A/N:
First, I forgot when I first posted to make the disclaimer that Star Trek belongs to CBS and Paramount and not me. No copyright infringement is intended with this work.
Second, updates to the story will come regularly as this work is complete. Without any further ado, onto the story.
Chapter One
Stardate 2263.247
With a sense of satisfaction, Doctor McCoy finished reading the article on techniques to treat Rigelian auto immune disorder and sat back in his office chair. It was now the third week the Enterprise A had been charting this vast dark nebula and there didn't seem to be much else for him to heal other then the odd sprained wrist or plasma burn. So McCoy had used the quiet in the med bay to further his own research on stem cells and catch up on reading medical journals. On the other hand, he'd been friends with Jim Kirk too long to expect this relative calm to last. That man knew how to attract trouble faster then one tribble could become two tribbles, he thought.
"Attention crew of the Enterprise. We're on our way to answer a distress call. I want all departments to battle stations as soon as possible. Maintenance, clear a space in the cargo bay in case medical needs more space then the med bay to treat survivors. Any crew member who has an emergency medical assistant specification, report to the med bay once you have a relief for your regular post. Kirk out." he announced. The lights switched from their usual white to red as the ship went to alert status. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, thought McCoy as he hurriedly entered the main area of the med bay.
"Can I help with anything, Doctor McCoy?" asked Nurse Dominique as she looked up from the desk where she had been working on a PADD.
"Nurse Dominique, we should prep all our bio beds for as many species as possible. What is our blood supply like?" McCoy asked of his head nurse.
"Our blood supply is ample for Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites, but we're running low on Human type O blood." Nurse Dominique replied as she stood up.
"Where is Doctor M'Benga? Call him in here right now Nurse Chang." McCoy demanded. Nurse Chang moved to the comm panel to do so.
"What about other off duty medical officers?" Nurse White wanted to know from where he stood in front of a bio bed.
"Let's leave that until we know the number of injured and perform triage Nurse White. Nurse Dominique, you prep the twelve intensive care bio beds in the main area, while Nurse White you prep the eight surgical bio beds. Nurse Chang, set up the quarantine room as a precaution because I don't want this ship's crew to get any infectious diseases from the survivors." McCoy ordered.
Nurse Chang nodded and moved to the quarantine room, while Nurse Dominique and Nurse White moved to prep the bio beds. McCoy headed for the med kits to make sure they were well stocked for emergencies. Since he had to diagnose and treat quickly in a crowd, he didn't want to be caught yelling for a medical tool that he didn't have on hand. Several moments later Doctor M'Benga hurried into the med bay.
"It never rains but it pours. How many patients are we prepping for, Doctor McCoy?" he asked. McCoy looked at his assistant chief medical officer with a grimace as he handed Doctor M'Benga a med kit to prepare.
"I don't know right now and I won't until they are all beamed onto the ship. For all I know, we're rescuing some species that Starfleet has never heard of." McCoy grumbled.
"I hope not. It's hard to find the normal baseline for vitals when your diagnostic wrap isn't used to the organ placement and you're busy with a protoplaster to make sure they don't bleed to death." the other doctor stated.
McCoy looked up at the bitter tone of Doctor M'Benga in surprise for a moment. Then he remembered the away mission Doctor M'Benga had been on that had resulted in several of the natives of the planet and two Ensigns from the ship dying after a cave in on a earthquake prone M class moon a month ago. He really had no idea that mission still bothered the other man. But then Doctor M'Benga seemed much more restrained and introspective then he was. Perhaps it was the influence of having done his medical internship on Vulcan before he had entered Starfleet. Doctor M'Benga was a relative newcomer on the Enterprise A. He had been transferred onto the ship when they had left Yorktown because McCoy's last assistant CMO Doctor Ricardo Rodriquez had died in Krall's attack. Because they normally worked different duty shifts on the ship, this crisis would be the first time they would work directly together.
