(several hours later)
"Approaching the Marionette system now Captain" Sulu informed Kirk.
"Mr. Spock, what information do we have on this system?"
"Very little, captain. The system has only one planet, a class M. Records indicate the whole planet is owned by one family headed by someone named Jeff Tracy. Not much in the way of cities; mostly small towns and some factories. Our scans show that there is a significant level of electromagnetic activity consistent with higher technology."
"Transmission coming in Captain" said Uhura, "I'm putting it on screen."
The viewscreen lit to show the image of a man sitting beside a pool. "Captain Kirk, I'm Jeff Tracy of Interstellar Rescue. My sons and I welcome you to our planet."
"Thank you Mr. Tracy. Are you receiving us okay? Your video seems to have some vertical lines running through it."
The character waved his hand over some buttons on his lounge chair. The lines moved but continued to be present. "No captain, it looks okay on our end. Brains, could it be a system incompatibility?"
"It..it could be Mr. Tracy" replied a shorter man wearing large glasses nearby. "I custom built the system myself, so there might be a slight phase shift. But it should be good enough to communicate."
"Captain, meet us at these coordinates" he said while waving his hand over a few more buttons. Numbers appeared on the screen. "I have something to give you for your search."
"Thank you Mr. Tracy. I'll beam down with my engineer; perhaps he can talk to your communications man. We'll be there in about ten minutes."
Ten minutes later Kirk and Scotty beamed down beside the pool. Jeff Tracy rose out of his chair and made his way over to Kirk in a rather stilted, bouncing walk. "Do you see it Captain?" whispered Scotty. "They've got strings holdin' 'em up like some puppet or something."
"Yes, I see it" whispered Kirk back, "I think we found the source of those lines in the video. Don't say anything, pretend it's normal. Go talk to the guy with glasses while I talk to Tracy." "Thank you for seeing us Mr. Tracy" said Kirk, extending his hand. Tracy extended his as well, but the effect was more like a stiff-fingered hand bump.
"My son Virgil should be arriving in Thunderbird 2 shortly" said Tracy, "in fact I think I can hear it now." A large green flying ship, also supported by strings, came into view and slowly lowered to the blasting of jets underneath. The front door of a large cargo pod opened to blaring instrumental music, and a flat remote-controlled wagon drove up to the pool. On its top were two large crates. The two crates were labeled "refrigerator" and "sidewalk".
"These are yours, Captain. I hope they help you with your quest."
"Thank you Mr. Tracy, we'll take them with us and won't bother you any longer. I do have to ask though; what are the purposes of those strings attached to you?"
Tracy looked at himself, then Brains, then himself again. As he leaned back, his eyes followed the strings up and out of view into the sky. "I don't know Captain, I've never noticed them before. Huh."
Kirk and Scotty beamed up with their cargo, leaving a bewildered Tracy and Brains inspecting the newly noticed strings that seemed to be attached to almost anything that moved around.
Once they were back on board, Kirk had the crates beamed to a hanger deck where they could be opened. Inside they found a large white box and a stack of cement squares about four feet on a side. "I think I know what the squares are Spock, but is the large white box really a portable cooling device?"
"Finishing my scan now, Captain. As you may have probably surmised, the squares appear to be sections of a walkway. The large white box seems to an electrical device used on some planets to store foods safely at a temperature lower than the surrounding air. They were popular before food replicators became common." Reaching over, Spock pulled a handle and a side of the box opened, revealing several shelves full of small bottles of a brown liquid labeled Sweet Tea. "Beverages Captain." Scotty grabbed one.
"It's cold, captain. Bet it would go down well with scotch." He quickly departed for his quarters.
"I'd rather Dr. McCoy test it first, but it did look pretty delicious. Spock, what's that noise?"
Both turned to look at the other crate. The sidewalk squares were somehow assembling themselves into a walkway by sliding over the top of each other before they fell into place. As the last segment slid into place, a shimmering portal appeared at the end of the walk. "Some type of dimensional rift Spock?" asked Kirk.
"Unknown Captain. My tricorder has scanned the area, and the message 'Copyright notice' is the only information I am receiving. Fascinating."
"It could be dangerous. We'll send in a fresh-faced recruit to test it. Hooper, get over here." One of the nearby security men ran up to Kirk. "Yes sir!"
"Steve, isn't it? We need you to check out what is inside that portal. Keep in constant communication, and set your phaser on stun. Better change out of that red shirt if you want to improve your chances of coming back alive." Steve changed uniforms to a safe blue color and walked through the portal. The hanger of the Enterprise disappeared behind him as his communicator went dead. He continued to talk into his communicator as he walked ahead. A catchy, bouncy tune played in his head and he actually felt happier than he had been in years.
"It's a sunny day, captain. The clouds seem to have been swept away. I appear to be on my way to a place where the air is sweet..." He approached a figure. "Excuse me, can you tell how to get, how to get to..."
The figure turned around to reveal a figure dressed in dark clothing including a cape, pale complextion, and a pair of sharp teeth. "I am the Count" he said, "and I count one...one...one Doomsday machine that you seek. Ha ha ha ha ha. Sorry, that just slipped out. Go over to that newly constructed building where the large yellow bird is standing. There's something in there for you."
Steve walked over to the store and looked over the door where a sign said "Mr. _ Store". He walked in and was greeted by a cheerful man. "Hi, I'm Bob. Today's clues are brought to you by the letter 'C'." He handed over a spring and a thermostat.
"I don't suppose you know someone interested in running the store?" he asked. "We've got it all built to sell things to Bert, Ernie and all the people that you meet when you're walking down the street each day, but we don't have anyone to run it. We even have a space on the store's sign for the manager's name. If you know anyone, tell them to come apply."
Steve took the items and walked out of the store, returning to the portal. As he got nearer the portal, he had the distinct feeling that he was leaving some place that he belonged. But duty came first, and he stepped through the portal to arrive back on the Enterprise hanger deck.
"Steve, I thought I told you to go investigate the portal."
"I did captain, I've been gone for almost an hour. My communicator didn't work while I was over there though."
"Mr. Hooper" said Spock, "we experienced you stepping back out of the portal immediately after entering. There must some time distortion effect. Did you find those three items?"
"No sir, they were given to me by a resident of a settlement there." He handed over the objects. "In fact, I...I...captain, I don't know why but I am compelled to return. I can't describe it, but it seems like I belong there. I think there is a store I have to manage, as odd as that may sound. I'm sorry for the short notice, but now I know why I haven't been happy in Starfleet; I have a destiny. Good bye sirs, and good luck." He laid down his communicator and phaser, and walked back to the portal and disappeared.
"I find that rather odd behavior" said Spock, "even for a human. How do you find it captain?"
"I don't know Spock. What I do know is I find this sweet tea would really go well with some fried potato crisps!"