The birds of prey closed faster. Smoke inhibited the viewing screen as Captain Kirk screamed orders into the com.
"Mr. Scott! Get those shields back online!"
"She's dead, Captain!"
Lieutenant Uhura swiveled in her chair, hair whipping behind her.
"Captain, our ship-wide communications are failing."
I could see tears starting to form in her eyes; however, I did not know whether to express something comforting. I weighed the logic, and found that, although I did not wish for her to cry, I could not make the situation any more calming by saying anything that would comfort her and not lie about our current situation.
"Captain, a heavy reading of radiation has been detected on the Klingon vessels. A hit like that to the ship will obliterate us; our shields are not even functioning at 1%. The likelihood of survival is 20891 to three. " My captain's face dropped with my calculations. He was silent for a moment his eyes faraway.
"Abandon ship." He ordered quietly.
"Sir?" Helmsman Sulu gawked, turning to face his Captain.
Tapping the com, Kirk opened a breaking ship-wide channel.
"All crewmembers and personal, this is the Captain speaking," he hesitated and looked up at me. I nodded slowly; this was the only logical option for the crew's survival. "…I order you to abandon this ship, and make way to the planet below." As he commanded this, I could see he was conflicted. He was pained to leave his ship to be destroyed; I found that he valued her as if she were his own wife.
The bridge seemed to be dead after the Captain shut off the com. He looked around slowly.
"Get off the ship, for god's sake!" He yelled. Crewmembers started to scramble for the doors leaving posts in a panicked departure.
I believe I was the only one who noticed that he was not planning to leave.
"Captain, as we have limited time, I would suggest that you make your way to one of the escape pods." I advised, descending the steps to stand by his side.
He turned,
"Yes, yes, Spock, you go, I'll be there in a second."
"Considering that we only have a few seconds, I can only assume that you intend to be destroyed with the ship."
"No, I just wanted to look at her." He breathed.
"Captain we must go."
Standing, he hesitated, his fingers brushing the arm of his chair.
"Captain!"
He turned at my sharp tone, but made no appearance of moving. I therefore found it necessary to take him by the arm and proceed to drag him towards the turbo lift amidst his profanities.
"Spock!" I reached for my com, ignoring the threats of my Captain.
"Lieutenant Uhura." I acknowledged.
"All the pods have launched except mine, there is room for you and the Captain. Hurry Spock!"
Her voice sounded near hysteria.
"Not to worry, we are on route now."
We passed the fourth deck and came to a halt at the hangar bay.
"Come along, Captain." I ordered, concerned that my friend would not follow. He did however and with much more haste than I.
"All the crew is out?" He asked, his voice disconsolate.
"Yes Captain, all personal is off- ship with the exception of ourselves and Lieutenant Uhura."
He nodded slowly a paused outside the door to the pod. Lieutenant Uhura emerged instantly and clung to my arm.
"I just don't feel right leaving her." My Captain muttered. An explosion shook the ship and Nyota stumbled backward.
"Captain we must launch, the ship will break apart with the next detonation."
He nodded and we entered the pod, with much relief to Nyota, who had not released my arm.
As we pulled away, I observed my Captain's pain. It seemed to me that he was suffering heartbreak as the ship was engulfed in flame.
I believe I saw a tear fall from his eye.
The planet below was class M. I had determined this before the attack as we were in stander orbit. However, I was not aware of what the condition of the life forms were (if any). My analysis of the planet had been curtly interrupted by the appearance of the Klingon war birds.
The final explosion of the Enterprise was inhibited from our sight as we passed into a substantial asteroid belt circling the planet.
Our pod remained silent of voice, and I fell to determining the 252 pod's possible landing sites.
Lieutenant Uhura sat close to the Captain trying to comfort him by her mere presence. I failed to see how this would facilitate his pain, however.
We started to enter the atmosphere and vision from the viewing screen was almost impossible. We noticed with growing apprehension that there was increasing pressure in the pod.
An explosion propelled the Captain at me and I was knocked from the control panel.
"Spock! The life support systems are gone!" Nyota screamed.
