Crash code: Nexus
"...Vulcan male, middle age, cardiac arrest, lesions from fall, possible stroke..."
"Beam out in two... one..."
"...possible brain hemorrhage, hematoma in dorsolateral..."
"Move, move!"
"You there! Ping Olsen, V'Nara, Dorian!"
"Alright, get him settled here, then stand back. Ok, cryo-field is engaged, we have some time. Where's that tri-scan? Good. Give him half a standard of tri-caplan, let's see the effect of that. Someone give me some details on what happened."
"He collapsed giving a lecture in the Princeton main auditorium."
"That's what I say about northern hemisphere universities... plain unhealthy... Alright... Yes. Yes. I concur with first responders. We're going with the standard..."
"Wait! Doctor, that's Spock of Vulcan! Spock, of the Enterprise! He's a hybrid."
"Dammit, you sure?"
"Of course, just look at him! The Grayson scale of human-alien hybrid viability - it's fucking named after his mother! You can't assume that anything is standard with his biology."
"Get me his journal, hold off on more of the tri-caplan, keep the cryo-field."
"We need to get the Starfleet Head of Medicine, he'll know what to do. Nurse, get Dr. McCoy for us. Yes, yes, him."
"Where's that journal? Oh, Gods, the old man hates me..."
"The old man doesn't know or care who you are, Sheffield..."
"Doctors, I have Dr. McCoy, I'm putting him through now."
"McCoy here, who the hell am I talking to? What the hell is going on? Do you have any idea what time it is in Sydney?"
"Sir, Dr. Sheffield, NorthAm Five here. We have Spock, eh, cha'Sarek here, in a cryo-field. He's had a stroke, edema, cardiac arrest. I see that you are listed..."
"Did you give him tri-caplan?"
"Yes..."
"Follow it up with cisparenon, three units, don't argue with me, lights 100%, get me a beam-out right now, you need to break the field to get his heart started, but you'll have to do it the old fashioned way, he sometimes has a reaction to the boosters. Joanna! Joanna! I'm beaming out, Spock's collapsed. Well, where's that damned transporter effect?"
"They're... working on it. We're breaking the field now, Sir. Yu, talk us through?"
"Sir, we know that his heart-valve is weak, and we know about the patches, so we're starting stimulation from his third rib… Break the field on my mark. Mark! Nurse, gentle with that. Again. Again. Again. Again. Got it! Heart pumping, engaging cryo…"
"No, damn you, let his body work for a few…"
"..."
"... seconds. God, I hate transporters."
"Sir, it's an honor. Can you confirm that this is…"
"Yes. Yes... That's… That's Spock…"
"Sir... why don't you sit down. The nurse will get you a chair… Yu, get ready to…"
"Did I damn well tell you that you could start the full-body field? No. Wait for it."
"Sir, I cannot in good conscience…"
"Wait… there. Now, start it! Yu, is it? You're the brain surgeon?"
"Yes Sir. And, Sir, I know who you are, and I know that I'm better than you on this, and this is my operating room."
"Good, kid. You have his file, get going. I'm going to monitor his vitals, you take care of his brain. And you're Sheffield? See this, note 153 in the journal? Prepare that solution for me, do it yourself, if you make a mistake with the amounts I'm gonna have you treating hangnails on New Hanover. Nurse, get me the Vulcan Embassy on speaker."
"...You mean on the wave?"
"I don't care what the hell you call it nowadays, get me Vulcan Embassy!"
"Sir, yessir."
"And you! Tell me what happened."
"He was at Princeton. He apparently just collapsed in the middle of a lecture. Convulsed, then just lied there. Sir? Sir, please sit down, you're looking very pale."
"Oh no… God, no…"
"Sir, I'm going to give you some tri-ox to help you breathe. This has been quite a shock, it's understandable."
"Don't you goddamn coddle me, girl! Don't you goddamn…"
"This is the Vulcan Embassy. Please state the nature…"
"This is Dr. Leonard McCoy. You should know me. Get me Sarek, and prepare to have him and a healer, I don't care which, beamed to NorthAm Five Hospital in half a minute."
"Sir, the Ambassador…"
"This is a family matter. Do it."
"...A moment… Connecting…"
"Dr. McCoy? Is my son…"
"Ambassador, Spock's had a stroke. I need you and a healer in NorthAm Five."
"Acknowledged. Toran, kindly get me T'Han very quickly. Doctor, do you suspect…"
"Just get here. Just... get here. McCoy out. That means cut the wave, girl. Yu?"
"Shut up, let me work."
"Right."
"Sheffield to Dr. McCoy. We've just finished up in the lab, I'm beaming the sample to you."
"Good. Alright, got it. Nurse, when Yu asks for a booster, she means that you should give her this."
"We'll handle it. Can I… can I get you something? I'm going to get you something. Some tea and some tissues."
"I don't need your…"
"Of course not, Sir. I'm going to put sugar in your tea unless you tell me right now that you're allergic? No? Alright, I'll be back in a minute, stay in that chair."
