Jim Kirk offered his hand to Wilson; she accepted it, and he drew her to her feet. He had not had time to be surprised at her lightness of weight before; now it came back to him as almost a shock. Something of his surprise must have shown in his face, for she said, "Captain...?"
He had no wish to make an issue of her slightness of frame, so he grinned instead and asked, "You don't mind gallantry from a human?"
She cocked her head to look gravely up at him. "That was a good deal more than gallantry," she said, and he knew that she referred to the moment he had pulled her from the onslaught of grabfoots. "Thank you, Captain."
"You're welcome, Doctor," he said.
Then she turned to Jinx and Brightspot. "Thank you," she said again, with the same deliberateness.
Ears flicked back. "For what?" said Brightspot.
"For coming back for us. If you hadn't, we might never have made it out of there alive."
From their expressive ears, it was clear neither of the two had thought of it that way- they'd been too intent on blaming themselves for endangering the humans in the first place. Kirk leapt to the opportunity to reinforce the message. "Give us a hand the rest of the way, will you? If we're going to be shaky, we might as well all be shaky together."
The two Sivaoans gave eager assistance all the way back to the rest of the party, where an outburst of shocked exclamations greeted their return.
Kirk sat down to explain in detail what had happened, while Wilson doused their respective wounds with Jubalan rum. As she recapped the bottle, Spock said, "I beg your pardon, Dr. Wilson, but you have done nothing to clean those wounds suffered by Jinx and Brightspot." Brightspot glanced up from licking her heel and, tongue still protruding between her teeth, curled her lips back.
Wilson laughed. "They've done it themselves, Mr. Spock. If I am to believe Catchclaw- and I do- their saliva contains a better antiseptic than Jubalan rum. Anything I could do would be superfluous- and would make their fur taste awful."
"I see. My apologies."
"None necessary, Mr. Spock. I'd rather be reminded unnecessarily than risk forgetting something important because I wasn't."
Spock gave her another of his extremely close looks. It occurred to Jim Kirk that Wilson's ego was not as fragile as Spock assumed, or at least not fragile in the accustomed places. Under this scrutiny, Wilson reddened. Spock, to Kirk's amazement, turned away. "Captain?" he said. "Are you sufficiently recovered to continue?"
Kirk shook his head. "First," he said, "we're going to sit here and listen while Brightspot and Jinx tell us- in great detail- about any other hazards we may expect to meet."
Montgomery Scott stepped into the engine compartment of the Dr. James Barry and stopped so abruptly that Ensign Orsay nearly ran him down. Her startled "Sir-?" brought her back to Scotty's awareness. The thing to be said for Marie-Therese Orsay, Scotty knew from experience, was that she loved a good ship as much as he did. Delighted to have someone to share the sight with, he stepped aside.
She did not disappoint him: her mouth formed a small 'o' and, after a long moment, she said, "Now that's what I call beautiful!"
"Aye," said Scotty, "that she is. Jamie, I'm happy to have ye for a landsman! Dinna ye worry, lass, we'll find out wha' ails ye." He touched the machined surface of the engine casings with a reverent hand, then turned to examine the dials and sensors.
Watching over his shoulder, Orsay said suddenly, "Am I imagining things, or is this little skiff capable of warp five?"
Scotty turned to her and grinned happily. "Ensign, ye c'ld squeeze warp ten out o' this if ye put y'r mind t' it... and land her neatly as ye please on a planetary surface."
She grinned back. "Then if you don't mind my saying so, if I had a skiff like this, I'd be tempted to desert Starfleet and turn space pirate... sir," she added pointedly. "Aye," he said, as pleased as if she had complimented him personally. "And if ye've a mind t' d' it, yell tell Evan Wilson that and gi' her the joy o' hearin' it said o' her Jamie."
Leaving Ensign Orsay agape, he turned once more to the engine and said, "We'll have ye in shape in n' time, Jamie." He began a series of tests on the Bodner lines, and Orsay recovered enough to call readings to him.
