A knock on the door startled Chris awake and his heart leapt into his throat as he kicked Anton out of his slumber and pointed at the door. Anton's eyes widened and he scrambled around for something to wield as a weapon - the bulkiest backpack he could find held the medical supplies and he swung it up like a battle axe. Chris headed for the door and inhaled deeply, opening it and steeling himself for a fight before feeling an immense wave of relief that threatened to send him to his knees when he saw it was a pale but still standing Max and Fistrinn.
"Max!" he exclaimed, clapping the Scotsman on the shoulder and grinning from ear to ear, "How're you feeling man?"
Max groaned,
"I've never felt this bad before." his accent had become thicker in his state but it was still understandable at least. Chris nodded, sobering quickly and looking at Fistrinn, who cocked his head with disapproving eyes.
"You had fallen asleep. It is time to go. The girls are already going to the escape pods and I have disabled the engines." he informed him. Chris felt a surge of guilt, knowing he should have kept an eye on the time. Fistrinn had it all planned out apparently, handing Chris and Anton a phaser each, "I thought it best to come prepared."
"Nice thinking Fistrinn. Alright, Anton can you carry that if I get the food?" Chris nodded at the medical bag Anton was holding and hoisted the food bag over his shoulder, "I put backup phasers in here just in case." he added. With Fistrinn holding up Max, the four boys headed through the maze of corridors, catching up with the girls who were walking close together with hurried steps. Kaiyo looked far more anxious and Lizzie appeared as disgruntled as ever, a separate backpack on her back that Chris didn't recognise. "What's in there?" he asked her as they scrambled through the halls. Elizabeth had half an eye on Max still and shrugged half-heartedly, his eyes critically taking in every inch of him to evaluate his condition.
"If you think we're goin' commando down there if we run out of clean underwear you're sadly mistaken." she replied dryly.
Chris smirked,
"Let me a have look through when we get down there huh?" he joked, attempting to lighten the mood. Elizabeth rolled her eyes frustratedly and he grimaced, guessing it wasn't the right time. Fistrinn glanced at the watch on his wrist and Chris almost swore he frowned, but his face was as impassive as ever when he looked up at them.
"We must move faster if we are to make it in time." he informed them calmly, a hint of urgency in his tone. Chris inhaled deeply and ducked underneath Max's arm, helping Fistrinn carry him along as the Scotsman groaned,
"You're bloody joking. I move much faster I'll lose a leg."
Chris could almost hear Elizabeth rolling her eyes.
"No you won't, and once we're on the ground you're probably going to throw up but you need to eat somethin' to give you some energy." she retorted sharply.
"Duck!" Fistrinn cried suddenly, shoving her into the wall. Elizabeth slid down slightly, eyes wide and staring in shock down the hall as Anton darted out from behind Kaiyo and took the guards ahead down with two quick shots. For a moment they stopped to stare at the Russian teen, the gangliest and most timid of them all who apparently had lightning reflexes now.
"Anton...that was amazing!" Kaiyo breathed. Elizabeth pushed herself up with a slight shiver, and Chris glanced between the trio before him, noticing the shock apparent on everyone's face.
"Did I kill them?" Anton squeaked.
"I set the phasers to stun, you have killed no one." Fistrinn assured him calmly, "Now we must hurry." Nodding once with renewed determination Chris pulled Max and Fistrinn along, the Vulcan boy catching up easily as the girls and Anton made sure the way was clear. The escape pods weren't too far (only ten minutes away from Chris's room) but it was still the longest ten minutes of his life and he could feel his palms beginning to sweat by now. "We have two minutes left to jettison. I have already dropped us out of warp, we must go now." Fistrinn urged them.
"Dammit! There's only four pods, we'll have to buddy up." Elizabeth said suddenly when the pods came into view.
"I'll take Max." Chris volunteered quickly. Elizabeth watched him uncertainly for a moment as Fistrinn moved into a pod and waited patiently for someone to join him. Anton and Kaiyo however had other ideas, their slender limbs fitting easily together in a pod as Elizabeth helped Chris manoeuvre a still pale Max into theirs. "Go! Go I've got him." he insisted. Elizabeth pressed something into his hand and he looked down to see a hypospray. She gave him a firm look and said,
"Give it to him before you go, it'll help him get through the rough landing."
With a whirl of blonde hair she was gone into the pod next door.
"Hey! What are you kids doing!" the voice was high pitched, squeaky and clearly feminine, laced with panic. Chris pressed himself tightly against Max. The door slid shut and they were in total darkness. Chris had never used a hypospray before and haphazardly delivered the shot to Max, who was struggling to stand on his own. Chris wrapped his arms around the boy and tightly hugged him to his chest to keep him upright. Max snorted a laugh,
"I hate to break it to ya, but I'm straight as an arrow."
