HAPPY NEW YEAR! I felt bad for not having posted i so I thought, I'm halfway through Chapter 15, I can spare some time to post Chapter 12! This is dear Sulu's chapter and we learn how fares the Enterprise. Won't be quite as whumpy as the last few chapters, so perhaps it is a little of a relief. Please tell me if you like the characterisations and such as these kinds of the chapters are the time to do so. As always, your reviews are fantastic and I love hearing from all of you! Glad you're still enjoying the fic 12 chapters in. Any mistakes are my own and I know how frustrating they are so apologies in advance. Enjoy and please keep reviewing! I love any support I get! xxx
Sulu's heart was thumping loudly in his chest as he navigated the bustling corridor toward the laboratories on C-Deck. Spock had requested his presence there as a matter of urgency and as soon as Sulu had received the hail from his CO, he had been rushing from the room; quickly transferring control of the Bridge to a nearby Lieutenant whom he had aptly posted at Communications in preparation for such an event. It was of the utmost importance that someone remotely capable of command was stationed in the Captain's chair at all times, with the likelihood of crisis and the certainty of attack looming over the ship so Sulu had decided that-since he knew he would be unable to pause for even a few seconds when he was summoned-it was best to place a more senior member of the crew somewhere close as a precaution. Apparently his judgement was entirely correct, and no one questioned the move as he walked out and focussed on his true burden. Spock's sudden need for the helmsman's presence surely meant that some miraculous breakthrough had been discovered and the senior crew needed to formulate a plan-probably wacky and wild enough to challenge even the missing Captain's-and Sulu was already thinking of every possible method Spock and Scotty had come up with. He had been suspicious that Scotty had worked out some crazy theory of how to get through the heavy shielding undetected, after hearing the chatter from a couple of ensigns who had been passing through engineering when there had been some kind of commotion and a lot of excited yelling from a certain Scotsman and the joyed Chief Medical Officer; though Sulu had to doubt a tiny piece of the information due to the fact he couldn't remember the last time he had seen Bones smile, let alone be 'joyous' or god forbid 'excited'.
So far, Sulu's skills had been altogether useless in such a crisis and Spock-having seen the restlessness and building frustration in his subordinate-had hastily issued him command of the Bridge and left the younger man to ponder in silence and stew in his own juices; knowing that the elevated position of the command chair would at least make Sulu question any foolish actions and lighten his mood just a fraction. Of course normally Sulu would have revelled in the lush chair of command, marvelling at the wonder and power he felt as he sat in the holy furniture and admired the softness of the leather and the intricacies of the panel on the arm. Just thinking about it usually made Sulu feel more like a child giddy on lemonade than the chief helmsman aboard Starfleet's 'pride and joy' flagship. However, current circumstances dampened his mood considerably, so much so that those around him daren't approach and merely squeaked at him when they handed over a necessary PADD before scuttling away. During his long span of loneliness-that Sulu never remembered Kirk ever getting, since he was constantly barraged with crewmembers asking him for something-Sulu had time to think and he was left wondering whether he should become accustomed to this sense of duty and authority. After all, if the Captain was dead then Spock would have to serve as acting-Captain and therefore Sulu would be promoted to his acting-first officer. That morbid thought was enough to make Sulu's head spin and his stomach feel like it was twisting into a complex knot and he buried the idea moments after it had even come to him.
A couple of medical personnel dressed in the familiar blue uniform, were gossiping loudly as Sulu turned the corner but they instantly fell quiet when they spotted him and avoided all eye contact as he passed by. He was tempted to call them up on their discussion, demand to know the details of their conversation, even pull rank if they refused or teetered off on some ridiculous response but Sulu already knew the truth, he didn't need anyone to confirm it because news travelled fast around the Enterprise and the away team's disappearance was the most scandalous thing to happen since someone had mentioned that one of the younger female ensigns may have been pregnant by a certain high-ranking first officer. That lie alone brought on Armageddon when Uhura had confronted Spock about it to the point where their friends had seriously been considering that the two lovers would end it. Thankfully, Bones had done a quick check up to confirm that the ensign was not pregnant and the culprit had swiftly been apprehended and been reminded of their place and for a while the usual had chatter had ceased, only to trickled back after a short period underground and it seemed now the damn had burst. Sulu had been reliably informed that a large number of rumours had been circulating throughout the ship, across the decks and to every station; absurd theories about ghosts and monsters and equally unfeasible possibilities. In the end, Sulu had just chosen to cover his ears and close his mind against the torrent, holding his head high as he continued to fulfil his duty and did his best to ignore the more violent conspiracies of his comrades; some even daring to speculate that a certain young ensign had met an unfortunate end on the planet's surface and that the Captain was either to guilt-ridden or-more popularly-terrified of what the 'big, bad Bones' would do when they returned with a body for him to autopsy and dispose of, on top of his already busy schedule.
All these horror stories were beginning to weigh heavy on Sulu's heart and his limbs felt numb and heavy with a deep, thriving sadness that consumed his entire body. Just outside the door, Sulu faltered and his blood turned to ice in his veins. What if this wasn't to announce their success? What if it was to declare that nothing could be done and that they should leave, even just to get reinforcements? Or worse still, what if this meeting was because they had broken through and the rumour about away team's gory demise had been validated? But no, Bones would never leave any of them down there; least of all Jim. And Spock loved Uhura…didn't he? Chekov…poor Chekov was too young for them to abandon; the navigator may have not had much of a family back home but it was Chekov! The crew was his family, just like they were Sulu's and he was certain-well, pretty much certain-that the others felt the same way. But did they?
Sulu's musings were interrupted by a muffled noise through the door, like someone speaking loudly and he blinked bemusedly at the close door.
