A/N: new chappie! enjoy!
Chapter 7: Kalos
"Come along, lass," Scotty called, hurrying down the hall with Akiko trailing behind him, trying to buckle her belt around her waist over her shirt while walking. "Don't have all day, and the captain insisted ye be part of the away team."
"Why?" Akiko wondered, catching up with him but still wrestling with her belt.
"Don't know, Sparky," he shrugged and slung his arm around her shoulders. "But I'll be glad to have ye there. Havin' an extra pair of hands to help me out is gonna be very nice indeed."
"I'll do whatever you need me to, Sir," Akiko grinned.
"I believe ye will," he smirked, tousling her hair a bit and making her giggle as they reached the transporter room and walked in to find the rest of the team there already. Seeing Jacqueline she frowned, but said nothing as she approached her, still trying to clip her belt on.
"Surprised to see me?" Jacqueline smirked, reading her frown.
"A little," Akiko admitted. "What are you doing here?"
"Another one of the Captain's bright ideas," the ensign replied, not caring if he heard the sarcasm in her tone or not then frowned at her friend, still trying to put on her belt. "What's the matter with you?"
"I can't get my belt on!" Akiko grumbled. "Apparently, I have butterfingers today."
"Allow me to assist you."
Both girls jumped with a start when Spock stepped up next to Akiko and examined the clip of the belt she still held around her waist.
"The belt is upside down," he explained, moving her hands away to take it and flip it around, never losing his stoic countenance, even as he had to nearly wrap both his arms around her waist to pull the belt back onto her. Akiko stared at him with wide eyes and glanced around to make sure no one else in the room was watching as he clipped the thing and nodded.
"Th-Thank you," she muttered, adjusting it as he placed his hands behind his back.
"You are quite welcome, Miss Suzuki," he nodded before turning to step onto the pad where the others were waiting and Akiko followed with Jacqueline smirking at her. The lieutenant glanced at her friend as they both took their places and frowned.
"What?" she clipped.
"Is it just me, or is it a little warmer in here?" Jacqueline smirked and Akiko looked away from her amused look.
"It's you."
"I dunno. You're cheeks are pretty red."
"Shut up."
"Energize," Kirk ordered once he took his place with the team, and they were all beamed to the surface of Kalos.
Once on the ground, Sulu, Kirk, and Jacqueline drew their phasers, looking around for any signs of danger as McCoy, Spock and Scotty pulled out their tri-corders, scanning for anything biological, chemical or electronic. Akiko could only stare in awe at her surroundings. Kalos' surface was rocky desert, yet its sky was blue and cloudless. A few plants, bushes really, grew here and there among the rocks, but other than that, no life to speak of, that they saw.
"I'm picking up life signs," McCoy reported and Kirk stepped closer to the doctor, his phaser still drawn.
"Which way, Bones?" he asked.
"Straight ahead," McCoy replied, and the team slowly made their way through the rocks, Kirk and McCoy leading the way with Jacqueline behind them, Scotty following her, Akiko and Spock trailing after him and Sulu bringing up the rear, all still scanning or their phasers still drawn. "Just down this trail we just found."
"Lieutenant Suzuki," Spock called and she spun around to see him crouching next to one of the bushes under the rocks. "If I could have your assistance?"
"Don't go too far," Kirk called when he looked back and noticed Akiko hurrying toward the Commander. "We should stay together."
"We'll only be a moment, Captain," Spock assured him.
"Sulu, stay with them," the captain ordered and he nodded, stepping toward the two examining the bush. "When they're done, contact me and I'll give you our location."
"Aye, Sir," Sulu replied and stood next to the rock Spock and Akiko were kneeling next to before Kirk and the rest of them continued following McCoy.
"What is it, Commander?" Akiko asked as he ran his tri-corder over the bush.
"I'd like to collect a sample of this plant to analyze back on the ship," Spock explained, handing her his tri-corder. "If you could hold this for a moment?"
Akiko nodded as she took the tri-corder from him and watched him reach into the pocket on his belt to pull out a small clear tube and a small pair of clippers. He held the tube under one of the tiny branches of the bush, clipped it off, and it fell into the tube perfectly. He quickly sealed it as he stood, Akiko standing with him and he placed the things back into the belt before taking his tri-corder back from Akiko.
"Alright, Mr. Sulu," Spock nodded that he was done and Sulu nodded, pulling out his communicator to talk to Kirk as they headed in the direction he'd seen them disappear, Spock and Akiko trailing behind. "I apologize if this adventure has disturbed anything you had planned."
Akiko looked up at him with a frown before assuring him, "I only had my work in engineering."
"Still," he insisted. "I tried to convince the captain that you were not needed. I am sure you have work that must be done."
"Scotty gives me my work," Akiko replied watching her step. "I'm just waiting for orders from him now while we're here. It's no different from being on the ship, except for the fact that we're on a planet. I'm glad to get off the ship, as much as I enjoy being on the Enterprise." She looked up at him with a frown again and asked, "Why would you try to talk the captain out of bringing me along?"
