Kirk was blunt, as one might expect.

"Mister Robinson, the only reason I am shuttling you to your next hyperball match are the combined requests of Starfleet Command and our late mutual friend, Dr. Leighton. I consider myself to be in the middle of a potential murder investigation, possibly leading to something far bigger. I most pointedly do not consider The Enterprise to be a limousine for dilettante celebrities. Am I clear?"

Kelly Robinson appeared unimpressed, and merely leaned on his racket-frame.

"Oh, clear as crystal, Captain Kirk. Uh--can I go now? I'm meeting with my trainer. Wouldn't do to get out of practice, now would it?"

As much as Kirk wanted to find the words to wipe the arrogant smile off of Kelly's face, he had more pressing concerns. What would have surprised him, then, was that Kelly and his trainer were on board because of those selfsame concerns.

Walking to Engineering, Jim saw his Chief Engineer chatting amiably with Robinson's trainer.

"Scotty?"

Both men responded as one.

"Yes?"

The Engineer raised a Spockian eyebrow, as he had since the two men were much younger, and the same thing would happen.

"Captain, I have done ye a great disservice. This is my rogue of a cousin, Alexander Scott, disgrace and heartbreak to The Clan Scott!"

Alexander "Scotty" Scott nodded mockingly at Montgmery "Scotty" Scott.

"You'll have to forgive Monty, Captain. You see, the man is an unrepentant bigot. He firmly believes that an English University like Oxford can offer a good Highlander nothing but corruption."

The Engineer nodded, just as mockingly.

"It surely robbed you of your good honest accent, Alex. Ahh, but its good to have you here. Captain, sir--you are staring at the best improviser a gadget ever saw. It runs in the family."

Alex agreed.

"Actually, Captain--when the wind begins to blow, and you are wearing those kilts near The Arctic Circle, you find the entire family starts running!"

Scotty followed his Captain, while Scotty met with his partner. Each had their own concerns.

"Other than the tabloid trash, what do we have on Kirk?"

Alex Scott shrugged.

"Not much. Parents deceased. Never married. One son. Ruthless opponent. You don't want to go up against him--ever."

Kelly looked up.

"Ok. Give me a for-ruthless."

Alex sat down.

"Monty swears by him, and that's good enough for me. You can't fool that man, and that's with five fifths in him, mind you. But--I wouldn't put it past Kirk's planning brain to murder all those people, just to draw Karidian out in the open. Not that I think that's what happened."

Kelly re-read everything they had, which was precious little.

"Kirk is not our suspect. Never was. Tom Leighton had it called right. Koridian is Kodos. Its all there."

Alex threw down the papers, a little upset.

"So? We have authority. The ship has a brig. The man is a murderer, thousands of times over--just what in blazes is The Company waiting for?"

Kelly more than understood his friend's anger.

"Scotty, you and I both know that Section 31 keeps its own counsel. But on this one, I agree. They want Koridian exposed as Kodos, during a performance, with legal, useable evidence on hand to begin prosecution with. More and more remote colonies are being built. The UFP wants those governors to know--we don't forget. You pull something--we'll find you. No more 'regrettable but necessary actions. End of that. They get ideas about how things 'should be', they go away. Far, far away. For a really long time."

Alex appeared calmer, but still disturbed.

"Kelly, this organization is beginning to stink from the neck down. Do you know that they've drawn up a plan to create and fund an alliance of malcontents, just to draw them out into the open? The Section is going to base them in The Badlands. Those poor fools will be taking orders from the very people they'll think they're rebelling against."

Kelly was no happier about this, but offered some perspective.

"One--its not a new plan. The old American CIA did the same thing with Operation : Militia. Two--it worked pretty well, except for Oklahoma. Three--The Director will never approve that kind of thing, in the modern era."

Alex had the last word.

"The Director is an honorable man. So are the people likely to succeed him. Its the people after them that worry me. Unless hell freezes over, and they get us behind a desk."

While the two agents plotted how to expose the butcher-turned-actor, Alex's cousin talked with his Captain.

"Captain---a word, in strictest confidence?"

  Jim Kirk nodded.

"Of course."

"Cousin Alex was not fond of wearing a kilt, even when the occasion called for it. Would you like to know why?"

Kirk trusted Scotty enough to let the conversation go where it might.

"Yes, I would."

Scotty's eyes showed he was quite serious, despite his speaking in code.

"Because---kilts are known for not hiding secrets terribly well."

Kirk thought this was some kind of innuendo, until he fully analyzed Scotty's words. He then knew what the other Scotty and his partner really were.

"Yes...I understand. Thank You, Mister Scott. A most enlightening anecdote."

Kirk arranged with Spock to have an eye kept on the hyperball pros. He wished that his experience in The Mirror World hadn't forever soured him on the idea of an internal locator program. But then, men like Scott and Robinson could probably evade that with little effort.

A few hours later, Kirk received a call from Sickbay.

"Bones? Is anything wrong?"

"Jim--Kevin Riley is dead. Please come down here, as soon as possible."

When he arrived, Kirk was massively displeased, but not for the reason he was drawn down for. He looked daggers at one of his dearest friends.

"You lied to me, Doctor. Over the ship's intercom, no less. Now you will tell me why, or I swear, Bones, I'll put you off the ship."

Kelly Robinson and Alex Scott emerged, with the very-much alive Kevin Riley in tow. Kelly spoke up.

"He was acting under our authority, Captain. I'll assume you know the name on this document?"

