Captain Christopher Pike clenched his jaw as the sounds of death and misery echoed around the bridge of the Enterprise. The recording continued to play on and with it the bridge crew became witness to hundreds of lives being cut short; the whir of phaser weapons, the booming of explosions and the haunting sounds of a whole planet on fire. Chris closed his eyes for a moment and tried to clear his mind of emotions; he was expected to stay objective in situations like this. That was easier said than done when you were listening to children die.
"Any response to our hails?" He asked, hoping to snap the shocked bridge crew out of their daze.
Lieutenant Nicola shook himself clear of the effects and tapped the controls on his communications panel shaking his head when the instruments updated.
"Nothing Sir, I've sent standard messages on all channels but there's been no response."
Pike sighed and ran a hand through his hair wearily. They had travelled as fast as the ship could manage when they had first heard the distress call, but they had been hours away at highest warp speed. The initial message had been garbled at best but it had been clear that millions of lives were at risk and the planet was undergoing some kind of invasion.
With no other ships in the area Chris had pushed the crew and ship to its limits to get to the planet to offer aid, and when they dropped out of warp they were greeted to the latest call which they had now discovered was a recording. No-one wanted to voice the theory that the first call had also been a recording, not wanting to believe that this had happened in the past and nothing they could do would change anything. There were no other ships in the area but there were clear signs of bombardment on the planet's surface. He had the sinking feeling that they were too late.
The surface of the planet was currently on the main view screen and without even zooming in the crew could see something had clearly gone very wrong. There were signs of major disruptions all over the surface; architecture and infrastructure collapsed everywhere and huge cracks scarring the surface in all directions. Either the world had suffered badly from an invasion or by some kind of horrific natural disaster; the energy discharge picked up on the surface pointed more towards the former.
"Give me a report Spock." Chris tore his eyes away from the distressing images on screen and moved to stand behind his science officer's station.
Spock's hands moved over the various terminals and equipment at speed as he startled to reel off information. "There are no ships in the immediate area and no discernible warp signatures. The planet is class M but hasn't been catalogued or discovered by a federation ship before. Life signs are unclear. The atmosphere is breathable but due to left over radiation for no longer than a few hours at a time. I recommend a rotation of away teams to reduce exposure."
The information Pike latched onto was the life signs. He frowned deeply and glanced at Spock's readings. "Life signs are unclear?"
Spock nodded and brought up the results of the scan which looked to be oscillating wildly. "I believe the radiation is interfering with our sensors so I cannot get a lock or definitive answers. There does appear to be a large concentration of energy in the outskirts of one of the cities, this may also be masking life signs."
Chris watched the feed hoping for some sign of life, so far it wasn't looking promising. Then again there was always hope until they proved otherwise. "So there could still be people alive down there."
Spock turned in his chair. "Indeed Captain, however it is unlikely."
Chris stared at his science officer and picked up on his warning tone, he could practically see the thought screaming from Spock's face. Don't get your hopes up. It was Spock's nature to be clinical, logical, he dealt in facts as was his job. Chris' was to take all the facts and make a decision. He walked back over to the Captain's chair and glanced at all of the reports heading in from the stations.
"How long would each away team have down there?" He asked, already sending the information through to Boyce so he would be able to set up decontamination procedures.
"3 hours. Safely." Spock replied.
Chris nodded and made a decision, he was not going to leave a distress call unanswered, no matter if they had to rotate personnel. "Number One, you have the Conn. I will lead the first away team."
Una swivelled round in her chair and gave him a disapproving stare, visibly not agreeing with his decision to head down to the planet. This little dance they did had been happening more often; his XO would voice her concerns every time he stated his intention to leave the ship. Ever since the crew had heard the news about the war breaking out at home they had all become more restless, apparently Chris had been taking more risks. Honestly he just wanted to do his job and do something meaningful; sitting out the war was eating away at his soul day by day.
