“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 [135] 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.
[136] “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, [137] 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 others 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 [138] 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.”
“This planet’s ecosystem is precise. The scavengers—and that is what those beasts must be—found those we [139] disabled. When those we rendered unconscious didn’t stir or respond in an approved fashion, they began their function.”
“They were eating them!”
“The creatures were removing potentially rotting meat. None of those we disabled reported in to the master life form; therefore it became obvious that function had terminated.”
Kirk restrained McCoy again as the doctor raised a phaser.
“Let me stop them, Jim. If we don’t do something, those men will die. Whether or not they’re bewitched by Lorelei, they’re still crewmen from the Enterprise. Your ship.”
“Bones.” James T. Kirk felt the dilemma pulling him apart. If they acted swiftly, they might prevent the deaths of the other two men. But if Kirk or either of the others with him did act, it would not only alert and alarm the planetary life form, it would reveal their presence to Scotty—and Lorelei. Escape would never be possible.
If they did nothing, two of his crew died. His crew.
“Jim, what are you going to do?” demanded McCoy. “They can’t hold off
the creatures much longer.”
“They do not use their phasers. Lorelei’s pacifistic philosophy has been too deeply ingrained for them to even defend their own lives. Fascinating, if evolutionally maladaptive.”
“Scott, help!” Kirk bellowed. He pulled his two friends aside, away from the path, into shadows too deep for anyone to see them.
Seconds later, Montgomery Scott lumbered down the trail.
“Saints preserve us, they’re bein’ eaten alive!” He spoke directly into the communicator.
“Peace!” came Lorelei’s voice. The word rolled out, [140] soothed, diminished the feverish snapping activity of the animals—the multiple extensions of the planetary life. “These men meant no harm. They live. They react. Do not harm them. They are one with the others.”
Kirk held his hands firmly over his ears to block out Lorelei’s words. Even that did not prevent the full impact of her sonic suasions. But enough filtered out so that he maintained his own ideals, his own philosophies. Lorelei spoke for fifteen minutes, coaxing, cajoling, soothing. The end result was all that Kirk might have hoped.
The pack of scavenger animals snuffled about, reluctant, then left to pursue their function elsewhere. The two rescued men clung to each other for support. Shock and their wounds prevented them from doing much more than shaking. The sight of their three friends, all bloody and dead, unnerved them even more. Scotty motioned for them to return to the shuttle. Kirk watched and waited, wondering what opportunity this might provide. His crew was being decimated; every loss for those obeying Lorelei wasn’t a victory. Those were his men dying.
When Scotty finished his report and closed the communicator lid, he shook his head and moved to put the bodies onto one of the antigrav sleds Spock had left at the edge of the path. Mumbling to himself, the engineer pushed the grisly load back to the shuttle.
“He’ll call it quits,” warned McCoy. “With so many men dead, he’ll want to return to the Enterprise. There can’t be any further need for shielding. They’ve got enough.”
“You’re right, Bones. This is the flare-off. Go get Neal and the others. Approach slowly. Spock and I will try to take out Scotty. This is our best chance.”
“It’s our only chance.”
Kirk didn’t answer the doctor. He waited until McCoy had slipped off into the night, carefully walking to avoid [141] any chance of disturbing the touchy organism forming the ecosphere around them. Kirk took a deep breath, then set off for the shuttle. The time had come to act. If they didn’t get into the shuttle soon, it’d leave and strand them forever on the planet. He doubted if Lorelei or any of the others aboard the Enterprise wanted to return after this bloody disaster.
“There, Jim. He is closing the cargo hatch.”
Kirk nodded, waited for Spock to move quietly toward Scotty, then stood and walked into an area illuminated by a small hand torch placed near the hatch of the shuttle. He stopped, hands on hips, and stood watching Scotty.
The engineer did a double take.
“Captain, ’tis you!” Then his expression shifted from joy to outrage. “Ye shouldn’t hae come like this. Lorelei says ye are exiled. Ye are a disruptive influence.”
“I need to return to my ship, Scotty. Let me return on the shuttle.” Kirk turned and patted the cold metal hull. “The old Galileo Seven has had a checkered career, hasn’t it?”
“Captain, I canna make ye leave, but Lorelei is a persuasive lass.” Scotty reached for the communicator. He froze, muscles tensed, as Spock used the Vulcan nerve pinch to stop him.
“I wondered if you’d forgotten what you were supposed to do.”
One eyebrow arched. “Captain,” said Spock, “I did not forget. There are beasts afoot in the dark. I did not wish to disturb them.”
“Get on with it, Spock,” Kirk said, a feeling of unease growing. “Have you ever heard the expression, ‘Someone is walking on my grave’? I’m getting that sensation now.” He looked out into the dark. Seeing nothing, he hefted the hand torch and flashed it around. Bootheels crunching against [142] gravel sounded. McCoy, Neal and the others entered the yellow cone of light. Ambassador Zarv and Donald Lorritson trailed behind, still cowed from their experiences.
“We’ve got to work on Scotty before getting back to the Enterprise,” he explained. “There are still a couple inside who haven’t, uh, seen the error of their ways.”
“Here’s one who is still pretty mad about it all, Captain.” Neal dumped down the guard he’d slugged. The man struggled in the tight bonds fastening wrists and ankles. A thick section of tunic muffled his protests.
