Second To Arrive Stardate 2258.169

Just then a beam of yellow light hit the tree right next to Arina's head. It was dark and the glow of the beam messed up her nightvision. Kirk bore her to the ground. "Stay here," Kirk said.

The man that bore the cart had seen them duck out into the trees. He located them by sound and shot in their direction. Kirk pulled out his phaser, set it for stun and moved as quietly as he could around the large cluster of rocks that sat in the middle of the clearing. Arina saw the hole burned through the tree and the one behind it.

Eventually Kirk saw the man but the man saw him at the same time The man leaped at Kirk and the two men began to fight. The man punched Kirk and Kirk punched him back. The man kicked dirt into Kirk's eyes and Kirk had to look away. The man lunged for Kirk and they fell to the ground again. He punched Kirk again and then Kirk tried to get him up onto his feet again so he could hit him with more force. He did and then the man pushed Kirk back so hard he lost his balance. Kirk felt his phaser near his hand and he just drew it and fired at the man. The shot hit him in the chest and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Kirk drew up on him again to make certain he was down and he noticed that part of his face was...torn? Under what was undoubtedly a very elaborate mask he saw the scales of some kind of reptilian humanoid.

"Enterprise, this is Kirk, Scarlett, meet me at the back of the Antique shop," kirk said. Kirk searched the man and found keys and a handheld scanner device. He took them and moved back to Arina.

"Arina!?" He said trying not to be too loud. "Arina," He said in a normal voice and heard her stand up from the trees. "We need to get back!' Kirk said as he made contact with her.

Arina was very frightened now. She was so confused and unsure of what was happening. She could hear a struggle happening nearby and heard an odd sound. It sounded almost like the same sound caused by a device that had caused the hole burned into the tree. She was relieved when she heard Kirk's voice. She didn't speak, but she nodded to what he said and they quickly made their way back to the shop. When they got there Scarlett was there waiting for them. Scarlett pulled Kirk aside for a moment to tell him what she had discovered.

"Sir, there is Tetracycline #2 in the water supply. That is what is making the people here sick."

Kirk handed Scarlett the alien device that resembled some kind of tricorder. "See what you can do with that," Kirk said and then unlocked the back door and all three of them went inside. They made their way back into the store room and then into the reactor room. There were control panels on the wall and one of them had a depiction of the room and a round area Kirk supposed was the reactor. There was a yellow circle around the reactor and also a blue circle inside of it. There were buttons on the panel including a blue one and a yellow one.

"Maybe the blue one deactivates the dampening field?" Kirk asked Scarlet though it could easily be the yellow one. As Scarlett began to look at the device, she found a toggle switch and when she hit, a large panel in the wall shifted down. In its place was a thick glass and they saw into a cavern that had been tunneled out of the ground beneath the shop. It had to be 50 meters and there was machinery and people walking along a catwalk inside there. It was more or less an entire mining operation. Scarlett noted the large mining drills they had as well.

Scarlett took the alien device and began to look it over while Kirk opened the back door. All three of them moved back into the storeroom and then into the reactor room. Scarlett and Kirk had not had a chance to really look closely at this room, but now that they were they spotted control panels on the wall. She and Kirk moved closer to study them in depth and saw there was a depiction of the room and the reactor. There was a yellow circle around the reactor, but then a blue circle in side of it with matching corresponding buttons. Scarlett thought about it for a moment and then shook her head.

"It's the yellow," she told him confidently.

Kirk thought it was the blue one and though Scarlett suggested yellow, Kirk picked the blue one. An alarm sounded and the door they came in on closed. However another door opened and Haran appeared behind the glass. There must be some kind of hallway back there.

"It's unfortunate that you found this place, but if you leave now...I will 'let' you leave," Haran said. Kirk nodded at Scarlett and gestured to the other panel. They had to get the dampening field down so the enterprise could contact them. He sighed and pulled out his phaser.

"Arina, take this. If anyone comes through that door, shoot them. As Arina held the phaser kirk worked on the first panel. Now the yellow button didn't work at all.

Scarlett had figured out the device, it worked much like their tricorders but this one also functioned like a remote control. She used it to figure out how to access the panel. After a few moments the dampening field was down and the door opened.

"You're making a mistake...I have a ship in orbit, heavily armed," Haran said.

The Enterprise was suddenly under attack. The Melarin ship fired on them though Elyse managed to get shields up in time. Spock ordered a red alert and all weapons were charged. Kirkc's communicator beeped and he answered it.

"Captain, their weapons are powerful," Spock said to him. "I can fire 10 volleys like the three I just fired. Enough to destroy your ship," Haran said.

On board Spock had the transporter room beam the reactor off of the planet. Arina saw it disappear before her eyes. Haran's face darkened.

"That does NOT belong to you...Captain," He said as he heard what they called him. "Return our reactor and I will let you all go...IF, you promise never to return," He said. Kirk looked at Arina.

Scarlett sighed when she saw Kirk choose the blue one. Immediately an alarm began to sound and the door they came through closed. Then, to make matters worse, another door opened that had a pane of glass in front of it and Haran appeared. Scarlett immediately began to work on the second panel. She had figured out how to use the alien device and she used it to access the panel. Within a few moments the dampening field was down and the door opened. Scarlett watched as the reactor was beamed onto the Enterprise. Scarlett turned and faced Haran with her phaser in her hand. However, she knew she could not shoot him through the glass. She glanced at Kirk and she saw Kirk glance at her with a knowing look in his eye. He had a plan. Arina saw the look as well and she gave him a little nod.

"Alright," Kirk said as he held his communicator in his hand. His face had a confident look as his mind fluttered through the possibilities of what to do. And then it had come to him. "Spock, we're going to give the reactor back. Try to get it as close as possible and have Elyse do the targeting," Kirk said Haran didn't know any of those names and so he was none the wiser. "No games Spock, their serious," Kirk said as he looked at Haran. "I'm waiting Captain," Haran said in obvious irritation. "Here it comes," Kirk said. Energize Mr. Spock," Kirk said and the reactor was transported to just beside their ship. Elkyse fired on it with their phasers and it exploded. The Melarin ship took significant damage and their shields and weapons went offline.

"The Melarin ships is disabled Captain," Spock said. "Spock, transport everyone with a Melarin lifesign back to their ship. And Haran...this is a gift I'm offering. If I find you or anyone else from your world back here...I'll take that has a hostile act against these people," Kirk said. "Energizing Captain," Spock said and Haran was gone.

They all went back to the Apothecary. The doctor has transported a medicine for Arina to put in their water supply. Sith Scarlet looking on, Kirk stepped up to Arina as she gave him back his phaser. "I'm...sorry that you had to see all this," Kirk said as he looked into her eyes. She was quite beautiful now that he thought about it.

Arina was rather shaken up after everything that had happened and knew that she would never forget anything that had taken place...nor the people she had met. She looked at Kirk and gave him a little smile. “I’m actually glad I saw it. It’s nice to know that our species is not alone in the universe. Thank you for all you did...both of you,” she said indicating Scarlett as well. “I will never forget you and I wish you the best of luck in your journey.”

Kirk smiled and he and Scarlett left her shop. They went to the forest, just the fringe of it and were beamed back up to the ship. After they had changed, Kirk and Scarlett stepped back onto the bridge. Kirk took his seat once more as did she.

"Enough site, seeing Captain?" Spock asked. "I think so Spock, lets get back on course...Mr. Sulu resume our previous heading, Warp factor 5," Kirk sand and the ship turned them zoomed into warp.