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gilda_eliseTitle: And Its Business Is Joy
Fandom: The Professionals - Star Trek (TOS)
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle, Kirk/Spock
Notes: Originally published as a stand-alone novella by Requiem Publications. A shorter and more K/S-centric version of this story was published in the K/S zine, T’hy’la 26, under the same name. Thanks to Kathy Resch for allowing its resubmission.
Bodie and Doyle are committed to each other, but struggling with the need to keep their intimate relationship a secret. Stopping to break up what looks like a burglary, they find that they've stumbled into something far bigger, something involving men from the future, who are struggling with an intimate relationship of their own. Each couple sees something of themselves in the other, and gain insights that help them make the most important decision of their lives: to stay or to go.
He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know how he’d got here. And it didn’t even matter. All that mattered was Bodie. And Bodie was dead, or dying. No matter what the older man with the kind face had said.
“Everything will be all right, son. I’ll patch him up, good as new.”
Doyle didn’t believe a word of it. Did they think he was stupid? He knew a killing wound when he saw one.
Who were these people? He recognized the two from the office. Not like any thieves he’d ever seen. One of them had taken charge. Captain. He remembered the other men calling him captain. Was he on a ship?
Doyle looked around, not really interested in his surroundings but too bound by habit and training to do otherwise. He hadn’t noticed when they’d first brought him here how very odd the place was. He’d noticed now. Maybe whatever it was they gave him was wearing off.
It didn’t look like any hospital he’d been in. There was no smell of antiseptic, no drab furniture or off-colored walls. Everything was clean and bright. And the walls, he couldn’t tell if they were metal or not. In any case, there was nothing that spoke of death here.
Doyle ran his hand through his hair. It was sticky. He had Bodie’s blood in his hair. On his hands. On his clothes.
He felt sick. But they’d told him to stay put, that they’d get right back to him. After they had pulled him away from Bodie. Doyle hadn’t wanted to let go but they had done something to him. He’d felt an odd sensation on his arm and then he hadn’t felt so bad anymore. The awful despair that had been eating him alive had eased a little. Still there, though, gnawing away at him bit by bit, fighting the drug.
They had sat him down and then they’d taken Bodie into the back room and left Doyle on his own. So, he couldn’t leave, now could he? He had to stay here so he could say goodbye when they let him see Bodie again.
He wondered at the drug they’d given him. He felt disconnected from himself, as if he was only an observer. Doyle took a shuddered breath. He should get up. Find out what they had done with Bodie. Bodie, whose blood had poured from the wound in his chest. Doyle vaguely remembered trying to stop it with his hands. He looked at his hands. He should find a basin, wash the blood off.
To think only this morning he’d worried about Bodie going out with women. Wouldn’t have to worry about that, anymore. Doyle felt a bubble of laughter rise up and stifled it. Be gettin’ bloody hysterical next. If it meant seeing his partner, alive and whole, he’d step aside for however many women Bodie felt he had to date. It seemed such a small, stupid thing to argue about now.
He heard a noise, the same weird, swishing noise he’d heard several times already.
“Mr. Doyle?”
The older man was back, the one who had said he would take care of Bodie.
“How do you know my name?”
“Captain Kirk told me about you and your partner, Mr. Bodie.”
“It’s just Bodie. No ‘mister.’”
“All right. Well, Bodie is going to be just fine.”
Doyle wanted to believe that. “Can I see him?”
“Not just yet. He’s in rege—he’s in recovery right now. Tomorrow would be better. Besides,” he gave Doyle a measured look, “you look like you could use some rest. Why don’t I have someone take you where you can get cleaned up and get some sleep?”
“I don’t want to leave Bodie. What if he wakes up and I’m not here? Give him a bit of a fright, his partner being gone.”
“He won’t.” The man gently took Doyle’s arm, pulling him up from his chair and Doyle found himself docilely complying.
“Come on. I’ll fix you up on one of the beds in here. But first, I think you’d better get washed up. We’ve both seen our share of blood today.”
That sounded okay. He wouldn’t be that far from Bodie. And it would feel good to be clean. Doyle looked directly at the man and struggled to get his thoughts in order. “Where am I and who are you?”
“Where you are doesn’t matter, does it? You’re safe and your friend is going to be all right. As to who I am,” the man smiled, “Dr. Leonard McCoy, at your service.”
^^^^^^^^^^
“Jim, wait up.”
Kirk turned at the sound of his friend’s voice. He slowed his pace, letting the doctor catch up with him as he made his way to the briefing room. “How’d the surgery go?”
“Pretty good. The man’s in excellent shape. That helped a lot.”
“No problems, then?”
“Well, I didn’t say that exactly,” McCoy responded as they reached their destination.
They entered, Kirk taking his seat at the head of the table. Spock and Mr. Scott were already there. Kirk had called the meeting as soon as Spock had informed him that his computations were now complete.
Once everyone was settled, Kirk got things rolling. “Mr. Spock?” Kirk nodded to his science officer.
“I have finished correlating all the information from Mr. Tideman’s records. Added to my own observations of the anomaly, I was able to compute its trajectory. It should reappear in seventy-four point six two hours, which seems to be within its normal timeframe. Tideman reports that the ship he was on when pulled through time returned to its time after approximately one day, though three days had passed there. The reverse will happen to us; three days will pass in this time, less than one in our own. The information he was able to acquire, along with my sensor readings of the anomaly, bears that out.”
“Three days.” Kirk pondered the information. “So, what do we do, just sit here for three days and hope it finds us?”
“It will find us, Captain. Make no mistake about that.”
“What makes you so sure, Spock?” McCoy asked.
“Because Captain Yelland reported that they tried to outrun the storm when it first appeared and a day later when it reappeared. They were unsuccessful both times.”
Kirk nodded his head. “Spock’s right, Bones. We tried the same thing and it did about as much good. All right, we sit for three days.” He looked over at his chief engineer. “Can the engines take the screens being up for that long a time?”
Scott shook his head. “I’d not recommend it, Captain. If something should go wrong, well, we’ve no place to go for repairs.”
“Since moving around doesn’t seem to cause a problem, I’ll have the ship taken out of orbit. We can park ourselves just outside the moon’s orbit.”
“What about our two guests?” McCoy asked.
“You tell me, Bones. What shape are they in?”
“Well, Mr. Doyle was a bit shaky there for awhile but he’ll be okay. I’ve got him pumped full of tranquilizers right now. It seemed the only way to get him away from his partner. He’s sleeping in sickbay; he should be out for several hours. I’ve got Chapel watching him.”
“And the other one? Mr. Bodie, wasn’t it?”
McCoy grinned. “Just Bodie, as I was quite properly informed.”
“That’s his first name?”
“Hell if I know, Jim. But that’s what he goes by according to Mr. Doyle. Anyway, he got through the surgery with flying colors. I’ve got him in regens right now; shouldn’t take more than sixteen hours, all told. After that, maybe a couple of days of rest and he’ll be good as new. Like I said, he’s in great shape. That made a big difference.”
“A big enough difference that we could transport them back once he’s out of regens?”
McCoy shook his head. “I’d advise against it. If there were complications, he couldn’t get the help he’d need down there. He’d die for sure.”
“How long do you advise we keep him?”
“As long as we can. He’ll be somewhat weak the first twenty-four to thirty-six hours, so I’ll want to be giving him supplements. He’ll barely be back to normal by the end of the three days.”
“Great,” Kirk groused, pondering yet another problem.
“Captain, what are you planning to do with our ‘guests’?” Spock interjected. “Since we will be returning to our own time via the anomaly, we will not have the option of using the ship to return them without their memories intact.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. First off, I don’t want any word about us being from the future. As far as they know, we really are little green men from Mars.” He smiled at Spock who pointedly ignored the remark. Kirk’s lips tightened and he took a deep breath. To hell with you. “Second,” he turned his attention back to the doctor, “Bones, I want you to sound them out. Find out how much trouble we’re in for if we have to take them with us.”
“But if they don’t find out—”
“That’s a pretty big if. Remember, they’re both some sort of law officer, which means they’re used to figuring things out. Your best hope is to keep them off balance, keep them preoccupied with something else.”
“My best hope? Why mine?”
“Because you’re the one who’s going to be around them the most.”
“Captain,” Scott broke in, “do you think they’ll be causing trouble? Maybe you should lock them in the brig until it’s time to return them to Earth. It would be easier all the way around that way.”
“I don’t want to do that, Scotty. They didn’t do anything but be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Well, they can’t stay in sickbay,” McCoy adamantly proclaimed. “What with the hookup to the computer library at every bed, there’s no way to keep the information about us from them.”
“You’ve got a point.” Kirk frowned. “Scotty, can you rig up one of the guest cabins so that the terminals only have limited access?”
Scott thought for a moment. “Aye, it probably can be done. It might play havoc with some of the systems, though. I’ll have to reroute the lights and room temperature gauge through another terminal.” He got up. “I’ll get right on it.”
“Wait up, Scotty.” McCoy stood. “If that’s all, gentlemen, I suppose I’d better go see to my patients.”
“Yes, that’s all. I’ll drop by later to see how they’re doing. Oh, and Bones,” Kirk waited until McCoy, who was almost to the door, turned and gave him his attention, “I still want you to stay with them, find out as much as you can.”
The doctor gave him a sour look and continued on his way. As soon as McCoy was out the door, Kirk turned to his science officer. “I want to see you in our cabin at the end of your shift.”
“I need to—”
“I don’t care what you need to do, Spock. You be there at eighteen hundred hours.” He looked squarely at his firs officer. “I’m making that an order.”
And with that, Kirk got up out of his chair and left the room. He’d had enough.
^^^^^^^^^^
Doyle could tell he wasn’t alone when he woke up. There was the sound of steps even the quietest person made while moving around, the opening and closing of a drawer, the muttered remarks of someone who considered themselves alone. Wherever he was, the lights had been lowered. He could tell that even with his eyes closed.
So he kept his eyes closed, his breathing even, trying to pull the memories from his still befuddled mind. Little by little the events of the day came back to him. And he remembered being in a strange sort of hospital and how he’d ended up there.
Bodie. Shot, dying. Dr. McCoy saying his partner would be all right. Then, a woman. Nurse Chapel. She’d stayed and talked to him awhile, doing what she could to make him feel comfortable, which wouldn’t happen until he had Bodie back. And there was only one way for that to happen.
He opened his eyes. Dr. McCoy was standing at the doorway, obviously on his way out. “Dr. McCoy?” Doyle called out.
“McCoy walked back to the bed. “Yes, Mr. Doyle?”
“Can I see Bodie now?”
“Tomorrow, remember? He’s still recovering from the surgery.”
“That’s right. I’d forgotten that part.” Doyle frowned. “He’s all right then?”
“He’s fine, son. He just needs his rest.”
“He’s a growing boy.” Doyle chuckled lazily. “He shouldn’t be lying about.”
