THE NIGHT OF THE TREK AMONG THE STARS
By Andamogirl
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ACT ONE
On board the United Star Ship Enterprise
Stifling a yawn, Captain James T. Kirk looked at the large view screen gazing distractedly at the passing stars. Same old, same old.
Boring.
He started twiddling his thumbs on the armrests.
He was Bored, bored with a capital 'B'; bored out of his mind.
He glanced around him, at his officers busy carrying out their assigned duties and started musing. Since their last mission on Zeta-Hydra IV where he had to fight against insectoid-warriors and had almost been killed (just routine), nothing exciting had happened, no aliens to meet and greet, no strange starships to fight against, no time travel, no beautiful women to flirt with, nothing! He loved action, needed action like he needed oxygen to survive. He lived for action!
He sighed, wondering if he wasn't going to go to the sickbay to have a friendly chat with bones about everything and nothing in particular... in front of a glass of Saurian brandy. He shook his head. 'Not on duty!' he chastised himself.
Captain Kirk focused on his First Officer as he noticed that the Vulcan, sitting at his station, seemed totally absorbed by something 'fascinating'. Spock was frowning. "Something interesting Mr. Spock?" He asked, hope flickering across his face. 'Please say yes!'
Still reading his instruments, the science officer nodded. "Yes Captain, the long range sensors have detected an unusual stream of energy traveling through space."
Kirk smiled. 'Ah! Something potentially exciting, finally! ' he thought. "Unusual how?" He asked, leaving his chair to join the other man at the science station.
Spock looked up at his best friend and Captain and explained, "The stream of energy has some of the characteristics of a transporter beam, but it does not resemble anything known and I detected no starship with the long range sensors which could have sent it. Its origin is unknown, but it's heading toward the Aquilae constellation at warp one ."
Feeling excitement coming back, Kirk said, "How long before we arrive at the Aquilae constellation at our present speed?"
Spock consulted his instruments, "6.2 hours, Captain."
Kirk went back to his seat and commanded, " Mr. Sulu, increase speed, warp one. Let's follow that stream of energy. I want to be there when it reaches its destination. "
Sulu nodded. "Aye, Captain, warp one."
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On Altair 9-B-2118
Freezing, Artemus said, "Oh, no! No! No! Not again!" his breath came out in long puffs of white cloud in the horrid cold. "I just really hate the cold."
He wrapped his arms tightly around him. He had never felt cold like this before, not even when he was trapped with Jim 10,000 years in the past, he thought.
Looking around him at the immense desert of snow and ice, Jim said through teeth chattering together, "Look on the bright side Artie. We're not dead. Colonel Vautrain was wrong. This planet support's life."
Raising his eyes toward reddish sky, Artie saw two planets up above him, one red, one orange and stared, immobile, at them, totally amazed – for a few seconds only. "Fan-tas-tic!... We're not on Earth anymore…" Then feeling the intense cold blistering his skin, he added, his teeth chattering, "Yes, it does s-s-support life. Our own lives, us, and it won't for-for long as we're go-going to die from exposure to the c-c-cold … I b-bet the only living c-creatures here are you-you and m-me." He closed his bathrobe and rubbed his arms feeling the chill going right to his core. "I c-can't see any sh-shelter… Just miles and miles of an i-icy deadly p-plain. I don't want to be pessimistic Jim, but-but… I think our l-legend-l-legendary lu-luck just ran out." He moved closer to his best friend and then added, "Freezing to-to death is not t-the way I t-thought I would die ... b-but at least I w-will d-die of c-cold in g-good c-company."
His lips deeply chapped, Jim managed to crack a smile for a split second – before regretting it as drops of blood escaped from a split lip and froze instantly. "Yes, y're r-right. The b-best Artie. W-what about g-going for a-a-a w-w-walk? to-to w-warm us up?" and he took a step forward and clutched his muscular arms to his chest, shivering so hard it hurt.
The snow ankle deep crunched under his feet.
Looking up again at the two planets in the alien-colored sky, Artie said, "I'm w-wondering w-what's the d-date he-here? V-Vautrain sent us-s-s in the f-future…"
Moving ahead, Jim replied, "I d-don't k-know… Let's m-move Artie… "
His body wracked by a violent tremble, the older man looked at his companion. "What f-for?... T-there's n-no s-shel-shelter anywhere? D-dying here or elsewhere of h-hypothermia… N-no difference."
