Work Text:
McCoy woke up slowly, fully disoriented and with no idea where he was or how he got there. Rubbing his forehead as he looked around, he finally recognized that he was in an escape pod. An escape pod no longer attached to the ship.
"Damn green-blooded pointy eared hobgoblin. Computer! Where the hell am I?"
~Current location - Class M planet Delta Vega. Planet classified as unsafe for humanoid life forms due to climate and native wildlife.~
"Oh, that's just lovely. Computer, am I the only damn person on this rock?"
~Negative. An Imperial outpost is located to the northwest of your current position. Distance approximately fourteen kilometers.~
Running a hand through his hair, McCoy looked out the window, talking to himself.
"Great. What the hell do I do now?"
The computer assumed the question was to it and answered.
~Advised course of action. Remain inside pod until such time as there is response to the homing beacon of the pod.~
McCoy snorted at that advice.
"Screw that. The only vessel around that might pick up the beacon is the one that damn well put me here. Guess that means my only viable option is to hoof it to the outpost."
~Advised course of action. Remain ~
"I heard you the first damn time! You don't have to repeat it again! Unless you have an advised course of action that doesn't entail me just sitting here until non-existent help arrives, you can shut the hell up!"
Apparently, the computer had no other suggestions because it fell silent. McCoy gave a glare toward the main panel.
"Yeah, I thought not."
Grumbling under his breath, McCoy took the time to go over the contents of the pod, gathering what could be of use traveling to the outpost. There was foul weather gear far more suited to the weather outside of the pod than his uniform, emergency rations, basic tools, weapons - it took awhile because of the limited maneuvering space and the sheer number of cubbyholes he needed to sort through. He was pleased to find that no-one had bothered his medical kit and had a few murderous thoughts when he found someone had stolen his flask. Whoever did that had better hope he never made it back to the Enterprise.
Finally deciding he was as ready as he was likely to get for the trip, McCoy exited the pod - an action that sounded far easier than it was, but thankfully he was in good shape. When he finally reached the top and got his bearings on direction, the sight of the bleak landscape that he was going to have to traverse nearly filled him with despair. Pulling his hood further over his head and closing his eyes against the glare, he wondered what the hell was going on with everyone else. There had to be someone on that damn ship that knew what had happened to him or at least figure out he was missing even with all the chaos going on.
"Dammit, Jim! Where are you?"
Hearing the familiar curse that he hadn't heard in many years, the older Spock picked up his pace and came around an icy boulder to see a figure standing there with his back to him.
"Doctor McCoy?"
Even if it hadn't been his name being called, McCoy would have turned around at the sound of the only non-mechanical voice he'd heard since coming to. He was a bit disappointed to see that it wasn't anyone he recognized and his hand automatically dropped to his medical kit as he spoke.
"You have me at a bit of a disadvantage. You seem to know who I am, but I'm afraid I don't recall you."
"Have I changed so very much? I am Spock."
"I only know one Spock and he's back on the Enterprise, Mister. Are the two of you are related?"
"Not related. The same. It is good to see you again, Leonard. The years have been lonely ones since our last meeting."
Not sure he wanted the answer to his question, McCoy took a step closer.
"And when was our last meeting?"
"A month after your one hundred and fiftieth birthday. I was not able to make it on the day itself, but we celebrated it when I arrived."
Stopping where he was, McCoy managed to keep his voice steady with his next question.
"What is the current Stardate?"
A faintly puzzled look crossed the old Vulcan's face as he shifted the torch he was carrying.
"I have not be able to make use of anything to verify the current Stardate, but my encounter with Nero took place in 2387."
"Nero?"
"The Romulan captain that just destroyed my home planet."
McCoy remained silent as he reached up and pushed back his hood to show his face to the Vulcan. The effect was nearly the same as a physical blow.
"Nero was not lying. We went back through time, but even further than I would have guessed. What is the year?"
"2258. You attending my birthday - makes it sound like we were friends?"
"I counted you as one of my two closest friends."
"You know, I'm having a hard time telling if you're telling the truth or delusional. If you know me that well, tell me what you know about me."
"Your full name is Leonard Horatio McCoy. You are divorced and have a daughter by the name of Joanna. You served on the USS Republic, the USS Richard Feynman, the USS Koop, Starbase 7 - which is where I was told you and Captain Kirk met - the USS Constitution and then took a position at the Starfleet Teaching Hospital until such time as Captain Kirk offered you the position of CMO of the Enterprise, which you accepted."
