Spock began calibrating his tricorder as soon as they were beamed to the planet's surface. The first wave included himself, Vivian, the Captain, Ensign Chekov, Yeoman Landon, and one of the security guards on duty. The second wave would be Doctor McCoy with three more guards.
"Let's get to work," Vivian said, turning on her own equipment as the second wave beamed down.
The Doctor looked around at the foliage and seemed less upset about his having to take the transporter, which he always made a scene over.
"Well, I just might stake out a claim and settle down here, Jamie."
"It is spectacular, isn't it?" the Captain said, smiling
"A shame to have to intrude."
"Well, the last scout ship reported some pretty strange sensor readings. Starfleet wants it investigated and the inhabitants contacted. We do what we're told."
Spock registered his readings, and reported, "The soil here is remarkably rich and fertile, Captain. Husbandry would be quite efficacious."
"You're sure?" Vivian asked, frowning at her own equipment.
"Oh, quite sure," Spock said, adjusting the meter on her tricorder, which had not been properly calibrated. "Readings indicate the entire planet is covered with growth like this. Curious, even at the poles, there's very little variation in temperature, which maintains a planet-wide average of seventy-six degrees."
"I know," the Captain said, smiling. "Almost impossible."
"It makes me homesick," Chekov said, lamenting. "Just like Russia."
Spock had never been to Russia, but this did not seem consistent with what he knew of its geography. He glanced at Vivian, whose amusement was obvious in the quirk of her eyebrows and the twitch of the corners of her lips.
"Or Eden," she offered.
"Of course, Counselor," Chekov said. "The Garden of Eden was just outside Moscow. A very nice place. It must have made Adam and Eve very sad to leave."
Vivian and the Captain exchanged amused glances, and the Captain said, "Just outside Moscow." She shook her head, checking her scanning equipment. "Alright. There's a village about seventeen kilometers away on bearing two-three-two. We'll head that way."
A plant seemed to turn toward them, actually shifting its own orientation, and Mr. Hendorff, one of the guards, approached it.
"Captain," he said.
Before he could say anything else, the plant fired its stamens at him, like darts, and they stuck into his chest. He fell to the ground.
The Doctor hurried over to him, leaning down, scanning him.
"Dead," he said.
"What did somebody say?" the Captain said through the tense silence that had fallen on the party. "That paradise must've looked like this?"
No one answered.
Counselor's Log, stardate 3715.3. A poisonous plant on unexplored Gamma Trianguli Six has killed one of the landing party. As always, grief counseling will surely follow.
The Captain was on her communicator to Mr. Scott, explaining the situation, and making arrangements for the body.
"As soon as we get out of the way," the Captain said, "beam the body up."
"Ay, Captain," Mr. Scott replied. "It's a shame about Hendorff. We seem to have a problem here, too."
"What is it?"
"We're losing potency in our antimatter pods. I don't think it's serious, but we're looking into it."
Vivian moved closer to the Captain, her shoulders tensing.
"Why?" she said.
"I'm not sure, sir," Mr. Scott answered, "but we've run measurements on the electromagnetic field of the planet, and they're a wee bit abnormal. That might have something to do with it."
This seemed a reasonable hypothesis to Spock, who was taking further readings of the soil, the trees, the flowers, attempting to ascertain just how dangerous Gamma Trianguli Six really was.
"But you say there's nothing to worry about?" the Captain asked, clarifying.
"Well, sir, I didn't exactly say that," Mr. Scott replied.
"Well, do what you can, Scotty," Vivian said after exchanging a look with the Captain. "We've got a mission to finish while you're at it."
"I hear it's nice down there."
The Captain smiled again for the first time since Hendorff's death, and she said, "Yeah, it's nice. If we're a little more careful, we shouldn't run into any more trouble."
"I could do with a nice walk in a garden with green leaves and grass."
"We'll do the walking, Scotty. You get on the antimatter pod. If it gets worse, let me know, we'll beam up. Kirk out."
As soon as her communicator snapped shut, Vivian said softly, "Feels wrong, something just…doesn't fit."
"Scotty will handle it," the Captain said, calmly dismissing Vivian's fears. "We've got a job to do." She turned to Spock and said, "Turn up anything on your tricorder?"
"Indeed," Spock said, still looking at the readings. "Subsurface vibrations for miles in all directions."
"That's strange."
"Quite strong, fairly regular, artificially produced."
Vivian's body tensed again at the word artificial, and she said sharply, "Mallory," calling over the most senior of the security team.
"Yes, sir?" Mallory said, reporting and standing at attention.
"We're heading for the village," the Captain said. "Avoid contact with the humanoids. I want you and Marple to make a full reconnaissance. And be careful. There may be other dangers besides poisonous plants. Keep in constant communication."
"Aye, aye, sir," Mallory said.
But Spock did not watch him leave. Instead, he was noticing something over Vivian's shoulder, something distinct but hidden very well. He turned his back to it and spoke levelly, showing Vivian his tricorder as though something important was on it.
"Captain," he said.
"What is it?" the Captain asked, looking down at the tricorder as Spock had hoped she would.
"There's a humanoid hiding directly behind us, moving with remarkable agility, bearing one-eight."
The Captain nodded to the remaining guard, and Spock, Vivian, and the Captain walked over to Chekov and the Yeoman.
"Act naturally, Chekov," Vivian said breezily, smiling at him.
"A visitor," Spock explained, although Chekov did not actively respond to her cryptic statement. "One wanting to retain his anonymity, I should say."
"All this beauty," the Yeoman said, nervously, "and now Mr. Hendorff is dead, somebody watching us. It's frightening."
