Fic: Observer Effect (1/?)
Title: Observer Effect
Author: laughter_now
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy, with a smidgeon of Sulu/Chekov thrown in if you stand on your toes and squint
Disclaimer: I keep wishing for them, but I still don't own anything.
Summary: There's something down on that planet. Something no human ever encountered before. The Observers have watched many species fight it. And there is only one common thread to all those encounters - someone always dies.
Answer to this prompt at the buckleup_meme .
Incidentally, this will also fill the prompt "experiments by evil scientists" on my hurt/comfort bingo card.
Author's Note: This is an AOS rewrite of the Enterprise episode 'Observer Effect' hence the ingenious and creative title of this story. I changed some, or rather quite a bit of the dialogue from the original episode, especially the conversations between the Observers, to avoid this becoming a mere rewrite. Even if the basic gist of that dialogue remains the same, it would have become a little boring to just copy the original dialogue from the episode.
Prologue
It was the middle of beta shift, and the mess hall was empty save for a group of ensigns from Stellar Cartography who were occupying a table in the back.
Nyota Uhura and Hikaru Sulu were the only other crewmembers in the room with them, occupying a small table at the far side of the room together, their half-eaten meals standing in front of them. It wasn't unusual for the two of them to share a meal together. The senior officers aboard the ship had a tendency to gravitate towards one another during these everyday routines. So while it wasn't a regular sight to see Uhura and Sulu eat together, it also wasn't a sight that raised eyebrows anywhere.
However, their meal was over now and Uhura eyed her plate with something that an innocent bystander might have labeled suspicion.
"The need for nourishment is puzzling. Especially since apparently the satisfaction of that physical need is often turned into a social encounter."
Sulu seemed unperturbed by the statement.
"Physical existence requires some form of physical nourishment in all of the previously recorded cases. And seventy-nine percent of the species we encountered so far have shared that connection between physical needs and social connection in one form or the other." He cast a look at the ensigns across the room. "Just look at them. The time required to gain the sustenance their physical forms only makes up thirty percent of the time they spend here to take their meals. The rest of the time is wasted with social bonding instead of productivity. It's a cycle that repeats itself every day, like clockwork. Within the next five minutes, these crewmembers are going to return to their posts, charting an expanse of space and labeling it as new even though it has been known to other species for hundreds of millennia already."
Uhura cocked her head to the side. "Their average lifespan only lasts for about a hundred and ten years. Their chance to discover a section of space that could be labeled unknown even by our standards are practically nonexistent. The journey alone would outlast their lifespan multiple times."
Sulu shook his head. "It's a pity, really."
"Careful," Uhura replied, somewhat sharply. At Sulu's somewhat startled expression, she bore her gaze into his. "No emotional involvement."
Sulu nodded. "Of course. Observation without interference. I am aware of the protocol."
"Good."
They kept watching the group of ensigns for a few moments, observing the animated chatter over the remains of their dessert, until Sulu turned back towards Uhura.
"The last shuttles from the surface are due back soon. We should return to the Bridge for that occurrence."
"You're right."
With one last glance at the ensigns, Sulu frowned slightly. "How do you think they are going to react to what's on that planet?"
Uhura flicked her ponytail away from her shoulder. "In my experience, most humanoid species react in a similar way. The difference lies only in the time span it takes them to realize that they really only have one option left."
"Do you think they are going to die tonight?" Sulu asked, nodding his head towards the other side of the room where the ensigns were currently gathering up the remains of their meal as they prepared to leave.
Uhura seemed completely unmoved by that question.
"Who knows? But someone always dies. Maybe it will be them, or maybe it will be our hosts. We will see very soon. But now I think it is time for us to return to the Bridge."
Sulu nodded, and they gathered their trays and got up, leaving the mess hall empty behind them as they left.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Shuttle Gilliam to Enterprise."
"Enterprise here," Jim's voice responded to Chekov's call. "I take it the trip to the surface was interesting. We were already worried the two of you didn't want to return to the ship at all."
In the back seat of the shuttle, Leonard rolled his eyes at his friend's more than just informal teasing over the comm. It really wasn't as if he and Chekov had actually wanted to be the last team to return to Enterprise from this excursion. But the young Ensign was just too damn excitable about everything, even if all they had found this time was nothing but a dump of Klingon equipment.
"Negative, Keptin," Chekov replied. "But we decided to investigate the remains the Klingons left in the Northern sector in order to find out why they abandoned the planet without taking their equipment."
