Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 1/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.



The Rod


"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." Sulu softy stroked Uhura's inner
thigh. He knew it would wake her up right away. She really
was ticklish. She sat straight up and grabbed his hand with
her right hand and reached for a pillow with her left.

"Ru!" she shouted. "I was right in the middle of a perfectly
delicious dream."

He laughed and grabbed both of her hands and rolled her over
onto his chest. "I was getting lonely. You sleep too much."

"Sleep too much!" she exclaimed.  "Who kept me up half the
night in a poker game and then the rest of the night fooling
around."

Sulu pulled his head back in mock offense. "I never fool
around. That was a serious screwing I gave you."

She smiled and reached down to peck him on his nose before
she got up to head for the fresher. "Hmm, and all this time,
I thought I was the one that screwed you."

Sulu leaned back with a satisfied smirk on his face. "We
could agree that it was mutual."

"Deal." Uhura's voice floated out and the sound of the sonic
shower started.

"Penda, don't get dressed. I want to have some more fun."

"No way. We're due on the bridge in a half an hour and I
have to get freshened up and you have to go back to your
cabin and put on a clean uniform."

Sulu looked at his uniform lying in a heap at the edge of
the bed. "You think anyone will notice?"

"You are kidding right?"

He thought about the chances of Kirk and Spock not noticing
his uniform being wrinkled and he sighed. "Damn and double
damn." He started to get up and put his clothes on slowly.
"I have to go down to Bracos when we arrive. I owe everybody
from the last two games of Poker. Do you want to come?"

"No thank-you kind, Sir, nicht, nein, non, nah, and nope."

"Did you want to think about your answer?"

"I hate Bracos. It's a cesspool of corruption and crime. I
have no idea why it ever was allowed in the Federation."

"They are really rich, on the direct trade route through the
center of Federation space, and..." he paused, " they
promise not to steal or rape on Thursdays and holidays."

He heard laughter coming from the fresher. He waited for
Uhura. She was still in her towel. He smiled at her and gave
a low whistle. "Maybe we can go on sick-call and just stay
in bed."

"I'll call you sick if you don't get out of here and get
ready for duty." She came up next to him and began to pull
him off the bed and push him towards the door.

"Are you going to go to the door like that?"

"Why not? I'm single and free to mingle, and it's not like
everyone doesn't know about us. Now go."

He turned and gave her a quick peck on her cheek. "See you,
Lieutenant."

"Ditto, Lieutenant." She smiled and watched him go. 

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 2/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.


They reached orbit around Bracos 4 hours later.

Uhura scanned the message stream around Bracos and picked
her way through it with ease. She looked for anything that
would be of concern to a docking ship: weather warnings,
riots, overthrown governments, rampant diseases, supply
requests, and messages. "Captain, there is a message for you
from the Federation Ambassador. Ambassador Fareakjos will
meet you at the Embassy at 1700 hours, shiptime, today."

"Acknowledged."

Uhura smiled at the back of her Captain. He hated diplomatic
meetings and she could read his resignation in the muscles
of his back. She turned and saw Spock looking at her and
they gave each other a look of shared understanding.

Kirk opened his Log. "Captain's Log, Stardate 4812.2"

"We have entered orbit around Bracos, a member of the                                                                                                           
Federation. We have been directed to investigate reports of
increased activity by illegal Orion traders.There have been
several sightings of known pirates in this sector;Starfleet
wants us to show the flag and make them nervous.

"We will be meeting with the Ambassador in residence to
discuss these issues and any other concerns he may have."
Kirk turned and grimaced in Spock's direction."It promises
to be a stimulating process and we are anxiously looking
forward to its conclusion."

"End Log"

"Call Mr Scott to the bridge, Lieutenant Uhura." He finished
the last of the requests for restocks from the supply depot
on Bracos. "Who in the world thinks we can get Sushi on
Bracos?" He said loudly enough for it to carry across the
bridge. "Lose another game of poker, Mr. Sulu?" Chuckles
floated across the bridge. "You'll have to pay in souvenirs.
The fish on Bracos is inedible for humans. It's filled with
heavy metals; you'll glow in the dark."

Sulu turned and groaned. "Are you sure, Captain?"

"You will not glow in the dark, Mr. Sulu, but you will find
all piscine flesh on this planet to be inedible," Spock
responded.

"Souvenir run, here I come." Sulu turned back to his board
and began to plan for everyone else's souvenirs. He knew
what to get for Penda...citrus bath salts, or else.

Scotty picked that very moment to enter the bridge and
overheard Sulu's complaint. "An' make sure you find me a
fine bottle of Bracos ale, like I wrote you on the list. You
should know to never draw to an inside straight, Laddy. I
thought you were a mathematician before you took the helm."

Kirk laughed. "The Con is yours, Mr. Scott. Mr. Spock and I
will be meeting with the representatives of the Five
Families and the Ambassador.  Please, feel free to page
either, or both, of us at any time, for any little thing."

Scotty laughed. "It won't be that bad, Captain."

Spock had already joined him in the lift and the doors
closed with his final words. "You wanna bet?"



Uhura was still reviewing her board when Rehman entered on
the Bridge and waited patiently behind her. Sakhi Rehman was
her favorite person to speak Hindi with. A small delicate
looking brown-skinned man, he and Uhura often spent long
afternoons reminiscing about growing up in New Africa. His
family had immigrated to Olde Lagos in the 1940's and still
spoke Hindi at home, even though one-quarter of the family
was Yoruba and one quarter was Hausa.

"Nemaste,Rehman. Kya hal hein."

"Nemaste, Nyota, tecka Hein. I have a package for you that
was just beamed up in a diplomatic pouch from Bracos. We had
to inspect it first. Since all diplomatic pouches have to be
hand delivered, I thought I'd bring this myself." He smiled.
"I think you'll like it."

"You are so sweet, Rehman. I don't know anyone on Bracos."
She stared at it and a cold wave climbed her spine. "At
least I don't think I do." The package was wrapped in a gold
silky feeling paper. It had a large silver bow that
glittered and sparkled in the lights of the bridge. There
was no card. She carefully opened it. It held one absolutely
perfect purple flower, a Bird Of Paradise. She took a sharp
breath and dropped it to the deck. Uhura stared at it and
her mind flashed back to the bruises,dark purple, that had
covered her body 9 years ago.

Sulu jumped up from his chair and rushed to her side. 

Scotty swiveled the center chair around. "Lass, are you
alright?"

She looked at them both in confusion and then reached down
to pick up the flower from the floor. Sulu stared at her.
"Penda, what is it. Who sent you that?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure, but I definitely am not
going down to Bracos now."

He looked at her strangely. "An old flame?"

She put the flower back in the box, walked over to the
recycler, and pushed it into the opening. He waited for her
to return to her post. "A distant memory, Ru, and he's going
to stay that way." She smiled at him. "Remember, I only want
Bracos citrus bath salts. Nothing else."

He realized he was not going to find out anything else at
the moment. "Citrus, I know." She watched him slowly walk
back to his post. It was awhile before her attention turned
back to her board.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 3/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.                                                                                                                                                            
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.

Bracos was a planet where all the colors were too bright and
the noises were too loud. Sulu had spent their second day in
orbit searching markets and shops for all of his souvenirs.
It was almost dusk, and the loud sounds and too harsh sun of
Bracos had given him more than enough stimulation for the
day. It was still hot, and his shirt clung to his back from
sweat.

The inhabitants were obvious descendants of the Preservers'
seeding journey through the galaxy. Almost completely Earth
normal, except for a golden skin color never seen in Earth's
recorded history, they had a propensity for shouting and
arguing. The skin color was a gift of the heavy metals in
the food chain. The people of Bracos had been space-farers
and traders when the Federation had happened on them during
the earliest years of the Federation's First Exploratory
phase.

Historical accounts reported that First Contact crew was so
happy to find humanoids, they invited them to join the
Federation almost as soon as they made planetfall.
Unfortunately, that was well before all the inner workings
of Bracosian politics had been discovered. Universal
Emancipation did not exist, power rested with the Five
Ruling Families. Women were second class citizens, slavery
had only recently been outlawed, and blasphemy against the
official religion was punishable by decapitation.

All in all, Sulu wished he had never beamed down.


Sulu felt on top of the world. He had all the souvenirs and
in record time. Now, he would have just enough time to get
back up to the ship and ...

"Give me that."

"I beg your pardon." Sulu looked around him to see if the
man was talking to someone else. There was no-one else. He
sighed as he realized he was the one being assaulted. He
really was due back on the ship.

"You heard me, Earther. Give me what you're carrying." He
pointed towards the bag of trinkets Sulu had carefully
selected for Nyota, Christine, Scotty, and McCoy. It was his
turn to get the pay up from the last bet, and they paid with
trinkets. He had spent a lot of time selecting everything
and he really didn't want to give it up.

"There is nothing in this bag of any value. They are just
little soaps and souvenirs. You couldn't get what I paid for
them."

The man moved to block his path. "Fine, then give me what
you paid for them to keep them."

Sulu shook his head slowly. "You don't want to do this."

"Look, little Earther, I do what I want to do, and you will
give me what I want, or I will wipe the ground with your
stupid, Earther, Starfleet ass."

Sulu surveyed the area. The man had one other person with
him, for sure and two standing nearby who could be with him,
but were hanging back. That made it 4 against one. Bad odds.
He could get the trinkets again. He held the bag out towards
the assailant and dropped it on the ground. "Here, they're
yours. Enjoy."

"Too late asshole. Now, I want your money and your clothes.
You need some humbling. That took you too long to do it my
way."

Sulu heard a sound behind him. He wanted to turn to see who
was coming up behind him, but he was afraid to turn away
from the man in front of him. A familiar deep voice spoke
from his right side. "Mr. Sulu, are these gentleman
bothering you?"

Sulu tried not to yell in triumph, it was Mr. Spock.
And...if Spock was behind him on the right he bet that, he
turned to look quickly and it was true...Kirk was on his
left. Suddenly he felt twelve meters tall. "These gentlemen
want me to leave my goods, my funds, and my clothes with
them."

"I think not." Kirk's cool voice came from his left. 

Immediately the main guy's eyes turned to Kirk and Sulu
could see the man try to size up his Captain and Spock. He
must have decided the odds were no longer as favorable. "Who
the fuck are you two?"

"Nobody, friend, looking for no-one, and on my way to
nowhere. This man is our friend and he wants to go no-place
with us. Is that okay with you?" Kirk's voice was
deceptively soft. Everyone on the crew knew that voice, and
dreaded hearing it.

"Get the fuck out of here and don't come this way again." 

"Yes, Sir," Kirk answered and pushed Sulu ahead of him. Sulu
bent down and picked up the bag of souvenirs as he walked
away. He still felt tense and Kirk muttered almost too low
for Sulu to hear him. "They are coming at us in a few
seconds; be ready."

Sulu walked faster. 

Sudden running from behind made Sulu jerk around just in
time to see Kirk and Spock move forward, fast, to meet two
men. Spock ducked a blow at his head and punched out with an
open left hand. The air was rammed out of the man's chest
and he fell to the ground retching uncontrollably. Kirk was
moving towards the ringleader. The man pulled a knife and
began to flip it from hand to hand. Sulu moved to help, but
a third man suddenly came up from the shadows and his
attention was fully occupied. Sulu ducked a kick and blocked
the return backhanded punch. He leaned under a jab and
rabbit punched his foe three times in the kidneys and then
swung around for a round house kick that connected with his
adversary's face. He felt the satisfying crunch of small
bones.

He heard a grunt and a wail of pain from behind him and
turned to see the man who had attacked him, standing with
his own knife embedded in his chest. The blood ran down his
front and already stained the street. An unmistakable look
of terror filled the face of the dying man as he slowly
slumped to the ground, lifeless.

Kirk turned to Sulu and Spock and straightened his shirt.
"Let's get out of here. He may have more friends."

They ran to the nearest Police station.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 4/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.


McCoy looked over all three of them and signaled he was
satisfied.  He motioned for Kirk to get his shirt back on.
"Jim, how the hell do you get in so much trouble? I thought
you were suppose to set a good example."

"I set the best example, Bones: Don't get killed on
shoreleave. What did you want me to do, let them beat Sulu
to a pulp?"

"No, but couldn't you have talked them down? I think
sometimes you look for a fight just to work out the kinks."

"I killed a man, Bones. I don't do that to work out the
kinks."

McCoy ducked his head briefly. "Sorry, Jim. That was a
stupid thing to say."

