ST: Beyond

Spock and McCoy make it to the ground, but only just. As McCoy slides out of the pod, he takes a look around. "Well, we ain't in Kansas anymore, Toto." he remarks. He turns, and freezes. "Spock! Jesus Christ!"

"I am fine, Doctor. We need to find shelter."

"Like hell you are! Here, lay down real quick." McCoy helps manuever Spock into something that resembles lying down, then goes picking through the rubble. He finds an alien gun, and what looks like a promising piece of metal. "Well, I gotta tell ya, we're kinda up a creek here. We should try and find the rest of the crew." he says as he smacks the gun with a rock. The gun flares to life, and McCoy directs the beam at the metal, nodding as it burns bright red. "But, before we do, I have a question for ya."

At Spock's curious look, McCoy gives him a smile more reminiscent of a grimace. "What's your favorite color?"

"I don't understand why - " Spock's response is cut off with a scream when McCoy jerks the shard out of his side and presses the red hot metal to the wound.

As McCoy pulls the metal away, he offers Spock a faint smile. "I hear it hurts less when you don't know it's coming."

Kara gasps in pain even as she staggers to the ground. Her shin is now bleeding freely, soaking her pants, and she's pretty positive that ankle is busted. She tests putting weight on it and grimaces. Busted, but it will have to do. She finds a piece of pipe she can use as a crutch and starts knocking aside the metal wreckage of the craft. The guns had been ripped off during the crash, and her communicator is gone. She has her phaser with an almost full charge. Hopefully she can use the pipe as a weapon as well.

She closes her eyes for just a moment. Serron is there, in the back of her mind, but she can't reach out to him. It's muddled. Confused, she reaches up and touches her head. Her fingers come away bloody.

Well, that's to be expected. Option number two, then.

"SERRON!"

Her voice echoes, but there's no answer. She picks a direction and starts walking.

Kirk's eyes narrow at the girl. "What did Krall want so badly that you had to trick two Federation captains into coming here?"

"There's an artifact on your ship."

Kirk nods at the response. "He wants it. All right, we're headed back to the Enterprise."

"Keptin, are you sure that's wise? What if we are attacked again?"

"She's got a few tricks up her sleeve." Kirk murmurs. "And there's something I need to get."

"Once we power her up, she'll attract a lot of attention, Keptin."

"I know. I'm kinda counting on it."

"Ah. Serron and Kara."

"Among others, yeah."

Serron finds the closest ridge and heads to the top. He's fairly certain that the Enterprise or the Avenger are somewhere nearby. He's hoping that from this vantage point, he can see the trails of the ships, and possibly evidence of any crewmembers.

He takes a breath and reaches out to Kara. She's there - alive - but faint. He can't speak to her like he should. With a small frown, he concludes it must be a head wound. Probably a concussion. He needs to find her, and he needs to find her fast.

He's right about the ships. There's a deep gouge in the earth. He's not sure which ship, but either one he'll take. Either way, he'll find some crew members. They will follow the trail as well.

Direction found, he starts hiking.

--------/

T'Remberale did not land far from Spock and McCoy. She's close enough to hear the Vulcan's scream and follow it.

They almost crash into each other.

McCoy lights up. "Rem! Yer a sight for sore eyes, let me tell you."

Rem can't stop a small smile. "You as well. Spock, are you harmed?"

"Our landing was not smooth." Spock replies dryly.

Rem gave them a wry smile. "I see that. There's a hut over there, let's get out of view." She moved over to Spock's other side, draping his arm over her shoulders and helping them over to the hut indicated. Once they got Spock settled, she looked over at McCoy. "How'd you stop the bleeding?"

"I cauterized it - I had to use a hot piece of metal." McCoy sighs. "I lost my medkit in the crash."

