**Story Progress: 20%

From her hiding spot several meters away, Vanessa Bennett observed Spock slowly collapse onto the ground. Her doctor's instincts ached to help him, but that would not be an easy task from her current position. Not to mention, she had just been given a direct order from her commanding officer to evacuate the team from the area.

Next to her, Uhura was frantically activating her communicator. "Enterprise! Uhura to Enterprise! Do you copy?" she called. But there was nothing but silence on the other end of the channel.

Uhura turned to look frantically at Vanessa. "We're not leaving him," she said firmly, her eyes wide.

Vanessa took all of a half of a second to process before she replied, "No, we're not."

She looked back out at the landscape that separated them from Commander Spock. Two of the three Amarilians lay dead on the ground, never having made it to shelter. The third alien, possibly also deceased, was lying not far from Spock. Spock himself was situated at least fifteen meters away from the rest of the landing party.

Just then, the phaser fire from above suddenly stopped and an eerie calm descended on their small group. Vanessa realized this could be their only opportunity.

Her eyes fell on the small pack Lt. Uhura still had slung across her shoulder. "Is there anything vital in there?" she asked.

Uhura looked confused, but answered. "No, just some random supplies and a few PADDs."

"I'm going to make a run for it, but I'll need as much of a distraction as you can give me," Vanessa told her, securing her own pack across her body. "It won't be much, but just start throwing whatever you've got in there. And make some noise. Hopefully it will draw their fire for a few seconds to give me a head start. Ready?"

"Ready," Uhura replied, gathering up two handfuls of supplies. "Be careful," she added.

Vanessa just nodded and rose into a bent-over runner's stance, being careful to keep her head below the sightline of their cover. "On three," she said in a low voice.

"One…. two….. three!" As soon as the last word left her mouth, she took off at a run. Behind her, she heard Uhura let loose with a string of loud expletives and angry, unhinged yelling. Vanessa had to give the Lieutenant credit – if that display didn't scare the Amarilians, nothing would.

The blasts from above started up again, and Vanessa could hear the impacts hitting behind her. Only a few seconds passed before she could feel the explosions start hitting closer to her feet.

She dove behind a large boulder, just milliseconds in front of a blast that sheared off a small section of stone right by her head. She paused for a few seconds to catch her breath and visually scope out her next move. Spock was lying only a few feet away now. She took another deep breath and leapt out from behind the boulder, ready to sprint the rest of the distance.

Unfortunately, their assailants were ready this time, having guessed Vanessa's destination. Just as she was nearly within reach of her intended patient, she felt a searing heat rip across her abdomen. She quickly threw herself behind the cover of the large rocky outcrop where Spock lay, landing rather ungracefully on her left side.

She glanced down at her midsection and pulled up the hem of her tunic. Luckily, the shot had just grazed her. She had incurred some mild first-degree burns and was bleeding slightly, but the wound did not appear to be serious. She quickly turned her attention to the prone Vulcan beside her.

Vanessa quickly felt for a pulse on Spock's still form. Thankfully, she found one, although it was very weak. She assessed his wound and concluded that the immediate priority was to stop the bleeding. She had only the very basics of medical supplies with her but they should be enough to buy Spock some time.

She bent the unconscious Vulcan's knee to elevate his leg and slow the flow of blood to the extremity. Vanessa rummaged through her pack and withdrew a hypospray, hastily loading it with a pale blue liquid. After a brief examination of the site of the injury, she carefully injected the coagulant directly into Spock's wound, thankful that he was unconscious at the moment and unable to feel the momentary pain she was inflicting.

She then leaned over and ripped at the pant leg of Spock's uninjured limb. The material gave way and she quickly wound up the cloth and wrapped it around Spock's injured leg, just above the wound. While these rudimentary actions would slow the flow of blood, Vanessa knew she needed to get Spock back to the Enterprise as soon as possible. Vulcan physiology was considerably more advanced than that of humans and while Spock's body had a remarkable ability to heal itself, he was going to need more medical assistance than she could provide in their present situation.

Unfortunately, there was a new problem facing her now - she couldn't possibly carry the unconscious Vulcan all that distance to the passageway and potential escape. She looked around frantically, trying to formulate her next move.

