Chapter Three
Everyone on the ship was on edge from the moment they dropped out of warp, but no one more so than the staff in Sickbay.
McCoy fumbled with the medical equipment and swore more than usual. A lesser head nurse would have ordered McCoy back to his quarters, but not even Nurse Chapel could give the order. When the Captain did make it aboard the Enterprise, the Sickbay will be the first place he goes to, for one of two reasons. Either because he needed to find his 'Bones' or because he was wounded.
Either way, Sickbay needed McCoy.
A message beeped through to Christine's PADD and she scanned it quickly.
'Doctor McCoy.' Her voice rang out sharply and he looked up from his dermal regenerator and medkit. 'Engineer Scott just sent word ahead. They're bringing… he's coming straight here.'
'Anyone who's not skeleton crew or bleeding out, get out of my sickbay.' McCoy barked.
He needn't have bothered. The sickbay was already mostly empty. The only patients, with minor injuries, had already been transferred to the secondary infirmary on deck 6. By all rights, the Medical Bay had already been reserved for their Captain.
McCoy's hands shook as he packed up his medkit and slung a satchel onto his shoulder, as if he was ready to run out and meet them halfway and was just waiting for the order.
The doors slid open and McCoy was there in an instant. Jim was limip and slung between the engineer and Lieutenant Commander, his head lolled forward onto his chest.
'Jim.' McCoy choked out, cradling his head carefully. With the pad of his thumbs, he lifted Jim's eyelids, getting no reaction from the unconscious man.
'What happened?' McCoy demanded, dragging his hands back, detaching himself from the moment so he could do his job.
'Commander Birkson over there decided to get a little phaser-happy.' Scotty said, not even bothering to disguise his anger.
Birkson was nonplussed. 'You'll understand when he wakes up. Doctor, where are your quarantine rooms?'
Without a word, McCoy transferred the responsibility of carrying Jim from Birkson to his own shoulders, not trusting the stranger. He didn't fail to notice the fact that he could see each and every rib under the scarred skin. Jim was unnaturally light as the two of them carried him to the steel-walled isolation room.
'You're going to need to clear out everything.' Birkson ordered, gesturing at the biobed and medical equipment. McCoy didn't answer; he was carefully laying Jim down on the narrow bed, so Chapel stepped in.
'Commander Birkson,' she began, with an air of civility, 'that equipment is essential for providing medical care for Captain Kirk. I don't know how things work in your quadrant of the galaxy, but on this ship, we take care of our patients.'
'Excuse me, nurse.' Birkson practically sneered the title. 'Perhaps you should be aware that I was the one who discovered your so-called Captain and received a broken jaw for my efforts. So if you had any sense at all, you'd follow my instructions and-'
Something inside McCoy snapped. Maybe it was the sight of his best friend shivering and scarred, or the harsh words of the Lieutenant he was dimly registering, but something made McCoy draw to his full height and turn on the nearest target.
'I'm sure that a fine officer such as yourself is well aware of Starfleet protocols. As such, you know that I am the Commanding Medical Officer on this ship.' McCoy spat. 'I have responsibility to protect my crew, my staff and my captain. As this is a medical situation, I outrank you in every possible way. I can and will disregard your orders unless you have a reason behind it. Believe me, the fact that you were the one who found Jim is the only reason I haven't ordered you off my ship though the nearest airlock.' He was level with Birkson now, eye to eye and the challenge hanging heavily in the air.
'If you would let me explain, Doctor,' Birkson began, 'you would know that-'
'McCoy.' A Scottish accent barked. 'He's waking up.'
McCoy was at the side of the biobed instantly. He leant over the twitching form, calling his name.
Jim's eyes snapped open, pupils blown so wide they almost consumed the blue irises. His legs lashed out, colliding with McCoy's gut. He grunted, pulled back from the bed and doubled over. Jim rolled off the bed, crouching behind it as a barrier between him and the others.
'Jim!' McCoy wheezed. Birkson started forward and with a primal scream, Jim launched the biobed over.
The resounding crash made all three other men step backwards. Electronics and the steel frame cracked, medical equipment shattered. Thousands of shards of glass spread across the floor, but Jim didn't notice it as he scrambled on his bare feet.
