CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR

Captain Kirk walked into sickbay and immediately headed towards Dr. McCoy. The doctor stood next to the biobed occupied by the injured ensign, When Kirk got closer, he could see that Ensign Scaefer was awake and talking to McCoy. Kirk smiled, as he knew that was a good sign. It meant no serious head injury from the high fall. "How is he Bones?"

"Well, he has a broken arm, leg and ankle plus a slight concussion. I already fixed him up, but I want him to stay here in Sickbay for a few days of observation. Head wounds are tricky, but it looks like he'll be fine." Dr. McCoy grinned. It made him happy when he was able to help injured crewmembers.

Ensign Scaefer gazed up at Kirk, hero worship clear in his blue eyes. An expression of awe formed on his face and he tried to comb his tossled hair with his fingers. He tried to sit up but Bones pushed him back down. Scaefer had never meet his Captain before and he was obviously excited.

"At ease, Ensign. Can you tell me what happened?" Kirk asked.

"I was going to the lab to start my duty shift." Ensign Scaefer told Kirk. "I needed to read more information disks. I was so excited when the landing party found that new type of protoplasm! I reached the lab a bit early, as I was really eager to start working! I could hardly sleep last night at all. I couldn't believe I'm the first person in the whole galaxy to study that new protoplasm! And it was different than other ones; it had a unique chemical arrangement inside itself that I had never seen before. That's why I needed to read all of those disks, although I'm sure if I had read about that arrangement before I would have remembered it. I just LOVE protoplasms!"

"Ensign!" Kirk interrupted Scaefer. "I'm glad you love your work here on the Enterprise, but this is a serious matter. Just tell me what happened."

Scaefer's face grew red in embarrassment. "Oh, I'm sorry Captain! It's just that when I get talking about protoplasms I get carried away. And that gray one was so large! This morning I came to work and walked into the lab. But I fell because the floor was gone! I was so scared when I started to fall and it really hurt a lot when I landed. I never felt such terrible pain before. I guess I'm lucky I fell only one floor, I mean it could have been five floors or all the way to Engineering! Who really knows? But it's so odd, don't you think? The floor vanishing like that? Say, do you know where it went because if you do you could put it back. That would be really nice because then I can resume my duties, once I get released that is. Dr. McCoy here is worried about head injuries and I totally agree. Why, did you know that..."

Kirk and Bones backed away from the biobed and headed into McCoy's office. Once they were safely inside and the door closed, Kirk spoke. "Are you sure his head is OK?"

"I'm sure. In fact, that proves it." McCoy sat down behind his desk and turned on his computer. "He always talks like that whenever he can corner someone. Apparently he spends too much time alone in the science lab and not enough time socializing. So I guess he goes a bit overboard. It's just his personality, Jim." McCoy grew more serious as his pale blue eyes focused on the captain. "Exactly what DID happen in that lab, Jim? Because crewmembers falling distances like that is not funny! We're just lucky he wasn't killed!"

Kirk paced up and back in the small office. He stopped to stare at a pile of computer disks on McCoy's desk. "I wish I knew, Bones. Scotty said it's acid damage. My gut tells me we brought something up from Vierna Four. A microbe, a virus, something...and now its loose on my ship! It might even be Scaefer's protoplasm. But we won't know until we learn more. Until then, you better keep Sickbay ready for more injured crew members. This thing might strike again before we can stop it."

"All right. But you be careful, Jim." Bones told him as the captain headed out the door. Dr. McCoy sat in his office by himself and shook his head. "Of all of the stupid things he had to bring a floor-eating thing aboard!"

As Kirk stepped out of Bone's office back into Sickbay, Ensign Scaefer called him. Kirk walked over to him. "Yes, Ensign?"

"I just wanted to ask if Sam survived." Scaefer said.

"Sam?" Kirk asked in confusion. Was there someone else in the lab?

"The gray protoplasm." Scaefer explained.

"I don't know, Ensign." Kirk replied. He patted the ensign on his shoulder and headed out the door. As he headed towards the turbolift that would take him to the Bridge, Kirk thought of Sam the Protoplasm. He realized that it might be possible for the missing floor. It was, after all, from the planet. Kirk entered the turbolift and pounded his fist on the wall. He had been so stupid! He never should have allowed Spock to bring the gray slime onto his ship! Kirk hit the intercom and called the Bridge. "Spock, I want you to do an internal senser sweep of the entire ship. Look for that gray protoplasm. I think it may be responsible for the disaster in the lab."

"Right away, Captain." Spock replied.

"Kirk out." Kirk said "Bridge". and the turbolift began to move. The square little window flashed white as the turbolift hummed. The lift moved into the vertical track as it continued towards the bridge. Kirk was thrown against one of the walls as the entire lift tilted sideways. A loud groaning filled the air.

Kirk tried to crawl towards the intercom on the wall. Just as his fingers were about to brush over it, the car tilted the other way. Kirk slid across the floor and smashed into the opposite wall. He reached up and tightly gripped the metal railing inside the turbolift. Just then the car started to drop rapidly down the shaft in free fall and Kirk's body was thrown upward. His feet left the floor as all gravity vanished from the plunging lift car. Still clinging to the railing, Kirk traveled hand over hand until he reached the intercomm. "Emergency stop! Computer, stop this turbolift now!"

"Computer unable to stop this turbolift at this time." The computer calmy told him.

"Spock! The turbolift is falling! The computer can't stop it. Do something!" Kirk screamed.

Author's note: I'll try to post a new part everyday but I'm working on 2 other stories, too. I hope you can understand that. And I rarely write on Saturday, as that's my day to relax and watch my fav shows. Be assured I'll get all the chapters up on this story – but don't panic if I don't post every day. I can't always stay up to 2 or 3 AM writing my fics.