Leonard huffed a laugh at the term equipment. It might have been, before time and decay had turned it into a technical junkyard. Still, it was a mystery. And if there was one thing Jim loved above everything else, it was a good mystery to occupy his mind with. Even now, his voice sounded excited as it sounded from the speaker.
"And? Barring your later report, what did you find?"
"Junk," Leonard spat out before Chekov even had the chance to get into an excited ramble about technical details. He'd much rather the young man focused his entire concentration on flying them safely back aboard Enterprise than on spewing out a ridiculous amount of technical data that nobody but Jim could even follow. Chekov could get all bouncy about what kind of scanning gear the Klingons had left behind once they were safely back inside the tin can. "A whole lot of it."
"Corrosion analysis suggests that the metals and alloys have been exposed for twenty standard months at the least," Chekov fell in, his excitement thickening the remains of his accent slightly. "I will conduct further experiments to narrow it down as soon as I get back aboard."
"Any sign of why the Klingons abandoned the site?"
"Nothing our instruments could detect. No signs of pathogens in the air or the preliminary water and soil samples, either."
Leonard didn't understand why the Klingons had abandoned the planet so hastily that they had left all their equipment behind. And even more so, he didn't understand why he of all people had to go down to the planet's surface when every member of the science department could have taken those scans and samples. It wasn't as if he was just sitting on his ass all day. He had plenty of work to do, even without an immediate medical crisis on his hands. But Jim had insisted that every member of the senior crew get enough away mission time under their belts, and apparently in Leonard's case that meant he had to spend that time rooting around in what had essentially become a Klingon dump. Just his luck.
"Well, I'll see the two of you in a few minutes then. Enterprise out."
Chekov ended the transmission and entered a few commands into the console, preparing the shuttle to approach Enterprise's docking bay. It was all routine, and while Leonard still didn't feel comfortable at the mere thought of being on a shuttle, he couldn't deny that by now he could feel that routine as well. He was a far cry from comfortable, but relaxed enough that he could lean back in his seat and start thinking about the tests they'd need to run on the samples they had collected. He looked up, however, when Chekov turned in the pilot's seat and coughed dryly into his hand.
Immediately, Leonard straightened up in his seat.
"You all right, Chekov?"
The young navigator nodded quickly. "Of course. Lot of dust on the surface. It makes my throat dry."
He went back to fingering the consoles, and Leonard leaned back in his seat once more, even though he wasn't entirely pacified by Chekov's answer. Neither of them had been coughing while they were on the surface, and they had been in the shuttle for about ten minutes now without any signs of symptoms. He thought it was unlikely that Chekov's coughing had anything to do with dust from the planet's atmosphere.
"We are approaching the Docking Bay, do…"
Whatever Chekov had wanted to add was swallowed by another coughing fit, harsher and longer this time. Leonard undid his safety harness and was at the younger man's side without a second thought about it.
"Chekov, what's going on?"
Chekov wanted to answer, but couldn't get a word in between the wracking coughs. Leonard was about to turn around and get his tricorder, but before he could even take one step Chekov gripped him by the arms with surprising strength and gestured towards the pilot's chair. Leonard was too stunned to do anything but move into the direction he was pushed into. Chekov was already brusing past him, falling to his knees in the space behind the seats, his whole body now wracked by coughs.
The doctor in Leonard was screaming to fall into the well-known motions, locating the tricorder and performing a standard scan, an injection of antitussives to stop the dry and obviously painful coughs until he had figured out their cause. But he was acutely aware that they were aboard an unpiloted shuttle with the landing sequence already initiated, and that he had to take care of that first before he could even think about acting as a doctor.
Chekov was red in the face and still coughing violently, but he seemed to be able to breathe. For now, that had to be enough.
Leonard slid into the pilot's seat and hit the comm button without conscious thought.
"McCoy to Enterprise. We have a medical emergency."
Jim answered immediately, voice laced with concern.
"What happened?"
"Chekov collapsed," Leonard replied courtly, aware that Jim and the entire Bridge crew would be able to hear Chekov hacking up a lung in the background. "Alert Medical and have M'Benga prepare for a full examination of Chekov's respiratory system as soon as we get aboard. Clear the Landing Bay and prepare Decon. If this is something viral or bacterial, we need to figure out what it is before it spreads across the entire ship."
"Understood," Jim replied. "It'll be taken care of, you just focus on getting back aboard safely."
Leonard suppressed a suffering sigh as he tried to familiarize with controls he hadn't used since his time at the Academy.
