THE DECEPTION

A STAR TREK STORY

JUANELL HOPPER

James Kirk and his crew enjoy a week of vacation on a planet that is a lot like earth. However, as their time ends there, they find that their hosts have a sinister plan, and it begins with kidnapping Jim. They end up on a hostile planet where the main goal of everyone, except the "hunters", is to get off the planet, and they will do whatever is necessary to accomplish their goal.

They had been on vacation on the planet Brosia for a week, and as the end of the week came, their vacation also came to an end . Captain James T. Kirk had not seen any reason that they should not trust the Brosians, or their leader, Tindell. They had let them spend time on their planet without any hassle or any pay. Brosia was a beautiful place, much like Earth. It had been a welcome vacation from being in deep space…to actually see a planet and put their feet down on it. Although they enjoyed being in space, feeling real gravity was a must at times.

Jim was taking his time on the planet now. He was standing on a beach looking at the vast ocean. It had been a long time since he had been on a beach, and he was enjoying the breezes that were blowing in from the water. The ocean was a deep blue and the sand was what sand usually was…white to tan. He walked along the beach. It was good to have on something besides his Captain's uniform as well. He was wearing jeans today for a change and a long sleeved blue shirt that was not quite the color of his eyes. Since Doctor Leonard McCoy had been concerned with the effects the sun on this planet might have on their skin, he had worn the long sleeve. Sometimes Jim thought "Bones" was the biggest hypochondriac in the whole galaxy. They never went anywhere without knowing all the most dire things that could happen because Bones would make sure they were fully prepared.

Jim's communicator whistled at him. "Yeah," he answered as he flipped it open.

"Captain, everyone is back on the ship except you," Spock informed him in his usual all-business way.

"Thanks, Spock. I'll be ready to beam back shortly. How is everyone?"

"Everyone seems quite…relaxed."

"Good. It's like we've been on vacation. If you can tell they're relaxed, it must have been better than I thought. I think the least we could do is let the guy see inside our ship."

"You intend to let Tindell tour our ship?"

"Yeah, just to see the inside of it. It's the least we can do. You'll be escorting him the whole time."

"As you wish, Captain."

"Are you really going to let him come aboard the Enterprise?" Bones asked over the transmission. "How do you know what his intentions are? How do you know he doesn't have some deep, dark intention that even our Vulcan friend here can't decipher?"

Kirk rolled his eyes at Leonard McCoy's opinion. He seemed to have that opinion about everything. He hardly trusted anyone, and he had a sarcastic line for everything even in the most dire situations. "The guy has let us have some recreation on his planet," Jim pointed out. "How much more courteous can anyone get? I think you even enjoyed being off the ship for a while. Am I right? You didn't run into anyone down here who hated you or didn't want you here."

"How do you know it wasn't just an act to gain our trust?"

"Relax, Bones. Wow. I'll get back to you, Spock."

"Yes, Captain," Spock replied.

Jim went back to the headquarters there in the city where the leader, Tindell, was waiting for him. Tindell was a humanoid but had a prominent crest on his head that was red in color and the shape of his head made him look almost like a crocodile except that he did not have a snout…or bill, and he was not green. He was more of a dark, shiny brown, except for that crest, but he had what looked like scales. Jim had never encountered a creature like Tindell. He was slightly taller than him as most of the Brosians were. He, Jim Kirk, was six feet tall, so he figured they were probably all of 6'5", but he had not seen any aggression out of them while they were on the planet. "I would like to thank you on behalf of myself and my crew for your hospitality," Jim said. "It's been a very enjoyable week."

"You're welcome," Tindell replied. "I would still love to tour your ship since you have toured my world."

"I think we can arrange that before we have to leave."

Jim walked inside with Tindell, and as the doors closed, suddenly, Jim was surrounded by four other Brosians. They grabbed Jim, and of course, he was not easily taken. One of them grabbed his communicator so that he could not be transported or contact anyone. "What is this?!" Jim demanded.