"He had no choice, Doctor, " Spock interjected. 

"I'm sure you're right, but the guy with the knife could've
killed one of you. Dying over souvenirs is stupid. "

"Bones," Kirk corrected him, "it had nothing to do with
souvenirs, he wanted to humiliate and beat Sulu. He wasn't
going to stop with taking his clothes and his things."

"You're probably right, that doesn't mean I have to like
it."

"Captain Kirk," the COM buzzed.

He walked over and hit the button. "Kirk here."

Uhura responded. "Captain, we are receiving a transmission
from Police Commissioner  Jariem from Bracos."

"Patch it through."

"Captain James T. Kirk, you are required to remand yourself
into the custody of the Central City Police Commander. You
are accused of the murder of a citizen of Bracos."

"Murder?" He turned and looked at Spock in confusion.

"We have a witness to your unprovoked murder of Serien, son
of Darien 3 of Bracos."

"I doubt that, Commander. I have committed no unprovoked
attacks. "

"You will remand yourself into our custody for the beginning
of the investigation."

"No, I will not, Commissioner Jariem. You are welcome to
send someone up to my ship and  get a deposition from me,
but I will not come down to the planet."

"We will see about that, Captain." The Planetary Police
Commissioner broke the link.

He turned and looked at his crew. McCoy was the first to
break the silence. "Can they force you to stand trial?"

"I guess, but the question is why would they want me to? I
was there as a Starfleet Officer on official business and
got attacked. The weapon was made on their planet and the
muggers were home grown, too. We reported the incident to
the proper authorities and everyone knows the men attacked
us. The body and the guy's cohorts were still laying on the
ground when we got back with the police, and they were too
groggy at first to lie about it."

"Captain," Sulu interrupted,  "why were you and Mr. Spock
down there in the first place? I'm grateful you were, but it
doesn't make sense that you just happened to find me just in
time."

Spock and Kirk exchanged one of their looks. "We were at the
Federation Embassy and a message was forwarded to us there.
It said the Ambassador wanted to meet us at a location a
block from where you were. We went there and no-one was
around. In fact, it was a private residence," Kirk replied.

"Perhaps that explains your unease about those men that were
milling about at the end of the block, Jim," Spock stopped
as he saw the warning glance from Kirk.

"Too late, I heard it. So that's what you two were leaving
out," McCoy began angrily.  "You saw a group of guys you
thought were after you and you're only mentioning it now?"

Spock answered him. "We considered that a possibility. The
failed meeting seemed unusual for someone like Ambassador
Faraekjos. He is noted for his reliability and punctuality."

"Yeah, but he has all the imagination of a snail," Kirk
snorted.

"Jim..." Spock warned him off the topic.

"Why did he want to see you away from the Embassy?" McCoy
persisted.

"He had some concerns about planetary policies that were
contrary to Federation guidelines," Spock answered.

"The five corrupt families that comprise the Government are
in cahoots with Orion smugglers." Kirk answered McCoy's
confused expression.

"Damn..."McCoy swung his hand out. "Why don't one of you
just come out and say what that means? Are they in the slave
trade?"

"Not precisely, Doctor, they are in the business of buying
and selling incarcerated men and women for prostitution. The
individuals are freed from jail at the end of their terms,
if they survive the ordeal."

"Why did he want you off Embassy grounds?"

"He did not feel his information was such that it could be
transmitted to us while still inside the Embassy." Spock
turned to sit on the edge of a Biobed. "He felt some of his
staff might have been co-opted. "

"He probably got scared off and left us out there...or
someone paid him to get us out there away from Embassy
security."

"Or, the message was not from him." Spock added.

"Okay, that explains why you were nearby, but why didn't
they jump you?" Sulu persisted.

Kirk shrugged. "While we were standing and waiting for the
Ambassador, a group of folks from the Galaxy Hopper Cruiser
walked by. I knew a few of them, so we walked with them for
a way."

"This seems to confirm your suspicions, Captain." Spock
turned to answer McCoy's unanswered question. "Captain Kirk
had a feeling they were after us. We were very careful to
not approach them until we had other company. We surmised
that no sane thugs would attack eight Starfleet Officers in
broad daylight."

"It was all a damn setup," McCoy stated angrily.

"Yes, Doctor," Spock answered, "I would have to agree.
However, I am unsure what purpose it served."

"Well, if he had succeeded in embarrassing Sulu, it would
have been a minor embarrassment to Starfleet, " McCoy mused
out loud, "but since the both of you were in the area, maybe
they were after all of you."

"Who knows, Bones, but I am not going down there willingly
and be jailed on Bracos. I know about what happens in the
jails of Bracos, and a few days can be a lifetime." Kirk
turned and left with Spock trailing behind.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 5/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.

Spock followed in silence and waited for the door to the
Captain's quarters to close behind them. "Who or what is
behind this, Jim?"

"I don't have the faintest idea. I have been here before,
but not since I was a Lieutenant, and I was on my best
behavior. It takes someone who is either supremely stupid,
or supremely confident to try to take me off of my own ship.
Even the Klingons don't attack off-duty Starfleet personnel.
They feel it has no honor. This is too obvious for the
Romulans and the Orions are too busy with their own civil
war to penetrate this deep into Federation space to get me."

Spock went and sat in his accustomed chair. "I have
considered the possibility that they were only after Lt.
Sulu and I have discarded it. He has never held any
significant power and his only altercations have been in his
role as Helmsman of this ship. I believe they were after you
both, or all three of us. We must review
our enemies."

"How many days do you have?" Kirk quipped.

Spock smiled with his eyes. "As long as it takes." One by
one they reviewed all the possible culprits and discarded
them all.

"Now, I really am depressed," Kirk sighed heavily. "What
kind of idiot has a list of people that want to kill him as
long as mine?"

"An honorable warrior." Spock crossed the room and poured
them both a drink. Brandy for Kirk and Vulcan fruit wine for
himself.

"Thanks," Kirk murmured as he accepted the drink and the
compliment. The Vulcan nodded silently.

"I will not allow them to jail you."

"This is their sovereign world, Spock. You will not
interfere if they succeed in putting me in jail. The
Federation will arrange for my release. I should be able to
survive for a few days in a jail by myself. I really don't
want you to start a war over my clumsy ass."

"Jim, you are many things, but you are not clumsy."

Kirk chuckled. "I meant to stab him in his shoulder. The
idiot turned in the absolutely wrong direction and it was
too late to stop the blade. I missed my mark and a man
died."

"He meant to kill you."

"Lots of people mean to kill me. I usually don't kill them
for being stupid."

"Fascinating."

Kirk looked up in surprise. "What?"

"Our role reversal," Spock responded simply. 

Kirk understood immediately. "Yeah, it's a real laugher, but
he wasn't Mother Horta and there were no babies. You were
right to want to spare her."

"As you were correct for killing him. Surviving shoreleave
and aiding your Lieutenant are appropriate goals."

Kirk smiled thinly at his friend. "The fat lady isn't
singing and I'm still in hot water."

"You have the Enterprise and myself. We will stand in the
way of anyone who tries to ...cook your goose." Spock lifted
his eyebrow and allowed a smile to touch his face.

"Spock..." Kirk stared and then shrugged, willing the Vulcan
to understand the rest. "Want to play chess?"

"That is agreeable. It is my turn to take black. I have done
some research on Agorian Strategy, prepare to lose."

"Agorians, huh." Kirk smiled as he placed his pieces on the
board. "Let me tell you about how the Agorians came to me
one day and asked me about my Chess strategy. They said they
were writing a book..."


Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 6/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.



The representative from the Police Commissioner arrived on
the ship later that day. Lt. Dhanein was a florid, heavy
set, humanoid with the stoic demeanor of a person caught
between a rock and a hard place.

"I don't suppose you want to surrender to me and come down
to the planet surface, Captain Kirk," he asked with a
fatalistic voice.

"No, I don't suppose I would."

"Well, it was worth a try and it would save me a lot of
paperwork. You have no idea how much I hate paperwork." Kirk
smiled as he remembered saying something along those exact
same lines. Lt. Dhanein took a full deposition from everyone
involved, along with a copy of the detailed medical exam
done by McCoy after the three Enterprise Crewmen had beamed
aboard. Starfleet command ordered the ship to stay in orbit
until the issue was resolved. They waited.

Uhura continued her research. The dead man had been the
second son of Darien Tabiz, the Leading Minister of the
Council of Bracos. They now knew who was forcing the case to
go ahead and why. But, why had he attacked Sulu?

Kirk was ordered to surrender to the authorities on Bracos
the next day.

Starfleet Command told him not to comply He was to wait for
the Federation counsel to arrive. They immediately sent a
full Federation team of Attorneys led by Areel Shaw.
Federation law mandated trial by the laws of the injured
Planetary Partner when a member of Starfleet was involved
with a civil incident. Assault or murder could be considered
under Planetary law, not Starfleet, but only if the
Starfleet personnel was not on Starfleet business.

"Jim, I have no idea why they are even trying this case. You
have Diplomatic Immunity under all the treaty agreements and
laws governing the signatories of the Federation Charter. I
smell a rat. How do you get yourself into these kinds of
messes."

"I don't know, Areel," was the muffled reply from the head
buried in her hair.

Areel rolled over and brushed James Kirk's hair back from
his forehead. "Don't ever cut that lock of hair. I love how
it falls forward over your forehead."

"I can think of something better to fall over my face." Kirk
pulled her into a bear hug. "I've missed you, Areel. Why do
we only meet when I'm in trouble?"

"Is it because you're always in trouble?" She leaned forward
and traced his lips with a smile. "I'm scared, Jim. I think
you should take the Enterprise out of orbit and force them
to try you in absentia. This feels like a fixed trial."

"Is that your official recommendation counselor?" He began
to gently stroke her hair.

"It would be, but the Ambassador has vetoed it. He's adamant
that you stay and face the charges. He thinks that if you
ignore them, it will ruin our relationship with the present
government."

"Is that what they are calling themselves nowadays? There
are five corrupt families running everything and socking
away the spoils in neutral banks. They don't deserve to be
called a government."

Areel laughed. "You're so funny. Why are you so righteous on
one hand and so wicked on the other?"

"Which hand did you like a few moments ago?" He darted out
of bed before the pillow could hit him. "Do you want your
usual?" Kirk asked as he crossed over to the replicator.

"Does it mean you'll come back to bed?" Areel asked.

"Always." He gave her a look that made her shiver.

She paused to admire the naked view. He saw her watching and
stretched a little, just enough to make his back ripple. "I
definitely want the usual. Damn, I love being your friend.
Come here and give me the usual, Jim, one more time."


Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 7/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.


The Ambassador assured the Captain of the Enterprise that
his case was open and shut.

It was. The verdict took ten minutes. 

Areel Shaw jumped up and immediately began her motions for
mistrial and request for bail. Both motions were denied.

The Federation Ambassador looked on in shock as a Starship
Captain was led away in shackles. He had assured the media
and the Crew of the Enterprise that there was no way James
Kirk would be convicted once the facts were laid out. He had
been terribly wrong.

Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Sulu watched as James T. Kirk was
led away into the bowels of the prison at Bracos. The
charges had been lessened to voluntary manslaughter. The
sentence was 8 years. Kirk turned back and stared at Spock
and McCoy as he was led from the room. It was a look the
Vulcan would never forget.

Spock turned to the Ambassador. "Ambassador, you have 7 days
to get him out of that jail. If you are not successful by
that time, there will be an incident on Bracos."  Spock did
not give the Ambassador any time to respond before he
stalked out of the courthouse with the other members of the
crew of the Enterprise following closely behind.

The Bracos Main Jail was faceless metal and poured synthi-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
concrete.There were no windows on the world and as Kirk
walked through the narrow corridor that was the only way in
for prisoners, the light seemed to vanish and heat fled from
his body.Muffled sounds of angry shouts and screams, mixed
with a continuous ebb and flow of noise from speakers spoke
to them along the way, welcomed them to Bracos' jail and
assured them that they would do well to abide by the rules
and return to society as redeemed men and women. The women
in his group were split off and directed down a branching
hall. The men trudged ahead, shackled ankle to ankle and
wrist to wrist. Already, their backs had begun to slump down
from the weight of the moment and the reality of
incarceration, all backs but one.

They led the prisoners into a wide reception area, harshly
lit, with prison guards staring at them through windows set
into the walls. They were instructed to strip, bag and label
their items, and throw the bags down a hole that momentarily
opened in one of the walls.

