Nightmare at Warp Factor 2

by bookdragon01

Summary: Submitted for your approval: What do you get when you mix the Twilight Zone episode 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet' with McCoy's fear of flying and an author who can't sleep? Probably something a lot like this...

Title: Nightmare at Warp Factor 2

Summary: Submitted for your approval: What do you get when you mix the Twilight Zone episode 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet' with McCoy's fear of flying and an author who can't sleep? Probably something a lot like this....

Rating: T (No way McCoy does not cuss in this)

Disclaimer: I own neither Star Trek nor the Twilight Zone, but both own substantial shares in my imagination

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Submitted for your approval: two Starfleet officers are journeying back to their ship after long and grueling testimony before Starfleet Command following an incident of interstellar intrigue. Little do either suspect that their trials are not over, as their transport will cross a space anomaly, the home to a traveler from another dimension. A dimension known as ...The Twilight Zone.

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"Come on Bones, it'll be fun."

"Fun? Traveling in that death-trap of a prototype shuttle is obviously some new definition of fun that I'm not familiar with." the doctor groused. "Couldn't we hitch a ride on another starship?"

"That would take another week." Jim looked pained at the very idea of being separated from his beloved ship for so long. "Besides, this is one of the new Gagarin transports, best of the best. We'll be at DS8 and then back on the Enterprise before you know it."

"I still don't think this a good idea. How about you go and I'll catch up on the Antares next week?"

"Bones, this ship was designed by Chekhov's father." Jim said dragging him to the transport door. "Do you really want to tell him you were afraid to ride in it?"

McCoy glared. That was playing dirty, but he knew when he was beat. "Fine. But don't complain if I throw up on you."

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A few hours later Kirk was knocking on the lavatory door. "Bones, you have to come out. We're entering an ion storm and everyone needs to be strapped in."

"Then you should get back to your seat and do that." McCoy's voice came from the other side of the door. "I'm stayin' here."

"You can't Bones. The flight crew is giving me a chance to talk you out, but if you don't come out soon, they'll come in and get you. As satisfying as it might be to see you hypo-ed for a change, I don't think you really want to force them to sedate you."

There was a long pause and then running water before the doctor emerged, muttering crossly. "Helluva lot of good it'll do to be strapped in when this thing cracks open and we're sucked into the never-ending, icy cold, soul-sucking darkness of space."

"Just get it your seat." Jim ushered him to their row and pointed.

McCoy dug his heels in like a mule. "You want me to take the window seat? Are you out of your mind, Jim?"

"Bones," he whispered harshly. "before I had to come pry you out of the restroom, I was having a real nice conversation with Brandy there." Jim gave a little wave to the curvaceous blond across the aisle from them. "Having to talk across you is going to make that a little more difficult."

McCoy looked heavenward. They were trapped in a barely-tested shuttle in an ion storm and all Jim could think about was lining up a bed-warmer for their one night on DS8. But given a choice between being stuck between Jim and his intended conquest or sitting by the window, he knew which one would make him less nauseous. "Fine. I'll take the window." he growled. At least he could close the damn window.

"That's the spirit!" Jim said, as the sat down and strapped in. "You really shouldn't worry you know. Statistically the odds of dying on a shuttle are -"

Bones grabbed him by the shirt and looked him in the eye. "Start sounding like Spock, and I guar-an-tee I'll throw up on you."

"Okay." Jim held his hands up in surrender.

The shuttle rocked violently and McCoy grabbed him again.

"Bones will you let go?" Jim pried his hands loose.

"The storm's a little stronger than anticipated." The Captain announced over the comm. "Everyone please remain in your seats."

The shuttle rocked again and flashes of ionic discharge arced in the windows. The sudden light drew McCoy's eyes despite his aversion and for an instant it looked like something was out there, straddling the warp nacelle. He looked again and it was still there - a humanoid form and it was banging on the nacelle. He gasped.

"Bones, what is it?"

"There's something out there. Look!"

Jim looked, but now there was nothing there. "Well, I don't see anything, but you know, sometimes ion storms can create strange visual effects. Just relax. Nothing could really be out there."

"Is he okay?" Brandy asked from across the aisle.

"He's just a little scared of shuttles." Jim explained as the shuttle rocked again and Bones gulped from his hip flask. "I know it's a little odd with us being in Starfleet and all, but we're working on it. He's fine on something big like a starship." Jim flashed a trademark grin. "I can show you mine if you're still at the station tomorrow..."

McCoy did his best to tune the rest out. Jim in player mode was more than he could stand right now. He closed his eyes, trying to talk sense to himself. Nothing could be alive out there in the vacuum of space. Nothing could cling to a shuttle traveling at warp two. It had to be an optical illusion. He opened his eyes and peaked out. A face straight out his nightmares looked right at him. "AAAAAHHH!"

One of the flight crew rushed over. "What's wrong, sir?"

"There's an alien on the warp nacelle." Bones had not taken his eyes of it, but the second the woman looked, it disappeared.

"Sir, there's nothing out there. And I'm going to have to ask you to calm down; you're scaring the other passengers." She gave him a sympathetic look. "I can get you a sedative if you'd like."

"I'm a doctor dammit! If I want or need a sedative, I'll get it myself!" he snarled. "I'm telling you there's something out there!"

