mandalus :: the city of fates.

[The video flicks on to McCoy and Bashir in the shot, the latter sat further behind, though they both look pretty damn relieved. Bones looks exceedingly exhausted but all obvious symptoms of illness are gone in both of them.]

We've done it. The cure is ready. It'll work on everyone; we've made damn sure of that. We'll be opening our doors immediately to take in non-natives to administer the cure.

[McCoy glances back at Bashir, sharing a look with him before turning back to look at the screen.] You can come by as soon as you're ready. We'll make house calls for everyone who isn't able to come to us.

[With that, McCoy shuts off the phone, but not before sitting back in his seat and sighing, a faint laugh escaping him. They did it.]

[When the video feed starts up, a certain Southern doctor has become quite a bit unshaven, his hair a little messy, and exhaustion clear on his features, but he still looks ready and prepared for what he's dealing with. McCoy is sat in a fairly well lit room, the quite hidden building that has become his makeshift Sickbay, though he hasn't had much time lately to be a doctor so much as a scientist.]

Good morning-- [He glances at his watch. An actual regular watch.] Good afternoon. For those of you who were recently kidnapped and therefore still sitting through the trauma and denial of being stolen away to an alien planet in another dimension, I'm Dr. Leonard McCoy. I'm sure you've all noticed the rapid decline in health amongst the Honored Guests. It's not a coincidence we're all getting sicker.

[He sighs, glancing aside and noticing something on a piece of paper, scribbling out something with a pen and writing something else quickly.] While I've been attempting to find a catch-all cure that can rid all of us of this illness, humans and non-humans alike, and you damn magical ones too... it hasn't been an easy ride, to say the least. [He glances across the room briefly towards someone else.] Along with a colleague of mine, Dr. Julian Bashir, we've been attempting variations on this cure, using plant life and other organisms and samples from the city.

[Bones rubs frustratedly at his eyes.] Unfortunately, we haven't had the best luck. [Even with the data and samples of blood from various willing participants and Khan, they haven't found the exact cure.] However, we've got treatments. They're not going to cure this sickness but they'll help. I'll give you our location if requested but I'm not putting it out over a public feed. [He glances at his papers again then continues.] We will keep working to find this cure, though, so do what you can to lessen the spread of the more severe symptoms by avoiding contact with other Honored Guests.

[He takes a long breath and sighs once more.] McCoy out. [The feed ends.]


((OOC: Feel free to demand answers, offer help, or ask for treatments. Both McCoy and Bashir may answer.))

[Aware of the fact that he isn't safe, for being a C'Meni supporter, McCoy still has a duty as a doctor to help heal the sick. So, with his whereabouts currently uncertain, he makes a point of contacting the network.]

I'm not 100% positive of the reason, but since the removal of the Bangles several days ago, I've noticed a distinct decline in the health of all the Honored Guests. [He sighs faintly.] I'm willing to offer anyone who needs any kind of medical aid the chance to come to me, or for me to do a house call, and I'll try to help however I can.

[He considers for a moment then decides it's not his right to hide information everyone deserves.] It appears the Bangles were not just for subduing us. They also helped protect us against toxins in the air that we're not biologically designed to contend with. In simple terms? We're all going to start getting really sick, no matter who we are, or what damn enhancements we've got or haven't got.

[He looks down briefly at something in his other hand then returns his gaze to the screen.] I'm already working on trying to find a way to combat it using my own blood as a sample but if anyone is willing to let me use samples from them as additional testers, I'd be grateful, and it'd save us a lot of screwing around in the long run.

[With that, he cuts the feed.]

[The irritation is so clear on Leonard's face as the video begins but he isn't holding the phone himself and that should worry anyone who knows him. Still clad in the ceremonial robes, Bones makes an angry huff of a sound as he glances away and then back to the phone.]

Enterprise, one of you better come to this damn forest and help me get back to the ship. [His face contorts to a bitter false smile.] Whatever these... people did to bring me back, it went wrong, of course.

[McCoy raises his hands, both of which are a little pallid in colour.] My damn hands don't work. Who ever heard of a doctor - a surgeon no less - whose hands don't work?

[Dropping his hands angrily to his lap, he sighs.] Damn it, someone just come and pick me up. I need to get out of these stupid robes.

[He nods once to the person holding his phone and the video ends.]

[The video clicks on as the phone is knocked from atop a console. It's static-filled and shaky for a moment before it focuses to show Leonard McCoy backing up away from someone. Something. He looks unsettled, anxious, almost frightened, though it all merges into a severe frown.]

