Chapter Twelve - And...ACTION!
Kirk gazed at the small planet on the viewscreen, trying to ignore the fact that Allison was once again watching him. Her stare unsettled him, as if she could see into his very being and know his thoughts. Her odd behavior had started at the beginning of alpha shift, when Kirk assumed command for the day. Now, near the end of the watch, she was almost completely focused on Kirk.
"Standard orbit achieved, Captain," Sulu reported from the helm station, and Kirk looked at him, thankful for the small distraction.
"Spock, come with me. Uhura, have Doctor McCoy meet us in Transporter Room 2," Kirk ordered.
"Aye, sir," Uhura responded, and turned to her board to page McCoy.
Spock caught Allison's eye, and nodded slightly before following his captain into the turbolift and vanishing from sight. A few minutes later, the doors opened again to let the beta shift navigator exit. Allison rose and nodded politely to her replacement, then entered the turbolift. "Deck Five," she told the computer, and it hummed into action.
The 'lift deposited her a few meters away from her quarters, and she entered quickly and grabbed her black bag. Moving to her desk, she toggled her comm switch. "Allison to Lia."
"Lia here. Is it time?"
"Yep. Meet you in Transporter Room 3. Allison out." She switched over to another channel. "Allison to Michael."
"Michael here. All set. Which room?"
"Transporter Room 3. Lia's on her way."
"Okay, got it. Michael out."
Allison switched off her comm unit and looked around for one last time. It would be two months before she saw this ship again, if ever. Shaking off that last thought, she slung her bag over her shoulder and took off for the aforementioned transporter room.
~~~~~~~
Transporter Room 3 was empty, but the console was powered up and waiting. Its coordinate lock was fixed on a specific point on the planet's surface. Allison smiled when she saw the console's status. "Looks like Spock got here ahead of schedule," she commented, then turned to the other two. "All right, let's go."
Lia and Michael took their spots on the transporter pads. Allison slid three levers up, and then dashed to join them. A moment later, the three disappeared in a flurry of golden sparkles.
~~~~~~~
The three ensigns materialized in a grassy meadow near a deep blue lake. A few birds fluttered away, startled, but they were ignored.
Allison looked around. "No sign of the others. Or that Preserver obelisk. Lia, do you think you could shift into a bird of some kind and get a bird's eye view on the captain's location?"
Lia immediately flowed into the form of a large golden eagle, and took off into the sky. She soared around a bit, then circled over their heads and halfway-shifted to human, just enough to talk. "I found them; follow me." And then she was full eagle again, flapping off to the east.
Allison picked up Lia's bag, which she had dropped during the shift, and followed her flight path with Michael at her side.
They only walked for a few minutes before Allison's enhanced hearing picked up three familiar voices. Motioning for Michael to slow down and stay quiet, she silently approached the hill overlooking the lake.
Kirk stood on a low tree branch, absently tapping a stick against the tree trunk. McCoy and Spock stood next to him; McCoy was speaking. "Why they look like--I'd swear they're American Indians!"
"A mixture of Navajo, Mohican, and Delaware, I believe," Spock mildly corrected. "All among the more advanced and peaceful tribes."
The words were familiar to Allison, as if she had known them all her life (And indeed, if one said that she had, it would not be a lie). She was not surprised when Kirk put down the pine branch and walked away, saying, "I want another look at that obelisk." However, instead of following him as she had intended, Allison stayed where she was, to listen to McCoy and Spock.
"I don't like it, Spock. This prediction that Allison made's givin' me the creeps." McCoy glanced in the direction Kirk had gone. "D'ya think we should go with him?"
"The Captain is quite capable of surviving without our presence," Spock replied, deflecting the question skillfully. McCoy didn't seem to notice.
"Who left that obelisk, Spock? I've never seen anything like it."
"Unknown, Doctor. It would appear that whatever species constructed the obelisk, they are no longer present in the galaxy."
"Kinda spooky, ain't it? That someone like that could just come and go without us noticing."
