Star Trek-TOS-027-Mindshadow

by Kevin Underwood

  Obediently, Emma approached Tomson, but as

  she

  came upon the body of Reems lying in the

  doorway,

  she stumbled.

  Tomson moved in closer with the phaser, and Emma

  succeeded in knocking it across the room. Tomson

  watched it sail past with a look of dull

  surprise.

  "Now let's see how far I get,"

  Emma said.

  They faced each other for battle; Tomson,

  tall and

  pale, towered over Emma's dark intensity.

  "I'm almost

  twice your size," Tomson sneered. "You

  couldn't hurt me if you wanted to."

  Emma's voice was soft and low. "Want to make

  a

  bet?"

  Kirk strode up and down the hospital

  corridor,

  swearing at his communicator and ignoring the

  disapproving

  stares of the Vulcans who passed.

  "What the hell is going on up there, Mr.

  Scott?"

  "Mr. Lyle was unconscious, Captain, but

  we've got

  someone in the transporter room now, and--"

  "Unconscious? How long? Never mind, don't

  an-

  MINDSHADOW

  swer that. Have Uhura notify Vulcan

  Security Central immediately and tell them that Emma

  Saenz is probably on the planet surface."

  "Aye, sir."

  "Have you found McCoy?"

  "Not yet, sir."

  "Let me talk to Tomson."

  Scott hesitated. "I'm afraid she's

  incapacitated,

  sir."

  "What happened?"

  "She and Reems and Lyle were all found

  unconscious

  in the transporter room. Stunned, it looks

  like.

  They should be coming to shortly."

  "Then tell Tomson's second-in-command---

  was

  "That would be Reems, sir."

  Kirk gritted his teeth. "Dammit, find

  someone in

  Security who was not incapacitated by Dr.

  Saenz and

  tell them to cancel the search for Saenz. I want

  them to

  find McCoy."

  "Anything else, Captain?"

  "Yes. Get me the hell out of here."

  Emma wouldn't hurt McCoy, Kirk kept

  repeating to

  himself as the hospital hallway shimmered into

  nothingness. She wouldn't hurt him, especially if

  she

  had been merciful enough to only stun Tomson and

  Lyle. Still, for a split second he imagined

  himself

  ordering Security to scan the internal

  atmosphere of

  the Enterprise for any free-floating

  molecules of what

  remained of his friend ....

  Kirk stepped off the transporter platform

  to find

  Tomson, Reems and Lyle sitting on the

  floor being

  examined by a medic. He scowled down at them.

  "I take it that you all encountered Emma

  Saenz.

  Are you going to tell me that the three of you couldn't

  stop her?"

  Lyle rubbed his head and grimaced.

  "She stunned

  Reems and me before either of us knew that she had a

  phaser, Captain."

  Of the three, Tomson seemed to be in the worst

  shape; she stared down at the floor

  disconsolately,

  unable to meet Kirk's gaze. "I disarmed her,

  sir, but

  she managed to knock my phaser away."

  Tomson tried

  to touch her left shoulder, but the pain made her

  stop

  and suck in air between her teeth. "In hand-to-hand

  combat, she's excellent. I think my shoulder's

  separated."

  Kirk's expression became wry; at first

  Tomson

  thought the captain simply found it amusing that she

  could be done in by someone of Saenz's height; but

  then he said, "Believe me, I understand,

  Lieutenant.

  My shoulder and I have also had firsthand experience

  with Dr. Saenz's combat abilities."

  Tomson leaned painfully against the bulkhead.

  "Thank you, sir."

  Kirk straightened and went over to the intercom.

  "Kirk to Security."

  "Security. Kazan here."

  "Any word on McCoy?"

  "No, sir. We're still looking."

  Kirk hit the intercom in frustration, and went in

  search of McCoy himself. He had not gotten far

  down

  the corridor, however, when the door to one of the

  conference rooms opened and McCoy leaned out,

  staggering.

  Kirk managed to catch him before he fell and

  supported

  him against the wall in a half-sitting position.

  "Bones, thank God... are you all right?"

  McCoy moaned and cradled his head in his hands.

  "She's gone, Jim. God, what a first-class

  headache."

  "Did she stun you?"

  MINDSHADOW

  "With more than just the phaser. Spock was right,

  Jim... dear God, he was right. Did you catch

  her?"

  "Not yet. We think she's on

  Vulcan." Kirk paused. was I'm sorry,

  Bones."

  "That makes two of us." McCoy closed his

  eyes and

  let his head roll back against the bulkhead. "But

  the

  damn thing is..." his voice faded.

  "The... what?" Kirk leaned forward to hear.,

  "I can't say I'm sorry she hasn't been

  caught."

  That makes two of us, Kirk wanted to say, but

  instead he put his arm under the doctor's shoulders

  and helped him to sick bay.