I had calculated wrong. I realized this with escalating trepidation, since my calculations of the planet's atmosphere had been fragmentary; I had not estimated the percent of oxygen.
It was far higher than that of earth, resulting in complete combustion to be achieved far more effortless.
Not prepared for this, the atmosphere was burning our pod rapidly upon entry.
"Spock we got to do something!" Kirk yelled forcing his way up to the panel.
"I am unsure of what we can do, Captain!" The pressure was increasing rapidly, "Five thousand more meters and we will be clear of entry, though I do not know how well our landing will fair!"
"We can't worry about the damn landing if we burn on entry! We have to cool the hull!" My friend yelled.
"I do not see anything at present that can be done!"
An exceptionally vicious jolt sent Kirk stumbling back against the opposite end of the pod. I caught Nyota before she hit.
The pressure diminished significantly, and I calculated that we had broken through entry. Despite my Captain's hope, the hull sustained its heat; the excess oxygen only nourishing the flames.
"Captain, Impact in Seven seconds!"
"Spock! He's out!"
I turned sharply to see Uhura holding my Captain. There was a sufficient amount of blood initiating from an abrasion in his head. I determined that he must have attained the injury when he was thrown.
The viewing screen cleared and I could see that the pod was on a course for a adequate body of water. The instruments of the pod were damaged and inadequate and I found that at the current rate of speed, the pod would be eradicated upon contact.
Seeing no other logical solution, I took hold of Lieutenant Uhura and my Captain. When the ship reached 5 meters lowered the hatched and exited the pod, my Captain on one arm and Nyota on the other. We struck the water and I lost hold of them.
When I resurfaced, I saw the pod explode upon impact with the water 500 meters further north.
There was no sight of either My Captain or Lieutenant Uhura. I calculated that Kirk would still be sinking due to his unconsciousness, and, likewise, I doubted that Nyota had remained conscious after the force at which we hit the water.
I therefore started my search underwater. Nyota I found quickly, she was as I had predicted, unconscious, but my Captain took more searching. It was difficult to keep her above water and yet seek out Kirk as well.
I acquired him after a succinct diving excursion and swam both of their unconscious bodies to shore.
It is appropriate to say that I was adequately exhausted.
After dragging them 10. 7 meters up the shoreline, I collapsed.
I am not sure when I lost awareness.
"Ain't seen too many Vulcans in these parts, eh Jaster?
I Inhaled sharply and sat immediately upright. The two humanoids that stood over me shrunk away at my sudden regain of consciousness.
"Where is my captain?" I demanded, surveying my surroundings. The humanoids were of the Retarian race, their obvious lack of intelligence was seen in the way they had bound me. I merely flexed my wrist to be loose of the bonds.
"Vulcans are supposedly strong…" one whispered to the other as if I could not understand their native tongue. The brainless shock on their faces only proved their low level of intelligence further as I asked them again in their own language:
"I will ask you once more; where are the humans that I was accompanying?"
The response I received was their attempted departure from the room in all haste. Catching them both by the shoulder, I then rendered them unconscious. I tied them with the cords that had bound me and then stowed them in a minute stairwell.
I exited the room and started down a soiled hall. I presumed that the stricter that I had awoken in would most likely hold my companions as well.
Calculating our chances, I decided that since we were in a neutral zone, Starfleet would most likely be greeted with hostility.
I therefore, acquired a disguise and then passed into the main room of the structure. It was occupied almost to capacity with a diversity of alien races.
This building I was in, seemed to be a sort of tavern. As I exited the corridor I noted the door I had come from seemed to be a restricted area. This would be accurate considering I had had to rupture the security device in order to leave.
I started to weave my way through the crowed searching for the owner of the establishment so I could inquire about my Captain.
On the far sides of the room there were various persons apparently trying to sell. But upon investigating further, I found that they stood next to no merchandise to advertise.
I tapped into one of their languages as one of the vendors directed his yelling to me.
"Don't see many Vulcans, no we don't. You must be a merchant, eh? Look like you could use a hand. You wanna buy a human slave? Got plenty in stock, new delivery yesterday!"
