84. Disc

84. Disc

Jim let out a protesting noise as his cup was snatched from his hand. Rolling his eyes, McCoy passed the container off to a giggling yeoman.

"That's your fourth cup of coffee today, I'm cutting you off."

Much as he wanted to protest, the young man knew better than to try while in front of his bridge crew. Instead he looked over his shoulder to where Spock was calmly entering some data into his station. "Hey Sp-"

"Keptin?" Chekov's voice pipped up from his station, sounding a little confused. "I... There's something approaching our ship..."

"Another vessel?"

"N-No... Sensors can't identify it..."

Spock frowned slightly at that and bent over his own screens. "Mr. Chekov is correct sir, we have an unidentified flying object approaching from our left."

McCoy snorted as he moved back to stand by the captain's chair. "Is it that hard to just say a UFO?"

"After the connotations that the term gained in the 21st century of Terran history it would not be as-"

Jim tuned them out and stared at the view screen in concern. There was indeed a shape approaching fast and as it neared, he began to feel the beginnings of a migraine. "Mr. Spock? What was that about 21st century ideas?"

The crew watched in surprise as the metallic disc floated through space near them. It's body spun rapidly as blinking lights caused it to glow and flash. Spock raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating."

"That's all you've got to say?!" McCoy spluttered. "That thing looks like it came from one of those black and white films! It's not actually a ship is it?"

Sulu grinned from his seat at the helm. "Careful doctor, they might beam you aboard."

Jim had migrated to stand by Spock and looked at Uhura over his shoulder but the woman shook her head. "Nothing. They're not trying to make contact and I can't sense any channels coming from it."

"Spock?"

"I do not know, Captain... It is giving off strange..." He trailed off and slowly turned to face the view screen, his face taking on the minute expression Jim had come to recognize as surprise.

"Spock?"

"Captain... That thing is not a ship. It is a being."

"Are you sure?" Jim asked, hazel eyes widening.

"Absolutely. It is attempting to contact me."

Jim fell into his chair. "...It's a telepath?"

"Indeed." The vulcan grew quiet as the others looked on and stared fixedly at the disc.

Suddenly the creature wavered slightly before shooting off and blinking out of sight into the stars. McCoy was the first to regain his speech. "What the hell was that?!"

"A being we had yet to meet." Spock said thoughtfully. "She has been monitoring our progress for some time and her curiosity overcame her. I believe that her mind is much like that of a human child, she was afraid to approach us but could not help herself. When we picked up her presence she shifted her appearance to something she felt would be more familiar to us."

"...So because of your comment..." Sulu said slowly. "We were all thinking of those old UFO videos and she adopted what she saw in our minds?"

"Affirmative." Spock still looked thoughtful. "Or, more specifically, the Captain and Ensign Chekov. It would seem they project louder than the rest of you."

Both men flushed slightly while Uhura and McCoy had to bite back smiles. "What did you say to her?"

"That we meant her no harm. She sifted through some of my thoughts and then informed me she had to go home. I do believe she was just a child, it would explain her clumsy attempt at camouflage. She said her name was Lyia."

"So...d'you think we've met these creatures before?" Sulu asked. "Maybe adults can shift better and fake being actual ships?"

"A possibility." Spock agreed. "However, I do not think we will be exposed to these beings again for some time. They seem to be a mostly closed off race."

Any further talk on the subject was cut off as Jim began to laugh. The captain slapped a hand over his mouth and sank further into his seat as he tried to compose himself under the stares of his friends.

"What is so funny?" McCoy asked, askance. "We've just discovered a fantastic new race of beings."

"Sorry..." Jim flashed his blinding smile. "If she was reading our minds, and considering my prevailing thoughts before hand, I'm just glad Spock brought up Terran UFOs... It would have looked really weird if a large cup of coffee started floating outside our view screen."