Sick Bay was a flurry of activity. With the amount of medical staff and security officers alone, it was difficult not to knock into someone at almost every step. Already Nurse Chapel had ordered any non-essential personnel out of Sick Bay, but unfortunately the small spaces were still crowded.

Each Romulan they had taken aboard had to be examined, and a few of them required more extensive medical attention. Further, Spock had ordered two officers to watch over each of the eight visitors, with further officers standing by just outside Sick Bay.

Although Doctor McCoy had not officially returned from his self-imposed relief of duties, he was also there, observing, just out of the way. When McCoy approached a Romulan on the bed, the one that Spock recalled as the Captain Dorek, Spock noticed that no one stopped him. Perhaps everyone was so used to McCoy's presence, that no one thought to question him.

Not that anyone but Chapel, M'Benga, and perhaps a few others that normally worked under those two would have any reason to wonder why McCoy was spending his time off working.

By now the mood of the room had lightened. Spock still sensed fear and suspicion from his subordinates, but as time went on and the feared strangers continued their peaceful, even friendly, manner, the others began to relax.

That had been Kirk's idea, actually, to encourage this sort of openness. While security officers watched every movement the Romulans made, these visitors were not treated as prisoners, but as refugees. They were not strapped to the medical beds, and when they were treated, they were not rounded up in a carefully controlled and watched unit, but allowed to sit and chat with the nurses. Spock could understand Kirk's motive for this, that perhaps the situation could be easier controlled if the Romulans felt safe here.

Still, had Spock been in command, these strangers would not have even made it on his ship.

/What would you have done?/ he wondered, but cut himself off before he could formulate an answer. He was not the captain of this ship, therefore it was pointless to entertain fantasies of how things would be different under his command. Never had Spock a reason to doubt his captain, and could have easily reminded himself of every occasion where a strange, counter-intuitive solution from Kirk had worked in the end.

He noticed McCoy move away from Dorek rather quickly and instantly turned his attention to the Romulan. Dorek did not appear hostile, in fact he was still relaxing on the medical bed, while McCoy spoke to him out of arm's reach. Spock would have asked what had happened to cause this sudden uneasiness, but doing so would have embarrassed Dorek. Whatever he may have felt about Dorek and his kind, Spock would still remember to be courteous.

However, just to set himself at ease that the doctor was not in any danger, Spock came over to them, already purging his mind of feeling to prepare himself for facing the Romulan. If McCoy had not jumped away as he did, Spock would have no reason to approach them.

The doctor moved away from him, a cold glare on his face. Now it was his own dignity to consider when Spock chose to remain quiet.

"I had not thought it possible," said Dorek in a rather far away voice.

Spock turned his attention to the Romulan, clasping his hands behind his back, while McCoy watched them both. "And what is that, Captain?"

Dorek sat up in the bed. Spock noticed from the corner of his eye that McCoy took a small step back. "That one of our kind would be stationed aboard a Federation star ship, and with such a high rank," he said. Spock's eyes were expressionless, cold, while the Romulan's were dreamy. So much emotion displayed, broadcast on his face. "Having never been outside the Neutral Zone my entire life before this journey, and having to depend on what the Senate decides to tell us, I had for so long believed that it was not possible."

"The Federation is considerably more open-minded than your Senate," Spock replied matter-of-factly.

"Of course," Dorek said with a soft smile. "Politics aside, it brings me so much hope to see a brother so successful outside the Senate's influence."

"Captain, may I remind you that our cultures are more than two thousand years removed," Spock stated. "We are too far apart for the term 'brother' to be appropriate." He realized only too late that his tone was rather sharp; he decided he would need a short break sometime today.

Dorek's soft smile and dancing eyes darkened, crumpled. "I am sorry to have offended you, Commander Spock," he said.

"There is no need to apologize," Spock said, but coldly. "I was merely correcting you, as you yourself have already explained that this is your first chance to observe the world outside the influence of your government. You did not know any better. Now I must excuse myself. I am needed elsewhere."

