In case you don't know SNAFU is military speak for Situation Normal all Fucked Up! I own NONE of Star Trek. I also make no money from borrowing their characters for a bit

S.N.A.F.U

Ash stalked quietly along the dark, narrow corridor, all senses on alert. She had to work hard at keeping her hide a shadowed black. Her kind rarely used stealth to hunt. It was unneeded in a predator that usually struck on the wing. The abnormal life she had led as a nestling had awakened instincts so deeply buried in her people they were now looked upon with contempt. Unrelenting hunger was the whip that had forced her to hone these shameful skills into weapons few of her kin could match on the ground… IF they lowered their esteemed selves to try. This was something her prey was going to regret. A whisper of movement in the darkened space behind stacked provision containers ahead had her dropping down to all fours before slithering towards the sound. Testing the air with tongue, nose, and frill, the dragon determined that there were three warm bodies huddled behind what THEY thought was a good ambush point. Ash lowered her tail and allowed it to coil its flexible length along the polished floor. The soft hiss of hard scales whispered into the darkness. Her foe reacted just as she predicted they would. Humans, at their core, were herd animals... always seeking safety in numbers. Idiots they were for clumping all together like that! Her dark form paused, narrowed red eyes tracing the line of huge metal boxes that towered above. Rising silently to her full height, the dragon tested a claw against the metal edge of a crate… nodding to herself as it made little noise. A rather nasty grin parted a mouth filled with sharp teeth. Ash was willing to bet the fools were not looking UP!

Where in the hell was Ash? Sulu shifted uneasily… and tightened his grip on the sabre in his dominant hand. Cold steel was not the best weapon to rely on in the dark but the weight of the familiar blade was more comforting than the phaser that filled his other hand. The helmsman peered out into the shadows but his vision was practically useless, a fact that made an already tense situation worse. Being hunted was never pleasant. Being hunted in the dark by a highly-trained KILLING machine? Sulu could think of better ways to die. He had not started his day with the intention of joining Security in this little foray. Captain James T Kirk had a distinct talent for ruining other people's plans. It seemed that the man felt that spending most duty hours at the helm was making his command crew's reconnaissance and survival skills a little rusty. That was how Sulu found himself scrabbling through the dark in the company of a couple of redshirted security personnel, tracking a frightening killer all the while waiting with bated breath for Ash to make her move. He strained his hearing trying to locate their target along with any approaching threat. All he could hear was the heavy breathing of his companions. He wanted to hiss at them to QUIET down before they got everyone caught but could not risk the noise. Speaking of which…what the hell was that? Damn… there was no way this stress could be good for his health! With a couple of nudges and shifting around they all brought their weapons up in preparation for jumping whatever was coming down the corroder. He noticed the way that the other two had drawn closer to him at that odd little sound whispering out of the dark. THEY were trained security so it made him feel a little better that HE was not the only one who was more than just a little spooked. At the same time…the calm analytical part of his mind took stock of their position and calmly pointed out that maybe they should not be standing so close together. Just as he was starting to take a step back a disturbance in the air above snapped his useless vision up. There was a sound like a parachute opening and the helmsman just had the time to scream, "Oh…. SHIT! INCOMING!" as the black form of death dropped in amongst them. What followed was mass mayhem consisting of phasor fire, rending claws, snapping teeth, and what could only be a flashing sword interspersed with lots of screaming. It ended when the writhing mass comprised of three struggling humans and one dragon smashed into the bottom of the stacked crates, bringing the whole mass down with a ground shaking crash.

Doctor McCoy was in his office taking advantage of a slow day in Medbay to get caught up on his reports when his com beeped to life. He sighed, the peace and quiet had been too good to last!

"Security to Doctor McCoy, we have a bit of a snafu down here in Cargo Bay three… Could you come take a look at Lieutenant Sulu before we try to move him?"

Leonard blinked… what was security doing in a cargo bay and why was the helmsman with them? His mind shied away a little at the thought… Sulu was known to be a bit of an adrenalin junky. Hell, who was he kidding, the only one who had that particular bug worse on the ship was yours truly… James T. Kirk! This thought had him up and moving as he answered.

"I am on my way, McCoy out!"