“Keep it all quiet. Spock, what do you think?”
“Mr. Scott is not likely to throw off the effects of Lorelei’s sonic brainwashing easily if this man is any example of her effectiveness.” He pointed to the struggling security guard. “He has been removed from her sonic persuasions for some twenty minutes and still persists.”
“Does it have to be?” asked McCoy. “Do you have to do it to Scotty?”
“I see no alternative.”
Kirk nodded brusquely. “Do it, Spock. Use the Vulcan mind fusion. Try to convince him that he must aid us.”
“Even if Spock succeeds, we’re all still vulnerable if we come within her hearing,” protested Neal.
“Doctor, do you think you can work up a suitable replacement for ear wax?”
McCoy smiled and said, “It worked just fine for Odysseus. No Siren is going to bother us when I’m finished. Neal, help me search through the cargo hold. I’m needing a ball of jeweler’s wax kept back there for taking impressions.” McCoy and the security guard hurried off.
Jim Kirk turned and watched Spock reaching out, fingers caressing Scotty’s face. The fingers stiffened, probing firmly. Both Spock and Scott jerked, the Vulcan’s face turning flaccid.
[143] “He is ... his mind is awash with conflict,” came a voice subtly different from Spock’s, yet one obviously belonging to the Vulcan. “I cannot order it all. The words—her words—confuse and addle and create turmoil. So close. So close to finding the equation to free myself. Himself.” Spock pulled away as if his hands had been burned by the engineer’s flesh.
“Spock, are you all right?”
“Eminently so, Captain. I believe I have succeeded, at least in part.”
“Captain Kirk, I remember it now. I tried to stop ye. Gods, how can I hold my head up after this?” The man put his head down into his cupped hands and shook all over. “Never have I disgraced myself like this. ’Tis a tragedy.”
“It’ll be a tragedy if we don’t get out of here. You’re able to help us, Scotty?”
“Aye, Captain. Anything. To ... the Enterprise. She has control of the Enterprise. Lorelei!”
“It will come back slowly. I neurologically rearranged certain pathways. He will not be harmed, but his memory will be chaotic for some days.”
“Mr. Spock, it was you who was a-foolin’ about in my head!”
Kirk looked up to see McCoy and Neal returning. McCoy smiled, holding aloft a large ball of the soft, pliant wax.
“Here’s our ticket back to Mount Olympus.”
“Please, Doctor, your classical allusions fall on deaf ears.”
Leonard McCoy stopped and stared, mouth open. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think Spock had made a joke.”
“Later, Bones. Will this really work?”
“It’ll have to. It’s all I could find. Cram it in good. There. I’ll irrigate your aural channels later and clean out the mess.” He went from one to another in the group until all ears were plugged. Satisfied, he helped Neal get their [144] prisoner into the shuttle hold. It took even less time to capture the two who had been beset by the scavengers. They put up no fight, their spirits already low. With some satisfaction, McCoy oversaw them being tied and gagged. With no further influence of Lorelei over the men, the security guards would return to normal in a few hours—or days. Till then they had to remain tied. Spock’s services couldn’t be spared for each i
n the party. Not at this crucial moment.
“Into the shuttle. I want off this planet as soon as possible. There’s a feeling of impending disaster I can’t shake.”
“Captain Kirk,” said Lorritson, “I have misjudged you. This has been a trying time for all of us. You handled yourself admirably.”
“Inside. We can pat each other on the back later. When we’ve retaken the Enterprise from Lorelei.” Kirk waved Ambassador Zarv in, then noticed the Tellarite standing frozen in place just outside the shuttle hatch. “Ambassador!” he shouted, wanting to penetrate the veil dropped by the wax in their ears.
“Zarv! No, you can’t!” screamed Lorritson. Before anyone could stop him, Donald Lorritson rocketed from the shuttle and rushed to his superior’s side. The Tellarite’s leg had become wrapped in a strong vine. Others sprouted out of the soil and worked forward, groping blindly for the ambassador.
“Spock, hold off,” he ordered. “Zarv’s caught by vines.”
“The planetary life form is now aware of our escape, Jim. The shuttle sensors report accelerated activity throughout the immediate area. Fliers are aloft and armies of humanoids approach from the direction of the city. We have no time left. None!”
“I’ve got to save him. Without them, there won’t be an Ammdon peace mission.”
Kirk hurled out the open hatchway, crushed down [145] viciously on a vine working its way through the dirt and kicked free to stand beside Lorritson. The man shook as if he had a palsy. It took only a glance to see what produced this reaction. A vine had circled Zarv’s throat and choked the Tellarite to death. His tongue hung from his piglike snout, purple and bloated. His beady eyes had bulged to the point where the grotesque sight turned Kirk’s stomach.
“Donald, back. You can’t help him now. You’re the ambassador. You’ll have to stop the Ammdon-Jurnamoria war.”
“Zarv,” he sobbed. “He was more than my superior. He ... he was my friend. It’s so hard to believe. We complemented each other so well. We were invincible as a negotiating team. And with Mek Jokkor—”
“Lorritson! Snap to it!” Kirk lashed out with his boots, trying to clear a path to the shuttle. There wasn’t any chance. He whipped out his phaser. Two quick rayings produced results, but not what Kirk had expected.
STAR TREK: TOS #12 - Mutiny on the Enterprise Page 12