“We’ll make sure he’s on his feet tomorrow. But until then, I think you should get some more rest, too. It’s been a rough day.”
Doyle nodded; his eyes were already half shut. “‘I’m just going to close my eyes for a bit.”
He didn’t hear the doctor leave the room. He was already asleep.
^^^^^^^^^^
Kirk sat in the semidarkness of his cabin’s sleeping area. The only light on was the one over the bed and even it was at its lowest setting. Sort of like his mood.
He thought if he wasn’t so mad he’d probably be nervous about his upcoming meeting with Spock; who knew what would be left between them at its end? But he was tired of whatever game it was Spock was playing.
It was funny in a twisted sort of way. Kirk was sure that if anyone had been laying bets on who would end up playing games in this relationship, odds would have been on him. After all, he was the one with the reputation for short-term romances as opposed to long-term commitments. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted someone to commit to; he’d thought he had found him.
He glanced at the chronometer; almost time. His stomach muscles clenched as if preparing for a blow. Kirk stood up and walked out into the outer area just as the doors to the cabin flew open.
Spock hesitated at the entrance but then seemed to resolve himself to the situation and continued in. He walked over to Kirk, who had taken a seat at his desk.
“You wished to see me, Captain?” Spock stood rigidly at attention, his hands clasped behind him.
“Sit down, Spock.”
The Vulcan took the seat on the other side of the desk. He did not look at Kirk.
“I want to know what’s going on, Spock.” Kirk brought up his hand to still any response. “And before you tell me ‘nothing’ is going on,’ I’m telling you right now that I don’t believe it. We’ve been together too long for me not to be able to tell when you’re lying to me. So, no more lies. I think you owe me the truth, don’t you?”
Spock remained silent at first, staring at the wall for long moments. Finally, he gave a short nod of his head. “Perhaps you are correct. I anticipated this would be an extremely unpleasant confrontation, one I wished to spare myself. But Jim,” he finally looked directly at Kirk. “It is one I wished to spare you as well.”
Kirk swallowed past the tightness in this throat. “Go on.”
Spock stood and walked over to the room’s partition. He was turned slightly away, so the light from the sleeping area cast shadows on his face, turning his features dark and forbidding. “I remember what I felt the first time we joined, here, in this bed. Exultation. Gratitude. And a completeness I had never thought to have.” He took a shuddered breath. “Yet, always, then and since, a disquieting fear that I was paying a very high price; perhaps, too high.”
“Are you telling me that for two years you’ve felt cheated?” Kirk practically ground out the words.
“No!” Spock whirled to face Kirk but then brought himself up short. “No, that is not what I am saying. I am Vulcan, yet what we shared was not of Vulcan but of Earth. When we are together, here,” he glanced at the bed, “I am not Vulcan.”
“Even Vulcans have sex, Spock.”
“Yes, they do.” He raised an eyebrow almost mockingly. “But as you are so fond of saying, we do not ‘have sex,’ we make love.”
Kirk rose and approached Spock. He couldn’t remember ever being as angry as he was now. “I never thought I’d have those words thrown in my face, though. I knew there were things about our relationship that made you uncomfortable; even I’m not that dense. But I tried my damnedest to make it as easy on you as I could. I gave you every opportunity to talk about it.” He rubbed his temple, fighting a headache, fighting the urge to lash out physically. “Damn it, Spock, why the hell didn’t you ever say anything?”
“What was I to say? That I did not desire what we had? I did. I did not wish to lose you. Instead, I found I was losing myself.”
“No, not yourself,” Kirk remarked bitterly. “Only your Vulcanness. But you’re half human, too.”
“I am quite aware of that fact, Jim. If I were not, there would never have been a need for this discussion because we would never have come together to begin with.”
Kirk felt like he’d been slapped. “It’s only your Terran half that loves me? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Perhaps.” Spock’s answer was barely a whisper. He cleared his throat. “But perhaps that is what I need to ascertain. I need to know who and what I am, where it is I belong.”
“And how were you planning on doing that once we got back to Earth?” Kirk froze as realization dawned. “You weren’t going to stay on Earth, were you?”
Spock looked away.
“You were planning on leaving me and you weren’t going to say a word.” Kirk turned and moved back to his desk. He couldn’t stand being near his lover anymore. “I never took you for a coward, Spock.”
“I wished to spare you this.”
“This? This? What do you think I was going to be feeling when I got to Earth and suddenly realized you weren’t there anymore?”
Neither man spoke after that. What, after all, was there to say? If after all this time Spock still didn’t know what he wanted, what could Kirk possibly say that would make any difference now? He only wondered how he could have missed all the signs. It was all so apparent now that everything was falling apart. Well, if Spock needed an end to it, he’d give him one.
“You should be able to put up with me for two more days but I’ll try to stay out of your way.”
“Jim—”
“Let me finish. You may not know what you want but I do. And a lover who isn’t sure if he wants me or not isn’t it. So you go ahead and continue with whatever plans you’ve made; I won’t stand in your way. Hell, I’ll help you pack.” He swallowed hard. Only one more thing to say. “I don’t want to sleep with you, Spock, so if you can use your old quarters I’d appreciate it. If not, I’ll find somewhere else to bunk down.”
Spock looked like he was about to say something but then only nodded his head.
Kirk started for the door. “I’m going for a walk. I’ll expect you out of here when I get back.”
Kirk carried himself forward, most of his energy going to putting one foot in front of the other, and was so very glad the corridors of the ship were usually empty this time of the evening. He didn’t know if he could carry off normal right now. Tomorrow. He’d have it together by tomorrow.
Two years; two very short, very happy years. He had thought they’d have forever.
^^^^^^^^^^
“Mr. Doyle?”
Doyle came awake at the feeling of someone touching his arm. He opened his eyes, squinting into the too bright lights above him. He looked to his side. Dr. McCoy stood next to the bed with—Doyle thought a moment—right, he remembered, Nurse Chapel slightly behind him.
McCoy smiled. “How are you feeling?”
Doyle stretched and sat up. “Rested. Clear-headed,” he added with surprise.
“The drug’s finally out of your system now.”
“You make a habit of drugging your patients, do you?”
“Only the ones that need it,” McCoy responded without missing a beat. “Do you think you’re up to some conversation?”
Doyle shoved the covers aside, not caring that there was a woman in the room and that all he was wearing were his briefs and some sort of hospital gown. “Where are my clothes?”
“Right here.” Chapel stepped forward, a bundle of clothes in her arms that Doyle hadn’t noticed before. “We had them cleaned.”
He nodded his thanks, taking the clothes and slipping from the bed.
“That will be all, Nurse.” McCoy remarked.
With a grin, Chapel left the room and Doyle hurriedly removed the gown. He examined the shirt. It looked better than it had brand new. He shrugged into it and began buttoning it up. “Can I see Bodie now?”
“There’s a few things we need to discuss first, but then I’ll take you to your partner.” McCoy seemed to hesitate.
“What’s the matter?”
“That’s one of the things we need to discuss. The medical procedure we used on Bodie involves placing him in a chamber to promote healing. But when first removed from it, a patient is usually quite pale and listless. It’s going to take a few days for him to be completely healed and back to normal.”
“But you said he was all right,” Doyle remarked as he zipped up his jeans and then slipped his shoes on.
“He is. Come on, this won’t take long.”
Doyle was led into the next room, a small office with a work area and a couple of chairs. McCoy went around and took the one on the other side while Doyle made himself comfortable in the other one.
McCoy sat back in his chair and smiled.
“You were going to tell me something?” Doyle asked.
“Uh, yes.” McCoy rubbed his chin. After a moment he leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk. “Have you ever had a close encounter?”
“A what?”
McCoy grimaced. “Do you believe there’s life on other planets?”
Doyle’s eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to tell me you’re from another planet? Pull the other one, mate.”
“You don’t believe that life could exist on other planets?”
“I hadn’t given it much thought.”
“Well, think about it.”
Doyle did. It certainly would explain how they’d managed to save Bodie’s life. Still, he’d need more than McCoy’s word. “So, if you’re from another planet, where’s your space ship?”
“You’re on it.”
“Doesn’t feel like it.”
McCoy gave him a penetrating look. “You ever been on a space ship before?”
“Well, no.”
“There you go.”
“How did I get here? I don’t remember boarding a space ship.”
“What do you remember?”
“I remember,” he frowned in concentration. “I remember sitting on the kerb, Bodie in my arms. He was dying. Then...” Doyle closed his eyes. “I was in a room. We were on a platform of some kind. There were people there and they were trying to take Bodie away from me.” Doyle’s eyes popped open. “It was like magic. One minute I was on the street, the next here.”
“You were transported. Don’t ask me how it works because I don’t have a clue. But somehow it takes you apart and puts you back together somewhere else.”
“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
McCoy snorted. “Can’t say I blame you. Listen, I know there’s a lot of things you’d like to know, a lot of things which, unfortunately, I can’t tell you but maybe this will help.”
McCoy rotated the terminal on his desk so that it was facing Doyle, He thought it looked a lot like the new ones CI5 had only recently installed. The doctor flipped a switch and an image instantly appeared.
It was of the Earth. Not a still picture, but what Doyle imagined the American astronauts must have seen on their way to the moon.
“That’s magnified a bit. We’re slightly outside the moon’s orbit.”
Doyle didn’t know what to think. Either this was some sort of elaborate hoax, or he really was on a space ship. “I don’t know what to think.”
“When it comes right down to it, does it really matter? All you need to know is that you’re here and your friend’s going to be just fine.”
Doyle took a breath. This was more than he could take in all at once. But there was one thing he still wanted to know. “Can I see Bodie now?”
~~~~~
Bodie lay on the only bed in the room, a still, pale form who barely seemed to be breathing. Doyle approached the bed and gently placed his hand on Bodie’s chest. He could feel Bodie’s strong heart beating. He grinned in relief. “I thought he’d be awake.”
“You can wake him if you like.”
“Bodie. Bodie, wake up.” Doyle looked back over his shoulder. “Why won’t he wake up?”
“He will, son. Just give him a few minutes.”
Doyle turned his attention back to his partner. “Come on, you lazy sod. Wake up.” Doyle lightly shook Bodie’s shoulder. Doctor McCoy said he was fine, after all, and Doyle didn’t want to be by himself any more, in this strange place they’d found themselves in.
Bodie groaned and, batting away Doyle’s hand, resettled on his side, his back to him.
“Maybe you should let him sleep awhile longer.” McCoy was standing at the foot of the bed, his attention on the panel above Bodie’s head. “He’s going to need quite a bit of rest for a day or two.”
Doyle scowled. Not bloody likely. “He’s just fakin’ it. Come on, Bo-day.” He dragged out Bodie’s name the way he knew his partner hated. “Time to get up.”
“Go ‘way, Doyle.” Bodie tried pulling the covers up over his head but Doyle grabbed the blanket and held on. After a moment, Bodie gave it up. With a disgusted grunt he turned to face Doyle and froze. “Where are we?”
