Jim blinked and found himself still in the biotechnology lab. He was sitting on the exam table, Kevin scanning him with a tricorder while McCoy reached for him with a small, circular instrument, and Spock watched with hard eyes that belied his externally patient demeanor.
Jim put a hand up to block McCoy's device. "It's okay, I'm okay," he said between short breaths. Kevin heaved a sigh of relief, and Spock seemed to relax. McCoy, however, looked skeptical.
"You actually expect me to believe that?"
"That was quite a scare you gave us, Jim," Kevin said. He sounded every inch a medical doctor. "Your heart rate was over 120, and I've never seen neurokinetics like that before, even when you were in the suits."
Jim kept his breaths deep and measured. "Really, I'm okay. I just wasn't expecting-that." He wasn't, despite his own reassurances, sure he could stand, so he stayed sitting.
Kevin straightened and sent his readings to the wall. He and McCoy gave them a once over, then exchanged a look. McCoy shrugged at Spock and stepped back from Jim.
Spock asked, "You are referring to the contents of the signal?"
"Yeah." Jim ran a rand through his hair and wished the mere thought of the message didn't make him break out in a sweat. "It's a distress call alright. There's beings on the station. They say they're being experimented on."
McCoy's features clouded. Kevin came back around so he could look at Jim.
"You mean like you were?"
Do you see?
A cold wave swept up from Jim's stomach to his neck, and his vision went white. He shoved his head between his knees and clung to consciousness. Things happened that he was only half aware of: McCoy cursed, someone moved forward and laid a cool hand along the side of his neck, and a small and metallic object-McCoy's CNS monitoring device, no doubt-pressed against one temple. He also thought he heard a tricorder beeping.
Kevin's voice lead him back to reality. "Easy there, Jim. Whatever that signal was, it was definitely a bit much for you." After a more authoritative noise from the tricorder, he added, "Looks like his blood pressure bottomed out. It's coming back up."
"Neurokinetics are stabilizing too. Spock, a cup of water please."
Jim thought about breathing and how great it was while Spock left and returned and the two doctors conferred about neurological after-effects and what they might mean. Eventually Kevin urged him to sit up, and Spock placed a cup in his hand. He drank almost half of it in one go, then held the cup against his forehead.
McCoy's tone was acerbic in the extreme. "What was that about being okay?"
Jim blew out a short breath. "Yeah, that could stand to not happen anymore."
"So will you let me take this stupid thing off?"
"No. We're going to have company, and I want to keep tabs on them."
McCoy grimaced, and Spock asked, "The Praxidi Pilots heard the signal as well?"
"I wouldn't have been able to handle it if the Pilots hadn't joined in. It was-way too much for me." Jim rubbed at his eyes and drank the rest of the water. "There was maybe a dozen of them. Not sure if they'll all show up, though. I lost them at the end, and I'm not connected right now."
"Is there anything else about the signal you can tell us, Captain?"
"Assuming it's real, the beings on the station need help. What's happening to them is bad. But I don't think we'll be able to confirm it without the Praxidians."
"Maybe we should just let them deal with it, and get out of here," McCoy suggested.
Jim sat up and fought his reaction back from something ridiculous to a fierce, "No," that made McCoy jerk back and had Spock giving him a critical look. Kevin looked unsurprised, and simply watched and waited.
McCoy's jaw set. "Look, you just about passed out from listening to a recording from these guys, and that was with a dozen Praxidians helping you. Way I see it, this sounds like it's right up their alley, and we don't need to get involved."
Jim felt himself gearing up to saying something regrettable, and it must have been visible on his face, because Spock intervened. "Dr. McCoy's point is entirely valid, Captain. This may be a situation best left to more capable hands."
Jim grappled with two instincts, one which was still hearing the experimental subjects' pleas, and another that was wary of risking the crew on something they knew so little about. He glanced at Kevin, who fidgeted and said, "We have to be careful, Jim. Neither the Praxidi nor these beings may necessarily have our best interests in mind."
Listen to what they're saying.
Jim waited until he no longer felt like his decision would be fueled by adrenaline and panic and the sound of his own voice at the bottom of an ocean. "I want to know if this is real or some kind of trap. If we have to sit back and let the Praxidi deal with it, then we do. But we are not, just leaving."
McCoy scowled and looked at Spock, who in turn watched Jim for several seconds before nodding his agreement. McCoy's expression became resigned, and he made a low, annoyed sound. Kevin nodded with equanimity.
Spock asked, "Your orders?"
"Let's see if we can get some probes closer to the station. I know that's not going to be easy, but I want some readings on that power source, and an idea of how many life forms are inside, and what kinds." Jim made a face. "And I'll start listening for any new arrivals."
"Do you know if they were already on their way?"
Jim shook his head. "I don't think so. They didn't show up until I started listening to it." He frowned, realizing that could mean Spock's earlier conjecture-that using the device might only attract the Praxidi's attention-was probably correct.
"Assuming they have only just heard the signal, how soon can we expect them?"
"I'd give it five hours, tops. Three, if they were close when they heard it."
"I believe, with help from Dr. Marcus and Mr. Scott, we should be able to retrofit a handful of the probes in that time frame."
