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Harcourt Fenton Mudd. After two encounters with the intergalactic con man - including the last encounter when he literally kidnapped the entire crew - it was a name that could produce shudders among the most hardened of those aboard the Enterprise. Even Spock's eyebrow would tend to twitch at the sound of that name - which, as McCoy was prone to say, was the Vulcan equivalent of running off screaming like a little girl. In the past encounters, McCoy himself had actually got along fairly well with Mudd - which meant he only wanted to throttle the con artist half of the time instead of all of the time.

It was two of his primary personality traits that would lead to Mudd coming into the bad graces of the Enterprise again. Curiosity and greed. But it all started a goodly distance away from the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Mudd had managed to finally get away from his self-named planet of androids and was now piloting his own vessel again. Captaining really, since he had his largest crew to date - thirty souls of mixed planetage and morals who were helping him keep the ship in working order and skirting the edges of Federation space. He had rechristened his ship as Azalaris - which was the name that had been given to the largest fire diamond ever found on Kibberia.

The Azalaris was traveling through what should have been an empty pocket of space. Mudd was resting in his quarters and his second, a male of mixed Klingon and Orion parentage named K'toomsu, was watching the helm when their sensors picked up a large mass that should not have been there. He ordered the ship to close in slowly to get the mass within visual range and was frankly shocked to find that, instead of the floating wreckage he expected, it was an extremely old, but intact craft.

Once their scanners confirmed that nothing harmful to their ship was being radiated from the derelict, K'toomsu instructed Tysha, their main pilot, to bring the Azalaris alongside the other, which they could now see bore the name S.S. Botany Bay. The name alone told them it was a Terran ship and one that seemed to be a relic of the bygone age when Earth was making its first baby steps out into the larger universe outside of its own solar system.

K'toomsu drummed his fingers on the arm of the Captain's chair briefly before standing.

"Meram? See if you can get any scans to penetrate that hull and give us an idea what might be inside that old girl. I'm going to get Harry."

Moving through the corridors, K'toomsu stopped at the door to Mudd's quarters and gave a bang against the door before striding in. Mudd was looking both disheveled and cross.

"Dammit, Kuty. Do you always have to wake me that way?"

The dark olive skinned man wasn't impressed by Mudd's bluster, knowing that bluster was all that it was.

"I had considered waking you by depressurizing your quarters, but that seemed too much bother. Drink some of that caffeinated sludge of yours, get dressed and come to the helm. We have an abandoned ship from your home planet to ponder."

That got Mudd's attention and K'toomsu continued to lean in the doorway as Mudd pulled on some clothes.

"My home planet? Is it wreckage? How old?"

"Intact, Harry. And probably from your great-great-grandsire's time, if not earlier."

Pausing in mid-boot tugging, Mudd gave his second an incredulous look.

"Impossible. This far into deep space?"

Shrugging, K'toomsu reached into the replicator and handed Mudd his coffee.

"Then come and view the impossible, Harry. She's too solid to be a mirage."

The two of them walked back to the small bridge side by side. Mudd froze when he got his first look at the view screen.

"You really weren't pulling my leg, Kuty. That thing is a museum piece."

Meram spoke up from the side and captured everyone's attention.

"A museum piece with life signs aboard her."

Mudd wasn't the only one staring at Meram after that announcement.

"You're joking."

He moved over to look over the sensor readings himself.

"You aren't joking. Am I reading this right that it still has a breathable atmosphere?"

"It does."

Moving back to the central area, Mudd draped his arms across the back of the Captain's chair as he stared at the ship beside them. K'toomsu moved to his side.

"You want to board her, don't you?"

"You know me too well, Kuty. That should worry me."

"It only should worry you because we think too much alike, Harry. Besides, neither one of us would be able to sleep for wondering exactly what was onboard that vessel if we just went off and left her drifting."

"You're right again. Well, we can leave the Azalaris in Tysha's hands. She'll keep the ship safe. Me, you and one of our engineers?"

"I suggest Alistair. He's always toying with antique blueprints."

"Good thought. Call him up and let's see what all the toy chest holds, shall we?"

It was a half hour later when the three men transported over to the Botany Bay. Mudd made a face immediately at the odor. K'toomsu laughed at him.

"Don't be such a - what is that old Earther term? - wuss?"

A snort was Mudd's answer to that as he took a step further in, then jumped as lights flared to life. Alistair moved closer and then took the lead, his voice containing the underlying Liverpool accent that he'd never lost despite over a decade away from his home city.

"You must've tripped a motion switch of some sort. Well, well. Look at this. I've heard of these but never thought to see one. This here's a sleeper ship, Fennie. Looks like you triggered something else as well."

Mudd rolled his eyes at the nickname, but he'd certainly been called much worse in his day. Alistair made his way to the side of one of the many chambers, but unlike the others, it was humming and showing signs of activity.

"This should be a slow process. I'll leave you lads to poke around here for a bit while I check out the other chambers."

Moving closer to the lit chamber, K'toomsu gave the figure inside a critical glance.

"Rather solidly built for someone from your planet, Harry."

Mudd was about to remark back when the unit began making a noise that didn't sound healthy.

"Alistair! Get your rump back over here!"

The echoing voice reached Alistair and he ran back. He saw what the concern was as soon as he arrived.

"Not good. Not good at all. Life support's failing and he's not fully revived yet. There's a chamber over there looks promising. I'm going to trigger it to see if I can figure out between them what to do with this one."

Keeping an eye on the figure in the chamber, K'toomsu suddenly frowned.

"His color is changing - he's suffocating."

Without another word, K'toomsu smashed the door to the chamber open. Mudd cautious peered in and saw that at least the man's chest was still rising and falling.

"Rather dramatic there, Kuty - but do you think it might have harmed him?"

"Not as much as dying from lack of air would have."

They turned as they heard Alistair hurrying back.

"No good, mates. I think we're just going to have to break -"

The words stopped as Alistair's eyes spotted the wrecked door and then he just gave a rueful chuckle.

"Looks like you beat me to it. Hold on - you're bleeding, Kuty. Why don't you take our friend there aboard the Azalaris and get yourself patched up? We don't know how many century old germs might be hanging around this stale atmosphere. That's not safe with an open wound and he'll likely revive better in fresher air."

The second grumbled, but agreed. After contacting the Azalaris, K'toomsu stood beside the unconscious man as the teleport took them over. Once they were gone, Mudd took a closer look at the inside of the vacated chamber.

"I wonder where these people were headed?"

"Hard to say, Fennie. Sleeper ships were designed for flights that would last longer than you could keep a crew alive for. Needless to say, they weren't terribly popular. Can't imagine where they would have been heading going this direction, but the navigation computer might have had a problem and thrown them off course. Speaking of problems, over two dozen of the other chambers have malfunctioned - the ones inside them are long dead and account for part of the stench onboard. Still, there's fifty or so chambers still viable. Do you think we sho -"

Alistair's voice was literally choked off mid-word as a powerfully built man literally lifted the engineer off of the deck by his neck. Mudd was further stunned when he realised the man was holding Alistair with only one hand while his other hand was pointing to the damaged chamber.

"What have you done with Khan?"

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Alistair's struggles were starting to grow weaker from lack of air as Mudd cast about mentally for a way to calm the large man and save his engineer's hide.

"Easy, friend - easy. That chamber was malfunctioning. My second was the one who broke into it to keep Khan from suffocating, injuring himself in the process. He took your man back aboard our ship to see what could be done for him. Please - let my engineer down."

The man's dark eyes studied Mudd as if he were looking into his core. A moment later, Alistair was dropped to the deck, gasping.

"You are an engineer? You can start the revival cycle on the others?"

Mudd answered for the still gasping Alistair.

"Of course he can. He's the one that started yours."

"Good."

The dark eyes fixed on Alistair again.

"Start the process on the others immediately."

Startled, Mudd spoke.

"Now wait just a -"

Mudd shut up as the man shifted his gaze from Alistair and took a menacing step toward him. Bravery in the face of possible physical violence was not Mudd's strong suit. He usually - well, always - left the physical confrontations to Kuty. Quaking a bit inside as he tried to maintain a steady front, he gave Alistair a nod.

"Go ahead, boyo. Go do as the man wants."

Scrambling to his feet, Alistair moved to the first viable chamber in sight and quickly initiated the cycle. To Mudd's relief, the man's attention went back to Alistair as the man moved directly behind and towered over the engineer, watching like a hawk. The near growl behind him as he finished made Alistair flinch.

"Continue. Don't just stop at one."

After a rapid consideration of the pros and cons of honesty, Alistair bit the bullet and spoke up.

"I don't know what condition the power stores on this ship are. If I start too many cycles at once, it might cut off the life support on the remaining chambers. The main power drain on the system seems to occur in the first three minutes. Once that's passed, I'll start the next one going."

The silence was heavy as the man stared down Alistair. Finally, he spoke.

"That is acceptable. Carry on while I speak with your leader."

The relief Alistair felt at the man moving away from his back was enormous - almost as large as the gain in tension Mudd felt as the man's attention turned back to him again.

"Who are you?"

"Harcourt Fenton Mudd. Captain of the Azalaris."

"You don't look to be a military man."

"I'm not, sir. My ship is a merchant vessel. And you are?"

The man paused, looking back toward where Alistair was moving to start work on another chamber.

"I go by the name of Remus. I am Khan's second. So. A merchant ship. I would like to hire you then, Captain Mudd."

The immediate flair of interest from Mudd told Remus all that he needed to know. This Mudd character and his ship could be had for a price. Even if the price in the end wasn't what Mudd expected.

"No offense, Mister Remus - but hire me with what exactly?"

"We are a colony ship, Captain Mudd. We brought many things with us. I'm sure some things may no longer be of any value, but others could be worth quite a bit. I'm sure we could come to a mutually satisfactory agreement?"

The two began bartering back and forth, even going to some of the side rooms and viewing the items Remus spoke of trading. Mudd tried to remain dispassionate, but some of the items may have been common enough in the time these people came from, but now? Some of them were rare. And rare tended to mean valuable. If you knew the right buyers and markets, that is - and Mudd did.

Both Mudd and Remus looked around when Alistair made a slight noise to draw their attention. The engineer looked nervous and was obviously looking to stay well out of the range of Remus' grasp.

"I've finished starting the cycles on the viable containers. I wanted to know what you want done with the others."

The expression on Remus' face went stormy.

"What others?"

"The ones that - well, the ones that didn't make it."

Remus moved faster than Mudd would have believed possible and had Alistair hefted up again in seconds - this time by grabbing a handful of his tunic instead of a handful of neck. Pulling the hapless engineer within inches of his face, Remus screamed at the man.

"You mean your ineptitude killed some of my brethren!?"

"No! Listen, it wasn't me! Some of the chambers failed - like Khan's did, only weeks or years ago. Some of them were probably dead before I was even born!"

Alistair took a shaking breath as he was slowly lowered back to the floor.

"Before . . . you were born? How long? How long have we been in the sleep?"

Shooting a glance to Mudd, Alistair swallowed hard, again opting for the full truth.

"I couldn't say exactly, but judging from the construction and some of the parts that were used? If the ship was close to new when you went into space? Well over two hundred years. If the ship was new? Closer to three hundred years."

The response from Remus could barely be heard.

"She was new."

Seeming stunned by the amount of time that had passed while he slept, Remus moved away from Alistair. He was quickly distracted as the first of the other chambers opened and a woman emerged. Then he turned back to Alistair, seeming more resigned now than angry.

"Show me the failed chambers. How many have failed? How many men and how many women? I must know where we stand."

Mudd gave Alistair an encouraging nod, but in all honesty, his main attention was on the woman in front of him. Just as Khan and Remus were male to the extreme, she was feminine to the extreme. She was in reality what he'd made other women appear to be through trickery back when he was scamming miners with the modern equivalent of brides to order. Puffing a bit like a male peacock, Mudd went over and took the hand of the bemused looking woman.

"Captain Harcourt Fenton Mudd at your service, m'lady."

"I am Javina, Captain Mudd."

She allowed him to retain hold of her hand. From her coloration and lilting accent, Mudd guessed she was likely from somewhere around Jamaica. He couldn't help wondering if she was married to one of the men onboard or if she was available. Beautiful women were a weakness of his and he rather missed his bevy of beautiful androids.

As the next container began to open, Javina excused herself from Mudd with a brilliant smile and moved to help the man beginning to stretch. She spared another glance toward Mudd. If that man was an example of the people that they would have to contend with? They would soon build the empire that Khan promised them.

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The numbers were discouraging. Close to a third of their original number were dead. Thirty-five men and twenty-three women were all that remained of the eighty-four souls that had begun the flight so very long ago. Alistair watched, obviously nervous, as Remus rubbed his head and allowed the implications of everything to sink in. It was never a large group and they had lost so many. Worse, they had lost some of their specialists. Through what he viewed as a cruel twist of fate, they had lost every single individual with more than the most basic of medical training. Almost three hundred years since they'd left the Earth - space travel had obviously progressed to the point where a man like Mudd - far from peak condition - was not only traveling in space, but commanding a ship. Unbelievable.

Still, Remus was a genius and he was already seeing the path he needed to take. It was obvious that the engineer had spoken the truth. Many of the bodies resembled mummies he'd seen in museums as a boy. He reached out and grasped Alistair's shoulder - the man reflexively flinched. But then, Remus met Alistair's eyes and turned on the charm that had made him Khan's representative.

"Please, Engineer Alistair. Accept my apologies. The shock of waking - finding myself with strangers and my friend missing? It was all too overwhelming and I lashed out at someone who was only trying to help."

Remus allowed a hint of despair to touch his features as he looked into the chamber containing a long-dead woman and from the corner of his eye, he could see some of the tension in Alistair being replaced by compassion. Excellent. Nearly three hundred years of technology to catch up on and they would need to coax Mudd's crew into helping them do it. It was time for a velvet glove instead of an iron fist. Willing teachers would share far more information.

He spotted one of the recently awaken women and gave the still bewildered Alistair a friendly pat before moving over to speak with her. They were a multi-ethnic group and he judged that Leona's pale skin and strawberry blonde hair might be the one among them that could soothe down any lingering suspicions Alistair might have. All it took were a few whispered words and soon Leona was by Alistair's side, thanking him for his role in their rescue.

They needed to get themselves and as many of their supplies as possibly over to Mudd's vessel and as quickly as possible. One thing was very sure - the S.S. Botany Bay would not be the vessel to bring them to a new home.

Exchanging a knowing glance with Leona, Remus headed back to speak with Mudd and smirked to himself as he found the man's eyes glued to the back of Javina. He knew Javina was easily the equal of any the other augments and doubtless superior to anyone on Mudd's crew, but it was doubtful that Mudd had any idea who any of them were. Which was very much to their advantage.

Moving to Javina's side, he greeted her and said a few soft words in her ear before turning to the others of their group who were sensibly staying quiet and adjusting as they studied the two unknown men in their midst. Everyone stepped back with a gasp as the sparkle effect of the transporter appeared and left K'toomsu behind. The sight of the obviously alien man again enforced to Remus just how much they would need to learn to be able to forge their place in this new time.

For his part, K'toomsu was a bit taken aback that the other chambers had been emptied. He shot Mudd a glance, then sighed. An attractive woman. To him, that explained everything.

When Mudd noticed that Javina's eyes were staring in outright surprise, he turned his head and finally saw K'toomsu. Breaking out in a smile, he moved over to his second, motioning Remus over.

"Remus, this is my second I spoke of, K'toomsu. Kuty, Remus here is the second to the man you rescued from the failing chamber."

Mudd thought it was well worthwhile to stress that Kuty had kept Khan alive - especially with the way the two men were eyeing one another. After a few tense moments, Remus offered K'toomsu his hand and it was accepted.

"I thank you on Khan's behalf. How is our leader?"

"Stable for now as best we can tell, but we don't have a real doctor aboard the Azalaris. I was hoping you might have a physician among your people?"

Remus didn't have to fake the regret on his face.

"As an intended colony, we did have them among our numbers, but none of them survived the journey. Khan is a strong-willed man. I have faith that he will hold on until aid can be found for him."

Moving directly to K'toomsu's left side, Mudd threw an arm around his shoulders and he immediately knew he wasn't going to like whatever it was he was about to hear.

"Kuty, Remus and I have made an agreement that we will take he and his group aboard the Azalaris as cargo. We've almost gotten the payment arrangements ironed out."

It wasn't easy, but K'toomsu managed to hold his temper at not being consulted on the arrangement. It didn't take him long to note that these strangers all had the physique of warriors - and there were enough of them that they would outnumber the crew of their ship. He was distracted from those thoughts by Remus.

"Forgive us for staring, but you are obviously not from Earth. We have much to learn - might we start by knowing what you are?"

Far from taking insult, K'toomsu was amused. He preferred straightforward questions to beating around the bush.

"I am probably not your best introduction to other lifeforms. You are unlikely to met another like me during your lifetime. My father was a Klingon and my mother an Orion."

The obvious power of the man in front of him intrigued Remus as well as Javina - though Javina was careful for now to keep her admiration for K'toomsu's form unseen by Mudd.

"We must speak more once my people have settled onboard. I am sure your story would be most intriguing. Captain Mudd? Could we begin getting some of my people aboard your vessel?"

As if on cue, Javina moved close to Mudd.

"Oh yes, Captain Mudd, could we? I can't wait to see your ship. Would you take me on a tour of it?"

It didn't escape Remus' notice that K'toomsu rolled his eyes as Mudd drank in the obvious flattery. Well, well - at least one member of the Azalaris crew wasn't as easily snowed as the others. Soon he would find out which the rest of the crew was most like. Remus continued watching the olive toned man as K'toomsu spoke to Mudd.

"Harry? We're going to need to head for a Starbase. Our supplies aren't going to last long with this many additional mouths to feed."

"Hmm? Oh yes, you're right, Kuty. Have Meram and Tysha work out our way to the nearest one for us to restock."

Clearing his throat to get their attention, Remus gestured behind him.

"We might need the aid of your engineer to help us make sure that they are still good after our prolonged flight, but we brought food stuffs with us."

"Excellent. Alistair? Why don't you remain and give a hand with that while we start getting the rest of these people moved over to the Azalaris."

"Sure, Harry - I can do that. Remus? If you have anything in the way of bedding, it would be a good idea for us to take that over as well to make sure there's enough for everyone."

"An excellent idea, Engineer Alistair. Shall we begin?"

Remus clapped a hand on Alistair's shoulder, pleased that the engineer was no longer flinching from him. So far, things were going as well as could be hoped with the exception of Khan's condition, but he had no doubt that Khan was far too stubborn to die after so long of a wait.

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The transfer of supplies, personal items and people off of the Botany Bay went much faster than K'toomsu was comfortable with. Javina quietly reported to Remus that K'toomsu not only seemed to immediately dismiss any flattery, but it also seemed to make him wary of the person issuing the compliments. That led Remus to believe that, much like from their time frame on Earth, unique often equated to ostracized despite personal merit. He filed that knowledge away as both interesting and potentially useful.

After consulting with one another, it was decided to leave the dead on the Botany Bay and make their personal effects community property. It was that community property that Remus used to purchase their passage from Mudd. Oddly enough, Remus found he had an ally in those negotiations. K'toomsu didn't have any grief with Mudd making a profit off of the Botany Bay crew, but he apparently drew the line when it became too close to what he considered stealing. And since K'toomsu had as good an idea of the relative worth of such things as gems and precious metals as Mudd did, there wasn't much Mudd could bluff past.

It was the fifth day of the Botany Bay crew being onboard that Remus overheard a conversation - more like an argument - going on between Mudd and his second. He hesitated, then stayed carefully out of sight to listen in.

"You're killing me here, Kuty. He was willing to pay whatever I ask so why shouldn't I have asked for more?"

"Because they asked to hire us and you agreed, Harry. That implies a contract and that is an entirely different matter than if you had offered to transport them in exchange for their things."

"What did I do to deserve a second with a code of honor?"

K'toomsu's reply was dry.

"I could read off your list of warrants if you like, Harry. Plus, I know you - you've already sent in a salvage claim on the Botany Bay, haven't you?"

"Well . . . possibly."

"Scrap metal off that heap alone would more than pay for their passage, Harry. And you and I both know damn well you aren't planning to track these folks back down and hand over their share."

"Be reasonable, Kuty. I'll be doing all the work, so why shouldn't I keep the profits?"

The snort of derision was plan in any language.

"All the work? My mother's collar, Harry - you've never done a day's work in your life. You're allergic to it."

"Let's have it, Kuty - what's really bothering you about all this? I know you've always had a nasty moralistic streak, but you don't normally ride me this much about it."

K'toomsu's voice went down in a way that drew Remus' attention immediately.

"I've been keeping a close eye on them. Six of them are already showing signs of being ill."

"Ill? But what - oh."

"Yes. Oh. These people haven't exposed to so much as a cold for nearly three hundred years, Harry. I keep up my vaccinations and I know you do because you're paranoid, but do you think the rest of our crew is that fastidious? Not to mention, those folks could be carriers of germs that haven't existed for a couple hundred years that they don't bother to vaccinate against any more."

Mudd's voice got squeaky at that thought.

"You're right. Do I look feverish? Are my eyes glassy?"

"You lived with androids too long, Harry. You're a raging hypochondriac."

"Well, I'm not going to take chances. Have Meram check with the Starbases. We need one with real medical help available on it, not just nurses sitting around with dermal regenerators to fix scrapes."

"Fine - hang on. K'toomsu to Bridge - connect Meram."

"Yes, Kuty?"

"Does the Starbase we're headed for have full medical? If not, let me know who does."

"The one we're heading toward is a simple restock station. No major facilities. We can divert to Starbase 124. They have full medical facilities, but no current assigned doctor. However, the Enterprise is due to dock there for checkups and inoculations for the crew of the Starbase."

"Thanks, Meram. K'toomsu out."

Mudd hissed at that.

"That's good news and bad news. The Enterprise and I have . . . had dealings before."

"Does that mean they threw you into prison, Harry?"

"Don't be a smart-ass, Kuty. But yes."

"No worries, Harry - we can just avoid the Starbase while the Enterprise is there."

"That's just it - we don't want to avoid the Enterprise. The crew should only be about halfway through their mission, which means McCoy is still the doctor onboard. He might be a pain about nonsense like laws, but he's probably the best doctor in Starfleet. If we've got a possible plague here, he's one of the few men that could find a cure for it."

Remus could hear Mudd pacing - obviously weighing the risks against the gain.

"We'll risk it, Kuty. Tell Tysha to change course. When we contact the base, we'll use your name as Captain just in case anyone's monitoring the transmissions."

"And how exactly do you expect us to approach the doctor? The Enterprise won't let either of us aboard."

"Ah, there's the beauty of it, Kuty. If there are facilities on the station, they aren't going to teleport people on and off the Enerprise. McCoy will go to the station and use their Sickbay to do the checkups. Don't worry - I'll find a way to convince him to check over everyone."

Quietly, Remus left to contemplate everything. The fact that Mudd was cheating them was frankly expected and didn't really matter much to Remus as he intended to take over the Azalaris himself once his people had learned enough to run her by themselves. But Remus needed his people healthy - and he needed Khan back. The doctor sounded like he was the way to both of those goals.

The Azalaris shifted course and, while Mudd made plans, Remus was making plans of his own.

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5525.1 - After two days of bedrest followed by several days of limited duty, Ship's Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy has been cleared back to full duty status now that test results have confirmed that the Fabrini cure has indeed removed the rare blood disease xenopolycythemia from his system. As such, the Enterprise has been ordered to resume the standard medical checks of the Space Stations currently lacking their own full medical staffs. We are currently approaching Starbase 124 which has both shopping and recreational facilities available. I will be authorizing periods on the Starbase to off-duty personnel while the medical checks of the Starbase personnel take place. With the number of personnel to be seen along with the necessary inoculations and testing, Doctor McCoy has given me a working estimate of three days to complete the mission.

Shutting off the log recording, Kirk gave a glance to the viewscreen before standing.

"Mister Spock, time to go check out the preparations in Sickbay. Mister Sulu, you have the con."

"Aye, Captain."

Spock fell in step behind his Captain and they entered the turbolift.

"What do you think of Bones' estimate of how long we'll need to stay at Starbase 124, Spock?"

"As those in charge of the station have requested that there be no interruption of work schedules, I would say that the time frame the doctor has given is well within the time that I would expect given the number of personnel to be seen and taking into account how long it has been since the last time a doctor was at the station. Is there a concern over the amount of time we will be docked?"

"No, not at all. I guess I'm just a little concerned that Bones might be rushing things a bit. The cure for the disease thankfully worked, but it took a toll on him. He still hasn't regained the weight he lost."

"I see. So your concern is more a case of worrying that the doctor may be trying to do the checkups in too short of a time frame. Perhaps it would be best to have a word in private with Nurse Chapel as to his current state."

"Good idea. Being fit enough to return to normal full duty isn't the same as being back to full health."

They entered Sickbay to find Doctor McCoy and Nurse Chapel doing an inventory of supplies and loading them into the cases that they would be transported to the station in. Kirk grinned as he moved over to where they were working.

"Everything checking out alright, Bones?"

It didn't escape his notice that his friend was looking a bit worn.

"We've got most of it ready except for the antibiotics that the lab is working up more of, Jim. Little bit of a whirlwind right now, but I'd rather have it ready than have scramble to get enough made before we leave the station."

"No need to worry about scrambling for anything, Bones. We aren't under any other orders at the moment so if we need to stay an extra day or two, it isn't a big deal."

"That reminds me - could I see you in the labs for a moment, Spock? I'm having some grief with one of the analyzers."

"Of course, doctor."

Kirk watched quietly as the two men headed to the labs, waiting until they had left the area before turning to Nurse Chapel.

"How is he doing? Really."

Looking slightly torn between loyalty to her CMO and loyalty to her Captain, she sighed before answering.

"For a man dying a a fatal disease only last month, I'd say he's doing excellent."

Kirk sensed the need for a slight nudge.

"But? Come on - I can't watch out for him unless I know what I need to be watching for."

"But his appetite still hasn't returned to normal, so he's still losing weight. Not an amount to be alarmed about, but I'd prefer to see him gaining again. He tires easily, but that hasn't seemed to affect his concentration. I have my doubts about how well he's sleeping. Those Fabrini drugs were effective, but harsh. It wouldn't surprise me if it took another month or two for his body to settle back down into normal parameters."

"Is this station check coming too soon?"

Packing away the hypospray she had in her hand, Chapel considered for a moment before shaking her head.

"No. It should be a slow, steady routine barring any emergency surgery cropping up."

"I want you to be my eyes there. If you think he's overdoing it, let me know. I wasn't kidding - we can extend our time without any problems."

"I will. Would you do something for me?"

"And what's that?"

"Will you and Mister Spock try and take your meals with him when you can? It might encourage him to eat more."

The smile reappeared on Kirk's face.

"We can certainly put forth the effort there."

"Thank you."

The sound of the approaching conversation made both of them smile.

"I appreciate the hand there, Spock. I was about ready to see if a swift kick to the side would make that damn thing behave."

"I hardly think physical force would have in any way solved the calibration problem or caused the equipment to perform more efficiently, doctor."

"Mebbe not, but it would have made me feel better."

Moving over, Kirk clapped on hand onto McCoy's shoulder.

"That sounds like a man in need of a break. Why don't you join us, Bones? We'll head to the Officers Mess and grab a bite to eat."

"That actually sounds pretty good, Jim. Chris? Let's give this a rest and come back to it in about an hour."

"Yes, doctor."

The trio was halfway to the Officers Mess when McCoy gave Kirk a side glance.

"This was Chris' idea, wasn't it?"

The Captain shrugged.

"It was a good idea. She's just worried about you, Bones. We all are."

"Yeah. I know, Jim. Aftereffects of those drugs. Threw my taste buds out of whack. Everything tastes like mud or cardboard. Be hard enough to force it down even if I did have an appetite. Which I don't."

Spock added in from the side.

"Understandable, but perhaps for the moment you might wish to concentrate on simply maintaining the weight you are at. Stopping further loss seems a logical first step."

"Somebody mark a calendar - I'm agreeing with Spock. You're right though. Even if I can't gain for now, I need to at least quit losing more. Tell you what, I'll let you two buy me breakfast in the morning before I start work on the station checkups."

"That hardly seems necessary as we do not pay for meals."

"Not onboard, you hobgoblin - on the station. Maybe they'll have something over there that will at least taste different."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Bones. I want to get a look at the station's recreation facilities before releasing the crew and the station had asked you to take a look at their hydroponics lab, didn't they, Spock?"

"They did indeed."

"That's perfect then. We can all beam over together and eat before we divide up and start work."

Kirk was rather pleased with the way things were looking. After what had been a tense year to date, a few days at the Starbase might be what they all needed to catch their breath.

Chapter Text

The Azalaris was two days out from Starbase 124 when Anthony, the first member of the Botany Bay group to become ill, died suddenly. By that time, no less than nine others were also ill. Remus worked with K'toomsu and Alistair to make an isolation area for those already sick. Remus also made sure that Khan was kept separated from everyone else as much as possible.

The rest of the Botany Bay's people were reading everything available through the Azalaris' computers. This set off another alarm bell for K'toomsu, but he could never catch Mudd by himself for long enough to discuss it with the con man/Captain. Either Remus or Javina seemed to by his side and K'toomsu knew how low the odds were of Mudd actually listening to anything when he had his eyes on a woman.

The whole of the Botany Bay crew made K'toomsu edgy, but none as much as Remus. That edginess turned into suspicion when he heard that Remus was questioning other members of the Azalaris crew about Klingons. Although it did amuse him that Remus seemed to become more wary himself after hearing a few stories regarding Klingons in battle.

It didn't really surprise K'toomsu when Remus tried to pull him into the area where Khan was laying - it did surprise him that the human was successful. He had been overpowered by a group of humans in the past, but never by an individual. As he found himself pinned against the bulkhead, he growled.

"You aren't normal humans. What are you?"

No answer was forthcoming from Remus, but suddenly part of what he had considered worthless lessons in history clicked into place and he hissed out one line that made Remus release his hold.

"You fled the Eugenics Wars."

The dark eyes almost seemed ablaze.

"What do you know of the Eugenics Wars?"

A barely noticable smirk formed on K'toomsu's lips.

"I know your side lost."

That earned K'toomsu another slam against the bulkhead, but he was too amused to be bothered by it.

"The truth hurt, Remus?"

"You know nothing about what was going on then!"

"I know a saying my sire once told me - meQtaHbogh qachDaq Suv qoH neH."

"What does that mean?"

"Remember that neither of my parents spoke Terran common as a native tongue, but I believe that 'only a fool continues to fight inside of a burning house' is fairly close."

Remus backed from K'toomsu again, studying the man closely.

"Does that mean you see the reason for our exodus?"

"No. Only those of you who were there know whether your exit was a strategic withdrawal or a cowardly running with your tails between your legs. It merely means that I acknowledge that I personally cannot think of any reason to fight for a planet if you believe there will be nothing left of that planet for the victor to claim when the fighting is done."

The fire was still visible in Remus, but banked for the moment as another thing K'toomsu had said came back to him.

"You have no human blood in you at all?"

"Not even a drop. You will come to find, Remus, that your home world is merely one among thousands. There are more non-Terrans than Terrans in the universe."

"But the crew of this ship seems to be human."

A wry smirk formed on K'toomus' face.

"There are a lot of Terrans on ships. I have always assumed there is something about your home world that makes its natives want to leave it."

It really wasn't a point Remus could argue since they had left the planet for newer territories.

"Perhaps we are just a restless race."

Remus had changed to a friendlier tone which immediately made K'toomsu tense again, his olive coloration growing darker.

"I don't understand you, K'toomsu. You relax more when I attack than when I'm trying to be pleasant."

"I knew that the attack was sincere. The smile is what I question."

"You're brighter than your Captain."

"Harry's has his own talents, but he relies on them too much. And doesn't take enough notice of the talents of others. Most notably when a female in possession of generous mammary glands is within sight."

That gained a laugh from Remus.

"I had noticed that. I also noticed that you don't seem too impressed by the same things."

"It isn't that the interest isn't there, but with my parentage, most females are too - frail."

That was another item Remus filed away for another time. For now, he wanted to see what other information he could get out of K'toomsu. He decided to start by asking about what he already knew about where they were going.

"This Starbase we'll be arriving at soon. Will it have the medical aid I need for my people?"

The answer came with a shrug.

"It normally wouldn't, but one of the Starfleet ships will be there when we arrive and Harry seems convinced that he can persuade the doctor into helping."

"Your opinion on that?"

"Were I the Captain of the Enterprise and if I knew of Harry's reputation? I would not allow let my lowliest ensign anywhere near him, let alone someone as vital as a doctor."

"You're a blunt one with the truth."

"Harry calls it my greatest failing. You aren't going to be entrusting your leader there to Harry's gifts of persuasion, are you?"

"Hardly. This doctor - do you believe that he could actually be of use?"

"The Enterprise is one of the premier ships of Starfleet and Harry said Doctor McCoy is probably Starfleet's best. Harry might tend to exaggerate his own worth, but not that of others, so I doubt you could find a better doctor. Besides, Harry's obviously willing to trust his own health to the man and Harry puts a high price tag on his own skin."

Nodding to himself, Remus moved over to the biobed that was maintaining Khan's comatose body.

"If we bring over the equipment from the station, will it be of use or just inert metal?"

"Unless the equipment is wrecked, Alistair can get it hooked up and working. Probably could do it even if it were wrecked given enough time and resources."

At that, Remus looked back up at K'toomsu.

"Thank you. You have given me a great deal to consider."

"You are welcome."

He started to turn and leave, but K'toomsu paused and looked back to Remus.

"How long do you plan to wait to tell Harry that the Azalaris is no longer his?"

Remus looked slightly stunned for a second and then laughed.

"You are far brighter than Mudd. First, I need him to get me to the doctor. Then we shall see."

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5530.8 - We are beginning the second day of our mission at Starbase 124. After receiving an overview of the needs of the station from the base commander, I have extended the estimated time of our stay by one day. We may need to extend again as Doctor McCoy spent a several hours on the first day overseeing the premature labor of a Caitian woman. The mother and her male twins are currently housed in the Enterprise Sickbay for monitoring by Doctor M'Benga and Doctor McCoy is returning to the scheduled checkups of the station personnel.

As they had done on the first day, Kirk, Spock and McCoy went together to the Starbase early and had breakfast together. McCoy had just sat down with his tray when Spock reached over and placed a rather large glass of pale lavender juice in front of him. The doctor eyed the juice then raised his eyes to look at Spock, who was now seated across from him and next to Kirk.