Chekov put his hands on hers and said, "If you insist on worrying, worry about me. I've been wanting to get you in a place like this for a long time."
Spock glanced at Vivian, who seemed to be fighting amusement at the obvious mating rituals of their young companions, but the Captain did a better job of hiding her thoughts on the matter. She said, "Mr. Chekov, Yeoman Landon. I know you find each other fascinating, but we're not here to conduct a field experiment in human biology."
Mr. Chekov blushed and said quickly, "I was about to take some readings."
"Well?" Vivian asked the Captain, as she was the only one with her back completely to the one watching them.
"Whatever it is, it moves like a cat," the Captain muttered.
"Jamie, I don't like this," Doctor McCoy said, who had been standing nearby.
"Neither do I," she replied. She looked around at the group. "All hands." They gathered, and she lowered her voice. "We've been watched, we'll probably be watched. We're moving out. Formation L."
They moved in a single file, in accordance with Formation L, with the remaining guard in the front, Mr. Chekov taking up the rear. Yeoman Landon was up with Doctor McCoy, and then the Captain, then Vivian, with Spock following close between Vivian and Mr. Chekov. They walked for about thirty strides when Spock saw a very flat rock. He picked it up, turning it over in his hands as they walked.
"Interesting," he said, examining it. "Extremely low specific gravity, some uraninite, hornblend, quartz." Spock required little energy to break the rock in half. "Fragile, good cleavage. An analysis should prove interesting."
Requiring only one of the halves to continue that analysis, he tossed away the other half, not terribly far away from the line, and was startled when it exploded upon contact with the ground. Vivian leapt at the sound, her face the very picture of fear, an expression Spock had seen on her face more times than he would have liked.
"For goodness sake, you could have hit me!" she cried, very uncharacteristically. Spock realized she must have been especially tense after Mr. Hendorff's sudden death and their mystery tail.
"Apologies," Spock said, softly and sincerely, as she gathered herself. The whole line had come to a halt, and Spock held out the rock. "Obviously highly unstable, Captain," he reported. "This could be a find of some importance. In large quantities, it could be a considerable source of power."
Vivian had gone pale, and the Captain said, shaking her head, "Garden of Eden, with land mines."
Very gently, very carefully, Spock set the other half down on the side of the path, not wishing for a worse accident with the rock in question. Scientific curiosity was not worth the risk of it falling and actually hitting one of the party. A rock of its size would likely cause only minor damage, potentially even only cosmetic damage, but with instability that great Spock would take no chances.
They continued on their way, walking toward the village in silence, taking readings as they walked and attempting to be on alert.
/-/
Vivian wanted to go back to the ship, but she knew, as they walk through the deadly jungle, that the Captain would want to continue with the mission. Vivian wasn't sure when a risk became unacceptable on this count, but she supposed she would have to trust the Captain's judgment.
A communicator beeped, and the Captain pulled hers out, flipping it open and saying, "Kirk here."
"Scott, sir," Scotty's voice answered. "Our antimatter pods are completely inert." Vivian shivered. "I couldn't stop it, but I know why."
"Why, Scotty?" Vivian asked loudly.
"Something from the surface," he said. "It's like a pail of water on fire. A beam, maybe, or a transmission. And it's still on. I'm having it analyzed, but it's like nothing I've seen before. And it's pinpointed in the area of that village we located down there."
"We're heading there now, Scotty," the Captain said. "You need any help?"
"There's nothing you can do about it, sir. There doesn't seem to be any immediate danger."
"Alright, Scotty. We'll try and find out what's gone on down here. Kirk out."
When the communicator closed, Vivian said, "That might be connected with Spock's vibrations."
"Some kind of generator?" the Captain asked.
"It would have to be massive," Vivian said, brushing a strand of loose hair out of her face. Bones knelt to scan something, and Vivian and the Captain joined him.
"What's that?" the Captain asked.
"Some of the thorns like those that killed Hendorff," Bones said. "See the stuff on the end? It's like saplin, only it's a thousand times stronger."
Vivian shivered again. Saplin was a terribly dangerous poison.
"Peculiar stuff to find in paradise," the Captain said softly, and Vivian glanced down at the readout to verify the Doctor's findings.
Suddenly, she heard Spock cry out, "Vivian!" with more emotion than she'd ever heard from him, and his body collided with hers, pushing her out of the way, and consequently the Captain and Doctor as well. She watched with horror as the thorn shot out of the flower as they had at Hendorff, and they sunk straight into Spock's chest. He collapsed, and Vivian could feel her pulse in her throat, her ears, her temples.
"Spock?" she said, expecting him to open his eyes, maybe be groggy. Vulcans had a stronger physiology than humans after all. "Spock!" she screamed, as Bones knelt beside him taking scans. He wasn't moving.
"Is he okay?" she demanded. "Is he alive?"
Bones injected him with a hypospray as the corners of Vivian's vision began to blur.
"I filled him with enough Masiform-D to make the whole crew turn handsprings, and he's not responding," Bones said darkly, continuing to scan. "Got to get him to the ship, Jamie."
Vivian could feel her hands trembling, but she didn't bother to contain them as the Captain said, "Kirk to Enterprise."
Was this how Spock felt when Nomad killed her? Or had he been able to suppress this awful dread, this nausea and terror, and loneliness?
"Scott here, sir."
"We're beaming up. Notify transporter room. And make arrangements to pick up Mallory and Marple. They're scouting ahead of us."
"Aye, aye, sir."
"All hands," the Captain said, and the group closed in around Spock, Vivian and Bones still kneeling beside him.
"Standing by, sir," Scotty said.
"Energize," Vivian said urgently, loudly, sure that he would pick it up.
