Night 59: Main Hallway, 1-West

[doneinthree]

[from here]

Kirk ran into the main hallway and found nothing there except more pink light coating everything. His gut feeling said that if something was happening, it should've happened already, but he was a loss to explain what was going on. The system (if he could call it that, vague as it was to describe the whole Landel's torture/experimentation assembly line) had broken down at least once already, on that night when I.R.I.S. had first(?) appeared, and the whole of the building flickered like a malfunctioning hologram. Was that what the glowing cover was for? To prevent... he didn't know. Something. Something bad enough to warrant a Code Red.

(What had killed that creature?)

Waiting around here was already bad enough on normal nights, what with it being an open space with high traffic, but he'd picked it because it was the quickest and most obvious meeting place for all of them. Now with the whole area lit up like the inside of a strip club, Kirk was starting to feel like a lone piece of meat wrapped in a gold ribbon and tossed out for the wolves. He made a face for a second as he considered the unfortunate implication of mixing those similes, then decided that the dumb thoughts which crossed his mind ranked considerably lower in priority than, you know, paying attention to his surroundings and not getting himself killed.

Kirk swung the lead pipe in his hand once, just to focus, and shook his head as pain rippled out from the still-healing gunshot wound on his right arm. Take it easy, Jim, he admonished himself silently. It was still early in the night. Someone would be along shortly. And if not... he was giving his crew one minute. One minute, and then screw it, he was tracking down everyone himself.

[KIRK TO ENTERPRISE]

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[dual-worlds.livejournal.com]

((From here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1186308.html?thread=80997892#t80997892).))

It didn't take Spock long to move through the bloodied hallway, and his flashlight beam soon fell upon Kirk and McCoy. His gaze moved over the two men, quickly checking for any signs of injury. They appeared healthy, although he couldn't help but inwardly note Nyota had yet to reach the rendezvous point.

"Captain," he said in way of greeting, giving a faint nod toward the two men. "I apologize for not arriving sooner. A group of hostile lifeforms attacked me on my way here, but I am unharmed."

He wondered if Kirk and McCoy had similar issues on their way here, but if they were able to arrive sooner than himself, perhaps that wasn't the case.

[doneinthree]

"Defense mechanism," Kirk repeated as he looked back and forth, taking in the chaotic scene before him. Even with the soft glow emanating from the building, it was hard to clearly see everything which was going on around them. Too many people in too many places, doing too much and moving too fast. Not everyone in Landel's was an average human, he'd known that for awhile. It was still shocking to see the extent to which that was true.

But he did notice that no matter what anyone did, nothing marred the glowing pink surfaces. Defense mechanism, huh? He lifted his pipe again and swung it hard at the nearest wall; he felt the metal bounce off instead of leaving a dent. Some kind of force field, he guessed. Their captors had seen this as an eventuality, which meant it wouldn't last. And before it was over, someone was going to get seriously hurt.

If Kirk and McCoy really were being ignored for now, then that meant these creatures were deliberately targeting those patients whose "powers" had been constricted. Landel's "device," as he remembered reading on the bulletin board. There was only one person in his crew who fit that description.

"Spock," he breathed, and abruptly turned back to the doctor to grasp him by the arm. "They'll be after Spock. Bones, we have to find him." He'd barely taken two steps out of the chaos when a figure in blue appeared up ahead, as flawlessly composed as only Spock could be. Kirk let out a sigh of relief, and held back half of it, knowing they weren't out of danger yet.

Two down, one still to go.

"We're fine too." He was not rehashing the whole bullet wound thing with Spock. Kirk turned in the direction of the female patient block, half-expecting Uhura to arrive right on time as well, but no one appeared. He looked back to his first officer and his CMO, and made a decision. "We can't stay here. Mister Spock, you and Doctor McCoy head outside the building; I want to know how far this... force field, whatever it is... extends. I'll retrieve Lieutenant Uhura and regroup with you later."

[hes-deadjim.livejournal.com]

McCoy suffered the same realization and at the same moment Jim did. The thread of panic threatened to explode. Spock might be stronger than either of them, but he wasn't invincible- McCoy started off with Jim. He didn't need Jim to pull him, McCoy was quick on his way to outpacing him. They had to regroup before things got worse. At least there would be strength in numbers, and while he wasn't any tactician, it seemed like it made sense.

And just like that, Spock strolled through the carnage like he'd decided to take an evening stroll. McCoy halted. That just figured. The moment Spock got them both good and worried, he showed his face, as if he was just fashionably late.

"Wait a minute, you finally get us all together," not all, Uhura still wasn't here, which only drove his point home. They had to get her. Why not all go together? "Now you want us to separate? You want to wade through that alone?"