You're not real. You're dead. I'm the reason you're dead. [He walks back but hits a console and from the other side of the screen a small girl walking towards him. She flickers and stops a short distance from him. Her red hair is in pigtails and she's wearing a hospital gown. She doesn't speak and a second later she flickers away to show Mes'Klou. He stares at McCoy, reaching his hand up to remove his mask only to lower it before he does. A moment later, he changes shape again. This time he turns to a woman around her mid-thirties.]

It was your fault, Len. It's your fault we didn't last. You never loved me, not as much as you loved your job.

[McCoy tenses and he can't help glancing away briefly before his jaw sets and he glares right back.]

If you think using her is going to shake me, then you're a damn fool. I'm not scared of my ex-wife, or Emily. Now get out of my Sickbay.

[Mes'Klou's normal form returns and he reaches out, snatching hold of McCoy's blue shirt. He yanks him forward, his other hand tearing into Bones' stomach like it was made of tissue paper. He lets out a ragged cry of pain as Mes'Klou pulls on his organs, tugging them out of the hole he's made.

In an instant, Mes'Klou is gone and McCoy crumples to the ground, his insides on the outside, blood pooling around him and dripping from his mouth as he coughs and rasps, his last seconds gone in a blink, his eyes glassy and dead, staring aimlessly until the feed cuts.]

[The audio clicks on and it's clear from his tone that McCoy is in no mood for playing games. Not with Jim arriving suddenly, riddled with radiation, and ready to drop dead any second.]

Mr. Harrison. Khan. You and I need to talk. [He hesitates for only a second.]

I want to make a bargain with you. I don't care what you want from me in return, but I have a request.

[He sighs heavily. He's tired of running through this.] Contact me as quickly as possible.

[The feed cuts.]

[When he returns in Mandalus, Bones can't help ranting at the people at the station. They have no idea what he's supposed to be doing back home, nor do they care, but they're the first here for him to scream at so he decides they deserve it. They do. Just for being part of the problem. Part of this stupid city full of danger and anger, things he doesn't particularly want more of at the moment.

His first instinct is to call Jim. He'd lived through Jim's death and revival, and he needed to know just where that infantile captain of his was, but a search through the contact list didn't show Kirk, James T. and McCoy let out a heavy, weary sigh. Jim had gone home then. He checked next for Uhura and seeing Uhura, Nyota he felt a wave of relief. Uhura was still here, at least, so he wasn't completely alone.

His white hospital uniform was crisp and neat, clean, and he felt even more out of place in this messy, filthy world. When finally he makes a video call to the network, he's in the Spaceport. His white uniform is visible to a degree and his hair is somewhat shorter, not as floppy and in his face.]

This is Dr. Leonard McCoy of the USS Enterprise. [He sighs a little bit.] Unfortunately, it seems I've returned to Mandalus. If anyone has any business with me, it can wait until I'm adjusted to being back. Shouldn't take more than a day or two.

[And that's it. That's all he has to say to the general populus of this city. So with a nod he cuts the feed.]


( [Private audio to Lieutenant Nyota Uhura] )


( [Private audio to Enterprise Crew] )

[Bones looks surprisingly comfortable where he's sat - in the Captain's seat on the bridge. He's only doing this as a formality, but it's necessary. He was promoted to First Officer and, with Jim away, it makes him Acting Captain on board the Enterprise. He doesn't want to have to do any of this, but it's necessary. He has refused to put on a gold shirt, mind you.]

This is... Acting Captain Leonard McCoy of the starship Enterprise. With Captain Kirk away on an expedition to investigate more about this city, its history, and its technology, he won't be able to handle business with anyone until he returns. [He shifts a fraction in the seat. He's only now starting to realise the burden and weight it carries and it's only for a while.]

Until he returns, any matters of urgent business can be brought to me. Now, I'm a doctor, not a war strategist, so you'll just have to wait if you're planning to lead an assault somewhere stupid without your prized stallions in the race. Anything else, I'll be capable of helping. Within reason. [No asking him to sit in the chair or for tours of the ship, you children.] Sickbay is, as always, open to any who need medical aid.

[After a small shake of his head and a sigh, he shrugs.] McCoy out.


[[ooc: Consider this an open post. Anyone on the expedition can contact him via the Starfleet communicators they will have with them. Anyone still on the ship can see him in person. Everyone else can respond to his video.]]

[ The audio function turns on as Kirk accidentally bumps into the side of a bar, evident by the thump. The sounds of music, clinking of beers, and general chatter floods the speakers until a female voice over rides them. ]

If you're the Jim Kirk I think you are, that means you have a huge space ship. Doesn't it?