  The room was a hybrid of the best of Vulcan and

  Earth, much like the solemn, slightly forlorn child

  who

  stared down at Kirk from the portrait above the

  piano.

  The Vulcan influence was clearly the stronger,

  reflected

  in the stark, powerful lines of the architecture,

  the furniture, and the artifacts that decorated the

  walls--comthe a

  hn-vahr, sabers, and weapons whose

  function Kirk dared not guess, the

  reminders of long-forsaken

  wars. While the Terran influence was subtler,

  it was unmistakable: the piano, the portrait of

  mother

  and son, and most of all the books, shelves upon

  shelves of old paper books that lined the far

  wall of the

  main room and extended into the hallway, and with

  them that distinct aroma that reminded Kirk of the last

  pleasurable time that he had been in the rare book

  section of a library.

  Kirk was drawn to the shelves immediately, and

  knelt down to peer at the authors' names on the

  bindings. The collection was marvelously

  eclectic:

  Roth, Twain, Zelazny, Dickens,

  Dostoevsky, Wisen,

  Mcintyre, Oates . . . and that was simply part

  of the

  small corner representing the nineteenth and

  twentieth

  centuries. His fingers hovered above the volumes

  until

  they found what they wanted, and withdrew it from

  the shelf.

  Behind h
im, McCoy cleared his throat nervously.

  Kirk looked up over his shoulder at him. The

  doctor

  was still pale, so pale that the chronic dark

  circles

  under his eyes stood out with greater than usual

  emphasis;

  McCoy was troubled by more than just the

  aftereffects of a phaser stun.

  "Come take a look at this, Bones. This is

  without a

  doubt the most incredible collection of rare books

  You'll ever see outside of an archive."

  "Uh, huh." McCoy's voice was flat and

  faraway,

  politely bored. "What's that you're looking

  at?"

  "An old favorite of mine when I was a kid.

  Horatio

  Hornblower."

  McCoy squinted. "Who?"

  Kirk reshelved the book and stood up quickly as

  Sarek entered the room. "Tell you later."

  Sarek seemed none the worse for the assassin's

  attack; in fact, he looked to be in

  far better shape than

  McCoy. Spock flanked him, dressed once

  again in his

  blue science officer's uniform. Shoulder

  to shoulder,

  the resemblance between father and son was unmistakable-

  --Spock

  was a taller, leaner version of his

  father. But there was a slight difference in the face,

  some feature that Spock no doubt owed to Amanda's

  side of the family, although Kirk could not determine

  exactly what it was ....

  Sarek gestured for them to sit. "Captain

  Kirk, I

  appreciate your promptness in responding to my

  invitation.

  However, I must admit that my motive includes

  more than simple hospitality."

  Kirk sat on the couch next to McCoy;

  Spock sat

  across from them, in the chair next to Sarek. Kirk

  could not shake the feeling that he was sitting in on a

  MINDSHADOW

  Vulcan Council meeting. "Would I

  be correct in assuming

  that this has something to do with Aritani,

  Ambassador?"

  "You would. As you know, the delegates meet

  tomorrow for the vote. In spite of the Romulans'

  efforts, it appears that the vote will be in favor of

  sending a delegation."

  "I'm glad to hear it," said Kirk. "However,

  I am

  concerned about the safety of the other diplomats after

  the attack on you. And perhaps Spock told you that

  two ambassadors were attacked on board the

  Enterprise. One was killed."

  Sarek nodded. "Vulcan Security has been

  alerted.

  The ambassadors are under its protection."

  "But they have as yet found no trace of Dr.

  Saenz,"

  Spock added. "Apparently she managed to leave

  ShanaiKahr, and no doubt the planet, without

  detection."

  "How can we be so sure that the Romulan

  government

  is involved?" McCoy asked suddenly. "All

  we've seen so far are pirates who

  happen to be Romulan."

  Sarek looked coolly at him. "True. But

  pirates generally

  do not engage in concerted intrigue. Intelligence

  reports have indicated the involvement of the

  Praetor.

  Also, my attacker was definitely a

  Romulan."

  "You're certain he was not a Vulcan?"

  "Beside the obvious fact that Vulcans do not commit

  murder, the position of the stab wound he inflicted

  --one

  centimeter above my heart--indicates he

  was definitely a Romulan."

  "The Romulan heart," Spock said, "sits

  two centimeters

  higher than the Vulcan."

  "You don't need to give me an anatomy

  lesson,"

  McCoy said huffily. "I remember."

  Spock ignored him and quietly addressed the

  captain. "The family friend who was killed in the

  attack

  informed me shortly before her death that the Romulans

  had approached her and offered her "a

  glorious

  career in the service of the Praetor," as she

  put it,

  should she agree to kill Sarek and myself."

