Stealth was no longer an option and the crew began to fire at the approaching aliens. Two fell, the rest started to run towards them, many returning fire. Giotto signaled for the crew to follow as he headed towards an opening in one of the collapsed buildings.

Science officer Mayama suddenly cried out in pain, falling to the ground in the middle of the street and clutching her leg. Chekov ran to help but Bones grabbed his arm and pushed him back. The doctor ran back to the injured science officer, dodging through the phaser fire and shooting two of the aliens that stood in his way. He dropped and slid across the ground just as a heavy blast from a phaser rifle tore through the air above his head. He wrapped his arms around Mayama, shielding her with his body as he continued to fire his phaser pistol.

"Doctor!" Giotto shouted, taking cover around the doorway. His eyes scanned the area.

Many of the aliens had enough sense to take some form of cover, but one man stood, aiming its rifle straight at where the doctor was shielding Mayama. Without a moment's hesitation, Giotto stepped out of cover to get a clear shot at the alien. It fell back, its shot going wide as the phaser rifle fell from its hands. As soon as Giotto fired the shot, he stumbled backwards.

"No!" Chekov cried as he watched him fall to the ground.

There were more men coming and Bones would never be able to make it to the other side of the street. He stayed on the ground, laying over the injured science officer, shielding her as much as he could. Chekov turned around the cover, firing randomly at the groups of approaching aliens. He needed to divert the fire, keep their attention away from the others.

A chunk of rubble blew apart by his arm. With a gasp, he ducked back into the building. His pulse pounded in his head and his chest felt tight as he heard the blasts of their primitive weapons tear apart what was left of the door frame. Chekov couldn't let them turn their attention back to the doctor. He held his phaser pistol up, firing blindly into the street. He knew he was probably hitting nothing, but he had to keep them distracted.

Chekov quickly checked the power levels on his phaser. He looked up and suddenly a large alien barged in through the door. Chekov rolled across the ground as it fired at where he had been only moments before. Before he could recover, the alien kicked the phaser from his hand, bones cracking beneath the force. Another strong kick slammed into Chekov's gut, sending him sprawling further across the floor.

Chekov coughed loudly, his head pounding and his hand burning with pain. The alien pointed its weapon at him. Chekov quickly staggered to his feet, stumbling into the alien and trying to force him back. But he was no match for it. The alien grabbed the kid and sent him flying through the air and into the wall. The old, crumbling material cracked as he hit it and fell to the floor.

Dazed and injured, Chekov tried to focus his blurry vision. The alien came at him again and Chekov could do nothing to fight it as he felt strong hands grab his shoulders and yank him to his feet. Chekov's eyes sank closed and his body went limp. The alien growled, tossing the body across the room as if it were nothing more than a rag doll. Chekov tumbled across the floor towards the collapsed doorframe.

Before the alien could react, Chekov's eyes shot open and he dragged himself out onto the street, grabbing Giotto's dropped weapon. A line of fire ripped up the street next to him. Chekov fired at the alien inside of the building, he himself barely had time to crawl back into the building before getting shot.

Out of the corner of his eyes Bones watched the crazy Russian kid, who was very close to getting himself killed. Bones tried to think of what he could do, but dared not move. If he did, the aliens would kill them in a second.

Several more men were already moving across the street, heading towards the building.

Chekov yelled something in Russian, firing at the approaching aliens but hitting nothing. The aliens rushed steadily forward, ducking along the wall.

"Stay down," Bones told Mayama, reaching for his phaser and firing at one of the aliens heading towards the door. The alien slammed against the wall and slid to the ground. The other aliens turned towards Bones, about to fire when several blasts of phaser fire cut through the dim light and they fell back against the wall.

Bones looked behind him at the two figures in the alley behind him. He recognized Uhura, but the man with her was unfamiliar.

"Move!" Uhura yelled, stepping out into the street and firing at the other aliens.

