"Captain, we are in orbit around the planet." Sulu stated as he turned away from his station. "Thank you Sulu. Chekov you're coming with us, Spock you have the com." Both the Navigator and the Vulcan nodded in response. Kirk really wanted to get down there, retrieve Delta, and leave as soon as possible since he didn't like the look of the planet, even from orbit. It looked cold and grey, almost like it had been stripped of all colour and life. Kirk shuddered at the thought that they could be beaming down onto a lifeless planet, or a planet full with life. Spock had ran a scan of the planet which confirmed it was a class-M, but no life signs had appeared, not any forms of life. The Vulcan stated that it was possible that the planet itself or something on its surface was causing their scanners to give false readings, since it was highly illogical for there to be no life down there. As Kirk and his young Navigator headed towards the transporter room, Chekov ask Kirk a strange question. "Do you think Lexie's going to be alright?" Kirk stopped dead in his tracks and asked Chekov to repeat his question, which he did. Kirk smiled softly at him, of course Chekov was worried about Lexie. Kirk placed a hand on the Russian's shoulder, "She'll be fine Pavel and she'll be much happier once we find Delta." Chekov nodded slowly, they soon were on their way once more. When they got to the transporter they saw the others already waiting for them, however it was clear something was amiss.
"You can't come with us lad, someone has to be in Engineering." Scotty yelled at Keenser who was stood in front of him, the small Engineer grumbled in reply. "Don't get moody with me wee man!" Scotty could see how upset Keenser was so he knelt down to be at his level, "I know you care a lot about Delta, but the Enterprise needs you here. When we bring him home, I'll let you know. Alright lad?" Keenser took a moment to respond, but when he did it was just a nod before he headed towards the door. He stopped beside Lexie and tapped her on the hand, Lexie smiled as she knelt down. "Thank you for caring Keenser, don't worry you'll have your climbing mate back soon." Lexie said as she gave the Engineer a small kiss on the head which seemed to wash away his worries as he then quickly hurried out of the doors. "Have you all got your phasers?" Kirk asked, everyone nodded. "Great, shall we get going then?" Questioned Kirk as he stepped up onto the transporter pad, closely followed by everyone else. Kirk nodded over at the Ensign who was stood at the control panel, alerting him that they were ready, "Energize." The officer nodded as he began to press buttons and soon the group were surrounded by swirls of light before vanishing from the room.
They soon materialised on the planet's surface and were shocked at what they found, the entire area was bare, not a single building in sight. "What happened here?" Questioned Chekov nervously, "I don't know…" Kirk muttered. Lexie knelt down and grabbed a hand full of the sand which was under their feet and scanned it with her PADD, "This planet is… dying. There's nothing left in the soil, or sand as it is now." Lexie stated as she brushed her hands against her trouser leg. She then glanced down at her PADD again, it was showing a blinking green light just feet away from them. "Somethings not right…" She muttered, "You don't say kid." McCoy grumbled. Lexie rolled her eyes discreetly, "I mean something on top of the dying planet McCoy." "What is it lass?" Question Scotty as he wandered over, "I'm getting a signal from Delta, it's coming from about ten feet away." As she spoke Lexie pointed in a direction, Kirk looked around. "But there's nothing there." "Yes, not on the surface that is." McCoy stared at her with his arms crossed, "What are you getting at?" "This signal is coming from below the planet's surface, one hundred meters down." Lexie turned her PADD to show the others. "She's right Captain, there's got to be something down there." Scotty stated. At this point Chekov had slowly wandered off in the direction that Lexie had pointed in, something had caught his eye. Even though Tencamaria didn't appear to get much sunlight, despite it being in a system with not one but two suns, Chekov could see something twinkling.
As he got closer it appeared to be some sort of metal handle, slowly he reached down despite the voice in his head telling him this wasn't a good idea, even if the Russians did invent curiosity. Chekov then pulled on the handle and a section of the ground lifted up to reveal a staircase, dimly lit by flickering lights which sat on the wall in regular intervals. "Captain! I've found somethi…!" Chekov's shouting slowly turned into screaming as he lost his balance and tumbled down the staircase, "Pavel!" Kirk cried as he ran to his officers aid, closely followed by the others who had also been alerted by his screams. They all stared down the staircase, McCoy felt a shiver run down his spine. "Because that's not bloody creepy." He muttered, before they all scrambled down. The staircase seemed to go on forever but soon they reached the bottom, "Pavel? Where are you?" Called Kirk. He then heard a faint grumbling noise, Kirk turned to see Chekov sitting on the floor rubbing his back. "You alright Pavel?" He asked concernedly, "I'm alright Sir, just lost my balance that's all." Kirk was relieved that Chekov wasn't hurt but he was still shocked at what he had found, he asked the Navigator how he found this. "I saw something twinkling so I went to investigate, turned out to be a handle so I pulled it." Kirk was slightly annoyed at how irresponsible the Navigator had been but he couldn't be bother to yell at him, instead he asked McCoy to give him a look over before they continued.