Doyle grinned. “You wouldn’t believe it, mate, not in a hundred years.”
“Try me.” He sat up and gave McCoy a dark look. “Who are you?”
McCoy moved to stand next to Doyle. “Dr. Leonard McCoy.”
“Doctor?” Bodie ran his hands over his chest, then looked at Doyle. “I’m in hospital?”
“You were shot. Don’t you remember?”
“Not really.” Bodie glanced at McCoy. “He fix me up?”
McCoy cleared this throat. “Yes, and if you don’t mind I’d like to check you over.” He gave Doyle a slight shove and took his position next to the head of the bed. He took out a small devise and started running it over Bodie’s body.
Doyle, who had switched places with McCoy so had a good view of his partner, had to try very hard not to laugh at the look on Bodie’s face. But he imagined it wasn’t much different from the one that had been on his face not so very long ago.
“Can I get up now?” Bodie asked once McCoy had finished.
“I’m afraid not. I’d like to run a couple of tests first. Once I’ve got the results, I’ll release you into the care of your partner.”
“Hear that? You’re in charge of taking care of me.” Bodie smiled playfully.
“It’s nothing I haven’t been doin’ for years. You need a keeper, you do.”
“How about getting me something to eat then? I’m starving.”
Doyle rolled his eyes. He’d wondered when Bodie’s stomach would demand attention.
“I’m afraid that’s going to have to wait awhile, too. I don’t want you eating until the test results are back,” McCoy interjected. “I’ll get Nurse Chapel to stay with you until then. Be right back.”
Bodie watched McCoy leave and didn’t speak until he was out of the room. “Yeah, I’m in hospital all right.” Bodie sunk down against the pillows behind him. “I’m going to waste away to nothing.”
“Hardly that. I’ll tell you what, Dr. McCoy is taking me to breakfast after he’s done with you. I’ll make sure they bring you something.”
“That’s it, rub it in.” Bodie brightened. “You going to bring me some grapes?”
“‘Fraid not, mate. I don’t think they have grapes where we are.”
At that, Bodie finally gave the room a look. “Where are we, Ray?”
Doyle really did try to keep a straight face. “We’re on a spaceship.”
Bodie just gave him a blank look.
“I’m not kidding. We’re on a bloody spaceship.”
“Ray, cut it out. It’s not funny.”
Doyle sat on the edge of the bed. Suddenly, it really wasn’t all that funny. He laid his palm flat against Bodie’s chest. “You were shot, right here. Don’t you remember?”
He appeared only puzzled at first, as he grasped at memories, then Doyle saw something like fear appear on his lover’s face and knew that Bodie remembered.
Bodie brought his hand up and closed it over Ray’s. “I thought I was dying.” He frowned and his eyes sought Doyle’s. “You were crying.”
Doyle shrugged. “Yeah, well, you know me. Can’t seem to keep the waterworks off.” He brought his free hand up to touch his lover’s cheek. “But I don’t think I truly believed that you were going to be all right until this moment. They saved you. You should have died, would have died in any hospital on Earth. Yet here you are, less than a day later and it’s if it never happened.”
“I feel fine.”
“They’ve got the most amazing stuff, Bodie, like you’ve never seen before. I thought they were lying at first, telling me you’d be okay.” He bit his lower lip, his control tenuous. “I was sure you were going to die. But Dr. McCoy worked on you and then put you in some sort of machine and now,” he shook his head, still awed by it all. “Now, you’re all right.”
“So, who shot me?”
“Um...”
“You don’t know, do you?”
“Wasn’t really thinking too much about it, Bodie, what with you bleeding’ all over the street. Besides, they brought us up here before I knew what was happening.”
Bodie moved Doyle’s hand away from his chest and pulled open the front of the outfit he found himself in. The area was unmarred. “There’s not even a scar.” He looked back at Doyle. “So, we’re on a spaceship. Where they from?”
“Dunno. They won’t tell me.”
Bodie gave him a tight smile. “But we’re going to find out, aren’t we, mate?”
Doyle smiled back. “What do you think?”
^^^^^^^^^^
Kirk scanned the room as he entered the officer’s mess. It was almost empty as usual, the main reason he’d told Bones to meet him here with their guest. The less contact Doyle had with the rest of the crew the better. And, to tell the truth, Kirk wasn’t much in the mood for company, either.
He got himself a cup of coffee from one of the food slots and headed for a table at the back. His yeoman would be by soon with breakfast. Settling in his seat, he slowly took a sip of the hot liquid as he looked around. A couple of tables over, Giotto was having a quiet conversation with his newest security recruit. To their left, Lieutenant DeSalle sat, his fork held halfway to his mouth as he perused some sort of report. Mr. Scott seemed to have infected his assistant with his own single-mindedness; DeSalle was getting just as bad as the chief engineer when it came to his off-duty activity.
Kirk sighed and rubbed his neck. DeSalle wasn’t the only one focusing too much on one thing, or make that one person. Spock. Since the night before Kirk had been unable to think of anything else.
What the hell had gone wrong? Spock had been happy; Kirk would bet everything he had on that. When had their being together become such a problem that the Vulcan had decided his only recourse was to return to his home planet? Because Kirk was very sure that’s where Spock would end up. Which made no sense to him. Vulcan had made it pretty clear where they stood in regards to Spock’s Vulcanness.
And what was he supposed to do? Pretend everything was just fine and go on with his life? He wanted another mission but what would it be like with someone else at his side? He cringed at the idea. Spock, the Enterprise, they were tied together in Kirk’s mind. He didn’t know if he wanted one without the other.
No, strike that. He’d take Spock any way he could get him.
The doors to the mess slid open and McCoy entered with Doyle in tow. Glad for the distraction, Kirk studied the man with his CMO as they approached him. There was a certain look of confusion on Doyle’s face; well, Kirk supposed that was to be expected. But beneath that there was still that hard resolve Kirk had caught a glimpse of on the planet.
“Hey, Jim.” McCoy grabbed a chair and sat, motioning Doyle to do the same.
“‘Morning, Bones.”
“I don’t think you two were properly introduced yesterday.” McCoy nodded toward Doyle. “Captain Kirk, meet Ray Doyle. Ray Doyle, Captain James Kirk.”
“Mr. Doyle.” Kirk nodded his head in acknowledgment. He wondered if Doyle even remembered his presence in sickbay the day before. “I hope you and your partner are doing better today.”
“Dr. McCoy says Bodie just needs rest now.” He stared at Kirk a moment. “You’re the one who brought us here.”
“That’s right. I’m sorry you got involved with all this. We never imagined our little expedition would end up causing injury to anyone.”
McCoy looked about to respond to that slightly edited version of the truth when Kirk’s yeoman approached the table with their meals. “Ah, breakfast.” McCoy uncovered his plate and grinned at Kirk. “You remembered.”
“I don’t see how you can eat that stuff.” Kirk turned to Doyle. “Is steak and eggs all right? I wasn’t sure.”
“Doyle stared at his plate. “Um, sure.” He picked up his fork and hesitantly poked at the steak. “Is it from a cow?”
McCoy almost choked on his grits, while Kirk hid his smile. It hadn’t occurred to them that Doyle would, quite logically, think the food was from another planet.
“It’s perfectly safe, Ray,” McCoy assured. “Go ahead, eat it.”
After the first hesitant bite, Doyle seemed to be okay with his meal. But as he ate, he continued to survey the men and place around him. “On the way here Dr. McCoy told me there’s over four hundred people on the ship.”
Kirk kept himself from glaring at McCoy. That was certainly something Doyle had no reason to know. “That’s correct.”
Doyle studied the few other crew members in the room. “Where is everyone? On duty?”
“Most are at their stations, yes,” Kirk informed him.
“Military ship?”
Kirk was impressed. “Why do you think that?”
Doyle shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe because they all remind me of Bodie when he’s on duty. Fixated.”
“Your partner is in the military?”
“Was. Still very disciplined.” Doyle grinned. “Besides, I can’t see everyone wearing the same thing if they didn’t have to.”
“Good point,” McCoy responded.
Kirk gave him a look and then redirected himself to Doyle. “Be that as it may, we are more an exploratory vessel.”
“You come here to ‘explore’ my planet?” Doyle was suddenly very serious.
“No, Mr. Doyle, our coming here was completely by accident, I assure you.”
Doyle appeared to be willing to let it drop. “So, when can me and Bodie go back?”
“McCoy?” Kirk asked.
McCoy shook his head. “I already told him it would be a couple of days. His partner isn’t completely healed.”
Doyle tensed. “You said he was fine.”
“He is, he is. But your planet doesn’t have the necessary facilities if something were to go wrong. As long as you’re on board this ship, he’s perfectly safe.”
“You telling me we’re stuck here?”
No, not exactly,” McCoy temporized.
“What’s that supposed to mean, ‘not exactly’? Are you planning on holding us here?” Doyle scowled at Kirk.
Kirk leaned forward, planting his forearms on the table. “We don’t want to do that, Mr. Doyle. And right now, it doesn’t look like we’ll have to. Let’s make sure it stays that way, shall we?”
Doyle’s gaze swung from Kirk to McCoy and then back. “You tellin’ me as long as we don’t cause trouble—”
“You won’t have anything to worry about.”
^^^^^^^^^^
McCoy kept finding himself glancing at their passenger as he led Doyle to his cabin. It was, dare he say it, fascinating to watch the man in action. He missed nothing as they traversed the corridors of the Enterprise, studying the face of everyone they passed, marking doors and passageways. The drugs were finally all out of his system and a full meal had done the rest. Doyle had wanted answers and talking to his partner had only made him worse. But his time with the captain had exacerbated the problem.
Kirk may have thought he’d settled the matter; if he did, he was sadly mistaken. McCoy only had to look at Doyle to know the man’s innate determination was not to be denied. The slightly fuzzy-headed charmer he had said goodnight to last night had been replaced this morning with a sharp-witted and dangerous man and Doyle had kept McCoy on his toes as he’d attempted to pry the truth out of him.
What McCoy didn’t understand was Kirk not seeing that. His friend was usually a master at reading people. Something was definitely off. And what was with the threat? He had thought Doyle was going to come unglued. It had surprised McCoy, and Kirk by the looks of it, when the man had passively accepted his situation.
And where the hell had Spock been? Usually, whenever Kirk planned on taking on someone, Spock was right there next to him.
“What’s with the crawl spaces?” Doyle stopped, disrupting McCoy’s musings.
“They’re maintenance conduits.”
“To fix things on the ship? Mind of I take a look?” Doyle started to climb into the cramped access point.
McCoy grabbed his arm. “Uh, better not. You might disconnect something. Come on. Maybe Mr. Spock can show you around later.”
Doyle reluctantly came along but only after casting a last glance at the portal. “Mr. Spock? Have I met him?”
Have you ever. “He was with Captain Kirk on th—, on your planet.”
