Fic: Observer Effect (6/?)
Title: Observer Effect
Author: laughter_now
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy, with a smidgeon of Sulu/Chekov thrown in if you stand on your toes and squint
Disclaimer: I keep wishing for them, but I still don't own anything.
Summary: There's something down on that planet. Something no human ever encountered before. The Observers have watched many species fight it. And there is only one common thread to all those encounters - someone always dies.
Answer to this prompt at the buckleup_meme .
Incidentally, this will also fill the prompt "experiments by evil scientists" on my hurt/comfort bingo card.
I'm sorry that this took a little while longer to get out. I had a recent...change of location okay, okay, so I'm back in school for my job, and with getting settled and classes all day long, I haven't had the time I usually have to write. I hope to get the next chapters of this story out a bit quicker, but I can't make any promises.
Author's Note: I just want to add that I know about the usual courtesies of applying warnings to stories. Without giving anything away to those who don't know the original Enterprise episode, I just want to add that if this story required a warning, I would have put one up.
Enjoy!
Chapter 5
Jim watched as Bones injected himself with the hypospray and almost immediately slumped down on his bunk.
"For how long is the sedative going to keep them asleep?"
M'Benga drew a deep breath before he turned and met Jim's gaze.
"Two hours, probably. This virus is so incompatible with the human system, I can't make any real predictions about how it's going to affect the effect of the medication."
Jim nodded. "Okay."
Two hours. If the initial estimation of how long Bones and Chekov still had was halfway accurate, they weren't going to have much time left once they woke up. If any at all. Depending how things turned out, this could very well have been the last time he had spoken to them.
Which was not going to happen. Jim wasn't going to let it happen. And if he had to fabricate a damn medical miracle, he was damn well going to do it. Nobody was going to die here tonight, not on his watch.
"Tell me you're on to something, Doc."
"We were able to identify a frequency of radiation that disrupts the matrix of the virus."
Jim's head perked up. "That's good news, isn't it?"
M'Benga shook his head awkwardly. "It's nothing more than a starting point. The dosage of radiation needed to counter the infection is well within the lethal spectrum for humans. Commander Spock is currently working on samples in the lab, trying to figure out how to adjust the radiation to have the desired effect without killing them."
"Good." Spock could figure this out, Jim was sure of it. They were going to figure this out, and then by the time Bones and Chekov woke up again they'd have a cure ready and waiting for them.
Jim wasn't willing to accept any other option.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Bridge was perpetually busy during this crisis, with everyone focusing fully on their assigned tasks. Nobody paid any mind when Sulu left his console and walked over towards the communications console. Uhura looked up as he stepped up behind her shoulder and pointed out something completely insignificant on her screen, leaning closer to her ear as he did so.
"We can stop what this virus is doing to them."
Uhura's fingers hesitated in their movement for the fragment of a second before she continued her work.
"That is not what we're here for," she replied, without ever taking her eyes off the screen. "We are here to observe."
"Yes, to observe. We came here to observe their reaction to the unknown, not to make them suffer."
Uhura finished up her task and turned sharply in her chair. "This is not the place to have this discussion."
Sulu inclined his head. "I know a place where we can confer undisturbed, then."
Uhura nodded. "Good."
It took a moment to get the new body under enough control to make it sit up on the narrow bunk. Rolling the shoulders of his new host, the doctor turned towards the ensign.
"This host is different. I feel an immense amount of…pain."
The ensign looked back. "It is a result the infection has on their species."
"Still. I don't see why anyone should experience this kind of pain."
The ensign shook his head and scooted to the edge of his bunk. "Because the desire to overcome these physical weaknesses is the first step to overcome physical shape as a whole."
Now that he was used to the pain, it was easier moving the doctor's body into a standing position, a movement the ensign immediately mirrored.
"Maybe not all species are striving for that."
"We did. Our ancestors were physical beings, and they overcame it."
The doctor shook his head. "But that doesn't mean every other species has to develop into the same direction. All those species we encountered, they had different qualities. So do the humans."
The ensign didn't seem fazed by the heated defense.
"I have seen many species in my time, and humans are nothing special."
