Obediently, Emma approached Tomson, but as
she
came upon the body of Reems lying in the
doorway,
she stumbled.
Tomson moved in closer with the phaser, and Emma
succeeded in knocking it across the room. Tomson
watched it sail past with a look of dull
surprise.
"Now let's see how far I get,"
Emma said.
They faced each other for battle; Tomson,
tall and
pale, towered over Emma's dark intensity.
"I'm almost
twice your size," Tomson sneered. "You
couldn't hurt me if you wanted to."
Emma's voice was soft and low. "Want to make
a
bet?"
Kirk strode up and down the hospital
corridor,
swearing at his communicator and ignoring the
disapproving
stares of the Vulcans who passed.
"What the hell is going on up there, Mr.
Scott?"
"Mr. Lyle was unconscious, Captain, but
we've got
someone in the transporter room now, and--"
"Unconscious? How long? Never mind, don't
an-
MINDSHADOW
swer that. Have Uhura notify Vulcan
Security Central immediately and tell them that Emma
Saenz is probably on the planet surface."
"Aye, sir."
"Have you found McCoy?"
"Not yet, sir."
"Let me talk to Tomson."
Scott hesitated. "I'm afraid she's
incapacitated,
sir."
"What happened?"
"She and Reems and Lyle were all found
unconscious
in the transporter room. Stunned, it looks
like.
They should be coming to shortly."
"Then tell Tomson's second-in-command---
was
"That would be Reems, sir."
Kirk gritted his teeth. "Dammit, find
someone in
Security who was not incapacitated by Dr.
Saenz and
tell them to cancel the search for Saenz. I want
them to
find McCoy."
"Anything else, Captain?"
"Yes. Get me the hell out of here."
Emma wouldn't hurt McCoy, Kirk kept
repeating to
himself as the hospital hallway shimmered into
nothingness. She wouldn't hurt him, especially if
she
had been merciful enough to only stun Tomson and
Lyle. Still, for a split second he imagined
himself
ordering Security to scan the internal
atmosphere of
the Enterprise for any free-floating
molecules of what
remained of his friend ....
Kirk stepped off the transporter platform
to find
Tomson, Reems and Lyle sitting on the
floor being
examined by a medic. He scowled down at them.
"I take it that you all encountered Emma
Saenz.
Are you going to tell me that the three of you couldn't
stop her?"
Lyle rubbed his head and grimaced.
"She stunned
Reems and me before either of us knew that she had a
phaser, Captain."
Of the three, Tomson seemed to be in the worst
shape; she stared down at the floor
disconsolately,
unable to meet Kirk's gaze. "I disarmed her,
sir, but
she managed to knock my phaser away."
Tomson tried
to touch her left shoulder, but the pain made her
stop
and suck in air between her teeth. "In hand-to-hand
combat, she's excellent. I think my shoulder's
separated."
Kirk's expression became wry; at first
Tomson
thought the captain simply found it amusing that she
could be done in by someone of Saenz's height; but
then he said, "Believe me, I understand,
Lieutenant.
My shoulder and I have also had firsthand experience
with Dr. Saenz's combat abilities."
Tomson leaned painfully against the bulkhead.
"Thank you, sir."
Kirk straightened and went over to the intercom.
"Kirk to Security."
"Security. Kazan here."
"Any word on McCoy?"
"No, sir. We're still looking."
Kirk hit the intercom in frustration, and went in
search of McCoy himself. He had not gotten far
down
the corridor, however, when the door to one of the
conference rooms opened and McCoy leaned out,
staggering.
Kirk managed to catch him before he fell and
supported
him against the wall in a half-sitting position.
"Bones, thank God... are you all right?"
McCoy moaned and cradled his head in his hands.
"She's gone, Jim. God, what a first-class
headache."
"Did she stun you?"
MINDSHADOW
"With more than just the phaser. Spock was right,
Jim... dear God, he was right. Did you catch
her?"
"Not yet. We think she's on
Vulcan." Kirk paused. was I'm sorry,
Bones."
"That makes two of us." McCoy closed his
eyes and
let his head roll back against the bulkhead. "But
the
damn thing is..." his voice faded.
"The... what?" Kirk leaned forward to hear.,
"I can't say I'm sorry she hasn't been
caught."
That makes two of us, Kirk wanted to say, but
instead he put his arm under the doctor's shoulders
and helped him to sick bay.