"Humans cannot be everywhere at once, Doctor, despite their illogical attempts to do so." At that moment, Spock's communicator beeped. Raising an eyebrow at McCoy, he flipped the device open. "Spock here."
"Mister Spock!" Scotty's voice was tense, worried. "Ah jus' got a call from the Cap'n but before he could say anything, th' channel closed. It was terminated from his end o' the line, and right b'fore we lost contact, Ah thought Ah heard him bein' hurt. Then, when we scanned th' planet surface for his communicator, we couldnae find it!"
Allison glanced over at Michael. "Well, there it goes," she whispered. "Here's the deal: we let Spock and Bones look for Jim, and after they beam up we'll set up camp near the obelisk." Michael nodded in response, and the two resumed their silent watch.
~~~~~~~
Steve was reading his last data card when a very agitated half-Klingon came storming in. Jessie immediately scanned the room, and quickly walked over to Steve.
"Have you seen Allison?" Jessie asked.
Steve frowned as he set down his padd. "No, not since yesterday. Why?"
"Because she's gone missing. No one's seen her since the end of alpha shift."
"Maybe she's in her quarters."
"I checked those first. Nothing. It's like she just isn't here anymore."
Something told Steve that Jessie wasn't saying everything. Not up to guessing games, he sighed. "What else?"
"Michael and Lia have gone missing, too."
The gentle vibrations of the ship's warp engines began, and Doctor McCoy came stomping in. He practically threw his tricorder across the room before he saw the two teenagers. "Dammit!" he sputtered.
"Sir?"
"Jim's gone and got himself lost on that planet, and Spock's having us leave without him!" McCoy spat angrily. "Where's Allison? I wanna give her a piece of my mind about not telling us-"
"She's gone, Doctor," Jessie interrupted.
McCoy's tirade screeched to a halt. "What do you mean, GONE? Where could she go on a starship this size?" He turned to his desk and flipped a switch. "Computer, what is the current location of Ensign Danks?"
"Ensigns Danks is not on board," the computer replied.
The three looked at each other.
"I think we're in a lot of trouble," Jessie quoted.
Even the computer agreed.
Kirk gazed at the small planet on the viewscreen, trying to ignore the fact that Allison was once again watching him. Her stare unsettled him, as if she could see into his very being and know his thoughts. Her odd behavior had started at the beginning of alpha shift, when Kirk assumed command for the day. Now, near the end of the watch, she was almost completely focused on Kirk.
"Standard orbit achieved, Captain," Sulu reported from the helm station, and Kirk looked at him, thankful for the small distraction.
"Spock, come with me. Uhura, have Doctor McCoy meet us in Transporter Room 2," Kirk ordered.
"Aye, sir," Uhura responded, and turned to her board to page McCoy.
Spock caught Allison's eye, and nodded slightly before following his captain into the turbolift and vanishing from sight. A few minutes later, the doors opened again to let the beta shift navigator exit. Allison rose and nodded politely to her replacement, then entered the turbolift. "Deck Five," she told the computer, and it hummed into action.
The 'lift deposited her a few meters away from her quarters, and she entered quickly and grabbed her black bag. Moving to her desk, she toggled her comm switch. "Allison to Lia."
"Lia here. Is it time?"
"Yep. Meet you in Transporter Room 3. Allison out." She switched over to another channel. "Allison to Michael."
"Michael here. All set. Which room?"
"Transporter Room 3. Lia's on her way."
"Okay, got it. Michael out."
Allison switched off her comm unit and looked around for one last time. It would be two months before she saw this ship again, if ever. Shaking off that last thought, she slung her bag over her shoulder and took off for the aforementioned transporter room.
~~~~~~~
Transporter Room 3 was empty, but the console was powered up and waiting. Its coordinate lock was fixed on a specific point on the planet's surface. Allison smiled when she saw the console's status. "Looks like Spock got here ahead of schedule," she commented, then turned to the other two. "All right, let's go."
Lia and Michael took their spots on the transporter pads. Allison slid three levers up, and then dashed to join them. A moment later, the three disappeared in a flurry of golden sparkles.
