Iota Cassiopalae 4 Stardate 2258.46

Standard Orbit Mr. Sulu,” Kirk said. “I want a full scan of the planet,” Kirk said. Spock had gotten up from his chair and was hovering over Scarlett as she used the ships scanners. The planet was actually Type ‘L’ by classification. Alot of mountains and rocky terrain. Habitable but just barely. No civilizations, no sentient life that she could tell. There were some odd geological readings though that might garner some study or at the very least, obtaining samples.

“Scarlett, I’ve never seen readings like that before. What do you make of it?” Spock asked her as he put his left hand on her left shoulder. And he nearly caressed her name when he spoke it though no one seemed to notice. He reached over and changed the gain of the scanner slightly. His touch was gentle like his words when he spoke to her. That and he stroked the back of her neck suggestively with his thumb.

As the ship went into orbit around the planet, Scarlett began to use the ships scanners to get a reading of the planet. Spock had gotten up from his chair and she was fully aware of him hovering over her. She was studying the readings when she suddenly felt Spock's left hand on her left shoulder. He leaned over and changed the gain of the scanner slightly. She felt his thumb stroke the back of her neck. His touch was very suggestive and only served to confuse Scarlett even more than she already was. She was still angry and upset over what he had said to her the day before and her first instinct was to snap at him and insist that he call her by her rank instead of by her first name, but she didn't want to cause a scene on the bridge. Not when, she was trying to impress Captain Kirk. However, Spock would feel her tense up a little and she refused to look at him.

"I don't know Commander. I'll need to get down on the ground to take samples."

"Like you've never done that before," Spock said lightheartedly. Spock, being sarcastic? There was a first time for everything. Spock turned and faced the Captain.

"Captain, The planet is actually a class 'L'. No civilizations or sentient life, Mostly indigenous rock. Possibly a few lower lifeforms. Definitely worth a look," Spock said. Kirk was obviously disappointed like several others on the bridge.

"Well then, lets have a look. Lt. Fox, have Lt. Quinn meet Lt. Wright and myself in Transporter room 1. Lieutenant, if you need more help to take samples, bring them along," Kirk said to Scarlett. "Spock you have the Con," Kirk said. This was actually the best of both worlds. He had a science officer to take Spock's place so he could go down without concern for the ship's safety.

Scarlett now did look at Spock. What the hell was going on with him? She had never heard Spock be sarcastic before...ever. Was he drunk? He didn't appear to be. How could the man have gone from punching Nathan's desktop computer earlier that morning to this? Why was he touching her and acting gentle and familiar with her after all he had said to her the day before?

Kaia nodded. "Yes, Captain," she said and contacted Lt. Quinn. Scarlett glanced over at Spock one last time before following them. She needed to go to the lab first to collect some test kits. She asked Ensign Hicks to go with her as her assistant. Together they headed to Transporter Room 1. Once everyone was assembled and ready, Scotty transported them down to the planet's surface.

Kirk and Quinn carried phasers though it was very unlikely they'd need them. Scarlett had a tricorder while Craig carried the test kits in one black satchel. The ambient temperature was 28 degrees Celsius so it was a bit warm. They would not need any kind of extra weather gear. Once they materialized Scarlett opened up the tricorder and began to scan their surroundings.

Kirk and Quinn had phasers in their hands, there were some indigenous animals not far from their location. The sun was orange, a bit older than Earth's sun and the rock formations were a dark blue. There were crystals in the rock and that was where Scarlett directed her and Craig to get their samples. There was very little wind and very little in the way of vegetation. Kirk squatted and touched the dirt underneath them. It was blue as well. "It just feels like...dirt," Kirk commented. But when he opened his hand to let the dirt fall some of it remained on his hands. He wiped his hand off with his other hand. When he moved on, the dirt began to shift slightly. No one noticed.

"Quinn, stay with them," Kirk said. Nathan nodded and moved over where Scarlett and Craig opened up the kits. Craig had a small chisel and hammer and Scarlett had her old pickaxe. It was small but it worked well on rock like this.

