She was just a simple country doctor. Not a astronaut, not a pilot, and certainly not a space pirate. Yet, unfortunately for Leah McCoy, she was currently at the mercy of a serious looking man wielding a phaser.
"You wouldn't hurt a doctor, would you?" she coaxed, arms in the air.
"Not if you do what I say," replied the tight-lipped man, phaser unmoving. He meant business then.
"Can I at least take my medical bag, if you're kidnapping me? Might be able to help your sick captain better."
She hoped he would see reason. Who knew what kind of supplies they had on their flying rust bucket?
"Take it," He said, with a warning tone, "but no tricks." The phaser never wavered.
"I'm a doctor, not a magician," she grumbled, slowly easing her way over to pick up her bag. She had just restocked it, so there should be something in there to cure this pirates friend. This was not what she had pictured when she took this post on Ares 2. Boyce had assured her she'd be safe under federation protection. The natives were friendly. However, no one had thought to warn her about the Pirates that broke into the small clinic, demanding that she come cure their captain.
Her captor and two cohorts hustled her out to a waiting shuttle. She groaned. Leah hated shuttles with a passion.
"I might throw up on you," she warned them as they hurried her aboard. The nausea was always bad and sometimes she just couldn't keep it down.
She did end up puking during the flight and kept her eyes squeezed shut the rest of the trip, blocking out the disgusted looks and wrinkled noses of the kidnappers. It was their own fault for snatching an aviophobe. When they arrived, they were greeted by a worried looking woman.
"Is this the doctor? Get her to sickbay NOW. Jim's really bad."
Leah rushed along with her captors until they entered a small Medbay. The ship was obviously old, judging by the size and level of technology. On a bed lay a groaning man whom she took to be the captain.
"What are his symptoms and how long has he been like this?" She asked the crew, going into full doctor mode as she approached the bed.
"Fever, vomiting, abdominal pain since last night," gasped the pale figure on the biobed. He cracked his eyes open to look at her. Whoa, they were really blue. Leah whipped out her tricorder and began scanning him. "You got me a hot lady doctor. Good job, Sulu," he managed, grinning pitifully at her.
She rolled her eyes. A flirtatious, sick space pirate captain. Great. But she restrained herself from chewing him out because if what she suspected was right, he needed surgery immediately.
"Captain Pirate Dude," she said to the sweaty blonde, "Your appendix is about to burst. I'm going to have to do surgery to take it out if you want to live to keep pillaging."
"Okay, doc, go ahead. And by the way, it's Captain Jim Pirate Dude Kirk."
He smiled weakly again. Poor man was really in pain. She picked up his hand and shook it.
"Leah McCoy. I'll do my best to fix you right up, Captain."
She washed up and got to work, recruiting the least squeamish pirate, a Vulcan in fact, as an assistant. Soon Jim the Pirate was sedated and she began the operation. It was close, but she got the inflamed organ out before it burst. After patching him back up and regenerating the incision, she cleaned up and reported the news to his relieved crew.
"So, can I go back when he's up and around, or am I stuck on this flying tin can for good?" She asked Sulu, hands on her hips.
"Depends on whether he likes you or not. If he takes a fancy to you, and he probably has, you're stuck here. If not, we'll sneak you back to civilization," he answered easily. Leah began to hope Jim hated her guts.
Unfortunately for her, he didn't.
When Jim woke up, the first thing out of his mouth was, "Wow. I am totally keeping you. What a fine sight to wake up to."
Leah bit back the aggravation and disappointment.
"I'll let that pass because you're still high on drugs. I normally don't stand flirty patients," she groused back, trying to ignore the flutter in her stomach at the sight of those pretty eyes blinking up at her.
"What did you say your name is, Dr. McGrumpy?" He flashed a loopy grin at her.
"Dr. Leah McCoy. And I'm grumpy because I'm being held hostage on a rickety space death trap with a bunch of bloodthirsty pirates! I hate space, but the ex took the whole darn planet and I took a job on Ares 2. Though't I'd be safe, but NO."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jim protested, "First of all, this is not a 'rickety death trap', it's a starship. A little old, but working just fine. We keep her in tip-top shape. Secondly, we're not bloodthirsty. We may skirt the law a bit, but we don't kill people. Certainly not doctors. Isn't that right, guys?"
His comrades agreed. "Da, Keptain!" Spoke up a young Russian kid who barely looked 18. Leah thought that was awfully young to be a space pirate. But Jim seemed to inspire a great deal of loyalty. She wondered where he had picked up his ragtag crew. Had he kidnapped them all also? She couldn't imagine a Vulcan being kidnapped, so some of them obviously volunteered.
She left him to sleep again with stern warnings that he was not to get up at least for a day, and then only back to his quarters if he didn't want her chasing him down and sedating him. That only seemed to encourage him.
"Baby, you can chase me down any time" he said with a wink, looking her over approvingly.
Leah blushed furiously and got the heck out of there. So she was dealing with a lecherous, sick, Space Pirate Dude. Great. She'd have to watch out. The last thing she needed was to get involved with some ladykiller who'd lose interest after a week, even if he was impossibly cute. And those eyes... She slapped herself upside the head. Her ex husband had pretty eyes too. Look where that got her.
The women who met them when she arrived introduced herself as Nyota Uhura and showed her to a small cabin. It wasn't much, but better than most hostages got. Leah sat down on the bed gratefully. Her feet were killing her.
"Thanks for saving Jim. He's the heart and soul of this ship. I know those weren't ideal circumstances for you." Uhura sounded a tad apologetic.
"It's my job." She shrugged. "It's nice to know he's not the murderous type of pirate, though. It wouldn't sit well to fix up a guy who's going to go out killing people for the fun of it."
Uhura smiled. "Pirate is probably too strong a word for what we actually are. But don't tell Jim that. He likes having a fierce reputation, even though he's really a softy inside." Leah huffed.
"Oh, I bet he's got quite the reputation, all right. Already trying to hit on me, and I've been here less than a day."
"Yes", Uhura grimaced. "It takes him awhile to get the message of 'not interested'. Just stay firm with him and eventually he'll get it through his thick skull. Are you hungry? We've got a decent replicator on board."
She gladly followed the woman to the small dining hall. They were awfully considerate to their hostages, she thought. Maybe she would survive this after all.