Just because it was a simple away mission to collect data on indigenous life on the small planet didn't mean that Bones wasn't wary. In fact, he was more alert than usual. It was always on the missions where it seemed that nothing could go wrong that everything went to hell in a hand basket.

The science officers were crawling all over the place, beside themselves at the sight of some new prickle bush. Bones failed to see the interest. The thing was probably bursting with some kind of poison that boiled blood or a pollen that ate flesh. Such was their luck.

Spock was popping around with more energy than Bones had ever seen. He was completely enamoured with these new discoveries, muttering longwindedly under his breath. Bones just stood with a hypo in his hand, ready as he could be for whatever shit this planet decided to throw at them.

At Spock's louder than usual proclamation of "Fascinating," Jim grinned and motioned towards the Vulcan with his head. He and Bones walked off to find the first officer. Bones bitched as they scurried up and over a log, dropping down in mud on the other side.

"What'd you got, Mr. Spock," Jim asked.

Spock glanced up from where he was crouching next to a packed down heap of leaves and twigs. There were a few rodent skeletons littering the area, along with broken shards of what might have once been eggs. As Spock began some shpeal about the layout of the nest, other science officers began to loiter.

"This is most interesting, Captain," Spock went on. "You will notice the markings that have been left on this section of fallen bork tree. Whatever creature did this had enormous claws, similar to that of large Terran predatory aves, such as the eagles. But this creature's size if significantly larger."

"Great," Bones muttered. "Ok, everyone, we're looking for Big Bird."

"Please, doctor," Spock said. "That is illogical. The character of Big Bird is simply a fictional character created in the twentieth century as a means to educate young Terrans through a television program."

Bones narrowed his eyes. He had a daughter. He knew what Big Bird was.

Spock turned back towards the marks that had been left in the wood. "Perhaps a pterodactyl," he muttered. Jim looked around the forest, squinting up into the trees. The look on his face clearly indicated that his thoughts on finding an animal resembling the extinct pterosaur could be summed up with a single word: awesome.

A search of the area wielded no results, and Jim was nearly as disappointed as the science team. Scotty sent them a message with a warning that a storm was coming their way, the scanners indicating that it would hit within ten minutes.

Jim called for the team's attention. "OK, people, you have five minutes. You better wrap that shit up."

Bones rolled his eyes, and Spock's brow gave that odd little twitch that was reserved solely for his exasperation with the captain. "I believe what the Captain means to say is that we will be beaming up to the ship in five minutes, so please come to a finishing point in your scans and collections."