Hungrily, Kirk bit into one of the bricks Starfleet called emergency rations. This one was definitely stale, but he didn't care. Silently, he offered Spock another one, but the Vulcan declined with a shake of his head. As the cold had grown, he had buried himself so deeply into the blanket that by now, Kirk could only see his eyes and the tips of his ears peeking out.
Two days earlier
The next morning, Kirk found that he felt bad for staying in his quarters all day before. Resolutely, he made his way to the bridge. To his surprise, he found that Uhura was the only crew member currently manning (womanning?) the bridge. "Where is the helmsman?", Kirk asked. "I have tried to hail Lieutenant Fisher, but I couldn't reach him.", Uhura explained. "Try getting through to Sickbay then.", he ordered. "Yes, Sir.", Uhura agreed.
Kirk placed himself behind the helm. He had to agree to himself that maybe he wasn't the most qualified person to do so, but the only one that was there. He had some experience flying shuttles, but he had never sat behind the Enterprise's helm. Uhura looked at him, somewhat amused, but said nothing. Instead, she could finally patch herself through to Sickbay. Kirk waited, only hearing half of the conversation as Uhura was using her earpiece. A minute later, she ended the call.
She turned away from her station and towards the helm. "It seems that poor Fisher had some kind of panic attack. He is currently sedated.", she informed her Captain. Kirk frowned in sympathy. "Who is next on the duty roaster?", he asked. Uhura scrolled through some PADD. "Lieutenant Sulu, Sir.", she told him after a few moments. "Call him, then.", Kirk decided. Uhura did so.
When the turbolift doors opened, at first, they thought to be seeing a potted plant with legs. Moments later, Kirk realized that it was only Sulu with his telepathic plant. "Sulu, what are you doing?", he admonished the Lieutenant. Sulu put down Wendy right next to the helm, looking a little guilty. "Captain, I know this is against protocol, but I ask you to look over that, just for today." Sulu looked at him so desperate and sincere that Kirk could do nothing but nod. While moving out of the helmsman's chair, he asked: "Is there a reason for this?" Sulu pointed to a brown leaf. "The hydroponic garden isn't doing her any good. I was just thinking about where to bring her when Miss Uhura called me."
They spent the rest of the morning in silence, at least if one ignored Sulu's occasional whispering to his plant. When Kirk paid attention to it, he found that it almost sounded like Sulu was talking to a dog. He could swear that he even heard him say something along the lines of 'Who's a good girl?'.
Around midday, Kirk decided that he should go and see what Bones was up to. He left the bridge in Sulu's hands. He stopped along the way to get himself a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to drink it all before an engineer, not looking where he was going, ran straight into him. He felt the warm liquid tickle down his chest. He inspected his now empty cup. The engineer looked at him, wide-eyed. "I am so sorry, Sir.", the engineer managed. Kirk smiled. "Don't you worry. Just pay attention where you are going to next time.", he told the crewman. "Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir.", the engineer said and took off again.
Instead of Sickbay, Kirk went to his quarters to change. Just when he had slipped out of his stained gold shirt, he heard a knock on the bathroom door. "Come.", he said, knowing that it must be Spock. "Why are you not in the astronomy lab?", the Captain asked. Spock was obviously surprised to find him bare-chested, if his eyebrows were any indication. "The sensory array is not in working order. Mister Scott assumes that some relay has burned through, but he has not yet located the problem. I decided that I should use my resources in a more useful way than watching our Chief Engineer doing his work." "What did you do?", Kirk asked curiously, seeing that the Vulcan was carrying a PADD.
"At our meeting two days ago, we have spoken about the high security box that Mister Scott found opened, much to his dismay." Kirk nodded, urging him to go on. "You have mentioned the box's former whereabouts. You told us that it was last used on the Starfleet vessel U.S.S. Fai-tukh." "That's a Vulcans-only ship, I think.", Kirk tried to follow his First Officer. "It is. However, I believed that I had heard the ship's name before. I was not mistaken." Kirk reached for the PADD Spock offered. The display was filled with wiggly lines. Kirk looked at his friend, humor glinting in his eyes. "You are aware that I don't know any Vulcan?", the Captain asked.
The Commander blinked twice. "Excuse me, Captain. I am of course aware." Spock took the PADD back. "This is an article from a Vulcan news outlet. It speaks about the U.S.S. Fai-tukh. It appears that the exploration vessel has been found drifting in space, its crew gone clinically insane." Kirk looked at him, in shock. "What was the reason for this?", he urged to be told. "Unknown.", Spock stated. "The ship's load, machines and tools have been dispersed among other vessels, the ship itself has been decommissioned."
"Is that what is happening to us? Are we going insane?", Kirk asked while pacing his rooms. "Possibly.", the Vulcan answered. "Doesn't the article at least say anything about a possible reason?", he questioned. Spock scanned his PADD. "It is mentioned that several crewmembers have reported seeing a 'black cloud'. This is, of course, not very informative." Kirk snorted. "Damn right you are."
