The Vulcan Changeling Project

Revolution

Kirk knew that when he reached the square he had made a tactical error. Hundreds of people were pouring into the small space. He would never find Spock and Uhura at this rate. I've got to get out of this crowd. It's too dangerous. Though he attempted to work his way towards the outer perimeter of the square, Kirk failed and was soon swept away in the throng. The crush of unwashed bodies along with the scalding temperature outside made him nauseous.

Then the crowd became silent when a figure walked to the front held and up his hands. "Freedom for all. Down with slavery. Reform not revolution." He shouted. The crowd began to echo back. The noise so deafening that Kirk felt disorientated from the cacophony. Then a hush fell over the assembly and he felt a sense of dread. Soldiers. They came and surrounded the outsides of the square. Whatever happened there would be no escape. Like robots they all paused, then simultaneously began to fire into the crowd.

Klingon disruptor shots ripped through the air. A disbelief settled over the protestors, then panic ensued. They screamed. They ran. They bled. They died. Kirk felt himself thrown to the ground. A body fell on top of him knocking the air out of his lungs. He covered his head with his hands, struggling to breathe. He glanced up in time to see a child explode into a pinkish pulp. A sign with the words, 'Freedom', still clutched in his small tattered hands.

Anger, revulsion and fear made Kirk's stomach churn but he ignored the pain, making his way to the center of the square where some of the revolutionaries had decided to make a stand. He slipped across the blood slicked stones towards them. When he reached the small group, someone clapped him on the back.

"Welcome," a voice shouted into his ear.

***

Tears fell down Tiberius and Muriah's cheeks. They never expected the city guards to fire on their own people.

"Need some help?" A familiar voice asked.

Muriah turned around in surprise to find James T. Kirk loading a weapon. "Captain, what are you doing here?"

Kirk grinned. "I was looking for my first officer and got caught up in all this." He then gestured at the chaos around them.

"He is safe and so is Uhura. You must leave immediately." Muriah said and ducked when disruptor fire zoomed above their heads.

"Wow, that was close," Kirk shouted and reloaded.

"Captain, you can't be here. What about the prime directive?" Muriah countered, then ducked down.

Kirk sighed. "This is self-defense. Star Fleet doesn't have an issue with that. But my first officer is going to have a lot to answer for."

Tiberius slunk down beside Kirk. "Captain, you must get my wife to safety."

Muriah shook her head. "No, I won't leave you."

Tiberius took her arm. "You must go."

Muriah shook her head again. "No."

Tiberius looked into her eyes. "If you don't care about your own safety, what about that of our child?"

Her eyes opened wider. "You knew?"

"Yes, I could hear its heartbeat two months ago." Tiberius replied, smoothing a lock of Muriah's hair back from her face.

A burrowing sound to his left caught Kirk's attention. Shit, Klingon heat seeking grenades. He thought when a red halo formed around his body. Though he rolled to the side, he knew his reaction would not be quick enough. A deafening explosion roared around him and he screamed when the heat seared his flesh. He dropped to the ground and began to roll in order to put out the greenish-red flame that licked at his arm.
Then Kirk felt cool hands on his temples. A mind melded with his, making the pain dissipate. "Spock?" He whispered. His eyes fluttered open and instead of a pair of obsidian eyes, a pair of green eyes looked into his.

"Captain, can you hear me?" Muriah mind spoke. Her voice was so soft that Kirk was unsure whether he imagined it or not.

Kirk nodded, then rasped. "We've got to get out of here. The soldiers have Klingon heat seeking grenades."

"Captain, can you stand?" Muriah asked aloud.

After a few failed attempts, Kirk shook his head. "No, you and Tiberius need to leave me. Go, your odds of survival aren't very great if you stay with me."

Muriah raised an eyebrow. "Captain, I am fully capable of calculating the odds of my survival."

Kirk wanted to laugh or at the very least come back with a witty retort, but all he could muster up was a weak command. "Go, that's an order."

"Sorry, we don't take orders from you, Captain," Tiberius replied in a firm tone. Then he picked Kirk up and slung him over his shoulder.

***

McCoy ran his tricorder over yet another victim. They were coming in faster than he could evaluate them. He swore aloud. "Damnit, I'm a Doctor not an assembly line worker. I need help over here." Then he rubbed his eyes in a futile effort to erase the visions of carnage that threatened to overload his optic senses.

"Doctor McCoy?"

McCoy turned to see Sulu's sweat streaked face close to his own. "Doctor, ...."

When Sulu's voice trailed off McCoy shook him. "Damnit man, what is it?"

Sulu swallowed. "It's the Captain. He's just been brought in to triage."

McCoy took one look at Sulu's bleak expression and knew it was bad. His heart sank, knowing it was too much to hope that he would see Kirk's smiling face unscathed. Then the Doctor in him took over and he ran in the direction that Sulu pointed to. Kirk lay unconscious on a stretcher. His right side was badly burned and his left leg looked as if it had been through a meat grinder. McCoy flipped open his communicator. It seemed forever before Scotty's voice answered him. "This is Doctor McCoy; I need you to have an emergency team stand by. It's the Captain. He's been hit by a heat seeking grenade."

"Sweet Jesus, what's he gotten himself into this time?" Scotty exclaimed. "I'm locking on to him now."

"Damn you Jim," McCoy muttered after Kirk's body shimmered out of view.