This story was written as a one-shot for Book girl fan. She requested a story about Spock, where they go to a new planet. ENJOY!
I do not own Star Trek.
Spock wandered around on the fields of a the planet they had stopped on. The planet was virtually all tall, yellow grass, with occaisonally a stalk of purple flowers. There were no large bodies of water, no trees, no large animals. The only fauna he had seen were a few small lizards and some insects.
"Spock!" Spock turned around. Captain Kirk and Bones were coming toward him.
"Captain," said Spock. "I've completed my scans of the plant life on this planet."
"What plant life?" said Bones. "All there is is grass. And some flowers!"
"Actually Doctor, The flowers are the same plant as the grass." commented Spock
"And there's no variation?" asked the captain. "No other forms of plant? Just grass?"
"Affirmative, Captain. And also very few kinds of animals. All away teams report the same."
"But it is peaceful." said Kirk, walking along with Spock and Bones. "Quiet, warm, blue sky, nothing that bites. It's rather nice."
"I think it's boring." said Bones.
"What do you think Spock?" asked Kirk.
"I find this planet pleasant enough. Although the lack-" he was cut off as he fell down a large hole.
"Spock!" The captain yelled down. "Are you alright?'
Spock stood up "I'm fine, Captain! But it appears I'm roughly ten feet down."
"We'll get you out." Kirk yelled back down. He turned to McCoy. "What could have made that hole? It's sides are almost perfectly straight."
"Someone shot it from a ship?" guessed Bones. Kirk's communicator bliped.
"Enterprise to Captain Kirk"
"Go ahead, Scotty."
"Has something happened ta Mr. Spock? We've lost his life signs."
"He's fine. He stuck at the bottom of a rather deep hole, but fine. Can you lock onto his communicator and beam him out?"
"Nay, Captain. His communicator's signal dissppeared when his life signs did."
"Strange. Beam down a grappling hook then, or send someone with one."
"It'll be a few minutes, we'll have ta replicate one."
"Alright. Kirk out." Kirk walked back over the edge of the hole.
"Spock, Enterprise can't beam you out. Can you wait a few minutes?"
"Yes, Captain." Spock examined the walls of the hole. They were dirt, but packed. Down this far, there were no roots from the grass, but nearer to the top there were roots coming out of the sides of the hole. And stone jutted out ion some places. A drilling tool or a ships' phasers hadn't done this, it would've cut the roots and stones.
"Captain!" Spock yelled.
"Yes, Spock?" the captain's face appeared over the edge of the hole.
"I've figured out that this hole was not made with any kind of laser."
"So it was dug out with manual tools?' asked Bones, his face appearing over the opening as well.
"No, The walls are too smooth."
"Then what?" asked Kirk.
"I do not know."
The grappling hook attached to a flexible metal cable arrived a second later. Kirk picked it up. He buried it into the ground about a yard away from the hole. He threw the rope down, Spock caught it and began climbing up.
"That's about the easiest rescue we've ever done." commented Bones. He was wrong, because a foot or so from the top of the hole, Spock stopped moving.
"Jim, something is blocking me. I cannot climb any higher."
"What do you mean, Spock? There's nothing there!"
"I know it appears that way, but something is blocking me." Spock took a hand off the rope and pressed it on some sort of invisible barrier. Kirk reached down and pressed his hand on the other side. Then, both hands.
"You're right. Something is there." Kirk stood up, and placed a foot out onto the opening of the hole. The invisible barrier that kept Spock from leaving held him up. "This might eplained why The ship lost your life signs.
Bones got out his tricorder and scanned it. "Tricorder says nothings there." said a confused McCoy.
Spock said that holding on to the cable was becoming difficult and climbed back down.
"But then how'd the rope get through?" asked Bones, loudly enough so that Spock, back at the bottom of the hole could hear.
"It's not a rope. It's a metal cable." said Kirk.
"And perhapse that is why it got through." said Spock. "This barrier is created by something. And we can assume that since it does not show up on our tricorders, it is artifical and shielded. Prehapse it is also designed only to prevent living things from getting though.
"Maybe." said Kirk. He took his communicator off.
"Kirk to Enterprise."
"Enterprise here."
"Enterprise, lock onto my communicator signal. Tell Doctor McCoy when and if you lose it.
"aye, aye, captain."
Kirk threw his communicator down the hole.
"Enterprise to Doctor McCoy . We've lost the Captain's communcator signal.
"Aknowledged." said Bones.
"Looks like youre probably right, Spock." yelled Kirk down the hole.
"But then how'd Spock fall down?" asked Bones. "He may act like a computer, but he's a living, breathing person."
"It is possible the barrier didn't form until after I fell in." Spock yelled up. "That would also imply it is motion sensitive."
"So we can't beam you out, you can't climb out, and we can't break the barrier because we don't know where it's coming from." said Bones. "This is sure nice fix you've gotten yourself in.
"But there has to be some way to get him out, somehow!" said Kirk.
"I have an idea, captain." said Spock. "It is obvious that this barrier was fashioned by intelligent beings. Prehapse if we wait, they will come."
"But there are no people on this planet, for all we know this thing was set up a long time ago and abandoned." said Bones.
"Spock is right." said Kirk. "It's our best bet. Call the Enterprise and tell them to beam up all remaining away teams, Just because we haven't found any more yet, doesn't mean there aren't more traps like this one."
"You're really gonna sleep out here?" said Bones. Kirk was setting up an tent.
"Yes, why not? We don't know the intent of the people who built this barrier, and probably dug the hole too, so it's hardley a good idea to leave Spock out here alone."
