Authors Note:

I just wanted to thank all you all for your reviews and words of wisdom! Not only that but welcome to all my followers! I'm so glad your all reading and cant wait to work through the alphabet with all these stories. :)

This story is set during the 5 year mission - Please keep the reviews coming, its humbling to see how you enjoy it.


Chapter Two

B is for Bends

Jim Kirk was a naturally curious person, so when it came to receiving new orders you knew straight away that his mood would suddenly change and he would be incredibly upbeat. He practically skipped onto the bridge after his meeting with Pike earlier that day.

"Lt. Sulu! Set a course to Planet Gamma Hydra, we have new orders." Jim said as practically jumped down to his captain's chair to take a seat. "When we reach there I would like Mr. Chekov and Doctor McCoy to join me on the away team."

Chekov turned around in his chair. "Me, sir?"

Jim looked up from the electronic clipboard that was instantly waved under his nose as he gave Sulu his orders. "Yes, Chekov, from what your records tell me, you and Doctor McCoy both have experience with deep sea diving."

Chekov turned back around and nodded his head. "Aye, sir. I do. Back in Russia I trained to go Ice Diving. We explored the ice caves many, many times. It was very beautiful."

"It sounds fascinating…" said Jim without really listening. "Our orders are to locate the pair of endangered white tipped sharks, which were rehomed on Gamma Hydra to give their breed a fighting chance of survival. Starfleet wants us to observe them in their natural environment and look for signs of breeding. That's why good old fashioned diving is involved and not the ships scanners."

"Captain…" Spock started.

"Don't worry Spock, the waters would be far too cold for any Vulcan. That's why I've asked McCoy to join me in your place." Jim said, tapping Spock on the shoulder playfully.

"Captain, I was not questioning your orders. I was just going to suggest you take crewmen Smith, as she has experience in the marine sciences." Spock said, raising an eyebrow and placing his hands in the small of his back.

"Ah Yes, crewman Smith would be perfect for this – however due to a nasty case of flu, she wouldn't be able to use the diving equipment very well. She had offered to study our findings when we are back on board." Jim explained, proving the Vulcan wrong for once. "I'm off to sickbay to find Doctor McCoy and give him the news myself." He grinned, walking off the bridge with a skip in his step. McCoy was going to hate this.

oOo

"Are you out of your fricking mind, Jim? Who would seriously think swimming in deep, freezing cold water to go and look at some beastly animal that could rip you to shreds in seconds, is a good idea?!" McCoy practically fell off his chair when Jim had barged into his office to tell him.

"Starfleet, that's who. They don't give orders like this to just anyone. Actually it was your file they found to suggest we should be the ones to get them! Something about a deep sea diving course you took during your time at the academy? Kept that one quiet." Jim winked at McCoy, teasing him further.

"That's because I sucked at it. I like the dry, hard, solid ground. The only reason I took that damn course is because I had to!" McCoy was pissed and it was made clear in his tone of voice.

"Well, those are your orders. I'll see you in the transporter room in an hour. Don't forget to pick up your swimming trunks!" Jim practically laughed as he waved himself out of sickbay.

"Dammnit Jim! I'm a doctor! Not a diver!"

oOo

The transport down was successful, despite the amount of equipment they had. The trio were escorted to a small Starfleet boat by a Starfleet personnel that was based on the planet, annoyingly nobody had thought to keep people that were able to dive themselves on the planet. Jim just assumed it was because nobody really dived anymore, not since the improved scanners from star ships were invented.

It didn't take long for Chekov to work out the small boats controls and they took off to the suggested coordinates in the middle of the sea. McCoy held on to the side of the boat, he didn't cope with the choppy waters and turned a slightly pale white colour.

"Where is it…" McCoy said as he opened his bag to find his hypo spray. He quickly inserted an anti-nausea cartridge into it and pressed it to the side of his neck, before his lost the contents of his stomach in a way that Jim would never let him forget.

"We have arrived at the coordinates that commander Spock sent down, Captain!" Chekov called down the ship to Jim who was already walking around in his wet suit.

"Let's get ready to set out then!" Jim cheered, moving out onto the open part of the boat with his tank of oxygen and mask.

"I sure you hope you know what you're doing." McCoy grunted, following behind him.

oOo

The landing party made it into the waters fine, Jim couldn't believe everything he was seeing, the waters were beautifully clear and he was able to see so much aquatic life. He watched around him as a small group of sting ray swam above him.

"This is amazing…" he whispered.

"It's quite a sight…" McCoy whispered back. Their masks were all connected just like a communicator, it made communicating underwater a lot easier.

"Captain! Look!" Chekov, who was swimming a little ahead of the group, was the first to notice the sharks. "It's the sharks and look!" he pointed.

"Don't get too close, Chekov." Jim warned him. He didn't know much of the animal they were looking for but listening to McCoy bitch about them earlier was playing on his mind.

"Well would you look at that…" McCoy finally caught up to Chekov and set his sights on a young pup swimming closely to its mother. "Life found a way."

They all admired the view, from a short distance. Jim was pleased of how clear the waters were, making it easier to document and record what they witnessed. The spent easily a couple of hours under the water just watching the animals around them, it was a truly fascinating thing to witness.

"Jim, we need to make our way back up now. I've completed scans and records and our oxygen will start running low soon." McCoy said, breaking the silence around them.

