((A/N ooh my goodness. i am so sorry i suck at updating :c i'm moving into college like tomorrow, so this whole week has been so insane for me. but anywho, here's the next chapter. i hope yall enjoy it! please keep reviewing, you know i love to hear any and all thoughts on stuff! and thank you SO MUCH for reading. i say that a lot so it may not sound genuine anymore, but i truly mean it! wheee!))
The attacks were brief, all thanks to Kirk. When the first torpedo was shot, Kirk immediately yelled general orders—and then turned his attention to Uhura. "Try to get a signal to him, please!" he yelled over the confusion on the bridge. He looked back forward as Sulu moved to fire as much as he could, but the ship had some of the strongest shields anyone on the bridge had ever seen. Kirk heard static in his head as the torpedoes hit the ship, and he gripped his chair with white knuckles, but otherwise kept a cool air about him.
"Sir, the alien has turned our shields back on, but have continued to fire," Sulu reported quickly, yelling over the mess just like everybody else was. He wondered why everybody had to shout—the stress of the situation was getting to everybody too quickly for his liking.
"Well, good to know he has a heart. How're you coming with that transmition, Uhura?" he asked, glancing back to her.
"It's closed for now, but I'll continue to work!" Uhura gasped, pushing the microphone against her ear to shield it from the other noises going on in the bridge. She looked stressed, but still meant to perform her job admirably. What she could do, anyway.
"Please do. Sulu, how are our weapons?"
"Still offline sir!"
"Push all power to the front of the ship, we need to protect it while we still have the chance. Spock, can you tell me anything about his shields?"
"They appear to be made from a synthetic material I do not know of, sir," responded Spock, and he was working away. The conversation with Adellia, Kirk's anxiety, and even Uhura was out of his mind now—he was one hundred percent focused towards the matter at hand.
"Of course you don't know about it, that would be way too easy…"
"Captain Kirk," came an icy voice from above, and Uhura quickly and quietly informed Kirk of the transmition. "It's fun to watch you scramble. Your shield power seems to be down to seventy percent…that wasn't my fault, was it?" he asked, and he chuckled softly. Kirk looked beyond angry, but the alien continued. "I talked to Starfleet. For quite a while, too."
"Is that a fact?" Kirk nearly yelled, while everybody tried to work as quietly as they could. It took a lot to push him to this point, but this anonymous alien was definitely getting him there. He saw red as he sat in his captain's chair, staring at the ship ahead of him.
"It is a fact. We spoke on our agreements, but…to quote them, they do not 'negotiate with intergalactic terrorists'. Which got me thinking…your ship has become my little hostage, hasn't it? Kind of pathetic that something as vast as the majestic Enterprise could be taken by a rogue alien's ship, isn't it?" he asked, and snickered even more. There was a creaking noise that sounded like somebody shifting in a chair. "But as I was saying…I've decided to treat this situation as such. Naturally I don't want you communicating with Starfleet. I'd rather give them a much more dramatic incentive. I hope your shields can hold it."
"Sir, the transmition has been cut off," Uhura said automatically, as if she was ready for this to happen. And hell, she was, they all were. This was par for the course as far as that alien was concerned.
"Doesn't shock me. Sulu, is all remaining power up front?" Kirk asked, sitting straight up in his chair rather than leaning to the right, as he often did. This was a horrible tell, and he knew it, but he didn't care at this point.
"Yes sir, but we're slipping," he replied, shakily. Now the stress was beginning to get to him. The alien didn't intend to hurt them too bad, though, did he? They were hostages, right?
"We won't slip that much, he's not going to hurt us that bad. Just enough to get Starfleet's attention. Ooh, good, Bones, you're here…I need you to start preparing for the wounded, as many beds as you can fill. We're not going to get hit the hardest, but it'll be hard," Kirk said quickly.
Immediately Bones turned around, even though he'd just entered the bridge, and he did just that. Still, he couldn't help but be nervous for Adellia…she was lurking in the back of his mind as he shouted rude orders to the nurses. Every once in a while he turned to look at her. She looked absolutely miserable, sitting there. He knew she wanted to be in the action, and he had to admit, he was shocked she hadn't ripped that IV out and joined the party. Whatever this was must have been serious.
