(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Grab a bag of popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the story, my fellow Star Trek nerds!)
Tenebrae et Luminis- Chapter 10
"Lead on, Mr. Spock," The Captain commanded his First Officer as the Vulcan helped walk the Captain towards the cave opening.
"...Spock?" Kirk said as both he and the Vulcan hobbled closer to the mouth of the cave.
"Yes, Captain?" Spock answered as he helped shift the Captain's arm around his shoulders to evenly distribute the weight.
"I want to do this on my own. I'd like to climb down this rock-face without your help."
Spock's ears twitched slightly as he absorbed what the Captain just said as he and the Captain stopped at the edge of the cave opening.
"Captain, I do not think-"
"-That's an order, Mr. Spock. Don't make me repeat myself again."
Spock glanced at Kirk, concerned (well, as concerned as a Vulcan can possibly look) for the Captain's well-being.
"...Yes, Sir. Understood." The Vulcan said as he took Kirk's arm off of his shoulders. "Can you stand, Captain?"
"Yes, Spock. I'll be fine," The Captain said as he brushed sweat off of his face, despite the cool, rainy weather outside. "...Just help me get my footing on this rock so I can get out of this cave."
...
...The Doctor didn't have the strength left to scream.
Doctor McCoy felt his body arch gracefully back as he began to fall back down onto the forest floor. He knew his body couldn't take much more abuse from the Shadow Creature. It was only just a matter of time before he'd go into shock from the combination of pain and blood loss. McCoy closed his eyes, grimacing slightly as he thought of the predicament the whole landing party was in, including himself. ...Coupled with Ensign Chekov bleeding a great deal due to deep gashes across the heart, and with Captain Kirk and Spock nowhere to be found, McCoy couldn't help but think of the worst possible outcome.
McCoy chuckled slightly at the Creature's comment.
"...Noble? I don't see myself as ...noble. Whenever I see... someone who is hurt ...or injured, I don't ...care what happens... to me... The only thing... that's important to me at that... point is... to help... the one that... is injured. My safety... and my well-being... don't matter at that point, anymore."
The Creature, for the moment, looked down at McCoy with what appeared to be a flash of sympathy that crossed Its dark, ebony features. Whatever feelings It wished to convey were quickly gone in the blink of an eye. The Shadow Demon's face formed back to Its cold, hard demeanor.
"You know nothing of true sacrifice, Doctor McCoy. You do not know the true meaning of loss," The Creature said as It began to pick the injured Doctor up by the front of his Starfleet Medical uniform.
The Doctor's mind went into full gear -remembering the horrific experience that he, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock had gone through on Minara II. The Doctor shuddered slightly, remembering how he was willing to sacrifice his very own life in place of the others. McCoy had been tortured within an inch of his life by the Vians.
McCoy narrowed his eyes at the Creature, paling slightly as he reached over with his left hand towards the medpack strapped to his right hip on his waist. His uninjured left hand closed around a hypospray.
"...I know ...plenty about the ...true meaning of ...sacrifice and loss, ...you demented Demon!" McCoy said, grimacing slightly with renewed strength as he drove the hypospray home into the Shadow Creature's neck, causing the Creature to snarl in pain. The Demon let go of the Doctor as McCoy dropped the empty hypospray to the ground, his left hand falling listlessly to the side.
The Shadow Creature began to stumble away from the injured Ensign and CMO, clutching Its neck, screaming in agony.
McCoy looked over at the empty hypospray next to him and realized something- he had injected the Shadow Creature with a vitamin supplement meant for human use in dire situations.*
McCoy slowly, painfully rolled over onto his stomach as he watched the Shadow Creature desolidify Itself back into the black, shadowy mist once again. McCoy's eyes widened as he watched the Demon flee back deeper into the forest.
McCoy's vision once again began to get blurry as he tried to sit up, to no avail.
"Dammit," McCoy muttered as he began to half-crawl, half-drag himself over to the unconscious Ensign in order to administer the much needed first-aid.
"Don't ...die on me, Chekov! You... hear me?" The Doctor said weakly as he reached once again into his medpack to administer a hypospray to help stop the bleeding of the Ensign's wounds.
...
"...Just help me get my footing on this rock so I can get out of this cave."
Spock nodded, acknowledging the Captain's orders as he helped Kirk get a good foothold on the rocks.
Both human and Vulcan began the slow descent down the rock-face back towards the ground of the forest floor. The pounding rain and rough winds made it a slow ordeal for both of the Officers. Kirk looked over his shoulder, judging the distance as he jumped off the last foothold to land safely back onto the ground. He slowly stood up, gazing up at Spock as he began brushing the dirt and mud off of his Starfleet black pants.
"Spock, do you need any help?" The Captain asked, squinting against the calmer rain- it had begun to slow down to a slight drizzle.
"No, Captain. Your help is not needed." Spock said as he jumped off the last foothold as well, landing in a cat-like stance next to the Captain.
