From: g92n3258@giraffe.ru.ac.za (MR RL NICOL)
Subject: A Matter of Differences: Part Two
Organization: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
Distribution: World
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 16:14:29 GMT

I decided to get it over and done with, so this is the second and last part 
of "A Matter of Differences".  It's a pity that this isn't a similiar 
programme to what I wrote it on, as the story seems to have gone haywire 
when transferred to this system.  The result is a tiring task of trying to 
peice it together.  Still, I hope to do some more writing on this system, so 
hopefully this won't be the last you hear from me.  It's thoroughly 
enjoyable to play around with the characters, and considering the amount of 
stories passing through here, I'm definitely not the only one who feels this 
way.

Enough blathering and on with the story; comments and flames invited.

Ryan.

R 65,T 5
A MATTER OF DIFFERENCES: PART TWO.


The next thing he felt was a boot connecting with his jaw, which
caused a shock-wave of pain to travel through his skull.  He
tried opening his eyes, but a blinding light prevented him from
finding out where he was or who had kicked him in the head.

"Get up!"  The sound of a muffled voice said in an accent that he
couldn't quite place.

Kirk managed to roll over  into a sitting position on the edge of
the bunk on which he had been lying.  No sooner had he done so,
than a huge hand grabbed his neck and threw him against a
bulkhead at the opposite end of the room in which he was in.

"Wake up, you human dog!" The voice yelled once more.

Kirk rubbed his bruised jaw and once more tried to look up at his
tormentor.  This time the blinding light did not prevent him from
seeing the owner of the muffled voice.  The muscular being was
approximately two metres tall.  Other than that, Kirk could
discern no more information, as it was enrobed in a thick, rough
material that was dark in colour and gave the alien a menacing
appearance.  Its head was covered with the same coarse-looking
material.  Only over his mouth and eyes were there anything other
than dark clothing.  The mouth was covered by a metal grid,
through which Kirk could make out thin, cruel lips that had been
disfigured in such a way that they were covered with scars, and
at one corner were bloated and had a blue tinge to it.  The
humanoid's eyes were covered with a similiar looking metal plate
that more resembled a visor than a grid.  Through the visor, Kirk
saw two piercing eyes, unmerciful and despising.  There was no
doubt in his mind.  The Raagziin had returned.

"Get to your feet!  The Commander is waiting."  As if to enforce
his demand, the bestial alien moved forward towards the stunned
starship captain.

Kirk managed to haul himself up by holding onto the bulkhead
against which the Raagzin had just thrown him.

"I'm up." He managed to say, wanting anything but to be once more
thrown to the deck.

The Raagzin didn't stop moving towards him.  Instead, it once
more grabbed him around his neck and dragged him towards the door
of the room.  It hissed open.  Much like the ones on board the
Enterprise, he thought.

Before allowing Kirk to step into what seemed like a corridor in
front of him, the alien took a large peice of cloth and wrapped
it tightly around the captain's head.  Kirk gasped for air, but
the Raagzin didn't seem to be phased by the fact that it's
captive was struggling to maintain consciousness.  Instead, it
propelled him forward and through the door.


Kirk was led down various corridors and into three different
elevators, blind to where he was going and what was going on
around him.  He didn't try to struggle, as he knew that it would
have been useless.  The Raagzin had a tight hold on him, and even
if he did manage to break free, where could he go?  Besides, he
didn't want to get this particular Raagzin angry.  At least not
until he could meet the alien on equal footing.

They finally came to a halt, and Kirk once more heard the hiss of
an opening door.  The Raagzin pushed him forward into the
darkness that had surrounded him ever since he had left the
Quarters in which he had been placed.

"Rhul," came a strong, commanding voice from a few metres in
front of him, "Take that scheylark off his head.  Let the animal
live as it pleases.  It only dishonours itself."

The voice sounded smug and cruel.  Yet there was a certain
intelligence in it.  An intelligence that couldn't be discerned
in Rhul, Kirk thought to himself.

The large peice of material was quickly removed from Kirk's head,
and he took in a deep breath of air.  What he had been breathing
for the last ten minutes had been nothing but stale air and he
fought to remain steady as the dizziness threatened to overwhelm
him.

"Welcome to my humble abode, human." He heard the smug-sounding
voice say, then looked up to locate its source.

He was surprised to see an uncloaked figure approaching him from
the dimness of a corner of the Quarters in which he had been
pushed - the Commanders Quarters, he assumed.

"I am Commander Sakal." The Raagzin introduced himself.  Only
once the alien had moved into the centre of the room, which was
lighted, could Kirk see why the being did not wear a so-called
scheylark.  The Commander had been so horribly and grotesquely
disfigured, that for a moment Kirk had to fight against a feeling
of nausea.  Massive cuts were evident all over the Raagzin's
face, and it seemed as if huge chunks of skin and flesh had been
removed from his face, which had then been left unaided in its
attempts to heal itself.  But it wasn't the fact that the face
was disfigured that shocked Kirk, but the neatness and precision
with which the disfigurement had been done.  He had been prepared
for this since Spock's debriefing on the Raagziin race, but
confronting it was an entirely different matter from merely
discussing what was to Kirk nothing short of mutilation.

