Area 51, Stardate 1986.29 (2260.29)

In the small base Amara saw all sorts of weapons. Anyone of them could kill the Etarian but she might as well have no arms. And if she tried and failed, the gig would be up for her. "The tunnels under the base are extensive. We're installing heaters and humidifiers. In a couple hours, it should be sufficient to your needs," The Colonel said. The Etarian grinned at him and patted his head. She looked back at Amara.

'Soon...there will be thousands of my brood. And they will all be hungry. These soldiers, these...men, should make a decent first meal. Don't you think?' She asked and Amara felt herself wanting to agree! She had to kill her and soon, before she became like those men!

Amara was horrified by what she was hearing. She knew that she had to do something...she had to kill the Etarian Queen before she was able to enact her plans. Amara knew that she could move a little. She focused all of her will power on moving her arms and her hand grasped the hint of her sword. She felt her hand shake. Her mind and body were in a struggle against one another. But then she felt the sword come free of its sheath. It unfolded and she rushed at the Etarian. In one, quick movement she sliced off the being’s arm. The Etarian looked shocked at what had just happened. However, Amara knew if she didn’t get the egg out of her body, she would continue to have control over her. She could feel it in her throat. She doubled over and coughed and wretched until she felt the egg finally slide out of her mouth. It fell to the floor in a slimy mess.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Etarian trying to escape. It was severely wounded, but still might survive. Amara couldn’t allow that. She couldn’t allow this creature to harm anyone else. She had been controlled and manipulated one too many times and she wouldn’t allow it to happen to someone else...not if she could stop it. She practically growled as she rushed at her. She raised up her blade and sliced off her head. The moment the Etarian’s head was removed from her body, the two Colonels were freed. They immediately pulled their guns and three shots rang out....

Amara knew she had scored a hit on the Etarian but she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and then all went black. "Get a coreman over here!" A soldier yelled.

---------------------

Scarlett was about to use the tricorder to gt the right wires but McCoy told her to move over. Kirk and Elyse had gotten into the back of the large, baby blue car. McCoy reached under the steering column and pulled at a few wires. He sparked them together and the car started. He could sense Elyse's disapproving look.

"What? I had...an uncle that collected old...cars," he said as he put the car in gear and pulled away from the street.

Scarlett sat in the passenger seat and used the Tricorder that was locked into Amara’s location to direct McCoy. Scarlett noticed that Amara seemed to be moving from one location to another, but then the movement stopped. Scarlett guided McCoy and they soon found themselves in a city. Amara’s location was getting closer and closer until they were suddenly almost right on top of the signal. When Scarlett looked at the building where Amara was supposed to be, they all saw it was a hospital. Elyse felt Jim tense up beside her.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” she said as she attempted to reassure him.

McCoy frowned as it became clear that they were at a hospital. Was Amara Hurt? Was she alright? There were military and police there as well. They passed by several police cars as McCoy found a place to park. McCoy only had his tricorder and field treatment kit. Kirk didn’t know what to think. Did something happen? Was she here because she had been hurt? The police, they thought that’s what they were, and the Military? They saw a soldier outside, were there. Coincidence? Doubtful. Something untoward happened, Kirk could feel it. Her being close though made him want to hurry. To run to her, to hold her in his arms. ‘God please, be alright’ he prayed as they exited the car.

When they got inside, the hospital was a buzz of activity. Men and women in hospital gab running about. Patients in the halls and in a large, waiting room. Policemen and soldiers standing about though most appeared to be in a leisurely stance. There was a an older woman at the front desk and Kirk looked around the area. He noticed a hallway and gestured for the others to head that way. They needed hospital outfits. The woman looked at him as he looked at her and smiled. There were several ID badges just inside her window to her right.

“Hi, its pretty lively today,” He said as the woman wrote something on some kind of report. “It certainly is, there isn’t enough room for all of these men in uniform,’ she said though she seemed to smile as she looked up at them. “My...mother was brought here, I don’t know what’s happened to her or where she’s been taken,” he said. The woman looked up at him and became concerned. “Oh, well, If you can…” He began then turned to get a ledger. As she did Kirk snatched an ID badge that looked vaguely like McCoy and pocketed it. “What’s her name?” She asked. “Amara Kirk,” Kirk asked. The woman began to look. She frowned. “Hmm, I’m not seeing that name, I’m sorry,” she said. “Hmm, alright, well, thanks for looking, maybe it was another hospital,” he said and stepped away. There were people behind him and as he stepped away he shifted town the hallway. He moved down until he saw them inside a large, storage room. He shut the door behind him. McCoy already had on a scrubs outfit and a white, labcoat. The women were putting them on as well. Kirk handed McCoy the badge.

“Clothes, a car and now this?” Mccoy said. “You can judge me later,” Kirk said as he began to put on the scrubs outfit.