But nothing happened, they remained where they were, and Vivian fought the urge to scream with frustration.
"Scotty, Energize," the Captain said, but still nothing. "Scotty, what's the matter?"
"We can't make transporter contact, sir. The entire system's inhibited. The way it is now, we couldn't beam up a fly."
Vivian bit hard on her tongue to keep from sobbing, so hard she could taste a warm metallic tinge in her own saliva, but she kept her teeth where they were. This was the closest she could get to suppressing her emotions, and she was certainly going to do her best.
Counselor's Log, supplementary. Our mission on Gamma Trianguli Six has become horrendous. Spock's injured, maybe dying; someone is following us; everything is deadly; and now we can't get back to the ship.
Vivian continued to bite her tongue, although now she could distinctly feel it bleed. The pressure was the only thing keeping her composed.
"Scotty, is the transporter malfunction tied in with the trouble you're having with the antimatter pods?" the Captain was asking over her communicator. Vivian struggled to follow the conversation. Everything seemed to be moving underwater.
"I don't know, sir. I'll check it and get back with you. Scott out."
Suddenly, Spock began to sit up, reaching out almost blindly, and grabbing Vivian's hand. She felt a single tear leak from the corners of her eyes and she squeezed them for a moment to keep more from forming.
"Spock," the Captain said, kneeling beside him next to the Doctor. "Are you alright?"
Without looking at Vivian, Spock said, "Doctor McCoy's potion is acting like all his potions, turning my stomach. Other than that, I'm quite well."
"You can hardly blame it on Bones that your body chemistry's different," Vivian managed to say, although her voice was shaking, and it didn't feel like her own. Spock seemed to hear it that was as well, because he looked at her with eyes just slightly widened, obviously startled.
"Just what do you think you were trying to do?" the Captain snapped.
"I surmised that you were unaware of that plant," Spock said, still looking at Vivian, so I—"
"Stepped in front and took the thorns yourself," the Captain finished, and Vivian tried to find her breath. It should have been easy to breathe now he was alive, with relief. But it only seemed harder.
"I assure you, Captain," Spock said, turning away from Vivian, "I had no intention of doing that. It was merely my own clumsiness which prevented me from moving out of the way."
"Well, next time, Spock, yell," Vivian said. "We're all perfectly capable of stepping aside."
Spock turned back to her, and she wondered if he, as she, was thinking of how his temporary blindness had happened all because he'd pushed her out of the way of a different kind of monster. At the rate they were going, it wouldn't matter that Vulcans long outlived humans – neither was going to make it to old age.
"I shall do so," Spock said, squeezing her hand quickly before letting go of it and sitting up more completely.
"Trying to get yourself killed," the Captain said, still ranting in a way that was half-joking, half-shaken. "Do you know how much Starfleet has invested in you?"
Spock nodded and began to recite, "One hundred twenty-two thousand, two hundred—"
"Thank you, Spock," Vivian said, her lips finally twitching toward a smile, the wave of relief hitting her late. "Thank you." She stood, smoothing her skirt.
"Kaplan," she said to the remaining security guard, "post."
"Yes, sir," Kaplan responded, taking his position.
"Not only is something after us," the Captain explained to Spock, "but it's after the ship as well."
"Captain, to affect the ship at this range would require a highly sophisticated planetary defense system," Spock said.
In an instant, the sky went dark, and Vivian nearly tripped as she turned around sharply.
"Thirty seconds ago," the Captain said softly, "there wasn't a cloud in the sky."
A sudden lightning strike hit Kaplan, and they all watched as his body was burnt down to ash instantly. Spock clambered to his feet and pulled Vivian deeper under the tree line.
"Come on!" the Captain said, and the six remaining in their party took cover under the trees as the storm passed, just as quickly as it formed. As soon as the sky was clear, they crossed to the smoldering ash, the only remains of Kaplan.
"Phasers," Vivian said sharply, and the whole team readied their phasers as ordered. "Well, Spock, do you see any clouds?" she asked. He shook his head. "Looks a lot like paradise again, with a few minor details."
A shiver ran down her spine as the Captain's communicator beeped.
"Kirk here."
Through static, Mallory's voice could be heard, faint, but his words couldn't be made out.
"Mallory," the Captain said. "Mallory, are you alright? Come in!"
Through that static, they could hear, "One-one-eight by two-two-zero."
"Mallory. Mallory, you alright? Mallory!"
Spock, who was checking his tricorder, said, "Captain. Those coordinates are a short distance in that direction."
He was pointing toward the village, and the Captain nodded, saying, "Quickly."
The group hurried toward the coordinates, with phasers in hand. They could see Mallory running toward them.
"It's over there!" he cried. "That way! I've never seen anything like—"
He stepped on a rock, though, one matching the one Spock had discovered, and a huge explosion went up.
"Mallory!" the Captain cried, but it was too late. "Marple, stand back!" she called to his companion, who thankfully was far enough behind that he could pull up safely. "Watch it! The rocks!" They approached carefully, slowly, and the Captain knelt beside the body. "Kaplan. Hendorff. I know Kaplan's family. Now Mallory."
"Jamie, you couldn't have stopped any of this," Bones said softly.
"His father helped me get into the Academy," Jamie whispred.
"Captain," Spock said. "In each case, this was unavoidable."
"I could have prevented all of it."
"How?" Vivian pressed.
"A walk in paradise," the Captain said, shaking her head, almost derisively, "among the green grass and flowers. We should've beamed up at the first sign of trouble."
"You are under orders to investigate this planet and this culture," Spock reminded her.
