Episode One: New Exhibit

"Darling gather your things quickly," the girl of ten looked up from her reading as her mother swept into the room. Panic that was not her own flooded the young girls' senses. Seeing the urgency in her mother's face the girl wasted no time in grabbing her shoes, jacket and data padd as her mother swept her towards the escape pods.

"Mother, what's happening?" She glanced at her mother, trying to keep pace with her mother's frantic movements. Ignoring the question, they moved briskly through the halls of the ship they had called home for the last month. The girl noticed for the first time that her mother was holding a phaser. The girl's eyes widened a fraction – for her mother to take arms was a chilling call to the severity of the situation. The girl knew she could try to penetrate her mother's mind for answers, but as her own fear started to creep in, she knew it would be near impossible to concentrate enough for what the task required.

They were only a few turns away from making it to the escape pods when a phaser blast hit the wall just above the girl's head. Her mother grabbed her arm and sprinted the rest of the way to the pod bay. Luckily no one else was around as her mother punched in the correct sequence to open a pod.

"Hurry darling, quickly now." Her mother gently pushed her into the pod while glancing over her shoulder.

"Shouldn't we wait for dad?" the girls voice small as she peered up at her mother, whose head snapped back to meet her daughters stare. Her mother tried to mask the truth but the emotions her mother was projecting couldn't be ignored. The young girls' eyes welled with tears as she recognized the foreign emotion. Despair. Voices could be heard coming down the hall her, mother gave her one final shove and sealed the hatch. The girl dropped the things she was clinging to and rushed to the little pod window. The clicks and hiss of the pod detaching from the ship flooded the small space. The unknown aliens cornered her mother, the light of the phaser flashed in the room a second later. The gruesome image became smaller and smaller as her pod hurtled away from the ship.

Her hands curled against the glass as tears rushed down her face.

"Mom…Dad…"

The girl's eyes snapped open – her arms out stretched, reaching toward the sterile white ceiling. Her fingers were curled as if in the middle of trying to grip something. The cacophony of emotions she was experiencing was almost overwhelming. She blinked rapidly trying to dispel the dream, her arms lowered as she moved to sit up. She combed her fingers through her hair and finally looked around, trying to decipher what had pulled her from her memory dream.

Gently opening her senses wider, she felt the onslaught of her neighbors. There was a feeling of anticipation, caution and a little excitement coming from all around. Placing her feet on the floor she stood up and padded to the big viewing window. The domicile across from her that had been empty for the last few months, now had two men and one-woman lying unconscious on the floor.

"You're finally up, it's about time. I thought you were going to miss the new arrivals waking up." She didn't miss the excitement in her right neighbor's voice or the wave of anticipation that seeped into her skin. She shuffled over to the replicator. "Favorite morning drink," she mumbled, she yawned as the replicator lights swirled. Once the replicator was finished, she picked up the warm drink and shuffled back to the viewing window.

"Did you see the caretakers bring them in?" She asked seating herself against the shared wall close to the window. There was a non-committal grunt sigh that could only mean that he had not.

"I saw them bring them in about an hour ago. They haven't moved." The neighbor on her left chimed in with a soft feminine murmur. She blew on her drink, but kept her eyes concentrated on the bodies across the way.

"They are very unusual." the left neighbor continued. She could feel the awe and caution radiating of the neighbor.

"Are we sure they're alive?" The girl chimed in staring at them trying to determine a sign of life. She brought the cup to her lips and took a small sip – humming in satisfaction she took another sip, the liquid tickling her taste buds as it made its way down her throat. There was another grunt that was almost a chuckle that came from the right.

"You kno…" The neighbor on her right stopped short when one of the bodies across the way started to stir. She saw a few of the aliens walking along the walk way –between the domiciles– stop and stare in interest.

~McCoy~

McCoy's head was throbbing worse than a Romulan ale hangover. He opened his eyes and immediately realized that he was sprawled on the floor of an unknown room. He tried to look without too much movement incase the ones who had drugged him were still around. Not hearing any movement, he slowly started to rouse himself to an upright position.

