CHAPTER VII
THE WAR BEGINS: PART II
"Ahhhhhhhh", said Kirk. "Oxygen". He also decided to take off his shirt since Tholians like their ships warm, and he knew his shirt would fall off or get ripped up sometime soon. He then started to walk around the kitchen to see if it might have any maps of the area, which was unsuccessful. Carefully, with his Bat'Leth in his hand, he opened the nearest door, and then burst in- to find a large Tholian cooking a strange meal. The Tholian then began to scream in some tone of voice Kirk had never heard. He then charged at the Tholian with his Bat'Leth and but the blade against the Tholian's skin.
"Killing me won't help me, ape", said the Tholian. "My friends are coming, and they have weapons far more powerful that that stick you're holding."
"I don't give a damn", said Kirk. "Now you tell me where the main core to the Tholian web is, or I'll see whether this blade works on crystalline entities."
"There is no core", said the Tholian. "It is spun by two Tholian ships. And I thought the great ape Kirk was supposed to be smart..." Kirk then cut the blade deep into the Tholian's leg and the Tholian screamed as purple blood dripped out of the wound.
"Now you will tell me where the main operating center for the Androids is located", said Kirk.
"I don't know what you are talking about", said the Tholian. "I am just a cook, remember? Not the ambassador..." Then, a loud boom was heard and several Tholians, armed with the Tholian version of the phaser rifle, charged towards Kirk.
"Step away from the cook", said the Tholian commander. Kirk then grabbed his Bat'Leth and hurled it at the lead soldier, causing it to go deep into his skin and causing death. Kirk then quickly sprinted towards an area where he could duck as the Tholians fired at him. Kirk hated it when he got into a violent situation such as this and he was forced to kill another sentient species, but he would have to kill several sentients in this mission to assure the safety of the Federation. He set his phaser on stun so he could try to keep this principle alive and started firing. He was able to hit a solider, but it had no affect. He raised the setting and still had no affect.
The Tholian soldiers then jumped out of the corner and began to charge at Kirk. Kirk charged to see if he could wrestle the enemy down, but once their hands touched Kirk felt a burning sensation throughout his body and was forced to let go due to the painful stimulus. The Tholian then aimed the phaser at Kirk, but he was able to kick the phaser out of the Tholian's hand and he then quickly fired on the Tholian. The Tholian then began to glow a dark purple and then exploded, making his purple blood splatter all over the kitchen. The other soldiers saw what happened to their comrade, dropped their phasers, and ran away.
Kirk then smiled and walked out of the kitchen. He stepped out onto the hallway, which was void of any Tholians. Kirk then grabbed his phaser and walked towards the end of the hallway when all of a sudden the floor collapsed on him. He then realized that he had fallen into a tunnel and he began to slide down. After dropping for about twenty seconds, he fell onto a hard, metal floor and then got up. He looked around at the strange room in wonder, for it was, indeed, strange. White android limbs littered the ground, and the room had an eerie green tint to it.
"Like the room?" said a voice from out of nowhere. "Not many beings do".
"Who are you?" asked Kirk.
"I am the past", said the voice. "The present. The future. Since I am all of these things, I cannot answer your question. I guess my time here has been wasted..."
"Wait", said Kirk. "Show yourself."
"Okay then", said the voice. The pitter-patter of metal boots could be heard, but no being was in site. The sound grew louder, louder, and louder, but there was no being in sight. Kirk lifted his phaser up, aimed it towards the sound, and then the being popped in front of him. While the being was laughing hysterically, Kirk examined the creature. Since it wore a red jumpsuit, had green scales, and could cloak itself like a Bird of Prey, it could only be one creature- a Suliban.
"What do you want with me?" asked Kirk. "I thought your race was extinct."
"It will be", said the Suliban. "But that's not something I can stop".
"How did you get here?" demanded Kirk. "ANSWER ME!"
"Bye the name of the great Silik", exclaimed the Suliban, "give me some time! By the way, my name's Kathra..."
"I don't want your name", said Kirk. "Just tell me how you got here!"
