Chapter Text
The Cube
"Chekov, get down!", Spock shouted with urgency.
The ensign quickly dropped onto the concrete surface while Spock pushed himself and McCoy towards the smooth steal wall of a building the size of a small space-dock. The three men narrowly avoided being decapitated by the shuttlecraft that had appeared out of nowhere and sped past their heads. It was white, rectangular and completely soundless and just hovered above the ground. Chekov could feel his hair move in the stream of air as the craft flew past him, only one and a half meters above the ground.
The trio had just re-materialised and were still gathering their senses. They had put down their heavy rucksacks to take in their surroundings of what appeared to be a ‘city’ of sorts, made entirely of steel and concrete. All the roads met at right angles and disappeared in straight lines towards the horizon in each direction. A few shuttlecrafts were flying just above the highways towards unknown destinations. The spaces between the roads were filled with gigantic square and rectangular shaped grey constructs, some of them as tall as skyscrapers. The bright light coming from a white sky high above was hot and powerful.
The environment appeared industrial but with one striking difference to other alien cities the landing party had encountered before: there was no sign of life whatsoever, no windows or doors in the buildings, no road-marks or traffic lights on the roads and most importantly no living and breathing soul as far as the eye could see. Not even the slightest hint of any flora, fauna or organic substance.
Just after they had materialised, Spock tilted his head to his right. When McCoy noticed the fast approaching shuttlecraft in the corner of his eye as well, he had instinctively reached out towards Chekov, determined to pull him towards the wall. But the ensign had been standing about 1.5 meters away from them and he would have not reached him in time. Alert as always, Spock had quickly alarmed Chekov to get down and pulled a protesting McCoy back towards the wall of the metal building. The shuttle then rushed past at high speed and the three of them turned their heads, watching the alien craft disappear out of sight towards the horizon.
McCoy helped Chekov up who looked slightly embarrassed and was busy putting his uniform back in order.
"You're all right, Chekov?", and with a quick look towards Spock, "I would have pulled you towards the wall but Mr Spock had other plans."
Spock raised an eyebrow but didn't react further. He was already studying the interesting readings on his tricoder.
McCoy's angry look towards Spock didn't escape Chekov. The young officer scratched his head as if he wanted to make sure his hair was still were it was supposed to be.
"Yes Doctor, I'm fine. I didn't hear zat ting coming."
"Well neither did I, but it seems Spock, with those Vulcan ears of his, did."
His eyes still fixed on the tricoder, Spock raised his eyebrow again.
"Fascinating." The FO lifted his head to look towards the horizon. The shuttle had completely disappeared from sight now.
McCoy turned around to confront the FO with a stern glare. The doctor could still feel a slight tremble in his bones. Those first moments in this strange world had certainly been something.
"Is that all you gotta say after we were nearly decapitated?"
"I was merely commenting on the fact that whoever, or whatever has steered the craft we have just encountered, didn't react to our presence."
"What did you expect - a loud, beeping horn to scare us out of the way?"
"Doctor, as I'm talking to you, I will spell out my logically attained assumptions. A 'beeping horn' would indicate a life form or a computer that was able to detect us. However, there was no sign that the craft or the force that commands it was perpetuated with our presence."
McCoy opened his mouth to protest but Spock continued speaking unfazed.
"This observation results in three possible scenarios: One - those aircrafts are not designed to warn any life-forms on this planet because there aren't any; two - the aircrafts can detect life-forms but they are deemed unworthy of being warned; three – the crafts are unable to detect our presence."
McCoy crossed his arms and stubbornly glared into the distance. Chekov had listened intently to his superior's assessment of the situation while undertaking readings on his tricoder.
"Sair, I'm not certain of course, but maybe we should consider option One? I'm detecting no life forms whatsoever on zis planet. Neiter of humanoid, alien, plant or micro-biological nature."
Spock nodded, his eyes still intently reading his tricoder.
"Very well, Ensign. I can confirm your readings", the Vulcan lifted his head to look directly at Chekov, "However, there is no need for expressing uncertainty once a logical conclusion has been drawn. According to the data we have attained so far, option One is the most rational explanation."
Chekov nodded attentively, just noticing in the corner of his eye how Dr McCoy directed his eyes skyward. The young Russian sighed quietly and continued his measurements. Obviously the doctor didn't share his enthusiasm and gratefulness towards Mr Spock's willingness to share his flawless insights with them.
