Alright so, this is my first fanfic story ever published. I haven't had a beta go over it yet because I just sort of wanted to throw out this chapter and get the story rolling while I still have the inspiration. It's starting out pretty mild so I'm going to rate it T for now and MAYBE change it to M later because the story may or may not become sexually explicit. It'll be up to you guys as my readers to tell me whether or not you want such details or not.
This is a spin off of the events in Star Trek TOS. All the characters are the same and I'm striving to stick to their personalities to a T. I'm just twisting the story around a bit to include a new character of my own creation. No flaming please!
"Captain, our scans are picking up a metallic object in the vicinity, seven by four feet if I am reading this correctly…"
A handsome looking man in a yellow shirt stood up from his commanding chair and strolled over to the viewing screen. He bent over the device and replied, "It is probably just some space junk Mr. Spock."
"That could very well be so Captain, but its dimensions are perfectly aligned. It seems to be a containment unit of some sort…"
Captain Kirk shuddered at what this fact implied, "Very well Mr. Spock, but I can hardly fathom why you would bother me over a casket… let the dead rest in peace…"
"I would not have brought it to your attention Captain, if the life form inside the unit were dead. However, my scanners indicate that what ever is inside is very much alive."
A sudden hush fell over the bridge, and Kirk's face paled, "That is… not… possible Mr. Spock. That thing could have been floating out there for quite a long time… Whatever creature is in there would have run out of oxygen ages ago!"
"I am well aware of that Captain, I am simply reporting what my scanners indicate. And it would be foolish of us to assume that all humanoids live off of oxygen…"
Kirk frowned and straightened before returning to his commanding chair, sitting down to ponder for a moment, "Are you sur –"
"Yes Captain, I am positive the being is still alive…"
"Very well then… Engage the tractor beam and bring it in… Let's see what we are working with here..."
~A short while later in sick bay~
"Are you mad?! Bringing this box thing into sick bay… lord knows what it's contaminated with!"
"I understand that Bones, but whatever is inside made need medical assistance immediately. Scanners indicate it's been floating out there for almost a year! It is a miracle that we stumbled upon it or it wouldn't have stood a chance!"
The pouting doctor flinched at the mention of how long the poor creature inside that box had been floating around. They had so far been unable to identify whatever was inside because the scanners did not recognize the species. This could be the last of its kind, or a key to discovering a new species!
With an unspoken agreement, Kirk bent over and entered a code into the number pad on the vessel and tinkered around with it for a few more moments before the box finally opened with a hiss. Though it took a second to take in the sight within, all the people gathered around the box soon gasped at the sight. Inside lay what looked to be a beautiful human female marred with bruises and gashes, which told of a dreadful past. However, as bad as her injuries were, her beauty was still detectable.
After the moment of shock passed by, McCoy quickly bent down and pulled out his tricorder, scanning the girl thoroughly. He frowned and murmured aloud, "She has no pulse, and does not appear to be breathing… yet the tricorder says she is alive!" McCoy was about to turn off his tricorder and say that scanners must be malfunctioning when the device in his hand made one, single, hopeful, bleep. The doctor's eyes flew wide as he examined it, and murmured again, "No, wait! She does have a pulse! It is just going at an abnormally low rate! That must mean her breathing has slowed down as well… Ah, see? There is the inhale…"
The female's chest began to rise with telltale sign that she was breathing, when she suddenly began to cough. Though her eyes remained closed, her body began convulsing as the oxygen from the air around her entered her body. She gasped and began to thrash, her breaths suddenly coming in short, hard bursts. McCoy nearly jumped out of his skin and exclaimed, "Oh god, she must not be able to breath oxygen!"
Kirk, who had been observing the girl closely, nearly yelped when the seemingly peaceful girl suddenly started to thrash about, "Well darn it Bones! Do something!"
McCoy replied in frustration, "Damn it Kirk, I'm a doctor, not a chemist! I can't just change the composition of the air! And all our respirators are made to help the inhalation of oxygen! I don't even know what she breaths!"
Every one around the box fidgeted uncomfortably as they realized there was nothing they could do. They watched as the girl slowly stopped struggling, the life seemingly seeping from her body. Nurse Chapel just started sobbing quietly when, suddenly, the girl's eyes shot open. Her gaze went from McCoy to Spock to Kirk and then straight at the ceiling. After one tense moment, her back arched to a horrible degree as she gasped one more time and then fell back onto the bottom of the box, motionless and unconscious.
McCoy's face showed great remorse as he ran his tricorder over the girl's body once more, expecting to have to announce her dead. That was, until he realized that the rise and fall of her chest was constant now as the tricorder began beeping regularly, indicating a regular pulse. His eyebrows shot up as he exclaimed, "Well I'll be! All of her vital signs have returned to normal… well, what I'd call normal for a Terran human! But that makes no sense… one moment she is choking on oxygen, and the next she is breathing it as though she has never had a breath of anything else in her life!"
Spock, who had been observing the entire scene quietly and with little to no expression upon his face, cut in, "As relieved as every one of you seems to be that this female's breathing is now steady, we have no way of knowing that she is not dangerous or a threat."
"Dangerous?! You must be joking Spock! She has been physically battered, stuck in a tin box for a year, and just had a near-death experience! You could knock her out with your pinky finger!" McCoy paused for a moment and smirked at his own pun, "Come to think of it, you could knock anyone out with your pinky finger…"
Kirk looked from Spock to McCoy and then let his gaze rest upon the beautiful female still lying in the metal box before replying, "I am with Bones on this one Mr. Spock. Anyways, she looks in need of immediate medical attention, something she can't get in the brig. Ok, let's put get her on the table and get this box down to research. Maybe we can pry some answers out of this hunk of metal…"