"We do our best, but we're only Human. No one blames you Doctor M'Benga." McCoy replied.
He wasn't a therapist, but McCoy understood all too well what it was like to watch someone die while he was unable to do anything about it. As much as medicine had advanced and continued to do so, none of them were miracle workers. Death and paperwork were truly the only constants in the universe, he thought. The comm panel on the wall of the med bay by the doors came to life before Doctor M'Benga could reply.
"Med Bay, this is Ensign Dennis. We have thirty survivors in the transporter room and are beaming another thirty aboard right now." came the voice of one of the transporter technicians.
"Understood Ensign Dennis. We're on our way." McCoy replied. Before he could say more the ship lurched hard to the right and McCoy suddenly found himself on the floor.
"What the hell was that?" McCoy asked.
"I think that was an explosion. Dennis out." the Ensign concluded the communication briskly. McCoy accepted the offer of a hand from Doctor M'Benga to stand up. He looked around at the serious faces of his staff.
"Nurses Dominique, Chang, White stay here and get the officers who have an emergency medical specification prepared to treat patients. Shall we Doctor M'Benga?" McCoy declared.
Then he and Doctor M'Benga both grabbed their modified med kits and raced for the turbo lift. At times like these, McCoy felt his focus narrow to what lay ahead. The one good thing about running through the ship was that it was a common enough sight by now that everyone moved out of the way very quickly. Especially since all of the crew recognized him even if they didn't know Doctor M'Benga yet. A few moments later he and Doctor M'Benga entered the crowded transporter room to a scene of various species in different positions on the floor and more on the transporter pad. Doctor M'Benga whistled loudly and everyone turned to look at him.
"If I can have everyone's attention! I'm Doctor M'Benga and this is Doctor McCoy. You will all see me or Doctor McCoy for an initial assessment. After that, those who are not in need of further treatment will wait in the corridor outside this room to be escorted to the guest quarters. Everyone else will wait here to be escorted to the med bay. Doctor McCoy, I'll take the left side of the room and you can take the right side." Doctor M'Benga ordered. Normally McCoy would have objected to being ordered around but this was no time to stand on rank. Besides, Doctor M'Benga's whistle had been even more effective at getting attention then his shouting voice would have been. A moment later Doctor M'Benga moved away to begin his triage and so did McCoy. McCoy's first patient was a Human women in her mid thirties who had a hand on her brown hair.
"Any dizziness, sleepiness, or nausea?" he asked as he scanned her.
"No, just a headache the size of Texas." she answered in a southern drawl.
"Headache my ass. You have a concussion." McCoy replied as he moved her hair aside and pressed a hypospray to her neck a moment later.
"Good to know Doctor. I'll try not to fall asleep then." she acknowledged.
"Everyone out of the way! Doctor, where is the med bay on this ship?" came an urgent voice before he could reply. As he looked over, McCoy saw the speaker was a female Andorian who held a one metre tall alien creature in her arms. The Andorian wore black pants and boots, a green long sleeved jacket, and a belt with a sheathed knife attached to her right hip and a square device attached to her left hip. At her voice people moved out of the way quickly which allowed her to step off the transporter pad and move toward the door.
"Don't go anywhere." he warned the woman with the concussion before McCoy grabbed his med kit and hurried to stop the Andorian from leaving the transporter room.
As he came closer McCoy could see the alien more clearly. It wore a green environmental suit which covered all its body. Through the clear helmet he could discern a short neck and a rounded head with a pointed beak and wide set closed eyes. McCoy thought the alien bore a strong resemblance to a bird as it had black feathers, a long tail, and instead of legs had two short tibia and tarsus that ended in bird like feet. That impression was only reinforced by the wide wings on both sides of its torso which ended in four small fingers. He wondered if the creature was capable of flight but set his curiosity about that aside given that the alien appeared to be unconscious at the moment.