The first thing Scarlett noticed as they materialized on the planet's surface was how warm it was. The surface was extremely rocky and there was very little vegetation. However, what struck her the most was that the rock formations were blue in color. She used the tricorder to scan their surroundings and when she noticed the crystals in the rock she directed Craig to get their samples from those rocks. She moved over to help him collect the samples and she told him how to do it properly so as not to contaminate them. Because they were busy working, none of them noticed that the dirt that Captain Kirk had just touched had begun to shift slightly. 

"These rocks are fascinating. I can't wait to get them back in the lab to examine them more closely."

As they worked and began to fill containers Quinn heard something behind him. When he turned he was face to face of what looked like some kind of 4 legged creature. It sort of looked like a medium sized dog. It had short hair and odd, pointed ears. It was light blue in color with violet eyes. It had a long tail with a tuft of dark blue fur on the end of it. And it had a fairly long snout with a long, slender tongue that it flicked in and out of its thin mouth. "Uh, can you guys work faster?" Quinn said and nodded to where the dog thing was. It didn't come closer or appear threatening and was about 25 feet from them.

"Scarlett, you want to get some tricorder readings of that thing?" Quinn asked.

Scarlett was completely focused on getting the samples. This was what happened when she was working. She would get lost in her work. She suddenly heard Quinn speak and she slowly looked up. She blinked at the creature that she saw looking at him. It was standing about 25 feet away and sort of had the appearance of a dog, but it didn't look like any dog she had ever seen before.

"Fascinating," Scarlett said. It didn't appear to be aggressive. She activated the tricorder and began to scan the creature to get readings.

"I wonder if it wants food?" Quinn asked. He opened up his hip pouch and pulled out an energy bar. He squatted down and opened up the bar. He took a bit. "Mmm, mmm, so good, mmmm," he murmured and then extended his arm out to the dog.

Kirk had decided to climb a small hill of jagged rock. He wanted to get a better vantage point and take a look around the area. No trees but as he looked, there was vegetation. It was violet in color, a whole field of it...whatever it was. It was actually quite beautiful.

Definitely alive, it had a heart, lungs, organs, just different than theirs or any dogs she's ever seen. But even as Quinn tried to get the dog to come to him another stepped out behind a rock and slowly stepped up behind the other one.

"Well, would you look at that..." Craig said. The dog in front lifted its head and made an odd, squeak. Not a bark exactly, it was too high pitched for that.

As Scarlett saw the second creature step out a bad feeling started to wash over her. She watched as the first one lifted its head and made an off, high pitched squeak. She began to think it was calling more. "Nathan, don't feed them," she told him.

Nathan smiled and looked back at her. "Why not? They're not threatening us and keeping their distance," he said but then two more padded up. Their bodies hid them well among the rocks. Now there were 4. Quinn did stand up when he saw that. And once he did the dogs attitude appeared to change slightly. It stood taller, more erect and seemed to be sizing him up. Even Scarlett could see that. Nathan opened up his communicator.

"Captain, there's some kind of dog here. several of them. I think we need to go," Quinn told him. "I'm coming back Quinn, set for stun if they attack, Kirk out," Kirk said. Craig's brow began to sweat and he was working alot faster than he had been. Luckily they were in a defensible position. Quinn moved slowly over to them and slowly removed his phaser from its holster.

"Enterprise, we might need a quick beam out, stand fast," Quinn said.

Scarlett suddenly wished she had a phaser herself. She and Craig began to work more quickly to collect the samples. Thankfully, the Captain was on his way back and Scotty was standing by to beam them out of there quickly. 

"Ok, I think we have all the samples we need," she told Craig. She had been placing them into a bag designed to hold sample tubes.

Quinn watched as 3 more dogs appeared. He switched his phaser to stun but even he wouldn't be able to fire fast enough. Suddenly though the rock near the dogs exploded as Kirk fired his phaser at it. It sent rock all over near the dogs and also sent them running as he moved up to them.

