Seeds of Obsession (a prequel to the Star Trek episode "Obsession") - Part 2

by Sharon Miller

“Here’s what we know so far,” Kirk began.

He was standing in a small room, just off the main colony bar and recreation area, and was briefing his Captain and a handful of senior officers on his experience with the deadly cloud.

“It appears to be some kind of gaseous entity. It registers as a high concentration of dikoronium, and also gives off a sickly sweet odour, like honey, that quickly becomes incredibly claustrophobic. We don’t know if phaser fire causes any permanent damage to it, but it seemed to dissipate it earlier.”

Garrovick stood, and placed a hand on Kirk’s shoulder. “Good work Lieutenant,” he commended hi., “What’s our weapons situation?”

“Most phasers are still at eighty to ninety percent Sir,” Security Officer, and Kirk’s best friend, Darryl Kohout replied.

Garrovick nodded. “Now, we have no idea where this thing will strike next” the Farragut Captain began, pacing up and down the small room as he spoke, his mind calling on all of his battle experience to determine the strategy that would give them the best chance against this thing. “We could spend weeks patrolling every inch of this planet, waiting for a chance encounter. Or, we could draw it to us. If we keep all the people in one place, then it’s going to need to feed eventually. I suggest we hole up the colonists in the bar, with some of the security team, and the rest of us will take the perimeter, build barricades and lie in wait.”

The rest of the men agreed with this plan, and instantly leapt into action to begin carrying out the Captain’s unspoken requests. No-one said anything, but each and every man there knew that they didn’t have a moment to lose.

The colony bar and recreation area was a large, open plan room, with a bar at one end, several small tables and chairs, and at the other end a pool table. Every single one of the one hundred and eighty colonists on the planet had made their way to this building, to hear what the Federation Officers had planned, and to gain a measure of safety from these armed men and women who had come to protect them. Add to this number the remaining two hundred or so members of the Farragut’s landing party, and the large room was becoming incredibly cramped.

Garrovick began to organize his people into groups. A security detail of about a hundred men were to be positioned around the perimeter of the building, to be on the lookout for any signs of the creature. And the rest were given the task of barricading and sealing every inch of the room, to provide a safe hideout for the colonists when the battle began.

Due to him being one of only a small number of people who had so far seen the creature and survived, Kirk was posted to the perimeter detail, and placed in charge of a small team of battle-ready security officers. Darryl Kohout would find himself on the other side of the walls, protecting the colonists from within the barricades, which he was now helping to erect.

As Kirk began to make his way outside, Kohout approached him.

“Hey Jim” he began, the usual confidence in his voice now replaced by a nervousness at the thought of facing this unknown and unseen enemy, “Foley says you saw it. What was it like?”

Kirk thought for a few moments before answering. “Darryl, it just looks so harmless, so innocuous,” he laughed humorlessly. “It’s hard to believe that it could be capable of death and destruction on such a grand scale.”

“But we can beat it, right?” Kohout asked, desperately seeking reassurance from his friend.

Kirk shook his head and sighed deeply. “I hope so,” he replied honestly. “But…how do you fight something that isn’t even solid? Something we can’t even touch? Grab hold of?”

Kohout looked at Kirk silently for a few moments. “I don’t know Jim,” he finally admitted.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kirk could see Chenoweth waving him over, and he realised that, for now at least, he had to say his goodbyes to Kohout.

“Well, look,” Kirk said, placing a hand on his friends arm, “whatever happens, take care of yourself.”

“You too,” Kohout replied.

The two men embraced, then parted to begin carrying out their separate duties. Kirk couldn’t shake off the feeling that he wasn’t going to see his best friend again. It was ridiculous. Kohout was a brave and capable security officer, he had seen much more action than Kirk himself had. There was no doubt he could handle himself. Kirk shook his head. Now was not the time to be losing it. If he had any chance of beating this creature then he had to stay sharp and focused. He took one last look at Kohout, then made his way out of the building.