"Well I ain't waitin' around for Sulu any longer. Where in God's name could the man have disappeared to? I swear, when I find his ass I'm gonna-"
The door opened with a whoosh and Sulu was met by a startled Bones as he struggled to stop himself careening into the younger man. For a second there was just silence before Bones's expression morphed into one of annoyance as he tried to cover the shocked look from before; his hands coming to his hips as he narrowed his eyes at Sulu.
"Where in Hell's name have you been? We've been waitin' for ages." the doctor demanded but his eyebrows knotted together in confusion "Have long have ya' been standin' there?"
Sulu's eyes widened in panic and he failed to cover the blush across his cheeks "I-I just got here! I was about to come in when you opened the door! I-I got distracted by…someone."
Not waiting for a reply to his obvious lie, Sulu shook his head and pushed past the Georgian and entered the blinding whiteness of Spock's main laboratory. Inside, Spock and Scotty were already looking at a diagram on one of the tables; Spock's eyebrow's raised in context of his deceit and Scotty just offering him his usual beaming smile.
"Nice to see ya, laddie." Scotty greeted cheerfully and they passed the silent conversation of each other's welfare before Sulu joined them at the table top with Bones standing beside him.
"So, what are we looking at?"
Spock motioned to the complicated lines and codes on the screen with one hand, the other still firmly behind his back "This is the frequency of the planet's shield. We have calibrated our sensors to be identical so that now they can pass through and allow a detailed scan of the planet's surface."
"Anything yet?" Sulu inquired, trying his best to sound professional as he felt the weight on his chest lift and he waited in eager anticipation of a positive answer.
"Aye laddie," Scotty confirmed with a quick nod of the head as his smile grew bigger "Better than jus' anything. We found them."
"You found them!" both Bones and Sulu chorused and judging from the light in Bones's eyes, Sulu suspected he had been summoned much like himself.
"Indeed." Spock replied in a clipped tone though there was a hint of emotion in his eyes as he allowed Scotty to continue.
Enthusiastically, Scotty tapped at the screen again and a 3D image flashed up slightly above the desk, slowly rotating so that viewers could see it better. Bones and Sulu leaned in to inspect the building's structure, designed much like a medieval castle with a couple of large buildings either side of a massive pavilion.
Scotty pointed into the complicated map and waggled his finger toward one of the dots situated in the main castle building "These are human bio-signs. Three life signs; all in different areas of the complex."
"They're alive…" Sulu whispered with relief, following Scotty's appendage as it looped over to both of the separate buildings.
"As yet, we cannot identify specific DNA sequences and therefore cannot determine where specific members of the crew are," Spock stated coolly, his eyes darting between the two humans opposite him "However, we have been able to discover something…concerning."
The unusual darkness in Spock's tone made Sulu's attention snap back to him and he saw Bones cross his arms with another fierce expression on his face "Wha' do ya mean somethin' concernin'?"
"What Mister Spock is trying to say is-" Scotty faltered as he looked to Spock uncertainly, obviously knowing that this was something the Vulcan would struggle to express and Sulu's heart beat faster.
"Just spit it out, man!"
Spock looked up at Bones, his expression unreadable and Sulu found himself wondering if he had ever seen such an unidentifiable look in his eye "One of the bio-signs is barely registering on scans."
"Which means?" Sulu asked quickly, receiving a quick glare from Bones who had obviously planned a ruder question.
"It means laddie," Scotty sighed sadly and met the young helmsman's eyes "That one of the crew is injured; they're life-signs are weak so the scanners are struggling to pick them up."
Sulu felt like he had been punched in the gut and he didn't attempt to disguise his horror as Bones gritted his teeth and banged on the table "The scanners could be wrong! You can't trust all this damn technology!"
"That is highly unlikely; Mister Scott and myself have recalibrated the sensors twice and come up with the same result."
If Sulu hadn't been drowning in his own rising panic, he would have been touched that the Vulcan had tested the scanners so much in an attempt to find anything but the truth; but a pang in his heart made Sulu certain that Chekov was in trouble. They had been best friends since the Nero incident and were practically twins; almost inseparable and knowing everything there was to know about each other. That powerful friendship meant they had a connection, and subconsciously they knew when the other was upset, or in pain and they felt but a fraction of one another's suffering in recompense.
"How weak is it?" Sulu's mouth was so dry that his question came out as a hoarse whisper that made the whole lab fall silent "How long have they got?"
Scotty opened his mouth and looked painfully exasperated "I dunno, laddie. We haven't got much and it's hard to tell from just a few scans. There's no way ta know-"
"Spock," Sulu coldly interrupted the engineer, staring down at his hands as they gripped the edge of the table; his knuckles freakishly white against his tanned skin "A prediction…it doesn't have to be exact. Analyse the data and give me a guess, an estimate…just something…anything."
"From the data, I could only discern a fluctuation in their body function and heart capacity. If it continues so irregularly…" Spock paused and looked at Sulu as if trying to determine of this was a logical course of action "Perhaps, a few days. But their health is certainly declining at an unpredictable level; it appears that the affects have some kind of cause, and I could only guess it was from something or someone native to the planet."
Sulu bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, so hard that he tasted blood a second later and he nodded dumbly in response. Beside him, Bones placed a caring hand on his shoulder and the other two watched the helmsman warily.
"They'll be all right, lad." Bones said softly, his tone strangely paternal "You jus' gotta have a lil faith."
Accepting Bones' words, Sulu stood straight and crossed his arms confidently over his chest; his eyes burning with a dangerous anger and his blood pumping faster in his veins as he faced them as a warrior, preparing to do anything necessary.
"So," he asked the various faces around him, absorbing their more worried expressions and allowing them to fuel his determination "What's the plan?"