"What's this?"

"It is juice from the hallorn melon, considered a delicacy on the planet Ferasa. The proprietor of this establishment said that it is courtesy of the Lady M'Hirra whose labor you assisted yesterday as a small thanks for your timely arrival."

Out of pure curiosity, McCoy scanned the liquid with his tricorder before taking a sip. He found both Kirk and Spock watching him and grumbled at them. He hated it when people watched him eat or drink.

"You wanted something, gentlemen?"

"Just wondering how it tastes, Bones."

"Hm. That's a good question. Kinda tastes like someone mooshed up some honeydew melon and mixed some sort of tart berry juice. Not bad, actually. Care to try some?"

"Drink up, Bones. You're the one that needs to put on a few pounds."

Grinning as McCoy gave him another disgruntled look, Kirk gave an approving nod after the doctor relented and drank the rest of the glass. Spock was spooning up some mixed fruits from his bowl as he turned the conversation away from eating.

"Were those children the first Caitians that you have delivered, Doctor?"

"They were. And they definitely rank as number one for the newborns with the most hair. Cute little tykes - then again, most babies are cute. Why, I'm sure that you were an adorable baby yourself, Spock."

"My mother would be in full agreement with you in that matter and would probably appreciate the sentiment. My father tends to qualify the appearance of infants in terms of their size in relation to the averages for their species rather than remarking on physical features."

Shifting his eyes, McCoy exchanged a look with Kirk, both acknowledging silently that they weren't positive if Spock was being serious or pulling their leg. Kirk finally decided to break into the lapse of conversation.

"So, how did you rank on his scale, Spock?"

"I have never been certain. Once I arrived, I am told he spent several hours using different mathematical equations to try and establish a relevant chart comprised of mixing Vulcan and Human standards. However, when he showed his research to my mother following her labor, she apparently attempted to make him consume his PADD. That reaction was enough to dissuade him from further attempts to determine an average."

McCoy slightly choked on his coffee from laughing - Kirk wasn't in much better shape having unwisely decided to take a bite of food at the wrong time. Spock just raised a brow while watching both of them, then sedately took another bite of fruit. Finally, McCoy managed to regain enough breath to speak again.

"I really do need to send your mother a token of appreciation one of these days, Spock. She's quite a woman. So, what mischief are the pair of you going to be getting into while I'm looking down throats and up . . . medical records?"

Kirk chuckled - more at the look on Spock's face that showed he didn't get McCoy's jest than at the joke itself.

"The base commander has offered me a full station tour that I'm taking him up on. I believe you said you were going to be back at the hydroponic labs again today, Spock?"

"That is correct. The scientists have been trying to grow some varieties of Vulcan vegetables here and I agreed to assist them in trying to get the nutritional balance adjusted for optimal growth. Being desert plants, the balance of getting enough nutrients to the plant without excess water is the concern."

The conversation turned to more general topics during the remainder of breakfast before McCoy cast a glance to the station's chronometer.

"I'd better get going. Chris should be down any minute. Are we meeting here for supper again after work today?"

"That sounds good to me, Bones. May as well take advantage of the different fare while we can."

"In that case, I'll see the two of you later."

In particularly high spirits after the births the day before, McCoy cast glances at the display tables of the merchants that were between the restaurant and the medical area. A shawl - or what looked like a type of shawl to him - caught his eye. Whatever the material was, it was light and as iridescent as a dragonfly's wing. It reminded McCoy of a lazy summer day by a stream and he gave in to the impulse to purchase it, hoping it might be something Spock's mother might enjoy having. Then he remembered that he couldn't pronounce, let alone spell, Spock's last name. The merchant assured him that with Sarek's name along the fact that he was a Vulcan ambassador, he could guarantee delivery to Amanda and even mentioned that she would likely receive it fairly quickly as Vulcan ships often made restocking stops at the Starbase. McCoy took him at his word and jotted down a brief note to enclose with the present before hurrying on to meet Chapel.

His timing was nearly perfect - she was just solidifying from the transport over as he walked into the room.

"Good morning, Chris - ready?"

"Very. I dropped in for a quick look at the twins before beaming down. They're precious."

Smiling, she sat down the container of extra supplies she'd brought with her before turning and noting McCoy was smiling as well.

"You're certainly in a chipper mood this morning, Leonard. You should deliver babies more often."

He raised a brow at his head nurse's comment and tsked her good naturedly.

"Let's not go encouraging the crew start a population boom just to improve my mood. Did you remember to pick up the vitamin boosters?"

"Got them right here. Give me a couple of minutes to add them to our inventory list and we'll be ready to start seeing patients."

As she busied herself, Chapel suddenly froze and listened. Was it? It was - Leonard was actually humming to himself while double checking the biobed they were going to be using. It looked as if these few days at the station were going to be even better for her boss than she'd hoped.

Chapter Text

Tysha made a slight adjustment to the controls before her and then glanced over her shoulder to where Mudd, K'toomsu and Remus were standing.

"We're within hailing distance, Kuty. We need permission before we get any closer to the station."

"On it, Ty."

Nodding, K'toomsu moved to the communication panel. Checking for signals, he locked onto the broadcast requesting that they identify themselves. Flipping the proper switch, he spoke into the panel's mike.

"Starbase 124, this is Captain K'toomsu of the merchant ship Azalaris. We request permission to dock for supplies."

"This is Starbase 124. Acknowledge, Azalaris. Permission to dock at Pod B, Dock 5."

"Pod B, Dock 5 acknowledged. Azalaris out."

Remus had waited patiently until the transmission ended to question the exchange.

"I thought that you were the Captain, Mudd."

The rotund con man fidgeted a bit under Remus' hard stare, but finally gestured toward the viewscreen where the Enterprise was just being to come into sight.

"The Captain of that ship and I didn't part on the best of terms the last time we met. I thought it would be prudent to refrain from announcing my presence in the area. No sense courting trouble, is there? Not when we're just here to get a bit of medical assistance."

At the sight of the Enterprise, Remus practically drooled. Now that was a worthy looking ship and she was a giant compared to the Botany Bay. Shame that he didn't have the people to take her by force. Then Remus pulled himself back from his musing and reminded himself that Mudd wasn't aware that he already knew about McCoy before he spoke.

"A vessel of that size is bound to have decent medical personnel on it."

Without thinking it through, Mudd spoke up as gazed at the ship himself.

"The Enterprise? That she does. McCoy - finest doctor I've ever come across, if a bit of a stick in the mud."

A fistful of Mudd's collar was quickly in Remus' hand and Mudd quickly regretted his words.

"And he is the one that will be tending to my people and Khan?"

Clearing his throat, Mudd squeaked out his answer.

"Yes, yes - of course. But we'll have to contact him through the station. If I were to contact the ship, they'd arrest me and confiscate this ship. That would leave you stranded."

Remus released Mudd's collar with a growl.

"Very well, but get us onboard the station. I will hold you responsible if I lose anyone else because of delays in getting them aid. Javina, Kamau and I will accompany you."

Swallowing hard, Mudd forced a smile.

"Certainly. Kuty - call the station immediately and request permission for four to beam onboard."

"Right, Harry."

As Mudd was nervously fiddling with his vest, K'toomsu glanced past him to meet Remus' eye and silently weighed where he stood. The very practical part of him told him without doubt that defying what Remus wanted was easily tantamount to suicide and K'toomsu was not a suicidal man.

"Better go grab what you need to barter with, Harry. They'll expect you to be beaming over right after I ask permission."

"Oh - right, Kuty. Right. I'll be right back."

As soon as Mudd had left the area, K'toomsu motioned Remus to the side, gave him a communicator and showed him how to make use of it to contact the ship from the station.

"I doubt you'll be wanting to use the station's teleport pads since more will be coming back than are going over. This will give us a signal for the transporter to lock on so we can bring you back here."

"Will we also be able to bring back the equipment this way?"

"I've had Alistair working on that problem. This contains a number of small beacons. Attach them to the larger items you want brought over. I've got Alistair on the transporter controls. As the beacons activate, he'll bring them over. It would be best to have them all attached and not activate them until you're ready to leave the station for good. All that activity is bound to draw attention and it would be best to be ready to leave before the questions start and we end up stuck here."

Mudd returned and, without further delay, K'toomsu reactivated the communication panel.

"Azalaris to Starbase 124. Request permission for four to come aboard."

"Starbase 124 to Azalaris. Permission granted."

As they beamed over to the station, Remus marveled again at the changes that had come about while they'd slept. Javina and Kamau were frankly a bit overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the Starbase and stuck very close behind Remus.

Mudd had been to Starbase 124 before to trade, so he knew the way to station's clinic. His stride was as confident and cocky as usual right until the minute a very familiar Southern drawl reached his ears.

"Just got word that our next group won't be off-duty for a couple of hours, Chris. Why don't you go grab us a snack while I clean up in here and we'll take a break?"

"It's been a long morning - that sounds wonderful, Leonard. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Take your time. No rush."

Quickly, Mudd ducked into a side passage and kept his face firmly turned as Nurse Chapel exited the clinic. She gave a passing greeting to the two men and one woman that she saw in the corridor as she headed for the merchant section.

A slow smile formed on Remus' face as it dawned on him that the woman must be one that could have recognized Mudd.

"She's gone. Is she also from the ship?"

"Yes. Her name's Chapel. Last I knew, she was McCoy's head nurse."

Remus looked in the direction she'd gone, then reached over and took hold of Mudd's arm, steering him toward the clinic.

"Well? What are you waiting for, Captain Mudd? Introduce me to this doctor of yours."

Less sure all the time if this would work, Mudd adjusted his vest again for the hundredth time and plastered a smile on his face. He might like McCoy well enough, but he liked himself far better. He strode through the door, throwing his arms wide as he entered the clinic.

"Leonard McCoy, as I live and breathe! My old friend! I cannot tell you how good it was to hear a familiar voice this far from home."

Turning, McCoy raised an eyebrow in surprise, but neatly avoided Mudd's arms, much to the amusement of the three with him.

"Can't say I expected to see you here, Harry. You bring Stella with you?"

A shudder ran through Mudd's generous form at the thought of his wife - and the 500 android copies of her he'd been left with the last time he'd encountered the Enterprise crew.

"You are a cruel, cruel man. But much as I'd like to reminisce with you, I'm afraid I have a serious problem I need your help with. I have several on my ship that are sick. Do you suppose you could look them over for me?"

"That depends, Harry. We're in the process here of doing the wellness checks on the station, but tell you what. I can contact the Captain and -"

As he had been talking, McCoy had pulled out his communicator, but before he could activate it, Remus stepped forward and took it from his hand, crushing the device before seizing the doctor by the arm. The strength of the grip startled McCoy - this man was as strong as Spock. Possibly stronger. Not that the strength difference between them tempered McCoy's reaction in the slightest.

"Now wait just a damn minute!"

The fact that the doctor was reacting to the whole situation with annoyance and anger rather than fear impressed Remus, but he didn't lessen his grip on McCoy's arm. As McCoy tried unsuccessfully to jerk his arm free, Mudd stepped in to try and defuse the situation. He decided it would be best not to mention the fact that they needed McCoy to do the exams on the Botany Bay crew. No sense making the man even more tense than he already was.

"Don't draw attention, McCoy. We won't harm you, but I won't guarantee the same for anyone that tries to interfere. We're just here to get the medical equipment."

At that, McCoy fixed his scowl on Mudd.

"Have you lost what little common sense you had left, Harry? Stealing from a Starbase? When the Captain finds out about this, five hundred Stellas are going to seem like paradise in comparison."

"We'll be long gone before he even knows we were here, boyo. Just stop fighting - he's too strong for you to break away from."

As if to emphasize that point, Remus pulled McCoy tightly against him and pinned him there with one arm while tossing the satchel with the beacons to Kamau.

"Get everything marked. We need to leave here as quickly as possible. Mudd - help them."

Wondering exactly when he'd totally lost control over the situation, Mudd moved to help the other two as ordered. This was quickly becoming a nightmare and Mudd was beginning to sincerely wish he'd never laid eyes on the Botany Bay.

Chapter Text

Chapel slowed when she reached the area where the merchants were displaying their wares. She hadn't taken the time before to even so much as glance at the displays, but since Leonard had told her to take her time, she decided to do just that and was looking over a selection of jewelry when a familiar voice spoke near her.

"Christine! Are the station checkups over already?"

She turned smiling as Uhura came over closer.

"No. We're just in a waiting period before the next group comes through. I was looking over the displays, but I was about to grab something for Leonard and myself to eat. If you haven't got any immediate plans, why don't you join us? It would be nice to have a little conversation while we eat."

Uhura laughed at that.

"Can't you and the doctor have a conversation by yourselves?"

"Not a real one. We try, mind you, but no matter how hard we try, we always seem to veer back to talking about medical issues."

"In that case, I'll be glad to help save the two of you from yourselves. After I purchase those earrings."

The two friends laughed and chatted as they made their way over to the area where the food sellers seemed clustered before making their selections and heading back to the clinic with them.

Inside the clinic, McCoy was thoroughly sick of Mudd and whoever the three with him were. He was particularly tired of Remus keeping him squashed against him. It reminded him far too much of the way Joanna used to tote around her favorite stuffed animals when she was about four years old.

"Dammit - will you put me down? I'm a doctor, not a teddy bear."

The comment amused Remus and he released McCoy.

"There. I wouldn't advise you to interfere, doctor."

Huffing the first deep breath he'd been able to get since being grabbed, McCoy just fixed another glare at Remus.

"Fine. Just finish your damn looting so that I can get back to work."

Finishing the exams was going to be a pain in the rear now. McCoy would have to talk to Kirk and get permission to beam folks up a few at a time and do their checkups in Sickbay. There wasn't going to be much choice. Mudd's pirates were stripping the clinic.

Mudd walked back over, slowing as he noted that McCoy wasn't being held any longer and that the doctor's highly irritated gaze was turning back toward him. Remus decided to push the situation just a bit further to see what would happen.

"I believe Captain Mudd forgot to mention one little detail to you, Doctor McCoy."

The blue eyes shifting to give a side glance to Remus were icy now, but practically snapped with pent-up energy. Yes. Remus thought that this would be entertaining.

"Part of the medical equipment we're taking with us is you."

Mudd didn't even see it coming. All he knew is that one minute he was about to speak to Remus and the next minute, he was landing back on the deck with an aching jaw. It took him another minute to place that Doctor McCoy had hit him. Mudd could hear Remus' amused chuckle as he looked up at the furious doctor and mused that McCoy had a hard right cross to accompany his sharp tongue. Anything else that might have been said was frozen as the sound of feminine laughter was heard plainly during that moment of near silence.

McCoy whirled in the direction of the doorway and Remus caught the first real look of concern on the doctor's face. Of course - the woman Mudd had avoided. She and McCoy must be close. He could use that to his advantage. Since his eyes were already on McCoy, he saw that the man was about to call out a warning. Moving quickly, he grabbed the doctor underneath his ribs forcefully, driving the air from him and preventing him from emitting any sound louder than a gasp.

Chapel was still looking at Uhura when the woman suddenly froze for a second before turning and starting to run, pulling out her communicator as she did. Then Chapel saw McCoy and wondered why the doctor didn't just break away from the man holding him. The CMO might be a healer rather than a fighter, but she knew he was far from defenseless.

A man rushed by her to chase after Uhura and her own arm was grabbed by a woman who then pulled her further into the clinic. The strength of the woman's grip told her immediately why the doctor wasn't breaking free. Whoever these people were, they were unbelievably strong.

Uhura had just managed to open her communicator when it was swatted from her hand and into the bulkhead by a blow that sent a pain through her wrist. Before she could react further, Kamua grabbed her tightly around the waist with one arm, lifting her off of her feet while he covered her mouth with his free hand to prevent her from drawing attention. She bit him, but he ignored it as he carried her back to where the others were waiting.

Chapel's communicator had already been removed and tossed to the side by the time Uhura was brought in. McCoy was wishing he could move enough to get his hands on a hypospray as Mudd got back to his feet. The expression on Mudd's face was somewhere between a scowl and a pout as he moved back to where Remus had McCoy. The hold had been loosened enough to allow McCoy to breathe properly again, but not enough for him to get away.

"Hitting me without warning was a low blow, McCoy. I thought you were supposed to be a Southern gentleman."

The drawl as well as the contempt were both thick in the doctor's reply.

"I am. And every Southerner knows how to deal with a mangy cur when they come across 'em."

Shifting his gaze from Mudd to the two women, McCoy looked over them to make sure that they were alright. Chris looked annoyed and confused, but basically fine. Uhura was using her left arm to cradle her right in a way that seemed stiff to him. Another look showed him that her right wrist was swollen and the doctor immediately made use of his whole body, thumping it back into Remus to get the man's attention.

"Listen - I don't know what kind of games you people are playing, but she's been hurt. At least let me do something for her."

An immediate denial of the regret almost came out, but Remus caught himself. The only knowledge he had of Doctor McCoy's abilities was Mudd's word - which he did not hold in high esteem. If this was the man he was going to entrust the care of Khan to, seeing what he could actually do would be wise. Remus wasn't sure who was more surprised when he released McCoy - McCoy himself or Mudd. However, it was amusing to Remus to noe how quickly Mudd manuevered himself well out of range of McCoy's fists.

Not waiting for anyone to change their mind, the doctor quickly gathered up his medkit and went to Uhura's side, facing down Kamau.

"You want to keep her from escaping? Fine - go over there and pretend you're a door. I need her arms free to treat her properly."

Obviously not expecting the tirade from McCoy, Kamau looked to Remus for guidance in how to deal with the man's demands. Remus just smirked and nodded in the direction of the clinic's entrance. Seeing that, Kamau immediately let go of Uhura and moved to take a guard position at the entrance.

Ignoring the others watching his movements, McCoy coaxed Uhura into a chair and began scanning her wrist. Once he'd determined that a hairline fracture and bruising where the extent of her injuries, he gave her a shot to help with the swelling and the pain. He then scanned a second time before making use of the bone regenerator.

"There we go. It's gonna be tender for a couple of days, so take it easy with it until then."

As Uhura softly thanked McCoy, Remus nodded to himself as he noted how different the doctor's demeanor had become as soon as he'd been left alone to work on his patient. Yes, this doctor would do just fine.

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5531.5 - Our mission on Starbase 124 continues with Enterprise personnel coming aboard the station during their off-duty times. Despite the size of the Enterprise, it is a pleasant change of pace for the crew to be able to walk in different surroundings - for the majority of the crew, the chance to get off of the ship for even a few minutes is very rare. From Mister Spock's reports, I am impressed by the number of food plants from different planets that the Starbase cultivates here. I plan to spend some time viewing their hydroponics labs myself before meeting with my senior officers this evening to get the current status updates.

The diplomatic part of the Starbase visit was over, so now that he wasn't spending his time seeing everything the base commander wanted to show off, Kirk decided to spend the remainder his day in the hydroponics lab. It wasn't exactly like walking through a field back home, but he still found it restful to be around growing plants. Spock was showing him the different varieties of Vulcan plant life that the lab was attempting to cultivate due to the number of Vulcan crewed ships that came through.

Kirk was looking over a plomeek plant when the base commander came looking for him, looking rather annoyed.

"Captain Kirk, while we are deeply grateful for the work of your medical department as well as for your Science Officer's aid in this area, I am forced to issue a formal complaint regarding your crew's indiscriminate use of the transporter. Our policies are quite clear that all transport on to and off of the station must be requested and acknowledged before the beaming takes place."

Listening politely, Kirk was frowning by the time the base commander finished.

"That doesn't sound like our Chief Engineer Scott at all. He's very meticulous about following procedures with transports. So, you're saying that our personnel coming aboard for shore leave aren't requesting permission to beam over?"

"No. So far as I am aware, all of those transports have been done correctly. It's the large number of beamings out of the area of the clinic that is the problem."

Spock spoke up at that point.

"Pardon us, commander, but of all of the personnel aboard the Enterprise that might use the transporter to excess, Doctor McCoy is the least likely to do such. While he will make use of it as situation demands, he is not overly fond of the device."

"Be that as it may be, the readings don't lie."

The base commander offered Spock the PADD in his hand and Spock reviewed the data on it rapidly. Watching his second, Kirk began to become concerned as the Vulcan's features grew sterner.

"Captain, this was not a case of things being beamed aboard the station, but rather off of it."

The base commander interrupted at that point.

"As I said, our policies required clearance for all transports both on and off the station."

Raising a brow slightly at the base commander's tone, Spock continued.

"I am well aware of that, sir - however, if you will note, while all of the questionable transporting did beam items out of the clinic, there were transports that were taking place at the same time for personnel leaving the Enterprise to come to the station. As our transporter was busy during the times that the clinic beamings were taking place, the destination could not have been the Enterprise."

"Nonsense. Only your personnel are manning the clinic. Where else would they have gone?"

Spock passed the PADD back to the base commander.

"Check your own records, sir, and see for yourself."

The implications might not have hit the base commander, but they had hit Kirk. After a quick exchanged look with Spock, both of the Enterprise men left for the clinic. Things being beamed out of a clinic that McCoy and Chapel were in without either of them noticing and sounding an alarm was highly unlikely - unless something had happened to them. That was of far more worry to Kirk than the issue of unauthorized transporting.

Still studying the information on his PADD, the base commander didn't notice the exit of the two men for a minute. When he looked up to find himself alone, he made a guess that they were headed for the clinic and hurried after them.

Shortly after they entered the corridor leading to the clinic, Spock's sharp eyes spotted the broken communicator near the bulkhead and he altered his path to pick it up. It only took him a moment to confirm it was from the Enterprise. That was all the incentive they needed to sprint the rest of the way to the clinic. Kirk stopped and stared after entering the area. This time, it was his eyes that spotted a discarded communicator - one that had been crushed.

"I came here the first day with Bones. It looks like most of the medical and lab equipment is missing. Bones!"

Even as Kirk called out the name of his friend, he began an almost frantic search for him. Spock joined the Captain in looking through the clinic's offices and storage areas, calling out to Kirk after finding the still bodies of Chapel and Uhura inside one of the small offices.

"Captain - I have not located Doctor McCoy, but Nurse Chapel and Lieutenant Uhura are here. They both appear to be breathing normally, but are unconscious. It appears that they are both under the influence of some substance."

Having finally reached the clinic himself, the base commander immediately began bellowing about the theft of their equipment. Kirk had finally had enough and turned, snapping at the bureaucrat.

"Look - I appreciate that you're upset about your equipment, but two of my personnel have been assaulted and my Chief Medical Officer is missing. That takes precedence."

Pulling out his communicator, Kirk flipped it open.

"Kirk to Enterprise."

"Enterprise. Sulu here, Captain."

"Cancel all shore leave and recall all personnel to the ship. Have Doctor M'Benga report to the transporter room. I need him to beam over here and check over two patients. Tell him to bring his medkit with him."

While Kirk was speaking with Sulu, Spock went back to questioning the base commander.

"How many ships have left the station today?"

The base commander did a quick check on his PADD.

"Twenty-one with another three readying for departure."

Spock went to one of the pieces of equipment still remaining - the access panel to the station's computers. Checking over the files, he spoke while still viewing the readouts.

"Judging from Doctor McCoy's last patient entry, we are looking at a time frame of within the past two hours."

He quickly typed that information into his PADD. Kirk signed off just in time to hear him answer.

"That narrows it to three ships : the Waneti, a Vulcan freighter - the Azalaris, a Muddavian merchant sh -"

This time, Kirk was the one interrupting with a sinking feeling in his gut.

"What is the home planet listed on that Muddavian ship?"

After making another entry, the base commander looked up."

"Home planet is listed as being the planet Mudd."

There wasn't any doubt in Kirk's mind the second he heard the planet's name - that was the ship that they were after. Spock was obviously of the same mind as he immediately focused on that ship himself.

"Are you able to access the communication logs between the station and the Azalaris?"

"Of course, Mister Spock - just a moment and I'll pull it up for you to listen to."

The communications between the Azalaris and the station were few - permission to dock, permission to transport crewmen aboard. It was the last transmission that gained full attention as they listened to the playback.

"Azalaris to Starbase 124. Request permission to beam five off the station and leave the dock."

"Acknowledged, Azalaris. Permission to beam personnel off station granted. Departure from Pod B, Dock 5 authorized."

"Beaming in process. Beginning departure sequence. Azalaris out."

The playback ended and Spock questioned the base commander further.

"What is the time differential between the unauthorized beamings and the request call from the Azalaris?"

"By our records, the last unauthorized beaming took place about two minutes before the call."

Taking a deep breath, Kirk took charge.

"We're going to need all of the information you can get us on the Azalaris. We need to track her down."

"You're that sure that your missing man is aboard her?"

Spock inclined his head to the base commander's PADD.

"You heard it yourself, sir. They requested permission to beam four onto the station, yet five back to their vessel. Between that, the timing of the unauthorized beamings and the immediate departure of the Azalaris following the last beaming, the odds are well over 97% that it is the ship involved in the theft of your equipment and the apparent kidnapping of our Chief Medical Officer."

As that sank in, the base commander gave a decisive nod.

"I'll get you everything I can find on them. I don't believe this is their first time docking here."

Kirk was impatient to be after the ship, but knew it was going to take a little longer to make sure all personnel were back on the ship and accounted for. He also needed Uhura and Chapel awake to find out what they knew about what had happened. Harry Mudd had already proven himself to be one of those people that had a blatant disregard for how a situation affected anyone but him.

Still thinking to himself, Kirk picked up the crushed communicator.

"Spock? Do you think that somehow Mudd managed to get some of those androids to go off the planet with him?"

M'Benga had arrived and Spock directed him to where Uhura and Chapel were before moving next to his Captain. Taking the ruined communicator into his own hands, Spock studied it before finally speaking, still speaking formally due to the others nearby.

"I would highly doubt that, Captain. The androids were a hive intellect in many ways, requiring their central coordinator."

"Norman, yes - I remember that. But the damage to that communicator - it looks like finger impressions in the casing and that's not anything that the Mudd I remember would be able to do."

"Agreed. As we already know from the voice on the station logs, Mister Mudd is not acting alone. The name -"

Before Spock could continue further, they heard the approach of Doctor M'Benga.

"Lieutenant Uhura and Nurse Chapel had both been sedated, Captain. They're in the process of waking now if you need to speak with them."

"Thank you, Doctor. Come on, Spock. Maybe we'll get a few answers to our questions."

Chapter Text

McCoy came to slowly, disoriented as to what had happened. The first thing that he was fully aware of was that his throat ached. The second was that he was somewhere he didn't recognize.

It all started coming back to him slowly, but the sound of a moan threw him out of trying to remember what happened as the doctor in him reacted to the sound of someone in pain. He felt for his medkit, relieved to find it and his tricorder both still with him, then followed the sound to a room where several people were laid out - all obviously very ill.

There wasn't even a hesitation - McCoy pulled out the tricorder and started checking them over. It didn't take him long to determine that one of the women was near critical and she became the focus of his attention. It wasn't long before he was grumbling under his breath about equipment, then a familiar noise from a nearby room drew his attention.

The medical gear he found in there wasn't set up in any sort of logical order, but at least it was there. Checking the closest biobed, he then spotted where a gurney was parked. Grabbing it, McCoy headed back to the woman and hefted her onto it, using it to get her to the biobed. She was either heavier than she appeared or his stamina was still severely in need of work.

Once he had her onto the bed, he groaned before commenting out loud.

"Either someone's messed the sensors up on this unit beyond all hope or you've got readings worse to track than a Vulcan. Wish I had a baseline for you, my dear - I haven't a clue whether these readings are normal for you or if it's the disease you have making them look this way."

An amused voice came from behind him.

"Do you always talk to yourself, doctor?"

The glance over his shoulder revealed a woman he'd never seen before. His brow rose slightly as he answered her, his tone neutral in spite of his words.

"Yes. Generally speaking, it's the only way I get any intelligent conversation. So you - are you from the same group as she is?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I need a baseline reading so I know what I'm dealing with here. Park it on that bed over there."

Her blue eyes widened in what seemed to be shock.

"Are you ordering me around?"

"See anyone else here? Look, lady - I don't know if you care one way or another about this woman, but unless I can get an idea what's wrong and how wrong it is, I can't even begin to guess how to fix it. You won't be an exact match, but you're a helluva lot closer to anything else I have to go by. So either hop up on the damn bed or go tell whoever's in charge that my hands are tied to help anyone here without some cooperation."

Without another word, the woman moved over to the indicated biobed and got onto it. He sighed and moved over to view the readings. His tone and attitude toward her altered as he spoke to her again.

"That's good. Good. Now, try to relax as much as you can. I need a resting pulse and respiration rate."

Keeping a close eye on the readings, McCoy waited until they stabilized, then recorded them onto his tricorder to feed into the other biobed.

"Thank you. At least I know how high a fever she has now. Does she have a name? I hate to call a patient 'hey, you' if there's another option."

The woman continued to watch his movements with open curiosity.

"Her name is Calypso."

Nodding his acknowledgement of the name, McCoy worked on withdrawing a sample of Calypso's blood for testing.

"I wonder if she was named for the music or the nymph."

"I believe for the nymph."

That answered one of McCoy's questions indirectly. These folks were either from Earth or an Earth colony. He growled as he searched for the machine he needed for testing the blood sample, grunting when he finally found it.

"Whoever arranged all of this hasn't the slightest clue of how a medbay should be set up. So, you have a name yourself?"

"Yes - Leona. And you?"

"Leonard McCoy."

Getting up off of the biobed, Leona slowly circled him as he waited for the tests to complete.

"What is that you're wearing?"

Her question threw McCoy slightly and he looked at himself to see if anything he'd been wearing had been altered. He was still in his usual work uniform.

"Standard Starfleet issue uniform. You've never seen one?"

"What is Starfleet?"

The next voice behind him was one he recognized. The man that had drug him around like a damn kid's toy. He never had heard anyone call the man by name.

"Don't interrupt the doctor while he's working, Leona. Come along."

Irritation rose to the forefront again and McCoy turned to Remus. It didn't help that his last memory of the man was being forced into a choke hold. Which explained the sore throat, now that he remembered that.

"She's being helpful - which is more than anyone else has done. Keep your little secrets or whatever they are to yourselves, but the more information I have, the better chance I have of actually saving these people's lives."

Remus glared at the doctor, trying to intimidate him.

"And if I told you that your lifespan depends on theirs?"

"I'm a doctor, not a god. And I can't read minds or instinctively know the medical history of someone I'm just seeing for the first time who can't speak for themselves."

The test results began coming up and McCoy turned his back on Remus to study the screen. The woman was suffering from a virulent form of a virus that United Federation children had been being inoculated against for well over a century. That plus Leona seeming to be ignorant about the existence of Starfleet was leading him to what he would normally consider to be an outlandish speculation. He turned back to Remus, irritation now quickly being replaced by anger.

"Listen, you people have taken me away from my family, friends, job . . . my whole damn life. Apparently with the intent that I heal these people, but then you practically tie my hands? Sure - I can do tests and research and eventually find the answers I need, but we both know that the ones that are already sick don't have that kind of time left to them. Either give me what I need to know to help them or go ahead and kill me because you've already sentenced them to death."

Remus moved closer and wrapped one hand around McCoy's throat, dark eyes intent on the blue ones.

"You court death so readily, Doctor?"

"No - I fight it tooth and nail every chance I get. Make up your mind - help me, kill me or leave me so that I can try to figure this all out on my own. We're wasting time your people don't have to waste."

Like the flipping of a switch, Remus shifted from being threatening to amusement as he released the doctor.

"Khan will either love you or kill you."

McCoy didn't even bother to question who this Khan was. He figured that he'd find out soon enough.

"I do seem to have that effect on some people."

That got a laugh from Remus and he gestured toward Calypso.

"Then I will tell you about us, Doctor - and we will see what good it does."

"Fine - first though, I want the two of you to help me get those other people into a bed."

Leona gave an amused smile and went to start moving the others. Remus stared briefly at Leona before giving McCoy another look.

"Not one to bother with pleasantries, are you?"

"You want a politician or a doctor? Speaking of pleasantries, since you haven't even bothered to introduce yourself, you aren't exactly one to talk."

Laughing again, he shook his head.

"Remus."

That said, Remus gave in and went to help Leona with moving the other sick to the beds as McCoy started trying to determine which medicines were already available and which he would have to try to synthesize to fight the virus. He might have to modify strengths and dosages depending on what he heard from Remus, but it would be a start. McCoy didn't care at all for the fact he'd been shanghaied, but that didn't mean that he was going to allow people to die if he had any say in the matter.

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Supplemental - We currently still docked at Starbase 124. Mister Spock and I are headed back to what had been the Medical Center of the Starbase, now a mostly empty room that has been stripped of most equipment, apparently by our old nemesis, Harry Mudd. Chief Medical Officer Doctor Leonard McCoy is also missing and I begin to fear that he has been taken.

As Kirk and Spock re-entered the Medical Center, Doctor M'Benga moved out of the way. Both Chapel and Uhura were alert now, both seeming a combination of angry and upset.

Moving over to where they were seated, Kirk looked over them for injuries as he spoke.

"Are you alright? Do you remember what happened?"

Uhura spoke first.

"A bit bruised, but Doctor McCoy fixed the other damage before they took him."

"They? Who took him?"

"I didn't recognize any of the others, Captain, but I did recognize Harry Mudd."

Spock spoke up then.

"Perhaps if you could give us a sequence of events leading to the Doctor being taken?"

Chapel nodded and started in.

"We had been having a busy morning, but nothing out of line. Leonard was in a very good mood following the births of the Caitian twins and the physicals were going smoothly. We reached an opening in our schedule and Leonard sent me off to bring us both back something to eat. While I was in the market area, I ran into Uhura and invited her to come back and eat with us. When we came back into the Medical Center, there were three men and a woman in with Doctor McCoy - one was Harry Mudd and one of the other men was holding onto Doctor McCoy tightly. I wondered why he didn't just pull away from the man, but then the woman grabbed my arm and I knew why. She was very strong, Captain. Possibly stronger than Mister Spock."

Uhura's hand went to her right wrist.

"She's right. When I saw something was wrong, I ran back out of the center and tried to contact the Enterprise, but one of the men caught up to me and knocked my communicator out of my hand - and he hit hard enough to fracture my wrist. But he didn't seem to give it any more effort than swatting a bug. Then he picked me up and carried me back like I was a child."

Speaking with Spock earlier had made Kirk mostly discount the androids, but he wanted to be sure.

"Since we know that Mudd was here, was there any chance that those with him were androids?"

The two women paused, exchanging glances before both firmly shook their heads.

