Title: The Right-Hand Man (1/10)
Author: klmeri
Fandom: Star Trek TOS
Pairing: Kirk/Spock/McCoy (eventually)
Disclaimer: I own my imagination—little else.
Summary: Bones uncovers a deadly experiment which is killing a colony of innocents; it’s his mission to save them, so that’s what he’ll do… despite those out to stop him—permanently.
Notes: This is my baby–the story I have been fueling for months upon months. And it’s gonna involve a lot of danger, heart-break, suspense, and an entire Enterprise crew. Ye be warned!
Warning: My writing style incorporates blatant abuse of proper English grammar. That’s right, it’s on purpose! Now enjoy the story.

Prologue

Doctor Leonard McCoy has little love for conspiracy unless he is the master-planner—like slipping a sedative into a glass of Saurian brandy for irate exhausted Captains, or tag-teaming with said Captain against stubborn green-blooded hobgoblins for the sanity of Humans everywhere. Otherwise, he detests the mumbo-jumbo promises spilling out of a politician’s mouth when he—and everybody else—knows it’s ruthlessness and games that gets the prize in the end. He hates it even worse when the Admiralty plays along “for the sake of Starfleet and the Federation.”

Once Jim trades in his captaincy for the brass and prestige of an Admiral, Bones just knows that terrible things are to come. A man like Captain Kirk lives for the stars and the action—not the paper-pushing, little pats on the back and sideways smiles.

When Spock leaves them both for the wisdom of Vulcan (and McCoy has a hard time accepting any such wisdom can be found on that emotionless, computerized planet), it twists something out of Bones’ heart and leaves little more than a painful shell.

He needs both of his friends; he must have harbored a false impression that they needed him. McCoy remembers all too well how it feels to have your heart ripped out and set aflame; for Jim and Spock to open this grievous wound in him is all the more treacherous.

A conspiracy to end a relationship, before any of them could discover its potential.

So he lets Jim have a piece of his mind (“You’re a damned fool, Jim, if you think you’ll be happy!”) and gives Spock the cold shoulder before packing his own bags and turning heel for the sweet heat of Georgia (and solace for the pain in his chest).

McCoy does not communicate with Admiral Kirk or Mr. Spock for almost three years.

Then he gets drafted, the trio is reunited (he refrains from violence upon their persons), and they save planet Earth once again from the (sentient) thing that is V’Ger.

Only it’s not enough to get Jim back into space, nor hold the old Enterprise crew together. They slowly scatter back into their separate lives—most of them do. Doctor McCoy accepts a research post in Starfleet Medical; Admiral Kirk goes back to the desk; and surprisingly, Mr. Spock remains at the Academy as an instructor.

There are some nights when Leonard is so lonely, he almost forgets the bitterness in his heart and comms Kirk or Spock. Instead, he reminds himself that his life is better without them—happier—and has a glass of strong Romulan ale to soothe the voice that says you miss ‘em.

He always deletes Kirk’s invitations for a drink, and the only time that Spock pays a visit to Doctor McCoy’s office with an inquiry into the latest research on something-or-other (he half listens because he is unnerved), Leonard just eyes him and tosses one of many medical journal PADDs into his hands. The doctor knows very well that Spock could have accessed the Starfleet Medical Library.

He is grateful for the chance to get out of San Francisco, a place that seems to close in on him the longer he stays (the harder it becomes to disregard his past). There is a frightful plague on Kaus V, a small farming colony, and a dearth of good research scientists. McCoy has the background and experience to compliment his skills, so Starfleet snaps up his offer to fly out on the next shuttle. The press is determined to mud-sling and point fingers at the Federation—demanding “how long are the Kausians going to suffer?”

The Board wants the situation cleaned up fast and soon; they’ll “spare no expense” to save lives and so McCoy is on his way to the colony in less than a fort-night, crammed into a vessel with at least a dozen other personnel.

He thinks, Now I can be free.

Out loud, he harps into a woman’s ear (she introduces herself as Dr. Barnes, xenobiologist extraordinaire) about rickety shuttles and how he’ll be damned relieved to have solid earth under his feet again.

Kaus V is just what he needs, he is sure. He can survive the pressure of saving lives.

It will take three months of exhausting work and dangerous questions before Leonard McCoy realizes that Kaus V is not just a colony with hard-up luck… it’s a serious Conspiracy that could cost the doctor his good faith in Man and his life.

Chapter One

Related Posts:

• The Right-Hand Man (10/10) – from June 17, 2010
• The Right-Hand Man (9/10) – from June 17, 2010
• The Right-Hand Man (8/10) – from June 17, 2010
• The Right-Hand Man (7/10) – from June 16, 2010
• The Right-Hand Man (6/10) – from June 15, 2010