Chapter Five – Where No Man Has Gone Before

Suddenly a red dot appeared on the soldier's chest closest to McCoy and a millisecond later a sniper's bullet savagely ripped into his body. The second soldier was instantly blown away, McCoy's eyes flashed in the direction of the bright tracers, he dived back and grabbed Fallon pulling her to him as two more charging soldiers were nailed by the sniper. The thirty-five remaining troops panicked and fired into the direction of the sniper fire. Boyo, the young sniper was unfazed. He steadied his rifle on a tree branch and continued to smoothly fire away creating havoc down below.

McCoy grabbed Fallon and put her into the armoured Jeep and fired it up.

"Spock, grab Kirk! We need to get the hell out of here!"

"Let's get the fuck outta here!" Kirk screamed from the rear of the Jeep.

"Indeed Captain." Spock answered.

McCoy sped towards the gate while Boyo laid cover fire. The young man still remained cool under fire and with a watchmaker's precision, nailing soldiers even as they ran full stride in every direction. McCoy, Fallon, Kirk and Spock were barrelling towards the main gate as soldiers at the far end of the camp fired at the Jeep. Boyo jumped out of the growth and was illuminated by the Jeep's headlights, jumping in they sped off into the darkness.

As the rain lightened up, the Jeep's engine, riddled with bullets finally burst into flames. McCoy whipped the Jeep to the side and they all piled out. They raced through the shaded terrain, knowing that the soldiers would be searching for them. Trudging through the muddy land, in the distance they could hear tracking dogs barking. They arrived at the caves McCoy had passed on the way in and made it to the entrance. McCoy turned to Boyo.

"If I can I'll meet you down the river." McCoy tore the lower portion of Fallon's shirt. "We need a diversion, the dogs will be following your scent, let them follow me." He tied the strip around his ankle. "You should be able to make it in three hours. Stay together no matter what, get back, understand?"

"Bones no, they're must be another way?" Kirk was incredulous, this couldn't be happening.

"The Captain is correct Doctor McCoy, we have not calculated all possible scenarios." Even Spock looked strained at the idea being put before them.

"Why can't we all go together?" Fallon asked desperately.

"I'll see you at the river." McCoy replied, he looked at Kirk and Spock who silently understood and nodded. Fallon hugged him then, with great tenderness, though brief, McCoy savoured the moment. The four of them moved rapidly up the small stream bed, running through the jungle, McCoy paused when he heard the dogs, then sped away, moving gracefully through the growth.

Boyo dropped to one knee and studied an intended target in the distance. The dog handler's animal's progress was halted as Fallon's scent was identified. Emitting a howl of recognition, the beast took off at a ninety degree angle.

Boyo studied the computer read out, then opened the tripod legs of the rifle and sunk into position. The clouds were darkening above the forest's double canopy. McCoy climbed out of the caves ascending the towering slope as the troops approached below.

The howling dog rushed into the caves.

Fallon, Kirk and Spock were rushing towards the river, exhausted they helped each other along.

"You wanna live, move it!" Fallon shouted at the other two. They continued on, falling on each other and helping each other through the thick undergrowth.

Ghut and his group of twenty soldiers headed in the direction of the explosion. He paused and picked up the comm.

"Do you read?! Come in!" He shouted.

McCoy was running along the jungle track, the tracking dogs and a group of soldiers picked up Fallon's scent and charged off in that direction. Traveling down a winding path he sprinted past the waterfall they had passed on the way in.

The longboat was motoring along the shoreline to the designated extraction point. The tracking dogs were hot on McCoy's tail. Fallon ran along the fringes of the burnt out village and past the lethally mined rice paddy.

The tracking dog tugged wildly then suddenly pulled up short and frantically circled, then began howling at a massive object. The soldiers stared at the vine-covered unexploded 12,000 pound bomb. The dog pawed wildly at an area near the nose of the bomb. A soldier reached into a slight indentation in the earth near the front. McCoy was still running away from the bomb area, a soldier held up the piece of Fallon's shirt that had been tied to McCoy's ankle. He yelled at his fellow soldiers and then angrily threw the cloth to the ground. Panting, McCoy pulled up and stared hard at the ridge line.

"Shoot!" He said to himself.

Boyo put the scope's cross hairs centre on the bomb and fired. The slug hit the metal monster, ringing out sharply in the silent jungle. The soldiers dropped to the ground and began to fire wildly in the direction they believed the shot emanated from. Another bullet loudly gouged the bomb's corroded metal casing. Another crack of the sniper's rifle was heard, and again the loud metallic clang of an armour piercing bullet ripped into the ancient bomb reverberating around the soldiers. Nothing. The soldiers realised what Boyo was attempting to do and yelled to run for their lives. A screaming bullet bore into the bomb and the massive monster finally roared to life and exploded with colossal force. McCoy, still running, paused upon hearing the hellish explosion. Suddenly, behind him, a hot wind kicked up and a massive boiling cloud of dust and dirt rushed toward him. He huddled behind the base of a tree as the remnants of the explosion roared past like a deadly express train.

Fallon and the others stopped cold when they heard the thunderous explosion.

