Captain's Log, Stardate: Unknown

I have watched the sunrise and set on this planet eleven times; although, the length of a day on Alvar C in Earth time is not known to us. Commander Spock and myself have been trapped in a prison on this planet and the entire shore party has been forced to fight for our very lives in an arena of death. There appears to be no means of escape and no way in which we can contact the Enterprise. We have lost two crew members already and those of us who remain are struggling to do so.

Doctor McCoy, Commander Spock, and myself have defended ourselves in the arena once already. The brutal truth of survival on this planet has led all of us to become murderers. But it is Lieutenant Warren that I am most concerned for; she has been forced into the arena to kill fifteen times thus far. The man in charge of this disturbing show and who refers to himself as the Caesar has an obsession with the Lieutenant. I fear that the emotional and physical toll of these battles will forever perverse the Lieutenant's mental state.

Spock and I have come to the decision that even at the cost of our own lives, we will attempt to fight our way out of this arena and off of this planet. However, before we can do so, we must establish some form of communication with Doctor McCoy and Lieutenant Warren. Commander Spock has assured me that given enough time he will be able to create a telepathic link with the Lieutenant. As of yet, he has been unsuccessful but will continue to try nonetheless.

"Susanna?" Bones opened his arms, catching the Lieutenant as she was shoved back into her cell. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright," she replied, straightening herself out and rubbing the deep cut on the side of her arm.

"If we don't do anything about that, you're going to get an infection," Bones said, steering her to the stone bed and sitting down next to her.

"I don't care, Bones," she muttered, her eyes dropping. "I just don't care anymore."

"You've got to care; you've got to try!" Bones grasped her shoulders, giving the young woman a hard shake.

"Bones, I'm exhausted. I can't do this anymore; I can't do this forever."

"I know, I know," he said, tearing off a piece of his tattered uniform to wrap around her arm. "How much longer can any of us last? I just don't know."

"You haven't been out there as much as I have, Bones." Warren lowered her face into her palms. "I'm going to lose my mind. I feel like I'm losing my mind."

Kirk rushed to aid his Vulcan friend, who appeared to have violently seized against the air. "Spock? Spock, what's wrong?"

"I believe Lieutenant Warren is on the verge of experiencing a complete emotional breakdown," the Vulcan answered, squinting and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Can you reach out to her, Spock?" Kirk gently rested a hand Spock's shoulder. "See if you can make contact with the Lieutenant."

"I will try."

Bones wrapped an arm around the Lieutenant, hoping to put her at ease. "I'm sorry, Susanna. I wish there was something we could do; some way to get out of-" he hesitated, swearing once more that someone was calling out to her, "-did you hear that? I thought I heard someone say your name."

Warren stood up from the bed and wandered toward the cell door. "If only there was some way to get out of here," she whispered to herself, watching two guards drag a corpse through the curved hall.

"Susanna…" Bones stood up, moving next to her. "Are you positive you didn't hear anything?"

"Wha- What?" she stammered. "Hear something? I- um- I'm not sure what you mean."

"I could have sworn- now I know this sounds crazy, but I could have sworn I heard Spock's voice."

"Spock…?" she sighed, gripping the cell's barred door. "I- maybe… But maybe we're both losing our minds…"

The doctor grabbed her and shook her once more. "You've got to snap out of it Lieutenant. What if Spock is trying to contact us? I need you to put your feelings aside and listen."

"Um- I," Warren stuttered again, shaking the dazed look from her face. "Ma- Maybe you're right. Maybe it was Spock. Maybe he is calling out to us…"

"We've got to do something," Bones plead, searching the room for a phantom that wasn't there. "How could he even be calling out to us? Where is he?"

"Uh- I think-" Warren stared into her hand, "-Doctor, hold my hand."

"Hold your hand?" He gaped at her.

"Just hold my hand, doctor," she repeated.

Confused, Bones complied and held tightly onto the Lieutenant's hand. "What are we-"

"-Just listen," Warren shushed him. "When I was young, my mother and I used to talk to each other telepathically since she is a Vulcan and I am half Vulcan. I remember how much my father hated it. He knew what we were doing just by looking at us, but- uh- that's not the point. I think Commander Spock may be trying to talk to me telepathically."

"Can you say something back?" Bones asked.

"Of- of course," she nodded. "We can both say something back."

"How does that work? I'm not telepathic."

"I know, but our contact allows me to read your mind allowing both of us to send and receive messages to and from Mr. Spock"

"You can read my mind?" Bones quickly pulled his hand away from hers.

"Vulcans can read minds, Bones. I think you already know this. But I not going to do it against your will, okay?" she assured him. "Just say something and I'll make sure that gets projected to Spock. And I'll make sure you can hear his reply too, okay?"

