Chapter Two: Setting Up Camp
Authors: Smartamy15 and Ian
Rating: G (this chapter)
Disclaimer: This is not done for personal profit, nor to any of the writers own anything Star Trek related.
Sulu was dreading his last mealtime on the Enterprise before shore leave. He knew it meant that he would have to try to speak with Chekov again. The two pilots had sat beside each other in heavy silence since the incident earlier that day. Sulu wanted to say something, to apologize to Chekov or to thank him for taking the blame. Even though neither of them had been punished for their disobedience, Sulu knew that being publicly reprimanded by the Captain had seriously hurt Chekov’s pride. As much as he wanted to approach Chekov, he knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy exchange, and that intimidated him. Sulu was not one for interpersonal conflicts, but it was important that Chekov understood that he never meant for him to take responsibility for Sulu’s reckless plan.
Chekov rose from his seat and strode stiffly to the elevator before Sulu could even turn around. Quickly, almost impulsively, Sulu chased after Chekov. He managed to leap into the elevator moments before the doors closed, leaving him alone with Chekov in the stiflingly small space. He leaned back against the wall, keeping himself as far from Chekov as possible.
“Pavel,” Sulu said urgently.
“What is it, Hikaru?” Chekov said haughtily, glaring at Sulu.
“Well, uh…I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry about before…” he said lamely. “I didn’t want you to take the blame for it…”
“Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you asked me to help you disobey the Captain,” Chekov said coolly.
Sulu repressed a sigh: of course Chekov would predominantly be upset about disobeying Kirk. “I’m sorry, all right? I didn’t realize it would turn out like this. Maybe I should have known, but maybe you shouldn’t have lied to the Captain and made things more complicated!”
Chekov’s face was turning a dangerous shade of red. “I complicated things? I wasn’t the one who thought of the stupid idea in the first place!”
Sulu had tried to remain in control of the situation, but clearly things were starting to get out of hand. He angrily hit the elevator’s stall button. “What was stupid was that you didn’t even give me a chance to keep you out of trouble!”
“What is really stupid is that you do not understand that I was trying to help!” Chekov exclaimed, hitting the stall button forcefully so that the elevator began to descend again with a lurch.
Sulu moved closer to Chekov and grabbed his shoulder, but as he opened his mouth to respond, the elevator doors opened suddenly to reveal a confused Dr. McCoy.
He looked back and forth between the two men, glancing briefly at Sulu’s hand on Chekov’s shoulder, and exclaimed exasperatedly, “Who’s holding up the elevator?”
Sulu’s hand shot back to his side and he hurriedly exited the elevator, shooting Chekov a parting glance. As he turned the corridor, he knew that his face revealed his fury and embarrassment, but he carried on.
***
Captain’s Log: After hours of packing, organizing and preparing, the crew and I are ready to take our shore leave at the famous Earth location of Yosemite National Park. The crew has become temperamental and restless, at least according to Dr. McCoy, who told me of a small fight between Mr. Sulu and Mr. Chekov that occurred in the bridge elevator. At any rate, it’ll be refreshing to leave the Enterprise for our week of shore leave. We have beamed down to the historic entrance of the park - centuries ago, the road was used for silver miners.
The sign for Tioga Pass was wooden, with white painted lettering - quite out of place in comparison to the modern 23rd century technology that Sulu was accustomed to. He felt slightly uneasy in his civilian clothes, weighed down by his rucksack and a sense of lingering bitterness from his fight with Chekov. The cold wind of the Sierra environment seemed to blow right through him, and Sulu couldn’t help but feel that it was a sign of what was to come. He felt his communicator at his side, considering it a source of comfort in the face of the wilderness. Although he was used to pitching tents, making fires with limited resources and the overall challenge of surviving in an unknown environment, the idea of doing it for relaxation and fun was strangely unsettling.
Sulu strode up to Chekov and stood awkwardly beside him, fidgeting with the straps on his rucksack. The Enterprise crew was awaiting a park shuttle that would take them to Tuolumne Meadows, the campground where they would spend their shore leave.
Chekov seemed too interested in the wildflowers at his feet. Sulu suspected that this newfound interest in local horticulture was not entirely genuine, but he couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound accusatory.