"I also have the option to disregard those orders if I consider them overly hazardous. This isn't that important a mission, Spock. Not worth the lives of three of my men. I drop my guard for a minute because I like the smell of growing things, and now three men are dead and the ship's in trouble."
Vivian moved closer, kneeling down with her, and she said, "Jamie, you're upset and you're thinking irrationally. The fact is, you've made all the right choices given what we knew at each point. We all sign up knowing the dangers. It doesn't make it any—" She paused as something flitted past the corner of her vision, too low to be a bird, too big to be a woodland creature, and quick as a cat. "Captain," she said in the same calming tone. "We've got our shadow back."
"Marple," the Captain said levelly, "Chekov, at attention. Gentlemen, something or someone is behind that rock. I want it. Marple, cut around the rock to your right. Make a loud noise. Be careful." Marple nodded and left. "Counselor, with me. Spock, you and Chekov create a diversion and make it loud."
Vivian's lips twitched as Spock began to say, loud and harsh, "Mr. Chekov, your tricorder readings are totally inefficient!"
She did her best not to laugh as she followed the Captain.
Chekov said, "Mind your own business, sir! For your information, I have a very high efficiency rating."
"Ensign, I will not have you address me in that tone of voice!"
"What do you want, violence?"
The intruder leaned forward for a better look, and Vivian darted forward, grabbing what seemed to be a man of some kind. He tried to escape, but the Captain hit him. To their surprise, the white-haired man began to cry.
"Hey," Vivian said, soothingly, like she might have with a small child, "we're not going to hurt you. Do you understand? You're safe."
"You struck me," the man said to Captain Kirk. "With your hand."
The Captain looked slightly abashed, and she said, "Well, I won't strike you again. You've been following us, watching us. Why?"
"I am the eyes of Vaal," the man responded. "He must see."
Vivian twitched an eyebrow and the Captain said, "Who is Vaal?"
"Vaal is Vaal. He is everything."
"Do you have a name?"
"I am Akuta. I am the leader of the feeders of Vaal."
As he gave his name, Spock and the others circled around the rock. At this gathering, Akuta twisted, shrinking in fear.
"It's alright, Akuta," Vivian said soothingly, "no one is going to hurt you. I promise, you're safe. We come in peace. Akuta, we wish to speak with Vaal."
He looked up at her and said, "Akuta alone speaks to Vaal. I am the eyes and the voice of Vaal. It is Vaal's wish."
"Captain, this is fascinating," Spock said. "If you will permit me, sir?"
Akuta looked to Vivian, who nodded encouragingly, and then he allowed Spock to move closer, shifting Akuta's hair to reveal two metal wires sticking out from behind his ears.
"Antennae?" the Captain asked.
"They are my ears for Vaal," Akuta said. "They were given to me in the dim time so the people could understand his commands and obey."
"You speak of the people of Vaal," the Captain said. "Are they nearby?"
"We are close to Vaal so we may serve him," Akuta said eagerly. "I shall take you there."
Akuta sprang to his feet, taking Vivian by the hand, and quickly leading the way through the woods.
/-/
They followed Akuta through the woods, and perhaps fifteen paces from where they encountered him, the Captain's communicator beeped.
"Kirk here."
Mr. Scott's voice answered, "Condition red. Condition red. Captain, something has grabbed us from the planet surface like in a giant tractor beam and we can't break loose."
The voice of Mr. Kyle could be heard saying, "It's no use, Mr. Scott. We're just barely holding our own."
"Scotty," Vivian said, pausing Akuta. "have you restored warp power?"
"No, Counselor. All we have is impulse power."
"Put it on maximum," the Captain said. "Full emergency circuits."
"They're all on, Captain."
"Are you holding?" Vivian asked, tucking her loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Kyle?" Mr. Scott prompted.
"No, sir," Mr. Kyle reported. "We're slipping."
"Computer banks, Kyle. Feed in a rate, get me a figure. We might be able to pull out with warp drive, but without it we're like a fly on flypaper. Even worse, we're starting to lose ground. Hurry up on that figure, Kyle."
"You've got to maintain full reverse and get double shifts on the warp drive," Vivian said urgently.
"I've done that, Counselor," Mr. Scott said. "They haven't been able to do a thing. It's no good, Captain. With maximum thrust against the pull we'll only be able to maintain full power for sixteen hours, then we'll burn up for sure."
The Captain looked nervous as she said, "Scotty, you're my Chief Engineer. You know everything about that ship there is to know. More than the men who designed it. If you can't get those warp engines working, you're fired."
"I'll do everything there is to do, sir. Scott out."
The Captain closed her communicator, and Vivian turned to Akuta.
"You were saying about Vaal," she said.
"All the world knows about Vaal," he told her. "He causes the rains to fall and the sun to shine. All good comes from Vaal."
"Take me to him," the Captain says. "I wish to speak to him."
"I shall take you to him, but he will not speak to you. He speaks only to me."
"I'll take my chances."
Akuta nodded, and he led them through the woods again, walking close by Vivian, who seems to be the only person who Akuta fully trusted.
Through the trees, they found a large giant rock cut into the shape of the head of a serpent, with shining green and yellow eyes, sticking out of the face of a cliff. Spock could not see it clearly for some obstruction, but there appeared to be a fire in its throat.
Akuta turned to Vivian, proudly, and with a reverent voice he gestured to the structure.
"Vaal," he said.
Counselor's Log, stardate 3715.6. Vaal, we find, is an idol, probably housing the killer.
"Fascinating," Spock said, taking in the idol known as Vaal. "A very high order of workmanship, very ancient, generating great power.
"But this is not the center, Mr. Spock," the Captain prompted.
