Chapter Six
Jim sat in the captain's seat, forehead to fingers. Stinson was monitoring carefully the ship's track. Uhura periodically attempted communication. Checkov was trying to figure out how exactly the radio signal was disturbing the ship.
And Jim? Jim was thinking. He reasoned with himself—this was something they had to do. Although something was blocking them from their route, it was still their route. They had to be at colony planet Nascea at 06:00 tomorrow. They were on this route; they needed to stay on it, that is, if they wanted to get there on time.
At exactly twelve hours before the rendezvous time, McCoy came up to the Bridge, pristine in medical blues. Jim smiled as he entered, and his eyes lingered for a second more than they should have, but Uhura was the only one who turned around and raised an eyebrow.
He didn't say anything, just passed him the P.A.D.D with a hardly audible sigh. Another medical report. Another long seizure.
"Fuck," Jim muttered.
"I know, right?" the doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Damn guy passes the fuck out at lunch and starts shaking. Course, I had ta—"
BANG!
The whole ship shook. The lights flickered off and on again. McCoy gripped the chair, but by that time, it was over.
"What the…?" Jim said. His chair answered him with a whistling sound. He was being hailed. He pressed the button to respond, still reeling.
It was Scotty. "Sir! Sir!" he shouted.
"Yes, Scotty?"
"We've got a problem 'ere! The engine's stopped!"
"Captain!" cried Stinson suddenly.
"What?!" (Sure, the engine had just stopped, but really, did everything have to happen at the same time?!)
"I've got a visual!"
For a while, Jim didn't believe it. Finally, he said, "Uh, Scotty?"
"Sir?"
"I'll be in contact with you soon. Uh…try to find something out." He pressed the button without waiting for a reply.
"Show it to me." He said.
Stinson scrambled to press a button, putting it on visual. Sure enough, there was a planet, monotone and grey on the imaging. It jogged a memory somewhere in that brain of his, but he couldn't quite grasp it.
"How far?" asked Jim.
"About one thousand kilometers," Stinson answered. "A couple of minutes at warp but…"
"We're stopped. Yeah, I know." He called Scotty back.
"Yes, Captain?"
"Do you know what's wrong with the engine?" he asked.
"Not yet…I'll have to investigate it. Sir, I think you'd better tell Nascea we're goin' to be a little late."
"You have two hours. I'm sending Checkov down."
"Two hours?! That's not enough…"
Jim cut off communication. He gestured to Checkov. He went with all the usual urgency accompanied with being a young first officer.
"Captain," Uhura said, "Would you like me to contact Star Fleet?"
"No."
"No?!"
"Not yet."
Uhura shook her head in disapproval but turned back around.
"Bones," he said next.
"Uhuh." He still looked shocked.
"Go see if anyone's injured."
He nodded and swept off the Bridge, back to Sick Bay. Jim turned around and watched him as he went.
"Sulu, how much do you know about cyberspace defense?" he asked over his shoulder.
"Not much, sir…uh…"
"I know plenty," Stinson said, shooting up a hand. "That was my major."
He stared at him for a little while, then said, "What the hell are you doing on navigation, then?! Get over to the first officer's desk!"
Ten hours until the rendezvous. Jim stood in the engine room with Scotty and Checkov and three other redshirts who were flitting about, not concentrating on them. Jim's head was pounding. At the moment, he felt dizzy.
"Anything?" Jim asked.
Scotty shook his head. "I don't know, sir. It's like the only reason why the engine stopped is that the ship wanted it to. I can't find anything wrong with it."
Checkov nodded, affirming this. "Eet's true," he said.
Jim's head felt like someone was using a hammer on it. Feeling on the verge of unconsciousness, he grabbed onto some mechanical box sticking off the wall.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yes sir," Scotty said. He shook his head in patent frustration. "I see no reason why we cannot restart the engine. But it will not work."
His mind was trying to tell him something. Had something like this happened before? It was like the incident right after Spock's disappearance when he pounded on his first officer's door. Was this somehow connected? Painful images flashed behind his eyes—a planet—the engine—unable to stop—unable to navigate—
He tried to breathe. He was unsuccessful.
"Keptin?" Checkov asked, "Are you alright?"
It sounded as if he were talking underwater. He tried to answer but couldn't. These memories…were they memories?
"I…you…" he tried, but couldn't. It was too much.
He passed out.