NX-01 Enterprise
Orbit of Chi Herculis IV
0815 hours

Tucker sat in the captain's chair, overseeing the routine orbit of the system's fourth planet. There was no sign of the lost survey ship in nearby space.

"I've got an automated beacon signature." Ensign Tyrone Hanson said. "Looks like the third largest continent, near the equator. It's the survey ship, Horizon."

"I have it." T'Pol reported. "Massive damage and a large hull breach to the port side. It apparently crash landed."

"Any survivors?" Trip asked.

"None detectable." T'Pol said. "Wait. I'm reading one human biosign several kilometers to the north. The reading is…odd."

"Odd how?"

"The biosign is strong but I"m only reading half a body. It's as if they have been massively damaged, but the reading is still strong."

"How is that possible?"

"I'm unsure."

Ensign Hanson reported, "I'm trying to hail them but I'm getting no response. Their comm may be damaged or lost."

"Tactical?" Trip inquired.

"No clear sign of weapon damage." Commander Rojas reported. "Though that hull breach looks suspect. I can't say for sure what brought them down without a closer look."

"I think I have something." T'Pol reported. "I believe the plant life is silicon based. That's why the probe did not detect it. More curiously, I'm reading the survivors missing half is also silicon based. I may be incorrect, however. The abundance of silicon based lifeforms is interfering with detailed scans."

"Can we get a lock on them?" Trip asked. "Transport them up here?"

"Negative." T'Pol reported. "The apparent silicon based half of the survivor precludes a transport lock for some reason. I'm also reading dozens of silicon based lifeforms near them that are interfering with scans. Further, I'm reading a silicon based reading from the wreckage of the Horizon."

"What in the world?" Trip wondered.

"I recommend taking a shuttle to the surface." T'Pol said. "Beaming down should not pose a difficulty, but the abundance of silicon based lifeforms would interfere with any attempt to beam back up."

"Shuttle it is, then." Trip answered. "Have Doctor Sarev meet us in the launch bay. Rojas, T'Pol, you're with me. We'll set down near the Horizon and inspect the ship. Then we'll hike out and try to link up with this survivor."

Sarev, the Vulcan doctor, met them in the shuttle bay with a physician's medipack on one shoulder. T'Pol, Rojas and Tucker joined him in shuttlepod one.

Vectoring down towards the wreckage proved no difficulty. But even within a few dozen kilometers T'Pol still could not isolate the survivor's biosign.

The shuttle approached within a kilometer of the Horizon's wreckage before disaster struck. It was well after dark, but the sensors on the shuttle managed to make their approach possible, despite the interference.

A large swath of crimson-red energy flashed along the shuttle's hull, coming from the large copse of crystalline trees. The starboard hull was breached. Alarms blared but everyone in the shuttle had their own trouble to worry about. The hull breach ripped the air from the shuttle interior, leaving everyone gasping for breath. T'Pol's seat came loose and only a vice-like Vulcan grip on the center console kept the whole assemblage from flying out of the breach.

Trip managed to bring the shuttle down the old-fashioned way. Gravity and the questionable aerodynamic properties of the shuttle's configuration brought it down hard. The inertial dampeners, still somehow active, barely kept the landing manageable. No one was seriously injured. Except Rojas.

When the shuttle came to a rest within a half kilometer of the Horizon's wreckage, Trip wasted no time.

"Is everyone alright?" 'He asked.

Trip caught eyes with everyone, assuring him that all was relatively well. All but Rojas, who had suffered a massive gash to her left ankle. She was bleeding profusely.

Doctor Sarev got to work immediately, administering a coagulant and dressing the wound as best he was able. Rojas grimaced in pain but betrayed no other indication that she'd been as badly injured as she'd been. Sarev administered a pain suppressant.

"Where did that even come from?" Trip asked..

"From the wood." T'Pol answered. "It seems the entire wood emitted a concentrated wave of laser energy when we approached. It is obviously a defense mechanism of some sort. I recommend we stay well clear once we depart the shuttle."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Trip said. "Rojas, how are you doing?"

'

"I can hack it." She said, "The pain meds make it manageable."

"Okay, then." Trip said. "Let's stay the heck away from the woods. Sarev, can Rojas leave the shuttle?"

"I don't think there's any other option." Sarev said. "The wooded area likely needs time to regenerate such an energy burst. It would behoove us to get as far away as possible before it does."

"Sounds like a plan." Trip said. "Let's get out of here and find that wreckage."

"It should be no more than a kilometer to the south." T'Pol reported.