"Sit down, Captain." Sakal said, motioning Kirk to a seat before
the desk which the Raagzin Commander had been sitting behind when
Kirk had come in.

Kirk didn't move.  Instead, he remained standing, staring
defiantly at Sakal, who had moved back to his previous position
behind his desk.

"I believe the human term is please."  The voice spoke,
threateningly.  It had not been a request.

"Why have you taken me prisoner?  What have you done with my
personnel who were with me on the surface?" Kirk asked, not
moving.

Sakal didn't answer.  He glanced over his captive's shoulder at
Rhul, who immediately wrapped a beefy, scarred hand round Kirk's
neck and tightened his grip until a cry of pain was forced from
Kirk's contorted body.  Rhul didn't ease his grip, but moved Kirk
over to the chair in front of the desk and dropped him in it.

"You will answer my questions, Captain.  Not I yours." Sakal
said, simply. "What were you looking for on the planet?  And
where is your ship?"

Kirk did not answer.

"You are little less than a worthless animal on this ship,
Captain." Sakal said, slowly. "So if you refuse to co-operate, I
will simply put you to sleep.  Permanently."

"What is it that you want with me?" Kirk managed to ask through
clenched teeth as he gently rubbed his neck.

Sakal looked down at his desk, trying to remain calm.  Finally,
he looked up at Kirk, his eyes filled with anger.  Yet he managed
to retain the unemotional tone in his voice.  "You do not ask
questions, Captain.  I talk and you listen.  I tell you what I
wish to tell you and nothing more."

The tension seemed to ease from his muscles, and he leaned back
in his chair, inspecting Kirk's smooth, unscarred face.

"You humans are a strange people, Captain.  You are willing to
see yourselves as the best that you are.  There's no need to
improve.  No higher standard." Sakal smiled, then continued, a
slightly mocking tone entering his voice. "And that's why you are
animals, Captain.  You've reached your peak.  And look at
yourselves.  Ugly and docile with a skin of a baby."

Kirk risked an attack from Rhul, saying: "We strive for higher
standards, Sakal.  But we do not concern ourselves with our
appearances as much as with what is within us.  True beauty lies
within, Commander, and it is this that we try to improve."

Sakal didn't seem to take offense at Kirk's rebuttal.  Instead he
seemed to enjoy it, and answered Kirk as if he were speaking to
something with little, if any, intelligence: "You're as weak as
you look, Captain.  Whether from inside or out.  You are an
animal."  He paused for a moment, then a slow grin began to
spread across his scar-ridden face.

"Perhaps you would like to become more civilised." He said as his
hand gently glided over the ridges from the surgical wounds on
his lips and chin.


Sulu stared out of the small enclosure in which he , Karen Palmer
and the two security gaurds had been placed.  Through the
shimmering of the force field before him, he could make out the
bulky figure of a Raagzin Security Gaurd.

So far, no one had bothered to pay them a visit or much less care
to come and inspect them.  All he could remember was the front
door to the building in which they were staying being blasted
open and four cloaked figures bursting in, stunning first the two
security gaurds and then Karen and himself.  He had been told
that the four other shuttlecraft that had been involved in the
search had been grounded by Raagziin fighter shuttles.  The
Enterprise's crafts had been involved in an aid and recovery
mission and were therefore carrying no weapons or defenses.  They
had been helpless against the Raagziin attack.  The survivors of
the ground vessels had been brought aboard the Raagziin starship
with him and the others, but where they were being kept was
beyond him.  Nor did he know what had happened to the Captain.

His thoughts were broken by the sliding door in the room outside
the enclosure opening, and another cloaked figure entering.  The
Raagzin approached the gaurd and spoke a few unintelligable
words, which were muffled by the grid he was wearing over his
mouth, then stared at Sulu.  The gaurd nodded, then turned and
moved towards the enclosure.  The other Raagzin took out a
familiar weapon, identical to the one which had stunned Sulu on
Reneva III, and held it in a steady, gigantic hand, ready to use
it if any of the captives tried to escape.

The gaurd turned a switch on the wall outside the enclosure, and
the force field disappeared.  By this time, the two security
gaurds and Lieutenant Palmer had joined Sulu at the front of the
enclosure, all staring defiantly at the two Raagziin.

The gaurd stepped forward, grasped Palmer by the wrist and pulled
her out of the cell, his grip so tight that the Enterprise's
relief communications officer let out a sharp cry of pain. 
Without lessening his grip, the gaurd turned to the control panel
set into the wall and once more turned the force field on.  The
shimmer returned and Sulu and the two security gaurds were once
more helplessly confined in the detension cell.


"Let me introduce you to Naguml, our Chief Mutilator." Sakal
said, then let out a laugh at his own joke.