Outside, about a hundred men were lining every inch of the building, all facing outwards, phasers ready for action. Kirk approached his team, which had now grown to a security detachment of twenty-five. Looking down the line of defiant faces, he could sense that they were all apprehensive about what they were facing, but their Starfleet training would not let that apprehension get in the way of each and every man stepping up to the plate when they were needed.

“Men,” Kirk began, feeling the need to offer some words of encouragement, “I realise we have a daunting task ahead of us, but stay alert. Skin your eyes for this devil men, look sharp. If you see but a ripple in the air then cry out. We might only get one shot at this.”

“Aye Sir!” the men all cried.

They didn’t have long to wait before one of the men, at the far eastern end of the line, began to cry out.

“Sir, dikoronium readings registering off to my right.”

Kirk marched quickly down the line, and confirmed the findings with his own tricorder.

“Come alive men! It’s upon us!” Kirk demanded of his team.

Each man stood up to their full height, phaser held solidly in front of them, eyes all pinned on the same point in the distance, waiting…waiting…

A few moments passed, and nothing appeared. Kirk flipped his communicator and called his Captain. “Sir, I think it’s here. Although it doesn’t seem to be showing itself yet.”

From somewhere round the other side of the building, Kirk could hear Garrovick’s voice. “Are the barricades done? Get then finished now, not a moment to lose. Men, go and help them.”

Realising that the colonists inside the bar were still exposed, Kirk sent five of his own men to assist, reducing his number to twenty. He hoped it would be enough.

A heavy silence descended over the group as they waited for the creature to appear. Kirk began to pace up and down his line, here and there shouting encouraging exclamations, or demanding tricorder readings.

“Sir, I’m still reading a large trace of dikoronium,” the officer who had originally called out updated him. “But it doesn’t seem to be getting any closer.”

Kirk’s own tricorder again confirmed the officer’s report. He thought quickly, and finally settled on an answer that chilled him to the bone.

“It’s waiting for us,” Kirk said quietly.

There was no doubt in his mind now that this thing was not only sentient, it was also intelligent.

“What direction do your readings indicate?” he asked the officer.

“Behind that hill over there.”

Kirk began to walk quietly in that direction, signalling with his head for his men to follow. If it was possible for a cloud of gas to understand battle strategy, then it performed what might be referred to as a surprise attack. Waiting until half of the men were already round the hill, it quickly descended over the top, attacking the latter part of the group, and at the same time effectively cutting the forward group off from any reinforcements. As his men were engulfed, Kirk whirled round quickly and opened fire. The rest of his team, most of whom had not seen the beast before, froze to the spot, staring open mouthed at the grizzly spectacle before them, as their comrades fell like a destroyed house of cards.

“Fire men!” Kirk yelled, “For God’s sake fire!”

The call to battle was all that was needed to awaken them from this daze, and seven separate streams of phaser fire, including Kirk’s, burned their way into the cloud, causing it to spark violently. As it dissipated, the secret it had been hiding was revealed, as fourteen bloodless and lifeless men fell to the ground. Kirk called for medical assistance, but he already knew it was too late.
Mere seconds later, or so it felt to Kirk, and more screams came from the direction of the building. Kirk and his remaining men took off at full speed, the corpses having to be discarded where they fell for now, as the urgency of protecting the living took precedence.

As they neared the building, every man stopped. Even Kirk found it hard to comprehend what he was seeing. The cloud seemed to have doubled, maybe even tripled in size, and engulfed the entire building. The anguished, choking cries of hundreds of men filled the air. And James Kirk, outstanding Academy graduate, legendary bester of the Kobayashi Maru, top class crewman, froze. Such was his horror at the hideous sight before him, he found that his mind was empty, his arms pinned limply to his sides.

In reality the time that elapsed was only a few seconds, but to Kirk it felt like a lifetime before he found himself raising his gun, and charging towards this deadly foe, sending stream after stream of phaser fire into it, until his phaser was drained of all power. From somewhere off to his left, Kirk was aware of additional firepower mingling with his own, and eventually the cloud was gone.

