"My tricorder is picking up traces of radioactivity. One of the life form's fission-power plants is nearby."
"Where, Spock?" Kirk craned his neck. Low, rolling hills hid the horizon, but no evidence of elaborate facilities showed. "They have to supply it somehow and get the power out. There's not even much in the way of a road here, much less power lines."
"Transportation is limited, Captain. What I have seen is organically based. Some aerial craft resemble airplanes from Earth's history, but they are organic constructs, just as the buildings are. Their resemblance is purely a matter of form being dictated by function and strict adherence to Bernoulli's equation."
"There has to be heavy concrete and lead shielding, perhaps even force screens, for an atomic-power plant," protested McCoy. "I figured that's why the shuttle is landing nearby. Shielding material is mined nearby their plant so they don't have to drag it so far."
"A logical deduction, Doctor. However, I have come to suspect that all is organically based on this planet. Even speaking of the inhabitants as 'they' might be in error."
"You're saying only one life form runs everything?"
"In the same way you are a single life form comprising mitochondria, nuclei, endoplasmic reticula, Golgi bodies, bacteria and viruses of various kinds and functions, indeed an entire army of creatures that makes you the entity you are."
"Each part we see—the trees, the grass, the road itself—are all just appendages to one giant creature?" asked Lorritson, showing the first sign of curiosity since leaving the thorny prison.
"Integral parts. No single one is vital, but all are necessary. It is difficult to conceive of all living things on a planet being aspects of the same creature, but I believe it is true here. If such is the case, the fission plant is likely to be organic in nature also."
"Organic fission isn't the same as nuclear fission." McCoy smirked.
"I am aware of that. And, Doctor, you must be aware of naturally occurring nuclear reactors. One became critical and ran for hundreds of years on your Earth, on the continent of Africa. Pitchblende in an underground vein proved rich enough to trigger fission. The rock of the continent itself contained the reaction. I contend such is the case here also."
"So the energy is used directly by the life form? There won't be turbines and other mechanical gadgets?"
"None," Spock answered his captain.
"Scotty'd be disappointed."
They walked to the top of a rise. Kirk spotted the facility first. Even as Spock had detailed, the fission reactor proved entirely organic, contained by huge, throbbing slabs of gray material that might have been animal muscle tissue.
"Those bands of gray hold inorganic shields in place. The heat within the core of the natural reactor builds. Some creature, possibly designed or evolved for the task, absorbs the heat directly and conducts it to the life form outside the radiation area."
"Nothing can live within an atomic pile, Spock," protested McCoy.
"Doctor, your biological education is curiously stunted. Do you not attempt to examine all the peculiar forms of life that exist within the bounds of our universe? Many forms of bacteria not only thrive within boiling water, they flourish also in the high-radiation environment of an atomic reactor."
"Never heard of any such critter."
"They exist and have been known for centuries. They were well documented even in the twentieth century."
"Captain," shouted one of the security men. "Look. There."
Kirk saw the shuttle roaring off from a quary on the far side of the natural atomic reactor. The shuttle strained as it took to the air, trembling under the heavy load it carried. Without further discussion, Kirk motioned for the party to follow. If they hurried, they might arrive at the quarry site just before sundown.
* * *
"Everything is as I surmised, Captain," said Spock, his voice low. "Note how they all keep their communicators constantly linked with the Enterprise."
Kirk nodded. At times, he heard Lorelei's voice. The volume on all the communicators in the hands of his hypnotized crew had been turned to maximum. While they were some distance away, he felt the tuggings as Lorelei spoke her persuasive words. Peace. Nonaggression. The True Path.
Spock shook him out of his stupor. "Captain, if you concentrate too much, she will ensorcell you with her words—with her subsonics."
"I think you're right, Spock. There's no other reason for her to maintain such close verbal contact with the ground crew."