"I've still got mine. Spock, I'm going to lift your shirt up, okay?" At Spock's nod, she moves and lifts his shirt. It's not a pretty sight, but she keeps going, pulling her tricorder out and scanning him. "Well, the wound is closed, but you've got some serious internal bleeding. I can stem the bleeding here with what I have, but the scar is something I might not be able to fix."

"Just do what you can." Spock's breathing is ragged.

Rem nods. "I will." She is silent as she works, Spock's ragged breathing loud in her ears. McCoy stands on the ledge above them, keeping an eye out for anyone they don't want finding them.

/------/

Haymitch sighs. "Figures. Comms are down, and I'm stuck with you." He throws the useless comm at Scotty, who snatches it from the air and promptly throws it back.

"I figured ya'd be grateful!" he retorts. "Two genius chief engineers are better than one."

"Not when they're brothers!"

They continue to good-naturedly taunt and harass each other as they walk. It keeps their minds off of the situation at hand.

/------/

Kara finally has to sit down. Her shin and head are throbbing, although both have stopped bleeding, thankfully. She takes a moment to look around, checking her surroundings.

She's been following a ravine (that she's pretty sure is the direct result of the Enterprise or the Avenger) for a while now. She still hasn't found the others, and she still can't reach Serron through the bond.

She leans back and stares up at the sky. "Man, this is gonna suck."

Kirk, Chekov, and the girl reach the Enterprise, Kirk sighing sadly at the sight of his ship. He lays a hand on the hull, patting it before climbing into the wreckage. Chekov follows, whistling quietly at the damage.

"Keptin, I do not know if she vill even start up."

"Let's see if we can get auxillary power running. I don't want to try and navigate my way through in the dark." Kirk fights his way up to the command console, and with Chekov, begins typing in commands to get the lights on. The running lights come on, flickering on and off.

"Well, that's the best we're gonna get." Kirk says, climbing his way up the bridge. "C'mon, let's get this show on the road."

----/

As Kirk is making his way through the ship, the lights coming on gets Serron's attention. He breaks into a light run, heading for the ship. As he gets closer, he can hear yelling and crashing coming from the ship. He pauses, because it looks like the ship is moving. Faintly, he can hear Kirk yelling.

"RUN, CHEKOV!"

As he watches, he sees Kirk and Chekov running like their lives depend on it, with a crowd of aliens hot on their heels. He begins to back up, because the dish is slowly beginning to turn over. Kirk sees him.

"RUN! WE'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" Kirk yells, making a leap for the ledge Serron's standing on, Chekov right behind him. They hit the ground and grab Serron, pulling him along behind them.

"What is going on?" Serron demands as they run.

"The girl wanted the artefact, I've got it, and she brought friends. So I'm hoping the dish flips and takes them all down!" Kirk pants as they run. "But the caveat is that we've gotta get out of the way, or we'll be crushed too!"

Serron nods and glances behind him. "Go faster." he says flatly, picking up the pace.

Kirk and Chekov don't reply. The three of them race to safety as the dish of the Enterprise.

--------/

The noise catches Kara's attention first. She straightens up, watching the lights further down the ravine. She can hear the sounds of impulse engines, and her eyes widen. "What the hell?" She starts heading towards the noise. There's no way either the Avenger or the Enterprise survived that crash, but maybe someone is signaling.

At the very least, it's a place to start.

She manages to make it to the edge of the ravine just as Serron, Kirk, and Chekov come to a halt. Kirk leans forward, struggling to catch his breath in the cloud of debris still hanging in the air. He laughs breathlessly. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I had fun."

Chekov chokes on his laughter where Serron merely shakes his head with a smile. "Captain, we really need to work on your definition of 'fun'." he says.

"So you say." Kirk retorts gamely. "Have you found Kara yet?"

"No. I was hoping she was with you."

"We haff only seen each other." Chekov admits.

Kara decides to announce her presence. "So, who's bright idea was it to freaking flip the Enterprise?" she calls from the edge of the ravine.

All three men crane their necks to look up at her, and Kara grins. "Hi!"