"They would have had to have changed a great deal. None of them looked even slightly like the androids we ran into. Their speech patterns and dress were totally different as well. Plus, I bit the one that was carrying me. That was flesh."

Chapel hesitated, then spoke up again.

"Captain? One other thing. Harry Mudd was here, but he didn't appear to be in charge. Mudd was complaining that Leonard hit him - and from the look of Mudd's jaw, it was a solid hit."

"What do you mean that he didn't seem to be in charge?"

"The man holding Leonard was the one the other two looked at whenever there was a question about what to do next. He was the one calling the shots, not Mudd."

The base commander came through the door, PADD in hand again.

"Captain Kirk, I'm not sure if this is helpful or not, but the Azalaris put in a salvage claim on a derelict wreck. The name of the ship was given as the Botany Bay and I have the coordinates they sent for it in my records."

Spock held out a hand for the PADD as Kirk questioned further.

"When was the salvage claim made?"

"Three days prior to their docking here."

Spock finished reading the claim and offered the PADD over to Kirk.

"The timing seems too close to be a coincidence, Captain. The odds seem to be in favor of whatever Mister Mudd encountered on the derelict ship caused him to require the services not only of a doctor, but also the use of more advanced medical equipment than he had access to."

"In other words, Mudd found something and ended up in over his head. That does sound par for the course for him."

"Indeed. Commander, is there any indications in your records as to where the Azalaris might have been headed to from here?"

"No, I'm afraid we don't have anything that might help you in that regard."

Handing the PADD back to the base commander, Kirk pulled out his communicator.

"If we don't know where they are now, perhaps we'll get an idea by going to where he's been. Mister Spock, you have the coordinates for the derelict ship?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Then let's go have a look at where Mister Mudd and company were before they took our Doctor. Commander - permission to depart?"

The base commander seemed slightly embarrassed about his earlier insistence on protocol, but nodded.

"Permission granted, Captain Kirk. Good luck in finding your man."

"Thank you, Commander - we'll be in touch if we're able to retrieve any of the stolen property. Enterprise - five to beam up."

Once aboard the Enterprise, Chapel remembered their special patients and spoke up.

"Captain, Lady M'hirra and her twins are still aboard."

Kirk stopped after stepping off of the teleporter pad.

"Would they be alright back at the Starbase?"

"Normally, I would say yes, but with the Medical Center torn apart? They don't currently have the facilities that the twins will still need for a few days."

"You and Doctor M'benga? Explain the situation to her and give her the choice of whether she wishes to remain here or be teleported back aboard the Starbase. I need an answer quickly. We'll be undocking as soon as we get clearance."

"Yes, Captain."

Kirk, Spock and Uhura headed straight for the Bridge, Spock moving to Mister Chekov's station to give him the coordinates for where they were headed. Kirk stood by his chair and pressed the shipwide intercom.

"Captain to all hands. We are about to leave Starbas 124. All personnel to their duty stations."

The intercom beeped for him just after the broadcast.

"M'benga here, Captain. Lady M'hirra has decided to remain aboard."

"Very well. Kirk out."

Settling into the Captain's chair, Kirk looked at the image of the Starbase still on the screen, then looked to Sulu.

"Mister Sulu?"

"Permission to leave dock received, Captain."

"Get us out of here, Mister Sulu. Warp factor two."

Chapter Text

McCoy listened as he worked. Leona hadn't known how truthful Remus was going to be with the doctor, but it appeared that he was going to be fairly above-board with him. While he didn't go into specifics regarding the past positions of each of them, Remus did tell McCoy about their group of augments and about their sleeper ship.

It was all very surreal to him, but McCoy had to admit he'd come across stranger things. He started taking what he'd already discovered about his patients and added in the new knowledge, groaning softly. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Alright - so we're looking at bodies that are over two centuries behind on inoculations. How many of your people are there altogether?"

"Fifty-eight of us made it off of the Botany Bay. We've had one casualty since then. These nine ill - plus Khan has yet to regain consciousness."

McCoy rubbed his forehead. He would be very surprised if there weren't others among the group ill even if they weren't showing symptoms yet. He didn't have his own Sickbay - he didn't have his technicians and nurses. Even if he were up to his full stamina, he couldn't do everything that needed to be done all by himself.

"I'm guessing it would be too much to hope that any of your folks have any medical training?"

"Beyond basic first aid training, those who had more extensive knowledge were unfortunately all in the same region of our ship. A section where the power failed. None of them survived."

The exhaustion the doctor was feeling was obvious, but Remus didn't comment on it, waiting instead for McCoy to speak again. None of them paid a great deal of attention when Mudd came to the door and remained to listen in. K'toomsu wasn't far behind him.

"I'm going to need assistance - at least one, preferably two folks with at least a scientific background because I'm gonna have to be doing enough explaining without having to go all the way down to the basics. If they know some chemistry, even better."

In an attempt reclaim command of his ship, Mudd spoke up.

"The Azalaris is my ship, McCoy. Any requests go through me."

Remus, McCoy and Leona all glanced briefly at Mudd. Then Leona turned to Remus as if Mudd had never spoken.

"I have the needed basics and I've already seen some of what the doctor's work entails. I volunteer to assist him, Remus."

"Very good. Doctor, if the patients here are stable, I would like to take you to Khan to get your opinion."

Looking from Mudd to Remus, McCoy looked back to Mudd with a faint wry look accompanied by a shrug before returning his attention to Remus.

"Give me a moment to show Leona what to look out for on their readings so that she can get me if they take a turn for the worse."

Flustered, Mudd made another attempt.

"I am the Captain here!"

Without any rush, Remus moved over to Mudd, gripped him tightly by his vest and lifted the hefty man a good six inches off of the deck without any noticeable strain.

"Then consider this a change of command. You can accept it willingly or go for a space walk. Choose now."

The gulping noise was audible even from where McCoy stood. Mudd started stammering quickly.

"I - I - I resign . . . Ca-Captain Remus."

A snort from the doorway drew McCoy's eye to the man standing there - obviously partially Klingon. Just as obviously not pure Klingon. Still maintaining hold of Mudd, Remus looked toward K'toomsu.

"And you, K'toomsu?"

Taking a step into the area, K'toomsu gave an unconcerned shrug since he had long since noted the shift of power on the ship.

"Do you still wish me to act as second in command, Captain?"

A smirk formed on Remus' face at that.

"For the time being. Return to the Bridge. Doctor - show Leona what she needs to know for now."

With a brisk nod, K'toomsu immediately left the area. Shooting another brief glance to Mudd, McCoy headed over to the biobeds with Leona close behind him. Remus let go of Mudd suddenly and the con man barely managed to stay on his feet.

"You have until the end of the day to shift your possessions from the Captain's room to the common area. I would suggest that you not waste any time."

Still stunned, Mudd practically staggered out of the room. Even if all of his crew decided to back him - which he sincerely doubted they would - they were both out numbered and out powered by the Botany Bay refugees. He silently began cursing himself for not listening to K'toomsu's first warnings about taking all of them aboard. He couldn't even blame Kuty for teaming up with Remus - he'd have done the same.

Over at Calypso's side, McCoy was pointing out the indicators over the biobed.

"I've recalibrated all of them based on the readings I took from you, so none of them will be precise. Especially on the men, but we'll work with what we have. I'm not worried about readings going toward the high side, but if they start dipping below this point, I want to know immediately. Don't wait for the alarms to go off."

"Understood, Doctor. I will keep close watch on them until you return."

Turning back to Remus, McCoy took a moment to restock the medkit at his side as well as to grab his tricorder.

"Alright. Let's go take a look at this Khan of yours. Any particular reason he's been kept off to himself?"

Since he had already been telling the truth to McCoy, Remus didn't see any need to begin to misinform him now.

"Khan is our leader. His sleeper unit was programmed to be the first triggered to start the reviving process, but something went wrong and the unit failed before the entire cycle was completed."

The door to the area Khan was resting in opened and McCoy went straight over, looking over the room as he did.

"I take it that this is the actual clinic area of this ship?"

There really wasn't much to the room and it was set up for no more than two patients at a time. Of course, for a ship the size of the Azalaris and the number of crew it would normally carry, the size was probably about right.

"Such as it is. Since when we first arrived, Khan was the only one needing attention, he was placed here. When the others fell ill, there wouldn't have been room for them all in here. Plus, I felt it best to keep the sick as far away from Khan as possible so long as he was in this condition."

"Good call. Now, Climb up on this bed."

"Why?"

"You look a lot closer to his size and weight than Leona does, so I'd prefer to get a baseline reading from you to compare to him. Even more so since whatever's wrong with him isn't likely to be illness so much as it is a reaction to the long hibernation you were all in. Now, any objections or can we all pretend that my medical degrees mean that I might just happen to know what the hell I'm doing?"

The bemused look formed again on Remus' face as he relented and did as the doctor wished much as Leona had. He couldn't help but wonder what the man's true Captain was like if this doctor was a example of the men under his command. Either a weak man whose crew ran the ship in spite of him or a very strong man that could keep other strong personalities in line.

"Tell me, McCoy - aren't you angry at your Captain for letting you go?"

Not even looking down at Remus as he began to take initial readings, McCoy's initial response was more of a snort.

"The Captain didn't 'let' me go anywhere. Since you were there at the time, I'm sure you recall that I was removed from the station, not my ship."

"Do you follow your Captain without question?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be doing my job. As a senior officer, I don't keep my opinions to myself, but at the end of the day, it's his decisions that we follow."

"And you follow him willingly then?"

There was a short pause and McCoy did take the time to meet Remus' eyes before answering that one.

"To Hell and back."

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5531.9 - We will be arriving shortly at what was likely the last stop made by Harry Mudd's ship before they went to Starbase 124 and kidnapped Doctor McCoy. It is our hopes that we might find some indication there of the possible destination of the Azalaris and why they have taken the doctor. Without something to go on, our chances of finding McCoy are slim.

Chekov glanced over his controls.

"We will be dropping out of warp in five minutes, Captain."

"Very good, Mister Chekov."

After a moment of thought, Kirk activated the ship's intercom.

"Bridge to Engineering."

"Engineering. Scott here, Captain."

"Scotty, I'd like you to come to the Bridge. I want your input on this mystery ship of Mudd's."

"Aye, Captain. I'll be right up. Scott out."

Every crewman on the Bridge had their attention on the viewscreen as the Enterprise dropped out of warp. It only took a moment for Sulu to locate and focus the screens on the Botany Bay. Scotty let out a low whistle.

"Would you look at that wee bairn? I never thought I'd actually see one of those out in space. Pieces of one, perhaps, but not one that was intact."

"What is she, Scotty?"

"She's an old DY class, sir. Pre-warp engine ship. In fact, from the looks of her, I'd be willing to bet she dates back before the old Yoyodyne pulse fusion drives came along."

"But the Yoyodyne drives haven't even been used in new production for what? Over a hundred and fifty years?"

"Aye, that would be about right, sir."

"And you're saying this ship predates that?"

"Aye. I could be wrong, of course, but I dinnae believe that I am. I'd like to get a closer look at that old gal."

"You may get your wish. Hull integrity, Mister Spock?"

"The hull surface shows pitting consistent with the vessel suffering from meteor hits, Captain, but the hull integrity has not been compromised. In fact, I am reading both power and a breathable atmosphere present aboard. And the name is visible - Mister Mudd recorded the information correctly. The ship is the S.S. Botany Bay."

Kirk turned his attention to Spock.

"If I recall my history correctly, Botany Bay was the name of a British penal colony in Australia. Do you think that the ship might have been a prison vessel of some sort?"

"I would highly doubt that just from the financial aspect of those times, Captain. Assuming that the ship was, if not new, then within fifty years of its construction when it was launched? That period of time was a rather violent period during your planet's history. There would have been many more - shall we say, cost efficient ways of disposing of prisoners. Even by today's standards, such a venture would involve a large number of resources."

"Agreed. Still, wouldn't you agree that it is rather strange that you aren't finding any records of the ship's existence? That might imply a degree of secrecy in the launch."

"Strange, but not unexplainable. The historical records for that period of Earth's history are rather spotty due to the destruction of records, some due to war and some deliberate destruction to keep records out of what were considered enemy hands."

"Life signs?"

"None registering, sir."

"Alright, let's lock a tractor beam on that ship. I'm going aboard her. Mister Spock, you have the con - Mister Scott, you're with me. Mister Spock, I want someone from Medical along and also Lieutenant . . Lieutenant - our historian. Let's see if she might be able to shed any light onto this ship."

"Lieutenant McGivers, sir."

Kirk nodded in acknowledgment to Spock supplying the correct name as he and Scotty headed for the turbolift. He hadn't had many dealings with their historian and what meetings there had been had not impressed him.

Nurse Chapel was already waiting in the Transporter room when the Captain and Scotty arrived. Kirk smiled at her, moving over to lay a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you're up to this? I know Doctor M'Benga's not keen on landing parties, but -"

"He didn't order me, sir. I volunteered. If there's anything over there that can help us get Leonard back from those people, I want to help find it."

"I appreciate that and I know Bones does as well. So . . . where's our historian?"

The doors opened just as Kirk was asking the question and McGivers walked in.

"McGivers here, sir."

Already not in the best of moods, the Lieutenant's body language that spoke of her feeling inconvenienced didn't sit well at all with Kirk. As he headed toward the transporter pads, his annoyance was evident in his tone.

"Glad you could squeeze us into your schedule, Lieutenant."

Realizing that she was broadcasting her disgruntlement at the unexpected call more than she meant to be, McGivers swallowed, taking her position quickly and without further comment.

"Energize."

Kirk's hand was on his phaser as soon as they had reformed on the Botany Bay. He noticed both Scotty and Chapel were also on alert. McGivers had more the attitude of someone on a school field trip. Spotting the broken chamber, Chapel moved toward it immediately, pulling out her tricorder. Scotty had moved over to the control panels and was looking over them intently.

"This gal is older than even I was thinking, Captain. She's from the first series of the DY class. A sleeper ship."

"A DY-100 series? Amazing. I wonder how long she's been adrift?"

McGivers was standing in front of one of the chambers with obviously long dead remains inside.

"They must have been very brave. Intrepid explorers of the unknown like Leif Ericson."

Scotty shook his head at the reverence in McGivers' tone.

"More like they were desperate, lassie. They've not been battling their way through the galaxy. They've been asleep. Most of them were probably already asleep before they'd even left the Earth's gravity."

Checking the markings on one panel, Scotty continued.

"If I were to make a guess myself, Captain, I'd say this ship dates to around the end of the Eugenics Wars."

From the side, Chapel's voice called out.

"Captain - there's blood on this broken unit. I haven't been able to fully identify the species, but the markers indicate that the one that bled here is partly Klingon genetically."

Moving over to Chapel, Kirk took a long look at the unit.

"Klingon? Can you tell how old the blood is?"

"As I mentioned, not a full-blooded Klingon, Captain. I'm no expert on how Klingon blood degenerates, but I would estimate this blood is less than a week old."

"So the blood might be from one of Mudd's people. But why would they have broken into this? Surely no-one was still alive on this ship after all these years?"

Carefully reaching in with her equipment to take samples, Chapel corrected him.

"Actually, sir, since there is still power to this ship, it could very well be that there were survivors. Someone was definitely inside of this unit at one time."

Scotty had moved over to another of the units.

"This unit was active not that long ago. Someone activated the revival process manually at the chamber rather than from the main panel."

"Any idea why they would have done that?"

"Just speculation on my part, but I'd guess they were afraid of over-taxing the power grid. This old girl's on shaky legs."

"Chapel, Scotty - see if you can get me an estimate on how many possible survivors we might be looking at. McGivers - anything to add?"

"Hmm? Oh. No - no, sir. Nothing that Mister Scott hasn't already covered."

"Fine. While Mister Scott and Nurse Chapel are examining the sleeper units, see if you can find the storage compartments and see if they might hold any usable information."

"Yes, Captain."

As she moved off, Kirk reined in his temper again. He knew that she didn't have a great deal of landing party experience, but she was a member of the crew of the Enterprise. He expected all of his crew to show incentive and bring things to his attention rather than just stand around and wait for orders. Making a mental note to himself to have a few words with her on a later occasion, Kirk went to find Scotty and Chapel to see what they had come up with.

Chapel was moving from unit to unit much slower than Scotty because she was taking the time to remove samples for DNA analysis from both empty and occupied units. Nodding his approval when he saw what she was doing, Kirk encouraged her.

"Excellent idea. Transmit the results to Mister Spock to compare against the Terran database. Even if this ship is off the record, surely at least one or two of these people have records remaining."

"Yes, Captain. I'll go ahead and upload the samples I've already collected to him before continuing."

Scotty came back toward them with his PADD in hand.

"Not counting the broken one, we're looking at eighty-four units that appear to have seen use. Twenty-six of them have remains inside, some dead for a long time, some recently deceased."

"So we could be looking at possibly fifty-nine survivors?"

"By my count, aye, sir."

"Nurse Chapel, are there any known health effects with being in hibernation as long as these people were?"

"I don't know of any cases of a hibernation lasting this long, sir, but it's possible. Do you think that might be why they took Leonard?"

"Possible, but I find it hard to imagine Mudd doing anything even vaguely humanitarian without there being something in it for him. Scotty, you looked over the specifications on the Azalaris, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir. A nice enough little craft. She's even able to go up to Warp Two. How the likes of Harry Mudd got his hooks into her? Well, we both know it's likely to have been less than straightforward, Captain."

"Could she hold her regular crew and that number as well?"

"It might be a bit of a squeeze, but she could do it. She's a transport ship - they'd have to use some of the cargo area to carry people instead is all."

The communicator chirp interrupted Kirk's response. Flipping it open, he watched Chapel working as he answered.

"Kirk here."

"Captain, I have already found a match to one of Nurse Chapel's samples. I think that perhaps you might wish to come aboard to have a look at this, sir."

Spock's phrasing immediately had his full attention.

"Scotty, have you got things under control here?"

"Oh aye, sir. I'll keep an eye on her. I'll run a check on her power supply and engines while Nurse Chapel continues her work."

"Excellent. I want check-ins on the half-hour. Call if you need other personnel for assistance."

"I will, sir."

Kirk turned his attention to the communicator.

"Spock, turn the con over to Sulu and meet me in the Ready Room."

"Yes, Captain."

"Kirk to Transporter Room."

"Transporter Room, Kyle here, Captain."

"Mister Kyle - one to beam aboard."

As he waited for the familiar feeling of the transporter, Kirk wondered what Spock had discovered that called for his immediate attention. Smirking at his own impatience, Kirk felt the beaming begin - he'd find out soon enough.

Chapter Text

Once McCoy had a set of baseline readings from Remus, he reprogrammed the bed that Khan was on and began his examination. A few minutes later, McCoy was rummaging through the clinic's storage, adjusting his hypospray when he found what he was after. He was about to inject the contents into Khan, but paused when Remus laid a retraining hand on his arm.

"What's that for?"

A sigh came from the tired doctor.

"In a nutshell, it's extra nutrients that he needs. This is one of those times when being honest with your doctor is a good thing. Khan's body has been getting everything he needs - if he were your average man. But he's not and he needs more - even more so since he's healing. If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say that his unit had been failing gradually and if your ship hadn't been found when it was, he wouldn't have lasted much longer."

Without asking for or awaiting permission, McCoy went ahead and pressed the hypospray to Khan's skin. Noting Remus' scowl, he gave an unconcerned shrug.

"You're going to have to figure out if you're going to trust me or not. Even if I'd let you look at the hypospray first, would you have had any idea what you were looking at?"

The truth of that sunk in as Remus shook his head.

"Then as I said before, can we please just assume I know what I'm doing? Mind you, from the look of things, I won't have to do much for him. His body's already been doing a great job at repairing the damage with what it had to work with, just needed little more help. I'm not seeing anything that would make me think he won't make a full recovery."

Remus looked down at Khan's body then over to the slightly slumped doctor.

"How long before you will need to tend the others again?"

Blinking a bit as he processed the question, McCoy answered slowly.

"Barring complications? Four hours. Why?"

Remus indicated the other biobed.

"Then lie down before you fall down. You're of no good to my people on the floor. Leona will wake you if you are needed."

For a moment, McCoy almost argued by reflex. The others needed to be checked over, but they'd be alright for another few hours. Sighing, he moved over and climbed onto the bed, but not without giving a word of warning.

"Keep your eye on your other people. They might not be sick yet, but I'd be surprised if some of them aren't in the process of coming down with something. I'll need to start seeing everyone a few at a time to see where we stand."

Remus had been looking at the panel over Khan's bed while McCoy was talking. When he turned back around to ask a question, Remus snorted slightly as he saw the doctor had already fallen asleep.

Keeping an eye on the corridor, Mudd was growing frustrated. He'd wanted McCoy on the ship to make sure that he was healthy - to hell with the Botany Bay crew. His own health might be at risk, after all.

Still, there was no way he was about to risk entering the room containing Khan with Remus in that same room. He wasn't even sure if he should dare going in if Remus wasn't there. Mudd had watched while Remus practically killed McCoy - and Remus needed McCoy. One thing that Harry Mudd was very sure of was that Remus had only needed him until he was onboard the Azalaris. Now? He feared that he was very, very expendable.

The door slid open and Mudd tried to manuever so that he was as out of sight as possible. Fortunately for him, when Remus exited, he went in the opposite direction. McCoy hadn't exited, so that meant that he was currently alone in there with Khan's body. Fear of disease battled against fear of Remus - the more immediate fear of illness carried the day.

Constantly checking up and down the corridor as he eased his way toward the door, he practically leapt inside when the door finally slid open. When the door slid shut behind him, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Then he saw McCoy appearing to have been laid out on one of the beds and for a moment, he thought Remus had killed McCoy for being unable to wake Khan up. Then he finally calmed down enough to see McCoy's chest rising and falling. Good - not dead. Sleeping. Or unconscious. Hard to say which.

Mudd moved to where he was between the two beds - McCoy's was closest to the door, so that way he could watch the door while trying to wake the doctor. Unfortunately for Mudd, that meant that his back was to Khan. Which meant that he didn't see the beginning signs that Khan was coming to.

At first, Mudd tried to keep his voice low, but McCoy was so exhausted that he didn't even stir. When his voice rose, a frown formed on the doctor's face, but behind Mudd, two eyes opened and narrowed. His limited patience reaching an end, Mudd grabbed hold of McCoy and shook him.

"Wake up, damn yoo-erk!"

The squeak at the end of Mudd's sentence was caused by a powerful hand grabbing hold of his neck from behind. McCoy opened his own eyes to see Mudd dangling from Khan's grip. Seeing that the doctor was now awake, Mudd tried to plead with him, but only managed to make incoherent noises. Khan looked from the man in his grip to the man now sitting up on the other bed. McCoy gave a dismissive gesture toward Mudd.

"You might want to wash your hand. No telling where he's been."

Unsure of what to make of McCoy's attitude, Khan's first words were more to himself.

"English. I thought I dreamed hearing it. Where am I?" *

Not seeming in the least concerned about Mudd's current predicament (he seemed to be getting enough breath to live, if not to talk), McCoy gave Khan his attention.

"You are in the very minimal clinic inside the ship belonging to the specimen dangling from your hand. Oh, don't look at me that way, Harry. If you want someone leaping to your defense, look for someone you didn't have kidnapped."

Khan gave a long look to Mudd, then released his hold on the man without warning, sending Mudd tumbling to the deck. Then he focused directly on McCoy, brown eyes to blue eyes as he reached out to take hold of McCoy's neck. He was surprised that the man before didn't flinch from either his gaze or his touch.

"And who are you?"

"Leonard McCoy - currently, your doctor. I'd appreciate it if you'd go ahead and decide whether you plan to strangle me or snap my neck. I have other things to do."

An amused smile formed on Khan's face as he released McCoy's throat.

"You are a brave man. I like that. So, tell me, Doctor - where are my people?"

"I haven't met many of them yet, but as I understand it, they're all onboard this ship as well."

Before anything else could be said, the doors slid open and Leona entered.

"Doctor, we've had another fall ill and -"

Her sentence broke off in a gasp when she saw that Khan was awake. Before she could get any closer, McCoy moved between them.

"Head on back to the others. If you've been in contact with the newest one to fall sick, he doesn't need to exposed to it."

Nodding, Leona immediately turned and left the room. Khan grabbed hold of McCoy's arm.

"You are giving orders to her?"

McCoy gave a look to the hand on his arm, then looked up to meet Khan's eyes again.

"She volunteered to work with me. That means she has to put up with my sparkling personality. Now get back on the bed so that I can give you a quick examination before I go deal with the folks that are actually sick."

There was a long silence. Mudd, still on the floor, scrambled until he was against the wall to avoid being too near in case violence erupted. Then the tension was broken by a chuckle as Khan complied, getting back onto the biobed.

"You know, Doctor? I am uncertain if I should applaud you or kill you."

Rolling his eyes slightly, McCoy pulled out his scanner.

"Get back to me when you've figured it out."

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5532.0 - The Enterprise is currently alongside the ship SS Botany Bay, a vessel we have been unable to find any records of although it obviously originated on Earth. Mister Scott, Nurse Chapel and Lieutenant McGivers are currently onboard the centuries old sleeper ship, looking for any indications of who was originally onboard the ship and where they might have been headed for. I have called for a meeting with several of my senior officers to review First Officer Spock's findings on some of the evidence that Nurse Chapel has already recovered from the vessel.

Kirk sat back, letting Spock have control over the meeting. He had a bad feeling about this. Spock wouldn't have just arbitrarily called him back from examining the Botany Bay. Chekov, Sulu and Uhura were already seated at the table and after Doctor M'Benga arrived, Spock began speaking as he brought up the image of a man on the room's viewscreen.

"This is Khan Noonien Singh. Prior to the Eugenics Wars, he ruled approximately one-quarter of Earth. According to what remains of Terran histories from that era, he was judged to be the most successful of the genetically engineered superhumans. By what he was able to achieve, I would have to said that the remaining evidence supports that view of him."

Kirk frowned slightly as he looked over the man on the screen. Dark haired, dark eyed with an intense look about his features.

"Yes, I remember reading about his rule in history. Most definitely a tyrant, but considered a 'good' tyrant in that he didn't kill indiscriminately, though reputed to have been ruthless in dealing with anyone that tried to rise against him. While interesting, I'm not sure what this has to do with our current situation. At the end of the Eugenics Wars, he and the other so-called augments that survived the war were captured and executed."

"That is the official statement on that subject, Captain, however while researching I came across a sealed classified file. My security access was sufficient to open it. It appears that over eighty augments were known to be unaccounted for at the end of the war - Khan Noonien Singh was among those with unknown status. It was decided that news of that many augments possibly still being alive and hiding among the population might cause panic, so the knowledge of their escape from punishment was suppressed."

Turning slightly to gesture to the image on the screen, Spock continued.

"I was not researching the Eugenics Wars out of idle interest. Nurse Chapel relayed to the Enterprise the first three samples she gathered. The DNA records are still on file for many of those considered to have been the primary leaders in the Eugenics Wars. There was an exact match from the first sample, showing it to be that of Khan Noonien Singh himself. The second sample has not yielded a name yet, but the third sample was a match to yet another of the known augment leaders. One Javina Mia Clarke."

Another image appeared on the screen - a dark skinned woman with even darker hair. Everyone turned at Uhura's gasp.

"That's her. That's the woman that was in the clinic of Starbase 124 - the one who held onto Nurse Chapel."

Taking in that information with a slight nod, Spock looked over the other gathered officers.

"With that statement from the Lieutenant, I would say that it is not only possible, but probable that the other empty units aboard the Botany Bay also contained more of the augments who were listed as unaccounted for at the war's end. There is very little research on the effects of extended hibernation on a sleeper ship and, so far as I am aware, none at all on a hibernation that lasted as long as the ones these people apparently have endured. That leads me to the speculation that Doctor McCoy's kidnapping might have something to do with one or more of the augments requiring medical assistance connected with difficulties encountered during their revival."

"That does sound like a reasonable assumption, Spock. But where would Harry Mudd fit into all of this?"

Spock neatly clasped his hands behind his back before speaking.

"It is pure conjecture on my part, of course, but based on what we know of Mister Mudd. I believe it is likely that he boarded the ship - probably with the intent to loot it. The ship's systems responded and began to activate one or more of the hibernation chambers. It would not have taken many of the augments to be aware and mobile for them to have gotten an upper hand on Mudd and his crew."

"So he stumbled onto the situation and it got out of hand on him? Yes, that does sound like the Harry Mudd we've come to know."

"Indeed it does, Captain. As to why Doctor McCoy was taken, I would further guess that has to do with the coincidence of the Enterprise happening to be on assignment at a Starbase fairly close to where the Botany Bay was encountered. Mister Mudd is, of course, well aware of Doctor McCoy and his reputation, but it might be that they were not directly targeting him and would simply have kidnapped any doctor that they came across."

Pausing briefly, Spock put the image of Khan back onto the screen.

"Taking this new information into consideration does give us some direction in where the Azalaris may be going. Since it is a high probability that the men and women aboard the sleeper ship were attempting to reach a habitable world to colonize, we can safely assume that is still their goal. Being that Khan was known for being a conqueror, currently populated worlds should also be considered as potential destinations for the group."

Eyes on the image of Khan, Kirk nodded slowly. Spock's deductions, as usual, made sense.

"Alright then, we need a list of suitable planets that are within the range of a ship like the Azalaris. Bear in mind that the ship is overcrowded and they will either have to find a planet or another Starbase for supplies before long. Uhura, send out a message to a Starfleet and Federation outposts to be on the lookout for the Azalaris. If she docks anywhere, I want her staying there."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, people - I want reports back in an hour. We need a direction to start looking. Dismissed."

"Pardon me, Captain?"

Turning, Kirk looked to Doctor M'Benga as he rose from his chair.

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Do you think Starfleet will authorize us to go on this - wild goose chase?"

Uhura, Chekov and Sulu all froze and even Spock stiffened at the question. Kirk moved slightly, putting his hands flat on the table as he leaned slightly toward M'Benga.

"Doctor McCoy was kidnapped from a Federation Starbase while in performance of his duties. Duties that he, as CMO, could have ordered you to have performed. If you think I'm abandoning him just so that you can take over the CMO position on the Enterprise, I would advise you to rethink the matter."

M'Benga seemed startled that his words could have been taken in that way and hastily tried to amend it.

"That isn't what I meant, sir. I was only asking if Starfleet will allow the necessary time and energy involved in order to find one man - regardless of who that man is."

The Vulcan's voice was more cool than usual as Spock commented.

"It might be advisable to consider your choice of words more carefully in the future then. However, to address your concern, even were we not looking at a violation of the rights of a Federation citizen, we are looking at the fact that a group of war criminals of known predatory habits are loose in this sector and that they might well be looking for a Federation outpost to conquer. I can hardly see where tracking this group down to prevent that occurence could be considered a waste of our time."

There was an uncomfortable silence after that - followed by the others quietly exiting to start working on the Captain's orders. M'Benga appeared to be about to say something else, but quickly changed his mind and exited along with the rest. It wasn't until the door slid shut leaving only himself and Spock in the room that Kirk spoke again.

"I hate to say it, but do you think he might have a point, Spock? Do you think Starfleet might order us to stop looking for Bones?"

Spock paused for a moment, then decided this was a question best answered as a friend rather than as a first officer.

"Jim - there is always that possibility. That is why I will continue to gather and coalate the evidence proving the presence of the augments using the materials that Nurse Chapel is collecting for us. I was quite sincere in what I said about the possibility of Federation outposts being in danger. If they question our goals, we will show them that the concerns are bigger than one man."

Looking up into Spock's face, Kirk gave him a smile.

"Covering our bases with the brass? Thank you, Spock."

"He is my friend as well, Jim. We will find him."

Chapter Text

McCoy quietly went about the examination, Khan watching him like a hawk the entire time though he cooperated and allowed the hands-on part of the process that the doctor preferred to relying strictly on readouts. It wasn't until McCoy readied a hypospray that Khan reacted negatively. With snake-like speed, he reached out and latched onto McCoy's right wrist hard enough to cause damage.

A hiss of pain escaped McCoy, but already knowing the futility of the attempt, he didn't try to snatch his arm away. Instead, he just glared at Khan who was again surprised at the man's sheer nerve.

"Take a good look around this room. Who's in here?"

Eyes narrowing as if trying to figure out if it was some sort of a trick question, Khan answered slowly.

"The man on the floor, you and I."

"Do you think him being here would stop me from doing anything I deemed worth doing?"

"No, I do not."

Looking pointedly at his trapped wrist, McCoy allowed his sarcasm to emerge full force and his accent thickened as well.

"If I'd wanted to kill you, don't you think it would've been a helluva lot easier for me to have done it while you were still unconscious?"

Brow furrowed as he met the blue eyes once again, Khan slowly released the wrist. McCoy injected the contents as if he'd never been interrupted to start with, though he continued speaking.

"Anyone ever tell you that you and your bunch are prone to violent over-reactions?"

A wry smile formed on Khan's face.

"One of the scientists involved in our births did indeed venture that opinion."

"Yeah, I bet you guys took that well."

Amused, Khan gave a chuckle.

"This is not bravado on your part, is it? This is how you are."

"I don't water down my personality for my Captain - I'm certainly not about to do it for you."

The doors slid open and Remus came in, obviously extremely pleased to see Khan awake.

"Leona just informed me, but I could hardly believe it. We have awoken to a new universe, my Lord."

Getting up from the biobed to greet his second, Khan ignored the exasperated looked from McCoy.

"Remus! It is good to see you once again, my friend. How have our people fared?"

"We have had losses. Twenty-six did not survive the hibernation. Since then we have lost Anthony."

"That is a heavy loss. How did he die?"

"Illness. We currently have others ill as well, but -"

Khan whipped around and seized McCoy's left arm, though this time, the hold was merely firm and not aimed to injure the doctor.

"You allowed one of my people to die?"

McCoy's blue eyes flashed with anger.

"I allowed nothing! I don't even know who this Anthony is!"

"My lord, the doctor had nothing to do with that death. Anthony had died before McCoy even came aboard this ship. The others who have fallen sick have begun recovering with his care and I would have to also credit at least part of your own recovery to his treatment."

Taking his first good look at McCoy since entering, Remus shook his head.

"The nap didn't work out, I take it."

"I might have gotten all of fifteen minutes."

"No time for more now."

"I know. Leona told me someone else is down. Once I tend to the ones already sick, I need to start looking over the rest of our group. Some of them are probably on their way to - oh. That reminds me. Come here.'

There was no further preamble before McCoy adjusted his hypospray and injected it into Remus. A grunt of approval at the lack of argument was the doctor's only comment until Remus questioned him.