"No, Captain," he said, checking his tricorder. "The center is very deep in the earth beneath us. This is an access point. It would also seem to be a—"
A sharp pain overcame him, like an electric shock, and he was throw backward slightly. Vivian caught him, steadying him.
"A force field?" the Captain asked.
"Safe bet," Vivian said.
"You alright?"
"Yes, quite," Spock said, straightening his shirt. He checked his tricorder. "It extends some thirty feet beyond that figure in all directions. Conventional in composition, and quite formidable."
"Akuta, how do you talk to Vaal?" the Captain asked.
"Vaal calls to me," Akuta said. "Only then."
"Well, we can't get to it," the Captain said, narrowing her eyes at something. "We can't talk to it unless it wants to talk to us."
"Vaal sleeps now. When he is hungry, you may be able to speak with him, if he desires it."
Vivian allowed him to take her hand again and she asked, "When will that be?"
"Soon," Akuta said, smiling. "Come. We will give you food and drink. If you are tired, you may rest."
Akuta led the way away from Vaal, the force field, and the source of their troubles, all the way to the village.
/-/
They came into a village, with a small population of adults, all with white hair, wearing sarong-type outfits, as Akuta was.
"These are the people of Vaal," Akuta told Vivian, who was looking around at the thatched houses, thinking how quaint it would all be if not for the deadly attacks upon their crew.
"Where are the others?" Captain Kirk asked.
"There are no others," Akuta said, confused.
"The children."
"Children? You use words unknown to me."
Vivian frowned. What culture wouldn't have a word for children? She had heard of many strange reproductive processes, but none where children weren't created.
"Little ones like yourselves," the Captain explained. "They grow."
"Replacements," Akuta said, nodding thoughtfully. "None are necessary. They are forbidden by Vaal."
Vivian found this odd, but not as much as Yeoman Landon, it seemed. Martha said, "But when a man and a woman fall in love—"
"Love," Akuta said, tilting his head. "Strange words. Children. Love. What is love?"
Martha looked flustered by the question, and she said, "Love is when two people are—"
She broke off, very confused, but Chekov put an arm around her waist to demonstrate.
"Ah, yes," Akuta said. "The holding, the touching. Vaal has forbidden this."
"Well, there goes paradise," Bones joked, but Vivian couldn't help think about it a bit more deeply. What kind of society could survive without children, without love?
Akuta turned to his people and announced, "These people are from another place. They have come among us. Welcome them!"
The village, in unison, said, "Welcome to Vaal!"
A woman came forward, putting a lei-type-bracelet around the Captain's wrist, then bestowing one on each of the others, Spock accepting his with some tension.
"Our homes are open to you," she said.
"Thank you very much," Vivian said, smiling.
"Well, thank you," the Captain said, obviously pleased to be welcomed after such a horrific day. She then turned to Spock, looked at the lei on his wrist, and said, "It does something for you."
"Yes, indeed it does, Captain," Spock said dryly. "It makes me uncomfortable."
Vivian pursed her lips so that she didn't laugh.
"I am Sayana," the woman said to Spock. "You have a name?"
"Yes," he answered. "Spock. I am Spock."
Others of the villagers giggled as Sayana repeated, "Spock?"
"I fail to see what they find so amusing," Spock said, but Vivian was trying too hard not to laugh to give him an answer, it thankfully Akuta cut in before Bones could make a remark.
"Come!" he said, leading their party to a nearby hut. "This is your house. I will send you more food and drink. You are welcome in the place of Vaal."
They nodded, and he left the alone.
"This is the same planet that tried to kill us all, isn't it?" Vivian asked softly, still tasting the blood on her throbbing tongue. "That wasn't all a dream?" She turned to Spock. "Is this a dream?"
He said nothing, but the Captain said, "Nothing makes sense down here." She got out her communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise."
"Scott here."
"Status report, Scotty."
"No change, Captain," he said. "Orbit is decaying along computed lines. No success with the warp drive. We're going down and we can't stop it."
Vivian crossed to the Captain and said, "Have you forgotten your job is in the balance, Scotty?"
"Vivian, we're doing everything within engineering reason," he said, clearly frustrated and exhausted.
"Then use your imagination," the Captain said. "Tie every ounce of power the ship has into the impulse engines. Discard the warp drive nacelles if you have to, and crack out of there with the main section, but get that ship out of there!"
"Sir, I'm going to switch over everything but the life-support systems and boost impulse power, but that's just about as dangerous."
"Do it. Kirk out."
"Incredible," Bones suddenly said behind them, and the Captain and Vivian turned around.
"What's that?" Vivian asked, glancing at the medical tricorder in his hands.
"I just ran a thorough check on all the natives," he said, looking up, "and there's a complete lack of harmful bacteria in their systems, no decalcification, no degeneration of tissue, no arteriosclerosis." The Captain tilted her head as if to ask him what was so incredible about that, and he continued, "In simple terms, Jamie, they're not growing old, and I can't begin to tell you how old they are, twenty years or twenty thousand years."
"I see," Captain Kirk said softly, looking around the hut. "Opinion."
"Theoretically, it's believable," Vivian said, shrugging.
"Quite possible," Spock said, nodding. "It checks with my atmospheric analysis. Their atmosphere completely negates any harmful effects from their sun."
The Captain nodded, pacing slightly as she began to rant, "Add to that a simple diet, a perfectly controlled temperature, no natural enemies, apparently no vices, no replacements needed. Maybe it is paradise after all."
She froze as a gong sounded outside the hut, and they saw villagers passing their doorway toward Vaal. The Captain motioned and said, "Vivian, Spock."
