when he thought about it.

Bones passed by a saloon, and decided he would go in there after he visited the doctor. He met up with the sheriff, and was not sure he wanted to talk to him but he did not want to look suspicious. "Excuse me, Sheriff," he said.

"Well, howdy," the sheriff replied. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for the doctor's office."

"Oh. That's right up those stairs there." The sheriff looked at him. "You got a problem?"

"No, sir. I'm a doctor myself from…back East, and I just wanted to compare notes."

"Oh, well, I'm sure old Doc Williams will be glad to see you. Might even let you help with his practice."

"Thank you. I'm looking for a place to settle in the West."

"What's your name, Son?"

"Doctor Leonard McCoy."

The sheriff looked a little surprised. "Did you say McCoy?" he asked.

Bones scowled. "Yeah. Leonard McCoy. Why?"

"And you're a doctor."

"Yes."

The sheriff seemed to ponder that. "Well, just don't cause any trouble in town," he said as he walked away.

Bones scowled at that. "I don't intend to," he said.

Bones went up the stairs to the doctor's office, wondering why a doctor's office would be up a flight of stairs. When he walked into the office, he did not see anyone, but it definitely looked like an old, primitive doctor's office. "Hello!" he called.

"Hello!" a jolly voice called from the back room. An old doctor came from the room. He had gray hair that looked like it had a mind of its own. He had piercing blue eyes behind round spectacles. He had a mustache and wore a white shirt and black pants with suspenders. He was not a big man but was no more than 5'7". Bones thought he knew why the sheriff called this man "old" Doc too.

"Well, what can I do for you, young man?" Doc Williams asked.

Bones offered his hand. "I'm Doctor Leonard McCoy," he said.

Doc Williams shook his hand and eyed him through his spectacles. "Did you say McCoy?" he asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"And you're a doctor."

"Yes."

"Hmmm."

"Would you mind telling me why everyone is so surprised by my name?"

"You're from back East?"

"Yes."

"What college?"

"The University of..." Bones realized he could not say Mississippi in this day and time. "…Pennsylvania."

"You from Pennsylvania?"

"Kentucky."

The doctor's surprise was evident on his face. "And you're a doctor."

"Yeah. What is the problem…" Suddenly, it dawned on Bones what was going on. "Oh! You think I…no! I have no association to those McCoys." Bones hoped he did not. Actually, he had not traced his family tree back that far.

"You never been part of the Hatfield/McCoy feud?"

"No sir."

"But you're from Kentucky…and you're a McCoy."

"Look. I told you. I'm a doctor, and I just came up here for a friendly visit."

"Okay then. Thought you might be scoping out how well I can treat your wounds. You got any credentials?"

"Uh…not with me."

"Then how do I know you're a real doctor?"

Bones was a little perplexed for a moment but then his defiance returned. He stood up straight and jerked the lapels of his coat. "Because I said I am," he said loftily. "And I'm telling you the truth."

The doctor just stared at him a moment. "Alright then," he said. "We'll talk."

"Great."

Bones sat down to talk with the doctor, but he wondered if everyone in town knew he was a McCoy, or thought he was one of those feuding McCoys.

Jim Kirk stood looking out the window of his hotel room. How could he do nothing? He would never forgive himself if he simply did nothing.

"It's a hard decision, isn't it, Captain?"

Jim whirled around, reaching for the gun on his side. The man he now faced was no one he had ever seen…or had he? He definitely had a haughty look. He had short brown hair and green eyes.

"Who are you?" Jim asked.

"You don't remember me. I'm so hurt," he said in a pouty, sarcastic way, with an English accent. He looked at Jim. "I am Q."

"Q? How did you get here in my room?"

"I can get anywhere I wish."

Q suddenly vanished and then reappeared right beside Jim. Jim backed away from him and stumbled over a chair, but sat down in it.

"Now that I have your attention," Q said. "It is I who brought you here."

"What?!" Jim stood up. "You get us back to the Enterprise."

Q seemed amused at that demand. "You have some interesting problems here, don't you, Captain?"

"You brought us here on purpose. How do you know who I am?"

"I get so bored in the continuum. Immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be. I just wanted to test the most famous captain in all of Starfleet."

"Test? What do you mean?"

