1,000 Light Years

by

A Vulcan's Kiss

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Prompt 3: Overcoming Fear

The other day when Sulu had asked Chekov if he was scared of the dark the ensign had hastily stammered "N-no!" accompanied by a pink flush and a duck of his head. A bold-faced lie.

Still, there was a certain truth to his fib; the Russian wasn't scared of the dark, oh no. He was terrified of it.

You wouldn't think that working on the Enterprise would help matters much, because out in space the lights were always out.

But surprisingly working as the ships navigator was just what he needed to overcome his fear.

. . .

Chekov prided himself in having as much integrity as was humanely possible, so he didn't often practice the art of lying.

But when Sulu had asked him if he was scared of the dark he couldn't suppress the urgent "No!" that had passed through his lips. Honestly, he wasn't even sure why he hadn't just told his friend the truth, but he supposed it was more out of embarrassment then out of anything else. After all, what kind of man would take up a job in space where it was always pitch black? Space, where night ruled every hour with an iron first and casted his inky blotches upon the skies.

Only a fool would do that, and apparently Chekov was one of the biggest around.

It wasn't until he had taken his first step onto the U.S.S. Enterprise that he realized just how much of a fool he'd been.

Why, he was just setting himself up for failure. He was the navigator, meaning he was on the deck of the ship for the better part of his day; staring out into space, out into darkness.

At first the thought of having to direct his way and the ships way through his greatest fear had petrified him. It had gotten to the point to where he'd been so riled up and nervous that he almost didn't show up to the job on his first day. But after some deep breathes he'd managed to calm himself down to a reasonable state and make his first appearance as the ships new ensign and pilot.

Really though, his job could be considered easy. He didn't do much except control the weaponry, handle the typical routine scans and once in a blue moon plot a course of two in an effort to help relieve the stress of his friend and the ships helmsman, Sulu.

But even just that little bit of work everyday counted as a tremendous effort in the long term.

In the end, when he really thought about it, being the ships navigator served as a therapy of some sort. Not only was he having to look his greatest fear dead in the eye every day, but every day he had to confront it.

And every days travel meant a battle won in the long war of overcoming this fear of darkness. Soon days had turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years. Until all the effort paid off, and the mental war had ended with a triumphant win on his behalf.

And now, the next time Sulu asked him if he was scared of the dark he could say "I'we owercome it" and truly mean it.

. . .

Sneakpeek:

Next Chapter: Prompt 4 - "Can You Fix It?" ft. Kirk and Scotty

When one of the dilithium crystals powering the Enterprise ruptures Kirk looks to the ships Captain of Engineering, Montogmery Scott; to solve the problem.

As the clock constantly counts down on what could potentially be the last remaining minutes of the crew, one large weight of pressure is added onto the engineer's shoulders with each resounding tick.

It's not a matter of "could he fix it?" But a matter of "could he fix it in time?"

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~A Vulcan's Kiss