"Bones." Jim's voice sounded slightly insecure now. "Can you fly her back safely?"
It was like driving a bike, Leonard assumed. A bike he had never been particularly fond of, but one he had learned to ride during long, painful lessons. He didn't particularly want to do it, but he hadn't forgotten how to pilot a shuttle. His flying wasn't going to win him any prizes, but he was fairly sure he wasn't going to kill them, either.
"Not like I've got any other choice, Jim. Chekov already initiated the landing sequence, I only need to get her in through the doors and touch her down. I think I'll manage."
"Good. Slow and steady, Bones. I'll see you in the Landing Bay."
"Decon, Jim," Leonard reminded him. "Until we know this isn't contagious, nobody's going to breach isolation."
"Understood. Kirk out."
Leonard ended the transmission and focused on the controls in front of him. He couldn't help but feel a small rush of pride about the fact that his hands weren't shaking as he handled the controls. And if his palms were slick with sweat…well, nobody needed to know about that.
Chekov was still coughing and wheezing behind him as Leonard checked the landing sequence the young navigator had entered into the computer. After a moment of deliberation, he corrected the angle of their approach slightly. This was easier than a lot of the obligatory simulations Leonard had passed during the Academy, but still his heart was beating fast in his chest as the shuttle glided through the Landing Bay doors.
Leonard saw three crewmembers in EV suits waiting for them, and he felt relieved that his concerns about keeping them in isolation were taken seriously.
"Hold on, Chekov," he said to the young man in the back who was still coughing dryly in between heaving breaths. "We're nearly home."
His only response was loud retching, followed by the sound of liquid splattering against the floor panels.
Just great, Leonard thought as he set the shuttle down a little harder than the landing sequence normally entailed. It was never going to make it into the top ten of Starfleet's most beautiful shuttle landings, but Leonard couldn't care less. As soon as they were safely back on the ground, he turned off the engines and was out of his seat. Just as he pulled out his tricorder and stepped up to Chekov's side, the young ensign convulsed and threw up again.
Just fucking great.
This was going to become a long night.
TBC...
Part 2
Thanks for reading. As always, please let me know what you think. Thanks a lot.
PLEASE DO NOT repost any of this (or any of all my stories, really) or your comments to this entry on Facebook or Twitter. Thank you.
Author: laughter_now
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy, with a smidgeon of Sulu/Chekov thrown in if you stand on your toes and squint
Disclaimer: I keep wishing for them, but I still don't own anything.
Summary: There's something down on that planet. Something no human ever encountered before. The Observers have watched many species fight it. And there is only one common thread to all those encounters - someone always dies.
Answer to this prompt at the buckleup_meme .
Incidentally, this will also fill the prompt "experiments by evil scientists" on my hurt/comfort bingo card.
Author's Note: This is an AOS rewrite of the Enterprise episode 'Observer Effect' hence the ingenious and creative title of this story. I changed some, or rather quite a bit of the dialogue from the original episode, especially the conversations between the Observers, to avoid this becoming a mere rewrite. Even if the basic gist of that dialogue remains the same, it would have become a little boring to just copy the original dialogue from the episode.
Prologue
It was the middle of beta shift, and the mess hall was empty save for a group of ensigns from Stellar Cartography who were occupying a table in the back.
Nyota Uhura and Hikaru Sulu were the only other crewmembers in the room with them, occupying a small table at the far side of the room together, their half-eaten meals standing in front of them. It wasn't unusual for the two of them to share a meal together. The senior officers aboard the ship had a tendency to gravitate towards one another during these everyday routines. So while it wasn't a regular sight to see Uhura and Sulu eat together, it also wasn't a sight that raised eyebrows anywhere.
However, their meal was over now and Uhura eyed her plate with something that an innocent bystander might have labeled suspicion.
"The need for nourishment is puzzling. Especially since apparently the satisfaction of that physical need is often turned into a social encounter."
Sulu seemed unperturbed by the statement.
"Physical existence requires some form of physical nourishment in all of the previously recorded cases. And seventy-nine percent of the species we encountered so far have shared that connection between physical needs and social connection in one form or the other." He cast a look at the ensigns across the room. "Just look at them. The time required to gain the sustenance their physical forms only makes up thirty percent of the time they spend here to take their meals. The rest of the time is wasted with social bonding instead of productivity. It's a cycle that repeats itself every day, like clockwork. Within the next five minutes, these crewmembers are going to return to their posts, charting an expanse of space and labeling it as new even though it has been known to other species for hundreds of millennia already."
