Captain James T. Kirk found himself able to do little more than stare. A shocked silence had fallen over the entire group. Lieutenant Sulu and Cadet Carter simply sat with their jaws dropped. Dr. McCoy had an enraged expression of surprise on his face. Even Spock seemed to be having trouble maintaining his emotionless demeanor. Nobody in the crew could decide what part of the Sonic the Hedgehog's story they found the most disturbing. Whether it was the part about the crazed Dr. Eggman who used his mechanical army in his constant bid for world domination and his countless battles with their new acquaintance or the part about the mysterious Chaos Emeralds, the mystical gems granting unlimited power and invincibility to whoever managed to get their hands on all seven on them and always somehow managed to work their way into Sonic's adventures, the entire thing was unnerving.
Sulu was the first one to break the silence, saying, "So, you're essentially . . . a superhero."
Sonic rubbed his chin for a moment before responding, "Yeah. . . I guess you could say that, but most superheroes get a lot of publicity and whatnot, and well. . . I don't really like the spotlight that much. Gotta stand still too long. . . Then there's the whole secret identity thing. I don't-"
"While I'd love to discuss your comic book knowledge, I'm just a little damn concerned. You mean to say that whoever collects these diamond things is essentially a God?", Dr McCoy interrupted furiously.
"Chaos EMERALDS, for one, Doc. Anyway, you COULD put it like that, I suppose." Sonic replied.
"You SUPPOSE? My God, do you have any idea what kind of ramifications that presents?"
"Yeah, I do! I work to keep them out of the wrong hands! The ONLY time I ever use them is when I have absolutely NO other options!"
"Oh, and what kind of situation is that? This Egg man builds a robot that takes you more than five minutes to blow up?"
"How about when you're fighting a monster the size of a continent that's destroying the world as you fight it? Is that a good enough excuse?"
"My God, the size of a continent? If that was going to happen, why didn't you prevent it from happening in the first place?"
"And what's THAT supposed to mean?"
"It means, if this doctor is such a huge threat, why haven't you taken care of him yet? Arrest him, KILL him, for God's sake!"
"Not my authority, Doc. I PROTECT people, not kill them."
"Do you even consider how many more innocent lives you're endangering by-"
Kirk intervened, "WILL YOU BOTH SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTHS?"
Both sides of the argument fell silent.
"Thank you." Kirk said.
Before another discussion began, Miles "Tails" Prower stepped away from the Galileo and called, "Finished!"
Sonic and the crew inspected the fresh repairs to the shuttlecraft.
Kirk smiled for a moment before remarking, "Well, it appears to be good as new."
Sonic gave an impressed whistle and said, "Good work, buddy!"
Tails humbly smiled and insisted, "It was nothing, really."
Sonic smirked at the away team and asked, "So, now that your ship is all fixed, how about we get to tracking down Eggman?"
Sulu inquired, "How exactly are we supposed to find him?"
Silence fell over the group once again and they all remained that way until Tails spoke up.
"How about the Emeralds?" he suggested.
Sonic replied, "Yeah, they're LINKED, aren't they? But knowing Egghead, he probably took the last one up into that Egg Destroyer of his. Last time he took the Emeralds in to space, we weren't able to track them."
Kirk said, "We can't scan it from the Enterprise. It's too close to the planet. Whatever's keeping us from scanning this world is keeping us from scanning IT, too."
Sulu added, "And attempting to fly toward it via shuttlecraft is suicide."
Tails said, "Eggman probably got up there with a teleporter of some sort. So all we have to do it find the base he teleported from."
Sonic asked, "But how?"
"By following energy residue left behind from the Chaos Emerald he was carrying."
"Residue? How would we-"
"We could follow it using the source of all the Chaos Emeralds' energy: The Master Emerald."
Sonic groaned, "Then it looks like we have no choice . . . but to go Angel Island."
Aboard the Starship Enterprise, the ship's crew was having problems of their own. None of the crew knew if the away team had made it safely to the surface of the planet or not, and on top of that, the ship's computer was running horribly slow. As Ensign Pavel Checkov and Commander Nyota Uhura fidgeted with their stations, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott entered the bridge with sweat fresh on his brow.
"I don't know what's wrong with this stinkin' thing. The computer's got some kind of bug and I can't fix it!"
"A bug?", Uhura asked confusedly.
Checkov continued, "But that is impossible. The Enterprise is one hundred percent virus-proof."
Scotty responded, "You're tellin' me. I programmed the computer myself. Nevertheless, there is something very wrong."
As the Enterprise's away team loaded themselves into the Galileo and Sonic and Tails took off in the Tornado, Spock leaned close to Kirk and said, "Captain, as much as it displeases me to do so, I must agree with Doctor McCoy. The consequences of the power the Chaos Emeralds grant could destroy all of reality if used unwisely. Bringing this planet into the Federation could broadcast their existence to the entire universe, and there are many who will stop at nothing to attain them."
Kirk smiled at his friend and assured him, "Not to worry, Spock. If this planet is ever officially introduced into the Federation, Starfleet will give them complete protection for Klingons and Romulans and such."
Spock replied, "It is not the Klingons or Romulans that I am concerned about."
Kirk sighed. He knew exactly what Spock meant. Once Starfleet found out about the Chaos Emeralds, they would demand for them to be handed over no matter what the cost. One way or another, being involved with the Federation would hurt this planet.
On the Egg Destroyer, Dr. Eggman grinned as he stared at the information on the screen before him. Never before had he seen such advanced technology. Oh, the secrets he was learning from this ship. Soon, it would all be at his disposal.
TO BE CONTINUED