Valiant Men Die First
"Spock! You're not going down there! You've got a huge target painted on your back!" Kirk Squealed.
The Captain knew tensions between Romulus and Vulcan had been running very high lately, and Spock; being a high ranking officer in Star Fleet, had begun to receive death threat transmissions on a daily basis now.
It was time that the federation stepped in and took action on this matter, and the Enterprise happened to be the closest ship to Romulus, home world of Romulans. Starfleet had ordered that Kirk and his crew draw up a treaty that would hopefully settle the feud between the two races.
"Captain, what do you suggest as a logical alternative?" Spock raised his eyebrow
Kirk had devised a plan to disguise himself and his Chief Medical Officer as Vulcans, pointy ears and all. Hiding their identities made it so that Spock could stay on the ship, to make his presence known on the planet would be to know his death.
"I feel damned ridiculous Jim" Bones spat as he reached up to feel the fleshy points on his ears.
Jim laughed at his friend and patted him on the shoulder "Oh, come on Bones, it'll be fun"
They had been outfitted in Vulcan clothing; loose linen robes, with large hoods and long sleeves. Kirk donned a dark burgundy robe with golden accents and McCoy wore heather grey with dark blue stitching.
Bones grunted in reply as he shuffled onto the transporter pad.
"Energize" Kirk announced a they were both encased in the familiar silver shimmering light
The two materialized on the planet's surface about a half mile outside the city, giving them time to acclimate to the planet and head towards the Romulan Senate Chamber. To get to the Senate, Kirk and McCoy had to walk through several city markets and neighborhoods. And one thing they didn't prepare for was the Romulan mafia, 'The Lloi,' which loosely translated to "put to death"
"Jim, do you get the feeling we're being followed?" Bones leant over and whispered in Kirks ear, his robes quietly rustling against Jims'
That's when they both noticed three large Romulan men stalking towards them. They approached with a purpose. "Are you men headed towards the Senate?" one of them asked
Kirk protectively side stepped in front of his Medical Officer "Why yes, but we're really in quite a rush…" he didn't want any trouble
The large Romulan looked at his men and his eyes lit up hearing what Jim had just said; realizing that this man had their target man in tow. A sinister smile spread across his face.
"Let us show you the way" The tall Romulan said as his comrades got closer "by the way, I'm Rainesh, and this is Klaine and Vlair" Rainesh stuck his hand out and Kirk shook it, but did not give his own name
"Gentlemen, your offer is kind but we really must…"
Vlair ignored Kirk and got closer to McCoy and tactfully sticking out his left hand to shake so that Bones's "Vulcan heart" was vulnerable for his knife that he was hiding inside of his sleeve. In the millisecond it took to raise his arm Vlair dropped the knife into his hand and made his move.
It all happened so fast.
McCoy lifted his left arm to greet Vlairs' hand…
*WHAM*
Vlair pushed McCoy's arm out of the way and shoved his knife in so quickly and turned the handle, ripping the flesh. Chipping his ribcage and sending the knife plummeting into his left lung. McCoy was in pure disbelief, his eyes going wide with realization of what just happened. Vlair ripped the knife back out, and seeing that the blood wasn't green, but human iron red, Vlair's eyes widened and he began cursing in Romulan. He looked to his other comrades in terror and turned to run
"Bones!" Kirk shouted after witnessing his best friends stabbing. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion and he swore he could count the drops on blood that flew through the air. He began to turn to go to and help him, his body not reacting fast enough in the split second
Leonard stood there for a moment before the searing pain ripped through his ribcage. He'd just been stabbed… By a Romulan… In the chest... 'Jesus,' he thought quickly, his brain was racing with solutions on what to do next, his medical training hitting him like a ton of bricks. *when victim is in distress, they bleed out quicker due to increased heart rate and adrenaline release…Apply immense pressure to wound…Keep victim awake and speaking…Make sure wound is clean…Every second counts…*He was torn out of his own head when he saw Captain Kirk begin to run after the Romulan assailants.
