Star Trek 05

by James Blish

  The woman's hand tried to pull his away.

  "Quiet. Believe me, it is better to be dead than to live alone in the body of a woman."

  The struggling ceased, but Kirk/J did not release his hand until he heard footsteps outside. Then he replaced the scarf and went back to examining the wall. The search party entered only a moment later, looking grim.

  "Your report, Dr. McCoy."

  "We were too late. There was no way to help them."

  "Was it radiation as reported?"

  McCoy nodded. "I believe it was celebium. Dr. Coleman does not agree. It's essential to be specific."

  "Why? Radioactivity is radioactivity, whatever the source."

  "Yes, but in this case there was chemical poisoning involved as well, All the heavy elements are chemically virulent."

  "Evidently," Spock added, "the field team broke through a newly exposed crust to a hidden cache of the radioactive element, whatever it was. The damage was instantaneous. They could not get away."

  "That," Kirk/J said angrily, "will reflect on Dr. Lester's reputation for thorough preparedness."

  "I don't think Dr. Lester can be blamed," McCoy said. "It was a most unfortunate accident, Captain."

  "It was careless field work. Dr. Lester will be held responsible—unfair as it may be."

  Dr. Coleman looked somewhat fearfully at Kirk/J and went quickly to Janice, bending to examine her. "Dr. McCoy!"

  McCoy was there in an instant, tricorder out. "Jim, did you notice any unusual symptoms while we were gone?"

  "Nothing at all. She has remained unconscious all the time."

  "Dr. Lester is near death," Coleman said.

  "Perhaps the shock of knowing what happened to her staff is part of the problem."

  "I'm sure it is."

  "Beaming her up to the Enterprise," McCoy said, "would be less harmful than waiting."

  Kirk/J looked questioningly at Coleman, who now seemed frightened. "I don't know," the man said.

  "Then well go."

  At Kirk/J's orders, two medical aides were ready with a stretcher when the party materialized in the Transporter Room. Coleman accompanied the patient to sick-ay.

  "Mr. Spock, take the ship out of orbit and resume designated course. Dr. McCoy, a word with you, please. You and Dr. Coleman disagree in your diagnosis. Please try to come to an agreement as fast as possible. The matter is especially disturbing—for personal reasons."

  "I didn't realize you knew her so well," McCoy said.

  "It has been a long time since I saw her. I walked out when it became serious."

  "You must have been very young at the time."

  "Youth doesn't excuse everything. It's a very unhappy memory."

  "Everything possible will be done, Jim."

  "Good. Thank you—Bones."

  Kirk/J went to the bridge. Uhura, Chekov and Scott were all at their posts, as was Sulu. Spock was intent over his console. Kirk/J looked searchingly at the new faces, and Uhura and Sulu smiled back.

  He came slowly to the Captain's position and touched the chair lightly, testing its maneuverability, almost as if with awe. Then he sat down in it and looked up at the viewing screen.

  "Course, Mr. Chekov?"

  "One twenty-seven, Mark eight."

  "Mr. Sulu, set speed at Warp Factor Two."

  "Warp Factor Two, sir."

  "Mr. Spock, would you come here a moment, please? Thank you. We have a problem with our patient. The two doctors disagree on their diagnosis."

  "That is hardly unusual in the medical fraternity, sir."

  "Too bad it doesn't help cure their patients," Kirk/J said with an edgy smile.

  "I think you can rely on Dr. McCoy's advice."

  The edginess grew. "Do you have any specific evidence that confirms his opinion?"

  "Not precisely, Captain. It is not my function."

  "Then don't add to the confusion, Mr. Spock." Kirk/J arose and strode angrily to the elevator.

  In sickbay, he found that Janice/K was regaining consciousness. Moments of quiet were interspersed with sudden flailing movements, which were restrained by straps, and moaning. A very frightened Dr. Coleman was pacing beside her.

  "How long has this been going on?" Kirk/J asked.

  "It just began."

  "You must put a stop to it. If you let Dr. Lester become fully conscious, she will know what has happened."