Three-quarters of an hour later, having stopped only once to shake his head with worry for the landing party, he got the flux reading Wilson had complained of. "Aye," he said, almost to himself, "that w'ld make ye tear y'r hair. Let's see what we c'n do for ye, lass."
Brightspot and Jinx, with many interruptions and additions to each other's thoughts, spent some two hours cataloguing what they might expect from the forest. Kirk considered the time well spent- it might save their lives when trouble came, whether in the form of grabfoots or slashbacks.
Now he stood overlooking the incline and presented the immediate problem. "We seem to have two choices: either we detour around the grabfoots or we find a way through them. Suggestions, Spock- anyone?"
Jinx said, tail drooping, "There are too many of them, even for all of us. It would take two, maybe three, extra days to circle around them. And I don't know that area well- we could find worse things than grabfoots."
"There aren't even enough trees to swing over them," Brightspot said, "and you can't swing very well anyway." She looked apologetic for having mentioned it. "Dr. Wilson," said Spock, "do the grabfoots find human flesh edible?"
Wilson shuddered. "They seemed to think so- but I take it you mean something else."
"Yes," said Spock. "We have all been in close proximity with Brightspot and Jinx and the others of their species. Perhaps you and the captain were attacked only because of the grabfoots' failure to distinguish between the Sivaoan scent and your own human scent."
"An interesting theory," Kirk said, "but one I can't say I'm anxious to test."
"Your reluctance is quite understandable, Captain," Spock said. "However, I had no intention of proposing such an experiment involving human life."
"I hope you don't intend to try it yourself, Spock. The only thing that would tell us is how edible they find a Vulcan."
"Hardly," said Spock, with some asperity. "I believe there to be a much less dangerous way to examine my theory. By your report, the four of you killed a great many more grabfoots than you carried back with you."
"What of it, Mr. Spock?"
"I see no dead grabfoots remaining in the area of the burrows. I would conclude that they scavenge their own dead as well as those other species on which they prey."
"Then we could test with a grabfoot carcass!" Kirk said. "But that still doesn't tell us how they react to human scent unadulterated with Sivaoan."
"That would be of no use to us unless we could somehow make Jinx and Brightspot 'smell human' as well. However, it is not human scent to which I allude. As Dr. Wilson has mentioned, and as Jinx and Brightspot have confirmed by their reaction, Sivaoans find the scent of alcohol objectionable in the extreme. Perhaps the grabfoots share their aversion."
"You needed it for an antiseptic," Jinx said. "We didn't want to complain -"
"But you still smell awful," Brightspot finished. "Maybe the grabfoots would hate it too."
Wilson pulled out the bottle of Jubalan rum and handed it to Spock. "Sparingly, if you please, Mr. Spock. This is only the first day of our journey."
"Understood." Taking the bottle and a grabfoot carcass that Brightspot hastily untied from her booty, Spock proceeded with his experiment. He used only a few drops of Jubalan rum, but Jinx no longer attempted to conceal her distaste. "That's probably enough, Mr. Spock," she said, wrinkling her nose and twitching her tail. "I wouldn't eat it now."
"Then let us hope the grabfoots share your dislike," Spock told her. He started to pick his way down the hill.
"Just a moment," said Kirk firmly. "Jinx and Brightspot and I will accompany you. We will go only far enough to throw the carcass down to the grabfoot colony. Agreed?"
"Captain? I assure you I had no intention of approaching the burrows."
"That hill's slippery, Spock. You're not going without backup."
Jinx and Brightspot bristled briefly but made no opposition to the plan, and the four of them started down the hill. In a short while, Jinx said, "Stop here," and they all did.
Kirk pointed out the area of the grabfoot colony, and Spock threw the gaudy carcass to the point at which they'd first been attacked. Once again, leaves exploded outward. Jinx made a low moan in the back of her throat, and even Kirk could not repress a shudder.