"JIM!" McCoy screamed out. But Kirk just kept on running
Klaine threw a jamming device into a nearby alleyway and ran to catch up with the other three Romulans; who were bolting away as quickly as they could away from the scene. Kirk had sprinted a couple yards after them
McCoy's right hand shot underneath his robe, trying to stanch the bleeding. "Jim!" He called to his friend who had run around the corner to try and stop the Romulans. McCoy's collapsed lung was beginning to fill up with blood so he took another wet breath and called for his friend again "Jim!" His voice was filled with blood and desperate plea. Bones started to kneel onto the ground, fearing he would collapse and make the injury worse
But this time his friend finally had heard him and came whizzing around the corner, his robe whipping behind him "Bones!" Kirk stretched both of his arms out and busted into a full out sprint, seeing his friend down on one knee, crouched over himself. The Captain skidded to halt in front of his friend and pulled out his communicator, putting a supportive hand on the back of McCoy's neck. Bones grunted at the slight touch
"Kirk to Enterprise, emergency beam up! Bones is injured!"
No response came from the other end
"Enterprise, come in!" Kirk tried again, his voice filled with panic, he knelt down next to his friend feeling defeated
Bones looked Kirk in the eye, sensing the fear that his Captain felt "Jim, it'll be alright, Spock and Scotty will…" He stopped to wince "They'll get us" He reassured his captain.
"Let me see" Kirk said as he stalled for time, trying to think of something
McCoy winced again as he pulled the robe aside awkwardly with his left hand; exposing the bleeding jagged hole that he was still covering with his right hand. His hand was slick with his own blood and was barely stopping the pulsing flow of it
"Oh Bones" Kirk said sadly
"Jim, my med kit" Bones gritted his teeth together. He would have gotten it himself but he was trying to keep himself from bleeding out at the moment. His eyebrows knitted together in pain when he moved slightly, nodding towards his kit underneath his side.
Kirk quickly pulled away Bone's robe to grab at the black bag that hung across his torso. He flung open the flap of the small bag to reveal several loaded hyposprays. Thumbing at them, he was unsure of the contents
"Which one, Bones?" He held up the bag so that his friend could see
McCoy was in a great deal of pain but still managed to keep his head straight and pointed to the first loaded hypo. Jim grabbed the heavy silver hypo and released its contents into his friends' neck. McCoy's shoulders relaxed a bit, but his breathing was still incredibly short and shallow. He ran his tricorder over him, confirming his fears; blood loss, a punctured lung causing a lack of oxygen, internal bleeding and extreme pain throughout the entire chest cavity. But lucky for Kirk, that wasn't the only thing that the tricorder picked up. It had also sensed the jamming signal blocking their communications.
Kirk hopped to his feet with excitement "a jamming device!" He exclaimed "Bones, will you be alright? If I find that device I can beam us both back to the ship and get you help!" "Nurse Chapel would have my head if something were to happen to you" Jim smirked and placed the communicator down by Bones lap
McCoy nodded his head as he sucked in a wheezy breath "don't take too long Jim" He gestured to his blood soaked side
Jim Kirk ran into towards the alleyway that the Romulan had run past not long ago. He looked to his tricorder, it was close but the Romulan must have hidden the device well. It was a very cramped in the dark alley, with massive crates, chunks of broken pottery scattered around. And to make matters worse, it had begun to rain. Jim squeezed between two large barrels and kicked at large piece of pottery, shattering it to hopefully reveal the blinking device but only found mice. He thought of Bones leaning against the wall back around the corner and began to rummage through the alley much faster. Fifteen minutes had passed and he still could not find the damned device.
Bones could feel himself weakening "Com'on Jim…" he said to himself while trying to keep as much pressure on the wound as he could. McCoy reached for his med-kit with his free hand, his shaking fingers curling around another loaded hypo. He brought the metal device up to his neck slowly, trying his best not to drop it
"Shit" he cursed as the device dropped to the pavement with a heavy metal clang, after emptying the contents into his veins; he didn't have enough blood pressure to carry the medicine to do its job; so he just laid there in excruciating pain not able to do anything further about it. The rain began soaking his clothes and making it harder to try and keep his wound clean and free of debris.
