Walking the Stars

The Nature of Feeling

Stardate 2259.56

"Open the door," Sala said quickly, looking back to Mister Scott.

"The decontamination process is not complete," Mister Scott said in a thick voice, "You'd flood the whole compartment. The door's locked, miss."

Sala's gaze turned back to the door. She looked at Jim a moment longer before she knelt down in front of it, Spock following suit.

Jim's breathing was labored as he pressed for the inner door of the antechamber to close. His head lulled forward sightly as he opened his eyes again. When he opened his eyes, he saw Spock and Sala.

"How's our ship?" Jim asked in a winded voice.

"Out of danger," Spock said, the stability of his own voice in question.

"You saved the crew," Sala remarked, her voice almost seeming in a daze.

"You used what he wanted against him," Jim said, his voice sounding tired, "That's a nice move."

"It is what you would have done," Spock answered, his pace slower than normal.

"And this, is what you would have done. It was only logical."

Jim didn't speak for a moment, but his voice was starting to pant again.

"I'm scared, Spock, Sala," Jim admitted, "Help me not be."

"Jim," Sala said in a soft voice.

"How do you choose not to feel?"

It was a moment before either Vulcan answered.

"I do not know," Spock answered, "Right now I am failing."

"As am I," Sala said, her tears starting to appear in her tone.

Jim was quiet for a second.

"I want you to know why I couldn't let you die," Jim said while looking at Spock, "Why I went back for you."

"Because you are my friend," Spock answered, understanding Jim's actions.

Sala could feel the tears in her eyes start to bead over, and fall across her cheeks.

Jim let out a small grunt before he placed his hand on the glass door, closest to Sala.

Sala placed her hand against Jim's on the other side of the glass, and Spock then placed his hand on top of her's.

Spock was the first to put his fingers into the position of the Vulcan salute.

Sala followed suit, all be it reluctantly.

Jim then followed the two Vulcans, moving his own fingers to mimic theirs.

Sala looked from her hand, placed between the hands of two of the people she held most dear in her life, and then looked up to meet Jim's gaze.

"Sala," Jim said, his voice sounding incredibly weak.

"I'm here, Jim," Sala said, her voice thick from the tears she was attempting to, and failing to, hold back.

"Sala," Jim started before drawing a labored breath, "I-."

Jim went to draw another breath, but his body stilled. His eyes glazed over and his hand fell from the glass.

"Jim?" Sala asked weakly, already knowing the answer to her question.

Sala balled her eyes shut, and pressed her head against the cold metal housing of the antechamber for the warp core. She balled her hand and started to audibly cry, her body shaking as she did so.

"No. No!" Sala cried, not wanting to believe what she was seeing, "You promised."

The female Vulcan continued to cry before she heard a yell beside her.

"Khan!" Spock yelled, his voice sounding only of rage.

Spock then ran from where he was kneeling beside Sala, but to where, Sala did not know.

She heard Mister Scott call down to Med Bay, but she still did not move from her spot against the door.

And no one tried to move the female Vulcan, until officers from the med bay arrived.

"Oh, my God," McCoy muttered, seeing Sala crying against the door to the warp core antechamber, and Jim unmoving on the other side of the door.

McCoy took a careful step forward and knelt down beside Sala.

"Sala, I'm sorry but, we need you to move," McCoy said in a gentle voice.

"No. No! I won't leave him!" Sala cried, her face stained with tears

"Sala, we need to move him. You can come with us down to med bay, but you need to move."

McCoy was gentle in helping the extremely shaken Vulcan woman to stand.

A fresh wave of tears fell from Sala's eyes as she saw the medical officers open the door to the antechamber and move Jim.

McCoy had one hand on Sala's left shoulder, and the other was on her right forearm as they moved to the med bay.

Sala's tears had subsided again, but she still did not want to believe what she was seeing.

McCoy had gotten Sala sat down on one of the beds before he went to look over Jim.

Sala could see the defeat on McCoy's face. She saw that he stepped away from Jim's body, sitting at a desk in the med bay.

The quiet in the med bay was almost unbearable to the Vulcan.

A reigning in of her emotions had started to occur, but the pain of loss was persisting, and there was what felt like a heavy weight on her side. Sala felt as though she was perceiving the world around her in a haze, and as if everything was out of focus.

Her awareness of reality returned when she heard McCoy yelling,

"Get me a cryo tube, now!"

Personnel started to scramble around the med bay, grabbing one of the cryo tubes that was holding a member of Khan's crew.

"Get this guy out of the cryo tube," McCoy instructed, "Keep him in an induced coma."

"McCoy, what are you doing?" Sala asked, getting up from the bed she was sat at and approaching the doctor while still giving him room to work.

"We're gonna put Kirk inside. It's our only chance to preserve his brain function."

"How much of Khan's blood is left?" Carol asked.

"None."

"Why do we need Khan's blood?" Sala asked as McCoy tried to get a hold of Spock.

"Khan's blood revived a dead tribble. Doctor McCoy believes that Khan's blood may be able to revive Kirk," Carol explained to Sala.

Spock, however, was not responding to McCoy's pleas.

"Why not use blood from a member of his crew?" Sala speculated.

"I don't know if all of their blood regenerates like Khan's," McCoy said before attempting to get a hold of Spock again.