Without a further look at either Dorek or McCoy, Spock left Sick Bay, and gave the orders for more security officers to take his place. It was his aim to sneak off to the library for some relaxation. An hour, no more, long enough to clear his mind. It would further cement his personal shame if he were to snap at the Romulan again. What kind of representative for his way of life would he be, if he could not refrain from such pettiness?

"Real touchy today, aren't you?" McCoy's voice taunted him from behind. Spock stopped only out of politeness, but even that was strained. Just looking at the same man who had insulted him so unfairly was difficult.

"Doctor, you need a psychological evaluation," he said. The sight of his friend invited a surge of most unwelcome emotions that were hard to push back down. Anger was on the forefront, and it shamed him. "It is apparent that something traumatic has happened to you; you must seek treatment."

"I could see it in your eyes, Spock, the hatred. What've you got against the Romulans, huh? Or is it him in particular?" Spock's jaw tightened as he listened to this. "You know, for a second there, I couldn't tell you two apart."

Spock knew that was just a cruel jab, meaning nothing. For whatever reason, the doctor had taken to verbal abuse, possibly as a coping mechanism for whatever had happened, Spock reasoned. It would be selfish, he realized, to take offense to his words, as they were actually a subconscious cry for help.

"If you will not make the arrangements, I will do so for you," he said with finality. "That is an order, Doctor."

"Damn your orders!" McCoy snarled, closing in on Spock, who took a step back. By now, Spock was more than used to the doctor's argumentativeness, and even the occasional angry outburst was to be expected. Never before had Spock considered that his friend would pose as a physical threat. "I don't need a fuckin' eval!"

"This is a poor way to convince me," Spock muttered. McCoy's stance was aggressive in itself, slightly crouched, hands closing at his sides. Their eyes locked.

"I already told you what you should do, Vulcan," McCoy growled. "But no, you want to take the easy way out and send me to the nurses to see what's wrong with me."

"I have attempted to speak with you-"

"You're a Vulcan!" McCoy snapped. When Spock took a step away, back sliding across the bulkhead, McCoy stepped around the other side. McCoy should have known he'd be no match for Spock hand-to-hand; Spock still hoped he could avoid using any force on his troubled friend. "Talking about it is beneath you! I've already said I don't want to have to talk about it, didn't I? And I don't need to!"

"Doctor, your behavior-"

"Take what you want, that's what you Vulcans are best at!" He grabbed Spock and forced his hands on the Vulcan's temples, pressing his body hard against the other's.

The shock of this sudden attack left Spock unprepared for a mental assault. He vaguely heard McCoy growl at him amidst a storm of mental energy, formless, pictureless. For 2.3 seconds Spock was immobilized against the wall until he mustered the energy to block it out. Gradually Spock was able to shield himself from the storm McCoy was trying to send him, although he was aware of the other's mind. Vague, painful feelings emanated from the doctor, but Spock was now safe from them.

Straightening himself, Spock pinched the base of McCoy's neck, knocking him out. He lifted the suddenly limp body effortlessly in his arms for greater ease of carrying him to his quarters. Spock's features tensed as he felt distress threaten to overtake him.

Ever since Spock had learned of the doctor's refusal to treat a patient a few days ago, he had entertained an unpleasant suspicion. The distance to his quarters now stretched ahead, an obstacle between himself and his chance to investigate this suspicion.

An irrational voice suggested it would be favorable if they never made it to his quarters, in case his suspicion turned out correct.

When he reached his quarters, Spock laid the doctor gently on the bed, then turned the heat down to what he assumed would be an acceptable level for the human. While McCoy slept, Spock prepared a glass of water for him, expecting him to awaken soon. This was more a way to keep himself busy as he waited, but eventually he had to just sit and wait.