"What was that one for?"

"Preliminary vaccination against some of the commoner things you'll run into. Took me awhile to figure out what it needed to be. Most folks have that one before their second birthday. Already gave one of those to him as well and I'll be giving Leona one next. With everyone else, I need to examine them first or the shot could just aggravate an illness already brewing in their systems. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Not bothering to wait to see if they actually excused him or not, McCoy left the room and headed back to the isolation area where Leona was waiting. Once alone except for Mudd, Khan and Remus exchanged a look and began laughing.

"So - he is a good doctor then?"

"If we go by Anthony, three more of our number would be dead by now and six others dying if not for him."

To Mudd's dismay, Remus turned his attention to where the man had been trying to stay still enough to go unnoticed.

"Mudd there knew of the doctor from before. So - tell us what you know of him?"

Both augments frowned as Mudd hesitated. Remus' voice went low and dangerous.

"This seems an appropriate place to remind you that the only value you have to us is in the matter of information. If you are not willing to prove yourself useful in even that small way, it might be time for us to part ways."

Mudd's stammering finally formed words.

"Part ways? Bu - but we're not at a planet or a Starbase."

Leaning forward just a bit, Khan smiled - not in a friendly fashion.

"That fact concerns us not at all. However, I would imagine that it would concern you quite a bit."

Part of Mudd felt a little bit guilty, but again, in the choice between himself and others, Harcourt Fenton Mudd would always place first in his own estimation.

"Doctor McCoy has a good reputation as both a medical researcher and as a surgeon. In my day, I've come across charlatans, quacks and, rarely, the real deal. McCoy is the real deal."

Sitting back again, Khan's smile became less predatory.

"You see? That wasn't so hard, was it? And now you can devote your time to your next project."

"Next project? What's that?"

Pacing slowly, Khan's voice took on a tone of authority.

"We have been wanderers far too long. We need a suitable planet to colonize. You will prepare for me a list of suitable planets that are nearby within the hour."

The stammer returned.

"Th - the odds are against f - finding a suitable uninhabited world."

"I do not care if others are already settled there or not. We are conquerors. If needed, we will wrest the control from whoever is there - we have an empire to build."

Chapter Text

Remus took Khan around the Azalaris, the leader's sharp eyes taking in everything. He was openly fascinated by K'toomsu who obeyed Remus' orders to show them how to use the ship's computer systems to retrieve information. Khan watched as K'toomsu automatically moved away - still close enough to be called over for questions, but not so near as to be intrusive. He could also see the wariness of the man that was evident in his body language. K'toomsu might be accepting that the ship was theirs, but that didn't mean he was at ease with that knowledge. Remus noted Khan's interest and filled in his leader on the exotic looking man.

"By what he told us, K'toomsu is a mix of two different races - Klingon and Orion. Apparently, that is a combination we are unlikely to encounter again. He was acting as Mudd's second - more by the fact that Mudd owned the ship than any competency of Mudd's to be Captain."

Khan took in that information with a nod while absorbing information at a rapid rate.

"This vessel is not designed for as many people as are aboard her. We will need to take care of that immediately, I think."

A short glance was given in K'toomsu's direction before Remus nodded his agreement.

"Will we be claiming any?"

Sitting back from the viewer, Khan stopped to give that matter thought.

"From our command unit, you and I remain along with seven of our lieutenants, correct?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Then I will allow one each. That will still keep the numbers reasonable. Are our supplies on this ship?"

"They are. Would you like to see where they're stored?"

"Yes. I need to retrieve a few things from our possessions."

Noting the slight smile on Khan's face, Remus paused.

"Will that be necessary, my Lord?"

With a firm nod, Khan rose and waited for Remus to lead the way.

"Yes. Most of the normal reasons won't apply since there will only be nine of them, but from the psychological aspect, I consider them to be very necessary. Physical reminders are often the most effective."

Uneasy about the decision, but not disagreeing with Khan's assessment, Remus merely nodded and started for the compartment that the Botany Bay possessions had been loaded into. It didn't take Khan long to find exactly what he was looking for.

"Once the doctor has finished tending to our sick, I want a gathering of all of the ship's crew plus our remaining lieutenants."

Khan gave his second a penetrating look as Remus hesitated again.

"You have something to say - well man, spit it out."

"I spoke with Leona. None of our medically trained people survived the hibernation and McCoy has been instructing her on some procedures so that she can help him attend to the sick. From their conversations, she learned that he has recently recovered from a serious illness himself. The man is exhausted - even with our needs, he will be of no good to anyone if he collapses."

"Agreed. However, I prefer to deal with this matter when the Doctor is tired instead of when he is well rested. That bothers you?"

"Somewhat. McCoy is not here willingly, but despite that, he hasn't taken out his anger on any of our sick. Even with you, he could have said there was nothing he could have done for you and I would have had no way of knowing any different."

Remus paused, then continued quickly.

"I told McCoy myself that with his personality, you would either love him or kill him."

Understanding suddenly lit up Khan's eyes. He fingered the cold metal in his hands.

"Ah - you are concerned about my intentions toward McCoy. Even among those of ordinary birth, exceptional specimens occur. From what I have heard and observed, he has an exceptional mentality. I do not plan to waste that."

Satisfied with that, Remus nodded.

"I'll go see if the doctor's finished with the patients then. Is there anyone you want to watch over them while Leona is needed?"

"Hm - Erik, I think."

"Very well. Where do you want them gathered, my Lord?"

"I will leave that choice to you. We will need to be able to confine them and they cannot be allowed access to anything sensitive."

"I believe one of the other cargo bays will work. They only have one entrance."

"Excellent. I want to begin as soon as I have the list of possible settlements from Mudd."

Leaving Khan to his thoughts, Remus located Erik and they went to the isolation area together.

"Leona - Doctor McCoy. Khan will need to see both of you so please show Erik what he will need to look out for during your absence."

McCoy exchanged a glance with Leona and grumbled slightly, but not too much. Everyone was currently stable and there wasn't any need to worry about them so long as someone kept an eye on the monitors. Remus began gathering everyone needed - he didn't think Mudd would have the nerve to be late bringing the list to Khan.

Remus had Mudd pegged correctly. He didn't dare to oppose Khan and appeared with a list of four planets before his time ran out. Khan smiled as he looked over the sparse information, then gestured.

"Come. Walk with me, Mudd. There is something that you need to see, I think."

There was a bad feeling growing in Mudd's guts as he walked alongside Khan. That feeling grew worse when he saw his entire crew - including his Bridge crew - inside a half-empty cargo hold.

"Wait! Wait just a minute! If they're down here, who's running the ship?"

Remus' voice behind him startled Mudd.

"Manabu and Winona are on the Bridge. Doctor McCoy - please join the others in the hold."

Khan smiled broadly.

"Now we can begin. Remain in the hold until you are called out. I will start. Doctor McCoy."

The distrust and caution were easily seen in the doctor's expression - Khan expected that. What he didn't expect was the brief look of irritation to cross Leona's face. It was quickly concealed, but it had definitely been there. That was something to question at another time though. For now, Khan fixed his attention back on McCoy.

"Do you know your history, Doctor? It seems almost unbelievable that over two centuries have passed, but I was once a prince. I had absolute power over millions of lives. Millions! That time will come again. Tell me - do you know the saying about how a journey of a thousand miles begins?"

"I know it. It begins with the first step."

"You, Doctor - you will bear the honor of being my first step in this new era."

Khan held his left hand out to Remus and his second handed him a thin metal collar. The combination of the collar and Khan's words clicked almost immediately in McCoy's head.

"Oh hell no."

Two of the augments had been at the ready and immediately moved up, each taking hold off one of McCoy's arms as he tried to take a step back to put some distance between himself and Khan. Instead of getting away from the man, McCoy found himself being forced down on his knees before Khan. It seemed to amuse Khan that the doctor had to be forced into compliance every inch of the way. There was no way for McCoy to avoid the collar being placed on him and locked into place.

The fury was unmistakable as the blue eyes focused briefly on Mudd and the con man squirmed as if the look was actually burning him. It was only going to get worse from here for Mudd.

Remus was given second pick and chose K'toomsu. Born the son of a slave, K'toomsu knew when to fight and when to save his strength. He didn't fight the collaring, but his eyes had taken on the cold, hard stare that Mudd always referred to as shark eyes. Khan gave his lieutenants their picks - Alistair, Tysha, Meram and four others of the Azalaris crew were claimed and collared as well.

The nine were forced together off to the side as Khan now turned his attention to the twenty two. The group was growing restless, knowing that something was coming, but not knowing what.

"Tamerlane - Mulan. Take who you need to help you - lighten the ship's load."

It was K'toomsu who first figured out what Khan meant by that order. His reaction was to grab McCoy and hold him tightly against him. When the horror of what was about to happen hit the doctor fully, he wasn't able to break away.

"No . . . we can't let them . . . we need to -"

McCoy's body was trembling - not from fear but from a combination of anger and exhaustion. Tightening his hold slightly, K'toomsu spoke as soothingly as he was able.

"There is nothing we can do for them. Nothing but live and keep their memory."

The other seven were close enough to hear his words, but the meaning didn't sink in until the screaming began. They clustered around K'toomsu and McCoy as if it would make it stop. It didn't.

Khan had noted the limited resources and was made the decision to lower the number of people aboard the ship. Mudd watched as the other twenty-two members of his crew were consigned to the eternal cold of space, numb but relieved that he wasn't one of the ones going through the airlocks. A shudder ran through him when Khan's hand gripped his shoulder.

"Come, Mister Mudd. We will take a look at these suggestions of yours."

Chapter Text

When the screaming had finally stopped, the silence was more deafening to McCoy than the fighting and struggling had been. The crew of the Azalaris had not gone peacefully, but in the end, all they had done was delay the inevitable.

One had drawn blood with his blade before being overpowered. Khan paused before leaving with Mudd when the captured blade was offered to him by Tamerlane. Looking at the blood on Tamerlane's arm, Khan called over to where the nine were still clustered.

"Doctor - you have a patient."

If looks could kill, Khan's heart would have stopped on the spot as K'toomsu released his hold on McCoy. This was one of those rare occasions where he really wished someone had written an exception or two to the Hippocratic Oath. Taking a deep breath, he headed over to the man. The cut wasn't deep - it didn't take long for him to clean it out and mend it. Khan didn't say a word, but he was impressed with how quickly the cut became a patch of slightly paler new skin.

"Don't do anything you don't absolutely have to do with that arm the rest of the day. New skin will be over-sensitive for a couple of days."

Without another word, McCoy turned to go back to where the others were standing but Khan grabbed his arm after the first step.

"What you are wearing. It is a uniform, is it not?"

"It is."

"Do you have a rank?"

The blue eyes were icy as they met Khan's again.

"Lieutenant Commander."

Taking the still bloody knife, Khan slit the blue tunic top then pulled it off of McCoy.

"That is no longer a part of your identity. You will find new clothing among the items left behind by the others. Tamerlane - toss these scraps off the ship."

Still keeping hold of McCoy, Khan walked him over to the others.

"Everything of the old crew will be removed from the rooms. You will all be together in one room - the items will be placed in there for you to make use of as needed. What has not been moved by the end of the day will be tossed from the ship. Javina - show them where they will be staying now while Remus and I consult with Mister Mudd."

Releasing McCoy's arm, Khan then grabbed Mudd's arm with hardly a pause between. The faint whimper from Mudd didn't get him any genuine sympathy from McCoy.

K'toomsu noted that the nine of them were being taken to the smallest of the cargo areas of the Azalaris. Javina gestured toward the room as she spoke.

"Bring the items you clear out of the other rooms to here. Time is limited, so you had best get started now."

As they started to leave, McCoy found his arm being grabbed again. He turned, giving Javina a glare. She ignored it.

"Not you. Khan's orders are that you rest for when you are needed later. The bed nearest the door is yours. Khan wishes you to be easily accessable."

A wordless glance was exchanged between McCoy and K'toomsu after which the doctor grumbled, but went to the indicated cot to stretch out as the rest filed out.

Once the door closed behind the others, McCoy was alone for the first time since he'd been taken. Sighing, he wondered just how much bad karma he'd racked up in a previous life. When he'd been a much younger man, Starfleet hadn't really been part of his career plans, but it was certainly closer to his goals than becoming a slave to a megalomaniac was.

Closing his eyes, he wished he could hold onto the hope that Jim might find him, but he really didn't see that happening. The only person that they would know about was Mudd - and Harry wasn't running the show any more. Well, at least Spock was still there to keep Jim safe. Of course, no telling who would keep Spock in line -

Exhaustion claimed him before he finished that thought. He didn't even stir as the others started coming in and out with their own possessions and those of their now dead shipmates. Meram started to grumble about the doctor, but a sharp swat to his shoulder from K'toomsu stopped that. Meram gave the former second in command a glare.

"What was that for, Kuty?"

"Don't insult a man that expended more effort to save the others than you did yourself."

"What could I have done?"

"Likely not a thing. Bit late for us all to wonder now, isn't it? I thought all he intended at first was for the others to be locked up in the hold and out of the way. More fool I - and I'm paying for it with another slave collar."

Alistair reached out and tugged on his own collar, sighing. K'toomsu reached over and squeezed the younger man's shoulder.

"I agree that being a slave is not the best life, but at least we're still on this side of the bulkheads. I made my way out of the collar once - while I live, I can do it again and so can you, lad. So can all of us it we keep our heads about us."

"How? Not a soul's going to come looking for us."

"Not for me or you, but him? Khan might have sliced off that uniform shirt, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a Starfleet officer. More than that, he's a Starfleet officer under Captain James Kirk. Harry's run afoul of him twice before - and lost out both times. If he's the equal to even half of his reputation, he won't abandon a man. And if he finds the doctor, he finds us."

K'toomsu claimed the bed nearest McCoy's and Alistair took the next one, sitting down and taking his first good look at the doctor.

"For a doc, he doesn't look too good himself, Kuty."

"He looked better when he first came aboard, but I don't even know if our 'masters' have bothered to let the man eat. They obviously haven't let him rest much. Listen up - we all know Harry's got the spine of a slime devil, but do you still trust me to try and find us a way out of this?"

One at a time, he looked at the seven remaining crew. Each nodded at his look.

"Good then. Pay attention. First, whatever orders come, obey them to the best of your ability. Don't fight back. Save your strength for when it might do some good. Second, we don't screw over one another. You don't look for favors or better treatment at the expense of anyone else. Third, we do what we can to keep the doctor here in decent shape. No matter how you cut it, he's our best chance at losing these collars."

As Mudd fidgeted nearby, Khan examined the names of the possible planets for them to establish their settlement. Remus was making use of the computer to look up the planets for more details. Mudd hadn't provided much in the way of details. Finally, Khan scowled and turned his gaze on Mudd. The con man visibly wilted under the stare, sweating profusely.

"Now let us see just how valuable your information is, Mister Mudd. These planets listed - how many of them are populated?"

"A-all of them."

Khan's frowned slightly.

"Let me define how I view the difference between inhabited and populated to you. To me, inhabited is like this ship. There are people, but this is not their home. Where they would raise their young. A place that is populated is a place that has families. Specifically, I want a world where there are children to be found. Now - which planets meet that requirement?"

Remus didn't interrupt, but gave his leader a quizzical look before turning back to his research. Preoccupied with thinking hard so that he could keep himself alive longer, Mudd missed that.

"None of those I listed. Nothing I can think of closer than a six day journey away."

A dry chuckle came from Khan at that.

"We have waited over two hundred years. I believe we could handle six more days. Tell me of this planet you are thinking of."

"It's called Turdidae. Like Earth, most of the surface is covered by water, but all of the land masses are connected. But I don't think it's what you're looking for. Too big - too large a population."

"Let me be the judge of what I am looking for. How do you know of it?"

"I've been there for trade. There are five major regions - each with one large city surrounded by rural areas that support them."

"And this planet has a large population? A humanoid population?"

"Probably around ten million, to make a rough guess. And yes. The people there wouldn't be mistaken for humans, but they have the same number of limbs and have vocal cords that make the same range of sounds we do."

Mudd was convinced that the mention of the number living on the planet would disqualify it, so his mouth dropped open when Khan turned back to his second.

"Remus - tell Kamau to take Tysha to the Bridge. We have a destination."

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5532.6 - After several hours of examining the derelict ship SS Botany Bay, we have beamed our personnel back aboard the Enterprise. First Officer Spock has continued checking existing databases on DNA and all matches have come back as being those genetically engineered beings known as augments. The bodies of the dead have been left on the vessel for now.

Once the others had returned from the Botany Bay, Kirk called for another meeting so that everyone would be caught up on the latest information. As he entered the room, Kirk noticed two things. One was that Spock had images of all the augments that had been identified up on the large screen. The second was that Lieutenant McGivers was looking over the pictures with an expression that Bones would have said 'reminds me of a hungry dog looking into a butcher shop'. Finally she spoke as if not realizing that she was no longer alone in the room.

"The best of all the different races. Such a handsome group."

"Would you feel the same if you were living under their yoke, Lieutenant?"

Turning around rapidly and flushing as she remembered she wasn't alone, McGivers didn't have a chance to comment back before the doors were sliding open again and the other officers entered. Still flushing, McGivers took a seat. Kirk made a personal note to himself that if the Lieutenant was that enamored with only the images of the Botany Bay survivors to go by, he would take care to ensure she never met any of them in person.

As Spock entered, Kirk took a seat himself.

"You have the floor, Mister Spock."

"Thank you, Captain. The images on the screen before you are the men and women whose chambers aboard the Botany Bay were found empty. The theory is that all of these - plus thirteen others without DNA files - were revived and are currently aboard the ship Azalaris, a ship of questionable registry that belong to Harcourt Mudd. All are known genetically altered humans who have been unaccounted for since the end of the Eugenics Wars until now."

Scotty muttered a few words and Kirk wasn't sure whether he should be sorry or grateful that he didn't understand Gaelic. Spock paused, then looked to Lieutenant McGivers.

"Lieutenant, you are the ship's historian. Please give us what information you have on this group of people."

"Yes, Mister Spock. The top left image is of the man I would assume to be the leader of this group because he as the one who held the most power before the end of the Eugenics Wars. His name is Khan Noonien Singh. Since the augments were genetically engineered and the records of what alterations were done were lost, being able to pinpoint exact heritage is, at best, a guess. In his case, I would say it is most likely that he is of Sikh descent. That group produced many fantastic warriors."

Skipping past the images of two females, she gestured to another image.

"Remus Montanari. Right hand man of Khan. He was said to have been the more diplomatic and less driven of the two. Content to be the power behind the throne rather than the one sitting the throne. That combination is what is said to have allowed Khan to have spread his rule as far as he did - farther than any other of the supermen. Remus' lack of desire for rule meant that Khan never had to worry about his back."

A very cool voice spoke up. It took a moment for Kirk to connect the icy tone with Chekov.

"You seem to have a great deal of admiration for tyrants, Lieutenant."

"They were bold men of another time, Ensign. Those days were days of higher aspirations and men who dreamed large. Heroic in stature - adventurers and conquerors."

"Your 'heroes' ae viewed very differently in my homeland. Especially Khan."

Kirk's interest went to Chekov.

"I wasn't aware you had studied history, Mister Chekov."

"Oh yes. After all, as a great Russian once said, 'those who do not know history are bound to repeat it'. Besides, the story of Khan is a personal one in my family."

It was obvious that Spock was about two seconds away from correcting who it was that had made that quote, but Kirk cut that off by questioning the young Ensign.

"Personal? Would you mind telling it, Mister Chekov?"

"Not at all, sir. My ancestors were among those that stood against Khan. He was the last of the tyrants to fall. Three-quarters of our line was lost during the final battles that ended the Wars."

McGivers own tone was slightly snide as she spoke.

"Your ancestors might have been wiser not to have fought superior warriors."

To the surprise of nearly everyone in the room, Chekov didn't react angrily to that. Instead he just smiled and pointed to the assembled pictures on the viewscreen.

"Superior, Lieutenant? Really? Who fled from whom?"

Uhura had a smile on her face that seemed to say she was restraining herself from applauding Chekov. McGivers flushed red - it would have been difficult for her to dispute that last point. Chekov merely continued as if he hadn't stopped to exchange comments with McGivers.

"While Khan did not have the wholesale massacres that some of the other tyrants were known for, those forced to live under his rule were slaves. The ones he considered exceptional - the most brilliant men, the most gifted performers and the most beautiful women - those he took as his own slaves. All the other were given out to his officers. They did not even seem to consider themselves of the same species as the people around them."

Then Chekov stated plainly what several of the others were thinking.

"I do not like to think of our Doctor being in the company of these 'superior' ones."

Kirk agree with that sentiment fully. Beneath his prickly exterior, Bones had a tender heart. He felt bad enough that the doctor was stuck around someone as mercenary as Mudd. Now the worry about Mudd was like worrying about sharp rocks in the sand when there was a shark off the beach.

"Neither do I, Mister Chekov. Meeting is adjourned for now. I want a course set to the nearest planet that might be a possible destination for the Azalaris."

Chapter Text

Mudd felt like a man without a country. He wasn't allowed to sleep in the same area as the augments and he wasn't allowed to sleep with the newly minted slaves either. Even if Khan did decide to allow it, he was pretty sure it would be a bad idea. He wouldn't turn his back on what was left of his former crew, let alone relax enough to sleep in the same room with them.

He didn't even want to be in the same room while wide awake with Kuty. There were many things he might not know about his former second, but one thing Mudd knew very well indeed was what Kuty's feelings were on slavery. So Mudd, who technically owned the Azalaris, found himself one of the smaller storage rooms that wasn't completely full of other things and made himself a bed in there. No ship - no crew and now, if he didn't watch himself very carefully, possibly no life. So Mudd decided he would be watching Khan and his followers very closely. If an opening arose that he could take advantage of, he needed to be ready to grab it.

On day one of the journey to Turdidae, he noted that Tysha was returned to her position as pilot, though it was made very clear that her doing that job was at the will of her owner and another of the augments by the name of Ling was in the seat by Tysha, learning the controls. Considering Tysha's usual tendency to give as good as she got, it rather surprised Mudd to see her complying with this new situation without so much as a mild complaint.

He was even more surprised to see Kuty going along placidly with the new order, explaining the computer systems and other equipment that he was requested to by Remus. In fact, the only one that was acting as Mudd expected was McCoy. When McCoy was allowed out of the room they were all kept in, the doctor tended the patients that remained with the help of Leona, grumbling to himself in his usual fashion. Only five augments remained as patients now as examining the rest of the Botany Bay group had enabled him to stop the other diseases before the others who had been infected had become bedridden.

On day two, Khan began to come in every few hours to check on the recovery of those still in isolation accompanied by two of the lower ranking augments, Otto and Kati. Mudd happened to be near for one of those visits and watched as the two men seized McCoy and forced him onto his knees, keeping him in that position while Khan slowly made his way around the room and asked his questions. McCoy still did not get into the kneeling position willingly nor did he stay in it willingly. As for answering questions, he answered precisely what he was asked in as few words as possible, not elaborating any answer in the slightest. All of which seemed to amuse Khan to no end.

Days three and four didn't see the routine becoming any easier - in fact, McCoy's resistance might have even increased since he had started getting regular meals on day two. As Khan exited the isolation area, he caught sight of Mudd and, for the first time since being quizzed about Turdidae, Khan spoke to him.

"Mister Mudd. You look like a man with something to comment on. You may speak freely."

Mudd briefly debated, but then spoke up.

"It won't work, you know."

"What will not work?"

"What you're doing to McCoy. You're not going to break him that way."

Chuckling, Khan began walking toward the Bridge.

"It is not my intention to break the doctor. I merely need to get him to learn to bend to my will. You may not be aware of horses in this day and age, but if you know tales of them, imagine a wild horse - power and potential in the flesh, but useless to a man until he teaches it to respond to him as its master. It takes studying how to handle it and planning your steps accordingly, but it is possible to make someone accept your commands without destroying the spirit. That is what makes the difference between a war horse and a plow horse. And trust me, it will take a bit more time, but the doctor will eventually bend his knees to me willingly. Until then, I will keep showing him what is expected of him as my property."

Catching Mudd's obvious disbelief, Khan stopped and faced the con man.

"You have your doubts?"

"Knowing what I know of McCoy? Plenty."

"Then we shall make a bet, you and I. Within a week, I will have the doctor kneel in front of me without anyone's hand forcing him."

Mudd ran scenarios through his head quickly.

"No holding a weapon on him? No controlling his mind?"

"No threat to him and a clear mind with no drug or mental tampering."

"I would be tempted to take that bet, but all things considered, I have nothing to offer."

"Nonsense. There is the Azalaris. Let us say that if you take this bet and win it, you will be Captain of this vessel once more and my people and I will leave her. You would, of course, have to obtain a new crew. I will not release the slaves we have taken."

"And if you win?"

"If I win, the only difference will be that you will sign over ownership of the Azalaris to me. Which will make no difference to how things are currently to you. So you have much to gain and little to lose."

That was what worried Mudd. He couldn't see a trap, but it was like when he could feel authorities about to close in on one of his scams. Still, it was a chance to have his ship back. Getting a new crew? Well, he'd done it once, he could do it again. Decision made, he extended his hand.

"Bet taken. But you'll never get him to do it willingly in that length of time unless you do break him."

"We shall see. The others that were from your crew seem to have adjusted quickly."

Deciding not to mention how out of character he found that, Mudd just nodded.

"They're a pragmatic bunch and you gave them a pretty graphic example of where they could have ended up instead."

"Not that the same example had that effect on Doctor McCoy."

Mudd nodded at that statement. He could never really understand the command crew of the Enterprise. They had no motivations that made any sense at all to Mudd.

"Wouldn't. Not with him."

Khan smirked at the puzzlement that was so evident in Mudd's voice.

"You have no true comprehension of why a man might be motivated by ideals instead of profits, do you? How sad."

Blustering at the tone of the remark, Mudd never answered Khan. Still, he had to admit to himself, if to no-one else, that it was quite true - he couldn't really grasp why anyone would be motivated by something they couldn't reach out and grab hold of. But, for possibly the first time in his life, Mudd began to seriously wonder whether it was himself or McCoy whose priorities were skewed.

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5539.8 - The Enterprise is within two hours of entering orbit of the planet Sturnella II, the second planet that we will be scanning for signs of the Azalaris, her crew and their captive. So far, we have found nothing to guide us in our search for our missing Doctor.

"Report, Mister Spock?"

"Sturnella II is a small planet. Average diameter is 3612.6 kilometers. It has both flora and fauna plus an atmosphere that is a bit richer than would be optimal for humans, but within acceptable ranges."

Lifting his head from studying his viewscreen, Spock glanced over to Kirk.

"It seems that nearly all of the planets in this particular sector are named for Terran life forms - specifically avians."

Kirk couldn't quite work up to a real smile at the unspoken question.

"The woman who officially charted these planets for the Federation had a husband who was an ornithologist. She named them all in honor of him, in a manner of speaking."

Uhura's voice chimed in as she swiveled her chair to look toward Kirk.

"Captain - we're receiving an urgent call from the Vulcan ship Cholla."

"Put them on the screen, Lieutenant."

Focusing his attention to the viewscreen, Kirk watched as an older Vulcan man appeared on the screen. He could feel Spock coming up to stand behind him.

"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise. What is the nature of your emergency?"

"Captain Kirk, I am Captain Storan of the Cholla. We have no emergency ourselves, however we have come across a number of human remains in the area that we are currently traveling in. As there are no signs of any ship debris, it appears to be a case of murder."

"Murder?"

"Yes, Captain Kirk. My Doctor has examined one of the remains and their condition is consistent with a living being having been exposed to the vacuum of space without protection. With no wreckage present, it would seem that another ship expelled them from it. We have also retrieved something else of interest which is why we have contacted you instead of the nearest Starbase. Our scanners found this item among the remains and we brought it onboard. It was not on any of the bodies."

A collective intake of air on the Bridge happened as the Vulcan Captain lifted the remains of a sky-blue uniform tunic with the Starfleet science emblem visible. It took him a moment to find his voice, but Kirk's voice was steady when he spoke.

"Captain Storan, would you please send your coordinates to my navigator?"

"Of course, Captain Kirk. If you and your ship are planning to come to our location, I will maintain position to turn over what remains we have already collected to this point if that is your wish."

"Yes. I would greatly appreciate that."

"Would you prefer for us to leave the rest of the bodies as they are so that you may view them as we found them ourselves?"

"Yes. Do you have an estimate on the number of casualties?"

"Counting the body that we have already retrieved, the total is twenty-two."

"We will see you shortly, Captain. Kirk out. Mister Chekov - lay in a course to rendezvous with the Cholla. I want us there as quickly as you can get us there."

"Aye, Captain."

An uneasy silence fell on the Bridge. The odds were highly against that uniform shirt belonging to anyone other than McCoy. When Kirk had to face the possibility that Mudd's group had kidnapped his friend, made use of his medical skills then tossed him out of an airlock like garbage when he was finished? Well, if that turned out to be the case, Starfleet orders be damned. Kirk would hunt down the Azalaris and make sure they paid for every life that had been lost.

"Mister Chekov, call in a replacement navigator after you set the course in and join us in the ready room. Mister Sulu, you have the con. Mister Spock, you're with me, but first call Mister Scott, Doctor M'Benga, Nurse Chapel and Lieutenant McGivers to the meeting as well."

When the group was assembled, Kirk started in.

"We will be meeting up shortly with the Vulcan ship Cholla. Doctor M'Benga, Nurse Chapel - I need you to prepare to receive the remains of twenty-two individuals. I want them identified if possible, but the first step will be to rule out whether or not any of the remains belong to Doctor McCoy."

Chapel froze at that and M'Benga grayed slightly before he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Is there reason to suspect any of them might belong to him, sir?"

"A Starfleet uniform top was found among them. Specifically a medical tunic."

Having had breakfast with McCoy the day he was taken, Kirk knew as well as any of them that had been what the doctor had been wearing that day.

"I know the two of you have preparations to make. You're dismissed from the remainder of the meeting."

The room remained quiet until the door shut again.

"Alright, this situation has deteriorated since our last meeting. There are people dead. I want the possible planets that they might be headed toward narrowed down. Lieutenant McGivers?"

"Impossible to tell, Captain. A group like that? All they need is a breathable atmosphere plus a source of food and water."

A sound of disdain came from Chekov and Kirk turned his attention to the Ensign.

"You have a differing opinion, Mister Chekov?"

"Yes, Captain. Khan and his followers were not pioneers or explorers. They were conquerors. If they have any choice at all, they will go to a planet that is already thriving and attempt to take it over."

Scotty gave Chekov a look.

"They'd be facing mighty stiff odds, lad."

"They were never the majority on Earth, even at their peak. Why would any occupied planet even think to be wary of a single spaceship? Khan did not gain his reputation by asking rulers to turn over their lands to him. He would pick a planet with a population that he would consider adequate and remove whoever the ruling body is."

Kirk gave a look to McGivers, who gave what seemed to be a reluctant nod as she responded.

"Admittedly, he did use a similar strategy to that more than once to good effect on Earth, sir."

Sulu's voice broke in over the intercom.

"Bridge to Captain Kirk."

"Kirk here. Go ahead, Mister Sulu."

"We're six minutes from reaching the coordinates of the Cholla, sir."

"Thank you, Mister Sulu. We'll be right there."

Looking to his officers, Kirk gestured to the door.

"We'll continue this later. For now, everyone to the Bridge. Yes, you too, Lieutenant McGivers."

As the Enterprise slowed to come to a stop by the Cholla, the bodies still in space could be seen on the viewscreen. Kirk grimaced and pressed the intercom.

"Kirk to Sickbay. Report to the transporter room to begin receiving bodies."

"M'Benga to Bridge. On our way, Captain. Full decontamination protocols are in place."

Standing to the side, McGivers eyes were fixed on one of the all too still bodies. Glancing back at her, Chekov seemed genuinely sympathetic as he spoke.

"It is not how you envisioned heroic men with higher aspirations would have acted, is it?"

She shook her head almost numbly, continuing to stare as the bodies began dissolving into the teleporter beam one at a time.

Chekov turned back to the screen.

"Perhaps that is where the scientists behind the Eugenics Program made their mistakes. When they amplified the desired traits of their supermen, they amplified their flaws as well."

Kirk nodded at Chekov's statement.

"From what I recall of my history, I think you may have a point, Mister Chekov. It was said that the augments were arrogant, aggressive and very lacking in empathy for other living beings."

Spock turned his own gaze to the viewscreen.

"At the very least, I believe we have confirmaton of that lack of empathy, Captain."

Chapter Text

It was nearing the end of the fifth day when K'toomsu was released back to what they referred to as the slave quarters. Looking around as he sat down on his cot, he did an automatic head count. The only one of them missing was McCoy, but that wasn't unusual. The doctor was normally the first one taken out and the last returned. They all remained quiet until Alistair gave a thumbs up.

"All clear, Kuty."

Once that signal had been given, all of them relaxed somewhat. On one hand, since they were all acting properly cowed, K'toomsu didn't think they'd bother with spying on them. On the other hand, he didn't want to court a date with an airlock so he had Alistair check every day for any devices that might have been added to their small space.

"Tysha - report."

"Another full day's travel and then we'll arrive the next. The one they have learning the panel has the technical part of flying down, but is heavy handed. I'd hate not to be buckled in when they attempt their first manual landing."

"Alistair?"

"Pretty sure Harry told them to earn another few days of worth in Khan's books, but regardless of how they found out, the Augs found those weapons in the aft hold that Harry was planning to sell off to some of the border planets. I've still got no less than five of them in Engineering with me at a time, but they're mainly in there studying the manuals and comparing them to the equipment. They really aren't asking me anything."

"Meram?"

"Like Alistair - I'm getting shadowed on the sensor and communications gear, but they're going by the manuals for the most part and not asking me much."

"Jared?"

"They had me pull the blueprints of the Azalaris out. They seemed focused on our weapon systems."

"Fin?"

"Star charts. I'm not sure what Harry might have said to them, but they were studying where the official Federation lines are."

"Turdidae isn't a Fed member, is it?"

"Afraid not, Kuty."

"Damn. We really can't count on the Federation stepping in then."

K'toomsu then turned his head, motioning with his hand. Everyone fell silent again as a moment later, the door opened and an exhausted doctor practically staggered in, blood on his clothing. As soon as the door had sealed behind him, McCoy was a bit bemused to find himself being swarmed as the others seemed bound to make sure that none of the blood was his own.

Alistair immediately began to rummage for some cleaner clothing for him to change into even as he started asking questions.