The Raagzin Surgeon looked up at Kirk and Sakal with a smile.  At
first Kirk thought that the Raagzin was merely grotesquely
deformed through some genetic blunder.  It suddenly occurred to
him that the Surgeon's face had been surgically altered for the
very appearance that Kirk was seeing, and he found himself having
to once more fight off a wave of nausea.

Nagaml's face appeared to have a variety of growths on it.  The
one side of his forehead jutted out as if his skull had refused
to stop growing.  The same could be said for his chin.  As with
the Raagzin Commander, the Surgeon's face was scarred and cut. 
But that was not all.  The Raagzin's left ear had been cut away.

"An induced form of Paget's Disease?" Kirk inquired.

Sakal nodded as he moved over to Nagaml, who added: "But
controlled."

The Raagzin Commander grinned as he spoke: "And you, dear
Captain, are about to experience it."


"The USS Potemkin is signalling us, Mr Scott.  They're ready to
receive the cargo." Uhura said, turning from her station to face
the centre of the bridge.

Scott swivelled around in the command chair to look at the Ensign
who was manning the Science station.

Probably has plans to take over that position, Scott thought to
himself, but said: "Ensign Checov, have you received the
co-ordinates for the Potemkin's Cargo Hold."

"Coming in now, sir." Checov replied.

"Very well, Ensign.  Feed them into the Transporters so they can
beam th' stuff over as soon as possible."

Scott turned to face the star-filled view screen once more.  He
could see the starship Potemkin in the distance, seemingly tiny
against the vastness of space that lay behind it.

He wondered about Spock and McCoy.....


The beam of energy cut into Kirk's face, causing him to let out a
scream of pain.  Slowly it worked down the right side of his
face, from the far corner of his right eye to the corner of his
mouth.  It left behind a thick red scar that swelled up as the
flesh underneath was scorched by the heat.

It was over within seconds, but what it had left was painfully
obvious.  Sakal grabbed Kirk by the jaw as the surgical laser
turned itself off.

"I know how much you Earthers cherish your ugly features, but
that's going to change for you." He snarled. "Are you going to
tell me what I want to know?"

Kirk remained silent.  He simply stared at the angry Raagzin,
unable to defend himself, as his arms and legs were strapped down
to the table on which he had been placed.

"Are you going to answer me?" Sakal repeated.


The few buildings that made up the small town that Crawford had
spoken of were all covered with snow.  It would have almost
looked beautiful, but, to Spock, all it meant was survival. 
Since the time that Doctor McCoy had collapsed in the snow,
leaving Spock with no choice but to carry him, the Vulcan hadn't
taken the time to stop to check the doctor's pulse.  He had
carried on walking for the rest of the journey without a break to
rest or to eat.  At moments, the pain that he had so carefully
hid threatened to erupt inside of him.  He had squashed it down
mercilessly.  The bitter cold affected him more than it would
have a human, as he was used to a much higher temperature. 
However, he had managed to control the chill that his body felt
better than a human could have, and it was this that had allowed
him to keep moving.

But now the long journey was over.  He realized that there would
be nobody to help him, as the Enterprise had long since rescued
the miners and their families from this town, leaving it
deserted.  But at least there was shelter from the elements.  At
least they would have a better chance at survival.

The town was set out in a similiar manner to that of the other
town in which they had found Crawford.  Though the buildings did
not look exactly the same as the buildings in the other town, it
didn't take Spock very long to find the Communications and
Central Control building in this village.  It was the second
largest building and, as far as he could see, the tallest in the
town - three stories high.

The large front door was locked and Spock had to get in by
cutting the door open with his phaser.  It took seconds, and
before long, he and McCoy were inside.  After a brief search for
a bed, he managed to find one on the second floor.  He removed
McCoy's boots, then placed him in the bed, covering him with the
blankets, including the Doctor's thermo-blanket that had been
taken from the shuttlecraft.

Medical attention would have to come later, he thought, then
headed down to the first floor, where the communications
instruments were located.


Kirk touched the long, deep scar on the side of his face, then
immediately pulled his hand away.  The wound stung when touched.

It stung even when untouched, Kirk thought grimly.

Sakal noticed his pain, and moved to him while the Raagzin
Surgeon worked on the surgical laser.

"Normally the person undergoing the operation is sedated,
Captain.  We're not squeamish, believe me.  But if there is no
need for pain, then there is no reason to endure it."  Sakal
looked over his shoulder to Nagaml, and asked: "Is it ready for
Fhulbargn?"

Nagaml looked up and nodded.  Sakal turned to what looked
similiar to an Enterprise's intercom that was set into the wall
near them.

"Leyt tasth k'neish."

There was a moment of silence, then a nearby sliding door slid
open and two Raagzin security gaurds entered the room with
Lieutenant Palmer between them.

Sakal turned to face Kirk.  "I want those dilithium crystals. 
You may not talk to save your own skin, Captain." He smiled. "But
you will talk to save hers.  Especially since she will be
undergoing.... what did you call it?  An induced form of Paget's
Disease.  And, as with you, without sedation."