The doctor shook his head. "What do you have against them? Why are you so insistent on not helping them?"
"Because it is not our task to help them. It is our task to observe how they react, and their reaction so far was not any different from most other species we have observed."
"Well, they didn't resort to violence, like the Klingons did."
The ensign raised an eyebrow. "Not yet. But for a species who claim not to embrace violence, their databanks are filled with examples to the contrary. A species who claim one thing and practice another…" He cocked his head to the side, where a small LED light on the console was burning. "We are being watched."
The Captain and the other doctor were engaged in a discussion in the main room in Medical Bay, and as soon as they interrupted that, turned around and entered the laboratory, they found the Vulcan examining the readings of the two infected crewmembers with piqued interest, a PADD held in his hands. Hearing them approach, he turned towards them.
"Captain, this development is startling. Doctor McCoy and Ensign Chekov were emitting brain wave patterns that were distinctly not human. And despite the sedation, the video surveillance showed that they were both standing upright and talking."
The Captain took the PADD from him and started going through the collected data.
"This was not expected," the doctor said. "I was not aware that they had the necessary technology available."
"It has to be Vulcan technology," the Captain replied.
The Vulcan didn't seem surprised, but strangely fascinated as he raised an eyebrow and took a step closer to them. "You are not the Captain and Doctor M'Benga. Are you the ones who are responsible for what is happening to Doctor McCoy and Ensign Chekov?"
"No," the Captain replied without looking up from the PADD.
"We merely study how physical species react to the virus," M'Benga continued. "You could help us by explaining how you noticed our presence. It happens in less than two percent of the cases."
If Spock was in any way perturbed by the events unfolding in front of him, he didn't let it show.
"Doctor McCoy and Ensign Chekov are under heavy sedation. They should not have been in any condition to talk, let alone stand up while doing so."
"Of course." Kirk nodded. "We haven't had the experience of a physical existence for thousands of years; it is hard to differentiate between sleep and sedation."
"We will consider it next time."
Spock raised an eyebrow. "If you have observed this virus for so long, there has to be something you can do to help Doctor McCoy and Ensign Chekov."
M'Benga shook his head. "We are here to observe, not to interfere."
"The mere fact that you're communicating with me constitutes an interference."
"We are observing humans. You are Vulcan. In fact, you were inhabited earlier, and the experience was quite fascinating."
Spock crossed his arms behind his back. "I have no recollection of such an event."
"Of course not." M'Benga seemed almost bored by the conversation. "It's a simple thing to adjust memories. A little more difficult in a Vulcan than in a human, but still a very simple thing."
Spock nodded. "I see. You are going to adjust my memory again, so that I won't remember any part of this conversation."
"Correct," M'Benga cast a look at Kirk, who was still engrossed in the PADD he was holding. "You won't remember what you observed in the decon chamber, either. Video recordings and sensor readings are even easier to adjust than human memories."
"It is logical to assume that if you have these abilities, you are also able to help our infected crewmembers."
"We could," Kirk remarked, and for the first time in this conversation he looked up from his PADD and up at his partner. M'Benga shook his head and turned to leave.
"But we won't." He took the PADD with the altered information out of Kirk's hands and handed it back to Spock. "Thank you for your help, Commander."
Spock took the PADD without comment, and he didn't try to stop them as they turned and left the laboratory.
"It's interesting," Kirk remarked as soon as the doors had closed behind them and they had made sure that they were alone in this part of the Medical Bay. "According to the information the Commander has stored on his PADD, he and the doctor have found out how to stop the virus."
M'Benga considered this for a moment. "Seven other species developed the radiation cure before. None of them managed to do so on time. All they did was waste time and resources in an attempt to achieve the impossible."
"We didn't initiate first contact with any of them?"
"Of course not. This course of action is hardly proof of significant intelligence." He stopped beside the console M'Benga had been working on earlier. "The doctor and the Captain both need to continue with their tasks. We should return to our initial hosts."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jim's heart was beating fast in his chest as he donned the EV-suit. It should be exhilarating that he could finally do something, but he merely felt sick to his stomach at the thought that if this didn't work…
He couldn't allow himself to think like that. It couldn't go wrong. He couldn't allow it to go wrong.
