Spock looked pale, and not his usual light olive hue. His eyes were wide, glassy and flecked with broken blood vessels. He looked as though he were forcing his eyes open and every now and again he would shake his head and blink rapidly.

"Some fleas taking refuge in that do of yours Spock?" asked McCoy. He could tell something was up with the Vulcan, and thought a playful joke might coax it out of him. He was of course unsuccessful.

"Fleas, doctor? I think not," said Spock after clearing his throat. He straightened his shirt, and stood more rigid than before. "We only have sand fleas on planet Vulcan, due to the desert terrain. We are quite immune. I do not see how they could have made it onto the-"

"Alright! Sheesh, Spock. Give it a rest," said McCoy sounding exasperated. Satisfied by the extent of his logical answer he assumed the blasted Vulcan merely had a case of exhaustion. It was not out of the ordinary for Spock to go days without sleep.

Kirk chuckled from his Captain's chair and stole a glance at his first officer. With Spock's back to him, he would never had suspected anything to be wrong. Kirk slunk in his chair and watched the black screen in front of him as stars appeared to fly past him.

The bridge communicator sounded loudly, and Spock scrambled to cover his ears. He sighed loudly and massaged his temples. Kirk took no notice and answered the call.

"Bridge. Kirk here," he said gruffly.

"Engineering to-" said Scotty. Then Kirk heard the distinct thud of a body.

"Scotty?" asked Kirk.

"This is Mads of Gamma Hydra IV. And we are taking control of this starship," said a voice. He sounded anxious, as he should be. He was trying to hijack a starship run by 400 of starfleet's finest. Despite the niceties amongst the crew of the Enterprise, everyone on the ship were excellent fighters. No one would threaten the safety of the ship, nor its crew without paying dearly for it.

"Get me a private channel to security," Kirk hissed to Uhura.

Uhura's nails began clicking away, in the background.

"Captain, shall I head down there myself? I will take a security team," rasped Spock.

"Yes, very good, Mr. Spock," said Kirk absentmindedly before turning to face the commander. When he did, he saw the complexion of Spock and stuttered, "Per-perhaps you should wait for me, Mr. Spock."

Spock didn't argue and merely nodded. Kirk turned back to the communicator.

"Leave my crew undamaged, and we will cooperate. What is it you need sir?" asked Kirk.

"You will change course for Gamma Hydra, we need volunteers for our research study. One of my men is coming to the bridge now."

Suddenly something clicked in Kirk's mind. They had been to that planet before.

"Robert and Elaine Johnson," murmured Kirk.

There was silence on the other end of the communicator.

"We were on an exploration on another planet when the comet passed. Our lead researchers, Robert and Elaine, were looking for a cure to the radiation poisoning that caused the aging. Another comet is expected to pass this time next week, and we need more volunteers," Mads said evenly, and Kirk wondered if they knew they were the starship that answered the distress call last time.

Kirk covered the communicator and began hissing instructions into Uhura's earpiece, "Security team to engineering. Find out how they beamed aboard our ship at warp. Restrain them, and do not let our crew get caught in cross-fire."

At that moment, the bridge doors opened and a skinny, scared looking kid of about 18 shuffled in. He locked eyes with Kirk, and the captain hastily backed away from Uhura. The boy walked up to Sulu and pressed the barrel of a phaser into his back. Sulu drew his shoulders back, and turned to look at his attacker. The boy shakily moved the phaser to the back of Sulu's head, and Sulu immediately faced front.

"Mr. Sulu, change course to Gamma Hydra IV," said Kirk.

Sulu nodded,

"Okay, Mads, I'm coming down. Stay calm. We can talk about this."

Kirk and Spock hurried off the bridge and into the lift.

"Spock you alright?"

"Compared to what Captain?"

"Oh, I don't know Spock? A healthy Vulcan," whined Kirk as he bent down and slapped his knees.

"Why yes, Captain. I am quite alright. However, I must ask you the same question."

"Spock?"

"I surmised that the pitch in your voice keeps changing, Captain. Are you in a state of annoyance or are your vocal cords damaged?" asked Spock in earnest.

"SPOCK!"

Spock shrunk away from Kirk's yell, and clapped his hands over his ears.

Kirk opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the elevator dinged and six security officers filed into the elevator. Spock shifted to the other side of the lift and looked like an extremely uncomfortable sardine. Sweat gleamed on his face highlighting his upturned eyebrows. The eight men shifted nervously for the duration of the ride. When the doors finally opened the security officers momentarily forgot themselves as they pushed and shoved to exit first.

"Gentleman, please," said Kirk annoyed.

Spock merely swallowed, no logical comment to offer. Kirk furrowed his eyebrows and crept along the hallway. He heard indistinct conversation and paused at the door to engineering. He recognized one voice as Scotty. His voice was hoarse and there was an unmistakable tone of confusion to it.

