Chapter 2: The Needs of the Many.
This time the Noth had managed a direct hit. Fortunately, the Enterprise had destroyed the Noth vessel before a second attack was possible. The constant drills Captain Kirk had insisted upon were paying off. Everyone knew what was expected of them. Nonetheless, Spock seemed to be needed everywhere and by everyone. It was an absolute priority to get the Enterprise battle ready. Each second the ship was defenceless, the life of every crew member was at risk.
Casualties had been high, sixteen crewmembers were dead, thirty-two crew were seriously injured and almost everyone had some minor injury. Nyota's presence pressed on Spock's awareness constantly. She was still unconscious but she felt strong. Spock firmly contained his personal concerns. Nyota's survival, as well as the rest of crew, relied on the Enterprise being battle ready and able to defend itself. He focused all his formidable intellect and command ability on that one objective.
Time passed, action plans were quickly implemented and the situation within all departments was constantly reviewed. Spock's attention slipped briefly when he saw that Nyota's name was amongst those transferred to the main sick bay. The Enterprise was equipped so that several general purpose rooms could be easily transformed into auxiliary sick bays in battle situations. Three of these auxiliary bays had been activated and were being used for triage and the treatment of minor injuries. The central sick bay, with its concentration of delicate medical equipment and operating theatres, was reserved for the most severely wounded.
The fact that Nyota was there was deeply worrying. Even though Spock knew she was where she would receive the best treatment, he longed to be with her. Even though he could still feel her, there was an occasional flicker or pulse to the bond that alarmed him.
They struggled to make repairs. Every time they made a gain, there seemed to be a loss. A fire would be contained but a temporary hull patch would fail, or communications would be restored but all lifts would cease working. Spock seemed to be everywhere, trailed by Ensign Stanley who recorded all of his commands and acted as a conduit for crewmember who wanted to communicate with him.
As Spock traversed the wounded ship he felt Nyota's presence constantly. She had patiently coached him in the finer points of interacting with humans. She had taught him to understand their needs. Together they had talked, studied, and "role played", something Spock disliked but acknowledged was a useful tool for transferring theoretical learning into practice. At Nyota's insistence, when Spock had studied the personnel records of the crew, he had noted more than their proficiencies, he studied their personal details. Through her patient coaching, he had learned to use these snippets of personal information to add depth to his contacts with the crew. For him, the hardest lesson had been to use touch. He knew it would never be natural to him but he learned that sometimes a touch on the shoulder was all a frightened crew member needed to be able to refocus and perform his duties.
Now the lessons learned came back to him and he found it almost natural to, for instance, offer a brief word of praise to an engineer who had just completed a difficult task. To Spock, such praise was not logical, as it was obvious that the task was completed and commenting on that fact was not necessary. But Nyota's voice seemed to whisper to him "He needs to hear you say it." So Spock did say it and saw that the Engineer drew himself a little straighter despite his exhaustion.
Spock passed through the ship in this manner, consulting, co-ordinating, sometimes touching a shoulder, making eye contact, passing a brief comment and nodding to crew members. Where ever he went morale improved; the crew felt assured that someone knew what needed doing, and that someone they could trust was in charge.
Hours passed and the ship slowly healed. Finally it was back on an even keel with the worst of the breaches were temporarily repaired, the shields were in place and some weapons systems operational. Spock reviewed the padd and scrolled through the medical lists.
Nyota was listed as critical. He closed his eyes briefly and concentrated on the bond, it was weaker and the strange slow pulsing was constantly present. He felt a buzzing dizziness when he focused on the bond, and found he had to put his hand against the bulkhead and steady himself. The need to go to her burned in him. He had to go. Now. He had delayed too long and it was becoming increasing difficult to focus.
Just then the claxons sounded.
Ensign Stanley hurried over reviewing his padd and shouting over the noise, "An urgent message from Mr Scott, sir." He handed the padd to Spock and they ran to Engineering.
Sliding down the final ladder into the level that housed the core was like a descent into hell. Heat, steam and smoke filled the space despite the whirling of the huge exhaust fans. Engineering crews struggled to contain the damage as jets of superheated steam burst though warped and damaged pipes. Other crew were dragging out screaming badly burned colleagues. Curses and cries of pain filled the air. The medics were just arriving and shouting instructions. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott was bellowing orders and visibly wilted with relief when he saw Spock.
"Thank God you're here. I dinna have enough pairs of hands," he almost sobbed, "She could blow any minute."
The chaos did not stop for two hours; two hours where the Enterprise balanced on the knife edge of destruction. Two hours where Spock worked calmly and methodically at the delicate job of stabilising the core while Mr Scott and his team performed miracles of engineering, two hours where his Nyota's life slowly began to fade.
"I think that's got it!" shouted Mr Scot as he powered up all systems, "By God its working. Well done, man. You're a genius."
"I am aware of this, Mr Scott," said Commander Spock, which unaccountably made Mr Scott bellow with laughter.
It was then that the bond with Nyota broke. The wave of nausea, physical pain and anguish that crashed down on Spock dropped him to his knees, he held his head in his hands, stunned. The bond flickered to life again and Spock groaned aloud with relief.
Immediately Stanley and Scott were beside him, helping him rise. Faintly he heard Stanley say, "The Commander was injured in the attack but refused to go to sick bay."
"Well you'd better take him there now laddie. We canna afford to have him out of action."
"I am recovered sufficiently, thank you Ensign," said Spock, but he was breathing erratically.
"You had best go up to the Doc Sir and get a wee check up," Scott urged.
Spock simply nodded, he was already walking. There was indeed only one place in the ship he could be now and that was sick bay.