“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” Uhura’s voice broke the awkward silence that permeated throughout the crew. Everyone nodded silently. Kirk bounced on the balls of his feet, anxious to set up camp. Sulu glanced down the line of his comrades. Spock was wearing his uniform, minus all rank insignia, and was sporting a stoic gaze that clashed with the joyous atmosphere; McCoy was in jeans, wearing his usual expression of glum concern; Uhura looked bright and cheerful, particularly alongside Scotty, who was wearing the traditional fisherman’s garb of a hat full of hooks and a khaki vest. Chekov stood stiffly in his favorite leather outfit, arms folded.
The silence among the crew continued until the shuttles brought them to the campground. Kirk cheerfully began to return everyone’s supplies.
“Well, welcome, everyone,” he said. “Dr. McCoy, Spock and I will be pitching our tent here,” he said, gesturing a few meters in front of them. “Go ahead and set up camp.”
He sauntered off, carrying his own rucksack. Bones simply stood with his hands on his waist, staring at his backpack on the ground. Spock looked at him, slightly puzzled.
“Will we be following Jim?” he asked. “I expect that he will need assistance setting up the tent.”
“Oh, we’ll be following him, all right,” Dr. McCoy finally responded, stooping down to pick up his bag and beginning to walk towards Kirk. “Follow him to our graves,” he muttered. Spock cocked his head slightly and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and followed suit, leaving the rest of the crew in a circle of bags and dust.
An overwhelming sense of awkwardness came over Sulu. He realized that he didn’t know who was going to share his tent. Normally he would approach Chekov without a second thought, but he knew this would be a dangerous idea. On the other hand, there really was no one else. Scotty had already strode off to pitch his tent, and Uhura had tagged along to set up her own nearby. He opened his mouth to speak to Chekov, only to see that he was about to address him.
“Well, come on,” Chekov said. Sulu was taken aback.
“What?” he asked stupidly.
“Well, we are sharing this tent, are we not?” said Chekov.
“Uh, yes, yes, of course we are,” Sulu said hurriedly. “I mean, if that’s all right with you…”
Chekov shrugged noncommittally as he picked up the bag of tent materials and started to walk off towards the meadow. Confused, but grateful nonetheless, Sulu followed.
After a few minutes, they reached the rest of the group who were all busy setting up camp. Scotty’s tent was already expertly pitched, and he was helping Uhura pound the stakes of her tent into the ground. He had at first been reluctant to abandon his beloved Enterprise for shore leave, but when he heard that they were going to be camping, he immediately displayed a sense of gung-ho enthusiasm that even rivaled the Captain’s adventurous spirit.
Kirk was halfway through pitching the tent when he noticed that Spock had sat down on the grass, his eyes closed and his fingers together. Bones was watching the Vulcan meditate with a sense of amusement. Amused and slightly irritated, Kirk set down his mallet and strolled over to his friends.
“You know that this tent is for the three of us, right?” Kirk said cordially.
Bones turned to look at Kirk. “Your point being?” he challenged.
“Well, usually everyone helps with pitching the tent,” Kirk responded, still trying to be cordial.
“Oh, well, you were doing so well,” Bones said smoothly, shrugging as he spoke. “I figured since you seemed to be enjoying yourself, I should just step back and watch.”
Kirk smirked despite himself: Bones always made fun of his enthusiasm, yet he did so in a way that was never entirely rude, and always amusing. Kirk wanted to throw a zinging response back at him, but found himself stumped. That was the problem: Bones knew him too well.
“I’ve had my fun,” he said, stepping forward to give Bones the mallet. “Your turn,” he said playfully, and flopped down on the ground next to the meditating Vulcan. Spock raised an eyebrow, but did not open his eyes.
“What about him?” Bones said, pointing an accusatory finger at Spock. “Doesn’t he do anything other than eat, sleep, be logical and meditate?”
Kirk sat up in the grass and looked at Spock. Spock had opened his eyes at this snide remark and started to stand up.
“I am not a valuable asset for setting up camp,” he said simply. Kirk shrugged at Bones apologetically.
Bones let out an exasperated sigh. “Damn it, Jim, I’m a doctor, not a Boy Scout! I’m no good at this sort of thing.” He stared at the discarded mallet for a moment and said with resignation, “Well, if the tent falls on us in the night, you only have yourself to blame,” and began to pound in the last stake.