"It was mine. If the Enterprise is gonna be destroyed, I might as well be the one to do it." Kirk says cheerfully. "Though I'm gonna miss her. She did us good."

"Have you found anyone else?" Serron asks as he begins to climb the ravine wall.

"No, only you guys, and that's because of the light show." Kara says, finding a handy log and sitting down. Her busted ankle takes the opportunity to remind her it's there. Serron makes it to the top as she winces.

"Injuries?"

"A few. My shin is torn to hell, and my ankle is busted." Kara admits as Jim and Chekov pull themselves up. "What was with the light show?"

Kirk pulls the artifact out of his pocket. "The girl who led us here wanted this."

"Where is she?"

Jim motions to the still burning wreckage of the Enterprise. "Down there under that."

"Ouch. Now what?"

Jim and Serron exchange a look. "We try to find the rest of our crews. I'm hoping Spock and McCoy made it dirtside okay."

"Bet you we'll find them with Rem." Kara says with a small grin. Serron kneels beside her, gently brushing her hair from the wound on her head. She's too tired to put up a protest, and in any case, she still can't get a good read on him through their bond. Getting better, though.

"You have a concussion." he says quietly.

"It's healing." she says dismissively. "I'm more concerned about my ankle. Walking on a busted ankle isn't the best for trying to heal."

"Well, when we find Bones, we'll have him patch you up." Kirk says. "In the meantime, we should get moving. That probably attracted a hell of a lot of attention."

"I told you so." Chekov mutters.

------/

McCoy, Spock, and Rem can hear the impact from where they are. McCoy frowns. "The hell was that?" he mutters.

Rem smiles faintly. "Probably my commander and your captain." she replies.

"That would be the logical assumption." Spock says, a little breathlessly. His injury has been repaired, but he's still suffering the side effects of blood loss. "We should go towards the noise. I imagine we'll find them quickly enough."

McCoy starts to protest, but Rem lays a hand on his arm. "The sooner we reach our crews, the sooner he can rest." she says quietly.

McCoy sighs heavily. "I'm not sure I like being ganged up on by you two." he says with a slight grin. "This isn't fair."

Rem chuckles. "You will simply have to get used to it." She moves to where Spock is sitting. "Think you can move?"

"Do I have a choice?" Spock mutters. "Help me up, and we can get moving." Rem nods, and with McCoy's help, get Spock on his feet, and begin moving towards the crash.

----/

Kirk and Chekov are walking a little ahead of Serron and Kara, keeping an eye out for anyone or anything that could be useful. Something catches Kirk's eye in a ditch, and he hops down, accidentally triggering a trap. "What the hell?"

The girl that comes running out has a weapon pointed at him, with a very winded Scotty right behind her.

"Scotty!"

"Captain! Jaylah, let 'im down! That's my captain! He's a friend."

From their safe place outside the trap, Serron and Kara watch the exchange with interest. Kara grins. "Jaylah, is it?" she asks. "Nice to meet you."

Jaylah looks up at the four of them with a fair amount of suspicion. "Are they your friends too, Montgomery Scotty?"

Kirk can't suppress a snort. "Montgomery Scotty?" he teases lightly.

"Hey, Scott - your brother wouldn't happen to be around, would he?" Kara calls out.

From behind Jaylah and Scotty, Haymitch appears with a huff. "Yeah, I'm here, Commander." he mutters. "Come on, Jaylah, let 'em go. Those are my captain and commander up behind Kirk and Chekov there."

Jaylah frowns. "You make strange friends, Scotties."

Serron can't help the small chuckle at that. Jaylah glances at him even as she lets Kirk and Chekov go. "Do you find me amusing, Vulan?"

"In this case, yes." Serron replies. "I believe you have made quite an impression on my engineer."

Kirk grunts as the field holding him lets go, and he lands on his ass. He dusts himself off and hugs Scotty. "You doing okay?"

