Captain's log - Stardate 2262.011

We have entered the orbit of the fifth planet of an as yet unnamed system. Six planets total circling an F class star, so the current designation for the system is F6 Echo Charlie One. There have been some unexplained readings, but none of the planets in this system can support life, so there will not be any landing parties to investigate.

As Kirk finished his entry, he noticed that McCoy had come onto the Bridge while he'd been busy. Since he was headed toward the Science station, it was probable that Spock had called him up to get the doctor's opinion on some of the readings.

Kirk had turned to speak to them, but before he got a single word out, a jolt rocked the ship hard enough that McCoy would have fallen if Spock hadn't automatically reached out to steady him. All thought of casual conversation over, Kirk called over to Spock.

"Spock - what the hell was that?"

Having already relinquished his hold on McCoy, Spock turned back to his station and studied the readings.

"Unknown, Captain. There is no indication of any ship in the area, but according to my readings, we are being actively scanned, but I am currently unable to trace the scans back to a point of origin."

Kirk frowned briefly, then shifted his focus to Uhura.

"Lieutenant, send out a general broadcast, all frequencies. Let's see if we can make contact with whoever is -"

McCoy had been looking down at his tricorder after surreptitiously scanning the Bridge personnel to make sure no-one had been injured, but he looked up when Kirk's voice stopped and found the Captain's chair empty. His head immediately snapped over to the Science station next to him, but Spock was also missing. So were Uhura and Sulu - in fact, the only people still on the Bridge with him were Chekov and the Captain's yeoman, who had dropped the PADD that he'd brought to the Bridge containing the Captain's daily reports.

The expressions on their faces kept McCoy's own emotions off of his face. He quickly consulted with the computer and read the results of his inquiry with a sinking heart. His medical team was still intact, but not a single member of Security remained onboard. Also, the only non-medical officers remaining were all Ensigns.

McCoy was facing the one thing he never imagined would happened. He was the highest ranking officer remaining onboard the Enterprise and therefore, technically in command.