Sarve fashioned a crutch for Rojas from his medikit. Once she was ready, they exited the shuttle through the handy breach in the port side. The shuttle doors were both twisted, too much to allow egress.

"I think we know what caused the Horizon to crash land." T'Pol said, once they had cleared the wreckage. "The Horizon was likely coming in to land in order to explore the area and came into conflict with the wood."

"If their inertial dampeners failed," Trip said. "That would explain the loss of life. I'm still interested in the silicon readings around the ship, though. Without the shuttle and no way to transport up to the ship, I have no idea how we're getting back to Enterprise."

T'Pol consulted her scanner.

"I'm reading silicon biosigns around the ship." She said, "Interference precludes an accurate numbering."

"Fetch the phase pistols from the shuttle." Trip ordered. "I've no interest in becoming something's lunch."

Phase pistols were recovered and passed out amongst themselves.

It took four hours to march across the broken silicon landscape to within approach distance of the Horizon. Now in the dark they could see by flashlight several silicon creatures milling about in the distance around the wreckage. Even when they approached within a dozen meters the creatures seemed to take no interest in them.

Each of the creatures had a crystalline exoskeleton, and consisted of a medial torso replete with spiked and knobby protrusions. Four thick legs, reticulated into three separate sections, held the creatures from the ground. A long neck and what could only be a head protruded from the front section of the torso. From either side of the neck, short arms extended, ending in five "fingers". All of the creatures flashed in different colors in the light of their flashlights.

The team held back ten meters from the nearest creature. They now appeared interested in the four of them, waving their heads in their direction, but taking no steps to close the distance.

"Phasers to stun." Triip ordered. "We don't want to kill anything we don't have to."

"It is uncertain whether a stun setting will even disrupt these creatures." T'Pol noted.

Before Trip could respond, three of the nearest creatures broke off suddenly and began to move toward them.

"I don't want these things any closer to us." Trip said. "Let's see if the stun setting works or not."

With Rojas having her hands full with her crutch, it was up to Trip, T'Pol and Sarev to fire on the creatures, each choosing a different target among the three approaching.

T'Pol supposition was proven correct when the stun setting proved of no effect whatsoever. Crimson beam energy impacted the creatures and diffused along their exoskeleton.

The creatures were now practically within reach.

"Set to kill." Trip ordered.

Adjustments were made quickly and another volley of beam lanced out. Again, the beams diffused along the creatures' exoskeleton, to no discernible effect.

It was clear now what the creatures intended. They were after Rojas.

Before anyone could react further the creatures had reached Rojas. One of them, blue in color, leaned forward and seemed to bite her on the shoulder. No blood was drawn but Rojas instantly slipped into unconsciousness.

The blue creature ran its clawed hand over the wound on Rojas's ankle, apparently examining it.

To their horror, the team watched as the same creature reached and tore into Rojas's flesh above her left ankle where she was injured, severing the leg at the mid-calf and tossing the lump of flesh and bone to one side, boot and all.

Trip tried to wrestle the creature off of Rojas, but he might as well have been wrestling a rock.

Quickly, before anyone could react further, the creature sprayed a blue colored liquid onto the stump of Rojas's leg. Bleeding stopped immediately and the creature seemed to reach into its own torso to reveal another mid-calf leg made of crystalline material, with a see-through skin. It quickly attached the leg portion to Rojas's own stump and began massaging the seal between the two bodies. In moments, with Trip still trying in vain to separate the two, the creature released Rojas and stepped back into the company of the other two.

Rojas remained unconscious, her leg now ending in a new crystalline appendage.

The three creatures stepped aside suddenly, allowing a fourth creature to approach. This one was black in color, smaller than the others but with a great many more nodules atop its torso. It gestured with its arms, seemingly in a come hither signal.

"What the hell is going on?" Trip asked.

"What the hell is going on?" The black creature asked, its voice raspy and akin to a buzzsaw cutting through dense wood. It gestured again, the same gesture as before.

"Am I crazy or did that thing just repeat what I said?" Asked Trip

"Am I crazy?" The creature repeated, again gesturing.

"Captain," T'Pol said. "I believe this creature may be sentient. It's attempting to communicate."

"It's attempting to communicate." The creature responded.

"Sarev, check out Rojas's leg." Trip ordered.

"Check out Rojas's leg."

Sarev began scanning Rojas. Trip watched the four creatures closely, especially the one trying to communicate.

"The appendage seems to have merged with Rojas's leg, down to the individual nerve clusters." Sarev reported. "I believe it is a bionic attachment of some sort. Its connection rivals even modern prosthetics. I am most intrigued."

