Domino Effect
A/N: Big thank you to those who've reviewed, followed and liked my story so far!
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Chapter 3
"Down, all of you, down!"
Before McCoy had time to react, the grenade that landed where Kirk had been standing just a few seconds earlier exploded. While its power was much weaker than the firearms available on Earth, it was still a force to be reckoned with as the blast made even Spock dazed for a few seconds. Kirk, on the other hand, had thrown himself protectively over McCoy and Spock, bearing the brunt of the explosion. The ground where the grenade hit was now a crater, and the hissing sound they had heard earlier stopped.
Silence.
"Shit, Jim!" cursed McCoy as he scrambled out from beneath Kirk, red aliens forgotten. "Of all the heroic, idiotic things you can do!" Carefully, he laid Jim down and started assessing him as Spock stood over them protectively. As his hands reached for the back of Jim's head, he felt a sticky liquid running down his hand.
Blood.
"Mr Scott," Spock barked towards the communicator, phaser trained towards the red humanoids, "beam us up, now!"
To McCoy's dismay, the communicator suddenly fizzled on the other end and went out. Quickly, Spock tinkered with the buttons of the communicator as McCoy watched the aliens, but try as he might, the communicator only received static at the other end.
Taking advantage of the calm, Spock gave a very un-Vulcan hmph and took Kirk's communicator, transferring some parts to his own.
Whatever gods in that region must have listened to them, for the communicator cackled back to life momentarily.
"Ah'm tryin' Mr Spock! There's an energy surge that we cannae overcome!"
The clouds were inching closer towards them. The red pool beneath Kirk's head was increasing ever so slightly, although the blood flow had reduced to a trickle thanks to McCoy's ministrations.
The communicator fizzled again.
"Jim, speak to me!" commanded McCoy, as he finished sterilising the wound using the medical tricorder and applying gauze to stop the bleeding. Without more advanced medical equipment, he couldn't conclude exactly how severe Kirk's injury is, but he knew he had to make Jim wake up if Kirk wanted to live through this.
Thankfully, Jim stirred.
"Bones…?" he mumbled weakly, squinting against the light, "where are we?"
Bloody concussion.
"A stupid planet don't you remember?"
"Sleepy, Bones."
"Don't you dare fall asleep, James Tiberius Kirk! I've worked so hard to keep you alive—you're not allowed to die on this godforsaken planet!"
"We're on a planet? What happened?" mumbled Jim as he slowly lost consciousness again.
A loud warlike cry issued from the wall, catching both Spock's and McCoy's attention. With an answering cry, the archers at the wall let lose their arrows, with some resembling flaming comets whilst others were blunt and coated with a layer of brown oil. Luckily for them, the first round of arrows did not fly far, but Spock could see that they were getting ready more powerful mechanised bows. Quickly, Spock led McCoy up and together, both of them carried Kirk into the small outgrowth they had previously hidden in. Halfway, he heard McCoy curse under his breath and saw that an arrow had found its mark, grazing McCoy's shoulder. Spock picked up the arrow immediately, making sure not to lose his hold on Jim's head while doing so.
"Doctor, quickly!"
Before they reached the grass patch, long appendages began appearing from underground again, much to McCoy's horror. As both of their hands were full, the only thing they could do was run into the overgrowth, where the grass may provide some sort of camouflage. The last thing McCoy saw before the grass eclipsed his view was a gigantic body coming out of the ground.
Bloody giant insects.
Together, both of them ran as quickly as they could through the grass, dodging bits of root here and there. McCoy was sure the creatures were following them- he could hear the stomps of their appendages coming nearer and the hissing sounds were getting louder. All he could hope for was that the long grass would shelter them from the primitive sight of the creatures and slow the creatures down. Suddenly, Spock stopped behind a huge tree, motioning McCoy to do the same
They identify their prey by feeling vibrations on the ground.
As the grass behind them shook, McCoy forced down his urge to run, focusing instead on Kirk's injury to draw his attention away from the creatures. He could see the grass shaking more and more violently and he swore he could see what appeared to be an arm reaching for them...
Just as McCoy was sure the creatures had found them, the grass suddenly stopped moving, and footsteps could be heard scrambling away from them.
McCoy breathed a sigh of relief.
And then there's Jim...
"Put him down," he barked as he took out his tricorder, positioning it over Kirk's head. "Can't detect much about the head beyond the obvious concussion," muttered McCoy, "maybe a fractured skull... third degree burns across the back, multiple lacerations, possible spinal injury... shards piercing into the lungs… shit we need to get him outta here."
"The transporter is still not safe, Doctor."
"Well find some way to get Scotty to change coordinates to where we are now! Proximity beam out if we have to. Jim has no more time, and I don't care if we beam up this entire bloody grassland with us!"
Spock took out the communicator again. "Mr Scott, how are the transporters?"
"At least another half an hour, sir, we need to check that the beaming is safe. Won't risk splicing, yer know."
Spock stole a glance at the unconscious Kirk.
His commanding officer. His captain. His friend.
Jim.
His hold on the communicator tightened.
"Please proceed, Mr Scott. I will try to amplify our communicator signals in the meantime. Spock out."
"Spock…?" Jim called weakly.
"Captain."
"When I'm gone..."
"Shut up Jim, you're not gonna die if I can help it," said McCoy gruffly as he prepared a hypo.
But Spock did not miss the slight trembling in McCoy's hands.
Jim shook his head as blood started trickling down his lips. "No time... listen... Spock... be a good captain, i know you can..."
"Captain..."
"If you need guidance from the more human side of things... McCoy's the guy. No matter how illogical he may seem. Both of you... great -"
But Jim never got the chance to finish his sentence as he suddenly started gasping for air. McCoy cursed and drew a tube and pocket knife from his medikit before sterilizing them using his medical tricorder.
"Spock, this is going to hurt a lot. I need you to nerve pinch him."
Without a word, Spock reached for the points on Kirk's shoulder and applied pressure, rendering him unconscious. Once done, McCoy's determined eyes met Spock's for a second, but it was all Spock needed to know what he was going to do. He desperately wanted to stop McCoy, but logic told him this was the best for Jim. As he saw McCoy aim the knife at Jim's chest, he realised that his only comfort was that at least they had a physician with them.
To be forced to hurt a good friend... he did not envy Leonard's position at all.
"Sorry, Jim. Have to keep you alive."
With that, McCoy took a deep breath and plunged the knife into Kirk's chest. Despite the nerve pinch, the pain threw Jim back into reality for a moment and he screamed, chilling both Spock and McCoy. McCoy forced himself to breathe deeply and concentrate as he struggled to see in the shadow of the tree to insert the chest drain. Blood was still flowing freely as McCoy fumbled through his medikit for a bandage with hands that were wet with Jim's blood.
"Where is the f-"
"... 'S in here somewhere..."
"...not the gauze..."
In the end, it was Spock who found the bandage pack amidst McCoy's grumbles- it had been sitting beside McCoy all along and he never noticed it. McCoy sighed and reached for the bandage, but as his hands brushed past Spock's arm, a whirlpool of emotions hit him, stunning him for a moment.
"Sorry Doctor, I-"
"It's alright, Spock," said McCoy softly.
After McCoy's quick bandage, both of them sat on the ground, watching Jim as his breathing evened out. The scenery was deceptively calm now with the grass swaying in the wind, but everything that had happened made him wish to never come back here again.
The communicator chirped back to life, the sweetest sound Leonard had heard in a long while.
"Ready for beaming, Mr Spock. Medical on standby."
He wished Medical did not have to be on standby every damn time.
"Acknowledged. Energise."
Now to save Jim's life.
-To be continued-
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