Chris held up his hand to forestall any complaints. "I don't want to hear it Una. If I ask this of the crew I've got to be willing to do this myself. Draw up a rota of the next away teams and keep it to small groups."
Number One didn't look thrilled but she nodded grudgingly. "Yes Captain."
Chris headed towards the turbo-lift, calling over his shoulder. "Spock, Nhan. With me."
Captain Pike, Commander Nhan and Lieutenant Spock appeared on the planet surface within a beam of light, kitted out with emergency medical equipment and tactical gear ready to face any threats that remained. Chris glanced round at the barren landscape and felt his heart drop. The place was a complete wreck; signs of blaster fire, collapsed buildings and blood everywhere. Initial signs were not looking good.
Chris turned to Spock and saw he was already scanning the air with his equipment. "Any signs of life?"
Spock shook his head and kept spinning on the spot until his equipment beeped. "None but there is a build up of energy to the South."
Pike glanced the way Spock was indicating, not seeing anything different to what they had already seen. He glanced at Nhan and saw she was scanning their surroundings suspiciously, her hand firmly attached to the phaser at her side. Pike didn't blame the reaction of his security officer there was something about this place that was putting them all on edge.
"Alright we'll check it out." He decided and strode forwards boldly before calling back over his shoulder more quietly. "Remain vigilant."
Nhan met his eyes and he saw her relief that she wasn't the only one who was on edge. It wasn't like they couldn't be affected after listening to the distress call and seeing the damage inflicted down here.
The trio picked their way through the rubble and remains of the city carefully, studying every nook and cranny for any sign of life or anything for that matter. Spock led the way changing direction every now and again when his equipment updated. So far they had seen nothing but the same but strangely they hadn't actually seen any bodies, which could either be a good or bad thing.
The readings Spock was getting were increasing the closer they got to the energy disturbance but Spock was still having trouble identifying if they were life signs or not; Enterprise was also still having no luck. For the first time in a long while the instruments weren't helping them figure out where everyone had disappeared too; surely an entire planet's population couldn't just get up and vanish?
Pike and Nhan followed Spock into the remains of a building which appeared to be a vast hall of some kind, and like the rest of the city it looked to be completely abandoned. Spock came to a stop in the centre and studied the readings intently, Pike could hear from the signals that this was the closest they had got to the energy Spock had been chasing down. A faint frown spread across Spock's forehead as he studied the results.
Chris gazed round the hall carefully, a grim expression plastered firmly in place when he smelled the remnants of burning and blood. He saw that Nhan was covering the entrances and tactically sweeping around the area; her eyes flicking to Spock every now and again who was completely oblivious to the potential dangers.
Pike made his way over to Spock's side and peered over his shoulder. "What you got?"
Spock looked vaguely baffled; his head tilting to the side and his lips pursing unhappily. "Life signs." He paused and glanced at the Captain. "And no life signs."
Now it was Pike's turn to be confused. He frowned heavily and almost asked Spock to repeat himself, thinking perhaps he had heard his science officer wrong. Spock never usually lacked detail or contradicted himself. "What does that mean?"
Spock put the device away and relied on his own senses clearly not trusting the readings his equipment was giving him. "I'm not sure Captain but it would be wise to proceed with caution, whatever is here is either trying to hide itself deliberately or is interfering with our equipment."
Pike pursed his lips and nodded stiffly, and Nhan tensed at the words and looked more fidgety than usual. The tension in the air was growing and the need for answers was becoming urgent. Suddenly a deep chill moved through the room causing them all to shiver and spin on the spot. Chris felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck and felt like someone had just walked over his grave.
He snapped to Spock when he saw him go completely rigid and make an unusual gasping sound. Just as soon as it had started it stopped and the science officer fell silent, Pike scrutinised his face carefully and noted how pale Spock looked and his pupils looked far away like his mind was distant or vacant.
