Operation Torpedo
Author's Note: Ah, I don't really know how to continue the other story... so I distracted myself by writing another one. Ooops. Hope you like this little one!
Oh, and spoilers alert!
Disclaimer: Not mine. At all.
Chapter 1
Kirk had been happily on the bridge bouncing his ideas off Spock when a rather disgruntled McCoy arrived on the bridge. What made Kirk realise McCoy's entrance however, was not so much that he saw him, but…
"Are you out of your corn-fed mind?" came McCoy's angry outburst.
Kirk sighed.
"You're not actually going to listen to this guy?" continued McCoy, oblivious to Kirk's thoughts. "He killed Pike. He almost killed you. And now you think it's a good idea to pop open a torpedo because he DARED you to."
"Why did he save our lives, Bones?"
"The Doctor does have a point, Captain," Spock countered evenly.
Spock is agreeing with him? The planets of their solar system must be aligned.
"Don't agree with me, Spock. It makes me very uncomfortable," not to say unnatural.
"Perhaps you too should learn to govern your emotions, Doctor. In this situation, logic dictates."
"Logic? Oh my God!" McCoy huffed, "There's a maniac trying to make us blow up our own damn ship and you talk about logic?"
"That's not it," Jim could feel all eyes on him suddenly but continued on, "I don't know why he surrendered, but that's not it. Look, we're going to open a torpedo. The question is how."
"But Jim, without Mr Scott on board, who exactly is qualified to just pop open a four ton stick of dynamite?"
"The Admiral's daughter appeared to have an interest in the torpedoes, and she is a weapons specialist," as usual, Spock had a counter to his question, "Perhaps she could be of some use."
"What Admiral's daughter?" asked Kirk, clearly confused.
"Carol Marcus. Your new science officer concealed her identity to board the ship."
"When were you going to tell me that?"
How the hell did he know should be the question, thought McCoy, someone must have been doing some hacking.
"When it became relevant," came Spock's reply, face as impassive as ever, "as it just did."
McCoy could swear that Spock's face quirked a little, as if trying not to laugh.
Damn Vulcan.
It turns out, apart from the planets being aligned, an asteroid must have hit one of the planets and changed his luck too, because the peace and quiet he had (if Enterprise's MedBay can ever be considered such) was quickly robbed away when Kirk suggested that the Enterprise's CMO was capable of operating on a bloody torpedo. McCoy obviously objected vehemently ( "I'm a doctor, not a torpedo technician!"), but he knew he stood no chance when the Vulcan and the Captain teamed up against him.
So much for being a good doctor in Starfleet, he thought, as he took the shuttle with Dr Marcus onto the remote planet. He was sure operating on a torpedo had not been part of his MD degree, and it was definitely not part of his CMO job requirements.
McCoy wondered briefly if his counterpart in the other universe ever operated on a torpedo, before remembering Ambassador Spock saying something about some last minute modifications as well as applying cement to a silicon based life form over an extremely lengthy conversation they had (when he was introduced to Romulan ale, but of course no one needed to know that).
Guess Spock and Jim Kirk are constant thorns in his side regardless of parallel universes.
McCoy was still thinking about parallel universes and ways to torture Kirk with hypos when the shuttle slowed to a stop and his comm beeped. He punched the communicator button with slightly more force than necessary as he helped to unload the tools for the operation.
"Bones, thanks for helping out. Doctor Marcus asked for the steadiest hands on the ship."
"You know, when I dreamt about being stuck on a deserted planet with a gorgeous woman, there was no torpedo!"
"Doctor McCoy, may I remind you, you are not there to flirt."
McCoy thought of all the escapades Kirk had and decided what a hypocrite he was.
"So how can these legendary hands help you, Doctor Marcus?"
"Bones…" he could almost hear Kirk rolling his eyes.
Yeah, riling Jim up was as fun as annoying the green-blooded walking computer.
"Doctor McCoy, there's a bundle of fibre optic cables against the inner casing. You'll need to cut the twenty third wire down. Whatever you do, do not touch anything else. Do you understand?
McCoy looked into the tiny opening and positioned his left hand accordingly.
"Right. The thought never crossed my mind." As if dying by space anomalies wasn't enough already, his life had to be threatened by operating on an unknown, live torpedo.
"Doctor McCoy, wait for my word. I'm rerouting the detonation processor. Are you ready?"
"And raring."
He took a deep breath, steadied his left hand and made the cut. The torpedo seemed to vibrate a little, but before he could react, the door smashed closed. Blinding pain cut through his arm as he heard the tell-tale crush of the bone and it took all his concentration to not shout in pain. Numbness crept through his arm, and he suddenly couldn't feel his fingers.
