Disclaimer: I don't own anything Star Trek it is all property of Gene Roddenberry, J.J. Abrams, Paramount, and whoever else owns rights to the franchise. I am not making any profits off of this so please don't sue me.
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Chapter 5
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The stars were beautiful out there in the infinite blackness of space. They twinkled happily without worry or care.
From where he sat on the ledge of one of the large arched windows of the observation deck, Captain James T. Kirk stared out at open space wishing with all his heart had left in it that he could switch places with anyone of those twinkling points that burned all those light years away. At this point Jim Kirk believed whole-heartedly that he would gladly switch lives with anyone or anything at the moment, even a garbage scow. Any other form of existence was better than the nightmare his life had been transformed into. Jim's gaze slowly moved from the stars of the universe to the sleek white resplendence of one of the star ship's that was securely anchored to the Star base.
The USS Enterprise in all its majestic glory as the flagship of the Federation.
The Captain's already well irritated blue eyes grew shiny with wetness despite all the effort he could muster within himself to hold the bitter salt at bay.
The USS Enterprise, he was her Captain, but she was not his, not anymore.
Before he could stop himself a sob tore free from his now fully sore and scratchy throat. He turned away from the sight of the ship he had come to think of as his true home. What had happened last night and that very same morning now told him different. The Enterprise was not his home anymore, she and her crew had chosen someone else. He was now the unwanted Captain, to them all apparently selfish and unfaithful.
A cheating bastard.
With a small shudder wracking though his body Jim tried to get up and stand but found that even the slightest movement sent a razor like tendril of agony up from the very base of his spine to the very top of his skull. In addition he felt like he was mere feet from the very surface of the Sun.
It was so hot, too hot.
Clenching his jaw hard enough to here his own teeth grinding together, Jim slowly reached up with a light trembling hand and pulled at the fastening on his dress uniform's collar, loosening it. A light, barely there flush had graced the young man's usually pale skin and his tear filled eyes glazed over for a second every now and then. Jim closed his eyes and cleared his throat softly, wincing because it hurt like Hell. Then he sighed heavily and all but collapsed against the glass of the window, pressing his forehead into the thankfully cool surface.
He knew that something was horribly wrong with him, that he needed to get to Bones or any other doctor or medically experienced personnel on board the Star base.
But he just sat there collapsed against the cold glass, unmoving and broken both in the figurative and literal sense.
It hurt to move, it hurt to even draw in breath, and besides that he really didn't want to get up and leave the heavenly cool glass he had his face pressed up to. And he really didn't want to see a certain ship's surgeon's face right now either.
So Jim Kirk simply breathed deep and let his eyes fall shut. He wasn't gonna fall asleep or anything he was just so tired and his body was in the grip of the worst kind of agony, the slow and throbbing kind that he knew was not going to go away quickly. Both his body and what remained of his soul were in agony. The kind that no one would wish on anyone, not even a sworn enemy.
Limp against the arched windows cool glass, Captain Jim Kirk simply breathed in and out. In and out. A single tear slipped past the closed seam of his left eye and carved a trail down his cheek before falling away to splash silently onto the smooth surface of the window ledge.
He was completely unaware that those who dealt the sharpest blows to his heart were frantically looking from him and also trying to hunt down the one who had dealt the horrible blows to his body.
Meanwhile, still quite far from the agonized young man in Observation deck 3 two tall individuals were running with all of their might down one of the long and winding corridors.
Commander Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy were flying down the path and the human was using everything he had in him to keep up with the furious pace the Vulcan was going at. Spock gave very little heed to McCoy's difficulties for his sole focus was getting to Jim Kirk's location as fast as was within his Vulcan capabilities. And all the while as these two men ran hard and fast they were both feeling the unmerciful claws of shock, guilt, and shame tearing at their insides. Spock feeling just a little more than what McCoy was feeling. They were both reeling from the horrifying revelations thrust upon them by a tearful Ensign Pavel Chekov.
Their Captain, who McCoy thought of as his best friend and Spock as that and more had been brutally assaulted by a clearly deranged and perverted Antarian Ambassador just last night.
Spock internally felt as though every part of him had been dipped in a highly corrosive agent as he remembered the way that Jim had looked when he had come into the quarters they had been sharing for many months. He, Spock had taken one look at his human lover and caught the acrid stench of a carnal nature and had immediately thought the worst possible thing. He had in that one moment of trusting his logic, made the most awful mistake in his entire life.
He had condemned his totally innocent lover, assuming that he had purposely partaken in infidelity.
He had abandoned Jim and left him all alone, just right after he had come back from having been rabidly violated.
Jim had come to him for help and instead Spock had figuratively slammed the door right in his face before the poor man could even opened his mouth to explain and defend himself.
It was with this self-derision burning hot and without mercy inside of him that Spock ran towards the location of Captain James T. Kirk.