“The one with the wool cap? He did something to me, didn’t he?” He massaged his neck, as if the pain was still there. “Gave me an awful headache.”
McCoy nodded. “Yeah, it does tend to have that effect. But I’ll let him explain it,” he stated as the doors to the cabin opened. “Ah, speak of the devil.”
Spock was seated at the computer terminal. The cover was off and parts of it lay on the desk. “Dr. McCoy.”
“Spock, you remember Mr. Doyle, don’t you?” McCoy grinned.
Spock stood up. “Mr. Doyle.”
McCoy had to admit, Doyle had nerve. There was only a fraction of a second of hesitation before he extended his hand. “Mr. Spock.”
“I’m afraid Vulcans don’t shake hands,” McCoy said before Spock could comment.
“Sorry.” Doyle pulled his hand back and looked at McCoy. “If he’s Vulcan, what are you?”
“I’m sure you’ve never heard of the place.”
Doyle grimaced. “It’s not bloody likely.” He turned his attention to Spock who had retaken his seat and started working again. “Something wrong with the computer?”
“Mr. Scott was unable to complete the restructuring of the temperature controls due to a problem with one of the original components.”
“So, how come he’s not doing it?” McCoy asked.
“Captain Kirk felt his presence was needed elsewhere.”
Now that was odd. He’d have to ask Kirk about that. “You going to be here awhile, Spock?”
“I should be able to complete the repairs in fifty-four point seven minutes.”
“Great, I have to see to my patient. Why don’t you show Doyle here how everything works? Once you get it working that is.”
“That would be agreeable.” Spock didn’t even look up.
Doyle clearly didn’t like that. “Why can’t I go with you?”
“You’re going to need to know how to make certain things work: the lights, the shower. After that, Spock can take you to sickbay. If you like, you can stay there until I’m ready to release Bodie.”
Reluctantly, Doyle agreed and McCoy left his charge with the Vulcan. He didn’t know which one he felt sorrier for, Doyle, for having to put up with Spock’s facade of non-emotion, or Spock, who was going to have to use every ounce of Vulcan logic to keep Ray’s curiosity at bay. He chuckled. It would serve them both right.
^^^^^^^^^^
Doyle tried to keep his attention on the screen while Spock attempted to teach him the finer points of the machine. But he kept finding his eyes sliding over to study the man next to him. Especially the ears. Couldn’t help it, could he? It wasn’t every day you saw someone with ears like that.
He took another furtive glance. They were really rather nice once you got used to them. Esthetic. Probably pulled the birds like no one’s business.
“Certain areas have been closed to your voice patterns but that should not prove an inconvenience.”
Doyle snapped back to attention. “Is there a problem with us knowing too much?”
“Indeed. Your planet is at a rudimentary level of development in many areas. There is much you could glean from the computer which could prove devastating if it were to fall into unscrupulous hands.”
Doyle scowled. “Ta very much, mate. Why would you think I’d do that?”
Spock’s look was part amusement, part compassion. “Would you know what was safe to pass on to another and what was not?”
He hadn’t thought of that. He had realized almost from the start of the lesson that there was much he didn’t know about their technology but he’d assumed it would be only a matter of memorization, not that some of it might be beyond his ability to understand. He didn’t like the way it made him feel.
His thoughts must have shown on his face.
“Do not feel disparaged, Mr. Doyle. Your planet, your people, will reach this level one day. It in no way diminishes your worth because you have yet achieved it.”
“That’s easy for you to say. But what happens to me and Bodie if we have to stay here? We wouldn’t know enough to do hardly anything, much less what we do now. I could just see the two of us, hauling rubbish or sweepin’ streets.” He grimaced. “If you even have jobs like that where you come from.”
Spock pressed his lips together, looking down for a moment before responding. “It would be extremely difficult, but not impossible, for either of you to find employment at anything above the most menial of labors—at first. But you are not unintelligent men and if you are forced to stay, we would make it an absolute priority to train you in any endeavor you wish to pursue.”
Even feeling as he did, Doyle had to laugh at that. “I could see Bodie demanding a ship of his own or to be put in charge of your weapons. He’d be like a kid in a candy store.” He sobered. “It would take years, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, only the best are accepted for duty on a starship.”
“Is that what this is?” Doyle looked around the room. “A starship?”
“That is its colloquial name. This particular ship is of the Constitution class.”
So much for their priorities. Wherever he and Bodie ended up, they wouldn’t be these people’s problem. No space travel for them, only lives spent forever trying to catch up. It was a depressing thought. “If we can’t go back, where will you be taking’ us?”
“That will be up to Captain Kirk but I assume to the nearest starbase. After that, to whichever planet the authorities felt was best suited for your particular needs.”
Doyle gave Spock a speculative look. “What about your planet?”
Spock appeared to draw into himself. “You would not care for my planet, Mr. Doyle.”
“Why not?”
“To begin with, it is quite a bit hotter than what you’re used to and the air is thinner.”
“Yeah, Bodie probably wouldn’t like that. Says he had enough of hot climates while in Africa. Dumb crud went and got himself stuck there for awhile.” He eyed Spock again, giving his ears another look. “Do they all look like you?”
That brought a slight thaw. “All Vulcans ears are as mine are. It is believed they took this form in order to facilitate the collecting of sound waves in the thinner atmosphere.”
“Makes sense.” He thought about Spock’s first words. “You said, ‘to begin with.’ There’s more?”
“Vulcans follow the tenet that calls for the suppression of emotions. You do not strike me as the type of person who would find such a place conducive to your well being.”
Doyle shook his head. “No, that wouldn’t do at all. Bodie might like it, though. Fit right in with being cool.”
“‘Cool’?”
“Yeah, mad bastard thinks he can’t be provoked.” He chuckled. “I don’t imagine he counted on me getting to him, though. It’s a treat getting Bodie going sometimes.”
“I do not understand. I was given the impression you and he were close.”
“We are.”
“Then why would you wish to deliberately aggravate him?”
“I—he does it to me,” Doyle shot back. “Doesn’t mean anything. Besides, someone has to keep him from getting too full of himself.”
“Then you are not close.”
“Of course we are! Wouldn’t take the trouble if we weren’t. It’s just that he needs taking down a peg from time to time.”
“So you confound him for his own good, is that correct?”
“Right.” Doyle brightened. “‘For his own good.’ Good way of putting it.”
Spock raised an eyebrow. “Fascinating. On the surface, your relationship appears to be built on a mutual animosity. Yet, in reality, it is used to conceal a deep affection.”
Doyle felt his face redden. “Getting awfully personal, aren’t you, mate?”
It almost looked liked Spock wanted to smile. Almost. Instead, he turned back to the computer. “Perhaps you are right. Come, we should continue your lesson.”
^^^^^^^^^^
Kirk entered sickbay to find McCoy busy at his desk. “How are our two guests?”
McCoy looked up. “Bodie’s still asleep; Ray’s with Spock.”
“With Spock? What’s he doing with Spock?”
“I asked Spock to show him how everything works.” He glanced at the chronometer. “Though I thought they’d be done by now.”
“I’m surprised he went along with it.”
McCoy studied his captain. After a moment he put down his stylus and leaned back in his chair. “Take a seat, Jim.”
Kirk grimaced but sat down, anyway. McCoy could be like a dog with a bone when it came to ferreting out Kirk’s problems. He might as well get it over with. “I’ve just got a few minutes.”
“Why’s that? We’re just sitting out here in space, waiting for that thing to come back, aren’t we?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
“Our guests?”
Kirk nodded. “That’s part of it. I know I handled Mr. Doyle badly at breakfast; he’s obviously not the type to take threats well. But right now I just want to get through the next two days so we can go home.”
“You said part of it. What’s the other part?”
“Spock.”
McCoy rolled his eyes. “Now, why am I not surprised? What’s he done now?”
“He’s leaving.”
“Leaving? The ship?”
“The ship, Starfleet...me.” Kirk drew a deep breath. “Seems he doesn’t know who he is anymore.”
“Damn that man! I knew he’d pull something like this.”
Kirk frowned. “You knew? How come you knew and I didn’t?”
“Because you’re too blasted close, that’s why. Jim, he’s been dropping hints left and right for months now.”
“So why didn’t you say anything to me?”
“What was I supposed to say?” McCoy bristled. “You were so all-fired in love, you couldn’t see what was right in front of you. You certainly weren’t going to believe me when I told you your lover showed every sign of bolting.”
“Like what?”
“Like what? Like finding any excuse to be on another shift—”
“That was because the mission was ending. He needed to be in the labs.”
“That’s hogwash and you know it. He was avoiding you. And even I could see how super-Vulcan he was acting around you. Not around anyone else, just you. If that didn’t tell you something, I don’t know what would.”
Kirk was stunned. “I didn’t know it was just me.”
“That’s when I knew there was trouble, Jim. Because, around me, he was the same as he’s always been. Whatever was wrong, it had something to do with you. What else could it be but that he was having trouble accepting your relationship?”
“I don’t know what to do, Bones. He’s planning on going back to Vulcan, I’m sure of it.”
“What for? They’re not all that crazy about him there, either.”
Kirk ignored the sarcasm. “That’s what I don’t understand. Why go back? They’ve got more problem with him not being full-Vulcan than he has.”
“Is that what he told you, that your relationship makes him feel less Vulcan?”
“Basically.”
McCoy got up and walked over to where he stored his liquor. “I know it’s early but I think we both need one of these.” He poured them both a drink and brought them over, handing Kirk his. “Cheers.”
Kirk only snorted before draining the glass. He stood up. “I better go. Mr. Scott’s waiting for me in engineering. Seems there was a problem with the modifications to the VIP quarters.”
“That’s right. Which reminds me, why Spock? How come you didn’t have Scotty go himself?”
“I didn’t think it was a good idea. We’re pushing our luck as it is. Introducing our two guests to our chief engineering officer....”
“Ah, I think I know where you’re coming from. A bit too close to home, as it were.”
“Exactly. I’ll see you later, Bones.”
Kirk was almost to the door when it flew open.
“...wasn’t even thinking about that, I was so worried about Bodie.” Doyle slowed his steps when he saw Kirk.
Doyle had entered with Spock at his side, the two in the middle of a discussion, one Spock was apparently enjoying if you went by his relaxed manner. It just made Kirk feel worse.
The Vulcan looked Kirk’s way and stopped just inside the door. “Captain.”
“Spock, Mr. Doyle.”
Doyle glanced at Spock and then looked at Kirk. His eyes narrowed. Kirk thought he was going to say something but instead the man only nodded and went around him to approach McCoy. Kirk could hear Doyle asking about his partner but Kirk’s full attention was on the Vulcan before him.
“Did you finish the repairs?” Of course he did. Kirk was only thing Spock had left undone.
“Yes, sir.” A slight hesitation. “If you will excuse me.” Spock left without giving Kirk time to refuse his request.
