Chapter Text
Captain’s Log Stardate 3674.5: It has been three days since Enterprise was trapped in orbit around Haldus IV. Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and I have taken a shuttlecraft to the surface, attempting to find the source of the shield that surrounds the planet. The human inhabitants of the planet are pre-warp, which means the Prime Directive is in full effect. We cannot interfere with these people or let them know of life on other worlds.
They have limited space travel, several missions to their moons, but no manned missions beyond that, which means they do not have the technological know-how to create the shield that is draining Enterprise of power and will send my ship to her doom within another 36 hours. If we do not shut down the shield, Enterprise will join the other ships that crashed into the planet in the past 200,000 years.
Mr. Spock has found the nearest power source from our landing spot in a cavern outside a bustling city. We were able to blend in with the general population, hiding our alien nature, including Spock, and we are breaking into an archaeological dig site that is in the same location as the shield source.
***
Sloping walls led to a domed ceiling, surrounding the central roughly circular chamber. Spock tasted dust with each breath he took, but it was only natural to expect dust particles in the air when one was underground in a recent excavation. The dig site was lit with portable lights strung around columns and propped up on shelving units the scientific team had brought in to collect their treasures. He pulled out his tricorder, moving slowly through the site while Kirk and McCoy awaited his report.
“The shape and condition of the area suggests that this may have been the site of an explosion,” he pointed out as he crouched to brush dirt and sand from the glossy surface that made up the floor. His right shoulder was still tender from the crash landing of their shuttlecraft, but it did not hamper his ability to do his duty. He wouldn’t allow it to. “Great heat was needed to make this glass.”
“Do you think the scientists figured that out yet?” McCoy asked referring to the archaeologists that were exploring the site.
“I do not know if they have, but I have no doubt they will. These people, like most humans, are quite inquisitive and intelligent.”
“Keep talking like that, Spock, and I’m going to think you like us illogical humans.”
“If I did not, Doctor, I would not be in Starfleet,” Spock pointed out.
“It’s not what I was expecting,” the Captain said as he looked at the fossilized remains of one of those same humans on a table set up by the archeologists. “I thought we’d find advanced technology. That we’d find the key to the shield when we broke in here.”
“I am still picking up the energy signature, Captain,” Spock pointed out as he walked between the debris and signs of violence to stand near the row of tables covered with bones and other relics. “While most of this is indigenous to this planet, not all of it is.” He brought the tricorder closer, scanning a mound of what looked like pot shards but could have been shrapnel. “There are traces of metals that do not exist naturally on this planet in the rubble.”
“Like the crash sites you saw from orbit?” McCoy looked up from the bones he was studying to meet Spock and Jim’s gazes. “Because it’s not only the minerals. There are remains that aren’t human mixed in here too. They’re pretty much humanoid from what I can tell, but they did not evolve here. But this—“ he held out his hands to indicate the chamber “—it’s been here for thousands of years.”
“For at least one-hundred-ninety-seven-thousand years, Doctor.” Spock’s lips were drawn into a tight line as he found a piece of something metallic on the next table surrounded by layer upon layer of clay and limestone sediment that nearly hid the blueish material. “As is this. It is the same material as some of the oldest crash sites I scanned from Enterprise. Logically it is from the original invaders of this world.”
“We’ve getting more questions than answers, gentlemen,” Jim said as he placed the objects he was looking at back on the table where he found them. “Can you pinpoint what in here is giving off the energy, Spock?”
“Whatever it is, it is below this chamber. According to the information I read in the lead scientist’s notes on the site, the archeological team is only concerned about evidence of human habitation in this part of the cavern. They have not gone deeper.”
“Don’t make me say ‘fascinating’, Spock,” McCoy grumbled. “Just find out how we get down there. This glass is too thick for us to get through with phasers.”
“They would also leave too much evidence of our interference.”
“Spock, we’re being as careful as we can be about the Prime Directive.” The Captain arched his brows at his Science Officer and then paced around the chamber. “So looking for a secret passage isn’t likely, but there are more tunnels out there. If we get far enough away from the dig site, we might find a way beneath it. What I wouldn’t do for a Horta right now.”
“This chamber was more than likely damaged by invaders trying to find the one beneath. It is logical to assume that we are not the first crew to try to shut the shield down to save a ship. It is unclear how long the shield has been in effect, but the number of fallen ships has decreased a great deal in the past ten to fifteen thousand years. From what I have been able to gather from my tricorder readings, the human inhabitants of the cavern came much, much later than the alien remains. They were here first, and they might have found a way inside that we have yet to discover.” He then tilted his head slightly and arched a single brow upward. “Although yes, it would be most beneficial to have a Horta with us as I do not think we will find a secret computer code or song to allow us quick access as we have in the past.”
“Well since I can’t remember a single one of those leading us into a good situation, whether it was a necessary goal or not, let’s see what we can find through the tunnels. Any idea of which we should take first? There are three coming out of here, but I don’t want us to split up unless we have to.”
“Neither do I.” McCoy left off investigating more of the artifacts and walked toward the nearest passage. “There’s no footprints in the dust on this one, and since that’s how we found our way in here, seems to make sense that looking for where there aren’t any would help us go where no one has gone before.”
“Logical.”
“Don’t tell him that, Spock. He hates it.”
“Which is why he does it, Jim.”