Constellations Read Online Free

carry you out of here.”
    â€œSuch a tactic might prove unwise, Captain,” Spock said, his tone and demeanor unflappable and—to McCoy, anyway—almost comical in its seriousness. “We would almost certainly attract attention during our attempt to return to the shuttlecraft.”
    At that, Jendra’s eyebrows rose. “Shuttlecraft? Oh, that’s right. I’d almost forgotten what the radiation bands do to transporters and communications.” Shaking her head, she made a tsk-tsk sound through pursed lips. “A shame, that.”
    McCoy saw Kirk open his mouth to reply, no doubt with the intention of playing some kind of bluff, but Spock beat him to it.
    â€œOur chief engineer has been researching the problem since our arrival,” the Vulcan said, “but at last report he had not succeeded in recalibrating the transporter’s annular confinement beam to work within this planet’s atmosphere. I calculate the odds of his completing that task before we can return to the Columbus at seven thous—”
    â€œ Thank you, Mr. Spock,” Kirk snapped.
    Sighing, McCoy shook his head. “Spock, one of these days we need to have a long talk about that nasty habit of yours.”
    Spock’s right eyebrow, artificially whitened and thickened in keeping with typical Grennai facial features, arched in the manner that always characterized his curiosity or skepticism. “What habit is that, Doctor?”
    â€œYour mouth runneth over.”
    â€œThat’s enough,” Kirk said, his tone and the expression on his face clear indications that he was in no mood for his friends’ latest round of verbal jousting. To Jendra, who was still smiling as she observed the exchange, he said, “You seem to think this is funny, Doctor. I assure you it isn’t. My orders are to return you to Starfleet Command, in restraints if necessary.”
    No sooner did the words leave his mouth than McCoy heard the sound of the door at the front of the building being thrown open, followed as quickly by a series of rapid, almost frantic footsteps on the hardwood floor. He felt his pulse quicken as he heard pain-wracked sobs from what could only be a child, all but drowned out by a louder, more adult voice echoing down the passageway.
    â€œBeloren! Beloren, kono nata!”
    Whatever enjoyment Jendra might have been feeling at Kirk’s expense vanished. “This’ll have to wait, Captain.” Waving her arms toward the worktable and the array of Starfleet medical equipment lying atop it, she hissed, “Hide that, now! ” Without waiting for a response, she grabbed her worn satchel and hurried from the room.
    Leaving Kirk and Spock to tend to the sanitizing of the room—which involved both men stuffing various articles into the pockets of their robes or the large bag Spock wore slung over his shoulder—McCoy followed after his friend. He found her kneeling beside the body of a young Grennai female, a child, whose clothing was stained with what his gut told him was far too much blood. Standing nearby was a Grennai woman, obviously the girl’s mother, whose clothes also sported blood. He reached for her in an attempt to help.
    She only waved him away, her expression pained as tears ran down her cheeks. “It is not my blood,” she said, his universal translator filtering the native Grennai language into Federation Standard. “Please, help my tundato! ”
    â€œI’m trying to do just that,” Jendra snapped, also in the local dialect, and McCoy looked down to see her hand clamped around the girl’s right arm just above the elbow. To him, she said, “Help me get her to the examination room.” It took only seconds to transfer the young patient to an exam table at the rear of the clinic, after which Jendra waved him out of her way as she set to work. Kirk and Spock hung nearby, watching intently.
    McCoy could see a large gash in