A cold, weary Sulu flicked his communicator open; it was time for an update. "Sulu to Enterprise."
"Kirk here, go ahead Mr. Sulu."
"Any news Captain? The sun has now set and it's getting very cold down here." Sulu did his best to keep his teeth from chattering as he spoke but the fingers of cold had wormed their way into the pile of leaves and the ground temperature was falling at a rapid rate.
"There is a being on board the ship that has started to eat the power cables." Kirk replied, "Scotty is trying to find what it is that's causing the problem but the process is slow. We're doing our best."
"I appreciate that sir. We'll be in touch in another hour," he said. He flicked the communicator closed and turned to Chekov. "How are you doing?"
"OK," he replied, "Been warmer." Fido has snuck in the pile of leaves and curled up beside Chekov, he provided a minimal amount of warmth at least. Still, it wasn't enough to prevent the great shivers that passed through him.
"We'll give it a while longer before we heat those rocks." Sulu said. Chekov nodded, hoping that little bit harder that Scotty would find what was wrong soon.
What Cooper had shown Scotty was worrying; the wires that connected all the ship's power systems had come under attack from something and it looked as though they had been eaten by a giant hungry caterpillar. Scotty cut away some of the sections with great care and handed them to Cooper, who had become his assistant for the time being. "Take these and get them examined, I want to know what caused this damage," Scotty said.
"Yes sir." Cooper said. He scampered off as fast as he could while Scotty got to his feet. The main priority should be getting the transporter fixed. Poor Sulu and Chekov were freezing down there. Clicking a comm panel he spoke to the engine room.
"I want everyone to work on getting the transporter working. We need our people back on board before they freeze to death. We will look at eliminating the problem when we know what it is." He cut the communication and headed back to the transporter room.
He was the first to arrive; what he found there sickened him to the stomach. He flicked a communicator, "Medical to transporter room, fast!" He didn't wait for a reply, instead ran to the body of a young ensign. Covering his mouth with his hand he approached. The body had been chewed, there was blood everywhere. Scotty's stomach lurched a rollercoaster twist when the scent of death hit him. Fortunately, the door hissed open.
"Good God!" McCoy gasped, "What happened?" He pushed passed Scotty and rushed to the dead ensign's side.
"I don't know," said Scotty. "I'm willing to bet that the thing that's been eating my wires had something to do with it."
"Well, he's dead." McCoy said. "We'll get him to sick bay and see what we can find." Scotty nodded as Bones went about his work, hoping that it would be over soon.