((ADDENDUM: I changed the last name of the CMO of the space station to Rasul. I don't normally do that, never have before, but in this case I had a good enough reason to do it.

If you come here from Air: Welcome back. If you haven't read Air: Welcome!

The purpose of this prologue-thing is to provide you with the information what was the situation at the end of the first part. I do not explain everything in detail, but I did take care this is easily understandable as a stand-alone text.))

Previously on The Elements (scroll down if you don't need it):

Air

Long after Jim's death on Veridian III (ST:VII), Spock starts to sense a mental call for help from him. He asks an aged Dr. McCoy to follow him into the blue and lands them on the planet Dainam, which is in a state of occupation. Meeting the local rebellion led by the Vulcan psychologist T'Kray, who crashed there decades ago, they also find Jim Kirk in a comatose state.

Unable to leave the shield-protected planet, they need to help the rebellion before they can leave. They regain their youth in an obscure bacteria-induced ritual and do their best to escape before the ultimate escalation takes place.

'Fleet Admiral Williams, I have a request to make.' Williams smiled. His grey hair was falling to his shoulders in light curls, the three top buttons of his shirt open. He didn't look like a man of the military, and he didn't care if people were miffed about that. He hadn't for a long time, and now that he would retire in a year, he cared even less.

'Admiral McCoy, welcome.' He rose and approached briskly, extending his hand. The doctor's shake was firm. It was hard to believe that he was indeed the old man who had retired shortly after his oldest friend had been pronounced dead for the second time. Now he, Captain Spock, the aforementioned friend Captain Kirk, and one Lieutenant T'Kray, who had crashed on the planet Dainam decades ago and had been presumed dead, were not only very much alive, but apparently far from old. No one seemed to know how, including themselves, but their identities had been checked and double-checked so often now there was no way this was a mistake. 'What can I do for you?' He indicated the visitors' chair and returned to his seat behind the desk. 'Your applications for transfer to the Cristóbal de Morales space station are yet pending, but it shouldn't be a problem. You will all be transferred there within the month.' McCoy waved him away.

'That's not it.' He straightened himself in his chair. 'I request reduction of my rank to Commander. Or Lieutenant Commander or whatever you see fit. I don't care.' Fleet Admiral Williams gaped at him.

'Would you tell me why?' McCoy's reply was a growl.

'Simple. I don't want to rot in an office or at the academy.'

'Well, sorry. No.' McCoy clapped his hands together and rose.

'I thought you might say that.' He folded his arms. 'Let me tell you something, young man.' It should feel ridiculous to be called that, but McCoy delivered it convincingly enough to make the Fleet Admiral cringe. 'If you refuse, I will refuse to work, since I am, in fact, retired. And I will call in all the favours and all amenities my rank earn me. I'll be a constant pain for the next … what? Yes. The next hundred years, at least.' He smiled. 'That your last word?' Williams looked resigned. He raised his arms.

'Let me think about it.'

'By all means. I'd like an answer before I leave. You will receive the formal request before tomorrow morning. Good evening, Sir.'

'Good evening.' The door had barely closed when he received a message that there was someone else. 'Come in, please,' he called. The heavy oak door opened again, revealing Captain Spock. The Fleet Admiral was glad. Vulcans were more predictable. He took his glass of water from his table and drank.

'Captain Spock, what can I do for you?'

'Good evening, Fleet Admiral Williams. I request that my rank be reduced to that of a Commander or below.' The glass slipped from Williams's hand, shattering on the floor.

ϡ

Williams glared at the four people before him. 'Your shuttle will leave in an hour. Be sure you aren't late. McCoy, Spock, get over here.' The two men exchanged a glance and did as they were told. 'I wouldn't have done this, but there seems to be no precedent where someone's request to have their rank reduced was rejected. I can hardly believe it, but I would actually have to provide a reason why I don't grant your request, and after your long absence from Starfleet service I'd be hard pressed to find one. In the end, I figured as Lieutenants your potential for tyranny is much smaller.' To reduce them both to the lowest command rank was a slight, but Williams had been angry enough to go through with it. Their requests to have their ranks reduced hadn't been specific, so that wasn't a problem. If he had hoped they would appear irritated by this he was disappointed. 'I will also see that your retirements are declared invalid and that you cannot be promoted to a higher rank until you have proven yourselves, regardless of your previous achievements, your history being effectively wiped out. If you agree with all that, sign here. If you don't agree, get out of my sight.' Doctor McCoy grinned at Kirk behind him and signed with a flourish. Spock followed his lead and they stepped back in line with the other two.

Williams shook his head. 'The Morales station is mostly a research station, but it is also a key supplier for the planet and actually nothing more than the extended arm of the Mavenow science centre. T'Kray and Doctor McCoy, you will answer to Doctor Mamad Rasul, the CMO of the space station. Captain Kirk, your commanding officer is Commander Irina Melczuk in engineering. Spock, you are in the science department under Commodore Victor Bligh, who is also the highest ranking officer of the space station. You will receive orders from these people respectively. On the Cristóbal de Morales space station and the planet Mavenow, your ranks have no meaning. You are practically cadets as long as you are being tried. After a while, you will be given responsibility. Use this year. Use it well and be glad I have no part in your evaluations. Now leave.'

((There was a small hint that T'Kray had a title or rank of some description, but I didn't get to say what that was exactly. It never mattered before.

I spent an hour or so trying to find out what major Kirk chose in the Academy. I failed magnificently, because it never says. I even resorted to look through the alternate timeline article, which I'd sworn a solemn oath not even to glance at. Memory Beta, which I looked into as a last resort, proved equally uninformative. Now what I took from the alternate timeline bit is that he has some knowledge of Xenolinguistics. From what sorting through my personal memory banks brought up, I would put him in engineering – which was my intuitive choice. So there's that.

Mainau, named Mavenow centuries ago, is an island in the German/Austrian/Swiss Lake Constance. It's pretty as a painting, lush, and full of flowers, and practically one large park. Cristóbal de Morales was a composer of the 16th century.))