They were led to a communal shower and ordered to
clean themselves. James Kirk ignored the silent looks, the
fondled genitals, and the muted conversations directed his
way.He could not keep them from trying, and he would do his
best not to kill the first one that did. A message was
sometimes all that was required. He showered and waited for
them to give him a set of dark brown loose-fitting clothes
to change into. There were no shoes  and no
underwear. 

Next, his head was shaved. He fought down a sense of Deja
Vu. Memories flooded his awareness:heat, noise, crying,
medtechs rushing back and forth."We have to cut your hair,
Son, it's full of Tarsus nits. I'm sorry I wasn't here in
time. I'm sorry." It's okay, Dad.I'm okay, Dad. Feelings
died, pain retreated. He could be so cold, so very cold-
hearted. He was sprayed with a chemical and he barely
noticed it. The other inmates being processed with him
fought to keep from retching. He stood silently. Distance,
distance was good, distance was necessary. Don't feel
anything. Observe and survive. He was led down a corridor
and given one blanket, a platisceen plate, no utensils and a
coded ID bracelet. No- one spoke to him.

The guards led him to the general lock-up and told him to
find a place to sleep before they snorted and walked away.

The Captain of the Enterprise looked out over a milling mass
of two hundred men, spread around an open concrete space
that opened up to the hot Bracos sky. A few faces turned to
face him, but most ignored him. Something cold had settled
over James Kirk's face and the few who turned to him in
interest, looked away to search out easier prey. He walked
over to a wall and sat down. He sat quietly and tried to
fade into the background. Distance, survive, wait,observe,
I'm okay, thoughts progressed slowly through his mind. He
centered his thoughts as Spock and Jean had taught him. He
felt for the slim thread of the link he shared with his
First Officer and tugged on it gently. The Anchor was there,
right where it would always be. He found himself
relaxing...a bit.

He had managed to drift off into a sea of half-awareness,                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
when he heard footsteps approach.

"James Tiberius Kirk, Captain of the Starship Enterprise. I
am so happy to see you again."

Kirk turned to the sound and saw a light brown-skinned man,
tall, slim, well-muscled, hawk-nosed, brown-eyed, with dark
smooth curls staring down at with a predatory gleam in his
eyes. He knew immediately who it was. Nuradeen Singh had
attacked him in an alley in an attempt to drive him away
from Nyota. Kirk had beaten Singh and left him in a garbage
can on Earth, 9 years past. He remembered wanting to kill
Singh for having beaten Nyota. Only fear of letting go had
kept Kirk from killing the man, then. Maybe he should have
finished the job. This didn't feel good. He stood, so he
could move if he needed to. "Hello, Singh."

"Captain, I have been waiting to meet you again. No, I have
been anxious to meet you again. Guards, escort the Captain
to my personal chambers. I feel like a bit of
entertainment."

"Starfleet will get me released, Nuradeen. We have long
memories," Kirk warned him.

"Please, call me by my whole name, Nuradeen Singh Tabiz, of
the house of Darien III." Singh smiled. "They are welcome to
have what I leave, Captain. You should have stayed out of my
affairs those long years ago. You had no business
interfering between Nyota and myself.I missed out on
getting her new boyfriend. I did so want you both, but I
have you," he sighed dramatically," I must be satisfied with
less, because sometimes less is more. Don't you agree?"

Three men grabbed either arm and led him away. Not a single
soul moved to help him.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 8/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.

He was led back into the inner citadel and down a winding
corridor to a small room at the very end. A guard stood at
the door and stepped aside wordlessly as they approached.

Singh walked across the bare room and stood in the middle of
it, slowly turning around.  He had a slight smile on his
face.  "You have no idea how long I have waited to have you
in this room.  I have imagined doing all sorts of things to
you, Captain Kirk.  But," he turned and smiled at him,
"unfortunately, most of my fantasies will have to take a
back seat to profit."  He motioned to the guards, "strip
him, and shackle him to the wall over there.

"Singh, what do you think you're going to get out of this?
Starfleet will have me out of here within a week, and
anything you do to me is going to have consequences you
don't want.  You might as well let me go."

Nuradeen Singh laughed and it was not a pleasant sound.  "By
the time Starfleet mobilizes its efforts to get you out of
here, Captain, you will have been sold to my brokers for a
wonderfully large sum of credits.  It will be enough for me
to leave this accursed planet and go anywhere I want to go.
I don't think you know how much you're worth on the open
market."

"Nobody will buy me, Singh.  The risk is not worth it.  I'm
too old to be in a bordello, and too dangerous to be a house
slave. Nobody in their right mind would buy me.  They all
know Starship Captains can't be tortured into giving
information.  We can't break silence under duress, even if
we wanted to.  Everybody, including the Romulans, know about
Command Training, Singh. I guess nobody told you about it."
He continued to talk, throw things out until you hit a mark,
any mark, any weakness.Keep him talking. "I'm not afraid of
dying, Singh, are you? I bet you just told the Orions you
had an interesting piece of ass to sell to them and they
don't know who it is."

Kirk watched Singh's eyes widened.  He knew he had hit it.
He continued to probe as they undressed him and
pushed him against the wall.  They raised his hands up over
his head and locked them into bands of metal.  Then they
pushed his feet back and locked duplicates around his
ankles.

"So, the Orions show up, take one look at me, and say no
deal.  Then, you're stuck with me.  If you hurt me now, I'm
damaged goods.  If you hurt me later, the Federation will
have your ass.  Let me go, Singh; I'll forget I ever saw
you."

"You are rich.  Here you are, naked, locked to a damn wall,
trying to tell me what to do."  Nuradeen started to laugh.
Then, he walked straight to Kirk and hit him hard, in the
belly. "Starship Captain, naked smooth-skinned boy, defender
of the weak. You got between my bitch and me. It was not
your damn business. You were lucky back on Earth, little
man. I didn't expect you to fight as wellas you did.But
today is a different tale and I'm the only one telling it.
I'm going to make you hurt, you pompous, self-righteous
asshole. The only reason you were even there was because you
wanted to fuck her, too. You're no better than me, just
luckier, once, no more."

He snarled at Kirk.  "What I leave, Starfleet can have, if
they can stand to look at you."  He hit Kirk again. "You
embarrassed me.  You interfered in my affairs.  You took the
side of a bitch who didn't know her place.  No damn bitch is
going to tell me when they're through with me.  I tell them
when I'm through with them.  As soon as I finish with you,
James Kirk, I am going to go back and get Uhura. I bet she
tastes even better now.  Did she scream for you like she
used to scream for me?  Sorry, I forgot she dropped your ass
too, didn't she?"  He hit Kirk again.

Kirk grunted with each impact.  "Singh, I swear to you, you
don't want to do this.  They'll be here to get me."

Singh stepped back and stared at Kirk.  He turned to one of
the guards, "Go get me the rod."  He turned back to Kirk.
"I think you'll get a kick out of this.  The rod is an
ancient instrument with an honorable history.  It causes an
icredible amount of pain but leaves very few scars.  I'm
planning on having so much fun with you, Captain.  Just you                                    
wait and see.  I think even you will appreciate my
ingenuity."

One of the guards handed Singh a thin tapered carved wand.
"Innocent looking, isn't it?  But, if I touch you like so,"
he reached out and softly stroked it across Kirk's mid
section. A line of molten lava trailed across his body.
Kirk tried to move away from the pain, but there was nowhere
to go.  He could himself hiss out in pain.  "That setting is
remarkably kind," Nuradeen continued in a conversational
tone.  "Now this setting," he stroked along Kirk's left
thigh, "is another matter altogether."  His captive screamed
and Nuradeen laughed.

"Such a wonderful sound: screams," Singh paused and leaned
back to observe his victim."Did you know I can change the
pitch of your scream by adjusting the intensity, duration
and placement of the Rod?" He demonstrated his point. Kirk's
voice began as a low moan and rose to a harsh wail of agony,
before his head slumped to his chest. "You are going to be
especially enjoyable, Captain. You see, I don't require
information from you. That, you can resist giving for a long
time. All I require is entertainment and I am being amply
rewarded right now."

He stood back and looked at the man hanging on the wall. He
tilted his head from side to side. "Where shall I go next?
Decsions, decisions." He leaned forward and jerked Kirk's
head up. "Pay attention when I speak to you, please.Tell me
again about how Starfleet will rescue you. Tell me to leave
Nyota alone again, Little man. I would love to hear that
right now."

Kirk toook a long shuddering breath and opened his eyes
slowly."Starfleet will be here. Let me go,Singh and if you
touch Nyota, I'll kill you."

Nuradeen frowned and let Kirk's head drop."You are a
stubborn man, Captain, but I have the cure for stubborness."
He slowly twisted the Rod up in intensity and began in
earnest.

Hours later, a small door in the back of the room opened. A
tall barrel-chested humanoid entered with two obvious
bodyguards. He was dressed in an expensively tailored, dark-
brown suit that glistened in the dim light of the room.
One shiny,black, braid hung down to his shoulders. He
lifted a cloth to his nose. "It smells in here, Nuradeen.
What have you been doing to him? I told you not to damage
him. Our families don't want Starfleet bringing any heat
down on us. We can't afford it."

"You have merely to look at him, Sachdev. There's not a mark
on him." Sachdev Tabiz crossed over and inspected the
unconscious man. He saw faint lines, like small welts
tracing their way across Kirk's body. "You've been using the
Rod. I told you to leave him alone, damn you." He shouted
and crossed over to Singh. He gave Nuradeen a resounding
slap.

Singh looked up with eyes full of hatred. "I am the head of
planetary security. It is my right to question any
prisoner."

"You are what I made you, nothing more. You don't torture a
Starfleet Captain, burn your soul. They will have our
hides for this. I gave you permission to embarrass him,     
rough him up a little, harass him, not torture him. My
nephew was a fool and my brother only agreed to a small
measure of revenge. This is beyond what we agreed on. Do you
have any idea what you've gotten us into?"

"I'm not afraid of Starfleet."

"Then you're a fool," he hissed. He motioned to us
bodyguards. "Take him down and put him back in the yards."
He turned back to Singh. "We will tell them that one of the
other inmates did this."

"I have the Orions coming to buy him."

"The Orions won't want any parts of this. This is too
visible, too much attention. They won't deal on him." The
guards had Kirk down and were dragging him towards the door.

"He is infamous, " Singh went over and grabbed Kirk's face
and showed it to Tabiz. "Look at this face. It's as pretty
as any woman's. He will sell, if only for his face and his
body."

"You are demented. He is a 34 year old man and a killer.
Mind-blanked or maimed, he is worth nothing, and intact, he
will kill the first man who lets his hands free. The fact
that you can't see that makes me doubt your sanity. Who
would want a grown man who can kill them, over a young boy
who can be molded? No matter how appealing his face or body,
the man is too dangerous to have around. The Orions will
laugh in your face. And, how in the seven hells were you
going to explain his absence?"

"He was vaporized trying to escape over the powered fence,
no body, no proof. We do it all the time. I am betting that
you are wrong,Father-in law."

Tabiz snorted in disgust. "You are insane. You will
extricate the Family from this mess, or suffer my wrath. Do
you understand?"

Singh bowed his head. "I live to comply, Father-in-law."

Tabiz looked at him," Or, you will die to comply," he
finished softly. He turned and left without a backwards
glance.

Moments later, an unconscious form was thrown back into the
area. The other inmates stepped around him. Someone had
already claimed his blanket and his plate.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 9/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.



Areel Shaw was sitting in a temporary office inside the
Federation Embassy.  Her desk was littered with notes and
empty cups of coffee.  The door opened.  "Ms. Shaw, there is
someone here to see you."  Areel didn't look up at her
adjutant. "Who is it, Peron, I'm pretty busy in here."

He stood silently, forcing her to look up at him. She cocked
her head at him in confusion. "Who is it?"

"Someone you should talk to, in my opinion. I have them in a
side room so no one can see them. This should be a private
conversation and he will talk to you on the condition that
his identity remains confidential, for now." Areel leaned
back and stared at Peron. His instincts were always
impeccable. "Let them in through the private entrance." She
switched on the privacy guards. "Make sure no-one disturbs
us until I signal you to lead them back out." Peron nodded
and left.

Her guest was a total surprise. The information she obtained
was terrifying. She went to find Spock immediately.


She found him on the bridge of the Enterprise and motioned
him to follow her to a private conference room.  As soon as
the door closed, she began. "Spock, go get Jim out of
there... now."