M'Benga and Spock had finally figured out a way to make the radiation work, but even as they broke the news to Jim, they had been adamant in pointing out that there were no guarantees. It might work, or it might not. Spock could probably calculate the odds, if anyone bothered to ask him. Jim definitely didn't want to hear Bones' and Chekov's chances expressed in cold, hard numbers. Fact of the matter was that this shot was more than they had an hour ago, and Jim wasn't willing to give up hope yet. Maybe this was the last minute miracle they had been waiting for.
The only problem was that in order to administer the radiation in a dosage that wouldn't kill Chekov and Bones right away, it had to be emitted in an extremely tight focus. The emitters in the decon chamber were useless for that purpose, but the scanning chamber in Medical would be able to deliver the exact amount of radiation with only a few adjustments. Scotty and Spock had altered the modifications according to M'Benga's calculations, and now it was only a matter of getting Chekov and Bones from decon to Medical.
They had a plan for that.
It involved an expansion of the quarantine zone between decon on D-Deck and Medical on G-Deck. The main Medical Bay had to be cleared completely and all patient traffic was diverted to the two auxiliary bays, where the remaining medical staff were holding things together while M'Benga was tied up with the transfer. Effectively, these measures cut off a large part of the ship, but Jim was beyond caring. If it saved Chekov and Bones, Jim was willing to do far more than isolate environmental controls of a large section of the ship.
Besides, Scotty had taken care of the quarantine expansion, so Jim trusted that everything had been double-checked. He wanted for Bones and Chekov to live, but not at the cost of exposing the rest of his crew to the virus. Security was the reason why preparations had taken up a lot of time. Nearly too much, if the worried way M'Benga had been watching the readings from the decon chamber was any indication. But despite his worries about Chekov and Bones, Jim couldn't allow this virus to escape, not as contagious as it was.
Which was why Jim wasn't going to allow anyone but M'Benga and himself to enter the quarantine zone. Even with the EV-suits, it was still a risk Jim wasn't willing to expose any other member of his crew to.
Of course, Spock had a whole list of reasons why Jim wasn't supposed to even get anywhere near the quarantine zone, but it wasn't as if Jim was going to give in to his reasoning, no matter how logical it was. For the past hours, he hadn't been able to do anything but stand by and watch others trying to figure this out. It was about time he finally got to do something, even if it meant squeezing into one of those bulky EV-suits.
After what had felt like hours of checking and double checking, now it was finally time. Scotty was overseeing the isolation process from Engineering while Spock kept an eye on things from the Bridge. In the unlikely case that something went wrong, Jim wanted them both as far away from the contamination zone as possible. If anything happened, Jim relied on them to stop the virus from infecting the rest of the crew.
Jim drew a deep breath.
This had to work.
"Quarantine lockdown engaged, Sir," Scotty's voice rang out of Jim's earpiece. "Environmental controls and life-support are completely isolated from the rest of the ship's systems."
"Lockdown confirmed," Spock added from the Bridge. "Quarantine zone is established. You may proceed, Captain."
"Thank you, Mr. Spock."
Jim cast one last look at M'Benga, who was looking more and more impatient the longer this took them, then opened the door into the airlock. Once they were inside and the airlock was sealed behind them, he waited for the visual confirmation that the seal was holding tight, and entered the command that opened the airlock to the contaminated D-Deck. Two gurneys had been placed into the airlock, and once their way down the corridor was clear, Jim took a hold of one and started pushing it down the corridor.
"We need to hurry, Captain." The in-helmet comm system made M'Benga's voice sound tinny in Jim's ears. "Their readings are getting worse. We need to start the radiation treatment as soon as we can."
Jim nodded to signal that he had understood, and quickened his steps as much as the suit would allow him to. The decon chamber wasn't far, and even though Jim had seen the video feed from the room just a few minutes ago, he was shocked at what he saw when M'Benga disengaged the lock and they stepped in.
Chekov and Bones were lying on their bunks, both virtually motionless. Jim's heart did a painful stutter in his chest, and he had to take a long, motionless look to convince himself that Bones' chest was in fact still lifting with his breaths.
