"Keep the channel open, Lieutenant, and
keep trying
until you get in touch with someone. Just find
him
She smiled gratefully. "Aye, sir."
"Captain?"
Kirk turned to look at Sulu. "Yes?"
"Sir, you said that Mr. Varth was in the brig.
May I
ask what the charges were?"
"Any particular reason you're interested, Mr
Sulu?"
Sulu swallowed. "We're friends, sir."
The expression on the captain's face was
absolutely
MINDSHADOW
enigmatic. "Mr. Varth is now confined
to quarters
under guard. I may or may not decide
to release him
shortly. And no, you may not ask what the charges
are."
"Yes, sir." Stone-faced, Sulu
swiveled in his chair
to once again face the viewscreen. The captain
had to
have his reasons--Sulu himself had told Varth that
Kirk was a fair person, that the captain would not
persecute a person, regardless of how much he
disliked
him ....
But he was left with a very uncomfortable feeling.
"Top priority message from Admiral
Komack, Captain,"
Uhura said. "Scrambled and coded."
"Relay it to my quarters," Kirk said.
"I'll take it
there."
When he returned to the bridge, it was with a rather
smug-looking first officer. But the instant he
stepped
from the turbolift, Kirk knew that something was
wrong. All eyes were fastened on his;
Uhura's eyes
were full of sympathy.
Varth immediately went to his station, but Kirk
remained standing in front of Uhura.
"You've located Mr. Spock,
haven't you, Lieutenant?"
he asked softly. Dear God, don't let her
tell me
he's dead...
"Yes, sir." Her voice was barely audible.
"I kept
the hailing frequency open and finally a Vulcan
Security
officer responded. He said that Mr. Spock
is in
ShanaiKahr Hospital."
"What happened?"
"I contacted the hospital. They say Spock
is in
serious condition, but is expected to recover."
Uhura
paused, unable for a moment to continue or to meet
the captain's gaze.
"Uhura," Kirk pleaded.
She drew a breath and looked up at him. "They
also
say that circumstances indicate he attacked his
father
and then attempted suicide."
Emma Saenz sat on the stool and
shook her head
sadly. "I was afraid something like this would
happen,"
she said, in a voice that conveyed no recrimination,
only regret.
McCoy's jaw was stubbornly set. "Whatever
Spock
has been charged with, I'm sure he's innocent.
I'm
going to try to see him."
"No!" Emma's fist struck the lab counter with
such
force that both Kirk and McCoy jumped.
"Spock
won't want to see you now. The shame would be too
great for him. I know from experience--"
"Doctor Saenz," Kirk said in an
aggrieved tone,
"we are all well aware by this time of your
experience
with Vulcans."
"You may know Vulcans, Emma," McCoy
said with
the old fire, "but I know Spock, and have for many
years, and right now I happen to think that
Spock
needs our help."
Emma shook her head vehemently.
"I know Spock better than anyone here,"
Kirk said,
"and I know that he could never hurt anyone. That's
why I'm going down there to do what I can to clear
him of the charges,"
Emma sprang from her seat, her body tensed with
anger. "I fail to see, gentlemen, why no one
here
seems to give a damn about my medical
opinion. Why
did you request a medical specialist,
Doctor, if you
had no intention of listening to her?"
"Take it easy." McCoy motioned for her
to sit back
down. "I have listened to your medical opinion. I
gave
Spock the neodopazine on your recommendation and
I
sent him to his quarters earlier than I would have
liked
to, again on your recommendation. But here
I draw
MINDSHADOW
the line. Spock is our friend, and we know him
better
than you do."
She sat back down and folded her arms
tightly.
"How can I make you understand that damage to the
brain can change a person, can even make a
person
like Spock violent, regardless of how well you
think
you know him? If you are his friends, don't make it
any more difficult for him than it has to be. Just
let him
Kirk stiffened. "What do you mean, let him go?"
"Spock is not responding to the medication. He's
dangerous to himself, and to others. I'm going to
recommend he be sent to Ebla Two."
McCoy was livid. "You'll never get me
to sign the
papers to send Spock to an asylum for the
criminally
insane!"
"You haven't seen him in over a month," Kirk
pointed out, leaning over her. "Aren't you even
interested
in looking at him before you diagnose him as
incurable and ship him off?."