"Scotty, beam us up!" Kirk said. "Hold position," Scotty said and before they knew it they materialized back onto the ship. "Did ya find anything?" Scotty asked. "Just a few rocks and an odd dog but there was some kind of plant...a whole field of them. I'd like to remain here and send down more teams," Kirk said. But even as he spoke he began to cough. "Are ya alright sir?" Scotty asked. "Yeah I jus..." Kirk said and then he fell onto his knees and began to cough harder. That sent Quinn and Scotty into panic mode. "Quinn, take his arm," Scotty said. "Wright, Hicks get to sickbay immediately!' Scotty said. If this was something serious he wanted everyone in the same place.

Scarlett felt a wave of relief come over her when they were beamed up onto the ship. Scarlett was about to take the samples to the lab when suddenly the Captain began to cough. When he fell onto his knees and began to cough harder Scarlett knew something was very seriously wrong with him. She and Hicks immediately headed to sickbay. Nurse Anderson looked over as they walked in and then she saw Quinn helping Captain Kirk in.

"Dr. McCoy!" she called into his office.

McCoy hurried out just as Quinn and Scotty were laying Kirk up onto one of the beds. The bed immediately began to register his vitals. "I want the rest of you in decon right now!" McCoy said. "And send a team to close off the transporter room!" McCoy said.


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


There was a slight flicker on the pad where Kirk had been just a moment ago. There was a bit of dust on the pad. Blue dust and it flickered with an odd light. The whole pad and system flickered and the flickering became brighter and faster until the whole machine suddenly activated.

Kirk stood on the transporter pad. He felt confused about what he had been doing or why he was in the Transporter room but he recognized the room and he knew who he was. He touched his uniform and then touched his lips. He rubbed his two fingers together as he felt the moisture from his mouth. An odd sensation he thought as he stepped off of the pad. He looked around the room still uncertain how or why he was here. As he approached the door it suddenly wooshed open. he stepped back and the doors closed. He stepped forward and they opened and he stepped out into the hall. He looked both ways and tried to act casual as a crewman...no, a crew woman smiled at him as she passed. He knew her, Crewman Yates...first name Beverly, he thought. He moved further down the hall.

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

50cc of cordozine," McCoy said. "He's having some kind of allergic reaction!" McCoy told the nurse as they worked on Kirk. Scarlett and the others were ushered by Scotty out of sickbay. "I know lass, but we cant help the doctor by gawking, lets all go down to decon," Scotty said and they all went down as a group.

Decon was a large room with benches. It resembled a massive sonic shower like those in every room but much larger. They all had to put their clothes into the wall bins that opened from the wall. They were able to keep on their small clothes but everything else was shoved down the chutes. Not only that, they had to rub the decon gel all over one another. Nathan began to rub it on himself and then on Craig's back. Craig had a pot of gel in his hands and gestured to her for him to rub it on her back. Scotty had to do the same as well. Before long, they were making certain the gel had been rubbed all over themselves and then the decon cycle started. It felt like tiny insects all over her body but they didnt hurt. In fact, it kind of tickled, a little.

"Ok ladies and gents, 3 hours we're in here so take a breather," Scotty said and sat down and leaned up against one of the walls.

Nurse Anderson immediately grabbed a hypo and filled it with the 50ccs of Cordozine. She had to inject it into his abdomen. She made sure it was all injected before removing the needle. She then began to monitor his vitals.

Meanwhile, Scarlett, Nathan, Craig, and Scotty had to go down to Decon. Scarlett felt rather self-conscious removing her uniform in front of three men. Then, to make matters worse, they had to rub decon gel all over themselves and each other. However, if they had picked up whatever it was that had made the Captain sick then they all needed to ensure they got it off of themselves. After the gel had been applied, the decon cycle started. Scarlett sat down a little ways away from the three men.