Shit.
"What the hell happened? I can't get my arm out!"
"Doctor Marcus," he heard Kirk's barely suppressed worry through the comm, "Can you disarm it?"
McCoy would have laughed at the pun if the situation wasn't so damn desperate.
"I'm trying. I'm trying," came Marcus' professional voice as she hurried to the other side of the torpedo.
Thirty seconds. What are the chances they would be able to disarm a torpedo when they couldn't do it before, after hours of planning on board and analysis the torpedo on the planet?
"Jim, get her the hell out of here."
"No!" she shouted adamantly, "if you beam me back, he dies! Just let me do it!"
He didn't doubt her capabilities, but given the current scenario...
"Ten."
He saw her unscrew the compartment, studying the device.
"Nine."
There wasn't enough time.
"Eight."
He would love to live… but eight seconds to save a life? Worth it. A pity though, Jim… Jim would definitely need to find a new CMO, and Spock, Spock would need to find another verbal sparring partner to bring the humanity out of him.
"Four."
Would he be able to see Joanna again and tell her he loves her?
"Three."
"Shit!" he heard Marcus' shout and saw her pull out the controls. Instinct told him to scream at her, that it was a stupid thing to do because now the torpedo will explode and she will die too…
But the timer stopped and the door opened.
What's happening…
Before he could voice that question however, his arm screamed in pain as blood once again coursed through his vessels. He was secretly thankful for the pain, however, as it meant that his arm was not totally destroyed and could still be functional in the future. He seemed to hear Kirk say something over the comm but he couldn't focus. He could, however, see a man lying frozen in the cryotube.
He shook his head, but it was not a hallucination.
"Bones!"
Well that was loud and clear.
"Jim?" he replied weakly, cradling his arm and edging towards the torpedo, "You're going to want to see this…"
"Dr McCoy," cut in Carol quietly, ignoring the annoyance McCoy flashed in her direction, "you need to beam back to the MedBay."
"Don't you worry darlin'," joked McCoy, his eyebrows raising suggestively, "it's just a simple fracture," he finished, although his accent was thicker than usual.
"Uh huh, continue with the flirting and see if I will dis-arm you fully," came her reply, her eyes flashing with annoyance although her worry was clear as she examined the arm from a distance, "you need to beam back to the MedBay, Doctor, or you might lose your arm."
"It'll be fine—and I'm a doctor, so don't you worry."
Marcus was about to say something when the comm beeped again. "Proximity beaming, Mr Scott," McCoy heard Kirk's voice over Carol's comm, "and to the MedBay."
McCoy didn't think he would ever be this happy for his atoms to be disassembled and beamed back into the flying tin can.
Once they reached the MedBay, McCoy barked orders for a coolant as he reached for his tablet to scan the frozen Augment for any injuries. At Chapel's insistence, a quick splint was made and tied to his arm with a few bandages, and he barely noticed as a sling was fitted over his arm as he did a more in depth analysis of the person in front of him. All too soon, the door whistled to announce the entrance of Kirk, with Spock a step behind him.
"What have we got?" Jim asked, looking down into the cryotube. He did not miss the rough bandage and makeshift splint over Bones' left arm, and that his face was paler than what he had seen through the screen.
"It's quite clever actually," Marcus replied with a hint of amazement, "The fuel container's been removed from the torpedo and retrofitted to hide this cryotube."
"Is he alive?"
"He's alive." Ergh, why is the MedBay so cold? "But it we try to revive him without the proper sequencing, it could kill him. This technology's beyond me."
"How advanced, Doctor?"
"It's not advanced," answered Marcus quickly as she glanced at the exhausted doctor, "That cryotube is ancient."
"We haven't needed to freeze anyone since we developed warp capability, which explains the most interesting thing about our friend here," McCoy said, although each word seemed to take a lot of effort, "He's three hundred years old."
McCoy shivered.
"Bones, you alright?"
"Yeah, just MedBay's a little cold at the moment."
He saw Kirk exchange glances with Spock. That never boded well for their subject of interest.
"Er… your arm is swelling," said Jim, pointing in his direction, "And MedBay isn't colder than usual."
"Jim, I'm fine," okay, maybe just a bit faint.
"I must agree with the Captain, Doctor. Your arm has swelled about 10.5% since we entered the MedBay, and the MedBay temperature is strictly regulated."
"Spock, I—" he turned to look at his arm.
It was indeed swelling and rapidly turning into an angry purple colour.
Brachial artery rupture. And he was rapidly losing the adrenaline he had earlier.
"Damn—"
And then he knew no more.
-To be continued-
I hope you caught and liked the puns. Oh, and reviews and comments are much loved!
