Chapter 2 - A Series of Tubes

When Kirk came to his senses, all was dark. He was standing up, stuck in a heavy metal pipe. It was taller than he was, but barely much wider. His arms were hanging down and he could not move them to get his hands up to his face. Even without using his hands he could tell that there was a big lump on his forehead. He tried to shift his position but could only move a centimetre. What sort of tube was this? He tried to move again but now he heard a slight murmur. Was that Spock's voice? He couldn't recognise any words, but surely that was his tone of voice. Kirk let out a quiet whistle. All went silent. He whistled again, and now he heard scratching sounds from above, and felt something move. The pale light from above was obscured by a hairy face.

"You're awake! How do you feel?" Lily-Lee was looking down at him and tried to sit on the narrow rim.

"Lily-Lee, please help us get out. You can't stay with Khan, he is a dangerous madman." Kirk had to convince her, and maybe this would be his only chance. Had Khan been conceited enough to put her to guard the prisoners? It was possible, he was the type of man that would welcome a traitor with open arms.

"Why would I stay with Khan? Here, try to get this past your gut and down to your hands. It won't be easy." She lowered a piece of cable down the tube. "Spock has a rope already. He figured you would be tied up or locked in, not THIS."

"Spock figured . . .?" Kirk let out as much air as he could to get the cable to slide down. "I thought you migrated to Khan's territory?"

"A broken-down sleeper ship in the middle of nowhere with dwindling supplies? That would be a new I don't want. Do you have a grip yet?"

"No, pull it back up and try again more to the left. Better. Okay, I've got it. Are you going to pull us up?" Kirk was relieved to hear that she was still on the team. No captain wants to see crewmembers turn into defectors.

"I can only lift about fifteen kilograms and there are no blocks and pulleys here. No, I'm going to knock the tubes over. Hold on to the cable." Kirk could hear her climb down to the floor and then he felt her tug on the cable. The tube was too heavy and didn't even sway. Spock's murmur was heard again, Kirk still couldn't hear much. Neither Lily-Lee apparently because she had to climb back up Spock's pipe to listen. The next thing Kirk heard was hammering noises and then he saw faint beams of light from below. She had hammered in a wedge under the pipe. Now he heard shuffling of boxes and furniture. It took some time. After a while Lily-Lee came back and looked down on him again.

"Okay, I have some stuff to break your fall, and the tubes are leaning a bit. I'll just catch my breath and then I'll try to pull them down. You need to be ready to crawl out fast, because they will make a great noise and the men can't help but hear you."

"I actually thought you had defected. Don't scare me like that."

"I'm glad I was convincing. Khan was convinced, too. But he has that type of ego that he probably believes himself to be a great catch."

"Well, he is a very striking figure."

"Is THAT your type? I'll never understand what humans find attractive."

"MY type? No, look here, that's not what I meant!"

"Not so loud, they might hear you. I have done my best to keep them busy but they can still get us. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready." Kirk tightened his grip around the cable. Lily-Lee climbed over to the next tube and Kirk could hear Spock murmur something short. She came back again.

"Spock says we should wait a few more minutes."

"Was the whole argument with Spock a part of your plan?"

"It's not MY plan, it's all Spock's smart thinking. He communicated it to me down by the river but I didn't understand how. Still don't."

"He is a telepath. He can put his thoughts in your head."

"Is THAT what telepath means? It was spooky." Spock murmured something from his tube and Lily-Lee nodded. "Okay, here we go. Time to tip you over and pour you out." Lily-Lee jumped down to the floor, took the cables and pulled as hard as she could. The metal tubes leaned more and more and came crashing down on a pile of wood and cardboard. She kept pulling and the two Starfleet officers came out of the improvised prisons. As soon as they got on their feet they all ran for the door, picking up a piece of metal debris each for defence. Nobody stopped them. Lily-Lee handed Spock his communicator and they ran outside. Still nobody followed, but they heard screams and shouts.

"What did you do to keep them busy?" Kirk asked while Spock signalled the Enterprise.

"I gave them food poisoning. Messy but effective."

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THE END