"The main power source is being transmitted from the 4th planet in this system," Scotty was saying. "Holding us here is talking a lot of their power, so they need constant replacement from the surface."

They whole bridge crew had gathered in the briefing room (except for Sulu, who was still on the bridge). Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and Chekov were discussing what to do about the unidentified ship. So far, they hadn't been able to determine what species the ship belonged to because of the alien configuration and lack of crew on board.

"And you think we can free the Enterprise by destroying this power source?" Kirk asked.

"Aye," Scotty replied. "Although it won't be easy to get to."

"Mr. Spock, readings on the planet?" Kirk inquired.

"There is a substantial concentration of life forms at the coordinates of the power source," he replied.

"Alright, we'll beam down to the surface with a landing party," Kirk decided.

"Captain, I must inform you that their defense systems are highly sensitive; their sensor net would prevent any large-party transport," Spock added.

"Alright, Mr. Spock and I will beam down by ourselves," Kirk announced.

-------------------------------------------------------

A few minutes (and several protests from McCoy and Scotty—the latter mainly consisting of, "I just don't like it, Captain") later, Kirk and Spock were in the transporter room.

He looked over at Spock to make sure he was ready, a thrill of excitement shooting up his spine. Which was odd, because they'd done this sort of thing countless times before.

Spock returned the look and nodded once.

"Energize," Kirk ordered.

Scotty pulled down the switch, and Kirk and Spock disappeared in a shimmer of light.

Once they rematerialized, they found themselves in a dark cave. Spock pulled out his tricorder and fiddled with one of the dials. "Mr. Scott has programmed my tricorder to trace the alien power source," Spock explained. "This way."

He began walking toward one corner of the cave, Kirk following behind him. After a few minutes, they emerged into a dark tunnel which ran left and right. After a few seconds of consulting his tricorder, Spock led the way down the left passage. They continued like this for some 15 minutes, barely a word passing between them. Kirk didn't know if Spock could sense it, but he felt a certain... tension in the air between them. Kirk had no idea what to say; there didn't seem to be anything that needed discussing right now and he certainly didn't want to say the wrong thing (odd, he'd never been worried about that before), so he just kept quiet.

Eventfully, they reached a larger, more well-lit room than any of the other small ones they'd passed through before. The walls were made of the same bluish-gray rock as the rest of the place, but instead of being empty, various machines and cabinets were arranged in a line along the perimeter of the room. The machines looked large and old—full of dust and untouched for years. The other things in the room (cabinets, drawers, a desk) were all stuffed with dry, yellow papers. Spock walked over to one of the machines while Kirk reached out and pulled open one of the drawers.

"This appears to be an old record room," Spock stated after examining the machine for a few moments.

"Very old, by the looks of it," Kirk agreed, holding up a stack of dry, yellowing papers. The material crinkled at his touch, but held.

"Indeed," Spock replied.

They continued to look around the room, but most of the papers were in such bad condition that anything written on them was illegible. Spock concluded that whatever civilization had occupied the planet, no one had entered the room for centuries. Eventually they left and continued on through the tunnels. The walls here were smoother and some of the rooms looked more recently occupied. We must be getting close, Kirk thought. Suddenly, the tunnel abruptly ended in a solid metal wall. Upon closer examination, Kirk and Spock discovered that it was a door. Spock moved to the edge of the tunnel to try and decipher some writing on a small panel in the wall.

"Does it explain how to open the door?" Kirk asked as he felt around for some kind of lever or button. It wasn't very well-lit in the corridor, so he wasn't having much success.

Spock didn't answer right away, for he was still trying to decipher the ancient symbols carved into the panel. He could only discern a few words, which made it seem like the door opened automatically. Then he recognized another word; danger. Just as Spock realized this, Kirk made an exclamation of triumph as the door slid open.

"This way, Mister-"

But he got no further, for at that moment his breath was suddenly driven from his lungs.

He landed on his side with a grunt, surprised. Kirk turned his head to look up, and was just in time to see Spock collapse next to him, a steaming black circle in the middle of his chest.