"Jim left orders that I was to await the Federation's
intervention."

"We won't be in time. I have an informant. Jim is not going
to make it out of there alive. We have already presented the
writ of Habeus corpus, but they have seven days to comply.
My source tells me he will have disappeared by then." She
paced back and forth. "Whoever is behind this is an idiot.
Starfleet will not allow Jim's illegal jailing and
kidnapping to go unchallenged. Nogura considers this to be
an act of aggression that should be answered by force. He's
sending two Starships. If the Federation allows its Captains
to be jailed illegally, they will be challenged in every
port of call."

"Why do you feel he will not be there in seven days?"

"My source says some slavers are already here. He overheard
some conversation from some prison guards. They said
something about the Orions probably wanting to take a test
run on one of their prisoners since he had destroyed enough
of their ships in the past. The person put tow and tow
together and came up with Jim. He thinks
they are going to be offered Jim and I agree with my
informant.

She went and sat and ran a trembling hand across her lips.
"He will die in slavery.If they try to enslave him, he will
force them to kill him. Even worse, he'll keep trying to
escape until they brainwipe him. You know I'm right. We
can't let that happen."

Spock came and stood in front of her. He steepled his hands
under his chin and looked at her intently. "You are asking
me to invade the penal system of a member of the Federation.
That is against the law, Counselor."

"I know the godblessed law, Spock. I'm a lawyer, dammit.
What happened down there had nothing to do with the law. He
was railroaded and they mean to destroy him." She grabbed
his arm and glared at him. "Spock, damn you, don't let Jim
die down there."

"I have no intention of doing so," he responded calmly. We
already have a plan in place to rescue the Captain. It only
requires my presence inside the jail. Can you arrange that?"

Her mouth fell open. "Why did you just let me go through all
of this?"

"Merely testing your resolve, Ms. Shaw. I had no way of
knowing if your support would be authentic until your touch
demonstrated your conviction. Forgive my intrusion, but you
initiated the physical contact and some emotions even I
cannot barricade against."

She smiled in relief. "What intrusion? I know what you are,
Spock. I should've known you wouldn't leave
Jim hanging out on a limb."

"Yes, you should have."

"I'm sorry for shouting at you, Mr. Spock."

"The cause was sufficient. If you will take a seat, I will
inform you of our present plan." The time was 1310 hours on
day two of Kirk's imprisonment.


"Get him up," Kirk could hear voices near his head.  Someone
lifted him from the ground and he bit back a moan.  His
entire body was on fire.  Every place the rod had touched
him was in agony.  He opened his eyes and saw the same three
guards from the previous day.  Nuradeen pulled Kirk's head
back and forced him to look in his face.  "Are you ready to
play again?  I'm so looking forward to it, Captain.  Today,
we have guests who want to meet you.  You're going to make
me a very rich man.  That way, I'll feel so much better
about not having cut you up or otherwise marring your pretty
little face."  He sounded positively cheerful.  "Please be
so kind as to accompany us, Captain.  I think even you'll be
surprised by the outcome."  They dragged Kirk behind him as
he went back to the same room at the end of the long dark
corridor.

The door opened and Kirk could immediately smell Orions.
Singh had the guards secure him to the wall again after they
stripped him.  Nuradeen opened the back door and three
Orions entered silently.  Kirk heard a gasp.  "You fool.
You brought us here for this?  You risked us being captured
for this?"  The lead Orion shouted, "What kind of madman are
you?"

Nuradeen walked towards him with his arms outstretched.
"Are you going to tell me that you are not interested in
purchasing Captain James T. Kirk?  He is the single most
deadly Captain in Starfleet.  How many of your ships has he
destroyed?  I am offering you your greatest enemy."

"My clan is not at war with Kirk.  Also my clan cannot stand
the flames from Starfleet that would result from our
purchase of him.  He is too dangerous to have around.  That
damn Vulcan would follow him to the ends of the galaxy to
rescue him and Starfleet would give him permission to do so.
I do not wish to have Starfleet and the clan of Surak both
looking for us.  If I were you, I would get him a healer,
and let him go.  This had been a mutually beneficial
relationship, Singh.  You just ruined it.  Our business here
is concluded."  The Orions turned to leave.

Nuradeen called after them.

"Wait!"

The Orion leader called back over his shoulder, "Send him
back to Starfleet, Singh, or live to regret it."  They left.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 10/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.



Kirk watched Nuradeen's stiff back with a sense of
foreboding. He tried to relax.  He knew Singh would be
enraged and would take it out on him.

When Singh finally turned to face him, all of his fears were
realized.

"Captain, you just cost me a lot of credits.  I am going to
make you pay for each and every one of them."  He crossed
over to the wall and picked up the rod from where it had
been left the previous day.  He turned and his look made
Kirk nauseous.  Singh crossed over to him in gave five rapid
strokes across his body on the highest setting.  Scream
followed scream until Kirk felt darkness begin to envelope
him.

Kirk awoke when the cold water hit his face.  He felt like
Singh had scalded him through to the core of his body.  He
couldn't lift his head, he couldn't see, all he could feel
was burning.

Singh leaned forward and whispered into his ear.  "I'm going
to beat you, then I'm going to use the rod some more, then,
I'm going to stick the rod up your ass.  You'll be begging
me to kill you by the time I finish. I gave you a little
present that will take affect in a few hours, but until
then, I have planned some more entertainment. Oh, and in
case I don't have a chance to tell you later, after I finish
with you, I'm going to go look for Nyota."

"Singh," Kirk gasped out, "stop.  Don't do this.  You don't
know what you're doing.  You don't know what you're getting
yourself into.  Stop now or what happens will be on your
head."

Singh leaned his head back and guffawed.  "Damn, you are one
funny guy."  He stopped, leaned forward again and whispered,
"Do you think you'll be as funny when I finish with you?"

He dragged the rod alongside Kirk's ear.  Excruciating pain
shot through his brain and made him convulse.  He couldn't
breathe.  He blacked out again to the sensation of Singh
beating him with fists and rod.

When he came to, Singh was sitting in front of him in a
chair.  He sipped on the glass of red wine. "My dear
Captain, I have been waiting for you."Kirk was silent.His
eyes were blank. Nuradeen shrugged. "It seems my special
gift has had it's affect. Fortunately for me, he will still
be able to feel the rod's pleasure. This is really quite
enjoyable." He turned to the two guards who stood against
the back wall.  "Go get him off the wall.  I think it's time
for my rod to try to reach something a little different."
The guards crossed over to Kirk and reached up to grab both
arms.

Suddenly, Kirk's head shot up. He bared his teeth and hissed
softly.

The voice that came from Kirk's lips was not one Singh had
heard before.  He said one word, "Pain." Both guards began
to scream and clutch at their heads.  Blood began to run
from their ears, and their noses.  They fell to the ground
and began to writhe in agony. Singh bolted from the room and
slammed the door behind him. The screams of the guards
stopped finally, and Kirk slumped back into unconsciousness.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 11/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.

Spock, arranged a meeting with the Ambassador. The earliest
appointment he could get was the same morning at 0800 hours.

The Ambassador stood to greet him. "Mr. Spock, we are still
working diligently to obtain the release of Captain Kirk. If
you will have a seat, I will bring you up to date on what we
have been doing."

"I do not wish to sit, Ambassador. My visit shall be brief.
Your labors have not been sufficient. You must get him out
of that jail, immediately." Spock's tone made the
Ambassador tense.

"We are doing everything we can. He was supposed to have had
diplomatic immunity. Strings are being pulled at high levels
to ignore the rules of law on this planet. Someone has it in
for your Captain and I have no idea who it is."

Spock looked at him silently. "Are you sure you have no
idea, Sir?"

The human frowned. "I will not be insulted in my own
Embassy."

"This is the Federation's Embassy, not yours, Sir. I have
already pursued that line of investigation and I believe you
are correct. I will require you to arrange for Dr. McCoy and
I to visit the Captain every day. I do not want to hear what
you cannot do any longer, Ambassador. Do it."

"Mr. Spock...," the Ambassador began.

"Sir," Spock interrupted him. "The Captain told you this was
going to happen. We both warned you they would imprison him
against protocol and the law of the Federation and this
world. We gave you evidence of the rampant corruption in the
Government of Bracos. You risked his life and well-being out
of your reticence to take a risky stand. You have lost my
respect. I owe you nothing. You will do as I ask, or I will
declare this to be a State of Emergency, under which
Military Law governs, and I will accomplish what you can
not."

"You would not..."

Spock leaned forward, slightly, but enough to stop the
Ambassador from further speech. "Do you know who I am,
Ambassador?"

"First Officer of The Enterprise?" he whispered his reply.

"I am Spock, cha Sarek, inheritor of Clan Surak, the most
numerous and wealthy clan on Vulcan. I am sworn T'hy'la to
James T. Kirk. The vengeance of a Vulcan clan is a terrible
thing, Ambassador Faraekjos. Vulcan is noted for its
thoroughness. Do you comprehend my meaning?"

The man's teeth actually chattered as he answered. "I have
no power here. There's nothing more I can do."

"There is something I can do, however." A new person
interrupted the conversation. Spock recognized the voice
immediately.

"Ambassador Little, I had no idea you had arrived."
Faraekjos leapt to his feet.

Spock could not repress the sense of added power he felt at
the sight of 'Cousin Jean'. "Are you aware of everything
that has transpired here, Ambassador Little?"

"The Diplomatic Corp. is aware of everything, Ambassador
Faraekjos, everything. Do you want to say it out loud? It
could save your soul and salvage some of your reputation."

Spock turned to stare at Faraekjos. In front of his eyes,
the man broke down into tears. "They said they were just
going to scare him a little. They swore they wouldn't jail
him or hurt him. I never would have agreed to go along with
this if I had known what they intended."

Spock felt his vision go green and he fought for control.
Shades of ancient Vulcan overwhelmed him and cast his mind
into flames. He felt himself move towards the man. "What
have you done?" His voice was a harsh guttural sound.

"<Kroykah!>" His mind burst though into calm. Jean had
spoken directly to his mind. She looked at Spock and once
she was satisfied that he was under control she turned back
to Faraekjos. "Tell us why you did this."

"This is why he did this." They turned as one. Standing in
the doorway was The Ambassador's wife, and beside him was a
small dark-haired teenaged boy with the face of an angel.
"This is my grandson, Chaz. His parents died on the
Excalibur. Perhaps you recognize the name, Mr. Spock. Your
ship blew it to bits. We are his guardians. They had our
grandson in that jail and the only way we were going to get
him back was to do what we did. Look at him, Gentlemen."
Chaz was an unbelievably handsome, slight, olive-skinned
youth. "He would not have lasted a week. They sentenced him
to two weeks for supposedly shop-lifting. My Grandson does
not steal, but they had him and they were going to destroy
him. We did it for him and we would do it again. Your
captain is a strong and resourceful man. This is a 16year
old child. What else could we do?"

"You could have told us." Jean looked sadly at them.

"How much more effective would you have been with him than
you have been with James Kirk?" she answered. "We know the
system. My Grandson is everything to us, and he would have
been raped or beaten to death before we could stop them."

Ambassador Faraekjos spoke up. "They said they wouldn't jail
him or do anything other than embarrass him. They didn't
expect Kirk to kill a man. They still promised us they
wouldn't convict him at the trial. They promised."

"Who promised?" Spock demanded.

"Sachdev Tabiz."

Spock recognized the name immediately. He was the head of
one of the Five Families and the uncle of the slain man.

"I will go and pay a visit to Sr. Tabiz," Jean said with a
bland expression. "Spock, you must be ready to execute your
plan at a moment's notice." She turned to Faraekjos and his
wife. "Send the boy out."

"What are you going to do to us?" Faraekjos asked
despondently.

"You are relieved of your duties and you will be transferred
back to your Homeworld. We are not unsympathetic, but you
really should have tried to solicit our help. You'd be
surprised what we can do. Pack your belongings and get your
grandson to safer territory. Make sure he understands that
this was not his fault; he was nothing but a pawn."

They went to walk out of the room, when Ser Faraekjos turned
around and walked over to Jean. "Thank-you for
understanding."

"My child, I understand; I don't agree, but I do understand.
Now leave us."

She waited for the Ambassador and his wife to leave before
she gestures Spock to take a seat. "We have to get him out
of there quickly. If they attempt to rape him or beat him
too badly, it may cause a situation."

"What do you mean?"