"Come on!" Kirk showed no sign of emotion, inside his heart was being ripped from his chest. Fallon's expression drained, knowing for certain that McCoy was dead. Spock almost picked her up and continued on their way.

"Noooooo!" She shouted, she grabbed Kirk's collar and frantically stared into his eyes. "We have to do something!" She screamed into his face. Kirk seized her wrists to stop her from beating his chest. Fallon knew of course there was nothing any of them could do. She silently stopped her protestations, let go of Kirk and turned away. Kirk messily wiped away the tear that had formed at the corner of his eye.

Ghut and his troops whipped around upon hearing the incredible roar. He yelled into his comm, he commanded his men to continue towards the river.

The longboat was waiting, they had also heard the explosion, the pair of snake catchers exchanged nervous glances. Ghut continued on, McCoy was rushing through the jungle toward the river's edge, totally exhausted, he momentarily dropped to one knee. Boyo cradled his weapon as he rushed to the river. On board the longboat, the snake catchers saw Fallon, Kirk and Spock approaching in the distance. They were a hundred-and-fifty yards away from the longboat when suddenly the crack of a rifle was heard. The branches ten feet to the right of Fallon broke off.

Ghut and his company of thirty soldiers appeared. They fired at the fleeing woman and two Star Fleet officers, only the dense growth of the jungle saved them. Exhausted Fallon ran and stumbled her way to the boat, Kirk and Spock were close behind. One of the snake hunters jumped into the river to help. Ghut bellowed for his troops to continue forward. Suddenly gunfire erupted from the soldier's flank, several of them dying instantly, forty Qazvin rebels suddenly burst out of the undergrowth. The rag-tag rebels unleashed all their firepower from their vastly inferior rifles.

With his strength waning fast, Boyo put in his final clip and fired at Ghut's soldiers. McCoy ran towards the fire fight. Ghut ordered his men to battle harder! They did.

The snake catchers helped the exhausted Fallon, Kirk and Spock on board, they all collapsed on the deck. Several bullets hit the side of the boat, the snake catchers panicked and shoved the boat into gear, pulling out. Fallon, realising what was happening pulled herself up and towards to the two men.

"Where're you going!? You can't leave without him!" She shouted, rushing at the man at the helm she grabbed his arm.

"We can't leave! Wait for him! Wait!" She tried to take the rudder handle away from the man. "We have to leave together! We're leaving together!" He pushed her to the floor where she lay drained.

In full warrior mode, McCoy charged up behind the nearest soldier and impaled him with a knife he'd grabbed from one of the soldiers. In all the noisy confusion, no other soldier noticed McCoy's presence. He moved swiftly to the next soldier, then the next. McCoy charged at Ghut with reckless abandon, Ghut whipped around and a split second before he could pull the trigger of his gun, McCoy's bloodied knife slashed through his neck. McCoy's momentum sent him crashing to the ground. Exhausted, he raised his eyes only to see Ghut's headless body slowly crumble to earth.

A Bhu'raq'shma boat suddenly appeared around the bend and opened fire on the longboat. The top of the boat was shredded into splinters by the army boat's front mounted machine gun. The two men were instantly killed. Rapid gunfire continued to shred the wood inches above Fallon's head. All she could do was scream, scream for what was happening and scream for what had happened. In the end her voice gave out, looking up she made eye contact with Spock. She had never seen fear in the eyes of a Vulcan, in that moment she wanted to die.

The boat then turned and opened fire on the rebels. McCoy got to his feet, his heart sinking, he knew that Fallon and the others must have been killed, they never would have made it. He snatched up a dead soldier's rifle and aimed, before he could pull the trigger he heard the loud crack of a rifle shot. Into view came the figure of Frank Edwards, McCoy stared hard at the figure who had just eliminated the last of the enemy. He could see Fallon, Kirk and Spock.

Fallon had obviously seen him also, she jumped over the side of the boat and began wading through the water towards McCoy. He began to make his way to her also.

"Enough bullshit, get close and pick 'em up." Frank spoke around the cigar hanging from his mouth.

The vessel swung to shore, Fallon and McCoy met half way with tears of joy and exhaustion in both their eyes, she embraced him hard. McCoy couldn't move, she pulled away and looked at him questioningly. He finally enfolded her in his arms and in their tight embrace, neither one wanted to let go.

Day Nine

Large crowds rushed to and fro in the neighbouring village. Spock was talking to one of the village elders, Kirk sat quietly watching the Star Fleet officers that had travelled down in a shuttle to escort them back. McCoy stood with Fallon, he stared hard at her, as if trying to find words to express himself.

McCoy caught sight of Boyo in the distance, the man had done so much for them. Walking over Boyo took a sip of his beer, offering some to McCoy.

"We got her out." He said.

"We got them all out." McCoy countered.

"Yeah right, well, I'll be seein' ya'." Raising his hand McCoy saluted the young soldier, an unspeakable bond between to the two of them. Boyo smied, raised his glass of beer at McCoy and walked away.

"What are you thinkin'?" Fallon asked from behind.

"It's nothin'." McCoy answered. Fallon felt like a knife was being stabbed through her heart, he looked at her in such an unfeeling way. She couldn't help the sob escape her lips. McCoy made his way over to Kirk. "Come on Jim, time to go home."

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