Placing a hand on Artemus's shoulder Jim said, "Maybe w-we'll b-be lucky again… w-who knows? We have to s-survive…"
Frowning Artie gestured at the endless white. "Impossible." But he followed Jim anyway. "G-god! I'm c-cold, so c-cold." He stuttered. His fingers and toes and arms and legs felt like ice. He tried to warm his hands by tucking them under his armpits.
Jim nodded. "Me too," He was shivering non-stop, uncontrollably, his teeth chattering even more, if possible. "So free-freezing c-c-cold."
His head swimming, completely exhausted and feeling like he weighted tons, Artie sank to his knees in the icy snow.
He was breathing in shallow, shuddering gasps. "I c-can't continue…" He breathed out. He closed his eyes, more violent shudders ripping through his body. Feeling Jim press his shoulder, he opened his eyes, blinking. "C't m-move," he let out, his voice coming out as a croak, numb limbs refusing to cooperate. He was going to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. "D-dying," he added quietly. His tears froze to his lashes. "M'sorry..." He trailed off and let out a rasping breath." G'd bye J'm." He closed his eyes. It won't be long now, he thought. "Ssee you soon…"
He let go and collapsed to the icy ground, face first.
Kneeling beside his unconscious best friend, Jim rolled Artie over, onto his back, and gently brushed the snow out of his face so very white it was almost blue. "Yesss, ssssee you sssoon, Artie," he said as he brushed his companion's cheekbone gently with the pad of his thumb.
Soon, yes.
They would be together again, back on the Wanderer soon. He knew that, when Vautrain was involved, dying pulled people back through time, to the start point. After his best friend's death, they would leave that hell of ice and go back home.
He touched his partner's throat with two fingers and his skin felt like ice. Artie's pulse was so slow and shallow it was almost nonexistent but the pulse was there. He was still breathing, but he was far too still. His lips were colorless and his face was slack.
He hated seeing Artemus die. He'd seen him cold and lifeless far too many times already – enough that it haunted him whenever Artie got hurt, he thought. As for Artie, he coped pretty well with the fact that his death saved them both. It was only a temporary death, he added in his numbing mind.
He pulled Artie to a sitting position and wrapped his arms tight around him as chills wracked his body. "It'ssss not go-going to beee long now bud-buddy. He squeezed Artie's cold fingers tightly. "Let'sssss ho-hope Vau-autrain will beeee gone." The darkness – and death - was tugging at him, he groaned. "Soon Artie…" He was so cold, that he couldn't even feel some parts of his body anymore.
His vision was starting to fade at the edges. it wouldn't be long now. "Sssee you ssssoon, Artie," he slurred and he closed his eyes.
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On board the USS Enterprise
Spock, sitting at his station turned toward the Captain, standing beside Mr. Sulu. "The stream of energy has disappeared. It reached its destination,Altair 9-B-2118, thirty-five minutes ago." he announced. Through the viewscreen he looked at the gray-blue planet shown there and added, "The planet is class-M and capable of supporting humanoid life, with a standard oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere but it is covered with ice and the average temperature is 50 degrees Celsius below zero, too cold for most humanoids."
Kirk nodded. "Did someone materiallize on that planet below us?"
The scientific officer checked his instruments. "Yes, Captain. The sensors are detecting two live-signs, faint and unmoving." He lifted a surprised eyebrow and added, in a neutral tone, "Humans."
Everyone on the bridge was astounded. Kirk's eyes widened and he repeated, "Humans?" Then he added, "Have them transported directly to sickbay. They'll be in hypothermia. Tell Dr. McCoy and a medical team to stand ready."
Spock nodded. "Yes Captain."
He headed toward the turbo lift and entered sickbay shortly after, finding McCoy buzzing tricorder already in hand, framed between two male nurses.
Below on the planet, lights swirled around Jim and Artie and they dematerialized… to materialize in a shimmering halo of light in the middle of the examination room of the sickbay.
Blinking dazedly, a very haggard-looking James West glanced around him. "Help… please… " He breathed out through chattering teeth, seeing blurred colors and human-like shapes in front of him. He slumped bonelessly to the floor, beside an inert Artemus.