He flagged Christine and grabbed a medkit before heading out the door. They did not run, Hendorf would have coded the call if there was a life on the line, but they were still moving at a good clip when they came through the Cargo bay door. Both slid to a stop at the sight that greeted them. There was a mass of dented, banged up storage crates scattered across section A. Red shirted Security personnel scurried like fire ants working to clean up the mess. A quick glance confirmed that two battered forms were seated on one box. Lieutenant Hendorf knelt by another who was dressed in command colors that was laid out at their feet. That had to be Sulu! McCoy suppressed a curse as he started forward. When he got closer it was evident that the Security Chief was analyzing data from the battle gear all three men wore. Something the man saw had his head snapping up to shout at the group restacking the crates.

"Damn it ASH! You were NOT supposed to BITE!"

He was answered by an odd, snuffling snort followed by a muffled…

"They's not supposes to TICKLES!"

Leonard caught a flash of red stripes as a long scaly tail appeared from between crates. It gave a sharp flick and something metallic and very bent came skittering across the floor. Hendorf straightened and kicked the ruined sabre so it slid behind Christine before Sulu could see it. At McCoy's wide eyed look, he rolled his own eyes towards the prone helmsman and put a finger to his lips.

"I don't want to upset him."

One brow slowly rose as a lean hand lifted to gesture towards this whole… mess.

"Maybe ya should have thought of that before…" Bones let his words trail off.

Hendorf gave a little shrug.

"Reconnaissance and defense training… Idiots got a bit carried away and brought the whole damn stack of containers down on themselves. It's a damn good thing the dragon is fast or they would all be flatter than flat and we would be SCRAPING them off the floor!"

One of the seated men whined…

"It's not our fault…that THING cheated!"

McCoy saw shock flash through Hendorf's hazel eyes, then they changed to cold green ice. He felt a moments pity for the poor fool. The chief could move FAST for a big fellow! He was in the man's face before he could blink. Bones noted that his head nurse carefully eased out of the line of fire. She would not have done that if either were seriously injured. Because of this the doctor did not interfere as one blunt finger stabbed out to thump into the man's chest.

"There IS no cheating in a scenario like this Walker! There is only win or lose, live or die. You should be thanking that THING'S scaly ass because without her fast reflexes, losing this time could have been a permanent condition for you. Now shut up before you find yourself standing watch in the garbage bay for two weeks instead of just one!" The Chief shifted back to pace in front of the pair. "Our resident vicious, killer beasty managed to survive this encounter pretty much unscathed. I am afraid I can't say the same about the rest of you." Again, that finger stabbed out to poke each man in passing. "You are dead. You are BEYOND dead, and you…" the man stopped in front of the distinctly battered looking helmsman and the scowl on his face got down right frightening. "I need to stop underestimating you gold shirted bastards, YOU managed to get out of this scenario a little chewed up, but alive."

McCoy knelt to pass his tricorder over Sulu's training armor mostly out of curiosity. His, just like the gear the others had removed, looked as if Ash had used the men as chew toys. He could not contain his snort.

"Wouldn't be that way for long! This says he's concussed, got a compound fracture of the tibia, lacerated kidney, possible separated spine…fractured ribs and a punctured lung… not to mention there's evidence he got hit at least once by friendly fire! If this were real, the boy might still be breathing but he'd be critical before we could get him to Medbay."

The Chief of Security shot him a dirty look and shrugged. "I never said he would be HAPPY he was alive!"

Sulu shifted under his hand and grinned, "O. m GOD…that wss fun! I'mm all tingly. Morrish shot me… think he got Walker too!" One of the helmsman's eyes was already swelling shut. He blinked and squinted blearily up at McCoy. "I Wassh doing kay til the sky fell an I got squished uner a ton a dragon!"

Bones winced and started unclipping buckles. He needed to know if the other injuries the vest was feeding his tricorder were just a product of the training armor's strike telemetry, or if there was actual damage under the virtual gear. There was no disputing the concussion was real and the tingling was the residual effect of the training phasors. At his questioning look Hendorf grinned unapologetically.

"You get zapped a time or two in practice, it tends to make ya move a little faster when peeps start shooting at ya for real!"

The man did bend down to lift the helmsman up a little so McCoy could ease the beat up armor off. The surgeon's educated eyes noted there were definite bite marks on its tough flexible exterior along with a multitude of weird blue streaks… laid out in a definite three clawed slash pattern. A quick glance proved that the gear the other two men took off so that Christine could run a tricorder over them looked much the same. His tricorder purred to itself when he made another pass over Sulu. This time all it did was beep once or twice as it marked a particularly bad bruise or strained muscle. Sulu was going to be one sore cookie, but other than the slight concussion there was no serious damage. This fact did not stop him from giving the lieutenant a dirty look of his own.