"Okay." Jim stood, and when he didn't wobble too much, raised his eyebrows at Kevin and McCoy. They looked at one another, then McCoy jerked his head towards the turbolift.
"Try not to pass out and hit your head on anything."
"I'm sure Mr. Spock will catch me if I swoon."
Spock didn't bother to confirm nor deny such a possibility. Jim gave the three of them a determined smile, then made for the turbolift, pulling on his tunic as he went, with Spock following behind him.
"If I could get a full report on what it's like to use the device, Captain, I'd appreciate it," Kevin called after them, sounding hopeful.
"I'll be sure to, Professor," Jim said over his shoulder.
The turbolift ride back up to the bridge was silent, with Jim's attention focused inward and Spock reluctant to intrude. Just before the doors opened, Jim said, "Let me know when the probes are ready to launch," and only waited long enough for Spock to nod before going to sit in the chair. Spock went to his station under Uhura's watchful eyes, and reminded himself that he owed her as good an explanation as he could give when next they were in private.
Dr. Marcus, Scott, and Sulu retrofitted the probes much quicker than Spock had anticipated, so they were able to launch them in under two hours. They had just completed their first pass when Jim related to Sulu and Spock that there were three Praxidi ships approaching, and one of them was a warship, so it would undoubtedly arrive first.
Spock saw Sulu glance at the gleaming collar of the device before saying, "Understood, sir."
An hour later they were going over the results, with Chekov and Spock explaining the various highlights by turns, when Jim's attention slid away from either of them and to a random point on the floor. Chekov stopped, his eyes wide, and Spock tilted his head.
"Captain?"
Jim looked back up at Spock. "They're here."
Sulu's station pinged for their attention. His voice was calm as he said, "I have an inbound warp signature, Captain. Praxidian-type."
"Thank you Mr. Sulu. Mr. Spock, Mr. Chekov, we'll finish this shortly."
"Yes sir," Chekov said. He swept the probe results to the side, and Spock went back to his station.
The vessel that warped into the system was similar, in passing, to the last Praxidi warship they'd seen, if larger and with different markings. The orange-white light of the magnetar cast harsh shadows across the complex mix of hard planes and broad curves of its red and black hull, which made it look more menacing than it might have otherwise.
"They have their shields up, sir, but I'm not detecting any weapons armed," Sulu reported. "They're scanning the station."
Jim watched the viewscreen, more unreadable than Spock had ever seen him. The seconds stretched on until Uhura said, "Captain, they're hailing us."
"On screen."
Spock recognized one of the two Praxidi that appeared on the screen, and he saw recognition lighten Jim and Uhura's features as well. The familiar individual had dark rusty purple chitin and shoulder-length nerve bundles, and was seated in what seemed to be analogous to a captain's chair. The other Praxidi stood to the side, and was black mottled with dark orange. Behind them, the wide, arced bridge spread out in pale gray and black, with numerous crew members seated at stations in front of wide expanses of dark display glass. They all wore the same simple, form fitting outfits in gray woven textile, though the central figure's was adorned with a single red mark on the left shoulder.
The central Praxidi dipped their head in a greeting. "Captain Kirk. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance once more. May I introduce myself to your crew as Captain Ulila of the Praxidi Starship Waterbourne." Their voice came across as lilting, almost musical through the translation filter, and Spock wondered if the Praxidi had been making improvements to it in the past year.
Jim actually smiled. "Captain. Congratulations on your ship."
"My thanks go to you, Captain Kirk, as my promotion, in part, was due to the recovery of the Twilight's Shining Teeth." They made a fluid gesture whose significance Spock could only guess at. "Three more of our vessels will arrive in a short time. They have already been instructed to alert your ship before they warp into the system."
"Thank you, we'll keep an eye out for them."
"We will now scout the immediate area. I will ask the Captains of the other ships to coordinate an examination of the facility, should you wish it."
Spock saw something flash in Jim's eyes. After a moment, he said, "Absolutely," and Spock resigned himself to breaking the news to Dr. McCoy.
"We will report our findings in due course. Until then." Captain Ulila dipped their head, and the viewscreen of the alien bridge winked out. The red and black ship lifted away and sped out towards the edge of the wispy nebula that surrounded the system.
Jim tapped at the arm of his chair, eyes moving about the bridge as he thought. "I'm pretty sure she knows what that thing is. Or has an idea."
"Was she not the General's assistant in our last encounter, Captain?"
"Yeah. I guess that business worked out pretty well for her." Jim looked back over his shoulder at Uhura. "Did they make changes to the translation software?"
"She sounded different, Captain, but I think the text is still coming through the same. They might have made some audio improvements. I'll analyze the transmissions." Uhura paused before adding, "They may have taken readings from your previous times in their ships, sir, and used them to better process the output for our hearing." Her expression suggested that wasn't the only thing they could have done with that kind of data.
"Right." Jim sounded like he understood what she was suggesting, loud and clear. He settled back in the chair. "The other three ships will be here in an hour. Then we'll see how they want to do this."
Spock quelled a thread of disquiet that tried to wrap around his thoughts, and at a look from Jim, he and Chekov resumed their explanation of the probes' findings.
