Chapter 2 : Enterprise Investigates
A computer beeped. Every single one of his instruments read positive. There was something up there, in orbit. Adjusting his goggles, the left lense depressed slightly so he could moniter his discovery through the massive telescope. When he saw it, he knew He had to have it. It looked old, as if designed in the 60's, but he knew it had to be powerful... afterall it had survived the space-time crease he had created. Withdrawing from the telescope, a devious grin on his face, he picked up his phone and dialled the only number in the contacts.
"Greta... I need you."
"SPIDER MAN?!" yelled Bones in complete frustration, "We all know he doesn't exist!"
"Pardon me," said M'Ress, "But who is this 'Spiderman'?" she asked.
"A comic book character," Kirk spoke up, "A man bitten by an earth creature called a spider and gained the ability to shoot silk webs from his wrists and climb up walls without the need of a ladder or suction cups." Kirk turned to McCoy, who was still ranting.
"We're being tricked I tell ya! Decieved! This is the Romulans doing! Or even the Klingons! Hell, maybe even the First Federation is studying us!"
"BONES!" shouted Kirk, "Please! If we are being decieved, then we will find a way to get us out of this situation. Understood Doctor?" McCoy grimaced, but nodded slowly, "Good. Now Mr Spock. Could we possibly have been transported to a holographic representation of the Enterprise and placed in an environment we know, to make us feel at ease?" The Vulcan shook his head.
"No Captain. I was not affected by the gravitational effects of the wormhole. I have been conscious since we entered this realm. Also, there are no races we know of that have the technology to synthesise the gravity we experienced. This place is real Jim, no doubt about it." McCoy was about to make some witty remark when the ship shook.
"Report!" shouted Kirk as the crew scurried to their stations. Sulu relayed information from the tactical display that popped up on his console.
"We are under attack Sir. Large metallic object sent from the surface... Sir, there was no explosive yield It was not a missile."
"Confirmed," said Spock, "We have not been detected by any military installation." The ship shook again, "Impact by dead weight. Inactive object largely composed of Iron Oxide, steel and carbonate material and no immediately apparent method of propulsion," Kirk looked at Spock quizzacally, "In other words Jim, a large mass of burnt, rusted metal, that has somehow by unknown means, travelled from the Earth's surface and struck us." Another jolt, "The shields are dissolving the bulk of the masses, but we really should destroy them before they can hit." Kirk nodded in agreement.
"Mr Sulu, target those things with phasers and fire at will. Mr Spock, I want a more detailed analysis of those objects with a full sensor scan."
"No need to Captain. The first projectile has penetrated Deck 5, Section 47. We should go and 'check it out' now." With a nod, the two men made their way to the turbolift at the back of the bridge. The doors closed just as the viewscreen showed a blue beam of light intercept another projectile, vaporising it. No fancy explosions, just a simple fizzle.
-30 seconds later-
The turbolift arrived in Section 45, just metres away from the breach. Kirk identified the object as soon as he stepped out.
"My god. It's a... a car!" Kirk said, stunned. Spock quizzed his memory for a moment, then responded.
"A vehicle? An automobile? Interesting how it got up here." They looked at the burnt out car with scrutiny, but could find nothing out of the ordinary.
"We should go back to the bridge Spock, find out where they're coming from and how."
"Agreed."
-30 more seconds later-
The barrage had stopped, largely because Sulu was shooting down the cars before they could hit the ship. Scotty summoned Kirk over to his station as soon as Kirk and Spock were on the bridge.
"Capt'in, " he began, " I took the liberty of finding out where these things are cuming from. I reversed footage of one and followed it down. It appeared t' hav' originated from somekind of observatree." Spock turned to Jim.
"The vehicle on Deck 5 was burnt out Jim. The observatory must be abandoned."
"Any more location data on that Mr Scott?" Kirk asked. Scotty looked confused.
"Moore? Oh! Aye Sir, coming from the middle of the North American continent. Hmmm, I think I can find out exactly where it is. Computerr. Overlay map of the United States of America with current data feed and display." Suddenly, an overhead picture of the oberservatory appeared on the screen in front of the men. Green lines lay over a nearby highway. The video feed then showed a vehicle miraculously pick itself up from the observatory's car park and fly into the sky. Kirk and Scotty were astonished, while Spock was just Spock. Zooming out, Kirk read the nearby city's name.
"Columbus, Ohio. Looks like we're going to Columbus Gentlemen." Spock pointed out.
