"Finally," McCoy heard Kirk say distantly. His eyes snapped open and he sat up straight.
"Jim, what the hell?" McCoy looked around frantically and spotted Kirk sitting against the wall of their glass enclosure. Confusion flood his mind as he saw all of the cages surrounding him.
"We've been hijacked. By smugglers." Kirk sighed and watched as McCoy took in his surroundings.
"What in the- where are they taking us?" McCoy asked, still scanning the ship.
"They forgot to mention it to me," Kirk said sarcastically and shifted slightly, feeling small pangs of pain shooting through his chest. He had hoped the McCoy didn't notice, but the Good Doctor's head snapped in his direction immediately.
"Jim," McCoy grumbled and reached down for his tricorder instinctively.
"I'm fine, Bones." Kirk chuckled and held up the tricorder triumphantly. "But Spock's not." He cast a glance over to the Vulcan, whose chest was rising and falling peacefully.
"Let me see that," McCoy snatched the tricorder from Kirk's hand and fidgeted with the controls angrily. He slowly ran the tricorder down Spock's still form. "It's hopefully nothing serious, but he could have some minor memory loss and he could be out of it for a few days." He read the tricorder results carefully, watching for any blaring data.
"Good," Kirk replied and started looking around at the other enclosures again.
"If anyone's not fine, it's you." McCoy grumbled, reading off the scanner's results on Kirk. "Hairline fractures, Jim? Really?" He asked and Kirk avoided his glare.
"It happens," Kirk shrugged and began to carefully lift himself off the floor. The jostling to his ribs made them throb, but that didn't stop him. McCoy scrambled to his feet to assist his Captain, taking his shoulders and pulling him up carefully. "Knock it off, Bones. I'm fine." Kirk rolled his eyes as he stood up as straight as he could.
"Like hell you are," McCoy grumbled, and Kirk patted him playfully on the shoulder. "You really should be getting some rest."
"And risk the smugglers coming back? I don't think so." Kirk sighed and pressed his hand against the glass enclosure door.
"So, what's the plan?" McCoy asked, standing behind Kirk, just waiting for him to collapse.
"I'll let you know when I figure something out." Kirk scanned the other cages. Much to his surprise, the creatures inside of them didn't appear to be trying to force their way out. Kirk figured that this meant they had tried enough times and failed. He cursed under his breath and slammed a fist against the glass. It didn't even buckle under the force of his blow.
"Jim, you're an idiot." McCoy snatched Kirk's hand and looked it over. "You've already got more bruises than a banana that's been thrown down the stairs and then stomped on, and you think that punching something will make it better?"
"God, relax." Kirk pulled his hand away and rubbed it gingerly. "You treat Joanna like this?"
"Joanna's not an incredibly accident-prone Starfleet Captain with a death wish!" McCoy threw out his hands in protest.
"Maybe one day," Kirk smirked at his friend.
"God, I hope not." McCoy rolled his eyes and knelled down next to Spock. "You know, I like this green-blooded hobgoblin more when he's unconscious." McCoy laughed nervously, taking Spock's pulse.
"Captain Kirk, I really expected more from you." The captor hissed from in front of the glass enclosure wall. Kirk jumped back in surprise and instinctively stepped in front of McCoy, shielding him. "Trying to punch through the glass?" The creature clicked its tongue in disappointment. "Pitiful."
"Well, I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but I'm not a fish that belongs in a glass bowl." Kirk snapped and the creature looked surprised.
"Such attitude!" The creature exclaimed. "Maybe you haven't learned your lesson about disobedience from Charybdis yet?" Kirk felt the throbbing in his chest with the mention of the goo monster.
"Maybe you haven't learned that our lives aren't something that you can mess with." McCoy said sharply from behind Kirk. The creature's eyes widened in surprise and a slight grin crossed its face.
"Perhaps you should both be taught a lesson." The creature snapped its elongated fingers and the goo monster Charybdis formed outside of the cage beside the demonic creature. Kirk took a half step back, spreading his arms to shield McCoy further. The creature swung the door open and the long, black tentacles of Charybdis reached out at lightning speed, wrenching Kirk from in front of McCoy. The creature wrapped its tentacles around his chest again, and he watched in horror as it did the same to McCoy. The tentacles moved through the cage and wrapped themselves around Spock's lifeless body and Kirk tried to pry himself free of its grasp.
"Now, now. We've talked about this." The creature hissed and Charybdis began to choke the life from Kirk's body again. He gasped as he felt the weight crushing his chest, but he kept his eyes glued to Spock, who was being carried out of the enclosure.
"Jim!" McCoy cried, struggling to break free.
"Bones, don't!" Kirk managed between gasps and McCoy hesitantly obeyed. The goo monster held Spock up to the creature, who produced a long syringe filled with a vile blue liquid.
"This should teach you." The creature thrust the needle into Spock's neck and ejected the thick blue liquid into his bloodstream. The goo monster released Spock back into the enclosure and threw McCoy and Kirk to the ground. The wall of the enclosure slammed shut as Kirk gasped for air.
"Jim!" McCoy scrambled over to his friend and knelt down beside him. Kirk swayed shakily on his hands and knees, trying desperately to stand up. "Jim, just stay down." McCoy pleaded and placed a gentle hand on Kirk's back.
"Spock," Kirk wheezed and McCoy begrudgingly rushed to the Vulcan's side. He waved the tricorder over his still form and a chill ran down his spine. "Talk to me, Bones." Kirk was up on his feet, bracing himself against the glass wall. "Bones!" Kirk said impatiently, watching McCoy stare at the scanner in disbelief.
"Jim, he's going to die. I can't help him." McCoy said breathlessly.
"What do you mean, you can't help him?" Kirk asked, stumbling over to the Doctor.
"The poison they've injected him with. If I don't have the antidote, I can't cure him. He's going to die slowly without a proper medical facility." McCoy cursed inwardly.
"How long so we have?" Kirk gulped.
"Not long. Two weeks at best." McCoy sighed heavily and sat down next to where Spock lay.
"We're in it for the long haul." Kirk realized and shut his eyes tightly. "If they're going to let us watch him die over two weeks, they're taking us somewhere pretty far. Beyond the reaches of the Federation, I bet." Kirk sat slowly down next to McCoy. McCoy watched the younger man carefully, scanning his face for any signs of pain.
"What do we do?" McCoy asked quietly, watching Spock's chest rise and fall shakily.
"What can we do for Spock?" Kirk asked.
"I can manage his symptoms, but that's it." McCoy shrugged.
"Well, the chances are that these idiots aren't going to keep us. They're going to sell us off to God knows who," Kirk rubbed his head. "Maybe they'll let us save Spock?" Kirk tried to remain optimistic, but the doubt crept slowly into his mind. He knew that the best-case scenario here was that the Enterprise would find them and come to their rescue. He also knew that they wouldn't even know that they were missing until Kirk didn't show up to his meeting with the Admirals in two days' time. By then it would be too late and they would be long gone, far past the Federation's reach. Without their communicators, there would be no way to locate them either.
McCoy kept his head down. He knew that Kirk would figure something out, but he also saw that things were getting to be pretty grim.
"I'll do my best here," McCoy looked at his friend, his eyes filled with concern. "Jim, maybe you should get some sleep." He pleaded and Kirk shook his head.
"Don't have time for that," Kirk laughed quietly and stood up slowly. McCoy watched him carefully, ready to catch him if he fell. "I've got a plan to figure out."