"Follow me. I'm Doctor McCoy. What's your name?" he said. The Andorian gestured with her antenna toward the door. McCoy got the hint and turned to hurry out of the room first. He was aware that the two of them followed right behind him. Once they were in the corridor the Andorian began to speak.
"My name is S'nell and he's Mr Black. Mr Black is a member of the Xatari species. The Xatari circulatory system is very sensitive to changes in atmosphere conditions. That is why an environmental suit is required for Mr Black to wear at all times. The suddenness of your transporter caused Mr Black to enter into a state of severe shock. His subsequent high adrenaline levels triggered the life support in his environmental suit to automatically take control over his nervous system. At the moment, his heart rate is forty beats per minute above normal with no palpitations. Mr Black's blood pressure needs to lower to sixty over one hundred, which is his normal resting rate. His airway is clear and undamaged. But his breathing is shallow compared to his normal respiratory rate of thirty five. Due to shock, there's been mild damage to the tertiary chamber of his heart, and the pressure of both the secondary and primary chambers of his heart is currently insufficient due to overall vascular constriction. He's also suffered slight damage to his brain stem. Mr Black's other organs were unaffected. There's no bleeding, internal or otherwise, and he has no broken bones. He takes hyposprays through inter muscular injection. Did you understand all of that Doctor McCoy?" she briskly summarized as they quickly made their way through the ship.
"Yes, I understood all that. But given I've never seen an Xatari before, I'd appreciate your help with his treatment S'nell." McCoy requested as they entered the med bay and he hurried toward the surgical treatment room. Once inside the room, McCoy gestured toward a bio bed. S'nell quickly laid Mr Black down on his back and McCoy reached for a diagnostic wrap.
"Please verify my diagnosis while I set the appropriate environmental controls for this bio bed Doctor McCoy." S'nell requested.
As S'nell worked on the control panel above the bio bed McCoy ran the diagnostic wrap over the entire length of Mr Black. He did indeed have damage to the heart, lungs, and brain as S'nell had mentioned. Once he had finished a full scan of his entire body, McCoy returned to Mr Black's heart which was in the middle of his torso right below his lungs. Then he pressed an area on the display of the diagnostic wrap and a more detailed projection of just the heart appeared. Using his fingers McCoy quickly zoomed in on the heart tissue that looked the most unhealthy.
"What do you know about triple chambered hearts Doctor McCoy?" S'nell wondered as she also looked at the diagnostic wrap.
"I've never actually seen a live example because they are very rare. Not many doctors have, Starfleet or otherwise." McCoy admitted as he zoomed out again and slowly moved around the entire heart of Mr Black on the display.
"No, I'd never encountered this circulatory system before the Xatari either. Now, the primary chamber is meant to pump blood to the main organs and large arteries. The secondary chamber is meant to distribute blood to the smaller veins and capillaries. Finally, the tertiary chamber is meant to ensure an even blood flow to the entire body. Do you have any further questions about his heart Doctor McCoy?" S'nell explained. She pointed to each region of the heart displayed on the diagnostic wrap as she spoke.
"Not right now. Let me prep for his treatment. I'll be back shortly." McCoy told S'nell.
He placed the diagnostic wrap beside Mr Black's bio bed then entered the adjacent surgical supply room. Then he rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and put his hands up to his wrists into the sanitizing machine. McCoy remained still for the minute long cycle. Afterwards he put on some gloves then headed to the medicine cabinet. The diagnostic wrap had told him enough about Mr Black's internal anatomy that he knew which hyposprays he would need to treat him. He quickly assembled these on a tray. Then he returned to the surgical treatment room and set the tray of hyposprays down beside Mr Black's bio bed. McCoy turned his head to ask S'nell a question and realized she no longer stood on the other side of Mr Black's bio bed. He hadn't been gone that long, so where was she?