M'Benga had immediately stepped up beside Chekov, his tricorder out and beeping as he scanned the young ensign. He straightened up and turned towards Jim, his face drawn and urgent behind the visor of his EV-suit.
"We need to hurry. He's going into oligemic shock."
Jim had no idea what that meant, but he could read the expression on the other man's face clearly.
There was no need to talk any further, and no need to waste any time or words on coordination or gentleness. Together they heaved first Chekov, then Bones onto the gurneys they had brought. There was no response from either of the two men as they manhandled them around, absolutely none. No sound, no movement, no sign of coherency or awareness. It scared Jim, maybe more than anything else up until this point had. They were running out of time too quickly.
They still didn't speak a word as they moved the gurneys down the corridors towards the nearest turbolift. Scotty had drawn up the fastest route from D-Deck to Medical on G-Deck, and in theory it had all looked good, but right now all Jim could feel was that the corridors were too long and the turbolift seemed too slow. Everything seemed to slow them down, and under the too thick material of his EV-suit, Jim felt the sweat drip down his neck and roll down his back.
Finally, after what seemed like enough time to have crossed the ship from one end to the other, they were finally pushing the gurneys into Medical Bay, and Jim felt something small that he didn't dare call hope yet flare up inside of him.
"Quick, we need to get Ensign Chekov on the scanner bed."
Jim obeyed without conscious thought, lifting the young man's by his shoulders as M'Benga took his legs and together they lifted him from the gurney. It was only when they put him down on the scanner bed that Jim got the feeling that something was wrong.
For a moment, Jim had no idea what it was, but the realization took only a moment, no longer than a second to catch up. Eyes wide, Jim looked up at M'Benga.
"Doc, he's not breathing."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
On the Bridge, a few decks above them, everyone seemed to stop breathing for a moment as they listened to their Captain's voice over the comm. So engrossed were they that nobody took notice as Uhura leaned over towards Sulu, who was standing beside her station, and spoke in a low voice.
"I told you. Someone always dies."
TBC...
Next Chapter
Thanks for reading. As always, please let me know what you think. Thanks a lot.
Please do not repost anything from this post or your comments to it on Facebook or Twitter. I really don't want to have to f-lock my stories. Thank you.
Author: laughter_now
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy, with a smidgeon of Sulu/Chekov thrown in if you stand on your toes and squint
Disclaimer: I keep wishing for them, but I still don't own anything.
Summary: There's something down on that planet. Something no human ever encountered before. The Observers have watched many species fight it. And there is only one common thread to all those encounters - someone always dies.
Answer to this prompt at the buckleup_meme .
Incidentally, this will also fill the prompt "experiments by evil scientists" on my hurt/comfort bingo card.
I'm sorry that this took a little while longer to get out. I had a recent...change of location okay, okay, so I'm back in school for my job, and with getting settled and classes all day long, I haven't had the time I usually have to write. I hope to get the next chapters of this story out a bit quicker, but I can't make any promises.
Author's Note: I just want to add that I know about the usual courtesies of applying warnings to stories. Without giving anything away to those who don't know the original Enterprise episode, I just want to add that if this story required a warning, I would have put one up.
Enjoy!
Chapter 5
Jim watched as Bones injected himself with the hypospray and almost immediately slumped down on his bunk.
"For how long is the sedative going to keep them asleep?"
M'Benga drew a deep breath before he turned and met Jim's gaze.
"Two hours, probably. This virus is so incompatible with the human system, I can't make any real predictions about how it's going to affect the effect of the medication."
Jim nodded. "Okay."
Two hours. If the initial estimation of how long Bones and Chekov still had was halfway accurate, they weren't going to have much time left once they woke up. If any at all. Depending how things turned out, this could very well have been the last time he had spoken to them.
Which was not going to happen. Jim wasn't going to let it happen. And if he had to fabricate a damn medical miracle, he was damn well going to do it. Nobody was going to die here tonight, not on his watch.
"Tell me you're on to something, Doc."
"We were able to identify a frequency of radiation that disrupts the matrix of the virus."
Jim's head perked up. "That's good news, isn't it?"
