Watching Sulu Sleep
Sulu slept like he did everything else: When he slept, he was totally committed.
Captain Kirk, watching him, was genuinely amused.
The guy seemed so mild-mannered, when you talked to him. It was only when you really listened that you heard the passion behind everything he said.
Pike needed officers with advanced hand-to-hand combat training – and Sulu raised his hand like a little kid in grade school.
Ask him what he did? "Fencing." Just like that.
But, yeah, Sulu could fence. And really, what more needed to be said?
"Can you fly this thing?" Jim Kirk had asked today.
"Sure." Sulu answered.
'Sure' – only that. But put him in the chair, and he came alive. His hands flew with certainty, and his instincts were unerring.
Didn't matter that the ship was God-only-knows-how-old with a half-busted wing and controls labeled in gibberish – Could Sulu fly it? 'Sure.'
Sulu could fly it.
Sulu could fly it until a stray bolt from the ground crashed through the fuselage, shattered the cockpit, and stripped away a bunch of the dials. Then, Sulu could land it.
They waited in the lea of a sandstone cliff for the ship's sensors to locate them. They waited for the transporter to carry them home.
And meanwhile, Sulu slept.