In a split second Kirk rushed toward the two unconscious men in time with the CMO, both crouching on the floor beside Jim and Artie.
Looking down at James West, Kirk noticed that his eyes were half-open, unfocused, his lips blueish. His white skin was frozen from exposure and painfully swollen with blisters. "You're safe. Can you hear me?"
Closing his eyes, still barely conscious, Jim moaned, "H-hurts… C-c-cold. Art-ie, s-save Ar-Artie." he murmured through his shivering lips. Then his legs gave out and he hit the ground face-first.
McCoy immediately activated his medical tricorder, running the detachable hand-held high-resolution scanner over his future patients' unresponsive bodies. "Like I though,t they are both suffering from severe hypothermia," he said the readout confirming it. Pointing at Artemus he added, "Core body temperature 82 degrees Farenheit and dropping fast…Pulse is very slow and weak… it is almost nonexistent….He's still alive, but barely, just hanging by a thread." Placing the device in Kirk's hand he hurried to strip off Artie's ice-stiffened, wet clothes that were making him colder.
Once Artemus was naked he cocooned him in a couple of blankets complete with heating packs. Then he repeated what he had just done with Jim.
He examined Artie again and cursed under his breath, "He has heart arrhythmias… I'm going to lose him!" He looked up at the big, hulking male nurse standing on his left. "Place them on the biobed, now! I need to stabilize that man ASAP:"
Kirk and Bones stood, watching the nurses maneuvering each of the two unconscious men onto a biobed, then they activated them.
Kirk frowned, totally puzzled. "They are wearing pajamas and robes… Where the hell did they come from?" He asked.
McCoy moved beside his 'older' patient.
Leonard placed the cardio-stimulator over Artie's chest and activated it. Then he went to work with hypo-sprays that he had prepared knowing that his patients would be hypothermic. "Their clothes are old-fashioned Jim, dating from the19th century Earth, 1870 or 1880, I would say. It was a very interesting period on Earth… but modern medicine was at its beginning or almost! I studied it when I was in the Academy, for a presentation… Now, please, let me work." He glanced at the readouts displayed on the biobed monitor, watching his older patient's heart and brain functions. "Damnit! He's weakening…"
Kirk was even more troubled. "19th century? That's impossible. People didn't have the technology to travel through time back then. They used horses! And the most advanced means of transport was the steam train! Could they be time travelers?"
Bones nodded. "That's possible. Something went wrong on their journey though time… On the way out or on the way back and they ended up on that giant ice-cube of a planet."
Kirk nodded and started to go through the 'time travelers'' clothes to find a device granting them the ability to travel through time. He didn't find anything. "Maybe they used something like a portal of some kind, and it malfunctioned…" He proposed.
McCoy looked at Kirk. "Damnit Jim! You can ask them as many questions as you want later! For now I'm busy trying to save their lives. Bring me the dermo-regenetators!"
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Much later, USS Enterprise NCC-1701
Recovery Ward
Feeling deliciously warm, relaxed and comfortable, Jim opened his eyes, blinking lazily, giving them time as they adjusted to the bright light around him.
The first thing he noticed was the clean, antiseptic smell. Then he realized that he was lying on a mattress, that there was a blanket covering him, pulled up to his collarbone, and that a pillow was cushioning his head. There was a gray, metallic ceiling above him.
Hospital, he immediately thought. 'I'm in a hospital.'
Feeling good he wanted to drift back to sleep, but a repetitive and steady thud, thud, thud beating above him. In fact he could hear two series of noises. Two series of sounded like heartbeats. His and another's. Someone else was there too, he realized. But where was that noise coming from?
He suddenly felt someone press his shoulder and a feminine voice, soft and musical encouraging him, "That's it. Open your eyes."
Blinking a few times to clear his vision, he found himself staring at a woman's face. She was leaning over him and had blue eyes and a warm, soothing smile. She was beautiful. "Angel?" he rasped.
Christine Chapel shook her head and touched her patient's arm gently. "It's all right. "You're not dead and I'm not an angel. Hello. My name is Christine Chapel and I'm the nurse on duty. You have been unconscious for a while, but you're okay now."
He released a long sigh of relief. "Hospital, nurse, beautiful blond nurse… I'm back." He offered Christine his most charming smile and said, "Hi."