McCoy soon gave the young Russian the all clear, Chekov had only sustained several bruises on his lower back but nothing too serious. They all set off down the dimly lit corridor, making sure to stick close together. Lexie was once again happy that her eyesight in the dark was much better than most people, she also had her PADD out and was staring intensely at it, she was watching the little green light hoping it would start to get closer to them, but sadly it didn't. Suddenly she felt something move under her foot, she glanced down to see that a stone in the floor had been pressed down. "Uh-oh that can't be good." She muttered to herself as she heard something move, Scotty had noticed that his young Engineer was no longer beside him, so turned around to see if she was alright. Luckily he did turn around when he did as the floor beneath Lexie opened, she had just enough time to realise what was happening to scream. "SCOTTY!" The Scotsman didn't waste a single second before lunging and grabbing a tight hold of her wrist, "I've got ya lass, hold on!" He yelled as Lexie just swung there, with a tight grip of her PADD. "What else would I bloody do Scotty?!" Kirk had ran over almost instantly and helped the Chief pull Lexie up, "You alright Lexie?" He asked.
"Ask me again once I've got my heart rate down Captain." Kirk smiled, "She's alright." He thought to himself. Scotty helped Lexie to her feet, she was a little shook up but nothing more. "I think we should all be careful were we step from now on." Kirk said with a small chuckle, McCoy folded his arms and just stared at him. "Brilliant suggestion Captain obvious!" The Doctor muttered. Kirk just smiled at the Doctor before they all started off again, being careful where they stepped. Soon they saw light at the end of the corridor, "Looks like we've reached our destination." Chekov said. They soon left the corridor and all of them had to cover their eyes, "Bloody hell! Why's it so dam bright in here?!" Cried McCoy. "How the hell should I know Bones?" Kirk replied as he blinked his eyes, trying to get them to adjust quicker. Lexie's eyes on the other hand had already adjusted to the extreme light levels and she was gobsmacked at what she saw. It looked like they had stepped through a time machine, everything looked so futuristic but much like the surface there was no colour. Eventually everyone's eyes made the adjustment and they could all see the sight before them, mouths hung open.
It almost looked like some sort of space-age, ultramodern kingdom which appeared to have seen better days but there was something odd about it. There were no people at all, "This place looks like it's straight from a sci fi novel!" Chekov stated as he looked around. "It sure does, who knew this was hidden inside a planet." Scotty replied as he walked off after Kirk. The group wandered the empty streets but still they found no people, they were being guided by Lexie as she led them in the direction her PADD was saying Delta was. "This place creeps me out." McCoy said as he shivered, "Aww come on Bones where's your sense of adventure? Besides, we're here to rescue Delta." Kirk said with a smile, but that was soon wiped away by the look the CMO gave him. "Are we getting closer lass?" Scotty asked softly, he hadn't moved more than a foot away from Lexie, not after what just happened. "Sort of, it's hard to say. It seems like Delta's moving around a bit, but we're on the right track." She replied with a faint smile. Lexie was just happy they were on the same planet as him, she just wanted to find him and get him home. At that moment Lexie stopped dead, her eyes fixed on her PADD. "What's wrong Lex?" Asked Chekov, "Delta's signal just vanished." Scotty's face dropped. "Can you get it back?" "No, it's gone but he's around here, somewhere." Lexie replied as she looked around. "Let's split up. Me and McCoy will go left while the rest of you go right, at least that way we can cover more ground. We'll meet back up here in an hour." Everyone agreed and before long they had all headed off. Lexie didn't really like the idea of them all splitting up, even if it was only into two groups, it made her feel extremely nervous. She tried to hide it from Scotty and Chekov, they had enough on their minds as it is.
But there was something else which was making her nervous, Lexie had this feeling like she was being watched by a pair of familiar eyes, but she wasn't sure what it meant. So she tried her best to ignore it, hoping it was just because of the situation. The trio wandered into one of the buildings which sat along the street they had been walking down, "Do you think people use to live here?" Questioned Chekov as he glanced around. "If people did live here once it was a long time ago, judging by the amount of dust everywhere." Scotty replied as he ran his finger along a shelf, clearing away a small line of dust. Lexie wandered into the next room, much like the outside of the building the inside was drained of all colour. Everything was either grey, black, or white. Once again she got the feeling of being watched but instantly pushed it aside, she just wanted to focus on finding Delta, that was all. In an odd and slightly saddening way the room reminded her of the room she had back in Ohio when she lived with her uncle, those were memories she could do without remembering. The only good memories of being in that room was when she made Delta, it was the only place which she had to call her own back then, even if the room was only tiny. Lexie shook her head as if to get rid of these memories and thoughts, she then continued to look around the room but there was nothing that pointed towards her digital friend. "I hope the others are having better luck than us…" She muttered quietly to herself as she continued her search.