"What part of pitting flesh and bones against something like THAT," he jerked a thumb towards Ash's broad back as she picked up a crate it usually took a power hoist to lift and carefully stacked it on top another, "…sounded like a GOOD idea!?"

Hendorf had the reputation of being a cold hearted, muscle bound bad ass, so Bones was shocked when pure anguish flashed across the rugged features before it was swept away by rage. If looks could kill, the piercing glare that pinned the Doctor would have had him rolling belly up. McCoy watched those big scarred hands clench into fists and hoped he was not going to get punched in the face. The damage the man could do had been painfully apparent in his first meeting with Kirk. Time and life's experience had given the guy a better handle on his temper it seemed, because he visibly wrestled himself back under control. The guarded look that flashed towards the redshirted cleanup crew spoke as eloquently as his softly growled words. Together they shattered Leonard's assumption that the big man did not care about those who served under him.

"It's been brought to my attention, that when redshirts go up against things like THAT on Away missions… nine times out of ten…they are chewed up and spit back out as bloody corpses! I don't like watching my people DIE, Doctor. If having to bleed a little while training against some… thing… like Ash increases the odds of surviving the real thing when it happens, and you KNOW… it will happen… its worth every bruise and broken bone!"

Not for the first time, Bones wished he had swallowed those words before spitting them out. He was very familiar with the specters of guilt, sorrow, and pain. He felt them every time one of the crew ended up under his scalpel and he lost his very personal war against death. Hendorf's and Montgomery Scots departments competed for the top space on Medbay's "most catastrophic injuries" list. Any responsibility Bones might feel towards the souls that ended up consigned to the cold and silence of the Black had to be felt tenfold by the man that had ordered his crewmates and friends into the line of fire. Some of what he was thinking must have shown in his expression because the anger on the other man's face softened with understanding. Not trusting himself to speak, the Doctor signaled the team Christine had called down to float the medical gurney over to collect Sulu. He was more than surprised when Hendorf offered him a hand up. As he rose, sharp eyes noted a fine spray of drying blood splattered across the Chief's bare arms and the black of the under shirt stretched across his muscled chest.

"Lieutenant, where's your over-shirt?"

Those hazel eyes followed his gaze down and blinked as if the man had forgotten he was out of uniform.

"I gave it to Ensign Ash. I don't know if it's from getting smacked by a falling crate or from the enthusiastic bludgeoning she got from Sulu and that ridiculous sword of his, but she's got one hell of a bloody nose."

Leonard froze for a moment, thinking about just how hard a blow it would take to give the draconian a nosebleed. All thoughts of leashing his mouth were totally forgotten.

"Christ on a cracker… Hendorf! Please inform me as to WHY an injured member of your crew is over there working like an Amish pack mule and NOT over here getting checked to make sure…oh I don't know… that her BRAINS are not possibly leaking out her nostrils!?"

The man winced and opened his mouth to explain. Bones did not want to hear it… He cut the man's stuttered explanation off as he bellowed…

"Ensign ASH… get your scaly ass over here!"

The dragon's head popped up and she set the crate she was carrying down to stalk towards them. Leonard watched for any wobbling or instability as she walked. She sniffled, wiping her nose on a wadded red shirt held in one taloned hand before lowering her head at his command. He could not help but notice that her claws were capped. At least PART of Hendorf's brain had been working! A quick glance at her slit pupils proved they were both equal and reactive, although they did cross a bit as she tried to track the tricorder he passed over her skull. She snorted a thin trickle of blood out both her nostrils as he swore at the little machine… it was absolutely no help. Putting it down, Leonard ran sensitive hands over the wedge-shaped skull, down the lean muzzle and along the narrow jawline. While he felt for cracks, heat and swelling he asked the standard questions… are you dizzy, any nausea, have you blacked out… Ash shook her head at each one of these… slinging drops of shimmering crimson blood. She almost dislodged his touch when she flinched away from his gentle probing. He paused, his fingers moving back to linger on the high curve of her nose. The smooth skin felt hot there. Shifting along the bony structure… McCoy could feel a slight grinding instability between both the left and right Lacrimal plates and the nasal bones in between. A soft growl vibrated under his touch when he pressed, the dragon's reaction to something that had to be very painful. He eased up with a quiet apology.