"I have no use for one," I replied.
The tavern had just become more antagonistic than I had previously calculated.
I now found that I couldn't use my command as a Starfleet officer to prove any authority, due to the nonexistence of Starfleet control on the neutral planets. The very reality that they were neutral and not under Starfleet suggested that they either had no wish to participate in a war between Starfleet and its enemies, or that they had some resentment towards the Federation.
Considering the occurrences that had transpired of late, I presumed that it was the latter.
Now it was of all importance that I found my Captain immediately.
I walked from the entrance and into the barren landscape of the planet. The body of water we had landed in was not 121.9 meters away. The Tavern seemed to be at the outskirts of a city; however the diversity of the ethnicities suggested that this was a port city for trade of all kinds.
Making my way to the back of the building, I surveyed possible places to where the holding of masses of people could be accomplished.
I found none.
As I was about to return indoors, I was knocked to the ground from a blow to the head.
"Hand over any valuables you have, Vulcan."
I glanced up incredulously at the woman who stood over me.
"I have nothing."
She shifted out of the glare of the sun and I stood hastily.
"Nyota?"
She raised an eyebrow and then prepared to strike me again with the metal cylinder she carried.
"Nyota, stop! Where is The Captain?"
"I think you had too much to drink, sucker, now I'll belt you again unless you give we what I want." She growled.
"Do you not recognize me?"
"Looks like you found another one, Sheara." I turned to face the speaker.
My captain smirked at me; they both obviously thought I was intoxicated. They were both dressed strangely, and they evidently had no recollection of me.
"This one's delusional, Xeta, or he's trying to hit on me, I can't tell." Nyota nodded towards me.
"Well, Hit him again, we don't need him awake to get his money." My captain ordered.
"You know you are being sold." I said watching my captain walk away.
"Yes, why else did you think we pryed our way out of that cage?" He asked, motioning over to an iron pen.
"I can help you get out of here."
He stopped walking at my proposal, and turned to look back at me.
The sky was darkening and the gates around the establishment were closing. Walls encircled the Tavern and I analyzed that they were not only made of stone as a ripple of energy surged over them.
My captain signaled Nyota to put down her weapon, She appeared to be disappointed at this.
"Start talking." My captain growled.
"That's a bit sketchy…" My captain criticized after I had explained my calculations. I had still to assemble all the foremost details, but I found that I must state my arrangement prior to if I knew if it was entirely accurate in order for them to let me go.
I had much to investigate.
"I require time to organize minute complications." I informed them; assuming that they would allow me to leave without further aggression.
"Fine, but you better be back here in two hours, the sun rises early." My Captain growled. (He still insisted that his name was Xota).
"…and if you're not, I'm gonna have fun hunting you down and beating out your green brains." Nyota threatened. I was disturbed by her sadistic expression. They were not at all how I had last seen them; I found this disconcerting and made finding the cause of their memory loss and change of personality top on my mind.
As I walked away, I calculated possible scenarios that could have potentially led to this new complication.
Back inside the Tavern I retraced my previous steps to the restricted area. As I was about to enter, a Romulan collide with me. I avoided eye contact and continued through the door.
I saw no one immediately, so I continued my search for a guard. This was not too extensive of a investigation and I was soon mind-melded with a Ariesian.
What is this place?
From his collective memories, it appeared to be a public house but also a local slave trading facility.
How do they acquire slaves?
Federation ships that passed into the neutral zone were attacked by Klingon war birds and pods were expected to launch at the planet. The district that I was in let off a chemical into the air when pods landed to render humans unconscious and repress all their memories. After this, employees incarcerated the humans and placed them in cells to be sold, after giving them new identities.
Why I am not affected?
The drug is only affective on humans. You are not human.
Where do they give new memories?
Insufficient data.
I let the sentinel slump to the floor. This was troubling; if identities were replaced, then was the old vanished perpetually?
The Ariesian vernacular was abruptly over all the speakers. I believe that the announcement was concerning a Vulcan who had escaped.
This was unfortunate; I had hoped that my presence would be undetected for a more extensive period.
