"Spock! No! Come back! Don't leave me. Spock!" James Kirk woke with a jolt and looked around him. It was the same room. He was still alone. Spock had left him here. The Vulcan now had what he wanted, he had the Enterprise, he was now the Captain.

Only now could he see it all. Spock had not resented having Commodore Collins aboard; he had been using that Vulcan aloofness to fool him. Kirk half-nodded. It was the sort of plan he should have suspected from that scheming half-breed. And he had it all planned. Spock had accepted that the Commodore should accompany them to do the inspection knowing that they would walk into his planned accident. He would save the Commodore and leave him. That conniving Vulcan would make it look like he saved the Commodore and could not save him. He would bring him here and leave him. Make up some story and leave him to these sadists. Damn! He had actually trusted that alien.

Commodore Collins had told him of his own distrust of Vulcans, of how they could not be trusted, of how they were always thinking, always scheming. Collins had told him how they would pretend to be loyal friends until they saw of way of helping their own kind. He had even warned him that Spock could be after the Enterprise for Vulcans. At the time Kirk had not believed him, not after all the years he had known Spock, not after all they had been through. Over the years he had heard so much about Vulcans not being able to be real friends even with their own kind so it was impossible for them to be friends with any other race or species. He had heard how only a fool trusted Vulcans to know what feelings were.

How stupid could he be? How blind? All this time, all those years he was being used. Now it had his ship and had left him to be used by others. Damn, he had believed that, that thing to have been his friend.

The door opened to his room, his cell, and a voice he was used to now said, "Feeding time." Although he was aware the food was drugged he still knew it was all he would get as food for the day. He was pulled off the mat that was his bed, made to get on all fours. While one man straddled him and tilted his head back by pulling on his hair and held his mouth open the other man poured the thick hot liquid poured into his mouth and stroked his throat so he had to swallow.. It was foul, it burned, but Kirk knew the punishment for not swallowing it. He also knew better than to speak as he had been beaten repeatedly the first few times he had and told never to ask questions, never to talk, to just accept his new life. He tried not to think about it after that, he tried not to think of how his body was reacting to the liquid.

"Been six days, tomorrow he will contact us and tell what he wants for him so we can keep anything more. So many places we could take him. He's young and fit, better than some of the others he's given us."

Before they left they poured the two buckets of warm water over him and left the two empty buckets in the corner, removing the one he had used for his ablutions.

They laughed as they left, "After he's been tomorrow you are all ours. We'll clean you up better for him tomorrow. Then your new life really starts."

He stayed still y still for a moment. He did not want to think about what had been said but it kept repeating in his mind. He had virtually been sold.

Slowly he got up. There was a tube in the wall he could get fresh water from. Just the tube, the two buckets, and the mat. They left him alone between feedings and that was the worst as he remembered the day he got there and Spock leaving him. He relived seeing Spock walk away over and over. He could not remember much before that apart from coming down with them but could clearly see Spock walking away from him when he closed his eyes. It often seemed like he could see it even when he was awake. No matter where he looked he seemed to see Spock walking away from him with Commodore Collins. A voice, he was not sure if it was in his head or not, kept saying, "Spock's not coming back for you. He's abandoned you. He's not coming back. Spock's abandoned you."

Time had no meaning. The guards, if that was what they really were, had done their daily task and left him. To hear it had been only six days surprised Kirk as he had not been aware, till then, of the passage of time. He was in a nightmare that was now his reality with the worst being the knowledge he had been betrayed by the one being he thought of as his best friend, the one being he thought would never abandon him. Even after they left him and he sat on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest he could see Spock walking away from him, hear that voice in his head, "Spock's not coming back for you. He's abandoned you. He's not coming back. Spock's abandoned you." He would sit for hours just hugging his knees, rocking back and forth, hearing that voice and whenever he opened his eyes he saw Spock leaving him, walking away, and abandoning him.

###

"Need I remind you, Science Officer, that the original purpose of this mission was to prepare for the first visit to Halton by senior officials of not just Starfleet but also the Federation? We were to come and ensure the facilities were ready for inspection a week before their arrival and to do what needed to ensure they were ready. While it is unfortunate that Captain Kirk was killed in an accident while inspecting the substructures with an inspection group we are to wait for the delegation without sending further personnel down. Is there any part of that you do not fully understand?" Commodore Collins sat in the command seat on the Enterprise and looked at Spock as he stood before him.

The others on the bridge could see that Spock was still in obvious shock at what had happened but that was only through years of working together. It had been five days since they beamed back from Halton and Doctor McCoy had kept Spock in Sickbay under full watch as he was not dealing well with the death. It had stunned all of them but they knew it would have a far, far greater impact on Spock. They had each other for their emotional support but the Captain had always been there for Spock. Now, now they knew Spock was truly alone. They knew that even though Doctor McCoy was closer than they were to the Vulcan that Spock was going through the torment alone. There was no denying the look of almost total disbelief on their faces at how the Commodore was treating Spock.

"No, Sir, I fully understand what you say but I must go back to the planet. I must find the Captain."

Collins looked at the Vulcan, "I admire your dedication to your former Captain, Mister Spock. You saw the site, you read the reports. It has been six standard days. You must accept the reality that Captain Kirk is dead and that I am now in command of the Enterprise. As my First Officer I expect the same dedication and loyalty from you that you gave to Kirk. Vulcans are known for their loyalty and dedication to their Captains."

"Sir, I again respectfully request permission to return to Halton for the Captain."

Communications Officer Uhura looked at the others there and saw how both Sulu and Chekov had slightly turned in their seats and Scotty had totally stopped and turned to watch. Standing just beside Spock she saw McCoy looking worriedly at the Vulcan. From where she sat Uhura could swear she saw a slight start of a smile on Collins's mouth as he looked at Spock