The perimeter of the building looked like a battlefield, with fallen comrades strewn across every spare piece of ground. Kirk noticed a group of about ten men walking towards him, including the Captain, First Officer Chenoweth, the Doctor and Security Chief Foley. From behind him, the few remnants of his own team joined the group. Without saying a word, Kirk knew that each and every man there was thinking the same thing that he was, as all eyes were directed towards the building. Silently they made their way over the corpses of their friends and colleagues, and, reaching the barricaded door, pressed their ears to it. When they were unable to discern any signs of life or movement from inside, Foley began to hammer on the metal door.

“Kohout!” he called to his second in command, who was inside the building, and Kirk felt like someone had plunged a knife into his chest.

Chenoweth must have noticed the look of horror that flitted across his face. “The barricade was up, it wouldn’t have gotten through” he said, although he sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as anyone else.

The dull thud as Foley continued to hammer on the door set Kirk’s nerves on edge, and almost unable to control himself, he found himself throwing his own body violently at the door, in a desperate, consuming need to know what awaited him on the other side. As the others joined him in ramming the door, it eventually gave way and they fell inside. Each man stood, and attempted to survey the scene with the professional sense of detachment that their years aboard a Starship had taught them. It was often said that Starship crewmembers daily witness events that would drive planet dwellers to the edge of their sanity. But nothing in the universe could have prepared them for the horror that lay in front of them.

Every single living soul in the room, Starship crew, colonist, man, woman and child, were fallen onto the floor, the cloud’s hideous death mask fixed onto their features.

Slowly, the Chief Medical Officer began the arduous task of checking every single body for any signs of life. Other crewmembers came to assist him. Kirk joined them in their sad progression amongst the dead, although there was only one life he was seeking out. He found it still lingering, barely, in the body of his best friend.

“Darryl!” he yelled, falling to his knees at the man’s side, his voice breaking with shock and emotion. “Medic, over here now!”

“Jim,” Kohout croaked, taking hold of Kirk’s hands stiffly, “Jim, it’s too late.”

“Don’t say that,” Kirk whispered, tears now falling freely down his cheeks. “You’ll be okay. We’ll get you out of here.”

But Kohout shook his head. “It’s over Jim.”

Kirk closed his eyes, his salty tears dropping onto the bleached face of the dying man now cradled in his arms.

“Jim,” Kohout continued, although the effort to speak was quickly becoming too great for him to manage. “Don’t let it get away. Avenge me Jim, avenge my death.”

Kirk looked into his eyes until they had glazed over white, those final words spinning around in his head.

From somewhere far away he heard a commotion. He looked up, and through tear-blurred eyes could just make out the Captain and First Officer engaging in what appeared to be a struggle.

“Sir, you can’t fight it alone!” Chenoweth was yelling.

“Let me go!” Garrovick screamed in reply. “It won’t get away with this!”

With a final goodbye, and a promise to carry out his dying request, Kirk laid the body of his friend gently on the floor, and then quickly made his way over to the sparring officers.

“He’s not alone,” he announced, standing beside his Captain defiantly.

Garrovick looked at him, and an ocean of understanding passed between them, the need to avenge their friends, the hatred for this creature burning them up inside, consuming them, choking them, like that hellish smell of honey. Garrovick grabbed two phasers from the bodies of two fallen security men and, handing one to Kirk, he marched out of the door, Kirk following closely behind.

Outside, the sun was setting, the skies growing dark, long shadows staining the ground.

“Where would it be?” Garrovick was saying.

From somewhere in the back of Kirk’s mind registered the thought that the darkness would make the cloud almost impossible to see. But he pushed it away. They were circling the perimeter of the building, stepping round and over bodies at every turn. But the air smelt crisp and clear and of the coming of the night.

“The mountains,” Kirk said suddenly. “The tritanium mines. That’s where we first saw it.”

They headed off, the path almost impossible to detect. From memory of this afternoon, Kirk knew that there was a steep drop off to one side, and the loose shards of stone under their feet threatened to send them plummeting over it any minute, as they continuously stumbled and lost their balance. They reached the tritanium mines after a good hours climb, by which time the sky was pitch black, the light from their tricorders the only illumination. Both men were now existing on pure adrenaline, their bodies exhausted, their minds struggling to cope with everything they had seen on this blackest of days. Only their need for revenge on this beast that had wiped out so many of their comrades and friends, kept them going.

