Chris felt Zak go even more rigid behind him and the kid's fingers pressed into his shoulder more earnestly, betraying his nerves. "Izra was chased down here by this one." Zak's voice had lost its easy confidence and he shook Pike's shoulder to emphasise who he was talking about. "We were busy questioning him when the woman showed up."

By the time Zak finished his explanation he was practically stumbling over his own words; anxiety had reared its ugly head as soon as the newcomers had burst through the doors. It made Chris think that this newcomer, Ravok, was the true Alpha amongst these kids. He definitely looked older than Zak and the other kids in the room appeared to be looking to him for answers.

Ravok scrutinised Pike and Michael warily. "And did you find anything out?" He stalked closer to Michael keeping his bow and arrow aimed directly at her centre of mass.

Michael watched his approach cautiously but stayed completely still; they both knew that at that range Ravok couldn't miss. If she made any sudden moves then Pike had no doubt that arrow would be going straight through her chest.

Ravok cocked his head to the side, clocking Michael's frozen posture and continued. "Like where they've come from?" He started to circle Michael and his scrutiny landed on Pike as well. "Or how they're adults and yet alive?"

Pike and Michael kept their mouths pressed firmly shut, but their silence only ended up fuelling Ravok's paranoia. He stopped walking and glanced between the pair suspiciously. "What if they're reaper spies?"

Chris had never seen a thought process go so far off the deep end so quickly. Ravok had gone from guessing about their origins to accusing them of working with the reapers; whoever the hell they were.

"We're from out of town, and we didn't get caught in the invasion." Michael began quietly. She swallowed nervously and leaned backwards when the arrow swung back around to her. "We came here to help and we've never heard of the reapers."

Pike hoped the newcomers wouldn't notice that Michael had been purposefully vague about how they were full grown adults, and yet they hadn't contacted the virus that had been killing everyone on this planet. Sadly the suspicious looks from the newcomers told him that they weren't buying a word of it.

Ravok glared from the pair of them to Zak in disbelief. "Out of town? That's all you've got?"

Ravok shook his head angrily and moved closer to Michael shifting his aim up to her head. Michael eyed the weapon and tensed up completely, her hands were visibly clenched at her sides. Pike watched on in horror then suddenly Zak released his hold on him and stepped forward towards the tense standoff.

"Wait." He reached out for Ravok, surprising Michael, Pike and Ravok. "We need more time to find out what they know."

Ravok didn't look convinced and he kept the bow held up high. "They're dangerous Zak, they're adults so they've got to have the sickness." There was a slight quiver in his voice; Pike was reminded that these kids were terrified of this mystery illness more than anything else.

Bravely Zak took another step forwards practically into the firing line. Pike mused that Michael must have made more of a connection than he realised for Zak to stand up and defend her like this against his leader. "Their sickness is no danger to us, not until we reach the age of death ourselves. You know this."

Zak's gentle reminder worked to calm Ravok's genuine panic; he took a deep breath and appeared to remember the rules of the virus. Pike still didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle but he was beginning to understand why the kids were so afraid of he and Michael, because they were alive and defying everything the kids knew about what their own future held.

Ravok's focus suddenly shifted to the weapon Zak held limply. "What's that?"

Pike closed his eyes and sighed deeply. That was all they needed, a powerful phaser in the hands of an unstable kid.

Zak glanced down at the phaser and pointed at the wall which he had blasted through earlier. "It's a weapon, they both had these on them. It's pretty powerful Ravok."

Ravok's eyes gleamed excitably and he looked at the hands of the other kids, then the predictable question came. "Where's the other one?"

Zak pointed into the corner where Michael's phaser still lay discarded. Pike saw her stiffen in response and take an imperceptible step towards it; she was still the closest one to it but there was no way Michael could get to the phaser before the kids could fire their own weapons.

Ravok's gaze zeroed in on the weapon and he indicated for one of the kids to go pick it up. Michael stepped between the kid and the weapon causing a flurry of bodies to step forward aggressively. Michael ignored all the weapons pointing her way and addressed the one person who had stood up for them. "Zak we didn't agree on this."

Zak had the decency to look a little guilty, but he shrunk back from her gaze and stayed out of the line of fire. Clearly he was not going to stand against Ravok any longer. "Things have changed." He eventually replied.

Michael pressed her lips into a tight grimace and shook her head in frustration. She let her disappointment be known to Zak, and refused to budge out of the way of the kid who had been ordered to get the weapon. The kid glanced from the adult in his way over to Ravok; unsure as to how he should proceed against such an intimidating presence.

