Chapter 4

That stupid away mission was in the past, the crew's lives were back to normal. They now were exploring around an unmapped zone. Kirk was in the captain's chair, reading and signing reports, bored. All the bridge crew almost got out their chairs when the ship stopped, suddenly, jumping out of warp.

"What just happened, Sulu," asked the captain, alarmed.

"I don't know, captain, we've been pulled out warp for some reason. The controls are normal."

"Mr Spock, the sensors picking up anything?" Asked Kirk, turning around to be able to see the commander.

"The sensors are not be able to see anything, captain," replied Spock.

"Keptin, look at ze screen, something iz approaching us," Reported Chekov.

They all turned to face the screen. In front of them there was a light, a pulsing one, approaching the ship.

"Sulu, red alert. All the shields up, please," Commanded Kirk, moving next to Sulu to have a better view of the readings.

There was a flash, temporarily blinding everyone.

"Sulu the shields!" said Kirk in a hurried tone. And then a beam hit the captain, right in the stomach, and the light outside in the space, vanished.

Everybody screamed at the now flying man. A set of "Captain!", "Kirk!" and the loudest one, "JIM!", erupted from the bridge crew.

But the man heard nothing around him. Just a soft voice, coming from nowhere, stating, "You are a remarkable person. Your love is incalculable. The bond is strong. We gift you of the most valuable prize. Farewell, James Tiberius Kirk."

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the crew witness the captain hit the floor, near his chair. They stayed astonished for few seconds, and then burst in action. Spock started barking orders.

"Lt Uhura, call med bay and have them here in 5 minutes, stat. Mr Chekov, scan the area for that light. Mr Sulu, damage report," All the while, Spock was approaching his injured husband. He went immediately to check for a pulse. It was there, a little too high for a human, but it was there. Waiting for answers, Spock started assessing Jim's visible injuries. There was single burn, in his middle, under the navel. He couldn't see anything else.

The crew replied to the commands, "Zhe light iz gone, sir." "No damage to the ship." "Dr McCoy is on the way. All decks report no casualties or injuries." At least the ship was okay, Spock thought. That will calm Jim. In that very moment, the turbo lift opened, and the doctor came through.

"What the hell just happened?" A quick search around the bridge told him where the medical emergency was: Jim. Again. He rushed to his best friend, tricorder already working, trying to understand.

He looked the Vulcan in the eyes and, like a mind reader… "We were taken of the warp for an unknown reason. A light came forward us, and a beam struck the captain. We know nothing else, doctor."

"High pressure, high heartbeat, second degree burn. Nothing else. This should work for the moment, until I can work on the burn." And he hypoed the captain.

Moments later, the man came around.

"Urgh. That, I didn't ask for. Spock, what's our condition?" Trying to get up, with some help from both McCoy and Spock.

"The ship is fine, captain, no damage to her or the crew. You seem to be the only one injured."

"Terrific, Spock. Thank you."

"You're coming with me Jim. You don't feel anything right now due to the hypo I gave you, but you have a third degree burns on you, and I need to treat it now before it gets infected."

"Oh. Ok, Bones. Can't disagree this time. Spock, you have the conn."

It took McCoy three hours to treat the burn. Everything else was fine, so he had to let the captain go back to work.

Despite the initial fright, the event was soon forgotten by the crew, and once again, life on board returned to normal.

Diplomatic meetings, some researches, all passed by. So, a couple months later, the Enterprise crew got a 7 day shore leave on Star base 12, for some repairing for the ship and rest for the crew.

"Spock, we are docked and off duty, what are you doing?" Asked Jim, leaning on his husband's chair in their quarters. "We have got the next 3 days free, are you going to work, leaving me all by myself?"

"No, my T'hy'la. I am not currently working; I am just sending out a form I needed to sign."

"Good, love, because I have other ideas on what to do before landing." And so, Jim got closer to his husband's neck, biting it lightly. That make Spock to turn around, taking his husband in his lap. Jim yelped, happily, landing a soft kiss on his lips.

"Shall we move this to the bed, love? Please!"

"Of course, ashayam."