Chekov's tricoder readings were spectacular as he detected no life at all on the planet, not even on the microscopic level, but only concrete, steal and other hard materials. And – a gigantic amount of energy that appeared to be stored in the cube-like constructs.
Despite such fascinating readings, Pavel found himself looking up from his tricoder to check what his superiors were doing. McCoy was now conducting his own readings, using both his tricoder and a bio-scanner. The doctor stood with his back to Spock, who was focusing on a calculation on his tricoder. The FO then turned around to face his colleagues and shared his fascination about the density of the colossal building next to them, quoting the exact number to five decimals. Furthermore, Spock confirmed Chekov’s findings that the cubes contained enormous amounts of energy. Pavel deemed their discoveries to be incredible but McCoy commented with just a shake of the head.
"I'd rather have you comment on the 'fascinating' fact that Scotty and his men don't register on our tricoders, Spock!"
"Doctor, patience is also not one of your virtues. Ensign Chekov was right in so far that there is no life on the planet's surface. I've only just started a long distance scan of its interior."
Chekov looked from the FO to the CMO, how they stood with their backs to one another, not favouring the other with a look. Surprised, Chekov realised that just 15 minutes into their rescue operation, he was already concerned about Mr Spock and Dr McCoy's conduct towards one another and its possible negative influence on their mission. Chekov had been immensely grateful to Captain Kirk to send him along, convinced that he wanted to give him the opportunity to redeem his guilt, even though he had been proven not to be responsible for the landing party's disappearance. But the captain wouldn't be the great commanding officer he was, if he had not been aware of Pavel's inner turmoil. He still felt some guilt because, after all, it was him who had initiated the beaming process. Yes, the process had been interfered by the wormhole but he had initiated the chain of events that led to the men’s disappearance. So, indirectly he was responsible.
But now Chekov also had the feeling that there was another reason why Kirk teamed him up with the two senior officers.
Could it be possible? Here he was, the Enterprise's youngest crewmember, baby-sitting the 2nd and 4th highest-ranking officers on landing party duty?
McCoy's next comment did nothing to ease Chekov's mind and it only strengthened his suspicion about Captain Kirk's motivation to send him along.
The doctor put his hands on the younger man's shoulders with a solemn look on his face.
"Don't let Spock spoil you with his logic, Chekov, there's so much more to life than... ." McCoy couldn't finish his sentence as Spock pushed them into a one-meter wide, one-meter deep, rectangular cavity in the gigantic metallic building behind them. A second later, a dozen shuttlecrafts just like the previous one rushed past them. The cavity was just wide and deep enough to enable two men to face one another and Spock sheltered McCoy and Chekov with his body as he stood on the threshold. Momentarily, the Vulcan could feel the cold airflow the crafts were leaving behind at the back of his neck.
A few moments of astonished silence passed between them before Chekov was able to speak again.
"Zank you, Mr Spock", the ensign croaked as he gasped for air.
"What the heck was that?", McCoy grunted, shifting from one foot to the other. He was stuck between a solid metal wall and Chekov, with Spock just to his right.
Chekov looked up. The cavity wasn't very wide or deep, but it was as high as the building that was approximately measuring 150 meters in height. He looked at his feet and noticed that instead of standing on concrete-like ground like before, they were now standing on the same metallic surface like the walls of the building. Chekov looked at his tricoder for confirmation.
"A convoy of 12 shuttle crafts has just passed us, Doctor. It was convenient we were able to seek shelter in a cavity in this rather dense construct", Spock replied, never too busy to state the obvious.
"Mr Spock, look", Chekov pointed at their feet, "We are now standing on ze same metallic material ze whole building is made of."
Spock took a few more readings on his tricoder and raised his eyebrows.
“Whole is an appropriate term, Ensign. This construct is made of a solidified material that is unknown to our data banks but it shares molecular similarities to your Terran tungsten and it is not hollow inside, but solid. Therefore, it's not a building. And all its dimensions are exactly square. 150x150x150 meters."
Hit by a feeling of claustrophobia, McCoy had just wanted to suggest to return to the street, when Spock's observation made him blurt out in astonishment.
"This massive thing's a giant cube?"
"I believe I have just said...", the Vulcan didn't get to finish his sentence.
An observer on the opposite side would have watched on in wonder as the three men suddenly descended into the ground at breath-taking speed. The floor of the cavity they had been standing on was functioning like a lift as it rapidly lowered itself into the ground. Only a human scream remained above ground as it echoed between the gigantic cubes that flanked the highways.