Ravok's patience fell apart completely; he snatched the phaser from Zak's limp hands and strolled over to Pike. Chris took a moment to take in the changing situation. He had been left on the sidelines out of the action and had practically been forgotten since Zak had left his side, but now he was back in the centre of the conflict again.

The Captain's posture stiffened and his muscles went rigid as he spotted the weapon and its path. Soon enough the phaser was pointing at his head whilst Ravok stood to the side so he had both adults in view. Chris almost lost his balance when the weapon was pressed against his head powerfully; he winced against the assault and caught Michael's terrified expression.

"Step out of the way." Ravok shouted, the threat against Chris' life clear.

Michael didn't look happy about it but she did give in to Ravok's demand and stepped out of the way. The kid quickly scurried into the corner and retrieved the phaser, his hands shaking when he picked up the powerful tool of destruction.

"Give it to Zak." Ravok ordered the kid.

Zak took hold of the weapon almost reluctantly but still made sure to adjust the power setting to match his previous stolen weapon. Great now there were two deadly weapons in the fray.

Ravok looked a lot more comfortable now that they had control of the weapons but he still looked wary of Michael's free rein. "Tie them to the beams." Ravok pointed at Michael with the phaser. "Her first."

It made sense really, Chris was already trussed up. Michael was the unknown element here and to be honest they were smart to think she was dangerous, Pike had seen Michael destroy opponents in unarmed combat. Michael was positively scowling; at the weapons pointed her way, at Zak and Ravok, and at the support beams that they wanted to trap her against.

Ravok noticed her unease and made his point clear. "Resist and I'll kill your friend." He emphasised the threat rather unnecessarily by shaking Pike.

Michael actually rolled her eyes. It would have been comical if the situation weren't so serious. Still she followed the kids over to the beam and after glaring at them all harshly sat down with her back to the beam.

Pike watched the kids secure Michael's hands behind the beam and begin to tie long ropes around her chest. The kids doing the tying were tentative like Michael would turn around and bite their heads off. Perhaps she just might have if her Captain wasn't being used as leverage.

When they were done securing Michael, Ravok called for the kids to drag Pike over to the adjacent beam. They covered Michael and Chris with no less than 10 weapons whilst they finished their work, untying his hands then retying them behind the beam. Now that Pike was conscious he tensed his muscles up, not that it did that much good, but at least when they were done he could move his fingers more freely. If he and Michel wanted out of all these ropes they were going to have to work hard, or talk their way out. And that was assuming they didn't get killed first.

Ravok tied the final knot himself and he pulled the coil across the Captain's chest harshly. He examined the pair and made sure that both his prisoners were secured tightly and not going anywhere.

"You've got a lot to answer for. You best get thinking because if I don't like your answers then…" He pointed the phaser between them and mimed an explosion, not a hint of a smile on his face.

After the threat Ravok got to his feet and walked away from them; he joined the inner circle with Zak and a few of the older boys. Whilst the elders were chatting some of the younger kids had picked up the bow and arrows and were watching the prisoners like hawks; they kept their distance but were clearly alert and on standby.

Pike caught Michael's eyes and saw his own feelings mirrored in her face; concern, worry, despair. This situation had taken another turn for the worse and their options to get out of this mess were dwindling with each decision Ravok and Zak made. Chris had no idea what he was going to say to these kids. He was pretty sure they wouldn't believe anything he told them; even it was the truth.

Chris and Michael sat quietly and took stock of the situation. The kids in the inner circle were still discussing their fates, they were whispering loudly and waving their hands animatedly. Pike had moved his gaze to Michael and studied her carefully; he wanted to make sure she was okay. Michael looked at him and started to do the same. They both smiled when they realised they were worrying about the other.

Michael suddenly frowned and she stared at his forehead. Her scrutiny reminded him of his head wound and that he had dried blood caking the side of his face from it; he had forgotten about the injury amongst everything else but now he was aware of it again it stung unpleasantly. Chris waved off Michael's concern with a single look, they had far bigger problems at hand than a bang to the head.

The kids stopped paying as much attention to them when it became clear that Chris and Michael weren't going anywhere. Pike waited for a moment when no body was looking their way before he turned to Michael and whispered. "Does Discovery know the situation?"

Michael licked her lips and eyed the kids carefully. "They know I went looking for you. They couldn't get a lock on your communicator for beam out, just a general location."

Pike leaned his head back against the beam and sighed. "I noticed my communicator wasn't working down here, I should have known better than to push onwards. I'm sorry Michael, it's my fault we're in this position."