Kirk and McCoy were also inside a building, from the outside it seemed small but it was anything but on the inside. "It feels like we just stood into the TARDIS." Kirk stated as he glanced around, while McCoy just stared at him. "What the bloody hell is he going on about?" He thought to himself, but he didn't bother asking. Instead he just continued to look around, "Looks like this was once some sort of factory." McCoy stated as he wandered over to some sort of control panel which was coated in cobwebs, clearly this planet had arachnids living within it. "Scotty won't be too impressed." The Doctor chuckled to himself as he brushed one of the cobwebs away, it was a recently discovered fact that the CEO had Arachnophobia while the crew had been on Delta Vega, McCoy hoped that the Scotsman wouldn't get too freaked out if he saw a spider, but he knew in the back of his mind that Scotty would be fine, he was with Lexie and Chekov after all. McCoy then heard Kirk call out his name, but when he turned around he couldn't see the Captain anywhere. "Jim?" Yelled McCoy, "Above you Bones!" McCoy didn't waste any time in looking straight up, to see Kirk dangling from his ankles. "Would you kindly get me down Bones?" Kirk called with his arms crossed, "I don't know Jim, you look so funny up there." McCoy replied while trying to hide his laughter.
"If you're done giggling under your breath Doctor, would you please get me down from here? Don't make me order you!" McCoy waved his hands about, "Alright Jim, I'll get ya down just give me a second." McCoy followed the rope which was attached to Kirk's legs to its source. The end of it was tied to a post so all the Doctor had to do was un-tie it, without dropping the young Captain on his head even if McCoy believed it would knock some sense into his friend. It wasn't long until Kirk was safely back on solid ground, which he was relieved about. "Thanks Bones." "How the hell did you get yourself up there?! Or do I really want to know the answer to that?" McCoy asked, he was sure that the reason was probably stupid. "I didn't do anything if that's what you're getting at Bones, I simply took a step." Kirk replied quickly, "You mean you took a step in the wrong direction? You really do attract trouble don't you Jim?" McCoy chuckled but he soon stopped when Kirk glared at him. "Stick to being a Doctor Bones, you don't make a good comedian." McCoy just smiled as he followed Kirk over to another control panel to continue their search.
An hour soon passed by and the two groups soon congregated back at the meeting point, "Find anything?" Kirk asked. Scotty shook his head, "Apart from several houses with enough dust in each of them to suffocate the whole crew, we found nothing important or of any significance. What about you Jim?" Scotty asked. Kirk nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "All we found was a dusty old factory. With a hidden surprise." Chekov tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean Captain?" Kirk was reluctant to answer, but McCoy was more than happy to explain. "Somehow Jim managed to end up hanging from the ceiling." Chekov was trying to hold back his laughter, "I want to know, but I don't want to at the same time." Scotty replied with a small smile. Kirk then noticed that Lexie seemed very distant, more so than before. "You alright Lexie?" He asked, but she didn't respond so he asked again, this time she did react, she seemed to jump slightly at her Captain's question.
"Not really Captain." Scotty took a step closer to her, "We'll find Delta lass, don't worry." "It's not that Scotty, I have the sense that there's something watching us, something familiar." Kirk raised his eyebrow ever so slightly (something he had picked up from Spock). "How long have you had this feeling?" Lexie rubbed her arm slowly, "Ever since we emerged from that corridor, I believed it was just my mind playing tricks on me but it's only got more intense." Scotty was just about to reply when something twinkled out of the corner of his eye. He quickly span round, but there was nothing there. "I was sure I saw something…" "Scotty? You OK?" McCoy asked concernedly, "The lass is right, someone is watching us. I just saw something." Kirk placed a hand on his phaser which sat on his belt, ready to use it if needs be. "Does it feel familiar Scotty?" The Scotsman nodded, "Aye Sir, it's a strange feeling." Lexie was once again having that same feeling. "Everyone, phasers at the ready and make sure their on stun." Each officer pulled out their phasers and stood with their back towards each other.
Suddenly someone or something fired at them, it narrowly missed hitting Chekov's head. "You better have a plan Jim?!" McCoy cried as more shots were fired at them, "Of course I do Bones and it's a simple one, RUN!" Kirk replied as he took off running, closely followed by everyone else. "What the hell's shooting at us Bones?!" Questioned Kirk as he fired his phaser backwards, hoping to hit at least something. "How should I bloody know Jim! I'm a Doctor, not a psychic." McCoy answered angrily, he was trying to focus on not falling flat on his face. Just then a shot hit Lexie in the arm, she cried out in pain as she stumbled to her knees. "Lex!" Scotty quickly helped her up, "I'll be fine…" She muttered as she continued to run.
Sadly they didn't get very far since a wall suddenly rose up from the ground blocking their path, "What the hell?!" Kirk cried as he skidded to a halt just inches before slamming into it. McCoy closely followed suit, but only just. "Bloody hell that was close…" The Doctor stuttered to himself, "Captain!" Chekov called. Kirk quickly turned around to see something which completely shocked him, it looked like some sort of animatronic. He was about to speak when suddenly the animatronic fired some sort of electric net from its hand, it covered the group and delivered them all a gigantic electric shock, one big enough to knock them all out cold.