Chapter 13

"He's waking up!" a voice above Cort called.

"That's good," another voice said, growing closer.

Cort opened his eyes, bright light flooded his vision. He blinked rapidly, then chanced opening them again. A boy around his age sat beside him. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Where am I?" Cort asked. 'August!' he cried out mentally. But either August wasn't there, or he was unconscious.

"You muttered something," the boy said, "right before you passed out. You said a name, August."

"What about it?" Cort asked, still trying to see how much he could trust him, it would help if he knew where he was. All he knew was that he wasn't with the Germans or the Americans for that matter. The boy was wearing a strange, tight, red shirt. Cort silently wondered who would want to wear it.

"It depends, describe him to me."

Cort hesitated, but answered, "He has red hair, dark blue eyes-"

The boy smiled slightly, but dismissively waved his hand. "Yeah, but how does he... talk?"

Cort looked him over again, "It's different..."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" the other voice cut in. Cort looked over, there was a man wearing a similar shirt, but blue, with ruffled brown hair and blue eyes, and a scowling face.

The boy grinned, "He's telepathic. I'm Dustin by the way."

"Cort."

"Your friend August is telepathic?" the man shook his head, "I think I've gotten to the point where I'll believe anything with you. Now, give me some space. I need to examine him." Dustin moved over to watch as the man held an odd device beside Cort. "I'm doctor McCoy. I'm just going to make sure you're all right. You have some superficial injuries that I've already taken care of, nothing too bad-" he stopped. "It appears to me that you have a similar physiology to my last patient, except it doesn't look like you're going to be melting any of my needles."

Cort's mind was racing, although he had a bit of a suspicion he asked, "Who was your last patient?"

"A Mr. Coal Cassel."

Cort nodded, "Of course, why not?"

"You know him?" Doctor McCoy asked.

"He's... He's my twin, triplet, brother."

"Of course, why not?" the doctor mirrored Cort.

Dustin shook his head, "What on earth happened to him? It seems like, well, you switched places. I hope he's all right."

Cort nodded, he really wished he knew what was going on.

The doctor continued to study Cort and his injuries, Cort decided he was a little worse than the doctor let on, but not anything he wouldn't walk away from. Cort glanced back at Dustin and could tell that he was still bubbling with as many unanswered questions as Cort. "Why are you in a WWII uniform?" he finally asked.

So Cort told him everything he knew, starting with being captured by the Gestapo and ending with when he was transported wherever he was now.

Dustin listened in silence, biting his lip a bit in worry for his friend. Doctor McCoy now stood off to the side, observing the whole thing.

After he was done talking Dustin told him about what happened to him and Coal, and how they were on a space ship. When he was nearing the end of his narrative the ship lurched a little.

Dr. McCoy grumbled under his breath. "What has Jim gotten us into now?"

There was a whistling sound, and the doctor irritably pushed a button,"McCoy here, what do you need?"

"It's Jim." A man presumably named Jim answered,"I just thought I'd let you know that we are now out of the ion storm, and back on our original course."

"And the Klingons?" McCoy seemed to be holding his breath as he waited for an answer.

"No sign of them." Came the assertive reply, "How's our guest?"

"Confused." McCoy' snappish and vague reply only confirmed Cort's analysis of his physical condition, "Jim, we need to talk."

"I'm on my way Bones, Kirk out." Cort could hear the tension in both of their voices, and assumed that he was to be the unaware subject of their upcoming conversation. Not if he had anything to say about it!

A minute later there was a swishing sound and the door opened. In walked a younger man with blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a shirt like everyone else's, but yellow, with three stripes on the cuffs. He was followed closely by a taller, ... man? With dark hair, and a blue shirt. But what stuck out (quite literally ) was his pointy ears.

"You had a report for me Bones?" That man was obviously Kirk.

"Well, yes, and I also have a complaint, the ship lurched a minute ago, what's going on? And who's on com?" McCoy growled, had Kirk called him Bones?

"Chekov, now could you get on with your report?"

"You do realize that other than these two he's the youngest on board?" Bones asked.

"Yes, and he's also saved our lives a few times. Now what's really the matter?" Kirk asked, obviously used to his friend's pessimism.

"Yeah, let's talk in my-"

"If you're going to talk about anything concerning me, I'd rather you do it where I can hear," Cort stated plainly.

McCoy looked at him sharply, obviously surprised at his blunt request. Kirk just smiled thinly, "I don't think I'll be very accommodating until I know who you are and what you're doing on my ship."

