The Parting of Ways - [USS Enterprise in Interphase]

[allmhadadh]

Yet again, everyone on the USS Enterprise was in motion.  It seemed like most of their time recently was spent in that constant state of alert.  Lieutenant Uhura gathered together all of the notes, equations and formulas that had enabled the first transport bringing Scott and McCoy home, then transmitted them compressed on a tight beam subspace band to the new Enterprise, repeating the transmission as many times as it took to get it through in whole.  That was inside of the first ten minutes.

The next half hour was spent putting together the strongest subspace communicator/beacon they had.  Ultimately, all information that was sent by either communications or via the transporter was essentially digital; with something strong enough to lock onto, hopefully the other Scotty would be able to pull McCoy aboard.  The best this Enterprise could offer at this point was to act as a subspace beacon herself so that the signal would be as strong as possible.

Then it came to getting McCoy in order.  The doctor was in rough shape, though he made the best show of it that he could under the circumstances.  At this point, it likely wouldn't be much of a difference if he took something along, so he went to his own quarters, as well as Spock's and Kirk's, and gathered a few of their personal items.  If they did get trapped in that other universe for an extended period of time, they could at least have something of their own worlds and lives with them.

Another risk.  But then again, it seemed like risk was the order of the day.


The final hour was spent getting prepared.  There honestly wasn't much this Enterprise could do, but her crew did whatever they could.  Mostly tuning up the communications systems as well as possible for the final act.  Several good-byes to McCoy, and some of them rather emotional for the crew.

Scotty kept himself in motion the entire time, diving into tuning everything up and otherwise working more for the sake of doing so than for any amount of actual enjoyment.  Something to settle his nerves.  He didn't believe in sending men into a potentially deadly situation -- for that matter, he still preferred to take on the most dangerous engineering assignments himself, if only because he had written too many letters in his lifetime.  But here he was, about to send McCoy out there.

If it weren't for the fact that it probably would kill the Doctor and the other two, McCoy staying here, he never would have even considered it.

But his hands were tied.  And he hated that.

"You didn't build the gallows," McCoy said, a spark of his feisty self showing through now that he knew the mental torment he was suffering was going to come to an end.  One way or another. "And you're not making me walk up the steps, either.  Stop looking like that."

Scotty shook his head, a short jerk of a motion. "I dinna make a habit o' sendin' men to their deaths, McCoy."

McCoy smirked briefly, though it faded to a more tired look. "You're not.  It's my life to risk, and right now, it's damn sure better than the alternative."

Scott just nodded, taking a breath and letting it out slowly and looking off into someplace past the ship, and past the anomaly.  "Aye."

"And for God's sake, man, once this ship is out of here, get some sleep.  You look like Hell."

That got a bit of a smile out of Scotty, who chuckled in wry amusement, "Well, there's one thing I won't miss -- yer bitchin'."  A beat. "Could ye do me a favor, Doctor?"

McCoy nodded, adjusting the strap of the bag over his shoulder. "Yeah, name it."

Scott offered over a very well-insulated box, not too large. "Give this to my alter ego over there?"

"Lemme guess: It's something that can be used as fuel in certain vehicles?" McCoy took the box and packed it into the bag he was carrying.

"In part."  Scott gestured to his head, absently. "I canna remember much about what happened; what I do remember's foggy.  But I'm guessin' he'll understand this even if I canna quite remember all the specifics.  Or anyway, I'm hopin' he will.  And if not," and there he shrugged, "at least I tried, aye?"

"Yeah."  McCoy checked the chronometer, then eyed the transporter.  Scotty could see him considering a tirade against the technology, one of his favorite things to complain about.  In this case, it'd probably be warranted, too.  But he didn't. "I don't know if I'll be conscious when I land.  Got a handy piece of paper?"

Scotty grabbed the notebook he'd been using off of the console, offering it over with the pencil.  And chuckled again when McCoy wrote, "If carrier is unconscious, deliver the box to Chief Engineer Scott and the rest of it to the older Kirk and Spock."

"Good thought, that."

"I've been known to have a few."  McCoy stepped up on the platform, once the paper was firmly tucked where it would be easily seen.  "Two minutes."

Scotty stepped back behind the console he wouldn't be using, eyebrows drawn in worry and some measure of... something like sorrow. "Godspeed, Doctor."

"You too, Engineer," McCoy answered, with a reassuring grin.

Scotty called the bridge, telling Uhura to tell the other Enterprise that everything was set here.  It was up to them, now.



[[OOC: Hopefully McCoy's usual player will forgive me for writing him here.  All on you folks, now.  I'll explain the box via PM, Scotty.]]

Comments

[amplenacelles.livejournal.com]

“Git tha' hooked up, keep tha' flow reversed or it'll trip tha' fifth an' sixth saf'ty protocols,” Scotty complained as Riley and DeSalle all but gutted the Transporter. They'd managed to pull one of the few working sensor units from the exterior, aft sector, and had hooked it up to the homing array to boost triangulation. At the moment, it was much like jamming a satellite dish into an old cellular phone. As Scotty watched them hook up the array and check the cathodes along the base of the relay, he took a shaky breath.

“Iff'n this dunnae' work...” he started and shook his head. Even the deflector readings, familiar and swift as they danced by, couldn't steady his nerves. Riley and DeSalle stepped back with the same hesitant reverence one gives any untested, large, and mostly flammable piece of technology. They cast a glance at Scotty and Scotty inclined his head in turn. With a frown, he test charged the grid—it all lit green.

“Riley, I cannae believe I'm sayin' this,” Scotty commanded without looking, “But drop tha' shields an' overclock tha' external sensor array.” Riley stepped up to the panel by the door and inputted his code swiftly. “Route ta' tha' transporter here.”