Pike followed his officer's gaze half expecting to see something new or at least a reason for Spock's sudden strange behaviour. Nhan was too looking around wildly like she was expecting something to jump out at all of them any second. Pike frowned when he saw nothing so he tried getting Spock's attention who still appeared to be staring into nothing.
"Spock?" He queried, concerned after the unexplained chill that had swept through the room.
All of a sudden Spock's eyes focussed and he snapped to Pike. Chris cried out in shock when Spock's fist struck out and smashed into his stomach powerfully. He heard himself gasp and felt his body crumple beneath the force sliding back and landing in a miserable heap on the floor; clutching his burning side and gasping for breath like a fish out of water.
The Captain choked on each pocket of oxygen and fought back the darkening edges of his vision, trying to get his lungs to kick back into gear again so he could process what the hell had just happened. He heard a scuffle taking place nearby so he blearily looked up just in time to see Nhan drop to the floor unconscious, taken out by a Vulcan nerve pinch.
What the hell was Spock doing?
Seeing the danger Spock posed not only to him but also to Nhan, the Captain hacked and coughed whilst he dragged his burning body to its feet. He managed to gasp in enough precious oxygen as he unfurled to keep the darkness at bay. Chris desperately fumbled for his phaser and almost jumped out of his skin when Spock turned towards him and snarled; clearly made aware of his attempt to reach for the weapon.
Pike managed to pull the weapon out of his holster but that was as far as he got. Spock closed the distance between them with incredible speed and he quickly snatched both of Pike's hands in an iron-clad grip; stopping the Captain from bringing the weapon round to aim.
Chris gritted his teeth and winced in pain when Spock squeezed his arms harshly, digging his fingers into muscles and flesh in an attempt to get Pike to release his hold. The Captain stared into Spock's face and blinked in shock when he saw unfamiliar cold eyes staring back.
"Spock what the hell are you doing?" He ground out, arms straining against the super Vulcan strength but knowing deep down it was futile. Spock was stronger than he was and they both knew that.
Spock responded to the question by uncharacteristically growling and then he twisted Pike's wrists brutally, causing the Captain to cry out painfully. He dropped the phaser in the process which landed with a dull thud.
With his objective complete Spock pushed Pike away from him with enough force to send Chris stumbling backwards into the wall; his head smashed painfully against the surface and his vision blurred dangerously. He grabbed onto a nearby shelving unit for support and tried to shake the dizzying effects away; his heart raced away madly and adrenaline rocketed through his veins.
He blearily looked up and watched warily when Spock picked up the phaser and examined it, changing the setting from stun to kill. Chris glanced over to Nhan and felt his heart sink when he saw she was still out like a light, sprawled unconscious far away and completely at Spock's mercy. Chris was on his own here.
Spock was still studying the weapon so Pike took the opportunity of his distraction and stepped forward, aiming to try and get through to his officer. However as soon as he stepped forward Spock's wild eyes snapped to him and he lifted the weapon up to point at his Captain's head.
"Don't move." He ordered hastily, not sounding like Spock in the slightest.
Pike froze in place and held his hands up in surrender, watching shocked as Spock's finger started to depress on the trigger as a threat. "Alright, I'm not moving." He placated as calmly as he could manage, trying not to let it show that inwardly he was freaking out.
His mind was whirring and trying to process what could have possibly changed in the last few minutes to get to this. Whoever this person was in front of him couldn't be Spock; he had known Spock for years and he knew that this was bafflingly out of character. Of course that begged the question, what the hell had happened to his officer to make him attack his crew-mates and threaten his Captain with a lethal weapon?
Chris studied the man opposite him carefully hoping to get any clue he could to help him answer the question. Spock in turn studied he Captain, squinting at him suspiciously but mercifully he just about held off from pulling the trigger. With no questions answered and genuine fear rising that Spock might actually have it in him to actually fire the deadly weapon in his hand, Pike tried to calm his frazzled nerves. It proved almost impossible, he had never dealt with a situation like this before; Spock had never looked at him distrustfully before and it hurt.
