Title: The Evil That Men Do Author: Jazz Man Rating: PG13/R (Violence) Notes: This is a responce to the terrorist attack in Spain. Not nice. You are duly warned.
The Evil That Men Do Jazz Man
Take a holiday, they said. Go and enjoy yourself, they said, you deserve it. It's not that I would have minded a holiday, but did it really have to be on Ylik VII? The most boring planet known to man? It wasn't part of the Federation yet, but they wanted to join. You'll be able to relax, they said. Yeah, right. The only good thing was that Spock had promised to come and collect me. He was going to try and persuade Jim that I would be more relaxed if we had a few days together. I had to get through the week first.
I decided that I had to find something to do. Oh a whim, I chose to go to the beach. I left my hotel in the planet's capital city and headed for the train station. Apparently the Ylikians, trying saying that after a few drinks, have the best public transport system in the sector. I was just glad that I wasn't going to have to use a damn transporter.
It was early in the morning, right around rush hour, and the train station was busy. I pushed my way through to the platform and checked the time. 8:27. I had about ten minutes to wait. I bought a paper and sat down to read it.
That was when all hell broke loose.
I heard the explosion and immediately ducked to the floor. A second explosion followed. There was perfect silence, but only for a second. Then the screams started.
I got to my feet and scanned the area. The bomb had been big. The blast area had even reached where I was. A piece of brightly coloured cloth caught my eye and I bent down to pick it him. I dropped it the minute I realised just what it was. It was a hand. A child's hand in a woollen glove.
I choked down the bile that was rising and walked towards the blast area. I had no supplies, no equipment, no nothing, but I had to do something.
The first few people I saw weren't badly injured. Most just sat there, too dazed to even move. A few, like me, had gone to see what could be done. I trusted that the alarm had already been raised. I hoped it wouldn't take long for the emergency services to arrive.
I heard a moan and turned immediately to find the source. A women was lying on the floor. Something had hit her in leg and she was bleeding badly. I knelt down beside her.
"Hey," I said.
She looked up at me and I could see the pain and the fear in her eyes.
"It's okay," I said. I untangled the scarf she was wearing and tied it round the top of her leg to stop the bleeding. There was nothing else I could do for her.
She said something, but it was so quiet that I couldn't hear. I bent closer and she spoke again. "My little girl," she said. "I've lost her."
I thought of the glove. "I'll find her," I said. "It's okay, I'll find her for you."
I stood and walked away from the woman. I couldn't see any children in the immediate area. I moved closer to the centre of the station. The injuries started to look even worse. If the girl was here . . . I shook my head. She couldn't be here.
I turned back to where the woman was. There. Curled up in corner. It had to be the girl. I ran towards her. I knelt down and brushed the hair from her face. It was her. She looked a lot like her mother. As far as I could tell, she wasn't injured, but she was clearly in shock. I picked her up and carried her back to her mother.
The woman cried. "My baby."
I put the girl down and checked the woman's leg. The blood flow had lessened.
"It's going to be all right," I said.
I stood and walked back toward the centre of the station. I knew the most seriously injured would be near the centre of the blast. I squared my shoulders and kept on walking.
I looked towards the centre and wished I hadn't.
"Sweet Jesus."
This bomb had been very powerful.
It was hard to tell how many there where under all that blood.
The Ylikians have green blood. I thought of Spock and wished I hadn't.
After the dead came the soon to be dead. I done enough triage work to know that there was no point trying to help them.
I saw a man who had been hit in the chest. Whatever had done it had flown further and he was loosing blood. A lot of blood.
I knelt next to him and pressed down on his chest with my hands. The wound was too big. I pulled off my jacket and used it to try and stop the blood. It seemed to be working. The blood finally stopped. The man was unconscious. I wondered if he would ever wake up.
I left him and turned to the next. An old woman. It was amazing she was still alive. Her arm had been blown right off and her back was covered in small shrapnel. It anything bigger had hit her, she would have been dead. I tied off the arm. There was nothing else I could do.
Where the hell were the medics?
The next person I went to was another woman. She was still conscious, but just barely. Head wound. If she lost consciousness, she could very well die.
"Hi," I said, touching her face.
She looked at me. Her pupils were dilated.
"I need to stay with me, okay?"
She continued to look.
"I'm Len," I said. "What's your name?"
"Nany," she said. I think that's what she said.
I looked up for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief.
The cavalry were finally here.
***
I worked with the Ylikian medics for hours. I was exhausted. I leant against a pillar and closed my eyes. What the hell had just happened? Why the hell had it happened?