Kirk moved out into the corridor and watched his lover walk away. When Spock was out of sight, Kirk turned in the other direction and set his steps towards engineering.
^^^^^^^^^^
On to Part 3
Fandom: The Professionals - Star Trek (TOS)
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle, Kirk/Spock
Notes: Originally published as a stand-alone novella by Requiem Publications. A shorter and more K/S-centric version of this story was published in the K/S zine, T’hy’la 26, under the same name. Thanks to Kathy Resch for allowing its resubmission.
Bodie and Doyle are committed to each other, but struggling with the need to keep their intimate relationship a secret. Stopping to break up what looks like a burglary, they find that they've stumbled into something far bigger, something involving men from the future, who are struggling with an intimate relationship of their own. Each couple sees something of themselves in the other, and gain insights that help them make the most important decision of their lives: to stay or to go.
He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know how he’d got here. And it didn’t even matter. All that mattered was Bodie. And Bodie was dead, or dying. No matter what the older man with the kind face had said.
“Everything will be all right, son. I’ll patch him up, good as new.”
Doyle didn’t believe a word of it. Did they think he was stupid? He knew a killing wound when he saw one.
Who were these people? He recognized the two from the office. Not like any thieves he’d ever seen. One of them had taken charge. Captain. He remembered the other men calling him captain. Was he on a ship?
Doyle looked around, not really interested in his surroundings but too bound by habit and training to do otherwise. He hadn’t noticed when they’d first brought him here how very odd the place was. He’d noticed now. Maybe whatever it was they gave him was wearing off.
It didn’t look like any hospital he’d been in. There was no smell of antiseptic, no drab furniture or off-colored walls. Everything was clean and bright. And the walls, he couldn’t tell if they were metal or not. In any case, there was nothing that spoke of death here.
Doyle ran his hand through his hair. It was sticky. He had Bodie’s blood in his hair. On his hands. On his clothes.
He felt sick. But they’d told him to stay put, that they’d get right back to him. After they had pulled him away from Bodie. Doyle hadn’t wanted to let go but they had done something to him. He’d felt an odd sensation on his arm and then he hadn’t felt so bad anymore. The awful despair that had been eating him alive had eased a little. Still there, though, gnawing away at him bit by bit, fighting the drug.
They had sat him down and then they’d taken Bodie into the back room and left Doyle on his own. So, he couldn’t leave, now could he? He had to stay here so he could say goodbye when they let him see Bodie again.
He wondered at the drug they’d given him. He felt disconnected from himself, as if he was only an observer. Doyle took a shuddered breath. He should get up. Find out what they had done with Bodie. Bodie, whose blood had poured from the wound in his chest. Doyle vaguely remembered trying to stop it with his hands. He looked at his hands. He should find a basin, wash the blood off.
To think only this morning he’d worried about Bodie going out with women. Wouldn’t have to worry about that, anymore. Doyle felt a bubble of laughter rise up and stifled it. Be gettin’ bloody hysterical next. If it meant seeing his partner, alive and whole, he’d step aside for however many women Bodie felt he had to date. It seemed such a small, stupid thing to argue about now.
He heard a noise, the same weird, swishing noise he’d heard several times already.
“Mr. Doyle?”
The older man was back, the one who had said he would take care of Bodie.
“How do you know my name?”
“Captain Kirk told me about you and your partner, Mr. Bodie.”
“It’s just Bodie. No ‘mister.’”
“All right. Well, Bodie is going to be just fine.”
Doyle wanted to believe that. “Can I see him?”
“Not just yet. He’s in rege—he’s in recovery right now. Tomorrow would be better. Besides,” he gave Doyle a measured look, “you look like you could use some rest. Why don’t I have someone take you where you can get cleaned up and get some sleep?”
“I don’t want to leave Bodie. What if he wakes up and I’m not here? Give him a bit of a fright, his partner being gone.”
“He won’t.” The man gently took Doyle’s arm, pulling him up from his chair and Doyle found himself docilely complying.
“Come on. I’ll fix you up on one of the beds in here. But first, I think you’d better get washed up. We’ve both seen our share of blood today.”
That sounded okay. He wouldn’t be that far from Bodie. And it would feel good to be clean. Doyle looked directly at the man and struggled to get his thoughts in order. “Where am I and who are you?”
“Where you are doesn’t matter, does it? You’re safe and your friend is going to be all right. As to who I am,” the man smiled, “Dr. Leonard McCoy, at your service.”
“Jim, wait up.”
Kirk turned at the sound of his friend’s voice. He slowed his pace, letting the doctor catch up with him as he made his way to the briefing room. “How’d the surgery go?”
“Pretty good. The man’s in excellent shape. That helped a lot.”
“No problems, then?”
“Well, I didn’t say that exactly,” McCoy responded as they reached their destination.
They entered, Kirk taking his seat at the head of the table. Spock and Mr. Scott were already there. Kirk had called the meeting as soon as Spock had informed him that his computations were now complete.
Once everyone was settled, Kirk got things rolling. “Mr. Spock?” Kirk nodded to his science officer.
“I have finished correlating all the information from Mr. Tideman’s records. Added to my own observations of the anomaly, I was able to compute its trajectory. It should reappear in seventy-four point six two hours, which seems to be within its normal timeframe. Tideman reports that the ship he was on when pulled through time returned to its time after approximately one day, though three days had passed there. The reverse will happen to us; three days will pass in this time, less than one in our own. The information he was able to acquire, along with my sensor readings of the anomaly, bears that out.”
“Three days.” Kirk pondered the information. “So, what do we do, just sit here for three days and hope it finds us?”
“It will find us, Captain. Make no mistake about that.”
“What makes you so sure, Spock?” McCoy asked.
“Because Captain Yelland reported that they tried to outrun the storm when it first appeared and a day later when it reappeared. They were unsuccessful both times.”
Kirk nodded his head. “Spock’s right, Bones. We tried the same thing and it did about as much good. All right, we sit for three days.” He looked over at his chief engineer. “Can the engines take the screens being up for that long a time?”
Scott shook his head. “I’d not recommend it, Captain. If something should go wrong, well, we’ve no place to go for repairs.”
“Since moving around doesn’t seem to cause a problem, I’ll have the ship taken out of orbit. We can park ourselves just outside the moon’s orbit.”
“What about our two guests?” McCoy asked.
“You tell me, Bones. What shape are they in?”
“Well, Mr. Doyle was a bit shaky there for awhile but he’ll be okay. I’ve got him pumped full of tranquilizers right now. It seemed the only way to get him away from his partner. He’s sleeping in sickbay; he should be out for several hours. I’ve got Chapel watching him.”
“And the other one? Mr. Bodie, wasn’t it?”
McCoy grinned. “Just Bodie, as I was quite properly informed.”
“That’s his first name?”
“Hell if I know, Jim. But that’s what he goes by according to Mr. Doyle. Anyway, he got through the surgery with flying colors. I’ve got him in regens right now; shouldn’t take more than sixteen hours, all told. After that, maybe a couple of days of rest and he’ll be good as new. Like I said, he’s in great shape. That made a big difference.”
“A big enough difference that we could transport them back once he’s out of regens?”
McCoy shook his head. “I’d advise against it. If there were complications, he couldn’t get the help he’d need down there. He’d die for sure.”
“How long do you advise we keep him?”
“As long as we can. He’ll be somewhat weak the first twenty-four to thirty-six hours, so I’ll want to be giving him supplements. He’ll barely be back to normal by the end of the three days.”
“Great,” Kirk groused, pondering yet another problem.
“Captain, what are you planning to do with our ‘guests’?” Spock interjected. “Since we will be returning to our own time via the anomaly, we will not have the option of using the ship to return them without their memories intact.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. First off, I don’t want any word about us being from the future. As far as they know, we really are little green men from Mars.” He smiled at Spock who pointedly ignored the remark. Kirk’s lips tightened and he took a deep breath. To hell with you. “Second,” he turned his attention back to the doctor, “Bones, I want you to sound them out. Find out how much trouble we’re in for if we have to take them with us.”
“But if they don’t find out—”
“That’s a pretty big if. Remember, they’re both some sort of law officer, which means they’re used to figuring things out. Your best hope is to keep them off balance, keep them preoccupied with something else.”
“My best hope? Why mine?”
“Because you’re the one who’s going to be around them the most.”
“Captain,” Scott broke in, “do you think they’ll be causing trouble? Maybe you should lock them in the brig until it’s time to return them to Earth. It would be easier all the way around that way.”
“I don’t want to do that, Scotty. They didn’t do anything but be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Well, they can’t stay in sickbay,” McCoy adamantly proclaimed. “What with the hookup to the computer library at every bed, there’s no way to keep the information about us from them.”
“You’ve got a point.” Kirk frowned. “Scotty, can you rig up one of the guest cabins so that the terminals only have limited access?”
Scott thought for a moment. “Aye, it probably can be done. It might play havoc with some of the systems, though. I’ll have to reroute the lights and room temperature gauge through another terminal.” He got up. “I’ll get right on it.”
“Wait up, Scotty.” McCoy stood. “If that’s all, gentlemen, I suppose I’d better go see to my patients.”
“Yes, that’s all. I’ll drop by later to see how they’re doing. Oh, and Bones,” Kirk waited until McCoy, who was almost to the door, turned and gave him his attention, “I still want you to stay with them, find out as much as you can.”
The doctor gave him a sour look and continued on his way. As soon as McCoy was out the door, Kirk turned to his science officer. “I want to see you in our cabin at the end of your shift.”
“I need to—”
“I don’t care what you need to do, Spock. You be there at eighteen hundred hours.” He looked squarely at his firs officer. “I’m making that an order.”
And with that, Kirk got up out of his chair and left the room. He’d had enough.
Doyle could tell he wasn’t alone when he woke up. There was the sound of steps even the quietest person made while moving around, the opening and closing of a drawer, the muttered remarks of someone who considered themselves alone. Wherever he was, the lights had been lowered. He could tell that even with his eyes closed.
So he kept his eyes closed, his breathing even, trying to pull the memories from his still befuddled mind. Little by little the events of the day came back to him. And he remembered being in a strange sort of hospital and how he’d ended up there.
Bodie. Shot, dying. Dr. McCoy saying his partner would be all right. Then, a woman. Nurse Chapel. She’d stayed and talked to him awhile, doing what she could to make him feel comfortable, which wouldn’t happen until he had Bodie back. And there was only one way for that to happen.
He opened his eyes. Dr. McCoy was standing at the doorway, obviously on his way out. “Dr. McCoy?” Doyle called out.
“McCoy walked back to the bed. “Yes, Mr. Doyle?”
“Can I see Bodie now?”
“Tomorrow, remember? He’s still recovering from the surgery.”
“That’s right. I’d forgotten that part.” Doyle frowned. “He’s all right then?”
“He’s fine, son. He just needs his rest.”
“He’s a growing boy.” Doyle chuckled lazily. “He shouldn’t be lying about.”