"Captain, you're in a very interesting position. Don't you realize that? Oh, the opportunities you have for being here right now!"

Jim did not know what to make of this being, but he did not think he liked him. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Oh, come now, Captain. You must have thought of it already. The opportunity to change history!"

"You brought me here to try to change history?"

"Just think, Captain, you could stop Khan Noonien Singh from ever being created. You know it took three generations to get him? Now, here you are, and you know the genetics that created that evil being are just getting started."

Jim swallowed hard. "Even if I stopped the one who's doing it, someone else would take it up. Why don't you do something about it?"

"Me? Interfere with history? Captain, you jest."

"So what's your point?"

"Okay, Captain. I'll get right to your dilemma. You know if you stop the creation of Khan, your surrogate father will not die by his hand, Admiral Marcus will never be able to awaken him!"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm not telling you anything that you haven't already thought of, Captain. Another question clouds your mind though: your lovely Carol Marcus. Would you ever meet her if she never sneaked aboard your ship because of those torpedoes?"

Jim had definitely thought of all that. "Would I?"

"Only one way to find out. Will you sacrifice your love for her to stop this madman?"

Jim frowned as he looked at Q. "Why did you bring me here like this?" he asked.

"Like I said, I get bored, and I'm just having fun. Your Doctor McCoy is developing an interesting situation as well. I shall have to observe."

"What do you mean?"

"Now, if I told you that, I would be interfering, wouldn't I?"

"You know what will happen if I stop the creation of Khan, don't you?"

Q smiled slightly. "You're standing on the edge, Captain Kirk. What will you do? You could even stop Nero from killing your father. Oh, the opportunities!"

"What? How?"

"Now, Captain, I couldn't take all the fun out of it for you."

"You have to tell me!"

Suddenly, Q vanished. "Q!" Jim yelled. He was stunned for a moment. What would he do? He remembered what Q said about Bones. He would have to get out there and find him. He looked at the revolver in his hand. He had never used a gun like that but he had seen some. He made sure it had bullets in it, and it did. He put it back in the holster, and picked up his hat. He looked at the hat and then threw it back on the bed. He was not one to wear hats.

Jim walked out onto the sidewalk, and looked each way. It was starting to get dark now and he wanted to find Bones before that happened. He heard tinkling piano music playing somewhere. A saloon! He thought if he found Bones anywhere, it would be in there. He followed the sound of the music and headed to his left.

Artemus Gordon had seen Jim leave the hotel, so he was following him to see where he was going. Although they had dabbled in time travel before, he had never met anyone quite like Kirk and his followers, especially that Spock character. They had explained…slightly, where they had come from. Spock was an alien…from outer space! OH, they had experienced a lot of things, but not an actual being from another planet.

Jim finally came to the saloon and pushed through the batwing doors. The only time he had ever had more eyes on him was when he was up before a class or assembly at Starfleet Academy, or talking to his crew. He just cast an uninterested glance around the room and went over to the bar. He did not see Bones anywhere. He thought this might be the wrong bar. He leaned on the bar, and the barkeep set a shot glass in front of him. "What'll it be, Stranger?" he asked.

Jim was just a little startled for a moment. "Uh, how about sarsaparilla?" he asked.

The barkeep just stared at him with a disdainful look, but he poured the drink for him. "That it?"

"Yeah."

"That'll be two bits."

Jim had not thought of the fact that he had no money. He was not used to having to use money. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans but there was nothing there. "Uh…I guess I'll have to pass on that. I seem to have left my money in my hotel room," he said.

The barkeep glared at him. "We don't give away free drinks here," he said and took the shot glass from the bar.

"Sorry about that. Have you seen a guy in here dressed in a navy blue suit? He has dark brown hair, green eyes, about my height?"

"First you try to get a free drink, and now you want information. What are you? A bounty hunter?"

"No, I'm not. Have you seen him or not? I'm looking for my friend."

"Sure you are. Get outa here before I have you thrown out."

Jim frowned. He had had just about enough of this rude guy. "You're a real jerk," he said.

The barkeep was incredulous. "What did you call me?"

"You heard me."

Suddenly, the man had a wooden club that he pulled from behind the bar. Jim backed up fast then. "Hey, all I wanted to know was if you've seen my friend," he said. "I'm leaving."

