Enemies at the Gate

Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"When did you first have contact with them, if I might ask, Doctor McCoy," T'Pau asked them.

"In 2261, we were diverted to Excalbia because we detected life signs on the planet. The Excalbians created an illusion of Abraham Lincoln to get Captain Kirk and Commander Spock to beam down to the planet. They apparently wished to study the human concepts of good and evil. They managed to create an illusion of Surak, Genghis Khan, and Kahless. We were able to win, and eventually, the Captain and Commander were able to return to the ship. Yarnek, one of the Exclabians, was capable of causing matter-antimatter shielding. Spock conjectured that the species can rearrange matter to suit them."

"From the evidence collected, do you hypothesize that they are responsible for the kidnappings?" Ambassador Selek asked.

"I would believe so ladies and gentlemen," was Pike's response to the question. "Yarnek seemed quite fascinated with the Captain and Commander."

"So, a course of action would be for us to head to the planet and scan it to see if they are indeed on the planet. If they are, we can go in and retrieve them. If we come across any heavily shielded areas, we may need to beam down and look into it closer," Ambassador Sarek said.

"Well, then," said Admiral Pike. "Then I believe we have a course of action. I will brief the others here. Set course Doctor McCoy and Lieutenant Commander Scott for Excalbia. It is time to bring our boys home if they are indeed there. If not, we may be able to get some leads along the way."

"Aye, Admiral. If you will all excuse me, I will have the brig set course now." Lieutenant Commander Scott looked at them.

"Go ahead, Lieutenant Commander," Pike said to him. Scotty nodded and took his leave. "I will be saying my good-byes now. Live long and Prosper, Ambassadors and Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen." Pike made the Ta'al.

"Peace and long life, Admiral." was their reply. The screen with the Admiral blanked out as he cut the signal.

"If you will all follow me, I will lead you to your rooms. They are on deck 5, near the commanding officer's quarters." He stood up and followed him from the room. He led them to the lift and onto deck 5. After he had gotten them settled, he turned back to the lift and went to the brig.

**********

McCoy exited the lift and spotted Scotty over at the Captain's chair, speaking with Sulu and Chekov. Scotty looked up as he heard him approaching. "All set, Doc?" he asked.

"Yes, they are all in their quarters. I will head down to sickbay and check on everything there. If you need me, just let me know." Scotty nodded his head, and McCoy left the bridge. He leaned back against the wall of the lift as it took him to the deck housing sickbay. This was going to be a long trip, and he was not looking forward to revisiting that planet. He still remembered what a mess everyone was when they beamed back aboard after Yarnek's grand experiment. He wanted to take his phaser, go down and set it on kill and off the bastard for what he did to the Captain and the hobgoblin. He loved Jim like a little brother, and it hurt every time something went wrong on the planets. He lost count of how many red shirts they lost. They seem to be the ones that everyone enjoyed offing first. They might as well have targets painted on them. Oh wait, that was what the red shirts were for. He snorted and left the lift when the doors opened.

He walked into sickbay, and everything looked shipshape. M'Benga was reviewing something on his pad. It seemed, and Carol was looking over his hypos. He made a mental note to make sure they were all ready for when Jim and the hobgoblin came back on board. Oh, they were going to have a complete and invasive physical. Just they wait. He rubbed his hands together as he headed into his office to start on the paperwork he had been putting off to get the Captains and First Officer's completed.

M'Benga and Carol looked up when they heard the doors open. The shook their heads when they saw the gleeful look on McCoy's face and him rubbing his hands together.

"I see he is thinking of hypos on those two when they get back."

M'Benga raised his eyebrow on the comment. "That would explain the gleeful look and hand gestures. It seems the thoughts of hypoing the Captain is the only time you see him that happy," was his response. Carol laughed and went back to what she was doing.