They followed her out, and they watched the villagers, following them toward Vaal, but hiding a little ways away, behind a bush and some rocks. The villagers were walking down into the serpent's mouth with large plates, depositing fruit down into the throat. Vivian licked her lips, feeling where her tongue was still tender as it scraped across the smooth skin of her lip.
"Apparently our hypothesis is correct," Spock said. "There is no living being there. It is a machine, nothing more."
Vivian frowned and said, "People are going in. Shall we?"
No affirmation was spoken or acted, but the trio stood in unison. As soon as they did, however, the eyes on the serpent lit up and a rumble of thunder could be heard in a space between near and distant.
"That's not the way," the Captain muttered.
"Evidently not," Spock said thoughtfully. "This is no ordinary machine, Captain. It may well possess a rudimentary intelligence."
"But it needs to eat," the Captain said. "Frequently. So it can't have any great power reserves."
"That may not be of any help. The Enterprise has only ten hours left in which to break free."
"When beings get hungry," Vivian said, "they become physically and mentally fatigued. If we could get periodic power readouts—"
"Acknowledged," Spock said, pulling out his communicator and stepping off as Doctor McCoy joined them.
He settled himself behind the shrub, taking in the scene of villagers dumping food down the throat of the idol.
"What's going on, Jamie?" he asked.
"Mess call," she said.
Spock rejoined them, putting his communicator away, and he said, "In my view, a splendid example of reciprocity."
"It would take a computerized Vulcan mind such as yours to make that kind of statement," Bones said bitterly.
Vivian sighed, then said, "Bones, we can't impose human ethics on other cultures. We don't have any right."
"There are certain absolutes, Vivian," he argued, "and one of them is the right of humanoids to a free and unchained environment, the right to have conditions which permit growth."
"Another," Spock said, "is their right to choose a system which seems to work for them."
Bones made a kind of growling sound and turned to the Captain, saying, "Jamie, you're not just going to stand by and be blinded to what's going on here. These are humanoids, intelligent. They need to advance and grow. Don't you understand what my readings indicate? There's been no progress here in at least ten thousand years. This isn't life. It's stagnation."
Vivian shifted uncomfortably and said, "But apart from how we feel, they're healthy and happy, and have been for at least ten thousand years. Name another race that can say the same. The system works, Bones."
"It might work for you, Counselor," he growled, "but it doesn't work for me. Humanoids living so they can service a hunk of tin."
"I think this philosophical argument can wait until our ship's out of danger," the Captain said, slightly annoyed. Her communicator beeped, and she opened the channel. "Kirk here."
"Scotty, sir. We have a reading on the power source Mr. Spock requested. When we first monitored, it was generating alternating cycles totaling one hundred to the twentieth power Waltham units."
"Did it maintain, Scotty?"
"No, sir. Power's dropping bit by bit. Nominal, but a definite drain."
"Perfect," Vivian said eagerly. "Keep an eye on it. How does the circuit switch?"
"We're putting everything but the kitchen sink into the impulse power, Counselor. It will take us another eight hours to complete the work."
"That's cutting it a bit fine, Scotty," the Captain said nervously.
"Aye, but if we don't break out, I'd rather we didn't have to wait too long for the end of it."
The Captain and Vivian shrugged at each other before the Captain said, "Kirk out," and closed her communicator again.
/-/
Spock sat with his hands folded, watching Vivian eat as Yeoman Landon paced and the others tried to pass their waiting as patiently as possible.
"Every time," Yeoman Landon was saying, "I think of the Enterprise burning up and us—"
"Pacing doesn't help much, Martha," Vivian said, setting down the pit of the fruit she had been eating around.
"Counselor, we're trapped—"
"Sit down and have something to eat," Captain Kirk cut in.
But Yeoman Landon was highly focused, and she said, "The Enterprise is up there—"
"That hasn't happened yet," the Captain said gently. "I wonder what would happen," she said, frowning slightly. "Yeoman, speculate. What would happen if someone on this planet died?"
Spock saw Vivian's lips twitch at the corners, and Yeoman Landon frowned slightly.
"But they can't," the young woman said. "You said that Vaal takes care of them."
"Accidents happen."
"Yes, I suppose if someone were to fall off a cliff or something, that would upset the balance of the population," she said thoughtfully. "Then they would need a replacement."
"Seems that way to me," Vivian said. "Spock?"
"I see no alternative," Spock said, watching Vivian fastidiously select another fruit.
"But these people," Yeoman Landon said anxiously, "I mean, if they don't know anything about…. What I mean is, they don't seem to have any natural, er…. I mean, how is it…done?"
Vivian nearly choked on the bit of fruit she had just eaten, and the Captain raised her eyebrows, amused, and said, "Mr. Spock? You're the Science Officer. Why don't you explain it to the young lady?"
Spock raised his eyebrows and looked over at Yeoman Landon, who looked puzzled and distressed.
"Well," he said, "I believe it's safe—"
He broke off when he felt Vivian's shoe touch his knee almost teasingly. He coughed, willing himself not to look at her as he regained his composure.
"—safe to assume that they would receive the necessary instructions," he finished, before looking back at Vivian, who was eating her fruit with an air of innocence that belied her previous mischievous act. Spock was puzzled, as she was not usually the type to behave thus.
"From a machine?" Doctor McCoy said, more amused than anyone else in the hut. "That I'd like to see."
/-/
Vivian rubbed her temples and said, patiently as she could, "Just because it's not perfect by our standards doesn't mean it's not working, Captain."
"Bones was right," the Captain said, shaking her head. "These people aren't living, they're existing. They don't create, they don't produce, they don't even think. They exist to service a machine."
"If we do what it seems we must," Spock said softly, "in my opinion, it will be in direct violation of the non-interference directive."
