The USS Enterprise is the first Starfleet vessel to successfully navigate the Necro Cloud Nebula and travel farther into uncharted space than any other Federation ship has ever gone before. Which is why a cryptic distress signal from an unknown plan...
The holo-displays across the city suddenly changed. The alien's scream of rage cut short. Jaylah and Kirk watched, surrounded by hundreds of people who had come out onto the streets, flooding from the buildings in hoards.
Some were crying in disbelief, others were angrily shouting as they had watched the ruler admit to the crimes many had already suspected him of. Many had lost loved ones, vanishing with no explanation. Like the girl Kirk had seen earlier. And now they knew the truth.
The man they had lived their entire lives forced to worship, the man who warned about the dangers of the AtkDn and the plague they were to the planet. Now they saw him as he really was. A liar, a hypocrite and a murderer.
"He's one of them!" a man yelled in the crowd. "He's a liar!" Another chimed in. "He was the one that took them away!" More began to join in until the crowd had grown into a frenzy.
Thunder roared in the distance, the storm quickly approaching as the last of the red sun began to sink below the horizon.
Jaylah looked at Kirk. He had heard Spock's voice, confronting the alien and forcing him to answer for his crimes.
Where was Spock now? What had they done with him? Captain Kirk had heard shooting over the intercom and saw the Vulcan being dragged away before the transmission cut short. The captain wanted nothing more than to storm into the citadel and find his first officer.
The crowd of people grew louder and louder and soon lines of vehicles rushed down the street towards them. Hundreds of guards marched into the crowds, ordering them to stand down. When the crowds didn't cooperate, the Guards began to open fire. The people fled to the nearest buildings.
Captain Kirk and Jaylah ran, unable to take on the sheer number of guards alone.
They ran through the quickly deserted streets, evading the guards and trying their best to stick to the shadows. The orange holo-displays around the city, as well as a voice over the intercom ordered people to return to their homes immediately or face dire consequences.
Soon thunder began shaking the ground and red lightning flashed. An icy rain beat down from the sky. Jaylah and Kirk entered an empty building at the edge of town, barely dodging a patrol of guards.
They stood breathless at the entrance as the large door sliding shut behind them. They turned around, but there was just another wall. They were standing in a lift, which quickly shot up into the sky. Thirty stories up, the lift shuddered to a stop.
Jaylah and Kirk stepped out, examining the large room around them. There was a small hallway with two doors, one leading to a closet and the other to a bathroom. The short hall ended abruptly, revealing an entire floor that was remodeled into one sparsely furnished room. It had been decorated, with odd rectangular pots and mirrors. Several pictures of the Great Leader hung in the hallway, as well as lists of rules and regulations.
The next hour was spent trying to reverse the lift or break the glass windows in an attempt to find a way out, but there was none. They were trapped. The small displays on the wrist bands they were given indicated that a lockdown was in progress until the morning.
Finally boiling over with frustration, Kirk yelled and slammed his fist into the mirror against the wall. It shattered into hundreds of glass shards. He picked up one of the vases and threw it against the portrait of Sidian, the heavy vase broke into jagged pieces and the portrait fell to the ground, its glass frame shattered.
He was about to pick up something else to break, but stopped himself. His shoulders heaved with each breath and his hands were bleeding. He leaned against a tall table. "Damnit..."
Jaylah watched him silently.
He sighed. "I hate this," He told her. "I hate being trapped." He tried to smile but it faded as soon as it touched his lips. He shook his head. "I'm tired. Have you ever been so tired that you just...you just can't take it anymore?"
He hung his head, pausing for a long moment.
"They're gonna kill him for what he did back there," He continued in a quiet voice. "I mean it's not like he gives a damn about whether he lives or dies. But...hell, he's saved my life more times than I can remember. He can kind of be a jackass at times..." Captain Kirk shook his head. A tear streaked down his cheek.
"Actually most of the time. He pretends to be as emotionless as a computer. But he's my friend. And while I'm stuck in here in this building he's going to die. And there's not a damn thing I can do to stop it."
Kirk sniffed, wiping at his cheeks with the back of his arm. "God damnit. That pointy eared bastard is the best friend I've ever had. And I let him down," His gaze dropped to the floor as his throat tightened. "I let him die..."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