I felt a hand on my shoulder and opened my eyes. There was a young medic stood over me. "There's no one left here," she said. "You should probably go to the hospital and have your head checked out."
"My head?" I put a hand to my head and came away with dried blood. Red blood. I hadn't even noticed.
The woman helped me up. "Thank you," she said. "We are all indebted to you and to the others who helped."
I smiled. "I'm a doctor," I said. "What else could I do?"
She smiled back and led me out to a bus that was taking some of the minor injuries out to the hospital.
The journey was short and I was seen pretty quickly by a harassed looking junior doctor.
"You'll be all right," he said. "You just need some rest."
I smiled. "I could have told you that."
He frowned. "Do you know what it's been like here for the past few hours?" he asked angrily
"I do, yes. Look, let me give you some advice. Never, ever, lose it with a patient." He had the grace to look abashed. "You should just be glad that I'm a doctor. I can see that you need some help here, so just tell me where you want me."
His eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
I nodded.
"All the serious cases are being dealt with, it's just the minor injuries that need taken care of. You take this room. I'll be next door."
***
"Doctor McCoy?"
I opened my eyes. It was the junior doctor. I'd learnt by now that his name was Jinal. "What is it?" I asked, sitting up. I'd crashed in the doctors' common room.
"There's a transmission for you."
"For me? Who from?"
He shook his head. "I don't know exactly. It's routed through your hotel."
"Okay." I stood up. "Where can I take it?"
He walked through to an office and played with a computer terminal. "There you go, Doctor."
I sat down at the terminal and waited to be connected.
"Spock!"
"Len." I could see the relief on his face. "I was afraid. I thought something had happened to you."
"I'm fine, Spock. It's good to see you." I touched the screen. "I wish you were here."
He almost smiled. "As do I." He looked at someone off-screen. "The Captain has just told me that the Enterprise has changed course. We will be with you in day."
I laughed, but I could feel the tears in my eyes. "Thank you."
"I must go now," he said. "Until we meet again."
"Good bye, Spock."
The screen went dark.
I leant back in my chair and smiled. I was going home.
I heard a knock at the door and turned to see Jinal.
"There's been another one."
I felt a dull anger build. "Where do you want me?" I asked.
"You're too good to waste," he said. "We need you in surgery."
"Then surgery it is."
***
I got a crash course in Ylikian biology. They weren't that different from Humans, apart from the blood. But then blood is blood, doesn't matter what colour.
When the deluge finally ended, I managed to ask Jinal who had planted the bombs and why the hell they'd done it.
"It's a race thing," he said.
"I thought your people were the only race on the planet."
He frowned then seemed to understand. "Yeah, in the sense you mean. Not in the sense I mean it. The people who are setting the bombs, they call themselves Kidans, feel that they're in the minority, that they been mistreated by the 'infidels'."
I rubbed my forehead. "Religious conflict."
Jinal nodded. "According to them, they've been mistreated for years. They say they're fighting for freedom."
"Are they?"
He shook his head. "It's true, they were treated badly at one time, though it was never cut and dried. And now the fight is so ingrained that they can't give it up."
"But bombs in railway stations? It's just so . . . so arbitrary. Surely some of their own people could have been killed?"
"Some of them were."
"It's insane."
"It is."
We sat in silence for a while, before Jinal spoke up, "There's talk of giving all the medical personnel some kind of medal."
"I don't want a medal."
He smiled. "You've even been on the news."
I sighed. "Why?"
"It's politics," he said. "You're from the Federation. The referedum on membership is coming up and the government's trying to score points."
"That's all I need." I tried in vain to stifle a yawn.
"You should get some sleep. Go back to your hotel. We can handle it from here."
"Yeah, you're right." I stood stiffly. "My ship's coming to pick me up tomorrow."
"You're leaving us?"
I nodded. "I'm going home. I'll your leave twisted world to you, Jinal. Good luck with it."
"Thanks."
I smiled. "Look, if you need Federation help, negotiators, or doctors, or whatever else, well, I'll do best to help you get it."
"Thanks," he said again. This time it sounded like he meant it.
***
I felt the knife point at my throat and knew that this was trouble.
"Don't make any noise," said a voice in my ear. "You're going to come with me. Understood?"
I was exhausted. I was no match for anyone, certainly not a man with a knife at my throat.
"Understood?"
The knife pressed closer and nicked the skin. I could feel the blood.
"Understood," I said.
The man led me to a van where he bound and gagged me. He threw me into the back of the van and drove off.