"Spock what's-"
"I'm not Spock." Spock or not Spock snapped interrupting Pike's urgent question.
Right, well that certainly didn't help matters… What on earth was he supposed to do with that startling revelation? Wary of the phaser still aimed at his head Chris remained non-threatening and pressed his officer for something he could work with. "Who are you then?"
Spock's attention had been starting to drift, almost like he was unsure what he was experiencing and looking around the room with wide glassy eyes. As soon as Pike broached the question he wished he hadn't. It was like the simple act of being questioned brought out Spock's aggressive side. The science officer stormed up to Pike all the while covering him with the phaser held in a steady grip. When he reached him he slammed his Captain back against the wall powerfully and pressed the phaser against his forehead.
Chris gasped and his vision flashed white dangerously when his head crashed against the hard surface, reawakening the agony in his head. Somehow he managed to keep his hands down and out of the way, fighting every instinct in his body to not react to the violent treatment. He was well aware that with the phaser against his head like this and on its high power setting he would be dead before he tried anything anyway.
Spock glared coldly at Pike keeping the phaser pressed tightly against his forehead, whilst he held a restraining arm across his Captain's shoulders. "You don't need to know who I am, all you need to know is that I'm willing to kill you and your officers. Including this body I have stolen."
Pike's hope's plummeted, he had been suspecting something like this after Spock had stopped acting like himself. Something or someone had taken over his body and control and was using it to threaten both him and Nhan. In a way the news was a relief; it meant Spock hadn't suffered some sort of break down. On the other hand Pike didn't agree with the violent nature and actions of whoever this person was; one thing was clear: they were dangerous.
Spock cocked his head to the side. "Do we understand each other Captain Pike?"
Pike frowned heavily. How the hell did this mystery being know his name? Perhaps he could access Spock's memories. Chris still couldn't get used to watching Spock of all people holding him at gunpoint, and not only that, Spock was threatening to kill them all. Suddenly realising the mystery person was waiting on his response he quickly replied. "Yes."
Spock scrutinised him for a moment longer then abruptly let go and walked away from Pike, moving back to survey the scene more carefully all the while checking Nhan was still out cold and keeping his phaser at the ready. Chris sank back against the wall now Spock's arm was no longer pinning him up, he leant against the cool surface and tried to calm his racing heart.
Spock seemed to remember something and he suddenly snapped his attention back to Pike. "You have a line of communications with your ship."
It wasn't a question, a statement of fact and another worrying bit of evidence which pointed to the fact that Spock's knowledge and memories weren't safe.
"I do." Pike confirmed carefully rubbing his bruised shoulder.
"Throw it to me." Spock ordered.
Pike eyed the phaser then his officer and sighed wearily knowing he didn't have many options here. He reached for his communicator and removed it slowly before tossing it over to Spock as commanded.
Spock surprisingly stamped on the communicator crushing it into smithereens under his boot. Pike looked from the communicator to Spock thinking he was mad cutting off one of the lines of communications they had with their people. Especially given the difficulty with tracking life signs down here.
Spock glanced over at Nhan again then seemed to make a decision. "Pass me her communicator as well and her phaser."
Pike spotted Nhan's phaser a short distance away from her body; she must have dropped it when Spock had attacked her. Chris walked slowly towards Nhan keeping his distance from Spock and making sure the officer was aware he was no threat, keeping his hands up and visible. His heart thudded painfully which each step, well aware that any one could be his last. What would that do to Spock? Being used cruelly to murder a colleague, a friend.
Chris shook the unhelpful concerns away and focussed on making sure that didn't happen. He reached Nhan's position and thought it best to kick the phaser away so Spock didn't have the excuse he probably wanted to shoot. Pike decided then and there he needed a name for this entity or whatever it was, because using Spock's name for all these actions just didn't compute.
"Have you got a name?" He probed carefully. He knelt down to Nhan's prone form and checked for a pulse with one hand whilst reaching for her communicator with the other.
