Aviophobia (Leonard McCoy)

21. Space Jump

Jim shook his head, still not seeming very glad that their machine had interrupted him, but turned back to Khan and asked, "You coming with me or not?"

Khan smiled and said, "Of course, captain."

Kate wasn't comfortable that he agreed so quickly, but Jim went into action quickly, talking to the security team and getting them to surround Khan before they would leave.  Kate looked over at Leonard, not trying to hide the worry in her eyes.  As they made eye contact, he nodded his head toward the door and said, "Go follow him, let me know where you end up.  I'll catch up with you in a moment."

Kate nodded and rushed off after Jim, trying to catch up with him before they got too far.  Fortunately, he didn't have much a lead on her, and she caught up quickly and asked, "What is your plan Jim?"

Jim turned to her and said, "Scotty's on that ship, and Khan thinks he knows a way we can get over there.  If we can get over there, we can stop Marcus."

Kate shook her head as she said, "Jim, that's crazy.  You can't trust Khan and you can't trust Marcus."

Jim stopped briefly, and Khan, surrounded by his security team, stopped as well.  Jim looked at her and put his hands on her shoulders before saying, "I know you worry, sis, but this is the only way.  I don't trust him, none of us do, but we've got to use his knowledge right now."

Kate swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, so Jim nodded once and said, "You should go up to the bridge.  You'll be able to keep up with what's going on there rather than worrying yourself to death about me."

Kate smiled and hugged Jim, but he pulled away quickly and said, "Love you sis," before heading off again.

The security team followed as well, and Khan bowed his head slightly as he went by and said, "Until next time, Katelyn."

Kate felt the chill go up her spine again with his use of her first name, but she shook it off and ran back to med bay, hoping that Leonard hadn't left yet.

She got back to med bay as Leonard walked out of his office.  Just the sight of him made her breath catch in her throat for a moment, before she shook her head to clear her thoughts.  Now was not the time to be distracted by Leonard McCoy. 

She crossed over to him and said, "Jim's planning on going to the other ship with Khan and trying to stop them that way."

Leonard rolled his eyes and asked, "How exactly does he plan on doing that?"

Kate grabbed his hand and started directing them out of med bay as she said, "I don't know, but apparently Scotty's on the other ship.  Jim told me to go to the bridge to keep track of what's going on."

Leonard followed along and nodded as they entered the lift and the doors closed.  Almost immediately, Kate felt the familiar tension of being alone in a small space with him.  It didn't matter at the moment that there were other things to be concerned about.  All that seemed to matter at the moment was that she was right next to the man she was in love with.

But that ended all too soon, as the lift doors opened and they found themselves at the bridge.  They entered and came to a stop slightly behind the captain's chair, where Spock was currently seated, trying to get a read on the situation.

Sulu turned to Spock and said, "Commander, our trash exhaust is aimed at access port one oh one A of the other ship."

Spock nodded and pressed a button before saying, "Captain, the ships are aligned."

Jim's voice replied, "Copy that," as Kate came closer to Spock's side.

She couldn't believe what she had just heard.  Jim was planning on doing a space jump to end up at the other ship, right after the Enterprise had been attacked.  There was no world in which this was a good plan.  She crossed her arms before asking, "Has he lost his mind?"