Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. The characters belong to their respective creators: J.R.R. Tolkien, his estate, and possibly New Line Cinema; and Paramount Pictures and their writers.
Author's notes: This is my first work of fan fiction; reviews and constructive comments are welcomed, of course.
This is a crossover story, involving characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Star Trek: Enterprise. The LotR parts are mainly based on the book, not the movie. The story begins with Sam and Frodo in Shelob's Lair and shortly after the "other" Enterprise has gone through the subspace corridor mentioned in the episode "E2."
We first encounter our hobbit heroes Frodo and Sam in the pass of Cirith Ungol. Gollum has apparently deserted them, and Frodo has just used the Phial of Galadriel for the first time. With it, he and Sam have just had their first glimpse of the giant and hideous spider Shelob, the last remaining child of Ungoliant, and the Dark Lord Sauron's ally and guard of the pass. To put the story in proper perspective, it begins with an excerpt from The Two Towers, Chapter IX: "Shelob's Lair" (parts taken from p. 374 in my paperback edition).
Chapter 1: Out of the Frying Pan…
Holding aloft the Phial Frodo looked and before him he saw a greyness which the radiance of the star-glass did not pierce and did not illuminate...Across the width and height of the tunnel a vast web was spun, orderly as the web of some huge spider, but denser-woven and far greater, and each thread was as thick as rope.
Sam laughed grimly. 'Cobwebs!' he said. 'Is that all? Cobwebs! But what a spider! Have at 'em, down with 'em!'
In a fury he hewed at them with his sword, but the thread that he struck did not break...Three times Sam struck with all his force, and at last one single cord of all the countless cords snapped and twisted, curling and whipping through the air.
'It will take days to clear the road like this,' he said. 'What's to be done? Have those eyes come back?'
'No, not to be seen,' said Frodo…'If this light were lowered, or failed, they would quickly come again.'
'Tripped in the end!' said Sam bitterly, his anger rising again above weariness and despair. 'Gnats in a net. May the curse of Faramir bite that Gollum and bite him quick!'
'That would not help us now,' said Frodo. 'Come let us see what Sting can do.'...'But you must be the guard and hold back the eyes. Here, take the star-glass. Do not be afraid. Hold it up and watch!'
Sam looked around the dark tunnel warily, listening intently for any sounds of the monstrous spider returning. As he watched Frodo successfully cleave a rent in the giant spider's web, Sam glanced around the cavern in curiousity. To his right he noticed a small passageway perhaps half the size of the cavern in which they now stood, its entry almost completely hidden by the rope-like strands which covered it. Peering carefully through the strands, he thought he perceived a door. Was this another way out of the terrifying tunnel? Cautiously he took a step closer.
"Sam!" cried Frodo in alarm as Sam stepped away. "The glass!" He stopped attacking the strands of web and joined Sam to look down the small corridor.
"There's some kind of door. Do you see it?" Sam pointed off to the side, indicating the smaller passageway.
"I see it," his master agreed after looking down the tunnel. "But I do not think we're meant to go that way. This tunnel clearly leads through the mountains. We dare not linger here. Those eyes will return soon."
"Aye," said Sam. "And if we're already through that door and out of these tunnels afore them eyes are back here, I'll be that much happier."
Frodo slashed once more at the webs blocking the larger tunnel. "Sméagol never mentioned a door."
"He never mentioned a spider the size of a troll neither. That Stinker never meant for us to leave this place alive." Sam peered worriedly down the long tunnel, ears straining for any sound, before regarding Frodo once more. "You know it, master. He's betrayed us."
Frodo glanced over at the side passageway, seeming to consider the idea even as he continued to hack at the webs blocking the main tunnel. Behind them in the distance, loose rocks clattered, and Sam raised his sword. How much more time could they afford to remain in one place? Surely this door might be the way out?
"Very well, Sam," said Frodo finally, turning to swing Sting across the smaller passageway. "I only fear we'll be trapped in here. Hold that glass high, and don't let it waver!"
Sam moved to protect his master's back, and soon an opening big enough for a hobbit had appeared. It seemed none too soon either, for Sam was sure he heard something approaching in the darkness. Frodo had already slipped through the rent in the webbing, and called for him to bring the light over. Reaching his master's side, Sam held the glass up to examine the strange door.
It was tall, with no apparent doorknob. A dark metal sign hung next to it, covered with queer runes.
Frodo placed a hand on his gardener's shoulder. "I am sorry, Sam-lad, but I see no way to enter. It looks as if we have no choice but to take the main tunnel."
"But Mr. Frodo!" protested Sam in dismay. "It could be you need to know the password, like at Moria. There weren't no way to get in there, seemingly, but we did!"
Frodo shook his head sadly. "I doubt that any words in Elvish would open this door. And the script resembles no tongue that Bilbo has ever taught me." He paused, turning away, clearly impatient to be moving on. "Come on! We cannot remain here any longer, Sam!"