"The shielding is being mined by worms, sir," came one of the security men's report. "Giant worms with immense slasher mandibles. They cut through the rock just like they used atomic torches. Low-slung lizard creatures cart the cut slabs to the landing site, where we use antigrav lifters on it to get it into the shuttle. Where they use lifters," he corrected, tenseness in his voice.
"Relax, Mr. Neal, we're not going to have to fight our crew. There's got to be a better way."
"Thanks, sir. I…I don't like the idea of having to hurt any of them."
"Jim?" asked McCoy, fingers cutting into his arm. The doctor stared at the security officer.
"No, it's just his natural reluctance to harm his friends. I don't care for it, either. Lorelei hasn't got to him." In a lower voice he added, "And I'll see to it that she doesn't."
They observed for some time while the last of the shielding was loaded. The shuttle again roared aloft, leaving behind a handful of crewmen. One of them placed his communicator beside a tree. Lorelei's voice boomed forth, vibrant and beguiling.
"She's talking to the planetary life form. She has the entire planet under her spell," said Spock. "Is there any wonder she so captivated the crew?"
"No," said Kirk, suddenly tired. "She's a marvel of persuasiveness. I only wonder how we're going to get the Enterprise away from her."
For that Spock had no answer.
Chapter Nine
Captain's Log, Stardate 4906.1
We have secured a position on a hill overlooking the quarry where shielding for repair of the Enterprise's engines is being mined. Tension mounts with each shuttleload of the shielding. There cannot be many more trips; the shuttle provides the only means of escaping this planet. Spock is unsure how much longer our presence will go undetected. As soon as the drug wears off on the thorny corral bush where he, McCoy and the others were imprisoned, the entire planet will be in an uproar. Escape must come soon—or we will never leave this planet alive.
"I estimate three point seven nine six two metric tons of shielding will give Mr. Scott adequate radiation protection. That means there will be only one more trip of the shuttle."
"Why didn't they just beam it up?" asked McCoy. "It's time-consuming to come and pick it up like they're doing. Would it have angered the planetary life form?"
"Even disregarding the problem with the transporter's range-finder unit, Doctor, the sheer mass of shielding is too great to be beamed up. We are not talking about grams. Mr. Scott needed thousands of kilograms of mass to protect his workers as they repair the warp engines."
Silence fell. Shivers ran up and down Kirk's spine. The utter solitude of the spot wore on his nerves. No crickets chirped, no birds sang, no animal sounds at all penetrated to their hideout, because there were no such sounds anywhere on the planet. All performed as a single unit.
"When do you estimate the thornbush will begin throwing off the effects of the drug?"
Spock looked toward McCoy, who sat sullen and withdrawn. "The metabolism of the bush is unknown, but it cannot be longer than a few more hours. When that occurs, we will become the hunted once again."
"It's going to be cutting it close, no matter what. The last shuttle trip, the planet becoming aware of your absence, trying not to draw attention to ourselves until then." Kirk heaved a deep sigh. "And then our problems will only be starting. Regaining control of the Enterprise won't be an easy job."
"Lorelei has effectively bound all of the crew to her with the sonic hypnosis."
"
It must go deeper than that, Spock," mused Kirk. "Just seeing her, I feel…different."
"It might not be a matter of sight as much as scent, in your case. She is of a different race, but her species pheromones might excite certain humans."
"Such as myself?" Kirk asked, smiling slightly. "It's possible. I did notice her perfume once. Thinking back, how could she have had any perfume? She didn't bring anything but the clothing she wore when we rescued her from the derelict."
"The planet Hyla will make an interesting and most valuable addition to the Federation if we can find it for contact."
"'If,' Spock? You're not turning into a pessimist, are you?"
"I only state such matters in a statistical sense. The odds against our successfully escaping this planet are—"
Kirk held up his hand and cut off his science officer's answer. "That's all right. You don't need to be specific. We all know there's not much hope."
"Hope, Captain? A purely human concept and one that does not sustain close analysis. It, like your bizarre idea of luck, actually refers to statistical concepts."
