Chapter One: Lassitude

'A state of physical or mental weariness; lack of energy'

While many people learned Jim by the curve of his smile, the fire in his eyes or the confident attitude that stood him apart as the youngest Captain in Starfleet, this was not how Leonard McCoy came to learn Jim. He learnt Jim by the bullet holes, the violent scratches left by hostile creatures, the deep slashes and gouges caused by primitive weapons wielded by equally primitive civilisations. As was his duty as Chief Medical Officer, and dammit his duty as Jim's friend, Bones would patch him up as best as he could. Sometimes there were scars, sometimes there were broken bones that could be mended. He learnt the medicines that Jim's body rejected, which alternative methods to use. He knew how Jim's body worked, but even he who considered himself one of Jim's closest friends could not presume to understand his mind.

Six months after Khan's attack and Jim's death, they were back onboard the Enterprise. It had taken that long to fix up the ship, and while Bones recommended that Jim stay off duty for longer, there had been no way he could keep Jim from his ship. Even Spock had told Jim that there was no pressure for them to leave straight away in a strange gesture of concern. After completely losing control after Jim's death, Spock had been attempting to reach a state of mental harmony, balancing both his vulcan and his human half. Bones had the uneasy feeling that while this sounded like a good idea, a more emotional Spock might not be what they expected. And Jim could really do without having to worry about Spock on top of everything else that he had to deal with. While Starfleet was not a military operation, the Enterprise had been fitted with more powerful shields and weapons - probably due to the distinct talent that James T Kirk had for getting into trouble. They had also assigned the Enterprise to pick up any reports of hostile civilisations and assist the fleet in expanding their outposts to those outreaching planets. While 'boldly going' was their job description, all Bones could think about was the amount of blood he would be seeing in his medical bay.

They were heading towards a planet named Bersallis III in order to drop off some supplies in order to reinforce its Starfleet outpost against the firestorms that occurred every seven years. It was a quick, easy mission but Jim sat rigid his chair, scanning the plant for any anomalies.

"And you're sure there isn't going to be a firestorm while we're there?" He asked Spock. Spock stood from his station and went to Jim's side with a PADD.

"Captain, as I have already informed you, the last firestorm was only five years ago. The cycle has remained constant for all recorded history of Bersallis III and it would be illogical for its pattern to change. There is no danger, Jim."

Jim's shoulders did not relax as he stared at the PADD that Spock handed him.

"Keep an eye on the readings, just in case."

"Of course, Captain." Spock returned to his station and Jim continued glaring at the PADD, rubbing his eyes with his other hand. He wasn't sleeping well - in fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had had a decent night's sleep without either waking up every five minutes or having horrific nightmares. He knew Bones would probably have a hypo or something that could help, but Jim didn't want to have to rely on medicine just because he couldn't sleep. He was back on the Enterprise now, in his own bed in his ship. Jim was sure he'd sleep like a baby after their first mission.

"Right, this should be nice and simple. I'll go down with a security team and once we've established contact with the outpost we'll radio up and get a team of engineers and science officers down to start helping with the improvements. It's the least we can do. Mr Spock, pick four of your team and get Scotty to pick some engineers, whoever he can spare. I know the new warp core is being a bit of a handful."

"Affirmative, Captain." Spock stood and got into the lift, sharing a brief smile with Uhura before the doors closed.

"Entering orbit now, sir." Sulu said.

"I'm hailing the outpost now," Jim flashed Uhura a grateful smile and stretched his neck. A Starfleet officer appeared on the screen. There were no explosions, no guns and she looked very calm. Jim felt that this was good. He was just waiting for something to go wrong, as it inevitably did.

"Captain Kirk, it's good to see you."

"And you, Lieutenant. I'll be beaming down shortly with a security team, and then we'll send a shuttle with the supplies down to your location."

If the officer was surprised at Kirk's caution, she didn't show it.

"Thank you, Captain."