"What happened, Doc? One of the Augs get hurt? Or was it Harry?"

Flopping down on his own cot, McCoy snorted.

"Bleeding is against Harry's religion. No, it was one of them that was injured - actually, more than one, but only one was a bleeder. Otto, to be precise."

That drew the attention of everyone.

"Otto's one of the ones that Khan always has flanking you, isn't he? How'd he manage to get hurt?"

"By being dumb enough to try and lay claim on a woman that can punch his lights out. Speaking of which, remind me never to get on Leona's bad side. Woman has a wicked right hook."

"One of the grunts put the moves on one of the lieutenants? I thought these guys were supposed to be smart."

McCoy yawned and reclined back.

"They are, but they also seem to have a testosterone overload that's overriding their higher functions. I wouldn't wander out of Kamau's sight, Tysha. I'm pretty sure his growl's the only reason no-one's made a grab for you yet. And I wouldn't smirk if I were you, Fin. Matter of fact, you might all want to be careful who you turn your backs to."

"Never bad advice, Len. So - more than one, so what were the other injuries?"

"Nothing major, Kuty. Broken leg on one and a bad burn on another. Idiots need to remember that strong doesn't mean invincible."

"Personally, I hope they keep thinking they're invincible. That way, they might give us an opening. Here, Doc. Sit up long enough to change clothes. You don't need to be sleeping in those bloody things."

"Thanks, Alistair. Hell, I didn't even check. All of you alright?"

K'toomsu shook his head in amusement.

"If we find ourselves in need of aid, we'll let you know, Len. Change and then rest. They never leave you alone for long."

Pulling off the now-stiff top, McCoy passed it off to Alistair and accepted the clean one, trying not to dwell on the fate of the previous owner. It still struck him odd how this group had pulled together. Of course, the rest of them already knew one another and all of them had been forced into the same disagreeable situation - still, he was a veritable stranger to them. McCoy was easing himself back down when the door opened again suddenly and all of them went on alert.

It was Otto that came in, face dark and looking angry. Without a word, he grabbed McCoy by the arm, gripping hard enough that the doctor let out a small grunt of pain. Otto didn't give him time to grab his boots or even to get to his feet. He drug McCoy roughly off of his cot and out of the door, slamming his hand on the controls on the way out.

K'toomsu continued to stare at the door for a second, then looked back to the others. Their expressions were a mix of concerned, puzzled and angry.

"Everyone in agreement with me that that wasn't normal?"

"Not at all, Kuty. Should I try and find Khan?"

The fact that Alistair was willing to try and locate the man that terrified him told K'toomsu that they were all more than a little concerned.

"Are you sure you're small enough to get through all the ductwork, Alistair?"

"Not many places on the Azalaris I haven't been. I can get through, but I'll need some help getting up to the grill in here."

There was no more discussion as they immediately scrambled to boost Alistair up to the entrance of the room's ventilation. It only took a moment for him to get the grill off and disappear inside. There was nothing for the rest of them to do now but wait - arguably one of the more difficult things to do.

Pausing at each intersection to make sure of his direction, Alistair slowly made his way through, but there was only so silently that he could manuever in the narrow passage. The noise drew the attention of Javina, who alerted Remus. The two of them together moved to an opening that the noise was approaching. A person couldn't fit through it, but they would be able to see what it was. It didn't seem plausible that one of their slaves was actually attempting an escape, but Remus couldn't think of another reason for one of them being in the ventilation system.

When the noise was close enough, Remus called out.

"Stop where you are."

The immediate stilling of the noise confirmed it was a person, but the voice he heard wasn't expected and the words even less expected.

"Remus? Thank goodness - I need to speak with Khan."

There was no doubt in Remus' mind that the voice belonged to Alistair, but it was an established fact that Alistair was terrified of Khan. To Remus, this meant something was seriously wrong.

"Javina - go get Khan. I'll stay with Alistair."

As Javina left, Remus studied the ductwork.

"Is there an opening nearby large enough for you to come out?"

He heard a humming sound as Alistair took a moment to visualize where he was.

"If you can open the door to the room behind you, I should be able to manage. Might be a bit of a squeeze, but I've lost weight."

Alistair was in the process of dropping down to the deck when Khan stormed in, obviously about to take a piece out of the man. Thinking quickly, Alistair immediately fell into the kneeling position he'd seen McCoy forced into many a time and began speaking quickly.

"My apologies, Lord Khan, but there was no other way to reach you."

That stopped Khan in his tracks and his eyes narrowed. If nothing else, Alistair had bought himself a moment or two from Khan's curiosity.

"And why were you trying to reach me?"

Alistair took a deep, slightly shaky breath.

"Shortly after the doctor was brought in for the night and locked in with the rest of us, the man you call Otto came in and drug him back out. Literally drug, sir."

Something Alistair couldn't quite make out in the way of emotion crossed Khan's face before he spoke again.

"And what makes you think it was not by my order?"

His mouth suddenly dry, Alistair swallowed hard.

"Because I think that if you'd been that angry with Doc, you would have punished him on the spot and not waited to send for him later."

He could feel a cold sweat breaking out as the silence drug for what seemed to be a very long time. Then Khan suddenly turned and gave out orders.

"I want Otto and McCoy found immediately. Contact me the minute you locate them."

Reaching down, Khan grabbed Alistair's wrist and gripped it so hard that he could have sworn he heard his bones creak.

"As for you, you had best hope that whatever has happened was worth the price you will pay for disturbing me."

Chapter Text

Otto had already pulled him around the corner and into another corridor before McCoy finally got his feet underneath him and collected enough breath to voice a complaint.

"What the hell is this all fired hurry for?"

The first part of the response was Otto tightening his grip even farther on McCoy's arm and increasing the speed of his walk. The second part was a hissed response.

"Someone is in need of immediate medical care."

That remark stopped him from fighting against the hold, but had McCoy start running over possibilities in his head even as he had to speed up to keep his footing.

"Well, don't leave me in the dark, man. What seems to be wrong with them? Who's hurt?"

His free hand hitting a door control, Otto yanked McCoy through the doorway into what appeared to be an engineering workspace. As the door slid shut behind them. he roughly slammed the doctor chest first into the closest bulkhead.

"You are."

Breath knocked out of him by the unexpected collision, McCoy felt rather than saw his left arm being wrenched behind him. An involuntary cry came out as he felt something in his arm give way.

This wasn't making any sense to McCoy at all. It hadn't been that long ago that he'd reset and mended Otto's jaw that Leona had broken as well as dealing with his bloody nose. It wasn't as if McCoy expected his patients to be overflowing with gratitude, but he didn't expect them to attack him either. And it was quickly becoming apparent that Otto wasn't planning on stopping.

He wasn't in Kirk or Spock's league, but McCoy did know how to fight - he was just far more naturally inclined to repair a busted nose than to cause one. That didn't mean that he planned to take a beating without fighting back and he knew that Otto's jaw was still sore from the residual effects of it being repaired. As soon as he was able to turn around enough, he mentally apologised as he struck the augment in the same place that his jaw had been injured earlier, causing Otto to stagger back from the unexpected burst of pain. McCoy used the short reprieve to try and catch his breath while attempting to assess the damage to his left arm.

The reprieve lasted a far shorter time than the doctor had hoped for before Otto began striking him again. With his left arm currently hanging useless, McCoy wasn't able to mount much of a defense the attack making it was more one-sided than even a fight with Spock would have been. The next blow to his head left him disoriented and McCoy's head clipped the edge of one of the counters in the room when his legs finally gave out beneath him.

"I am your better in every way. Every way! When Khan has finished with you, it will be my great pleasure to throw you into the airlock myself. For now, you'll remain here for awhile. If you're lucky, I'll bring your kit back later and allow you to heal yourself."

There was no comeback to Otto's words as McCoy could barely hear the man over his own labored breathing. The lack of response didn't concern Otto as he exited the room, leaving the bleeding and semi-conscious doctor lying where he'd fallen.

Remus didn't hesitate, but went immediately to the hold where the slaves were kept. Opening the door, he called them out. Coming into the corridor, K'toomsu immediately looked for Alistair, but Remus cut off any questions.

"We are looking for McCoy and Otto. The faster we find them, the sooner we will determine what happens to your other man."

That didn't sound good to K'toomsu at all and his eyes narrowed.

"What is happening to Alistair?"

There was a moment of silence, but Remus decided that under the circumstances, he wouldn't remark on his slave's tone of voice.

"We will just leave it that it will not go well for Alistair if this proves to be a false alarm."

"It isn't."

The short, clipped answer that K'toomsu gave took any doubt out of Remus' own mind, but led to another question.

"Any idea why Otto would have been angry at McCoy?"

"Possibly. Allow me to show you something."

K'toomsu went back into the room and brought out the bloody shirt McCoy had stripped out of.

"According to what the doctor said when he came in, these stains are all Otto's blood that the doctor got on himself when he healed him."

Reaching for the shirt, Remus' eyes darkened. He headed for the isolation area, waiting for K'toomsu to catch up with him before asking his next question.

"Healed him from what?"

"Specifically? That he didn't say. But he did say that it was Leona that caused the injury."

Raising his communicator, Remus started to contact Leona - Khan had ordered Remus and all of his lieutenants to carry them at all times for his convenience in contacting them once he learned of the devices - but Remus stopped short when Otto came out of the isolation area carrying both McCoy's medical kit and tricorder. On seeing Remus and K'toomsu ahead of him, Otto froze briefly then went for the weapon he had on his belt.

K'toomsu was already in motion before Otto completed the act of pulling his weapon. The augment was fast, but the weapon was still unfamiliar to him and K'toomsu stripped it from Otto's hand before he was prepared to fire. As the phase pistol hit the deck, a blow from Otto's other hand sent K'toomsu into the bulkhead.

Before Otto could do anything else against K'toomsu, Remus was there between them and showed very plainly why he was the one who was Khan's second by knocking Otto back with a blow that stunned him. Glaring at him - daring him to move again - Remus activated his communicator.

"Remus to Khan. I have found Otto and have him in the corridor near the isolation room."

The response was nearly immediate.

"I will be right there."

Khan must have been closer than Remus had realized because K'toomsu was just starting to get back on his feet when Khan approached with Alistair, who was white as a sheet, in tow. Dropping his hold on Alistair as he approached Otto, Khan stopped, a slight not quite pleasant smile on his face as he looked down at his man.

"I understand that you have taken my doctor from where I sent him to rest, Otto."

Face going red, Otto looked up at Khan.

"You are taking the word of the slaves to mine?"

"Not at all. But then, you have not given me your word yet, Otto. So give it to me - and remember how I feel about being lied to. If the slaves have lied to me, they will regret it. They will wish that they had shared the fate of the others."

There was a long pause. Long enough that it became obvious that Otto was thinking over his options. Khan dropped the smile, reached down. First, Khan took the tricorder and medkit away from Otto, passing the equipment over to Remus. Khan then lifted Otto up from the floor and snapped in his face.

"You have already answered one question, now answer the other. Where is McCoy?"

There was not an immediate answer and Khan showed his own strength as he easily lifted Otto up even further.

"Do not make me ask again."

"The Engineering workroom."

Khan literally dropped Otto and turned back to Alistair.

"You know where he speaks of?"

Alistair managed to keep most, but not all, of the trembling out of his voice.

"I do, sir."

"Then take us there now."

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5540.1 - First Officer Spock and myself have just returned from meeting with Captain Storan on the Vulcan ship Cholla. While onboard, we arranged for the recovered body as well as the the uniform top to be transferred over to the Enterprise. Doctor M'Benga and the rest of the medical staff are running tests in the attempt to identify the twenty-two dead. The uniform top has already been positively identified as belonging to Doctor McCoy though the blood on the shirt has not been matched yet.

Turning off his log, Kirk closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead. Spock had taken the shirt immediately to the labs to run the tests on it himself. Normally, when either of his friends slipped and let their concern for one another show, Kirk would tease them about it unmercifully, causing Bones to bluster or Spock to quirk that eyebrow at him. Why the two of them wouldn't just outright admit it was one of those ongoing mysteries onboard the Enterprise. Like how Rand managed to keep up that elaborate hairstyle she seemed to prefer.

Lowering his hand, Kirk took a deep breath and got to his feet. Whether the news regarding the recovered bodies was good or bad, avoiding hearing it was not going to change it. His stride firming along with his determination, the Captain made his way to Sickbay, feeling the missing presence of his friend keenly when he entered the area.

"Doctor M'Benga - any results to report?"

Raising his head from the computer terminal he'd been studying, M'Benga straightened further to address the Captain.

"While I can only give you positive identification on two of the bodies, I can tell you that none of them are Doctor McCoy."

"You've been able to identify two of them?"

"Yes, Captain. Both men had served time at penal colonies and still have their required tracking chips. I've only pulled the information on one of the chips. The one from this man -"

M'Benga gestured toward the body currently on the biobed behind him, containment field activated.

"- shows that he spent six years on Jaros II. Former Starfleet Lieutenant named Bernard Muir, while assigned to the USS Forrestal, he tried and convicted of misconduct that led to the injury of two Coridan natives. Part of his release terms specified that he was not to enter Coridan space again - the last entry on the chip is the acknowledgement of the captain of the Azalaris that he knows of the restriction and would be guilty of a crime if he brought his ship into their space with Muir aboard."

"Whose name? Mudd's?"

"Actually, the name given as the captain of that vessel was K'toomsu."

"That was the same name given to Starbase 124 when the ship requested to dock. Mudd must have actually gotten at least one crewmember that didn't have a criminal record to do the paperwork for him."

Glancing back to the biobed, Kirk's eyes fixed on a darker spot on the man's clothing. He knew what it appeared to be, but that wasn't consistent with being thrown into the airless cold of space.

"Did all of these men die from suffocation?"

M'Benga indicated the body on the biobed again.

"All but former Lieutenant Muir. He was stabbed, but it would be too close to call as to whether the stabbing or the lack of air ultimately caused his death. Either would have done it."

It was at that juncture that Mister Spock entered the area, the torn uniform top in his hands.

"It would be a reasonable assumption that whatever he was stabbed with was the same item that was used to cut Doctor McCoy's tunic. None of the blood on the shirt belongs to the good doctor, but I was able to make two matches. One to former Lieutenant Muir and the other to one of the augments named Tamerlane Ashina. With that, there can be no doubt that Doctor McCoy is indeed aboard the Azalaris."

"Agreed. Doctor M'Benga, do you mind if we make use of this section of Sickbay for a quick conference?"

"Not at all, Captain. Shall I remove the body back to stasis?"

"No. Leave it where it is for now."

Moving to the wall unit, Kirk made use of the ship's intercom.

"Lieutenant Commander Scott, Lieutenant McGivers, Lieutenant Uhura and Ensign Chekov report to Sickbay immediately."

Lieutenant McGivers was the last to arrive and, when she saw the body on the biobed, she turned a bit green even though a sheet had been pulled over it. If anything, she turned a little greener when her eyes fell on the table where Spock had laid out McCoy's ruined tunic. Kirk ignored her discomfort. The woman could admire whomever she wanted to, but if she was going to do it, she was going to do it with her eyes open to what they were capable of.

"The assumptions that we have been going on are now facts. Doctor McCoy's tunic had two different types of blood on it. One was from the body under the sheet there and his identity has been confirmed as having been a member of the Azalaris crew. The second was from Tamerlane Ashina. Lieutenant McGivers - what do you know about that name?"

Swallowing, McGivers forced her eyes to focus on the floor in front of her.

"Tamerlane became one of Khan's lieutenants, but before that, he and his men scoured the lands outside of Khan's borders. He earned the nickname Rombolo - it means the Destroyer in one of the lands he ravaged. He was said to be a cruel man who was said to claim that killing before eating was a good way to whet the appetite."

Scotty's eyes went to the bloody tunic as her spoke.

"Not exactly a shining example of what the augments were supposed to be."

Moving to take a closer look at the man on the biobed, Chekov commented.

"Perhaps not, Mister Scott, but an accurate example of what they are."

Hesitating, Chekov looked over to the tunic, then to the Captain.

"The bodies retrieved. None of them were the doctor?"

"No. From what we've been able to learn of the Azalaris, all of these people were probably the crew. Spock?"

"If the records at Starbase 124 are accurate, the crew of that vessel numbered thirty-one. The most likely scenario is that the augments kept such members of the crew that they considered necessary and ejected the rest."

Still keeping her focus on the floor, McGivers cleared her throat.

"Captain, I have been thinking and I've come to two conclusions. First, I believe I know why they took Doctor McCoy."

"I'm listening, Lieutenant."

Making use of the Sickbay terminal near her, McGivers pulled up the blueprint Scotty had made of the Botany Bay.

"This is the section of the ship where all of the units failed. DNA identification was made on three of the bodies found in that area. Doctor Amina Sukhausa, Doctor Colestah Yakama and Doctor Herve Moubray. As you can see from the blueprint, this area should have been the one best protected from external damage. Between that and the fact that three doctors were in the same area leads me to believe that all of their medical people were located in the failed section."

"Which would have left them without any doctors whatsoever to assist anyone that required aid after the long hibernation. You said two conclusions, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Captain. I have been doing a great deal of thinking about what Ensign Chekov said earlier and I find that I have to agree. While the augments certainly have the abilities and talents to create a colony on an uninhabited world, that would never be their first choice."

Scotty shook his head at that.

"They could be headed anywhere then. Well, anywhere within the range of their ship."

"I think it would be more limited than that, Mister Scott."

Everyone's attention shifted back to Chekov again.

"Explain, Mister Chekov."

"Well, Captain, as you pointed out earlier, the ship - even discounting the ones that were tossed out - has over twice the bodies on it that it was designed for. And these are not people known for having calm dispositions. If Khan is going to keep his people from turning on one another, he is going to have to give them another target sooner than later."

Spock found that the assembled officers were all looking to him now and he gave a brief nod.

"I see no flaws in that logic, Captain. The only question would be how much influence Mister Mudd might have on the decision. Still being wanted for some legal indiscretions, he would be more likely to guide the group away from a Federation planet."

Scowling, Kirk nodded slowly.

"And if they do choose a non-Federation world to invade, we wouldn't be able to step in unless invited without causing a diplomatic incident."

The room was silent except for the background noises of the Sickbay equipment as Kirk clasped his hands together in thought.

"Lieutenant Uhura - send out a message to all Federation planets in this quadrant warning them about the potential threat. Mister Spock and Mister Chekov - I want you to look over the non-Federation worlds and determine which ones you think would be the most likely target. We might not able to step in, but I want us as prepared as we possibly can be. Eliminate as many unknown factors as you can. McGivers, I know that they're sketchy at best, but comb through what you can find out about the Botany Bay group in the archives. Concentrate on anything you can find on their tactics - anything that might give us some more insight on them. Mister Scott, we will be maintaining position here for now, but when we have a direction to go, I want to get there fast."

"Understand, Captain. She'll be ready as a lass on her wedding night."

That brought a slight smirk to Kirk's face. As everyone disbursed to carry out their orders, his thoughts turned back to Bones again. His friend was not one to stay below the radar, even when it was in his best interest. His eyes went back over to the tunic and he found himself walking over to it, laying his hand on the fabric.

"Just this once, Bones - just this once, keep your head down and give us time to find you."

Chapter Text

Alone in the space he'd claimed for himself, Mudd startled as he heard what sounded like something being dropped in the Engineering workroom, then heard a raised voice. Curious, he opened his door just in time to see Otto leave the room and Mudd ducked back inside of his space to avoid being seen.

Once Otto was out of the area, Mudd's curiosity reasserted itself and he made his way over to the workroom. As the door slid open, it took him a moment to identify the crumpled body on the deck as McCoy's - he was too used to only seeing the man in uniform. Moving over, he leaned over to get a better look at where the blood was coming from. Then he nearly jumped out of his skin when McCoy spoke softly. The doctor's voice had a breathless, almost liquidy undertone to it that didn't sound good.

"Of all the damn faces to have to wake up to. Come to gloat, Harry?"

"Gloat? I've lost my ship, my crew - what would I be gloating over?"

"Aren't sporting a slave collar, are you?"

Mudd tried to cover up his involuntary flinch with a scowl.

"I see that mouth of yours hasn't changed any, McCoy. It's going to get you killed. That what happened? You say something to Otto, the walking wall?"

A cough forced its way out and McCoy tried to steady his ribs with his good hand. He was fairly sure at least a couple of them were cracked. Mudd noticed the move and had a good idea what that meant from past experience.

"Ribs, eh? Must've been good, whatever you said. Hope it was worth it."

He found himself being favored with an icy blue-eyed glare.

"I made the mistake of fixing his jaw after Leona broke it for him. Only thing other than care instructions I told him was to suggest that he not get Leona mad at him again."

"He probably thought you were implying that Leona was stronger than he is."

"Imply nothing. She can totally whip his butt."

Another cough had Mudd wincing in sympathy.

"Want me to help you sit up?"

"Better not. Before I move, I need a tricorder to -"

Both of them tensed as the door slid open again, but McCoy visibly relaxed at the sound of Alistair's voice.

"Bloody hell."

The next voice had them tensing again - Khan's. The augment leader turned to Remus and K'toomsu and Mudd scurried back into a corner as soon as Khan's attention was off of him for the moment.

"Get Leona. Have her come here with what the doctor might need."

It didn't take long for K'toomsu to come back with Leona, tricorder and medkit in hand. As Khan watched with quiet intensity, McCoy instructed her on how to set the tricorder and had her run it over him before holding it to where he could see the results.

"Mild concussion, three cracked ribs, broken arm. Nothing requiring surgery, thankfully. Let's start with the head wound. I don't need to keep leaking."

Opening the kit and looking over the contents, most of which she could at least recognize now from assisting him, Leona looked up.

"Do you want something for the pain first?"

"No - nothing."

Her brow furrowed at that.

"I can tell that you're in pain, Doctor. If you're trying to prove something -"

The laugh was short and obviously caused additional pain, but McCoy couldn't help the reaction. For pity's sake, the woman was trying to make him sound like Jim! His accent was thicker than usual as he responded to her.

"It's not that, woman. But would you want your doctor making decisions about your health while he was on pain medication?"

"No."

"Well, neither do I. I can walk you through some of this until I can take care of the rest on my own, but to do it, I need a clear head. Well, clear as I'm gonna manage with a concussion. Sooner we get started, sooner neither one of us will have to worry with it."

The longer Khan watched McCoy baby-step Leona through cleaning out and starting the healing process on the gash in his forehead, the more it was increasingly brought home to him how severe the loss of their medically trained people was. Even if McCoy was willing to train someone like Leona, it would take months before she would be able to do more than advanced first aid. Years before she could come close to McCoy's knowledge - if ever. He knew enough about surgeons to know that it took a special talent and steadiness of hand that most couldn't achieve.

As Leona assisted in setting and starting regeneration on McCoy's broken arm, Khan began to get such details as Remus knew about what led up to Otto's attack on the doctor. The brief details left him with more questions than answers, so he waited until the bone regeneration was started and she wasn't needed for a few minutes before questioning Leona.

"What happened between you and Otto?"

The slight growl in Leona's voice was noted.

"Otto is apparently of the opinion that if he is able to bed me, that would mean he's staked a claim on me like I was some sort of property up for grabs. He attacked me - I broke his jaw for his presumption."

Khan nodded. Nothing less than he would have expected any one of his lieutenants to have done.

"And the doctor?"

"He was busy working on Lars arm at the time, but after he finished with Lars, he took a look at Otto. The doctor asked me if he could heal him, but from the way he asked is wasn't that he was asking my permission. He was asking if I was just going to rebreak Otto's jaw if he mended it. I told him to go ahead - that nothing would happen if Otto didn't annoy me again. He repaired Otto's jaw. Warned him that it would be sore for some time yet and advised him to not get on my bad side again. Excuse me, my Lord."

Watching as Leona returned to aid McCoy in the next step of his healing, Khan's thoughts were chaotic in contrast to his stony exterior. Their numbers had diminished and so Otto's genetic profile was important. But discipline was important as well and not only had Otto tried to assault one of his superiors, he then apparently took out his anger at his failure on a slave. Khan's slave, which made it the equivalent of stealing from Khan. No - that could not go unpunished.

Sweeping the room with his eyes, Khan's smile became predatory when they fixed on the cringing figure of Mudd. He strode over, highly amused that Mudd seemed to be trying to back through the wall behind him.

"I require your assistance, Mister Mudd. You will follow me."

Khan turned sharply and headed back out of the workroom. Mudd paled and didn't dare not to follow Khan out of the room, looking so absolutely miserable that even K'toomsu felt a little bit sorry for him.

Chapter Text

Mudd had a horrid sinking feeling as he hurried to keep up with Khan. The first stop confused him though. Khan stopped at one of the storage areas and had Mudd bring out one of the containers that were used to hold more fragile goods - like medicines - in stasis until they were needed.

The sinking feeling wasn't improved when Khan's second stop was to speak with Javina.

"Come, my darling sister. It is time we reminded our people how you gained your nickname. You have your favorite tool still?"

"Of course, my Lord. You know I wouldn't willingly be without it. We've been together too many years."

A smile that was in no way pleasant formed on Javina's face, but then she spotted Mudd and her expression changed to disgust.

"Not him, surely."

The laughter from Khan didn't settle Mudd's nerves in the least.

"Hardly. No, it is Otto that has crossed the line with his attempted assault on Leona."

Javina's unpleasant smile reformed.

"Does he have to live through it?"

That was all Khan needed to hear to know that Otto's attentions hadn't been limited to Leona - though Otto had apparently been wise enough not to press his luck by actually laying hands on the woman who had also become known as Lady Castrata.

"If he is able to survive your treatment for an hour, that will suffice. Mister Mudd will be doing the collection."

This time, it was Javina's laughter that unnerved Mudd. He was pretty sure he didn't want to know what the joke was about as he trailed along behind the two augments to find Otto.

For his part, Otto seemed subdued, but that ended when Javina drew a wicked looking knife with a pronounced hook at the end of the blade. He tried to make a run for it, but Khan had been expecting that, easily catching and holding onto Otto despite his increasing struggles as Javina approached him.

It didn't take long for Mudd to figure out why Otto was struggling so hard. He could almost swear that he felt his own manhood trying to retract as the screams echoed through the ship's corridors.

Mudd realized that he also must have turned rather green as Khan snapped at him.

"If you feel the need to vomit, make sure that you do not do it near Otto's DNA sample. Collect it."

How he managed to scoop the piece of Otto up from the deck without throwing up was something Mudd was never sure off. Mudd hastily sealed the container as Javina and Khan held Otto between them - apparently about to make a tour of the ship with the bleeding man. He wasn't sure what, if anything, he was supposed to do now.

A shudder ran through him as he tried not to look at the container in his hand, then Mudd took a deep breath and followed along after Khan. Mudd hoped that was the right decision. He'd just witnessed a new reason not to get the augment leader angry at him.

The scream startled McCoy enough to jar his healing ribs and he hissed, managing to bite back any further response. When he finally caught his breath, he looked to the others in the room.

"What in blue blazes was that?"

Alistair was pale and didn't respond. K'toomsu spared a glance toward the door before speaking.

"More of a who than a what. Were I to venture a guess, I would say that Lord Khan is disciplining one of his men."

It was easy enough for K'toomsu to make a guess as to who was being 'disciplined' and went to kneel by McCoy. From what he'd seen of the doctor's personality, McCoy wasn't likely to react well and didn't need to be moving around too much in his current condition.

Leona looked up from where she was by McCoy's side, exchanging a glance with Remus. Of the ones present, they were the only ones that had a good idea about what had just occurred. A small smirk formed on her face as she helped McCoy readjust back to a less painful position. McCoy spotted that and his brows furrowed.

"You know what's going on, don't you?"

She gave him a slight shrug, then put the bone regenerator back into position over his ribs as he instructed.

"I have a decent idea. I doubt you'll need to worry about Otto coming back to bother you."

K'toomsu had already moved to hold McCoy down as Leona started to speak.

"Easy, Len. What's done is already done. Nothing you could have done to prevent it either way."

Sitting back on her heels, Leona gave K'toomsu a puzzled look, then looked at the expression on the doctor's face.

"It doesn't please you that Otto is being punished for what he did?"

"Don't even start pretending that any of this has a damn thing to do with my feelings or opinions on the matter. If Khan's mad at Otto over me, it's only because he didn't ask for permission first. If my opinions held any weight, you really think I'd want something to happen to anyone that would make them scream like that?"

The puzzled look remained on her face as Leona slowly shook her head.

"You are a peculiar man, Doctor McCoy."

Keeping a light hand on McCoy, K'toomsu answered for him.

"What do you expect? He is a Haqwl' - a surgeon, but more than that, a Qel. Did you have no healers among your medical people?"

Before Leona could answer, the doors slid open again, showing Khan and Javina standing there with Otto held between them. The orange jumpsuit that he'd continued to wear after leaving the stasis chamber was now dark from the waist down with blood. K'toomsu felt McCoy tense and tightened his own grip of the doctor as Khan spoke.

"Remus - Leona. Accompany us. Leave the others here for now. Except for you, Mister Mudd. You will accompany us as well."

None of them spoke until the door had closed again behind the augments. For a minute, the only sound was the soft humming from the regenerator. Then McCoy gave a heavy sigh.

"They're about to kill him, aren't they?"

Seeing no reason to withhold any information, K'toomsu gave a short nod.

"Everything I have seen of them leads me to believe so. Probably the same way they did the rest of our crew."

McCoy's body slumped as the tension withdrew, leaving a resigned despair in its wake. He wasn't fooling himself - he knew the odd were highly against the Enterprise ever finding him. Still, there was nothing more he wanted at this moment than to simply go home.

Chapter Text

After Otto was cast from the Azalaris, Leona stood by the door in deep thought. Unsure of her friend's mood, Javina watched her and that attracted Khan's attention to the silent woman. Leona didn't move until Khan spoke to her.

"Surely Otto being gone doesn't bother you, Leona."

That earned him a snort from the fair-skinned beauty.

"Hardly, Lord Khan. It will disturb the doctor though."

There was an upturn to Khan's lips as he drew out the next word thoughtfully.

"Really?"

That fit in very well to his concept of McCoy and made him more confident that his plan to keep the doctor firmly under control would work as desired. Remus was always quick to catch onto the way Khan's thoughts ran - one reason he was so good in his position.

"I take it that fits in well with your plans, my Lord?"

"It does indeed. A doctor we have to keep constantly penned or leashed loses over half of his usefulness to us. But we will get him to leash himself."

It was Javina's turn to be puzzled.

"Why would McCoy need to be leashed?"

Remus answered that.

"Because the doctor is loyal - but his loyalty is to his profession as well as to his former Captain and crew. Not to us."

Khan smiled at his second and nodded.

"Precisely. If the opportunity arises and he has no reason not to seize it, McCoy will do anything he is able to in order to return to his ship. As with K'toomsu, it would not be wise to make too many assumptions as to what these men are or are not capable of. Despite the strength difference between them, I noted that Otto did not come out of his fight with McCoy unscathed. Even Alistair has proven to be a surprise. He showed considerably more nerve than I would have given him credit for in leaving their area to come find me."

Leona's head turned at that. She hadn't heard that story yet and it pleased her. While she appreciated his skills, she had been disappointed that he didn't have any spunk.

"My little mouse did that?"

Remus nodded, plainly impressed himself.

"Your little mouse does indeed have a spine. At least where threats to McCoy are concerned. If I'm not mistaken, all of our slaves have taken to watching out for the doctor."

"Which shows our slaves have a better sense of what is necessary for their continued survival that the late Otto did."

The tone of Khan's voice suggested that he would like to bring Otto back just for the pleasure of throwing him out again. He never had been one to abide short-sightedness among his people. Then he shrugged off that mood and turned to Mudd, smiling that slightly malevolent smile that never failed to twist Mudd's stomach into knots.

"Come, Mister Mudd. It is time for you and I to have a meeting with my lieutenants and talk about our arrival at Turdidae."

Once the nine augment leaders and Mudd were in the room Khan had made into his command center, Khan began speaking.

"So, this planet we will be arriving at soon should not be that difficult for us to overthrow. There are five political regions with Bahr being the largest and Tohr being the smallest. Between what we have learned from Mister Mudd and from the research that Remus and Mansur have done, I have determined the following. Turdidae society depends heavily on slaves - this is the primary reason that they have not become part of the Federation. In fact, in Tohr, the population is over fifty percent slave. Of the non-slave population, the skew is toward the elderly. Around sixty percent are past their primes and if we add to those the young who make up around twenty-five percent? That leaves us to deal mainly with only fifteen percent of the ruling class. And these are not warriors."

Khan quickly made his battle plans and went over them with his people. He and Remus would be go to Bahr with McCoy, K'toomsu, Mudd and nine of the other augments. Javina was being given the honor of tackling Tohr with herself as the only of the Lieutenant going with thirteen of the lower ranked augments under her command. The other three regions were divided into teams of ten augments led by two Lieutenants - Leona and Gillean going to Ahyl - Mulan and Kamau to Sahr - Tamerlane and Mansur to Nahz. The remaining augments were over the disease, but not recovered enough to fight in the field. They would be remaining to protect the Azalaris along with the remainder of the original crew. The planet's slaves would be given the chance to join in the fight against their masters or die at their side. Khan had little doubt which the majority would choose.

Once everyone had acknowledged and accepted their roles in the plans, Khan dismissed all but Remus and Mudd with the orders them to get rested for the next day's events. Mudd really wished he had been dismissed as well, but luck hadn't exactly been on his side of late.

"From how you have spoken in the past, I believe that you have dealt in slaves yourself a time or two, Mister Mudd?"

Seeing no point to denying it, Mudd just shrugged.

"In this universe, a man must make his profits where he can."

"Excellent. You will be leaving the ship in Tohr to purchase a few items for us. K'toomsu and McCoy will accompanying us as slaves and they need to be in whatever the appropriate restraints are that will not draw attention. I do not trust McCoy to refrain from trying to warn the natives of our intent."

"Then why not just leave him locked up on the ship?"

"Because that is not where I want him to be."

Reflexively quailing at the sharp tone in Khan's voice, Mudd didn't question anything else and breathed a sigh of relief when he was finally dismissed. Whatever scraps might have been left of his relationship with Kuty? This was about to remove any chance of reconciliation. As for McCoy? He didn't really worry all that much about the doctor, but the thought of what the crew of the Enterprise would do to Mudd if they ever caught up to him? That was the stuff of nightmares.