Apprehensively, Bones placed his hand back into hers. "Spock," he spoke to the room, "Can you hear me?"

"Doctor McCoy?" Spock raised a brow.

"Who else does it sound like?" Bones retorted.

"I expected to hear a response from the Lieutenant," Spock said.

Susanna closed her eyes, clenching the doctor's hand. "I'm here, Mr. Spock. I only realized now that you've been attempting to make a telepathic connection with me. I'm sorry for earlier. I wasn't-"

Spock interrupted her, "-No need to apologize, Lieutenant."

The Captain placed a hand on Spock. "Spock? Did you make a connection?" he asked.

"We can hear you, Captain," Susanna replied.

"Spock and I have decided that we need to make an attempt to escape," Kirk informed them. "The next time one of us is to be taken to the arena, we will fight the guards, take their weapons, and fight our way out of the colosseum."

"There's a reason we haven't tried that already, Captain," she reminded him. "But I think I have an alternative. If um- you're willing to hear me out."

"Explain, Lieutenant," Kirk demanded.

"Earlier, I had inquired with one of the guards as to what they do with the uh- the deceased, Captain," Warren began, "Apparently, they are removed from the city and burned in a pit just west of here."

"What are you suggesting, Lieutenant?" he asked.

Easily drawing his own conclusions, Spock interjected, "I believe that the Lieutenant is suggesting we fake our own deaths in order to be taken away from the arena."

Bones squeezed the Lieutenant's hand as if it was going to slip away. "What? You can't be serious. How would we even begin to pretend to die? I don't have any of my equipment, Jim. This isn't Vulcan, I can't just shoot you up with something and trick everyone into thinking you're dead!"

Warren opened a single eye, frowning at the doctor's grip. "Uh well, that may be true, but both Spock and I are Vulcans," she said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Bones barked.

Spock rolled his eyes, wishing that Bones could have seen the exaggerated expression. "Vulcans who have trained in enhanced meditation can slow their heart rate to a near standstill," he said, "It is a difficult technique, but possible."

"And how on Earth does that help the rest of us?" Bones countered. "Not all of us are Vulcans!"

"If I am able to escape having faked my own death, I may be able to find a way to make contact with the Enterprise," Spock said, "And from there, Mr. Scott and myself will be able to plan a rescue mission for the rest of the crew."

Although Kirk and Spock were unable to hear it, Warren uncomfortably cleared her throat, "Um- Uh well, obviously I'll go with Mr. Spock."

"This technique is highly advanced, Lieutenant," Spock added. "I know you were not born or raised on Vulcan, so I do not expect you to be able to perform it nor learn it in a short period of time. In addition, your current mental state-"

"-I already know how to do it, Mr. Spock," she corrected him. "Regardless of what you think I may or may not know or my emotional state, my mother is a Vulcan, Mr. Spock. I- I'm perfectly capable of faking my own death. As well, I am communicating with you telepathically right now, am I not?"

"Fair point, Lieutenant."

A slight grin fell over Bones' lips. "You shouldn't be so presumptuous, Mr. Spock," he said.

Fearing that Bones and Spock were going to engage in a bickering contest, the Captain spoke up, "It might prove difficult to get the guards to believe Warren and Spock suddenly expired in our cells."

"Uh, well," Warren continued, "There was more than just that, Captain. You're probably right; the Caesar knows we're crewmates. I don't think he'd believe that we'd suddenly turned on each other overnight. But we might be able to put on a show for him."

"Curious," Spock intervened, "If we can convince the Caesar that we have become at odds with one another, he may indeed believe that murder is justified."

Bones scoffed at the Vulcan, "That shouldn't be too hard."

Susanna turned to the doctor. "More specifically, Dr. McCoy," she spoke, "It is you and I who need to be at odds with each other and the Captain and Mr. Spock at odds with one another."

Slowly nodding his head, the Captain agreed, "She's right. We are in our cells together. And one Vulcan to one man."

"A human killing a Vulcan with their bare hands?" Bones spat. "That isn't particularly convincing. Vulcan's are twice as strong as the average human!"

"Remember, doctor," Warren said, "They don't know what Vulcans are. We look human; they think we're human."

"If anyone thinks Spock is a human, I'd say they've lost half their sight," Bones jested.

Spock retaliated, "And if anyone believes you're a competent doctor upon meeting, I may say the same."

"I think that's enough uh- arguing for today," she said to Spock, pulling her hand away from the doctor.

In turn, Kirk released his own grip from Spock. "Alright," he said, "I think we all know what to do."