He pointed towards the chaos down the hall. Spock at least had more of a fighting chance in hand to hand with these animals. He looked to the Vulcan for support. "Spock."

[dual-worlds.livejournal.com]

Although splitting their group in order to both retrieve Nyota and assess the situation outside sounded like the most logical course of action on the surface, they needed to take into account the swarm of hostile beings invading the hallways and attacking patients. Even with Spock's returned strength, they were clearly at a disadvantage.

McCoy raised a valid point. He met the doctor's gaze for a split second before looking back at Jim.

"I must agree, Captain," Spock added. "Seven creatures attacked me before I reached you. You will be greatly outnumbered if you go alone."

[doneinthree]

"I'll be fine, I've gone— Seven?" Kirk echoed, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. He stared at Spock for a second, wondering how the hell he could've run up against seven aggressives and walked out without a scratch, before deciding that, if anything, this showed that the commander was more than capable of handling himself for ten minutes.

Kirk silently hoped this detour would take no longer than that. "Nothing's attacked us—" He waved his hand to indicate himself and Bones. "—and we've been in this hallway for awhile. I'm guessing these puppies have been sent to play fetch with whoever's had their abilities restored for the night. Honestly... I'll probably be a lot safer than you two."

There was a lot more he could've said about the nature of nighttime in Landel's and how weirdly time passed and the efficiency of splitting up, but one thing Kirk had gotten used to when it came to command was that explaining his orders wasn't a strict requirement. Especially not while they could get chewed up by any number of monsters while discussing it.

"It's not up for debate, gentlemen." He looked at Spock now. It was in Bones' nature to argue with him, and it wasn't as if Kirk completely disagreed with his point, but he thought — he hoped — that his second-in-command would understand. "We don't know how much time we have."

[hes-deadjim.livejournal.com]

Seven animals attacked Spock and the man walked off without a scratch? Sometimes, and not even counting his experience with That Other Spock, sometimes Spock scared him. Secretly impressed him at the same time , but with a slightly scary side to it. You got so used to Spock being more non-violent than all the humans put together on board, so quiet and tranquil, that you almost forgot how much damage he could do if he put his mind to it.

"And you aren't injured anywhere?" No scratches, no infections? Spock barely met his gaze, but McCoy caught the brief look. He didn't exactly grin, that would ruin the effect, but he couldn't help but be secretly pleased that Spock actually had his back. The pleasure faded considerably when Jim pulled his captain's voice. McCoy had a whole slew of arguments up his sleeve, but he didn't have nearly the same clout as Spock did. "And if they do actually succeed in rounding the others up, who do y'suppose they're coming after next?"

Jim's decision might be final, but surely Spock could convince him oherwise.

[dual-worlds.livejournal.com]

"As I said, I am unharmed," Spock quickly reminded the doctor. They didn't have time to concern themselves with non-existent injuries, so it was best to clear that up as quickly as possible. "Another patient aided me during the encounter."

Jim's theory regarding why he and McCoy had yet to fall under attack made sense within the context of what Spock himself had seen and experienced. After all, Goku had displayed signs of regaining some his own natural abilities as well. Not only that, but it made sense for the military to target those they considered the greatest threat to their authority -- in other words, individuals who experienced a change in physical strength and abilities due to a security breach. Assuming that was correct, then Spock would become a potential liability.

"The captain's logic is sound," he conceded after a brief pause. Then, turning to look at McCoy, Spock continued. "If we traveled together, I would likely draw more danger to both him and Lieutenant Uhura. We should go investigate the force field."

Now wasn't the time for debate. Spock was confident McCoy would understand that, even if he didn't necessarily agree with them.

[doneinthree]

Kirk didn't quite resist the urge to smile after Spock agreed (subtle, at least, more with the eyes than his mouth), but his only response to the commander was a nod. Unlike certain daring young captains, he couldn't think of any reason why Spock would fudge the truth about his health (Vulcans couldn't lie, right?), but all the better to send Bones off with him so the doctor could fuss to his heart's content. Hopefully, if Spock and McCoy moved fast through these hallways, they could avoid any seven monster pile-ups. Anything less than that, Kirk trusted Spock could handle himself.

Either way, they all should've been gone ten seconds ago. Kirk grinned at Bones' comment, already backing away in the direction of the female block. "That's why I'm trusting you two to put up a fight. Don't let me down."

If either of the science officers had anything to say to that, they'd have to direct at their captain's back, because he was already headed off, disappearing into the crush of monster corpses and rearmed prisoners.

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