Christine smiled broadly in response. "Hello."
He lifted a weak hand, rubbing his face. "What's that annoying sound?" He blinked twice, suddenly realizing something. Why was he in a hospital? If he was back home, he should be on the Wanderer, not here. Did something happen after they came back?
Christine responded. "It's the beeping of the biosensors… they're coming from your biobed and the one occupied by your friend…"
Suddenly Jim blanched, lurched upward and looked around him, in panic. "Where's Artemus? Where's my friend?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.
Christine pressed gently, but firmly on Jim's chest, forcing him to lay back flat on his back on the biobed. "Calm down, please, your friend's here," and then she moved to the side revealing another medical bed. Artemus was lying on it, under an orange-gold sparkling blanket, pulled up to his collarbone. His head was resting on a pillow made in the same fabric.
There was some kind of box hanging on the wall above his head with lights and colors – reminding him of Loveless's machines, but a lot more elaborate.
He lifted his head and saw the same machine above his own bed.
Frowning in worry, Jim noticed that Artie was very pale and his face was sunken and covered in a layer of stubble. But he was breathing steadily and sleeping soundly and he felt reassured. "You sure? He asked, "because he looks like a ghost."
Nurse Chapel nodded. "I'm sure, yes. Artemus… It's a nice name. Don't worry, your friend is alright and he will make a full recovery. "
Releasing a sigh of relief, Jim glanced around him and frowned, both puzzled and intrigued. He had never seen a hospital like this. Everything looked so technologically advanced, not from his time, but from the future, he reflected. "Where are we?... and when? What happened? The last thing I remember is… Artie and I stuck on an ice-covered planet…"
Christine smiled. "It's not exactly a hospital you see, but a sickbay…"
Suddenly the door swished open and Dr. McCoy and Captain Kirk entered the sickbay, making a beeline for the awakened traveler.
Christine Chapel said, "I'll come back later, I have work to do. You're in good hands." And she gave the PADD she was holding to her CO. "Here are the last readings, Doctor, everything's normal," she said. Then she left the room, heading back toward Dr. M'Benga's office.
Kirk moved to the end of Jim's bed while Leonard checked Artie's vitals on the biobed monitor. "I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise," he introduced himself, straightening his tunic.
Jim opened his eyes wide with stupefaction. "Starship? You mean… a ship traveling between the stars?" He gestured to the recovery ward ."That explains why all this… looks so… 'Loveless-machine-like', was the first thing that came to his mind. "So… not from my time."
Kirk was very surprised too. "You and your companion aren't time travelers?... I thought you were from our time, or even from the future and had an 'accident' on the way out or on the way back and ended up on that ice planet…"
Observing the man in the golden tunic, Jim said, in response, "I'm James T. West, I'm a special agent of the United States Secret Service… working under President Grant's direct orders, Captain. I'm not from the future, but from the past."
McCoy smiled. "Two James T's…what a coincidence!"
Kirk lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "President Grant?"
Bones joined his CO and said, "Ulysses S. Grant, April 27, 1822, July 23, 1885. He was the 18th President of the United States. I love Earth history."
It was Jim's turn to be surprised and then he blanched at the terrible news. "The President dies in 1885?... Oh, God." He pushed himself up, and his entire body screamed in protest when he went to sit up. He grimaced and groaned.
Catching Kirk's pointed stare addressed to him, McCoy realized that he shouldn't have told their patient that. "I'm sorry." He cleared his throat and added, "I'm Leonard McCoy, Chief Medical Officer. How do you feel?"
Jim noticed that McCoy had a different uniform – sleeveless and shining-blue. But he had the same insignia on his chest and the same black pants.
Brow creased, Jim raised his right hand – healed and with new pink skin - and he was amazed, remembering all the blisters and frozen blood covering it. "I feel… I feel alive, achy and warm," he finally responded, his voice rough and raspy. He looked at McCoy and then added, "I should be in a bad state after severe hypothermia… and I'm not."
McCoy smiled. "Miracles of 23rd century medicine."
Kirk nodded. "Thanks to the best damn Doctor in Starfleet, too."
Hearing that, Jim was completely baffled and remained open-mouthed for at least ten seconds. "Wha-at? 23rd century?... Oh God! A few hours ago, it was 1875 for Artie and me…"
Curious McCoy asked, "What date exactly?