"As okay as can be, given what's going on." Scotty says with a rueful smile. "The lassie here is vicious. I like it."

"Yeah, we know you do, you're brave enough to date Uhura." Kirk says with a grin. The grin fades as Scotty tries to see around him. "It's just us, so far. I was hoping the crash would have attracted more than just us six."

"REM!" Kara's call gets Kirk's attention, and he clambers back up the ditch to see Kara waving madly at the group making their way towards them. "You made it!"

"Barely." Rem says with a wry grin. "I ran into friends along the way." She glances over at Spock. "Is there anywhere safe we can stay? Spock needs time to heal."

Kirk slides down the embankment, taking Rem's place and helping support Spock. "You okay?"

"Given the circumstances, I could be better." Spock mutters. "Doctor, I think you're going to have to repair your work. I'm bleeding again."

Kara watches the alarm cross Kirk's face. A quick glance at Spock shows he has every right to be worried - the Vulcan is way too pale, even for him, and it's clear he's in pain.

Serron watches the decision flash quickly across Jaylah's face. "Follow me. I will take you to my home. There is medical equipment there." She turns, and the group falls into step behind her. She takes a different route than Scotty and Haymitch remember, slightly easier to accomodate for their injured companion. Haymitch glances back as Kirk and McCoy support Spock between them.

"He doesn't look good." he murmurs.

"Eh, it's Spock. Nothin' gonna happen to him. Kirk and McCoy won't let it." Scotty replies.

Kara and Serron bring up the rear, guarding against anyone that might attack from behind. Serron allows his hand to brush with Kara's. Her head injury is healing, but the bond is still clouded. The contact allows him to see past that and keep track of her. She merely smiles at him.

"You worry too much about me." she chides gently.

((Of course, this is the only post that doesn't suck! *hangs head*))

They get Spock inside and settled on a bench while McCoy and Rem follow Jaylah to where the medical supplies are. Serron forces Kara to sit down so he can get a better look at her head and ankle.

Spock looks over at Kirk. "The crew. We need to find the crew."

"And we will. Let's just get you and Kara patched up first, okay?" Kirk glances up as Rem and McCoy enter the room, arms full of equipment. They split off to their respective commanders, and McCoy drops his armload on the ground in front of him, and begins sifting through it.

"It's like working in the dark ages." He mutters under his breath. "I think I have a dermal regenerator here, so let's find out." He give Kirk a small cut, causing the younger man to yelp, then points the machine at the wound. As it knits the cut back together, McCoy nods in satisfaction. "Okay, Spock. This is gonna hurt - I don't have any hypos to help with the pain. You ready?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Good." As McCoy gets to work, Kirk stands and begins exploring Jaylah's 'home'. Scotty moves up next to him. "This is the U.S.S Edison." he says quietly.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. If we manage to find the crew, Haymitch and I might have an idea for getting them back. The thing is, we want Serron and Kara to sign off on it as well as you and Spock."

"I'll bite. Why?"

"Because if we mess it up, we don't want it to be just our faults." Haymitch mutters as he goes through the ship's logs.

Rem examines Kara's injuries. "Your concussion is worse than you thought." she says, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb McCoy's work. Kara merely shrugs, but there's a flash of warning in her eyes. Rem merely shakes her head. Kara knows exactly how bad her injury was, and she doesn't want Serron to know.

Stubborn woman.

Serron stands just behind Kara, one hand on her shoulder while Rem uses the regenerators they can find to repair as much of the damage as she can. When she finishes, she leans back with a sigh. "You need rest, Commander." she says pointedly. "And to stay off that ankle for as long as possible."

Kara just gives her a look. "I'm fine, Doctor." Quieter, she adds, "I'll rest when this is over. Promise."

"I'm holding you to that." Rem offers her a small smile before turning her attention to Spock and McCoy.

Kara looks up at Serron, who's watching her with a suspicious expression. "Rem worries too much."