As it was, I had little time.
I hastened my step down the corridor, unsure of what precisely I was seeking. A set of binary doors looked out of sort, so I decided to investigate further. They were a logical place to initiate my search.
I found it necessary to pry them open in order to enter.
The alarms were already activated with the awareness of my escape, so I did not attempt to be furtive.
Inside, I discovered tablets that I soon realized were memory hard drives. Without complications, I located the file for my ship's crew.
– One crew member was unaccounted-for.
I commenced searching through the labeled slots promptly. I had an inkling of how to return memories to one's body from these slots, but if one was absent I was concerned that the mind would be lost perpetually.
I started scanning through the file.
Yeoman Sara C. Thomas
Lieutenant William J. Jakes
Lieutenant Nyota T. Uhura
I was hit from behind disturbing my analysis. Taking cover behind a projection, I set my phaser to stun. After the two Ariesian guards were neutralized, I exited the database with my ship's file. I continued my examination as I continued rapidly down the passage.
Helmsman Hikaru S. Sulu
Helmsmen Pavel D. Chekhov
Nurse Christine C. Chapel
Nurse Mary P. Ward
I deduced that I was being pursued when an energy ray missed my ear by millimeters. Unsure if another door existed besides the one I had entered from, I exited through the nearest window.
I had momentarily forgotten that I was on the second echelon.
Attempting to land on my feet, I struck the ground and collapsed. I ignore the pain, however, finding it illogical to think of my potential disadvantage.
An explosion destroyed the casement I had departed from and the Ariesians that had pursued me. I stood looking for the source.
My captain was wielding a 32-N Phaser, quite an immense weapon against his relatively short physique.
"C'mon Vulcan, there'll be more." He growled, indicating me to follow him.
"I am in your debt, Captain."
He turned sharply,
"What did you say?"
"I informed you of the fact that I am in your debt." I stated again.
"I'm not your captain, Vulcan." He corrected. "What is your name anyway?"
"Spock - And on the contrary, sir, you are most undoubtedly my captain. Your memory has been changed so you are not away of you past life. You also-"
"Let's cut the chatter and get the hell out of here!" Nyota screamed as she shot rapidly back at more Ariesian guards.
"Fascinating…"
She glared ardently at me as we began a hasty retreat towards a densely foliaged area.
"Should have let the Vulcan die, Xota." Nyota snapped at my captain.
"Maybe Sheara, but I think he could be of use." Kirk replied, turning to fire again at our plaintiffs.
Once we secured the cover of the undergrowth, we broke into a complete run. I would have found it beneficial to stop and inspect the flora, but discerned that it was not the appropriate time.
I wished that I would obtain another opportunity.
"There!" My captain pointed at a diminutive cottage-like structure ahead. We procured it in time before the Ariesians had seen which route we had fled.
They would discover us in quite promptly. I considered it logical to return the Captain to his own mind before that happened; then we could perhaps survive this quandary. However, I doubted that I could have him voluntarily mind-meld with me without much violence from him or Nyota.
The other impediment was the fact that I had still not found his memory chip.
The interior of the cottage was all wood. It was not spacious and consisted of four rooms on the first level and a small storage space above.
Seating myself in a chair, I began my examination of the file once again:
Lieutenant commander James K. Riley
Helmsmen John L. Mokena
Captain James T. Kirk
I held the chip and weighed our chances of success to be much higher. Standing I prepared to force a mind-meld with my Captain.
I evaluated again: one crew personnel was still unaccounted for.
Now that I had found the captain's file, I almost left my search of who was omitted.
"Spock."
For a moment I wondered if he had regained his memory by himself. But that assumption was illogical since I informed him of my name.
"These are the others I found that were going be sold with us." He informed me.
I had not noticed other organisms in the room, since I was preoccupied looking for my captain's file.
I nodded and scrutinized each; all fifty were from the Enterprise.
"You must be hungry, c'mon let's see what's in the kitchen." He nodded towards a low doorway and I followed; Nyota walked beside him and incessantly glared at me. I was not hungry but I did not want to incur his wrath perceiving that it would thus make it harder to convince him to mind-meld.
