For author's note and disclaimer, see chapter 1

Chapter 3

The alarm cut through the deep sleep he found himself in and Jim gave a grunt in displeasure. Bringing up his fists over his chest he rolled his shoulders and stretched out his elbows with a yawn.

"Ow!" the grunt as one arm was stopped short by a solid object startled him fully awake in a second. "Well, that's gonna get old real fast," McCoy gave him an unhappy look as the doctor rubbed his chest.

"Sorry about that," he pushed himself up with a sheepish smile. "I really thought I had this down."

"Which part, the keeping people up all night by snoring, or the beating your bedmate up in the morning?" McCoy drawled unhappily.

"You know, if you moved once in a while yourself, or at least made a sound, maybe I wouldn't forget you were there," he felt too well rested to take the complaints to heart, but it was true. McCoy was so still and quiet it was honestly easy to forget he was even there.

"Next time you snore, you'll see how well I move," McCoy drawled as he climbed out of bed, giving a shiver as the cold air hit his skin. "Blast it all, any colder in here and we'll be breeding polar bears."

"Highly unlikely doctor, as we would need a pair first to even contemplate breeding," Spock retorted as he came back in from the bathroom. Just like the previous day he was already awake and by the look of it Jim would be guessing he had actually been up for a while. The air was cold though. Either it was colder than it had been the day before or it just felt that way.

"I'll place a call to Scotty and ask how the repairs are going," Jim decided.

Pausing by the door to the small bathroom McCoy turned halfway around. "Tell him I wanna see the lot of them come by sickbay later. If they're gonna be holed up down there, I want to have them by for a check up at least every other day."

"Alright, I'll tell him," Jim promised. While he waited for his turn he simply took out a clean uniform tunic. They were going to have to save on the cleaning, a clean each day would be a luxury they would soon be denied. Rotating them and airing them out in between was the next best thing to clean, though he wondered if McCoy and Spock had enough of them with them to be able to do that. Neither one of them really had any access to their quarters, seeing as how they were cut off in the section with no heat and no life support. Which meant that though there might have been some atmosphere it was now a very low oxygen content and ice cold. One would not be able to go there without an EV suit, which he knew for a fact Bones would not want to put on.

After a less than satisfactory meal of coffee and a nutrient bar, choked down mostly because of the threatening look McCoy gave him he headed to the bridge with Spock. Why he should be so scared of the ship's surgeon was beyond him. He outranked him, and he was his friend, but when McCoy gave you those looks, the ones you knew meant a hypo was awaiting whenever the man felt like it, well, then it took a braver man than Jim Kirk to cross him. Well, he also had to admit that the man had a point. As vile as the meal substitute was, they all needed to eat if they were to keep their strength up, and if the Captain was caught skipping them, then even more of the crew would try and get away with it. If they did, it would not take long before the crew was on their knees.

No, this was a time they all needed to keep their strength up.

Sighing softly as he took his seat in the captain's chair he eyed the bridge. They were in bad shape and there was no denying it. Scorch marks on the bulkheads and floor where sparks had flown. So many of the consoles were gutted and striped. The chair he was sitting in was tilted just a little to one side, a squeak in it when he moved that should not be there and had never been there before.

Sighing softly he pressed the button on the armrest. "Captain to engineering."

"Engineering here Captain," Scotty's voice came back in a crackle, hiss and a pop.

"Status?" it was a vain hope that things would be looking up yet.

"Haven't got much to tell ye Captain," Scotty sounded regretful even through the distortion. "What little we got we got an' is stable enough at the moment. Long as we don't put more strain on it or nothing, but it's gonna be awhile before we got more for sure."

"Alright, just do what you can," he sighed softly. "By the way, McCoy wants everyone from engineering up for a quick check up."

"Well, I'll send the lads up, I canea say they'll be happy about it, but I'll have them up," Scott decided.

"Given the circumstances I have to agree with the doctor," Jim put in. He knew Scotty had sense enough to see it, but he also had to admit that McCoy's usual gruff manor could have adverse effects on the crew sometimes. Oh, he had seen the good doctor be more than gentle, jovial and kind to the crew, but he had an unnerving knack for sniffing out the ones who might just be tempted to play hooky at some point and put the fear of God in them before they even knew it themselves. "With the way things stand now, routine check ups and vitamin boosts aren't a bad idea," he finished.