  "Probably no one will believe it," Coleman said.

  "Probably?"

  "That's all we can hope for. How could death be explained now?"

  Kirk/J went to the head of the cot, Coleman following on the other side. "I tell you, it can't continue!"

  "You killed every one of the staff. You sent them where you knew the celebium shielding was weak. Why didn't you kill him? You had the perfect opportunity."

  "You didn't give me enough time."

  "You had every minute you asked for."

  "He hung onto life too hard. I couldn't . . ."

  "You couldn't because you love him," Coleman said, his voice beginning to rise. "You want me to be his murderer."

  "Love him?" Kirk/J said, his voice also rising. "I loved the life he led—the power of the Starship Commander. It's my life now."

  "I won't become a murderer." Coleman turned and walked quickly toward the door. Kirk/J leaped to block his way.

  "You are a murderer. You knew it was celebium. You could have treated them for that. You are a murderer many times."

  The moaning grew louder. The doors to the medical lab opened and McCoy and Nurse Chapel came to the cot.

  "I thought I could quiet Dr. Lester by my presence," Kirk/J said smoothly. "It seems to have had the opposite effect."

  "It has nothing to do with you," Coleman said, with ill-concealed agitation. "It's a symptom of the developing radiation sickness."

  "Tests with the ship's equipment," McCoy said, "show no sign of internal radiation damage."

  "Dr. Coleman," Kirk/J said, "didn't Dr. Lester's staff become delirious before they went off to die?"

  "Yes, Captain."

  "But, Jim," said McCoy, "Dr. Lester could as easily be suffering from a phaser stun from all the symptoms I detect."

  "Dr. Lester and her staff have been under my supervision for two years now," Coleman said stiffly. "If you do not accept my recommendations, responsibility for her health—or her death—will be yours."

  Kirk/J looked toward the bed. Janice/K's movements were growing stronger. Then they stopped as her eyes opened; she looked about as if struggling to see and recognize the faces.

  "Dr. McCoy," Kirk/J said, "I'm sorry, but I shall have to remove you from the case and turn it over to Dr. Coleman."

  "You can't do that! On this ship, my medical authority is final."

  "Dr. Coleman wishes to assume full responsibility. Let him do so."

  "I will not allow it."

  "It has been done." Kirk/J turned to Coleman. "Dr. Lester Is your patient. I believe you were about to administer a sedative when I came in.

  "No!" the woman cried. "No sedative!" But the job was done.

  Starting with the considerable advantage of her year in Starfleet with Kirk, Janice Lester had spent more years studying every single detail of a starship's operation—a knowledge which was now to be put to the test. With a little experience, she could probably become invulnerable to suspicion. But the presence aboard of the personality of James Kirk, even under sedation, was a constant threat to her position. It would be better to leave Janice/K among strangers, who would probably consider her insane.

  "Plot a course for the Benecia Colony, Mr. Chekov. How long would it take to reach the colony at present speed?"

  "Forty-eight hours, Captain."

  "Captain," Spock said, "it will delay our work at Beta Aurigae. It means reversing course."

  "It can't be helped. We must take Dr. Lester where she can be treated."

  "May I point out, Captain, that Starbase Two is on the direct route to our destination?"
/>   "How long to Starbase Two, Mr. Chekov?" Kirk/J asked.

  "Seventy-two hours, sir."

  "That's twenty-four hours too long. Dr. Lester's condition is increasingly serious. Continue present course."

  "Captain, if the diagnosis of Dr. Lester's illness is the critical problem, the Benecia Colony is definitely not the place for her," Spock said. "Its medical facilities are the most primitive."

  "They will have to serve the purpose."

  "Starbase Two is fully equipped and staffed with the necessary specialists to determine exactly what is wrong with the Doctor. Isn't that crucial to your decision, Captain?"

  Thank you, Mr. Spock. But the facilities will be of no use if Dr. Lester is dead. Time is of the essence. Continue on course, Mr. Sulu."

  "Captain," Uhura said, "shall I advise Starfleet Command of the change of plans?"