"I suppose your right, you two go ahead and I'll make sure we aren't followed by anything." Jim said, taking in his final look at all the underwater world.

Chekov and McCoy both rose to the surface and made it back onto their boat without issue. The sun on the planet was already starting to lower and the sky had turned a beautiful pink colour for them all to admire.

A few minutes later, and far quicker than McCoy had expected, Jim appeared at the water's surface. He shakily pulled his mask off his face and smiled at the two men looking down at him in the water.

He swam closer to the boat, noticing how the world felt as it was spinning. He wanted to pull himself out the water himself but couldn't managed and luckily both McCoy and Chekov caught a hand and pulled him aboard.

"Captain, are you ok?" Chekov asked, looking down at Jim's hand which were now violently shaking.

Jim stayed sat on the floor as McCoy pulled his oxygen tank off his back. "Just a little nausea." He said, watching the world spinning around him.

McCoy quickly pushed his trust hypo spray into his neck, causing Jim to flinch. "Anti-nausea. You should start to feel better soon." He smirked, he wanted to laugh seeing as he noticed Jim and Chekov laughing at him earlier.

"Let's just get back to land and get to the ship with our findings." Jim said, attempting to move from the floor but failing as his eyes were overcome with dizziness.

"Jim, you don't look so good." McCoy said, noticing Jim hadn't moved from the floor yet. "It cant be the nausea…"

"It must be the boat rocking. I'm fine, Bones." Jim said, looking down at his shaking hands.

"The hell you are." McCoy said, pulling his tricorder out from his bag. He quickly bent down to Jim and scanned him before he was pushed away and told to stop wasting his time. He took a sigh at the results. "Jim, I thought you had dived before."

"I have." Jim replied honestly.

"Well you have all the symptoms of the bends. Its nitrogen bubbles in the blood stream. We need to get you on-board the ship for some decompression time." McCoy explained. He wrapped an arm around Jim and helped him to the small sitting area. "Lie down and get some rest. It will make you feel better."

Jim, for once, followed his doctor's orders. He lie on his side across all the hard chairs and closed his eyes. Every breath caused a crushing pain in his chest. McCoy wasted no time in administering a small sedative to help numb the pain. He clicked it into the side of his neck and lay a towel over Jim before walking over to Chekov. "Stop the boat and contact the ship, the captain needs emergency medical treatment now." He practically whispered.

Chekov wasted no time in clicking off the engine and flicking open his communicator.

"Enterprise, do you read? We have a medical emergency and request immediate beam up."

"We have your coordinates. Stand by." The voice of the transporter engineer buzzed back.

McCoy took his place next to an unconscious Jim and grabbed hold of his arm. The welcoming sensation of the transporter brushed over them, leaving the ship abandoned.

oOo

The second they arrived in sickbay, McCoy made sure to take Jim straight down to the decompression unit. He quickly ripped off Jim's wet suit and placed a pure oxygen feed over his nose and mouth before leaving the chamber.

"Will he be ok?" Chekov asked, his wet hair was still dripping slightly.

"My scanners confirmed he has the neurological bends. The bubbles from the nitrogen are currently in his brain and spinal cord. It could cause paralysis but luckily we caught it early enough. He needs to spend some time in the decompression unit but other than that he should be ok." McCoy explained to Chekov and the ear-wigging Vulcan he noticed standing in the doorway.

"I shall remain in command until the captain is fit to return to duty. Please inform me when he is awake." Spock said, before turning around and returning to the bridge.

"Ack! Mr Spock is good at creeping up on people." Chekov said after almost jumping out of his skin at the Vulcans voice.

"There's nothing more we can do for now, Chekov. I suggest we get changed and grab something warm to eat before our body temperatures drop any further. Nurse Chapel please inform me if he wakes up and whatever you do – don't let him out." He teased, Nurse Chapel knew what an escape artist Jim was.

oOo

It wasn't until later in the evening that Jim woke up, he had already ripped of his oxygen mask three times and refused to lay down. It wasn't until McCoy had told him that laying down reduces the pain and helps speed up the treatment that he actually listened.

"You can leave later tonight, Jim. But any pain, numbness or headaches and I want you straight back. Your signed off duty and I've made sure Spock keeps you off that bridge." McCoy said through the speaker into the decompression unit. "You've got a whole week of these treatments to go through and I want to see you at every single damn appointment."

Jim rolled his eyes as he pulled off the oxygen mask for the fourth time. "Ok, I promise. I'll go straight to my quarters."

McCoy grinned. He knew Jim wasn't going straight to his quarters at all, more like engineering to see what mischief he could get into with Scotty. The second the decompression doors opened, Jim practically ran out. Luckily McCoy grabbed hold of his wrist and clicked on a medical bioscanner.

"Oh really Bones? I don't need this." Jim sigh, waving his wrist around to try and click the bracelet off.

"If you don't need it then you won't mind wearing it. I'll see you at 0800 hours for your next treatment... Captain." He almost laughed.

"How many of these stupid treatments do I need?" Jim moaned, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. "It's really hot in there."

"Until you're like flat Champaign." McCoy answered as he watched Jim sulk out of sickbay. The best thing about these scanners was McCoy could see everywhere Jim was just by flicking on his PADD.