Jim headed for the door. He blew out a breath as he got outside. He could remember the time when he did not care to get in bar fights, but right now, he was not interested in being in pain. Besides, he was not in a time of modern medical gadgets. He walked on looking for another saloon, but he really did not know whether Bones was in a saloon or not.

Artemus Gordon was still following Jim. He had seen that little encounter. He thought this guy would get into serious trouble if he kept wandering around this town. How could he go into a bar and not have the money to pay for his drink? He had to admit, they had not provided their newfound friends with any money.

Jim soon came to another saloon. He would avoid ordering a drink this time. He went through the doors and got just about the same reaction as he did at the last bar. However, the eyes in this bar went to his tied down gun, and everyone went back to what they were doing.

Jim went over to the bar and the barkeep came over to him. "What'll you have?" he asked.

"Nothing, thanks," Jim said. "I'm looking for my friend." He described Bones.

"I haven't seen him."

"Thanks."

Jim left that saloon, and thought maybe he had been wrong about Bones going to a saloon. He also thought maybe Q, whoever he was, had just tried to make him think Bones was in trouble. For what purpose? He stopped in his tracks. He turned back toward the hotel and hurried along, practically running. He almost ran into someone coming out of a saloon.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the man said.

"Sorry," Jim replied.

Jim started to go on, but the man jerked him back. "I don't think you're really sorry," he said and punched Jim.

Jim fell off the boardwalk onto the dirt street. He wondered if he had ever felt a punch that hard…well, yes, he had. He could never forget that punch from Nero. He started to get up and realized there was blood in his mouth, and his jaw was very sore now. He got up and looked around at the man who had hit him as he wiped some blood off his chin.

The man stepped down from the boardwalk, and then Jim noticed that he was wearing a very shiny revolver tied down in a holster on his side. "I don't think I like you," he said.

Jim noticed that everyone on the street ran and got inside. It dawned on him that he was being called out. "Now, wait a minute!" he said. "I'm no gun fighter!"

"You wear that gun like one. Are you yellow?"

Jim knew that was supposed to be an insult, but he was in no hurry to die here in the nineteenth century. He looked around him but it was just him and the gun slinger, and maybe a few people peeping out windows. "Look, I don't have a quarrel with you!" he said.

"I have one with you!" the man replied.

Suddenly, Jim saw that his adversary was reaching for that gun, and he felt like he was seeing it in slow motion. He jerked his own gun out of the holster, and saw the man before him freeze because he was staring down the barrel of death. He had never seen anyone draw that fast. Jim was rather surprised himself. "I said I don't have a quarrel with you," he said.

Gordon was standing at the corner of a building watching. He could not believe what he had just seen. He was sure Jim Kirk had no idea who he had just drawn against.

The gun slinger just stood there and watched Jim walk away not taking his blue eyes off him. Jim put his gun away and hurried on down the street toward the hotel. Gordon followed him. He could not believe Kirk outdrew "Curly Bill". He would have to tell West about this for sure.

Jim arrived at the hotel and went to Carol's room. He knocked. "Carol!"

Carol came to the door. "Jim, what is it?" She gasped as she saw blood on his mouth. "What happened?"

Jim blew out a breath. "It's a long story. I'm just nervous here in this place."

"Come in for a while."

Jim looked down the hallway, and went on into the room. Gordon was not sure what that was about but he would have to talk to West about it. He went to the train where West had gone to study some reports they had received. "Jim, you're never going to believe what I just saw," he said.

"Oh? What's that?" West asked.

"I just saw our captain win a fast draw against Curly Bill."

West looked at Gordon then. "What? Did he kill him?"

"No! I've never seen anything like it, Jim."

"He outdrew him, but he didn't kill him?"

"That's what I said. You should have seen it! It was the fastest draw I have ever seen!"

Spock was on the other side of the door from where they were, and he could not help but hear Gordon's excited talk. Jim had been in a fight already. He thought maybe he should go to the hotel. He would just have to keep his hat pulled down so no one would see that his eyebrows were different or his ears. He had to talk to Jim about making such a stir in this town. It would draw too much attention to them.

Jim was in Carol's room when there was a knock at the door. He went to the door and found Spock there. "Spock, what are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you were staying on the train."