Chekov and Sulu had chosen to pitch their tent on a flat spot under some trees several meters away from the rest of the group. Though Chekov had less camping experience than Sulu, he helped set up the tent without much trouble and they were finished after only a few minutes. Sulu stood back to admire their handiwork.
“Not bad,” he marveled with an awkward chuckle. Chekov nodded with a tentative half-smile, but didn’t say anything. It was as though their disagreement had been temporarily suspended in order to build their shelter, but now that they had stopped working together, a sense of unease fell upon them again.
Sulu took a deep, calm breath as he looked out onto the meadows. He couldn’t help but admit that the sight was soothing, inviting and beautiful. An idea suddenly struck him.
“Hey, Pavel,” he said nonchalantly, “want to go down by the river to relax?”
Chekov frowned and stared at the ground. “Not particularly,” he said quietly. “I think I would prefer to stay here.”
The feeling of discomfort between them deepened. Sulu knew that Chekov’s rejection of his invitation meant that the time had come to address their past incident.
“Look,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about what happened on the bridge the other day, and I realize now that you were only trying to keep me out of trouble. I want to thank you for that. And I’m sorry that I talked you into it in the first place. It was a reckless idea, and I shouldn’t have gotten you involved.”
Chekov still said nothing, but his expression seemed to soften slightly.
“We’ve gotten into worse scrapes before,” Sulu continued, trying to sound reasonable. “It wouldn’t have been half as fun if you weren’t there.”
Chekov smiled slightly. “It is all right,” he said, giving in at last. “You did not mean anything by it. I realize that I did not give you a chance to say anything to the Captain, so I apologize for that. And for what I said in the elevator as well.”
“Well, good, then,” Sulu said with smile, glad that things were right with Chekov again but uneager to relive their exchange in the elevator and its particularly uncomfortable conclusion.
Chekov smiled back at him warmly. “So, what is it you were saying about relaxing by the water?” he asked.
“Yeah, I wanted to take a look at the river over there. Are you coming?” Sulu asked hopefully.
“Of course,” Chekov said.
As Sulu led the way to the river bank, he felt himself smiling with relief; perhaps this shore leave would be relaxing after all.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 (with links to 1 and 2) | Chapter 4 | Chapter Five
Rating: G (this chapter)
Disclaimer: This is not done for personal profit, nor to any of the writers own anything Star Trek related.
Sulu was dreading his last mealtime on the Enterprise before shore leave. He knew it meant that he would have to try to speak with Chekov again. The two pilots had sat beside each other in heavy silence since the incident earlier that day. Sulu wanted to say something, to apologize to Chekov or to thank him for taking the blame. Even though neither of them had been punished for their disobedience, Sulu knew that being publicly reprimanded by the Captain had seriously hurt Chekov’s pride. As much as he wanted to approach Chekov, he knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy exchange, and that intimidated him. Sulu was not one for interpersonal conflicts, but it was important that Chekov understood that he never meant for him to take responsibility for Sulu’s reckless plan.
Chekov rose from his seat and strode stiffly to the elevator before Sulu could even turn around. Quickly, almost impulsively, Sulu chased after Chekov. He managed to leap into the elevator moments before the doors closed, leaving him alone with Chekov in the stiflingly small space. He leaned back against the wall, keeping himself as far from Chekov as possible.
“Pavel,” Sulu said urgently.
“What is it, Hikaru?” Chekov said haughtily, glaring at Sulu.
“Well, uh…I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry about before…” he said lamely. “I didn’t want you to take the blame for it…”
“Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you asked me to help you disobey the Captain,” Chekov said coolly.
Sulu repressed a sigh: of course Chekov would predominantly be upset about disobeying Kirk. “I’m sorry, all right? I didn’t realize it would turn out like this. Maybe I should have known, but maybe you shouldn’t have lied to the Captain and made things more complicated!”
Chekov’s face was turning a dangerous shade of red. “I complicated things? I wasn’t the one who thought of the stupid idea in the first place!”
Sulu had tried to remain in control of the situation, but clearly things were starting to get out of hand. He angrily hit the elevator’s stall button. “What was stupid was that you didn’t even give me a chance to keep you out of trouble!”
“What is really stupid is that you do not understand that I was trying to help!” Chekov exclaimed, hitting the stall button forcefully so that the elevator began to descend again with a lurch.