"July 21, and we were on board our train called the Wanderer, in San Francisco…" Jim responded.
The CMO of the Enterprise added, "You leapt way ahead in time and space… literally speaking. I can tell you in detail what I did to you, if you want me to. The treatment was more complex with your friend."
Feeling his stomach plummet, Jim looked at Artie lying on the nearby bed, still unconscious. "His name is Gordon, Artemus Gordon, he's my partner. How is he?"
Leonard responded before turning toward Artie, "After a few hours… following the severe hypothermia… he suffered from ventricular fibrillation which is a dangerous "fluttering" rhythm of the heart, and he went into cardiac arrest. His heart stopped. We lost him a few times, but I managed to bring him back, without any aftereffects to his brain."
Jim winced. "Thank you…"
Bones continued, "His brain activity is normal. No sign of any damage. He's stable now. He's going to make a full recovery, but it will take some time. I used the dermo-regenerator to make the damage to the skin vanish… Ah! He's awake, " he said and found the other man's eyes red-rimmed from fatigue open, blinking at him. They were dazed and exhausted, but they were open. "Well, it looks like he woke up before I expected."
Smiling, Jim nodded. "I'm not surprised, Artemus is the strongest man I know."
Leonard moved to Artie's side and smiled at him. "I'm Dr. McCoy, Mr. Gordon, you're safe here." He glanced at his other patient. "Your friend is safe too. Everything is going to be alright."
Blinking slowly, head muzzy, Artie croaked, "J'm where…?" and blindly reached out for him. "Jim!"
Moving out of his biobed in half a heartbeat, Jim started the biobed alarm and McCoy quickly turned it off. "It's in case a patient falls from the biobed," he said.
Ignoring that, Jim climbed onto Artie's biobed and took Artemus's hand in his. "I'm here, Artie. We're safe and we're both going to be alright." Then he ran soothing fingers through his best friend's wild dark hair. "Sleep now. We'll talk later, okay?"
Immensely relieved to see his best friend's face, smiling weakly, Artemus nodded. ''Kay," he whispered, very groggy. He blinked slowly several times until his eyes fully closed and his head slid limply to the side. He was fast asleep.
His arms crossed over his chest, McCoy gave Jim West a stern look. "Get back in your bed, Mr. West. You were half-dead a few hours ago. You need rest. Do it before I sedate you!"
Smiling, Jim released his hold on Artemus's hand and complied. "Call me Jim, please." Then he finally noticed then that he was wearing blue pajamas with a V-shaped opening at the chest, showing a black fabric. "Don't worry; I'll be a model patient."
Looking at his 'own Jim', McCoy bounced up and down on his toes and said, "That will be a change from my own Jim." He then looked at the other Jim. "I will call you James, to avoid confusion with Jim here, if it's okay with you of course."
Smiling, 'James' nodded. "You have my permission, doctor."
Kirk moved closer to James and asked him, "I'd like to know how you and your partner end up in that stream of energy – coming from Earth in your time - and onto the planet below us? It's pretty unusual for two men from the 19th century."
Opening his eyes wide, James finally realized that he and Artie where on board a 'starship'… in space, orbiting a planet. "Oh my…" He turned toward Artie ready to tell him that, but didn't, as the older man was sleeping soundly and snoring softly.
Looking at Kirk, James replied, "Long story short, a man called Noel Bartley Vautrain used the 'power of his mind' to send Artie and me here. He had previously sent us into the past, 10,000 years in the past, to be exact. He wanted to kill us using freezing cold temperatures. He failed. We came back. He tried to kill us again, sending us to that planet 'below"… and you saved us. He failed again." He sighed, resigned. "He'll try again, as things never come in twos but threes. He can use his power to send anything or anyone, anywhere, anytime… and here we are. In the future, on board a starship."
McCoy nodded. "That's a fascinating story, as Mr. Spock would say…" and the door swooshed open, interrupting him. He craned a look over his shoulder and saw the tall slender frame of the resident Vulcan. He smiled. "Speaking of the devil…"
Blanching, Jim flinched, gasped in fright and jumped off the biobed, his fist raised, ready to fight the demon with the light-green hue, the raised eyebrows and the pointy ears which was approaching him. "D-don't even come closer, devil! I can kill you barehanded."