He quickly looked around the room and soon saw S'nell on the bio bed beside Mr Black. She lay flat on her back with her hands on her torso. He'd been so focused on Mr Black thus far that he hadn't even stopped to assess S'nell. But now he noticed how pale her blue skin was and how carefully and slowly S'nell was breathing. There was both blue and red blood on her jacket and pants but it was dried and so he hadn't paid any more attention to it. He grabbed the diagnostic wrap and hurried over to her side.
"Dammit woman, next time you're injured say something! I don't read minds you know." he snapped.
McCoy frowned as the diagnostic wrap showed the depth of the penetrating wounds over S'nell's torso, arms, back, and legs that had caused internal bleeding. The diagnostic wrap made it clear that the top layer of her skin had been completely healed but the tissue underneath was only partially healed. Although Mr Black's current condition was serious, he was stable at the moment due to his environmental suit. S'nell on the other hand couldn't afford to lose any more blood and needed treatment now. He called for a privacy screen on the bio bed then reached for clothing scissors and the protoplaster.
"Don't try to heal yourself the next time you're injured! You clearly didn't do a thorough job." he yelled at her as he set the protoplaser to the highest setting.
"Are you going to yell at me or heal me Doctor McCoy?" S'nell snapped.
"Oh, I can do both at once. Now unfasten that jacket, belt, and your pants S'nell." McCoy told her. Dammit, no one gave him attitude in this med bay, he thought. S'nell did as he'd ordered. He noticed that she gritted her teeth the entire time. She stiffened when he placed a hand under her shirt to cut it in order to treat a wound on her stomach.
"I'm a doctor, so the only time I touch women is in the line of duty." McCoy assured her. S'nell let out a long exhale and relaxed on hearing that. He got to work with the clothing scissors.
"So who did this to you?" McCoy wondered as he worked on her torso and arms.
"I didn't stop to exchange names with them Doctor McCoy." S'nell replied.
"That's not what I meant. Slowly roll over onto your stomach S'nell." McCoy requested once he was done healing the wounds on her torso and arms. S'nell did so and then McCoy treated the wounds on her back.
"Lift your hips S'nell." McCoy instructed. She did so and McCoy pulled her pants down to her ankles. Once he was done with healing her legs McCoy put the protoplaster and clothing scissors aside. Then he gave her a hypospray for the pain and another hypospray for the blood loss. Finally he ran the diagnostic wrap over her entire body. He was satisfied to see that her bleeding had now stopped entirely.
"Do you think you can stand S'nell?" he asked as she redressed then slowly sat up. McCoy carefully watched her as she rose from the bio bed and stood on the floor. S'nell took one hesitant step forward and would have ended up on the floor if he hadn't quickly stepped closer and wrapped both his arms firmly around her waist. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders in return and she closed her eyes.
"Well, that was hasty. Sit down and rest before you try that again. I need to treat Mr Black and check on the other crew of the research station but I'll be back to check on you shortly." he assured S'nell.
McCoy closed his eyes against a sudden sensation of arousal as he became more aware of S'nell's warm, slim, and fit body pressed closely against him. She was shorter then him as the top of her head ended at his chin. Her antenna suddenly brushed along his jaw which caused McCoy to take a deep breath. Dammit man, it's completely unprofessional to consider any of your female patients attractive, never mind still be holding one of them in your arms all this time, he internally admonished himself. It was at that moment that S'nell became aware of how close they were standing. She abruptly let him go and stepped back. Her cheeks briefly flushed purple in embarrassment.
"My apologies Doctor McCoy. You're right, you have Mr Black and other patients to see to." S'nell said as she sat back down on the bio bed. McCoy nodded, disengaged the privacy screen around her bio bed, and then grabbed the diagnostic wrap. He swiftly went over to Mr Black's bio bed and placed a clean set of gloves, a hair net, and a face mask on. Come on man, focus on the treatment of Mr Black rather then S'nell, he told himself.
"So can I remove any portion of Mr Black's environmental suit? I'll need to access his muscles to use the hyposprays after all." he asked S'nell.
