A/N: So, this chapter may have come a few days later than what was expected. I'll be updating again tomorrow, though, so hoping that makes up for it! I had these next scenes in a bigger chapter and decided to split it up into several chapters, instead. Thanks for reading! I've really appreciated your reviews, so thanks for those, too. :-)
DLB48- thank you for beta reading. I enjoy our shared efforts in editing this story! :-)
Spock stood with his back to McCoy, hands clasped behind him. His rigid posture hid the inner turmoil he was experiencing. He had observed humans, most particularly his captain, pacing in such situations and while wasting energy was illogical, there might be some value in it. Just when he was about to perform an experiment to determine this, the doctor spoke up.
"They're late."
Spock could not see McCoy's scowl but the apparent displeasure in the doctor's voice was unmistakable.
"Indeed, doctor. You were scheduled to receive the last dose of antidote 30 minutes ago. An unprecedented time has lapsed. However, while the Re'an are behind schedule, I have no reason to suspect that they will not finish the process as promised." He left unsaid that the Re'an had what they wanted - their captain. Anticipating the Re'an's imminent arrival, Spock stood in between McCoy and the door.
"Blast it, Spock, I'm not concerned about myself. Aren't you worried about Jim? His very sanity is on the line. His-"
The door sliding open interrupted the doctor's rant. Light from the hallway illuminated the visitor's features and Spock shifted his stance in surprise. One of the Re'an guards had administered the earlier antidote, but this was neither of those tall, muscled men. Rather, it was the petite warrior Soona.
The Re'an female held a hypo loosely in her hands, the quiet demeanor and serenity in her expression giving her an ethereal presence. Spock observed her fluid movements with a careful eye. She carried herself with the Re'an grace, but she was not Re'an. She was...human. How had he not seen that earlier? Spock had not considered this possibility until this very moment. He had noted her diminutive stature when he saw her the first time but he had been too far from her during the disastrous rescue mission to observe the other discrepancies in her physical appearance. Up close, her physical Re'an alterations were more apparent, and Spock considered the likely possibility that Jim had been suspicious of her humanity. Spock calculated that she must have grown 6 centimeters since the forced modifications, causing the visible discrepancies.
Soona brushed past Spock and crouched down beside the doctor. "This is the final dose, Dr. McCoy. Lie still, please."
McCoy eyed the hypo, already reaching out to wrench it from her. "I can do it."
"No," she said, eying him sharply and continuing in a whisper. "Please allow me. The guards may enter and they must see that I am following through with my intentions. You'll need to rest until you are no longer light-headed, but it shouldn't be long."
McCoy's brow furrowed. Soona pursed her lips and plunged the antidote into McCoy's arm.
"Kirk doesn't belong here," she whispered, attention focused on her task.
"Neither do you belong here," Spock looked pointedly at her.
She pulled hypo from McCoy's arm and glanced up at Spock with displeasure. "You cannot understand, but I do belong. While I must remain here, Kirk doesn't have to. I believe I can possibly assist you to escape with him. You will have to decide if you can trust me."
"May I presume that you know the location and condition of Dr. Jahnas?"
Her gaze flickered as she lowered her eyes to the floor. "I do. I am sorry."
Spock narrowed his eyes in response as the silence swelled in the room.
"She's dead?" McCoy gasped, struggling to rise. "And they have Jim right where they want him..."
"Your captain is more important to them," she hurriedly explained. "There is a small window of opportunity we can take advantage of to free him. Now is not the time for that."
"Why not?" McCoy eyed the door. "I reckon that now a perfect time to escape. Especially with you as a potential hostage."
"That is quite logical, doctor," Spock arched an eyebrow.
Soona shook her head. "It's not the right time. If you act now and something goes awry, you risk the prince killing Kirk. He has a vengeful side, one that I only recently have discovered myself. It emerges under stress and confrontation as he showed when your xenozoologist interrupted his plans. The Re'an - my people are showing the effects of surviving without the proper memories. You must assume that the Prince is unstable and capable of anything."
"Then when, pray tell, do you suggest we hightail it out of here?" McCoy scowled.
"When they release you from this cell, they will be well into the meld, more than likely finished. I overheard them talking; they will probably deny your request to see Jim even though the prince was considering it for after the meld completes. Prince Lequa will be observing the melding ceremony, as well as some of the guards. You can make it to our control center to lower the planetary shields while the Re'an are distracted. I also have this..." She glanced back at the door, hands fumbling under her robes. She pulled out a Star Fleet issued phaser. Spock took it and tucked it underneath his shirt in the waistband of his pants. She continued. "...to disarm the one who is guarding Kirk. I can provide a distraction."