McCoy was aware that his breathing was becoming erratic, his fingertips were becoming whitish blue, and that his toes were numb. Overall not good sign, his body was shutting down from blood loss
"Where is it, damnit!?" Kirk shouted as he smashed a crate as hard as he could with his foot. A feint beeping noise could be heard now, and as kirk looked down at the wet pavement the jamming device was lying just underneath a shard of splintered wood. He smiled with delight and raised his foot, bringing it back down with considerable force, obliterating the metal object. His smile quickly faded as he realized how long he'd been in search of the object.
"Bones…" He said aloud as his heart twinged and his stomach tightened. It had now been about twenty minutes since he had left his best friend leaning against the wall. Kirk broke into a fast sprint, his boots slogging through the rain and splashing water everywhere. He came around the corner like a blazing bronco, his hair wet from the rain falling in his face.
"McCoy!"
Thunder and lightning were raging when he saw his friend slumped on the pavement in a wet heap. His friends' soft brown hair was now black with rain water and his once grey robe was now a dirty charcoal and a disturbing, dark puddle was sitting at his chest. Kirk lost all color in his skin and his heart felt as though it had stopped.
"Doctor McCoy!" he screamed as a bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the dark scene. He slid to the pavement grabbing the communicator, almost ripping it apart trying to get it open in a flushed hurry
"Kirk to Enterprise, beam us up, NOW!" Kirk yelled into the device. The Captain gathered Bones up in his arms and he hung limp like a wet rag. Kirk didn't hear the rattling wheezy breaths coming from his best friend; neither did he hear Scotty's voice that came from the other end. His heart pounded too loudly in his chest. Kirk grabbed a fistful of McCoy's robe near his collar bone, squeezing it as hard as he could, dripping rain water over his friends' neck. He pulled his friend closer to himself. McCoy tried to hang on, until his medical team was there, but he couldn't. He was too cold and too… damn… Tired…
"Leonard…" Jim pleaded as his voice cracked; waiting for light to engulf them and take them to the ship, Jim laid a hand on McCoy's neck. It was cold and clammy. Not sure if it was from the rain, he pressed his fingers harder into the older mans' jugular. Kirk tried to swallow the massive lump that was forming in his own throat when he felt warmness and bright lights around him. He did not look up. His eyes were beginning to water and blur
In the next millisecond all Kirk heard was Scotty, "oh my Lord…"
Spock soon came through the doors and witnessed the gruesome sight in front of him.
"We need a medical team in transporter room two" Spock said with urgency, pressing the comm on the wall as he tried to hide the shakiness in his usually confident and smooth voice.
"Bones…" Kirk said through a not so concealed sob "Damnit Bones, you said you'd be alright" he whispered as he lifted the collar of McCoy's robe and leant his forehead on his chest. His friend's head limply lolling backwards
Kirk wiped his eyes before looking up at Spock, his fingers still firmly pressed into his friends' neck. He sadly shook his head at his first officer
"How long?" Spock asked coldly as he walked towards the Captain
He didn't know. He was in that damned alleyway too long. Looking for that stupid jamming device,when he should have been more concerned about his best friend, his best friend who was clearly more injured than he let on. "Spock… I…" Not looking away from his friends face cradled in his arm. He could barely even speak
Just then the doors slid open and Christine Chapel and two other nurses following close behind her came in the room. Christine saw her Captain knelt over her boss, soaking wet and not moving. She drew in a breath and covered her mouth with her hand. Despite her fears, she knelt down next to Kirk who hadn't moved and placed a hand on his back.