He took in the sterile white room with two doors leading to what looked like bedrooms. On the wall to the right was a replicator. He placed his hand to his forehead as a wave of a pain fought for his attention.

"Damn it." He hissed as he scanned the rest of the room. It was an empty, nothing but white and open space. He saw Jim and Uhura the same time he saw the viewing window, and it made him unsure how he had missed it until now. It was a giant floor to ceiling window in place of the fourth wall of the room, directly across from the bedrooms. He saw a small unknown alien staring at him with its head tilted slightly in curiosity.

"What are you looking at?!" He groused. It jumped scurrying off. He turned to Jim and Uhura to check for injuries. With out his medical scanner he felt naked, but he poked and prodded at the others until he saw that like him, they hadn't incurred any injuries when they were transported. They were in a deep sedated sleep and he wasn't sure what was used. He growled in frustration trying to recall the events leading up to waking in the room.

He turned back to the viewing window and was shocked yet again. Past the walk way –the alien had been on– was a row of viewing windows like his own with various creatures milling about in personalized environments. He moved forward looking left, right and up and inhaled sharply at the stacks and rows of viewing windows sprawling higher and wrapping out of his line of vision. He could see aliens –similar to the one looking at him when he woke up– walking across walkways, stopping occasionally to glance in a viewing window before moving on.

He stumbled back as if struck. An image of the San Francisco Zoo sprung to his mind. His body constricted in anger. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the alien across from him flinch as if in pain.

He finally assessed the girl and her domicile as closely as she was analyzing him. Her room had pastel sky-blue walls, with two columns made to look like trees as the center piece of her room. There was a hammock suspended ten feet off the floor secured between each tree. Her room reminded him of a children's fairytale forest. He thought he saw her look down abashed before once again staring his direction.

He saw her take a sip of her drink, glancing at him over the top of her cup.

She was a humanoid female, possibly twenties, cinnamon colored hair, hard to tell height from her seated position but he would guess average, pale skin and…pure black eyes.

"Betazoid!?" He breathed out in confusion and surprise. She cocked her head in confusion, a smile tugging the corner of her lips.

"That is a very unusual way of greeting someone." She replied softly her smile growing. He was struck dumb. He recovered quickly, clearing his throat as he prepared to address her.

"My name is Dr. Leonard McCoy. Representative of the United Federation of Planets," he stared at her as her brow scrunched in thought. "We were on our way to a help evacuate stragglers from a planet that's sun was about to go super nova…We sustained heavy damage and the next thing I know I'm waking up here." He told the story more to himself as the bits and pieces started to come together. He lost himself in trying to delve deeper into his memories but coming up short. He straightened to his full height and turned ready to get some answers. He saw her swirling her drink in her cup before taking another sip, this time more focused on the drink than him.

"What is this place?" He asked calmly watching as her express turned solemn.

"That vision of the places with all animals in caged areas that you were thinking of earlier–" His jaw went slack, he had heard about the Betazed capability of telepathy but had not yet met one. They had been admitted to the federation almost ten years ago, and he had not had the opportunity to encounter one. He composed himself and interrupted her.

"A zoo?"

"Yes, I suppose that is your word for it, it is the closest representation of what this place is."

"I gathered that, where are we? What quadrant are we in?" He grumbled, he wished Jim was awake he was much better at playing diplomat. He wasn't asking the right questions in the right way. He watched the girls face flush. The alien to the girls right shifted forward, a female Cardassian. It was grey and reminded him of a snake. He heard the betazoid chuckle softly.

"No need to get rude with the girl she was merely trying to answer your question," The soft almost bored tone rubbed against his already thin patients. "It should be obvious that we don't have access to that kind of information. We are at the humble mercy of the caretakers, until our entertainment value runs out." She sighed softly before turning and walking far enough into her domicile until he could no longer see her. He took in the dark and dangerous looking motif of the grey alien's room. It sent an odd shiver down his spine. He knew the federation didn't have many interactions with Cardassians and for good reason.