McCoy shook his head. "No, no, I wasn't speaking literally…"
Spock lifted an eyebrow, the only visible sign of his surprise and calmly said, "Despite what Dr. McCoy just said, I'm not a devil or demon. Don't be afraid. I'm a Vulcan."
Kirk smiled. "Calm down, Mr. West. Mr. Spock is from a planet called Vulcan. He's my scientific officer and First Officer. Spock spotted the stream of energy containing the dematerialized form of you and your friend –– and he located you on that planet. He basically saved your lives."
Relaxing a little, James lowered his fist. "I'm sorry… It's only the second time I've seen someone from another planet ."
Spock nodded and folded his hands behind his back with his usual deadpan expression. "Apology accepted, I should have anticipated your reaction and asked the Captain to introduce me to you."
Kirk was very surprised. "You met a non-human being before Spock?"
Moving back to his biobed, James observed Spock's face. "Yes. One day, Artie and I met pale-green-skinned woman with beautiful bright-red-haired and cat-like ears, wearing a golden tight-fitting suit and an orange gun belt. She was armed and she hit us with a green beam of energy, from a gun that Artie named 'ray-gun'." She looked at Artie, who had rolled onto his right side and let out a soft chuckle. "She was very interested in Artemus… she could see his body though his clothes."
Kirk grinned his eyes twinkling with mischief. "That's… an interesting ability."
McCoy rolled his eyes. Something that James – womanizer in chief of the galaxy – Kirk would have loved to be able to do.
James continued, "But, finally, she left in her 'flying saucer'… I can say starship now. Of course Artie and I kept this secret… we didn't want to create a general panic. People would have believed us, because we're Government agents, because we have had the President's trust for years, and because they believed that those fake green women from space and their ship seen by the people from the town of Morning Glory were real… but they weren't. Long story. We won't say anything about our stay here either, to anyone. We promise. We know it could affect history."
Spock nodded, "I knew that Altaran females had that ability… and the males did not." he raised an eyebrow and said, "You have met an Altaran female… Fascinating! We know close to nothing about the Altarans. They have a matriarchal society and males have inferior roles when they're not sex slaves. We know too, that their ships possess a time-travel core drive that permits them to travel through space and time."
Glancing at Artie, James smiled. "Could you contact one? Artie and I don't belong in your time…" Then he looked at Jim. "Is it possible?"
Kirk shook his head. "No, I'm sorry."
Disappointed Jim's shoulders sagged suddenly. "Why?"
Spock explained, "The Altarans live in gigantic motherships harboring their smaller one-pilot starships, traveling throughout galaxies. They are known to avoid others and have a tendency to engage other ships when they come close. You were in a way lucky to meet one."
James said, "Then, I suppose you'll have to find another way to send us back." Then he smiled and said, "Artie was lucky, she liked him very much… She was very attracted to him and… showed it. I'd never forget what she told him. She said "If you were an Altaran male, I would kidnap you here and now and I would add you to my vre'ed'anj – I think she meant harem - and make my favorite of you. But having non-Altaran males as sex-slaves is forbidden by the law, that's too bad, you would have been perfect."
Spock nodded. "Altaran women have male sex slaves they chose from among the male population on very precise criteria, like their anatomy, the color of their skin, the darker green it is, the more a male is considered attractive…"
Kirk raised his hand, "Thank you, Mr. Spock for that presentation." Then looking at James he asked, "How did you manage to get back to your own time?"
Jim rubbed his itchy jawline. "Well… We don't know exactly. Artie had a theory about Fate and Time being involved in that but he found later that it was a bit…far-fetched."
Spock couldn't help but look quizzical at that.
Jim continued, "Now he has another theory, a more probable one, even it's a hard-to-believe one. The first time Artie died, he came back to our time, the second time he died, he came back 'home' too."
McCoy glanced at Artemus and was flabbergasted. "He died twice?"
Glancing at Artie too, James said, "Yes, he did." Seeing that Kirk and McCoy were frowning, and Spock was lifting an intrigued eyebrow, he explained it to them, "I'm going to tell you what happened the last time with Vautrain. The Colonel sent Artie and me into the past, during the last glacial period… on Earth. He wanted us to die there, in the cold, alone. We almost did, but we were saved by proto-Indians. Artie had problems with his heart and he died from a cardiac arrest a few hours later… and we came back. Artie's theory is now that dying pulls you back through time, to the start point. It explains also how Vautrain 'and his officers 'escaped' after they all died in a burning manor house."
