Hello everyone! Okay, I lied, Environmental Controls is not the title of this chapter. I decided I needed to add some serious elements to keep things in character and move the story along, and the ideas I had rapidly grew from being one chapter long to three! Hence the very long delay in getting this up. That said, on with the fun!
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Pranks 4: Secret Schemes
Spock, being very efficient, did not require much time to come up with an excellent plan for his prank. It would not take long to complete, but he would require help and the right opportunity. He determined that Mr. Scott would be the best assistant and wasted no time in contacting him.
"Mr. Scott, this is Spock. "
"Scott here."
"Will you meet me in my quarters please?"
"Yes sir. I'll be right up." Scotty flipped the switch. "What the devil does he want?" he wondered. "He's never asked me to come to his quarters before." Despite his confusion, Scotty did not delay and soon found himself inside the Vulcan's private quarters. "You rang sir?"
"Yes. Mr. Scott, I require your assistance in a human custom known as a prank."
"A prank, sir?" said Scotty, not believing his ears.
"Yes. It has come to my attention that when one is pranked, it is customary to prank back. In order to uphold my end of the custom, I find it necessary to switch the environmental controls of Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy. It is in this, that I need your assistance."
"You mean to say, sir, that the Captain and Dr. McCoy pranked you?" asked Scotty, still in disbelief at what he was hearing.
"Yes. They attached female tags to all my clothing, leading me to believe that I was, as you humans say, 'cross dressing.' I did not discover the truth until a few days after the tags appeared."
"They made you believe you were wearing female clothing, sir?" said Scotty, outraged. "Aye, I can see why you want to get them back! What do you need me to do?"
"The plan is as follows..."
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A few hours later, Spock sat at his station executing a routine scan. His part of the plan was complete. Mr. Scott now just had to find a good moment to finish setting up the prank. Then something caught his eye, interrupting his train of thought. "Captain, I'm getting energy and motion sensor readings," Spock told him. "Based on previous experience, it could be a cloaked ship of either Klingon or Romulan origin."
"All decks go to yellow alert. Repeat: All decks go to yellow alert," ordered Captain Kirk.
"All decks on alert, sir," said Lieutenant Uhura.
"Reading shows the ship is closing, Captain, on an intercept course. I believe they mean to attack."
"Red alert, all decks red alert," amended the Captain. "Shields up, Mr. Sulu."
"Shields are up, Captain," responded Sulu.
"Have phasers standing by," continued the Captain.
"Phasers standing by," informed Chekov.
"They'll have to de-cloak to fire. Status of the reading, Mr. Spock?"
"Still closing. Still on intercept course, bearing 114, mark 2."
"Put it on screen. Uhura, try to contact them."
The screen ahead showed empty space, but everyone knew better.
"Captain, no response on all frequencies," stated Uhura.
"They are now within firing range, Captain," announced Spock.
The vessel finally appeared on the screen. It was Klingon!
For a split second, Jim remembered his dream and wished getting rid of them would be that simple.
"They are powering up their weapons, Captain!" said Spock.
"Lock phasers on target!" ordered Kirk.
"Phasers locked," assured Sulu.
That moment, the Klingons fired at them. The blast shook the ship hard.
"Fire all weapons!" ordered Kirk.
"Weapons firing!" stated Chekov.
"Shields holding," said Spock. "I'm getting another reading. Another ship approaching, most likely another Klingon vessel."
"Evasive maneuvers! Sulu, get us out of here!"
"Yes, Captain," said Sulu.
The Klingon's shields absorbed most of their shots and took minor damage. Then the Klingons fired again.
"Shields down to 40%, Captain!" informed Spock. "A few more hits and our shields will be gone entirely. The second ship still closing."
"Fire!" ordered Jim. They fired again.
"We don't have enough power to fire again, Captain," stated Spock.
Jim flipped the communication switch. "Scotty, can you give us any more power?"
"No captain, she doesn't have any more!" said Scotty.
The Klingons fired once more. The entire ship shook and a few people fell from their seats.
"The second ship is now in firing range, Captain," Spock announced. "One more hit and our shields will be gone."
The second ship de-cloaked in just that moment and fired. The shot clearly blasted away the last of their shields, and everyone fell out of their seats.
"Shields are gone, Captain!" said Spock. Jim met his eyes. Were they about to be finished?
"Damage report!" said Kirk, determined to hold out until the end. Seeing Spock doing so gave him much strength, and once more he found himself appreciating his best friend.
"Several lower decks were hit, sir. Our phasers, shields and warp drive are currently inoperable. Repair is possible but it will take some hours," stated Uhura.
"Hours that we don't have!" said Kirk. Seconds passed, and all was quiet. "How come they aren't finishing us off? The first ship might not be able to, but the second one is still in good condition. What's holding them back?"
"Unknown, captain. However, I am detecting a slight energy disturbance. Almost as if they were beaming something aboard this ship. However, it is so minute that I cannot be certain."
