Star Trek - Blish, James - 08 Page 20

  Unslinging his tricorder, he slipped a taped disk into it. He passed it over the console. "The knowledge of the builders of this ship could be extremely valuable- even though it is ten thousand years old."

  McCoy spoke from behind them. "Gentlemen, are we ready to return to the Enterprise?"

  Kirk stared at him. It was best to ask no questions, he thought. "Yes, Bones, we are," he said. He flipped open his com unit. "Kirk to Enterprise. Landing party ready to beam aboard."

  The screen in Sickbay held a series of chemical formulas in the Fabrini writing. Kirk and Spock, watching Christine Chapel prepare another air-hypo in-jection, saw that her hands were shaking. She noticed it, too. To quiet her agitation, she glanced at the life indicators at the head of McCoy's bed. The steady blinking of their lights steadied her. She thrust the air-hypo into a green liquid.

  "Not another one?" McCoy said as she approached his bed. He made a face as the hypo took effect. But already it had made a fast change in the life support panel.

  "Excellent, Doctor," Christine said. "You're quite able to see for yourself. The white corpuscle count is back to normal." She reached an arm under his shoul-ders to help him check the panel behind him. He still looked pained.

  "Tell me, Doctor," Kirk wanted to know. "Why are cures so often as painful as the disease?"

  "Jim, that is a very sore subject with medical men."

  "Dr. McCoy," Spock said reprovingly, "it seems that the Fabrini cure for granulation of the hemoglobin has seriously damaged your gift for witty repartee."

  Nurse Chapel had filled the hypo again. "This is the last one, Doctor."

  Spock, his eyes on the life support panel, achieved a Vulcan triumph. Joy radiated from his impassive face. "Your hemoglobin count is now completely normal, Doctor. So the flow of oxygen to all the cells of your body is again up to its abundantly energetic level."

  McCoy sat up. "Spock, I owe this to you. Had you " not brought back that Fabrini knowledge..."

  "My translation abilities are one of my most minor accomplishments," Spock said. "If you consider my major ones, Doctor..."

  "I wonder if there's a Fabrini cure for a swelled head," McCoy speculated.

  Kirk intervened. "Bones, the Fabrini descendants are, scheduled to debark on their promised planet in exactly fourteen months and seven days."

  The grin left McCoy's face. He looked at Kirk.

  "Yes," Kirk said. "I expect you'd like to see the Fabrini descendants again to thank them personally. So I've arranged to be in the vicinity of their new home at the time of their arrival. You will want to be there to welcome them, won't you?"

  "Thank you, Jim," McCoy said. "Thank you very much."

  The End