The Captain was relieved to feel a steady pulse under his fingertips and saw no other injuries present. He gripped the communicator and tossed it towards the entity who looked like he was still deciding how to answer.
Surprisingly he did. "You can call me John." He then ground the tossed communicator beneath his heel just like he had done with Pike's.
Chris resisted the urge to scoff. Perhaps the entity had searched through Spock's knowledge of names and found a name used commonly as an alias. Emboldened by the revealing of information he got to his feet and stood protectively in front of his downed crew-mate. "Okay John, do you mind telling me why you've taken over one of my officers?"
John snarled dangerously and took a step forward. "Do you mind telling me why you attacked our planet?"
Pike snapped to the aggressive movement and resisted the urge to stumble backwards. He then registered the accusation and blinked in confusion; there were clearly signs of some kind of attack here but they had come to help after the fact. "We responded to a distress call and beamed down here to look for anyone who needed help. We didn't attack your planet John."
John's finger tightened on the trigger and his face twitched angrily. "Do you think it's a coincidence they looked just like you. Why should I believe you?"
Pike licked his lips nervously, hoping he was right with his deduction. "You seem to be able to read Spock's mind and see his memories, you can see for yourself we're not lying."
John looked taken aback by the Captain's remark but he didn't deny the deduction. He groaned then closed his eyes and his face creased up in concentration. Chris stayed well back and gave him a few minutes to find what he was looking for. Eventually John's eyes snapped open and he yelled in frustration. "I can't see! He's shielding his memories somehow so I can only see surface ones."
The Captain frowned heavily and stared at John wondering for the first time if Spock was aware of what was happening to him, wondering if he could see what John was using his body for. Chris thought his best course of action would be to try and placate John, seeing a potential way through this mess. If the entity could see with his own eyes that they had nothing to do with this then hopefully he would believe they were here to help. "Then take over my body."
John snapped up to him. "What?"
Chris continued with his crazy plan. "I wont resist you, you can have a look at all the memories you need to believe we're telling the truth." He would much rather have an entity rummage through his head and memories willingly than force Spock to endure such an attack, he probably didn't even know what was happening to him.
John looked like he wanted to throw the phaser at something in anger. "Don't you think I would if I could?"
"What do you mean?"
John sighed wearily, suddenly looking older and incredibly worn out. "I can't connect with someone who's not telepathic. Your officer was the only one out of all of you who I could gain access to."
Pike bristled at the term access to. He had to keep reminding himself that it wasn't Spock who was talking and the poor kid was stuck in his own body somewhere, like he was suffering from some crazy locked in syndrome. Also it put a massive spanner his plan; Chris would have to try and convince John the old fashioned way but for some reason he doubted that it would be easy.
"Look I'm telling the truth and we're here to help if you just let me contact my ship-"
John stopped sulking and aggressively interrupted. "No, until I know the real truth no-one contacts your ship. I don't trust any of you." He glared suspiciously at Pike and Nhan.
The Captain sadly watched the distrust return to the forefront so he snapped his mouth shut, and resigned to the fact that for the moment John was closed off to any suggestions he would make. Chris would have to give him some time and space, if he pushed too hard John may snap and it would be over for all of them. John was a ticking time bomb and at the moment he was in control of all of their lives.
John glanced between the pair of them with an expression of someone deep in thought, a frown pulling at his face as he suspiciously watched. Suddenly he turned on the spot like he was searching for something, and he moved quickly to the corner of the room all the while keeping an eye on Pike and Nhan. Chris watched John rip up several metres of wire from a crumbling wall causing several sparks to light up the place when he did. Pike gulped nervously. There weren't many reasons why John would want wire; he knew where this was leading and he didn't like it one bit.
With the material collected John made his way back over to the Enterprise crew. "Tie her up." He ordered coldly pointing to Nhan.
Pike glanced from the outstretched wire to Nhan's unconscious body but was reluctant to reach out and accept the order, he really didn't want to do this.
