Starstruck (Star Trek/Khan FanFic) - Under Editing

First Contact

When the ship touched down on the surface of the new planet Nibiru, only the Captain and Ensign Stanton exited the ship. The other three flew back off towards the mouth of the volcano with the intent to neutralize it while the Captain and Assistant Medical Officer gathered information about the planet and its inhabitants. The Captain and the Ensign slowly hiked through the trees, parting the branches full of red leaves and stepping through the pink sand on the ground.

"So, Marie, enjoying your first away mission?"

"I'm currently just thankful I'm not the one going inside that volcano"

James laughed.

"Me too. Thankfully, Spock knows what he's doing. His cold fusion device will knock the volcano's eruption right out"

Suddenly, Captain Kirk flung his arm out in front of his companion to prevent her from walking forward. She glanced up at him and he pressed a finger to his mouth, silently keeping her from saying a word without making a sound or returning her gaze. Marie turned to look in the same direction and saw that they had happened upon the alien settlement. The creatures had pale, flaky white skin, and beady black eyes. They appeared to be of all ages and had slightly different appearances. Kirk reached out and grasped Marie's arm, leading her along the edge of the settlement towards a large structure on the other end. They approached it from the back, glancing inside through a small opening. There was a large group of aliens bowing down before something hanging on one wall of the building. Kirk began edging towards a different window, hoping to get a glimpse of what was on the wall. Marie followed him, her hand on his back to let him know she was behind him. They got to a thinly veiled doorway and peered inside, the wall with the artifact now directly in front of them. It appeared to be a scroll with strange markings. James leaned forward, trying to read it. He accidentally leaned too far forward and fell into the structure, making a loud noise when he hit the ground. Immediately, all the aliens turned their gazes to the man on the ground. Marie's eyes widened in panic and she clutched her med kit tight to her chest. Kirk slowly got to his feet, not breaking eye contact with the aliens. With no warning, they began to charge him all at once.

"Marie, run!"

Without thinking, Marie bolted forward into the building, shoving past the aliens that were running towards Kirk.

"Marie! Not towards them! AWAY FROM THEM!"

Marie ignored him in a panic, heading for the doorway behind the scroll on the way. She grabbed it as she passed by, racing as fast as she could in the direction they had come from. Marie ran, listening for footsteps behind her. She smacked her comm badge.

"Stanton to Sulu"

There was no response.

"Stanton the Enterprise"

"Yes Ensign"

"Where is the shuttle?"

"Still in the volcano, we have lost contact with them"

"Wonderful. Stanton out"

Marie continued racing forward, unsure of where she was headed. She glanced from side to side, suddenly colliding with something warm and solid. She hit the ground hard, her head smacking against a tree root.

"Ah, fuck!"

"Marie, I'm so sorry"

Kirk yanked her to her feet and put an arm around her waist, pulling her forward.

"We have to keep going!"

Marie nodded and forced one foot in front of the other, tears streaming from her eyes, her vision blurry.

"James, the Enterprise lost contact with the shuttle. They're still in the volcano. We're trapped on this planet"

"No, we're not. We'll find a way"

Kirk grabbed the scroll from Marie's hand and hung it on a tree. The group of aliens behind them stopped and dropped to their knees.

"I think I hate away missions, Captain"

"You're going to hate this next part even more then"

"What?"

"We're running straight at a cliff"

Before Marie had time to register what that meant, James had lifted her into his arms and leapt into the air, catapulting them off the side of the cliff. Marie screamed as they plummeted straight down into the icy blue water of the ocean. She desperately fumbled with her med kit, prying it open without being able to see as the water filled her eyes. She blindly searched through the kit until her fingers landed on the object she was looking for. She tossed away the rest of the kit, clutching the respirator she had grabbed tightly in one hand and using her other hand to locate Kirk's face. She pressed the small cylinder to his lips and pressed the button, causing the mask to expand and allow him to breathe. In her final moments of consciousness, Marie managed to force her eyes open and make eye contact with her Captain. Kirk gripped his friend tightly and fought his way through the water towards the ship. Eventually he reached the airlock and punched his code in, pushing Marie through the open door and propelling himself in after her. The room drained, and Kirk pulled Marie out into the hallway of the Enterprise, where he was immediately met by his Chief Engineer, Montgomery Scott, otherwise known as Scotty, and Bones. Kirk passed Marie off to Bones and immediately raced away, followed by Scotty. Bones watched, shaking his head, as the Captain abandoned his Ensign and best friend and barreled off towards the bridge. He lifted Marie into his arms and ran to the med bay, laying her on an examination table before pulling the screens closed. He changed her out of her soaked uniform into dry clothes before examining her for injuries. Bones worked quickly, hooking Marie up to a respirator and pumping the water from her lungs. She was borderline hypothermic, so he covered her with heating blankets. She began to come to, fighting against the respirator. Bones swiftly prepared an injection and pressed it to the Ensign's forearm, putting her to sleep. Then, a comm channel activated in the med bay.

"Captain to the med bay"

"Bones here, Captain"

"Stanton. Is she...?"

"Asleep. I cleaned her up and got the water out of her. She started waking up, but I put her back under. Her cortisol levels are through the roof. What the hell happened?"

"We may or may not have accidentally came into contact with the alien species. We were running, and we couldn't get back to the shuttle, so we just jumped into the ocean. God, she's so afraid of water, and I'd totally forgotten. We were going to drown, I was almost certain. But then she pulled the one respirator she had and gave it to me. I watched her take on too much water in my arms...I thought that was it. She sacrificed herself for me"

"You're her Captain. She did what she pledged to do"

"I shouldn't have let her. Why the hell did I let her? I lo-I mean, I need her. She's one of the best crew members I've got"

"Don't worry about it now. She survived, she's alive. She'll be awake in a few hours. You can come and speak to her then. Get Spock out of that volcano, Captain"

"You got it, Doc"

The comm channel closed, and Bones continued his work in the med bay, all while observing the sleeping Ensign.