[ Kirk chuckles. ] What makes you think my ship is here in Mandalus? Last I checked? The System isn't fond of giving us what we want.

You can't call yourself a captain without a ship, Capta--

Call me Jim. Please. I insist. [ The grin is obvious in his tone. There's a squeak in the chair as he leans forward. ] I can call myself captain, you know. I've got the uniform with the rank and everything. Maybe you should come see it sometime. Along with the spaceship.

Don't be stupid, Jim. No one is going to go out there. [ A loud clank is heard as the woman puts her glass on the counter. ] You know what the stories say about the spaceport.

[ He doesn't know. He stands up, the sound of the dragging chair going over the post. ] What, like ghost stories? Come on. You know I could protect you from anything that bumps in the night. Unless the thing that's bumping is me. [ The woman laughs suddenly, but then it dies as another clank is heard. ] Is there something I can do for you?

This foreigner giving you trouble, Cassie?

[ Kirk snorts. ] Foreigner? Is that what you guys are calling us now? You should show a little gratitude towards us. We're here to fix something you can't--Jim--No, no, it's fine. He thinks I'm being rude to you, Cassie. He just needs to learn when two people are having a nice conversation--

[ Suddenly, there's a scream of surprise and the sound of crashing of tables. The device rolls out of Kirk's pocket to show Kirk leaning against the bar, a red head trying to pull a man in a cowboy hat away from Kirk. Kirk stands up and wipes at his bleeding lip. Then he straightens his jacket. ]

God damn it, Jim. [ Bones is heard off screen but he comes into view soon enough, raising his hands to the man in the cowboy hat. ] Look, how about we all calm down and get our egos in check.

[ He gives Kirk a slight tug to pull him along and out of harm's way. ] Come on, Jim, let's leave the loud and aggressive native alone. [ With a look towards the man in the hat, he almost smirked.] Don't mind him, he gets grouchy when he has to deal with overblown morons. [ And now would be a good time to split before they both get their heads bashed in. ]

You wanna run that one by me again, old man? [ Kirk holds his hand up between the two. He then grins at McCoy, turning and looking at the man in the hat. ] When you want to thank us for saving your city? You'll know where to find us. Cassie! [ Kirk turns to the red head. ] Call me.

[ Then McCoy drags Kirk off screen. ]



(( ooc: you can meet up with Kirk and McCoy at the bar, or reply in over the network! Replies will be coming from both men! ))

[It's taken long enough to get as many people treated as he can, but finally he can open up the damn sickbay to people who need him properly now things are calming down a lot more. He doesn't think there's going to be much to deal with, for now, but come the next battle he knows there will be a lot of wounds to tend, and now he's finally prepared, after dealing with the sudden weight of wounded all dumped on him since the battle. It's been over a week and he's only now got rid of the majority. Some needed to stay for a while, after all.

Giving a pursed-lipped attempt at a smile that fades away after a flicker, he has his uniform on and a serious look on his face.]

I didn't introduce myself properly last time I addressed this network. I'm Dr. Leonard McCoy, Chief Medical Officer of the starship Enterprise.

[Glancing back over his shoulder to the sickbay and the few nurses he's found himself, he frowns a bit.] Now things have calmed down, finally, after the battle, I'm willing to offer any medical aid anyone may require.

[It's just going to come with a sour bedside manner, because he maybe cares a bit too much.] If anyone needs me, I'll be in the sickbay of the Enterprise, in the Mandalus Starport. [A slight nod and he cuts off the feed.]

[When the feed flickers on, the profile of a man with dark hair and a scowl comes to the screen. He has a jacket on over a blue shirt and seems to be absolutely unimpressed with all of this. He also isn't paying attention to the fact that he's accidentally recording this, as the phone is moved around with all of his hand gestures as he speaks to a security guard at the station.]

I don't think kidnapping is the best way to ask people to fight your war. I mean, damn it, man, I'm a doctor, not a soldier! I have somewhere I'm supposed to be! [Like aboard the USS Enterprise, with his crew, overseeing sickbay.

"We understand that, sir, but we aren't able to return you to where you came from."

The feed cuts out there as he shoves the phone at the man he's talking to, and a few moments later starts back up with Leonard McCoy frowning but looking more prepared to talk about this.] If anyone can explain what the Hell is going on, I'd appreciate it. Especially that display of poor bedside manner when I was forcibly injected with god only knows what. Thank you in advance.

[He tuts irritably and turns off the phone.]