"You are now our prisoner," Tindell said.

Jim was more than shocked by this turn of events. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked. "You can't get away with this."

"As long as I have you, your crew will not make any aggressive moves. You will tell them to surrender your ship to me."

"Who says? And why would I do that?"

"I will negotiate with your crew. I am sure they don't want to see their captain injured or killed."

Tindell nodded to the others and they began beating Jim. He was not one to give in so he gave them some resistance but since there were four of them, he could not manage to get away from them all and soon found himself on the floor. They got him up and took him down the corridor to what looked like a communications room.

Tindell hailed the Enterprise, and soon Sulu appeared on the monitor. He was alarmed when he saw the captain being held by four Brosians. "Now that I have your attention, I want to speak with your Commander Spock," Tindell said.

Sulu hit the comm. button. "Commander Spock, the Brosians have taken the captain hostage," he said.

Spock hurried to the Bridge. He could see on the view screen that the captain was definitely in their clutches, and looked like he had been beaten. "What do you hope to gain by this course of action," Spock asked. "Release our captain at once."

"Don't you want to hear our demands?" Tindell asked.

"We will not listen to any demands. Release our captain."

Tindell glared at him. "I think you will change your mind." He motioned to the others and one of them began beating Jim again.

"Wait!" Spock said. "What do you want?"

"That sounds better."

"Spock, you can't do what they want!" Jim declared.

"Silence!" Tindell yelled.

Jim glared at him. "You're nothing but a coward and a traitor!"

"I won't listen to any of your insults." Tindell turned his attention to Spock. "We want your ship."

"That is impossible," Spock said.

"Even for the life of your captain?" Tindell had the others to bring Jim over in front of the view screen again. He put the blaster he held up to Jim's head. "Do you want to see your captain die?"

"Of course not, but we cannot give our ship to you. What do you want with our ship?"

"That's not your concern."

Sulu tried to lock onto Jim's frequency but it was being blocked by the building he was in. "Spock, I can't lock onto the captain," he said.

Tindell held up Jim's communicator. "Do you think I would be so stupid as to make it easy for you to transport him?" he asked.

Spock did not know what to do, but he was trying to decide what Jim would do if the situation were reversed…despite what Jim said now.

"You have ten minutes to decide," Tindell said and ended the transmission.

Jim's four tormentors took him to a prison cell and shoved him in. He landed on the floor but got up slowly as they put up a force field to keep him in. He was glad there was a cot to lie on. His face was sore and it seemed like everything else was too. He did not know why they had kidnapped him or why they wanted the ship, but he supposed he would know soon…or whenever they decided to tell him.

Spock and the others were trying to decipher the situation. "Why would they kidnap Jim?" Bones asked. "And what do they want this ship for?"

"I do not know," Spock answered. "We have to be ready for anything once he contacts us again. We may have no choice but to let them have the ship. We cannot stand by and let them kill the captain over a ship. We can repossess the ship if we plan correctly. They made a great effort to win our trust to get to this point."

"But why?" Sulu asked.

"The only reason to kidnap a ship's captain is to gain an advantage over the others on the ship. They know we will have to negotiate with them in order to save our captain."

Spock pressed the comm. button. "Mister Scott."

"Yes, sir," Scotty said with his Scottish accent.

"Be ready for any course of action we must take. We may have to surrender the ship but we will not let it go."

"Yes, sir. I will be ready."

After ten minutes, a ship arrived from Brosia. "They're hailing us," Uhura said.

Spock thought it was odd that they hailed them from a ship. "On screen," he replied.

Tindell's face was on the screen again within seconds but with a much more menacing look. "Commander Spock, have you decided to meet our demands?"

"We demand that you return our captain," Spock said.

"Spock, don't do anything they want!" Jim said. "That's an order!"

Jim struggled with his captors but without any success at getting away, and Spock stood up from the captain's chair. "What reason do you have to do this?" Spock demanded. "We trusted you."