Now that Amara was so close, the tricorder was actually starting to pick up her life signs. Scarlett had noticed that it no longer detected the Etarian and she began to believe it was dead. She kept a neutral face when she saw Amara's weak life signs and she discreetly showed the tricorder to Dr. McCoy, who would know that Amara was dying. They had to find her...and fast. The tricorder also showed them that she was on a level above them. Scarlett guessed that she was probably in surgery somewhere. 

Once Jim was ready, they stepped out of the storage room. Scarlett, Jim, and Elyse found a map of the hospital and they began to study it. Dr. McCoy might notice an older woman sitting in a wheelchair in the hallway. When he asked her what was wrong with her she looked at him.

"Dialysis."

McCoy frowned again as he looked at the woman. “Kidney Dialysis?” He asked in disbelief as he began to fish into his med kit. “We’re in the dark ages now,” He muttered as he handed them to her. “Take this, one every day and call me in the morning,” he said then continued on toward the elevator. All 4 of them were inside when the door closed. The hospital map on the wall told them that the surgical ward was on the 6th floor. When the doors opened they saw police standing outside one of the operating rooms.

“Too many police,” Kirk said but McCoy looked down the hall. “Hmm, I have an idea. Scarlett, how good are you at acting?” He asked with a grin.

Elyse was concerned when she saw all of the police standing outside of the surgical ward. Although none of them had any idea that at that moment the surgeons were discovering the strange things about Amara's body. Amara had half as many nanobots in her blood now, which meant that her wounds weren't healing as quickly as they used to...but they were starting to slowly heal. However, she had lost a lot of blood on the way to the hospital. 

They managed to locate a unused gurney and Scarlett hoped up onto it. They put the blanket over her since she was still in the scrubs. She began to moan and groan as if in extreme pain.

“Ok, here we go…” McCoy said as they all helped push the cart with Scarlett moaning as if in serious pain. The police took one look at the beautiful scarlett in pain and they moved out of their way. One, some kind of officer did stop them though.

“What are you doing? This area is off limits!” he said quickly. McCoy looked at him gravely. “My god man, do you want an acute case on your hands!? This woman has immediate postprandial, upper abdominal distention!” McCoy said urgently. The man stepped aside quickly. “Uh what is that!?” Kirk asked softly as they continued to wheel Scarlett by. “Stomach cramps,” McCoy responded. Kirk opened the door to the surgical room and the others pushed the cart inside. They closed the thick door as the surgeons about to use a drill, stopped what they were doing. One of them, a tall man, held the drill.

“What is the meaning of this!” He said. Kirk pulled out his phaser as he glanced at Amara. McCoy moved toward the doctor. “What are you doing with that!” McCoy snapped at the surgeon. “She has a cranial bleed, relieving the pressure using a surgical drill is the proper treatment for a bleed like this!” The surgeon said. McCoy snatched the drill from him. “Good god man, drilling holes in someone’s head is not the answer!” He said as he began to argue on the proper treatment for Amara. Kirk stepped up to her. Her head was bandaged and he lightly touched her face. She was alive and McCoy was going to fix what was wrong. He kissed her hand then looked up at the doctors.

“You, get over there...into that room,” he said warningly as he waved the phaser at them. “What is that...a weapon?” Someone asked as they put their hands up and stepped into the room. Kirk shut the door then used the phaser and melted the metal of the door lock and fused it shut. McCoy pulled out a medical device and began to use it on Amara.

The first couple of officers were easy to get by. However, when they came upon another one, who seemed less likely to just let them pass Scarlett began to moan louder and even thrashed her head a little on the gurney to make it look really convincing. It worked and they immediately headed into the surgical room. Scarlett hoped off of the gurney and her eyes widened when she saw what they were about to do to Amara. Amara was unconscious and her head was wrapped up. 

Elyse was scared for her friend and she looked at her husband as he pulled out a device and placed it on Amara's head. "What is that?"

“It’s a cortical stimulator. It will keep her brain functions normalized while I repair the damage. They were about to put her on a ventilator. Barbarians!” McCoy said in a scoff as he pulled out another device. He held it above her head. It worked like a tiny transporter as it removed the bullet fragments from her body. He didn’t say so but if she were just a regular human, she’d likely have died. He removed the fragments and then swapped devices again. This one was white and had a clear tip. It was an internal suturing device that knitted the internal flesh back together. Lastly everyone knew a dermal regenerator when they saw one. After 10 minutes he was done but he left the stimulator on until she began to stir.

Elyse and Scarlett watched what Leonard was doing with fascination. Elyse stood near Jim to provide some comfort. They had managed to find her in time and Elyse was confident that her husband would be able to save her. However, she also knew that Amara was probably very lucky that she had the enhancements that she did. 

It took a few minutes, but slowly Amara began to stir. Her fingers moved first and then her head. Lastly, her eyes slowly began to open. The first thing she saw was James' face looking down at her.

