James Tiberius Kirk was well aware that sometimes he was a little too mouthy. He enjoyed the fact, even, most days. It kept people on their game, and generally it was humorous.
Today, however, he wasn't so happy with the fact.
It had started off as a routine exploratory mission in the far reaches of the universe, a tiny planet that, somehow, had inexplicably avoided notice. Part of that was it gave off very little sign of it's existence: no large life signs, no interesting features, nothing that would attract the attention of the Federation. But they'd stumbled upon it and had sent the Enterprise to check it out, since they were nearby anyway. Kirk hadn't wanted to accept the mission, worn out after running from the natives on a different planet that had been experiencing strange readings. Turned out, it was just the natives screwing with the technology, and they were none too appreciative to have the crew of the Enterprise trying to fix it. Bones had spent a lot of time healing them of various arrow and knife injuries when they'd been able to beam back up.
If he hadn't mouthed off to the Admiral about the Enterprise getting the boring jobs, he wouldn't be standing alone on what had appeared to be a deserted planet. He wouldn't be sludging through what appeared to be a river right out of hell. He could feel the native fish nipping at his legs as he walked, and mosquito-like insects were nipping at the rest of him. He groaned loudly, hoisting the pack he was carrying higher.
"You don't get to complain about this." Bones' voice was filled with annoyance as he followed the captain. "You got us into this mess, dammit. You and your smart ass remarks."
"Yeah yeah, I know." Kirk rolled his eyes and continued, coming out of the river on the other side. Still nothing, it seemed. Just a wasteland, almost uninhabitable. There was no oxygen, the waters appeared to be the same consistency as blood, and it was damn cold. "But the Enterprise should be going on real missions, not just running around exploring planets. She's too good for this."
"And what missions would you prefer? No, don't answer that." Kirk glanced back at the doctor, grinning slightly as he used a finger to massage his temple. "You want dangerous missions with the potential to kill everyone on board, but I'm not sure I can handle any more stress."
"What? We always come out alive." Bones just gave him a look, and Kirk hastily amended, "That wasn't a mission, that was-"
"You died, and it was a mission. So don't tell me you always come out alive."
"I'm alive now, aren't I?"
"And it's a miracle." The mutter just made Kirk chuckle.
"All thanks to you, Bonesy."
"Yeah, and you can stop with the compliments, too. You can't butter me up while we're wearing oxygen tanks and freezing our asses off."
"You volunteered to come."
"Only so I can keep you alive when you inevitably try to get yourself killed."
Kirk let the conversation drop when he heard something. He stopped for a moment, frowning, straining his ears as a low hum grew louder.
"What is it?" Bones asked, watching as the captain went from fooling around to completely still and focused.
"Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"That's a no." He frowned as it steadily grew louder, increasing in pitch. Then it stopped abruptly, and that made his frown deepen.
"What do you hear?"
"Nevermind, let's just finish this and get back home." He had a bad feeling, the kind he got when something he couldn't control was about to happen. And those were the worst kinds of things.
If Bones noticed that the captain was anxious, he didn't say anything. They continued in silence, Kirk keeping his ears open and hoping that nothing went wrong. He wanted the adventure, of course. He wanted the danger. But when he was exhausted and had only his medic for company, he'd rather it be a run of the mill mission so he could get home and sleep.
Jim stumbled as he heard the noise again, louder, screeching through his head. He fell to his knees as he covered his ears, yelling at Bones, demanding to know what was happening. Bones stared at him, frowning, straining his ears but not hearing anything.
He knelt next to his captain and put a hand on his shoulder as he pulled the tricorder out. Something was wrong with Jim, he was sure, and before he even started Kirk began gasping, struggling to pull in air.
"Come on, Jim, stay with me. It's just - " Bones sighed as he got the readings. "It's another allergy. You're just having an allergic reaction, Jim, deep breaths." He rummaged through his med bag and pulled out a Hypospray, specifically packed for just this reason; Jim was a fearless captain, but he was a fearless captain with a shit load of allergies.
He pressed the medicine into Jim's neck and gently rubbed his back until his breathing eased and slowed. "There you go, deep breaths."
Kirk's hands hesitantly lowered from his ears as the noise faded, and he turned to look at Bones. "What-" He didn't get to ask the question that McCoy didn't have an answer for. His eyes closed quickly, and Bones barely had the chance to catch him before he fell completely unconscious.
Leonard 'Bones' McCoy frowned. He shouldn't have fainted. It was obvious that he would be tired, yes, but Kirk was stubborn, and it took much more than that to knock the captain out. The doctor quickly checked his pulse and breathing, and it was in doing so that he noticed the tiny dart in his neck. Immediately his pulse quickened as he looked around, attempting to find the enemies that apparently did exist on this planet.
"Shit." He muttered, pulling his communicator out.
"McCoy to Enterprise. Get us out of here now."
He didn't hear the answer before he felt the slight prick in his neck and felt it take instant effect in his system. He fell forward, landing heavily next to Kirk as consciousness left him.