Sulu moved closer to Chekov and grabbed his shoulder, but as he opened his mouth to respond, the elevator doors opened suddenly to reveal a confused Dr. McCoy.
He looked back and forth between the two men, glancing briefly at Sulu’s hand on Chekov’s shoulder, and exclaimed exasperatedly, “Who’s holding up the elevator?”
Sulu’s hand shot back to his side and he hurriedly exited the elevator, shooting Chekov a parting glance. As he turned the corridor, he knew that his face revealed his fury and embarrassment, but he carried on.
***
Captain’s Log: After hours of packing, organizing and preparing, the crew and I are ready to take our shore leave at the famous Earth location of Yosemite National Park. The crew has become temperamental and restless, at least according to Dr. McCoy, who told me of a small fight between Mr. Sulu and Mr. Chekov that occurred in the bridge elevator. At any rate, it’ll be refreshing to leave the Enterprise for our week of shore leave. We have beamed down to the historic entrance of the park - centuries ago, the road was used for silver miners.
The sign for Tioga Pass was wooden, with white painted lettering - quite out of place in comparison to the modern 23rd century technology that Sulu was accustomed to. He felt slightly uneasy in his civilian clothes, weighed down by his rucksack and a sense of lingering bitterness from his fight with Chekov. The cold wind of the Sierra environment seemed to blow right through him, and Sulu couldn’t help but feel that it was a sign of what was to come. He felt his communicator at his side, considering it a source of comfort in the face of the wilderness. Although he was used to pitching tents, making fires with limited resources and the overall challenge of surviving in an unknown environment, the idea of doing it for relaxation and fun was strangely unsettling.
Sulu strode up to Chekov and stood awkwardly beside him, fidgeting with the straps on his rucksack. The Enterprise crew was awaiting a park shuttle that would take them to Tuolumne Meadows, the campground where they would spend their shore leave.
Chekov seemed too interested in the wildflowers at his feet. Sulu suspected that this newfound interest in local horticulture was not entirely genuine, but he couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound accusatory.
“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” Uhura’s voice broke the awkward silence that permeated throughout the crew. Everyone nodded silently. Kirk bounced on the balls of his feet, anxious to set up camp. Sulu glanced down the line of his comrades. Spock was wearing his uniform, minus all rank insignia, and was sporting a stoic gaze that clashed with the joyous atmosphere; McCoy was in jeans, wearing his usual expression of glum concern; Uhura looked bright and cheerful, particularly alongside Scotty, who was wearing the traditional fisherman’s garb of a hat full of hooks and a khaki vest. Chekov stood stiffly in his favorite leather outfit, arms folded.
The silence among the crew continued until the shuttles brought them to the campground. Kirk cheerfully began to return everyone’s supplies.
“Well, welcome, everyone,” he said. “Dr. McCoy, Spock and I will be pitching our tent here,” he said, gesturing a few meters in front of them. “Go ahead and set up camp.”
He sauntered off, carrying his own rucksack. Bones simply stood with his hands on his waist, staring at his backpack on the ground. Spock looked at him, slightly puzzled.
“Will we be following Jim?” he asked. “I expect that he will need assistance setting up the tent.”
“Oh, we’ll be following him, all right,” Dr. McCoy finally responded, stooping down to pick up his bag and beginning to walk towards Kirk. “Follow him to our graves,” he muttered. Spock cocked his head slightly and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and followed suit, leaving the rest of the crew in a circle of bags and dust.
An overwhelming sense of awkwardness came over Sulu. He realized that he didn’t know who was going to share his tent. Normally he would approach Chekov without a second thought, but he knew this would be a dangerous idea. On the other hand, there really was no one else. Scotty had already strode off to pitch his tent, and Uhura had tagged along to set up her own nearby. He opened his mouth to speak to Chekov, only to see that he was about to address him.
“Well, come on,” Chekov said. Sulu was taken aback.
“What?” he asked stupidly.
“Well, we are sharing this tent, are we not?” said Chekov.
“Uh, yes, yes, of course we are,” Sulu said hurriedly. “I mean, if that’s all right with you…”
Chekov shrugged noncommittally as he picked up the bag of tent materials and started to walk off towards the meadow. Confused, but grateful nonetheless, Sulu followed.