"I've been in contact with his family," Emma
said
coldly. "As you may recall, I suspected
Spock might
become violent before McCoy sent him
to Vulcan, and
he went there under my protest.
"Gentlemen, if you go to him now, you will accomplish
two things--you will shame Spock, and you will
break your own hearts, seeing him in such a
condition."
Kirk and McCoy looked at each other in
silence for
a moment, each one contemplating the possibility
that
Emma might be right.
"We're still going," Jim told her.
McCoy entered Emma's quarters without
knocking,
and got the briefest impression of a
Vulcan face before
she could snap the viewscreen off.
"Checking up on Spock, are you?" He asked
it
gently, almost teasingly; he had seen her bursts
of
temper before, but they usually blew over quickly.
This was the first time she had ever remained angry
about something, and he was not quite sure how to
approach her. "How is he?"
She did not answer. She did not look up from the
viewscreen.
McCoy shifted uneasily. "I just came
to say that
we're in orbit around Vulcan and we're beaming
down. Y
ou're welcome to come with us if you change
your mind."
She turned in the chair to face him, and he could
see
that her eyes were troubled, clouded, an expression
far different from their usual clarity. "I won't
change
my mind."
"Look, Emma, I didn't mean to insult your
medical
judgment. It's just that we have to try to help
Spock if
we can. Please try to understand."
"I think I do." She looked blankly at the
viewscreen
in front of her, but it was clear to McCoy that she
was
thinking, thinking very hard about something. She
continued to stare at the screen as she spoke
thoughtfully.
"You three . . . you care about each other very
much, don't you?"
"Which three?" McCoy was not following her.
"You, Spock, the captain. Spock is very
important
to both of you."
"I told you that the day I met you."
She smiled an odd, tight little smile.
"Yes, you did,
didn't you? I suppose that was before I cared about
. . anyone here ...."
McCoy walked over to the chair and put his hand
on
her shoulder. "Come with us," he said gently.
"Spock
might need you."
202 MINDSHADOW
She rose from the chair, but the woman who stood
before him seemed nothing like the Emma he knew.
She was still smiling tightly, but her lower lip
trembled
almost imperceptibly. With a sudden urgent
tenderness,
McCoy realized that she was trying not to cry,
and he took her in his arms.
She pulled away apologetically, speaking with
an
irony that he did not understand. "Of all people,
Spock needs me least. Besides, I couldn't go with
you if I wanted to."
"Why not?"
"I'm leaving, Leonard. I've been
reassigned. When
you get back, I won't be here."
This time, she let him hold her.
"I am required to search you for weapons." The
Vulcan guard pointed his hand-held scanner at
Kirk.
Kirk scowled, Vulcan Security had already
verified
his and McCoy's identities; he had not
expected to be
submitted to a body search.
"I will take your communicator," the guard said.
"Now wait a minute--" Kirk said hotly.
The guard waited a minute, staring down
humorlessly
at Kirk from his six-foot-five-inch height,
every inch of it lean muscle mass.
"Never mind." Kirk handed him the communicator,
but not without a twinge of exasperation. While he
knew that the Vulcans could not risk Spock's
sudden
transportation from his hospital room to the
Enterprise,
he resented the implication that they did not trust a
starship captain to refrain from doing so.
Although they were probably right not to.
McCoy submitted to the scan without so much as an
insult, handing over his communicator before it was
even asked for. Kirk could not help feeling
disappointed;
he had counted on the doctor's outspoken
disregard for all things Vulcan to add a bit of
humor to
this otherwise unbearably somber occasion. But
McCoy
had not spoken since they beamed down; something
was troubling him, something other than the
prospect of seeing Spock.
The guard was apparently satisfied with the
disresults
of the scan, for he led them to the door of Spock's
room. Beyond the shimmering force field, Spock
lay
pale and barely breathing. Tubes of dark green
led
from his arm to above the bed. Another Vulcan,
apparently the attending physician, was watching
Spock's vital signs on the monitor with
keen interest.
"Your conversation will be monitored," the guard
said. He moved a massive arm and the field
evaporated
just long enough for Kirk and McCoy to cross
the threshhold.
The Vulcan doctor did not bother to turn around
when they entered; she seemed to be timing something
critical.
"How does he look to you, Bones?"