"All right all right!" exclaimed Kathra. "Give me a second. Let me just get my reference materials..." He then reached for the table to grab a book, but instead he grabbed a knife and started stabbing at Kirk. Kirk then grabbed Kathra's arm and threw him across the room. Kathra then bounced back up and lunged at Kirk, sending him to the ground. That blow made Kirk drop his phaser, so he naturally reached to grab the phaser. Kathra, with the knife in hand, tried to dig his knife deep into Kirk's gut, but he twisted and turned too much. After a long stretch of his arm, Kirk finally grabbed the phaser and pressed it, but he then realized it was not the phaser.
"GOD DAMN IT!" exclaimed Kathra. "LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" Kirk and Kathra were then enveloped in a white and blue field, and then they saw nothing but space."What have we here?" exclaimed Picard as he walked onto the bridge, adjusting his uniform to the maximum comfort level he could afford without disobeying Starfleet's dress code.
"Nothing much", said Riker. "Except that there is this strange mass right there". Picard looked out the view screen and saw a large, green mass, which seemed to be moving like a school of fish.
"What is it, Mr. Data", asked Picard to his science officer.
"According to the ship's logs", said Data, "They appear to be Ventaxian Sprout Devils. They are harmless to the ship, for they only feed on Malcorian Y'Chati, a small plankton-like substance. I suggest we scan them, for there is little information about these creatures."
"I don't see what a little delay to our mission could do", said Picard. "Do you have any objections to Mr. Data's plan?"
"None at all sir", said Riker.
"Good", said Picard. "Let's get on with it, then". He then was about to signal Data to begin the scans when a green creature in a red jumpsuit came out of nowhere and began to wrestle with Data. Worf and all the other security officers got on the bridge grabbed their phasers, but it was too late- the creature had already shut off Data.
"Step away from the android", yelled Worf.
"Yeah", said the creature. "Sure". He then lifted up his phaser to fire at Worf, but a blue/white portal came open and distracted him. Out of that portal, a shirtless human and a being that looked exactly like him. The human was Kirk and the two creatures were, surprisingly, both Kathra.
"Captain Kirk!" exclaimed Wesley Crusher, who walked up towards Kirk. "I read about you in the academy".
"Not now, kid", said Kirk. Kathra then charged towards himself.
"ME!" exclaimed one Kathra to the other. "Grab me, the android, and go!"
"Stop them!" yelled Kirk. Worf and the other security guards then charged at them and began to tackle them. Picard then ran over and found looked at Data's neck. He then found the switch and flipped it on, and Data came back to life once again. While all the officers were battling with the Kathra's, Kirk grabbed his phaser and began to fiddle with it.
"What are you doing?" asked Wesley.
"It's called taking matters into your own hands, kid", said Kirk. He then waited for there to be a clear shot and fired. The blast then hit Kathra directly in the head, which made his head explode. All the officers backed off as the green blood poured all over the ground.
"Wait", said Troi. "There's another." Then, the other Kathra appeared out of nowhere and the entire bridge crew aimed their phasers at Kathra."
"You just killed my future self", said Kathra, "which means I'm still around". Before anyone could fire their phasers, Kathra activated his time- traveling device and was gone from the bridge. After he left, all eyes fell on Kirk.
"Captain James Tiberius Kirk", said Picard. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and it's a damn good pleasure to meet you."
"What starship is this?" asked Kirk. "What stardate?"
"You are on the U.S.S. Enterprise-D", said Picard. "Stardate 44474.5"
"Oh god", said Kirk. "I'd love to stay here, but I don't want to mess up the timeline. I better go". Kirk then walked up to Kathra's bloody body to pick up his time-traveling device when Wesley ran over to him.
"WAIT!" yelled Wesley. "Let me just ask you one question".
"What is it?" asked Kirk.
"Is it true that you shirt falls off everytime you get into a fight?" asked Wesley. The whole entire bridge crew started laughing, including Kirk.
"I don't know how that rumor got started", said Kirk. "As you can see, it is true. Now, my good friends, farewell". He then hit the button on Kathra's time-traveling device. He was then sent flying forward to his time, where he would begin his adventures anew.