"I've adjusted the environmental controls around Mr Black's bio bed to replicate the conditions of his environmental suit. The suit is one piece except for the helmet and boots. Mr Black needs the helmet to breathe so take off both his boots instead which are attached at the ankle with a square button. Just be very mindful of the talons in his feet, as they are extremely sharp. When he regains consciousness it will likely be violent. In other words, Mr Black will involuntarily convulse and his talons will fully extend. You don't want any part of your body near his feet at that point. That's because the Xatari use their talons not only to grip surfaces but also to catch their prey and for defensive purposes. The talons are not venomous but they can cause severe blood loss." S'nell told him as McCoy set aside the boots then rearranged the hyposprays in the order he wished to inject them.
"Thanks for the warning. Anything with talons deserves a good deal of wariness and I'd like all my body parts to remain where they are at the moment. Anything else I should know before I start his treatment?" McCoy said as he adjusted the doses of the hyposprays.
"Once Mr Black has regained consciousness I will explain what has happened to him Doctor McCoy." S'nell insisted.
"Why? Does Mr Black not understand English?" McCoy asked.
"Mr Black understands English but he cannot speak it due to the different anatomical structure of his vocal cords. There is also the fact that the Xatari never address a stranger directly unless it is through a known intermediary party. So he will not make eye contact with you or acknowledge he has heard you speak. I have a universal translator which does understand the Xatari language. In other words, please let me do the talking on this occasion." S'nell explained.
"All right. I'm a doctor, not an linguist. Speaking of which, I need to begin this treatment of Mr Black sooner rather then later." McCoy responded.
"Of course. Proceed Doctor McCoy." S'nell replied.
With his hyposprays now prepared and laid out beside him, McCoy moved to inject Mr Black with a sedative to begin. Then he carefully and methodically worked on repairing the damage to the heart, the lungs, and the brainstem of Mr Black. Finally he did another head to foot scan of Mr Black with the diagnostic wrap. This time he was more satisfied with the vital signs on the display of the diagnostic wrap, as they were much closer to what S'nell had said was normal for an Xatari. The bio bed monitors beeped and he turned to look at the display. A moment later Mr Black convulsed violently, his eyes opened wide, and his long talons fully extended from his feet. McCoy swiftly held him down at the shoulders with both hands to prevent a second movement of his body.
"It it I, S'nell. You are safe and abroad a Starfleet ship. The enemy ship is gone but the research station has exploded." S'nell stated from the bio bed beside Mr Black. McCoy hadn't noticed that she had been watching the treatment all along as he'd been so focused on what he was doing. Mr Black responded with a series of what McCoy would call musical notes which varied in pitch and volume. While he was speaking S'nell looked down at a small rectangular device that was attached to her jacket collar, which displayed some kind of script that McCoy didn't understand. Mr Black turned to look at McCoy, who had removed his gloves, face mask and hair net by now. Then there were more of those musical noises that McCoy now realized must be the Xatari language.
"This is Doctor McCoy, the surgeon who treated you." S'nell continued. "How are you feeling Mr Black?" she added before McCoy could. Mr Black's reply was shorter this time. "Mr Black says that he is no longer in any pain and he wishes to thank you. He will rest now." S'nell translated. McCoy nodded and stepped back from Mr Black. He walked over to S'nell.
"If I can have your universal translator, I'll give it to the communications department. I'd like to be able to communicate with Mr Black directly and I know the communications department will want to understand the Xatari language as well." McCoy stated. Before S'nell could respond, McCoy heard some noise behind him and turned around to see that Mr Black was not on the bio bed any longer. He looked around the room frantically for a moment.
"Mr Black is on the ceiling Doctor McCoy." S'nell said. When he heard that McCoy turned around then looked up. Mr Black was indeed hanging upside down with all his talons fully embedded in the surface of the ceiling directly above his bio bed. Mr Black's wings were moving slowly on either side of his body. He looked like a large bat in that position, McCoy thought.