Kirk felt an odd sensation come over him. His stomach ached horribly. That and he felt extremely weak and tired. He remembered what it was that was wrong but it was like a distant memory. Oh, he did know. He was hungry! Very much so and so he made his way where he thought the officers mess was. Inside several officers were eating. Different things and drinking various beverages. The cook was there and he looked over at him. "Sir, would you like some stew?" He asked. Kirk looked at the man.

"Stew," he said as if tasting the word. "Yes...I'd like...Stew," He said awkwardly. The cook dished some out to him. "Nice and hot for ya sir," The cook said. Kirk saw others use what he knew was a spoon but when he picked one up it felt...unfamiliar to him. He sat down at one of the tables and observed others eating. They dipped their spoons into the stew...like so. Kirk followed suit and then put a mouthful into his mouth. It burned! The pain, his mouth was on fire! He stood up quickly and tossed his bowl away. "Ahh!!" He said. "Captain!?" The Cook asked as he came up to him. Kirk's face contorted into a rage and he grabbed the cook by his lapels. "Sir! Was it too hot!?" The cook asked. Kirk had shoved him back hard up against a wall. Everyone else in the room's eyes bulged as they watched. Kirk noticed them and he appeared to calm down as the pain subsided. "Hot...yes!" He growled. And then fled the room.

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

Kaia was at her station when the doctor called the bridge. "Bridge, I've got a situation here, The Captain's been affected by some kind of parasite. Its affecting his lungs. I'm treating him but if he was brought to me a minute later, he might have been dead. I have the away team in decon, McCoy out," the doctor said.

Kaia was continuing to monitor the communication channels when suddenly she heard Dr. McCoy call the bridge. She pressed a button to put the call on the speakers of the bridge so they all could hear him. Kaia felt her heart sink down into her stomach when she heard that Kirk had been affected by some kind of parasite that was in his lungs. She wanted to go check on him, but she couldn't. All she could do was hope he would be alright. She looked over at Spock though since he was currently in command of the ship.

Kirk moved down the hall. He didn't know what he was doing or why but he just felt as if he needed to go the way he was going. The decon team made it to the transporter room and began to scrub it. Those in decon were trying to relax and indeed it was relaxing though they all were on edge as well. Nathan caught Craig looking at Scarlett. Leering more like and he snapped his fingers. Craig's face went beat red and he looked away. McCoy worked fast but the drugs were only going to work for so long. They needed to find out more about that parasite.

"Decon this is sickbay. We need to find out more about this parasite. Any suggestions you might have could be helpful," McCoy said.

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

"Captain? a voice asked as he stepped around the corner. "Oh, Hello crewman," Kirk said. He remembered kissing the woman...June Verona he thought her name was. . "I thought you'd be in sickbay Captain," the woman said with a smile. "In sickbay? I feel fine," Kirk said as she came up to him. "She had long, dark hair and dark eyes. "Is there something I can help you with sir?" She asked with a very broad smile on her face. "Well, now that you mention it..." Kirk said. He remembered he liked kissing her. And so he did. The woman kissed him back and pulled him into a side corridor. "oh James, I thought you didn't care about me anymore," she said. Kirk recalled the kissing but also something else. But when he tried to remove her shirt the woman stopped him.

"James...no, not here!" she whispered. "Why not?" Kirk asked and then tried to remove it again. The woman slapped his hand away. He didn't like that! Not at all! His hands went to her throat. She had hurt him. And he didn't like to be hurt.

Scarlett saw Craig leering at her out of the corner of her eye and she was about to say something when Nathan took care of the problem. She tried to relax, but it was difficult knowing what was going on in sickbay. After a while they were contacted by Dr. McCoy. When Scarlett learned it was a parasite she knew she needed to get out of Decon. "I have rock and soil samples that we took from the planet's surface. I haven't gotten a chance to examine them yet. I'm on my way," she said as she got up. She figured that if she were infected that she would have known it by now. She left decon and put on her uniform that had also been decontaminated. She picked up her bag of samples and hurried down to sickbay. McCoy was anxiously waiting for her. 