Leonard McCoy was already in the kitchen and I realized with escalating discomfort, that I had not yet seen his name in the files.
I commenced my search scanning through the chips.
"Hey, cookie, what'cha got in the ways of food?" I heard My Captain ask.
"Don't call me cookie – and all I've made is cupcakes."
His name was not in the files.
Could I have dropped it? Or left it? I had no will to breathe as I delved through the file again:
Chief Medical Officer Leonard H. McCoy
My mind was alleviated as I listened to him quarrel with My Captain.
"Well if you have nothing else besides cupcakes, I will have one." Kirk snapped.
"You're not going to give one to the Vulcan, are you Xota?" Nyota retained her glower for me.
"I will not have one."
As I walked from the Kitchen I heard Dr. McCoy mutter to my Captain.
"Watch out for those Vulcans, they're no good."
I found Leonard McCoy to be the most representing of his previous behavior.
As I walked into the main atrium, I noticed an immense crowd assembled outside the cottage. Two men approached the door.
"We have come to fight with you!" Hikaru Sulu announced as he entered, without permission. "Me and my ship have been held hostage as well and we will fight for our freedom!"
My captain had arrived to question our new addition.
"Who are you?"
"We are Pirates who smuggle crack." Helmsmen Sulu answered eagerly.
This was…fascinating and disturbing.
"You have also been enslaved?" My Captain inquired.
"We have been held hostage." Pavel Chekov nodded earnestly.
"As long as you have no Vulcans with you." Nyota growled. "we don't need another."
"We have no vulcans." Chekov assured her.
"Now that that's settled, we can win our freedom!" My Captain proclaimed, amid cheers and shouts.
Meanwhile, I had calculated all of Sulu's Pirate Crew.
487.
Mr. Scott was absent. Not only in the multitude, but as well in the file.
"Can we store our cargo in the cottage?" Sulu queried.
With consent from my captain, 71486.16 grams of methyl (1R,2R,3S,5S)-3- (benzoyloxy)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1] octane-2-carboxylate was positioned in the small structure.
None appeared to perceive my antagonism.
However, my concern about the drug as soon overshadowed by the appearance of a vast horde of Ariesians.
The Pirates were soon inside and a heavy barrage of phaser fire was directed towards the structure.
The likelihood of our actual survival under these circumstances was 5078 to 1.
I knew we needed the guidance of our captain.
"Vulcan!"
I turned to face Sulu.
"guard my cargo!" He demanded.
I found his command Illogical considering that his drugs were exceedingly less important than the success of my own mission.
The Ariesians were 6.096 meters from the entrance when I decided to depart from my crew. As much as regretted leaving my captain,I Concluded that finding a way to restore his memory would be far more beneficial than my accuracy with a phaser.
"Xota! They're flanking the house!"I Heard Nyota yell as I began investigating the structure.
I reasoned that this could be a facility for the memory loss and memory restoration considering that all of my crew knew where it was, this would only stand to prove that they had a first memory of the building's location.
I ascended the stairs to the attic, and upon demolishing the door I discovered a chamber apparently controlled by an automatized machine . Upon further inspection, I found a diminutive slot in which each of my crew's memory files fitted impeccably. the secluded chamber appeared to be wired to a headset that generated memory transfer.
acting upon my new information, I Made my way back to the main atrium.
"Vulcan!" my captain rapidly approached me and seized my arm. "we need you for a charge against the back flank!"
"on the contrary,I Require you to come with me so I can restore your memory."
"You keep talking this nonsense! You're either crazy, trying to kill us all or strung out on drugs."
"or perhaps,I Am telling the tru-" My words were interrupted by a massive explosion near the back entrance. Isaw Sulu and Chekov protecting their illegal drugs from the Ariesians.
I found myself engaged in close combat with several Ariesians.I Narrowly avoided a phaser beam and finally rendered my attackers inoperative.
Nyota fell to the ground and I neutralized the guard hovering above her. When reached for her to assist her back into the foyer, she slapped my hands away.