"That's what I wanted to tell you Jim." McCoy answered before Cort could, "He's Coal's brother."

"What?!" Kirk seemed very confused.

"It is logical, considering the similar facial structure and manner of speech." The pointy eared man spoke in a low monotone.

"I believed it Spock, I just wanted to know how he got here!" Kirk rolled his eyes good-naturedly, before looking at Cort expectantly.

"I have no idea." The subject of Kirk's scrutiny shrugged.

"Okay ..." Kirk sighed, "Is that all?"

"Jim, ..." McCoy seemed reluctant to speak, until his face turned hard and he looked right at Cort, "Look kid, first of all, you're not goin' anywhere, 'cause you're a lot more worse off then I've let on, but you're pumped fulla painkillers, so you can't feel it. But you are NOT fine, so don't go pullin' a Jim, and runnin' around on me, got it?!" Cort just nodded, taken aback as the doctor continued, turning to a tired looking Kirk, "Jim, I feel like this is some sort of sick Game. These kids show up, do something pivotal to our survival, then they leave. It's almost like they're proving themselves or something!"

"The doctor's point is logical." Spock raised an imperious eyebrow.

"I see what you mean," Kirk squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples, "But who would be playing this 'sick game?'"

"Remember Trelain?" McCoy's voice was sardonic as he'll led a small device off of his waist, "And the gamesters?"

"It is highly likely that doctor McCoy is correct Jim." Spock spoke quietly while McCoy surreptitiously held the small device where Kirk couldn't see it, taking intermittent, sneaky glances at it when the Captain wasn't looking.

"All right, but how will we find this, this ... Being?" Kirk threw his hands up in exasperation.

"We won't." McCoy jabbed Kirk in the neck with what looked like a futuristic shot. Cort knew all about shots, and had to suppress a shudder of fear, even though he knew it was probably good, not bad like the ones he'd experienced at the hands of the Germans.

"Bones!!" Kirk jerked away from the doctor, tumbling against Spock.

"You're gonna sleep off that headache before we do any searching." McCoy looked smug, "I did warn you I would do that if you overdid it too soon."

"Yeah, but I ... Was ... F-finnne." The Captain was oficially asleep, with Spock holding him up, straight-faced.

"That's the third day in a row." McCoy shook his head, putting the device back on his belt. Cort definitely didn't miss the subtle feed of information. He'd been asleep for three days?

"Doctor ..." Spock proffered the unconscious Captain, giving an obvious hint.

"Take him to his room this time Spock." McCoy gave a tired smile, "The last thing I need in here is two restless patients."

"Especially since last time he was in here, he wreaked havoc." Dustin had been watching all of this with an air of repetition, and now spoke up with a wry smile.

"Yeah, that too." McCoy scowled as Spock picked the Captain up gently, and began carrying him away. "I don't know if Vulcans tuck their kids in, but you have to do it for Jim, otherwise he won't 'sleep tight.'"

"Doctor," Spock stopped, quirking a pointed eyebrow, "You cling to things in your sleep?"

"Spock," McCoy turned his head to give the Vulcan a pointed look of disbelief, "Forget it."

Maybe it was Cort's imagination, but not only was the good doctor hiding a slight smile, there seemed to be a definite lack of real irritation in their argument. "Is he going to like the fact that he was carried to bed?" Cort couldn't help but ask.

"Nope." Dustin shook his head.

"Would you?" McCoy looked at him sidelong, a wry look of amusement on his face.

"I suppose not." Cort shrugged slightly.

"So where do you think August is now?" Dustin seemed like he'd been waiting to ask that question forever.

Cort turned to him, "I don't know, I'd reckon he's still at Stalag 13." Cort paused, an idea coming to him, "Do you think he might be with Coal?"

"That would be nice, they both can take care of themselves... But I really wish I knew where all my friends are. How do I know that only August and I are... displaced?" Dustin smiled ruefully, "I'm going to get home and find that we're at war or something."

Cort smiled, "Yeah, I'm sure that Kett is somewhere too. He always finds trouble."

There was a swish and Spock re-entered the room. "I believe that the captain is 'sleeping tight' as your earth saying goes."

McCoy rolled his eyes, "Let me guess, you actually know the history of the saying. Someday Spock..."

"Doctor, I am a Vulcan. I'm not familiar with all of your sayings."

