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Author: Nautika
Series: TOS
Pairing: Spock/McCoy
Rating: PG
Parts: 1/1
Date: October 2005
Feedback: All comments are welcome and appreciated!
Archive:The Spock/McCoyote's Den, my site, ASC*, others please ask.
Disclaimer: The usual.
Notes: Part of the Spock/McCoy Haven's 14th wave. A very special thank you to Lyra for the beta help! Any remaining errors are mine, all mine!
Summary: A response to the challenges: Write an S/Mc beginning with the line "They was doomed to fail, but they had to try," and write an S/Mc involving an explosion, actual or metaphorical.
by Nautika
"They was doomed to fail, but they had to try," Montgomery Scott looked out at the crowd of young faces hanging on his every word.
"Please, Mr. Scott, tell us the rest!" begged the leader of this childlike race, the Aras.
"Patience, laddie, don’t rush the storyteller." The Aras settled down in a semi-circle around the engineer and gazed at him eagerly with wide-eyed excitement.
The starship ENTERPRISE had come across the Aras planet in her explorations, and the crew was getting a laugh out of the way the race of childlike humanoids had clung to Mr. Scott since meeting him. Leonard McCoy had wanted to name the planet Neverland, after the mythical land of the old Earth story Peter Pan where no one ever grew up. His scans indicated that the Aras remained in this state their entire lives. They were innocent, intelligent, and curious.
Scott resumed his tale. "As I was sayin', a small colony of scientists and their families settled on this planet and did their best to undo the damage that had been done, but it was too late. Things started to go wrong, and we were called to the scene..."
~*~
Leonard McCoy and his medical team beamed to the planet as a volcanic eruption in the distance rocked the ground. The crew hunched down, trying to keep their balance. McCoy shouted orders over the sound of wind and thunder and turmoil. The planet was dying.
The small human colony on it had already suffered terrible losses, and McCoy and his team were there to treat the injured and get the rest of the population off as quickly and safely as possible. His team scattered and began rounding up the fifty remaining individuals. The ship, high above in orbit, was able to beam people down, but not up, so a few shuttles were en route to pick up the survivors. The shuttles would break through the atmosphere and the survivors would be beamed aboard the ENTERPRISE, then the shuttle would return for another load. A dirty little boy ran up to McCoy and yanked on his sleeve. "Mister! This way! My mom's hurt!"
McCoy followed the boy into a nearby house as rain started pouring down and another earthquake shook the ground. The boy's mother was unconscious, trapped under a bookcase.
"Stand back!" McCoy shouted at the boy as he kicked away the books. He bent down and hefted the bookcase off the woman, then ran his scanner over her. She had some internal bleeding, but she'd be all right when they got her aboard ENTERPRISE. McCoy looked to the little boy. "Run out there and get one of my men; they're wearing blue shirts like I am. Tell him we have a woman down."
The boy took off, and McCoy paced furiously, preparing the woman for transport. The planet shook violently, and McCoy bent over the woman, shielding her with his body from the bits of ceiling that were coming down. A fissure opened in the ground near the house and boiling hot steam came spilling out. As the worst of the shaking subsided, McCoy stood and wiped the dirt and sweat from his eyes.
...---...
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the ENTERPRISE, the first officer carefully monitored the activity on the planet and kept an eye on the time remaining until the planet would cease to exist.
...---...
Two of McCoy's men showed up with a stretcher, the boy trailing behind. Once the woman was secured, the men carried her while McCoy walked with the boy towards one of the waiting shuttles. The boy stopped without warning and yelled, "Oh, no! I forgot Max!" and then took off back towards the house. McCoy was momentarily stunned, but recovered quickly and ordered the men to go on ahead with the woman. McCoy turned back, running after the boy. Once inside the house, McCoy called for the boy, searching frantically. He finally spotted him on top of a narrow stairway, clutching a small, furry animal that McCoy could only assume was Max.
McCoy raced to the boy, grabbing him and pulling him down the stairs. From the periphery of his vision, McCoy could see outside the window. The steam from the fissure increased, and a small blob of lava belched out. McCoy threw the boy and Max to the ground and covered them with his body a split second before the ground shook once more. The house had already sustained too much damage, and McCoy cursed under his breath as the walls came down around him.
...---...
Back on the bridge of the ENTERPRISE, Captain James Kirk paced restlessly. "Time?" he demanded.
Mr. Spock checked the countdown. "Nine minutes, forty-two seconds, sir."
"Where is McCoy?" shouted Kirk in frustration. Nearly everyone had been accounted for; most were in ENTERPRISE'S sickbay. There was one shuttle still on the planet, and Kirk didn't have much time before he'd have to order it to leave Dr. McCoy behind.
