Star Trek - TOS 38 Idic Epidemic (20 page)

“Where are we?”

Two nurses were already at Kevin’s side. “Aboard
the
Enterprise,”
one of them told him. “You need
immediate attention, but you’re going to be fine, and so is your father.”

When the surgery was finished, Korsal’s hands and
feet were encased in regeneration units, as were Kevin’s. By that time, they were both recovered
enough to be hungry, and the nurses fed them juice
and soup and then left them to sleep. Both were still
weak; sleep came quickly.

They were wakened at times, to be poked and
prodded, examined, fed, and otherwise cared for, but
most of the time they slept. Korsal could not have said
how long this procedure went on, except that he sensed that it was more than a day, ship’s time
—possibly two or three. In his drug-numbed state, he
could not calculate how long that was in Nisus time.

Then, suddenly, Korsal was brought wide awake and fully alert by an alarm. It didn’t sound in the
patient-care areas of sickbay, of course, but it was still
loud enough to waken anyone asleep rather than
unconscious.

The siren sounded alone for a few seconds, and then a voice joined in the clamor.

“Red alert! Red alert! Security to engineering! All
hands, red alert! Intruders in engineering! Red alert!”

Korsal sat up, realizing that during his most recent
sleep he had been freed of restraints. He flexed his
hands, finding that they looked and felt normal. When
he stretched, there was no more pain in his side.

In the next bed, Kevin was also awake, but his hands were still encased in the regeneration units.
“What’s going on?” he asked, and Korsal could hear
from the slur in his voice that he was still on medica
tion.

“Nothing that concerns us,” Korsal told him. “Just
lie still—you’re still healing.”

From the outer room he heard cursing, in a voice he
recognized as that of Mr. Scott—the man who had operated the transporter. Then, obviously shouting
into the intercom, “What’s goin’ on doon there?
Who’s muckin’ about with my engines?”

Chapter Nineteen

On the day their unexpected Klingon guests were beamed aboard and isolated in sickbay, Spock left the bridge at the end of his watch in search of his parents.
As usual, they were not in their quarters. He found them in one of the recreation rooms, where some
off-duty crewmembers were putting on an impromptu
performance. “Get your harp and join us, Mr.
Spock,” said Lieutenant Uhura when she saw him in
the doorway.

“Yes, Spock,” said Amanda, “please do.”

It would have created more of a scene to refuse than
to agree, so Spock went to his quarters for the
instrument and returned to the rec room.

Uhura was singing, accompanied by Ensign
Paschall on the violin. It was a sad love ballad, leaving
all the Humans in the room teary-eyed.

When it was over, Paschall began to play his instru
ment like a “fiddle,” breaking into a lively dance tune.
Several people jumped up to dance, while everyone
else clapped hands in time to the music—except, of
course, Spock and Sarek.

Spock caught his father watching him and knew Sarek was wondering why they were still in orbit around Nisus. Fortunately, the music and laughter
drowned conversation.

When it ended the dancers sat down, flushed and
panting. Uhura urged, “Play something Vulcan, Mr.
Spock.”

“I bow to my father’s talent,” Spock replied quick
ly, and handed the lytherette to Sarek.

But the ploy did not gain him more than half an
hour. Sarek graciously played several selections suited
to Human aesthetics and auditory range. But then,
despite the protests of a genuinely appreciative audi
ence, Sarek said, “I’m afraid there is something I
must discuss with my son. Amanda, please stay and
enjoy the performance.”

Spock saw his mother’s blue eyes flash—she seldom
responded positively when Sarek took an authoritari
an tone—but then she put on her most gracious air
and replied, “Certainly, my husband. I will meet you
in our quarters, later.”

And Spock knew that ten minutes thereafter she
would have out of Sarek everything Spock was about
to tell him. It was useless to try to shield Amanda
anyway, although both her husband and her son
instinctively desired to do so.

However, as they walked down the corridor toward
Spock’s cabin, Sarek opened the conversation by
asking, “Why was the corridor outside the transporter
sealed off this afternoon?”

“What were you doing there?” Spock asked.

“We had research from the Academy to beam
down, and your mother wanted to bid farewell to our
friends. Everyone who beamed down today is risking
death.”

“I know,” Spock replied. “However, it was thirty-
one-point-three-seven minutes after the last beam-
down that the corridor was sealed.”