It would have been far easier to perform a mind meld on the sleeping McCoy than to wait to ask questions that would most likely be dodged, but Spock knew that was out of the question. He couldn't bring himself to violate the human's mind with a non-consensual probe. Especially not after being tauntingly challenged to do it.

Nearly an hour later, McCoy awoke, and Spock turned his attention immediately to him. McCoy took the glass he was offered with a cold glower, and sat up on the bed. "What, no shackles?" he sneered, and gulped the water down. "I'd better watch what I say, huh? Wouldn't want to mysteriously lose consciousness again."

Spock felt he should apologize, but didn't. Instead he asked, "Where are we, Doctor?"

A corner of McCoy's lips jerked upwards in a sneer. "It's ninety degrees in here, where else?"

"I mean what ship are we on?"

McCoy made a face. "Why?"

"I want to make sure the nerve pinch did not induce a temporary amnesia."

The doctor rolled his eyes. "The Enterprise."

"Full name, Doctor?"

This provoked an explosive frustration in McCoy, who snapped, "What, you want the specs, too? Ship's company? Manufacturer's service number?"

"Just the full name of the vessel, Doctor."

"Ah, for..." he sighed. "We, my dear half-breed friend, are sittin' pretty on the I.S.S. Enterprise, NCC, 170-" He stopped, that annoyed looked wiped off his face. He then looked up at Spock, waiting.

Spock's suspicions had been confirmed in that one letter. Even he could not prevent a small twist of the corner of his mouth upon hearing that. "Were you planning on revealing this, Doctor?" Spock asked after a tense, quiet moment.

McCoy sat leaning against the headboard with his arms crossed, the fingers of one hand squeezing his arm. He had turned from hostile to sullen in less than a minute. "And get myself in trouble?" he snarled.

Spock was not sure what to say, as he was not sure what this intruder's fate would be. "That is for the captain to decide," he stated, more for his own benefit, and stood up. "I will return shortly," he said. When he looked down on the man sitting on his bed, he no longer saw McCoy, but a stranger. An intruder. "You will wait for me here. Don't bother trying to look for a weapon; I keep none in my quarters."

McCoy called for him as he got to the door. Spock paused, but did not turn around to face him. "You don't have to tell anyone. I won't." His voice was considerably smaller than when he was taunting him.

"It is my duty, as it is of any member of this ship, to report all threats to the captain," Spock stated.

"Spock!" McCoy said, trying to laugh. "You didn't take any of that personally, did you?" Spock bristled. While it was a relief that the McCoy he knew was not responsible for such insults, this stranger's act was pathetic. It disgusted him. "I didn't mean any of it, I was just riling you up! Come on, Spock..." McCoy got up and started to approach him.

"Be seated," Spock said coldly.

McCoy stayed where he was. "I'm still the same man, Spock. Just a few differences, but it's still me. It's still Leonard."

"In name only," Spock snapped, finally turning around to fully face him. "My friend would not keep such an important secret, nor would he so viciously attack his shipmates. Now sit back down or I will force you."

He watched the man slowly back up and sit on the bed. If Spock had been weaker, more like his "brother," he would have...but Spock would not even allow himself to think of anything except what he must do. Purging his mind into a state of clean emptiness, he locked the door from the outside and went straight to engineering.

/

Spock's mind was whirring with the beginnings of hypotheses, and fragments of the equations that would go with them. This was partly due to habit; crunching numbers for the pure sake of abstract mathematical exploration was enjoyable for Spock. It was relaxing and often helped with his duties. He would have gone the engineering route if he didn't prefer a more theoretical course of study.

But right now, this pursuit was useless on its own. Spock needed raw data from Scotty and information about his solutions in order to properly solve this. Pure speculation was not enough, but it helped keep the panic from clouding Spock's mind. The cold calculations offered hope that he not so secretly feared did not exist.

Relieved to find Scotty there, instructing a younger officer, Spock approached him and requested blandly to speak with him alone. The younger officer took that as a queue to leave them both alone.