"James?" 

She wasn't certain if she was dreaming or not.

Relief flooded into Kirk as Amara began to stir. He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I’m here Amara...we’re all here,” he said as he looked down at her. “How do you feel?” He asked. He wanted to kiss her until she made him stop but there were too many people around.

Amara was feeling weak and unsteady. “My head is throbbing,” she admitted. Scarlett looked at her. “Well you were shot in the head so that’s understandable. You were brought here to a hospital, but Dr. McCoy took care of you.”

Elyse looked at Leonard. “We can’t stay here. Is it safe to move her?”

"Her body is still healing but we can move her," McCoy said. "Ok, lets get her into some of these medical clothes, she can stay on the cart, we still need to get past those guards," Kirk said. "I think we still play the we're in a hurry thing and try to get out of the hospital," he suggested."What do you all think?" Kirk asked.

Elyse looked at James. "What if they recognize Scarlett from before?" Scarlett found a wheelchair and brought it over and she put on a hospital gown and they also put one on Amara, who was slipping in and out of consciousness. James would wheel the gurney with Elyse helping and Leonard would push Scarlett in the wheelchair. They knew they needed to hurry. Once everyone was ready, they headed out of the surgery room.

The soldiers looked at them but they didn't stop them immediately. The one that had stopped them before looked at them. "Hey!" He said as they continued into the elevator. "Hey, stop!" He commanded but they didn't stop and the elevator headed down to the ground floor. Everyone chucked out of their medical clothes and put them on the cart. Kirk helped Amara into the wheelchair. As they came out McCoy and Elyse hurried ahead so they could bring the car around. The guards burst out onto the ground floor but several of them saw the elevator going back up and decided to run back up to look for them. The one that seemed more aware was looking for them. His eyes scanned across Amara, Kirk and Scarlett but Scarlett's skirt seemed to distract him. Kirk brought them out as McCoy stopped the car. They helped Amara into the car and McCoy started off away from the hospital.

"Where do we go Jim?" He asked. "Back to where we started, I guess," kirk suggested.

As McCoy rushed past the old woman he had talked to earlier she pointed at him and smiled. "That doctor gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney."

Scarlett once again got into the front passenger seat to guide Leonard back to their starting point. Elyse sat in the back with Amara between Jim and herself. Jim had put Amara's head against his shoulder. Amara slowly began to regain consciousness again from the jostling of the car. She was disoriented and unsure of where she was or where they were going. However, she knew James was there. His familiar scent filled her nose. 

"She forced me to kill them," Amara mumbled.

Elyse looked at her. "Who?"

"The...Etarian queen. I...I didn't want to kill them," Amara said as she started to become upset. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. "They didn't have to die...but I couldn't stop myself."

Kirk looked at Elyse worriedly. An Etarian? What would they be doing here? He wondered. “Amara...what was an Etarian doing here? What do you mean, kill who? What happened?” Kirk asked her softly as McCoy drove.

Amara was disoriented, but she did her best to explain her what had happened.

“The Etarian forced me to swallow an egg that gave her...control over me. I learned that she was planning to infest earth...and earth was just the start. They believe they have a divine right to rule over everything in the universe. She was going to kill people. I..I had to kill her to stop her.”

Scarlett turned back to look at Amara. “An Egg? From this...other queen? We met an Etarian queen. Either they all are in on this or maybe ‘this’ queen is displaced somehow,” Scarlett offered up. Amara would likely not believe that. The queen she met spoke about her race as a whole. She could have single-handedly changed the face of earth. And turned all humans into their food.

“Is there any evidence that this...window that can transport someone through time, was created by the Etarians?” Kirk asked. Scarlett shook her head. “I know my way around ruins Jim, and these were definitely not remnants of Etarians. The doorways were too small and the art was consistent with people who were of human size. I think whomever sent that probe, sent it to stop what they were doing. So that would mean...what?” Scarlett asked, uncertain of her train of thought. Kirk held onto Amara. He wanted her to feel him holding her. He kissed her forehead and he didn’t care who saw him. An egg down her throat...forcing her to kill, must have been horrible! Now he knew the Etarians were up to no good. They were a direct threat to the Federation.

“Scarlett, did those ruins look like they had been disturbed?” Kirk asked. Scarlett shook her head. “No, the dust and sand...it looked like thousands of years had passed without those ruins having visitors,” she said. “Then how did the Kzinti know about them?” Kirk wondered out loud. “I don’t know that either but there has been a series of events that drew us to them and to the...uh, mirror,” she said. “First Amara was sent to stop the Etarian. And then we were sent...for what?” She said wonderingly.