Michael threw him a withering look; it reminded Chris of the stern gaze his mother used to give him. "I thought we didn't do that Captain."

Pike raised his eyebrow in surprise. He tried to smile charmingly knowing that usually got him out of trouble. "Do what?"

Michael was having none of his attempts to disarm her and she smirked. "Wallow." She sobered and glanced round at all the young kids in the room. "You were trying to help them."

Pike knew better than to argue against Michael, she had proved time and time again how stubborn she could be. Michael was right about one thing; the young kids had made everything much more complicated. He turned his attention back to Zak and Ravok and snapped back to the matter at hand. "So we aren't beaming out from down here. How long until they send more teams down?"

Michael thought about it for a minute then replied grimly. "We agreed on an hour when I came looking for you. I would estimate we have another 35 minutes."

Right, 35 minutes until things got a hell of a lot more complicated. Pike needed to make sure the kids didn't get caught in the middle of this, the ones cowering behind him and Michael who were far too young to die and frankly were the equivalent of innocent bystanders.

Speaking of the kids he suddenly remembered something Michael had mentioned when she had been talking to Zak. "What did you find out? Earlier you mentioned something about an invasion?"

Michael dove into the story of her time on the planet and everything she had found out so far. She had had far better success with finding records within the city, and after piecing together the information she had worked out the moment when everything had started to go wrong. Off worlders had brought the virus with them when they had made first contact with the planet, and they had left after seeing that the civilisation was not quite as advanced as they had first thought.

They had left the planet behind without realising what they had left behind. Their interference inadvertently caused the apocalyptic future that Chris and Michael had seen. An unknown element that they had brought with them mutated a normal virus into a plague that destroyed the adult population of the planet; despite their scientists best efforts they couldn't come up with a cure in time and the civilisation fell into ruin.

The news definitely changed things. General order one did not apply in the same context as he had originally thought, seeing as this was already not the civilisation's natural progression. Another species' blunder had taken care of that. This should never have happened, it wasn't supposed to happen. All those lives lost and for what? Because a visiting species didn't do its homework properly? This was the reason why first contact was so vital and only carried out when both sides were ready, he couldn't believe that the species that had caused this had never checked back in again.

It was clear to Chris what had to be done now; they had to help these kids out of this ruin. This was no way to live, amongst a ruined civilisation that was still crumbling down. The kids never reached adulthood so the cycle was never broken, the population had dwindled to almost extinction and if they didn't cure these kids of the virus then soon there would be no-one left.

"This is not the natural progression for their civilisation." Michael finished, getting her point across. "General order one has already been broken, Starfleet could be in a unique position here to correct the tragedy or at least try to stem the damage."

"Agreed." Pike nodded then looked over at Zak and Ravok, who looked like they were about done with their conversation. "Do you think we have a chance of synthesising a cure based on what you saw?"

"I can't be certain but yes, I believe it is well within our capabilities."

Right that settled it, his main priority now was convincing the kids to let a medical team down here, and get these nooses from around these kid's necks. Zak and Ravok suddenly looked at them and began to walk over.

"Your orders Captain?" Michael asked quickly.

"We tell them the truth, and hopefully they'll believe it." Ravok and Zak reached them so they fell silent and waited for the inevitable questions.

"I hope you've got some better answers for us." Ravok threatened.

He knelt on the ground between Pike and Michael and stared at them both sternly. "Now, I'll ask you again. Where are you from?" Chris opened his mouth to answer until Ravok held up the phaser and pointed it at his head. "And if you say out of town again this will be a very short conversation."

Pike gulped nervously he could see the threat was credible. "We're not from out of town." He admitted. "We're from the stars; another planet actually."

Chris waited for his words to land. These kids should theoretically have no problem with believing in aliens; their society was already well into short range space travel and the visitors who started the plague were aliens. Still his words did bring a bucket load of disbelief.

Ravok smiled then he grinned and then he laughed, which set off a chain reaction until most of the room was laughing. He studied Pike again and his smile fell off his face slowly when he noticed his captive's serious expressions; his head tilted to the side curiously. "Wait, wait. You're serious aren't you?"

Pike nodded. "Yes." Ravok was verging on the edge of disbelief and Pike noticed the phaser coming up so he spoke quickly. "We know your civilisation knew about space travel, about other planets and had dreams of travelling the stars. Our people had the same dream centuries ago."

Ravok seemed to be listening more intently but Pike could see he still had a long way to go. "How else do you explain our advanced equipment? The fact that we're full grown adults yet we haven't been struck down by the virus here, the fact that we had no idea what happened here without looking at records, no idea that it was just kids down here and we have no idea who these reapers are." Pike took a breath. "The simple truth is we're not from this planet, we never have been."

