Live long and prosper! Boldly go where no man—or Vulcan, or whatever—has gone before! Read my story!
"All channels clear, Captain," said Lieutenant Uhura, turning to look at the screen, where a fleet of ships stood motionless and silent in space.
"But why?" asked Captain Kirk. "They're Federation ships, they have no reason to ignore us—Spock, there are people aboard those ships, aren't there?"
Spock checked his monitors. "Indeed, Captain. I detect several thousand humanoids, all told."
"But what could such large passenger ships be doing in this barren corner of the universe? Lieutenant Uhura, open a channel. I'd like to try once more." When she signaled to him, Kirk began to speak. "This is Captain Kirk of the starship Enterprise, greetings. What brings you so far out in the galaxy? Do you need help? Please respond."
There was a moment of silence, then "Still no response, Captain," said Lieutenant Uhura.
"All right," said Kirk, "we'll beam aboard. There may be trouble on those ships."
Minutes later, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Sulu stepped down from the beaming area on the lead ship of the fleet. The room was empty but for one man, dressed in a black robe with a red cloak, and carrying a short spear. At first he raised the spear as if to strike, but then, seeing the emblems on their shirts, lowered his weapon. "Ah, Federation," he said in a thick accent. "Then you are welcome. I am Agwean."
The men looked at one another incredulously, unsure of what to make of this strange welcome. Kirk spoke. "Ah, Agwean, can you take us to other Federation men on this ship?"
"No," said Agwean. "There are none here. I will take you to Daöse Kida. She is our leader until our king returns, and she will tell you everything." He turned and strode down the corridor. After exchanging nonplussed glances, the men followed.
Agwean took them to a well-furnished room. A lady rose up to greet them, dressed all in red, with red circles painted around her eyes. "Greetings, men of the Federation," she said, her accent slightly less than Agwean's. "I am Kida."
"I'm Captain James Kirk, and this is my First Officer Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Mr. Sulu. Kida, can you tell us why you are on this ship, and why you say there are no Federation officers on the ship?"
"I will tell you the story of our people," said Kida. "It will answer your questions.
"We are the people of the land of Meinuit. Meinuit was a beautiful island, with great forests and mountains that spat fire. We had lived there for millions of sun-cycles, since the great ocean-trees began to sway in the wind. We knew nothing of ships in the sky or of other worlds, though we told stories about them and studied the skies. But then a Federation ship had mechanical difficulties and had to land on Meinuit. We were all greatly astonished, but when we saw that the people who came from the ship meant us no harm, we welcomed them and befriended them. With their instruments they discovered that our island would soon be destroyed by the fire-mountains, and we needed to leave it. Indeed, the fire-mountains they called volcanoes spat fire with ever more force as time went on, and each time they erupted they wrought greater destruction upon us. We knew that the Federation men were right, that it was too dangerous to stay on Meinuit. They sent for a fleet of ships to take us away into the sky. They told us they could find another place for us, another planet where we could live and be safe. We trusted them, and agreed to go away on their ships.
"It took five years for the ships to arrive, since we were so far away. In that time, we came to know of the Federation, of their instruments, and their language. The Federation men taught us much. The captain of the ship was called Harry Easton, and he was well-liked among our people."
"Harry Easton!" Kirk exclaimed. "He was a great friend of mine, back at the Academy. How is he? Where is he?"
A fleeting sadness passed over Kida's face. "He is not well," she said softly. "I hope with all my heart that he is still alive. But I will finish my tale, and you shall know.
"The ships came, and took us away into the sky. For two years we sailed, but then we came upon a Phobotian fleet and were taken captive."
Spock squinted. It seemed to him that the light had gotten very dim.
"The Phobotians took all the Federation men onto their ships. They knew that without them we were stranded, for we could not fly the ships on our own. They also took onto their ships our king and queen, and their daughter, Princess Zila. Princess Zila's mind is not well. From her youth it has been so, though she has yet seen but fifteen years. She sees strange visions and hears strange voices, which often give her great fear.
For several days we remained there—on our ships, but in captivity nonetheless. The entire time, Agwean studied the ship. From what the Federation men had told him and from what he saw, he tried to teach himself to fly it. If we set off suddenly and quickly, we might be able to escape, since the Phobotians would not be expecting it. They thought we were too stupid to understand.
Then one day, Princess Zila was returned to us. We wondered at this, since the Federation men and our king and queen were still on their ships. We had had the princess back with us only a few days when Agwean flew the ships. They were on interfleet command, so he could fly them all from the lead ship. He wanted us to get away quickly, and he didn't want the Phobotians to see which direction we escaped in, so he set it at warp factor 7.5."
"That's not safe," said Sulu. "I'm surprised your dilithium crystals didn't explode at that level."
"They almost did," said Kida. "Agwean is very good at running the ships, but he did not understand the damage warp factor 7.5 would do. We flew away, but soon he realized the danger and stopped the ships just in time. The good thing was, the Phobotians did not see where we went. However, our dilithium crystals were so spent that we could go no farther. We are stranded in space, and running low on power."
"Ah," said Spock. "You're running out of power. That explains why it's so dark in here."
The others exchanged worried glances. "Spock, it isn't dark," said Kirk.
"I'm sorry to disagree with you, Captain," said Spock, "but it's grown so dark in here I can barely see you."
Kirk started to his feet. "What? Bones, what's wrong with him?"
McCoy whipped out one of his instruments and held it over each of Spock's eyes. Spock sat erect and motionless, staring straight ahead. McCoy stood up. "Captain, his sight is greatly impaired, and it's getting worse at an unbelievable rate. If it continues like this he'll be completely blind within five hours."
"Captain Kirk." Kida was also standing. "I and my people must take responsibility for this. I am sorry."
"You did this?" Kirk stepped forward to face her.
"No," said Kida. "If I may explain—"
"Explain," said Kirk. They sat down.
"When the Phobotians returned Princess Zila to us, they released onto our fleet a disease. It takes away the senses of those who catch it, and soon they fall into a deep sleep. Though their hearts beat, not one has woken." She lowered her head. "We could not warn you not to come here. We have not yet learned to use the machine that sends our words to other ships. Once you had come, we could not send you back. If you return to your ship, the disease will follow you, and all the men on your ship will be exposed to it. All we could do was explain to you our situation." She rose. "I'll show you to some empty rooms. You'll have to stay here."
McCoy fully expected Captain Kirk to become angry, demand to be freed and allowed to return to the Enterprise. Indeed, it seemed for a moment that he was about to start shouting. But instead he swallowed and said quietly, "I understand." He turned and walked out of the room. Kida and the men followed.
