Captain's log - Stardate 2261.6521
We have entered orbit around Minara II, but have not been able to contact our landing party. More troublesome is that initial scanning did not pick up any life forms on the planet. If the full scans fail to locate them, I'll send down a search party, but we're running out of time.
Turning off his log, Kirk looked over to Uhura. She didn't wait for the question before she shook her head.
"No transmissions of any kind from the surface, Captain."
The Captain then looked to Chekov, who was manning the Science station.
"Still no - wait - I've got something. Five - no, now two readings."
"Give those coordinates to Scotty and beam whoever it is aboard. We'll find out where the others are from them. Mister Sulu, keep us ready to get out of here fast. I'll be in the transporter room."
"Aye, Sir."
Scotty was activating the transporter as Kirk came in. As the two men began to materialize, Kirk and Scott were both shocked speechless for a moment before Kirk hit the intercom.
"Sickbay - medical emergency in the transporter area. Mister Spock and Doctor McCoy are both down."
Scott called over to add to the information.
"Mister Spock looks to be a level three, Doctor McCoy looks a level two, going on one."
Catching Kirk's concerned glance, Scott explained.
"Something I picked up when I was working with the doc on the clinic. Triage levels so they know how bad the situation is."
"One is bad then?"
"Aye, it is. What the devil happened to them down there? Did the scientists go mad? And where are the others?"
Unfortunately, Kirk didn't know the answer to any of those questions and the two men who might know were both unconscious. The medical team entered in a rush and immediately split into two groups, Palmer, Chapel and Layali going to McCoy as M'Benga, Bierman and Thrani began to check Spock. The speed that McCoy was rushed from the room made the bad feeling in the pit of Kirk's stomach get worse.
He was still looking at the doors McCoy had been whisked through when M'Benga called him over.
"Captain, it will need to be quick, but Commander Spock says he has to speak with you."
Feeling guilty that he hadn't noticed that his First Officer was conscious, Kirk quickly moved to kneel beside Spock.
"Spock - what happened? Where are the others?"
Knowing his time was limited, Spock ignored the first question.
"Dead. All dead."
Everyone in the room froze at those words. Spock used the silence to finish what he needed to say, his voice straining to get the words out.
"Recordings will explain. Mine and the doctor's."
M'Benga broke in.
"I'm sorry, Captain, but we really must get Commander Spock to Sickbay immediately."
Kirk nodded, moving out of the way as Spock was quickly readied for transfer. Another minute later, he and Scott were alone in the Transporter room. Feeling numb, Kirk activated the intercom.
"Kirk to Bridge."
"Sulu here, Captain."
"Get us the hell out of this system. I'll be in my ready room with Mister Scott."
"Aye, sir."
Only two words, but Kirk could hear the questions behind them. Questions Kirk wanted answers to as well. Moving back to where bits of uniforms and equipment had been left in the wake of the medical response team, Kirk picked up the pair of tricorders.
"Come on, Scotty."
Red alert alarms went off and both men ran from the room - Kirk headed for the Bridge and Scott for Engineering. Kirk was calling out as he stepped onto the Bridge.
"Status report."
No one on the Bridge turned to look at him, but Chekov answered, the slight unsteadiness of his voice was the only sign of the seriousness of the situation.
"Whatever had been keeping the sun from going nova is gone, sir. Not only that, but it is now collapsing far faster than it should be."
Sulu spoke up next.
"The gravitational pull has increased tremendously and it's slowing us down. It's going to be a race to get out of range, Captain."
Kirk hit the intercom.
"Captain to Engineering. Scotty, we need everything you can give us."
"You've got it, Captain."
The ship gave an ominous shudder that reminded them all far too much of the gravitation well that almost pulled them in with the Narada.
"Now or never, Mister Sulu. Get us out of here."
There was another brief shudder before the Enterprise broke free and headed out of the system. Everyone on the Bridge caught their breath as the sun exploded in an intense burst of light that made them wince even with the view screens dampening the effect. The silence remained as each of them took in the spectacle that they had very nearly become part of.
Kirk stood and looked around at his people.
"Great job, everyone. We need to work on cutting down on the number of last-minute escapes, though."
The nervous edge to the laughter showed how close they all knew it had been. Kirk knew a question about the landing party would be coming soon and he wanted to avoid that until he had some answers. He activated the intercom.
"Mister Scott, meet me in the ready room."
Kirk picked the two tricorders back up, the glance Uhura gave them didn't escape his notice.
"Mister Sulu, you have the conn. Stay in area until the astrophysics labs get all the readings they need for Starfleet."
Arriving before Scott did, Kirk took a moment to check on Spock and McCoy.
"Kirk to Sickbay."
"Chapel here, Captain. They're both unconscious at the moment, sir. Mister Spock is being treated for some broken bones and a concussion."
He didn't have to see her to hear the hesitation.
"And Bones?"
"He should make a full recovery, but Captain? Neither of the scientists at the outpost were a medical doctor, were they?"
"No. They were both astrophysicists. Why?"
"Someone has done massive amounts of regeneration work on Doctor McCoy. Far more than could have been done with the medknit he had with him. If it hadn't been for that, quite frankly, he would never have made it back to the Enterprise."
Scott walked in on the last part of Chapel's report. McCoy had still looked that bad after someone had helped him? He could tell that the Captain was having the same reaction as he asked Chapel to keep him informed and signed off.
Gesturing toward the table, Kirk settled in one chair and began looking over the tricorders while Scott went to the room's small replicator to get them both a coffee. The quick check showed both men had made multiple entries while on Minara II. As Scott passed him a coffee, Kirk gave him a small smile.
"Thanks. So - should we listen to the ones from Spock or Bones first?"
Taking a seat near the Captain, Scotty shook his head.
"We'd probably get the best idea of what happened if we listen to them by their time stamps. I can feed the recordings into the computer and have it sort them out."
Agreeing the would be best, Kirk handed over the tricorders. Less than three minutes later, they were listening. The first log was from McCoy - nothing unexpected, only a mention of quake activity. Next one in order was Spock reporting on more quakes while they slept and speaking of splitting up the party.
McCoy's next recording was the first sign of real trouble - Kiyosaki and Vogel going missing followed by finding a recording showing the two scientists had disappeared as well.
The logs started blending together to Kirk at that point. The discovery of the female empath - finding the bodies of the missing men - the Vians and their great experiment - the torture of Spock followed by the final log of McCoy saying goodbye to Spock. Now he knew who must have been the one that kept his friend alive. The voiceless young alien that McCoy had named Gem. But the recordings ended and Kirk still didn't know what had happened at the end. What had happened to the young woman and the Vians?
Shutting off the playback, Scott looked to Kirk.
"You don't think that little lass was still down there, do you?"
It only took a moment for Kirk to rule that out.
"No. I can't believe Spock would have left her behind if she was alive."
Remembering Spock's words in the Transporter room, Scott nodded.
"Mister Spock said 'all dead'. D'you think he meant the Vians as well?"
There was both anger and bitterness in Kirk's answer.
"I hope so."