Spock launched right into it. He originally had not wanted to reveal his suspicions with anyone besides the captain, but if this turned out to be true, Scotty would have to be involved anyway. He was concerned about keeping this to a few people as possible. He did not even want to consider the danger of the entire crew finding out.

"I have reason to believe that Dr. McCoy did not return with you and the rest," he said, with just a trace of edge to his voice.

Scotty would not likely have any reason to disbelieve anything Spock would tell him, but the intent look in Spock's eyes would have been enough to chase away any doubt. He regarded Spock with confusion as he tried to imagine what had gone wrong. "But the calculations were correct, Mr. Spock!" he said, not to defend himself, but to try to make sense of the situation. There had been many chances of errors, but he was having difficulty figuring out where he might have gone wrong. "Unless somehow, some of the energy was siphoned at the last minute, leaving only enough for three..." he speculated, shaking his head in distress.

"Can we return them?"

At this, the reality of the situation finally sunk in for Scotty, who had till then been thinking of the Dr. McCoy he knew being stuck in that other world. He stared at Spock in horror. "Ya' mean we brought one of those...savages with us?"

"Can we return them, Mr. Scott?" Spock asked again harshly. It was the closest he'd ever come to snapping at Scotty, and the other man certainly noticed. Not that he blamed him, however.

He gazed at Spock, suddenly with sadness. Almost pity. He shook his head. "Mr. Spock, the window closed less than two minutes before we beamed back."

"Explain."

"When the Enterprise passed through that ion storm, the landing party and myself were caught in a merging of field densities, just as we tried to beam onto the planet's surface. Somehow, Mr. Spock, and I canna' explain this, but ours and their universes passed close enough to each other to come into contact right at that moment. They must have been trying to transport themselves as well, right as we were."

"But you simulated another ion storm by rerouting the ship's power to the transporter room, did you not?"

"Yes, but that was only going to work within a certain time frame, that's what I'm trying to tell ya' Mr. Spock! Because until just before we came back, both universes were still close enough for the energies of them both to leak into each other and make contact possible at all."

"And now we've drifted too far out of range?" Spock asked. By now it was becoming extremely difficult for him to maintain his usual cool demeanor. Normally, he would have already realized the futility of exploring this issue further, even as a theoretical mind puzzle, but he could not let this go.

Scotty gave Spock an irritatingly sympathetic look, as if faced with the burden of explaining a hard truth to a child. He said as gently as he could without being condescending, "Sir. Range is meaningless now. That universe is no longer within our own by any stretch of the imagination. We could no sooner make contact with it than we could any of the other infinite worlds that exist and are just as inaccessible."

Spock's jaw clenched, and for a brief moment, his control slipped. He approached Scotty, apparently presenting himself in a hostile manner without realizing it, because the other man drew back, startled. Spock stepped back and turned away, drawing back into himself, for both their protection.

He said in a tight, very quiet voice, "But it did happen once. The ion storm..."

"Was a freak accident, Mr. Spock. The chances of which happening again-" Scotty stopped when he saw Spock's features tighten and his eyes close in a rare, but profound expression of distress. This was devastating for Scotty as well, but for the moment, he was more concerned with how Spock was taking it. As unbelievable as it might be, Scotty was suddenly faced with having to provide emotional support for his Vulcan superior officer.

When he put a hand on Spock's shoulder, Spock tensed, but made no move to remove it out of politeness only. He did not wish share his distress with Scotty, if only because that meant he coudn't just repress it himself.

But even after hearing this, Spock refused to give up. He was fiercely, stubbornly determined to explore any possibility. "Perhaps it was not the power surge itself, but rather an indirect result of it," he said.

"The universes have to be drifting close enough..."

"But as you pointed out yourself, Mr. Scott, range doesn't matter, at this point. Other universes do not exist in the same way as matter exists in the one we inhabit."

Scotty nodded, frowning.