“All go,” Riley replied and the lights in the Transporter Bay surged slightly before settling in at a higher frequency hum than they usually did. Scotty wasn't particularly sure what to make of that—but he'd never tried intentionally locking on to resonance frequencies beyond the limitations of local dimensional physics before, so he didn't dwell on it.

“Transporter Bay 3,” Scotty called as he depressed the comm to the bridge, “Ready whe'er ya' give tha' command.”

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Kirk barely had time to draw back from the whatever-the-fuck had him in Spock's head before he heard the beeping at his side. He swallowed several times, his head spinning, as he fumbled for the device. He flipped it open, just leaning against the wall, eyes closed.

"Scotty? You got it? Go for it!" He relayed, wondering how long Scotty had been waiting for that command. Without knowing what time he touched Spock, he had no real idea of how long it had been. Obviously, though, less then two hours.

[amplenacelles.livejournal.com]

Several minutes ticked by in tense silence as Scotty waited for Kirk's response. Riley shifted his weight and his hand hovered over the wall panel, ready to raise the shields again. DeSalle frowned at the floor, ceiling, and modified sensor unit respectively. As Scotty was about to abort and raise the shields again, Kirk's voice came through the open comm.

"Aye, Capt'an," Scotty replied and engaged the detect protocols. The software scrambled to life and the lights hummed higher as they attempted to scan across the dimensional divide. The screens flashed a nonsensical panel of coding, some old languages that he didn't particularly recognize, and the transporter groaned in a fashion that could only be described as uncertain.

"Sir?" Riley hazarded and, as if the whole mess of circuits had been waiting for his cue, the signal locked and the display let out a cheerful trill. No one moved for several seconds.

"Alright, lads," Scotty said, breaking the new-found silence. His hand hovered over the screen and he cast a nervous glance at the transporter pads. "Here we go," Scotty murmured and depressed the activation. "Engage."

[allmhadadh.livejournal.com]

When the unfamiliar transporter effect flowed into existence around McCoy, aboard the original Enterprise, Scotty tightened his already white knuckled grip on the console.

Every single fiber of his being was screaming for him to operate the controls himself, on this ship, with this technology he knew so well. If he would have been physically stronger, he woulda left furrows in the casing.

McCoy didn't move, used to the paralyzing effect. And slowly, agonizingly, he faded out of existence with the last traces of energy.

Scotty slammed a hand down on the comm button, once he managed to un-pry his fingers from the console. "Scott to bridge; ask the other Enterprise to send confirmation when McCoy's aboard."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

It was happening! Kirk forced himself onto his feet and bolted from sick bay. He headed for the rigged transporter room. Up through the depths of the ship, up towards the room, and skittered in the hall outside the door so he could get his head in to watch with a stopped heart.

[amplenacelles.livejournal.com]

The computers plucked along cheerfully, as though they weren't defying the laws of physics several times over, while the beam lock slowly solidified. The screen flashed green as it started to pull the other McCoy and Scotty forgot how to breathe. The transporter didn't whine or shudder, but it flickered just once as its resonant hum spiked far too high for him to hear. His panel and the over-powered lighting in the bay dimmed considerably and—all of a sudden—the first flickering swirl of the incoming signal formed.

The doors slid open as the swirled slowly coagulated on the pad, but Scotty didn't dare tear his eyes away. The whole array sparked as the lights twisted into a human shape and Scotty's heart juddered as the signal flickered momentarily. With an audible sigh, the molecules finally came together. The panel before him beeped and whistled, and the whole array shut down with a series of red-light errors. Just as Leonard McCoy—the alternate one—had solidified, the pads went dark and the lights in the room restarted with a low buzzing sound.

“Bob's yer uncle!” Scotty proclaimed and all but leaped out of his seat. The doctor looked dazed and he swayed precariously as the dim glow of the transporter pads flickered back on. Scotty got halfway through welcoming him back to this side of the gap before the man passed clear out and collapsed on the spot.

[[OOC- I hope this is alright, guys. ]]

[sehlatbear.livejournal.com]

(OOC - OMGOMG I HAVE BEEN REFRESHING FOREVER TO SEE THIS! HELL YEAH!)

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"YES!" Kirk cried out, nearly at the same time Scotty exclaimed. But only a billionth of a second later it seemed before Bones collapsed to the ground.

"Fuck!" A hiss through his teeth and he bolted for the platform, making sure he was still alive first before looking to Scotty. "You're a fucking miracle worker, both of you. Come on, we need to get him to sickbay."

[amplenacelles.livejournal.com]

"Aye," Scotty agreed to both points simultaneously as he tore the eyepiece off his head and dashed to Kirk's side. He slid his arms up under those of the older McCoy and lifted in time with Kirk.

"Riley, Salle'y," Scotty called as they moved toward the exit. "Git' tae tha' comm an' let em' know we got tha' good Doctor." The two men nodded and jogged to the main controls just as Kirk and Scotty were out the door.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"Thank fuck." Whispered quietly. "I don't know what we would have done if this didn't work." He shifted slightly to get the older man's legs in a good grip, not wasting a lick of time. What should have taken a minute or two would take longer with his dead weight between them.

[allmhadadh.livejournal.com]

The message finally came back after what seemed like far, far too long. Word was that the Doctor was alive, but unconscious; not unexpected, that last part.

And alone in the transporter room, Scotty leaned forward until his head was practically on the console, and let out of a shuddering breath. Followed by several more.

Then, once the edge of tension passed, he cast a glance around the mostly darkened transporter room, and headed back for the bridge.