Chapter Eleven

Spock couldn't get his mind around what had just been relayed to him. He had seen the reports with his own eyes. The reports had been very thorough, or as thorough as they could where the matter of 'death by black hole vaporization' was concerned. As far as everyone was concerned, George Kirk was dead. There was no possible way for any human being to survive driving a ship into the heart of, not only the black hole, but another alien ship. Nero wasn't someone to be trifled with. None of the Romulans were. Spock knew that from experience unfortunately.

"Leonard," he commed back, only to get a buzz of static in response. "Doctor, do you read me? Repeat your last com message."

The terse voice of the doctor soon came through as he replied, "Clean out your pointy ears and listen. I'm with Jim and his father. Jim seems to be in some kind of comatose state at the moment though."

So not only had George Kirk been found alive, but the Captain didn't seem to be very well off either. Slouching back in the chair a bit, Spock found himself staring somewhat distantly at the screen before him that showed the distanting planet/ship in front of them. Lieutenant Nyota Uhura noticed Commander Spock's slouched position in the captain's chair, taking steps over to stand behind him. She placed a hand gently on the back of the chair; her slender fingers wrapping about the back of the chair. Bending, she softly pressed a kiss to Spock's temple. The sudden display of affection from the lieutenant snapped Spock out of whatever trance he had allowed himself to settle into.

"We must act proper while on the bridge, Lieutenant," said Spock softly, turning his head slightly to make eye contact with her as she stood back up straight, dropping her hand from off the back of the chair.

"A kiss is not improper, commander," responded Uhura in the same sort of tone that Spock had spoken to her. A small pout crossed her lips then and she took a few steps back from the chair, "Besides, I was merely trying to show you support. You looked as if something was troubling you."

"Nothing is troubling me, Lieutenant, but it is kind of you to show such concern for my well being. I was just merely thinking about the best course of action to take in light of recent news."

"Recent news?" A pale look came over Uhura's face, and taking a few steps forward again to be near Spock's side so as not to let any news spread yet, she bent to whisper in his ear, "Is it about the Captain?"

"The news pertains to the captain, yes..."

Seeing the sick look continue to reside upon the Lieutenant's features, Spock was quick to amend what he had just said.

"Not about the captain's well being. The captain is still alive, if not a bit bad off. Leonard is taking care of that."

A small sigh escaped Uhura's lips then as she stood back up straight.

"That's good..." she whispered. She wouldn't want to think that the captain had died trying to steal a folder with classified information of some sort. "What is it then?"

"It appears as if Commander George Kirk is still among the living," said Spock then before trying to connect with Leonard again. "Doctor, are you there?"

"No, you have reached the answering machine of Leonard McCoy...of course I'm here. Where would I have gone?"

"How is the Captain fairing?"

"Uncertain right now. It would help if I was allowed time to work."

"Time is one thing you don't have, doctor," said Spock. "Turn your beacon on, and I will see if we are able to beam you all back aboard the ship."

Silence reigned over the communication line for a moment before Spock heard something he hadn't been expecting.

"The beacon is busted. Jim seems to have eaten it."

He couldn't believe those words had left his mouth, but they were indeed true. On top of having stumbled across Jim's living and breathing father and a comatose Jim slouched against the wall, he had to look at his beacon to see that creature Jim had chewed a hole in it.

"You good for nothing fur ball!" shouted Bones, watching as creature Jim, which had followed him out of the shafts, 'squeed' and moved off into the shadows of the room.

George, meanwhile, stayed a little ways back, surveying all the fallen white suited beings on the ground. After Bones had discovered Jim lying against the wall near the door with a bag over his head, he had been right by his side. George watched the man attend to his son, trying to get him to come about again.

"What did you do to him?" asked Bones then, turning briefly to look over his shoulder at George.

"I gave him an injection to subdue him and to play up a cover story. It'll wear off. Trust me. I know from experience."

"My apologies, but it's hard for me to trust a dead man," responded Bones as he snapped his fingers in front of Jim's face, trying to get him to focus on his face.

Jim's head continued to loll back and forth as his blue eyes continued to look frosted over. He made eye contact with Bones briefly before his head dropped off to the side again. The injection was taking its toll on his body. He wasn't used to it, and he had been administered it several times in the course of an hour. Bones cursed under his breath as he tried to rack his brain for something to do. With the beacon broken and no hope of getting back on the Enterprise anytime soon in sight, he knew that he would have to be thrifty if he had any hope of waking Jim from whatever spell he seemed to be under.

"Get over here," said Bones gruffly to George as Bones once again turned to look at him over his shoulder. "You're gonna help me out."

Wanting to help his son, he moved to kneel down beside Bones. You could see a range of emotions wash over George's face at looking at his son.

"I honestly didn't think his body would react in this way. I didn't..."

"You didn't think," agreed Bones. "Lets just leave it at that for now, alright?"

George just nodded his head as he folded his hands in his lap, looking down at them. Bones cast him a sideways glance before letting out a long sigh. He knew that he was being short with a man that had no doubt been living under tense conditions.

"Thanks for saving my life, by the way..." remarked Bones softly to make up for how short he had just been. "Who knows what would have happened to me if they got me."

A brief smile flicked across George's face as he lifted his head and looked at Bones, nodding.

"You're welcome. You're James' friend."

Before Bones could reply, the familiar sound of static sounded in his eardrums again. Spock was still trying to get heard as he asked once more in his ear, "What do you mean Jim ate the beacon?" Sighing once more, he reached up to remove the device from his ear and hand it to George.

"Talk to the acting captain right now, would you? I'm kind of busy trying to get Jim here to focus..."

Bringing up a hand, Bones slapped Jim across the face. All he ended up getting as a result of that was a low moan from Kirk's lips as his head flew the other way.

"Come on, man..." begged Bones, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. "Snap out of it. We need to get out of here."

"Bones..." whispered Jim then as George had just finished rigging up the com device to his own ear. Jim's frosty blues locked with Bone's eyes. "You doin' rescue missions now?"

"Under Spock's command, it would appear so..." muttered Bones before gently slapping Jim's cheek repeatedly. "Just stay with me, Jim...Snap out of it."

Jim just moaned along to what Bones was saying, flicking his gaze to George a few feet away from him. After a few minutes of staring at his father, he turned his gaze back to Bones. Though he wasn't fully ready to lead a charge out of here yet, he knew that he would have to, but first he had to figure out what was going on and locate the file they had come to get in the first place. For now, Bones was keeping him lying against the wall, and he was forced to while Bones looked him over. Jim resigned himself to falling back into a light sleep of sorts over watching George play with the com device. At least the father in his head was familiar.