"Do you know the exact location of the beamed object?"
"Impossible to say for sure, but it seems to be on one of the lower decks."
"Captain," interrupted Uhura. "I'm picking up a coded message between the ships."
"Decode it immediately," ordered Kirk. "All decks alert. We may have a small object that was beamed aboard. Search and disable it immediately."
"Captain," said Spock, puzzlement coloring his voice for the first time. "The Klingons are warping away. Their course is 111 mark 4 and holding."
"But why?" wondered Kirk. "They had us between a rock and a hard place! They could have finished us off easily."
"The logical answer would lie in whatever they beamed aboard this ship."
Kirk acknowledged this with a glance, then flipped the intercom. "Security team. Progress report."
"We have found a PADD, sir, that seems to have a message on it from the Klingon commander. Nothing else out of the ordinary has been seen."
"Deliver it up here immediately!" ordered Kirk.
Two minutes later, a security man arrived on the lift and gave the PADD to the captain.
"Thank you. You may go," said Kirk, as he read the message. The man left. "It says here that they decided a quick death would be too kind a thing to give to us after what we did to them. They wish us to have a taste of our own medicine and have beamed it aboard the ship along with this PADD. They say that we'll be wishing we had those horrible furry creatures back when we discover their surprise. Mr. Spock, do an analysis on this PADD immediately. It's possible they may have hidden something inside."
"Yes, Captain," Spock agreed obediently, and took the device from him to his science station for a complete examination.
"Captain, I've decoded the message," said Uhura. "The Klingon commander was informing the other ship that the mission had been accomplished and to leave immediately."
"Thank you, Uhura," said Jim, relief finally sinking in. They weren't out of the woods yet, since the gift the Klingons had left would likely be very unpleasant. But at least they were out of immediate danger.
"Captain," said Spock. "I can find nothing out of the ordinary about this PADD, except for the fact that it has an extra compartment 2 square inches in size, programmed to open at approximately 3.4 seconds after it beamed aboard. There is every indication that it opened successfully. Whatever was inside is now loose aboard the ship."
"Thank you, Mr. Spock." He flipped the intercom. "All decks alert. Be on the alert for a tiny object or objects potentially harmful and unpleasant. Inform me immediately of any findings. Kirk out." Jim turned towards Spock. "Well, Mr. Spock, any theories?"
"There is not enough data to point to any one possibility," answered Spock. "It could be anything from a virus, to an insect, to a strange electronic device, to an infinity of unknowns."
"Well, we've done all we can do here, until our security team finds something," mused the Captain. After this stressful situation, he felt he needed to step back and regroup. "Mr. Spock, would you be interested in dining with me in my quarters while we wait for news?"
"I would be delighted, Captain," said Spock.
"Chekov, take over the Science station. Sulu, you have the conn."
The two friends left the bridge. Jim was glad Spock had agreed to this. There was something reassuring about having him at his side. He could always depend on his best friend.
They sat together at his large desk and ate in silence. At times like this, Jim wondered what was going through that brilliant mind of Spock's. Perhaps he was calculating the various things that could have been in that PADD. Or maybe he was calculating the nutritional substance of his food. Or - however unlikely it seemed to be, looking at his best friend's stoic face - possibly he was as shaken up about their near death experience as he had been? Being a veteran of those, he was good at controlling his reactions, but it did not make it any less stressful.
Spock, meanwhile, was not thinking any of those things. He was contemplating how the unfortunate events of the day would delay Mr. Scott in finishing the prank, which now the captain clearly needed. But the repairs the Enterprise needed were extensive, so it was likely that the engineer could not do his part until the next day. Depending on what the Klingons had beamed over, it might take even longer than that.
"Penny for your thoughts, Mr. Spock?" asked Jim.
Spock frowned in confusion. "Jim, pennies were discontinued in the late 21st century - "
Jim grinned. This was just what he needed - Spock being Spock. Everything was all right with the world. "It's an expression, Spock," Jim explained. "It means I would like to know what you are thinking."
"I am contemplating the approximate amount of time it will take to repair the ship - assuming, of course, that whatever the Klingons beamed aboard is not disruptive to the process."
"And what is the estimate?"
"Approximately 16.43 hours, Jim, to get the basic repairs completed."
Just then they were interrupted by the communicator. "Captain, we have searched the entire ship but do not see anything amiss."
"Very well. Keep on the lookout, and keep me informed. Kirk out."
Jim and Spock played a game of chess before going to bed. It had been a pleasant if somewhat tense evening as they waited for any news. Nobody got much sleep that night, as the promise of a slow death by the Klingons hung over their heads, cause yet unknown. It was a couple hours before dawn, when no one had reported in for awhile, that Jim finally fell asleep.
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I very much appreciate anyone who takes time to review! I hope I did okay with the battle scene, that sort of thing is not my specialty. The next couple chapters should be up much more quickly since they are mostly finished. The pranks will be back in Chapter 6.