"Why are you willing to help us now?" Spock questioned, one brow raised. "You expressed no empathy with our situation previously."
"I have assisted others in the past. The Re'an don't suspect me, but that is part of what threatened our secret. I was very young then. Only eight years old. I wasn't going to help anyone again, but I wish Lequa would find a different way to accomplish peace in our society. I enjoy my peace here. It's really all I've ever known. As I said before, I've realized his ven-"
The door opened again and Soona tightened her hold around the empty hypo.
"You are taking too long," the Re'an guard in the doorway announced.
She stood, making no excuses as she rose from the floor. Without a glance at either Spock or McCoy, Soona exited. The door closed.
"Well, that was unexpected." McCoy shifted his body on the bench. "Can we trust her?"
The phaser lay heavily against Spock's skin as he ruminated on Soona's apparent sincerity. "I can state with certainty that she was being truthful."
"But can we trust her?"
"It is my desire to trust her," Spock simply said. "However, I am uncertain if that is the best way to effect our escape."
"Why the hell not?" McCoy thundered. "We can't wait any longer, Spock! Who knows what else they are doing to Jim as we sit here and talk. I don't have a good feeling about waiting."
"If they are unable to meld with Jim, they may seize the opportunity to kill him. Furthermore, breaking the meld in an abrupt manner would be detrimental not only to Jim, but to their chosen one. Both are risks I simply do not believe we can afford to take. I would prefer to bring our captain home alive, doctor."
"Alive is good, but we both know that Jim would rather die than become less than himself. We don't know what these mental alterations will do to him." McCoy pleaded with him, but Spock had already made his decision. "We don't know what he will be like after the meld. Will there be enough of Jim left to rescue?"
"He will be Jim," Spock said determinedly. "And we will escape with all of his memories intact even if we must bring their chosen one aboard the Enterprise to repair the damage they have inflicted upon him."
McCoy's reply was utter silence.
Soona scurried away from the two officers, each echoing step reverberating her betrayal in her mind. The Re'ans had taken her in and provided her with comfort and a home, and now she had betrayed them for a second time. For the second time in her short life she had also threatened the very survival of their species.
The reality of Prince Lequa's persecution and torture of innocent people finally penetrated her shadowed life as a Re'an citizen. Re'an citizen, but human by birth, she could no longer hide behind ignorance and passively stand by while the Prince wrenched people from their peaceful lives and forced them to bend to his will. The rumors regarding the Enterprise's xenozoologist sent chills coursing down her spine. She determined that it had to stop, no matter the cost to her civilization and perhaps very life. It would stop now, with Captain Kirk.
Steeling her expression, she cautiously approached the double doors. The presence of at least a dozen Re'an guards alerted her to the fact that Kirk must behind them. Lost in thought, she was taken unaware by the Prince himself.
"Soona, you should not be here." Prince Lequa turned to her with chiding eyes, addressing her as if she were a lost puppy. "These things are not for your eyes or ears, my daughter."
She seethed inside, feeling the same distaste and hatred for those words as she always did. She was not his daughter nor would she ever be. He wanted her as a member of his family only because in the Re'an world, she was considered to be a valuable prize. She was already adopted. The only way she could enter his family was by marriage to one of his sons.
The thought repulsed her.
"What are you going to do to him?"
"He is strong, stronger than I had first anticipated. If we proceed as usual, there is a great risk that we would damage his mind during the melding process. Therefore I have decided that we must remove the last remnants of his resistance. We have to ensure his complete cooperation."
"Remove? You'll destroy him!" She inched towards the door, wanting to see Kirk through the window.
Prince Lequa clutched her arm. "No, my child. These parts of him will return in time, assuming that he continues to cooperate. Do not worry yourself over him. Perhaps, since you appear to be so concerned for his welfare, I will allow you to see him soon."
"When?"
"Once that tragic memory is less heavy and burdensome in the depths of his mind."
"Then will our people return to their peaceful ways? After peace is secure, surely you will return to him whatever you've taken?"
Prince Lequa's lips curled into a smile. "Of course."
His smile warned her. She shivered, thinking of Dr. Jahnas' fate. "This will still hurt him."
Hearing the Prince's plan changed hers. The doctor and commander must rescue Kirk sooner than she anticipated. How could she find her way back to their cell without provoking the guards' suspicion?
"It is the only way. You know this. It is the only way, Soona, or we all perish." He paused, narrowing his eyes at her. "You are being quite inquisitive. I fear I cannot allow you to possibly interfere with this opportunity. Guards!"