“To bring her back,” McCoy said. “Kirk to lead us, Scarlett to find her, and myself to save her from those...those...ham fisted barbarians!” McCoy said angrily as he drove. That left out Elyse though and that was on everyone’s minds until…

“Look out!” She said loudly as a police car turned sideways to block their car and its roof lights and siren popped on. McCoy turned onto a side street just before.

“We’re not that far from the warehouse!” Kirk said. The police car began to follow them, its lights and siren blaring. He saw Elyse pull out her phaser. “Yes, the tires, do it!” Kirk commanded.

Elyse looked back and saw the police car following them. She knew that they needed to get back to where they had entered this time. If they got stopped, who knows what would happen. She leaned out of the window and she saw a policeman in the car do the same thing. He aimed at her, as she aimed at their tire. They both fired at nearly the exact same moment. The car's right front tire burst and sent the car careening until it hit a guard rail. Scarlett looked back at Elyse and her eyes widened when she saw blood running down Elyse's arm. She had been shot in the left shoulder. She dug through McCoy's medical bag and found some bandages for her to use to curb the bleeding until he could properly see to her. Elyse saw the worry in his eyes as she looked at her in the rear view mirror.

"I'm alright," she assured him. She winced though as she applied pressure to the gunshot wound. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire.

McCoy wanted to look back and he did to see how bad Elyse was hit but he had to drive and he was not at all an experienced driver. He had driven ground vehicles before, certainly but not anything like the big, heavy beast he was driving. They could hear more sirens in the distance as McCoy put on the breaks. The car came to a stop along the curb. The front wheel pitched the vehicle up and everyone inside bounced and shifted forward when he stopped. McCoy got out quickly and then opened Elyse’s door. Kirk opened his door and then helped Amara out. When she looked none too steady on her legs he just picked her up and cradled her in his arms. Scarlett got out and then checked the car for anything they might have left. The only real thing that could pose a problem was the Etarian. But if memory served her, she recalled that people in what they called the United States believed in aliens and such. Perhaps this is where those rumors began?

McCoy kept pressure on the wound but they didn’t have time to stop and for him to repair the damage. Those sirens had gotten louder just in that short time. Kirk opened the door and they all filed into the old, dusty warehouse. And, as luck would have it...or perhaps fate, the gleaming window was there in the center of the room.

“Bless you,” Kirk murmured to no one imparticular. “Go...all of you go!” He commanded.

Everyone was thrown around a little as the car came to a screeching halt and one of the front wheels went up onto the curb. Elyse was starting to feel faint and was glad that Leonard was there to open the door. Scarlett scrambled to make sure that they weren't leaving anything behind. There was the Etarian, but they couldn't deal with that now. They needed to get Amara and Elyse to sickbay. 

Elyse was able to walk, but Amara was not at all steady and James had to pick her up. They all quickly entered the old warehouse and were relieved to see that the window was still there. Scarlett looked over at Jim when he told them all to go. She knew that he wouldn't do anything stupid with Amara in his arms. She went first and then Elyse and Leonard. Amara's head was resting against James' chest. The sirens were now almost on top of them. On the other side, Scarlett, Elyse, and Leonard waited anxiously for Jim and Amara. Scarlett had already contacted the Enterprise and they were ready to beam them all up once Jim and Amara arrived.

With Amara in his arms Kirk looked around the room. He didn’t quite understand what was going on or why the probe had taken her in the first place. Time travel had ramifications that he couldn’t begin to understand. He doubted these Etarians had the technology to do all of this. Something or someone else was helping them. But why? Removal of Earth would effectively end the Federation and Starfleet in the future. But how could that be if its already happened? He looked down at Amara. She felt so light and frail in his arms. Her blue eyes were only half opened but he knew she was looking at him. He touched her face.

“I love you,” He whispered as he kissed her softly. After he looked at her a moment longer he moved into the mirror.

When they appeared he heard Elyse order the beam out. Once they materialized on the ship the ship shook and the ship was in an obvious state of red alert.

“Crewman, take her, get her to our quarters,” Kirk said as he set Amara down. The crewman came and put her arm over her shoulder. Kirk flipped out his communicator.

“Spock, report,” Kirk asked.

“Captain, good you’re back, an Etarian vessel, of a type we’ve never seen before is attacking us,” Spock said. “Go to warp, get us out of here,” Kirk said. “Warp drive is down,” Spock said. “I’ll be right there,” Kirk said. “Elyse go to sickbay, Scarlett…” Kirk said with a gesture and together they ran down the hall toward the turbolift. McCoy helped the crewman with Amara.

On the bridge the view screen showed a large ship. It was shaped like a massive Almond and indeed it looked organic. It fired some kind of energy burst at the Enterprise. The Enterprise shook at the impact.

“Shields down to 45 percent!” Kal said urgently. “Evasive pattern Omega 3, Kal,” Spock said as he stood. Scarlett took her station.

“Scarlett, try to locate their propulsion systems,” Kirk said even before he sat down and Spock moved to his chair.