Captive

Either the pain or the noise woke her this time. A new noise, not the usual background hum and buzz of the ship. Alarms were howling. There was a whine and screech she hadn't heard before. Maybe she had heard it. She no longer knew what she knew or remembered.

How long had she been here? It could have been hours, or years. The continual sliding in and out of consciousness made time perception inaccurate. The hunger and thirst were past the point of discomfort. She didn't think she was dead. She had always hoped death would be less awful than life.

It was difficult to breathe. She struggled to roll over. With arms lashed to her sides, and legs and feet bound as well it wasn't easy. She didn't try to spare herself from further injury. In any case, more pain wouldn't have been noticed by an overloaded nervous system. Someone was shouting but she couldn't hear or understand much as she lost consciousness again.

"It's no use. The drive core is fusing. It's going to blow soon. Shouldn't 've trusted those spurkers who sold it to us!" he shouted, scanning all the diagnostics.

The owner of the offending drive worked at the panel furiously. The ship's tiny bridge was littered with bits of wire and broken circuit bubbles. Every conceivable warning light was flashing. There was a haze in the air. Life support was overloaded trying to cope with the smoke. The background noise increased in pitch and volume.

"Get into the escape pod. At least that works! I checked it personally before we left." he said. His companion and business partner got out from under the console she'd been examining.

"What about the shipment?" she asked. She began activating various systems in the pod. There was haste in her actions, but no panic. It wasn't the first time that they'd had to do this.

The ship's owner snarled "Damn the khesting shipment! It didn't cost us anything and I'm not gonna die for it! Let's move!" He squeezed into the pod and started the escape sequence. Never mind if his partner got in or not. She crowded in and shut the hatch. The automatic locking mechanism slowly settled itself. When all (most anyway) of the panel lights were the right colour, she ejected the pod.

The tiny ship had been modified from a standard 4 passenger recreational vehicle to a 2 passenger-plus-whatever-goods-would-fit-into-the-remaining-space vehicle. Very convenient for those quick trips across the border, the salesbeing said. Unfortunately the new owner hadn't looked very carefully at the "recently overhauled" drive and had pushed it to speeds which would have strained a new drive of that size. The usual safety backups had been removed in the interest of additional "cargo" space. Sloppiness is fatal to a smuggler, since so much of their success depends on luck anyway. These two had used up their luck.

The Federation starship Enterprise was on a routine mission, if such things exist. They were near that part of space which the Klingons periodically liked to claim was theirs. The fact it had never been formally ceded to them was irrelevant as far as they were concerned. Two solar systems had joined the Federation relatively recently. So far the Klingons hadn't bothered to try to take either system. There were richer pickings elsewhere. The habitable planets would have been too expensive to maintain to Klingon comfort standards, and provided little in the way of exploitable resources to bring back to the Homeworlds. Perhaps the Empire had enough slaves for the time being.

Still...Federation policy dictated that Federation starships make visits of reassurance to any members near enough to "hostile" territory.

The Enterprise and crew were welcomed by the inhabitants of the various planets of the first system visited. Cultural information was exchanged. Routine checks performed of medical, energy generation, agricultural, and manufacturing facilities. Anything else the inhabitants wished to show off was inspected and duly praised. In short the entire complement of specialists Enterprise carried was put to good use. Various requests for assistance were noted. Any that couldn't be dealt with were relayed back to Federation staff. Added to that were the usual touches of flagwaving and (dare it be said) propaganda the Federation and Starfleet liked their personnel to provide.

"Captain's log stardate 4229.4 We have completed our tour of the 2754 Sorinus system. Lieutenant Hress, a xenoagronomist, and Ensign Vorsin, a specialist in aquatic habitats have elected to remain on Sorinus 5, our last stop in the system. The other personnel stationed on planets 3 and 4 of the system have been noted in previous entries. The attempted coup by one of the anti-Federation parties on planet 5 was not successful. The Trebani government was able to end the uprising without blood shed on either side. The situation will be monitored.

As per schedule we are proceeding to the Beta Casarii system. There have been sporadic reports of Klingon and Orion vessels in the area, but apparently none have been military. This is not a heavily travelled region of the sector. These are more likely to be individuals engaged in unauthorised free trade." Captain James Kirk entered yet another routine log entry. "Someday, I'm going to say something really outrageous. Nobody could possibly read all these logs." he thought wryly, knowing full well that someone was indeed paid a great deal to read ship's logs.

Sulu nudged Chekov. "That's a polite way to say smuggling." They both smiled. The helm and weapons stations didn't have anything unusual to do at the moment. They were both a bit bored. Shore leave had been minimal for diplomatic and practical reasons. One of the planets they'd just visited couldn't support Terran human life without full environmental equipment, which tends to put a damper on social life.

At least two planets in the Casarii system were closer to Class M, so shore leave had been scheduled at the end of the tour. The bridge crew were contemplating the possibilities amongst themselves while Captain Kirk finished his log entry.

Mr. Spock was at his science station as usual. Also as usual in his role as first officer and science officer, he was simultaneously correlating information on atmospheric changes due to industrial activity on one of the upcoming planets, reviewing the diplomatic situation on another in case the captain needed a quick briefing, and setting the parameters for the computer to distribute shore leave equitably without completely disrupting ship's operations. All of which could have been done solely by computer with the barest input from Spock. He was just being thorough in his usual Vulcan way. Beside, he liked doing these things, although would probably have denied it as illogical if questioned.

"Captain! Picking up a small vessel, bearing 110 mark 10. Maintaining warp 4. It won't intersect our present course." Sulu said, hands flashing over the navboards. Spock hunched over his monitor. "It is a civilian pleasure craft, originally of Bertorin design. In light of its present speed it appears to have undergone considerable modification." he reported.