  "No change of plan has been ordered, Lieutenant. Our arrival at Beta Aurigae will be delayed. Our gravitational studies of that binary system will not suffer, and we may save a life. That is not unusual procedure for the Enterprise." Kirk/J arose and went toward the elevator.

  "I believe," Spock said, "Starfleet will have to know that our rendezvous with the Starship Potemkin will not be kept as scheduled."

  "Mr. Spock—if you would concentrate on the areas for which you are responsible, Starfleet would have been informed already."

  "Sir, the Captain deals directly with Starfleet on these matters. I assumed that action on my part would be deemed interference."

  "Advise Starfleet of the delay, Lieutenant Uhura. Mr. Sulu, maintain course. Increase speed to Warp Six."

  Kirk/J escaped from the bridge to the Captain's quarters, but there was no respite there; McCoy was waiting for him.

  "Dr. McCoy, are we about to have another fruitless argument about diagnosis?"

  McCoy's fist slammed on the top of Kirk's desk. "No, dammit—sir. I'll let my record speak for me."

  "Why are you so defensive? There was no implied criticism of you in my order to remove you from the case."

  "That's not why I'm here. I'm here because Dr. Coleman's record says he is incompetent."

  "That's the opinion of an individual."

  "No, sir. It's the considered opinion of Starfleet Command. I checked with them. Dr. Coleman was removed from his post as Chief Medical Officer of his ship for administrative incompetence . . ."

  "Administrative duties are not required of him here."

  "As well as for flagrant medical blunders."

  "Promotions and demotions are sometimes politically motivated," Kirk/J said. "You know that, Doc."

  "Not in Starfleet headquarters, Captain. At least, not in the Surgeon General's office."

  Kirk/J paced for a moment. "I'm afraid the order will have to stand. Dr. Coleman's experience with what happened on the planet had to be the deciding factor. I'm sure you appreciate that."

  "I appreciate that you had to make a decision. I, too, have that responsibility, Jim. So I'm asking you to report for a complete checkup."

  "Why? What do you base it on?"

  "Developing emotional instability and erratic behaviour since returning from the planet."

  "You'll never make that charge stick!" Kirk/J said furiously. "Any fool can see why you're doing this!"

  "Starfleet Command will be the judge of my motive."

  "I won't submit to this petty search for revenge."

  "You will submit to Starfleet regulations," McCoy said. "They state that the ship's surgeon will require a full examination of any member of the crew about whom he has doubts—including the Captain. I am ordering you to report for that examination . . ."

  He was interrupted by the intercom buzzer.

  "Captain Kirk here."

  "Lieutenant Uhura, sir. Starfleet Command is requesting additional details of the delay. Shall I handle it?"

  "I'll be right there."

  The examination could not be postponed indefinitely, however. Knowledge of the Captain's aberrant behaviour was spreading throughout the ship; the crew was becoming increasingly tense. To McCoy's apparent surprise, however, Kirk/J satisfied every test completely.

  This stroke of luck was followed by another. Struggling out from under sedation in Dr. Coleman's absence, Janice /K had avoided another injection by persuading Nurse Chapel of her docility—and then had sawed through her restraining straps with a broken medicine glass. Running wildly through the ship holding the glass like a weapon, calling for help and denouncing the Captain as a strutting pretender, she presented the perfect picture of a dangerous madwoman—giving Kirk/J all the pretext he needed to have her put in isolation in a detention cell, with around-the-clock security.

  In this, however, he underestimated Spock; of whose sharp observation and penetrating logic the bogus Captain had had only the briefest of experience. The Science Officer knew the limitations of his discipline; he knew, in particular, that the essence of a man's being, his selfhood, was inherently impossible of access to any objective medical test—McCoy himself had often made just this point. Janice/K's denunciation planted a seed in his own mind.

  Something had happened to the Captain while he was on the planet. Whatever it was could have taken place only in the short time while he was alone with Dr. Lester. A talk with her might be the only way to shed light on it.

  There were two strapping guards outside her detention cell. Spock said to the first, "How is Dr. Lester?"

  "Conscious and quiet, Mr. Spock."

