Enemies at the Gate

Chapter 5

*****Note***** If anyone knows the scots burr, let know, and I'll fix it.

Chapter Five

"Lieutenant Commander Scott, we have received orders from Admiral Pike."

"Aye, lassie. What does the Admiral need us ta do?" Scotty turned the Captain's chair around so that he could look at her.

"We are to report to New Vulcan to pick up Ambassador Sarek and members of his party."

"Let the Admiral know that we are on our way. Sulu set coordinates for New Vulcan at warp 8."

"Aye, sir," Sulu said as he laid in the coordinates and set the speed.

"Did he say how many were in the party from New Vulcan?"

"Yes, sir. There will be nine, including Ambassador Sarek's wife," was her response.

"Have Lieutenant Rand get the VIP quarters ready for them."

"Yes, Lieutenant Commander Scott." she turned back to her station and relayed the orders to Lieutenant Rand.

The sounds of the lift opening preceded Doctor McCoy as he stepped out onto the bridge. "Any news, Lieutenant Commander Scott?"

"Aye, Doc. We're ta go to New Vulcan and grabbed Spock's father and the rest of his party."

"Great. I just came from the labs. They have some idea what the substance is."

"What did they find?"

"It looks to be silicon and calcium carbonate."

"Tha' not something ya run into often and especially together."

"I know, they are running it through the Starfleet database to see if we get anywhere. How long until we get to New Vulcan?"

"We should arrive in 3.26 days at warp eight. I will see about running some numbers and see if we can tweak things a bit."

"Don't tweak too much. That was what got us into this mess." McCoy grumbled, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Auch, ya wound me. We'll double-check everything."

"Two days and still no idea where they are."

"You should get some rest, Doc. You'll be up for the Gamma shift. Sulu said he'd cover Beta."

"I know. Once the Alpha shift ends, I am going to get some sleep. Carol is going to cover the next shift, and M'Benga will cover tomorrow morning's shift. Nurse Chapel is covering tonight. Better head back down to sickbay. Let me know once we reach New Vulcan, and I'll be there to greet them with you."

"Aye, Doc. Off wif ya," Scotty said and waved him away. McCoy nodded and headed to the lift.

Once he was back in sickbay, he headed into his office. Rifling through his desk draw, he grunted with satisfaction when he pulled out the whiskey. Grabbing a glass, he poured in two fingers and threw it back. He shuddered at the burn. Just what the doctor ordered. He put everything away and went out to check on his staff before the end of shift. Just because Jim and Spock went and got themselves kidnapped did not mean he wasn't going to keep everything ship-shape. He had hypos to get ready for those two! He looked up when he heard the doors open and smiled when he saw Carol come in. "Doctor Marcus, early, I see."

"Not by much, Doctor McCoy. I wanted to make sure everything was okay and to see if there was anything I needed to know before starting my shift."

"Yup, I am on Gamma shift to cover the bridge tonight, and M'Benga is going to cover tomorrow morning. Christine is on after you. Barring any emergencies, I will be back after that tomorrow."

"That's good to know, and now I believe you are done for the day. Doctors orders, go get some rest."

"I will try. Going to meet up with Scotty and get some dinner, go over some things and then rest. In a few days, the contingent from New Vulcan is arriving. Spock's father no less. So we'll need to be in ship-shape."

"We will be. Now shoo. See you tomorrow."

"I'm going; I'm going. Jesus, woman," he grumbled good-naturedly as he left. If it weren't for a certain Lieutenant Commander catching his attention, he would see if Carol was interested. But damn the man with that good-natured attitude, so different from his own pessimistic view of the world and the borough that made things stand to attention. He must be a masochist; he is going to be enduring dinner with the man.

**********

When he walked into the mess hall, Scotty was already there waiting. God, McCoy thought, he looked so good in that red shirt and tight black pants. He swallowed hard and headed over to where the Chief Engineer was seated. "Scotty," he greeted him.

"Hey there, Doc," he said to him, looking up. "Ya want some haggis?"

McCoy shuddered, "No, no. I'm good!"

Scotty chuckled. McCoy shook his head and went to get his food, a nice turkey and cheese on wheat. He sat down across from Scotty when he got back to the table. "So, how long can we safely run on warp eight?"

"Since we made the righ' tweaks when we made the repairs, say about through Beta shift. Ya'll have to drop it down ta seven, and we'll run on tha' through Gamma and Alpha shifts then we can go back up ta eight, and we'll be at New Vulcan in no time," the Chief Engineer said around a bite of his food.

"Good. Soon as we get them, then we can maybe get somewhere on our two wayward Senior Officers! Those two are gonna give me ulcers."

Scotty chuckled. "I have a new batch of me brew. Ya can stop off at me quarters after shift fer a wee nip."

"Gladly, aren't you on Alpha, though?"

"Auch, I'll have na problem. We Scotsman can hold our liquor," Scotty chuckled.

McCoy said and sighed, "Well, heading off to rest before shift. See ya later."

"Nigh', Doc."

He headed back to his quarters, undressed and dropped in bed. He rolled over after setting the alarm and fell asleep. His last thought as he dropped was that he needed a long vacation after this, where he could get laid.