"You're half human, certainly your mom used to tuck you in and whispered, 'Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.' And as a half Vulcan you said, 'That is illogical, there are no bed bugs in my bed.' And so your mom said-"

"Doctor, you made your point," Spock said with a slightly amused smile. Cort knew now that they enjoyed arguing. "How is your patient doing?" he asked changing the subject, not admitting that he did know the rhyme.

"Restless." Cort answered for the doctor.

"Also not moving." McCoy growled, pinning him with a threatening glare.

"Okay, fine. I'm not moving."

There was a silence for a moment, before Cort finally asked, somewhat tentatively, "So, ... did you just leave the Klingons?"

"Yeah," McCoy glanced at him, his gaze giving away his misgivings about it, "Jim told me afterwards that he did offer them clemency and a way out of the storm, but according to Spock, they didn't take that well." He grimaced, "Spock told me that Jim distracted them while Spock sabotaged the ship like we had previously planned, although it wasn't supposed to be in those circumstances, but it worked. And there's no way they can fix it, since Spock took the mandatory parts." McCoy smiled ruefully, "Leave it to Spock and Jim to be all alone and still manage to get a whole Klingon ship drifting."

Cort was confused, he understood gist of it though. He felt a little more out of it here than in Stalag 13. "So, when can I move again?" he asked. McCoy was right, he was getting restless.

"As soon as I say so." McCoy replied shortly.

"And when will that be?" Cort asked tenaciously.

"I'm not sure yet," McCoy said. "It depends on what trouble we get into. If everything goes smoothly then about a week."

"A week?" Cort frowned. He noticed Dustin's 'sucks-to-be-you' expression, but he didn't dare do anything about it while the doctor was there.

"And if I have to keep you unconscious like I did your brother, I will," the doctor threatened.

Cort smiled slightly at the thought of Coal unconscious in the same room they were in. "Don't worry, I'll be good. I just would like to figure this out quickly."

"Wouldn't we all." McCoy looked heavenward with a long-suffering expression on his face.

Dustin laughed slightly, "Actually, I'm kinda enjoying being in space. But I do want to find my friends."

McCoy shook his head, "Space will be the death of us, how one could enjoy it will continue to escape me."

"So why are you here?" Cort cocked his head, bewildered by the Doctor's logic.

McCoy actually answered truthfully, "My wife divorced me, and I couldn't stay on earth, so I figured why not join Starfleet. I didn't have that many options."

"I'm sorry," Cort replied. It seemed kinda strange that you could just kick someone off a planet. Then again, maybe it was just like banishing someone from a country for them. "Why don't you like space?" Cort asked, turning the conversation away from such personal things.

"Well, for starters one tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds," he answered.

"That sounds... Your blood boils?" Cort asked. Dustin cringed slightly, but it looked like he already knew that.

"I know, space is a death trap. I also am aware that my bedside manners are lacking for a doctor. So what do you enjoy about space?"McCoy asked, turning to Dustin.

"It's bigger than can be comprehended, and it's quiet," Dustin replied. "I think it would be interesting exploring it."

"Well, I suppose you got that right," an alarm started to sound with yellow flashing lights. "What was that about space being quiet? I better find out why the blasted ship is on yellow alert. Hopefully it's nothing, it's not red alert... yet."

"What does yellow alert mean?" Cort asked, his curiosity insatiable.

"It's a sort of stand-by," McCoy answered. "It means the ship has spotted something, or whatever, but they haven't determined if it poses a threat or not."

"So, there's a potential threat to the ship?" Cort asked, thinking about what the doctor had just said a moment ago about their blood boiling in thirteen seconds.

"Yeah, you two sit tight," the doctor walked to the wall. "Spock what's going on?" he asked into the com.

"We're not quite sure yet..." the vulcan sounded somewhat far away and contemplative. "Might I suggest you come to the bridge with the two boys, I think they may prove useful."

McCoy cursed under his breath, "Spock, I told Cassell he had to stay in bed for a week!"

"Well, we need him," the Captain's voice answered back. "He can go back and stay there for however long later."

McCoy started, "Jim! What the-" The transmission cut off and he shook his head, growling, "I guess you can consider yourself lucky, kid." He moved quickly, pulling little sticky circles and a few needles off of him. "I've taken you off the pain meds," he warned. "You're going to be able to feel everything soon. So let's try to be quick."

Cort nodded. Dustin frowned, "He can take an ibuprofen later if he needs it, we should hurry."