"Concussed captain," whispered Spock. He had walked up behind him and Kirk could now hear a shake in Spock's voice now. He could also smell a hint of sweat mixed with Spock's normal scent of clean linen as he never wore cologne. He believed it was an unnecessary measure to entice the opposite sex, besides he only mated every 7 years anyway.

Kirk counted silently as he held up his fingers in correlation. On three he burst into the room, it was a cloud of phaser fire, and hand to hand fighting. Bodies were flipping, and before long, the three intruders in engineering were restrained.

Spock was helping Scotty to his feet when the communicator dinged.

"Captain, this is Mr. Sulu."

"Proceed," replied Kirk.

"We got him sir. The kid. Actually, Bones got him! That trusty hypo of his."

Kirk could picture Bones flipping the hypo in the air like a baton, and holstering it like a phaser. Kirk smirked and began examining his intruders which were unconscious and littering the transporter pad.

Meanwhile, Spock was leaning against the transporter controls looking desperately around the room. Only Scotty noticed this, and discreetly walked over to Mr. Spock, placing a supportive hand on the small of his back. Spock jerked at the touch and saw that it was Scotty and nodded appreciatively. He had never looked more vulnerable. Except for maybe when he went rigid and tipped over like a teakettle into Scotty's arms. When Kirk turned around, he saw a very limp Spock being held up by Mr. Scott

"What happened?!" exclaimed Kirk. "Was he injured?"

"No, sir. He was lookin quite peaky cap'n. Then he just keeled over," explained Scotty. He was starting to struggle under Spock's weight. Scotty's eyes looked unfocused and he acted as if it were painful to look up, so he merely picked a tile on the floor and gazed at it, grounding himself.

"Kirk to bridge."

"Bridge, Sulu here captain."

"Commander Spock has collapsed, and he needs immediate medical attention."

"Okay, Jim, I'm on my way and I'll be there in..," said Mccoy, and his voice trailed off as he walked towards the elevator.

"Kirk out," he sighed.

Scotty and Kirk lowered Spock gingerly to the ground, worried his frail frame would shatter. Upon impact, Spock's eyes cracked open, they looked curiously around the room. Kirk dropped to his knees beside Spock, and watched his pulse flutter slowly in his neck. That was unusual, his pulse never dropped below 200. Spock's feverish gaze finally settled on Kirk, and he seemed to remember where he was. One eyebrow crept up his forehead, "Captain?" he croaked.

"Yeah, Spock. You fainted. You okay?"

"Okay is a human emotion. I am however, not completely physically fit, for duty, sir."

Kirk's eyes widened. Spock would never admit he was sick, he must be very ill to offer up vulnerable information like that. The doors swished open and McCoy strode in with Nurse Chapel and a stretcher.

Spock heard the screeching wheels of the stretcher, and immediately sat up.

"Whoa, whoa, easy ya crazy hobgoblin! At least let me examine you," cried McCoy.

"A stretcher is not necessary, doctor. I will merely return to my quarters to meditate. I will be well enough to report to my station tomorrow, sir," said Spock as he attempted to stand. Kirk pressed his shoulder down firmly so he would remain sitting. Spock shot him a look, and Kirk patted his arm affectionately.

"You don't get to decide, Spock. I do," grumbled McCoy. He waved a whirring instrument over Spock's torso. "You have a fever, a slow pulse, and high blood pressure. All declining vital signs for a Vulcan. How long has this been going on, Spock?"

"Since late last night, doctor," answered Spock. He had his head resting on one hand now. Whatever was ailing him, it was draining him and fast.

"What are your symptoms?" asked McCoy as he gently shook Spock's shoulders. He didn't react.

"Nausea, headache, fatigue, and, and, fatigue."

"Okay Spock, let's get you up to sickbay," coaxed Kirk as he kneaded Spock's bony shoulders. Spock didn't argue. He tipped back into Kirk, and let out a sigh. "Oh, okay, you must really be exhausted eh, commander?"

Spock didn't answer, his head lolled over Kirk's shoulder.

"Spock? Spock?" urged Kirk. "Bones?"

McCoy was already moving his instrument over Spock again. "He's unconscious, but he's stable. We must get him to sickbay!"

"What's wrong with him?" pressed Kirk.

"I don't know."

Bones and Kirk lifted Spock up and dropped him unceremoniously on the stretcher. They needed to move, and move quickly.

When they arrived at sickbay, Spock was still out. He was mumbling feverishly and his head kept lolling from side to side. He was shivering violently.

"Spock? Spock, can you hear me?" asked Bones.

His only response was hissing through his teeth as another chill racked his body. Kirk peered over McCoy's shoulder at his first officer. He stared through him, he couldn't believe the Vulcan was unconscious in a bio-bed right now.

"Jim, please go back to the bridge. I'll let you know what's going on, as soon as I do."

Kirk nodded hesitantly, and began zombie walking towards the door. When he began to dawdle McCoy steered him out and sighed in relief when the door swished closed at last.