"We were all kidnapped and brought in unconscious." McCoy's head snapped to the left as he took in the Betazeds left neighbor. His eyes widened a fraction. Klingon?! The male Klingon was lithe compared to some of the others he had seen, but it was still as aggressive in stance and facial expression. Before he could gather his thoughts enough to respond he heard Jim and Uhura stirring behind him. He turned quickly to help them.

~Kirk~

McCoy quickly gave him a brief update of the situation. Kirk moved to the viewing window, hoping to spark an idea for an escape plan. As he glanced around, he had to agree with McCoy's assessment. This was some sort of alien zoo, and they had become the new exhibit. He turned to the girl across the way, she was staring at him in curiosity. A Betazed, he couldn't believe it. He had only met the ambassador once when they were first admitted to the federation. She was sat up against the wall shared with the Klingon, drinking some sort of beverage.

"My name is James T. Kirk. Admiral in the United Federation of Planets–"

"Your friend also mentioned this Federation of Planets, what is it?" She interrupted, glancing at McCoy before shifting her eyes back to him in wonder.

"We'll get to that, but first, what is your name?" He needed something to address her by.

"I don't remember." The answer threw Kirk, how long had this girl been here for her to forget her own name? Or had they done something to her to make her forget? Was she messing with him?

"Is there something I can call you? What do the others call you?" He indicated her two neighbors. She smiled sadly at him.

"I don't have a name, they call me girl or child in their native tongue and have refused call me anything else. Not that I've tried to change it, I kind of like it." a playful smile spread across her face. He heard the girl's neighbors chuckle softly.

"They however both have names," a mischievous glint flashed through her eyes. "Hey!" "Wait a minute." Two voices called out simultaneously. The Klingon more indignant than the calm voice of the Cardassian.

"That is Ke'tak," she gestured to her left. Kirk noted the Klingon did not look pleased. "and this is Gul Mila," gesturing to the female alien. She also looked displeased but the way she held herself reminded Kirk of some one of high authority. Composed and calm with an undercurrent of danger.

"Ke'tak calls me be'Hom, and Gul Mila calls me gorma." She continued not able to see the irritation from the other two aliens. The smile on her lips however gave away that she knew exactly how they felt about the matter.

"I would like to have a name unique to your culture Admiral." Her face innocent as she gave a soft warm smile to the Admiral.

"Would you pick one for me?" Her voice even and calm, but he detected a hint of hesitation.

"Give us a second." He mustered an encouraging smile and watched as she returned it. He turned and shared a confused look with Uhura and saw McCoy raise an eyebrow.

"Jim you can't be serious, we need to be finding a way out of here not name a girl like some sort of alien pet." McCoy whispered fiercely. Kirk shoot him a look with a mix of amusement and irritation.

"She may be able to help us figure a way out of this place, it doesn't hurt to establish a relationship with her."

"We have no idea if she'll be able to help us." Kirk knew that McCoy was projecting his frustration and contempt for the situation on this girl. It had happened too many times throughout the years of knowing him, that it was best to just let him expel it. He ignored McCoy for a moment and turned to Uhura for an idea.

"You're the one with a son, you should be very practiced with picking out a name." Uhura stated an amused smile curling her lips. Kirk let out a sigh.

"You know Chris is named after Pike, there wasn't a lot of creative searching." He stated with spirited exasperation. Uhura shot him a smirk.

"You should hope that Ramona never has a girl, you'll be utterly lost." She shot back. Uhura moved closer to the viewing window to analyze the girl more closely. She pursed her lips as she lost herself in the hunt. They had been staring at each other for a few minutes.

"That one, I like that one." The girl suddenly interrupted. Kirk saw Uhura jump slightly. Uhura quickly recovered her composure and smiled softly at the girl.

"Dalia it is."

