Of all the days, the colony of Tendala required urgent medical assistance, it had to be during one of the worst thunderstorms it had ever seen. Although Dr Leonard McCoy was currently safe and sound on board the Enterprise, it was only a matter of time before he had to beam down to the planet surface and face the horrendous weather. Displeased and armed with his pack of medical supplies only, McCoy dreaded going into the chaotic environment, even for a minute until he was picked up by the ground team, let alone have his particles scatter back and forth across the storm.

"It'll be alright, Doctor. Yer feet will hit the ground before ye even notice it!" Scotty said in an attempt to calm the doctor. McCoy wasn't fazed and he was adamant in keeping his rigid, scowling posture as his brows furrowed even further at Scotty's shameless happiness.

"It's like the end of the world, damn it! If beaming down doesn't do me in, it's likely the storm will! So excuse me for being nervous. You better time this right, Scotty or you'll end up with my parts spread out all over the surface," was the gruff reply Scotty received. Knowing how McCoy liked to distract himself with death and mayhem theories, he knew better than to take the doctor's words personally.

"The landing party already went through just fine, doctor. I trust my Lady more than anyone else, she will not let us down! As soon as the storm gives it a break, ye'll be good to go. Speak of the devil, here we go!"

McCoy started complaining in return, but his monologue was cut short when Scotty initiated the systems on the console and begin energising him. The lights in the transporter room flickered, casting an unusual darkness of the normally brightly lit room. Scotty's eyes never left the scanner screen and he stood in stunned silence as what should have been McCoy's transmission signal disappeared from his scanners. He took in a deep breath and reconfigured the scan parameters. He tinkered with the controls once more but to no avail, he was unable to detect the good doctor's whereabouts.

Scotty allowed himself two seconds of sheer inner panic before donning the Chief Engineer persona and allowing his finger to fly towards the Comm unit in desperation to contact the Bridge. With shaky hands and even shakier voice, he called for the Captain.

"Transport to Bridge. This is Scotty. Requesting the Captain urgently!"

"Kirk here. What the hell just happened, Scotty? All our systems went offline for a second."

"Aye, Sir. It happened here too, but that's not it. It is Dr McCoy!"

"What about him? Is he still giving you trouble about beaming down?"

The Scotsman took a deep breath and readied himself for what he was about to say. There was no easy way to put it. "No. Well, there has been a complication, Jim." He stammered and wished there was someone else there with him to take over the explanation in the dead silence that followed. "I began to energise him and it was all fine, but then I lost his signal during the energy loss and now I cannot find him on the surface or anywhere else for that matter!"

"What?"

"As I said, I-" Scotty began to repeat himself, but no reply came until Commander Spock's stoic voice responded from the Bridge.

"The Captain is heading your way, Mr Scott," Even the Vulcan's voice sounded strained and if Scotty wasn't panicking before, now he definitely was. "We are also scanning for Dr McCoy's signal, but there is a high background interference due to the storm. Report any findings directly to the Bridge."

"Aye, Commander," he replied dejectedly. There was nothing he could do but search the earth and the sky for their CMO, as much as the range of their scanners allowed them.

"Scotty!" Jim yelled out as soon as he entered the room which was during the Scotsman's second system reboot. The wild and helpless look in the captain's eyes froze Scotty on the spot. He could do nothing but stutter out an explanation all the while Jim's face contorted with an increasing amount of anger.

"What do you mean you can't locate him? You are the Chief Engineer, you are the one responsible for any malfunctions on the ship! Find my CMO!"

"He is gone, Jim!" Scotty yelled in return which was effective in shutting Jim up. Not even under dire conditions, the captain would compromise from his newly found diplomatic manners and he rarely raised his voice to his senior commanding officers but when it came to McCoy, all bets were off. Scotty expected as much and felt that he had deserved every manic scream Jim could throw at him for failing their friend. Yet, a more sane part of him, the part who was still a Starfleet officer, urged him to keep calm where Jim couldn't. He had seen the reckless shit Jim could throw at him when he was pushed to the limit ("Do you accept my resignation or not?" "I do!") and one of them had to keep a cool head if they were to have any chance of finding McCoy. So he continued with an even voice and unwavering words.

"His signal is gone. We don't know if the storm's blocking it or if the apparatus is malfunctioning or if he is..."

"Don't you dare say it, Scotty." Jim warned, voice dangerously low. If Scotty could hear a bit of a tremor in it, he wouldn't mention it. "Bones survived a hell of a lot more bullshit he got caught up in because of me. Hell, he even survived the Academy with me! He is alive and stuck somewhere on the surface. We are going to locate him and bring him back home. Do whatever it takes, get however many people you need to fix this and get it done!"

"We will find him, Jim. I don't intend to leave my post until we do!"

"Me neither, Scotty," They both let out respective breaths, pleased with the confident voice they were able to manage. Scotty could tell that Jim was far away from being optimistic in the way he held his shoulders rigidly. He assumed neither one of them would relax until they had the doctor back on board.

"Comm the bridge. I want all hands on deck for this. Also, tell the landing party to prepare for searching McCoy on land as soon as the storm lets up. I'll go see if Spock has made any sense of these readings."

"Aye, Captain," he said, eyes never leaving Jim's retreating back. The scanners beeped as his fingers flow over the screen once more, unyielding.

It would be hours before the storm would clear. Until then all they had to hold onto was hope for the fallen to survive and pray that they were not too late to do something for him. Scotty, felt his throat close up as he saw how the screens blurred and the static increased, almost as if Enterprise too was fearing for the worst possible outcome.