Kirk glanced over at the beautiful Karen Palmer.

"How would you like to have an elephant woman as an officer,
Captain?"


Karen Palmer lay on the Surgeon's table.  The surgical laser hung
above her, menacing to Kirk, but unknown to her.  She only knew
that it was not designed for pleasure.  Kirk's scar gave her a
hint of what could be coming her way.

"What kind of a person are you?" Kirk said, firmly.  He didn't
try to suppress his anger.  He couldn't.

"As far as I'm concerned, Captain, I'm doing her a favour.  You
may be scarred, but you're still an animal." Sakal spoke,
emotionlessly. "What I'm about to give her is very expensive. 
I'm going to raise her from an animal to something of importanceand
it won't even cost her a pethm."

Kirk faught to find some way of stalling the inevitable order.

"Where is your honour?  That concept is supposed to mean
something to your race.  So far all I've seen is butchery and
primal savagery.  You have the gull to call us animals when you
act no better!"

"Honour!" Sakal yelled.  For the first time, rage seemed to have
enveloped him. "Survival comes first, Captain.  How does honour
serve us if we are not alive to use it?"

Sakal started to move to Nagaml, who was stationed behind a
control station not unlike that of a transporter console, then
swung back to face Kirk.

"We're a poor race, Captain, with nothing to sustain us but the
dust covering our planet and the few colonies we managed to erect
before we met your mighty Federation!" He spat the words out.

"While our government talks of peace, our very culture - what we
are! - is being threatened." He stalked over to Kirk, glaring at
him. "Can you comprehend that, animal?  Extinction of everything
that you cherish, that you are."

"Your government is asking for aid..." Kirk began, but was cut
off by a roar from the enraged Raagzin Commander.

"Aid!  And where is our honour if we are forced to accept aid
from a form so bestial in nature as your own?"

Something suddenly dawned on Kirk.  "Then you're not acting on
behalf of your government?"

"If they knew of what we were doing and were caught, we would be
executed for being dishonourable." Sakal nodded, then continued.
"But those who take pleasure in the idea of aid and peace with
the human animal are far between, Captain.  And I assure you that
that radical element is being wiped out.  If we were caught now,
we would be shot.  At a later date, when we reveal all, we will
be commended."

Sakal turned to Nagaml as if to give him the order to proceed
with the operation when he was interrupted by a low whine from
the intercom system in the wall.

Sakal moved to it and flicked a switch.  A female's voice came
travelled out of the intercom grid, sounding as unemotional as a
Vulcan.

"Seyal t' kar'im."

Sakal hesitated for a second, then answered: "Kaya dae' leyfa
sjordul."

He closed the intercom channel, then turned to Nagaml: "We will
postpone the operation." He looked at Kirk, then added:
"Temporarily."

"I do not know exactly where the dilithium crystals are, Sakal."
Kirk said, tightly.

"You will talk, Captain." Sakal told him. "Even if you don't care
for her, the others are just as much a waste of space on a
cramped ship.  If you don't talk, they will die."

The Raagzin Commander strode out of the room and headed for the
Ship's Control Deck.


"This is First Officer Spock.  Come in Enterprise.  I repeat,
this is First Officer Spock.  Are you receiving me?"

Sakal grinned with satisfaction as the voice carried over his
ship's communications band.

"Ryet seyal k' reyeim?" He asked his Science Officer, Kathille, a
beautiful female.  She had a beautiful, dark complexion.  Her
scheylark hid that fact from view, but he nevertheless knew.

"Kalarm fey de'swar." She answered, not turning from her station
located below and in front of his own command console.

He swung around in his chair, as the voice of Spock continued to
filter in through the communications grid.

"Theyal t' sekarm.  Fherl a' gattal destrum." He told the officer
at the Security station, who nodded and left the Control Deck.

"Enterprise, are you receiving?  This is First Officer Spock
calling Enterprise.  Come in Enterprise...."


McCoy felt the hand grasp his shoulder and shake it firmly.  He
let out a moan, but otherwise continued to lie still.

"Doctor, wake up."

It was Spock.  McCoy rolled over from his side onto his back and
opened his eyes.

"What is it, Spock?"  Then, realizing that they weren't on the
Enterprise and recalling the past events, McCoy sat up and looked
around. "Where are we?"

"We have arrived at our destination, Doctor." Spock told him.
"However, the Enterprise has left.  There's no answer to any of
my calls."

McCoy was silent for a moment.  Finally, he said: "Could the
magnetic storm still be interfering with communications?"

Spock shook his head.  "Negative.  Though the sensor-range of the
equipment in this building is considerably less than the range of
the equipment in the other town, they are strong enough to tell
me that the storm is clearing.  If the Enterprise were up there,
they would have received my signals."

"They will be back once they've transferred the food supplies to
the Potemkin." McCoy said, hoping that Spock would confirm that
statement.

"It is possible." The Vulcan nodded. "However, it is just as
likely that Starfleet would send another vessel to come and find
us.  One specifically designed for rescue and recovery."