The room was a hybrid of the best of Vulcan and
Earth, much like the solemn, slightly forlorn child
who
stared down at Kirk from the portrait above the
piano.
The Vulcan influence was clearly the stronger,
reflected
in the stark, powerful lines of the architecture,
the furniture, and the artifacts that decorated the
walls--comthe a
hn-vahr, sabers, and weapons whose
function Kirk dared not guess, the
reminders of long-forsaken
wars. While the Terran influence was subtler,
it was unmistakable: the piano, the portrait of
mother
and son, and most of all the books, shelves upon
shelves of old paper books that lined the far
wall of the
main room and extended into the hallway, and with
them that distinct aroma that reminded Kirk of the last
pleasurable time that he had been in the rare book
section of a library.
Kirk was drawn to the shelves immediately, and
knelt down to peer at the authors' names on the
bindings. The collection was marvelously
eclectic:
Roth, Twain, Zelazny, Dickens,
Dostoevsky, Wisen,
Mcintyre, Oates . . . and that was simply part
of the
small corner representing the nineteenth and
twentieth
centuries. His fingers hovered above the volumes
until
they found what they wanted, and withdrew it from
the shelf.
Behind h
im, McCoy cleared his throat nervously.
Kirk looked up over his shoulder at him. The
doctor
was still pale, so pale that the chronic dark
circles
under his eyes stood out with greater than usual
emphasis;
McCoy was troubled by more than just the
aftereffects of a phaser stun.
"Come take a look at this, Bones. This is
without a
doubt the most incredible collection of rare books
You'll ever see outside of an archive."
"Uh, huh." McCoy's voice was flat and
faraway,
politely bored. "What's that you're looking
at?"
"An old favorite of mine when I was a kid.
Horatio
Hornblower."
McCoy squinted. "Who?"
Kirk reshelved the book and stood up quickly as
Sarek entered the room. "Tell you later."
Sarek seemed none the worse for the assassin's
attack; in fact, he looked to be in
far better shape than
McCoy. Spock flanked him, dressed once
again in his
blue science officer's uniform. Shoulder
to shoulder,
the resemblance between father and son was unmistakable-
--Spock
was a taller, leaner version of his
father. But there was a slight difference in the face,
some feature that Spock no doubt owed to Amanda's
side of the family, although Kirk could not determine
exactly what it was ....
Sarek gestured for them to sit. "Captain
Kirk, I
appreciate your promptness in responding to my
invitation.
However, I must admit that my motive includes
more than simple hospitality."
Kirk sat on the couch next to McCoy;
Spock sat
across from them, in the chair next to Sarek. Kirk
could not shake the feeling that he was sitting in on a
MINDSHADOW
Vulcan Council meeting. "Would I
be correct in assuming
that this has something to do with Aritani,
Ambassador?"
"You would. As you know, the delegates meet
tomorrow for the vote. In spite of the Romulans'
efforts, it appears that the vote will be in favor of
sending a delegation."
"I'm glad to hear it," said Kirk. "However,
I am
concerned about the safety of the other diplomats after
the attack on you. And perhaps Spock told you that
two ambassadors were attacked on board the
Enterprise. One was killed."
Sarek nodded. "Vulcan Security has been
alerted.
The ambassadors are under its protection."
"But they have as yet found no trace of Dr.
Saenz,"
Spock added. "Apparently she managed to leave
ShanaiKahr, and no doubt the planet, without
detection."
"How can we be so sure that the Romulan
government
is involved?" McCoy asked suddenly. "All
we've seen so far are pirates who
happen to be Romulan."
Sarek looked coolly at him. "True. But
pirates generally
do not engage in concerted intrigue. Intelligence
reports have indicated the involvement of the
Praetor.
Also, my attacker was definitely a
Romulan."
"You're certain he was not a Vulcan?"
"Beside the obvious fact that Vulcans do not commit
murder, the position of the stab wound he inflicted
--one
centimeter above my heart--indicates he
was definitely a Romulan."
"The Romulan heart," Spock said, "sits
two centimeters
higher than the Vulcan."
"You don't need to give me an anatomy
lesson,"
McCoy said huffily. "I remember."
Spock ignored him and quietly addressed the
captain. "The family friend who was killed in the
attack
informed me shortly before her death that the Romulans
had approached her and offered her "a
glorious
career in the service of the Praetor," as she
put it,
should she agree to kill Sarek and myself."