Kirk started to think, trying to see the larger picture. "Do you remember that one time the ship's computer played pranks on us?", he asked Spock. "I do. This situation is different. For most of the strange incidents, physical strength was required." Kirk nodded. "So, no computer failure. Maybe an infection? Like that time we almost crashed into Psi 2000?", Kirk proposed. Spock shook his head. "Nobody on the crew has left the ship within the last month. There has also been no transference of goods of any kind." "Hmm. Spores?" "Again, the same conditions." "Mind-altering demi-gods?" "Now you are being overly creative, Captain." Kirk kept circling the room, still shirtless. "Something like the salt vampire!", he suddenly exclaimed. Spock seemed to think about that for a moment. "This would fit well with the sightings of supernatural beings and the need for physical strength. However, this potential creature does not seem to gain anything from its actions. And it must be able to make itself invisible."
"Whatever it is, it must have a conscience." "Indeed.", Spock agreed. "Have you asked Lieutenant Giotto for his findings?", he added. "Now that you mention it, I haven't. I guess I will do so right this instance." Kirk rushed to the door. "Captain.", Spock called after him. Kirk stopped in his tracks. "What is it?", he wondered. "I believe you should get fully dressed first."
Wearing a new shirt, Kirk entered the Security Deck. Some Ensign told him that Giotto would be in his office. Kirk walked down the corridor, passing the brig and finally arrived at the small room Starfleet called an office. He pressed the buzzer and was let in shortly after. Giotto looked at him in surprise. "Captain?", he asked. Kirk took a seat. "I have tried to reach you all day yesterday.", Giotto explained. "I take it you have found something?" Giotto nodded, looking severe.
"As I had suspected, finding the guilty for the black-out on the Rec Deck was unsuccessful. The cameras didn't catch anything and nobody has seen something. The mess in Sickbay however…", Giotto paused, "Just see for yourself." He turned the computer display in a way so Kirk could see. Giotto put a data card into the receptacle and played a video.
On the video, Kirk could see the bags with his Commander's blood, floating through the air. The recording displayed the bags entering the lobby and seemingly ripping themselves open. "I can't make much sense of this.", Giotto confessed. "There are no cloaking devices so small that a person could use them." "No known humanoid species, then.", theCaptain decided. Giotto agreed. Kirk stood and went to the intercom unit on the wall. "Bridge.", he hailed. "Sulu here.", the speaker produced. "Mister Sulu, go to yellow alert. We have an intruder on board.", Kirk ordered a bit calmer than he felt. "Aye, S…", Sulu acknowledged when the connection broke and the lights flickered out.
Giotto jumped up. "What in the name of?", he swore. Both stumbled to the door, but the door opening mechanism was non-operational as well. "Maybe we can manually open the door. We will just need to activate the override.", Giotto suggested. "Yes. Where is this override?", Kirk asked. Due to the darkness, he could not see the other's face fall. "On the other side of the door.", Giotto deadpanned. "Who puts the override to a secure door on the outside of the room?", Kirk wondered angrily.
They banged on the door, hoping that somebody might hear them. May it be that nobody was in hearing range, may it be that the door was too thick, in any case, nobody came to help them out. Kirk tried the intercom again, to no avail. They sat down again in the chairs after stumbling through the absolute darkness around them. "We will eventually be missed.", the Captain assured Giotto. He could hear that the other was nervously swinging in his chair. Suddenly, he stopped. "I think I have a communicator somewhere around here.", Giotto remembered happily.
While they were fumbling through Giotto's many drawers, Kirk thought he had heard something. He froze for a moment. "Listen!", he ordered his Chief of Security. There was indeed something. "It sounds like children's laughter.", Giotto remarked. "I don't like this at all.", he added. They started to search more hastily. The laughter came nearer and nearer. Suddenly, it was right next to them. Out of reflex, Kirk jumped up. His shirt got tangled up somewhere and ripped. "I have it!", Giotto shouted. He opened the communicator now in his hand and it lit up. The laughter faded immediately. "Giotto to bridge.", the Chief of Security called. A few seconds passed. "Uhura here.", the device's speaker produced. "Sent somebody down to Giotto's office, Lieutenant. We have a power loss down here and can't open the door.", the Captain spoke into the device. He was quite sure that he could hear Uhura struggle not to laugh. "Yes, Sir. Somebody will be there shortly. Uhura out." It was silent again, but neither man wanted to speak about what had just happened.
Uhura had stayed true to her word and they were rescued just a few minutes later by an engineering Ensign. After they had stepped out the office, still blinking, Kirk realized that Commander Spock was standing there as well. "Captain.", he greeted, his glance shifting to the tear in his shirt. "Are you well?", he asked next. Kirk nodded dismissively. "What brings you here?", he wanted to know. "Doctor McCoy wishes to speak to us. You were not reachable; therefore, I went looking for you at your last known position. I met Ensign Jefferson at the Security Deck's doors."
In Sickbay, hell had broken loose. All beds were in use, and the Enterprise's medical personnel were scurrying about. Bones was with them almost immediately. "You see all these people?", he asked, obviously rhetorical. "They are all here because they hurt themselves when something scared them." "All of them?", Kirk asked, dumbfounded. "Do you think I'm lying?", Bones grunted. "Of course not, Doctor.", Spock interjected. "Listen.", Kirk whispered to his CMO. "We already have an intruder alert. There isn't anything more we can do at this point. We will need a description for a search to be initiated." McCoy didn't seem very happy. "Until you make up your mind, I'm going to keep giving out band aids. Just hope nothing worse comes in."
When they left Sickbay, Kirk fumbled with the tear near his collar. "I can't believe it. Two shirts in one day.", he grumbled.