~~~~~~~
The three ensigns materialized in a grassy meadow near a deep blue lake. A few birds fluttered away, startled, but they were ignored.
Allison looked around. "No sign of the others. Or that Preserver obelisk. Lia, do you think you could shift into a bird of some kind and get a bird's eye view on the captain's location?"
Lia immediately flowed into the form of a large golden eagle, and took off into the sky. She soared around a bit, then circled over their heads and halfway-shifted to human, just enough to talk. "I found them; follow me." And then she was full eagle again, flapping off to the east.
Allison picked up Lia's bag, which she had dropped during the shift, and followed her flight path with Michael at her side.
They only walked for a few minutes before Allison's enhanced hearing picked up three familiar voices. Motioning for Michael to slow down and stay quiet, she silently approached the hill overlooking the lake.
Kirk stood on a low tree branch, absently tapping a stick against the tree trunk. McCoy and Spock stood next to him; McCoy was speaking. "Why they look like--I'd swear they're American Indians!"
"A mixture of Navajo, Mohican, and Delaware, I believe," Spock mildly corrected. "All among the more advanced and peaceful tribes."
The words were familiar to Allison, as if she had known them all her life (And indeed, if one said that she had, it would not be a lie). She was not surprised when Kirk put down the pine branch and walked away, saying, "I want another look at that obelisk." However, instead of following him as she had intended, Allison stayed where she was, to listen to McCoy and Spock.
"I don't like it, Spock. This prediction that Allison made's givin' me the creeps." McCoy glanced in the direction Kirk had gone. "D'ya think we should go with him?"
"The Captain is quite capable of surviving without our presence," Spock replied, deflecting the question skillfully. McCoy didn't seem to notice.
"Who left that obelisk, Spock? I've never seen anything like it."
"Unknown, Doctor. It would appear that whatever species constructed the obelisk, they are no longer present in the galaxy."
"Kinda spooky, ain't it? That someone like that could just come and go without us noticing."
"Humans cannot be everywhere at once, Doctor, despite their illogical attempts to do so." At that moment, Spock's communicator beeped. Raising an eyebrow at McCoy, he flipped the device open. "Spock here."
"Mister Spock!" Scotty's voice was tense, worried. "Ah jus' got a call from the Cap'n but before he could say anything, th' channel closed. It was terminated from his end o' the line, and right b'fore we lost contact, Ah thought Ah heard him bein' hurt. Then, when we scanned th' planet surface for his communicator, we couldnae find it!"
Allison glanced over at Michael. "Well, there it goes," she whispered. "Here's the deal: we let Spock and Bones look for Jim, and after they beam up we'll set up camp near the obelisk." Michael nodded in response, and the two resumed their silent watch.
~~~~~~~
Steve was reading his last data card when a very agitated half-Klingon came storming in. Jessie immediately scanned the room, and quickly walked over to Steve.
"Have you seen Allison?" Jessie asked.
Steve frowned as he set down his padd. "No, not since yesterday. Why?"
"Because she's gone missing. No one's seen her since the end of alpha shift."
"Maybe she's in her quarters."
"I checked those first. Nothing. It's like she just isn't here anymore."
Something told Steve that Jessie wasn't saying everything. Not up to guessing games, he sighed. "What else?"
"Michael and Lia have gone missing, too."
The gentle vibrations of the ship's warp engines began, and Doctor McCoy came stomping in. He practically threw his tricorder across the room before he saw the two teenagers. "Dammit!" he sputtered.
"Sir?"
"Jim's gone and got himself lost on that planet, and Spock's having us leave without him!" McCoy spat angrily. "Where's Allison? I wanna give her a piece of my mind about not telling us-"
"She's gone, Doctor," Jessie interrupted.
McCoy's tirade screeched to a halt. "What do you mean, GONE? Where could she go on a starship this size?" He turned to his desk and flipped a switch. "Computer, what is the current location of Ensign Danks?"
"Ensigns Danks is not on board," the computer replied.
The three looked at each other.
"I think we're in a lot of trouble," Jessie quoted.
Even the computer agreed.