Just then, Vanessa's communicator crackled to life.

"…..the hell is going on down there? Away team, respond!" Kirk's voice was full of concern.

"Captain, beam us up now!" Vanessa shouted, mentally praying that any lull in the storm overhead would last long enough to allow for escape. "The Amarilians attacked and Spock is injured. Emergency medical team to the transporter room immediately!"

"Acknowledged," Kirk replied tersely.

Vanessa wrapped Spock's limp arm around her shoulder and drew herself as close to him as she could, keeping pressure on his injured leg. The few seconds that passed before she felt the initial prick of the transporter beam were some of the longest of her life.

As the familiar walls of the Enterprise's transporter room came into view, Vanessa exhaled. For the first time since they had been attacked, she started to feel the smallest bloom of hope.

Just then, several members of the medical staff rushed into the room, pushing an anti-grav lift. Vanessa motioned to them, and with a few quick, practiced movements, the team carefully loaded the unconscious Spock onto the lift.

"Patient incurred a hit from a directed-energy weapon of unknown origin," Vanessa briefed them. "Injury to upper thigh. Superficial femoral artery is partially transected and needs repair. I treated with a course of coagulant and applied tourniquet."

"Yes, Ma'am," one of the med team crisply replied. "Dr. McCoy is waiting." The team began to push the lift down the hall to the Med Bay.

"You!" Vanessa commanded, grabbing the sleeve of one of the medical officers. "Stay here. We've got another injury incoming," she told him, thinking of Lt. Jenkins.

"Yes, Ma'am," he replied, moving closer to the transporter pad in preparation.

Vanessa quickly moved over to the transporter control station and addressed the crew member on duty. "We've got three more down there. Can you locate their signals?" she asked, making a supreme effort to slow down her frantic speech.

The Ensign's face was a picture of concentration as he stared intently at the screen in front of him. "I'm trying. Stand by."

His fingers flew across the controls as a few strained seconds passed. "I have them," he announced, activating the transporter.

Vanessa turned to face the transporter pad as a bright wash of light flooded the area. She held her breath as the forms of Lt. Uhura, Ensign Chekov, and Lt. Jenkins, all still frozen in a low crouching position, slowly materialized on the pad.

The medical officer present quickly moved to treat Lt. Jenkins. After a quick visual confirmation that Uhura and Chekov were still unharmed, Vanessa turned and took off running in the direction of the Med Bay.

As she rounded the corner into the bustling room, she could see Dr. McCoy and his team prepping Spock for emergency surgery. Vanessa quickly ran up to join them, ready to do her part.

"Twenty ccs of anetrizine.…" McCoy ordered at the same time Vanessa called out, "Nurse, bring me twenty ccs of anetrizine.…"

McCoy shot her an angry look and Vanessa held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. It's not your Med Bay, she reminded herself. Time to follow McCoy's lead, no matter how much he grates on you. He's the better surgeon.

Seeing that he once again had rightful control, McCoy began directing the surgery. "Dr. Bennett, if you can restrain your enthusiasm, I would appreciate your assistance," he said as he applied the anesthetic hypospray to Spock's neck. "Begin transfusion on my mark."

Vanessa swallowed the retort on the tip of her tongue and moved to comply with the CMO's instructions. "Commencing transfusion," she confirmed. Together with two of the attending medical staff, McCoy and Vanessa quickly set about repairing the damage to Spock's limb.

A few moments later, the rest of the away team streamed into the Med Bay. Chekov and Lt. Jenkins were quickly attended to, while Uhura hovered in the background, clearly anxious.

"Is Spock going to be alright?" she asked, craning her neck to get a better view of the proceedings.

"Take a seat, Lieutenant," Vanessa ordered, attempting to deflect any distractions from Dr. McCoy's attention as he worked. A few tense minutes passed as Vanessa, McCoy, and their assisting team treated Spock's injury.

"There," McCoy finally announced. "That should do it." He looked up at the screen displaying Spock's vitals, and nodded as the readouts confirmed his prognosis.

"Patient is stabilized," McCoy said to his team. And with that pronouncement, the tension level in the room immediately dropped several notches.