"I am most intrigued." The creature responded. "Please, make more words."

"Are you telling me this thing fixed Rojas?" Trip asked.

"Are you telling me this thing fixed Rojas?"

"I'm saying this new appendage rivals her own original." Sarev said.

"Yes, more words are needed."

"What did you do to my tactical officer?" Trip asked the creature, angrily.

"We fixed it."

"There was nothing wrong with her that time wouldn't heal." Trip responded. "There was no reason to replace her leg!"

"We fixed her."

Rojas stirred to consciousness again. It took her only a moment to notice the new addition to her leg.

"What the hell?!" She cried. "What happened to my leg?!"

"We fixed you."

""I can see the veins and muscles!" Rojas said. "What did they do to me?"

"We fixed your leg, with veins and muscles."

Rojas could only gawk.

"She's going into shock." Sarev said, already preparing a hypospray.

"We will fix her." The black creature said, gesturing toward the original blue creature that fastened the leg. It stepped forward.

"No, thank you." Trip said, quickly. "We can fix her just fine. Doc?"

Sarev administered the hypospray to Rojas's neck.

"I'm giving her a mild sedative." He said.

The apparent medical creature stepped back again.

"You are impairing her functioning." The black creature said.

"She'll be fine." Trip asserted. "We know how to take care of our own."

"Very well."

"So who are you anyway?" Trip asked.

"I am the historian." The creature replied. "It is my function to make first contact. You are the first."

"I am Captain Tucker of the starship Enterprise." Trip said. "It's my function to make first contact, too."

"We hope that our operation on your tactical officer has displayed our good intentions." The historian said. "We have improved her functioning."

"Doc?" Trip asked. "What do you say?"

"Indeed." Sarev said, "From what I can tell, her lower leg and ankle have been much improved. Vascular dilation has not been hampered and the new appendage should be able to take significant damage before failing. :It functions in all the ways her original foot would."

Rojas moaned, her eyes fluttering.

"I thought it was just a mild sedative." Trip noted.

"She was at risk of becoming combative." Sarev said.

"What are you doing to the wreckage?" Trip asked the historian.

"We are studying it." It said, "To understand its function."

"Captain," TPol said. "We are at risk of contaminating a pre-warp culture."

"I don't know how we're supposed to stop them from examining the wreckage." Trip said. "I doubt they get much out of it, though. It's a pretty advanced vessel for a pre-warp culture."

"What is warp?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that." Trip said. "We have certain rules we have to observe about what information we give you."

"We will study the advanced vessel then."

"Knock yourself out. Just as long as you don't expect any help from us."

'We will suffice, captain."

"What are you doing to the thing anyway? We noticed a lot of silicon readings among the wreckage."

"We are fixing it."

"Good luck. That's the product of a couple hundred years of intense research."

"Fixing it is within our grasp. Utilizing its function is another matter."

"Again, sorry we can't help you. If you don't mind, we'd appreciate a close look at it ourselves when the sun comes up."

"What do you mean? When the sun comes up we must all sleep."

"We function best in the daytime."

"That is most distressing. You are daywalkers? How can this be? You function at night."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Daywalkers are our enemy. You say you are daywalkers but you function at night."

"We function pretty much all the time, though we prefer daylight. That said, we are not your enemy."

"Daywalkers killed our secondary historian. You are not with the daywalkers?"

"We haven't been party to killing anyone, historian or not."

"That is a relief. It would be regrettable if you sided with our enemies. They are ruthless murderers."

"That said, I should really check in with my ship."

"Where is your ship? Is it the flying device we detected earlier? It was destroyed by the banyan trees."

"That was just our shuttle. We have a larger ship in orbit."

"Where is 'orbit'?"

"I've probably said too much already. Give us a minute."

Trip reached into his arm pocket and retrieved his communicator.

"Tucker to Enterprise. Come in."

"Enterprise. Is everyone okay?" Ensign Hanson responded. "We saw the shuttle go down."

"We're fine." Trip responded. :"Rojas was injured but the locals…uh….patched her up."

"Locals?"

"We've inadvertently made contact with a pre-warp species down here. Other than a penchant for aggressive medical intervention, they seem alright."

"We can send down another shuttle, but without knowing what took out shuttlepod one, we can't risk it."

"It should be safe to land where we are. We're far enough away from the source of the laser burst."

"Should we send shuttlepod two your way?

"Not just yet. We're going to stick around until sunup to get a look at the wreckage. And we still have to make contact with that survivor."

"Understood."

"Keep your eyes on us. Tucker out."