"He has a phaser." said Bones. That was true. They had dropper one down to him earlier, and they had figured out they could dropped down emergency ration packets and a water bottle.
"I agree with Doctor McCoy." Spock yelled up. By this point they were all used to talking loud enough for Spock to hear. "You can return to the ship. If you are worried for my saftey, despite the fact that I am able to defend myself if the need arises, you can send down a security squad."
"Spock, I'm staying out here. I want to. Besides, chances are everything is going to be fine anyway, and if anyone comes they'll be an advanced race and this was just some teenager's idea of a joke. Goodnight." Kirk crawled into the tent. Bones groaned and called the ship to beam him back up. Spock sat donw at the bottom of the hole, phaser laying next to him. And waited.
Spock judged they had been waiting for about five hours when something happened. Someone simply appeared in the hole. A humaniod. Pale skin, white hair, light blue eyes, thin and tall.
"Captain." Spock yelled up the hole.
"We've sound-proofed the barrier." said the humaniod. It had a high pitched voice. "We wished to talk to just one of you first."
"Is there a reason for doing this?" Spock asked.
"Yes. But it is a long story." The humanoid sat down. "My name is Treovi."
"I am Spock."
"Spock, You are from another planet, yes?"
"I am. As is my Captain who is currently on the surface. But not the same planet. I am from a planet called Vulcan, he is from Earth."
"We call our planet Musana. And ourselves, Musani."
"Why did you dig this hole?"
"It's original purpose was to dispose of weapons. Radioactive weapons."
"It's is not deep enough to safely dispose of nuclear devices." said Spock.
"The walls have a barrier, like the top, and the floor. The sheilding around this hole contains radiation better than any natural substance. But you are fine. Only smaller devices were destoyed in this hole. And it has since been cleaned. And It was also two hundred years ago." Treovi coughed.
"Was there a nuclear war?" asked Spock.
"Yes. It ended long ago, but we still feel it's affects today. My appearance is because of it. Most people in my parent's generation cough all the time and are ill often. Some in my grandparent's generation glow in the dark. But very few of them are alive." Treovi sighed. "It's sad really, our ancestors could make peace, and now there are only five or six Musani cities left."
"And all of them are underground?"
"Yes. And in our cities, everything is clean, cleaned of radiation that is. And it is heavily sheilded form the surface."
"That would explain why are ship's sensors did not find you. And nuclear war would explain the lack of life on the surface."
"I have been to the surface, once, protected of course." said Treovi. "There are only Leto plants. I've read they used to have flowers in every color. But the war killed all but the purple ones. And we haven't pereserved any others, because they were just weeds."
"Were there ever animals on the surface?" asked Spock.
"Yes, thousands. We have only saved a few kinds in our cities though." She looked at Spock. "May I scan you? To check for radiation?"
"Yes." Treovi pulled out a small device and a blue light came out from it, eveloping Spock. After a minutes she was satified.
"The remaining radiation hasn't affected you." she said.
"My crewmates have a very different physiology from me. It is possible they were affected."
"We will teleport you to the surface. Call your ship. Send down anyone who came to the surface. I will arrange a team to come and check them."
"Well?" Kirk asked Melito, one of Treovi's team. All of them were wearing special gear.
"The radiation does not affect your species." said Melito. "You can all go."
"Great." said Kirk. "I'm sorry that your species is so limited by this radiation."
"It was the result of war, the fault of our own race. And we have learned much in the last few generations as a result, we are a better people." said Treovi. "And the radiation levels will be low enough that we can live on the surface again within a hundred years."
"But your species lifespan is sixty years." said Bones. "You said so."
"True." said another Musani. "But our grandchildren will be able live on the surface."
"Well, goodbye. And thank you." said Kirk. He pulled out his communcator. "Transporter room, start beaming people up."
"I think it'll work." said Bones.
"Then we are in agreement." said Spock.
"The two of you, agree?" said Kirk, entering sickbay. "I think the ship just might blow up."
"Captain." said Spock. "Before we left Musana. I got a sample of there DNA and I believe I have a way to create an immunity to the little remaining radiation."
"Really?" said Kirk.
"Yeah, and it seems pretty safe to me." McCoy added.
"We only left two days ago." said Kirk.
"It was simple to figure out since we had the advantage of having the DNA of an immune species to compare Musani DNA with." Spock said. "The Musani are a much more enlighted people than they were when the nuclear war that drove them underground ended. It's logical to help them regain their home on the surface of the planet where they were supposed to live."
"Then I believe, gentlemen, we know where we're going next." Kirk walked over to one of the built in communicator.
"Kirk to bridge. Course correction. We're going back to Musana."
The Musani city where Treovi lived was amazing, it was as large as San Fransisco. Much of it was devoted to facilities for growing food. And hospitals.
They had sent a message to the planet, so they knew of Spock's potential cure. It was currently being tested. Spock had left detailed instructions on how to create more, since Enterprise needed to be on it's way.
"We cannot thank you enough for this." said Treovi, who was walking them to a transporter pad to leave. "The idea of being able to live on the surface, where our ancestors did, in the sunlight. It's wonderful!"
"I'm sure Spock is happy too, underneaht all his emothional control." said Kirk. Spock raised an eyebrow. They had reached the tranporter pad. Bones shook Treovi's hand, as did the captain. Spock, obviously, didn't, however he offered her the Vulcan salute.
All three of the men got onto the transporter pad. A Musani activated it and all of them were whisked back off to Enterprise to continue on their five year mission.
And although Spock, as a Vulcan, wouldn't tell anyone, he was glad he had managed to help the Musani.