“We’ll make sure he’s on his feet tomorrow. But until then, I think you should get some more rest, too. It’s been a rough day.”
Doyle nodded; his eyes were already half shut. “‘I’m just going to close my eyes for a bit.”
He didn’t hear the doctor leave the room. He was already asleep.
Kirk sat in the semidarkness of his cabin’s sleeping area. The only light on was the one over the bed and even it was at its lowest setting. Sort of like his mood.
He thought if he wasn’t so mad he’d probably be nervous about his upcoming meeting with Spock; who knew what would be left between them at its end? But he was tired of whatever game it was Spock was playing.
It was funny in a twisted sort of way. Kirk was sure that if anyone had been laying bets on who would end up playing games in this relationship, odds would have been on him. After all, he was the one with the reputation for short-term romances as opposed to long-term commitments. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted someone to commit to; he’d thought he had found him.
He glanced at the chronometer; almost time. His stomach muscles clenched as if preparing for a blow. Kirk stood up and walked out into the outer area just as the doors to the cabin flew open.
Spock hesitated at the entrance but then seemed to resolve himself to the situation and continued in. He walked over to Kirk, who had taken a seat at his desk.
“You wished to see me, Captain?” Spock stood rigidly at attention, his hands clasped behind him.
“Sit down, Spock.”
The Vulcan took the seat on the other side of the desk. He did not look at Kirk.
“I want to know what’s going on, Spock.” Kirk brought up his hand to still any response. “And before you tell me ‘nothing’ is going on,’ I’m telling you right now that I don’t believe it. We’ve been together too long for me not to be able to tell when you’re lying to me. So, no more lies. I think you owe me the truth, don’t you?”
Spock remained silent at first, staring at the wall for long moments. Finally, he gave a short nod of his head. “Perhaps you are correct. I anticipated this would be an extremely unpleasant confrontation, one I wished to spare myself. But Jim,” he finally looked directly at Kirk. “It is one I wished to spare you as well.”
Kirk swallowed past the tightness in this throat. “Go on.”
Spock stood and walked over to the room’s partition. He was turned slightly away, so the light from the sleeping area cast shadows on his face, turning his features dark and forbidding. “I remember what I felt the first time we joined, here, in this bed. Exultation. Gratitude. And a completeness I had never thought to have.” He took a shuddered breath. “Yet, always, then and since, a disquieting fear that I was paying a very high price; perhaps, too high.”
“Are you telling me that for two years you’ve felt cheated?” Kirk practically ground out the words.
“No!” Spock whirled to face Kirk but then brought himself up short. “No, that is not what I am saying. I am Vulcan, yet what we shared was not of Vulcan but of Earth. When we are together, here,” he glanced at the bed, “I am not Vulcan.”
“Even Vulcans have sex, Spock.”
“Yes, they do.” He raised an eyebrow almost mockingly. “But as you are so fond of saying, we do not ‘have sex,’ we make love.”
Kirk rose and approached Spock. He couldn’t remember ever being as angry as he was now. “I never thought I’d have those words thrown in my face, though. I knew there were things about our relationship that made you uncomfortable; even I’m not that dense. But I tried my damnedest to make it as easy on you as I could. I gave you every opportunity to talk about it.” He rubbed his temple, fighting a headache, fighting the urge to lash out physically. “Damn it, Spock, why the hell didn’t you ever say anything?”
“What was I to say? That I did not desire what we had? I did. I did not wish to lose you. Instead, I found I was losing myself.”
“No, not yourself,” Kirk remarked bitterly. “Only your Vulcanness. But you’re half human, too.”
“I am quite aware of that fact, Jim. If I were not, there would never have been a need for this discussion because we would never have come together to begin with.”
Kirk felt like he’d been slapped. “It’s only your Terran half that loves me? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Perhaps.” Spock’s answer was barely a whisper. He cleared his throat. “But perhaps that is what I need to ascertain. I need to know who and what I am, where it is I belong.”
“And how were you planning on doing that once we got back to Earth?” Kirk froze as realization dawned. “You weren’t going to stay on Earth, were you?”
Spock looked away.
“You were planning on leaving me and you weren’t going to say a word.” Kirk turned and moved back to his desk. He couldn’t stand being near his lover anymore. “I never took you for a coward, Spock.”
“I wished to spare you this.”
“This? This? What do you think I was going to be feeling when I got to Earth and suddenly realized you weren’t there anymore?”
Neither man spoke after that. What, after all, was there to say? If after all this time Spock still didn’t know what he wanted, what could Kirk possibly say that would make any difference now? He only wondered how he could have missed all the signs. It was all so apparent now that everything was falling apart. Well, if Spock needed an end to it, he’d give him one.
“You should be able to put up with me for two more days but I’ll try to stay out of your way.”
“Jim—”
“Let me finish. You may not know what you want but I do. And a lover who isn’t sure if he wants me or not isn’t it. So you go ahead and continue with whatever plans you’ve made; I won’t stand in your way. Hell, I’ll help you pack.” He swallowed hard. Only one more thing to say. “I don’t want to sleep with you, Spock, so if you can use your old quarters I’d appreciate it. If not, I’ll find somewhere else to bunk down.”
Spock looked like he was about to say something but then only nodded his head.
Kirk started for the door. “I’m going for a walk. I’ll expect you out of here when I get back.”
Kirk carried himself forward, most of his energy going to putting one foot in front of the other, and was so very glad the corridors of the ship were usually empty this time of the evening. He didn’t know if he could carry off normal right now. Tomorrow. He’d have it together by tomorrow.
Two years; two very short, very happy years. He had thought they’d have forever.
“Mr. Doyle?”
Doyle came awake at the feeling of someone touching his arm. He opened his eyes, squinting into the too bright lights above him. He looked to his side. Dr. McCoy stood next to the bed with—Doyle thought a moment—right, he remembered, Nurse Chapel slightly behind him.
McCoy smiled. “How are you feeling?”
Doyle stretched and sat up. “Rested. Clear-headed,” he added with surprise.
“The drug’s finally out of your system now.”
“You make a habit of drugging your patients, do you?”
“Only the ones that need it,” McCoy responded without missing a beat. “Do you think you’re up to some conversation?”
Doyle shoved the covers aside, not caring that there was a woman in the room and that all he was wearing were his briefs and some sort of hospital gown. “Where are my clothes?”
“Right here.” Chapel stepped forward, a bundle of clothes in her arms that Doyle hadn’t noticed before. “We had them cleaned.”
He nodded his thanks, taking the clothes and slipping from the bed.
“That will be all, Nurse.” McCoy remarked.
With a grin, Chapel left the room and Doyle hurriedly removed the gown. He examined the shirt. It looked better than it had brand new. He shrugged into it and began buttoning it up. “Can I see Bodie now?”
“There’s a few things we need to discuss first, but then I’ll take you to your partner.” McCoy seemed to hesitate.
“What’s the matter?”
“That’s one of the things we need to discuss. The medical procedure we used on Bodie involves placing him in a chamber to promote healing. But when first removed from it, a patient is usually quite pale and listless. It’s going to take a few days for him to be completely healed and back to normal.”
“But you said he was all right,” Doyle remarked as he zipped up his jeans and then slipped his shoes on.
“He is. Come on, this won’t take long.”
Doyle was led into the next room, a small office with a work area and a couple of chairs. McCoy went around and took the one on the other side while Doyle made himself comfortable in the other one.
McCoy sat back in his chair and smiled.
“You were going to tell me something?” Doyle asked.
“Uh, yes.” McCoy rubbed his chin. After a moment he leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk. “Have you ever had a close encounter?”
“A what?”
McCoy grimaced. “Do you believe there’s life on other planets?”
Doyle’s eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to tell me you’re from another planet? Pull the other one, mate.”
“You don’t believe that life could exist on other planets?”
“I hadn’t given it much thought.”
“Well, think about it.”
Doyle did. It certainly would explain how they’d managed to save Bodie’s life. Still, he’d need more than McCoy’s word. “So, if you’re from another planet, where’s your space ship?”
“You’re on it.”
“Doesn’t feel like it.”
McCoy gave him a penetrating look. “You ever been on a space ship before?”
“Well, no.”
“There you go.”
“How did I get here? I don’t remember boarding a space ship.”
“What do you remember?”
“I remember,” he frowned in concentration. “I remember sitting on the kerb, Bodie in my arms. He was dying. Then...” Doyle closed his eyes. “I was in a room. We were on a platform of some kind. There were people there and they were trying to take Bodie away from me.” Doyle’s eyes popped open. “It was like magic. One minute I was on the street, the next here.”
“You were transported. Don’t ask me how it works because I don’t have a clue. But somehow it takes you apart and puts you back together somewhere else.”
“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
McCoy snorted. “Can’t say I blame you. Listen, I know there’s a lot of things you’d like to know, a lot of things which, unfortunately, I can’t tell you but maybe this will help.”
McCoy rotated the terminal on his desk so that it was facing Doyle, He thought it looked a lot like the new ones CI5 had only recently installed. The doctor flipped a switch and an image instantly appeared.
It was of the Earth. Not a still picture, but what Doyle imagined the American astronauts must have seen on their way to the moon.
“That’s magnified a bit. We’re slightly outside the moon’s orbit.”
Doyle didn’t know what to think. Either this was some sort of elaborate hoax, or he really was on a space ship. “I don’t know what to think.”
“When it comes right down to it, does it really matter? All you need to know is that you’re here and your friend’s going to be just fine.”
Doyle took a breath. This was more than he could take in all at once. But there was one thing he still wanted to know. “Can I see Bodie now?”
~~~~~
Bodie lay on the only bed in the room, a still, pale form who barely seemed to be breathing. Doyle approached the bed and gently placed his hand on Bodie’s chest. He could feel Bodie’s strong heart beating. He grinned in relief. “I thought he’d be awake.”
“You can wake him if you like.”
“Bodie. Bodie, wake up.” Doyle looked back over his shoulder. “Why won’t he wake up?”
“He will, son. Just give him a few minutes.”
Doyle turned his attention back to his partner. “Come on, you lazy sod. Wake up.” Doyle lightly shook Bodie’s shoulder. Doctor McCoy said he was fine, after all, and Doyle didn’t want to be by himself any more, in this strange place they’d found themselves in.
Bodie groaned and, batting away Doyle’s hand, resettled on his side, his back to him.
“Maybe you should let him sleep awhile longer.” McCoy was standing at the foot of the bed, his attention on the panel above Bodie’s head. “He’s going to need quite a bit of rest for a day or two.”
Doyle scowled. Not bloody likely. “He’s just fakin’ it. Come on, Bo-day.” He dragged out Bodie’s name the way he knew his partner hated. “Time to get up.”
“Go ‘way, Doyle.” Bodie tried pulling the covers up over his head but Doyle grabbed the blanket and held on. After a moment, Bodie gave it up. With a disgusted grunt he turned to face Doyle and froze. “Where are we?”