Spock got up and moved towards the door.

"And where are you going?" McCoy asked, attempting to get up as
well, but the sudden, excrutiating pain in his chest causing him
to fall back down onto his back.

"To find some food, Doctor.  Now that we have found shelter, our
next pre-requisite for survival is food."

"Spock." McCoy said as Spock once more turned to the door.  The
Vulcan turned around once again.

McCoy hesitated for a brief moment, then looked up at the First
Officer.

"Thanks."

Spock nodded and left.


With his thermo-blanket wrapped tightly around his body, Spock
braved the extreme cold once more.  He stepped out of the safety
of the building in which he had left McCoy and into the night,
heading across the iced-over road to another small row of houses
that had survived the Raagziin attack.  There had been no food
stored in the Communications and Central Control Building, and
Spock knew that that was what was needed to keep up both McCoy
and his strength.  They had both lost a lot of blood and had
travelled a great distance.  What was needed was both food and
rest.

He reached the small row of houses and entered the one nearest to
him.  He found himself in what seemed to be a large hallway,
empty except for one fairly large picture that hung on the wall
to his right.  It was dark and cold inside.  Even with his
excellent vision, Spock had trouble seeing.  Slowly, he began to
move down the narrow hallway, towards the door that was on the
opposite side of the corridor.  He had just reached the door when
a familiar sound floated through the open front door of the
house.

Someone transporting down!  He thought, with a brief sense of
excitement, which he promptly squashed.

Spock made for the front door as fast as he could, though keeping
silent.  He stared out into the night and managed to make out
five dark figures.  Their size and shapes gave them away.

Immediately Spock grabbed his phaser, ready to defend himself if
it became necessary.  However, the Raagziin began to head for the
building in which Spock had left McCoy.

As the Raagziin entered the other building, Spock slipped out of
the house and crossed the road silently.  Slowly, he moved
forward and stared through the ground-floor window of the
building.  A door on the far-side of the room which Spock was
looking into opened and the five cloaked figures re-appeared,
this time with McCoy.

Either he's been stunned or he's lapsed into unconsciousness,
Spock thought, hoping it was the former, as the latter would have
meant that McCoy's state had worsened.

He gripped his phaser tightly, ready to fire as soon as the five
figures stepped through the front door.  Instead, two of the
figures stopped in the centre of the room with McCoy and stood
still.  There was the familiar whine and they disappeared in a
shower of blue and green sparkles.  The other three figures moved
towards the front door.

There was only one thing to do.  Spock moved back around the
corner of the building.  He then lowered himself down onto his
haunches and leaned against the side of the building,
concentrating inward upon himself.  Then, just as silently, he
fell over into the snow.

His body was discovered almost immediately by the three Raagziin.


"The human is alive, barely.  He's lost a lot of blood and is
still bleeding internally at an incredible rate.  Three of his
ribs have been fractured and one my officers broke another by
mistake when they went to fetch him." Sakal said, watching Kirk's
face intently for any sign of emotion.

"He won't be helped unless you tell me where those dilithium
crystals are, Captain." He said, simply, then paused for a
reaction.

Finally, he continued: "Without medical treatment, he'll bleed to
death, filled up with blood, drowned in it."

The door buzzer sounded, and Sakal pressed a button on a panel
built into his desk.  The door to the cabin opened and a Raagzin
Security Gaurd who reminded Kirk of Rhul (Then again, all the
Security Gaurds reminded Kirk of Rhul; they all wore scheylarks.)
entered and stood at attention.

"Report." Sakal said.

The Security Gaurd's muffled voice flowed out of the mouth grid
of his scheylark.

"We discovered the Vulcan's body outside the building, Commander. 
It appears that he had died of the cold.  When we found him, we
could hear or feel no resperation or heartbeat."

Sakal was silent for a moment, then said: "Store him in the
dispensary.  Tell Nagaml that he can dissect the Vulcan whenever
he has the time.  Meanwhile he must prepare Lieutenant Palmer for
her operation."

The Gaurd left, and Sakal turned to Kirk.

"If you don't talk, Captain, the human will soon be joining your
Vulcan pet."


Lieutenant Kevin Riley sat quietly at his station, watching the
stars glide by across the viewscreen as the Enterprise headed
back towards Reneva III.  This was the life he had always wanted
to lead.  Be amongst the stars and away from civilisation.  Not
to be stuck on some distant planet where people were susceptible
to famine and drought.  Not to be on a planet where he could be
reminded of the horrors of Tarsus IV and of Kodos the
Executioner.  He had not wanted to admit to Kirk that their
recent mission that brought them into confrontation with Kirk and
his old nemesis had not affected his decision to transfer to the
Academy.  It had.  But it was what had happened to Lana Shemry
that had finally convinced him that he just didn't have what it
would take to continue voyaging on a starship, let alone get a
command of his own.