"I know he has not told you about Tarsus yet. I'd prefer to
wait on him, but you need to know why it's imperative for us
to move quickly. Suffice it to say, he was beaten, raped,
and forced to watch the rape and murder of his relatives and
friends. It sent him...over the edge. He basically killed
everyone he saw until he passed out from exhaustion. If they
push him past his tolerance point, history will repeat
itself and there will be a blood bath down there. We do not
wish him to be unmasked at this time. Without you and McCoy,
his anchors, there is no-one to prevent it."

"You are here to prevent that, so I must conclude that you
were able to see this event transpiring. Why did you allow
this to happen? Why didn't you warn us?"

"We saw that a branching node was near, but the particulars
were not seen. How could we warn you, if we were not sure?
All we knew was that my influence might be required. It
served my purpose that the Ambassador had been co-opted.
That fact made my presence easily explainable." Spock's face
was inscrutable. She sighed. "How may I assist you in
rescuing him?"

Spock paused. "Why not retrieve him yourself?"

She stared at the Vulcan. "You are angry at me and I
understand why, but don't doubt me, Vulcan. I can do that if
I must, but you must also decide where your loyalties lay.
He must know that you saved him, or you will become...an
unreliable anchor and superfluous. Is that what you desire?"

"What I desire is for you to warn me when a node
approaches." His eyes flashed dangerously. "What I desire is
for you to have given me sufficient assistance to prevent
them from having him in their custody for even a day."

"I can not do that, Spock. I must wait, like anyone else,
for him to decide. Then and only then can I act."

"Who set those conditions and why?"

"That is a question you are not mature enough to know the
answer to."

Spock took visible control of his emotions. "They are
hurting him already. We are too late. I did not protect him
and you did not assist me when I needed you."

"You felt his pain?" 

The Vulcan nodded curtly.  "Feel," he corrected her.

"I have many, many children, Spock. I feel the pain of each
and every one of them, every day of my existence."

"It is different for you, Jean. I could never kill him, as
you are charged to do if you must."

She looked at him in sympathy. "Perhaps you're right and it
is different for me. I only love him." She smiled sadly.
"You're wrong, if he asks you, you'll kill him, too. That's
your role."

Spock did not respond. "What do you need me to do?" she
continued softly.

"I need you to get myself and Dr. McCoy into the jail. We
will take care of the rest."

"Consider it done."

Spock nodded and left. Mahogany eyes trailed after him.
They were not unsympathetic.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 12/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.


When he reached the ship, the police commissioner called to
inform them that they could visit the compound. He took
McCoy and two redshirts down with him.

The Director of the jail met them at the beam down site with
lowered eyes. "There has been an accident. Your Captain has
disappeared from the main compound. I have no idea how it
happened. Of course, you understand that even when we locate
him, he will still remain in our custody?"

"Now, you just wait a damn..." McCoy began.

Spock interrupted him. "We will assist you in locating him,"
Spock stated quietly.

The man looked at Spock in confusion. "How do you plan to do
that?"

"It is not important for you to know. All you need to do is
allow us access to the compound."

"I have been informed that you are to be given free access
to the entire compound. Your new Ambassador is...very
convincing."

Spock called back up to the ship. Scotty used the sensors to
lead them to a small door at the end of a long corridor. The
Starfleet subdermal tracer was active and sending. One guard
unlocked the door and escorted them inside. The room was
pitch black and it smelled of urine, vomit, and blood. One
of the guards fumbled for the switch alongside the side of
the doorway. Spock and McCoy heard a click, but the lights
remained off. One of the guards muttered a Bracosian
expletive. Spock began to move across the darkened room.
McCoy, unable to use Vulcan senses, stayed put.

"Try your emergency light, Stawerd." The head guard
instructed one of his fellows. Suddenly, a beam lanced out
from a hand-held light. Two men were sprawled on the floor,
bleeding from their ears, eyes and mouth.  The guards rushed
over to check on them. They were dead. The third guard left
the room and bolted the door from the outside. Spock called
out: "Jim!". His eyes had already seen across the room.
James Kirk was hanging from cuffs set into the wall. He hung
limply. Thin rivulets of blood ran down his naked body.

He rushed over and lightly touched the unconscious form.
Kirk's face was shattered. His left eye was swollen shut.
His breath rasped out through his broken nose and his torn
lips.

"Oh, God, what happened here?"  McCoy rushed over to his
side. "Oh, sweet lord. Spock, we have to get him out of
here. Look what they've done to him."

Spock reached up and snapped the bands open. He caught Kirk
and gently lowered him to the floor. "Doctor, I need to know
the extent of his injuries, without delay."

McCoy used his medical tricorder and began to read out what
it was telling him. "Concussion, fractured mandible,
fractured nose, fractured base of his left orbit, three
fractured ribs, multiple contusions and lacerations of his
face and back. Damn, someone whipped him with something that
cuts skin." McCoy took a shaky breath and continued,
"splenic and hepatic lacerations, both of his wrists are
broken."

"Dr. McCoy, can he survive if we leave him here?"

"Spock how can you even think..."

"Answer me, McCoy, quickly."

"Hell, no. They haven't even tried to help him."

"Thank-you." He pulled out his communicator and pushed a
button. Then Spock bent down and lifted him into his arms.
The power flickered and the shouts of the guards faded into
the background as the transporter beam took them away.


Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 13/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.



McCoy looked down on his sleeping patient, then he looked
over at his awake patient. "Spock, he's going to be okay.
Why don't you go get some rest?"

"I will rest after I find out why this was done to him. It
has no logic."

"Spock, there is no logic to a beating like this.  This was
pure hate.  Find out who has a reason to hate James Kirk on
that godforsaken planet, and you will know who did this to
him."

"Did the beating damage his... mind?"  Spock's hands reached
for the meld points and McCoy slapped them away.  "It is my
right."

"It may be, but you're not going to meld with him now.  I
know you well enough to know what you are going through.  If
you meld with him and experience anything that he went
through down there on that planet, I can't trust you to not
go off half cocked and do something foolish."

"I am Vulcan."

McCoy glared at Spock.  "I know who the hell you are.  That
doesn't change a thing.  I've been watching you for quite a
few years.  I have no assurance that if you find out who did
this to Jim, you won't go down there and kill the guy."

Spock turned and met McCoy's eyes.  "I give you my word that
I will not return to the planet surface and kill anyone.
Vulcans do not believe in the necessity of revenge."

"Spock, if that's so, why do you have a word for it in your
vocabulary?"

Spock looked up at McCoy and his eyes flashed dangerously.
"We are not always successful in attaining the ideal." He
turned and left for the bridge.


Areel Shaw stopped him in the corridor. She was on her way
in to see Kirk. Tension radiated from her. "How is he?"

"They have tortured him. He is not able to communicate,
yet."

Her eyes filled with tears. "We were too late, then."

"We do not capitulate on this ship, Ms. Shaw. I must
conclude that the Bracos Officials have notified you about
our engineered escape. What have you been told to do by
Starfleet?"

"I got the report from Dr. McCoy and sent it to Starfleet.
The official word is for you to clear out and leave the
aftermath to us. Nogura plans on making a statement to the
planet of Bracos. He is planning on a military sanction for
the illegal detention and torture of a Starfleet Captain.
The Five Families are scrambling to put the blame on anyone
but them. Sachdev Tabiz has been remanded to Starfleet
custody and we can't locate Nuradeen Tabiz. No telling how
far he will run before he holes up."

"Who was your source, Ms. Shaw?"

"He told me I could tell you his name. He wants to see Jim
after he's better to apologize for what happened to him. The
poor baby thinks it's his fault. I told him it wasn't, but I
think he will only believe it if Jim says so. Knowing our
Jim, he'll make sure the boy doesn't blame himself." She
paused, "It was the Ambassador's grandson," Spock eyes
widened in surprise. "He's a brave child. He didn't want
them to hurt Jim. It seems that our intrepid Captain is his
personal hero. His parents died during that M-5 debacle, and
Jim paid him a visit after the memorial service to give the
boy his condolences and explain what happened. He never
forgot the gesture. He said it made him heal faster. Jim
made him believe that his parents' sacrifice kept M-5 from
destroying the Fleet. Jim made a grieving child feel
special."

"Jim has that affect on many people," Spock replied softly.

Areel Shaw raised up on her toes and kissed the Vulcan
gently on his cheek and he allowed it. "Thank-you for being
his friend, Spock. He talks about you all the time. I don't
think he would've survived this long without you, and we all
would've been the poorer for it. If I had had any sense, I
would have married him, but I never, ever knew what was good
for me. Thank-you for sharing him with me."

"He is not mine. I have no control over what he does or whom
he chooses."

"Then you haven't truly figured Jim out yet. When he loves,
Spock, it is forever and unconditional. If I went to him and
told him I needed him to give me a thousand credits, he
would just write the chit. But, if you asked him to die for
you, he would slit his own throat. Who has more control?
That's a lot of power to have. Learn to appreciate it."

"You understand him well, it seems."

"I try to. I loved him and I believe he loved me, but he
wasn't what I needed. I wanted him to give up his career for
me, and he needed the same thing from me. It was not
something that was meant to be. Until we both find what we
need, we ...help each other through the rough spots, without
strings."

"You honor me by your sharing," Spock gave the ritual
response.

She smiled gently. "Take care, Vulcan. I'm going to go see
my friend and then I'm going to return to the fire-fight we
have unleashed. Good thing Ambassador Little is here. She
seems to make things happen when she's around." She entered
the sick-bay.

Spock's trip to the bridge was a whir of confusing emotions
and battles for control. He had his friend and Captain back,
but he still felt uneasy, lost. He couldn't feel the tendril
of awareness he had shared since the first year after he met
his Captain. He felt abandoned and lost.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 14/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.




He stepped onto the bridge and fought down a momentary sense
of disorientation.  It was first shift and the Captain was
supposed to be occupying the center chair.  "Mr. Spock,"
Uhura's quiet voice at his side broke his reverie, "Can I
speak to you?"

"Concerning what, Lieutenant?"

"I think I know who beat the Captain."

He turned his full attention on her.  "Speak."

She looked uncharacteristically embarrassed.  "Is there
somewhere I can speak to you, in private?"

"Come."  He led her from the bridge to the closest small
conference room.  "Sit, Lt. Uhura.  I would welcome any
information you have that would lead to the perpetrators of
this act."

She looked down at her hands and tears began to fall from
her eyes.  "This is all my fault."

Spock waited for her to continue. He willed himself to be
patient. He considered Uhura's one weakness to be her
propensity for crying. It was illogical and wasteful of
water.

She cleared her throat.  "A long time ago, the Captain and I
were lovers. He was just a Lieutenant then and between
assignments.  I was hoping to be assigned to the Enterprise,
but I was at Starfleet Command.  We met at a club and he
walked me home."

"I fail to see how this is related to..."

"Please, Mr. Spock, let me finish.  I had recently broken up
with a young man by the name of Nuradeen Singh. He tried to
beat me once and then continued to stalk me.  I didn't
report it because I was afraid if I had a pending case, the
Enterprise would pass me over for assignment. Nuradeen
was...frightening. He once told me that if he could not
persuade me to marry him, he would kill me. I thought if I
could avoid him until I left on the Enterprise, he would
give up. I became a prisoner in my own home. I went nowhere
but to Starfleet and back to my own apartment. I had
Starfleet security to block him at work and my apartment
complex had full security also. I thought I could make it. I
was wrong. Nuradeen decided to beat me on the way home from
the club that night. Jim was with me.  Needless to say, Jim
sent him away, forcefully.  I never heard anything from the
man again.  I'm pretty sure  Jim paid him another visit to
make sure he never bothered me again. Nuradeen used to send
me one purple  Bird of paradise all the time. When the
Enterprise docked at Bracos, there was a purple Bird of
Paradise waiting for me.  Someone has sent me one every day
since we have been here.

"I think it's Nuradeen. The flowers were coming in
diplomatic pouches so I decided to look and see who in the
Bracos government and the Embassy staff would have access to
those pouches. The Director of Planetary Security is a man
named Nuradeen Singh Tabiz. On Bracos, the man takes the
surname of the wife if he marries into a more powerful
family. I think this is the same man, but there is no
picture of him in the Embassy data bank, so I can't be sure.
I know Nuradeen is the type of man to hold a grudge. I also
know he likes to beat people, especially when he has the
upper hand."

Spock leaned forward. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"I haven't seen the man since Jim sent him away.  That was
nine years ago."

"Do you have any pictures of him."

