Deneva
by Starsinger
Here it is, the explanation chapter. What happened on Deneva. For those Trekkies out there, this will be a derivation of TOS episode "Operation: Annihilate!" Little changes have been made for the fact that Kirk et al are not out there on the USS Enterprise desperately trying to save Peter's and the rest of Deneva's populations lives. Everyone else, insert Kirk, Spock and friends into the roles of Pike and the rest of the crew for pretty much how the episode went. If you're a fan of Stargate SG-1, yes, there is an episode very similar to this one in the series. This one came first, by about thirty years, maybe forty. Cookies for any Trekkies who can guess where I got the name of the ship. Don't own any of them.
Professor Simon taught the Ethics class the semester for second year cadets, and she was a kind woman who knew what she was up against in this class. Deneva was a recent and very sore subject. She also knew there were several cadets who had family on Deneva, some of their family died. She also knew that at least one cadet was caring for children left behind by family. This was also the first time in the year since Deneva happened that they would be able to discuss Deneva. The facts were pretty basic.
"Captain Christopher Pike, commanding the USS Hundley, was following a strange series of events. Over the course of several centuries, planets with major civilizations in a certain pattern had gone completely mad and been wiped out," Simon clicked the viewer. It showed a definite pattern to the planets. "Now, there were several planets with inhabitants that were en route of this pattern, including Deneva. Several weeks before, Starfleet had received a strange communique from Deneva that included a woman laughing hysterically, telling them that they were all mad. The woman was later identified as Aurelan Kirk, wife of Dr. George Samuel Kirk. Known as Sam to his friends and family, Sam and his wife lived on Deneva with their four children and sister-in-law, Ekaterina," Jim swallowed hard. He felt a hand creep into his on his left and an arm touch his shoulder on his right. He smiled gratefully at Gloria and Bones.
"So, Captain Pike went to Deneva. Upon arrival, they encountered a ship that was heading straight for the local primary. The pilot shouted that he wanted to be free. Just before the ship succumbed to the heat of the sun, he shouted that it was gone, he was finally free. Understandably perplexed, Pike attempted to have his communications officer, Tawney, contact the planet. No one answered. They beamed down to the planet to be attacked by a group of men wielding weapons and warning them away. Their actions and their words at complete odds to each other that Pike and his away team were forced to stun them. They found the Kirk household and found Aurelan and Peter Kirk still alive. Aurelan was screaming, and holding a vent cover in her hands, looking as if she was trying to keep something out. The other inhabitants were either missing or dead."
Simon paused and looked sympathetically at the back of the room, her eyes meeting with Kirk's. "I know this is difficult for some of you to hear. Some of you lost family on Deneva," several cadets refused to meet her eyes. "Peter and Aurelan were transported back to the Hundley's sick bay while the bodies of the other members of the Kirk family were put in cold storage. Dr. Puri could only determine that something was causing them great pain, and kept both of them under sedation. Aurelan was fighting the sedation, and tried to warn them about what was going on down on the planet, but died before they could understand."
Simon sighed, "They returned to the surface of the planet and inside one of the buildings found a horde of single-celled organisms. One of them attached themselves to the back of Science Officer Segorn, of Vulcan, and was successfully removed before they beamed up to the Hundley. Dr. Puri discovered that the creature had physically attached itself to the Vulcan's spinal chord and was controlling the officer. He attempted to remove the creature, only to have Segorn nearly die on him. The extent of the control of the creature was not realized until Segorn tried to take over the ship and beam the creatures on board for a visit to the next planet. He was stunned.
"Through investigation of the creatures they discovered that they had a hive mind, they came from another reality entirely, and they were resistant to phaser fire. After an experiment that left Segorn temporarily blind, they also discovered that they were vulnerable to Ultraviolet light. They treated Peter with just the UV light, and it left him free of the creature. They were subsequently able to use the satellites surrounding the planet to direct the Ultraviolet light so that it destroyed the creatures but did not harm any other inhabitants of the planet.
"These are the bare facts of what happened," Simon said. "They do not cover the fact that the planet checked in every two weeks, as required since Tarsus IV, in spite of there being evidence that these creatures invaded eight months before. It also doesn't show that most of the inhabitants' memories are wiped for most of this time. Yes, Dr. Kirk?"
"My niece and nephew, Penny and Peter, they're starting to remember bits and pieces of it," Jim quiet replied.
"Huh, this is recent?" Simon asked. Kirk nodded. "Thank you, Cadet. Also, of the 25,000 inhabitants, about half were either dead or missing. We'll talk about recent developments regarding the missing in the next class. Peter now lives with his uncle, and other orphans were found homes on Deneva, or placed with relatives elsewhere. The only humans who weren't affected were the very young. Documents suggest they were removed from their families and placed elsewhere to await a coming of age. Many of these children have never been found."
Simon paused, "Now, I want all of you to think about this and what we might have been able to do differently. Remember, Archeologists had just begun to discover this pattern when Deneva occurred. There might have been nothing that could have been done to stop it. I want each of you to analyze the data we have, and come to your own conclusions. The next class, we'll here from Captain Pike about what he saw on Deneva. Class dismissed."
Jim stood, taking a deep breath while several other cadets stood talking, clumped together. Deneva was such a recent tragedy that everyone knew someone who was touched by it. "Are you okay?" Gloria asked.
"Yes, and no," Jim whispered. He took a deep hitching breath, "We need to get to our next classes." Gloria nodded. Jim would deal with this in his own way. He knew where to find her if he needed her.
Well, what do you think? This is the bare bones of the story. Although Starfleet wasn't alerted to the problem by a random "phone call". The Enterprise was worried because Jim hadn't been in contact with Sam for a while, and he wanted to know if he was alright. Tough chapter to write, really.