She had been under his command when he had taken a shore party
down to investigate the forbidding world of Alpha IV.  They had
been friends for a long time, and he had managed to wangle her
into the landing party partly due to the fact that he was
commanding it and partly because Kirk seemed to be want to give
him a chance to prove to himself that he had what it took to be
in command.  After the Kodos the Executioner incident, Riley had
had little self-confidence in himself.  He had requested a
transfer to a colony or base, but Kirk had refused, knowing that
it was merely the recent mission at Planet Q that had caused him
to lose confidence in his own abilities.  Kirk had given him the
oppurtunity to prove himself to himself on Alpha IV, and he had
messed up.  The result was three injured crewmen, one scarred for
life, and the failure of the mission.  But the thing that had hit
most was Lana Shemry's death.

He knew Kirk had a good idea of why he had asked for the
transfer, but he didn't care.  He was going to get it whether
Kirk wanted him to have it or not.

He only wished that he hadn't chosen such a bad time to ask for
the transfer.  If only he had known that Mr Spock and Doctor
McCoy were....

"Mr Riley, we'll be reaching Reneva III in two hours.  Tell
Shuttle Bay Control to be prepared to receive four shuttlecraft."
Scott's voice broke his train of thought.

"Aye, sir." Riley answered, and proceeded to press two buttons
down on his control panel.


Spock's eyes shot open, but he remained unmoving.  When he was
certain that he was alone and that nothing was watching him, he
sat up and looked around the room in which he had been placed. 
The table that they had placed him on was cold and made of solid
metal.  It was the only one in the room, which otherwise was bare
of any other objects.  Except in the far corner there was a small
table with various medical instruments on them.  Spock slid off
the table and moved over to the only door in the room.  There was
a small, rectangular glassed-over area on the door, which Spock
peered through.  In the room adjacent to his, he could make out
only one gaurd, covered in the strange cloak-like garb that the
Raagziin were renowned for wearing.

Spock leaned his head against the wall near to where the gaurd
was standing in the other room, and concentrated.  He didn't
place any thoughts or ideas in the gaurd's mind so much as a
feeling.  Slowly the gaurd stood up and walked over to the door
which would lead him into the room in which Spock was locked in.

He peered through the glass window, but the table lay out of
sight from where he was standing.  There was a buzz as the gaurd
entered the code which unlocked the door, then a hum as the door
slid open.

Spock was ready, and in a matter of seconds, the massive bulk of
an alien lay on the dispensary floor.  Spock quickly undressed
the Raagzin and covered himself in the cloak and Scheylark.

Within minutes, he was in the corridor of the Raagziin vessel.


Karen Palmer lay on the medical table, the surgical laser hung
above her, its nozzle aimed at her left cheek-bone.  Kirk stood
five metres away, Rhul gaurding him to make sure he didn't try
anything rash.  Sakal moved to where Nagaml was standing behind
the operating console for the surgical laser.

"Are you ready?"

Nagaml nodded.  He even seemed a little eager.

Sakal turned to face Kirk and said: "This is your last chance,
Captain.  Or hers at least."

Kirk suddenly lunged forward toward the medical table, but Rhul's
huge arms snaked round his body and held him fast.  Kirk
struggled vainly with the huge Raagzin Security Gaurd, then
finally managed to grab hold of Rhul's scheylark.  He tugged at
it, but it didn't budge.  He yanked again, and this time the
scheylark came loose.  Rhul screamed, half through embarrassment
and half through rage, as he tried to cover his scarless face
with his cloak and at the same time recover his scheylark which
Kirk still held in his hands.

They don't pay their Security Gaurds too well, Kirk thought
grimly as he made another lunge for the medical table.  But this
time he was stopped by a beam of energy from the weapon in
Sakal's hand that stunned him, causing him to drop to the deck in
a heap.


When Kirk woke, he discovered that he was once more in the tiny
quarters in which he had first been placed when he had first
arrived on the Raagziin vessel.  Everything was as he remembered
it, right down to the intelligent bulkhead that was Rhul.  Kirk
corrected himself - merely a bulkhead.

The Raagzin gaurd eyed Kirk for a moment, then turned to an
intercom and spoke into it.  Kirk could hear the voice of Sakal
flowing out of the intercom grid, but what was said was gibberish
to him.

Rhul said something into the intercom, then switched it off and
turned to face Kirk.  He stayed where he was, but through the
slits in the scheylark Kirk could see that the Raagzin's eyes
were blazing with fury.  Kirk suddenly felt a tinge of regret at
having unmasked the massive gaurd.


The corridor was unlit except for the occassional thin lighting
panel that was built into the bulkhead of the great ship,
scattering a dim light on the surrounding metal.  Spock made his
way down the corridor, the dark cloak and scheylark and the
shadows of the sides of the corridor helping to conceal his
movements from any passers-by.  Not that there were any.  Since
he had moved out of the main corridor and into the elevator,
which he had then directed to this gloomy portion of the vessel,
he had not passed any Raagziin.

Spock was not concerned.  It was extremely logical.  The area in
which he was in was, after all, off limits.  He had managed to
short circuit the security devices that would have given his
presence away and was now moving slowly toward his goal.