Fascinated, Spock nodded. "It's a fascinating story."
Kirk nodded too. "In that case, when Artemus dies, you will both go back home."
Looking back at Artie who was mumbling in his sleep, James said, "and knowing Artemus like I do, he won't hesitate to sacrifice himself in order to carry us back."
McCoy frowned. "You mean that he intends to kill himself? I forbid it! We'll find another way to send you back, right Jim?"
Kirk nodded. "Bones is right, we'll find another way."
Spock moved closer to Artie's bed, intrigued by the words he was mumbling in his sleep. It wasn't English and he didn't know the language.
Leaving his biobed again, Jim pulled back the blankets covering Artie's legs and pulled up his pajamas top, revealing his Comanche tattoo and the three Enterprise officers stared at the black eagle, wings spread, all of them fascinated. He said, "Artie's a polyglot, he speaks fluent Spanish, Russian, French, and German… and he speaks Cheyenne and Comanche languages like an Indian. He's an adoptive Comanche warrior and a Cheyenne warrior, with two eagle feathers. I think he's speaking Cheyenne." He smiled and added, "This tattoo marks him as a Comanche. He's very proud of it. For the Comanche, he's Strong Bear and for the Cheyenne, he's White Eagle." He continued, still very proud of Artie. "He's a remarkable chemist and a brilliant inventor and engineer. He's a great actor too and he cooks like a professional Chef. Oh! And he can sing operas too…" Then he chuckled. "Artemus Gordon a formidable man."
Spock nodded. "Indeed, and what are your domains of expertise, Mr. West?"
James smiled proudly. "I'm the best with a gun and a rifle. I'm a very good swimmer, a boxer, I can use any kind of weapon, I'm very good at hand-to-hand combat, I can climb anything with the sole help of my hands and legs,… etc."
Spock nodded. "I see, in your team, your friend is the brain, you're the brawn," he said, bluntly. "It's a very effective duo, you are complementary."
Scowling, the agent replied, "It's a bit reductionist don't you think?"
McCoy shook his head and rolled his eyes for a split second. "Don't take it personally, James. Spock's always like that - blunt. He has no emotions, at least he tells us that. But he has, he's just doing his best to suppress them. Anyway, it was meant to be a compliment."
Spock shook his head and was tempted to huff in denial. "It was not, Doctor. Following what Mr. West said about his partner's qualities and his, I wanted to point out…"
Artie stirred, rolled on his left side and slowly opened his eyes, letting out a quiet groan of annoyance. ""Shhh…, m' trying to sleep," he said, his voice throaty with sleep. He slowly moved onto his back and scrubbed his hand over his face, rubbing at his sleep-swollen eyes. "Guess s' too late…" Then he groaned as the bright light hurt his eyes and he shaded them with one hand.
Seeing Spock's 'devil face and pointy ears', full fledge panic set in and he gasped, blood draining from his face. Moving back in a hurry, frightened, he almost collapsed from the biobed and started the alarm that McCoy quickly turned off.
He ended in his partner's arms. "De-demon," he stuttered. He felt a little dizzy and made a grab for the biobed to steady himself.
Spock had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes in exasperation but didn't permit himself though he was on the borderline of a sigh. "I'm sorry if I frightened you, Mr. Gordon. I'm not a demon, but a Vulcan."
Still trembling in James's arms, Artie glanced at his best friend who nodded. "He-he's telling the truth? He's not a demon?"
Helping Artie to sit on the biobed, Jim moved his hand in slow, reassuring circles across his best friend's shoulder blades. "No he's not. He's the First officer, called Spock," he said. Then he stroked his fingers through Artemus's hair in order in soothe him. With a soft voice, he added, "Calm down, Artie." And the effect was immediate, his best friend relaxed. Then he indicated Kirk and continued, "This is Captain Kirk, commanding officer of the starship Enterprise…"
Opening huge eyes, in utter surprise Artie croaked, "What? A starship?... We're on board a starship?" He looked at Spock and said, "That explains why he's not…human… but a Vulcan." He looked at McCoy. "And you're a doctor, Dr. McCoy, right?"