Bones focused on his medical bay first, though. Wounded and killed were already being brought in. He went into doctor mode, and did everything he could to get them better.
----
The attack was short lived, but the damage had been done, and this was still evident on the day after. The deck seven recreation center was no more, and Scotty was having a field day below working on everything he possibly could. Kirk was back on the bridge, having trouble forming orders because of how utterly useless he felt. The bridge was waiting for a command, any, but he had none to give. There was absolutely nothing to do in this situation.
Bones barely had time to breath between this attack and the wounded crewmen that followed. He was constantly being dragged back and forth, handling things that one person should not have to handle. For a day now he worked in the medical bay, and he was tired. But he had no officer to fall back on, so this was a necessity. He was currently concocting a cocktail for a person who suffered a large wound on their shoulder when a nurse approached him, clearing her throat.
He turned around, and rolled his eyes. "Please don't tell me somebody else died…" That may have sounded insensitive, but he was tired. And when Bones was tired, Bones was cranky.
"No, doctor, it's Dr. Adellia. She has requested your presence when you receive an opportunity. Also, she requested we check her Serotonin levels. The results are on her chart, and they're quite puzzling. One hour they were up sky high, and the next, they're below any healthy level," the nurse said, and handed Bones a chart.
"Thank you, Nurse Chapel. Do me a favor and when this is done mixing, please give Ensign Woq this injection," he mumbled, and turned on the chart. He went into Adellia's records, and looked over them with a concerned look. He shook his head at the results of every test…she was all over the map. This was now beyond disconcerting. This was just one more thing he had on his plate, now.
Bones went into her room, chart in hand, and he smiled at her. "Hey, there, darling. How're you feeling?" he asked, looking at her miserable form.
"This medicine is not working," Adellia said right off the bat. She had two days, three days tops. This needed to be fixed immediately. But how was she going to explain to it? She looked down, running a shaking hand through her hair. "I reviewed my chart when the results came. This medicine is not working."
"Well…" Bones began, and he shook his head. "No. It's not. Look…you need to explain to me what's going on. I get that it's a Vulcan thing." Now Bones was beginning to get irritated, but not at her. The situation was making him very angry. He couldn't help the woman he cared for most in the world (or any other), their ship was being held hostage by a cheeky alien who needed to get his drink on, and on top of that, Nurse Chapel was making advances. Something had to give.
"I get it. But I need to be able to help you. I…I order you to tell me," he said, and he grimaced. Bones didn't mean to say that, or mean it, but he did. And he had. He sat down at the edge of her bed, looking to her and putting a hand on her hand. "So what's going on with you?"
Adellia gulped. Just go. You have to just say it, or it'll never come out. She wondered why she always had trouble speaking to him, but she did. She just did. Adellia opened her mouth and tried to speak about three times, before finally she sighed. "It is difficult to explain. It's…it has to do with the hormones and biology of a Vulcan's body. Doctors aren't taught this because it's so sacred, nobody talks about it. I happened to come across a book that explained it in vague detail."
"It's called pon farr. It's…" Adellia sighed, looking down. This was so embarrassing. "It is a period of most every Vulcan's life, where…they must find a mate. In laymen's terms, it's a sort of heat Vulcans go through, where they must mate. They have to within about eight days. Most are betrothed at the age of seven, and are married."
Bones blinked. He was having a problem with computing this. She was going through heat? She had to mate? Vulcans were engaged at the age of seven? He looked back up to her, very seriously. "Is there somebody for you?" he finally asked, needing to hear the correct answer. If so, Bones wasn't sure what he would do. He was likely to fight for someone like her, yes, even against a Vulcan.
"No," she said quickly. Bones let out the quickest and deepest sigh of relief she'd ever heard. "I was not betrothed, because at the age of seven, I was living wit my father." Adellia felt bad that this was not the toughest part to get through. She wasn't sure she could tell him that this process was deadly if it wasn't completed. Plak tow was a poison that wouldn't be exorcized unless it was forced out.
"Phew. I'm relieved. So…what happens if you don't mate?" he asked.
Bones didn't think he could take advantage of her in this situation. If this pon farr business was changing her as much as it was, he wasn't sure he wanted her to be making this rash decision. He knew she had yet to be with a man, and he did not want her first experience to be driven by some cruel Vulcan hormones. Bones just didn't see himself doing that to her.