Hand hovering over the button, Chris waited with baited breath until he heard Elizabeth's pod go before pressing the button himself. They were jettisoned into space suddenly, his stomach dropping and heart beating hard as he supressed a cry of shock and screwed his eyes closed. Max screamed shamelessly, voice merely a hoarse cry as the pod began to rattle and shake not a minute later.
"Admit it! You're grateful to have me to hold onto!" Chris yelled over the racket of rattling metal. He knew it was going to get a little cosy but he was sweating buckets by now, the beads of moisture rolling down his face and making his grip on Max slippery. But the Scottish boy had gripped him back just as tightly, leaning most of his weight on Chris who realised he was now responsible for keeping Max upright and shouldered the responsibility with nonchalance.
"I canny deny you're a great comfort." he called back, voice still gruff. Chris grimaced, wondering if it was the right time to move him from the ship and guessing it probably wasn't when the poor boy heaved.
"Don't you dare throw up on me." Chris warned, feeling the rattling stop and exhaling sharply. We've passed through the atmosphere, we're just falling through the sky now...so not comforting he thought.
"No promises." Max groaned, head dropping forward and involuntarily head butting Chris. Moaning quietly he hoisted Max up, realising it had been the wrong move to make when Max threw up just as Elizabeth had promised he would. He felt the hot splash of vomit on his shoulder and struggled to swallow back the bile rising in his throat. The impact with the surface came suddenly, unexpectedly, and neither boy had time to brace himself. They'd been thrown about like fruit in a blender and Chris's head knocked into the metal behind him. The sting of the impact sent a fresh wave of nausea over him and after having successfully fought that off he realised he was seeing two of Max, who had collapsed and was slowly sinking to the floor. Chris couldn't hold him up, his own arms feeling too weak as the heat and the dizzy feeling grew worse, dragging him down with it until they were awkwardly half seated on thin air. Leaning his head back he groaned, weakly banging on the door in an effort to get it open or have someone else open it. Nothing. He could hear nothing but the deafening sound of his own heavy breathing, feel nothing but the uncomfortable pull of his hamstrings as he tried and failed to stand up properly.
"Max." he croaked, slapping the other boy's cheek lightly. Max didn't stir either and Chris felt the panic beginning to set in, but the dizziness was overwhelming and he fell forward into the other boy's chest, struggling to take deep breaths and stay calm as the heat pressed in on them from all sides and suffocated him. The pod had heated up due to friction in the atmosphere and with both bodies in there they were overheating - Chris hadn't even thought of that problem let alone that the pods might not be safe enough to descend in. "Computer where are we?" he asked, voice merely a whisper. He received no response, guessing his voice was too weak to pick up on. "Max...sorry…" he sighed, eyes sliding closed and the dizziness dragging him down into the depths of a mercifully cool darkness.
San Francisco:
The little Italian place was bustling with life, clearly popular among the people of San Francisco. The movie had been fun and Jim and snuck a kiss or two at the back of the theatre like the school boy he still was at heart. Bones may have looked on disapprovingly but was secretly happy he had Sulu to sit with so he didn't have to bear the displays of affection alone, and Scotty had watched with wide eyes when the things on screen exploded before scoffing and muttering about how it wasn't possible in real life under his breath. Hikaru Sulu had a bad feeling however, one that resided deep down in his gut and made it impossible to get comfortable in the restaurant. Uhura had asked him if he was okay and he'd replied with the universal 'I'm fine', but he wasn't. They'd finished their starters, the garlic dough balls shared out unequally between Scotty and Jim who had entered a contest to see how many more they could eat than the other man.
His PADD bleeped and he glanced down at it with a frown. He'd turned off all notifications except ones from those who mattered - those being is husband and his daughter of course. Opening up his messages he spotted Kayio's name and found that knot of worry in his gut had tightened horribly. The file was encrypted, and a wave of unease rolled over him as he quietly caught Uhura's attention. Nyota Uhura was still a dab hand at communications and had it decrypted and readable in a heartbeat, handing it back and watching his expression grow pale.
"Hikaru what is it?" she asked him quietly, not wanting to draw attention to him if he was feeling under the weather.
"Stop." he whispered. When his friends continued with their laughter he repeated it louder. The table grew silent and focused their gaze on him, sporting concerned frowns and raised eyebrows before he managed to swallow and speak up, "It's the kids...the kids are...our kids are in danger." The silence was suddenly much heavier and they glanced at each other, unsure of what to make of his declaration. Hikaru passed his PADD to Jim who read it carefully and (without meaning to) promptly dropped it and called for the cheque.
"Like hell that's happening!" he said angrily, "Spock, you and me are going to put a little pressure on those stuffy old Admirals to give us a ship, now."
"Are we flyin' again Jim?" Scotty asked, not knowing what was going on but looking determined to follow Jim as he once had before. Jim nodded without looking up from the PADD on the table,
"We're flying again Mr Scott."
His voice held the steely tone they all knew so well. His voice was his Captain's voice, and they didn't need to be told twice as they pulled on their jackets and headed for the exit. Their mission was simple - to boldly go and bring their children back home.