"We wanted you to," Tindell replied. "Now, we have your captain. You will surrender your ship to us or we will kill him."

"If you kill him, we will have no qualms about destroying you."

"Then I guess we're at a standstill, except while you're dragging your feet about hearing me out, my friends here are going to have a lot of fun beating your captain. They like fighting."

Suddenly, the transmission ended and Spock was fairly alarmed, but then the ship that Tindell now occupied moved away and went to warp. "Follow that ship!" he said.

"Yes, sir," Sulu replied.

They were soon at warp following the ship. "Where do you suppose they're going?" Bones asked.

Spock did not have answers to anything in this situation. It was a situation of total betrayal. "We must have a plan in place for whatever we have to do."

After about an hour in hyperspace, the ship dropped out of warp, so the Enterprise did as well. They were at an unfamiliar planet, but according to their readings, it was an inhabitable world.

"They're hailing us again, Spock," Uhura said.

"On screen," Spock replied.

Tindell wasted no time. "We want your ship. This planet is Coroschia. It has a perfect atmosphere for you and your crew. You will beam down to the planet and let us have your ship."

"And why should we do that? What do you intend to do with this ship?"

"That's not your concern. I will give you no more time."

Spock could see that they were holding Jim so they could see him. "Have you decided to cooperate?" Tindell asked.

"You can't!" Jim declared, but someone hit him for that.

"We have decided to comply," Spock replied. "Are you going to leave your ship for us?"

"No. You'll have everything you need on this planet. We won't have you coming after us. Now beam yourselves down to the planet, and we will beam your captain down to you."

Spock knew they might not ever get the Enterprise back. "We have no knowledge of this planet or its inhabitants." They had tried to scan the planet but there was some sort of interference that kept them from detecting any life down there.

"You'll learn."

"We will comply."

"We'll be monitoring you to make sure."

Spock ended the transmission. "Mister Scott, are you in position?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Scotty answered.

"It's time."

"I'm ready, sir."

"Good luck, Scotty."

"Thank you, sir."

Spock and the others prepared to be beamed to the planet, although it would take a while to get them all down. Tindell had sent them the coordinates, and the interference was cleared up at the moment. When everyone else was down, Spock, Bones, Sulu, and Uhura beamed down last.

Spock waited for Jim to be beamed down, but nothing happened. "He betrayed us," he said. He looked up and saw the point of light disappear that was the Enterprise.

"Are you sure your plan will work?" Bones asked as he was looking up too.

"It is our only hope. For now, we will see what we have on this planet as we could be here a long time but I am almost certain that they will return."

"I just hope Jim isn't dead when they return."

Spock thought the doctor had a knack for stating the most dire consequence of a situation. "We will keep our hopes up."

Jim was lying in the floor wondering what they would do to him next. He knew they were not going to beam him down to the planet because they were moving again. He thought Spock must surely have a plan, and he wished he knew what it was. However, he would take whatever chance he had to take the ship back…alone if necessary.

Meanwhile, Scotty and Chekov were crawling through the access tubes. "Why weren't these things made to stand up in?" Scotty asked. "Who's ever heard of having to crawl around in the bowels of a ship to access panels?"

"It doesn't seem logical," Chekov replied. "What is our plan?"

"Our plan? There is no plan! Or at least not one that can be explained! I'm going to sabotage my own ship for goodness sake…and you're going to help me, Laddy. The first thing we'll do is get them out of warp. They must be heading somewhere important so I think it's a good idea to see that they don't get there."

"I agree. Maybe they wanted the ship to do battle."

"This is not a battle ship! They won't be taking my ship into any battles!"

Jim was taken back to a prison cell. He thought these people must really hate him because they seemed to want to be as rough as possible with him. He lay on the floor for a moment and then got onto the cot. He was not sure he had ever been in so much pain although since he had become a Starfleet officer, he thought he had been beat up more than ever before.

