He was running.
Full-speed, leg-burning, lungs-on-fire running.
Who was he running from?
He couldn't quite remember. His thoughts were muddled. The hallway swaying in front of him. Stumbling against the wall, he pushed the doors open and slid inside. A part of his brain was telling him that this was the way to the machine room. He could hide there. No one knew the inner workings of the enterprise quite like him. Except for Scotty of course.
Where was the scotsman now? Was he save? And where were the rest of his crew? Uhura, Chekov, Bones. And Spock? Were they alright?
He stumbled down some stairs into the half-darkness between wired apparatuses and machines. The bluish light of several control displays illuminated the room. Everything seemed normal down here. Quiet. The faint humming of the cooling system and a steady beat from the lower sections were the only things to be heard. Or was this his own heartbeat?
Light flooded the area above as several feet in heavy boots thumbed on the steel floor above him.
"Where did he go? I saw him run in here."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes, I am certain. Now help me find him before he hurts himself."
"The captain is quite well versed around this area. I am not sure if we will be able to find him unless he wants to be found."
The conversation faded into the background as he slowly crawled away from his pursuers.
Luckily they didn't know the machine room as well as he did, following the most obviously clear path in between the inner machinery of the enterprise. He, on the other hand, knew that hidden behind a big oil tank was a repair vent, leading even deeper into the heart of the Enterprise.
He held onto the tank for support, but slipped on the wet surface. Ungraceful he landed on his hands and knees, stifling a low moan as his knees collided with the raw metal ground. Pressing against the tank he waited if his commotion had caused the attackers to turn in his direction.
After a few breathless moments of cowering in the dark, he crawled into the general direction of the vent. Kirk ran his hands along the metal walls. He had expected a smooth surface, but the wall was covered in dust and grime.
Then his fingertips brushed against a metal grid. It was secured with tiny screws against the bigger section of the wall. In the back of his mind an image appeared. A small knife crammed into the small space in his boot. He wanted to push up his pant leg to reveal the boots only to find his fingers running across his bare skin. Dumbfounded, he looked down. In fact he wasn't wearing any clothes except for some underwear and boots. Luckily, as he reached into the boot, the small knife was still in its place.
It was too dark to make out any screw, therefore he felt for the round bud and placed one finger next to it. He tried to guide the knife tip into the bolthead. His hands were shaking, the tip of the knife slipping from the bolt with a faint screech. Labored breath barely under control he held still in the darkness, listening for the intruders. Listening for their reverberating footsteps in the darkness beyond.
Finally he managed to loosen one screw after the other. The cover gave way and he pushed it to the side. The small crevice behind was pitch black. He pushed inside, shoulders rubbing against the walls of the duct. He crawled deeper, his knees making a muffled sound on the brass surface. He was panting as he shoved himself deeper into the duct.
Suddenly a light pillar swiped across him, illuminating the duct for a brief moment. Over the rush of blood in his ears he noticed a commotion somewhere behind him. Then a pair of hands grabbed at his ankle. Panicked, he kicked at the intruding hand. Swearing ensued behind him mixed with a heavy southern accent.
For a second the hand vanished, but before he could bring any more space between himself and the pursuers, another pair of hands, stronger this time, caught his foot. Before he could even struggle, he felt himself being dragged outside. In vain he tried to hold, but slipped on the smooth surface.
With a thud he hit the ground, bright cones of light stinging in his eyes. The faces surrounding him hidden in the shadows.
He wanted to lash out, but before his tired mind could make the way from his brain to his nerve receptors, the hands were on his body again. With a firm grip they pinned him against the ground.
"Let go, you bastard."
"It will be alright, Captain. Please refrain from fighting us. I do not wish to harm you."
"And I don't wish to be held captive, yet here we are."
Suddenly he felt a sharp prick against his neck. The familiar sound of a hiss was the last thing he recognized. Then darkness swallowed him up.
Bones rubbed a tired hand across his face and took a sip of coffee. On the desk before him lay waiting the report on their latest mission. A team from the Enterprise including Jim, Spock and Bones had initiated trade negotiations with inhabitants on Kalethria II. During the meeting one of the resident delegates had offered tea. It was part of their peace ceremony and therefore disrespectful to decline the drink. Of course the captain had taken it upon himself to sample the drink in order to keep up the good nature of the negotiations.
As always this wasn't the end of it. The tea was treasured as it possessed the ability to put the consumer into a fogged state of mind. On humans though the desirable effect seemed to be delayed before arising with double the strengths leading to serious hallucinations.
Bones had first noticed nothing wrong with Jim when they returned to the Enterprise. His friend was his usual cocky self as Bones had run the usual scans.
"Is that really necessary? Come on, Bones. You know that I still have a ship-load of reports to finish."
"And that's your own fault for always letting these pile up, Jim. Now, hold still."
"Why are you making such a fuss anyways? It was just some tea. I didn't eat anything this time."
"I explicitly told you not to consume any foreign substances. Especially with your history of allergies one should think you'd know better."
"What do you expect me to do? Refuse their tea and offend our negotiation partners?"
"I've seen you talk your way out of a hostage situation once. I'm sure you could have come up with something. But god knows you like to toy around with your health and drive me crazy instead." Bones set the tricoder down. "I'll get your result and your ass better still be right here, when I get back."
Bones went to fetch reading of the additional test. He browsed through the results. Nothing seemed to be out of order. Maybe Jim was lucky for once.
"Your scans are clear so far", Bones grumbled as he entered the examination room.
"I'm sorry, what was that? Clear? As in I was right and my behavior wasn't endangering but rather the correct way to handle the situation?"
"No, clear as in stop getting on my nerves and get the hell out of here."
Jim bounced off the examination table and slapped the doctor's back good-naturedly. "Would it kill you to admit that I was right?"
Bones gave him a blank stare. "Don't you have a report to write?"
Jim shook his head and laughed. Walking away he called across his shoulder. "See you later, Bones."
The rest of his afternoon had been relatively slow as only one cadet had dropped by with complaints about a headache. Just as Bones was about to finish a few reports until the end of shift a certain Vulcan entered his office.
Bones looked up. "Whatever it is, just wrap it in tinfoil and come back for my next shift. I'm done for today."
"I apologize Doctor, but I guess this issue can not wait. It is about the captain."
"Of course it is. What's he done this time?"
"You examined the captain after his return, correct? Did he seem like his usual self to you?"
"If you mean cocky, self-absorbed, and constantly complaining then yes, in fact he seemed completely normal."
"There have been several instances reported seeing the captain moving about the ship in his undergarments."
Bones stared at Spock in disbelief. "Jim is running around the ship naked?"
"Half-naked it seems. It is known to me that some humans like to display their bodies in public, but this seems unusual, even for the captain."
"You're right, that's something else, even for Jim."
"Do you know what could have caused such behavior?"
Bones rubbed a hand across his face. "Yes, in fact I do."