Things were silent for a while, and Ravok started to consider the information. He glanced from the phaser in his hands to the communicators and tricorders lying in the corner. Eventually he addressed Pike again. "Say I believe all of this, which I'm not saying I do, why are you here?"

"To answer that I'll need to tell you a bit more about who we are, and what we represent."

Ravok gestured with open arms. "We're all ears."

Pike did just that. He told the kids the story of Earth and how they as a civilisation reached for the stars. He told them of their explorer's spirit, of how they created their first space ship that broke the warp barrier and how they found out there were others out there in the universe. He told them of Starfleet, of the federation, of Discovery and their crew. He told them all his and Burnham's real names, introducing themselves as Captain and Commander of the federation of planets.

He told them all about the surveyors who saw their planet 10 years earlier, and that Starfleet kept track of planets that were reaching into space to hopefully one day make contact. He told them that when Discovery had seen the planet looked desolate, and when they found no life signs they were concerned. It didn't line up with what should have happened and what the planet had been heading towards.

Which was why teams came down to check out the situation for themselves. They tried to find what could cause 10 million people to just vanish, and because there had been no life signs from orbit they hadn't expected to find anyone let alone kids. They also hadn't expected to find out that a vicious virus that had caused the mass-extinction event was still at play.

Chris went on to explain that Starfleet doesn't usually meddle in the natural progression of a planet or its people, it was their number one rule. But this clearly wasn't the natural progression; because of a terrible accident their future and potential had been eradicated.

The kids all listened to his story intently. He studied their reactions as he spoke and noticed some of the kids were sold on the idea of space and had looks of awe and wonder sprawled across their faces; others looked completely suspicious and were taking the words in with a grain of salt like Ravok. Zak had a far away look in his eyes every time Chris mentioned anything to do with space or other worlds; it was the first time Pike had seen him look like a proper kid and not this hardened killer he had supposedly turned into.

When Chris finished his story the room fell silent and the kids took a moment to take the overload of information in. Eventually Ravok formulated a question. "So you're like the military in space?"

Seriously, that's what he got from all that, like that's the first thing that came to mind?

"We're explorers first." Chris reaffirmed adamantly.

Ravok turned the phaser over in his hand. "Yet you carry weapons."

Chris sighed wearily, Ravok had completely missed the point of what the federation stood for and what they did, he had focussed purely on the weapons. Maybe he had been fighting a war too long down here. "Not everyone in the universe is friendly." Chris eventually admitted, staring at the weapon in Ravok's hands pointedly. "We defend ourselves when necessary."

"So you mean you'd like to be explorers first, but really deep down you're soldiers like us. You have ranks, carry weapons, and are trained for combat." Ravok smiled at his own analysis; he enjoyed catching them out and making out that they were alike.

"We prepare for the worst."

"Hmmm." Ravok did not sound or look convinced but he let the matter drop. He glanced from the weapon to the communicator. "You said you were a Captain, does that make you the boss?"

Chris didn't know what Ravok was getting at here. "I'm in command."

Ravok's smile grew. "And your ship has more of these weapons?"

Dammit. Why did things always go back to weapons and killing?

"That's not the kind of help we're offering." Pike retorted and his friendly attitude vanished. "What we can do is get a medical team down here, and look into curing the virus that you all carry."

There were low murmurs after his declaration which told him he had got most of the room's attention, they were afraid to die underneath all the bravado and hardened attitudes. "I've had a chance to look at the records here and I think we have a good chance of making a cure for all of you." Michael added.

Ravok shook his head vehemently and got to his feet. "We don't need your make-believe help. We need powerful weapons to defend ourselves."

Pike wanted to knock these kids heads together until they understood what was really important here. "Don't you get it? You don't have to die when you reach adulthood anymore." He addressed the question to the entire room and tried to get his point across about the virus. Sadly not many looked convinced least of all Ravok. Perhaps fear was the way to break through their stubbornness. "How long have you got left?"

Ravok's expression fell and his face turned stony and cold. "Long enough to do what I need to do." He replied and began to effectively shut down the conversation on medical help. "Your medicine is a fantasy to us. What's real in the here and now is the threat of reapers."

Ravok collected the communicator from the pile of tech and walked back over to Pike. "We need more of these weapons and you're going to get them for us." He held out the communicator. "Tell me how we contact this ship of yours."

Chris eyed the communicator and the aggravated person holding it, and he wondered how he was going to break the news gently. "Even if I ask for weapons they won't send any down."