"She worries because you do not." he retorts. "I cannot argue that now is not the time for medical leave, but please - if you have to, take it easy."

Kirk's eyebrow rises in a fair approximation of Spock's. "What did you two have in mind?"

"Well, once we manage to find the crew, we think we can teleport them back using the teleporter here. The thing is, the teleporter is ancient, and we don't know how long it'll last." Scotty says. "It's not meant to teleport people, it's a cargo teleporter."

"Do you know where the crews are?" Kirk asks.

"Kinda. I've locked on to what I think is Sulu's communicator's signal. They're in the middle of the forest, and if I have to make a guess, so are the rest of the crews. The problem is gonna be teleporting them here without some sort of signal to lock onto. Individual communicators aren't gonna cut it." Scotty says.

"Which means we need to get a signal to them." Kirk finishes for them. "Do we have a plan for that?"

"Not yet. We need a way to reach them."

"We can use the amplifiers to boost the signal of our individual communicators." Spock says from the bench. "If we have an approximation of where they are, we can beam a small team in with the amplifiers to beam out the crew in larger groups."

"Is he supposed to be talking?" Kirk says.

"He has a point." Kara says suddenly. "It wouldn't take very many of us either - maybe three to get the crew out and one to cause a distraction. Or two for the crew. Three to four people, max. Scotty and Haymitch would stay here to work on the ship and man the transporter."

"Spock and Kara would need to stay as well." Rem says.

"I'm fine."

It comes almost simultaneously from Kara and Spock. Kirk and Serron exchange looks. "Do you want to smack them or should I?" Kirk says dryly.

Kirk walked over to where McCoy was still working on Spock. "You're no good to me if you can't move as you normally would." he said softly. "So stay here and rest. That's the best thing you can do for us now."

"Captain - "

"No. Don't make me pull rank, Spock." Kirk glanced at McCoy. "How's he doing?"

"He needs time for his body to replenish the blood he lost. He's going to be a little dizzy for a while, so I would suggest he take it easy for a little while." McCoy cocked an eyebrow at Spock. "You were impaled, after all."

Kirk looked from McCoy to Spock and back again. "Impaled?!"

"It was a shard from the ship." Spock said, aiming for dismissive and missing by a mile.

"It buried itself in his kidney." McCoy said, ratting him out without a moments hesitation. "So no, I don't think he should join us on this away party."

Spock gives him a withering look, which has Kara cracking up. "You're definitely not going anywhere. You're loopy as hell if you're glaring at McCoy."

That earns her a glare. "You have to stay here as well."

"I'm fine."

"I distinctly heard T'Remberale say that you have a concussion."

"I'm bruised up. I wasn't freaking impaled."

McCoy looks over at Kirk and Serron. "If you leave now, they'll still be arguing when you get back."

Serron shakes his head. "Kara is staying behind as well."

Kara's attention immediately snaps to him. "Why? I'm fine!"

"You have not walked in a straight line since you found us."

"I have too!"

"Yeah, with Serron's help." McCoy mutters, putting his tools back into the bag Jaylah had given him. "That doesn't count."

"Aw, screw you." Kara says, flipping him off with a faint grin.

"Right back at'cha, darlin'." McCoy says, giving her the bird right back. "And because I'm meaner than Rem, I can actually enforce the 'stay here' order." his hand drifts to the hypos he has spread out on the ground next to him. "So you can either behave and stay conscious, or you can attempt to follow them and be unconscious. It's really up to you." he said, pinning both Spock and Kara with a look.

Kirk leaned against the console with a faint grin, and Scotty wandered over to him. "Enjoyin' the show?"

"It's nice when it's other people being threatened. It's rare."

Kara looks up at Serron. "You're going?"

"Of course."

"If you get into trouble, there is nothing that will stop me from coming after you."

Serron smiles faintly. "Then I will endeavor to not get into trouble."