Unfinished Business
Chapter 37 : Going Into Danger
February 2274
It was not in the least remarkable that they should eventually find themselves in the position of having to send a party down to the surface of a completely unknown planet. The only thing remarkable about it was that it was the first time since they had begun their shake-down cruise that this had occurred. Somehow they had managed to go for all the intervening months without this necessity. And it was completely believable that Kirk would, of course, call for the same landing party that was always his first desire. And so Spock, and Bones, and Scotty found themselves once more on the transporter deck, with two security guards beside them, while Kirk gave last minute orders to those who would stay behind, watching them from orbit. Spock could feel Nyota's apprehension, and he quietly tried to ally her fears, but he did have to admit that these men were not as young as they once had been, and were certainly not the best choice of members of a landing party in unknown conditions. But there had never been a chance of persuading Kirk of the soundness of that!
And so the technician manipulated the controls, and the familiar swirling patterns formed, and the men found themselves standing in an unfamiliar place, where the gravity was not quite right, and the air smelled strange, and they had a very incomplete knowledge of the flora and fauna that surrounded them. The two security guards had their phasers drawn, and set to stun, and scanned back and forth continuously, each of them covering one side of the party. And Bones and Spock had their tricorders out, scanning in a different manner.
Kirk charged directly forward, as was his wont, and the party must follow, no matter whether that was the best direction to head in or not. The material they needed, however, was indeed in that direction. Spock and Bones both agreed on that. What they did not know was that there was a nest of rapatiks between it and them. They did know about rapatiks, but they were not aware that there could be as many as forty of them in a nest, or that they had heat-sensing glands in their heads, or that this was egg-laying season. All things that would have been very good indeed to know, before charging off in that direction.
Scotty was the first to see movement in the bushes about them, and give cry. The two security guards fired repeatedly, and the others drew their phasers as well, but the sheer numbers were against them. Before Kirk could get his communicator to his mouth and order beam-out, both guards were down, unmoving, and there was no way to get to them. Bones was cursing continuously when they were pulled out, and Scotty ran to the console, taking the controls from the technician, and managing to bring both bodies back. Unfortunately, there was nothing that Bones could do for them, and he cursed Jim Kirk up one side and down the other. And they still did not have that mineral that they needed.
The second attempt was made four hours later. This time they set down much closer to the source of the emanations from the mineral they were seeking, and on the other side of the nest. Quickly they covered the remaining distance, and Scotty set up the equipment that would extract the mineral, with Spock's help. They kept one eye on their surroundings the whole time they were setting up the equipment. As soon as it was functioning, they beamed back aboard the ship. They would only have to make one more trip, to retrieve the equipment, and the filled containers of mineral. And this time, they could beam directly to the spot where they had set up.
Nyota was very unhappy that he was going down again, and she did not fail to let him know this. He did apologize to her for her concern, but he was under orders, and she did know this. And when they were all safely back aboard, and the mission was complete, she took him to her quarters, and checked every centimeter of his skin for injury, even though he assured her that he had come to no harm.