M'Benga shook his head awkwardly. "It's nothing more than a starting point. The dosage of radiation needed to counter the infection is well within the lethal spectrum for humans. Commander Spock is currently working on samples in the lab, trying to figure out how to adjust the radiation to have the desired effect without killing them."
"Good." Spock could figure this out, Jim was sure of it. They were going to figure this out, and then by the time Bones and Chekov woke up again they'd have a cure ready and waiting for them.
Jim wasn't willing to accept any other option.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Bridge was perpetually busy during this crisis, with everyone focusing fully on their assigned tasks. Nobody paid any mind when Sulu left his console and walked over towards the communications console. Uhura looked up as he stepped up behind her shoulder and pointed out something completely insignificant on her screen, leaning closer to her ear as he did so.
"We can stop what this virus is doing to them."
Uhura's fingers hesitated in their movement for the fragment of a second before she continued her work.
"That is not what we're here for," she replied, without ever taking her eyes off the screen. "We are here to observe."
"Yes, to observe. We came here to observe their reaction to the unknown, not to make them suffer."
Uhura finished up her task and turned sharply in her chair. "This is not the place to have this discussion."
Sulu inclined his head. "I know a place where we can confer undisturbed, then."
Uhura nodded. "Good."
It took a moment to get the new body under enough control to make it sit up on the narrow bunk. Rolling the shoulders of his new host, the doctor turned towards the ensign.
"This host is different. I feel an immense amount of…pain."
The ensign looked back. "It is a result the infection has on their species."
"Still. I don't see why anyone should experience this kind of pain."
The ensign shook his head and scooted to the edge of his bunk. "Because the desire to overcome these physical weaknesses is the first step to overcome physical shape as a whole."
Now that he was used to the pain, it was easier moving the doctor's body into a standing position, a movement the ensign immediately mirrored.
"Maybe not all species are striving for that."
"We did. Our ancestors were physical beings, and they overcame it."
The doctor shook his head. "But that doesn't mean every other species has to develop into the same direction. All those species we encountered, they had different qualities. So do the humans."
The ensign didn't seem fazed by the heated defense.
"I have seen many species in my time, and humans are nothing special."
The doctor shook his head. "What do you have against them? Why are you so insistent on not helping them?"
"Because it is not our task to help them. It is our task to observe how they react, and their reaction so far was not any different from most other species we have observed."
"Well, they didn't resort to violence, like the Klingons did."
The ensign raised an eyebrow. "Not yet. But for a species who claim not to embrace violence, their databanks are filled with examples to the contrary. A species who claim one thing and practice another…" He cocked his head to the side, where a small LED light on the console was burning. "We are being watched."
The Captain and the other doctor were engaged in a discussion in the main room in Medical Bay, and as soon as they interrupted that, turned around and entered the laboratory, they found the Vulcan examining the readings of the two infected crewmembers with piqued interest, a PADD held in his hands. Hearing them approach, he turned towards them.
"Captain, this development is startling. Doctor McCoy and Ensign Chekov were emitting brain wave patterns that were distinctly not human. And despite the sedation, the video surveillance showed that they were both standing upright and talking."
The Captain took the PADD from him and started going through the collected data.
"This was not expected," the doctor said. "I was not aware that they had the necessary technology available."
"It has to be Vulcan technology," the Captain replied.
The Vulcan didn't seem surprised, but strangely fascinated as he raised an eyebrow and took a step closer to them. "You are not the Captain and Doctor M'Benga. Are you the ones who are responsible for what is happening to Doctor McCoy and Ensign Chekov?"
"No," the Captain replied without looking up from the PADD.
"We merely study how physical species react to the virus," M'Benga continued. "You could help us by explaining how you noticed our presence. It happens in less than two percent of the cases."
If Spock was in any way perturbed by the events unfolding in front of him, he didn't let it show.
"Doctor McCoy and Ensign Chekov are under heavy sedation. They should not have been in any condition to talk, let alone stand up while doing so."
"Of course." Kirk nodded. "We haven't had the experience of a physical existence for thousands of years; it is hard to differentiate between sleep and sedation."
"We will consider it next time."
Spock raised an eyebrow. "If you have observed this virus for so long, there has to be something you can do to help Doctor McCoy and Ensign Chekov."