S'chn T'gai Spock was always both secretly pleased and anxious when Captain Kirk put him in charge to go traipsing in potentially dangerous scenarios. Pleased, because he rarely got the opportunity to be in charge. He generally accompanied the captain on missions, because of his logic and ability to think quickly. It was a good balance for the captain's 'act first, think later' attitude. Anxious, because that meant he wasn't there to keep the captain from doing something potentially harmful to himself. But this was a simple mission, merely exploratory on a planet that had no signs of intelligent life. If the captain could stumble into danger on a mission such as this, he was looking for it, and there was nothing the first officer could do about it.
"Spock." Nyota Uhura's voice was concerned, and Spock frowned slightly as he came to stand next to her at the communication's panel.
"What is it, Uhura?" He asked, his voice calm and controlled, exactly as his Vulcan self demanded. It wouldn't do to let his own concern leak into his words.
"Sir, I'm picking up communications from the surface."
Spock's frown deepened. "What do they say?"
"That's just it, sir. I don't know. I've never heard the language before."
That was something to be concerned about. Uhura was the most talented xenolinguistic expert anywhere, and if there was a language she didn't know... Spock had a bad feeling building up behind his calm demeanor, and it was all he could do not to demand the captain and CMO return immediately.
"Send a message to the captain to inform him of this development." He commanded, returning to the captain's chair. He sat heavily, attempting to coax the feeling of dread to the back of his mind where he could ignore it in favor of clear, logical thinking. It was probably nothing, a reflection of communique from other ships farther out. They would have scanned signs of life, had there been a civilization that was advanced enough to have electronic communications that reached outside of the atmosphere.
"Spock-" Uhura didn't have a chance to warn of the impending attack before the entire ship rocked under the impact. The Vulcan didn't have a chance to brace himself, and he fell forward hard. He managed to stop himself from hitting the floor face first, but he landed quite heavily on his shoulder and knew there was substantial damage. However, he didn't have the time to get it healed at the present time.
"That was an attack from the surface!" Uhura's voice was frantic as she pulled herself back to her console and began checking screens and pressing buttons. Spock grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, making sure to keep his left shoulder still as he did so. Spock returned to his spot in the chair, attempting to maintain some sense of control even as the crew showed fear. He would lead them well in Jim's absence.
"Mr. Sulu, get us out of range of the weapon. Uhura, make contact with the captain and CMO. Mr. Scott, be prepared to beam them aboard the Enterprise as soon as their location is made known."
A collection of affirmative responses followed his command, and he closed his eyes as he waited for further information. A forced calm settled over him.
"Out of range, sir."
A long silence followed, punctuated only by Uhura's attempts to contact the ground team.
A crackle swept over the radio, and Spock felt relief flood through him at McCoy's voice. "McCoy to Enterprise. Get us out of here now."
"Just give us a moment to get your location." There was clear relief in Uhura's voice, and she tapped steadily on her panel. "We're having difficulty getting a reading- Doctor? Doctor?"
Spock's head turned toward her much too quickly, but the sound of her voice-
"Is there a problem?"
"I lost communication, and I can't- Spock, they're just gone." The panic in her voice was creating a panic in the rest of the crew, and Spock wasn't sure how to stop it. How could he stop something that was happening inside himself?
"Mr. Scott, do you have a read on the captain?" He knew the answer before it came.
"I cannae find 'im, sir."
There was a moment of silence in which every crew member on the deck accepted the fact that the captain and chief medical officer were now MIA.
"Keep scanning, both for the captain and for other information about the enemies we are facing." With those words, he stood, heading toward the medbay. He knew he needed to have someone take a look at his shoulder, and he also couldn't stand to sit in the captain's chair anymore, not with the knowledge that he was missing. And from the way McCoy had sounded, it wasn't good.
It was illogical to assign phrases of that nature to the situation.
It didn't stop him from doing it.
He decidedly ignored the fact that the CMO was absent from the medical bay, allowing one of the lesser known assistants help him to relocate his shoulder. From there, he immediately went to his quarters, ignoring the protests that he should stay for a pain killer. The pain kept him on the edge, instead of letting him fall beyond.
Logic was lost as soon as the door closed behind him. He slid to the floor, his hands shaking, attempting to retain control of his emotions but failing to do so. On the missions that were supposed to be dangerous, he was prepared for this eventuality. He understood that Kirk – James – would probably find himself in trouble and they'd have to rescue him. But this was supposed to be a simple mission. An annoyance, of course, but simple and easy and safe.
He didn't know how long he spent on the floor, wishing he could regain control. It didn't matter. Soon he discovered it was late, and he should rest. He would be better able to retain composure if he was well rested, and he would have to be in control of himself if he was to rescue the captain. Again. So he went to his bed and lay down. It took some time, longer than usual, to find sleep, but when he did it was deep and dark and full of the worst possible outcomes.
AN: Hey friendlies! Thank you for choosing to read my little experimental trekverse fic! I'm not as well versed in this verse as I would like, and there are probably errors in my facts. If so, please feel free to tell me (preferably in a kind way) that it's wrong, so I can fix and and endeavor not to make that mistake again. But I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter, and return for more!