"Uppity nurses…"
"Doctors, I am Sarek of Vulcan. Spock is my son. I commend you on your swift action. This is healer T'Han. Kindly let her establish a mind meld while you continue working. Dr. McCoy."
"...Ambassador."
"Dr. McCoy, you are in distress. Allow me to assist you out of this room…"
"There's no-one in here that could drag me out of here! I'll brain you with my cane if you so much as touch me. I'm not losing him too."
"Then you suspect that Kirk is dead."
"...Yes. Damn him. Yes. I'm… I'm certain. I know. Don't tell me that I can't know…"
"I am not telling you anything, Doctor. I grieve with thee."
"Kevet-dutar Sarek, torai. Colleague Yu, I have initiated a mind meld. Kindly continue keeping the swelling down..."
"Believe me, ma'am, I am doing everything I can…"
"Please continue to do so, but faster. Sarek-ken, will you join us?"
"Yes."
"Nurse, good work. I think the downward trend is stabilizing for sectors five and eight, do you concur? Good. Let's give our telepathic guests some room to work. Keep monitoring, but let's not fiddle with the electro-fields or the dosages at the moment. Dr. McCoy, would you… like to consult?"
"Give that here. Don't give me that look. I know I'm crying. Doesn't mean I can't work. You can't let tears slow you down. Yes. This looks good. Good work kid. You might have just saved his life."
"Thank you, Sir. He's approaching a stable coma, it's all in the hands of the Healer, now."
"...Yeah… Yeah. Where's… where's that tea? I'm shaking, I need some sugar or some more tri-ox, whichever is fastest. Thanks. Thank you. Dammit, I can't even hold this cup… Give me some more tri-ox, I can't fall to pieces now."
"...Leonard?"
"Ambassador? Is that… Did you find his mind? Spock?"
"We… are… all... one… but he is far away from Us. Desert. Mountains. Desolation. Footprints in the sand."
"Right, because normally you lot never understand metaphors, except when it's life or death, then you suddenly can't speak in anything but riddles. Tell him that I say to get back here, right now. Right now."
"Nexus… Horses…"
"What, the Nexus? Old space legends. That's crazy mysticism even by Vulcan standards. I'm not being dragged into that stuff again. Spock? Spock! Tell him to get his ass back here."
"Doctor, let me bring you into the meld."
"Nice of you to ask. Just do it. Just… Do… God… Sarek? Sarek… Spock? Spock! My friend, I know… I know. Look, Spock, listen, you're too far away. I can't see what you see. But, if the Nexus exists, you can go there anytime you feel like trying on the dying thing again… That's what they say, right? We all can. All roads etcetera. You're not allowed yet. You owe me, you damn fool of a hobgoblin. You owe me… Please. God, please… Please! Don't leave me here alone..."
"Nurse!"
"I have him! I have you, Sir. Let's just sit down here on the floor for a minute. I have you. Breathe. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in…"
"Healer, if you can hear me… This is Yu... I don't know what is happening there in your telepathic contact right now, but he's stable physically… Healer? Ambassador? God… You! Get Sheffield up here, tell him that the Vulcans seem to be locked in the meld. Where's our own healer, anyway, get a transporter lock on her, beam her her, I don't care where she is… No! Wait... Belay that."
"...Leonard?"
"Sa-fu. Fa'li'kal. Spock, my son, you have to lie down."
"...Put… antigrav… floor."
"Captain Spock. I am Dr. Yu. You are physically very weak, right now, Sir. You can have the antigrav biobed anywhere that you want, but I'm locking you into the cryo-field conveyor, so you won't be able to move your head. For anything else, I defer to the Healer."
"Floor."
"No, Spock… No. I'll get up. Yes, girl, I know how to breathe, let go of me. Help me up. Get me that chair…"
"Gentlebeings. We are going to vacate this room now, and leave them with the Healer."
"Spock. Spock, I'm so sorry… I'm a mess, don't touch me, you're shields have to be almost gone, don't touch... Alright, you're too damn stubborn… Spock… Spock, what did you…"
"Gone… For now. Happy…"
"Happy?"
"Content. Horses…"
"Horses? Are you kidding me? Horses? Of course you're not. Of course Jim gets horses. Probably horses racing around in a ship. Spock, I'm… I'm barely holding it together. It's gonna... be worse for me before it gets better, before I can listen to you talk of mystic Nexuses and horses. Can you handle that?"
"I am here. I will not leave. You are not alone."
Author's note: Praise be to the glorious DelJewell, who beta'ed this piece for me! I'm still working on the Demerits story, but real life is particularly crazy right now, so in the mean time I wanted to post this little writing experiment. I've never written a "dialogue only" story before, and I wanted to see if I could. I know that the theme is not particularly original, but I felt I needed a crazy hectic situation to make the dialogue only really work: my hope would be that the story is not too confusing, but that the confusion there is adds to the feeling of uncertainty and chaos inherent in the situation... Did it work? Yes? No? Please leave a few words with what you thought in the convenient Review box below :).