IV

Icy- shivers only ran down his back as a result of the glacial air, Spock told himself. It had nothing to do with apprehension. No, definitely not. Then a small part of his brain told him that it was perfectly logical to feel uneasy in a cold, dark hold where the air was rapidly running out and he felt a bit better. He estimated that the air in the chamber could last several days if used conservatively and felt better still.

Most illogically though, he still wished he could get out of this chilly hull right now. Perhaps it was time he slept a while, and then he would work on escaping.

Yaddle found Kirk en-route to his quarters and started to hobble alongside him. She gave him yet another awful fright when she pulled on his trouser leg.

"Speak now we must Kirk, follow me you will"

Cursing at his own jumpiness Kirk followed the pointed eared creature back down the corridor.

The woman was there again, in his head as he slept. She felt bored, maybe trapped as well.

Are you there?

#yes, where are you?# she asked

Communication! Spock blinked and concentrated on projecting his thoughts.

I appear to be a hostage held for my captor's own amusement or vindictive intentions, other than that I know only that I am being held in a cargo-hold in a trading class space-

The person suddenly vanished from his mind and crushing disappointment threatened to overwhelm him. How his malevolent hostage-holder must be enjoying recording his dejection. The camera in the corner whirred around on its pivot and a split second later Spock had an idea. The camera was feeding images of him to a view screen somewhere else on the ship. It must somehow be linked up to the main computer and he could possibly use this to his advantage.

Charged with a new sense of urgency, Spock prised his stiff limbs off the artic metal floor and groped his way across the room.

Yaddle told Kirk at length about her mission in this part of the galaxy. There was a child, she said, who had remarkable Force-ability in the region. He must be found before he discovered the true potential of his power. Force potential, she went on to explain, basically meant the boy could talk to people without speaking, lift things without touching them and live through things a normal human would never survive. He would be a serious threat to the normal people around him if not taken to Yaddle's home and trained properly.

She did, however, have a more urgent purpose for coming so soon. The child's mother was believed to be a Drug-trader and it seemed she had recognised her son's special abilities long ago. She kept him with her when trading and had never yet been caught while he was around. The Jedi-order had been following them for months now and had tracked them as far as Aurian when she met Kirk. They weren't entirely sure why the mother and son had arrived here but it now seemed that they had come to take a Star-fleet officer hostage. Perhaps they even specifically come for Spock.

Kirk was disturbed by this news. On one hand he wasn't sure he trusted Master Yaddle, it was possible she was using the Federation for her own purposes. On the other hand if she really had been tracking Spock's assailant then perhaps she could provide them with valuable information. He decided to enlist her help for the time being, though he was a little uneasy with her apparent knowledge of events she was supposedly unconnected to. How could she possibly know that these hostage-takers were the woman and boy she was tracking? Kirk pushed that treacherous thought aside and listened intently to the green creature's suggestions.

Scotty stared at his captain incredulously; did he really just hear what he thought he heard?

"So, what you're saying is that you want me to hack into the Starfleet archives and get records of all convicted drug traders in the last ten years while making it look like routine check-ups?"

Kirk thought about it for a moment. 'Exactly,' he said 'you can do it can't you?'

Scotty shook his head in disbelief "Aye, I can, but it'll take some time to imitate Admirals Phinn's ID on the main computer and then I'll have to over-ride the security back-up." Scotty hesitated before saying what was really on his mind "it could lose me my job Captain.'

Kirk stood up and nodded his acknowledgement of Scotty's reluctance. It would be noted in his log. Then, with a customary 'get to it Mr. Scott' he left the engine room.

Bones was lying in Sick-bay listening attentively to everything Kirk was telling him (and everything he wasn't saying too). For once McCoy let Kirk speak uninterrupted, something Kirk took to mean that the old man was feeling worse than he was letting on and not quite up to the task at hand. Seeing Jim's hesitation McCoy took it on to tell Jim that he was 'Just fine'.

"Jim that alien-thingy only knocked me out so she wouldn't have to put up with my drunken slurs about his pointy-ears. I'm just dandy now, she did a good job on me; healed my broken leg, cured what should have been the mother of all hangovers and I haven't felt this rejuvenated since Spock fell into that Mud-bath on Tarsus IV, though I'm damned if I know why." Bones started to chuckle. Then, seeing the look on Kirk's face, he stopped abruptly.

Kirk remembered the smile Spock had on his face after beaming back from Tarsus IV. The mud had some kind of intoxicating liquid in it and Spock was practically singing for the next four hours. The only other time he had seen Spock smile was on Omicron Ceti III when he had been enjoying the company of Leila Kalomi under the influence of the narcotic native-plants. He grinned suddenly at the recollection.

Kirk had, in fact, refused to go off-shore when they arrived at Tarsus IV. He knew he would have wasted the leave on reliving frightful memories of a terrifying childhood (Kirk grew up in a brutal camp on Tarsus 4) and the idea of going on a tour around the swamps and hills where so many people he knew had been put to death made him feel physically ill. The past was a place he preferred not to visit.

McCoy waited for Kirk to snap out of it. Eventually he gave a low cough. Kirk regained his bearings then so spoke softly to the doctor that no other staff member could possibly overhear,

'Bones I need you to check something for me; Scotty found some information for me and I think I know who has Spock captive…'