"What the hell? Get down from there and rest on the bio bed Mr Black." McCoy demanded. S'nell turned her head to look up at Mr Black.
"Upside down and hanging from the highest point is the body position Mr Black rests in when he is tired, just like all other Xatari. For your information Mr Black isn't his Xatari name. But he has told us his real name is unpronounceable for anyone who isn't an Xatari. So the crew of the research station have agreed to call him Mr Black as that's the colour of his plumage." S'nell explained.
"I see. As long as Mr Black is resting then he can stay on the ceiling for now. Thanks for your help S'nell. Now I really do need to treat other patients and you need to rest." he told her.
"Of course Doctor McCoy. Thank you for your treatment for both myself and Mr Black." S'nell said.
"Well, I was just doing my job. Don't leave the med bay until you've undergone a final examination and tell Mr Black the same S'nell." he stated. S'nell nodded then lay back down on the bio bed and closed her eyes. Satisfied that she would rest now, McCoy grabbed a diagnostic wrap then moved into the main section of the med bay. Nurse Dominique quickly directed him to treat the closest member of the research station. That turned out to be a female Tellarite who sat on a bio bed with a broken wrist.
If he was being honest, McCoy was perplexed by his physical reaction to S'nell as it had been some time since he'd experienced such a sudden sense of attraction to a woman. After his divorce in 2255, he'd had one romantic relationship during his time at the Academy which had ended badly after four months. A year later in 2258, all the cadets had been called out to investigate a distress call from Vulcan. That mission had soon turned into the destruction of Vulcan and the battle with Nero to make sure Earth did not share the same fate. Ever since then he'd been so focused on work and keeping an eye on Jim that he felt he had no time for women.
There had only been three exceptions since then that he could recall. The first was when he'd flirted with Doctor Marcus on that planetoid during the mission to apprehend Khan in order to get under Jim's skin. But she had completely ignored him and focused on the task at hand. Then that damned torpedo had nearly killed them both, which had put any other thoughts quickly out of his brain. After that he'd hadn't flirted with Doctor Marcus ever again and they'd developed a distant but amicable relationship. Well, it was amicable until he'd discovered she was pregnant with Jim's child in 2261. Carol and her son David were now back on Earth and he was still out here in space with Jim.
The second exception was Yeoman Tonia Barrows. They had get along very well at first. But soon McCoy had started feeling like he wanted to spend more time with her. By that point in the five year mission, one year in, he'd seen how badly a shipboard romance could turn out. That was especially true where there was a difference in rank between the couple like with himself and Yeoman Barrows. So he'd done his best to just keep things between them professional from then on. Two months after he had began to do so, Yeoman Barrows had asked for and received a transfer to Jupiter Station. He'd never heard from her again after she had left the ship a week later headed back to the Alpha Quadrant.
The third exception was Natira, the Fabrini high priestess he had married a month after the Enterprise A had left Yorktown. McCoy had been shocked to discover that he had xenopolycythemia in the routine medical exam that was supposed to clear him for duty on the Enterprise A. He'd felt that he had to tell Jim but continue to serve as the CMO of the Enterprise A as long as possible. McCoy could tell Jim had been torn about informing Starfleet Command but had reluctantly done so. Even so, McCoy had insisted he still had a year left to live and in that time he might find a cure if he continued to travel with the Enterprise. If he stayed on Yorktown there was no chance of that as there was no known cure.