"...You make it look so easy, Mr. Spock. I don't know how you do it." Kirk said, chuckling slightly as he extended his hand to the Vulcan.
Spock's ears twitched again as he allowed his best friend to help him up.
Both the Vulcan and human began to walk down farther into the forest away from the cave opening as a thought struck the Captain.
"Spock? A question?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Have you had any luck with your communicator or phaser? My communicator's not functioning properly, and my phaser ... well, I seem to have dropped mine, earlier. I notice you still have yours," Kirk said sheepishly.
At this statement, Spock stopped and turned to face Kirk.
"Captain, my communicator is non-functional as well, and my phaser is not much better off, either. The charge is almost gone. ...As for my tricorder, I lost it when I had battled the Shadow Creature earlier in my attempt to rescue you, Captain."
"Could I at least see the phaser? Maybe I can tinker with it a little more, Mr. Spock."
Spock raised one quizzical Vulcan eyebrow as he handed his phaser over to the Captain.
"Captain, may I point out something." It wasn't a question, it was a statement from the Vulcan.
Kirk raised an eyebrow as well, but it was in curiosity as to what the Vulcan had to say.
"Fire away, Mr. Spock."
"...Fire away? I have no intention of doing that, especially since I have just handed you my phaser, Captain-"
Kirk waved his hand dismissively as he began to work on dismantling the phaser, along with his communicator to use as a basis for the wiring.
"Never-mind, Spock. It's another human expression I'll explain to you later. What I meant to say was if you could explain whatever it was you wanted to tell me."
"...No doubt you remember the Mirrorverse that Lieutenant Commander Scott, Lieutenant Uhura, the Doctor and yourself were trapped in not too long ago, correct?"
"Yes, ...your point being?"
"The weather patterns are the same as of the ion storm that occurred on the planet homeworld of Halkan. It explains why we have not heard back fully from the Enterprise. I am quite positive that Mr. Scott knows of our situation and the risks involved of a beam-up in this weather. What puzzles me is of how quickly the ion storm had formed. I am ninety-five percent positive that the Enterprise's computerbanks didn't detect it early on."
"Ninety-five percent positive, huh? We should've never beamed down onto the surface in the first place then, Mr. Spock. ... I gather Mr. Scott still remembers our lovely encounter with our mirror-counterparts, no doubt. ...There, that should do it," Kirk said as he finished rearranging the conduits in the phaser. "Let's do a slight test to see if this works. Stand back, I don't want to hurt you or even myself, for that matter."
With a quick nod, Spock began to back away from the Captain, keeping a safe distance.
"...Ready?"
"...Fire away, Captain." Spock said with a slightly smug look in his eyes.
Kirk aimed the reworked phaser at a nearby tree.
A green beam shot out, singeing the bark.
"Well, it looks like we've got ourselves a functional phaser, Mr. Spock." Kirk said, grinning, as he placed his now useless communicator back onto his belt -offering the reworked phaser to the Vulcan with his other hand.
"Captain, I recommend you keep the phaser. I will keep tabs with working on restoring some semblance of function to my communicator since yours has now been rendered useless."
"Suit yourself." Kirk shrugged, placing the phaser onto his belt. "Let's keep moving. We've got to find the others."
"Agreed, Captain."
...
"Don't ...die on me, Chekov! You... hear me?" The Doctor said weakly as he reached once again into his medpack to administer a hypospray to help stop the bleeding of the Ensign's wounds.
The Doctor's left hand shook slightly, dropping the hypospray onto the forest floor.
"Got... to... keep moving. I can't... give up. Not now." McCoy muttered, holding his left hand to his injured chest, breathing heavily despite the pain.
The Doctor once again picked up the hypospray, cringing against the pain his brain was all too keen to remind him of.
"...Hold on, Chekov. Stay alive... Live!" McCoy said gruffly as he began to re-administer the supplement.
...
"Suit yourself." Kirk shrugged, placing the phaser onto his belt. "Let's keep moving. We've got to find the others."
"Agreed, Captain."
Both the Captain and First Officer made their way deeper into the forest.
The wind began to pick up once again, howling heavily. Spock began to survey the surroundings, straining his ears slightly.
"What is it, Spock?" The Captain asked as he stopped next to the Vulcan. "...Spock? What's wrong?"
Spock had gone almost rigid, his Vulcan ears shifting slightly -almost as in searching for something.
"Captain, get behind me." The Vulcan said as he placed a hand in front of the Captain, blocking the CO's way. "The Shadow Creature. It has returned."
Kirk's eyes widened as both the Vulcan and Captain looked on as the black mist began to coalesce back into a humanoid form once again.
"...This can't be good."
...
...To be continued. (Chapter 11 is currently being written.)
(*Vulcans and Romulans have Copper-based blood. Excessive absorption of Zinc suppresses Copper and Iron absorption, so it would cause a reaction in their blood. On the other hand, for humans, Zinc is required for protein synthesis, which helps flesh and other tissues rebuild more quickly when a human is wounded.)