"Enough of this. Let's go over the plan one last time for getting on board the shuttle. Nothing can go wrong."
"Sir, many things can go wrong. If—"
"Spock, shut up," said McCoy. "I'm tired of you mouthing, off all the time. I want to do something about it." He rose and started toward the Vulcan. As the doctor stepped out, his foot hit a stump. The seemingly dead tree recoiled and roots began rising from the soil, curling in toward the central stalk.
"Doctor, careful," cautioned Spock, pointing. "All is interconnected. Tread softly."
"Damnedest place I ever saw. Even the earthworms complain if you stomp too hard on the ground." He started to step down firmly, then hesitated. He gingerly walked the short distance and crouched beside Kirk and Spock. "All right. I'm learning. Can't knock out the entire planet, so I have to be careful."
"We won't be able to rush the shuttle. We dare not take the chance of alerting the planetary life form that anything is amiss. On the other hand, we can't just walk up without being spotted. There are guards posted while the actual loading is going on."
"We have hand phasers. Why not stun the guards, then take our sweet time waltzing over?" McCoy scratched his head and rocked back on his heels as they huddled together.
"Alerting the life form is only part of our concern. If Lorelei gets even a hint that her shuttle has been hijacked, she won't open the landing-bay doors. Or worse, she will leave orbit and find another planet to perform repairs. In either case, we are marooned."
"She has to believe everything is proceeding according to her plans," agreed Kirk, hating the mention of any part of the Enterprise as being "hers." We can take out the guards one by one and substitute our own men. But whoever is in command must remain so, because Lorelei will check frequently."
"This is becoming more complicated than the strategy for the battle at Rift Twenty-three when the Romulans tried to drive a wedge through the center of the Federation."
"Bones, our success or failure might reflect on history. That sounds like this is being blown out of proportion, but it isn't. Zarv and Lorritson still have a mission to perform. The Romulans aren't going to wait for us. The Ammdon-Jurnamoria spate will be escalated into a full war without peaceful alternatives."
"The shuttle, sir!" called one of the security team.
The distant roar provided a touch with a civilization totally different from the organic entity all around—and wonderfully familiar. A pair of the living airplanes silently flew above, as if they escorted the rapidly falling shuttle. When the shuttle banked and came in for a precision landing, the planetary life form's aerial watchdogs soared off on some other mission.
"This is it. Mr. Neal, take the guard on that rise. Spock, McCoy, stick close. The rest of you, wait here. Come only if we run into trouble." Kirk wanted as few involved as possible in the seizure of the shuttle. Too many hands and feet only added to the chance for mistake. The initial attack was the only chance they got. Flub it, and everything was lost.
Kirk watched the security man slip off, watching where every foot was placed. By the time the shuttle door opened and the crew emerged, Neal hid only a few meters away. They held their breath as the crewman from the shuttle marched past Neal's hiding spot. An eruption of red, a quick blow, a body slumping unconscious, and Neal replaced the guard. Kirk gave the high sign. The trio moved.
They cautiously passed down a small rise and waited while the willing workers dragged huge slabs of the rock shielding material up the hill to where the shuttle crew slid antigrav sleds beneath it.
"We can take the crew out, replace them and then get into the shuttle," said Kirk. "There doesn't seem to be any way of making a frontal assault on the shuttle."
"Sir, Mr. Scott is in command." Spock peered through the gathering twilight, his sharper eyes taking in more details than either Kirk or McCoy. "He will recognize us instantly if we attempt it."
"We don't have much other chance"
Spock shrugged. Whether he agreed or not, his captain had made a command decision. They were all bound by it now.
"Now!"
The trio surged up from their hiding spots and tackled the workers jockeying the antigrav sleds into place under the slabs of shielding. Kirk hit his man twice before knocking him out. Spock's fingers tightened on a collarbone in a Vulcan nerve pinch. Only McCoy had trouble subduing his man; all the while he grunted and grumbled about doctors helping and not harming their patients.