'Jim, stop it!' McCoy called, fumbling with his satchel to prepare a hypospray. 'You're okay, Jim. You're safe.'
Jim didn't hear him, either because he was blocking the noise or the blood rush in his ears drowned him out.
'Jim, what's wrong with you?' McCoy demanded, one hand outstretched while the other loaded a sedative.
Dazed and confused, Jim took the movement to be threatening and launched himself at McCoy. He knocked him to the ground and the hypo clattered on the floor.
Jim grabbed McCoy's forearm and placed the other hand on his shoulder. With a sharp shove, McCoy felt his shoulder pop out of place with a sickening crunch. His arm went limp and Jim snarled.
Jim's head snapped to the side as Scotty shoved the hypospray into his neck. He fought against it for a moment, his limbs moving sluggishly and McCoy suffering a few weak punches. Once the drug had pumped its way around his entire body, Jim slumped forward.
McCoy heaved upwards, dragging Jim with him. His right arm hung limply and his shoulder throbbed with sharp pain. Scotty moved to help him stand. The long, thin metal bench where medical equipment had been resting was swept clear in Jim's rage. It was hardly even a bunk, but there was no way McCoy would lay him on the cold ground with the bloodstained glass.
'Doctor McCoy.' A voice spoke from the doorway. Spock's locked jaw and narrow eyes betrayed his even voice. His gold uniform stood in stark contrast from his pale skin and sterile Sickbay behind him.
McCoy clutched the bicep of his wounded arm, tucking it close to his body as he moved towards the doorway.
'Clean that up.' He barked an order at the male nurse. 'Get rid of the knife and anything not bolted down.'
With single-minded purpose, McCoy marked past the few people gathered outside the quarantine room. He grabbed a low level pain medication and injected himself.
'Little help?' he muttered, gesturing at his shoulder.
Spock understood and stood behind him, placing both hands on either side of the doctor's shoulder. Without warning, he forced the dislocated joint back into place. McCoy groaned at the sharp pain but felt relieved to be able to move his arm again.
'What happened to him?' Uhura whispered.
Most of the alpha bridge crew were now in Sickbay. Spock gave Sulu the conn while Chekov, Uhura and Spock came down to join McCoy and Scotty.
The wall of the quarantine room was transparent from one side only, so they could clearly see Jim's still form on the bench.
'He attacked me.' McCoy said.
'Me too.' Scotty supplied. 'In the shuttle bay.'
'He's violent and confused.' McCoy said, wincing slightly as he shifted his shoulder.
'He's dangerous.' Birkson said shortly.
All eyes turned to the stranger, regarding him warily.
'That's not who you remember, he's changed. He might not even me human any more.' Birkson continued. 'He's already attacked three senior officers; he severely injured you, Doctor. He should be strapped down and sedated.'
McCoy's voice was hollow and empty as he spoke.
'The treatment and transport of a patient is to be at the discretion of his attending physician.' He recited. 'The CMO is directly responsible for the health and mental well-being of the Captain.'
The last word slipped out easily, feeling right for the first time in months.
McCoy dragged himself forward and rest his head against the cool one-way wall.
'Someone wanna explain how the hell that can happen in three months?' he asked gruffly, hardly expecting an answer.
Chekov shifted his weight nervously, chewing his bottom lip in thought.
Uhura noticed the movement while the other officers' were staring into the quarantine room. She gently placed a hand on the teenagers shoulder.
'Pavel? Is there something you need to say?' she asked softly.
Chekov twitched when attention was drawn to him. 'It is only a theory.' He murmured.
Scotty shrugged. 'Any theory is better than none at all.'
Chekov nodded and led them to one of the screens mounted on the Medical Bay wall.
'I discovered this unusual signal.' Chekov explained, pulling up an image on the display. A high frequency signal jumped in sharp angles, up and down the screen. 'It was nothing, dismissed as a sonar signal from the native fauna. But, ground-level reports from Lieutenant Birkson's exploration team…' he paused, hand hovering above the screen.
'I am sorry, sirs. If I am correct, this will not be pleasant.'
Chekov input instructions while McCoy frowned deeply. The high frequency signal shuddered under the command. It stretched, sharp angles becoming gradual dips. The signal shifted into position and the computer beeped recognition.
Biological frequency: Captain James Tiberius Kirk.