Bones didn't need to be told twice. Holding her arm over his shoulder, Bones ran across the street and into the half collapsed building. "Take her!" He told Chekov, all but shoving the injured science officer against Chekov.

Bones turned and ran back towards the door. He ducked around the corner, helping Uhura and the man fire at the rest of the aliens. "It's good to see you again!" He yelled.

"How's Spock?" She asked, dropping and rolling to cover as a bombardment of fire tore through the air around her.

"Still as annoying as before!" Bones told her, shooting.

There weren't many left, and soon the last few stood and tried to run. Uhura was about to head after them when Faaren walked past her, expertly aiming and hitting the fleeing aliens. He lowered the rifle he was carrying.

"That all of them?" Bones asked, walking out into the street to join the two.

"For now," Faaren said.

Uhura turned to Bones and smiled.

"Well, it's good to see you're in one piece," Bones told her. "Who's your friend?"

"Doctor McCoy this is Faaren," Uhura said.

It took him a moment to recognize him, since he had not expected the man to just be standing there with Uhura. Bones stepped forward. "You're the son of a bitch who shot Spock and took the Lieutenant!"

"Bones!" Uhura stepped in front of him.

"You're defending him? After what he did?!"

"He's on our side. He's helping us," Uhura tried to tell him.

Faaren turned to her, almost shocked at her words but his face remained expressionless.

"They have the device," Uhura continued. "It's some sort of ancient technology and they're going to use it to rip a tear in the fabric of space."

Bones settled down some, but his eyes continued to glare at Faaren. "That sounds like a load of horse shit," Bones said, knowing that the words were false the moment they were spoken. Of course it was possible, he'd seen it before. Different things, different devices, but he'd seen it happen.

"Not quite," Faaren said. "They are a very old and very advanced species, and given the chance, they will destroy everything."

Bones didn't back down. "And if it weren't for you, they wouldn't have the damn thing!"

"They had his family." Uhura said. "They threatened to destroy the entire colony if he didn't do what they asked."

Faaren shook his head, his eyes still locked on the doctor. "I made a mistake, thinking they would keep their word. I won't excuse my actions. But believe me, they would have destroyed your ship and killed everyone on board to retrieve it."

"Doctor," Chekov called from across the street, helping the injured science officer to the ground. Bones and the others went over to them. Bones knelt beside her, and took out his small medical pack.

"I thought the Captain would have come with you," Uhura commented.

Bones hesitated for a second, sighing and then continuing to assist the injured officer. His slight hesitation did not go unnoticed.

"He's back on the ship, right?"

Chekov, who leaned against the wall, hung his head.

"Where is he?" She asked, fearing the answer.

"Jim's dead," Bones told her as he busied himself with his work.

Uhura grew quiet. She stood stock-still, unable to wrap her head around the words. "Dead?" she repeated, her voice breaking. "How?"

Bones shook his head. "These creatures attacked us. He decided to play the damn hero and ended up falling."

Uhura sat against a pile of rubble, unable to think anything to say. Faaren, who had been pacing, stopped. "Have you seen the creatures again?" He asked.

Bones wrapped a bandage around the science officers wound. "No. Stopped those skinny bastards back at the bridge. Haven't seen any more since."

Faaren and Uhura exchanged a glance.

"What is it?" Uhura asked.

Faaren swung his rifle over his shoulder. "Your captain's not dead."

Bones turned and faced him. "What the hell are you talking about? We saw what happened. We saw him fall. No one could survive that."

Faaren nodded in Uhura's direction. "She can explain."

Bones grabbed the man's shoulders and forced him to turn around. "Now just wait a damn minute."

"There's no time to sit around." He said, pushing his hand away. "I'll get your captain and you will contact your ship and get the hell out of here."

"If Jim's still alive."

"We're not leaving here." Uhura said. The two men turned to her. "We have to stop the Talosian's. With that power they could kill millions of people. We can't let that happen."

Faaren nodded. "Do what needs to be done." He told her as he turned and went towards the bridge.