An hour after the attack, the Bridge hummed with activity. Scotty had effectively managed to turn the lights back on, and along with Spock and Chekov were pouring over ship diagrams to possibly guess where the assassin had gone. The young Russian had little more than a bump on the head, and since they were understaffed Kirk had given in to his insistences that he was more useful here then sitting around twiddling his thumbs in the infirmary. Uhura had joined them, and with another crew member were diligently scanning security videos, looking for signs of the attacker.
Kirk himself was a little unsure what to do, leaving most of the delegations to the first officer. He had taken to organizing search parties with the few security members who had been on board at the time of the incident.
The communications line chirped, followed by the doctor’s voice: “McCoy to Enterprise.” Movement stilled, and many anxious faces turned to regard the captain. Not making eye contact with any of them, Kirk leaned down to press the control panel on his chair.
“Go ahead, Bones.”
“Captain, you wished to be notified when Sulu was awake.”
“On my way,” Kirk said standing up. “Spock, let’s go.” The first officer followed silently as they left the bridge.
On the way to the docking center’s infirmary, Kirk couldn’t help but keep glancing above them at the ceiling and vents, half expecting an attack. His movements didn’t go unnoticed. “Captain, the likelihood the same person who attacked Chekov and Sulu is in this hallway when we are is extremely low.”
Kirk regarded Vulcan with a smirk. “Doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Sides, I owe that bastard,” he grimaced.
“I agree. I am…distressed over what happened to Mr. Sulu. In case we do see him, I have my phaser. And it is not set to stun.” Kirk couldn’t suppress a grin at that.
They exited the Enterprise, emerging into the bigger, older hallways of the docking station. Luckily the infirmary wasn’t too far, and they passed the security detail guarding the doors. The men saluted them, and allowed them to pass.
McCoy came to meet them. Kirk tried to steel himself for the worst, but couldn’t help but feeling woefully inadequate. McCoy looked a bit haggard himself, a result of the impromptu care following his sleepless afternoon. He cut right to the chase.
“Well, the good news is he doesn’t have a spinal injury like we initially thought. Just some bruising on the neck muscles. Other than that…” he sighed heavily as they made their way over to the helmsman’s bed. “…he took quite a beating. Concussion, two broken ribs, and a dislocated patella. He’ll be in a lot of pain when the meds whereof, but luckily nothing permanent. We’ll just have to monitor him for the next few days.” Kirk nodded as he and Spock stopped at Sulu’s side. He was covered to the waist in a sheet, his torso wrapped in bandages, as was his head. Dark bruising covered his entire chest and face. He slowly turned his head, his eyes heavily lidded and his breathing slow and deep.
“Captain,” he rasped out. Kirk gently placed his hand on Sulu’s, giving him a smile that did not touch his eyes.
“Hey, Sulu. How you doin?” Sulu huffed out a low grunt that may have been a laugh.
“Like shit…”
“I understand. Been there myself, remember?” he sighed, turning serious. “Sulu, I need to know what happened.” He looked at McCoy, who had one had poised at the corner of his mouth, looking concernedly at his patient.
“Romulan…tried to kill me…” Kirk looked up with alarm at Spock. The Vulcan tried to keep his face neutral, but Kirk could tell by now the subtle indications that he, too, was at least surprised.
“Are you sure it was a Romulan?” Spock asked with urgency.
“Coulda been Vulcan…was bleedin’…green…” Sulu’s words were becoming more slurred and his head lolled back to the other side of his bed. McCoy stepped in.
“Captain, he needs to rest now.” Kirk nodded, turning to leave but Sulu once again interrupted him.
“He was lookin’…for you…” Kirk turned back around to verify that Sulu’s eyes were indeed on him. McCoy rolled his eyes.
“Well, that’s hardly a surprise given our history. Now out! You’ll be the first to know if anything changes.” Kirk nodded, his eyes once again traveling to Sulu who had fallen back asleep.
“Thanks, Bones.” He said quietly. Spock followed him out.
Once the doors closed behind them, Kirk leaned heavily on the wall. Spock correctly guessing what was ailing the captain, spoke up quietly. “This is not your fault, Jim.” Kirk pushed himself off the wall.
“I know, I know,” he conceded. “I just can’t help feeling like it is, though,” he finished softly. They began making their way back towards the ship. “If it is Romulan spillover from the Narada though…” he trailed off.
“…then we are all at fault. Logically.” The corner of Spock’s mouth turned up in what was the closest thing to a smile the Vulcan ever managed.
Kirk feigned offense. “All our faults? Spock, I was just gonna hand you over to them, gift wrapped!”
They were interrupted when Kirk’s communicator chirped. “Scott to Captain Kirk.” Kirk took the comm. Out of his belt.
“Go ahead, Scotty.”
“Sir, Chekov and I believe we’ve discovered where the attacker is probably hiding. A series of vents intersecting on Deck Six.”
“Understood. Scotty, grab a security detail and we’ll meet you there.”
Unconsciously, Kirk and Spock quickened their pace. Having a purpose gave them something to look forward to.
When they got to deck six, Scotty was already there. He nodded, pointing above him where several vents intersected. “We’ll probably be able to force ‘im out if’n we drop some smoke grenades at the entrances further along. I’ve already got some men stationed at the other ends. We’ve temporarily disabled all smoke detectors on board.”
“Aren’t we going to be breathing in this stuff?” Kirk asked skeptically.
“Ah, no Sir. We got the fans goin’, and the backup air, so the only unsafe one’s gonna be ‘im.”
Kirk nodded approvingly. “Well done, Scotty. Shall we get to it, then?” Scotty nodded, speaking into his communicator.
“Right boys, let’s start it up.” The group readied their phasers, standing in a circle around the entrance to the vent.
It took a few minutes for them to be able to tell that anything had happened. Finally, they saw smoke beginning to leak from the vents, but was quickly sucked up by the fans. After about ten minutes, Kirk was beginning to grow tired, but the firm look of resolve on Scotty’s face kept him from saying anything. The man seemed certain of the outcome, so they waited.
When he did finally come, no one heard the telltale signs of banging in the vent. The access panel just dropped open, and he fell to the ground, landing in a crouch. “Don’t move!” Spock was the first to shout. The man quickly glanced around, realizing he was surrounded. He reached into his belt.
“He said, don’t move, dirt bag!” Kirk shouted. He didn’t see what the assassin had pulled out. But Scotty did.
“Get down!” He jumped on Kirk, pushing him to the ground. An instant later, the world exploded around them.
***
“Captain. Argelian is dead, sir.” Khaiel Tovan sat forward in his chair onboard the S’tnero, which was currently in orbit around Saturn. It was ironic that the same tactic the Enterprise had used to get the drop on the Narada was now being used against them. But Tovan no longer had the benefits of future technology, so had to make due with what he had.
“Do you know how?” he growled.
“No, sir.” Tovan leaned back in his chair.
“Where is the Enterprise now?”
“Still at the space dock, sir.”
“Continue to monitor their progress. If they leave, follow them.” He did not wait for a reply as he left the bridge. “Soon, Kirk, you will suffer the fate we all have suffered,” he growled into the darkness.