Doyle grinned. “You wouldn’t believe it, mate, not in a hundred years.”
“Try me.” He sat up and gave McCoy a dark look. “Who are you?”
McCoy moved to stand next to Doyle. “Dr. Leonard McCoy.”
“Doctor?” Bodie ran his hands over his chest, then looked at Doyle. “I’m in hospital?”
“You were shot. Don’t you remember?”
“Not really.” Bodie glanced at McCoy. “He fix me up?”
McCoy cleared this throat. “Yes, and if you don’t mind I’d like to check you over.” He gave Doyle a slight shove and took his position next to the head of the bed. He took out a small devise and started running it over Bodie’s body.
Doyle, who had switched places with McCoy so had a good view of his partner, had to try very hard not to laugh at the look on Bodie’s face. But he imagined it wasn’t much different from the one that had been on his face not so very long ago.
“Can I get up now?” Bodie asked once McCoy had finished.
“I’m afraid not. I’d like to run a couple of tests first. Once I’ve got the results, I’ll release you into the care of your partner.”
“Hear that? You’re in charge of taking care of me.” Bodie smiled playfully.
“It’s nothing I haven’t been doin’ for years. You need a keeper, you do.”
“How about getting me something to eat then? I’m starving.”
Doyle rolled his eyes. He’d wondered when Bodie’s stomach would demand attention.
“I’m afraid that’s going to have to wait awhile, too. I don’t want you eating until the test results are back,” McCoy interjected. “I’ll get Nurse Chapel to stay with you until then. Be right back.”
Bodie watched McCoy leave and didn’t speak until he was out of the room. “Yeah, I’m in hospital all right.” Bodie sunk down against the pillows behind him. “I’m going to waste away to nothing.”
“Hardly that. I’ll tell you what, Dr. McCoy is taking me to breakfast after he’s done with you. I’ll make sure they bring you something.”
“That’s it, rub it in.” Bodie brightened. “You going to bring me some grapes?”
“‘Fraid not, mate. I don’t think they have grapes where we are.”
At that, Bodie finally gave the room a look. “Where are we, Ray?”
Doyle really did try to keep a straight face. “We’re on a spaceship.”
Bodie just gave him a blank look.
“I’m not kidding. We’re on a bloody spaceship.”
“Ray, cut it out. It’s not funny.”
Doyle sat on the edge of the bed. Suddenly, it really wasn’t all that funny. He laid his palm flat against Bodie’s chest. “You were shot, right here. Don’t you remember?”
He appeared only puzzled at first, as he grasped at memories, then Doyle saw something like fear appear on his lover’s face and knew that Bodie remembered.
Bodie brought his hand up and closed it over Ray’s. “I thought I was dying.” He frowned and his eyes sought Doyle’s. “You were crying.”
Doyle shrugged. “Yeah, well, you know me. Can’t seem to keep the waterworks off.” He brought his free hand up to touch his lover’s cheek. “But I don’t think I truly believed that you were going to be all right until this moment. They saved you. You should have died, would have died in any hospital on Earth. Yet here you are, less than a day later and it’s if it never happened.”
“I feel fine.”
“They’ve got the most amazing stuff, Bodie, like you’ve never seen before. I thought they were lying at first, telling me you’d be okay.” He bit his lower lip, his control tenuous. “I was sure you were going to die. But Dr. McCoy worked on you and then put you in some sort of machine and now,” he shook his head, still awed by it all. “Now, you’re all right.”
“So, who shot me?”
“Um...”
“You don’t know, do you?”
“Wasn’t really thinking too much about it, Bodie, what with you bleeding’ all over the street. Besides, they brought us up here before I knew what was happening.”
Bodie moved Doyle’s hand away from his chest and pulled open the front of the outfit he found himself in. The area was unmarred. “There’s not even a scar.” He looked back at Doyle. “So, we’re on a spaceship. Where they from?”
“Dunno. They won’t tell me.”
Bodie gave him a tight smile. “But we’re going to find out, aren’t we, mate?”
Doyle smiled back. “What do you think?”
Kirk scanned the room as he entered the officer’s mess. It was almost empty as usual, the main reason he’d told Bones to meet him here with their guest. The less contact Doyle had with the rest of the crew the better. And, to tell the truth, Kirk wasn’t much in the mood for company, either.
He got himself a cup of coffee from one of the food slots and headed for a table at the back. His yeoman would be by soon with breakfast. Settling in his seat, he slowly took a sip of the hot liquid as he looked around. A couple of tables over, Giotto was having a quiet conversation with his newest security recruit. To their left, Lieutenant DeSalle sat, his fork held halfway to his mouth as he perused some sort of report. Mr. Scott seemed to have infected his assistant with his own single-mindedness; DeSalle was getting just as bad as the chief engineer when it came to his off-duty activity.
Kirk sighed and rubbed his neck. DeSalle wasn’t the only one focusing too much on one thing, or make that one person. Spock. Since the night before Kirk had been unable to think of anything else.
What the hell had gone wrong? Spock had been happy; Kirk would bet everything he had on that. When had their being together become such a problem that the Vulcan had decided his only recourse was to return to his home planet? Because Kirk was very sure that’s where Spock would end up. Which made no sense to him. Vulcan had made it pretty clear where they stood in regards to Spock’s Vulcanness.
And what was he supposed to do? Pretend everything was just fine and go on with his life? He wanted another mission but what would it be like with someone else at his side? He cringed at the idea. Spock, the Enterprise, they were tied together in Kirk’s mind. He didn’t know if he wanted one without the other.
No, strike that. He’d take Spock any way he could get him.
The doors to the mess slid open and McCoy entered with Doyle in tow. Glad for the distraction, Kirk studied the man with his CMO as they approached him. There was a certain look of confusion on Doyle’s face; well, Kirk supposed that was to be expected. But beneath that there was still that hard resolve Kirk had caught a glimpse of on the planet.
“Hey, Jim.” McCoy grabbed a chair and sat, motioning Doyle to do the same.
“‘Morning, Bones.”
“I don’t think you two were properly introduced yesterday.” McCoy nodded toward Doyle. “Captain Kirk, meet Ray Doyle. Ray Doyle, Captain James Kirk.”
“Mr. Doyle.” Kirk nodded his head in acknowledgment. He wondered if Doyle even remembered his presence in sickbay the day before. “I hope you and your partner are doing better today.”
“Dr. McCoy says Bodie just needs rest now.” He stared at Kirk a moment. “You’re the one who brought us here.”
“That’s right. I’m sorry you got involved with all this. We never imagined our little expedition would end up causing injury to anyone.”
McCoy looked about to respond to that slightly edited version of the truth when Kirk’s yeoman approached the table with their meals. “Ah, breakfast.” McCoy uncovered his plate and grinned at Kirk. “You remembered.”
“I don’t see how you can eat that stuff.” Kirk turned to Doyle. “Is steak and eggs all right? I wasn’t sure.”
“Doyle stared at his plate. “Um, sure.” He picked up his fork and hesitantly poked at the steak. “Is it from a cow?”
McCoy almost choked on his grits, while Kirk hid his smile. It hadn’t occurred to them that Doyle would, quite logically, think the food was from another planet.
“It’s perfectly safe, Ray,” McCoy assured. “Go ahead, eat it.”
After the first hesitant bite, Doyle seemed to be okay with his meal. But as he ate, he continued to survey the men and place around him. “On the way here Dr. McCoy told me there’s over four hundred people on the ship.”
Kirk kept himself from glaring at McCoy. That was certainly something Doyle had no reason to know. “That’s correct.”
Doyle studied the few other crew members in the room. “Where is everyone? On duty?”
“Most are at their stations, yes,” Kirk informed him.
“Military ship?”
Kirk was impressed. “Why do you think that?”
Doyle shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe because they all remind me of Bodie when he’s on duty. Fixated.”
“Your partner is in the military?”
“Was. Still very disciplined.” Doyle grinned. “Besides, I can’t see everyone wearing the same thing if they didn’t have to.”
“Good point,” McCoy responded.
Kirk gave him a look and then redirected himself to Doyle. “Be that as it may, we are more an exploratory vessel.”
“You come here to ‘explore’ my planet?” Doyle was suddenly very serious.
“No, Mr. Doyle, our coming here was completely by accident, I assure you.”
Doyle appeared to be willing to let it drop. “So, when can me and Bodie go back?”
“McCoy?” Kirk asked.
McCoy shook his head. “I already told him it would be a couple of days. His partner isn’t completely healed.”
Doyle tensed. “You said he was fine.”
“He is, he is. But your planet doesn’t have the necessary facilities if something were to go wrong. As long as you’re on board this ship, he’s perfectly safe.”
“You telling me we’re stuck here?”
No, not exactly,” McCoy temporized.
“What’s that supposed to mean, ‘not exactly’? Are you planning on holding us here?” Doyle scowled at Kirk.
Kirk leaned forward, planting his forearms on the table. “We don’t want to do that, Mr. Doyle. And right now, it doesn’t look like we’ll have to. Let’s make sure it stays that way, shall we?”
Doyle’s gaze swung from Kirk to McCoy and then back. “You tellin’ me as long as we don’t cause trouble—”
“You won’t have anything to worry about.”
McCoy kept finding himself glancing at their passenger as he led Doyle to his cabin. It was, dare he say it, fascinating to watch the man in action. He missed nothing as they traversed the corridors of the Enterprise, studying the face of everyone they passed, marking doors and passageways. The drugs were finally all out of his system and a full meal had done the rest. Doyle had wanted answers and talking to his partner had only made him worse. But his time with the captain had exacerbated the problem.
Kirk may have thought he’d settled the matter; if he did, he was sadly mistaken. McCoy only had to look at Doyle to know the man’s innate determination was not to be denied. The slightly fuzzy-headed charmer he had said goodnight to last night had been replaced this morning with a sharp-witted and dangerous man and Doyle had kept McCoy on his toes as he’d attempted to pry the truth out of him.
What McCoy didn’t understand was Kirk not seeing that. His friend was usually a master at reading people. Something was definitely off. And what was with the threat? He had thought Doyle was going to come unglued. It had surprised McCoy, and Kirk by the looks of it, when the man had passively accepted his situation.
And where the hell had Spock been? Usually, whenever Kirk planned on taking on someone, Spock was right there next to him.
“What’s with the crawl spaces?” Doyle stopped, disrupting McCoy’s musings.
“They’re maintenance conduits.”
“To fix things on the ship? Mind of I take a look?” Doyle started to climb into the cramped access point.
McCoy grabbed his arm. “Uh, better not. You might disconnect something. Come on. Maybe Mr. Spock can show you around later.”
Doyle reluctantly came along but only after casting a last glance at the portal. “Mr. Spock? Have I met him?”
Have you ever. “He was with Captain Kirk on th—, on your planet.”