M'Benga shook his head. "We are here to observe, not to interfere."
"The mere fact that you're communicating with me constitutes an interference."
"We are observing humans. You are Vulcan. In fact, you were inhabited earlier, and the experience was quite fascinating."
Spock crossed his arms behind his back. "I have no recollection of such an event."
"Of course not." M'Benga seemed almost bored by the conversation. "It's a simple thing to adjust memories. A little more difficult in a Vulcan than in a human, but still a very simple thing."
Spock nodded. "I see. You are going to adjust my memory again, so that I won't remember any part of this conversation."
"Correct," M'Benga cast a look at Kirk, who was still engrossed in the PADD he was holding. "You won't remember what you observed in the decon chamber, either. Video recordings and sensor readings are even easier to adjust than human memories."
"It is logical to assume that if you have these abilities, you are also able to help our infected crewmembers."
"We could," Kirk remarked, and for the first time in this conversation he looked up from his PADD and up at his partner. M'Benga shook his head and turned to leave.
"But we won't." He took the PADD with the altered information out of Kirk's hands and handed it back to Spock. "Thank you for your help, Commander."
Spock took the PADD without comment, and he didn't try to stop them as they turned and left the laboratory.
"It's interesting," Kirk remarked as soon as the doors had closed behind them and they had made sure that they were alone in this part of the Medical Bay. "According to the information the Commander has stored on his PADD, he and the doctor have found out how to stop the virus."
M'Benga considered this for a moment. "Seven other species developed the radiation cure before. None of them managed to do so on time. All they did was waste time and resources in an attempt to achieve the impossible."
"We didn't initiate first contact with any of them?"
"Of course not. This course of action is hardly proof of significant intelligence." He stopped beside the console M'Benga had been working on earlier. "The doctor and the Captain both need to continue with their tasks. We should return to our initial hosts."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jim's heart was beating fast in his chest as he donned the EV-suit. It should be exhilarating that he could finally do something, but he merely felt sick to his stomach at the thought that if this didn't work…
He couldn't allow himself to think like that. It couldn't go wrong. He couldn't allow it to go wrong.
M'Benga and Spock had finally figured out a way to make the radiation work, but even as they broke the news to Jim, they had been adamant in pointing out that there were no guarantees. It might work, or it might not. Spock could probably calculate the odds, if anyone bothered to ask him. Jim definitely didn't want to hear Bones' and Chekov's chances expressed in cold, hard numbers. Fact of the matter was that this shot was more than they had an hour ago, and Jim wasn't willing to give up hope yet. Maybe this was the last minute miracle they had been waiting for.
The only problem was that in order to administer the radiation in a dosage that wouldn't kill Chekov and Bones right away, it had to be emitted in an extremely tight focus. The emitters in the decon chamber were useless for that purpose, but the scanning chamber in Medical would be able to deliver the exact amount of radiation with only a few adjustments. Scotty and Spock had altered the modifications according to M'Benga's calculations, and now it was only a matter of getting Chekov and Bones from decon to Medical.
They had a plan for that.
It involved an expansion of the quarantine zone between decon on D-Deck and Medical on G-Deck. The main Medical Bay had to be cleared completely and all patient traffic was diverted to the two auxiliary bays, where the remaining medical staff were holding things together while M'Benga was tied up with the transfer. Effectively, these measures cut off a large part of the ship, but Jim was beyond caring. If it saved Chekov and Bones, Jim was willing to do far more than isolate environmental controls of a large section of the ship.
Besides, Scotty had taken care of the quarantine expansion, so Jim trusted that everything had been double-checked. He wanted for Bones and Chekov to live, but not at the cost of exposing the rest of his crew to the virus. Security was the reason why preparations had taken up a lot of time. Nearly too much, if the worried way M'Benga had been watching the readings from the decon chamber was any indication. But despite his worries about Chekov and Bones, Jim couldn't allow this virus to escape, not as contagious as it was.
Which was why Jim wasn't going to allow anyone but M'Benga and himself to enter the quarantine zone. Even with the EV-suits, it was still a risk Jim wasn't willing to expose any other member of his crew to.