McCoy was again silent for a minute before shaking his head.
"You know, outta that whole spiel, the only two things you got right are my name and that I'm divorced."
That seemed to puzzle Spock and he frowned.
"You were not aboard the Enterprise?"
"Yeah, I was, but I haven't graduated from the Academy yet. I've known Jim Kirk for years - we're roommates at the Academy. Joanna's the name of my sister. I don't have any kids."
Stepping closer as if to determine if McCoy is joking or not, Spock reached out a hand. McCoy immediately stepped back. Spock didn't fully retract his hand as he asked more questions.
"If you are not CMO of the Enterprise, then who is?"
"Commander Rajinder Puri."
"And the Captain?"
"Captain Christopher Pike."
Spock took on a determined look in his eyes.
"Leonard, please allow me to touch you. Something is very wrong and I cannot determine what it might be without further input."
"We've got a Romulan running around blowing up planets - yeah, I think that counts as something very wrong."
"Earth is very likely his next target. Where is your sister?"
The look of hatred from McCoy was not anything Spock was expecting, but McCoy stopped moving away.
"Fine. But you do anything funny and it will be the last time you do it."
A shiver ran through McCoy and he had to fight himself to keep from pulling away as the wrinkled fingers settled on his face and he heard the words Spock was speaking softly.
"Our thoughts are one - our minds are one."
The realization that this McCoy was not just a younger version of his McCoy struck Spock about the same time as it dawned on McCoy that the place being shown to him was not his world, but some odd alternate version. Then a memory passed through Spock of someone that might have been an older him and he wanted to know more.
Repelled by the very different mindset of this McCoy, Spock tried to pull out of the meld. It was then that he discovered another difference between this McCoy and his. This one didn't have the same aversion to mind melds and, in fact, seemed far more accustomed and comfortable with telepaths. Instead of allowing the separation, McCoy held on, startling Spock with both his determination and ruthlessness as McCoy chased after some more of the memories of the older versions of his allies that had come aboard due to an ion storm. Yes - that was his Kirk - his Uhura. The man with them in the red shirt was a mystery though.
Spock's hands moved from McCoy's face to his shoulders as he physically pushed the man away to break their meld. Both went to their knees. McCoy was the first to speak again.
"You're a lot further from home than you figured, Spock."
"Indeed, Doctor."
It amused McCoy that this Spock had suddenly stopped calling him Leonard.
Kirk and Sulu were about to get on the turbolift when a jolt when through the ship, throwing them both back. The red alert lights and claxons began going off as Sulu glance down the hall.
"What the hell was that?"
Kirk had a bad gut feeling that he knew.
"I think the Romulan ship has fired on us. Let's get up there."
Keeping his fingers crossed that the ship didn't take another hit while they were on the lift, Kirk let go of the breath he had been holding when they stepped back onto the Bridge. Moving straight to the Captain's chair, Kirk didn't even take a second to relish the feeling before calling out for status reports.
Looking up from her console, Uhura began giving the reports.
"All decks reporting at least minor injuries. Engineering is reporting structural damages on Deck 6. Unconfirmed reports of casualties."
There was a hesitation before Uhura gave the next report.
"The main Sickbay took a direct hit. I am not getting any response yet."
Kirk's expression hardened.
"Where is the Romulan ship now?"
Chekov turned at that.
"Gone, sir. She took one shot at us and then left. Initial trajectory would indicate that it is heading for Earth."
The turbolift doors opened again. Spock was speaking before he even stepped off.
"Why was I not called to the Bridge immediately? The Captain -"
From the chair, Kirk looked over to Spock.
"- is already on deck. Take your station, Science Officer Spock."
The Vulcan stiffened, but with how Pike's last orders had been phrased, Kirk was right. Worse, everyone on the Bridge knew it. After a moment, Spock moved to the Science station.
"Set a new course, Mister Sulu. We need to follow that Romulan son of a bitch to Earth."
"Aye, Captain."
As they walked together toward the outpost, the older Spock was still coming to terms with finding himself both in the past and in what his Kirk had called the 'Mirror Universe'.
The longer he spent with this other McCoy, the more bothered he was. Not so much by the differences, but by the similarities. Enough similarities that he still found it easy to slip and forget for a moment who he was dealing with. It was a relief to both when they saw the outpost ahead.
Entering, they could hear a unseen male cursing at something or someone in highly accented English. A Scottish accent, if McCoy wasn't mistaken. A side glance to Spock showed a faint smile on his face. Whoever was ahead was someone else that Spock thought he knew.