"Captain…" She said quietly as she removed his hand and his arm from underneath McCoy and laid him gently on the floor, and helped Kirk to stand. Spock moved to take Kirk, holding him back. She pulled a tricorder from her bag, waving it quickly and discretely over McCoy, nothing, no vitals, no brain activity, and no heartbeat. Her boss was gone. She never had the chance to tell him that she loved him. Christine couldn't control her emotions; she began to weep
"NO!" Kirk lashed out "He can't be, not like this!" His words shook with raw emotion, still bound by his first officer. Spock could feel the heat and anger coming off of his Captain, his friend. Kirk looked down at his hands, covered in his friends' blood where he tried to stop the bleeding; he wiped them sadly on his robe.
"Jim" Spock grasped kirks' arm. Kirk leaned against the transporter panel and went silent, staring at the door. His whole body and mind just completely going numb
The two other nurses picked up Leonards' body and loaded it onto a stretcher and begun to leave the room. Christine stopped them midway, reaching up and brushing the half dry hair off Leonards' ashen face. She nodded and they left the room, taking his body to sickbay.
Kirk picked up McCoys' black bag that had fallen off when he was loaded onto the stretcher, walked slowly out of the transporter room and headed towards his quarters. He said nothing the whole way, talked to no one. Kirk gripped the black bag hard before setting it on his bed. He silently slipped out of the heavy, wet blood stained robes and discarding them in a dark corner of his quarters. Opening a drawer he pulled out a gold uniform, hating how cheery and disrespectful the yellow color seemed; sighing, he slipped it over his head and brushed back his hair with his hand. Kirk sat at his desk in near darkness holding the bag tightly in one hand and a brandy in his other. Tears rolled down his face as he tipped back the last of his drink.
A solemn mood shrouded the entire Enterprise after everyone had heard what had happened. There was to be a service the next day at eleven hundred hours.
"Kirk to Spock" Jim said slightly drunk and gravely into the comm
"Captain" Without another word, with so much emotion in Kirks' voice, he knew what his Captain wanted. Spock got up and headed to Jim's quarters. The door opened to reveal him taking another drink. Spock stepped in, taking the glass from him, setting it on the table beside the door and began striding red eyed next to his Captain down to sickbay.
The two of them walked in and saw McCoy up on a biobed dressed in his formal blue uniform with the gold stripe running down his still chest; all his medals and medical achievement patches gleaming in the glare of sickbay lighting. His hair neat and tidy with his hands laid peacefully across his chest, the pinky ring he wore on his left sitting prominently on top.
"He always hated that dress uniform" Kirk smiled sadly as he moved up to McCoy's left side. Christine placed a reassuring hand on Kirks shoulder as she and her nurses left the room so it was only Spock and Kirk. The Captain pulled two chairs near the bed.
Spock looked down at McCoy's body "you always will and forever be my friend, doctor" he sat down and steepled his hands.
"Bones…" He began "this is my fault, if I had only gotten back to you sooner…" Another tear ran down Kirks' face
"Jim, you cannot blame this on yourself" Spock stated as he pulled the Captain down to sit with him "You put the ship first, as any other Starfleet captain should" he explained. As Kirks first officer, Spock was only trying to get his Captain through this, but as his friend, he was lying. Spock's human side felt so much anger towards Jim for being so careless and a great deal of grief for the doctor. Emotional toil boiled within him as he struggled to keep himself level toned, to not lash out with every fiber of his being at Jim Kirk. He spoke logically to the captain, mostly trying to calm himself; they spoke for hours.
The next day was the service. Outfitted in his dress uniform, Kirk went to the front of the room, keeping a respectful distance between himself and McCoy's coffin. The service seemed to last for hours as he struggled and choked through the entirety of it. He could barely handle it, if it hadn't been for Spock stepping in halfway.
The day after, Kirk sat motionless in his command chair; trying to push his feelings aside, he was the captain of a starship after all. He quickly found himself unable to cope. For, what was the point of space travel and adventures without his best friend?
Kirk ordered the helmsman to put a course in for Starbase 6 and asked Spock to take Command as he went towards his briefing room. Sitting down at the table, he pulled out a pad and began drafting his letter for resignation from Starfleet.
THE END...