Star Trek: The Original Series--a FanFic by irefly

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places except for Leah...sadly, I never will.


Chapter I: Beginnings



Ohio, United States, 2002
In the dark of her bedroom, Leah found herself suddenly awake, albeit only halfway there. Groggily she started to turn over onto her side, but the creak of the floor froze her. It's just the floor. Relax. Reluctantly her body untensed, but her eyes stayed wide open, peering futilely into the almost complete black. Just as she was about to close her eyes, someone whispered something.

Leah was not a wimp, but when it was pitch dark outside and in and there was someone in your room, there was only one thing to do. Before she could take in a breath to scream, a hand clamped over her mouth.

"Don't fight," a harsh voice hissed in her ear. "Understand?"

Leah, staring wide-eyed up at what seemed to be the person's head, managed to nod once. Apparently satisfied, the hand on her mouth loosened its grip and another hand grabbed her arm.

"Get up."

As soon as her feet touched the floor, Leah sank to the ground, her mind frantically searching for a way to attack her kidnapper when he bent over to get her up. He crouched down, but before she could move, a needle was roughly stabbed into her arm and Leah began to fade into real blackness. "They always try something," a disgusted voice muttered as the world spun away.



Aboard the USS Enterprise, stardate 4671.2
"Sir, sensors picking up a small vessel ahead, it's the one sending out the distress call," Lt. Sulu stated from his seat. Captain James T. Kirk leaned forward in his captain's chair. "Readings, Spock?" he inquired. Spock briefly looked up from his station. "A one-person life pod, it appears. One life-form aboard, oxygen left for seven point two more hours. No identifying markings or numbers."
Kirk leaned back. "Leuitenant, open a channel," he called back. Uhura flicked a switch. "Frequency open, sir."
"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise to unidentified life pod. We've answered your distress signal. If you can hear us please respond."
There was a moment of silence.
"Nothing, sir," Uhura reported. Kirk deliberated for a moment, then pushed one of the inter-ship com buttons.
"Bridge to transporter room. Prepare to beam in the life-form."



The door to the transporter room slid open as the Captain and Spock marched in. "Energize," Kirk nodded to the transporter operator. Moments later, the atoms pulled from the life pod reassembled on the transporter pad in the form of a curled-up, definitely Vulcan, child.


* * *


"How is she, Bones?" Kirk asked the doctor as he approached the bed on which the Vulcan girl was lying. McCoy looked away from his scanner.
"Well, she's still asleep. Far as I can tell it's some sort of long-term hypo." He paused and leaned back against the bed. "She's perfectly healthy, though." The Captain nodded slowly, eyes still on the girl's face.
"When do you think she'll wake up? I want to know what she's doing way out here, all alone."
"Another half hour at most."
Kirk nodded again and, after another moment, turned to go. "Be sure to call me when she wakes up."
McCoy was about to respond when the girl's eyes half opened, allowing only a slit of light in.
"Jim," the doctor said, motioning the Captain back. Kirk strode back to the head of the bed. The Vulcan's eyes opened further and she lifted one hand to shield them from the bright lights of sickbay.
"Where--" she managed, raising herself to her elbows. "Where am I?" she finished, squinting at first the Captain, then Bones. Before Kirk could say anything, McCoy answered, "You're in the sickbay of the starship Enterprise. I'm Doctor McCoy."
The Vulcan nodded slowly. "I'm Leah."
Kirk jumped in. "I'm Captain Kirk." Leah. That isn't a Vulcan name, he thought quickly.
"This is a dream, isn't it?" Leah mumbled, staring at the Captain. "There's no such thing as Star Trek." She smiled somewhat crookedly and lay back down on the bed. "Very nice dream, though."
Kirk started to say something, but McCoy shook his head. "She's asleep again." Kirk nodded slowly and took a deep breath.
"Well. She thinks we're a dream and she doesn't act like a Vulcan. No apparent control of emotions...strange."
McCoy thought for a moment, then said, "What'd she say, there's no such thing as Star Trek? What's that supposed to mean?"
The Captain shook his head. "I don't have any answers. Maybe Spock should talk to her...she might respond better to another Vulcan."


* * *


Leah slowly opened her eyes. The sickbay was empty except for her. Can you sleep in dreams? Or wake up in them? she wondered, thinking back on her short conversation with the Captain and the Doctor. "Realistic dream, anyway," she muttered, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Right down to Sickbay and Kirk and McCoy's personalities." She looked around, noting that everything was in its place, just as it looked on the TV series Star Trek. "Might as well enjoy it while I can!" Cautiously she stood up and, pleased to feel fine, began moving around the sickbay, growing more and more incredulous and at the same time, worried. It was all so real, and she was beginning to wonder if perhaps she wasn't dreaming. Halfway around sickbay, she stopped in front of a small mirror, shocked to see the alien, yet familiar, face looking back. Hesitantly, she touched the tip of one of her pointed ears, then ran a finger over her eyebrow. "I'm a Vulcan," she whispered to the mirror. "That can't possibly be. If this isn't a dream, then I can't be a Vulcan."