John picked up on the hesitance and tilted his head to the side, his eyes twitching impatiently. "Unless you want me to find a more permanent solution." John growled indicating the phaser.
Shit, this reaction was precisely the thing he wanted to avoid. Pike quickly accepted the proffered wire. "No, I'll do it."
This wasn't something he wanted to do but if it were this or death then there really wasn't much choice. Chris walked over to Nhan and gently started manoeuvring her hands together hoping she wouldn't take this too badly when she woke up.
"Behind her back." John ordered.
Pike threw the man a glare but did as instructed after seeing how close the entity was to losing his patience. He gently rolled Nhan over and crossed her wrists together. Chris never thought he would ever be tying up his own crew member, how the hell had things gotten so bad? Pike began looping the wire over the Nhan's wrists making sure to not make the wire cutting or too uncomfortable. Predictably John didn't like that.
"Tie it tighter, last warning Captain."
Chris sighed heavily and regrettably tightened the bindings knowing there was little chance Nhan would be able to slip these now, but it was either this or a phaser bolt to the head. He efficiently tied off the knot and turned back to John.
"Happy?" Pike couldn't help but snap a little pissed at John for the way he was manipulating his crew, especially Spock.
John ignored the attitude entirely and kept all his attention on the one threat left in the room. "Move away." John ordered pointing the phaser to the other side of the room.
Chris held his hands up and moved away as instructed glancing down at Nhan forlornly, and not liking the idea of leaving her side. John walked forward and reached down to Nhan's bound hands and tested them, satisfied that they were tied tightly enough. His attention soon turned to Pike and he picked up another loop of wire.
"On your knees, facing the wall." He ordered.
Pike turned to face the wall and got to his knees keeping his hands up as he did. He was expecting a command to put his hands behind his back and to feel the wire come around his wrists. What he was not expecting was for John to stride up to him and slam the phaser into the back of his head.
Chris cried out in misery and crashed to the ground; his face collided harshly with the concrete floor and crumpled under the pressure. Before he could try to rise John's knee ground harshly into his back and he felt his wrists being grabbed one by one. Pike struggled against the hold instinctively until John pressed his knee further into his back, painfully pressing on his organs and spine.
The Captain moaned and gritted his teeth as John began roughly tying his hands together, making sure they were tied very tightly. When he was done he dragged Chris up by the arm and pulled him across the room to Nhan's prone form; he didn't seem to notice or care when the Captain struggled to find his feet and stumbled across the room.
John deposited Pike in a heap and manoeuvred him into a seated position; he ordered him to remain where he was whilst he went to get Nhan. John lifted Nhan's unconscious body up to lean back against the Captain's; he then began winding the remaining wire around their chests effectively tying them back to back tightly.
Chris winced each time the wire cut into his chest, whilst also still trying to blink away the dizzying effects from being pistol whipped. His head was pounding miserably and sadly he was having trouble focussing on much. Eventually he felt his body being pressed tighter and tighter against Nhan's so much so that he couldn't even move his fingers anymore. So much for his plan to get each of them to untie the other's knots.
John efficiently tied off the bindings and got to his feet glaring warningly at his prisoner. "Don't test me Captain." He pointed the phaser vaguely in Nhan's direction. Pike stilled and his body temperature plummeted against the blatant threat against his officer. "You wont like the result."
With great difficulty Pike held his tongue not wishing to push John any further than necessary, not with how volatile he had proven to be. John studied him for a few seconds before moving off into the hall and settled down on the floor; he closed his eyes and placed his hands either side of his temple. Pike had the nasty suspicion that John was about to fight Spock for control of his mind, and memories. God knew what the poor kid was going through.
A/N - So I finally got round to writing the first chapter :) I've been a bit caught up writing down drafts for other Discovery stories, I'm not going to complain that they keep coming it's just finding the time to write them all! The story is all planned out so chapters should be regularly posted again. Enjoy!