They entered an area that opened up and found the man who was doing all the talking was on his knees, fighting with a piece of equipment while a small alien that McCoy didn't recognize the species of was passing him tools. It was the small alien that noticed them first and drew the man's attention to them. He grabbed a rag and got up, wiping off his hands while grumbling.
"It's about time I got relieved here. Over six months and no rations outside of protein nibs which, I might add, are disgusting enough if you have to survive off of them for a day or two. Six months is plain cruelty. Fine, maybe I should have run that first test with the Admiral's dog instead of his daughter, but she was a willing participant and it was clearly an accident."
Spock looked over the man again and McCoy suddenly knew who it was - at least, in part. This was the younger version of the man in the red shirt that he'd seen in Spock's mind. Spock filled in the rest of the blank when he spoke.
"You . . you are Montgomery Scott. You postulated the theory of transwarp beaming."
"Aye, that's me. Wait, you are my relief, aren't you? Because I'm dying for some real food here. I'd have already turned cannibal, but Keenser here is too tough to even consider eating."
McCoy moved a little closer to get a better look at the man.
"No, we're not. We ended up stranded here when Vulcan was destroyed."
Scotty's head jerked in McCoy's direction.
"Whoa - wait - what? Destroyed? When the hell did that happen?"
Keenser gave a tug to Scotty's shirt. A look of understanding dawned and he let out a low whistle.
"So that's what Keenser was going on about. I was up to my elbows in the guts of this machine and didn't pull out to see what it was."
McCoy thought quietly for a moment, studying the other Spock from the corner of his eye. Whatever else the old Vulcan was, he was lost and lonely. McCoy could work with that. Pulling up in his mind what he could of the other McCoy, he spoke softly to Spock.
"If you know of a way to get us to the Enterprise, now would be a good time. Whatever you think of this time and place, those folks on Vulcan didn't deserve what Nero did to them. The folks on Earth don't deserve it either. Joanna's not even two years old yet and Nero's going to kill her over something that hasn't even happened in this universe."
There was a minute without any reaction from Spock, but then he nodded.
"You are correct, Doctor. Whatever else is or is not true, Nero cannot be allowed to continue the indiscriminate murder of billions of people."
Turning to the very confused Scotty, Spock continued speaking.
"Your theory of transwarp beaming was correct. It is indeed possible to beam onto a ship even if it is moving at warp speed. We need you to do that."
"Whoa - wait - what? Granted, yes it is possible, but do you know how hard it would be to get it to where you would hit a specific target? It would be worse than in those old Robin Hood vids where he split an arrow with an arrow."
While Scotty had been talking, Spock had picked up a nearby PADD. Making an entry onto it, he handed it to Scotty as he finished talking. As he read it over, Scotty's eyes got larger.
"Where the hell did you get this?"
"In a manner of speaking, I got it from you."
"From me? What - are you from the future?"
McCoy leaned against the desk the PADD had come from.
"He's from an alternate reality."
"You know, I have a theory about those as well."
"And it is also correct, Mister Scott. Can you get us to the Enterprise?"
Scotty looked over the PADD again, nodding slowly.
"Aye, with this, I can. But what's in it for me?"
That question took Spock aback, but McCoy had been expecting it.
"You get a one-way ticket off this rock and I'll make sure you get a menu card with everything available on it but protein nibs."
Scotty's face broke out into a smile.
"Sold! This won't take long for me to make the adjustments needed."
Left alone for awhile, Pike tested the straps binding him to a table. There was no give at all and he found his thoughts turning to Puri. That was the only person that he had ever trusted to have him in a position like this. Pike was brought back to the present when the doors opened and Nero came in.
"Comfortable, Christopher? It's time you and I had a talk about the Federation defenses on Earth."
Pike had no idea what Nero was talking about, but he had no intention of even telling the man that much.
"Christopher Pike - Captain - ISS Enterprise - Imperial Registry number Echo-Alpha-Victor-Two-Two-One-Eight-Echo-Lima."
Nero shook his head and brought a canister up into Pike's line of sight.
"I see you want to do this the hard way. Do you know what I have here? It's called a Centaurian slug. Amazing creatures. Once inside your body, it will attach itself to your brainstem. After that, you will answer any and every question that I put to you. Khoal, assist me."
He did his best to resist, but Pike couldn't prevent them from prying his jaws open and dropping the slug inside. Shortly after that, all he could do was scream.