"Bones, calm down." Jim nodded to the flask in McCoy's hand. "Just how much of that have you had so far?"

"Not nearly enough to be hallucinating, dammit. There is a thing out there! It's just that it jumps away whenever anyone looks," He frowned uncomfortably. "...anyone but me, that is."

"Right." Jim said. "Look, I know it's been a really tough week and you haven't slept much. Here, try to get some rest." He tucked a blanket lightly around Bones' shoulders.

"Aww." Brandy coo-ed. "It's so sweet the way you take of your friend."

Bones ran a hand over his face, briefly wondering if he could hurl far enough to hit her too. Looking away, he glanced out the window again and there it was: fuzzy and slimy-looking, but definitely humanoid. It grinned at him and began tearing at the warp nacelle. "Jim." He hit Jim's arm. "Jim!"

"What?" Jim tore himself away from Brandy.

"Jim, it's back." he whispered urgently.

Kirk looked again, but it had jumped away. "Bones, maybe a sedative might not be the worst idea? I mean, you've been under a lot stress and -"

The shuttle listed sharply as energy flared around the nacelle out their window.

"Do not patronize me, Jim. I do not need rest." he hissed. "What I need is for someone to do something about the creature out there."

"Uh-huh... Like what?"

"I don't know! Just, just go talk to the flight crew - have them do a scan for lifeforms or something. And don't look at me like that! Is this really any weirder than anything else we've run into out here?" There was another flare and raw terror drove him to something he'd never try under any other circumstances. "Please, Jim."

"Okay, I'll go ask." Jim said sullenly.

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"Well yes," the co-pilot admitted. "We've been having problems with the port nacelle, but it's the first time we've taken this new system through an ion storm. We'll report the anomaly as soon as we get back."

"Anomaly?" Kirk asked. Of all the words he had learned to dread hearing during his Captaincy, 'anomaly' topped the list.

"Yeah, we keep getting these random localized energy spikes out there. Probably just a sensor malfunction - no reason to worry sir."

"Lt. Carmichael, I'm going to ask you to do something and it may sound a little strange, but just humor me here. Could you take a sensor sweep for life readings out there?"

"O-kay, Captain." The co-pilot ran sequence across his console and stared. "The sensors are showing something - more energy than life exactly. But, sir, it's got to be the storm throwing the readings."

Kirk looked. Spock would say the odds that something was alive out there were impossibly small, but then the impossible had turned out to be more possible than expected more times than he'd care to count. His thoughts were interrupted when shuttle lurched sharply, accompanied by red lights warning of an imbalance in the warp coil. There was no time to think or explain, so Kirk went with his gut and slammed the control to vent the coil, expelling superheated plasma across the nacelle.

For just an instant, something roughly humanoid in shape flashed on the sensor screen before flying off into the storm. Carmichael stared, his jaw falling open in dismay. "Th-that can't have been real. The sensors must be glitchy."

"If you say so." Kirk said, heading out.

Carmichael rose to follow him.

"Where are you going?" Kirk asked.

"To talk to your friend. I have to report this. It's probably just a sensor glitch, but I need to include what he thought he saw."

"No!" Jim stepped in front of him, physically blocking the door. "No, no, no, no. Write this up and report it to the proper authorities. Call it an anomaly, call it a sensor glitch, call it a, a - what did ancient pilots call them? - a gremlin, if you want to, but under no circumstances are to let Dr. McCoy know that he might really have seen something out there."

"But, sir -"

"No! Do have any idea how much effort it takes to get him on a shuttle? If he thinks for even one minute that there might possibly really be some creature out there that tears apart warp nacelles I'll be lucky to get him back on the Enterprise, let alone back on another shuttle. You tell Starfleet you checked for lifeforms on my order and let them ask me any questions directly." Half the Admiralty already thought he was crazy anyway and he didn't care if he was the only one who knew he wasn't. Kirk pinned Carmichael with a stare. "Are we clear, Lieutenant?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Good. Carry on." Kirk said and returned to his seat.

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"See Bones, nothing to worry about. A little shakedown problem with the engine, but we got to DS8 just fine." Kirk clapped him on the back as the disembarked.

"Little shakedown problem my ass. I'm not getting on another shuttle with less than a decade of service life again, no matter who designed it!"

The maintenance crew came in past them as they left and began inspecting the shuttle. "Whoa!" Someone called out.

"What?" McCoy started to turn and Jim pushed him through the airlock.

"Everyone's just really impressed by the new design, Bones." Jim said hurriedly. "Now come on. Brandy's expecting us to meet her for dinner. She said she's got a friend for you." He winked.

"Great." Bones said sarcastically. "She just better not look as scary as whatever I thought I saw out on the nacelle."

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The flight of our two Starfleet officers has come to an end, a flight not only from point A to point B, but also from certainty through fear an doubt in the face of the unknown. Happily, such encounters have become routine for Captain Kirk, who just as happily has learned when and how to hide from his friend the tangible manifestations very often left as evidence of trespass, even from so intangible a quarter as the Twilight Zone.

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AN: In the original Shatner plays the passenger who sees the gremlin. He's not afraid of flying, but has just recovered from a mental breakdown. In the movie, Lithgow plays the passenger, who is clearly afraid of flying. The scene starts with him locked in bathroom just like Bones in the shuttle from Iowa.

please r&r