Space: The Final Frontier | Star Trek

Chapter 20

Stepping back onto the Enterprise was a much-needed breath of fresh air. However, I could still feel pain radiating throughout my entire body every time I took a step—my ankle hurting the worst at the moment. Despite the many injuries that we had all sustained, I could tell that we were all just glad that we had accomplished what we had set out to do without losing anyone in the process.

Grabbing his communicator from his belt, Jim flipped it open before speaking. "Bones, meet me in the brig."

"Be right there." Bones replied. He was not going to be too pleased when he saw the shape we were all in. We all had bruises and cuts and were covered in blood, whether our own or someone else's. 

"Lieutenant." Jim turned to Uhura. "Contact Starfleet, let them know we have Harrison in custody, and we'll be on our way once the warp core is repaired."

Uhura nodded before turning and taking off with Spock on her heels. "Yes, sir."

As I followed Jim to go get changed and cleaned up, I tried my best to hide the amount of pain I was in, but it wasn't working. "You look awful." Jim managed a small laugh as we rounded a corner.

"Looks who's talking." I reached up and wiped some blood off of his face. "You look like you just barely got away with your life."

"I think I might have," he confessed before letting out a soft sigh. "I really am sorry about how I acted earlier. I just...I needed to do this."

I smiled up at him. "I know. I'm just hoping that from now on you'll use your head a little more when making decisions."

As Jim and I parted ways briefly to change back into our uniforms and get cleaned up, I turned into my quarters and pulled a blue Starfleet uniform out. I didn't take much time to tend to my wounds as none of them looked too serious. I was sporting a few bruises on my arms and legs and a long but shallow cut on my shoulder. I worked quickly to wash off the blood and dirt before sliding into my uniform and heading back out to meet everyone at the brig. 

On my way down the hall, I spotted Jim, Bones, and Spock heading my way and joined up with them as we all turned towards the brig.

"You're looking a lot less like a human punching bag," Jim noted the large decrease in the amount of blood and dirt on my face.

"Likewise." I laughed. "I swear, at one point I thought I was going to be holding my intestines in my hands." Jim and Spock gave knowing nods as Bones stared at me, wide-eyed and confused. "Big Klingon, even bigger blade," I informed him with the basic details.

Shaking off the fact that I had just admitted to almost being disemboweled, Bones switched the conversation over to the matter at hand. "Why the hell did he surrender?" he asked Jim, referring to Harrison.

"I don't know." Jim shrugged. "But he just took out a squad of Klingons single-handedly. I want to know how."

Bones nodded as we turned into the brig and approached the clear holding cell that Harrison was being contained in. "Sounds like we have a superman on board."

"You tell me." Jim gestured for Bones to do his thing.

Walking up to the transparent barrier of the holding cell, Bones reached to the side and moved the transportable metal device to the middle before opening it to provide a hole about an arm's thickness. "Put your arm through the hole." Bones told Harrison as he pulled a syringe out of the small case attached to his belt. "I'm gonna take a blood sample."

Harrison eyed the four of us before walking over, rolling up his sleeve, and willingly sticking his right arm through the hole. Grabbing Harrison's arm to keep it steady with one hand, Bones used his other to inject the tip of the device into the skin. After a few seconds, the vial embedded in the device was full and Bones removed it and put it away. 

Looking to Jim, Harrison blinked a few times before speaking. "Why aren't we moving, Captain? An unexpected malfunction, perhaps in your warp core, conveniently stranding you on the edge of Klingon space?"

"How the hell do you know that?" Bones' eyes drifted up to the killer in front of him.

"Bones," Jim warned him to prevent any more valuable information from being leaked or confirmed.

Pulling his arm back through the hole, Harrison pushed his sleeve back down again. "I think you'd find my insight valuable, Captain."

"We good?" Jim asked Bones, to which he received a nod in response. "Let me know what you find."

As Bones turned to leave, I grabbed him by the arm to stop him for a second. "When you're done with the sample leave it on my desk. I want to check for any mutations or disease-like organisms. He's not like us and I want to find out why."

"Sure." Bones agreed. "And dammit, will you please come by and let me do a medical exam later? I've been watching you limp on that damn ankle for the past ten minutes."

"Yes, fine." I rolled my eyes but agreed nevertheless.

As Bones exited the brig to head back to the medical bay, Jim, Spock, and I turned to do the same, but before we reached the exit, Harrison spoke again. "Ignore me and you will get everyone on this ship killed."

The three of us stopped in our tracks. "Captain, I believe he will only attempt to manipulate you." Spock tried to deter Jim from giving Harrison the reaction he was looking for. "I would not recommend engaging the prisoner further."

"Give me a minute," Jim said before stomping back towards the holding cell. "Let me explain what's happening here. You are a criminal. I watched you murder innocent men and women. I was authorized to end you! And the only reason why you are still alive is because I am allowing it. So shut your mouth."

Harrison stared back at Jim in an almost fascinated way. "Oh, Captain, are you going to punch me again over and over till your arm weakens? Clearly, you want to, so tell me, why did you allow me to live?"

"We all make mistakes."

"No. I surrendered to you because, despite your attempt to convince me otherwise, you seem to have a conscience, Mr. Kirk. If you did not, then it would be impossible for me to convince you of the truth. 23-17-46-11. Coordinates not far from Earth. If you want to know why I did what I did, go and take a look."

Jim furrowed his brows at the prisoner. "Give me one reason why I should listen to you."

"I can give you seventy-two. And they're on board your ship, Captain. They have been all along. I suggest you open one up."

With a wave of realization washing over his face, Jim turned and started to walk off. "Where are you going?" I shouted after him.

"To call Scotty!"