"These are people, not robots. They should have the opportunity of choice. We owe it to them to interfere."
"Starfleet may think otherwise," Spock said.
"They may," Vivian sighed, standing, "but you said it yourself. Unfortunately, we must. Go ahead and scout. We should check in with Scotty." She took out her communicator. "Buckingham to Enterprise. Scotty?"
She saw Spock leaving out of the corner of her eye as Scott answered, "Here, Counselor."
"How's it going, Scotty?" the Captain asked.
"Almost ready, sir. We need half an hour yet."
"You realize that within forty-five minutes, the ship will be pulled down into the atmosphere?" the Captain asked.
"I know that. As you said, that's cutting fine."
"True," Vivian said, trying to be calm, "but—"
Spock rushed in, saying, "Captain!"
"Kirk out," the Captain said, flipping Vivian's communicator shut. "What is it?"
"Disturbing," Spock said, and his face certainly reflected this mindset. "The people of Vaal seem to have disappeared."
Without preamble, Vivian and the Captain jumped to their feet, rushing after Spock, and the trio headed back to the idol of Vaal with all haste.
"Don't forget the force field, sir," Vivian cried as the Captain pulled up to the barrier.
She came up short of it and said, "Vaal, we are on a peaceful mission. We mean no harm to you or your people."
The sky began to darken, and Vivian drew closer to Spock without thinking as he studied his tricorder readings.
"Variation in impulses, Captain," Spock said. "I believe it is reading us. A strong jump on all wavelengths."
Vivian shrank toward Spock even closer as lightening threatened their group.
"Let's get out of here," the Captain cried, and they made to hurry back, but as they separated, Vivian felt a bolt hit her back. She stumbled, and felt Spock scoop her up, carrying her as they ran.
"Bones!" the Captain said, calling the Doctor over as Spock lowered her to the ground, showing her back to the Doctor, who scanned it quickly.
"Second degree burns," he said. "Not serious, but I'll bet they smart."
Vivian forced a laugh through gritted teeth.
"Sure, Bones," she said, "they smart like acid in my eyes."
"Marple!" the Captain cried, and Vivian turned her head just in time to see Marple struck by Akuta, who was carrying a large stick.
The cry of the Captain was enough to give the rest of the group warning to elude and disarm the villagers, who were clearly not comfortable or experienced with combat. They managed to coral them, and the Captain told Chekov, "Put them in the hut. Find out where the women are. Put them in there, too."
Spock pressed his hand to the burn on Vivian's back and said, "The good doctor was concerned that the Vaalians achieved true human stature. I submit there is no cause for worry. They've taken the first step. They've learned to kill."
/-/
Spock watched the Captain and Vivian as they communicated with Mr. Scott on the ship, determining the extent of the situation on the Enterprise.
"We're ready here, sir," Mr. Scott reported. "All available power has been channeled into the impulse engines. We have twelve minutes before entering atmosphere."
"Full reverse, Scotty," Vivian said.
"Captain," Mr. Scott said excitedly, "we're doing it. We're pulling away!"
Suddenly, a very loud explosion could be heard over the communication channel, and Spock straightened his neck as Vivian shivered.
"Scotty, what happened?" the Captain demanded.
"Captain, we've pulled away a little. We gained maybe an hour, but we blew almost every system on the ship doing it. There's nothing left to try again. I guess you'll have to fire me sir."
"You're fired," she said, closing the communicator slowly. "Four hundred people—"
"Jamie," Vivian cut across her gently.
"They'll die because I couldn't see a warning sign. I had to follow orders, always orders." The gong sounded, and the people of Vaal tried to leave the hut. Spock frowned as Mr. Chekov barred their way.
"Get back in there," Chekov said firmly, keeping the distressed people inside.
"Like it has no sense of timing," Vivian said, frowning. "To eat at a time like this."
"Get in there," Mr. Chekov repeated. "Now!"
"Vivian, that's it," the Captain said softly. "Bones, stay with Chekov. Keep those people from feeding Vaal. Don't let them feed Vaal." Her eyes were lit up now with excitement. "Keep them in the hut. Vivian, Mr. Spock." She walked away from the village, and Vivian and Spock followed as ordered, on the familiar pathway through shrubs back to Vaal. They knelt behind their usual shrub, and the Captain pulled out her communicator.
"Scotty, do you still have phaser power?"
"Aye, but what—"
"Lock all onto the energy field," Vivian said, firmly and quickly, "the one you monitored."
Spock watched, uneasy, as he pulled out his tricorder and began to take energy readings.
"On my command," the Captain said, "commence firing on those coordinates."
"Aye, sir, but they won't penetrate that force field."
"If my guess is correct, they won't have to," the Captain replied. "Stand by."
She closed the channel and gave Spock and expectant look. He told her, "Readings are getting weaker, Captain. Wide variation in energy transmissions, as though Vaal were trying to draw on other sources."
Vivian leaned forward and asked, "Reserve cells?"
"I would assume so."
The Captain nodded and licked her lips lightly. "Good," she said. "The ship's pulling away must have weakened it considerably. It has to be fed, but its reserve capacity could hold out for days."
Spock nodded and said, "If it had to reinforce its energy field to ward off a phaser attack, it would have to draw more heavily on its resources."
"My plan exactly," the Captain said, opening the communicator once more. "Scotty."
"Scott here, sir."
Vivian leaned in and said, "Fire and sustain, Scotty, fire and sustain."
They watched as the twin red beams of phaser energy hit the force field, turning the whole field visibly green.
"A tremendous upsurge in generated power, Captain," Spock said, watching the readings. "Obviously, Vaal is trying to reinforce his energy field."