  "Good. I have a few questions to ask her."

  "Did the Captain order it, sir?"

  "Why should he?" Spock said. "They are my questions. Therefore I am ordering it, Ensign."

  "But the Captain said no one was to speak to Dr. Lester."

  "Has such an order ever included his senior officers?"

  "Well, no, sir." The ensign activated the door and Spock started in. "But, Mr. Spock, I believe the Captain meant a guard was to be present."

  "By all means."

  Janice/K's first words on seeing them were "Thank God! Spock, you've got to listen to me."

  "That is why I came," Spock said. "Apparently something happened while you and the Captain were alone. What was it?"

  "She changed bodies with me, with the aid of an ancient machine she'd unearthed. Spock, I am Captain Kirk. I know how unbelievable it sounds. But that's how it happened."

  "It is a possibility I had not considered."

  "Unless I can convince you, I have no hope at all of ever getting out of this body."

  "Complete life-entity transfer with the aid of a mechanical device?"

  "Yes. Dr. Lester's description of its function is the last moment I remember as myself."

  "To my knowledge," Spock said, "such total transfer has never been accomplished with complete success anywhere in the Galaxy."

  "It was accomplished and forgotten long ago on Camus II. I am a living example."

  "That is your claim. As yet, it is unsubstantiated."

  "I know, Spock. Nevertheless I'm speaking the truth. Listen—when I was caught in the interspace of the Tholian sector, you risked your life and even the Enterprise to get me back. Help me get back now. And, when the Vians of Minara demanded that we let McCoy die, we didn't permit it. How would I know those things if I were not James Kirk?"

  "Such incidents may have been recorded. They could have become known to you."

  "You are closer to the Captain than anyone in the universe. You know his thoughts. What does your telepathic sense tell you?"

  Spock touched her face and closed his eyes, his own face a study in concentration as he established a mind meld. Then he withdrew his hand and looked at her with new determination.

  "I believe you," he said. "My belief is not acceptable evidence. But I will make every effort to make it so. Only Dr. McCoy can help us. Come with me."

  "I'm sorry, sir," the guard said. "But Dr. Lester can not leave here. You're asking me to violate the Captain's order."

  "He is not
the Captain."

  "Sir, you must be as mad as she is. You're to leave here at once. I follow orders."

  "Certainly, Ensign," Spock said. "We must all do our duty."

  While he was still talking, he lashed out. The scuffle was brief, but the guard outside the cell was alert—he could be heard calling, "Security to Captain Kirk! The detention cell has been broken into!"

  When they emerged, the guard was standing with his back to the opposite wall, phaser leveled. Kirk/J and two more guards were already coming down the corridor, followed by McCoy.

  Spock stopped. "Violence is not called for, sir," he said. "No physical resistance will be offered."

  Kirk/J hit the intercom button. "Security detail to Detention at once. Attention all personnel. First Officer Spock is being placed under arrest on a charge of mutiny. He has conspired with Dr. Lester to take over the ship from your Captain. A hearing will be immediately convened to consider the charges and specifications for a general court-martial." He turned to McCoy. "The board will consist of Scott, you and myself."

  "I will not be made party to a court-martial of Spock," McCoy said. "There are better ways to handle it."

  "You are not forced to condemn anyone. You are asked—no, you are ordered—to vote your honest convictions. Two out of three carries the final verdict. Convene the board. Guard, return Dr. Lester to isolation. She will be held for sanity tests."

  The hearing was held in the briefing room. Kirk/J sat at the head of the table, gavel in hand; McCoy sat quietly to one side. Uhura was making a tape of the proceedings, and Chekov, Sulu and Nurse Chapel were listening intently as Scott began cross-examining Spock.

  "Mr. Spock, you are a scientist—a leading scientist of the Galaxy."

  "That's very pleasant to hear, Mr. Scott. But it is an exaggeration. I have long since sacrificed basic theoretical investigation for the more immediate excitement of life on the Enterprise."

  "I meant, your approach to every problem is completely scientific."

  "I hope so," Spock said.