McCoy turned to Uhura. "Don't worry. He'll live to lecture us all another day," he told her. Uhura sighed audibly and buried her face in her hands, her body collapsing in relief.

"Close up the wound," McCoy directed as he prepared to move away to assess the rest of the away team. Vanessa made a motion towards the necessary implements, but McCoy stopped her. "Not you," he said, firmly. "You were just in a firefight. You're done here. Doctor Nguyen can take it from here."

Vanessa opened her mouth to protest, but quickly abandoned the idea. Clearly, the CMO wasn't in the mood to argue. As McCoy checked on Lt. Jenkins' treatment and the final work on Spock was completed, and even Chekov's minor injury was attended to, Vanessa found herself without a task.

As she scanned the room to see if there was some way in which she could render assistance, Vanessa felt her heart rate slowly returning to normal. She let out a deep breath as the adrenaline began to gradually filter out of her system.

The immediate crisis was over. Spock would live. Every member of the away team was safe and accounted for. Against expectations, the Amarilians had proved to be hostile, but the only casualties had been members of their own contingent. The whole attack made no sense, but Vanessa was certain Kirk was already planning their next move.

Suddenly, Vanessa winced in pain. In all the excitement, she had completely forgotten about her own injury. She gingerly lifted the hem of her tunic to reveal a long gash traversing her abdomen. The wound was mostly superficial, but the dried blood made it look worse than it actually was.

McCoy's doctor's eyes fell on her, quickly assessing the injury. "I'll need to clean that up for you."

"There's no need, Doctor. I can dress it myself," she offered, moving to prep a hypospray.

"Sit," he commanded, taking the hypospray out of her hand and motioning her to a biobed. Vanessa rolled her eyes and let out a tortured sigh, but she dutifully hopped up on the biobed and reclined back on the surface. She was suddenly too tired to argue.

As McCoy deftly tended to her injury, Vanessa's gaze wandered to where Dr. Nguyen and his assistant were repairing Spock's leg. As they finished their work and prepared him for recovery, Vanessa observed Lt. Uhura slowly approach the unconscious first officer and take his hand in hers. With a small smile, she bent down to brush his hair from his forehead. The intensely affectionate look she bestowed on him as he slept was unmistakable.

"What the..." Vanessa muttered before she could stop herself. Were Uhura and Spock… together? As in, dating together – as in, a couple? She suddenly felt like she was the last person in the room to be let in on a huge secret.

Hearing her exclamation, McCoy looked up and followed her line of sight. He chuckled. "Yeah, none of us can figure it out either," he said. "Of all the available men in Starfleet, she ends up with Pointy."

Vanessa suddenly felt her cheeks getting hot as she put the pieces together. No wonder Uhura was so panicked over Spock's injury. And now it made sense why Uhura had been a little touchy with her after Vanessa had gone on and on about how much she admired Spock. "She thought I was moving in on her boyfriend," Vanessa said softly, shaking her head.

"Well, were you?" McCoy asked with a smirk. His mind called up an image of the two women throwing punches at each other and wrestling around on the ground while the stoic Vulcan stood by, quietly observing the fight for his hand. The doctor found that this image amused him greatly.

Vanessa frowned, annoyed that she had unintentionally vocalized her thoughts. "No," she replied, shortly. "I would never get involved with someone I work with. I just didn't know…." She trailed off. For some reason, Vanessa suddenly felt like she had been duped. At the very least, she sure wasn't doing an acceptable job as the ship's Operations Chief if she had completely failed to notice an ongoing relationship between two of the ship's senior officers. What else was going on that she didn't know about?

Vanessa sighed and closed her eyes. The Med Bay had fallen suddenly quiet as the immediacy of the crisis abated.

"By the way," McCoy said, his voice breaking into her thoughts. "Nice work today."

Vanessa opened her eyes and looked up at the CMO in surprise. "Dr. McCoy, I think that's the first complimentary thing you've said to me since I got here."

McCoy snorted. "Well, don't get used to it," he said, reaching for a dermal regenerator.

Just then, the doors to the Med Bay swished open and Jim Kirk came striding into the room. Although his movements were steady and purposeful, his face was awash in concern. His gaze fell first on Uhura, who gave him a small nod to indicate that she, and Spock, were okay.