"Good," the Captain said. "Let's see how long he can do it."
They watched as the force field shrank back, until it surrounded the head of the snake. Storm clouds gathered above and Vivian shrank toward Spock, perhaps fearing another lightning strike. He wanted to tell her that it was unlikely that Vaal would expend the energy to make another such attack at present, but her rational mind was likely already telling her this even as her body made an irrational, instinctual response.
There were lightning flashes, of course, but they were gathered around the head of the serpent, where small explosions were going off inside the throat of the carved animal, perhaps even deeper as well.
"Scotty," the Captain said, "cease fire."
As quickly as they came, the storm clouds parted, revealing a brilliant sun once more.
"No power readings," Vivian said, looking at Spock's tricorder, her body relaxing visibly. "Vaal is dead, overloaded."
"Mr. Scott, status report."
"Tractor beam gone," Mr. Scott responded. "Potency returning to antimatter pods. I'll have all engineering sections working on the circuits immediately. Transporter'll be ready in an hour."
"Scotty, you're rehired," the Captain said, smiling for the first time since the sun had risen that morning. "As soon as the transporter's fixed, form an emergency detail with full analytical equipment and beam them down. Kirk out." She adjusted her frequency and said, "Chekov, Bones, let those people go."
Although it seemed to be over, and even Vivian was beginning to relax to the state she had been in when they first landed, Spock could not help but think that perhaps the matter was not a closed one. Vaal was dead, but the philosophical debate, as the Captain had previously called it, was far from resolved.
/-/
When they told Akuta that Vaal was gone, he was quite upset, almost to the point of tears.
"But it was Vaal who put the fruit on the trees," he said beseechingly to Vivian, "caused the rains to fall. Vaal cared for us."
Vivian said, "We aren't going to leave you until you're comfortable taking care of yourselves. You're more than capable of planting, building, thinking for yourselves. There's a special satisfaction that comes from producing your needs for yourself. And in time, you'll learn a more natural course of interaction, a healthy way of love. I think you and your children will be very pleased."
Sayana looked puzzled and asked, "What are children?"
"The little ones?" the Captain said, miming a short height. "Look like you?" Sayana still looked confused, but the Captain shook her head and said, "Just go on the way you're going. You'll find out."
/-/
For what seemed like the dozenth time since leaving the people of Vaal, Vivian was pressing her lips together as she listened to Spock and Bones bicker about the matter. This time, Spock had taken the argument a step further in trying to get Vivian to agree with him that she didn't feel fully comfortable saying she sided with either of them.
"I just don't know," she said, praying for an exit, when the Captain entered their corridor like a gift from the gods.
"I don't agree with you at all, Mr. Spock," Bones said bitterly.
"That's not unusual, Doctor," Spock said.
"Jamie, I want you to hear this," Bones said to the Captain, as soon as he spotted her.
"Captain," Spock said, turning eagerly to the fresh pair of ears, "I'm not at all certain we did the correct thing on Gamma Trianguli Six."
Vivian cut across and said, "And Bones is arguing that all we've done is put them back on a normal evolutionary track."
"Well, that's a good lesson, Mr. Spock," the Captain said, smiling. "It's an example of what can happen when a machine becomes too efficient, does too much work for you."
But Spock was not deterred, and he said, "Captain, you are aware of the biblical story of Genesis."
Vivian held her breath, wondering if she tried really hard, perhaps she could blend into the wall.
"Yes, of course," the Captain said, "I'm aware of it. Adam and Even tasted the apple and as a result were driven out of paradise."
"Precisely, Captain, and in a manner of speaking, we have given the people of Vaal the apple, the knowledge of good and evil if you will, and as a result of which they too have been driven out of paradise."
Under her breath, Vivian hissed to herself, "Oh, god."
The Captain and Bones shared a look that was half amused, half bewildered.
"Vivian, do I understand him correctly?" Jamie asked, still looking at Spock, not Vivian. "Are you casting me in the role of Satan?" she prompted.
"Not at all, Captain," Spock said, taken aback by this quite logical conclusion.
"Is there anyone on this ship who even remotely looks like Satan?" the Captain continued, her and McCoy circling Spock pointedly, with Bones staring directly at Spock's ears. The very obvious needle was indeed amusing, and Vivian bit the inside of her cheek to hold in peals of laughter.
"I am not aware of anyone who fits that description, Captain," Spock said levelly.
"No, Mr. Spock. I didn't think you would be."
The Captain and Bones walked off, no doubt to have a drink and a laugh at Spock's expense, and Spock looked at Vivian, eyebrows raised in question of what had just happened. Vivian smiled at him, shrugged, and glanced around the corridor quickly before linking her arm with his, leading him to her quarters.
"You know, Spock, that we can't take it back," she said gently.
"I am aware of the nature of history and time."
"So the matter is academic now, isn't it?"
"Yes."
She paused in front of her quarters and pressed the button to open the door, gesturing in, as she smiled at him. His eyes did not leave hers, and his feet did not move.
"The only logical way forward that I can see," she said, feeling slightly breathless as she thought of how to convince him to spend the night, "is for you to tell me all about why you're right over a nice game or two of chess."
Spock glanced into her quarters, then back into her eyes, and he said, "Well, Vivian, it may take three or four matches."
"I was hoping you'd say that."
A/N: Sorry for the delay on this, everybody! It was mostly finished, but I went on vacation without my computer, so I just dusted on the last section this morning, and it was ready to go.
Review Prompt: How do you think you would fare in a standard chess match against Spock, and if you don't know how to play, would you learn for a chance to play him? Or would you challenge him to a different game?
-C