Kirk was about to check the time again when Uhura spoke up, "Sir! I'm getting something from the planet!" He nodded at her, and she pushed a button, letting the weak signal fill the bridge. It was one of McCoy's nurses, his voice oddly distorted and sketchy through the disturbance.
"We've found the boy and Dr. McCoy," there was a burst of static, and then the broken transmission resumed again. "We've got the boy, but Doctor McCoy is injured! I can't get to him!" There was the sound of an explosion so loud that most of the bridge crew instinctively ducked. Then there was just the awed voice of the nurse saying "Oh my God!"
Kirk barked an order to the nurse, "Get everyone on to that shuttle and get out of there, NOW!"
Spock was at Kirk's side in a flash. "Captain...I've got to go down there. I've got to get Doctor McCoy."
"No, Spock, there isn't time; I can't risk two of my officers." He softened his voice, "I don't want to leave him behind, either."
"No, sir, you don't understand. I need to go to him. I can help him." There was almost a hint of pleading in Spock's voice.
"I can't risk it!"
Spock raised his voice, "He's my bondmate! I love him, and I must go to him!"
Kirk stared at Spock, his mouth open in surprise. The entire bridge crew was silent. Kirk breathed out deeply. "When the shuttle is high enough, we'll beam over the survivors and crew, and you and the pilot can go get him. But you don't have much time, and I expect at least one of you to return. Is that understood?"
"It is understood. Thank you, Captain." Spock took off for the transporter room. In a couple of minutes he had been beamed aboard the shuttle and they had flown down to the planet. Thankfully, the scanner was still working, and Spock was able to locate McCoy's life-sign. He began making his way to his bondmate as quickly as Vulcanly possible. As Spock neared, he understood why the nurse had been unable to reach McCoy.
What was left of the planet looked like a fiery hell. The temperature of the planet had risen considerably. The air was so full of gas and ash that it was barely breathable, and difficult to see. Lava and steam erupted from fissures opening all over the ground. As he ran, Spock covered his mouth with his hands. His Vulcan physiology better enabled him to cope with the environment, but for a human it would be nearly unbearable. He just hoped his bond with McCoy was enough to give McCoy the extra strength he needed to stay alive just a little while longer.
Spock neared the collapsed house and spotted McCoy amongst the wreckage. He hurried over and began digging the doctor out from the rubble. There was a huge gash on McCoy's forehead and his shoulder had been burned by some of the lava that had been spewing from the cracked soil.
Spock placed his fingers on McCoy's face, trying to transfer his strength and love to the doctor, as well as siphon away some of the pain. As gently as he could, Spock picked up McCoy and carried him out into the raging storm. Trying to shield McCoy from the wind and blowing debris, Spock hurried as fast as he could back to the shuttle.
There was a soft groan, and Spock looked down at the man in his arms.
McCoy's eyes opened, and he looked blearily up at Spock. "Hi," he said weakly, smiling and closing his eyes again.
Spock felt a rush of warmth as McCoy's relief washed through the bond between them. He almost stumbled with the weight of the emotions. At last Spock saw the shuttle ahead and drew upon every fiber of his being to move faster.
"I was just about to leave without you, sir," said the pilot as he closed the shuttle door and began their ascent. "We'll be cutting it pretty close."
Spock ignored him while he laid out his love and checked him over, administering first aid to McCoy's forehead and shoulder. Spock stilled his movements for a minute, one hand resting on McCoy's uninjured shoulder and just looked on the face of his bondmate.
McCoy's eyes opened again and he smiled weakly. "I knew you would come for me".
Spock inwardly cringed at how raspy his voice was. "Don't say anything. You need rest."
McCoy gestured for Spock to come closer and Spock leaned in. McCoy lifted himself up slightly to place his lips on Spock's. "Thank you", he said before Spock's arm was around him, lowering his head back down as he drifted off again.
A couple of minutes later, the pilot called out. "Brace yourselves! Time is up!" The planet exploded behind them, and Spock counted the seconds until the shock wave slammed into the shuttle.
~*~
One of the Aras raised a hand. "Did they make it?" Her voice quivered with nervous excitement.
"That they did. Dr. McCoy recovered, and he and Mr. Spock are standing right over there." Scotty gestured to where the two men were standing, listening to the story. The Aras were atwitter with excitement and ran over to the two officers, asking all kinds of questions. McCoy did most of the talking as Spock stood stoically by, watching as McCoy interacted with the aliens. Finally, the doctor felt a familiar touch on his arm, and Spock announced it was time to go.
McCoy squeezed his lover's hand briefly, smiling before catching up with Scotty as they left the Aras. "Scotty...you know we got everyone off that planet without a hitch," a smile teased at his lips.
"Aye," Scotty grinned mischievously, his eyes twinkling. "Doesn't make a very good story though, does it?" McCoy laughed as they beamed aboard the ENTERPRISE, leaving the Aras and their planet behind.
The End.