"Actually, yes. I pulled up a data file on him a few years
ago. We were going to his homeworld and I wanted to avoid
him. He no longer lived there so I stopped worrying about
him."

"Send the information to my terminal."

"Yes, Sir."

Spock turned and looked at the wall. Uhura couldn't miss the
tension in the usually calm man. "Mr. Spock, our
relationship was over before Captain Kirk ever came aboard
this ship.  He has been a good and true friend. We decided
early on that it was not a good idea to try to go back to
old territory.  I just wanted you to know that."

"There is no requirement for you to explain your
relationship with the Captain to me, Lt. Uhura. You are an
adult and it is not my place to judge you."

"I don't want you to think we have been hiding anything from
you."

"What I think is not relevant."

"What you think about the Captain is the most relevant thing
in the world to him, Mr. Spock. Jim is a wonderful person,
but he's better when you're beside him. He tries to keep
from disappointing you, you know. You're his hero."

"I am his First Officer. He is my commanding officer. We
have learned to trust each other's judgment."

"That's not what I'm saying and you know it."

"Then I don't understand what you are saying, Lt. Uhura."

She sighed and decided to drop the topic. "I'm the one that
left him, because I was afraid of how close we had gotten.
I thought a relationship with him would ruin my chances for
advancement on my own merits. It was my choice and he has
been a complete gentleman about it."

"I knew about your past relationship," Spock relented. 

"When did he tell you? I asked him not to tell anyone on the
ship. He promised." Uhura's voice betrayed her shock.

"He honored your request. He has never spoken of it. My
source was Dr. McCoy. He was required to know because it
might have affected Jim's command decisions. He informed me
after the incident on Jarweesh, when you and he were accused
of...indiscretions with the native inhabitants."

"Oh, right... that was a little ugly."

"I agree."

"I guess I should never have thought it could remain a
secret. It's hard enough for a woman to get Command in
Starfleet as it is.  It would've been even harder if people
thought Jim kept me here because I was one of his old
flames.  I'm on the ship because I'm the best there is at
what I do."

"You excel at your functions, Commander. Be assured that the
Captain and I value you and your work." He fell silent for a
moment, deep in thought. "I concur with your appraisal of
the situation, Lt. Uhura.  Forgive me if I intrude, but are
you and Mr. Sulu still enamored of each other."

"Yes, ever since the Shoreleave on Antares. He's a good man,
Mr. Spock."

"I meant no disrespect. This new information sheds further
light on why this Singh would have been after Sulu and Jim.
"

"I understand. I'm not ashamed. I made a really bad judgment
call with Singh, and I got away from him as soon as I
understood who he really was. Before I dated Nuradeen, I had
never met a man who considered a woman to be chattel. That
was the first and the last abusive relationship I ever
participated in. Jim rescued me. I guess it set a pattern
for both of us. He still runs to the rescue whenever I need
him, just like on Jarweesh."

Uhura sighed. "I feel like its all my fault. Jim, Sulu, and
you were attacked because of me. Jim is lying in the sickbay
because of me."

"Would you have rather stayed with Singh and been beaten?"

"Hell, no. Pardon my language, Sir."

"Then you made the correct decision to leave the
relationship. Jim assisting you is consistent with who he
was and still is. No doubt Jim did something further to
Singh to convince him to never return to harass you. Both of
you acted in manners consistent with your personalities.
There is nothing to feel guilty about, Nyota. Please do not
blame yourself for a cruel man's acts."

She bowed her head and wiped angrily at her eyes. "What are
you going to do with this information, Mr. Spock?"

He stood and straightened his shirt.  "I intend to find one
Nuradeen Singh, and question him.  If he is the one who has
done this to the Captain, then I intend to allow justice to
be served."

She watched as he left the room and for a millisecond, she
felt a twinge of pity for Nuradeen Singh...a very brief
twinge.


Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 15/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.


"Spock, I'm going to let him wake up.  Do us both a favor
and don't ask him too many questions right away."

The Vulcan stood silently.

McCoy injected Kirk.  The hiss seemed very loud against the
backdrop of the regular beep of the monitor.  They stood and
waited for the injection to work.  While they were waiting
Spock asked the question he had refused to ask earlier.
"Was he raped?"

"No, at least there are no signs of rectal trauma.  Someone
did shoot some current through his genitals though.  I had
to repair a lot of small hemorrhages from the results of
that.  I don't think there will be any functional damage,
but I can't be sure. Whoever did this was an evil man."
McCoy wiped his hands across his mouth. "I want to kill the
man who did this, Spock. I want to make him hurt the same
way he made Jim hurt, and that's not me. I'm having trouble
dealing with the idea that anyone would do this to a
sentient being. The worse part is: Jim was tortured and
neither one of us was there to stop it."

McCoy watched as the Vulcan's hands clinched.  He knew how
much force those hands could generate, and he was glad none
of that force would be directed at him.  McCoy leaned over
and touched the Captain. "Jim, wake up Jimboy, you are
home."

"Did you give him a sufficient dose to awaken him?"

"I know my profession, Spock.  He should be waking up now."

"Enough waiting, I must know now."  He leaned forward and
placed his hands at the meld position.

"Spock," McCoy shouted, "I told you this is not a good time
to meld with him."

"I must know if he is intact, Doctor.  If he is not, then he
cannot command the ship; he cannot stay in Starfleet; he
will not have the life he was meant to have.  I must know,
so I may plan for his future.  I am his First Officer.  It
is my duty to know."

"I don't give a damn what rights you claim.  I am still the
Chief Medical Officer on-board this ship.  I'm telling you
that you may not meld with him.  If you try to do so, Spock
I will call security in and embarrass the hell out of both
of us."  McCoy moved to stand between Spock and Kirk.  "Look
at you, you are out of control.  Get a grip on yourself.
There was nothing you could have done to save Jim. I
should've kept my damn mouth shut a minute ago. Starfleet
and our own Ambassador let him go to jail.  Some unknown
asshole planned it all to get Jim and Sulu.  This is not
your fault, Spock."

"I was with him. I should have been the one who went to
jail.  I should have protected him.  It is my fault he has
been beaten and tortured.  If I had been a better shield,
they would never have had him at their mercy."

McCoy didn't know what to say.  He had never seen Spock so
racked with obvious guilt.  He reached out; the Vulcan
jerked away as if McCoy's touch was deadly.  "Spock, listen
to me, this is not your fault.  You might as well blame it
on Uhura, or Sulu.  This was a set-up designed to get Sulu
and Jim.  There was no way any of us could have anticipated
something like this.  This wasn't about Starfleet, Klingons,
Orions, or Romulans.  This was about an abusive man... an
obsessive man, who couldn't stand to see one woman leave him
and succeed.  So he decided to destroy her, by destroying
the people he knew she loved.  If you let this destroy you,
or Jim, he wins.  Is that what you want?  Do you want Tabiz
to win?"

"I do not desire anything beneficial for him."

McCoy waved a hand at him. "Stand in line and welcome to
your human half."

"No, Doctor. My Vulcan half wishes to tear him limb from
limb.  My human half solely wishes to hurt him."

"Spock..." the voice intruded on the conversation and pulled
both of their attentions immediately back to its source.
James Kirk was struggling up from unconsciousness.  His eyes
were still closed as he called for his friend.  "Spock...
Spock... where are you?  Stop... stop dammit.  Oh God, tell
them to stop.  Spock... tell them to stop."  They both
rushed over to the side of the Biobed.

"Jim," the Vulcan's voice was soft, soothing, "I'm here.  We
brought you home.  You're safe now."

Kirk's eyes flew open. He gasped for breath and began to
shake uncontrollably.  "Spock... Spock... where are you?  I
can't hear you anymore.  Where are you?  I don't believe
him. You didn't leave me here. You wouldn't leave me here. I
don't believe it. I'll kill you Tabiz! I'll kill you for
this!"

Spock began to shake him gently, "Jim, I'm here, I'm right
beside you.  Look at me.  Bones is standing here with me."

"No, don't touch me.  Don't touch me.  Spock... Bones, I
know you can hear me. I know you're still alive.  Where are
you?"

The Vulcan's eyes widened in alarm.  He turned to McCoy,
"Why is he unable to see or hear me, Doctor?"

"I don't know."  McCoy turned and rang for help.  Spock
watched as McCoy brought in more equipment to evaluate the
Captain.  It seemed to take forever.  Kirk continued to yell
and fight against the restraints. Finally, after McCoy took
more readings he motioned Spock over to the Biobed. McCoy
pulled Kirk's hands up towards the Vulcan's face. Spock
immediately understood and let Kirk feel the outline of his
ears.

That quieted Kirk immediately. "Spock?" The Vulcan shook his
head up and down: yes. Kirk's voice was hoarse from
screaming and muffled from his fractured jaw.  The human
ignored the pain and smiled in Spock's direction. He placed
his fingers against the Vulcan's temples, rested them there
lightly, and then groaned. "I can't hear you." He whispered
weakly. "I can't see you. I can't feel you in my head. What
did that bastard do to me?" The Vulcan shook his head from
side to side. "Where's Bones?"

McCoy then pulled Jim's hands up to his own face and could
see a smile forming through the bruises, swelling, and
lacerations. "That's right, Jimboy, you know who all these
lines and wrinkles belong to. You're home. We have you."

"Bones?" McCoy nodded. "The Enterprise?" McCoy nodded yes
again. "Its fine then; I'll be fine. I'm home?" McCoy nodded
again, but his eyes told a different story.

"Stay here, Spock. If Singh used what I think he used, we
may be in trouble. Now you definitely will not meld with him
until I say so.  Martinez!" McCoy waited for the assistant
to enter. "Stay here and if Mr. Spock so much as touches the
Captain's temples, call for security first, then me." He
turned and left behind a stunned assistant and First
Officer.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 16/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.


When he returned, Kirk was sleeping and Spock had not left
his bedside. McCoy pulled a chair behind him and slumped
into it in exhaustion. "Bad news," McCoy hesitated.

"Tell me, Doctor."

"He used Thelamas Weed."

McCoy waited for Spock to digest the news. "In high doses.
It is a competitive inhibitor of sensory neurotransmitters
and it is used as a form of punishment on Non-Federation
worlds. It makes humanoids deaf, blind, without a sense of
taste, and anosmic: no ability to smell. The only sensory
neurons spared are proprioception, vibration, light touch,
and temperature. Speech is motor, so they can still speak,
walk and be visible evidence of their own punishment."

"I am familiar with the theory, Doctor."

"Indulge me, Spock. I have been racking my brain and reading
everything I could get my hands on. Officially, there is no
known agent to force it off of its binding sites. It is
considered to be temporary, but most people go insane or
kill themselves because of the lack of stimuli. They are
ostensibly locked in and there is no clear way for them to
communicate effectively with the outside world. It wears
off, but there is no way to predict when it will do so. In
the meantime, Jim is deaf, blind, can't taste, or smell, and
obviously your link is blocked. That means the meld will be
ineffectual."

"I sense a but, Doctor. I see no point to this recital of
information unless you mean to offer hope. It would be
unlike you to take so long to be the harbinger of only bad
news."

McCoy smiled a weary smile. "But...Starfleet Medical was so
concerned about the drug, that they have been doing specific
research on it. The drug has a few potential antidotes. You
can induce the brain to recall especially strong memories.
When it does that, taste, smell, sound, sight all accompany
the memory. Memory research shows that packets of recall are
housed in separate areas, but conduits exist between
associated memories, and the parts that comprise the memory.
There is no way to predict how effective that will be."

"What is the other option, Doctor?"

"We use synthi-heroin."

"It is illegal."

"It works."

"It is addictive."

"It works."

"100% of the time?"

"Yes."

"How does it work?"

"It causes a massive release of endorphins, enkephalins, and
all of the aminopeptides associated with memory. They, in
essence, drive the Thelamas off the receptor."

Spock sat silently. "We can synthesize it in the labs. I can
have it ready by tomorrow."

"Spock, it is illegal. The whole lab staff would be busted
to ensign if they allowed us to do that. Anyway, I have to
put this on his official report, and if he is mysteriously
cured on this ship, it will be obvious how we did it. You
can't even amend the logs, like you've done in the past."

"Very well, I will have an agent of the clan procure a
supply for me. Vulcan law does not acknowledge the
restriction of any medicine that is required for therapeutic
purposes. We will go to Vulcan. When will he be able to
tolerate its administration?"

"Probably in a week." 