Ravok smirked. "And why wouldn't they? You said you were in command."

"We have rules Ravok. Our ship will never send weapons down here, not under any circumstance." He made sure to look Ravok in the eye and held his gaze; he needed him to understand this was an immovable point.

Ravok picked up on the seriousness of the Captain's promise, and his smile disappeared as he started to think that just maybe he wouldn't get what he wanted. His confidence fell until he noticed the weapon still held in his hand. Chris watched the determination return and soon enough the phaser was held up against his head threateningly.

"I think they will if they know your situation." Ravok sneered.

Pike kept his outward expression calm despite the circumstance, his answer still hadn't changed and it never would. "They won't."

Ravok's expression morphed again. His nostrils flared and he thrust his chest out angrily. He entered Pike's personal space even more than before and bared his teeth as he let his fury take over. Ravok pressed the phaser against the Captain's forehead until his head could move no further, it was pinned between the beam and the weapon. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Pike's levity evaporated when he looked into Ravok's eyes and saw a hardened resolve there; he saw that the kid was preparing himself to do this and pull the trigger. He was preparing to murder and by the trembling of his arm, and the twitching of his finger, Chris could see he was struggling not to fire the weapon.

Suddenly a bird whistle echoed along the corridor. Pike's heart shot into his mouth at the sound and the resultant flinch from Ravok. The interruption had almost caused Ravok to pull the trigger purely out reflex, Chris was trying to come to terms with the fact that he had just narrowly escaped death and that he was continuing to do so with each successive second. He was sure Ravok was right on the edge of shooting him, it sure looked like he wanted to.

Soon a grimy faced teenager burst into the room. "Ravok! We've seen reapers in our quadrant!" He yelled breathlessly, the kids chest was heaving like he'd sprinted the whole way here.

Ravok kept the phaser firmly in place but frowned and glanced over his shoulder when he heard his name; he took one look at the newcomer and after the information began to sink in his frown and anger only seemed to grow exponentially. Ravok glanced down at the phaser in his hands and then at his two captives. Chris waited on tenter hooks but noticed that Ravok's finger was moving away from the trigger, it looked like his rage was being moved from them to his real enemy: the reapers.

Ravok suddenly broke out in a feral grin and he removed the weapon from the Captain's head; he glanced around at the crowd and looked almost giddy with excitement. "Well I suppose we can put these to good use."

Chris had only just breathed a sigh of relief for surviving the tense moment, but now Ravok was talking about killing what were presumably other kids with his weapon. He couldn't let this happen, phasers were fatal and by the looks of the primitive weapons this planet had access to were worlds ahead of anything anyone else would have. Ravok could start a massacre. "No, wait!" He called out desperately, his mind still spinning.

Without missing a beat Ravok hefted his phaser and slammed it into the Captain's head. "Shut-up."

Pike grunted with the blow and his head thudded back against the beam doubling the assault and misery from the initial strike. His vision flashed white with each contact and he honestly thought for a moment he was going to pass out; grey spots appeared at the edge of his vision and the thudding drums started in earnest within his mind. He concentrated on breathing in and out until the searing pain subsided and the drums reduced to a less agonising level, eventually he felt like he could at least think again so he blearily opened his eyes.

The first person he saw was Michael who was shooting him a concerned glance, her eyebrows knitted together and her head tilted as she sought to make strong eye contact. Chris waved off her concern as he did earlier and turned his attention to the ongoing train-wreck. Ravok had completely ignored his outburst and was already busy gathering together a group of boys who were listening in on the scout's info.

"Zak give Soker your weapon." Ravok ordered, Zak didn't look too happy to be giving up the phaser but relented easily enough.

"Soker, Azak, Xeon. With me." Ravok demanded with haste; clearly he was eager to get out and try out the new weapons.

When they were all suited up with weapons Ravok led the four boys out out of the underground, turning back over his shoulder to give one final order. He pointed at Pike and Burnham. "Don't let them out of your sight."

Pike and Michael felt self conscious as all the boys stared at them; the few with weapons tensed automatically but stayed well back. Chris was interested in one kid only, Zak. He was second in command and had to be the one he and Michael worked on; they'd already been building a rapport. He was someone that could be persuaded to let them help, Ravok was not.

The problem was after seeing Zak's submissive behaviour earlier it was clear he wouldn't stand against the alpha easily, which may prove to be quite a problem. They had thought dealing with Zak was difficult but Ravok? This was turning out to be an uphill battle. And now there was even more violence; more killing. Their arrival here had only served to give these kids more weapons; it really couldn't gave gone much worse.