Jim nodded and her face flickered from the screen. He stood, taking in a slow, calming breath before letting it out.

"I'm going to the transporter room. Sulu, you have the conn until Mr Spock returns."

"Yes, Captain."

Jim gave Chekov a wink, nodded to Uhura and stepped into the lift. He hoped he was imagining the worry in her brown eyes. But there is nothing to worry about, he told himself sternly, it's a secure Starfleet outpost, the firestorm isn't for another two years and there is no damn reason anything should go wrong.

By the time had finished his pep talk he had reached the transporter room. Four security officers were already waiting, and one of them handed Jim a phaser which he strapped to his side.

"Energise."

They arrived at the correct coordinates, in the middle of the outpost. Jim let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and headed towards the main console room with the security team in tow.

"Captain Kirk, I'm Lieutenant Danvers. Your ship informed me that you're going to start helping us with fitting out the place, I can't tell you how grateful we are."

She saluted him before shaking his hand warmly.

"It's not a problem," Jim replied with a smile and flipped open his communicator, "Kirk to Enterprise."

"Captain, it is Spock. I presume you have reached the outpost without any trouble."

"Yeah, send down the shuttle."

"Affirmative, Captain. I will tell Lieutenant Sulu to leave now."

"Thanks, Spock. Kirk, out."

The Lieutenant smiled at Kirk and gestured to the room.

"Feel free to look around. There isn't much here, but after the last firestorm trashed the shielding on the building the outpost had to be evacuated. Hopefully with the new fittings, it won't be a problem again."

"Thanks. The shuttle is on its way. I can spare a day of orbit, but then we will need to be on our way."

"Thank you, Captain."

Kirk nodded and flopped down into the nearest chair. He didn't see the point in 'looking around' as all Starfleet outposts were pretty much the same, and he'd been to plenty. It would be about fifteen minutes before the shuttle arrived, so Jim decided to annoy his CMO.

"Kirk to medical."

There was a pause.

"Jim, dammit what's happened?"

Jim chuckled, "Calm down, Bones. I'm fine, the security team is checking the systems and we're just waiting for the shuttle."

"Okay. What do you need me for then?"

"Just. Y'know. I don't like waiting."

There was hiss of what could have been static, but what was actually Bones huffing down the communicator at him.

"Jim, I have got things to do you know. You're the one who made me Chief Medical Officer of your ship."

"Yeah, well. Patience is not one of my virtues." Jim quipped. He could feel Bones rolling his eyes at him. "I'm bored."

"Don't be such an infant."

Jim grinned. He was feeling better already. He glanced up as a yellow light began flaring, accompanied by officers hurrying to their stations.

"Bones, alert the shuttle that a yellow alert has just been sounded, don't let them land until I tell them. Kirk, out."

Kirk shut his communicator before Bones could reply and got to his feet, reaching Lieutenant Danvers. Her brow was puckered and there was a grim look in her eye.

If that's a firestorm ahead of schedule, I'm going to kick Spock's ass.

"What's the problem?" he asked. Danvers bit her lip.

"The life support system has shut down."

Jim blinked at her stupidly for a moment before he managed to recover himself.

"Atmosphere outside?"

"Not breathable for humans. Too much nitrogen compared to Earth. We've shut off all non-critical systems and closed off unused parts of the outpost but we've got two hours of air tops. This is a busy outpost, there's a lot of people breathing in here."

Jim glanced around.

"I've got a shuttle that can take some of you up, and my ship has transport abilities...what?" Jim did not like the look on Danvers' face.

"Those non-critical systems I was talking about also include the device that stops interference with transporters. I know your crew is good, Captain Kirk, but I don't know that they will be able to get through the interference of the planet's atmosphere in time.

"Shit." By the look on Danvers' face, she agreed with his statement. "Does that interference mean I'm also unable to communicate with my ship?"

Danvers nodded. Jim rolled his eyes and cursed the fact that whatever mission he went on it always went to shit at some point.