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5547.5 - It has now been nearly a week since the kidnapping of Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy. The more I learn about the group that has taken him, the more concerned I grow for Doctor McCoy, both as his Captain and his friend. For the moment, Starfleet Command has not issued new orders that would take us from this quadrant, but I fear that it may only be a matter of time at this point before we are told to consider McCoy to be presumed lost and ordered to stop our search.

Kirk hit the button to end the recording with more force than necessary. Alerts had been sent out and the nearby worlds in Federation space checked, but both Chekov and McGivers agreed that the most likely places were those outside of the Federation. Without permission, searching any of the planets that were populated was prohibited. They had to hope that someone would respond to the alerts. With that thought in mind, he turned to Lieutenant Uhura. Uhura already knew what the Captain wanted to know before he asked. One hand to her earpiece, she gave a slight shake of her head.

"Nothing at this time, sir. Continuing to monitor all frequencies."

Spock lifted his head from the Science station.

"If the augments had taken a different vessel, we would likely be getting a more favorable response."

Swiveling his chair to give Spock his attention, Kirk urged him to continue, more with the tone of his voice than the one word he spoke.

"Explain."

"Since we know that the hands on knowledge of the augments is highly limited, the odds are in favor of the Azalaris being at or in route to a world that Mister Mudd and his crew have visited in the past. Since even the most elementary of searches would reveal that Mister Mudd is a wanted felon in Federation space, it is unlikely that the groups that Mister Mudd deals with are unaware that he is a smuggler. Even with the addition to the alert that personnel have been kidnapped, that would be unlikely to prompt the majority of the planets to contact us. Several of the planets in question allow or promote slavery in one form or another."

"So there's a chance that they will think the alert from us is simply us trying to capture Mudd and bring him to justice."

"That would be my belief, Captain. Mister Chekov was quite correct when he stated that a world would hardly be wary of a ship the size of the Azalaris. Of course, they do not know who it is aboard the ship."

"Like a Trojan horse. The people will accept it into their cities without knowing that they're inviting in their would-be conquerors."

"Precisely. Whatever worlds Mister Mudd and his crew have visited in the past are likely to welcome them back again - provided that he refrained from breaking their laws on his previous visit."

"That's a large provision in the case of Harry Mudd. He seems almost genetically unable to obey the law."

"While I am not aware of any genetic anomalies that contribute to such behavior, if one exists, it is does seem probable that Mister Mudd would possess it."

"Captain!"

The edge of intensity to Uhura's voice brought Kirk's attention back to her immediately.

"I'm picking up a faint distress signal. It seems to be coming from the Nahz region of Turdidae."

A small frown on her face, Uhura paused to make an adjustment on her panel.

"The call is directed to Bahr, but they don't seem to be getting any response."

"Can you put it on the main screen, Lieutenant?"

"Aye, sir."

It took some additional adjustments, but the image of a golden haired woman with a pale violet cast to her skin appeared on the viewscreen.

"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise. We -"

Before he could continue the woman spoke up and tension was evident in her voice though her facial features remained calm.

"Captain Kirk, I am Maone Cteal, First Seat of the Council of Nahz. As you are aware, our planet is not a member of your Federation, but I ask for your assistance for humanitarian reasons."

An explosion could be heard in the background and the woman's mask fell away for a moment, revealing her terror. Kirk spoke up to remind her that he was still in communication with her.

"Madam Cteal - are you at war?"

"I wish I knew, Captain. Attacks began suddenly and without any declaration of war, but regardless of what the name would be, my people are dying. Our attackers are off-worlders and have yet to announce any reasons for these killings. When I saw what was happening, I came to the communications center of our city and sealed it off in hopes of requesting aid from our sister cities, but I have yet to get a response from any of them. I fear that our area is not the only one being targeted by these beings."

Spock spoke up at that point.

"Have you no military or police presence to contain your attackers?"

The change of speaker didn't phase the Councilwoman at all.

"It has been decades since there was any unrest that required a sizable armed presence. We have long since channeled our resources into other things, maintaing only a small force of peacekeepers and they seem to have been targeted first. I assure you that I am not trying to bring the Federation into a planetary conflict here. I only ask aid in protecting our young and infirm. One of our primary medical facilities has already been overrun and the patients put to death."

"Please send us all information that you currently have on your adversaries. We will set a course for your system at once and render what aid that we are able at our arrival."

"Our thanks, Captain. Transmission is underway. Good journey. Cteal out."

"Mister Chekov, lay in a course for Turdidae. That was one of the planets that was listed as being a possible destination for the augments?"

"Yes, Captain. Course set."

"Very good. Proceed Warp Factor Five. Lieutenant Uhura, is the transmission from Nahz complete?"

"Yes, Captain. It appears to be a news broadcast of the attack on the medical center."

"Main viewscreen."

"Aye, sir."

Watching the scene unfolding, Kirk couldn't help but wince. An attack on a medical center was bad enough, but the casual slaughter of the defenseless patients was worse. The opening of the turbo-lift doors didn't draw the Captain's attention away from the screen, but the gasp behind him did. He turned to see that McGivers had arrived on the Bridge just before she found her voice.

"The mid-left section of the scene, sir - I believe I recognize one of Khan's lieutenants!"

"Uhura. Can you isolate that section of the playback and zoom in on it?"

"I believe I should be able to, sir - there."

Spock moved to the side of the command chair as he spoke.

"Liutenant McGivers is correct. That is the augment known as Tamerlane Ashina."

Recognising the name, Kirk turned his head to Spock.

"Tamerlane - the one whose blood was on McCoy's tunic?"

"The same. It would appear we have found the location of the Azalaris."

Chapter Text

One thing that Mudd had totally right was his thought that returning with the slave gear would sever any remaining goodwill on the part of Kuty. When Kuty had signed aboard with Mudd, it was with the understanding that the dealings with slavers was over. One glance was all it took to inform him that Kuty had ranked him down with the lowest scum of the universe.

The only difference between Kuty's response and McCoy's was that McCoy was verbal about it.

"Not a lot lower you can go from here, Harry. Morals get too pricey to keep up?"

Kuty's comment over to McCoy stung.

"Len - save it for those who matter."

Despite his inclination to fight, McCoy listened to K'toomsu and got into the gear even though losing what remained of his uniform felt a little like losing another small piece of himself. The other man was right - this wasn't a fight he could win right now and McCoy had the feeling that whatever was in the wind was something big. He'd needed to save himself for the larger battles.

That attitude lasted right until the moment that an implant needed to be inserted under the skin. Khan was starting to find it amusing that he could tell how deeply his doctor felt about something by how thick his accent became.

"Hold it right there. Those things gotta be implanted? Fine. At least let someone who knows how to do it without complications do it."

Khan had no argument with McCoy doing the procedure, watching as he made sure the equipment and implants were all clean and sterilized before doing the procedure first on K'toomsu and then on himself. The feel of the implant going in was a cold burn - like a sliver of ice had been inserted under his skin. Annoyingly, it remained cold - not warming in the least from exposure to his body temperature. From the way one of his hands came to rest over his own implant, it appeared K'toomsu wasn't pleased with the constant chill either.

After the Azalaris took to the air again, leaving behind Javina and her group, Khan called Mudd over.

"So - these implants. The description of how they work is inadequate. Mister Mudd, I should like to see a demonstration of the implant in action. Doctor McCoy first."

Doing his best to avoid looking at either McCoy or Kuty, Mudd pulled out the control devices, which were mounted on a simple wrist band.

"There are three levels. The first is little more than an alert to get their attention. Just a sharp sting really."

There was an involuntary flinch of the muscles in McCoy's arm, but beyond that, the doctor gave no indication that he noticed anything. Growing more uneasy, Mudd continued.

"Level two is a reprimand. I'm told it's the equivalent of a punch or a hard slap."

When the next pain pulse went off, beyond the involuntary twinge and a sharp, but near silent intake of air, McCoy made no outward signs. He could taste the blood in his mouth from where his teeth had clamped together hard and caught the inside of his cheek. If level three was as far over level two as two had been over one? He took as deep a breath as he could and waited for the inevitable, reminding himself of the Oracle of Yonada. Whatever was coming couldn't be worse than that, surely. McCoy's eyes met K'toomsu's as Mudd started speaking again.

"Level three is punishment."

Khan moved over to take the band from Mudd, looking from it to the one for K'toomsu.

"These are identical?"

"Yes."

Without any indication that he was about to do so, Khan activated the level three. The small frame of time that McCoy had to think about it did rank the pain at near the level of the Oracle. Even if he had been inclined to scream, he didn't seem able to draw in the air for it. His already over-taxed body decided enough was enough. McCoy dropped bonelessly to the ground without a sound.

Mudd blanched.

"That's not what's supposed to happen."

With a sound very much like a growl coming from her, Leona moved to check over the doctor. Khan just held out his hand to Mudd for the other controller.

"Truly? Then let us see how the other one works."

If asked before this, K'toomsu would have described McCoy as a brave man, but not a particularly strong one. After receiving the level two pain pulse himself, he began reevaluating his thoughts about the doctor's inner strength. When the level three took him to his knees and forced out a cry despite him fighting it, he knew he'd made the mistake of underestimating McCoy.

Seeming pleased, Khan tossed the control for K'toomsu over to Remus while sliding McCoy's onto his left arm while issuing orders.

"Alistair, Jared - carry the doctor back to your spaces. Tysha, aid K'toomsu. Mulan, Kamau - get your people ready to go. Sahr is our next stop."

To her credit, Leona waited until the others had departed to carry out his orders before turning on Khan.

"You said you planned for the doctor to leash himself. What was all that display about then?"

An indulgent smile formed on Khan's face.

"The plans have not altered, dear Leona. This was the first stage. Setting boundaries. Now he knows what will occur if I have to pull him back. What will bother a man like that is the knowledge that what I do would incapacitate him. Keep him from helping others."

Tamerlane gave Khan an incredulous look.

"That's supposed to be a deterrent?"

A dry chuckle came from Khan as the Azalaris began descending down to land at Sahr.

"To a man like you? Not at all. To a man like him? Little else would work as well. Go prepare. Your area is the next. Remember - do not become impatient. Stick to our time schedule exactly."

"Yes, Lord Khan."

By the time the Azalaris touched down in Bahr, it was late in the day by the native time. Khan and Remus left the ship with Mudd in tow to get an overview of the city. In the slave area, McCoy was finally starting to come back around. Alistair was the first one to notice.

"Kuty? He's waking up. Easy, Doc. Don't try to sit up yet."

The blue eyes opened and gave Alistair a slight glare, but that was tempered by the curve of his lips.

"Exactly who's the doctor here anyway?"

Despite saying that, he relaxed back down once he realised where he was at. K'toomsu moved closer and the rest gathered around as well.

"You manage to keep surprising me, Len. I wasn't able to keep from reacting to the implant as you were able to. But there's something wrong, isn't there? The level three was bad, but I don't think it should have been enough to affect you as badly as it did."

A wry smile formed as McCoy allowed his eyes to close again.

"Not my first go-around with one of these things. Last one was called an 'instrument of obedience'. Somewhere around a month ago, which should give you an idea of how my year's been going."

After a soft sigh, he continued. He decided to leave the names of the rest of the Enterprise crew out of the story. He certainly didn't want any of the others to be targeted over anything he might say.

"Guess you might as well know the rest since it looks like we're all going to be together for awhile. I was ill recently. As in, dying. I was fortunate enough that a fellow scientist onboard came across a cure in some data banks from a civilization previously thought to have been lost. Cure was damn near as hard on me as the disease was. Still haven't gotten back to what I weighed before and my stamina still stinks. Guess the implant pushed me to my limits."

Alistair passed McCoy something to drink.

"You said recently, Doc. How recently are we talking?"

"Those checkups I was doing at Starbase 124? I'd just been released back to working full days when we arrived there."

Everyone went silent, then K'toomsu spoke again.

"I hate to say this, but I doubt tomorrow is going to show a marked improvement on how your year is going, Len. Get some sleep."

He looked up to the others then.

"That goes for the rest of us as well. I don't know exactly what the Augs intend for tomorrow, but we'll be better able to face it with rest."

When morning came to Bahr, McCoy and K'toomsu were pulled away from the rest as soon as a small meal had been eaten. A feeling of deep dread came over McCoy as he realized Khan was taking them to the area's medical center. In front of the building, Khan stopped for a moment then turned to McCoy.

"The first person you speak to without my permission will be killed immediately. Do we understand one another, Doctor?"

The blue eyes were glacial again, but McCoy's voice was even colder.

"Perfectly."

The medical center building was a large triangular structure with a smaller triangular building at the center, seperated from the rest of the building by an open air courtyard. It was this central building that Khan headed for. McCoy saw the puzzled glances of some of natives they were passing, but no-one was raising an alarm or otherwise trying to stop them. Once they were in front of the inner buidling, Khan stopped again, turning to the nine augments following them.

"Homer - you guard the door leading from the main building to this courtyard. The rest of you - begin."

The eight augments went inside the smaller building, quickly forcing all of the adults out into the courtyard. The distinctive sound of infants crying could be heard and McCoy's bad feeling grew worse. This building seemed to be this city's maternity center. Khan looked over the adults and singled out the three that were obviously nursing mothers.

"You three may go back inside. McCoy - K'toomsu? Go with them. Keep those inside safe and I will allow them to live, but should any adult be found inside beyond the five of you? All will perish."

McCoy looked at the others who had been herded out. Probably doctors, nurses and interns. Then K'toomsu took his arm.

"You don't have to say anything, Kuty. I know. Let's go."

As much as it felt like part of him was curling up and dying inside, there were at least three truly defenseless lives in his hands and their mothers. He had to protect those that he could - it was all he could do for now. They entered and K'toomsu firmly shut the door behind them and then started to barricade it as he spoke to McCoy.

"You stay with the young and their mothers as far away from the door as you can get them, Len. I'll guard the door."

Taking a deep breath, McCoy turned and started to go take a look at his charges, but K'toomsu stopped him briefly with a hand on his shoulder.

"Today is theirs, Len. It will not always be their day. Had they been undefeatable, they would never have fled your Earth."

He couldn't help but meet K'toomsu's eyes and smile faintly.

"Pretty damn optomistic for someone who's half-Klingon."

"One Klingon proverb is reH 'eb tu'lu'. There is always a chance."

"Guess Klingons are more optomistic than I give them credit for."

"It is easy to misunderstand a race you only meet in battle."

They both stopped at the sound of weapon's fire and screaming coming from outside. K'toomsu gave McCoy's arm a final squeeze and released it.

"Go. They need you."

Chapter Text

Anyone that had spent any time with him would venture that Harcourt Fenton Mudd was blasé about any life form other than his own as well as careless regarding the well-being of others. In fact, K'toomsu had come up with a saying not long after he had started working with Harry Mudd - if it's something that bothers Harry's conscience, it must be beyond bad. It wasn't that K'toomsu believed Harry to be actually evil - it was simply painfully obvious that anything that didn't concern Harry personally wasn't anything Harry would be bothered by.

Harry was bothered.

There were a lot of negatives that could be attributed to Mudd - con artist, thief, swindler, liar and smuggler among others. But one thing that he wasn't was a killer. Oh, he might strand someone somewhere that was less than desirable, but deliberately end a life? That was one of the rare things that did touch Mudd's moral code.

The ease with which Khan and his group killed was repugnant to him. It was waste. They didn't kill for a specific cause. They didn't kill for revenge. They didn't kill for survival. They killed for convenience. A shudder went through him at the thought - Harry knew how very easily he could be considered inconvenient.

The casual cruelty used on Kuty and McCoy also rankled. Okay - maybe he could understand it where McCoy was concerned. For one, the man's tongue was sharper than a laser scapel and McCoy wasn't afraid to use either. Also, Khan had placed a bet on getting McCoy to kneel before him. If there was one other thing he would have been willing to bet on, it was that Khan never made a bet he had any intention of losing.

Kuty? Kuty was another matter all together. After Kuty had tried to warn him and been ignored (a move for which Harry still felt like kicking himself over), Kuty had understandably chosen not to buck against the tide and had done his best to keep the remainder of the crew together and safe. He had smoothed things over and cooperated, making things vastly easier on the augments. Forcing the implant on him and then torturing him for no good reason seemed a very poor return for all that Kuty had done for Khan's people.

Khan and Remus had forced McCoy and Kuty to go with them hours ago. It was getting near the end of the daylight hours in the Bahr region and there was still no sign of them returning. Onboard the Azalaris, the augments who were been left to guard the ship had ordered Meram to connect the viewscreens with the local news agencies so that they could watch the 'fun' as they called it. Keeping McCoy's warnings well in mind, Tysha kept an eye on and her distance from the male augments while Kamau was off the ship.

Uneasy at what he'd unleashed, Mudd was stayed on the Bridge as well, though his former crew quite thoroughly ignored his presence. It was by pure accident that he happened to have been looking Meram's way when a reading came across the sensor panel that caused the crewman to stiffen.

Moving in what he hoped appeared to be a nonchalant fashion, Mudd moved over until he could glance at the readout. His heart nearly stopped when he saw that the sensors were picking up a very large space ship. If he had anything left to bet, he'd wager it was the Enterprise. Ships of that size simply didn't come to a planet like Turdidae.

Reaching across the board, Mudd 'accidentally' turned off the long range sensor array and 'bumped' the automatic SOS. Meram startled, reacting before he saw exactly what Mudd was up to.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The attention of the augments on the Bridge shifted their direction, but Mudd just gave an unconcerned shrug.

"Just wanted to see if there were any broadcasts from Sahr. One of my favorite drinking holes is there."

To Mudd's great relief, the lower ranking augments were mirroring Khan's attitudes toward him - someone not to be worried with. They took his words at face value and turned their attentions back to the viewscreen.

Meram gave Mudd a discrete side-glance that combined a bit of both admiration and suspicion. Mudd could understand the suspicion since he would normally go far - very far - out of his way to avoid the Enterprise. He had been giving it a lot of thought though. Kirk might not have a great deal in the way of a sense of humor and yes - a prison stint could come out of all this, but at least Mudd knew that he didn't have to fear being airlocked where Kirk was concerned. Khan? Going out an airlock was a very real possibility with him. In fact, Khan seemed to enjoy doing that far too much for Mudd's peace of mind.

From the Captain's chair on the Bridge of the Enterprise, Kirk was getting the status reports from the helm as they entered orbit. Uhura's hands were practically flying over her panels to sort through all of the transmissions coming from the planet.

Kirk gave her a sympathetic gaze.

"Whenever you can give us an idea of what's going on down there, Lieutenant. Mister Spock, see if you can isolate any media broadcasts."

Uhura looked frustrated, but the Captain was not the focus of that feeling. She looked toward him, hands still in motion.

"It's all a bit of a muddle, sir, but if I am understanding things correctly, all five centers of government were attacked at very nearly the same time. All the areas are calling out to all of the other areas - either requesting aid or yelling because aid hasn't been sent."

Then her fingers stopped.

"Captain! I'm picking up an automated distress signal. The signature tag on it is for the Azalaris."

Kirk was on his feet immediately.

"Spock, help her isolate that signal. I want a lock on the position of that ship."

This was far from the first time that Spock and Uhura had worked in tandem. They worked smoothly, each already knowing what the other would be doing to help isolate the signal. Spock cast a glance over his shoulder to the Captain.

"The transmission is coming from the Bahr region. More specifically, from the capital."

Spock made a few adjustments and then uploaded the images of the city below to the main viewscreen.

"Despite the disruptions on the city, the ship itself is in what appears to be a zone free of conflict."

Frowning, Kirk looked at the screen while thinking out loud.

"Bahr. I wish the ship was in Nhaz. We already have permission to be in that region."

Spock straightened and turned fully toward the Captain.

"If I recall Starfleet directives correctly, I do not believe we require permission at this point. The planet is apparently in a state of war and a ship registered to the Federation has put out a distress call for assistance."

Head turning, Kirk gave Spock an incredulous look.

"The Azalaris has a Federation registry?"

A look that was the Vulcan equivalent of bemused was on Spock's face.

"Little doubt that the registry was falsified to allow Mister Mudd access to Federation starbases, but this hardly seems the time to question the validity, sir."

A smile crept onto Kirk's face.

"Gather two landing paties, Mister Spock. Full weapons. The first one will be a security force to go to the aid of Madam Cteal - put Security Chief Ingersol in charge of that group. You and I will be in the second group going to the Azalaris. The sooner we're ready to depart, the better. Mister Scott - you will have the con."

"Aye, Captain."

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5550.7 - The landing party under Security Chief Ingersol has just beamed down to the Nahz region to assist in protecting civilians from the unprovoked attacks to their area. The Enterprise is moving into position for us to beam down to the Azalaris in hopes of recovering our Chief Medical Officer.

Due to the known hostile intent of the Botany Bay augments, I am having First Officer Spock and Chief Engineer Scott beam directly into the engineering section of the Azalaris in order to shut down the ship's propulsion and weapon systems. Once they have contacted the ship to let us know that they have successfully accomplished their mission, I will be beaming down along with a security contingent in the hopes of taking those augments remaining with the ship into custody.

In the Engineering section of the Azalaris, Alistair was going through his regular maintenance checks, trying to avoid the augment that had been left to keep an eye on him. The augment, Maldin by name, would have preferred to be on the Bridge with most of the others, watching what he was sure would be the inevitable take-over of the planet. Alistair was happier not seeing any of that, but he would almost have preferred it to being stuck in the room with an ill-tempered guard. Almost.

As he got ready to shift to the next piece of gear, Alistair picked up his tool kit. A familiar whine had him turning with a gasp. Somebody was teleporting into the engine room - two people from the look of it. The sound had drawn Maldin's attention as well and he was in the process of drawing his weapon.

If he'd taken time to consider options, Alistair might not have done anything. Instead, he reacted without thinking, throwing the tool kit at Maldin. The action was so unexpected that Maldin turned his full attention - and anger - at Alistair and forgot about the two figures currently materializing. As soon as they were free of the beam, Spock fired a heavy stun at Maldin. From the studies he had done on the known traits of augments from the Eugenics War, Spock knew that energy weapons didn't work as well on the augments and fired a second time immediately following the first blast.

While Scotty wasn't sure who the other man in the Engineering section was, it was obvious that the man had helped them against the augment. Scotty still kept his own weapon in hand, but he didn't point it at the man as he drew close.

"Not a fan of the augments yourself, laddie?"

Without conscious thought, Alistair's hand strayed to the collar around his neck.

"Considering the Augs killed a number of my friends and then enslaved me? Hardly, sir."

The Starfleet uniforms gave him some hope, so Alistair spoke again.

"Are you from Doc's ship? The Enterprise?"

That drew Spock's attention as well now that he had taken Maldin down.

"We are. I am First Officer Spock and this is Chief Engineer Scott. Is Doctor McCoy here?"

They were disappointed when Alistair shook his head.

"Afraid not. Khan drug him and Kuty out with them when they left to attack the poor blighters that live here." Alistair watched as the two officers exchanged a glance and then decided to jump all in.

"Listen - I know Kuty has hopes that you Feds might get all of us away from the Augs, but you need to get Doc away from Khan. Doc's probably the only reason any of the Augs are still healthy, but you wouldn't guess that from how they treat him. Hell, after he'd fixed a broken jaw on one of them, the Aug came back and came close to beating him to death. Probably would have, but when they divided up slaves, Khan took the Doc and I guess the Aug was bright enough not to kill Khan's property. The rest of us have been trying to watch out for him, but there's only so much we've been able to do. And yesterday, Khan had Doc put some sort of slave control insert into him and Kuty."

Spock's eyebrows drew slightly closer together at the recital of part of what McCoy had been through since being taken.

"Do you know any details on the devices?"

"They each have a control. Khan has Doc's - Remus has Kuty's. Three pain levels - third one looks bad. Really bad - Khan tested it out on both of them. If you can find Harry, he'd know more. He's the one that bought the damn things for the Augs."

The fact that the last sentence was practically spit out wasn't lost on either Spock or Scotty.

"I take it Harry is not a popular man among your crew, lad?"

"He's the only one of us without a slave collar - and if he'd listened to Kuty in the first place, we might not be in the situation we're in. But when Harry thinks he sees a profit, common sense goes out the window."

"Would this 'Kuty' you refer to be the K'toomsu on the records the space station has on the Azalaris?"

"That's him. He's been the main one working to keep what's left of our crew alive. So - Scott. You wouldn't happen to be Montgomery Scott, would you?"

Seeming slightly bemused by the question, Scotty nodded.

"Aye, I would be."

Alistair gave a slightly sheepish grin.

"I've read as many as your articles as I've been able to get my hands on regarding engine impulse and transporter theory. I think I have a decent idea why you beamed in here and I can speak for the others when I say that if there's anything we can do to help stop the Augs, we'll do it."

Scotty clapped a hand on Alistair's shoulder.

"Why don't we start by you showing us the weapon systems and propulsion units?"

"That easy - the blueprints and schematics are all available as well. Khan's been having his people studying everything."

Satisfied that Mister Scott was safe with Alistair, Spock teleported back aboard the Enterprise with Maldin. After a quick conference with the Captain, Kirk turned the augment over to Security with strict orders to keep him both isolated and in stasis until further notice. That done, Spock quickly filled Kirk in on what Alistair had told them about Doctor McCoy.

That tended to, Spock joined Alistair and Scotty over at the control panels. Between the two engineers, it didn't take very long before both the engines and the weapon systems were locked out and would only unlock to Scotty's verbal authorization. Satisfied that the Captain's requirements had been met, Spock signaled the Captain that Phase One was complete. The lack of information about Doctor McCoy's present location was going to make Phase Two trickier.

Kirk was still considering what Spock had told him before beaming down when Uhura's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Captain, I've isolated a broadcast from the Ahyl sector I think you will want to see. The two augment lieutenants in that area seem to have turned on one another."

"Lieutenant, patch me through to Mister Spock."

"Aye, Captain."

"Spock here."

"Change of plans, Mister Spock. Beam back aboard and bring the Azalaris engineer with you. Something is going on and I want to see if he can shed any light on it."

Moments later, the three were in the Enterprise teleporter room. Scotty took over the introductions.

"Captain, this is Alistair Leatherby from the remaining Azalaris crew. He's already offered what aid he can give us. Alistair, this is Captain Kirk."

"This way, gentlemen. Lieutenant Uhura has a broadcast that I'd like Mister Leatherby's take on."

"Alistair's fine, sir."

Alistair tried not to stare like a farmboy going to the big city, but a ship like the Enterprise was an engineer's dream. Scotty saw the expression and smiled - he took great pride in his Lady and enjoyed seeing others that could appreciate her the way that he did. Kirk was already speaking to Uhura as they stepped onto the Bridge.

"Uhura - broadcast on the main viewscreen."

"Aye, sir."

The scene was chaotic. There were many dead including some that were obviously augments. A human looking woman with reddish-blonde hair was behind a barricade with several of the Turdidae natives seeming to be fighting at her side. Uhura spoke up to explain what they were looking at.

"The building the barricade is in front of is the main medical center for Ahyl. According to what I've picked up, one of the male augments began to attack the building and the female turned on him. She's been protecting it ever since and, as you can see, some of the native defenders of the sector have joined her."

The voice of the young engineer spoke up - but not very loudly.

"That one's my owner - Leona. She's worked with Doc a lot. Been real protective of him. She and Remus are the only two Augs that treat us anything like human."

Kirk was only half-listening as thoughts ran through his head.

"Uhura - that earlier report from Nahz. Didn't Madam Cteal report their medical facility had been attacked?"

"Yes, Captain. And patients put to death. I've also heard reports from Sahr regarding attacks on a medical building."

Turning to Scotty, Kirk asked his next question.

"The Azalaris will stay where she is for now?"

Scotty gave a firm nod.

"She'll not be going anywhere without me undoing the security locks without someone rewiring the whole section - and that would take weeks for someone that knew the system well."

"Excellent. Strategy shift for Phase Two. Instead of trying to take the Azalaris, I want us to teleport into the main medical facility at Bahr. Can you zero in on that for us, Scotty?"

"Aye, sir. It will take a wee bit of time, but I should have the coordinates locked by the time the landing party is assembled."

Spock looked from the viewscreen to Kirk.

"Playing a hunch, Captain?"

"A partial hunch, Mister Spock. Three known attacks on medical facilities feels like a strategy that they've agreed on. I'm hoping that pattern includes Bahr."

"That would seem a reasonable assumption."

"Good. Let's get down to the transporter room. The sooner we're down there, the better. Alistair? You're with us."

Chapter Text

From the sound of it, McCoy was going to be dealing with a combination of unhappy women and infants that were even unhappier. Worse, because he looked like the ones that had been attacking them, the women weren't inclined to trust him.

Deciding that they were a lost cause for the time being, he concentrated on the infants. They all looked very much alike with deep reddish purple skin tones that reminded him of the ripe field plums he'd picked as a boy. Their hair was the pale gold of cornsilks and just as fine in texture.

Chuckling at his own thoughts, the doctor reached out and picked up the nearest infant, his voice practically a coo (a fact he would vehemently deny under threat of torture).

"Well now, who have we here? Aren't you a pretty baby? Yes, yes you are."

It could probably rightfully be said that Leonard McCoy didn't have much patience with adults of any species. On the other hand, he had yet to met the infant that couldn't melt his heart.

Snuffling, the infant blinked wet, dark blue eyes at him and responded by calming down as McCoy continued to speak soothingly to it until the baby managed to wrap it's small hand around McCoy's little finger, just above the ring he always wore there. That was when he felt an odd sensation in his brain. It didn't quite feel like anything else he'd ever felt before, but it felt close enough to another sensation that he could figure it out. Laughing, he ran the pad of his thumb gently over the child's damp cheek.

"You little dickens - you're a telepath, aren't you? Or maybe an empath. Well, either way, I know you can figure out that I don't mean in harm to you or your mama."

There was another eye blink, then the baby suddenly gave a wide, toothless grin and . . . well, the only word McCoy to think to describe the sound was a warble like a bird would make. High-pitched and happy. As that sound filled the air, the other two infants picked up on the emotions and quit crying as well.

It was like a domino effect. As soon as the children calmed, the mothers did as well. They cautiously emerged from the room they had huddled in. McCoy noticed that he was getting a 'feeling' from each of the infants, but nothing at all from the mothers. Well, that would be a curiosity to discuss with Spock -

A pang hit him when he remembered the odds against him ever discussing anything with Spock again. Apparently the child in his arms felt it too and whimpered slightly, snuggling closer to him for comfort.

"Sorry, kiddo. Guess I need to keep my thoughts upbeat around you little guys. That's not my strong point, you know."

He really wished he had a translator on him. These ladies obviously didn't know Federation standard and he most certainly didn't know - well, whatever they called their language. They were obviously trying to tell him something, but darned if he knew what.

One of the woman reached for the infant and another took hold of his arm. It was easy enough to figure out that she wanted him to see something, so McCoy went along willingly into another area with her. She unlocked a door and when he went through the doorway, McCoy gasped as he saw another Turdidaen woman lying on the floor. She looked to be in distress, but the cause of that distress wasn't apparent.

Well, it wasn't the first time that he'd had to take his best guess at treating an unknown race. He picked her up as gently as he could manage and carried her into the other area. Finding an empty bed to put her on, he wished he could ask her what hurt or if she knew what was wrong with her.

The one that had led him to the woman gently touched the other woman's abdomen, then pointed to the infants. It seemed like she was trying to tell him that the woman was having a child, but surely not? The woman had a slight paunch, but no more of one than he'd expect to see on a woman who was around a third of the way through a pregnancy.

Still, the woman was insistent. Maybe the other woman was having a miscarriage? Regardless, he'd see if there was anything he could do for her. At least all of the women calmed down when he scrubbed up before examining her.

When he laid his bare hand onto the bare flesh over her abdomen, he was momentarily rocked as a connection hit far stronger than that he'd experienced with the first infant he picked up. He couldn't translate much of what he was getting from the fetus, but he was overwhelmingly sure that it was beginning the process of being born - though if you had asked McCoy how he was so sure, he wouldn't have known what to answer.

The comforting noises he made while working were quite frankly more for himself than for the mother-to-be. The actual birthing was incredibly fast and he found himself holding a squirming newborn who was about the size of a kitten - four, maybe five ounces at most. Again, without being sure why, McCoy felt sure that the youngster was healthy as he gently cleaned it before offering it to its mother.

He quickly learned another difference between a human mother and a Turdidaen one - in between the two breasts she had that conformed to human standard was a smaller third breast. It was to this one that the mother directed the newborn who latched on readily and ate with a gusto that got rid of any further concerns McCoy had for it. Since none of the other women seemed shocked or amazed at the size of the new arrival, he had to assume this was a normal birth size.

Suddenly the other three women clung to their children. It didn't surprise McCoy in the least when he turned and saw Khan had entered the room - K'toomsu was in the doorway behind him, not looking happy. For his part, Khan looked over the women then glared at McCoy.

"Did I not tell you what would happen if anyone else was allowed in?"

Any number of perfectly sensible men would have apologized or groveled to try and make Khan understand. McCoy's was the more direct approach of planting himself firmly between the augment leader and the women.

"You told me to keep those inside here safe. If your people missed a gal that was hiding from them because she was scared, that ain't her fault or mine. Leave her be - she just gave birth."

A smile that McCoy termed a crocodile one formed on Khan's face.

"Would you beg me for their lives then, Doctor?"

There was no hesitation with his answer.

"If that's what it takes, then yes."

"On your knees then."

Again, there was no hesitation as the doctor smoothly moved to kneel in front of Khan, who gave McCoy a look of mild distaste.

"I would have thought a man of your century would have had more pride."

His knees might have been bent, but the look in McCoy's eyes when he met Khan's gaze had nothing in them to show that the man was in any way cowed.

"You and I? We've got real different ideas about what a man ought to be proud of."

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Stardate 5550.9 - The landing party consisting of myself, Mister Spock, Ensign Chekov, Lieutenant White, Ensign Bourne and Alistair Leathersby is about to beam down to the central area of the Bahr sector's main medical facility in hopes that we will find our missing Chief Medical Officer there. After listening to some of Alistair's recounting of the actions of Khan and his people, I feel that finding Doctor McCoy as quickly as possible is even more crucial.

As Kirk signed off and readied himself to join the landing party, he found himself being called by the Lady M'hirra.

"Captain Kirk, I understand that you are beaming down to Turdidae. I should like to volunteer to accompany your party."

The offer was so unexpected that it took the Captain a moment to gather together a reply.

"While I appreciate the offer, Lady, there is a great deal of unrest on the planet's surface and I wouldn't feel comfortable with taking you down into the middle of it."

The Caitian woman's tail switched restlessly back and forth.

"I appreciate the concern, Captain, but if I may be so bold? Does anyone in your landing party speak Turdidaen?"