"I simply did not wish any complications to arise by having two cadets with us on an away mission," Spock replied, instantly…almost too instantly. "He wished to bring Ensign Fabian along as well, as you can see."
"Well, some things can't be learned being cooped up on a starship," Akiko shrugged, watching her step again. "That's probably what the captain had in mind when he thought of bringing us along."
"But anything could go wrong at any moment," Spock murmured, not really wanting Akiko to hear it but she did anyway and looked up at him with a frown.
"We're almost there---Look out!"
Spock looked up behind Akiko as Sulu shouted just in time to grab her by the arm and pull her out of the way of a huge rock tumbling down one of the masses she stood next to. She gave a small scream as he backed away from the boulder that tumbled across the trail they were on, dividing them from Sulu for a split second before it settled a few feet from the trail, kicking up dust in its wake.
"You two alright?!" Sulu called, waving the thick dust from his sight.
"We are not hurt, Mr. Sulu," Spock called back.
Akiko coughed from the dust and happened to look up at him to find his arms around her, making her heart skip. When he'd pulled her away, she'd rammed into him as he backed away from the boulder's path and shielded her from any flying debris that could have kicked up and hurt her. Now she swallowed as their gazes locked but a hand flew to her mouth to smother a gasp when she saw a trail of green blood sliding down the side of his face.
"Are you unharmed?" he wondered, almost sounding concerned.
"Yes, but…your head," she murmured, lifting a hand to wipe away the trail with her finger tips as he lowered his arms from around her but they still stood close. "You're bleeding."
"I must have been struck by a small stone, or perhaps even a twig," he theorized. "Even small things, with the proper momentum, can be harmful."
"Exhibit A," Akiko retorted, holding up her fingers, now coated in green blood.
"You guys alright---? Whoa. Spock, you're bleeding," Sulu noticed as he hurried toward the two.
"So Miss Suzuki pointed out," Spock replied. "Other than this small cut, I am unhurt, as is the Lieutenant."
"That's a relief," Sulu nodded. "Let's get you to the Doc anyway and have him patch you up. They're not far from here."
"Lead the way, Mr. Sulu," Spock nodded, and he and Akiko followed Sulu toward the rest of the away team.
"That was really odd," Akiko murmured and Spock tilted his head to her as they continued walking.
"What was odd, Miss Suzuki?" he asked, making her jump with a start and look at him with a small frown.
"You don't find that strange that that rock just came rolling down that mass from out of nowhere?" she wondered and Spock stopped, making her stop next to him as he looked back on the place the rock had come from. He seemed to be in thought and only when he looked back at her did she ask, "You didn't see anything?"
"No," he replied, and he seemed to still be thinking before he turned back to stare at the mass. "Nor did I see anyone. This planet is void of life, save the Starfleet personnel that have crashed here."
"So unless someone from the crash decided they didn't want our help, there must be something living here," Akiko thought aloud and Spock glanced around before stepping closer to her.
"That would explain why my tri-corder had a slight…glitch," he murmured, drawing her attention to him and she frowned at him.
"A glitch?" she echoed and he nodded.
"The instant we were beamed here, when I began my scan, my tri-corder made a slight indication that some sort of life form was near, but it instantly disappeared, as if the form had blended into our surroundings," Spock explained, neither one of them willing to move from their positions of close proximity as she still frowned at him. "Perhaps, we could not find any life forms, because they blend into their surroundings, taking on the consistency and appearance of what is around them?"
"That's…logical," Akiko nodded. "But if that were true, then---"
"Akiko!" Sulu's voice came from her communicator. "Spock! Where are you?!"
Akiko pulled her communicator from her belt and opened it to speak into it, but before she could say anything, she was yanked her right just as another boulder came hurling at them from the mass behind her. She dropped her communicator as Spock started dragging her back down the trail as the rocks around them started to tumbling toward them, following them as they ran.
"What's going on?!" Akiko called, shielding her eyes from the dirt flying around them.
"Keep running!" Spock shouted over the rumbling sound of the rocks.
They ran until the ground suddenly gave way beneath their feet and Akiko screamed as they began falling in darkness. She landed onto a dirt floor on her back with a grunt which was accompanied by a deeper grunt as she felt something land on top of her and she coughed from the dust kicking up around them, still in darkness, the light from the hole now ten feet above their heads the only light. She squinted, forcing her eyes to adjust to the dim light and gasped when she came face to face with Spock.
"Are you hurt?" he instantly asked and she could only shake her head before he nodded and quickly stood, his face never breaking its stoic expression. "Take my hand."
Akiko grasped the hand he offered to her and he attempted to help her up, but when she slid her left foot under her to stand, a flaring pain sprung into it and she jerked it out from under her, landing on her rear again with a small cry of pain as Spock gave her a small frown.