Of course, Spock had a whole list of reasons why Jim wasn't supposed to even get anywhere near the quarantine zone, but it wasn't as if Jim was going to give in to his reasoning, no matter how logical it was. For the past hours, he hadn't been able to do anything but stand by and watch others trying to figure this out. It was about time he finally got to do something, even if it meant squeezing into one of those bulky EV-suits.
After what had felt like hours of checking and double checking, now it was finally time. Scotty was overseeing the isolation process from Engineering while Spock kept an eye on things from the Bridge. In the unlikely case that something went wrong, Jim wanted them both as far away from the contamination zone as possible. If anything happened, Jim relied on them to stop the virus from infecting the rest of the crew.
Jim drew a deep breath.
This had to work.
"Quarantine lockdown engaged, Sir," Scotty's voice rang out of Jim's earpiece. "Environmental controls and life-support are completely isolated from the rest of the ship's systems."
"Lockdown confirmed," Spock added from the Bridge. "Quarantine zone is established. You may proceed, Captain."
"Thank you, Mr. Spock."
Jim cast one last look at M'Benga, who was looking more and more impatient the longer this took them, then opened the door into the airlock. Once they were inside and the airlock was sealed behind them, he waited for the visual confirmation that the seal was holding tight, and entered the command that opened the airlock to the contaminated D-Deck. Two gurneys had been placed into the airlock, and once their way down the corridor was clear, Jim took a hold of one and started pushing it down the corridor.
"We need to hurry, Captain." The in-helmet comm system made M'Benga's voice sound tinny in Jim's ears. "Their readings are getting worse. We need to start the radiation treatment as soon as we can."
Jim nodded to signal that he had understood, and quickened his steps as much as the suit would allow him to. The decon chamber wasn't far, and even though Jim had seen the video feed from the room just a few minutes ago, he was shocked at what he saw when M'Benga disengaged the lock and they stepped in.
Chekov and Bones were lying on their bunks, both virtually motionless. Jim's heart did a painful stutter in his chest, and he had to take a long, motionless look to convince himself that Bones' chest was in fact still lifting with his breaths.
M'Benga had immediately stepped up beside Chekov, his tricorder out and beeping as he scanned the young ensign. He straightened up and turned towards Jim, his face drawn and urgent behind the visor of his EV-suit.
"We need to hurry. He's going into oligemic shock."
Jim had no idea what that meant, but he could read the expression on the other man's face clearly.
There was no need to talk any further, and no need to waste any time or words on coordination or gentleness. Together they heaved first Chekov, then Bones onto the gurneys they had brought. There was no response from either of the two men as they manhandled them around, absolutely none. No sound, no movement, no sign of coherency or awareness. It scared Jim, maybe more than anything else up until this point had. They were running out of time too quickly.
They still didn't speak a word as they moved the gurneys down the corridors towards the nearest turbolift. Scotty had drawn up the fastest route from D-Deck to Medical on G-Deck, and in theory it had all looked good, but right now all Jim could feel was that the corridors were too long and the turbolift seemed too slow. Everything seemed to slow them down, and under the too thick material of his EV-suit, Jim felt the sweat drip down his neck and roll down his back.
Finally, after what seemed like enough time to have crossed the ship from one end to the other, they were finally pushing the gurneys into Medical Bay, and Jim felt something small that he didn't dare call hope yet flare up inside of him.
"Quick, we need to get Ensign Chekov on the scanner bed."
Jim obeyed without conscious thought, lifting the young man's by his shoulders as M'Benga took his legs and together they lifted him from the gurney. It was only when they put him down on the scanner bed that Jim got the feeling that something was wrong.
For a moment, Jim had no idea what it was, but the realization took only a moment, no longer than a second to catch up. Eyes wide, Jim looked up at M'Benga.
"Doc, he's not breathing."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
On the Bridge, a few decks above them, everyone seemed to stop breathing for a moment as they listened to their Captain's voice over the comm. So engrossed were they that nobody took notice as Uhura leaned over towards Sulu, who was standing beside her station, and spoke in a low voice.
"I told you. Someone always dies."
TBC...
Next Chapter
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