I cursed loudly, or at least I tried to. I should have paid more attention to my surroundings. I didn't think I was in any immediate danger, but the situation didn't look good.
After what felt like an hour, the van stopped. The same man pulled me out of the van and threw me into the trunk of a car. We drove on. I tried to loosen my bonds, but they were tied so tight that some nasty rope burns were all I got for my trouble.
I considered trying to escape the next time we stopped, but I discarded the thought. I wouldn't get far before I was recaptured . . . or shot. I would have to go along with it. I was presuming that it was these Kidans who had taken me. God help the Ylikians if they had more than one violent terrorist group on their planet.
Finally we stopped.
The trunk was opened and the man hauled me out. It was dark, so I couldn't tell where we were. Where ever it was, it was cold.
I was thrown rather unceremoniously into a sort of outhouse. He removed the gag.
"Just to let you know, no on will hear if you scream. At least, no one who cares will."
I glared him, but he didn't take any notice.
"What do you want from me?"
"It's simple really. We're sending a message. Ylik belongs to the Kidan."
He left and I could hear him locking the door.
I sighed and took a look around. There was a window high on one of the walls, too high. The only way out was the door.
I huddled in the corner farthest from the door and thought of Spock. He would be on the planet in less than a day. He would get me out of there.
He had to.
***
When I awoke, the sun had risen. The temperature had gone up and up. That allowed me to guess at where we were: the desert. Of course, that didn't help, in fact, it served to reinforce how bad this situation was. I knew I could last long in the desert. I was used to the regulated temperatures on the Enterprise. I was
helpless. They were in control. I suppose that was the point.
I was beginning to wonder if they were just going to let me rot, when someone came in. I guessed that it was the man from before. I hadn't got a good look at him the night before.
He didn't look much different from Jinal or any of the other Ylikians that I'd seen. The only difference was that he had some kind of tattoo on his chin, but I didn't know if that was to do with religion, or just a fashion statement. He looked . . . normal.
I thought of the glove. Whoever had done that wasn't normal, not by anyone's definition.
"How did you sleep?" he asked. It was then that I realised this was a different man. The voice was different. It sounded almost pleasant.
"What kind of a question is that?"
He looked a little surprised. "A civilised one, Doctor McCoy."
"You're at an advantage," I said.
"Il Fanath. Leader of the Kidan," he said with a benevolent smile.
"Oh, you mean the people who've been blowing the place up?" I asked conversationally.
Fanath frowned. "I see you've heard of us."
"Why am I here?"
"Oh, it has nothing to do with you. You're just the messenger. Those who are against us want the Federation. We don't. That would mean even more non-Kidan on the planet. We will hold you here for as long as is necessary to get our message across."
I continued to glare at him, the dull anger turning hot. "What is it you want anyway?"
"Freedom."
"Freedom?" I spat the word back at him. "What? You want the infidel out of your country?"
"Ylik belongs to the Kidan," he said. "We want the infidel off of our planet."
"Where the hell do you want them to go?"
"Exactly there."
I frowned at him. "What's that -" I broke off as I realised what he meant. "You want them dead?"
"Yes," he said simply.
"You're insane. There's no other word for it. Dammit, what had those people done to you? Huh? Tell me that. What had the little girl whose hand you blew off done? Or the man who was just going about his everyday business? What did they do to you? Did they invade your country? Did they kill your people? Did they plant bombs?"
He had watched me through the tirade. He seemed calm, which was something I certainly wasn't.
"This is about freedom. That's why we're fighting."
"No. You're fighting because you're a coward. You're not brave enough to put down your gun and get on with living."
I knew then that I'd made a mistake. He hit me.
I fell back against the wall. I could feel the blood in my mouth. I struggled to my feet and spat. The blood was rich and deep and red. "Go on," I said, "Kill me. Take the easy way out. What's one more life?"
He looked at me with a look of utter contempt then he turned and left.
***
It was hot. Too hot. I guessed that it was around midday. Without water I was going to get into real difficulties. As if I hadn't already managed that. I knew that I'd been stupid, but I'd been so angry. I'd spent too long up to my elbows in Ylikian blood.
I thought of Spock and what he would do in my situation. Of course, he would never have let himself get into it in the first place. And if he had, he would never have gotten mad at his captors.
The Enterprise was probably in orbit. They would have found out that I was missing. They would be looking for me. The question was, would they find me in time?
In time for what?
***
Just before nightfall, someone had brought me food and water. I took it as a good sign: they weren't going to kill me just yet.