"Stay away from me!"
"That would be illogical considering that your leg is injured and you have no way of returning to the structure, you would therefore be killed and I cannot allow that."
My captain ran over:
"its alright Sheara," He eyed me. "i think we can trust him.
She lamely tried to physically impair me as I carried her back to the kitchen. Dr. McCoy's eyes became exceedingly immense.
" My god, man, what happened!?"
"i need you to care for her."I Instructed laying her on a table.
"Dammit man! I'm chef not a Doctor!"
"you are already sounding like yourself,I Believe you will find that your skills come naturally."I Informed him as I exited the kitchen.
"how will I what to do!" He yelled.
My captain followed me, turning as we entered the atrium he called back to McCoy:
"something tells me you already know."
"Captain-"I began but he instead commenced talking.
"we need to straighten this out. I'm not your captain!"
"come with me and you may know for certain."I instructed, proceeding towards the stairwell. He followed - like I had suspected he would -into the attic chamber.
"what is this?"
"I believe it is a machine for extracting memories, however I can reverse the process and make it input your memories back to your cerebellum."
He appeared skeptical.
"if it doesn't work then what will happen?"
I considered his question, I Had not yet calculated the possibilities of it's failure.
"i am uncertain."
He contemplated me for a long while.
"i feel as though I should trust you..." He walked into the chamber and fitted the wire frame on head.
inserting his memory chip, I engaged the process and watched the chamber light up and begin to spin. I Was suddenly concerned that this might inflict irreparable damage to my captain, but found that - logically - there was no other alternative.
13 seconds passed; then the lights dulled and the chamber ceased its motion.
"Spock!" My captian removed the headset and ran from the chambe. " Where is my crew!? Are you alright?!"
I was once again aware of the blood that remained on my face.
"your crew is below."I Informed him. He immediately descended and found that the Ariesians had pulled back.
At this time I recognize that I should have informed him about Mr. Scott, but I ignored my better judgement.
"Xota!" Mccoy approached us from the door frame of the kitchen. "Sheara has been asking for the Vulcan, god knows why."
"Xota! What will we do before the Aresians attack again?" Sulu asked,
My captain looked at me.
"i do not have a further plan than what I have already done captain, I simply assumed that you would now know where to go."
"Spock! How should I know where to go, or what to do?"
"because you are our captain, Jim."I replied.
He turned towards the awaiting men.
"prepare for a fight, men."
we entered the kitchen and Nyota sat up with difficulty.
"you saved my life." she Illogically informed me of this fact that i already was aware of. "and I don't know why, but I think I love you."
My captain laughed.
I could not think of a logical response.
McCoy once again offered us his strange human food of cupcakes but I captain would have had one, but we both recognized a transporter beam as it began circling around us.
2.1 seconds later I found myself in a transporter bay much similar to that of the Enterprise.
Mr. Scott entered presently, obviously pleased.
"aye can't tell ye how good it is to see ya, laddies."
"Mr. Scott, The record showed that you were never on the surface and therefore destroyed with the ship, how are you still alive?"I asked.
"My ship never went down, Mr. Spock. She isn't that fragile!" Scott said, "Aye lost all power and drifted into the asteroid belt after the last pod was launched. we would have been destroyed if it wouldn't have been for an Andorian cruiser that took out the Klingons and helped repair my ship enough to beam you aboard."
My captain walked slowly to the wall and ran his fingers along the surface.
"this is her? this is my enterprise?"
"aye sir."
"Spock, how is the crew's memory restoration going?" My captain asked as I entered the bridge.
"The last of them have been transported onto the ship and the device destroyed."
"very good. Lieutenant Uhura open a channel to starfleet and tell them that they have a border planet to deal with."
"yes captain."
"Spock,I believe that he crew and I owe you a thank you." My captain turned towards me.
"I fail to see how that is necessary considering that I was only proceeding in my duty."
"shut up and let us thank you, dammit." McCoy glared.
"Illogical as always, Doctor."
"Whatever Spock," My captain waved a hand. "on behalf of the Enterprise and her Crew; Thank you."
16