Ficlet: Reckless, This One Is
Title: Reckless, This One Is
Rating: G
Characters: Sulu, Scotty, McCoy, Kirk
Summary: In which Sulu builds a light saber, and all does not go according to plan
Notes: for katmarajade at the Sulu-Off.
Engineering on gamma shift was dark and quiet. When he heard footsteps approaching, which was rare, Sulu pressed himself flat against the walls and ducked into doorways. Possibly, he was going a bit overboard with the stealth. But stealth was fun, so he did it anyway. Besides, he couldn't risk discovery when his plans were so close to fruition.
At long last, he reached the tiny alcove in the back of the engine room where had been conducting his experiments. Nuts, bolts, and odd bits of circuitry littered the floor. Beneath a blanket lay a purloined plasma torch and the hand grip of his old katana, which now sported a very large, red button. Barely able to contain his excitement, he pulled a battered plasma modulator from his pocket. It was not technically a legal item, and it was known to be a bit fickle, but he was sure it would work. In less than ten minutes, he had stripped the plasma torch down to its most basic components and connected them to the modulator. Embedding the whole rig into the old katana handle was easier than he expected, and for a moment, he held the small device in his hand and marveled.
Then he pressed the button. For a second, nothing happened. Then, with a more dramatic whoosh than he could have hoped for, a column of blue light shot out from the handle. It flickered and hummed, but it held steady. Sulu made a few experimental parries. A strange buzzing energy flowed down into his hands. He smiled. Here it was, the thing he longed for since he was six years old, the thing that two hundred years of physicists and engineers had claimed was a scientific impossibility: a light saber.
Stealth forgotten, Sulu began an earnest fight with an invisible enemy. He thrust and parried, his feet moving so quick he was practically dancing. Soon he had left his sheltered alcove behind. Dim blue light illuminated the long, shadowy coolant tubes and energy conduits; the air buzzed with the sound of the light saber. And then, quite by accident, the vibrating blue blade struck something tall and metal. The buzz became a high-pitched whine; the low-level energy coursing through his hands became a rapidly flowing current that spread through his whole body. Sparks flew; alert klaxons sounded. Sulu passed out.
He awoke in sickbay several hours later. McCoy was leaning over him.
“Wha' happened?” he asked. Speaking required significantly more effort than it should have.
“You're an idiot, that's what happened.”
So he wasn't dying, then. McCoy only yelled when you were out of danger.
“Yeah, I got that,” he said.
McCoy looked mildly pacified.
“You got plasma burns and some kind of weird electrical shock. Burned your eyebrows clean off, too. Adrenaline junkies, the whole lot of you.”
Sulu glanced around his biobed. Kirk and Scotty swam into focus.
“I'm sorry for the damage, sir.” He looked at Scotty, who was glowering, and quickly added, “I mean, sirs.”
“Third time that support pylon's been cut in half this month. Klingon torpedoes, Romulan disruptors, now you,” Scotty muttered darkly.
“I cut it in half?” Sulu asked, trying not to sound too excited.
“Yeah, this thing is pretty cool,” Kirk said, tossing the pommel of the light saber back and forth between his hands. Sulu strained for a better look. It was charred, but it seemed alright.
“Hey, do you mind if I keep this?” Kirk asked, fingers inching toward the big red button.
“The hell you will,” McCoy snapped, jerking it from Kirk's hands. “Cut your damn fool head off.”
“Well, perhaps I could take it off your hands, Doctor. Inspect it and such.”
Scotty's dark mood seemed to have lifted, and he was staring at the light saber with a gleam in his eye.
“Absolutely not.”
McCoy marched to the garbage chute and threw it in, eliciting a small, sad groan from each of the three men.
“Don't worry, we'll make a new one,” Kirk whispered while the doctor's back was turned.
The last thing he saw before he fell asleep again was Scotty's eager grin.
Rating: G
Characters: Sulu, Scotty, McCoy, Kirk
Summary: In which Sulu builds a light saber, and all does not go according to plan
Notes: for katmarajade at the Sulu-Off.
Engineering on gamma shift was dark and quiet. When he heard footsteps approaching, which was rare, Sulu pressed himself flat against the walls and ducked into doorways. Possibly, he was going a bit overboard with the stealth. But stealth was fun, so he did it anyway. Besides, he couldn't risk discovery when his plans were so close to fruition.
At long last, he reached the tiny alcove in the back of the engine room where had been conducting his experiments. Nuts, bolts, and odd bits of circuitry littered the floor. Beneath a blanket lay a purloined plasma torch and the hand grip of his old katana, which now sported a very large, red button. Barely able to contain his excitement, he pulled a battered plasma modulator from his pocket. It was not technically a legal item, and it was known to be a bit fickle, but he was sure it would work. In less than ten minutes, he had stripped the plasma torch down to its most basic components and connected them to the modulator. Embedding the whole rig into the old katana handle was easier than he expected, and for a moment, he held the small device in his hand and marveled.
Then he pressed the button. For a second, nothing happened. Then, with a more dramatic whoosh than he could have hoped for, a column of blue light shot out from the handle. It flickered and hummed, but it held steady. Sulu made a few experimental parries. A strange buzzing energy flowed down into his hands. He smiled. Here it was, the thing he longed for since he was six years old, the thing that two hundred years of physicists and engineers had claimed was a scientific impossibility: a light saber.
Stealth forgotten, Sulu began an earnest fight with an invisible enemy. He thrust and parried, his feet moving so quick he was practically dancing. Soon he had left his sheltered alcove behind. Dim blue light illuminated the long, shadowy coolant tubes and energy conduits; the air buzzed with the sound of the light saber. And then, quite by accident, the vibrating blue blade struck something tall and metal. The buzz became a high-pitched whine; the low-level energy coursing through his hands became a rapidly flowing current that spread through his whole body. Sparks flew; alert klaxons sounded. Sulu passed out.
He awoke in sickbay several hours later. McCoy was leaning over him.
“Wha' happened?” he asked. Speaking required significantly more effort than it should have.
“You're an idiot, that's what happened.”
So he wasn't dying, then. McCoy only yelled when you were out of danger.
“Yeah, I got that,” he said.
McCoy looked mildly pacified.
“You got plasma burns and some kind of weird electrical shock. Burned your eyebrows clean off, too. Adrenaline junkies, the whole lot of you.”
Sulu glanced around his biobed. Kirk and Scotty swam into focus.
“I'm sorry for the damage, sir.” He looked at Scotty, who was glowering, and quickly added, “I mean, sirs.”
“Third time that support pylon's been cut in half this month. Klingon torpedoes, Romulan disruptors, now you,” Scotty muttered darkly.
“I cut it in half?” Sulu asked, trying not to sound too excited.
“Yeah, this thing is pretty cool,” Kirk said, tossing the pommel of the light saber back and forth between his hands. Sulu strained for a better look. It was charred, but it seemed alright.
“Hey, do you mind if I keep this?” Kirk asked, fingers inching toward the big red button.
“The hell you will,” McCoy snapped, jerking it from Kirk's hands. “Cut your damn fool head off.”
“Well, perhaps I could take it off your hands, Doctor. Inspect it and such.”
Scotty's dark mood seemed to have lifted, and he was staring at the light saber with a gleam in his eye.
“Absolutely not.”
McCoy marched to the garbage chute and threw it in, eliciting a small, sad groan from each of the three men.
“Don't worry, we'll make a new one,” Kirk whispered while the doctor's back was turned.
The last thing he saw before he fell asleep again was Scotty's eager grin.