A dozen grabfoots converged on the carcass- and stopped. Several of them hissed and jumped back. They milled around, intermittently hissing first approaching, then jumping back. It was clear that they liked the smell even less than Brightspot and Jinx did.
At last one of the grabfoots gathered its nerve and attacked the carcass, sinking its sharp teeth deep into the body. Seeing it from this distance, with time to consider it, Kirk was nauseated by the creature.
It let go as suddenly as it had attacked, sat back on its haunches and howled, a chilling sound. Its fellows liked this even less than Kirk and the rest of the party did- they all promptly vanished underground, hastily pulling leaves over their burrows to hide. The remaining grabfoot continued to howl for a moment, then punctuated its distress with two sharp hisses, and it too vanished into its burrow.
"Mr. Spock," said Kirk with relief, "I believe your experiment is a complete success."
"It would seem so."
They rejoined the rest of the party at the top of the hill. Kirk said, "From the results of Mr. Spock's experiment, Doctor, I would say that you and I were already grabfoot-proof- but I should like to be very sure."
She nodded. "Ankles, wrists, throat and around the eyes then, for safety. Brightspot, Jinx, I hope you can stand this because it's got to be done. The captain isn't the only one who wants to be very sure." The two Sivaoans, with much bristling and twitching and wrinkling of noses, managed to hold still through Wilson's ministrations. She saw to Uhura and Chekov, then handed the bottle of rum back to Spock. "You'll have to do your own honors,
Mr. Spock."
"I fail to see the 'honors' inherent in such a procedure, Dr. Wilson," said Spock as he followed her instructions.
"So do Brightspot and Jinx, Mr. Spock," Wilson told him, smiling. She looked at Kirk. "Ready as we'll ever be, Captain." The rest of the party nodded assent, and Kirk motioned them forward.
"Stay alert, people," he added. "There may be one or two determined enough to want to taste despite the smell."
They worked their way down the hill, choosing the gentlest of the slopes to follow. The nearer they approached to the burrow area, the more ruffled Jinx and Brightspot became- but the two youngsters stayed carefully with their human companions, now and then offering a hand or tail as the terrain warranted.
The grabfoot carcass still lay where Spock had thrown it. "Good sign," said Kirk. "They certainly haven't overcome their aversion to the smell yet." From a few feet away, Wilson grunted an affirmative response, but Kirk got a glimpse of her face: all the color was gone from her cheeks.
Chekov slipped. Kirk and Brightspot hastily scrambled forward to catch and lift him to his feet. As they did, the grabfoots attacked. "Bozhe moi," said Chekov, not yet steadied. Kirk swung his spear, and Brightspot too struck out at the nearest- but both grabfoots jumped back, hissing angrily. "I guess it works, sair," said Chekov shakily. The animals hissed and approached again and once again jumped back at the smell. "I guess it does, Mr. Chekov," Kirk said, not taking his wary eyes from the miniature dinosaurs. He called to the others, "Keep moving, people. Let's not give them the time to change their minds."
He and Chekov and Brightspot pushed forward, surrounded by more and more of the creatures as they continued. Still none worked up the nerve to sink its teeth. "Evan said Jubalan rum would kill anything," he said to Chekov and was rewarded by a grim smile.
Brightspot speared one that had gotten too close for her comfort. Uhura closed in toward the party.
"Dr. Wilson." The voice was Spock's, from somewhere behind them; there was a sharpness in it that made Kirk turn. Spock was well above him on the slope- and some twenty yards farther up stood Wilson and Jinx, surrounded by two dozen or more hissing grabfoots. Jinx was urging Wilson forward but the doctor did not move.
"Keep going," Kirk snapped to Uhura, Chekov and Brightspot; then, slapping aside a grabfoot that came within inches of his boot, he started up the incline toward Wilson.
He managed only a few steps when he saw Spock slip and land full length on the ground. The grabfoots instantly converged on him. "Spock!" Kirk scrambled upward, his feet slipping wildly on loose stone and other debris, desperate to reach Spock before the grabfoots did.