When they had encountered the Fabrini one month later he'd been surprised to find himself falling hard for their leader, the beautiful Natira. How much of that feeling was caused by his own fear of imminent death he wasn't sure, but McCoy was pleased when she asked to marry him and so he had agreed to the instrument of obedience. McCoy hadn't wanted Jim or Spock to see him slowly dying so he'd also agreed to remain on the Yonada, the Fabrini multi generational spaceship. Then Spock had ensured that the Yonada wouldn't collide with the nearby heavily populated planet of Daran Five. Even better, Spock found the cure for xenopolycythemia in the computer banks of the Fabrini ship. McCoy had been painfully cured and then had said a poignant farewell to Natria. She had to continue leading her people and he had a duty as a doctor aboard the Enterprise A. Jim had promised him that the Enterprise would rendezvous with the Yonada in thirteen months. Well, that meeting was now five months away. Dammit, he wouldn't betray his wife simply because he was lonely. As he put thoughts of Natira and S'nell out of his head, McCoy refocused on his treatment of the Andorian man with a broken rib who sat on a bio bed in front of him.
Time passed as McCoy continued to work in the med bay. By the time he and his medical staff had finished their examination and treatment of the crew of the research station, they had healed seven individuals with broken bones, ten individuals with penetrating wounds, eight concussions, and eleven individuals with deep bruising. The rest of the crew members of the research station were unharmed and did not require any medical treatment. Given the sudden volume of patients, McCoy was glad to see that Nurse Dominique had paged for all of the medical officers to report for duty. There were also four other officers in the med bay that had the emergency medical assistant specification who also helped to move patients from the transporter room to the med bay and had assisted with several of the patients once they were there.
Once the medical treatment on the crew of the research station was completed, McCoy read and then approved Nurse Smith's schedule for a complete physical for every new arrival from the research station. Nurse Smith had been assisted by the Vulcan commanding officer of the research station, Commander V'tek, who according to Nurse Smith was even more stern then Spock. Finally McCoy headed for the bridge. After all, Jim probably wanted an update on the health of the crew of the research station by now. If he didn't then surely Spock would.
"Hello Doctor McCoy. How are the survivors of the research station doing?" asked Jim as McCoy entered the bridge.
"Well, all sixty of them should make a complete recovery given time. I'm sure Commander V'tek will be giving Scotty an earful about that transporter though, just as I did." McCoy answered.
"Did you say V'tek, Doctor?" Spock asked.
"You know this V'tek then?" wondered Jim.
"We have never met Captain, though I have heard of his work. I am aware that V'tek is a molecular chemist but nothing else. Though I fail to see why he would be displeased about the transporter. Was there a malfunction I was unaware of?" Spock responded.
"One of the crew on the base was from a species known as the Xatari. I can't go into medical details but apparently the transporter was responsible for his injuries." McCoy grimly explained.
"If there had been sufficient time I would have assisted Mr Scott with a recalibration of the bio filters in the buffer stream of the transporter. But as the explosion of the fusion reactor of the research station was imminent, it was more logical to transport as many crew members of the research station to safety instead." Spock's matter of fact tone angered McCoy. McCoy walked closer to Spock.
"Dammit man, do you mean to tell me you knew about the effects of the transporter on Xatari biology and deliberately put my patient's life in danger? How cold blooded are you? What if he'd died when Ensign Dennis had beamed him over here?" he snarled.
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one Doctor. If you are interested in more biological information about the Xatari then I suggest you contact the Vulcan Science Academy. They were the ones to make first contact with the Xatari." Spock continued calmly.
"Why haven't you told me this before now, Spock?" asked Jim.
"You have not asked me before now about the Xatari Captain, so there was no need to discuss the matter." Spock said.
"M'Benga to McCoy. Doctor, we need you back in the med bay as soon as possible." came the voice of the assistant CMO over the bridge comm before Jim could reply.
"Understood. On my way M'Benga." replied McCoy. He gave a pointed glare to Spock as he left for the turbolift. Then McCoy took a deep breath. If Spock ever did something like this again, McCoy swore to himself that he was going to find some nasty hypospray and suddenly inject it into that green blooded neck of his. Contrary to what Jim thought, McCoy could administer a hypospray painlessly but whether or not he choose to do so completely depended on the patient in question.