Captain Kirk shifted his attention back to Sulu. The little vessel was not visible yet on the normal screen magnification. "Probable course origin, Mr. Sulu?" Sulu checked his sensor outputs. "The best geodesic would track from the disputed Klingon sector, sir." he replied. Next to him Chekov instantly checked weapons and shield status, in case they were needed. He also continued his own sensor scans of the rapidly approaching ship, to determine its drive status, weapons, and shielding.

"It will enter the opposite side of the Casarii system if it continues on this heading. None of the planets lie directly in its path." Sulu continued.

"Captain, I cannot confirm the vessel's identity. The internal identifier beacon is inoperative or has been removed. However, the vessel's energy profile shows a distinct hot spot." Spock said.

"Which means it's likely to be in trouble. Lieutenant Uhura..." Kirk began.

"Attempting to hail them now sir." Uhura replied before he could finish. "No reply on any frequency. Sensors confirm they can hear us."

The captain shook his head. "Probably another smuggler with cheap equipment! Don't they ever learn? Spock,how many on board?" he asked as he swivelled the conn to face the First officer. Yet another rescue mission! As though this ship, his ship had nothing better to do. Hopefully not another case of Harry Mudd!

"There are three life forms aboard. Two forward and the third aft. This particular model would have two survival pods equipped for two beings each." Spock replied as he studied the schematics and sensor holograms before him. He was already setting up the transporter parameters in case they needed to pluck the inhabitants out while the little craft was still at warp 4 relative to the Enterprise. A precise operation and a dangerous one.

Captain Kirk swung the command seat around to face the main viewer again. "Odds are one pod has been removed in order to carry more contraband. Most pods can take one more at a pinch. Main transporter room..."

"Kyle here, sir" came the disembodied reply.

"Lock on to the people in that ship. We may not have much time to pull them out." Kirk ordered.

"I've got the feed from Mr. Spock, sir. We'll be ready. Kyle out"

"Mr. Sulu match course and speed but keep a safe distance."

"Aye sir. Course already computed and laid in. Engaging now." Sulu acknowledged without missing a beat.

The captain was beginning to speculate yet again whether all of his crew were telepathic. Always anticipating his orders! Maybe he should just go off somewhere and let them get on with it. What...and miss all this "fun"? "Any luck Uhura?" ever hopeful.

"No sir" she replied while continuing to hail the craft and offer assistance, and checking with the transporter chief.

Kirk had often wondered how she managed to hold two or more conversations while simulaneously listening to him. "What's happening out there, Spock?"

Spock replied without lifting his head from his monitor "An escape pod has been launched from the distressed vessel, with two humanoids aboard. Heading back towards the Klingon claimed sector at warp 1, and accelerating. The hot spot has now been identified as a defective warp core. Detonation is imminent."

Kirk half rose out of his seat. The visual display on the main screen had been switched to show the Bertorin ship and escape pod now visible off the Enterprise's starboard side.

"Didn't you say there were three life forms aboard that ship? Where is the third one?"

Spock looked up. "Sensors still indicate the presence of one humanoid aft. No change of location since the last sweep" he replied evenly. The rest of the bridge crew were busy at their posts and drawing their own conclusions.

The captain looked thoroughly irritated. "Transporter room! Have you got a fix on that person aft of that ship? Bring them in now! Chekov, shields up as soon as beaming over confirmed" he snapped. The survival pod might get caught in the backflush from the warp core when it exploded. They would just have to take their chances, although they were moving rapidly out of range in the opposite direction.The starship's shields would protect it from the effects of the relatively small explosion, but they would get a bit of a shaking up.

"Aye sir" came simultaneously from Chekov and Kyle.

"Transporter room confirms successful retrieval. Shields up, Captain" Chekov said almost in the next instant.

"All hands brace for shock wave" Uhura put on ship-wide.

The little ship exploded a few seconds after that. The starship rocked a bit as mass got converted into energy, but there wasn't much of either, relative to the size of the Enterprise.

Kirk sat down again. He was always proud of the efficiency of his crew, but that really was too close. His expression of relief (echoed by nearly everyone else on the bridge) suddenly hardened.

"Sulu, go after that escape pod. Someone's got a lot to answer for." His tightly controlled voice told everyone on the bridge just exactly how angry he was.

Uhura could be heard in the background summoning Dr. McCoy to the main transporter room. Everyone else continued their duties. No significant damage had been sustained.

"Good work everyone" Kirk added as he watched the view change as the Enterprise swung about to pursue the pod

"We'll overtake the pod in five minutes" Sulu reported.

The escape pod disintegrated in three.

Someone, probably in the vicinity of the command chair, was heard to mutter "Solves one problem, anyway".

"Transporter room to Captain Kirk"

Kirk punched the reply stud on the arm of the chair. "Kirk here. How's our 'guest?'"

McCoy came on. "I think you should have a look yourself Jim. Mc Coy out"

Captain Kirk looked puzzled. "Uhura, you have the conn. Mr. Spock, come with me." As they entered the turbolift, Kirk asked Spock " Were they carrying anything, Spock?"

The first officer replied "Initial sensor analysis of the debris shows no materials incompatible with the normal structure and function of a civilian craft. It would seem they were not carrying anything"

Kirk shook his head slightly. "Very inefficient of them. Even small time smugglers rarely run empty. Maybe their crew member can tell us more."

"Undoubtedly" Spock said, wondering why his captain seemed to know a great deal about the practices of dealers in contraband.

chapter 2