"Ow!" Captain Kirk grimaced as Doctor Leonard McCoy examined the wound. "Ease up a little, doc."

"Oh quit being such an infant," Bones grumbled as he held the scanner over the wound.

The bleeding had stopped and the injury was now throbbing painfully. Kirk sighed as he sat on the hospital bed, staring at the far wall. Bones set the scanner down and grabbed another piece of equipment. They were the only two in the medbay at that time and most of the lights were turned off.

"Damn these people and their primitive weapon systems," The doctor mumbled to himself.

"How's it looking?"

"Well it ain't gonna be pretty, but it'll heal. The damn thing took a pretty big chunk out of your arm," He said as he worked. "You should have come to see me right away, not wasting time screwing around. Then again that's just typical. Most people tend to forget that if it weren't for the ship's chief medical officer, we would all just be floating mindlessly through the disease infested space..." Bone's kept muttering to himself as he worked, but the Captain didn't respond. He was quiet for a long minute, lost deep in thought.

"Great, now I'm just standing here yammering to myself."

"What?"

"I said you're awfully quiet."

Kirk shrugged then grimaced as he moved his arm. "I'm just thinking."

Bones picked up another piece of equipment. "Well that's never a good thing. You should leave that stuff to the computer. Let him worry about it, or compute it, or whatever the hell he does."

"The whole thing seemed way too easy," Kirk continued, ignoring the doctor's comment.

"Easy?" Bones repeated. "'Course it was easy. Spending nearly a week setting the damn thing up, only to have it go south and then you getting shot and having to crawl through the sewers for hours on end...Sounds 'easy' enough."

"It's just something doesn't feel right. I don't know. There's too much Starfleet isn't tell me."

"Well what else is new?"

"I'm probably just overthinking it," Kirk admitted with a sigh. "I'll contact command as soon as I can, try and get straight answer."

"Yeah, well good luck with that." Bones grabbed a roll of bandages. The thin, silvery material shimmered in the light of the med bay as he wrapped it around Kirk's injured arm. "That should do for now," He said, cutting the bandage and setting the rest aside.

"Thanks Bones," Kirk said, standing and grabbing his shirt.

"You should take it easy for a while. Meaning, don't do anything too stupid," Bones told him, putting his equipment away. "I don't want you coming in here complaining that you messed up your damn arm again."

Kirk pulled his shirt on, hissing between his teeth as he moved his arm over his head. "I'll take that into consideration."

Bones turned and leaned against a bed. "Headin' up the bridge?"

"I think they'll be fine on their own for a little while longer," Captain Kirk told his chief medical officer. "First I need to contact Starfleet."

"Well, have fun. Might come and join you on the bridge if I end up getting too bored down here," Bones said as Kirk left the med bay.

Captain Kirk headed down the hall and into the nearest turbolift. The doors closed in front of him as the lift shot upward. It came to a halt after several seconds and the doors slid open. He was about to step out before he realized it was the wrong floor.

A nice looking blonde woman in a red uniform smiled at the captain as she stepped inside. Captain Kirk returned the smile and quickly looked away, trying desperately to remember her name. It started with a J, he was certain of that. His mind went through every possibly female name he could think of that started with that letter.

"Yeoman Janinine...Rand...?" He asked, hoping he had chosen the right one.

"Janice," the yeoman corrected him with a sweet smile.

Kirk nodded. "Right, Janice. I knew that."

Janice laughed as she nervously tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear. The turbolift came to a stop and the doors slid open. Captain Kirk stepped out onto his floor. Janice smiled as the captain stopped in front of the doors before they could close. "So, are you busy tonight?" he asked her with a grin.

Janice smiled. "I may have some free time after my shift."

Kirk's grin grew as he stepped back. "Great, maybe we could—" with a loud whoosh the timed doors slid closed in front of him. "Smooth, real smooth..." He mumbled to himself as he shook his head, turning and walking back towards his quarters.

Once inside, he stepped over to the desk and slid his hands over the surface. The display lit up beneath his fingers. "Contact Starfleet Command," He instructed.

The display flashed a light blue. SENDING TRANSMISSION.

Kirk took a deep breath, straightening the bottom of his shirt and sitting in his chair. Seconds later, the image of Commodore Paris filled the screen. "Captain Kirk," She said, the image slightly distorting.

"Sir," he greeted. "I contacted you to report that the artifact has been secured and Starfleet's involvement remains unknown."

Commodore Paris nodded. "Would it not have been sufficient to have sent a simple report?" She inquired, her gravelly voice almost lost in the static-like interference caused by being so far out into deep space.

Captain Kirk cleared his throat. "Permission to speak freely, sir."

Suspicion flickered in the Commodore's dark eyes but she accepted the request. "Granted."

"What exactly is this artifact?"

Commodore Paris folded her hands together. "That information is classified."

Captain Kirk nodded in consideration, but didn't let it drop. "Last time, I had something from the Fibonan Republic aboard my vessel. As you are well aware, in Krall's attempt to recover the weapon, my ship was destroyed and my crew stranded. Forgive me for being blunt, but if there is even the slightest possibility of my crew becoming endangered in any way because of this, I need to know."

Commodore Paris's lips were pressed together in a tight line. After a long, uncomfortable pause, she answered. "It is an ancient device that collected the power of a sun to act as an energy source. It assisted in hastening the terraforming process on planets," She said in a very matter-of-fact voice. "It is very old, and very powerful. I assume you can understand why Starfleet did not want it to fall into the wrong hands."

"If you could clarify what you mean concerning its power capabilities..."

"That is classified."

"Well, then then how did you find out about its existence?"

"Also, classified."

"So having it in our possessions does, in fact, pose a threat to my ship and my crew?" Kirk asked, becoming frustrated.

Commodore Paris said nothing to prove or deny this. The image on the screen warped slightly with interference. "You have done your duties and performed admirably," She said simply.

"Thank you, sir," Kirk mumbled.

Commodore Paris paused, the silence dragging on for a long uncomfortable moment before she spoke again. "I will tell you this. War is coming," She told him, her voice monotone. "You have done your job. Continue your mission and leave the rest to us."

Quite abruptly, the transmission cut out and Captain Kirk was left sitting at his desk, listening to the deafening silence.