“The one with the wool cap? He did something to me, didn’t he?” He massaged his neck, as if the pain was still there. “Gave me an awful headache.”
McCoy nodded. “Yeah, it does tend to have that effect. But I’ll let him explain it,” he stated as the doors to the cabin opened. “Ah, speak of the devil.”
Spock was seated at the computer terminal. The cover was off and parts of it lay on the desk. “Dr. McCoy.”
“Spock, you remember Mr. Doyle, don’t you?” McCoy grinned.
Spock stood up. “Mr. Doyle.”
McCoy had to admit, Doyle had nerve. There was only a fraction of a second of hesitation before he extended his hand. “Mr. Spock.”
“I’m afraid Vulcans don’t shake hands,” McCoy said before Spock could comment.
“Sorry.” Doyle pulled his hand back and looked at McCoy. “If he’s Vulcan, what are you?”
“I’m sure you’ve never heard of the place.”
Doyle grimaced. “It’s not bloody likely.” He turned his attention to Spock who had retaken his seat and started working again. “Something wrong with the computer?”
“Mr. Scott was unable to complete the restructuring of the temperature controls due to a problem with one of the original components.”
“So, how come he’s not doing it?” McCoy asked.
“Captain Kirk felt his presence was needed elsewhere.”
Now that was odd. He’d have to ask Kirk about that. “You going to be here awhile, Spock?”
“I should be able to complete the repairs in fifty-four point seven minutes.”
“Great, I have to see to my patient. Why don’t you show Doyle here how everything works? Once you get it working that is.”
“That would be agreeable.” Spock didn’t even look up.
Doyle clearly didn’t like that. “Why can’t I go with you?”
“You’re going to need to know how to make certain things work: the lights, the shower. After that, Spock can take you to sickbay. If you like, you can stay there until I’m ready to release Bodie.”
Reluctantly, Doyle agreed and McCoy left his charge with the Vulcan. He didn’t know which one he felt sorrier for, Doyle, for having to put up with Spock’s facade of non-emotion, or Spock, who was going to have to use every ounce of Vulcan logic to keep Ray’s curiosity at bay. He chuckled. It would serve them both right.
Doyle tried to keep his attention on the screen while Spock attempted to teach him the finer points of the machine. But he kept finding his eyes sliding over to study the man next to him. Especially the ears. Couldn’t help it, could he? It wasn’t every day you saw someone with ears like that.
He took another furtive glance. They were really rather nice once you got used to them. Esthetic. Probably pulled the birds like no one’s business.
“Certain areas have been closed to your voice patterns but that should not prove an inconvenience.”
Doyle snapped back to attention. “Is there a problem with us knowing too much?”
“Indeed. Your planet is at a rudimentary level of development in many areas. There is much you could glean from the computer which could prove devastating if it were to fall into unscrupulous hands.”
Doyle scowled. “Ta very much, mate. Why would you think I’d do that?”
Spock’s look was part amusement, part compassion. “Would you know what was safe to pass on to another and what was not?”
He hadn’t thought of that. He had realized almost from the start of the lesson that there was much he didn’t know about their technology but he’d assumed it would be only a matter of memorization, not that some of it might be beyond his ability to understand. He didn’t like the way it made him feel.
His thoughts must have shown on his face.
“Do not feel disparaged, Mr. Doyle. Your planet, your people, will reach this level one day. It in no way diminishes your worth because you have yet achieved it.”
“That’s easy for you to say. But what happens to me and Bodie if we have to stay here? We wouldn’t know enough to do hardly anything, much less what we do now. I could just see the two of us, hauling rubbish or sweepin’ streets.” He grimaced. “If you even have jobs like that where you come from.”
Spock pressed his lips together, looking down for a moment before responding. “It would be extremely difficult, but not impossible, for either of you to find employment at anything above the most menial of labors—at first. But you are not unintelligent men and if you are forced to stay, we would make it an absolute priority to train you in any endeavor you wish to pursue.”
Even feeling as he did, Doyle had to laugh at that. “I could see Bodie demanding a ship of his own or to be put in charge of your weapons. He’d be like a kid in a candy store.” He sobered. “It would take years, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, only the best are accepted for duty on a starship.”
“Is that what this is?” Doyle looked around the room. “A starship?”
“That is its colloquial name. This particular ship is of the Constitution class.”
So much for their priorities. Wherever he and Bodie ended up, they wouldn’t be these people’s problem. No space travel for them, only lives spent forever trying to catch up. It was a depressing thought. “If we can’t go back, where will you be taking’ us?”
“That will be up to Captain Kirk but I assume to the nearest starbase. After that, to whichever planet the authorities felt was best suited for your particular needs.”
Doyle gave Spock a speculative look. “What about your planet?”
Spock appeared to draw into himself. “You would not care for my planet, Mr. Doyle.”
“Why not?”
“To begin with, it is quite a bit hotter than what you’re used to and the air is thinner.”
“Yeah, Bodie probably wouldn’t like that. Says he had enough of hot climates while in Africa. Dumb crud went and got himself stuck there for awhile.” He eyed Spock again, giving his ears another look. “Do they all look like you?”
That brought a slight thaw. “All Vulcans ears are as mine are. It is believed they took this form in order to facilitate the collecting of sound waves in the thinner atmosphere.”
“Makes sense.” He thought about Spock’s first words. “You said, ‘to begin with.’ There’s more?”
“Vulcans follow the tenet that calls for the suppression of emotions. You do not strike me as the type of person who would find such a place conducive to your well being.”
Doyle shook his head. “No, that wouldn’t do at all. Bodie might like it, though. Fit right in with being cool.”
“‘Cool’?”
“Yeah, mad bastard thinks he can’t be provoked.” He chuckled. “I don’t imagine he counted on me getting to him, though. It’s a treat getting Bodie going sometimes.”
“I do not understand. I was given the impression you and he were close.”
“We are.”
“Then why would you wish to deliberately aggravate him?”
“I—he does it to me,” Doyle shot back. “Doesn’t mean anything. Besides, someone has to keep him from getting too full of himself.”
“Then you are not close.”
“Of course we are! Wouldn’t take the trouble if we weren’t. It’s just that he needs taking down a peg from time to time.”
“So you confound him for his own good, is that correct?”
“Right.” Doyle brightened. “‘For his own good.’ Good way of putting it.”
Spock raised an eyebrow. “Fascinating. On the surface, your relationship appears to be built on a mutual animosity. Yet, in reality, it is used to conceal a deep affection.”
Doyle felt his face redden. “Getting awfully personal, aren’t you, mate?”
It almost looked liked Spock wanted to smile. Almost. Instead, he turned back to the computer. “Perhaps you are right. Come, we should continue your lesson.”
Kirk entered sickbay to find McCoy busy at his desk. “How are our two guests?”
McCoy looked up. “Bodie’s still asleep; Ray’s with Spock.”
“With Spock? What’s he doing with Spock?”
“I asked Spock to show him how everything works.” He glanced at the chronometer. “Though I thought they’d be done by now.”
“I’m surprised he went along with it.”
McCoy studied his captain. After a moment he put down his stylus and leaned back in his chair. “Take a seat, Jim.”
Kirk grimaced but sat down, anyway. McCoy could be like a dog with a bone when it came to ferreting out Kirk’s problems. He might as well get it over with. “I’ve just got a few minutes.”
“Why’s that? We’re just sitting out here in space, waiting for that thing to come back, aren’t we?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
“Our guests?”
Kirk nodded. “That’s part of it. I know I handled Mr. Doyle badly at breakfast; he’s obviously not the type to take threats well. But right now I just want to get through the next two days so we can go home.”
“You said part of it. What’s the other part?”
“Spock.”
McCoy rolled his eyes. “Now, why am I not surprised? What’s he done now?”
“He’s leaving.”
“Leaving? The ship?”
“The ship, Starfleet...me.” Kirk drew a deep breath. “Seems he doesn’t know who he is anymore.”
“Damn that man! I knew he’d pull something like this.”
Kirk frowned. “You knew? How come you knew and I didn’t?”
“Because you’re too blasted close, that’s why. Jim, he’s been dropping hints left and right for months now.”
“So why didn’t you say anything to me?”
“What was I supposed to say?” McCoy bristled. “You were so all-fired in love, you couldn’t see what was right in front of you. You certainly weren’t going to believe me when I told you your lover showed every sign of bolting.”
“Like what?”
“Like what? Like finding any excuse to be on another shift—”
“That was because the mission was ending. He needed to be in the labs.”
“That’s hogwash and you know it. He was avoiding you. And even I could see how super-Vulcan he was acting around you. Not around anyone else, just you. If that didn’t tell you something, I don’t know what would.”
Kirk was stunned. “I didn’t know it was just me.”
“That’s when I knew there was trouble, Jim. Because, around me, he was the same as he’s always been. Whatever was wrong, it had something to do with you. What else could it be but that he was having trouble accepting your relationship?”
“I don’t know what to do, Bones. He’s planning on going back to Vulcan, I’m sure of it.”
“What for? They’re not all that crazy about him there, either.”
Kirk ignored the sarcasm. “That’s what I don’t understand. Why go back? They’ve got more problem with him not being full-Vulcan than he has.”
“Is that what he told you, that your relationship makes him feel less Vulcan?”
“Basically.”
McCoy got up and walked over to where he stored his liquor. “I know it’s early but I think we both need one of these.” He poured them both a drink and brought them over, handing Kirk his. “Cheers.”
Kirk only snorted before draining the glass. He stood up. “I better go. Mr. Scott’s waiting for me in engineering. Seems there was a problem with the modifications to the VIP quarters.”
“That’s right. Which reminds me, why Spock? How come you didn’t have Scotty go himself?”
“I didn’t think it was a good idea. We’re pushing our luck as it is. Introducing our two guests to our chief engineering officer....”
“Ah, I think I know where you’re coming from. A bit too close to home, as it were.”
“Exactly. I’ll see you later, Bones.”
Kirk was almost to the door when it flew open.
“...wasn’t even thinking about that, I was so worried about Bodie.” Doyle slowed his steps when he saw Kirk.
Doyle had entered with Spock at his side, the two in the middle of a discussion, one Spock was apparently enjoying if you went by his relaxed manner. It just made Kirk feel worse.
The Vulcan looked Kirk’s way and stopped just inside the door. “Captain.”
“Spock, Mr. Doyle.”
Doyle glanced at Spock and then looked at Kirk. His eyes narrowed. Kirk thought he was going to say something but instead the man only nodded and went around him to approach McCoy. Kirk could hear Doyle asking about his partner but Kirk’s full attention was on the Vulcan before him.
“Did you finish the repairs?” Of course he did. Kirk was only thing Spock had left undone.
“Yes, sir.” A slight hesitation. “If you will excuse me.” Spock left without giving Kirk time to refuse his request.
Kirk moved out into the corridor and watched his lover walk away. When Spock was out of sight, Kirk turned in the other direction and set his steps towards engineering.
On to Part 3