They had reached Spock’s cabin. As they entered,
Sarek said, “How can you live among Humans and
not know their idiosyncrasies? After the beamdown, people remaining aboard lingered outside the trans
porter room, talking, expressing concern for those
who had left. There is a conference room nearby, and
everyone without pressing duties went in—except
Sendet, who undoubtedly perceived that he was not
welcome.”

“Sendet? What was he doing there?” asked Spock.

“Did you not observe the interest he took during
the voyage in the woman T’Pina? And have you not
noticed the imbalance between men and women
among the Followers of T’Vet? In Sendet’s generation
there are three males for every two females … and
Sendet is unbonded.”

Spock swallowed convulsively. The unbonded males among the Followers of T’Vet were also risking
death; in fact, given the imbalance Sarek had just
mentioned, one in three was under sentence of death.
At this point, they simply did not know which ones.

As the males reached
pan fan,
they would have to
mate
…
or die. All the available women would soon
be bonded, leaving a third of the men without mates,
battling for their lives. There were no other communities on Vulcan Colony Nine from which women could
be enticed or stolen; the Challenge would become a
way of life from the first day an unbonded male
entered
pan fan.

“So,” Spock said, “Sendet tried to the very last moment to persuade T’Pina to bond with him and
join him in exile.”

“That is correct,” said Sarek.

“But she refused.”

“Also correct. She is an intelligent young woman. It
is unfortunate that you did not have the opportunity
to gain closer acquaintance with her, Spock.”

Deliberately, Spock refused to feel annoyance. He
knew Sarek was expressing only concern. “I have time, Father.”

“And I will never again try to force a choice upon you, Spock. But you still have not told me why the
corridor was cleared.”

“Most of the crew do not know, Father. By the time
it is necessary to tell them, we will be certain that there is truly no danger.”

“Then you
did
beam something aboard.”

Sarek’s mind was too quick to fool. When Spock hesitated, he added, “Amanda and I were among the
last to leave the conference room. We had to share the
turbolift with Sendet after the others had gone ahead.
While we were waiting for a car to arrive, we heard the
order to clear the corridor. Since we were leaving the
area, it was no inconvenience.”

“Yes,” Spock told him. “In fact, we beamed two
people aboard—but according to the best informa
tion Nisus can supply, they are not carriers of the Nisus plague.” He explained the nature of their
unexpected hospitality.

“Klingon scientists,” said Sarek. “Intriguing. I should like to meet them.”

“We know that the incubation period of the plague
is between sixteen and forty-eight hours; we cannot
leave orbit now for two days. Everyone who came in contact with the Klingons is isolated in sickbay. If no
one becomes ill in that time, it is correct that
Klingons neither contract nor carry the plague, and it
will be safe for you to visit them.” Spock frowned.

“You said Sendet did not go into the conference room
with you.”

“He did not. He must have remained in the trans
porter room or the corridor, for he was there when we
left.”

“Then,” said Spock, “Sendet is our most likely
suspect.”

“Suspect?” asked Sarek.

“Mr. Scott discovered that something was beamed
up from Nisus—before he beamed up the Klingons. I
wonder … what could be so important for Sendet to
get from Nisus that he would risk illegal use of the
transporter?”

“And exposure to the plague,” added Sarek.

“Unlikely. The epidemiologists have ascertained
that, although deadly, the virus is short-lived outside
its host. That was in the last report we received, less
than two hours before entering orbit.

“The plague does not appear to be transmitted on
objects or clothing, unless they are touched within minutes of contact with a contagious person. Airborne, it dies in the same time unless it finds a suitable host. Contagion, unfortunately, occurs well before the carrier exhibits symptoms. So there is a slight chance that if whoever handled what was
beamed to Sendet was unknowingly contagious, and
he touched it immediately before it was beamed …
it could have been contaminated.”

Spock reported what his father had told him to Captain Kirk, who immediately called Sendet to the
briefing room.

“What did you beam up from Nisus?” Kirk de
manded.

“Nothing,” Sendet replied. “What would I want
from there?”

“That’s what we want to know,” Kirk told him.
“You endangered this whole ship—”

“If I had, which I deny, would it be any more than you have done by beaming Nisus residents aboard?”

“Spock—I thought you had corrected that security
leak!”