"No. Do you, Lady?"

"I do. Cait and Turdidae have had a trade relationship dating back to before Cait joined the Federation. I am the current ambassador for Cait. I only left my offices here because they are not equipped here for birthing such as your people and mine do it."

There was still hesitation in Kirk's voice.

"Admittedly, your knowledge of the planet would be most helpful, but I couldn't ask you to take that risk."

M'hirra gave a small smile.

"You did not ask. I volunteered. Please, Captain - I owe your Doctor McCoy a large debt. I might have survived the early labor, but without him, I would have lost one or both of my sons. Let me repay him by helping to bring him back to his home."

"Will your twins be alright?"

"They are newly fed, the nurses are aware of my plans and I have left them milk for another feeding."

"Can you use a phaser?"

A sound that was part chuckle and part purr came from her as her eyes brightened.

"I was top in my class at the Academy before I was recalled to Cait to assume Ambassador duties when my father grew too ill to continue."

Kirk moved to the intercom.

"Kirk to Security."

"Security. McAdams here, sir."

"Have a full-charged phaser sent immediately to the transporter room under my orders."

"Aye, Captain. Right away, sir. McAdams out."

Kirk offered her his arm.

"My only condition is that you stay near me unless I say otherwise. Agreed?"

Taking the offered arm, M'hirra nodded.

"Agreed. Let us not keep the doctor waiting any longer."

That was a sentiment that Kirk agreed with wholeheartedly.

K'toomsu was still watching Khan standing over McCoy when he sensed who was approaching him from behind. He didn't turn around though - he kept his eyes on McCoy as the doctor spoke.

"We've got real different ideas about what a man ought to be proud of."

A hand reaching out and tightening on K'toomsu's shoulder was all that prevented him from going into the room as Khan responded to the words with a powerful backhanded blow that sent McCoy to the floor. The Klingon/Orion turned his head to look at the one holding him back.

"You follow a man with no sense of honor, Remus."

Eyes narrowing, Remus started to rebuke K'toomsu, but paused. Part of him agreed. He couldn't quite wrap his head around the way Khan treated McCoy. His communicator chirped before he could do anything else.

"Remus. What is it?"

"Mavia reporting, Remus. We're monitoring transmissions on the Bridge. Leona has turned on our people. Gillean's condition is unknown, but it is probable that he's dead." From the way Khan stiffened in front of him, it was obvious to Remus that their leader had heard Mavia's report. Reaching down and fisting his hand into McCoy's top tightly enough to make breathing difficult, Khan hauled the doctor up until his feet were off of the floor.

"This is all your fault! I should have killed you the first day when I saw Leona obey an order from you."

With that statement, everything suddenly became clearer to Remus. McCoy commanded loyalty and he had apparently even over-ridden Leona's loyalties to Khan. Then he remembered that he himself had also clashed with Khan where the doctor was concerned and he no longer wondered why Khan was treating McCoy as a threat. As that thought crossed his mind, Khan lifted McCoy slightly higher and growled.

"Perhaps I should correct that mistake now."

A twist of Khan's hand was all it took to cut off McCoy's already limited air supply. As he choked, the doctor's hands grabbed onto Khan's arm in a last-ditch effort to free himself. Then, something in the room changed. The atmosphere took on a feeling much like air does when a storm is approaching.

A sound began to fill K'toomsu's ears like no other noise he'd ever heard before. The closest equivalent he could come up with was the buzzing of angry insects. It grew rapidly in volume to the point where he covered his ears to try and deaden the sound. His eyes grew wide as that made him realize that the sound was inside his head. And not only his head.

It wasn't hard to see that both Remus and Khan were being affected by the sound as well. McCoy's lips had already gotten a blue tinge before Khan was finally forced to release his hold and let the semi-conscious man fall to the floor. Grabbing his head, Khan shouted out.

"Whoever you are - come out and fight like men!"

The taunt did nothing to stop the onslaught. The last thing that Remus heard before losing consciousness was the whine that he associated with a transporter beam.

As the landing party materialized outside of the central building, the first thing they saw where the bodies of the Medical personnel that Khan had executed. Then they all staggered back slightly as pain erupted in their heads. It seemed to affect Spock worst of all as the Science Officer dropped to his knees. M'hirra hissed and moved forward.

"Those cold-hearted idiots."

Ignoring Kirk's attempt to reach out to her, M'hirra went to the doorway and let out an odd sound. It struck Kirk as sounding like a cat trying to give a bird call. He had no idea at the moment how appropriate that thought was. All he really knew was a feeling of gratitude that M'hirra was with them as the pain in their heads came to a sudden stop. Kirk offered a hand to help Spock get back to his feet, then went over to M'hirra's side.

The Caitian woman was obviously agitated as could be seen by the way her tail was switching back and forth rapidly.

"Come, Captain. Something inside was a threat to the young or their mothers."

That said, she headed inside, leaving no option for the others but to follow in her wake. M'hirra moved past the other men who had fallen to the floor. When he caught sight of who she was heading toward, Kirk's own breath caught in his throat.

"Bones."

Even though he wanted nothing more than to go straight over to his long-time friend himself, Kirk stopped long enough to give out orders. He recognized both Remus and Khan from their briefings.

"Mister Chekov, Lieutenant White - make sure these two are secured. Odds are that whatever took them down won't keep them that way for long."

Continuing to move to McCoy's side, Spock found himself being stared down by three sets of small eyes. When Kirk looked at his First Officer, Spock had an expression on his face that showed he was both intrigued and bemused.

"It was the children, Captain."

Moving to McCoy's side, Kirk gave Spock an incredulous look then looked back to the cradles.

"These children?"

M'hirra gave her throaty laugh again.

"It is an residual trait found only in their young. Srala, one of the new mothers here, says that Doctor McCoy aided in delivering her child. That likely caused it to bond with the doctor, so when he was threatened? The child instinctively lashed out and the other three responded and merged their power with his."

A laugh came from behind them. Kirk turned his head and noted that restraints had been beamed down from the Enterprise and applied to both Khan and Remus. It was Chekov who was laughing.

"Something striking you as amusing, Mister Chekov?"

It took the young ensign a moment to compose himself enough to respond.

"Sorry, Captain. I was thinking back on what Lieutenant McGivers had said regarding superiority and the thought of their two leaders being taken down by a child less than a year old?"

M'hirra made an amused sound and smiled.

"Actually, less than an hour old. The one that struck out first is not any of these three. He's with his mother. Turdidaen young are born very small, but grow rapidly during their first weeks of life."

"How small are we talking, Lady?"

"They are rarely over 100 grams. Less than four ounces by the old Terran weight standards."

A soft sound of pain from McCoy drew everyone's attention back to the doctor. His coloration still wasn't good and he seemed to be struggling to take a deep breath. M'hirra rose and moved toward what looked to be a doctor's work space.

"I will get in contact with the Bahr leadership if any are still alive and see if approval can be given for the Enterprise to assist here as it is in Nahz."

Kirk looked to Spock.

"Do you think it would be safe to beam Bones back to the Enterprise?"

An uncharacteristic hesitation preceded Spock's answer.

"It might be wise to beam help down to the doctor, Captain. Not knowing the details of the bond the infant has formed with Doctor McCoy, there is a possibility that a sudden separation might do more harm than good."

Nodding, Kirk pulled out his communicator.

"Kirk to Enterprise. We need a medical team beamed down to this location. We've found Doctor McCoy."

Chapter Text

Captain's Log : Supplemental - Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy has been found and is currently receiving medical attention. The augment leader, Khan, and Remus, his second in command have been taken into custody.

Lady M'hirra has made use of her position of Ambassador to Turdidae to gain permission for the Enterprise crew to assist in containing the remaining augments in Bahr and will be contacting the other regions to see if she can gain their permission as well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It didn't surprise the Captain that the medical team beaming down had consisted of Chapel and one of the other senior nurses. Nothing short of a direct order or a death threat (or perhaps a combination of the two) seemed to be able to get M'benga to set foot off of the ship unless shore leave was involved.

Kirk was doing his best not to hover, but when Chapel shot him an exasperated look, he knew he wasn't succeeding very well. Looking around for something to distract him, he noticed Spock and Alistair speaking with the other man that had been unconscious when they'd arrived. The slave collar that matched the ones on McCoy and Alistair marked him as one of the surviving Azalaris crewmembers. The obvious sign of Klingon blood in his ancestry seemed to point as to which member it was.

Spock lifted his head as the Captain came over which caused the man still resting on the floor to look up at the approaching officer. Kirk didn't even have the opportunity to start to speak first.

"So - you're Len's commanding officer? Alright, I think I can see that."

At that puzzling statement, Kirk gave Spock a look. Spock's eyebrow gave the Vulcan equivalent of a shrug in response, so Kirk went straight to the source.

"You're K'toomsu?"

The man's craggy features shifted to a smile.

"Not a half bad attempt at pronouncing that for a Terran. Most of the rest just give up the fight and call me Kuty."

A half-smile formed on Kirk's face. He already liked this man and he wasn't quite sure why.

"Alright - Kuty. What is it that you think you can see?"

"Why Len stayed loyal to you even when he was pretty well convinced he'd never see you again. Life would have likely been considerable smoother for him if he'd at least pretended to switch loyalties over to Khan."

Kirk gave a side glance over to his long-time friend - what he could see of him around Chapel.

"Is that a polite way of saying Doctor McCoy is too stubborn for his own good sometimes?"

K'toomsu rubbed the back of his neck around the slave collar.

"Len couldn't have faked willingness to follow Khan any better than I could pass for dancing girl on Risa. But Khan doesn't appreciate anyone who is loyal to anyone but himself."

"How did Khan and his group take over your ship?"

"All too easily. We came across their ship. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have bothered to wake Harry up. I'd have armed the weapons, breeched the Botany Bay's hull and save us all a great deal of grief."

Spock's eyebrow crept up.

"That sounds quite . . . callous."

"It is. Don't expect me to exhibit any sympathy regarding Khan. I wasn't overly thrilled with the other augments taking over the Azalaris, but it wasn't until Khan recovered that the enslavement and killings started. Have either of you been under a slave's collar before?"

The memory of Triskelion and the collar he wore as the property of Provider One was still very fresh in Kirk's mind.

"I have."

"This is my second time. The experience does not improve."

Alistair, who was staying roughly between Kuty and McCoy, piped up.

"Kuty's the one that's kept the rest of us going. And kept Doc from essentially committing suicide by attacking Khan."

Kirk's puzzled look showed how hard it was to picture McCoy doing that, so K'toomsu explained.

"We were all there when Khan ordered the rest of the crew to be airlocked. Including Len."

Spock nodded, recalling the doctor's reaction when Kirk had been forced to prevent him from saving Edith Keeler.

"Understandable. Preventable loss of life has never set well with the good doctor. Might I ask what was the cause?"

It was Alistair that spoke up again, bitterness thick in his voice.

"The cause? Khan decided he wanted more elbow room. He ordered it immediately after collaring the rest of us."

Kirk was stunned at that. He'd thought that the Azalaris crew had fought Khan's takeover and those that had been ejected were used as an example to the remainder. The thought of it having been done in cold blood hadn't even crossed his mind. The soft Russian curse to the side seemed to indicate that even Chekov hadn't considered that.

"But we found blood on McCoy's shirt - we assumed there had been a struggle."

Eyes darkening, K'toomsu nodded.

"There was one, but not until after Khan made his decision. Our people didn't go into the airlock willingly and a couple had weapons the Augs didn't know about. There were no fights before that. Harry had taken them on as passengers."

When K'toomsu paused, Alistair added.

"The blood got on Doc's shirt when Khan took one of the blades used in the fight and cut it off of him. Like he was trying to strip Doc of part of his identity."

Spock regarded the young Engineer.

"What of Mister Mudd in all of this? He was your captain, was he not?"

"What of him? Harry would have sold out his own mother to keep his own hide intact. You really think he cared? He never raised his voice once to protest anything done to us."

"He still lives then?"

"He does, but I think the Augs have a lower opinion of him than even we do. Khan has him doing the stuff he doesn't trust us to do and thinks is too menial for his Augs to do. He's the one -"

Alistair stopped suddenly, head turning to look over to McCoy when Chapel's audible and uncharacteristic curse came out. Kirk moved back over to her.

"What is it? Can't you figure out how to remove the control device?"

"Not without knowing what I'm dealing with, Captain. From what I've read on studies of these kinds of devices, some of them are designed to cause massive amounts of damage if removal is attempted. I can't even get a proper reading to tell where exactly it is."

M'hirra spoke up again.

"Does anyone know if the devices were bought in Bahr?"

K'toomsu turned, regarding the Caitian woman.

"We were in Tohr when Harry bought the damned things."

There was a quick conference between M'hirra and one of the Turdidaen women before M'hirra spoke again.

"That is fortunate. I am told that in Tohr, the devices will cause pain to discourage removal, but nothing that should cause permanent damages. In Bahr, some of them can be fatal if tampered with."

A moment of silence followed, then K'toomsu moved over to Chapel.

"Len is already injured. Remove the one from me first so that you can see what it does and know what to expect when you remove his."

She looked over to the Captain and Kirk hesitated before giving her a nod of approval. Turning back to K'toomsu, Chapel gave him a slight smile of appreciation.

"Do you know where the implant is?"

"It is impossible not to know. It stays cold."

He held out his arm and pointed directly to the spot with his other hand. Chapel scanned it with her tricorder, then frowned.

"Some part of the device is definitely blocking the sensor readings. I'm still not picking anything up beyond the temperature difference you mentioned. I don't like trying to extract something like this blind."

"All the more reason to take out mine first. Do it. Please."

A weak voice came from behind.

"First time I've heard you beg, Kuty."

Making a sound that was half snort and half chuckle, K'toomsu moved past Chapel and knelt by McCoy. The doctor's eyes were still closed and one hand was on his forehead.

"About time you woke back up, slacker."

"Not my fault, Kuty. Must have took a pretty hard blow though. You wouldn't believe the things I've been hallucinating."

Kirk knelt down silently at the other side of McCoy before laying a hand on his arm.

"How bad is it, Bones?"

The rapid turn of his head as his eyes opened proved to be too much for McCoy. Kirk and K'toomsu quickly found themselves supporting him as he threw up what little was on his stomach.

"Easy, Len. No hallucinations this time. Your crew's found you."

Then K'toomsu gave a bemused look to Kirk.

"Bones? Len could use some weight on him, but that still seems an odd nickname."

"Long story."

Chekov came up behind Kirk and he glanced over his shoulder to see what the Ensign wanted.

"Yes, Mister Chekov?"

"Excuse me, Captain, but Lady M'hirra said you would probably need these, sir."

Looking over to see what was been spoken of, K'toomsu broke in.

"Those are the control devices for the implants. Be careful where you grab them."

On hearing what the items were, Spock stepped forward.

"I will take those, Mister Chekov. Perhaps, between myself and Mister Alistair, we can determine how to deactivate the implants."

A toolkit was beamed down to them, then Spock and Alistair quietly commandeered one of the tables in the room as a worktable. Kirk and Chekov were discussing with K'toomsu the best way to takeover the Azalaris when Spock came over several minutes later.

"Status report, Spock?"

"We believe we have found the procedure needed to fully deactivate the implants, but there is a trigger built into the control that makes it impossible to deactivate it without the implant being activated first."

K'toomsu gave a snort at that.

"Fail-safe. To make sure the slave doesn't simply take the control and turn it off."

Spock nodded in agreement.

"That would indeed seem to be the intent behind the trigger. The discomfort to you and the doctor -"

Whatever else might have been wrong with McCoy, his hearing was still excellent.

"Will be worth it if it gets rid of this hardware. Kuty can speak for himself, but for me? Go on and get it over with. I can't go around with something in me that might get triggered unexpectedly - like when I'm performing surgery."

Acknowledging the validity of that, Spock looked to Kirk, who nodded as he gripped one of McCoy's hands. After a pause, Spock nodded as well.

"Very well, Doctor. As this was meant as a preventive measure, I doubt the sensation will be pleasant"

"Already know how the damn thing feels. Get it over with."

Returning to the table, Spock and Alistair exchanged a few quick ideas. They might not be able to prevent the pain, but they would do everything they could do lessen the duration as much as possible.

There was no warning given for when they started, but Kirk had a pretty good idea that they began about two-tenths of a second before McCoy started to crush his hand. He didn't try to pull his hand free though, he just held on tighter himself. From the look on his friend's face, the discomfort Kirk was going through was nothing compared to what the doctor was being subjected to.

Fortunately for both of them, it didn't last nearly as long as it felt like. Kirk didn't move away as Chapel began running a new scan. He could hear the Turdidaen infants crying in the background, but it sounded like they were already starting to calm so he kept his focus on his friend.

"Bones?"

A deep breath followed by a soft sigh answered him before the blue eyes opened and focused on him again.

"It worked, Jim. The cold the thing always radiated - that's gone now."

A smile formed on Chapel face a minute later.

"Whatever they did also turned off whatever was blocking my scanner."

"Good - get the damn thing outta me, Chris."

She hesitated, looking at the readings again.

"Are you sure? It might be better to wait until we're back onboard."

"No. I personally have no desire to see if teleportation might trigger something that causes it to turn back on again. I'll do the procedure on myself if I have to."

That was all the encouragement needed for Chapel to proceed with the extraction, which went smoothly. The deactivation and removal of K'toomsu's implant followed soon after. K'toomsu was still catching his breath from that when M'hirra came back over to Kirk.

"The leadership has requested that the remainder of the Augments be taken for trial as soon as possible and have authorized me to tell you that you have been granted leeway to act as you see fit to bring this about."

"Thank you, Lady M'hirra. Your assistance in this has been invaluable."

Kirk turned from her to meet K'toomsu's eyes.

"Well, ready to get the rest of your crew freed, Kuty?"

"More than ready, Captain Kirk."

Chapter Text

With both K'toomsu and Alistair as willing participants and only the lower echelon of the Augments to deal with, taking the Azalaris proved to be easier than what occurred afterward.

To Kirk's dismay and disgust, it wasn't only the Augments that the Turdidaen governments wanted brought to trial - they also demanded the Azalaris crewmembers be put on trial - as well as Doctor Leonard McCoy. To Spock, Lady M'hirra proved her outstanding talents as a diplomat when she was able to calm the Captain down before he did anything rash. He also made mental note that it likely didn't hurt that the woman's purring cadence of speech seemed to be soothing to human (and Vulcan) ears.

"I was told it is merely a formality of their laws, Captain. Your doctor has character witnesses - including myself and the Turdidaen women he helped to protect. But any off-worlder taking unauthorized actions on the planet is immediately subject to being tried. If they are judged to have willingly gone against the citizens, the penalties are very severe. The death penalty does exist here and is the most common punishment given to off-worlders. But there is no chance at all of Doctor McCoy being punished for anything that occurred here."

Kirk still didn't like it, but he resigned himself to it. There was at least the fact he'd been told by M'hirra that trials were not drawn out affairs on the planet. He knew some justice systems where the biggest concern was living long enough to see your trial. M'hirra was able to gain permission for Kirk and Spock to be present at the trials as well.

The eight remaining crewmembers of the Azalaris were brought into the court and herded into a caged area - with the notable exception of Mudd. It was noted at the beginning of their trial that, as a rule, a slave was considered an extension of their master and therefore as guilty or innocent as that master was. That statement put the rock back in Kirk's gut as he knew very well which way the courts would find Khan - and Khan had claimed McCoy as his own slave.

Then Kirk eased a bit as he heard the reason for M'hirra's confidence - on Turdidae, possession was not nine-tenths of the law. It wasn't even one-tenth. For a slave to be acknowledged legally as a slave on the planet, the slave had to be registered and shown to have legally imported. He still was concerned though. Khan might not have known about that law, but Mudd most surely did.

M'hirra stood before the raised platform where the official in charge of the court sat. He spoke to her and then she turned, speaking to the ones in the cage.

"Which one of you was claimed as a slave by the Augment known as Leona?"

K'toomsu shifted out of the way so that Alistair could come to the front.

"That would be me, ma'am."

A pair of guards moved over - one opened the door while the other reached in and pulled Alistair out. That didn't sit well with K'toomsu, but there wasn't much he could do to prevent their separation for now.

"She has given a statement to this court as to how you came into her possession. The court would like to hear your version."

Clearing his throat, Alistair spoke firmly, but without looking at anyone in particular.

"Not much to tell really. After Khan was back on his feet, he gave his main officers the choice among me and my crewmates. When her turn came, Leona picked me."

"Had you ever been a slave before?"

"No, ma'am. Never."

"Was your vessel pirated?"

"I - suppose it wasn't. Not technically."

"Please explain."

"The Augs - err, Augments - they didn't attack and board our ship. We came across their derelict vessel and our Captain agreed to take them aboard as passengers. They even paid for their passage."

She turned and faced the official again who was studying something on the terminal at the side of his desk. After several long stressful moments, he spoke again. Tail lazily flicking behind her, M'hirra turned back around.

"Your account matches that the woman. You and the other crewmembers were not legally bought nor were you the spoils of an act of war. The eight of you are therefore not to be held accountable for any of the actions of the Augments and are to be freed at the end of the court proceedings. The court requires you to remain in case further answers need to be verified, but you may leave the cage and be seated at the left side of the courtroom."

None of the former crew wasted any time departing the cage. As soon as the cage was empty, the guards moved to the door again, this time brining in the lone figure of Doctor McCoy.

The rock tried to form again as McCoy was locked into the cage where the accused remained until verdict was passed in one form or another. Things were immediately different. The official was looking at the doctor in a far colder way than he had looked at the crewmembers. And the words passing between the official and Lady M'hirra? Some of it sounded pretty heated to him.

It apparently sounded pretty heated to Spock as well because his posture stiffened even more than it already had been - which couldn't have been easy. After many more tense moments, the official narrowed his eyes at M'hirra, but slowly nodded.

After the nod, she quickly walked over to where Kirk and Spock were seated as if hurrying before he could change his mind.

"Captain, I have received rare permission from the court to allow an item beamed into this room. Could you please have the bloodied uniform top you retrieved sent here? Please - trust me that this is vital."

Seeing her confidence had changed to worry made the rock not only reform, but double in size. Thankfully, Spock had insisted that the tunic be preserved instead of incinerated as M'benga had planned do with it - standard procedure for a bloodied clothing item that was beyond repair. It didn't take long before it was beamed down to Kirk and he passed it straight over to Lady M'hirra. She in turn held it up for all the court to see before taking it over to present to the official.

He lifted the uniform piece with a frown, then spoke rapidly to M'hirra. She gave him a slight bow before approaching the cage and speaking to McCoy.

"The court has requested that you state your full name and rank."

He automatically straightened to attention.

"Leonard Horatio McCoy, Lieutenant Commander. Chief Medical Officer currently assigned to the Federation Starship, USS Enterprise."

For the first time in the court proceedings, the primary court official focused his attention on McCoy and spoke to him in Standard.

"We have a statement from Khan Noonien Singh, leader of the Augments. He has said that you were not a member of the crew of the Azalaris. Is that correct?"

"It is."

"He stated that you gave medical aid to several of the Augments, preventing the death of several of them. Is that correct?"

The blue eyes narrowed slightly at the direction of questioning, but he answered without hesitation.

"It is."

"Then you admit to being a willing accomplice to the Augments?"

Only a firm hand from Spock kept Kirk from jumping up at that. The statement had obviously angered Doctor McCoy as well. His accent deepened as he glared at the official.

"I damn well do not admit any such thing. I am a doctor - if there is someone ill whose life I can save, then yes - I will do all in my ability to prevent loss of life. But I was attacked and taken aboard the Azalaris and kept there against my will."

"That does not match the statement this court has received."

"Well then, Khan is a liar in addition to being a murderer."

Lady M'hirra quickly stepped in at that point, laying one hand on McCoy's shoulder and raising her other hand. She called out a phrase and the entire courtroom area went silent as if a switch had been thrown to mute the area.

Looking as if M'hirra was trying to pull some sort of trick, the official openly scowled at her, but then again nodded his agreement.

She turned and called over to the guards. The court guards quickly moved to open a door and one of the Turdidaen women stepped through with her infant - the one McCoy had delivered - held close. She gave a glance to M'hirra, who nodded as she smiled encouragement to her. The woman nodded in return, taking a deep breath before moving to the caged area without further hesitation. The guard by the cage door did hesitate, but snapped into action when M'hirra spoke again.

The entire gathering seemed to inhale at the same time as the woman offered her child through the opened door to Doctor McCoy, who took the child with steady hands despite his puzzled expression. Kirk mused that Bones didn't seem to know what was going on any more than he did.

Truth be told, McCoy was glad to see the little one. Being the center of attention when you have no idea what's being said around you? It was getting on his nerves, but the baby acted better than a sedative. He couldn't help automatically checking the child over to insure it was still doing alright. He judged that even in the short time span since he delivered the child that it had already gone from weighing ounces to a couple of pounds.

The silence stretched on and was starting to bother Kirk, but before he could question it, the infant managed to latch onto one of McCoy's fingers and then burst out in the strange trilling laugh that Turdidaen babies all seemed to have. Spock managed to almost entirely conceal his grimace at the baby talk that seemed to come out of McCoy whenever the infant of any species was present. At least, he doubted anyone but Kirk recognized grimace for what it was.

The flood of exclamations and other noises from the crowd broke out as if a dam had broken and let a swollen river out. Kirk and Spock were both surprised when M'hirra stepped to the side and lifted her own twins in front of the court - they hadn't been aware that the children had been removed from the Enterprise Sickbay. Kirk made a mental note to have a few words with them about keeping their Captain better notified.

The Turdidaen woman took her child back and M'hirra offered one of her own through the door of the cage - a gesture that further served to increase the amount of babble in the court.

M'hirra carried one twin with her, leaving the other in McCoy's arms as she addressed the court again. She drew the attention of all of the Enterprise men when she spoke McCoy's middle name - though with her Caitian dialect, the name sounded more like Hrrrashio. McCoy thought it sounded better that way than how Horatio was usually pronounced personally.

The official called the Turdidaen mother closer and questioned her intently before looking to McCoy again. He held up the bloody uniform top.

"This uniform is yours?"

McCoy repressed a sigh thinking 'give me strength' - then he took a breath and steadied his voice again.

"It is."

"This blood is yours?"

"No, it is not. The blade that Khan used to cut the shirt off of me already had blood on it."

"And whose blood is it then?"

"I know some of it was from the Augment named Tamerlane. The rest of it was from one of the Azalaris crewmembers who was murdered. Which one? That I don't know."

"Then how do you know he was murdered?"

"Because outside of the ones here and Harry Mudd? Khan had them all put in an airlock and ejected from the ship. Not hearsay - I witnessed that."

As McCoy's words were translated around the room, they caused quite a stir. The official held up his hand and the murmuring died down again.

"Lady Srala states that you aided in the birthing of her child and that you put yourself between Khan and the young in the building."

"That's true."

"Why?"

A smile he couldn't help formed on Kirk's face as he saw McCoy's expression change to one of 'can you really be that dense?'. It was doubly amused to him because his friend was automatically rocking the infant still in his arms to keep the boy calm.

"What part of me saying that I'm a doctor wasn't clear? I'm not going to just let someone harm one of my patients if I can prevent it."

The official still looked undecided and M'hirra spoke again. The official turned to the seats and pointed.

"Alistair - please come back forward again."

Exchanging a quick uncertain glance with K'toomsu, Alistair got up and moved back to where M'hirra was.

"Were you present when Leonard McCoy boarded the Azalaris?"

"I was operating the transporter, but I wouldn't exactly say he boarded the ship, sir. He was being carried."

"He was injured?"

"He was unconscious, but yes, I think he had some injuries as well. I saw bruises."

The questioning turned back to McCoy again.

"Where were you before being taken aboard the Azalaris?"

"I was performing my duties, giving physicals on Starbase 124 as per orders from Starfleet Command. The attack occurred in the Starbase's medical center. I can't tell you what happened when they left the center because I'd been knocked out by that time."

M'hirra spoke up again.

"I can verify that the doctor was there on official business. The day before he was taken, he aided in the birthing of my own children. May I also add that the other women that were in the building with Lady Srala are also all willing to testify that they saw Doctor McCoy openly defying the Augment leader Khan even at risk to his own safety. Those are not the actions of either a slave or a willing accomplice. The doctor has also shown that he formed a birthing bond with Lady Srala's child. Am I mistaken in my belief that among your people the forming of that bond means that person is considered to be one of high integrity?"

The official looked from M'hirra to the uniform top to Srala and then to one of the papers on his desk before speaking.

"You are not mistaken. Let it be noted in the records that the statement taken from Khan Noonien Singh contain falsehoods and will no longer be taken into consideration. Leonard McCoy, we find you to be neither slave nor accomplice to the Augments. It has further been stated that your aid was requested by the Lady Srala as well as could be understood with the lack of common language between you so the charges of unlawfully practicing medicine on this planet are also dismissed. You will be freed at the end of the court proceedings. The court requires you to remain in case further answers need to be verified, but you may leave the cage and be seated - either with the Azalaris crew or with those members of your own crew who are present."

No-one that knew him was particularly surprised when McCoy headed straight for Kirk and Spock. McCoy paused as Spock rose to his feet, then grinned as the Vulcan moved over one seat to allow the doctor to sit between himself and Kirk. Slowly sinking into the chair between his two friends, McCoy felt more at ease than he had since this whole mess had started. There was still more trial to sit through, but when it was over, he was going to be going home. Hell, he might even shock Scotty and kiss the teleporter pad when he got back onboard the Enterprise.

Chapter Text

The doors opened again and the guards escorted four Augments to the cage. McCoy straightened - he knew all four of them. One was Leona, head held proud as usual. The other three had been among his patients - including Calypso.

The official spoke to the four, but three group of the group stepped back, showing plainly that Leona would speak for them all.

"Your group is reported to have turned on your fellow Augments and further reported to have defended the Medical Center in Ahyl. Why?"

"Because warfare against warriors and the healthy is one thing. The strongest may be laid low by an illness as I have witnessed. Targeting the young, old and infirm is not something I wished to be part of."

"You did not ask permission to join in the defense?"

"And precisely who should I have asked? Those newly dead? Those dying? Those still living that we protected seemed content enough to have us there. IF it bothered them, then surely they would have told us to leave them to their fate."

Spock noted McCoy's bristling at the direction the questioning was taking again. The Turdidaens apparently took as much offense to be defended without being asked as they did to being attacked. It only took him a moment to consider all of the possibilities, then Spock rose to his feet. M'hirra looked toward him with surprise as he spoke.

"If I might address the court, am I correct that these four individuals have no one to speak on their behalf?"

The official took a long look at Spock. While Turdidae wasn't part of the Federation, there were a number of merchants, including Vulcan ones, that made their way to the planet.

"You are correct. And you are?"

"Commander Spock, First Officer of the USS Enterprise."

"Are you offering to speak for this group, Commander Spock?"

Spock glanced down for a moment to meet McCoy's eyes. The hopeful expression was all the confirmation he needed.

"I am."

"Very well then. You may approach."

"Might I take a moment to speak with the accused?"

"Request granted."

Leona watched the alien male approach with curiosity, but not fear.

"You have offered to speak on our behalf? Why?"

"While I am far from clear on all that has happened to Doctor McCoy since his kidnapping, it is apparent that you have his trust, which I know from experience is not easily given."

Hand on one of the bars, Leona looked into Spock's face before turning her head to seek out McCoy. When her eyes met his, McCoy gave her a small smile and a nod. Nodding to herself, she turned back to Spock.

"Very well then. I put myself and the three under me into your hands."

Spock turned and faced the official.

"Are there any here that can speak for the other defenders in Ahyl?"

The official seemed somewhat unprepared for that question and a substantial amount of conferencing followed. Spock merely continued to stand patiently, hands clasped behind his back and immovable as a statue. Finally, a young Turdidaen man was ushered into the room.

"Rohn was among the defenders and has agreed to speak for them. Do you have questions for him?"

"I do."

"Proceed."

M'hirra stepped back forward to act as translator. She wasn't sure why anyone from the Enterprise would care to represent any of the augments, but she had no qualms about helping bridge the language gap. Spock wasted no time coming straight to his point.

"Were you and the other defenders armed?"

Rohn stared at M'hirra for a moment after the question, obviously believing that something had been mistranslated. When she repeated it for a second time, he answered and she turned back to Spock.

"He and the other defenders were indeed armed."

Spock nodded and then turned back to the official.

"You have already ruled that Doctor McCoy was given non-verbal permission by the Lady Srala to assist her in childbirth. I move to have the court acknowledge that the same ruling applies to these four augments."

The official leaned forward slightly, looking from the Vulcan to the four in the cage and back.

"And your reasoning for this claim is?"

Spock stood a touch straighter.

"It is only logical, sir. If the defenders had any objections to these four fighting along side of them, all they would have to have done was to take a moment to shoot them before returning their attention to the other targets. Therefore, we must assume that the defenders considered having the four on their side to be an advantage that they willingly allowed to continue. That constitutes the same non-verbal agreement as in the case of Doctor McCoy."

The official sat quietly for several moments, then called several others to him to confer, including Rohn. A small smile on her face, M'hirra commented softly.

"I believe you have thrown them a bit. I think the verdicts were already decided and the trials are basically just the public announcement of those decisions."

Turning his head, Spock considered the Caitian woman thoughtfully.

"And that is why you were able to reassure the Captain with such confidence where Doctor McCoy was concerned?"

"Yes. While Turdidae may not be a member of the United Federation of Planets, there are those that would like it to be and finding the Doctor guilty would not have been well received even if he had been an active participant."

Eyebrows furrowing slightly to what might be deemed a frown, Spock looked back to where the official and the others gathered were still having a heated discussion.

"So whatever I have said is unlikely to have any bearing on the fate of the four augments?"

"Actually, I think you have already had at least some bearing, Mister Spock. They wouldn't be arguing otherwise."

As McCoy was watching the proceedings closely, Kirk gave him a nudge.

"She's a very attractive woman."

Giving his friend a slightly puzzled look, McCoy shrugged.

"M'hirra? Sure she is if you like fur and a long tail. Set your sights elsewhere though, Jim. She's mated."

"No, not her. Well, yes, she's attractive, but I was referring to Leona. Something go on between the two of you, Bones?"

It was a bit of a struggle, but McCoy managed not to roll his eyes.

"Yeah. I insulted her a few times and ordered her around some. I got the feeling that I amused her. She did help me out a lot with the patients though. And helped treat the worst of my injuries."

Kirk looked like he was about to say something else, but the official began to dismiss the others from the platform. The room went silent as the official returned his gaze to Spock.