McCoy nodded. "Yes, welcome aboard, Mr. Gordon." He saw Artemus observe the Jim's and his biobeds with excitement and intense scientific curiosity, and explained, "You are in the Recovery Ward of the sickbay. The biobeds are equipped with biofunction monitors and give detailed information about a patient's condition, the readouts are displayed on the overhead monitors. The six scales you can see on the monitor are used to measure body temperature, brain activity, lung efficiency, cell rate, heart valve action, and blood pressure. There are hidden sensors…" He stopped when he noticed that Jim had folded his arms across his chest and was giving him a pointed look. "TMI… I know."
Then, like the others the CMO heard Artie's stomach groan and asked, "You're hungry it would seem. What do you want to eat?"
Placing a hand on his stomach in an attempt to shush it, embarrassed, Artie said, "I'm so hungry I would eat anything… Except buffalo tongue. I don't like it."
Spock upturned an eyebrow. "Buffalo tongue ? Is it a delicacy from 19th century Earth?" he asked, very curious.
Artie nodded. "It's a Cheyenne delicacy, to be precise. But I don't have the stomach for it. "Then he realized that Jim was wearing strange pajamas – like him – and that he looked fine and inspected his face with his fingertips before staring at his hands, intact. Everything was intact. No blisters. "You did a remarkable job doctor McCoy, thank you very much. You saved our lives." Then he observed the sickbay equipment, eyes shining with excitement. "We're obviously far away in the future…"
James just said, "23rd century, Artie."
The older agent was dumbfounded. "Wha-at?"
McCoy chuckled. "It was a pleasure to save your lives. What about something more 'classical' than buffalo tongue. Roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, an apple pie for dessert?"
Smiling broadly, Artie nodded. "That's perfect, could you add a cup of coffee with that?"
The doctor nodded. "No problem." He headed toward the food synthesizer located in the wall opposite and took one of the program cards placed on the side of the receptacle. He inserted it in the slot of the device and shortly after food on a plate, a fork and a knife, a mug of coffee materialized along with a tray.
Both James and Artemus were astounded.
McCoy placed the tray on Artie's lap. "Food synthesizers can synthetizes any type of food and beverage. One day these food synthesizers will work by voice command. But if you want something specific, I can have other cards programmed."
Curious, Artie tasted the mashed potatoes and the gravy and liked it, a lot. "It's good… it tastes like real food. How does that fantastic machine work?"
McCoy pointed at Spock, "I'm a doctor, not an engineer, ask Mr. Spock. He's the scientific officer, not me." Then, looking at Jim he asked, "What about you, James?"
Sitting beside Artie on the edge of the biobed, watching his best friend devouring what was on his plate with gusto, he replied, "Same thing."
He had climbed onto his biobed when McCoy placed the tray on his lap. "Good appetite, you need to eat to regain some strength."
Looking at Jim Kirk, James West asked, "What's the T stand for?"
Kirk replied, "Tiberius. You?"
Artie chuckled. "T for Troublemaker."
McCoy chuckled too. "That's what I say about Jim too."
Like Artie, James wolfed down his food and drank the mug of coffee, finding everything very good. Then the two men gave McCoy their trays and lay down on their biobeds, fatigued.
Once under the brightly colored blankets, they smiled at each other, and James said, "It's going to be alright Artie. We'll get back home, one way or the another."
Feeling confident, Artie nodded. "I know."
Kirk nodded, seeing his two guests' eyes closing. "Good night gentlemen, I'll see you in the morning." Then he left, Spock following him.
Once in the corridor, Jim asked Spock, "I want to know everything about those two men. Contact Starfleet. There
must be traces of their files in archives, somewhere. Oh, and you have the command, Spock. Bones and I are off duty now."
Spock nodded, "Yes, Captain."
McCoy dimmed the light in sickbay and said, "Goodnight," but didn't receive any 'goodnights' in response as both James and Artemus were asleep. He joined the two other men in the corridor and said to Kirk, "It's M'Benga's shift. How about a drink?"
Jim smiled. "Sounds great!"
Spock said "See you in the morning, Captain, Doctor. Have a good night" Then he headed toward the turbolift.
Tbc.