"The streets on the map we have do not match those of the city exactly. We will be effectively blind to the location names. Navigation will be difficult."
"Tell me about it..." muttered McCoy, "Alright lets do it." Kirk nodded in agreement.
"Alright, McCoy, Spock, with me. Computer Early 21st Century Clothing," Jim said as the trio walked to the turbolift, "See you on the surface."
In a dark alley in the centre of Columbus, a hobo rummaged inside a dumpster looking for lunch. Chuckling in victory as he pulled out a dejected old pizza with a rat on top of it. Brushing the rat off while smiling, he brought it up to his mouth and...
...stared in disbelief as three men materialized in front of him. Dropping the pizza, he turned and scarpered in fright. One of the strange men turned and looked at the others.
"Most illogical." Spock stated. No longer wearing his Starfleet uniform, he was dressed in jeans, a big, green sweatshirt and a beanie hat to cover his ears. Doctor McCoy wore corderoy trousers, a casual button-up, flannel shirt and jacket and Kirk was similarly attired, though the shirt was made to look like polyester.
"All right gentlemen. No attention grabbing moves, we need to be as insignificant as possible. Got it?" He didn't wait for the acknowlegdement, "Now we need to find a taxi rank or a bus station. Mr Spock, does your tricorder indicate large gathereings of people?" Spock revealed his discreetly hidden pocket tricorder, a new model replacing the big black things with a strap. He scanned the area quickly.
"We will need to be out in the open Jim. This alleyway is blocking my scans."
"I see trees and grass over there," McCoy piped up, pointing toward the far end of the alley, "Surely that must be some sort of public gardens."
"We'll make our way over there," Kirk said, "Spock, take point."
"Aye Captain." Spock acknowledged and pocketed the tricorder. Then the trio began their short trek to the other end of the alley way. Less then 30 seconds later, Spcok emerged from the dark alleyway and was momentarily blinded by the bright sun in the cloudless sky.
It was then that someone collided with him, knocking each other off their feet. Spock quickly got up and brushed himself off and reached down to help up the fat, blonde girl who had hit him. She took his hand with a firm grasp.
"My Apoligies Miss. I was not paying attention."
"No the fault is mine Mister. I was in a hurry." The girl spluttered out as she began picking up the books she had been carrying.
"Then we are both at fault. I was 'hurrying' aswell." The girl huffed humourously. She picked up the last of her books and went on her way again.
"Have a pleasant day Miss." Spock called after her, but she didn't hear. Kirk sidled up to Spock mischievously, wearing an expression of mock horror.
"Will we need to take that grad student up to sickbay Mr Spock?" His face fell when when Spock didn't respond. Instead, Spock took out the tricorder and scanned the girl before she was too far away.
"Intriguing." The Vulcan man muttered.
"What is Mr Spock?" Spock said inquisitivly.
"When I helped her get to her feet, I felt she had something to hide. My scan just now was inconclusive, but I have learned enough to know what it is." McCoy groaned.
"It's called a secret Spock!" He whispered loudly. Spock shook his head.
"No Doctor, it wasn't a secret or privacy. Her grasp of my hand was firm, yet someone of that magnitude of obesity would normally have a lax handhold and sweaty palms. The outline of arms and legs through her clothing was also not indicative of that of an obese individual. One thing my scan did find was that her DNA isn't entirely human. It appears to be 'spliced' or 'infused' with that of another." McCoy was doubtful.
"It could be a birth defect Spock."
"Perhaps Doctor." Kirk coughed loudly.
"Gentlemen. That girl is none of our concern right now. Yes, she's an anomaly, I'll grant you that, but we must get to that observatory. There is a taxi parked just a few metres from here. Lets go."
"Of Course Captain." Spock said. McCoy said nothing. With that, the trio walked to the cab and got in. A few seconds later, the cab started up and drove away.
The blonde girl was still walking as the yellow cab drove by. She thought she saw the strange, monotonous man who knocked her over in it, but she couldn't tell. Just then, her celphone rang. Holding onto her books with her left hand, she reached into her back pocket and pulled it out.
"Hello?"
"Spinny, it's Tiger. We just got reports of cars being thrown skywards by some unknown force at the old observatory. Get to base, then we'll roll out and investigate."
"Got it." She snapped the phone shut and ran to a nearby public toilets. No-one noticed that the fat, blonde girl who ran inside, didn't come back out again.