"In this case, Doctor," said Spock, "it is all too apparent he is your victim rather than your patient."
"You're right, Spock. He's my victim. And for pointing it out to me, I'll give you a free cosmetic ear job when I get back to my surgery. Might make you more human, though I doubt it."
"Such does not appeal to me in the least, Dr. McCoy."
Kirk motioned for them to finish the job the others had begun. They positioned the antigrav sleds and began tugging them along toward the shuttle some distance away. The creatures that had been dragging the slabs of shielding paid them no more attention than they had the other humans. To them, one extraneous creature was identical to another—as long as they/it was not threatened.
"Easy does it," said Kirk, more to McCoy than to Spock. "Don't even give a hint that anything's wrong."
"There's Scotty," whispered McCoy. "He's looking the other way."
"Into the shuttle's hold. Then we can see about him."
They guided the heavy shielding into the shuttle hold, secured the load with force bands and sent the antigrav sleds back out into the gathering darkness. The twin-bladed sleds hovered quietly, obediently waiting for the next trip to the quarry. If Kirk had his way, that trip would be delayed.
"All right," he said, pressing close to the side of the shuttle. "We've got to do this all in one quick attack. Spock, you take out Scotty with your nerve pinch. Bones and I will go after the others inside the shuttle."
"How will we get inside in time to do anything? They'll be able to warn Lorelei."
"Confidence, Bones. Set? Go!"
The trio slipped free of the hold and started for their targets when a loud warning shout echoed up the path from the direction of the quarry. The cry was wordless, anguished—and human.
"Lads," ordered Scotty, moving around from his position near the front of the shuttle. "Go and see what trouble's brewin' down there. I dinna like this place." As two of the security team with him trotted off, phasers still holstered, Scotty flipped open his communicator. "Come in, Enterprise."
Response came instantly.
"What trouble, Mr. Scott?" sounded Lorelei's dulcet tones. "There hasn't been any intervention with the planet's biosphere?"
"I kenna the problem, Lorelei." As Scotty continued speaking, Kirk waved back both his friends. Even at five meters and over a small hand communicator, the hypnotic effect of the Hylan woman's voice made itself felt.
Kirk motioned for the other
s to put hands over ears. They duplicated his action while hiding in the cargo hold once more. Spock occasionally peered around the corner, checking to be certain Scotty still spoke into the communicator. He whirled back to face the others. His lips moved in silent confirmation that contact between Lorelei and the ground remained active.
Kirk moved close to Spock and whispered in his ear, "Let's get back down the trail and find out what happened. We can't leave Zarv and the others if they were discovered."
Spock and McCoy grabbed the handholds on the sides of the antigrav sleds and pushed them back down the path toward the quarry, as if they carried on with their assignment. The cloak of darkness now hid them from Scotty's eyes. They were only ebony forms moving through the night.
At a safe distance, Kirk spoke aloud. "Do either of you see anything? Someone cried out. It had to be one of our men."
"Not necessarily, Captain. If the man Neal took out or even one of those you or Dr. McCoy struck regained consciousness, he might have inadvertently lashed out and angered the planetary life form. If such is the case, we have very few minutes left."
Kirk didn't want to consider the other possibility. The drug injected into the thornbush might have worn off. If so, the entire planet might be seeking its escaped prisoners. No matter what had happened, the planet had been disturbed.
"There. Look!"
The two security men Scotty had dispatched to check out the quarry were trapped next to a large boulder. At their feet snapped knee-high four-legged animals with fangs long enough to cut through two inches of solid wood. The loud snapping noises as jaws opened and closed indicated the animals meant harm.
"No phasers," cautioned Kirk as McCoy drew his. "That's what caused this mess. See?" He pointed to several of the predator animals lying stunned near the three humans they had knocked out earlier. The men's throats had been ripped out.
"So much for your Vulcan nerve pinch. You put him out too good, Spock. The dogs got him."
Mutiny on the Enterprise Page 11