  Kirk leaned forward. "What did she tell

  them?"

  Spock's eyes became hooded. "She

  refused, of

  course. She was a Vulcan."

  "To use one of your expressions, Captain,"

  Sarek

  said, "the arm of the Romulans is very long. The

  young woman in question was studying to enter the

  Vulcan diplomatic service. The

  Romulans obviously

  wanted an informant within the VDC. They are quite

  skilled at espionage, and I fear their

  influence reaches

  as far as the Federation Council.

  "But back to the matter at hand. The delegation

  sent

  to Aritani would consist of the Terran ambassador

  and

  myself. However, no matter how skilled either of us

  are at diplomacy, asking the

  Aritanians to consider

  joining the Federation under the present circumstances

  would be absurd, since there would be absolutely

  no benefit to them from so doing. The Federation

  must first prove to the Aritanians that it is capable

  of stopping the Romulans. Before we can do that, of

  course, we will need transportation to Aritani-

  --"

  "The Enterprise, naturally," Kirk said.

  "Naturally, Captain. Star Fleet has already

  agreed

  that your vessel is the logical choice, but that is

  not the

  only thing I wish to discuss with you. We need more

  than transportation to Aritani. we need a

  plan for

  stopping the Romulans. Spock and I have such a

  plan."

  Kirk suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Do you think

  it's wise to discuss that here? If the Romulans

  were

  able to enter your home and attack you, then

  certainly-was

  MINDSHADOW

  "You hardly need worry about the possibility of

  our

  conversation being monitored here, Captain."

  Spock explained. "Because of the sensitive

  nature of information discussed in the home of an

  ambassador,

  this house is equipped with a transmission

  scrambling

  device. Only authorized transmissions are

  not

  scrambled. Even if the Romulans had succeeded

  in

  planting a transmitter here, they would not understand

  the messages they received."

  "All right, then. My ship is at your disposal.

  Now

  tell me your plan."

  Sarek did not smile, but his eyes brightened. "It

  requires your assistance, Captain, and yours,

  too,

  Doctor, if you are willing .... his

  "Scotty, how's the cloaking device working?"

  "Like a charm, sir, but it's dra*' the

  be-jesus out

  o' my poor engines. God help us

  all if we have to make

  it out of here at warp speed anytime soon."

  "Just keep the cloaking device working, Scotty
,

  and

  I personally promise you we won't need the

  warp

  drive or divine intervention. Kirk out."

  Kirk looked up to see Aritani on the

  bridge

  viewscreen, a swirling globe of blue and

  purple, dotted

  with occasional wisps of white. He stared for a

  moment,

  mesmerized.

  Sulu broke the spell. "Standard orbit,

  Captain?"

  "Very good, Lieutenant." Kirk glanced over

  at his

  first officer.

  Spock was watching it, too.

  "Beautiful, isn't it, Spock?"

  The Vulcan's eyes met Kirk's; he nodded

  softly,

  then bent over his scanner. "Significant

  pirate activity

  on the surface below, Captain." He

  straightened and

  faced Kirk. "They are no longer bothering

  to cloak

  their vessels."

  "Since the Fidelity has left, they think

  nobody's

  watching." Kirk snapped a toggle on the arm of

  his

  chair as the intercom whistled.

  McCoy's voice was filled with a sense of

  urgency.

  "Captain, I've got an emergency down here.

  I need

  you in sick bay immediately."

  Uhura and Sulu could not help turning to look

  at the

  captain. Why in the galaxy should the doctor be

  calling

  the captain about a medical emergency?

  It seemed to make perfect sense to Kirk.

  "I'll be

  right there, Doctor." He jerked his head at

  Spock, who

  moved smoothly to take his captain's

  place in the

  command chair.

  As the doors to the turbolift opened, Kirk

  narrowly

  missed colliding with Varth, who stepped off the

  turbolift

  as the captain stepped on. Sulu was watching as

  Kirk smiled and winked at the Radun; he

  turned back

  to the navigation console and pinched himself to be

  sure he wasn't dreaming.

  It was not time for a shift change, and Sulu knew

  for

  a fact that Kirk had not summoned Varth to the

  bridge,

  but the Radun went directly to Spock's station

  as

  though drawn there by some sort of telepathic

  instinct.

  Sulu was dying to ask him how he knew he was

  needed

  on the bridge, but dared not as long as Spock was

  there.

  Sulu was therefore not that surprised when McCoy

  called Spock less than an hour

  later.

  "Dare I presume, Doctor McCoy,"

  Spock asked

  him, "that this is in regards to another medical

  emergency?"

  "Spock, get your Vulcan posterior down here

  nOW."

  Spock raised his eyebrows mildly and

  terminated