"I must arrange for the ship to be allowed to travel to
Vulcan. I believe Ambassador Little's shuttle will be
available for us. Baring that, Jim and I will take a private
shuttle." Spock moved towards the door.

"Spock, what are you going to do to Tabiz?"

"I shall leave him for Nogura. That will be sufficient
punishment." Spock paused and looked back at McCoy. "No,
correction, I will notify Jean of the particulars of what
they did to him; no other call will be required. " The door
closed on McCoy's nodding agreement.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 17/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.

The light was off in Uhura's quarters.  She was balled up in
a fetal position on her bed.  The sounds of soft sobs could
be heard from the doorway.  Sulu stood and listened quietly
before he crossed over to join her in the bed.  "Nyota, it's
not your fault.  They were after Jim and me.  Singh is an
animal.  There was no way you could predict what he would do
to Jim and there was no way for you to stop it.  You have to
stop beating yourself up.  You know Jim would tell you the
same thing."  She shuddered and began to sob openly.
"Penda, please sweetheart, don't cry."

"Did you see him?"  she moaned.  "They almost beat him to
death.  Nuradeen did that just because of me."

Sulu turned her over to face him and hugged her tightly.
"No, Penda, he did that because he's an animal and he didn't
get his way a long time ago.  He did that because he's
stupid enough to think that women are second-class citizens.
He did that because you're happy and he's not.  He hurt Jim
because he knew that would hurt you.  Don't let him destroy
us, Penda.  Don't let him win."


She took a long deep breath, and tried to calm herself.
"He's never done anything but be my friend.  He didn't
deserve this, Hikaru.  He protected me then and he was
protecting you a few days ago.  I should've transferred off
the ship."

"You wouldn't have met me on another ship... and you
wouldn't have been with Jim.  There is no better Captain to
serve under and there are no better friends to have. Plus
that, I'm the best lover you're ever going to find... next
to Kirk."  He chuckled at his own joke.  "Where would you
have gone, Penda?  Who would you have worked with that you
enjoyed half is much as you enjoy us?  Face it, you're here
for the duration.  It's where you're supposed to be."  He
reached up and dried the tears from her eyes.  "You know Jim
doesn't blame you, so you shouldn't blame yourself."

He reached down and gently put a finger below her chin and
tipped her face up to look at him. "Please stop crying, or
I'm going to start crying with you."  A faint smile touched
her face.  "That's a little better.  I'm going to go get you
some dinner and we are going to eat in this cabin together.
Then, you're going to sleep.  I'll stay here with you all
night.  Tomorrow, Leonard will let us see the Captain.  I
want you to have your brave face on when you see him or else
he'll worry about you.  Now," he smiled, "do we have the
coordinates and is the course locked in?"  She nodded and
hugged him tightly.  Eventually, he pulled away and left to
go get the food.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 18/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.

Spock beamed down to the Federation Embassy. The planetary
police had no jurisdiction on Federation territory.  He went
straight to the Federation Ambassador's office. The
Secretary immediately let him through.  Jean Little looked
up as he crossed the plush carpet.

"How is he?"

"They beat him, they used some type of rod on him and then
they injected him with Thelamas."  She closed her eyes and
bowed her head against her hands.

"How many men were dead in the room when you entered?"

"Two."

"When he woke up, did he sound like Jim?"

"Yes."

She let out a soft breath and wiped a hand across her eyes.
"Thank God."  She looked back up at him.  "You need
something else."

"I need to use your transport ship to take both of us back
to Vulcan.  He needs synthi-heroin. It is illegal for a
Federation ship to synthesize it. "

"It's yours.  I'll notify the crew to be ready for you."
Spock turned to leave. She stopped him. "Who did this?"

"Nuradeen Singh, the planetary chief of security.  He is
also the son-in-law of Sachdev Tabiz."

"I would like you to leave him for me, if you would be so
kind."

"You have until Jim and I return from Vulcan.  After that,
he belongs to me."

Jean nodded.  "Agreed, don't expect to find him after you
return.  I do not like anyone messing with my family."

"Nor do I, Jean Little.  It would be wise for you to
remember that."  Spock left; Jean Little leaned back and
looked at the ceiling thoughtfully.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 19/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.


Spock walked down the Embassy's corridor.  As he neared the
transporter room, he felt a sharp impact in his back.  He
turned to see the smiling face of Nuradeen Singh holding a
dart gun.  The Vulcan could not resist his slow slide into
oblivion.

Spock awoke incomplete darkness.  He tried to raise his
hands and felt the shackles that bound them to a hard
surface.  His legs were similarly bound.  He could hear the
sound of soft breathing.  The faint smell of red blood
tickled at his nostrils.  "Well, you're definitely not going
to be as fun as James Kirk, but beggars can't be choosy."

"Singh, you will die for this."

"Possibly, but not before you do, my dear Mr. Spock.  You
see, the only thing better than hurting Kirk, is hurting
Kirk by hurting you.  It seems I can't get anywhere near
Nyota Uhura.  So, I'll just has to make do with you."

The lights came on in Spock reflexively closed his eyes
tightly against the brightness.  The room was nondescript.
There were no windows.  There was only one door.  He was
naked and strapped to a table in the middle of the chamber.

"How do you like my private office?"  Nuradeen waved an arm
around him to emphasize his point.  He leaned forward into
Spock's face.  "Only my closest friends are invited here.
Allow me to introduce you to... Mr. Rod.  Let's see if you
handle it any better than your Captain did."

He stroked Spock's chest lightly with the rod.  Spock felt
the pain trace across his body.  He fought to isolate it and
negate it. Screams escaped his lips, even as he fought to
subdue his mind. "Pain is an illusion, it does not exist."
He repeated that to himself again and again until he knew no
more.

Singh continued to stroke the Rod along the Vulcan. At first
he elicited very satisfying screams and moans, then the
Vulcan passed out. He pulled back in frustration. This was
going to take longer than he had anticipated if the damn
Vulcan was going to keep on passing out on him. He decided
to lower the setting on the Rod. That way he could prolong
the pleasure when his victim came to.

He sat and looked at his captive. The Vulcan was formidable,
even naked and unconscious. He got up and checked the
restraints. They were secure. He suddenly realized he was
tired and hungry. Food and a short nap would help him enjoy
the events to come. They weren't going anywhere and no one
knew about this particular retreat. After he finished with
the Vulcan, he'd leave on his small flyer and disappear for
a while. But, not before he gave Kirk the news. The only
thing he regretted was that he wouldn't be able to see
Kirk's face when he found the Vulcan's mutilated body.

Scotty was sitting in the center seat when Ambassador Little
called the ship.  "Commander Scott, have you heard from Mr.
Spock?"

"No ma'am, he told us he was going to be with you.  Isn't he
there?"

"He left my office but never made it to the transporter
room.  I think he's been abducted from the Embassy."

Scotty jumped up.  "We'll send security down there right
away."

"No, I already have the Embassy security working on it.  I
will beam up to your ship.  Ambassador Little out."

"Uhura, notify Starfleet that Mr. Spock has gone missing."

He turned around and looked at the screen, "What the hell
can go wrong next?"  He then went to meet Ambassador Little.

McCoy sat and watched the bio monitor above Kirk's bed.  He
seemed to be stable but there were some strange readings
that he had never seen before.  He had stopped all of his
internal bleeding and begun the healing of both of his
wrists.  The rest would take time.  He was not surprised
when he heard the door open behind him.  He had been
expecting Spock to return at any moment.  Vulcans believed
that no one should be alone while they were healing.  It had
something to do with being a telepath and sensing people
nearby.  Spock swore it made the healing trance go faster
with any Vulcan.  The First Officer never let Jim be alone
if he was sick.  Damned, if it didn't seem to make Jim get
better faster.  It didn't matter. Whether it worked or not,
Spock would be here.

"Dr. McCoy," McCoy turned in surprise at the unexpected
voice.  "I need to speak with you."

He jumped up escorted Jean Little into his private office.
"What's going on?"

Jean Little took a seat.  "I believe Nuradeen Singh has Mr.
Spock.  If that is so, he means to torture him and then kill
him.  He thinks, and rightly so, that killing Spock is the
best way to get revenge against Jim.  We have to stop him."

McCoy grabbed his head in shock.  "Damn, damn.  There's
nothing I can do.  That asshole used Thelamas weed on Jim.
He can't see, hear, or smell.  I have no idea when it's
going to wear off.  Now I know why he did this.  Jim can't
help Spock, but he'll live to know how Spock died.  This
bastard needs a killing in the worst way."  McCoy sat down
heavily.  "What can we do?"

"I want you to leave the Sickbay, when you come back, the
Thelamas weed's effects will be gone."

"You can do that?"  Little nodded.  "Then why the hell
didn't you offer it in the first place?"

"The Anchors have to make their own choices."

"I am really tired of your shit, Jean," McCoy snarled.

"Why don't you tell me what you really think, Doctor?"  She
held her hand up to stop his tirade.  "I know this doesn't
make any sense to you, but I'm not here to be a one-woman
rescue team.  You must learn to rely on each other.  The
only reason I'm allowed to interfere in this, is because
this was engineered by someone other than Nuradeen Singh.
He is only a tool.  When they raise the ante, I may do the
same."

"Is it someone as powerful as you?"

"They imagine that to be the case."

McCoy sighed, "Jim's my best friend and I love him.  I even
care about that pointy-eared schizophrenic, Spock. You have
no idea how hard it is for a cantankerous bastard like me to
say that.  Do whatever you need to do and I will change the
medical log to explain it."

"There will be no need for you to do that, Dr. McCoy.  That
has already been taken care of."

McCoy escorted her to the bedside and left quietly.


Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 20/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.


Jean Little looked down upon James Kirk and one tear rolled
down her left cheek.  "My sweet little baby boy.  They have
hurt you so.  I remember how you used to laugh and play.
What have we done to you?"  No one answered her.

She reached down and touched his forehead. His eyes shot
open.  She began to whisper.  "Hear me, Old One.  I have
need of thee.  Thee must heal thy child."

Kirk began to move restlessly.  "Who calls?"  He whispered.

"Thy own child.  Free this one's memories and send him
strength."

"The memories shall cause the child pain."

"Pain is his lot.  Free them, Old One."

A voice whispered again, " As you wish."  Kirk screamed, and
screamed, and screamed.

Outside, a doctor heard him and cried.  

Jean Little came and stood beside him.  "You can go in now."

McCoy rushed in.  Kirk was sitting up in the Biobed holding
his head in his hands.  "Jim," he grabbed his shoulders.

Kirk looked at him.  "I hear you, Bones."

McCoy felt dizzy.  "How the hell... never mind, I don't want
to know.  How do you feel?"

"Like hell. Where's Spock?"

McCoy looked at Jean who nodded, yes.

"We think Nuradeen Singh has him."  Kirk turned up the
coldest eyes McCoy had ever seen in his life.

"Get me some clothes."

"Jim, you're not ready to..."

"Get me some clothes."

"I think you should do as you are asked, Dr. McCoy." Jean
commented mildly.  "This would not be a good time to be
stubborn."  McCoy took one look at Ambassador Little and
rushed to get the clothes.  Kirk dressed in silence.  Each
move was obvious agony.

"Call Scotty in here."  McCoy did as he was ordered.  Scotty
was there in moments.

"Captain, I thought you..."

"Have Uhura find out where Sachdev Tabiz is.  He'll know
where Nuradeen Singh has his private little playpen.  I want
to go talk to him now."  Kirk struggled to his feet.  He
almost passed out.  McCoy grabbed his arm to keep him
upright.

"Jim, you're in no condition for this."

"I don't have any choice.  I know what Singh will do to
Spock.  I'm not going to let that happen."  He walked
slowly, painfully across the floor and out of the door.

McCoy turned to Jean Little, " Are you happy now?  You're
going to end up killing him one day."  McCoy stalked away
angrily.

"If you only knew," Jean Little whispered.

Kirk beamed down to where the Federation had Sachdev Tabiz
in custody.  He wasted no time.  "Tell me where Nuradeen
Singh takes the people he wants to spend private time with
and you know what I mean."

Something about Kirk's eyes made Sachdev tremble.  "I told
him not to do this.  I warned him this would happen.  This
is not our fault.  This is all Nuradeen Singh's doing. All
we signed on for was to embarrass you a little.  I'll tell
you everything you want to know if you promise not to
prosecute our family for what he did to you."

"You have my word that all of my wrath will be directed at
Nuradeen Singh."