After a few minutes, they reached the rest of the group who were all busy setting up camp. Scotty’s tent was already expertly pitched, and he was helping Uhura pound the stakes of her tent into the ground. He had at first been reluctant to abandon his beloved Enterprise for shore leave, but when he heard that they were going to be camping, he immediately displayed a sense of gung-ho enthusiasm that even rivaled the Captain’s adventurous spirit.
Kirk was halfway through pitching the tent when he noticed that Spock had sat down on the grass, his eyes closed and his fingers together. Bones was watching the Vulcan meditate with a sense of amusement. Amused and slightly irritated, Kirk set down his mallet and strolled over to his friends.
“You know that this tent is for the three of us, right?” Kirk said cordially.
Bones turned to look at Kirk. “Your point being?” he challenged.
“Well, usually everyone helps with pitching the tent,” Kirk responded, still trying to be cordial.
“Oh, well, you were doing so well,” Bones said smoothly, shrugging as he spoke. “I figured since you seemed to be enjoying yourself, I should just step back and watch.”
Kirk smirked despite himself: Bones always made fun of his enthusiasm, yet he did so in a way that was never entirely rude, and always amusing. Kirk wanted to throw a zinging response back at him, but found himself stumped. That was the problem: Bones knew him too well.
“I’ve had my fun,” he said, stepping forward to give Bones the mallet. “Your turn,” he said playfully, and flopped down on the ground next to the meditating Vulcan. Spock raised an eyebrow, but did not open his eyes.
“What about him?” Bones said, pointing an accusatory finger at Spock. “Doesn’t he do anything other than eat, sleep, be logical and meditate?”
Kirk sat up in the grass and looked at Spock. Spock had opened his eyes at this snide remark and started to stand up.
“I am not a valuable asset for setting up camp,” he said simply. Kirk shrugged at Bones apologetically.
Bones let out an exasperated sigh. “Damn it, Jim, I’m a doctor, not a Boy Scout! I’m no good at this sort of thing.” He stared at the discarded mallet for a moment and said with resignation, “Well, if the tent falls on us in the night, you only have yourself to blame,” and began to pound in the last stake.
Chekov and Sulu had chosen to pitch their tent on a flat spot under some trees several meters away from the rest of the group. Though Chekov had less camping experience than Sulu, he helped set up the tent without much trouble and they were finished after only a few minutes. Sulu stood back to admire their handiwork.
“Not bad,” he marveled with an awkward chuckle. Chekov nodded with a tentative half-smile, but didn’t say anything. It was as though their disagreement had been temporarily suspended in order to build their shelter, but now that they had stopped working together, a sense of unease fell upon them again.
Sulu took a deep, calm breath as he looked out onto the meadows. He couldn’t help but admit that the sight was soothing, inviting and beautiful. An idea suddenly struck him.
“Hey, Pavel,” he said nonchalantly, “want to go down by the river to relax?”
Chekov frowned and stared at the ground. “Not particularly,” he said quietly. “I think I would prefer to stay here.”
The feeling of discomfort between them deepened. Sulu knew that Chekov’s rejection of his invitation meant that the time had come to address their past incident.
“Look,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about what happened on the bridge the other day, and I realize now that you were only trying to keep me out of trouble. I want to thank you for that. And I’m sorry that I talked you into it in the first place. It was a reckless idea, and I shouldn’t have gotten you involved.”
Chekov still said nothing, but his expression seemed to soften slightly.
“We’ve gotten into worse scrapes before,” Sulu continued, trying to sound reasonable. “It wouldn’t have been half as fun if you weren’t there.”
Chekov smiled slightly. “It is all right,” he said, giving in at last. “You did not mean anything by it. I realize that I did not give you a chance to say anything to the Captain, so I apologize for that. And for what I said in the elevator as well.”
“Well, good, then,” Sulu said with smile, glad that things were right with Chekov again but uneager to relive their exchange in the elevator and its particularly uncomfortable conclusion.
Chekov smiled back at him warmly. “So, what is it you were saying about relaxing by the water?” he asked.
“Yeah, I wanted to take a look at the river over there. Are you coming?” Sulu asked hopefully.
“Of course,” Chekov said.
As Sulu led the way to the river bank, he felt himself smiling with relief; perhaps this shore leave would be relaxing after all.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 (with links to 1 and 2) | Chapter 4 | Chapter Five