Ocean Leave
By Caroline Miniscule
Chapter Three
Part I
Kirk opened his eyes and saw the blurred face of Dr. Leonard McCoy - Bones - staring at him. Then he moved convulsively, rolled over, and vomited water onto the transporter pad. McCoy had obviously been giving him resuscitation, and it had worked.
When Kirk was able to breathe normally again, he croaked, "What happened?"
"Spock saw you taken under water by some creature. He communicated with Scotty immediately, told him to lock on to the homing transponder in your communicator and beam you aboard. Then Scotty called me in the Medical Lab, and I had him beam me here, too."
"Well done, that man," croaked Kirk.
He remained on hands and knees, fighting for mental balance, not to mention getting his strength back.
"Where's the creature?"
"Mr. Spock dinnae say anything about a creature," said Scotty, from behind the transporter console. "I locked on to your transponder and beamed you up. If anyone else was near you, they stayed where they were."
Kirk attempted a deep breath…and felt the life-giving oxygen move easily into his lungs. He started to get to his feet, and Bones assisted him.
"Scotty, beam me back down to the trawler." he croaked.
"Belay that," snapped Bones. "You're going into the hyperbaric chamber immediately. I don't know how far down that creature took you, but you might have gotten some nitrogen bubbles dissolved in your blood, and even though you were transported up here, that may not have gotten rid of those bubbles. I want you in the chamber for 60 minutes, starting right now. In fact, here's the stretcher."
Nurse Chapel entered the Transporter Room then. Beside her was a stretcher, floating effortlessly over the floor on gravity servos. Transportation within the ship was generally not encouraged and done only under emergencies.
Kirk hated the fact that he did not have the energy to argue, but he didn't. He lay down on the stretcher, but took out his communicator and called Spock as he was brought towards the hyperbaric chamber.
"Mr. Spock, thanks for the prompt action."
"I'm glad it was apparently in time, Captain." said Spock noncommittally.
Kirk grinned.
"What's happening down there?"
"The creature tore holes through three bulkheads, as well as the outer hull of the ship, in its escape. However, they were all above the waterline so the ship is in no danger of sinking. We are returning to port, however."
"Good. Well, I'm going into the hyperbaric chamber for sixty minutes. I want you to initiate some research immediately. Call down whoever you need. I want to find out if all the protocols were followed before TechnoOcean took possession of this planet. And I want to find out if any of those humanoid creatures have been seen before."
"Very good, sir. I'll set inquiries in motion immediately."
"Thank you, Mr. Spock. I'll see you in one hour."
Kirk entered the hyperbaric chamber on his own two feet, having changed from his wet uniform into dry coveralls.. It was a comfortable room, designed so that people might continue to work while they waited for atmospheric pressure to equalize. It was rarely used, but occasionally the Enterprise encountered water worlds where its service became necessary.
Pure oxygen was pumped into the room under pressure, and Kirk lay down on one of the beds with his eyes closed. He'd come within a second or two of death, he knew, but that wasn't what was effecting him. It was the look on that creature's face. She was a sentient being, he was sure of it. He would have to meet her again.
Part II
Lieutenant Meiying Ping was a galactic law expert, one of several aboard the USS Enterprise, and it was to her that Mr. Spock communicated.
"There's no need for me to beam down to the planet just at present," Ping said thoughtfully after he'd explained the situation.
"I'll be able to access all the files on the Sivabos Reclamation Project from the Federation Database, here. Once I've sorted through all the data, I'll report to the Captain."
"Very well."
Ping had been in her office, so it was the work of a second to turn to her computer.
"Computer."
"Working."
"Pull up all data about the Sivabos Reclamation Project, and display on screen."
"Working…"
The data flashed up…over 100 pages, Ping noted. She could have had the computer speak the data to her, but she preferred the written word. She leaned forward and began to read.