McCoy looked at him quizzically, but nodded.

Cort followed them to a small chamber thing. They waited in there for a few moments, and when the door opened again they were in a different room. The bridge, Cort assumed. The captain and his crew were standing around something. As they walked nearer Cort realized it was a person.

"What the heck is going on?" McCoy demanded. He spotted the man and stopped short.

"He teleported right there out of nowhere," the Captain said somewhat in explanation.

"It shouldnae 've been possible," an accented man in a red shirt stated. "Our shields are up." He spotted Cort and walked to him, "Scotty, chief engineer," he said sticking out his hand.

"Cort."

McCoy was examining the man, "He's unconscious, but not dead. How long has he been lying here like this?"

"Since the ship has been in yellow alert," Spock managed to stay unemotional while saying duh at the same time. "I had to wake the Captain." He continued, regret hinted in his voice.

"Yeah, about that-" Kirk started to say, but the man moved suddenly cutting him off. He swept Kirk off his feet and stood, holding his hands in the air to show he was unarmed.

"Dustin and Cort?" he asked.

Cort found himself nodding against his will.

"You have an hour," the man stated and then vanished.

"What in sanity just happened?" McCoy growled.

"Well, it would seem that our hypothesis that these two were being tested seems to be holding," Spock said.

"What is it they've an hour to do?" Scotty asked worriedly.

Dustin smiled apologetically, "We have an hour to take control of your ship."

"How do you know that?" Kirk asked warily.

"The man told me," Dustin shrugged, "How else?"

"The man didn't say anything," Kirk argued, but Cort was already thinking ahead, he knew that you didn't need to speak to talk.

"Why didn't he tell me?"

"I think you subcounciously have shields up," Dustin laughed. "August probably didn't even notice them, but the man that was just here isn't much of a telepath, he couldn't get through them. I... kinda took my shields down."

"That man was telepathic?" McCoy asked.

"Hardly, but I suppose good enough to suit his needs."

"And he told you you have an hour to take over my ship?" Kirk asked incredulously.

Dustin was really looking apologetic now, "I'm really sorry about this." The captain, first officer, and McCoy fell to the ground.

"What did ya do, laddie?" Scotty asked.

"They're only unconscious, I figured mutiny would be a bit easier if the leader isn't awake."

Scotty turned around and Dustin whispered to Cort, "Don't let him get to the wall, or else he'll call up security." Everything about this felt wrong, but Cort had the feeling that Dustin hadn't said everything yet. Cort nodded and soon the bridge was filled with mist, Scotty couldn't call security if he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face.

"Wow, that's really cool," Dustin's muffled voice came from beside him. Cort cleared the mist away from the two of them a bit.

"Why do we have to take over the ship?"

"The man planted a bomb on the ship, it was set to detonate in an hour. If we don't do what he said then the ship blows up," Dustin explained.

"And then we end up in space with our blood boiling?" Cort clarified.

Dustin nodded, "And a lot of other bad stuff the good doctor didn't have time to mention."

"This does seem like the better option for right now," Cort agreed. "Why didn't you just tell the captain this?"

"The man said if we told any of those three about the bomb, then the ship blows up anyways."

"Well, I guess let's try to keep us all from being blown up," Cort said. "Just give us a minute to explain!" he shouted, thinning the mist a bit.

"There's a bomb in the engine room, if we don't do as we're told and take control of the ship then... Well I think you all know what happens then."

"There's a bomb in my engine room?" Scotty cried. "Why when I get my hands on-"

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" a man asked.

"You can't," Dustin said, "But we can't actually control the ship if you're all unconscious. We don't want to hurt any one."

Cort lowered the mist so everyone could see, "Anyone against us?"

Scotty was definitely furious, "You think that we will just abandon our loyalties to the Captain?"

Dustin shook his head, "I'm hoping that you will honor your loyalties to the ship and all the people on it. If we don't do this then all of the crew dies. If someone went through all this trouble, I think it would be a sin to assume that all the escape pods are functioning."

A young man in a yellow shirt sitting at the front nodded, "All ze pods are down, zir."

Scotty nodded, "Chekov, run a scan for any explosives on board."

"Aye, zir. Zere's nothing, none are showing up," Chekov said.

They all turned to look at Cort and Dustin. This time Cort spoke, "Look, I don't know about all this scanning stuff. But do you really want to take the risk that it didn't just miss something?" Cort wasn't quite sure why he trusted Dustin, but he had a feeling that he was telling the truth. If they didn't do this then...