The next morning I began to wonder if I had misinterpreted their intentions.
I was taken outside to where Fanath was waiting for me.
"Good morning, Doctor."
I didn't say anything.
He smiled. "You don't have to say anything. All you have to do is hold onto something for me." He held up a small device of some sort. "This is the detonator for our next bomb." He gestured to one of his men. "It's a pressure switch. If you let it go, the bomb explodes."
"Fascinating, I'm sure."
"Oh, youre going to become intimately acquainted with this device."
One of the men dragged me towards a large metal pole. He stripped me. Then he tied my hands to a bar that ran horizontally across the pole. At full stretch my feet only just touched the ground.
Fanath walked over to me. He placed the device in my hands. "Be careful, Doctor, you don't want to let go." He stood and laughed for a long time before
finally leaving.
***
I had never imagined what it was like to be in stocks, but I was certain I now knew exactly how it felt. Throughout the morning almost all the Kidans in what I now recognised as some kind of camp came to see me. Come and see the strange alien hanging naked from a pole. Some just wanted to look, some wanted to rant about
their god given mission to annihilate all the non-believers.
By the time the sun was directly overhead I wished they would just get on with it. My whole body was burnt and I was drenched in sweat. I would have done almost anything for a drop of water. At one point, a young boy had come to offer me a drink, but his mother had knocked him away. She had poured the water out onto the hot sand.
I held the detonator tightly. It was my lifeline. I couldn't let go. If I let go, I would die. I had had more than enough of death.
I felt someone come to stand near me. I opened my eyes and saw the man who had taken me.
He spat in my face.
I didn't have the strength to do anything, so I just hung there.
He hit me.
I didn't have the strength to do anything, so I just hung there.
He hit me again, and again, and again.
I didn't have the strength to do anything, so I just hung there.
He reached up and untied me.
I fell to the ground, the detonator still clutched tightly in my hands.
He kicked me, and again, and again.
I felt the detonator slip from my hands and then suddenly I couldn't feel anything anymore.
***
Hands. Cool hands. Cool hands touching me gently, then picking me up as though I were a child.
"Spock?" I asked. Though how could it be him? His hands would never feel cool.
"Shh, Len, don't talk. You're safe."
But it was Spock. I moaned and clutched at his neck. He held me tighter.
"Oh, God, Spock. What have they done to him?" It was Jim's voice.
Spock didn't answer.
I was vaguely aware of being carried into a shuttlecraft. Spock tried to leave, but I grabbed hold of his wrist.
"As you wish, Len. I will stay with you."
Jim must have taken the controls. We took off and by the time we landed I was asleep.
***
When I finally woke, Spock was still by my side.
"Spock?"
"Len. How do you feel?"
"Thirsty," I said with a smile, or an attempt at one at least.
Spock helped me sit up and then handed me a glass of water.
"Drink that slowly."
I looked up and saw Jinal stood at the door.
"Yes, Doctor."
Jinal smiled. "I'm sure you know what's wrong with you, but I have to tell you anyway. You were severely dehydrated and pretty much all of you was burnt. And to top it off, you have several broken ribs along with sundry cuts and bruises. You weren't a pretty sight."
"I don't imagine I look much better now." I took a drink. "How long have I been here?"
"You came in last night."
The detonator. "There was another one, wasn't there. Another bomb."
Jinal and Spock exchanged glances.
I turned on Spock. "Tell me."
"There was another bomb, yes."
"I did it, didn't I?"
A pained look came into his eyes and I knew I was right. "That's how we found you. The detonator sent out a signal."
"When I let it go." I shut my eyes. "How many this time?"
"It wasn't your fault, Doctor. They would have set it off themselves."
"How many?"
"A hundred dead."
"A hundred? What have I done?"
Spock took my hand. "Nothing, Len. It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have stopped them."
"I let go of the detonator."
Spock said nothing. There was nothing he could say.
***
A few days later, the Enterprise left Ylik VII. I can't say that I wasn't glad to leave. I said goodbye to Jinal and we were on our way.
I was officially on medical leave. I probably should have been in sickbay, but M'Benga had taken one look at me and decided to let me stay in my quarters. That's were I was when the news came through. The Ylikians had voted against joining the Federation.
"They won, Spock, the bad guys won."
"I know, Len, I know, but it's over."
I shook my head. "No. It's not over. It won't ever be over. They'll keep on fighting and then one day it'll all go wrong, and there won't be a world left to fight over."
"You don't believe that, do you?"
"Ask me tomorrow, Spock. I don't believe in anything today."
End
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