But Sam had bent over what looked oddly like a long stone table, and was hurriedly brushing dust off of it. Covering the table was an array of runes and brightly colored squares of varying sizes that seemed to be cut into it. Many runes appeared similar to those on the sign near the door, and Sam realized, a shiver running across the back of his neck, that this was indeed a magic door. Their recent talk on the stairs of tales from long ago had brought many stories to mind, and didn't many of the great tales have magic doors which saved their heroes? Even old Mr. Bilbo had used that one to get into the dwarves' mountain, which the dragon Smaug had taken over. They only needed to find how to open this entrance, and who knew that it might not even lead to the Fiery Mountain itself? Hope, never lost but only hidden from him during these past hours of fear, stirred back to life in his heart once again.
"I'll wager these runes have somewhat to do with that door, master. I don't know rightly how it works, of course, but why else should it be here in front of the door?"
"I haven't any idea, but this is neither the time nor the place for a guessing game," replied Frodo anxiously. "I'm afraid we simply don't have the time to try it. Let us go and be out of this place before the spider returns!"
His gardener appeared not to have heard him and was muttering under his breath to himself. Sam had switched the star-glass to his right hand with his sword, holding both awkwardly in one hand, while the other hovered over the rune-marked table, hesitating.
A dark rustle and the scattering of loose pebbles alerted both hobbits to the approaching monster. Frodo reached behind himself, grabbing Sam's sleeve insistently. "Sam! The light!" he choked. Dimly they could make out the shape of a hideous leg in the larger cavern before them. Another appeared, ripping away the remains of the tattered strands they had torn in their entry. With a wild cry, Frodo turned and grabbed the phial from Sam's hand and thrust it forward.
The monster skated backward, then stopped, blocking the way out. The glare of the star-glass seemed to hold it at bay, but it hunched down staring at them with its many eyes.
"It's watching us," commented Sam from behind Frodo.
"Yes, it's watching us!" snapped Frodo irritably. "And I daresay if we had cut through those webs instead of trying to open a magic door without a wizard, we would be far away by now instead of providing it some entertainment before it eats us for supper!"
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Frodo. I didn't mean for this to happen!" Sam was shocked. Here he had tried to find an easier way out of their predicament, and now they had hardly a hope of getting out of it alive. Nowt but a ninnyhammer indeed, he thought to himself, his Gaffer's words echoing in his thoughts.
"I know, Sam." responded Frodo more gently. "So try your guess! It can hardly make things any worse than they are already."
"Well, it seems to me that if I pressed the right color it should open the door, leastways I hope so," explained Sam. "If I could only understand the letters! But I haven't any idea how to read the Black Speech, if you follow me."
Frodo watched the huge spider warily as he answered, lifting the star-glass threateningly in his left hand. His arm trembled. "But that isn't the Black Speech. I believe the tongue of Mordor is written in an older form of Elvish, and this writing does not resemble Elvish at all. Nor Dwarvish, for that matter."
Sam regarded the many runes in dismay, scratching his head, knowing that every moment he took to decide was a danger to them with the monstrous spider so near. Finally he squeezed his eyes shut and tentatively poked a green rectangle. It made a satisfying clicking noise as he pushed on it, the texture not feeling like stone after all, for all that it appeared to be so. He opened his eyes and realized that his efforts had had absolutely no effect whatsoever. "No!" wailed Sam, pulling at his hair.
Shelob jumped to her feet at the cry of despair. Frodo stared at the horrifying creature as she prepared to pounce forward.
"Sam?" he questioned, not daring to look behind him. "What is it? What have you done?"
"Nothing!" cried Sam. "It's done nothing at all."
"Well try another, then!" Shelob chose that moment to move, and Frodo cried out as she swung a hairy leg at him.
"Master!"
"I'm not hurt!" said Frodo, dashing backwards out of the giant spider's reach.
"Oh!" exclaimed Sam behind him.
"What?" asked Frodo, ducking another swipe of leg. He swung Sting upwards toward the creature, missing it entirely, and the menacing spider rose up in anger.
"It's doing something, Mr. Frodo!" called Sam excitedly, then his voice dropped. "Bless me!"
Frodo glanced behind him to see what new terror awaited them, as a loud ringing noise filled the air. The metal door had opened and a startlingly blue portal gaped before them. Abruptly something hairy struck him from behind. Frodo fell to the ground heavily as his gardener let out an inarticulate cry and rushed at the spider.
He scrabbled toward the door as Sam attacked the monster, suddenly ferocious. It was clear, however, that the giant spider was winning this fight. Frodo glanced behind him and saw that the bright light was beginning to fade.
"Sam!" called Frodo and Sam ran back to him, followed closely by Shelob.
"Do you want to try it, Mr. Frodo?" asked Sam, glancing nervously behind him before looking up with a gasp. The stench was unbearable.
Frodo also stared up at the enormous spider, only a few steps away. They had no choice now but to try the strange portal and hope for the best. "Yes! Now, Sam!" Frodo shoved the Phial of Galadriel in a pocket and blindly reached out for Sam as he stepped backwards through the doorway. Hands clasped together, they tumbled backwards into the swirling depths of the portal as the door snicked shut.
Shelob hissed in fury.