While Jim was lying there, suddenly, the ship shuddered out of warp. He almost fell off the cot, and he realized what happened. "Computer, execute Captain's plan, Alpha six, one, one, four, three. Authorization, James Tiberius Kirk, four, two, nine, nine."

"Authorization confirmed, voice print recognized," the computer replied. "Alpha six, one, one, four, three initialized."

Jim listened as he heard systems shutting down which included the force field on the prison cell where he was. Finally, the lights went out, and Jim got out of the prison cell while he could, but then suddenly, the emergency lights came on. There was a guard there, and he wasted no time attacking Jim. The thing about the Brosians was that they had tendrils hanging down their back from their head crest. Jim avoided letting this one tackle him, and grabbed him by the tendrils. From his reaction, Jim thought it must be a really sensitive organ, so he jerked both of them, and the guy even whimpered. Jim tied them in a knot, and shoved him into the prison cell and then ran down the corridor. He would definitely have to find some weapons. He had no idea how many of the Brosians were on the ship…but he knew there must be someone else on the ship and he had to guess that it was Scotty because he knew how to sabotage a ship.

Jim grimaced as he ran. He thought those guys had broken a rib, but he had to keep going. He rounded a corner, and there were three Brosians. Jim gasped as he slid to a halt, and then he avoided a blaster beam as he plowed into them. He grabbed one of their weapons as he got away from them and then opened fire on the three of them. He did not know if he killed them or stunned them, but he started running again. He wanted to get to the weapons locker and then he would take back his ship and retrieve his crew. He knew someone had to be on the ship though and when he got a chance he would try and figure out who that was.

Meanwhile, Tindell was furious that their plan was not working. "We had the perfect chance with this ship!" he exclaimed.

"The ship will not move, Sir," the one at the helm said. "It's locked up and demanding a code."

"Get Captain Kirk up here! He will give us those codes or he will suffer the consequences."

Just then, the guard from the prison cell came onto the bridge. "Sir, Captain Kirk has escaped!" he declared. "He escaped when the power went out."

Tindell practically screamed with rage. "Find him!"

Several Brosians armed themselves and went out to find Jim. Jim was rounding a corner in the crew quarters corridor. He was trying to avoid some of the main corridors because he was sure the Brosians would be using the most direct routes to the bridge and other areas of the ship that they were using. He finally came to Spock's quarters and went inside and locked the door. He found Spock's handheld communicator.

"Captain Kirk to anyone onboard the Enterprise, come in," he said quietly.

"Captain?"

"Scotty? I knew it had to be you on the ship."

"You're onboard?"

"Yeah. I shut down the systems. They can't get this ship up and running without me, and I'm going to do my best to keep them from finding me."

"Mister Chekov is here with me as well, Captain. Do you have a plan?"

"Um, no. Do you?"

"Not exactly, Sir. Mister Spock left me onboard to sabotage."

"Great work."

"It really worked once you turned off the systems."

"I knew there was someone onboard when we fell out of warp and I decided to give it the finishing touch. We have to take this ship back."

"I would really like you to tell me how we can do that, Sir."

"I'm, I'm working on that, Scotty. Just keep your communicator ready."

Jim thought a moment. "Is there any way that you can take control of the navigation from there and get this ship on its way back to Coroschia?" he asked.

"It might be possible, Sir, but only with your authorization," Scotty replied.

"Then I guess I have to get to where you are, but don't say it on here in case someone catches what we're saying."

"Yes, Sir. You should know where I had to be to do what I did."

"Roger, Scotty. I'll be silent till I get in there. Kirk out."

Jim closed his communicator and put it into his boot to make sure it did not get lost, or found, if he was caught. Maybe he would be able to help Scotty through it, even if he was captured again, but he did not think he could because he was sure if they caught him again, he would be very occupied. He left Spock's quarters slowly and made his way back down the corridor. He looked around the corner but saw no one. He would have to get to an entrance to the access tubes and that was not here in the crew quarters. He would have to find his way to the very area that the Brosians were sure to be occupying…engineering.