He flipped his communicator open anyway.

"KIrk to Enterprise."

There was a fizz of static.

"...Kirk...? Uhura...losing...s'going on...assistance?"

"Uhura, the outpost's life support has shut down. Do you read me? We've got two hours of air left, now get us out of here. Uhura?"

"...Kirk-"

The communicator cut out. Kirk rubbed his face with his hands and hoped that Uhura had heard enough to know that he needed someone to come and save him. Again.

X

"Sulu, get down to the outpost. I don't know what's going on but Bones said there was a yellow alert, and now their comms are down. I think Kirk needs help but we can't get through the interference to clarify." Uhura ordered. Spock raised an eyebrow from his seat on the Captain's chair but simply nodded.

"Chekov, see if you can break through the interference to beam the Captain out."

"Aye, sir."

There were several minutes of silence as the crew worked furiously. Chekov was the one who broke that silence.

"Sir, I can break through but it vill take time."

"How much time?"

"Approximately three hours, sir."

"We need it done in minutes, not hours. We have no idea what is going on down there."

"Aye sir."

"Spock, we've lost contact with Sulu's shuttle." Uhura's voice was strained as her eyes darted to Spock's. "We have no way of knowing what's going on, and anyone else we send down is going to be left on their own."

"I am aware of this, Lieutenant. Spock said shortly, placing his hands on the arm rests, his face serene despite the turmoil that was going on in his mind. "Spock to medical."

"McCoy here. Dammit, Spock what's going on down there?"

"We do not know. All communications are down at the outpost, however I believe we may be able to deduce the situation from Jim's readings. If you recall, after his transfusions he was fitted with an implant that feeds back data to the Enterprise. While it will not currently be able to transmit data, it will be easier to break through the interference via the implant, and from this we may be able to deduce what the situation is." Spock turned to Chekov, "Dedicate your efforts to this course of action please, Ensign."

X

They were taking too long. More than one person was sitting down with their head between their knees in desperate attempts to not pass out, and even Jim was beginning to feel decidedly awful. The air was thin, and he felt shaky and dizzy. Why does this always happen to me?

The next breath that he sucked in brought no oxygen to his lungs, and a feeling of panic swelled up in his chest. He choked in another breath and luckily this brought some relief but there were black dots in his vision. It had been an hour and a half.

Jim went to stand, moved to try and attempt a gesture of solidarity by standing next to Lieutenant Danvers but his legs gave out and he hit the floor on his hands and knees. Any breath he managed to take rattled in his chest and his eyes watered from the effort it took.

He closed his eyes.

X

"Okay, increased heart rate...I've got it. Dammit. McCoy to bridge."

"Doctor-"

"They've got no oxygen, dammit Spock it's been too long. There's too many people in that outpost and they're going to start dropping like flies when they've used up all the oxygen."

"Understood, doctor. Chekov has a theoretical calculation for transporting that may work, but it is not ready-"

"Spock, I'm going down there."

Silence.

"Very well Doctor McCoy. I received a similar sentiment from Mr Scott, who is also confident that he can repair any damage to the life support systems. You will need a environmental suit and as many respirator devices as you can carry."

Bones opened the cupboard where the respirators were kept and grabbed an armful, shoving them into a medical bag that he slung over his shoulders as he half ran down to the transporter room. Scotty was already suited up, a bag of tools in his hand. His breath steamed up his helmet and Bones pulled a suit on himself. He hated the damn things, but if Jim died because of a stupid outpost having a terrible life support system he didn't think he could forgive himself.

"We're ready." Scotty said.

"How long has it been, Spock?" Bones asked as Chekov sat down at the controls.

"It has been two hours and seven minutes, Doctor."

So this a change from my other fanfic in which this will actually have a plot. Also it's McKirk. What has not changed is my addiction to ending chapters on cliffhangers.

All reviews are appreciated :)