Sachdev thanked all of his gods that he was not Nuradeen
Singh.  "Get me a map and I will show you all of the ones
that I know about.  I even know about some that he thinks
the family was unaware of."  Kirk left with a map and a
purpose.

Giotto had rounded up all of his security team, 36 men and
women.  They were waiting in the transporter room for Kirk
when he beamed back up to the ship.  They were fully armed
and armored.  Kirk walked up to him and silently handed him
the map.  "Find him, and when you find him come get me.
I'll take care of the rest."  Giotto was just fast enough to
catch his Captain before he hit the ground.  He carried him
back to Sickbay and left him in the care Dr. McCoy.  He then
went down to the planet's surface to find Nuradeen Singh.

It took them 4.5 hours.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 21/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.


"Jim, Jim, Giotto's back."  McCoy moved out of his line of
sight.  Giotto's calm face stared at him.

"Captain, we located all the hidden facilities on the map.
Only one has the type of shields meant to keep us from
prying.  Unfortunately for Singh, our technology is better.
There's one Vulcan life form inside the building.  He had
several alarms and at least two fail safe mechanisms.  We
have disarmed everything and we're ready to go on your
word."

Kirk sat up slowly.  Giotto handed him body armor and helped
him put it on.  McCoy stood in the background.  He knew
there was nothing he could say to prevent this. Kirk still
looked like a mess. His wrists were only half healed and his
face was a mass of bruises and swollen flesh. The newly
sealed surgical scars, the results of McCoy's interventions,
shone in the light of the sick-bay. He shouldn't be awake,
not to mention walking. Whatever Jean had done...was
impressive.

McCoy ran the medical scanner over his Captain one last
time. He knew it didn't matter what results he got, but at
least he'd be able to anticipate which of Jim's body parts
would fail first. This was all going to have to play out on
the planet surface.  "I'm going with you," McCoy declared.
Kirk just nodded.

They made their way to the transporter room and down to the
surface.  On Kirk's word, Giotto imploded the door.  They
flew through the debris and to the next door.  They were
through that one in seconds.  They were just in time to see
Singh rushing towards Spock with the rod held out and aimed
straight toward Spock's head.  Giotto fired first and hit
Singh with a blast that knocked him from his feet.  Kirk
walked straight over to Spock.

He was alive.  Kirk didn't have to motion McCoy forward,
Bones had already started moving towards the Vulcan. Kirk
released Spock's restraints, turned, and moved towards
Singh.  He picked the man up by his shirt and dragged Singh
towards the wall.  The Starship Captain struggled to place
Singh in his own cuffs.  The redshirts stood and watched in
silence.  Giotto held them all back with a glance. This was
not for him to stop. Kirk touched a spot on Singh's neck and
he came awake with a scream.

Kirk leaned forward and whispered in Nuradeen's ear.  "Fancy
meeting you here.  I missed you so much.  Do you want to
know how much I missed you, Nuradeen?  I'm about to show you
how much I missed you."  He rammed a fist into Nuradeen's
groin.  "You won't be needing these any more.  I hope you
won't mind my damaging them a little."  He hit him again.
"You like to torture people when they're tied up.  Let's see
if it feels as good to you when you're tied up."

Kirk pulled back his fist and let loose a hard blow to
Singh's face.  Something stopped him.  He turned and Spock
stood behind him.  "No, you will not do this.  You will not
become him."

Something ugly welled up in Kirk's face.  He yelled in
Spock's face, "He hurt you.  He was going to rape Uhura. He
tortured me and tried to sell me to the Orion's. He deserves
to die. I'm going to kill him. Leave me alone, damn you."
Kirk tried to pull his arm back, but Spock held him fast.

"If you do this, I will leave the ship.  If you become him,
you will lose me."

Kirk pulled back in shock. "You're bluffing. You wouldn't do
that to save him."

Spock held the newly healed wrist even tighter then he let
Kirk go and stood back. "I would do this to save you. Choose
bloodshed and revenge, or justice. Who will you be James
Kirk?"

The only sound in the room was the low moans of Singh and
the rasping breath of a wounded James Kirk. His face
was still swollen and discolored from being beaten. His
unruly lock of hair was no more. A faint light brown new
growth had begun to show itself. Sweat coated him; even
blinking took too much energy.

Spock knew that only Jean's intervention and Kirk's
blitzkrieg phase still had him standing upright. This was a
node, Spock realized, this was a point in time when Kirk
decided who he was and who he would become. Suddenly, Spock
saw glimmers of alternate realities where this man ruled the
Federation with an iron hand, or destroyed it with a gloved
one.

Kirk blinked slowly and something about him changed.  His
expression softened and shoulders slumped. He turned slowly
to face Singh.  "You're not worth it," he rasped out between
cracked lips.

He turned back to Giotto.  "Get him out of here.  Take him
to the Federation Embassy.  I don't want to see him again."
Giotto motioned two redshirts over. They put Singh in wrist
and ankle shackles and led him away.

Kirk swayed on his feet. McCoy and Spock caught him and
lowered him to the ground before he hit the ground. He
looked up at Spock in exhaustion. "I'm sorry I lost
control."

Spock's eyes smiled gently.  "The cause was sufficient."

"Are you..."

"I am well, Jim.  Singh had no understanding of how to
torture a Vulcan.  I imagine I was very frustrating for him.
The rod was not an effective tool for me but he was too
enamored of it to give it up.  I simply distanced myself
from the source of pain.  It is fortunate you arrived when
you did, however.  He had decided to try another approach
and I surmised that his next choice would have been far more
effective."

"Spock, don't go. I won't do that again. I..."  

"Shh, I will not leave. I am your anchor. I will not allow
you to drift."

"Jim, you're exhausted and this is as far as this horse will
run." McCoy reached forward and Kirk felt a hiss. "Go to
sleep." McCoy's soft voice lulled him away. "Everybody's
safe. Rest. We'll get you home." Kirk closed his eyes and
slept.

Title: The Rod/ Draft
Author: Istannor 
Series: TOS
Part: 22/22
Rating: [PG 13]
Codes: Violence, non-slash for the faint of heart, and
pretty gen.
Summary: This is a live experiment in NG beta/writing. The
story should not be archived, because we have no idea what
it will look like when we finish.


The next day, Spock sat in his Biobed and read quietly. Kirk
had slept for the last 26.5 hours.  The door to the Sickbay
hissed open and he turned to see Jean Little enter. She
walked over to Kirk and ran her fingers across his new
growth of hair. The stubble on his scalp had barely begun to
poke its way out.

"I used to sit with him for hours when he was a boy and
stroke his hair while we spoke of cabbages and kings." She
smiled and turned to Spock. "I have to go. The interim
Ambassador has arrived and I need to take my bad boy home.
Take care of Jim, Spock. But then, I don't need to tell you
that, I know you plan to do just that."

"Indeed," was his only response. She sighed and started
towards the door. "Ambassador Little, Dr. McCoy told me what
you did for Jim. You got rid of the Thelamas weed. You also
must have accelerated his healing. There is no other logical
explanation for his being able to walk so soon after his
ordeal.  I am in your debt."

Jean crossed back over to the Vulcan. "You still don't
understand, do you. It is I who am in your debt. You are
absolutely loyal to my Jim and he idolizes you. When you
told him to stop beating Nuradeen, he stopped. That was your
role. You have begun. You are the Anchor. You were
foretold." She shook her head from side-to-side. "You have
no idea of the debt I owe you." She touched his face and for
a moment Spock understood. Then the moment vanished. But, it
left behind certainty. Jean Little was not the enemy.

"I love you also, Spock, cha Sarek, clan Surak. I will be
there whenever you need me." She seemed to blur momentarily
and when Spock's vision cleared, he saw her retreating back.
He watched her leave with a new appreciation for Cousin
Jean.




Aftermath

Spock read his journal at Kirk's bedside. Kirk had awakened
briefly, after Jean left. They had spoken, but Spock doubted
his Captain would remember the conversation. James Kirk had
been asleep for three days since then, definitely
uncharacteristic. He usually roared back to consciousness.
Singh's trial had already begun. The penalty for murder,
kidnapping and torture on Bracos was decapitation. It was an
archaic and savage form of punishment, but somehow fitting
for an archaic and savage man. Singh had tried to defend
himself by saying Kirk had killed the two prison guards.
Fortunately no one believed the story, except those who knew
the truth.

Spock put his journal Padd down and looked at his T'hy'la.
How had he killed the men while he was shackled to the wall?
Kirk probably didn't even know. He had no memory of the
event and Spock knew from an earlier touch that Kirk truly
did not remember. None-the less, the men were definitely
dead. All of the small blood vessels in their brains had
been destroyed. It had been a painful way to die. Ambassador
Little had reassured him that Kirk had no control over what
had happened. Singh had caused it. She also believed Kirk's
debilitation from the beatings was the only reason Singh had
escaped the first time.

Spock stared and wondered at his total loss of objectivity.
He had meant what he said. He would do anything to make Kirk
do the right thing. The fact that his presence meant enough
to stop the Human's murderous rage was...strangely
satisfying.

Kirk began to stir. Spock started to put the PADD down. The
monitors showed the human was waking up. Suddenly, Kirk sat
straight up and began to moan loudly. His teeth were
clinched and his hands were held rigidly at his sides. Spock
grabbed around both shoulders and held him tightly. "Jim,
Jim, you're safe, its over, you're safe." He kept repeating
the phrases over and over again. Kirk's eyes were completely
unfocused. Spock continued to speak softly until Kirk's
shaking began to subside a little.

McCoy rushed in, still in his bedclothes. He quickly
appraised the situation and injected Kirk. "Jim," he called
out softly, "You're in sickbay. You're doing a hell of a lot
better. Spock's here, the ship's safe." He went around and
sat on the other side of the Biobed. "Take some slow deep
breaths, let the medicine work."

Kirk still seemed far away. "What did I do? Tell me I didn't
kill him. Oh God, I'm sorry. Don't go Spock. I'm sorry."

"Jim, you made the right choice, Singh is in custody. You
didn't kill him."

Kirk took a shuddering breath. "He hurt me. I wanted to kill
him. I know I killed him. I dreamed I killed him."

"I know you wanted to," McCoy answered. "But you didn't kill
him. He's still alive, at least for the moment. His own
father-in-law is testifying against him. They caught the
Orions and the prostitution ring in the jail has been broken
up. Lots of heads are rolling right now. Nogura has two
Constitution Class ships here and Bracos is bending over
backwards to make up. You did good, Jim. You did real good."

He finally relaxed back onto the Biobed. His grip on Spock's
arm loosened. "Spock, did he...are you..."

"I am fully recovered. It is you who require more rest." He
stood up to leave.

"No, don't leave...please don't leave, Spock. I need both of
you to talk to me. I need to hear sane voices. I keep
hearing Singh. I keep seeing him coming towards me with that
damn Rod." He started to shake again.

McCoy looked alarmed. He began to dial the hypo again, but
stopped and put it down. "Tell us about it, Jim. We aren't
going anywhere."

They sat quietly while Kirk, with occasional help from
McCoy, told them what had happened in the small room at the
end of the corridor. When he finished, Kirk's trembling had
stopped.

McCoy reached up, grabbed his friend's shoulder, and shook
it gently. Then he wiped the tears from his own eyes. Kirk's
face was dry.

"Jim, get some rest."

"Okay." Kirk smiled. "I feel alot better, Bones. I'll be
ready to be back on the Bridge by tomorrow."

McCoy snorted, but he could see Kirk healing in front of his
very eyes. Maybe being an Anchor meant nothing more than
listening to a friend, he mused.

"I am going to go get dressed and then I'll be back to work
on those wrists some more. Spock is going to stay, aren't
you Spock?" The Vulcan nodded and McCoy left.

They sat in companionable silence for a while. "Spock, I
killed somebody down there, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"The two prison guards who were assisting Singh."

"All I remember doing is thinking about pain. I vaguely
recall someone screaming and then I passed out. Does Jean
know I did that?"

"Yes."

He sighed. "It must be okay with her, then. Killing Singh
would not have been okay. You were right to stop me."

"I know." The Vulcan shifted his position slightly. "What I
still find fascinating is that I could stop you."

Kirk smiled. "Trust works both ways, you know. I have to
trust you to want me to do the right thing. If I can't trust
you, who can I trust?" He grabbed the Vulcan's arm again.
"Spock, thank-you."

Spock looked at his Captain. He felt light and filled with
warmth. "Jim, thanks are illogical."

Kirk smiled again, and this time his whole face seemed to
glow. "I know."


The End