Uhura's eyebrows knitted together. 'What did you do, Pavel?'
'Decreased the signal's frequency by a factor of seventy-two.' He explained.
'I don't get it.' Scotty interjected. 'What speeds up a biological frequency?'
Spock tilted his head slightly, examining the scrolling information.
'A time-displacement field.' He realised.
'More specifically, a time-accelerator.' Chekov added. He turned back to the screen and began calling up a three-dimensional map of the planet's surface. 'It is far beyond the planet's civilisation and level of technology.' He rotated the map to reveal rocky mountains. 'The Captain was found here.' He tapped the map and a red dot appeared. 'If my suspicions are correct, the time-acceleration field extends to this area.' Half of the mountain range glowed white, the closest point approximately fifty clicks from the dot. 'Within this area, it appears that time is moving faster than the rest of the universe, at a ratio of one to seventy-two.'
'So, while it was only three months for us…' Scotty started.
'Depending on how long the Captain was within the accelerator,' Spock said, 'he could have experienced up to six years on the planet.'
'Six years.' McCoy repeated hollowly. He moved back to where he could see Jim slowly and groggily waking up.
Chekov swallowed a painful lump that had lodged in his throat and turned to Spock, even more agitated than before.
'Captain Spock, sir.' He said hurriedly. 'There is something more.'
Spock beckoned him to one side, out of earshot from the rest of the crew.
'What is it, Ensign?' he asked.
Chekov fidgeted again, the opposite of the excited energy he bounced with when he made a discovery.
'While I only just discovered the frequency, sir,' he began, 'we received the signal during one of our initial scans of the planet's surface… three months ago.' His brow furrowed and he glanced up guiltily at the Vulcan. 'We could have found him then, we actually found him, but he was abandoned because I didn't figure it out sooner. I-'
Spock placed a hand on the young man's shoulder and cut him off mid-rant.
'You are not to blame for this situation.' Spock said firmly. 'You are to be congratulated for this discovery that shall aide Captain Kirk's recovery.' He glanced across the bay to the others. 'If his signal was detected three months ago, knowledge of this would be damaging to crew morale. It would be prudent, therefore, to ensure that word of this fact stays confidential.'
'But they'll know, the report-' Chekov began.
'Until such time as Captain Kirk has been cleared for active duty, I am the senior ranking officer on this ship. The reports come to me.' Spock reminded him. 'I am ordering you to change yours.'
Chekov nearly sighed in relief, shoulders slumping. 'Thank you, sir.'
Spock nodded his dismissal and Chekov returned to the bridge.
Jim woke with a grunt, bleary-eyed against the harsh lights. Metal caged him, surrounding him on all sides. His head swam and his limbs were sluggish.
Jim's hands went to his chest, tracing the ratted gold strip, trying to find his knife. It was gone. He was defenceless.
He stood shakily, then launched, colliding with the steel wall. He knew they were there, watching him just out of sight.
He needed to send them a message.
He wasn't going down without a fight.
McCoy felt bile rise in his throat as he watched his best friend throw himself against the wall in a fit of animalistic fury. Jim rammed into the wall, again and again, unknowingly attacking close to McCoy on the other side of the wall.
Jim scratched at the floor, pulled at the bunk, one of the bolts loosening. He punched the wall, knuckles and fingernails breaking and fingers becoming a bloodied mess. Jim howled at the pain, but continued pounding the steel until a dent began to form.
McCoy couldn't stand it any more when he saw old wounds open across his back, ugly red and purple gashes among the scars. He checked his satchel, removing everything but the tricorder and dermal regenerator.
Scotty saw the fury flash in McCoy's eyes and tried to hold him back.
'Doctor, he's dangerous.' Scotty warned.
'I don't give a damn.' McCoy growled. 'He's my best friend, I need –I need to know he's okay.'
He keyed in the CMO override code and strode in without hesitation.
Wow, this one turned out a lot longer than I expected! Well, it took more time but you get more story. Sounds about right!
Some interesting developments in this chapter. What do you think of the crew's interactions? The realisation that Jim could have been spared all this? Exactly how far gone is Jim? How did you like Chapel and McCoy verbally beating Birkson down? Spock's willingness to go against protocol to protect his crew?
Please review!