Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Star Trek and I didn't profit from writing this story.

Sole Survivor

Chapter 1

Pain brought McCoy to his senses. The mere act of opening his eyes brought a blast of pain from a wound on his forehead. Reaching up he gingerly touched his aching forehead and waited for the shuttle to stop spinning before he realized it was his head that was spinning not the shuttle.

"Damn," he muttered when he drew his hand away sticky with his own blood.

Realizing he wasn't alone, he turned around on to his knees and drew himself up to a semi-standing position. Ignoring a wave of dizziness, he slowly made his way to the front of the shuttle. He found the pilot slumped over the control panel. Placing his hand at the jugular of the man's neck, he quickly determined that the pilot was beyond anyone's help. Looking past the dead pilot to peer out the front windows, he could see that the planet that they had been forced to land on resembled Earth to a large degree. McCoy saw trees, mountains, grass and a darkly clouded sky. Looking back down at the young ensign he mumbled, "sorry, son." Fresh from the academy he had done everything possible to assure that they landed safely and in the end it hadn't been enough to save his own life.

Thinking back he tried to discern how long he'd been out. Several hours probably, he thought. Taking a deep breath, he took stock of his physical condition and went in search of his medical kit. Disoriented, he searched near where he was sitting and found it open. The contents scattered beneath his seat. After he located the scanner and some antiseptic solution with a numbing agent, he sat down. He tried to us the medical scanner, but found it to be inoperative. Throwing it to the side he tilted his head back and squirted some of the antiseptic solution in the gash on his forehead. Using the sleeve of his jacket he staunched the flow of blood. The pain from his head slowly dissipated as the solution worked its way into the wound. Looking around to clear his head he saw the interior of the shuttle was in shambles, but at least they had landed upright.

A sound, deep and strong shook the shuttle. Taking a deep breath he rose slowly. This time when he stood up the wave of dizziness didn't wash over him as it had the last time. Making his way forward he thought to himself, just what I don't need, rain.

-

Lieutenant Uhura swiveled around in her chair, not hiding the concern in her voice. "Captain," she said. "I'm receiving a priority one message from Casperia Prime."

Odd, thought Kirk. The only one he knew on Casperia Prime was his Chief Medical Officer attending a Medical Conference. He had ribbed Bones endlessly before he left. Here they were in the least exciting part of the galaxy doing nothing more than charting star clusters, while his CMO was off on a pleasure planet. Of course McCoy denied any pleasure was associated with a Medical Conference, but Kirk knew better. He knew Leonard McCoy.

"Why would, McCoy be sending a priority one message, Uhura," Kirk asked. He swiveled around to watch as she received the message.

"It's not from Doctor McCoy, sir," Uhura answered. "The message is from the host of the Conference."

"Put it on screen, Lieutenant," Kirk ordered. He turned back to the main view screen and waited while Uhura transferred the message. The image of an attractive human female filled the screen. With just a touch of gray hair, Kirk would have guessed that she was in her early fifties.

"Captain, Kirk" she said. "I'm Doctor Catherine Carter, host of the Casperia Prime Medical Conference."

"What can I do for you, Doctor Carter," Kirk asked.

The woman shifted anxiously in her seat. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Captain," Dr. Carter said.

"What bad news, Doctor," Kirk asked with a sudden feeling of foreboding.

"Leonard McCoy," she said, "chartered a shuttle for some sightseeing." The woman rung her hands nervously and took a deep breath. "The shuttle never came back."

Kirk realized he'd been holding his breath, expelling it he asked, "How long ago, Doctor Carter?"

"Two days, Captain," she replied.

"Search parties," Kirk asked.

The woman nodded. "They've turned up nothing so far," she replied. "You're the nearest Starship, Captain. Perhaps your equipment will have better luck than ours have had. This solar system is highly magnetized which makes scanning equipment nearly impossible to use.'

"Did the shuttle leave a flight plan," Kirk asked.

"That's another problem," Dr. Carter said. "Since it was just a simple sightseeing tour, they didn't have to leave a flight plan. I'm afraid without one; we could spend months searching for one downed shuttle."

"Understood," Kirk said. "We'll be getting underway shortly, Doctor. Our estimated ETA will be…." Kirk trailed off and looked to his First Officer.

"Six point five hours, Captain," Spock said.

"Six hours, Doctor Carter," Kirk said.

She nodded. "I hope you find him, Captain," she said.

"We'll do our best, Doctor Carter," Kirk replied grimly and ended the communication. Rising from his seat he crossed the bridge to the Science Officer's station.

"Spock," Kirk said. "Find out all that you can on the Casperia Solar System."

The Vulcan nodded and turned to his station. Kirk turned to the helm and navigation.

"Mr. Sulu," Kirk said. "Plot a course for Casperia Prime."

"Aye, sir," Sulu said.

Kirk returned to the center seat. Dammit, Bones, he thought. You better be alive.