Star Trek: The Original Series - 147 - Devil’s Bargain by Tony Daniel

Bones .
    “Yes, we missed you on our return,” Spock said. “I was prepared to go and search for you, but the doctor convinced me this would not be the wisest of courses.”
    Kirk nodded. “Bones was right.”
    “I presume you were after facts that might better serve us in completing the mission?”
    “Something like that, Spock,” said Kirk. He stretched himself out, loosened his muscles, then sat down and poured himself a cup of coffee. “As a matter of fact, I did find out something. The Vesbians are not only genetically engineered, they’re likesalmon or . . . like other species that are bonded to their place of origin.” Kirk glanced at Spock. Even though McCoy was as fully knowledgeable of pon farr, as was Kirk, each of them had agreed to speak of it as little as possible. It was a matter of intense privacy to Vulcans, seeing as the pon farr stripped Vulcans of their treasured logic and left them at the mercy of their emotions. “In any case,” Kirk continued, “if they leave this planet, in less than three to four standard weeks—they will die.”
    “Remarkable,” said Spock. “This no doubt explains why they removed themselves from the Federation.”
    “Correct,” said Kirk. “At least that’s what Hannah told me.”
    “I wonder what else they’ve done to themselves,” said McCoy, almost to himself.
    “What do you mean, Doctor?” asked Kirk.
    McCoy stood up from his chair and began to pace around the room. Kirk knew this was McCoy’s way of working out a problem—his emotional, and often highly effective, manner of thinking things through.
    “What I mean is that when you open Pandora’s box, who knows what will come out?” said McCoy. “Do you suppose they stopped at merely adapting themselves to the planet? Wouldn’t there be a great temptation to continue onward with their experiments, supposedly to make things better? I mean,you’ve seen this place, Jim. They’re master geneticists. Wouldn’t the temptation be to take themselves beyond their human limitations? That’s what Khan and his people did, as you well know. And what they made themselves into was a caricature of what it means to be human.”
    Kirk got up, went to McCoy, and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve seen the Vesbians, Bones,” he said. “Do you think they bear the slightest resemblance to that madman Khan?”
    McCoy met his gaze for a moment, but Kirk could see the fire dying down in the doctor’s eyes. “No,” McCoy admitted, “not most of them.” He nodded toward Spock. “But there is that ugly prejudice half the population seems to have toward Vulcans.”
    “A prejudice Spock went a long way toward dissipating last night, at least among those he met at the dance.” Kirk turned to his first officer. “That was quite a display you put on, Mister Spock.”
    “Thank you, Captain. It is always gratifying to find the opportunity to make use of one’s studies and long hours spent with the briefing files.”
    “Indeed.” Kirk let go of McCoy and returned to the table, determined to finish the most excellent Vesbian coffee. “Besides, Bones, while prejudice may be an ugly emotion, you have to admit—it’s very human.”
    “Yes,” McCoy said. “Unfortunately.”
    “So we’re left with a dilemma, gentlemen,” Kirk said. “The Vesbians must leave this planet. The caverns they’ve dug are a fool’s hope, are they not, Spock?”
    “I would put the chances for the Vesbian plan succeeding at one in 93.275,” Spock answered. “The ecological damage from the asteroid strike will likely be an extinction-level event.”
    “Nearly a hundred to one. Earth has recovered. It recovered when the dinosaurs died out.”
    “The recovery took thousands, if not millions, of years.”
    “So . . . not impossible, but—”
    “A long shot.”
    “A very long shot. But if the Vesbians evacuate—assuming we are able to convince them and then get twenty thousand people off this world inside a month,