"Mr. Chekov, are you alright?" Kirk asked the young man sitting on the biobed next to Spock.

"Aye, Captain," the navigator replied, hanging his head and looking sheepish. "Just a few minor contact burns."

Kirk glanced over to where Lt. Jenkins was being attended to by two of the ship's medical staff.

McCoy anticipated his inquiry. "He'll be fine. He's just going to need a few more sutures. Spock got the worst of it, but he should be right as rain in another week or two." He gestured to one of the staff standing nearby. "Nurse Glazer, would you please revive Mr. Spock?" The male nurse quickly retrieved a hypospray and pressed it to the unconscious Vulcan's neck. Just a few seconds later, Spock began to stir.

Jim Kirk turned his gaze on his second officer. "Commander, I assume you'll live as well?" he said, with a cocked eyebrow. For a moment, Vanessa almost wondered if he was disappointed about that possibility.

"Yes, sir," Vanessa replied, as McCoy finished attending to her wound. She slowly sat up and tugged her tunic back down across her freshly-repaired midsection.

Kirk glanced over at his first officer. "I understand Mr. Spock has you to thank for his life being spared." He turned back to look at Vanessa whose face now wore a look of surprise. "We were able to intermittently monitor what was happening on the surface," he explained. "Transmissions were pretty spotty, but we did receive loud and clear the part where Mr. Spock ordered you to retreat with the rest of the away team and you ignored him."

Kirk's face was hard as he considered the woman before him. "That's a very serious offense, Commander. You ignored a direct order from a superior officer during a crisis situation."

Vanessa swallowed hard. She knew she had to face the fallout she had earned. She had never in her life disobeyed an order from her commanding officer, but she wasn't sorry. She slid off the biobed and attempted to stand up as straight as she possibly could. "Yes, sir," she said. "I take full responsibility for my actions. And I accept any consequences for them."

Kirk stepped closer and leaned in toward her. For some reason, Vanessa couldn't help but notice how very blue his eyes were. She braced herself.

"Well, I guess I can't be too hard on you for helping return my first officer in one piece," he finally said. "After all, with Spock gone, that honor would have fallen to you. And I don't know that I like you nearly as much as I like Spock." It was obvious he was struggling to keep a straight face.

"Sir?" Vanessa could barely contain her surprise. "I must insist that I…."

Jim Kirk broke into a wide grin and a small laugh escaped his throat. "Commander," he said patiently, as if he were explaining something to a five-year-old, "I think we've all had enough excitement for the day. What you did was very brave. Stupid, but brave. And I'm sure Mr. Spock will be glad to buy you a beer, or Vulcan tea, or whatever it is he drinks, to say thank you. I'll say thank you as well. And we'll leave it at that."

Vanessa's surprise was complete. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," she managed to get out.

Kirk turned back to his groggy Vulcan friend and slapped him on his uninjured leg. "Okay, Mr. Spock, I expect you back at your station in approximately ten minutes." He turned a serious look toward his first officer.

Through his woozy state, a look of confused alarm crossed Spock's face. "Captain, while I shall make every effort to…" he began, slurring his words.

"Spock," Kirk said with a wide smile. "I'm kidding. Rest up." Then he turned and addressed the entire room. "Good work, everyone," he announced. "Carry on." And with that, Jim Kirk walked out of the Med Bay.

Vanessa could have sworn she heard a fawning female sigh from somewhere in the room as the Captain took his leave, but she was still mentally replaying his words to her so she couldn't be sure. She couldn't believe Kirk wasn't going to so much as slap her on the wrist. Any other Starfleet captain would at the very least have chewed her out for not following a direct order in a crisis situation.

And yet Kirk's response amounted to little more than a shrug of his well-built shoulders. There was a lot going on around the Enterprise that Vanessa felt she didn't fully understand yet, but one thing was becoming abundantly clear.

Jim Kirk wasn't like any Starfleet captain she had ever known.

Uhura glanced over and noticed the look on Vanessa's face. She knew exactly what the Operations Chief was thinking.

Uhura smiled. "Welcome to the Enterprise," she said.