"Aye, yer right about that Captain," Scott confirmed. "But just the same, I'd appreciate if ye put in a word with the good doctor not to scare them lads too bad. Ah need them doing their work down here so I do, not hiding in the bulkheads like a lost wraith..."

"I'll go there myself and make sure," he allowed a small laugh to escape him. Scott's easy going and warm manors compared to McCoy's scowls and shows of quick temper made them as unlikely friends as Spock and McCoy were, but just the same there was no doubt about. They were friends and they trusted each other infinitely. How often did not Scotty man the transponder just because he knew it made it easier for the doctor? Even if neither one would ever bring it up.

If there was also one thing that none of the ship would ever doubt it was McCoy's devotion to his patients and their health. Oh, there were plenty of complaints in the mess and at the workstation whenever someone had been to their routine examination. He had a strong feeling though that none of them would want to change surgeon with any of the other ships. They knew they were lucky to have him. The fact that he himself had specifically requested McCoy when he was made Captain of the Enterprise had surprised many. They had served on the same ship before then, and Bones had not been very popular, by the crew or by the captain.

Truth to be told he had not cared for the way they treated their doctor at all, speaking ill of him even though it was clear that the man did his job and did it well. The captain in Kirk's mind had done one fatal mistake, he had wanted and tried to demand that doctor McCoy would fit the recruitment poster, and the man just didn't. Trying to slap him down with rules and regulations wasn't going to work, Bones knew those as well as the captain did. Why a ships surgeon could count the regulations Jim had never quite figured out, but Bones was a quick study who seemed to retain any information he read and counted valuable. He knew the book and he knew when he could dispute the captain and how. The fact that the man himself discredited the work McCoy did, making light of it and to an extent even scorning him for it had really galled Jim even if McCoy himself seemed to shrug it off.

So when he got his transfer orders and was told he was getting the Enterprise, whose ship doctor was so old he had chosen retirement rather than a new captain, he hadn't hesitated for a second. He and McCoy were friends, if not of the depth they were now. He wanted McCoy and the other captain, more the fool he, wanted rid of the same Dr. McCoy which meant no one put in a word of objection to it. T hey transfered over to the Enterprise together, and while the first few encounters between the first officer and the surgeon had not been overly smooth the two of them had soon come to an understanding regarding one another.

Still smiling to himself he pressed the intercom button again. "Captain to Sickbay."

"Sickbay, McCoy here," the drawl came back. A note of something in his voice that Kirk could not discern at the moment.

"I just spoke to Scotty. You'll have his men coming up when he can manage it I guess. But he asked me to tell you not to scare them."

The snort that came back was clear and audible. "Supposed to be grown men, aren't they? Just make sure they come up, and I'll deal with them."

"And I think that's what they're worried about," Jim chuckled to himself. "Be nice Bones, remember, right now, they're our only hope for warmth and power."

"Captain, we haven't got any warmth down here to speak of," McCoy growled. Well that might explain a thing or two Kirk mused. Including the tenseness in his voice. "Temperature is so low I'm having to rotate everyone or they'd freeze to the floor. Any colder and we'll be finding polar bears in the cabinets."

"I see," the bridge was certainly on the slightly chilly side, and Bones was not a fan of the cold to put it lightly. It was hard to know sometimes if it was just the southerner missing the warm sun of Georgia, or something more serious. "Is it a problem Bones?"

"Not yet," the voice came back. "At least not one we can't handle. I don't need everyone down here full time, so I'm rotating them like I said. I've sent everyone I don't need to the mess to wait. Just don't come down here and rant about uniform regulations and we'll be managing I suppose."

"Alright," Jim nodded slowly. That sounded like something that could very well develop into a problem even if it was not one now. "You got my explicit permission to disregard uniform regulations as much as you want. Well being of the crew comes first, we'll worry about the rest when we can afford to."

"Understood sir, McCoy out," it might have been an acknowledgment but this was one time when Jim knew his permission had been symbolic. McCoy wouldn't have his staff suffer for regulations if he could help it, and pity the captain who stepped on his toes about it. The fool who tried would have his hands full of a very angry country doctor, and that was not someone Jim Kirk would want to tangle with.

He looked over his shoulder as sparks flew, noting that Spock was working on the panel and everything seemed to be in order. As much as a bridge torn and gutted could be in order that was. They were hurting and they were torn up, but they were managing.

TBC

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