"Fine," Scotty said, "But after an hour I'm throwing you two in the brig."

"I can live with that, the brig really isn't that bad, well I assume it will be without Coal in there on fire."

"You two were in the brig together?" Cort asked with a smirk.

"Now to convince the rest of the ship, we can't actually take it over without all the crew," Dustin sighed. "I really don't like this."

Cort glanced over, "This ship is broken up in levels right?" Scotty nodded. "Do you think that if we called all of security to a level that you could knock them all out. And if yellow alert means stand-by, what means that the ship is in danger?"

"Red alert," Chekov said.

"Then let's put the ship in red alert, and I can fill the ship with mist, that ought to scare them a bit."

"That's not really the path I'd like to take," Dustin started to protest.

"I know," but the crew is already expecting danger, the ship has been in yellow alert. If we tried to convince them now they wouldn't know what to think. It will be easier to play into their suspicions."

"Sounds logical, I guess. Scotty, put the ship on red alert and call security to the level directly below us," Dustin said.

"I cannae. I cannae just leave us defenseless. We're not even sure if there's a bomb, the scanners didn't pick anything up," Scotty said.

"I'll do eet," Chekov said, surprising everyone.

"Mr. Chekov, I donae think-" Scotty started but soon fell to the floor. They turned to look at Dustin.

"Please, don't anyone else say anything against us. I really would prefer you all awake and well," he begged.

An annoying sound started blaring through the ship and red lights flashed in the brig. "Ze sheep ees een red alert," Chekov stated.

"Thank you." Dustin nodded at him, then Uhura spoke up,

"I've contacted security, they're all going to the floor below us."

"Good." Dustin looked pained, and Cort touched his shoulder.

"We're doing what we have to. Better unconscious than burned to a crisp in a blood boiling vaccum."

"I guess so." Dustin still looked uncomfortable, but slightly better. Cort just moved quietly away from him, and approached the Captain, Doctor and Vulcan, along with Mr. Scott waving his hand when he got to them. Mist swirled around them for a moment, and when it was gone they were under blankets and on pillows. He gave a guilty smile when everyone looked at him,

"I know from experience that sleeping on a hard floor makes you sore later, so I figured that I'd at least do the same as they would do for me."

"I agree." Dustin gave a slight smile at the stoic face Cort was making, obviously seeing right through it.

"They're all there now." Uhura spoke up again, and Dustin's smile slipped off, landing somewhere near his feet as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

"They're all unconscious now." He looked a little tired, and Cort cocked his head, suddenly feeling a little tired himself, not that he'd admit it,

"How do you do that?"

"Ah, I changed the composition of the air around them... basically I gassed them. But only with something that knocks you out," he added quickly. "It would take too long to explain it in full."

"Da," Chekov agreed, looking at his scanners. Cort had the feeling that he understood it though, and slightly wished that they had time to explain it to him.

"So, now we talk to the crew..." Cort trailed off. This he was not excited for, he wasn't to fond of speaking... or just talking, at times.

Dustin made a face, "Don't worry, I can handle it. I was kinda forced to become a good public speaker. You kinda have to if you want to gather an army, or lead one for that matter."

Cort nodded, kinda grateful, he could tell that Dustin hated it as well. "You're on." Uhura spoke up, nodding at Dustin.

"Uh, hi." He started, then mentally hit himself, he sounded like a kid! "I'm Dustin Chase, and as you might have noticed, the ship is currently experiencing red alert. It's because there's a bomb that's going to go off in engineering unless I take over the ship, which, peacefully, I have. I will be your Captain temporarily with my first officer, Cort Cassell." Cort saw himself appear on the screen, and did what he did best, didn't move or speak, and sent an almost palpable stare at the camera. "Contrary to popular belief, I can command, and am fully capable of the position which I have just filled. I will keep you updated on the bomb, and my first order is to evacuate engineering. Chase out." Cort thought he had done well, but Dustin shook his head when the screen finally went off, "I hate doing that."

"You're not alone." Cort gave a slight smile.

"Um... Captain, there's some panic in the engine room," Uhura said.

"Well, if someone just told me I was in the same room as a bomb I would probably freak out a little too," Dustin smiled slightly. "Put me on, I guess."

"Aye, Aye, sir."