"I would like to speak with you, Captain," Spock replied.

"Come in."

Spock went into the room. "Captain…"

"Spock, you better just call me Jim while we're here."

Spock nodded. "Jim, I overheard a conversation between our two new friends," he said.

"Spock, are you eavesdropping?" Jim asked.

"I was in the next room, and could not help but hear since Mister Gordon was so excited about your fast draw against one called Curly Bill."

Jim frowned. "That was not my fault, Spock," he said.

"Jim, we must be careful while we are here."

"Would you rather he would have shot me dead?"

"No, but how did you end up in such a situation?"

"Oh, so now you want to hear how it happened. We've got big problems."

"Explain."

Jim told him about Q, and what had happened. "I still don't know where Bones is," he said. "I don't think I should use the communicator because someone might hear it."

"I do not believe it would transmit over such a distance since there are no relays in place such as communication towers or satellites."

"Have you figured out how we got here yet?"

"No. This Q you speak of…if he is capable of bringing us here, it is logical to believe that he is capable of erasing our memory of how we arrived."

Jim nodded. "So I guess it's no use to try. What can we do?"

"I do not believe there is anything we can do, Cap…Jim. Unless we can convince this being to send us back, I am afraid we are stuck here."

Jim frowned. "Which is not going to be good for you," he said.

"Do not fret over my well-being. I will survive."

"I'm sure you will, but you'll have to be hiding…unless you join a circus."

"I do not believe that would be the wisest use of my time or intellect."

"I don't either, Spock. Maybe you can help the people of this time if we're stuck here."

"I suppose if we cannot make it back to our own time, the prime directive no longer matters."

Carol walked over to Jim. "That's right, Jim," she said. "And that means that if you can stop this tragedy from happening, you should. We're here together, and if we're going to be here the rest of our lives, whatever we were in the future no longer applies."

Even Spock had to admit that was true. "We must consider another possibility," he said. "If we change the future, it could mean that you will no longer be here because we do not know that you would have ever boarded the Enterprise had it not been for Khan and his people."

"You mean she could just vanish?" Jim asked.

"It is possible, Jim. If she had not been aboard the Enterprise with us, she would not be here at this moment."

Jim thought he could not make this decision as he looked at Carol. He felt sick thinking of not having her with him. "I don't want to talk about this anymore tonight," he said. He still wondered where Bones was. "I want to find Bones, and we need to all stay at this hotel tonight, get some sleep."

"It is logical to believe that Doctor McCoy would want to visit the local doctor," Spock said.

"You could be right. I'm gonna go and see if I can find him."

"I'll go with you, Jim," Carol said.

"Fine. Maybe I won't get into so much trouble if you're with me."

"I hope not."

"Spock, you can stay in my room. It's the very next one."

"I will be there," Spock replied.

Jim and Carol left the hotel to find Bones. "Looks like he would have been back by now," Jim said. "What did he do? Decide to stay there?"

"I don't know," Carol replied. "But you and I have some things to discuss."

"Like what?"

"I think if you can stop Khan, you should do it. We may be stuck here, and that can't be changed just because of his demise."

"We can't be sure, Carol."

"Just think of all the lives he destroyed. It is very selfish of us to think of only ourselves."

Jim stopped and looked at her. "Could you live with yourself if you did nothing?" Carol asked. "Could you be happy? Could we actually be happy?"

Jim did not answer, but they continued down the street. He noticed that people were stepping back out of his way when they saw him coming, and as they passed the saloon he had been in first that day, the barkeep was sweeping in front of the door. He stepped back when Jim came to him. "Howdy!" he said. "You know, I didn't mean all that I said today. Anytime you want a free drink, or forget your money, you just come to me. It'll be on the house!"

Jim scowled at that. "What?"

"I-I didn't mean any harm or embarrassment to you."

Jim looked around him at the other people standing around, and he realized they thought he was a gun slinger. He supposed everyone in the town already knew about that little gun fight. He did not know how he drew that gun that fast, but it was just a reflex. "Well, uh, don't worry about it. You've got a business to run. Can't give away free drinks to everyone. But you could be a little nicer when someone honestly didn't have any money with them."

"Yes sir. You're absolutely right."

