Samger stood firm.

"Captain, do not let his pleas for asylum sway you. He's had ample chance and time to prove his theory about the 'real' murderer. I have him. I will take him back. End of story."

But Rickim was also firm in his resolve.

"Captain Kirk, I am not a murderer. Like Doctor McCoy, I once took an oath to first do no harm. That oath certainly extended to my late wife. Back home, they have no interest in finding the real killer, and mean to put me to death."

"Oh, Rickim! How many planets? How many identities? You can't run forever. That killer is all in your head. That you show remorse speaks well of you, but justice demands your life be taken for hers."

Kirk turned to Spock, looking for a Solomon-like answer. Spock's eyebrow arched.

"Lawman Samger? Do you possess a DNA reading of Heleckim, Rickim's wife?"

"Of course, Mister Spock. Might I add, that DNA was all over Rickim, when we found him, holding her."

McCoy huffed.

"Imagine that! A husband having large traces of his wife's DNA on his person."

Surprisingly, Rickim jumped to Samger's defense.

"No, Leonard. As a physician, I am expected to undergo a thorough cleansing to remove any DNA not my own before surgery. But I had been lax, prior to Heleckim's murder. I'm only glad none of my patients suffered as a result."

Samger was, as always, thrown by Rickim's honesty about most matters. The lawman had never said this out loud, but he deeply wished to believe his target was innocent. Especially after the five instances in which Rickim had saved his life. Spock asked Samger one or two more questions.

"Samger. This cleansing. Would his patients have been checked by now?"

"Yes. Crazy jerk almost got himself caught once, tracking them down to tell them to be cleansed."

Kirk took the opening.

"You sound, Samger, like you're glad he got away."

"Don't twist my words, Kirk. We're right above our homeworld, and Rickim goes back to face his fate."

Spock finished up.

Lawman, who else would require such a cleansing, in the Heleckim murder case, and are they registered as having been in contact with her DNA?"

"Both medical and law professionals, Mister Spock. As for registry, one of the few times I'm thankful for our bureaucracy is when I see how tightly the DNA-cleanser technology is kept."

"Then it is reasonable to assume that no one living on your world should have traces of Heleckim's exact DNA sequence?"

Samger nodded.

"Not even her own family."

"I see. Mr. Martin, initiate the scan."

Ensign Quinn Martin did just that.

"Bullseye, Mister Spock. We have him."

All concerned made for the transporter room. With Samger in seclusion, the person who was transported up only saw Rickim. Samger had confirmed the scans that had this individual possessing traces of Heleckim's DNA that only recently upgraded Starfleet sensors could detect. Now, as this man appeared, Samger felt ill. For true to Rickim's word, this man had only one arm. He was shocked to see Rickim.

"You still hunting me?"

Rickim's face was red with rage.

"You did kill my wife."

The one-armed man pulled a weapon.

"Yeah, I killed her. Just like I'm gonna kill you."

But the lawman in Samger had been ready, and fired before the killer did. Once again, McCoy confirmed Heleckim's DNA trace on the dead criminal. For Rickim and Samger, the chase was at long last over.

"Captain's Log : Doctor RicKim returns to his world a free man, now no longer a Fugitive, and we of The Enterprise wish him and Lawman Samger well. I myself shall always take note of this day, in years to come, as a reminder that justice can be too blind, and that seeming enemies can work toward a common goal. September 1st-The Day The Running Stopped."