Uhura cocked her head to the side. "Their average lifespan only lasts for about a hundred and ten years. Their chance to discover a section of space that could be labeled unknown even by our standards are practically nonexistent. The journey alone would outlast their lifespan multiple times."
Sulu shook his head. "It's a pity, really."
"Careful," Uhura replied, somewhat sharply. At Sulu's somewhat startled expression, she bore her gaze into his. "No emotional involvement."
Sulu nodded. "Of course. Observation without interference. I am aware of the protocol."
"Good."
They kept watching the group of ensigns for a few moments, observing the animated chatter over the remains of their dessert, until Sulu turned back towards Uhura.
"The last shuttles from the surface are due back soon. We should return to the Bridge for that occurrence."
"You're right."
With one last glance at the ensigns, Sulu frowned slightly. "How do you think they are going to react to what's on that planet?"
Uhura flicked her ponytail away from her shoulder. "In my experience, most humanoid species react in a similar way. The difference lies only in the time span it takes them to realize that they really only have one option left."
"Do you think they are going to die tonight?" Sulu asked, nodding his head towards the other side of the room where the ensigns were currently gathering up the remains of their meal as they prepared to leave.
Uhura seemed completely unmoved by that question.
"Who knows? But someone always dies. Maybe it will be them, or maybe it will be our hosts. We will see very soon. But now I think it is time for us to return to the Bridge."
Sulu nodded, and they gathered their trays and got up, leaving the mess hall empty behind them as they left.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Shuttle Gilliam to Enterprise."
"Enterprise here," Jim's voice responded to Chekov's call. "I take it the trip to the surface was interesting. We were already worried the two of you didn't want to return to the ship at all."
In the back seat of the shuttle, Leonard rolled his eyes at his friend's more than just informal teasing over the comm. It really wasn't as if he and Chekov had actually wanted to be the last team to return to Enterprise from this excursion. But the young Ensign was just too damn excitable about everything, even if all they had found this time was nothing but a dump of Klingon equipment.
"Negative, Keptin," Chekov replied. "But we decided to investigate the remains the Klingons left in the Northern sector in order to find out why they abandoned the planet without taking their equipment."
Leonard huffed a laugh at the term equipment. It might have been, before time and decay had turned it into a technical junkyard. Still, it was a mystery. And if there was one thing Jim loved above everything else, it was a good mystery to occupy his mind with. Even now, his voice sounded excited as it sounded from the speaker.
"And? Barring your later report, what did you find?"
"Junk," Leonard spat out before Chekov even had the chance to get into an excited ramble about technical details. He'd much rather the young man focused his entire concentration on flying them safely back aboard Enterprise than on spewing out a ridiculous amount of technical data that nobody but Jim could even follow. Chekov could get all bouncy about what kind of scanning gear the Klingons had left behind once they were safely back inside the tin can. "A whole lot of it."
"Corrosion analysis suggests that the metals and alloys have been exposed for twenty standard months at the least," Chekov fell in, his excitement thickening the remains of his accent slightly. "I will conduct further experiments to narrow it down as soon as I get back aboard."
"Any sign of why the Klingons abandoned the site?"
"Nothing our instruments could detect. No signs of pathogens in the air or the preliminary water and soil samples, either."
Leonard didn't understand why the Klingons had abandoned the planet so hastily that they had left all their equipment behind. And even more so, he didn't understand why he of all people had to go down to the planet's surface when every member of the science department could have taken those scans and samples. It wasn't as if he was just sitting on his ass all day. He had plenty of work to do, even without an immediate medical crisis on his hands. But Jim had insisted that every member of the senior crew get enough away mission time under their belts, and apparently in Leonard's case that meant he had to spend that time rooting around in what had essentially become a Klingon dump. Just his luck.
"Well, I'll see the two of you in a few minutes then. Enterprise out."
Chekov ended the transmission and entered a few commands into the console, preparing the shuttle to approach Enterprise's docking bay. It was all routine, and while Leonard still didn't feel comfortable at the mere thought of being on a shuttle, he couldn't deny that by now he could feel that routine as well. He was a far cry from comfortable, but relaxed enough that he could lean back in his seat and start thinking about the tests they'd need to run on the samples they had collected. He looked up, however, when Chekov turned in the pilot's seat and coughed dryly into his hand.
Immediately, Leonard straightened up in his seat.
"You all right, Chekov?"
The young navigator nodded quickly. "Of course. Lot of dust on the surface. It makes my throat dry."
