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spacedogfromspacePursued by Dinosaur
Fictober22
On yet another away mission gone wrong, Captain Kirk, Sulu, and Chekov are running away from a very big, very toothy dinosaur that is not happy to have been woken up from his slumber.
Fandom(s): Star Trek TOS
Character(s): Pavel Chekov, Hikaru Sulu, Jim Kirk
Tags: Genfic, Ficlet, Dinosaurs
Rating: Teen+
Content Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 814
Type: Oneshot, Standalone
Collection: Fictober22, or, Pavel Chekov's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month
Written for Fictober 2022
Day 22: "Who said this is a good idea?"
Yet another away mission was going terribly wrong. The landing party of three were sprinting through a scenic old-growth redwood forest that possessed a beauty that was currently going unnoticed on account of a feathery tyrannosaur chasing Kirk, Sulu, and Chekov through the trees.
“Scotty, can you get a lock on us yet?” Kirk shouted into his communicator, voice choppy on account of trying to talk and run for his life at the same time. “We could really, really use a beam-out right about now!”
“Sorry, Captain,” Scotty’s voice came back. “The trees are interfering and you’re moving too much, can you find a clearing and hold still for a couple seconds?” He asked, calmly.
“We’ll look for a clearing but don’t count on us being able to stop,” Kirk said, looking back to see the tyrannosaur gaining on them. “Guys, look for a clearing in the trees or Scotty can’t get us out!” He shouted at Chekov and Sulu, who he noticed were looking worse for wear. They probably wouldn’t last much longer in a full-on sprint. He imagined that he was in the same situation, though he didn’t feel it on account of the adrenaline. None of them would notice that they were close to exhaustive collapse until they were on the ground. They needed to get out of here, and fast.
Sulu tripped on an exposed tree root and stumbled, but luckily kept himself from falling onto the sparse, needle-covered ground. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop himself from falling behind the others as he regained his footing. He worked hard to catch up to Kirk and Chekov, but he was beginning to sense that he wouldn’t be able to go on much longer. “I don’t see any signs of a clearing,” Sulu huffed. “It’s 2362 and you’re telling me the flagship of the Federation can’t get a lock on us because of some leaves?”
“Apparently!” Kirk shouted back.
“We’re going to die out here,” Chekov wailed, breathing raggedly.
“Dammit, why did we go investigate the giant sleeping dinosaur? Who said this was a good idea?” Kirk lamented.
“It was Pavel’s idea!” Sulu answered. “I wanted to go check out the giant conk mushroom. Why can’t we ever just go look at the mushrooms?”
“Chekov, you’re fired!” Kirk yelled over his shoulder.
“It’s not my fault! I just suggested it,” Chekov protested through desperate gasps for air. “You’re the one who made the decision to go through with it!”
“But I’m not the one who made a bunch of noise and woke it up!”
“Captain,” Sulu wheezed, “I don’t know how much further I can make it!”
Kirk grimaced. “Dammit, I knew we should have brought some sacrificial red-shirts!”
Sulu looked at Chekov, who was keeping pace beside him. Chekov noticed him looking at him, and instantly knew what he was thinking. “Oh no, don’t you dare think about tripping me-” He screamed out as he found himself falling face-first onto the ground, mere seconds from death by dinosaur. He hoped it would at least be quick.
“I’m sorry, Pav!” Sulu shouted remorsefully.
Kirk, who had looked over just in time to witness Sulu trip Chekov, shouted, “Holy shit, Sulu, you could go to hell for that!”
The sound of the dinosaur’s heavy footsteps halted, and Kirk and Sulu winced at the sound of Chekov’s blood-curdling scream.
“Holy shit, holy shit!” Sulu cried out, realizing that he was responsible for the brutal death of his best friend.
In their exhaustion and panic, they didn’t notice the swirling particles of a transporter beam encircling them. They were still running when they were beamed up to the Enterprise, and promptly ran off the transporter pad at full speed, colliding with the transporter console, knocking both of themselves to the floor. They were completely winded. Chekov was laying on the transporter pad, curled in a tight defensive ball, arms covering his head, and screaming bloody murder. It was clear that he didn’t realize he was safe from the dinosaur’s jaws.
“Ah ha!” Scotty cheered from behind the transporter console. “Gotcha!”
“Immaculate timing as always, Scotty,” Kirk groaned sarcastically from the floor, then rolled over to look at the commotion on the transporter pad. “Chekov, shut up! You’re fine!” He shouted impatiently.
Chekov stopped screaming and cautiously peered out through his fingers. Realizing that he wasn’t going to die, he let his limbs fall limply to the floor, exhausted. Sulu scrambled to his feet. “Pavel! You’re alive!”
“Hikaru…” Chekov growled from the floor.
Doctor McCoy rushed into the room with an emergency medical kit on hand. “Is anyone injured?” He asked, just before witnessing Chekov fly across the room to bite Sulu on the arm.
“Ow! What the fuck?” Sulu exclaimed, clapping a hand over his bleeding bite wound and dodging for cover behind Scotty.
Doctor McCoy sighed and commed sickbay. “Nurse Chapel, prepare a rabies hypo…”