It was a matter of minutes until he reached what would have been
called the Engineering section on the Enterprise.  Thirty minutes
later he had put five Raagzin engineers and two gaurds out of
commission and had successfully rigged a complex detonation
device, consisting of parts of the weapons which he had removed
from the Raagzin gaurds, around the computer panels that supplied
power to the engines, defense screens and weapons of the combat
craft.  He flicked a switch on the control board and ran.  The
very energy that the ship's engines created was used to trigger
the explosives.  As Spock entered the elevator, the explosion
rocked the ship, throwing him to the floor of the elevator.  The
loss of power to the Raagziin ship caused the lights to go out
momentarily and the elevator to stop.  In a moment they were back
on and the elevator was once more moving upwards to another
level.


Two seconds of realization was all that Sulu needed in order to
acknowledge the fact that the screen keeping them locked in the
detension cell had disappeared.  He pushed himself back onto his
feet and made a flying leap at one of the two gaurds that stood
in the small room outside the cell before they could draw their
weapons or before the screen could once more appear once reserve
energy power had been released.  With the help of Galloway and
Nguni, the two gaurds were soon unconscious.

Now to find the Captain and Lieutenant Palmer, Sulu thought to
himself as Galloway and Nguni covered themselves in the
Raagziin's cloak and scheylark.


Pitch darkness surrounded Kirk, who didn't waste an instant of
the few seconds given him.  He rolled off the bunk and onto his
feet in a single move, then leapt into the darkness, towards the
area where Rhul had been standing.  The security gaurd had been
trained to use brute force, that much was clear.  But intelligent
thinking and speed were two things the Raagzin gaurd did not
possess.  And in pitch darkness those were the things that
counted.  When the lights returned, Rhul's body lay in a crumpled
heap next to the bunk on which Kirk had been lying, his head
having made a sizable dent in the metal board below it.  Kirk
donned the cloak and scheylark, then made his way towards the
medical section in search of Lieutenant Palmer and the injured
McCoy.  Then he would find Sakal.....


"K'lah tha bakale!" Kathille cursed from her science post as she
picked herself off the deck.

"Ryet sa de'selam?" Sakal demanded from the entrance to the
Control Deck, where he had been thrown from the explosion that
had shaken the ship.

"Masler sai retara." Kathille responded as she studied the
readings that came pouring in from all areas of the ship.

"Dwar te pharm.  Se' Enterprise kwarm offi' se' gwarm!" The
Officer in front of Sakal yelled from his communications post.

So, Sakal thought with disgust, the Vulcan wasn't dead after all.


"Mr Scott!  Raagziin combat vessel in orbit around Reneva III!" 
Checov yelled from the science station.

Without a moments hesitation, Scott asked for a status report
from the Engine room, then ordered the raising of shields.

"Red Alert."  He ordered.  "Weapons at the ready, Mr Riley."

Damn, he thought.  If they had the captain....

"Signal them, Lieutenant.  They should know we're here by now."

Uhura nodded, then turned to face her communications console.

"Mr Scott!  They still haven't raised their shields.  According
to sensors they haven't even gone to battlestations."  Checov's
puzzled voice drifted into Scott's right ear.  "Do you think it's
a trap?"

Scotty knew it.  He didn't know how, but the answer was clear in
his mind.

"They have shields, Mr Checov.  The best shields they could have
asked for." Scott muttered.  "They have our Cap'n and First
Officer."


"S'kdal reiyt se' Enterprise!"  Kathille spat, causing Sakal to
move to her station and check her sensor readings himself.

"G'ardahl feteyr kahl baght." He muttered to himself, cursing the
gods and the animals of all living races, especially those of the
humans and Vulcans, then turned to his Chief Security Officer.

"K'ahl de'swaar se' Kirk."


"Incoming message, sir." Uhura reported.  "Visual as well."

"Put it on the screen." Scott ordered.

The image of the stars faded out and was replaced by the scarred
face of Sakal.  For a few moments Scott was lost for words, his
mind a complete blank except for the sight of the horrendous
sight before him.  He gathered himself together, then spoke.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott of the Starship
Enterprise, Acting Captain.  Your presence in this area is a
violation of the agreement laid down by our respective
governments.  Not only that, but our sensors detect signs of
human life on board your ship, which we have reason to believe
are members of our crew.  We therefore ask in the interests of
interstellar relations...."

Sakal cut him short with a series of outbursts that Scotty did
not understand, though the meaning behind them was plain.

"We made no agreement, animal.  Our government has no control
over us, nor us over it.  If we had, no such agreement would have
been made.  As for your fellow dogs, a number of them went astray
and we decided to intervene."  Sakal grinned, causeing a portion
of his scabbed lips to crack. "You should take more care of your
pets, Mr Scott.  When unclaimed, they can be put to sleep."

Scott felt his back stiffen, a sign that his Scottish blood was
flowing at a fairly high pressure.