"My ankle," she explained. "I guess I sprained it."
The small room they found themselves in suddenly began shaking and Spock quickly knelt down to lift Akiko into his arms and started toward a dark space ahead of him. Akiko quickly rummaged through the pouch on her belt and pulled out a light to lightening their path. They were enveloped in a hall, which was also rumbling and Spock continued running until they reached a fork in the tunnel.
"Which way?" he asked.
"How the hell should I know?" she shot back. "Left!"
Spock turned to head down the tunnel to the left, but it caved in, blocking that path.
"Ok, right!" Akiko suggested and Spock instantly started down the tunnel to their right. He kept running and once again, the ground seemed to disappear from under his feet. This time, he landed onto a dirt floor on his back, still holding Akiko as they both gave grunts on impact. The shaking stopped, and the only light around them came from Akiko's little light.
"Sorry," she groaned in pain as she sat up and on the ground next to Spock.
"Your landing on me was unavoidable," he strained, sitting up as well as Akiko shined her light around them.
"More stone walls," she reported, looking around. "But they seem…different. Closer, I guess would be the word." She scanned over another wall and froze, realizing it wasn't rock or stone. "Spock," she called, cautiously. "This wall has a glare."
"It's glass," he noticed, sliding directly next to her, but neither one of them stood as she didn't lower her light from the glass wall in front of them.
A face suddenly appeared in the beam of her light and she screamed with a start, dropping her light and scrambling backward until she was met by an obstacle behind her. Spock instantly pulled an arm around her as she turned into him out of fear. Lights suddenly illuminated the small room the two were in making Akiko wince at the instant brightness while Spock only lowered his head to avoid it.
"They are two different species," a voice from the other side of the glass rasped, making the Commander and Cadet look up through the glass, but they only saw darkness.
"Does it matter?" another voice rasped as well. "The Vulcan will provide strength and intelligence while the Human will provide substantial entertainment, even if the female is of no use for anything else but that and breeding."
"Oh, hell no!" Akiko snapped, trying to stand and rush the glass but Spock held her back firmly, his arm still around her shoulders. "Spock! Let me go! I'm gonna kill 'em!"
"This is the reaction they were hoping for, Akiko," he murmured as the two mystery observers gave out wheezing, almost strained laughter. "Do not give them the satisfaction of a reaction."
"Didn't you hear---?!"
"I did," he cut in. "Your anger is understandable at their insult, but you must control it to conserve your energy."
"Energy?" she echoed, stopping her struggle from his grip. "Energy for what?"
He waited a moment, staring into the darkness beyond the glass of their cage as she looked up at him before he leaned his face next to her ear and whispered, "You must save your energy for our escape."
Meanwhile on the Surface...
"Captain!" Jacqueline called, kneeling next to a huge rock in the path, phaser in one hand, the other reaching for an open communicator on the ground as footsteps came rushing toward her.
"What is it, Jacque?" Kirk asked as he and the rest of the away team caught up with her.
"A communicator," Jacqueline replied, standing and showing it to them. "It's either Spock's or Akiko's."
"I thought they were right behind me!" Sulu ground out, snatching the com out of Jacqueline's hand. "They were right behind me!"
"Stop beating yourself up, Sulu," Kirk ordered. "It could have been anyone. It wasn't your fault." He looked to McCoy. "Picking up any life signs, Bones?"
"Nothing, Jim," McCoy replied with the shake of his head as he looked at his scanner.
"You think Scotty will be alright with the survivors?" Jacqueline asked Kirk who nodded.
"I'm more worried about where the hell my First Officer and his girlfriend went," Kirk replied, looking around at their surroundings. "Bones, go with Sulu and head west. Jacque and I'll head east. We'll have to start searching the hard way. Scan the perimeter."
"Aye, Captain," Sulu nodded as McCoy didn't look up from his scanner and started west with Sulu and Jacqueline stepped next to Kirk as he turned east.
"I hope Akiko's alright," she murmured as they began walking, both of them on full alert and gazing around. "She's not much of a fighter. I mean, she knows the basics, but she can't really fight well."
"She won't have to fight for herself," Kirk assured her, not looking at her. "Spock'll do that just fine."
"What makes you think the Snowman would come to her rescue without thinking it through, first?" Jacqueline retorted, glancing at him but quickly searching her surroundings again.
"Because he likes her," Kirk replied, searching as well. "He likes her a lot, whether he can admit it yet or not."
A/N: bum bum BUUUUUM! lol! ok, so i tried not to do it, but i couldn't resist. Spock and Akiko need a little alone time, don't you agree? anyway, i know what you're thinking: 'it's an alternate version of Star Trek TOS episode 16: the Managerie, right?!' Wrong! just wanted to make that clear. i'm trying to come up with new adventures since it IS an alternate reality, and i'm trying not to jack any plot lines from the show cause, where's the fun in that, right? reviews?