"A little courtesy goes a long way. By the way, I'm still looking for my friend."

"I haven't seen him."

"Okay."

Jim and Carol walked on. "Jim, what did you do?" Carol asked.

"I don't know," Jim replied. "Let's just find Bones and go back to the hotel."

They soon met up with the sheriff. "Sheriff, can you tell me where to find the doctor's office?" Jim asked.

"Right up those stairs there on the side of that building," the sheriff replied. "You're the second who asked me that today."

"Thanks."

"Hey, are you the one who was in that gun fight with Curly Bill?"

"Uh, well, it wasn't my idea, and I wouldn't call it a gun fight."

The Sheriff chuckled at that. "I hear you drew so fast that he didn't even clear leather."

"I'm not here to cause any trouble, Sheriff. I just ran into him when he came barreling out of the saloon. I…"

"Hey, don't worry about it. But you better watch it. He has a reputation he wants to keep, and he may try you again."

"My friends and I intend to be gone by tomorrow."

"That's probably a good idea. Good luck."

Jim and Carol walked on. "Jim, you were in a fast draw?" she asked. "You didn't tell me that."

"I didn't want you worrying," he said.

"I'm not a child, Jim."

"I know that, but it was just something that happened."

"Only to you, Jim Kirk."

Jim thought if anything weird could happen, it would happen to him. They went up the stairs to the doctor's office and knocked on the door. "Do you have to knock on a doctor's office door?" he asked.

"I don't know," Carol said.

"Come on in!" someone called from inside.

Jim opened the door and as they entered they found Bones there along with Doc Williams. "Jim, what are you doing here?" Bones asked.

"We were looking for you," Jim said.

"Something wrong?"

"We need to talk."

"Sure." Bones shook hands with Doc Williams. "I enjoyed our conversation."

"You come back any time, young man," Doc said. "Maybe you can go visit Mrs. Peters with me tomorrow. She's expecting. She probably doesn't need us much though since it's her seventh."

"Seventh?"

"Yeah. Like stairsteps."

Carol looked at Jim. She had not thought of the fact that in the time they were in now, women had babies the old fashioned way…and there was no birth control. "How old is she?" she asked.

"Oh, she's about thirty."

Jim realized what Carol was thinking about. He hoped they could find a way back to their own time. "Bones, let's go," he said.

They left the doctor's office and headed back to the hotel. "What's going on, Jim?" Bones asked.

"Have you been up there all this time?"

"Yeah."

"I've been looking for you."

"You gonna tell me what's got you so spooked or not?"

"When we get to the hotel."

They passed by the saloon again. "Hey, why don't we go in there?" Bones asked.

"We don't have money, Bones," Jim said. "I realized that too late earlier."

"Oh, right."

They arrived back at the hotel and Jim filled Bones in on the situation. Bones shook his head. "Who is this Q?" he asked.

"I don't know," Jim said. "He appeared in this room. He didn't walk in."

"So we're basically stuck here until he decides to send us back?"

"That's it."

Bones was silent a moment and then he looked at Jim. "I heard about a gun fight on the street this evening," he said. "The guy they described sounded a lot like you, and they said he was a stranger."

Jim sighed. "It was me, Bones."

"You were in a gunfight? And you're still standing?"

"Hey, I resent that."

"The guy that came in telling Doc about it said it was the fastest draw he had ever seen…you?"

Jim absorbed that a moment. "Why do you find that so hard to believe?"

"Are you kidding?"

"Alright. I just saw him about to draw that gun and my reflexes took over and…"

"Uh huh. Maybe I should start carrying a gun."

"Let's just get some sleep and talk about all this in the morning."

"Fine with me. Good night."

Jim looked at Carol. "Good night, my love," he said and kissed her.

"Jim, I don't want to stay in here alone," Carol said.

"Why? Are you scared?"

"I don't know. I just…"

"Alright. I'll let Spock stay in my room and I'll just stay in here with you…although I don't think we should let any of the people around here know it. You know."

"Yes."

"I'll be right back."

Jim went to his room and let Spock know he could stay there. "See you in the morning," he said.

"Good night, Captain," Spock said.

Jim went back to Carol's room, and made sure no one saw him go in there. He would stay with her. He would not let her be afraid.