"Commander Spock, after due consideration, we have found merit to your claim. As these four before our court did act in defense of Ahyl, they will not be held accountable for the actions of the rest of their group. However, the court has also deemed that they are not to be allowed to remain on Turdidae after the conclusion of the trials. They must depart and, should they ever return in the future, they will face execution."

The signal was given to release them from the cage and the guards escorted them to a set of seats not far from where the Azalaris crew had been seated.

The remaining Augments were brought into the court in groups of four to five. M'hirra's contention that the sentences had already been decided seemed correct. Each group was rapidly found guilty and sentenced to death until only three remained that had not been brought in : Khan, Remus and Mudd. The three were brought in together, Mudd looking very different from the other two in both stature and coloration.

"Harry's looking a little green there, Bones."

"He's not going to get a lot of sympathy from me, Jim."

"Harcourt Fenton Mudd. Stand forward and hear our judgement."

Remus and Khan remained behind in the cage, both looking stoic. Mudd looked more in the lines of seasick as he came out of the cage and stood before the official.

The charges against Mudd were varied and included everything from willing alliance with the augments to purchasing slave equipment to be used on those that he knew were not legal slaves. As the list grew, so did the tremor that could be seen in Mudd's body. The official finally stopped reading and looked up at Mudd.

"Harcourt Fenton Mudd. We have viewed the statements, seen the evidence and have ruled that your case has extenuating circumstances involved. Therefore, while found guilty, you will not be executed. Instead, you are sentenced to ten years of hard labor. Time of your sentence will begin at the end of this trial."

Harry stared at the official for a moment as if not quite believing what he'd heard. Then he paled suddenly and collapsed.

Kirk turned to McCoy.

"Think he fainted in relief over not getting the death sentence?"

That got a snort out of McCoy.

"More likely that Harry fainted over the use of the word 'labor'. I better go check on him. Make sure he didn't dent their floor."

He was already starting to stand to request permission when the official made the request for Doctor McCoy to examine Mudd. Keeping with what M'hirra had informed him was court protocol, McCoy knelt down, keeping himself facing the official. The two guards had stepped back closer to the cage to give him more room to work.

It was the opening that Khan had been watching and waiting for. His examination had shown that the cage was more ornamental than functional. With a speed that took everyone off-guard, Khan slammed the door of the cage open. One guard was knocked away by the force of the door, the other was backhanded away by Khan. The distance the guard flew caused a near panic to erupt in the courtroom.

McCoy barely had time to react to the noise behind him when Khan grabbed hold of him, lifting him off the floor.

"You told me to tell you when I had made up my mind whether or not to kill you, Doctor. I have made my decision."

Kirk and Spock were both on their feet now, but neither of them had their phasers due to the rule that no-one but the guards were allowed weapons inside the courtroom. And even those weapons seemed more ornamental than useful. Even though he was too far away to do anything yet, Kirk couldn't help calling out to his friend.

"Bones!"

Khan turned at the sound of Kirk's voice and then gave him a gloating smile.

"You and your crew should have stayed out of my business, Captain."

It seemed that Khan hardly strained at all as he threw McCoy into the cage, the doctor's body slamming into the back bars with a sickening sound. McCoy fell limp to the ground and didn't move as Khan left Mudd where he was laying and re-entered the cage. Khan's anger only grew as Remus stepped between him and McCoy.

"You. Even you would turn against me for this man?"

Remus stood firm.

"You have broken your word to me about this man. K'toomsu said I was following a man without honor. He was right."

With a sound like an angry roar, Khan threw himself at Remus and they fought as if they were the only two men in the room. The official had already called for armed guards as Kirk, Spock and M'hirra made their way closer to the cage.

The fight seemed at first to be dead even, but it soon became clear that Khan was slowly but surely taking control. A quick manuever was following by a cracking sound and a scream. As Remus went limp, Khan flung him to the side like a ragdoll.

Despite seeing that display of Khan's strength, Spock used his own speed and agility to make himself the new barrier between Khan and McCoy. Finding himself facing an unknown alien, Khan hesitated.

"Move out of my way. I have no quarrel with you."

"Perhaps not, but I have one with you. You will not touch the doctor again."

Khan's eyes went colder.

"You would protect him? Then die with him."

A female voice spoke up from the entrance to the cage.

"No, Lord Khan."

Khan knew the voice well enough that he didn't need to turn around.

"I will deal with your treachery later, Leona."

"Again, I say no. You will deal with us now."

That did get him to turn to face her. It was not only her but Calypso, Isamu and Gervaso as well standing there.

"You dare? I can defeat you all!"

"Individually? Yes. But together? No, I don't believe that you can take all four of us on at once."

As the new fight broke out, Spock moved quickly to protect McCoy, checking over the doctor once he reached him. While relived to find McCoy breathing fairly well, it was very apparent that medical attention was needed. Remus had fallen close by as well. Making a snap decision, Spock decided to risk the ire of the Turdidaen court and pulled out his communicator.

"Spock to Enterprise. Three to beam up. This is a medical emergency."

The sound of the teleporter drew Khan's attention and he broke away from the fight, lunging for McCoy. As he watched his prey dissolving into the transporter beam before his eyes, Khan looked upward and screamed out.

"McCoy!"

The armed guards burst into the court then. The fight continued a bit longer due to the cage restricting movements, but ended with Khan finally subdued and restrained.

As he moved with M'hirra to speak to the official to explain and ask forgiveness for Spock's actions, Kirk was glad to know that Spock had gotten McCoy away from Khan, but worried about what damages might already have been done.

Chapter Text

Before Kirk could even contemplate what his next move should be, Leona had left Khan with the Turdidaen guards and moved to stand before the official.

"I wish to apologize to you and your court for the actions taken by myself and my companions. I am aware that we should have requested your permission before acting, but I was aware of the amount of injury that might be caused while seeking permission."

The official was still settling back down from what was probably the worst court date in his history, but he responded well to both Leona's words and tone.

"Under the circumstances, the omission of seeking permission is acceptable. We appreciate that speed was needed to prevent the situation from deteriorating further."

"We regret it was necessary and offer our services if desired to prevent another such outbreak from occurring."

Looking to Khan, the official couldn't help but note that the man had more the appearance of someone catching their breath than of someone defeated. He then looked back to Leona.

"Your offer is gratefully accepted."

It was a look of admiration that Kirk was giving Leona as she gave a slight bow to the official and stepped back with her three followers to flank Khan. The lady certainly had picked up on the local nuances quickly and he decided to follow her example in striking a tone of apologetic humility.

"Begging the court's pardon, I would also like to apologize to you and the court over the actions of Commander Spock. While he was not able to consult with me, I have served with him long enough to know that he would not have taken the liberty to teleport out of this court unless it was urgent to get Doctor McCoy to immediate medical aid."

He knew that he'd hit the right tone when the official actually looked apologetic in return.

"Doctor McCoy was injured while working under a request from us. We accept that getting him to medical aid was important enough to overlook protocol, but we are not satisfied as to why the augment Remus was also removed from our court."

M'hirra stepped in smoothly.

"Your pardon, but the crew of the Enterprise set a great deal of store on honor. As this court feels responsible for Doctor McCoy being injured while fulfilling the court's request to aid Mister Mudd, so Commander Spock felt responsible for making sure that the injuries to Remus were tended to since he received them while protecting Doctor McCoy."

The official seemed to consider that for a few moments before nodding slowly.

"Yes. Considering the circumstances, such an action was understandable. However, we must insist that once treatment has been given that the augment Remus must be returned to Turdidae to stand accountable for his actions."

"Of course. We would not want to interfere with your judicial system. He will be returned as soon as it can be accomplished without compromising his health."

"That will be acceptable, Captain Kirk."

Attention returned back to Khan. If looks could have killed, Leona would have little left to bury after the glare he focused on her, speaking as if no-one else were present. The official went silent and held up a hand to the others in the room to maintain silence as well which made Khan's voice easily heard throughout the room.

"Leona - Calypso - Isamu - Gervaso. All of you swore to live and die at my command. What worth is your word now?"

Meeting the intense gaze without a flinch, Leona spoke evenly.

"That was over two hundred years ago in a very different time and place. When I met Harry Mudd and found he was Captain of a ship, I believed as you spoke to us. Technology had changed, but not mankind itself. But I have seen that there is more to mankind than what Mudd represents. I caught glimpses of it on Earth during our time, but never saw enough to be convinced. But I am convinced now. There is a strength beyond the physical."

The tone of Khan's voice openly mocked her.

"You are a warrior. It is embedded in every cell of your body. Do you really believe you can follow the example of a pacifist like your precious doctor?"

"For a man that laid claim to owning him, you know little to nothing about him. He is a fighter - a warrior in his own right who taught me an important lesson."

"And what possible lesson did the doctor have to teach you?"

"That any idiot can kill. Preserving life is what is difficult."

The official spoke up at that point.

"Enough. We have heard and seen more than enough to pass judgment. Khan Noonien Singh. for your numerous offences against the inhabitants of Turdidae, you are sentenced to death."

"I deny your right to judge me. Captain Kirk, as I am a citizen of the planet Earth, I demand that you intervene in this matter."

Kirk didn't allow it to show, but even with Khan's reputation, the man's sheer gall surprised him.

"That would be impossible. In the first place, I believe you gave up all claims to citizenship when you stole the Botany Bay and fled the planet. In the second place, you chose to land on a planet outside of the Federation. The Enterprise and her crew are here only due to the permission of the Turdidaen officials. In other words? I have no jurisdiction here. You came to their planet, violated their laws and you will face their punishment."

"We will meet again, Kirk - and when we do, I shall remember this."

When the Captain didn't rise to his bait, Khan's glare moved from Kirk back to Leona.

"And these four? What of them?"

"They've already faced the court here. Since they've been ordered to leave the planet, I'll escort them off if the court so desires."

Then Kirk met Khan's eyes for a moment.

"No, I don't believe we'll be seeing one another again."

With that, Kirk turned back to the official, noting that Mudd had finally been carried out of the courtroom. Which reminded him.

"If I might ask, what of Mudd's ship, the Azalaris?"

Looking at the display to his side, the official frowned.

"The ship belongs to Mister Mudd? We show it as belonging to K'toomsu."

At the way K'toomsu's head jerked up, that piece of information was news to him. A smile started forming on Kirk's face.

"I must have been mistaken. So does that mean that Captain K'toomsu can reclaim his vessel?"

"It does. And as the need for their presence here has ended, they may depart."

There was a brief discussion among the surviving members to the Azalaris crew, then K'toomsu rose to his feet.

"Your pardon, sir, but where the group was aboard our vessel, they depleted many of our supplies. Might we have permission to remain long enough to replenish them?"

"That is a reasonable request and is granted for the period of for two of our day-cycles."

"We should be able to get what we need in that amount of time. Thank you."

With a nod toward Kirk, K'toomsu gestured to the rest of his group and they all exited the courtroom. Kirk returned the nod, then turned back to the official.

"With your permission, I would like to return to my ship and check on the doctor."

M'hress spoke up as well.

"I and my young need to go back aboard as well."

"Permission granted. When the augment Remus is ready to be returned, you may then escort the other four augments from Turdidae."

"We will."

As Kirk pulled out his communicator to signal for beaming out, Khan called over to him.

"I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing."*

The quote tugged on a distant memory Kirk couldn't quite place, but he didn't comment in return. He simply flipped open his communicator as M'hirra moved beside him with her twins.

"Kirk to Enterprise. Four to beam up."

Khan was saying something else, but whatever it was became lost as the transporter beam took them back to the Enterprise.

Once they had materialized back onboard. Kirk gave M'hirra a hand by taking one of the twins from her before starting to escort her back to Sickbay.

"I can't thank you enough for what you were able to do for us, Lady M'hirra. You smoothed things over in a way I never would have been able to."

She gave him a smile.

"You would have done very well on your own if you had known their customs. Please let me know when Doctor McCoy is ready for visitors."

As the doors slid open to the area that McCoy had cordoned of as a nursery, Kirk smiled a bit as the voices of the nurses greeting M'hirra and the twins reached him. Infants were rare on the Enterprise and he thought back to the last meal he'd shared with McCoy. He'd joked that the nurses were all so crazy about the newborns that once he announced that only the nurses whose paperwork was up to date could work the nursery shift, his desk had been flooded with reports.

The smile faded as he reached the waiting area where Spock was already seated.

"Any news?"

"None as of this time. All that I have been informed of is that Doctor M'benga is currently in surgery. I left word for him to provide an update as soon as he has finished."

"Good."

Kirk tried sitting and he succeeded. For about five minutes. After that, he gave up, got back to his feet and started to pace. In his mind, this was all beyond wrong. It almost felt like the universe was taking aim at Bones for being the healer that he was. Taken away and enslaved because he was a doctor and now that they'd finally found him to bring him back to the Enterprise, attacked from behind. It seemed even worse that Bones had been attacked while he was trying to check on the health of Mudd - the main one Kirk blamed for his friend's kidnapping in the first place.

Spock stoically observed his Captain as the pacing gradually became faster. Finally, he broke the tense silence in the room.

"Captain."

There was no response or other acknowledgement, so Spock slightly altered his tactics and tried again.

"Jim."

The use of his first name did it. Kirk didn't stop pacing, but he did slow it down a bit as he looked over to his First.

"I know. You don't have to tell me that my pacing is illogical, but if I don't keep moving, I might be likely to do something I'll regret."

Spock's right brow lifted slightly.

"If that is the case, then pacing in this instance seems to be quite logical."

Before Kirk could respond, the door slid open to admit Doctor M'benga. He had what Kirk would called a defeated look on his face and seeing it made Kirk's guts twist a little. The Captain knew it wasn't all just his imagination either as Spock rose to his feet as well.

"Captain, Mister Spock. I was told that you wanted my report as soon as I was out of surgery. My team and I tried everything we knew how to do, but he didn't make it out of surgery. His injuries were too severe. Quite frankly, after examining him post-mortem, I was surprised that he was able to survive the transport to the ship."

It was like a sucker punch. If asked, Kirk would have had no idea of how he managed to make it to the chair that he sank down into. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. They brought Bones back home. Bones was supposed to be in Recovery now, not . . . cradling his face in his hands, Kirk felt sick. He'd failed his friend.

As Spock moved to Kirk's side to support him, M'benga looked contrite before speaking again..

"My apologies, Captain. I shouldn't have been so abrupt. I didn't realize that the two of you were close."

Spock had been about to lay his hand on the Captain's shoulder, but froze in mid-motion as he turned his full attention to M'benga. There was no way for M'benga not to know how tight McCoy and the Captain were.

"Who was it that did not make it out of surgery?"

Looking a bit confused, M'benga rubbed the back of his neck as he answered.

"Remus Montanari. Who else did you -"

As Kirk slowly raised his head, M'benga blanched as it suddenly dawned on him who it was that they'd thought he was talking about. He began stammering apologies again until Kirk cut him off with a hand gesture. He still didn't trust himself to speak, so Kirk was grateful when Spock took over.

"What is Doctor McCoy's condition?"

"Serious, but stable. Leonard suffered both cracked and broken ribs, plus he was already malnourished and in poor condition prior to those injuries. He won't bounce back overnight, but there's no reason that he shouldn't recover fully."

The door slid open again and Chapel was at the door.

"Captain? Mister Spock? Doctor McCoy is awake and asking after the two of you if you'd like to see him. Just try to keep him from moving around too much while his ribs are still knitting."

Both men were headed out the door by the time Chapel had finished speaking. She had expected that and smoothly moved out of their way, still? She hadn't expected the urgency they exhibited. She didn't voice her questions, but she did give M'benga a 'what in Heaven's name did you do?' look. M'benga just shook his head in response before leaving the room himself. He was going to be giving his two superior officers a wide berth for a few days.

It wasn't until Kirk actually laid eyes on his friend that the knot in his gut began to dissolve. When the blue eyes opened and a faint smile formed, it disappeared altogether.

"Chris send you two in here to make sure I behave?"

A smile automatically bloomed on Kirk's face as he found a place to settle on one side of the biobed while Spock moved to the other side.

"Something like that. How are you feeling, Bones?"

"Like I did a belly flop into the hardest water in Georgia, got out and did the same fool thing again. Jim - he didn't get away, did he?"

Reaching out to lay his hand on McCoy's arm, Kirk shook his head.

"No. You apparently have some allies among the augments. Remus blocked Khan from reaching you again, then Spock managed to get in when Remus fell. Leona and her three followers kept Khan busy while Spock beamed out with you and Remus."

"Remus was never quite sure how to take me, but I guess we'd reached an understanding of sorts. How is he?"

The hesitation and the slight increase of pressure on his arm told McCoy without Kirk saying a word.

"Aw hell. Of all the folks I never thought I'd miss."

Then McCoy closed his eyes again.

"Don't mind me. Just too damn tired to deal with anything else right now."

Kirk gave his friend's arm another light squeeze before letting go.

"Just rest, Bones. We'll be back to check on you soon."

As they exited, Spock turned to Kirk.

"I do not believe that I will ever understand human emotions. Remus was the one that kidnapped the doctor from the Starbase, but Leonard seems genuinely distraught at the news of his death."

"We may never know the full story of what all happened during the week that Bones was missing, but my guess is that somehow, Remus was someone that Bones gained at least a grudging respect for. The fact that the man died trying to protect Bones seems to suggest that respect went both ways."

Considering that briefly, Spock nodded.

"Leonard does seems to possess a talent for finding allies in unlikely places."

"For which I, for one, am thankful. Come on, Spock. Let's go to the Bridge and place a call to the Turdidaen court. They need to be informed about Remus."

Chapter Text

No repercussions evolved from Kirk informing the Turdidaen court of the death of Remus, though they did naturally request the body to be beamed down for confirmation. The court sent word up to the Enterprise that, as one of the affected parties, McCoy could attend the executions if he was so inclined. It didn't time him long to decide.

"I can very happily live out the remainder of my life without ever seeing Khan again. I'll skip attending if it's all the same to you, Jim."

Kirk certainly wasn't going to force the issue. He never wanted to lay eyes on Khan again himself.

The Enterprise remained in orbit until K'toomsu and his crew departed on the Azalaris. By then, it was time to bring the four remaining Augments on board, but Kirk was uncertain what to do with them from there. Technically, they were still under sentence of death if they returned to Earth.

When she heard that Kirk was calling a meeting of the senior officers to discuss the issue, M'hirra requested and received permission to attend. Once everyone was present, Kirk began.

"I've asked all of you here to discuss what should be done with Leona, Calypso, Isamu and Gervaso. Lady M'hirra, since you requested to come, I take it you have some thoughts on that?"

"I do, Captain Kirk. If I may?"

"Please do."

Rising gracefully to her feet, M'hirra address the gathered officers.

"By the ruling of Turdidae, the Augments cannot remain there. For obvious reasons, they cannot return to Earth. Nor could they remain on the Enterprise. I offer this suggestion. There are colonies that are close to the borders that divide the Federation from the Klingons and the Romulans. Some of them suffered from raiding. Contact the colonies. I am certain that one or more of them would consider gaining the inbred talents of Leona and her group would far outweigh any disadvantages."

A chuckle from Scotty drew everyone's attention. Kirk gave his Chief Engineer an inquisitive glance.

"Something you'd care to share with the rest of the class, Mister Scott?"

"Sorry, sir. I admit that after seeing the images of that lass in battle, I was just imagining the expression on the face of the first Klingons or Romulans to have to cross swords with Leona."

That thought apparently amused many of the others assembled, Chekov in particular. Kirk called on him next.

"Mister Chekov, you've shown an impressive amount of knowledge regarding the Augments throughout this situation. Your thoughts?"

"Sir, while it is true that they were part of the group sentenced to death over the Eugenics War, it is my opinion that nothing would be served by dragging back up those times back on Earth. Those who might have gained closure from it are long dead now. Also, had they not fought as they did on Turdidae, quite a few more civilians would have died there. I think that Lady M'hirra's suggestion is a good one. We have had briefing on colony raids before. Someone skilled in tactics and fighting could make a large difference in those colonies."

"Thank you, Mister Chekov. And thank you, Lady M'hirra. Any other input?"

Spock spoke then.

"If I might clarify the situation, Captain, you agreed to remove the freed Augments from Turdidaen space if no other alternatives were available?"

"I did offer to escort them from the planet, yes."

"Might I suggest that Lady M'hirra's suggestion has considerable merit, but might best be executed from a non-Federation vessel?"

Kirk quirked a smile as he saw where Spock was heading.

"Are you referring to the Azalaris, Mister Spock?"

"I am. Assuming her Captain would agree."

"Lieutenant Uhura, see if you can make contact with them before they get too far away. If they agree, we can meet back at Starbase 124, return the medical equipment to its rightful place and settle matters with the base commander."

After a brief discussion, K'toomsu was more than willing to meet the Enterprise back at the Starbase. As new owner and Captain of the Azalaris, he wanted to be back in good standing with them. Kirk was pretty sure that he could make sure that blame was placed where it deserved to be - on Harry Mudd's record.

K'toomsu also seemed agreeable to transporting Leona and the other three to one of the outer colonies. He even suggested two that might be willing to take them in that he'd be willing to contact on their behalf.

Once that was settled, Kirk dismissed the meeting and headed to Sickbay with M'hirra as Spock went back to the Bridge. The first thing Kirk noticed on entering Sickbay was that McCoy wasn't where he'd last seen him. Looking around, he spotted Chapel, who gave him a pointed look that said plainer that any words 'see if you can do anything with him' as she gestured toward the CMO's office. M'hirra laid a hand on his shoulder before he moved.

"I will be right back, Captain. I will meet you there."

The nod he gave her was a distracted one - his focus was on the door to the CMO's office. When he entered, Kirk couldn't hold back a wince. McCoy had changed into one of his own shirts again and the way it was hanging on him starkly showed how much more weight he'd lost during his time in captivity.

"You know I never intended for you to look like your nickname, right?"

The attempt at humor fell flat as McCoy looked up at him. The blue eyes that were normally so bright and full of life were dull and flat. That didn't keep him from being as observant as ever though.

"Yeah - I know I look like hell, Jim. And yes, I know I should probably be in bed, but I can feel just as useless in here as I can out there."

Moving to the chair across from his friend, Kirk sat down, shaking his head.

"Useless is one word I can't imagine ever using to describe you, Bones. You've had a rough stretch is all."

Closing his eyes and letting his head slump forward, McCoy spoke softly.

"Khan's people had been frozen so long. They hadn't been exposed to germs for over two hundred years, Jim. You got any idea how much a disease can mutate in that amount of time? Several of them were already sick, quite a few more were getting ill. One had already died. From the second I got there, I was in a race to save lives and what the hell for? I got them through it and then they airlock the crew that rescued them in the first place and then invade a planet. Killed . . . I don't know how many folks. And now they're being executed themselves. All that blood. All that blood's on me, Jim."

M'hirra and Chapel were both near the door now, listening but not interrupting as McCoy didn't even seem to know that they were there. Neither did Kirk for that matter. All of his attention was on his hurting friend.

"Bones . . . Bones, none of that blood is on you. You couldn't have turned your back on those sick people - that's not who you are. Any time there was a chance, you risked yourself to try and preserve life. You did everything you could, Bones. I don't see where any man could have done more."

"The Captain is right."

M'hirra spoke from the doorway as she stepped in, her twins beside her in the bassinette Medical had rigged for them. Chapel stayed behind the bassinette for the moment.

"You can restore health. You can help bring life in the universe, but what is done with that health and those lives is beyond your control. There are four Turdidaen mothers and their young who are still able to return to their lives and families because of you. Which reminds me . . . "

She lifted one of the twins out and stepped over, offering the small Caitian boy to McCoy.

"I have not properly introduced you to him. I hope you do not mind that I named him with a variation of your name. Hr'rashio."

Taking the boy, McCoy couldn't help but chuckle slightly as the child's tail wrapped around his forearm.

"I was wondering why it sounded like you said my middle name back there in court. I'm honored."

Seeing an opening, Kirk teased.

"Another child named for you, Bones? Spock is going to be jealous."

"As much as he dislikes holding babies? Naw, I don't think that will be a problem, Jim. Lady M'hirra, what's the name of his brother?"

"This one is named for his grandsire - H'suurr. The three of us will be going back to Starbase 124 until the twins are older, so our remaining time together is short. Would you take a meal with us, Doctor?"

"Leonard, please. And I'd be delighted."

Her voice had an underlying purr as M'hirra turned to Kirk.

"Would you care to join us as well, Captain?"

Kirk found that he was already regretting that M'hirra would be leaving soon. She had a certain way about her.

"Thank you, Lady. I believe I will."

Chapel made no comment, but a smile broke out as the small group left Sickbay, McCoy still carrying his small namesake. Now if they could just keep his spirits up and get some weight back on him. A thought crossed her mind and Chapel quickly sent a message to Mister Spock.

At the tone informing him of an incoming message, Spock activated his PADD. He found himself nodding as he found his own thoughts had been running very much along the same lines as Nurse Chapel. Returning a short message, Spock shutdown the PADD and glanced back to the viewscreen. He was positive that the Captain would agree - which meant it would come down to convincing Doctor McCoy.

On further consideration, he looked around the Bridge at the other members of the command crew - all of whom had expressed their own concerns for their CMO who most, if not all, also considered to be a friend. Between them all, they would be able to convince McCoy. The doctor was vastly outnumbered.

Chapter Text

As they were seated at a table in the Officers Mess, Kirk found another reason for wishing M'hirra wasn't leaving so soon. As Chapel had noted earlier, McCoy was physically incapable of being unhappy around a healthy, happy baby. In this case, two babies. The Captain also found that a doctor distracted by an active child could also have food nudged in front of him that he would automatically nibble on without really noticing. It was considerably easier than trying to get food in him by nagging.

When the four augments were beamed aboard, Spock left the Bridge in Sulu's hands to escort them to the Captain. He paused shortly after entering as they all took in the sight of McCoy playing with the child in his arms as M'hirra took advantage of his distraction and added more juice to the glass near him. That reminded Spock of a question.

"Miss Leona, the condition that Doctor McCoy was in when we arrived puzzles me. I understand that he was attacked by one of your people, but that does not explain the loss of weight or the exhaustion."

"The doctor was never allowed to rest for a long period of time, rarely over two hours. After the first day, he was allowed food, but not the opportunity to eat much of it. Most of that, I believe, stemmed from Lord Khan's bet with Mudd."

"Might I inquire about the nature of this bet?"

"As I understand it, Mudd and Lord Khan had a wager as to whether or not Lord Khan could make the doctor kneel to him willingly."

"I see. Did the remark Khan made when he attacked Doctor McCoy have anything to do with that?"

"No. I believe that had something to do with what Remus said when McCoy was first brought onboard the Azalaris. He said that Khan would either love him or kill him."

Spock gave a slow nod. In that context, what Khan had said both made sense as well as confirmed that Khan intended to kill the doctor had he been able to reach him a second time. Before he spoke again, the group by the door attracted McCoy's attention and he turned slightly. Leona was amused to notice Kirk slid some additional food on McCoy's plate as she started toward the table.

The conversation at the table went well enough once everyone settled down. It was helped by the fact that McCoy knew what they were all doing - a fact Spock noted when he saw the doctor roll his eyes immediately after Kirk 'snuck' something else onto his plate - but apparently decided that matter wasn't worth fighting over. He finally passed the infant back over to M'hirra when it was time for her to feed him.

"Hr'rashio's put on a good amount of weight since I delivered him. I'm not really up on Caitian early development though."

"He and his brother would be a bit small for their ages were they not twins. Multiple births are quite rare for our people which is why I am so grateful you were present at the Starbase."

Spock gave McCoy a long look.

"Another child has been named after you?"

McCoy gave Spock the brightest smile any of them had seen from him in a long time.

"Why, Mister Spock - if you'd like to up the odds of having some tykes named after you, I'd be pleased as punch to teach you some of the tricks of delivering babies."

Kirk slightly choked holding back a laugh at the momentary flash of disgust that crossed Spock's face.

"Thank you, but no, doctor. I believe that task would be better left in your hands."

McCoy didn't bother to even attempt to hold back his own laughter. And to the added pleasure of everyone present, he finished everything on his plate.

The next day when they arrived back at Starbase 124 was both busy and bittersweet. If anyone had told McCoy before that he could get attached to someone with Klingon blood, he have told them they were crazy. But he doubted there were many around like K'toomsu.

"Good to see you back among your people, Len. But if you ever decide to leave Starfleet, you'll be welcome aboard the Azalaris so long as she's mine. Your growl will be missed."

McCoy chuckled as the large olive-toned man pulled him into a rough hug.

"Somehow, I have my doubts, Kuty. But I'll admit you and the others grew on me as well."

Alistair shook his head from nearby, grinning.

"You make us sound like a fungus, doc. But Kuty's right. It would be good to see you again."

"Anything's possible, Alistair. You know, you'd make a decent doctor yourself."

"I've not got the time. I'm already head nurse to those engines of ours."

Kirk, Spock and M'hirra triple-teamed the Base Commander, bringing with them the court transcripts from Turdidae showing that Khan and some of his people had taken over the Azalaris and forced her crew to assist them. After reviewing the documents and with the promise from Kirk that his people would assist in the reinstallation of the stolen medical equipment, it was agreed that no blame would be placed on K'toomsu and the surviving crew.

One thing that Kirk insisted on was that M'Benga would be the one to finish the physicals for the Starbase personnel. McCoy worried them all slightly when he agreed to that without putting up any fuss. In fact, as soon as he was able, Kirk pulled McCoy to the side.

"Bones? Are you alright? Do I need to call Chapel to take a look at you?"

In return, Kirk got a scowl.

"Are you ever happy, Jim? I disagree with you and you grumble. I agree with you and you think I need medical help."

But then the bluster died down and McCoy sighed.

"I don't need Chris fussing over me, Jim, but I'll admit it. I'm flat exhausted and still aching pretty bad. Taking it easy while things are fixed back the way they should be is about all I'm good for right now."

Draping an arm over his friend's shoulders, Kirk tried to think of what he could do for him. A smile slowly started to form and he gave McCoy a pat.

"I've got an idea, Bones."

"Heaven help us all."

"Not that kind of idea. Wait here - I'll be right back."

Obtaining the necessary permission from the base commander didn't take long - he was still embarrassed by the fact that McCoy had been kidnapped from his facility without any alarms being raised. Kirk contacted Spock to get his help, so in less than half an hour, the two of them were approaching McCoy, who watched them coming with a healthy amount of suspicion.

"You're looking a bit like the cat that caught the canary, Jim. What have you done?"

"You'll see, Bones. Come with us. It isn't far to where we're headed."

Even Spock was becoming more concerned about the way McCoy was simply agreeing to go along with things rather than argue about them. It was that out of character behavior that told more than anything else just how much healing the doctor still had to do. When they entered the hydroponics area, McCoy looked around curiously, but took a deep breath. Here, more than anywhere else on the station, it almost felt like being outdoors.

"I've gotten permission to set you up a spot to relax back here, Bones. I can't get you to a field in Georgia, but maybe this will do for now. The lighting is set to imitate natural sunlight and - well, you can smell the plants for yourself."

When he saw the equivalent of a hammock set up in an open spot between rows, McCoy smiled again.

"You went to a lot of trouble, Jim. I appreciate that -"

Kirk stopped him from saying anything more by laying a hand on his arm.

"Lay down and rest, Bones. You once told me fresh air and warm sun was a damn fine prescription for what ails a man."

"I did, didn't I? Well, don't guess it will bother the plants. Sure I won't be in the way?"

"Stop worrying and just think about yourself for once, Bones."

"Jim is right. He and I will keep watch while you rest."

That seemed to drain what little resistance was in him and McCoy settled onto the hammock. The warmth of even an artificial sun felt positively decadent. Turning his head, he watched as Kirk and Spock moved a short distance away, the hammock swaying slightly underneath him. By the time they stopped walking and looked back, McCoy was already dozing off.

In all, it took five days before the Starbase Medical Center was back in full working condition and an additional two days for M'Benga to finish the wellness checks on the remainder of the Starbase personnel. Kirk and Spock kept their promises to Chapel, coming over to the Starbase to share all their meals with McCoy and encouraging him to eat. The rest of the command crew began to start joining them as schedules permitted. Between meals, McCoy spent the vast majority of his time in hydroponics - at first, strictly sleeping, but after the first few days, he began taking music or reading material with him. Nothing job related by the Captain's strict orders.

McCoy also had daily visits from Lady M'hirra and her twins as well as from Leona. Kirk still wasn't so sure that there wasn't something going on between McCoy and Leona, but if there was anything, he never caught them at it. He knew he was being too obvious when McCoy tsked at him shortly after Leona departed.

"Really, Jim - not everyone looks to have a physical relationship with somebody at every Starbase in the Federation."

Kirk tried to look indignant, but the effect was ruined when one of the female officers assigned to the base came up and asked if he was ready to tour the station with her. Since McCoy knew full well that Kirk had already toured the station, he gave his friend a knowing smirk and settled back down to read.

By the time the Enterprise was preparing to depart, Chapel was beaming. McCoy was still about two kilograms shy of his original weight before the xenopolycythemia had been diagnosed, but his appetite had returned, his coloration was back to normal, his eyes were back to their bright blue hue and his energy seemed back to what she'd learned to expect from him over their years together. As she replaced the supplies that hadn't been used during the station physicals, she heard a very familiar bellow.

"M'benga! Dammit, Geoff - you've got your own desk that you can clutter as much as you like! Get in here and get your crap off of my desk, pronto!"

Stepping over to the nearest intercom, Chapel activated it.

"Sickbay to Bridge."

Kirk's voice came back almost immediately.

"Kirk here. What is it, Nurse Chapel?"

"I wanted to report to you that Sickbay is back to normal, sir."

The smile that appeared on Kirk's face was mirrored on every other face on the Bridge. Except for Spock, of course, but even he looked satisfied.

"Thank you, Nurse Chapel. That's very welcome news. Kirk out."

Still smiling, Kirk turned his attention to the viewscreen.

"Mister Sulu, proceed with undocking protocols."

"Aye aye, sir. Undocking request accepted and completed."

"Then take us out of here, Mister Sulu. Warp factor three."

Back on the Azalaris, most of the crew was still aboard the Starbase when a quiet figure beamed aboard the ship without tripping any of the ship's alarms. With sure steps, they moved through the ship until they reached the ship's cold storage, pulling out the preserved body part from Otto as well as the blood samples from the other Augments that McCoy had healed. Beaming back off of the ship clutching the samples, the figure smiled. No. It wasn't over yet. It would never be over.