~Dalia~

These earthlings were far more engaging than any of the other aliens that had ended up in this –what had the one named McCoy called it– zoo. Their emotions and ideas were far more diverse and entertaining than the others around her. Maybe because there were three of them. They seemed to be old by their earth's standards. Something she determined as she walked through their memories.

"How long have you been here?" Uhura asked suddenly, her voice soft.

"What year is it?" The others glanced at each other and then at Dalia with pity. She had an idea but needed verification of the year to provide an accurate answer.

"It's 2281." Kirk answered. Her heart constricted tightly as the memory dream came rushing back unexpectedly.

"That means I've been here for about eight years." Her voice resigned. There was a long pause from across the walkway. She got up and went through the effort of dusting herself off. They started to discuss among themselves, she couldn't quite catch it and she had already paraded around their heads enough for now. She only understood about half of what she saw in their minds, anyway. Lack of context a big factor. She knew her neighbors didn't trust them, but from what she saw they were people that only had the best interest of others in mind. Even that cranky one named McCoy cared for his crew members when they were unconscious.

"Well this has been interesting, but I need to go get ready for the rush." She forced a smile before moving to the replicator to dispose of her cup and headed back into her room to shower and change. She heard the one named McCoy say something about there already being lots of aliens about. Before she closed the bathroom door, she heard Ke'Tak laugh and something along the lines of wait and see.

Notes/Thoughts:

-Dalia is pronounced (Dah-lee-ah), it's a flower which generally denotes elegance and dignity.

- This story is going to be a romance/adventure story with Spocks son from my other story. I'm going to throw Kirks son in as well from my second story. (It'll probably be three or four episodes from now before they even meet each other).

You don't need to read my other stories to understand this one. Partially because it was half way through my second story that I got an idea for this story, which means my other two stories won't link together when you read them. If you want to read them awesome, but you shouldn't need to in order to enjoy this story. I'll give you any background that may have been covered in the other stories, flood me questions if I don't.

Ramona Hill is Kirks wife in my second story, their sons name is Chris named after Christopher Pike. He was showing signs of being a trouble maker like both his parents. At the end of my second story he wasn't yet a teenager.

Vivian DeLuna is Spocks wife in my first story, their sons name is Varek. He is one fourth Vulcan. At the end of my first story he was just starting Starfleet academy.

I'll be readjusting the timelines and the characters to fit into this one, it should be relatively painless.

-The USS Reliant is an actual ship in the star trek universe. I'm doing some creative finagling with it that isn't cannon, hopefully you'll forgive me.

-Cardassians don't have a known language so I made up the word for girl.

- I generally try to stick to the timeline as much as I can, sometimes I call from the shows, sometimes the movies (new and old). Betazoid were admitted into the federation 2273, Cardassians history is a little fuzzy.

I'll say sorry to anyone that was reading the Subject 73 story I had. I deleted it because I just couldn't make the plot work for me, it was too messy, and I had lost my mojo while writing it. I was hoping that Star Trek: Discovery might jump start my inspiration, but I am beyond disappointed with that show. I will take a line from Bobs Burgers and say the shows plot and characters are 'Overdone and Dry'. STD is the acronym, which is fitting in a way, we're stuck with it and it's an all-around unpleasant experience to be apart of. I've honestly given up on the show and I could go on, but I'll stop and share what really inspired me to jump back in and try my hand at this story.

We watched The Orville, at first, I was very cautious because Seth McFarlane shows tend to be a bit too much at times. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much it felt like Star Trek and how well it distanced itself from it at the same time. There are moments that are a little weird and if you don't like his type of humor than you probably won't like it, but I was really inspired by the show the same way the other shows (non STD) have inspired me to write. I got the idea for this episode from one of the first Episodes of The Orville, the alien zoo idea (no doubt inspired from the Star Trek Original Series Pilot) kick started the story that's unraveling in my head. From here on there probably won't be many or any similarities between The Orville and my story. It was more of a point of motivation and inspiration.

Thank you for checking out my new story. I love to hear from people about what they love, what they hate, and anything in between. Let me know if you have any questions about anything. See you next episode.