Kirk leaned forward. "What did she tell
them?"
Spock's eyes became hooded. "She
refused, of
course. She was a Vulcan."
"To use one of your expressions, Captain,"
Sarek
said, "the arm of the Romulans is very long. The
young woman in question was studying to enter the
Vulcan diplomatic service. The
Romulans obviously
wanted an informant within the VDC. They are quite
skilled at espionage, and I fear their
influence reaches
as far as the Federation Council.
"But back to the matter at hand. The delegation
sent
to Aritani would consist of the Terran ambassador
and
myself. However, no matter how skilled either of us
are at diplomacy, asking the
Aritanians to consider
joining the Federation under the present circumstances
would be absurd, since there would be absolutely
no benefit to them from so doing. The Federation
must first prove to the Aritanians that it is capable
of stopping the Romulans. Before we can do that, of
course, we will need transportation to Aritani-
--"
"The Enterprise, naturally," Kirk said.
"Naturally, Captain. Star Fleet has already
agreed
that your vessel is the logical choice, but that is
not the
only thing I wish to discuss with you. We need more
than transportation to Aritani. we need a
plan for
stopping the Romulans. Spock and I have such a
plan."
Kirk suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Do you think
it's wise to discuss that here? If the Romulans
were
able to enter your home and attack you, then
certainly-was
MINDSHADOW
"You hardly need worry about the possibility of
our
conversation being monitored here, Captain."
Spock explained. "Because of the sensitive
nature of information discussed in the home of an
ambassador,
this house is equipped with a transmission
scrambling
device. Only authorized transmissions are
not
scrambled. Even if the Romulans had succeeded
in
planting a transmitter here, they would not understand
the messages they received."
"All right, then. My ship is at your disposal.
Now
tell me your plan."
Sarek did not smile, but his eyes brightened. "It
requires your assistance, Captain, and yours,
too,
Doctor, if you are willing .... his
"Scotty, how's the cloaking device working?"
"Like a charm, sir, but it's dra*' the
be-jesus out
o' my poor engines. God help us
all if we have to make
it out of here at warp speed anytime soon."
"Just keep the cloaking device working, Scotty
,
and
I personally promise you we won't need the
warp
drive or divine intervention. Kirk out."
Kirk looked up to see Aritani on the
bridge
viewscreen, a swirling globe of blue and
purple, dotted
with occasional wisps of white. He stared for a
moment,
mesmerized.
Sulu broke the spell. "Standard orbit,
Captain?"
"Very good, Lieutenant." Kirk glanced over
at his
first officer.
Spock was watching it, too.
"Beautiful, isn't it, Spock?"
The Vulcan's eyes met Kirk's; he nodded
softly,
then bent over his scanner. "Significant
pirate activity
on the surface below, Captain." He
straightened and
faced Kirk. "They are no longer bothering
to cloak
their vessels."
"Since the Fidelity has left, they think
nobody's
watching." Kirk snapped a toggle on the arm of
his
chair as the intercom whistled.
McCoy's voice was filled with a sense of
urgency.
"Captain, I've got an emergency down here.
I need
you in sick bay immediately."
Uhura and Sulu could not help turning to look
at the
captain. Why in the galaxy should the doctor be
calling
the captain about a medical emergency?
It seemed to make perfect sense to Kirk.
"I'll be
right there, Doctor." He jerked his head at
Spock, who
moved smoothly to take his captain's
place in the
command chair.
As the doors to the turbolift opened, Kirk
narrowly
missed colliding with Varth, who stepped off the
turbolift
as the captain stepped on. Sulu was watching as
Kirk smiled and winked at the Radun; he
turned back
to the navigation console and pinched himself to be
sure he wasn't dreaming.
It was not time for a shift change, and Sulu knew
for
a fact that Kirk had not summoned Varth to the
bridge,
but the Radun went directly to Spock's station
as
though drawn there by some sort of telepathic
instinct.
Sulu was dying to ask him how he knew he was
needed
on the bridge, but dared not as long as Spock was
there.
Sulu was therefore not that surprised when McCoy
called Spock less than an hour
later.
"Dare I presume, Doctor McCoy,"
Spock asked
him, "that this is in regards to another medical
emergency?"
"Spock, get your Vulcan posterior down here
nOW."
Spock raised his eyebrows mildly and
terminated
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