"Engine room, I realize that there are things that must be done to keep the ship going, and maybe you're a bit worried about Scotty's wrath if you mess something up, but right now our main concern is your safety. And I know your probably worried about your captain, but trust me, he's fine. He might be a bit mad at me in an hour for clearing the engine room though. With all luck, and with your support and aid, you should be able to go back to your duties in less than an hour. If anything happens, please contact the bridge immediately. Dustin out."

Uhura kinda laughed, "Oh, he will be furious with you in an hour."

"So, I believe we technically have control of the ship, what now?" Cort asked. He immediately regretted the question.

"I zink I have ze answer to zat," Chekov said. "I'm afraid zat whoever ees testing you, ees ready to put your commanding skills to ze test."

"How?" Dustin was immediately on edge.

"Zere is an Orion slave trade sheep just up ahead, vhat should we do?" Chekov answered succinctly.

"Orion slave trader? Like with the green women?" Dustin asked.

Everyone stopped and looked at him, "How did you know that?" Uhura asked.

Dustin was looking in the ground, "Um, I haven't admitted something yet... You see, I think I'm more than from your past, I think I'm from a parallel universe or something. Where I'm from there's a show called Star Trek on TV, and it's kinda... about all of this."

"The universe certainly is full of mysteries," Uhura acknowledged.

Cort noticed that none of them questioned him further right now. He realized that no matter how bizarre something was that Dustin said, you found yourself trusting him. "So, are Orion slave traders usually hostile?" Cort asked.

"Yeah, ... if they think they can take you on ... they will. Literally." Sulu blanched, "Then they sell you. Most of the time to labor camps on class M planets or something."

"But wouldn't it be suicide for such a small vessel to take on a star ship?' Dustin asked.

"Well, they haven't seemed to think so in the past, especially since they probably know that there's just recently been a change in power," Sulu answered.

"What's a class M planet?" Cort couldn't stop from asking.

"Planets that are remarkably Earth-like." Uhura spoke up in answer.

"Da, zey heev conditions suitable for mulicellular life, end are ofteen populated with intelligent species." Checkov informed, a small smile lighting his features.

"Yeah, M derives from some Vulcan word." Sulu waved a hand deferentially. And Uhura cut in,

"Mishtara."

"Interesting." Cort nodded, having been growing tired and a little woozy the entire time. He had slowly been starting to feel sore as well, and a headache was growing in his skull. Processing that information hadn't helped. McCoy had been right. He was feeling it.

"For a second there I thought you were going to say fascinating." Dustin gave a twisted smile, seeing humor with the rest of the now chuckling crew where Cort couldn't.

"What?" He asked.

"Nevermind," Dustin shook his head dismissively, "It's an inside joke."

"Are you all right?" Uhura asked worriedly.

"I'm starting to feel my wounds again," Cort admitted. "And you guys are seriously confusing me."

"I'll call Nurse Chapel to the bridge," Uhura said.

"Is there anyone else we could call to the bridge?" Dustin asked. "Any possible experts on Orion traders. Not just any man who likes the girls," he added hastily.

Uhura thought for a moment, "I'm not sure. We could try." She quickly made the call, "They're on the way."

"Ze sheep ees lowering eets shields," Chekov interrupted.

"So, they're getting ready to fire or teleport?" Dustin asked.

"They shouldn't be, if they want to do either of those things." Sulu looked just as surprised as Dustin.

Cort remembered what Dustin had said about watching them where he was from, which confused him, but he figured he must be telling the truth. "Lieutenient Sara Riley, local Orion expert, reporting for duty!" Two women walked onto the bridge, one in red and the other in blue. The blue woman spoke next,

"Head Nurse Chapel, also reporting. Where's the patient?" Nurse Chapel spotted Cort and immediately went to him.

"Are our shields up?" Cort replied to Dustin's earlier assumption just in case, ignoring the Nurse that was currently attacking him with Hypos, he didn't feel so good.

"Da," Checkov answered, bobbing his head in a surprisingly cute imitation of a nod.

"Captain," Sulu looked alarmed, "they're preparing to fire!"

"Why would they fire? We're bigger than them!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Not to mention the fact that they just lowered their shields!" Sulu sounded just as surprised.

"Cort, are you feeling all right?" Nurse Chapel asked. Her voice sounded muted and like it was getting farther away.

"What?" Cort found himself struggling to form the word, but couldn't dwell on it, as he was swallowed by darkness.

Author's Note

That was hecka long!! Wow!