"Unless you wish to provoke an attack, you will immediately hand
o'er our fellow officers unharmed.  You have five minutes to
comply or so help me I'll beam them out mysel' an' carve your
ship up bit by ugly bit!"

Sakal seemed unphased by Scott's threat.  The whole Control Deck
crew on the Raagziin vessel were so interested in the exchange
between their commander and the human animal on their viewscreen
that they failed to notice the three Raagziin gaurds enter the
Control Deck from the rear elevator.

"I warn you, Mr Scott.  You take any action against my ship and I
will have every Enterprise officer under my control brutally
executed.  Is my meaning plain?"

"It's plain." Kirk answered from under the scheylark.  "But the
only thing you're going to execute are my orders."

Before any of the Raagziin on the Control Deck could reach for
their weapons, Spock and Sulu had stunned the majority of them.

"Mr Scott, beam a couple of security gaurds over at my
co-ordinates.  We've got a ship to secure."  Kirk said out loud.

And once more Scotty performed the little miracles.


It was with a new face that Kirk greeted Sakal.  Thanks to a
little treatment with some fibroblasts, his skin had healed and
the scar that the Raagziin surgical laser had created had been
removed from sight by new skin having been applied to that area
of his face.  He had even offerred the treatment to Sakal, not
thinking for a moment that the Raagzin Commander would accept it,
but merely to see his disgusted reaction.

But now the dead Raagziin Combat Vessel was in tow, with only
enough power being given to it to keep its life support system
functioning for its crew and the large number of security gaurds
that had been sent there to keep an eye on them.

"Where are you taking us?" Sakal asked Kirk in the Captain's
Quarters.

"You will be handed over to the Star Fleet authorities and most
likely in the interests of interstellar relations you will be
sent back to your own territory for your own government to deal
with you." Kirk answered.

Sakal merely smiled.

"As I told you before, Captain.  I will be commended for my
actions.  If anything, I will be given a Fleet to commandeer."

"You seem rather sure of that fact, Commander." Kirk said.

"I am, Captain.  And when I have that Fleet, I will be coming to
look for you.  Your fibroblasts will have quite a job once I've
skinned you alive."

Kirk didn't respond.  He merely signalled for Nguni, who entered
to take Sakal back to his ship.

The Raagzin Commander stopped at the door to Kirk's Quarters and
turned.

"The day is soon at hand, Captain.  Consider it a fair warning,
but your Federation isn't as safe as it thinks it is."

The door hissed shut, leaving Kirk alone.  He hesitated for a
moment, then punched the intercom button.

"Lieutenant Kevin Riley to my Quarters."

First Janice, now Riley.....


"Doctor McCoy, I take it that you have recovered sufficiently?"
Spock asked from his science station as the ship's Chief Medical
Officer entered the Bridge.

"Why, Mr Spock!  I never knew you cared." McCoy grinned as he
made his way to the lower level of the Bridge and over to the
railing near Spock's station.

"Doctor, if you are trying to cajole me into an argument, you
might as well know that you are wasting your time."

"What I am trying to say is that I'm thankful, Mr Spock." McCoy
said.  "I haven't been able to tell you until now that I don't
think I would have been able to get through that experience
without you."

"That much was obvious from the start." Spock replied.

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

Spock's answer was cut short by Kirk's entrance onto the bridge. 
With quick strides, he made it to his command chair and seated
himself in it, relishing a feeling that he hadn't felt for a long
time.

"Lieutenant Uhura, is all that dilithium on board yet?"

"Yes, Captain.  Chief Crawford, the miners and their families,
and a damage repair team have transported down to Reneva III. 
All sections report ready to leave orbit." Uhura answered.

Kirk nodded, trying hard to supress a smile from spreading across
his face, but failing miserably.

"Send Chief Crawford my best wishes.  Mr Sulu, let's get out of
here."

As the hum of the engines increased and the view of Reneva III
faded into the distance on the screen, Jim Kirk welcomed the
stars as he answered their beckoning.

McCoy moved to his friend's side.

"You seem awfully pleased, Jim."

"I'm glad to be back.  I've been away from home for too long." 
Jim stared at his Chief Medical Officer.  "How about you, Bones? 
Happy to be back?"

"With someone else to talk to than a combination of walking
library computer and a diagnostic table gone haywire? 
Absolutely."

But he knew that this time, for the first time, he didn't mean
it.  Something had changed.  But what did it matter?

What, when it was only a matter of differences.




Reference Books and Episodes:


What are Little Girls Made Of? (Episode by Robert Bloch)

The Conscience of the King     (Episode by Barry Trivers)

A Taste of Armageddon          (Episode by Robert Hamner and
                                           Gene L. Coon)

By Any Other Name              (Episode by D.C. Fontana and 
                                           Jerome Bixby)

Enterprise pg. 108             (Book by Vonda N. McIntyre)

The Lost Years                 (Book by J.M. Dillard)

The Best of Trek 4: Friendship - in the Balance
                               (by Joyce Tullock)

The best of Trek 9: Brother, My Soul
                               (by Joyce Tullock)


 
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