"Something forced the contact, Mr. Scott. And if we can ascertain what, we can do it again. We do not have to wait for the worlds to move themselves, do we?"

Scotty sighed and shook his head. "Now all we have to do is find out how to communicate with an external universe," he said cynically.

"Precisely. I will devote myself to the studies of any and all relevant journals and theories..."

Scotty interrupted, "Spock, you have to be prepared for the chance of us not finding the answer."

Spock turned cold, hard eyes on the man that was only trying to help. "It happened once, Mr. Scott. It can happen again."

Scotty returned a compassionate, but subdued look to Spock. He refrained from bringing up the possibility that McCoy could already be dead by now, that they'd tap into some completely different parallel universe, or any other potential disaster, and just nodded. "Aye, Sir."

/

Spock had asked Kirk off the bridge to speak with him privately in the briefing room. As soon as they entered, Spock said, "Not all of you returned to your respective universes after the transporter accident, Captain."

Kirk's face paled. "Bones..."

"The man we have on board is not our Doctor McCoy," Spock told him tightly. "Somehow, when you and the rest were transported, McCoy was left where he was. Both of them were."

Kirk sat down heavily, staring at the table. Then he looked up at Spock. "You're absolutely sure?"

"Yes." Spock did not wish to explain how he knew, but thankfully the captain accepted his word. It seemed that Kirk had suspected as much anyway.

"All this time..." Kirk whispered, turning his attention back to the table. "How could we...how could I have made such a terrible mistake?"

"Jim," Spock assured, although in a dry voice. "He has fooled us all with his deceit. If he had not tried to attack me, unprovoked, then I may never have found out."

"Bones is still over there," Kirk said. "He'll never survive, Spock. He'll never last—we have to..." He stopped and controlled himself. This conversation, although important, was torture to Spock. He did not want to discuss this. There was no point in emotional displays and rhetorical statements. Not while he could be searching for a solution.

He reiterated the conversation he had with Scotty, but was not able to offer any potential solutions at that moment. He was still, even as he spoke with Kirk, trying to think of any leads to go on, any sort of precedent or theory for inspiration. He did promise his captain, however, that he would devote himself to finding the solution.

"And what about the other one? Where is he?"

"In my quarters. Locked in."

Kirk nodded slowly, with a far off look in his eye. "We can't allow anyone else to know about this. Especially with the Romulans on board."

"Agreed. That would significantly harm morale."

Kirk dropped his head into his hand. With a loud sigh, he stood up and looked to Spock. "He will have to report back to duty eventually, Spock, or there will be suspicion." Kirk turned away quickly. Spock had managed to catch the captain's eyes reddening. He turned as well to respect his friend's privacy. Now, neither of them would look at the other, each with his own efforts to control his emotion.

"He cannot return to duty as he is, knowing nothing of this world."

"Then teach him," Kirk answered, letting a touch of his feelings loose with rudeness.

"Captain, I believe he would do better under your supervision," Spock argued. "He mistrusts me."

"I have the Romulans to 'supervise,'" Kirk nearly shouted. Then he sighed, and finally turned to face Spock. A soft, quick pat to the shoulder was his apology, and Spock accepted silently. "Of course I'll help you, but he would do better staying close to you for a while. You have the strength for it."

Spock didn't speak for a moment, and he could hardly bring himself to look Kirk in the eye. But he knew this was the most logical solution. It would not do for the impostor to spend his time in the captain's shadow. Spock shuddered to imagine the potential trouble that would arise should that creature cause trouble in the presence of the Romulans. Yes, better to keep him under very close supervision, away from the rest of the crew, until he found a way to send him back where he belonged.

"How could I not have known, Spock?" Kirk interrupted his thoughts with his plaintive question. "All this time...how..."

"Jim, you would have found out soon after I did," Spock assured, but he didn't believe that. "You cannot blame yourself. As I said, he has manipulated and deceived us all." Spock headed for the door. "I will let you know how it progresses."