“Scanning for dikoronium Sir,” Kirk announced, sweeping his tricorder in wide arcs around their immediate area.

“Look sharp son,” Garrovick said, his voice barely more than a whisper now, the strength needed to make himself heard almost more than he could spare from his depleted reserves.

The night began to grow cold, the stars and planets in the sky above them bright and clear. But still the tricorder gave no readings. Endless moments passed, and Kirk found his mind wandering, to memories of Darryl Kohout, the times they had shared aboard the Farragut, and on shore leave together, and then to the image of him a short while earlier, dying in Kirk’s arms. He closed his eyes to hold back the tears. He needed to focus, and began to count the stars in the sky above him, anything to keep his mind on where he was. But as he watched, the stars began to fade. At first there were thousands, millions of tiny lights twinkling in the endless blackness above him, but one by one they were snuffed out, and replaced with a void of darkness. Kirk only registered what he was seeing seconds before the odour of honey assailed his nostrils.

“It’s here Sir,” he managed to choke out.

But Garrovick was already at the limits of his endurance. “Where?” the Captain yelled, spinning round wildly.

“I…I don’t know Sir” Kirk said.

He looked at his tricorder, but there were still no readings for dikoronium. They may as well have been blindfolded.

“Tell me where it is!” Garrovick was screaming.

Kirk opened fire, spinning in all directions. Garrovick followed suit, but there was not the slightest indication that they had hit their mark. The darkness began to get heavier, more oppressive, the sickly-sweet smell filling Kirk’s mouth, his chest, his lungs. His phaser continued to fire until it was totally depleted of power. From somewhere off to his left, he was aware of his Captain screaming, reaching out. He attempted to take a step towards the stricken man, but the sweet smog was overpowering him. And then darkness became all that he knew.

Kirk tried to open his eyes, but all he could see was light, blinding light. He grimaced, and quickly closed them again.

“Ah, you’re awake,” a voice said.

He opened his eyes again, more slowly this time, and found himself on a biobed, in the familiar sickbay of the USS Farragut. His head throbbed, and he felt like he’d been asleep for days.

The Chief Medical Officer was standing over him, taking readings with his medical scanner. “How do you feel?” he asked.

Kirk thought for a moment, but then suddenly everything came flooding back to him. He attempted to sit up, but felt the Doctors strong hands restraining him.

“Just rest Jim,” he said, “easy now.”

“The Captain,” Kirk choked out, “where’s the Captain?”

The Doctor sighed. “Jim, he’s dead.”

“I have to go back. Let me go back. I have to kill it!” Kirk was muttering, as he struggled to break free of the Doctor’s grip.
“Jim, we warped away from Tycho IV almost two days ago.”

Kirk flopped back down onto the bed, the energy suddenly drained from his body.

“What about the creature?” he whispered.

The Doctor shrugged. “It’s still there I guess.”

“What about the colonists?” Kirk demanded.

“We saved thirty-seven of them. We’re taking them to the nearest Federation Starbase. The rest didn’t make it.”

Kirk closed his eyes. So much death. He instantly felt the weight of responsibility and guilt pressing down on him. Could he have done more to save them?

The First Officers recommendation told the truth, that Kirk had shown tremendous courage and exemplary dedication to his Captain and his crewmates down on Tycho IV. But for Kirk it rung hollow. Deep down, he knew that he’d hesitated before firing at the thing when it was attacking the colony building, giving it the opportunity to pass through the walls and decimate two hundred crewmembers, and almost the same number of colonists. He knew that he’d been too weak when he’d encountered the cloud with his Captain, his loss of consciousness incapacitating him when he was needed the most. He knew with every fibre of his being that the only thing that would lift this great weight from his soul would be to face the creature again, and end it once and for all.

All of his life Kirk had been working towards becoming a Starship Captain. That he would ultimately succeed one day, he had no doubt. And when that day came, he would scour the length and breadth of the galaxy to find the beast once more. He would meet his nemesis again before his life was ended, would once again stare into the heart of darkness. Only this time, he would be ready.

The End