He went back to fingering the consoles, and Leonard leaned back in his seat once more, even though he wasn't entirely pacified by Chekov's answer. Neither of them had been coughing while they were on the surface, and they had been in the shuttle for about ten minutes now without any signs of symptoms. He thought it was unlikely that Chekov's coughing had anything to do with dust from the planet's atmosphere.
"We are approaching the Docking Bay, do…"
Whatever Chekov had wanted to add was swallowed by another coughing fit, harsher and longer this time. Leonard undid his safety harness and was at the younger man's side without a second thought about it.
"Chekov, what's going on?"
Chekov wanted to answer, but couldn't get a word in between the wracking coughs. Leonard was about to turn around and get his tricorder, but before he could even take one step Chekov gripped him by the arms with surprising strength and gestured towards the pilot's chair. Leonard was too stunned to do anything but move into the direction he was pushed into. Chekov was already brusing past him, falling to his knees in the space behind the seats, his whole body now wracked by coughs.
The doctor in Leonard was screaming to fall into the well-known motions, locating the tricorder and performing a standard scan, an injection of antitussives to stop the dry and obviously painful coughs until he had figured out their cause. But he was acutely aware that they were aboard an unpiloted shuttle with the landing sequence already initiated, and that he had to take care of that first before he could even think about acting as a doctor.
Chekov was red in the face and still coughing violently, but he seemed to be able to breathe. For now, that had to be enough.
Leonard slid into the pilot's seat and hit the comm button without conscious thought.
"McCoy to Enterprise. We have a medical emergency."
Jim answered immediately, voice laced with concern.
"What happened?"
"Chekov collapsed," Leonard replied courtly, aware that Jim and the entire Bridge crew would be able to hear Chekov hacking up a lung in the background. "Alert Medical and have M'Benga prepare for a full examination of Chekov's respiratory system as soon as we get aboard. Clear the Landing Bay and prepare Decon. If this is something viral or bacterial, we need to figure out what it is before it spreads across the entire ship."
"Understood," Jim replied. "It'll be taken care of, you just focus on getting back aboard safely."
Leonard suppressed a suffering sigh as he tried to familiarize with controls he hadn't used since his time at the Academy.
"Bones." Jim's voice sounded slightly insecure now. "Can you fly her back safely?"
It was like driving a bike, Leonard assumed. A bike he had never been particularly fond of, but one he had learned to ride during long, painful lessons. He didn't particularly want to do it, but he hadn't forgotten how to pilot a shuttle. His flying wasn't going to win him any prizes, but he was fairly sure he wasn't going to kill them, either.
"Not like I've got any other choice, Jim. Chekov already initiated the landing sequence, I only need to get her in through the doors and touch her down. I think I'll manage."
"Good. Slow and steady, Bones. I'll see you in the Landing Bay."
"Decon, Jim," Leonard reminded him. "Until we know this isn't contagious, nobody's going to breach isolation."
"Understood. Kirk out."
Leonard ended the transmission and focused on the controls in front of him. He couldn't help but feel a small rush of pride about the fact that his hands weren't shaking as he handled the controls. And if his palms were slick with sweat…well, nobody needed to know about that.
Chekov was still coughing and wheezing behind him as Leonard checked the landing sequence the young navigator had entered into the computer. After a moment of deliberation, he corrected the angle of their approach slightly. This was easier than a lot of the obligatory simulations Leonard had passed during the Academy, but still his heart was beating fast in his chest as the shuttle glided through the Landing Bay doors.
Leonard saw three crewmembers in EV suits waiting for them, and he felt relieved that his concerns about keeping them in isolation were taken seriously.
"Hold on, Chekov," he said to the young man in the back who was still coughing dryly in between heaving breaths. "We're nearly home."
His only response was loud retching, followed by the sound of liquid splattering against the floor panels.
Just great, Leonard thought as he set the shuttle down a little harder than the landing sequence normally entailed. It was never going to make it into the top ten of Starfleet's most beautiful shuttle landings, but Leonard couldn't care less. As soon as they were safely back on the ground, he turned off the engines and was out of his seat. Just as he pulled out his tricorder and stepped up to Chekov's side, the young ensign convulsed and threw up again.
Just fucking great.
This was going to become a long night.
TBC...
Part 2
Thanks for reading. As always, please let me know what you think. Thanks a lot.
PLEASE DO NOT repost any of this (or any of all my stories, really) or your comments to this entry on Facebook or Twitter. Thank you.