"Sorry Ash, I think you've broken your nose."

He turned and plucked a couple of ice packs out of his kit along with a wrap. Getting some cold therapy in place should help with the swelling and hopefully stop the internal bleeding. Cracking each one to activate the chemicals within, he reached up to place them over the hot spots. He held them in place as Christine appeared, taking the wrap and binding the packs in place. Another quiet growl rumbled out in protest as the nurse pulled the wrap tight. Leonard shifted the dragon's attention away from his nurse's fragile hands.

"Did Sulu hit you here?"

He could not help but flinch as Ash snorted a fine spray of blood down his shirt.

"NO…We knocks boxes down. Smacks one aways with head. No fall on Sulu." Those golden eyes seemed a little guilty as she watched the medical team loading Sulu in to a gurney for transport down to Medbay. McCoy did not think the helmsman's concussion was serious but he wanted to run some tests and keep an eye on him for a few hours. The man grinned and waved a hand at them before someone grabbed it and tucked it under a strap. Ash had the decency to wince a little as the bed disappeared through the door.

"Smacks Sulus little bits too. Sorrys… better than flats head."

The image of the dragon using her head and body like a battering ram to knock a falling two-hundred-pound metal box away from her crewmates had the doctor swearing because he could not drag her ass down to Medbay and strap it into a biobed. Even with the tweaking that Scotty had done to his tricorder, he doubted the little machine would pick up anything short of a massive system failure.

Christine finished and Leonard slide his hand down the flat plane of Ash's foreface until he picked up a small amount of blood as it dripped off her nose. He did not remember it shimmering that way drawn into an airproof vial when he had taken the sample for her baselines. As a matter of fact… at the time, he had been a little surprised at how much it had looked like something he would pull out of his own arm. Another drop fell to splatter on his shoe. Part of his mind registered that he had seen that odd shimmer before but another falling drop distracted it away from the thought. The ice was evidently not going to be enough to slow it.

"Tilt you head back Ash."

The Dragon balked and made an odd gagging motion.

"Don't wants to swallows blood, is GROSS!"

Both McCoy's brows shot up. He was sure the Ensign would not have a problem swallowing someone else's blood! He slipped a hand under the hard chin and force her head up and back.

"Well… I don't want it splattered all down the front of me so tilt your damn head back! I need ta get that bleeding stopped before I can even TRY to figure out how I'm gonna repair your freaky bones. If the tricorder can't penetrate your thick skin the Osteo-regenerator does not have a snowballs chance in HELL! We need to talk to one Montgomery Scott about that."

That lean saurian head shifted out of the position he had put it in to slow the bleeding. Ash looked at him and nodded.

"I likes Montegomeries Scots!"

Something about the combination of moving, speaking and the cold of the ice must have tickled the dragon's sinus cavities because without warning she sneezed… violently.

Bones did not stand a chance.

The Ensign took one look at fine spray of blood splattered across Leonard's medical blues, his arms, his face, and his wildy blown hair and hastily tilted her head back.

"OUCH…..Oopses… sorries."

Hendorf doubled over, howling like a crazed hyena until he looked up to catch the full power of his CMO's evil eye. He hastily smothered his laughter, it was not wise to piss off the man who would be performing your next physical! Ash snuffled and slanted a sideways look at his bloodied face, the muscles around her eyes, lips and nostrils softening as she gave him a distinctly embarrassed looking dragon smile. He jerked his head towards the doorway and did not look to see if she obeyed the silent command to follow him to Medbay. As people hastily scattered out of his way, Leonard took a moment to count himself lucky that it was just blood and not acid, or fire he had been splattered with. Walking through the ships corridor's, looking like the serial killer from an old-time horror flick seemed a small price to pay.

I can imagine that training to deal with situations so totally out of the norm that an Away team might encounter would be strenuous, imaginative and down right dangerous. I can also imagine that a good Security Chief would think outside the box in the effort to keep his team alive and breathing. That could lead to situations... just... like... this!

The next chapter will be the second part to this little bit. Its time for a certain scotch drinking chief engineer to enter the mix! I hope you are enjoying the story. Thank you again to all who have taken the time to review. It does motivate me to work a little harder getting these chapters out! Please take a moment and let me know what ya think!