"If I do not mate in seven or eight days, then I will die." Her voice was shaky, but she got it out anyway. "Hence the rush on this medicine…which did not work…I have roughly two to three days before that happens to me." Adellia glanced up at him with a curious glance, to see how he would react.
Bones frowned. And then he did something he didn't expect he would do. He slipped into doctor mode, and out of his normal personality at the drop of a hat. Bones just didn't want to deal with that news just yet. "Well, the IV could probably come out. I'll have Nurse Chapel discharge you, but I…I have to report to the bridge. You know, the casualties and all. I'll be back, mmkay?" he said, and ruffled her hair. Like she was some kind of child.
As he walked to the bridge, he couldn't help but be mildly disgusted with himself. He was no shrink, but he knew he did that to push it out of his mind. Sometimes he just couldn't handle one more thing, and that was perhaps the last "one more thing" he could take. He didn't want to believe that she would be dead within the next two days if he didn't have sex with her. It just sounded surreal and…silly.
He walked onto the bridge, and stood next to Kirk, frowning. "We had two casualties in all," he reported, glancing to Spock, who seemed to be listening to his report. Which was fine, Spock could listen. In fact, maybe this one time, Bones encouraged it. He put his hands behind his back and frowned, staring forward.
Kirk did a double take, and narrowed his eyes. "Is there…something else?" he asked, looking a bit irritable, but it looked like Bones had something on his mind. And when Bones looked like had something on his mind, then it had to be something serious. He was even doing that thing where he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. That was a definite tell. Despite the fact that he was in the middle with an alien battle, well...Bones was his friend.
"Yeah, um…" he sighed, frowning forward. "Adie's going through this…thing…and the only cure seems for her to, err…" Bones blinked, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Mate. For lake of a better word." He saw Spock look over in the corner of his eyes. This was pretty sacred, that's right…but he could trust Jim, right?
"So what's stopping you?" Kirk asked, idly. This did not sound like a problem for James T. Kirk.
"Well, she's a mess. I mean, her hormones are all over the place…I know you wouldn't feel bad for taking advantage of her, but I sure as hell would." He stared forward at the screen, lowering his voice. "Plus, this all seems a bit too unreal for me. This can't be what's causing her hormone levels to go up and down like this. I mean, you'd think I would have heard of this, being a Federation doctor and all."
Kirk went to say something, when Spock interrupted him. "You have to, Dr. McCoy. I realize this must be difficult for you to truly comprehend, given the fact that you are not going through it yourself, but this is a very serious time. She's changed because of a madness that ensues," he explained, quietly, and with a very complicated look. He wouldn't have done this had Bones not been hesitant about this. He had to stop this thought process.
Bones frowned, thinking this over. "So this is real, then? This is legitimate, and she's not going to regret this?" he asked, perhaps hinting a fear. Not that he thought he wasn't good at the act itself (he happened to fancy himself quite a catch in that respect), but rather the fear that she would wake up afterward and realized how much of a mistake she'd made. That was the last thing he wanted.
"No. Despite the insanity that takes over her body, this is a very logical process." With that, he returned to his work, intent that he had done everything he could have done to save Adellia. Bones and Kirk exchanged looks and Bones went over to his quarters, hailing Adellia to him.
When he opened the door and saw her there, he took her by the hand, and looked down at her. He took in a deep breath. "I understand it now…I understand what needs to be done…I'm sorry I didn't before. I know this is pretty…y'know, special, so I'll try not to make it worse with many words. I meant for this moment to be a bit more…well, I mean, you know, a bit more…"
But Adellia stopped him by putting her finger on his lips, shutting him up once and for all. She pulled his hand up and touched it with hers. For a moment she stared at their hands, content to take the lead. This was almost instinctual now, what she was doing. After she allowed their hands to stay suspended in the air, she pulled him down. Adellia pressed her forehead against his, and she looked into his eyes, attempting to form a bond between the two of them.
Bones' hand that touched hers started to shake, and he found himself leaning forward to kiss her. He felt the urgency she felt, but he still went at a surprisingly even pace…his body was screaming to hurry up, but his head was telling him this pace was good enough for them.