Kirk whispered.
"Pretty good, except he's lost a lot of
blood."
McCoy cleared his throat and addressed the
Vulcan.
"Excuse me, ma'am."
The Vulcan turned her head just enough to fix him
with a cold look.
McCoy turned on the charm. "We're friends of
Mr.
Spock, ma'am, and we're very concerned. That
security
guard out there won't tell us a thing about how he
got here. Can you tell us how it happened?"
She looked back at the monitor. "The
patient's
wrists were slit. He suffered critical blood
loss. He will
recover."
"Why was he arrested?" Kirk asked.
In spite of remaining totally expressionless, the
Vulcan physician managed somehow to convey the
MINDSHADOW
fact that she found the presence of both men to be
terribly annoying. "From the
circumstantial evidence
that was found, it appears that the patient first
attacked
his father with an ahn-vahr and then turned the
weapon on himself."
"Ahn-what?"
"A ceremonial dagger. In ancient times, it was
used
in a ritual form of suicide when the victim
believed he
had brought shame to his family. Vulcan
Security' is
waiting for the patient's father to regain consciousness
to verify if this was what actually happened before the
suspect is actually placed under arrest."
"Then Sarek is expected to recover?" Kirk
asked.
She raised her left eyebrow in an expression
that
made Kirk very homesick for his first officer.
"I believe
that can easily be inferred from what I just
said."
She bent down suddenly to look at Spock, then
peered up again at the monitor. As if
by magic, the
indicator needles rose slightly. It was what
she had
been waiting for; she turned her back to the two
humans, and hoisting a long, thin arm back,
swung it
forward with a force that would have knocked a human
to the floor.
It hit Spock squarely on the jaw.
Kirk lunged at her with a short cry, but
McCoy
grabbed his arms and held him.
"Jim, you fool! That's the nicest thing I've
seen
anyone do in a long time."
Kirk looked at the doctor as though he had
gone
mad.
"Jim," said McCoy, grinning from ear to ear,
"she's
> bringing him out of the Vulcan healing mode."
The physician drew her arm back to administer
a
second blow, but Spock's hand reached out and
firmly
grabbed her wrist. "That will be sufficient."
She nodded silently at Spock, and giving the
humans
a final glance that indicated what simpletons
she considered
them to be, she signaled the guard to let her
exit.
Spock propped himself up to a sitting position.
"Spock!" McCoy could contain himself no longer.
"You know the mind rules!"
A familiar eyebrow rose. "Obviously,
Doctor McCoy."
The two humans looked at each other and laughed
with delight. "You've got a hell of a nerve,"
said
McCoy, "getting logical on me at a time
like this.
Admit it, you overgrown elf, you're glad
to see us."
There was a brightness in Spock's eyes that belied
his cool manner. "I believe that "getting
logical" was
what you sent me here for, Doctor, although I do not
deny that I am, as you put it,
"glad" to see you." His
expression became more serious. "Captain, I have
something rather urgent to tell you..."
"Yes, Uhura said you were signaling the ship when
you were cut off."
"As you can see, I was... interrupted."
"What happened?"
"I went to the aid of my father, who was being
attacked." He searched their faces. "Do you know
his
condition?"
"He'll be all right," McCoy volunteered.
Kirk nodded. "They're waiting for him to regain
consciousness so he can tell them what happened."
Spock frowned slightly. "I'm conscious. I
am able
to supply the information."
Kirk and McCoy exchanged embarrassed
glances.
"I think they'd rather hear it from Sarek. You're being
held on suspicion of attempted murder,"
Kirk said
gently. "It looked like you attacked your father and
then tried to kill yourself."
206
MINDSHADOW
"T'Pala," Spock whispered. A shadow
crossed his
face, and disappeared as quickly as it had come.
"Who?" Kirk asked.
"No one. How convenient. I assure you that is
not
the case."
"I believe you, Spock," McCoy
volunteered gallantly.
"I appreciate your vote of confidence, Dr.
McCoy. I
only wish Vulcan Security were as easily
convinced."
"It's a lucky thing both of you survived the
attack,"
Kirk said. "Whoever tried to kill you seemed
to botch
the job. Did you see who it was?"
"I did not know the individual, but I do not
doubt
Star Trek-TOS-027-Mindshadow Page 23