Kirk glanced, a bit put off by what he saw.

"Yes, its a name that I've forgotten on many an occasion. What's your game, Robinson?"

Alex Scott took point.

"Captain Kirk, we know that your dealings with The Company have been few and sour. That's in contrast to our dealings, which have been many and sour. I'm asking you to trust me now as you would the man who keeps this ship's heart beating. Now, he told me that you have his trust. Well, I also have his trust, and Kelly in turn has mine. We all want the same thing--the murderer, and Kodos. I say we take all that extended trust and work towards that goal together."

Kelly followed through.

"If they think they got Riley, they'll concentrate on you. Now, no offense to our young friend, here, but I've got a feeling that you'll survive what's to come next, where he might not." Kirk shook his head.

"That sounds good, but Scotty--Kelly--you keep talking like Kodos is not our murderer."

In what must have been a Scott family quirk for ages, Alex closed his eyes, and gently shook his head.

"That's because, Jim--he's not."

Kirk went his own route, hoping to trip Karidian up. But neither a recitation of the infamous 'Tarsus Apology' nor the romancing of his only daughter helped to nail the slippery character down.

McCoy became concerned.

"Spock, how do any of them know that they're going to prove Karidian is Kodos?"

"Doctor, do you know how our guest agents found Karidian's true identity?"

"No, I have to say I don't."

"Quite simple. They combined all circumstantial evidence, and then checked his public speaking record. He is quite fond of saying that he is the Macbeth's Macbeth."

"So?"

"Doctor, don't all professions have superstitions? Lines that are kept uncrossed for no logical reason?"

McCoy nodded.

"The Scottish Play. That's what actors call Macbeth, for fear of bad luck. Then, Karidian has not been an actor all his life. A small thing, Spock. But it either shows a man who is incredibly arrogant, or tortured by guilt, waiting to be caught."

"The Play, Doctor, Is The Thing."

The play, in this case, was Hamlet, and Kirk stepped onto stage to say a few words beforehand.

"I ask at this time, that we remember Lieutenant Kevin Riley, who left us a few days ago. Kevin's parents were, as some of you know, killed on Tarsus Four, almost twenty years ago."

The troupe of actors stayed back, waiting for Kirk to finish. And they would wait.

"They, and many thousands of others, were killed by---"

Kirk pointed at a stunned Karidian.

"This man, Governor Kodos. I have, until now, kept my direct eye-witness status quiet. But now, Mister Karidian, you'll answer for your crimes. All of them."

Just offstage, a trigger was repeatedly squeezed--to no avail. Alex and Monty Scott grabbed the phaser and an angry Lenore Karidian. Monty held her flailing arms still.

"I've no desire to strike a lady, but you I'll make a clear exception for, lassie, if you move again."

Alex held up the phaser, showing its empty bottom.

"Funny thing about phasers, you see. They need power to run. Otherwise, they're just plastic costumery--like you use in a play."

Backstage, Kelly played hardball with Kodos.

"Your little girl is going down, Governor. Multiple murder charges. Not pretty. Now, is it a full-blown trial for you, and she goes to a penal colony, or do you confess, denounce your actions, and she gets sent to a decent rehab colony?"

Lenore struggled.

"Father, No! You did nothing wrong!"

A new arrogance flooded the actor's face.

"No. I did not."

  Kevin Riley came out of hiding. He looked Lenore in the face.

"Shut your useless mouth."

Kevin then punched her, sending her sprawling. Kodos was infuriated.

"Why? Your grievance was with me!"

Riley looked over, and hoped his career wasn't over. But at that point, he regretted nothing.

"You killed my parents. There was no way that hitting you was going to hurt you as much as watching what I had to. A lot of lives were ruined, there, on Tarsus. Some of those kids who lost their parents - ended up in prison. Got me?"

Kodos saw Lenore led away, and nodded at Kelly.

"It would seem my greatest performance yet awaits me. The Great Mea Culpa."

Kodos would go to the Brig, and be transferred to a Starbase for extradition to Earth. The statements he would make indeed persuaded many a remote governor not to become an executioner for expediency's sake.

On the Enterprise, Kelly's admission of directing Riley's actions did not help the young man with his Captain.

"Riley--you've had your vengeance. Now find another ship. Mister Robinson--you are the least manipulative member of S31 I've ever dealt with. I do not mean that as a compliment, though. The need for your kind disgusts me, frankly."

Kelly nodded.

"Jim--it disgusts me. But will you at least concede the need is there?"

"I want to, Kelly--but I can't. Mine is an overt world."

Kelly grinned, and shrugged, as he an Kirk walked down the hall.

"Overt--overt. Tell me, who taught you that word, Jim--the android Doctor Korby or Zefram Cochrane?"

Jim sat and talked with Kelly Robinson a while, and his words cut the starship Captain a bit deeper than he would have liked.

---------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Alex Scott went with his cousin Monty. Monty asked a question of Lieutenant Uhura.

"Uhura--my cousin's with us for a few more nights. Now I know you're seeing someone--but do you know which of the ladies isn't?"

Uhura looked pensive.

"Fellas--the only one I can think of is Claricia Rashduxtable. Fair warning, though. She embodies the words 'strident shrew'. She likes to shout her men down, always has to be right or else, and tries to control the lives of just about everyone around her."

Alexander Scott shrugged.

"What's the problem? She sounds like a wonderful woman to me! Tell me--does she like chocolate pudding?"