Dr. Leonard McCoy was feeling just as bad as Spock was. Unlike the Vulcan who looked ready to kill despite the blank expression that graced his face, Dr. McCoy's skin had bleached completely white and he looked like he was just one second away from a total mental and physical breakdown. Hell even after they hopefully found Jim Kirk and It'vek the Antarian rapist he though he still might just collapse in on himself.
How could he have been so stupid, so foolish. He was a doctor, the Enterprise's CMO for God's sake. Chief Medical Officer. He was supposed to get all the facts he could before he made any judgment call about any and all things.
So then why hadn't he done that for his best friend? Why hadn't he asked Jim his side of what had happened between him and Spock? Why had he just up and decided that the Vulcan was the injured party?
The answer was simple.
He was an idiot who had allowed Jim's past as a man with a lengthy list of past female conquests cloud his judgment.
He had assumed right off the bat when he had seen Spock come out of the First Officer's quarters instead of the Captains quarters with a look of barely concealed anger that Jim had obviously gone back to his promiscuous playboy ways.
Oh how wrong he'd been.
Jim Kirk was the innocent victim in this entire situation, not Spock, not by a long shot.
His best friend and Captain had been raped. Raped. And he had done nothing for him, absolutely nothing. He had remained totally oblivious to this entire ghastly mess of a situation.
Feeling like the biggest asshole on the face of the universe for how he had treated his best friend, for adding to the suffering Jim had already been going through by drawing away and condemning him, the Doctor kept running.
Jim was innocent, and yet they had all found him guilty.
Feeling like shriveling up and dying right then and there McCoy ran side by side with Spock towards the Observation Deck, all the while hoping with every fiber of his being that Jim Kirk was at the very least safe from the menace that was still on board the Star base.
It was already a no brainer that Jim Kirk wasn't alright.
Not by a long shot.
Elsewhere, all over the star base people were carefully and systematically scouring every deck.
The seekers were comprised of the Star base's security personnel, the remaining senior staff plus one young ensign of the Enterprise, and four Antarian, the Elder A'tal and three others from his delegation, the best trackers among the group.
All were furious and all were after one single individual.
The Antarian Ambassador who had come to the talks as a representative for the lower Antarian provinces.
It'vek.
They were all spread out and looking through every nook and cranny of the base with murderous intent while waiting for the damn computer to give them a clear location. The bastard was proving to be quite elusive much to the frustration of all who basically wanted his head on a platter. On four decks there were four separate groups. On the first deck was Uhura, a female Antarian, and three young red uniformed security officers. The deck below hers was Scotty, a large and very angry Antarian, and four security officers, in the nest deck was Sulu with a thin and wiry Antarian who was acting just a tiny bit insane in his angry state, and two young security officers. And finally rounding out the party of hunters was Ensign Chekov with A'tal by his side and four guards. All were armed in one way or another and all vowed that they would seek out It'vek.
And along with anger, the members of the Enterprise crew and the Antarians were all feeling the guilt and shame of their failure to Captain Jim Kirk. They were determined to find It'vek at all costs where ever he was on this base.
Back with Spock and McCoy the two men had just rounded the corridor and gotten a third of the way to the Observation deck when they heard the sound of a turbo-lift door hissing open just a little ways ahead of them. As they came closer both Spock and McCoy were relieved to see that it was the emergency medical team Commander Wilson had urgently ordered for. The team consisted of two men and two women, all carrying emergency med-kits. The four medical officers barely had to to register it when a tall, murderous looking Vulcan and a determined looking human shot past them.
" WELL COME ON!" Yelled McCoy in passing over his shoulder before he and Spock disappeared further down the corridor. With barely a pause the four officers all moved fast and broke out into full sprints as they chased after the first officer and CMO of the Enterprise.
Spock did not falter once in his furious pace, his boot covered feet pounding over the corridor's floor. McCoy huffed every now and then but to his credit he too did not stumble. And behind then the medical team was quickly covering some of the distance between them at the two senior officers.
They all knew that a a very important life was hanging in the balance.
The six of them steadily began to closed the remaining distance to Observation Deck 3.
They had all just caught sight of the entrance way to the deck itself when an unexpected and horrifying sound suddenly filled the air.
" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A scream, a full force scream of pain and pure terror. A scream for anyone, anyone who was out there to come and help.
And it had come from further inside the Observation Deck.
Both Spock and McCoy felt their insides freeze in cold fear because the scream that was ringing in their ears and seemed to be reverberating throughout the whole station sounded all too familiar.
They instantly knew who it was.
Simultaneously quickening their already fast paces to just get to the Deck that seemed so close and yet so far away, it was McCoy who gave voice to what Spock was already screaming with all his might inside his mind while he focused all his might on running.
" JIM!!!"