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

Kaia had been given permission to leave the bridge to see if she could help in sickbay. She suddenly turned a corner and was horrified to see Kirk strangling Crewman Verona. "James! What are you doing?!" She didn't even understand what he was doing there. Wasn't he supposed to be in sickbay?

Kirk stopped and released the woman immediately. She was unconscious but just barely. Kirk was panting with the effort as he looked up at the woman. He knew her...Kaia...Fox. Yes, that was her name. "She tried to..." Kirk said as he slid to the floor. He was upset, there was moisture in his eyes. What was happening? What was he doing! He didn't understand!

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

As Scarlett made it to the lab she began by setting up a rock sample in the micro cutter. It would cut a very thin slice of the rock so they could look at it under a microscope. Once she activated the machine, it made the cut and deposited the slice onto a thin piece of glass. When she put it under a microscope it took a while to get the correct magnification. Once she did she saw dozen of tiny organisms in the rock. The rest of the away team were very lucky it seemed and she had found the parasites. They were in everything. And harmful to humans.

"Did you find something?" Spock asked from behind her.

Kaia was unsure of what was happening. Something seemed very strange about everything that was happening. She went over to check on Crewman Verona. She checked her pulse and saw that there was one. She pulled out her pocket communicator and called sickbay. "Dr. McCoy, why didn't you communicate that the Captain was no longer in sickbay?"

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

Scarlett rushed the samples to the lab and quickly began to cut very thin slices of the rock samples they had collected. As she looked at them under the microscope and adjusted the magnification, she saw dozens of tiny organisms in the rock. She suddenly heard Spock's voice behind her and she looked over to regard him.

"I found the parasites. They appear to be in everything. I remember the Captain looking closely at the dirt when we first arrived on the surface. He must have breathed in some of it and that's how the parasite got into his lungs. Thankfully, now that I know which type of parasite it is I can tell Dr. McCoy how to treat the Captain."

Kirk felt...terrible...I’ll, like all the strength in him was fading. “Don’t let them find me! Something...is wrong!” Kirk said. He was sweating and he had a desperate look in his eyes. “Help me Kaia...please!” Kirk begged.

“Lt. Fox, what are you talking about, Kirk is here, in sickbay!” McCoy said.

“Their lying...their looking for me. They want me so they can take over the ship!” Kirk said. “They...did something to me!” Kirk said. As he had to hold onto her shoulder.

—————————-

Kirk was just hanging on as each breath seemed to be more difficult for him. Spock and Scarlett used ultra violet light to kill the parasites. They used the dead material, the dead cells to create an antibody to kill the parasites. It took precious time to do but with the two of them working, it took less time.

Kaia's eyes widened at what Dr. McCoy said. She looked over at this other Kirk and suddenly felt more confused about what was going on. She didn't know what to believe, but she didn't want to anger this Kirk based on what he had just done to Crewman Verona. Instead, she held her communicator at her side, but didn't end the communication that she had going on with Dr. McCoy. She wanted him to hear Kirk's voice...or the voice of whoever or whatever this was in front of her.

"Who's lying and who's looking for you?"

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

Scarlett and Spock worked quickly, but efficiently to created the antibody. Once they knew they had it, they rushed to sickbay. They came in just as the other Kirk's voice could be heard speaking though McCoy's communicator.

Kirk wasn’t stupid. He saw the communicator in Kaia’s hand. “The other Kirk...he’s an imposter,” Kirk said. “My memories, my thoughts, my body, everything, took them...made a copy,” he said weakly. “He’ll infect everyone on the ship,” Kirk said. And then he made a hard hand chop at Kaia’s wrist. It made her whole hand go numb and the communicator she held went spinning down the hall.

Kirk looked at Kaia. “Whoops, you dropped something,” he said with a dark grin on his face. And then he attacked.