Star Trek - Blish, James - 12 Read online

  "Myself excepted, of course."

  Sometimes, Spock was almost insufferable. But Kirk didn't really have to remain on the bridge just now; he could be doing the ship's log from his be--... quarters, while he waited for the landing party to report.

  He fumbled the switch to "Record": "Captain's Log, Star Date Three-Oh-Two-Five point uh... three," he said wearily. "We are orbiting an inun-unan-uninhabited planet in the Omicron Delta Region. A planet remarkably like Earth-or how we remember Earth. Preliminary-preliminary reports make it sound too good to be true: flowers and trees, very restful." He yawned. "Pending the report from the scouts, I plan to authorize a snore-shore leave "

  Downstairs, the landing party was gratefully inhal-ing fresh air scented with herbs and flowers. Tall trees rustled gently in a light breeze. The sky was cornflower blue. How long since anyone aboard the Enterprise had had a chance to even notice weather, undistracted? McCoy wondered.

  There were no buildings; just the trees. No beings but themselves and the daisies; and the quiet. They never noticed the constant sounds of the ship's systems until they were not there.

  "It's beautiful," said Sulu, gazing at the forests and green meadows. "No animals, no people, no worries... just what the doctor ordered, right, Doctor?"

  "I couldn't have prescribed better," said McCoy hap-pily. "We are one weary ship."

  "Do you think the Captain will give us shore leave here?"

  "Depends on my report, and those of the other scouts," said McCoy. "Oh!" He stopped short.

  Sulu followed his look. Ahead of them, a small lake lay like a jewel in a setting of emerald leaves. Flower-ing shrubs covered the banks, and a willow wept grace-fully into the water.

  "You have to see this place to believe it," said Mc-Coy with great delight. "It's like something out of... Alice in Wonderland! The Captain has to come down here!"

  Sulu nodded in total agreement. "He'd like it."

  "He needs it. You have your problems, and I have mine. He has his, plus ours plus those of four hundred and thirty other people." McCoy drifted toward the water, soaking up sun and warm air. Rapt in his won-derland, he barely remembered to look back at Sulu. "What are you doing?"

  Sulu was crouched over a plant, adjusting his tri-corder. "Getting cell structure records-a blade of grass, a bush, a flower petal; with these, we can analyze the whole planet's biology."

  McCoy left him to it. He wasn't feeling at all ana-lytical. He wandered down a faint path, absorbing peace, and wondering.

  "Oh! My paws and whiskers! I shall be late!"

  McCoy came to with a bang. Aural hallucinations, he diagnosed. He himself must be more tired than he had thought. Paws and whiskers, indeed. He turned very slowly.

  There it was. Running on twinkling hind feet. About four feet tall with white fur and long ears, pull-ing an old-fashioned turnip watch from its waist-coat pocket.

  "Tch!" The white rabbit disappeared through a gap in the dense shrubbery.

  McCoy shook his head. I didn't see that. I am quite, quite sure that I didn't see that, he told himself. The bushes behind him rustled.

  "Excuse me, sir," said the little girl in the pinafore, politely. "Have you seen a rawther large white Rabbit with a yellow wais'c't and white gloves hereabouts?"

  McCoy did not believe this either, of course. But in a stunned trance, he pointed after the rabbit.

  The little girl curtseyed and said, "Thank you veddy much," and disappeared after the rabbit.

  McCoy closed his eyes tight. "Sulu! SULU!"

  He wasn't going to look anymore. Let Sulu see things. He, McCoy, was not obliged to believe any impossible things after breakfast.

  "What is it? What's the matter?"

  "Did-did you see them?"

  "See what? I don't see anything," said Sulu, looking around. "What is it, Doctor?"

  McCoy gulped. "I-uh-" There was nothing to say. He followed Sulu helplessly..

  "Captain?"

  Somebody at the door. Wake up. Alert. Responsi-ble. Blood, start circulating. You can do better than this. "Yes?"

  "Spock, Captain. I have the doctor's report on the crew."

  "Come in, Spock." Kirk dragged himself together and stood.

  "All systems are now on automatic, Captain, and skeleton standby crew is ready to relieve the bridge, Communications and Engineering." Spock was very businesslike.

  "We'll beam the starboard section down first, Mr. Spock. Which party would you like to go down with?"

  "Unnecessary in my case, Captain. On my planet, to rest is to rest, to cease using energy. To me, it is illogical to run up and down on green grass, using energy instead of saving it."

  Insufferable.

  The desk communicator sounded. "Kirk here."

  "Dr. McCoy is calling from the planet, sir."

  "Good. Open a channel, Lieutenant Uhura."

  "Captain," said McCoy. "Are you beaming down?"

  "I hadn't planned to, Bones. Why?"

  "Well," said McCoy, "either our scouting probes and detectors are malfunctioning, and all of us scouts get-ting careless and beauty-intoxicated, or I have to report myself unfit for duty."

  "Explain." Kirk quelled a wave of depression. A Problem. Either malfunctioning equipment or a mal-functioning staff. Great.

  "On this supposedly uninhabited planet," McCoy stated with great precision, "I just saw a large white rabbit pull a gold watch out of his vest pocket. Then he claimed he was late."

  Kirk burst out with relieved laughter. Not a Problem after all. "That's very good, Bones. Now I have one for you. The rabbit was followed by a little blonde girl, right?"

  "Er..." said McCoy. "As a matter of fact, she was... and they disappeared through a hole in the hedge!"

  Still chuckling, Kirk said, "I'll take your report under consideration, Doctor. Captain out." He turned to the baffled Spock. "That was a McCoy-pill, with a little mystery sugarcoating. He's trying to get me down there. But I won't swallow it."

  "Very well, Captain," said Spock. "There was some-thing I came to discuss." Kirk looked at him. "I picked this up from Dr. McCoy's log."

  At last Kirk observed that Spock was holding a paper.

  " 'We have a crew member who shows signs of stress and fatigue. Reaction time down nine to twelve per-cent. Associational rating norm minus three.' "

  Concern penetrated the fog of Kirk's exhaustion. "That's much too low a rating," he said sharply.

  " 'He is becoming irritable, inefficient, and quarrel-some. And yet he refuses to take rest and rehabilita-tion.' " Spock looked up. "He has the right, of course, but-"

  "A crewman's rights end where the safety of the ship begins. That man will go ashore on my orders," said Kirk with annoyance. "What's his name?"

  "James Kirk."

  His head jerked up. That's what comes of giving orders before you have all the details. Inefficient. And they'd caught him fair and square.

  Spock handed him the paper. "Enjoy yourself, Captain, it's an interesting planet. I believe you'll find it quite pleasant, very much like your Earth. The scouts have detected no life forms, artifacts or force fields of any kind; nothing but peace and sunlight and good air. You'll have no problems."

  Kirk shrugged and finally smiled. "You win, Spock. I'll go."

  Yeoman Barrows accompanied him down, and they materialized near two of the scouts.

  "Rodriguez, Teller," Kirk acknowledged. "Every-thing all right?"

  "Yes, sir," replied the dark boy, who was packing up a box of samples. "We've completed the specimen survey." The ensign with him was looking just a little wistful. Perhaps she was too tired to work.

  "Sufficient, Mr. Rodriguez. Beam your reports up to Mr. Spock, and start enjoying yourselves."

  The girl brightened. "Yes, sir!" said Rodriguez, handing her the tricorder. "Oh, sir, I think you'll find Dr. McCoy just over there."

  Kirk looked "there," and all around him. "Restful here, isn't it? After what we've gone through, it's hard to believe a planet this beautiful
exists."

  "It is beautiful." The yeoman in the brief skirt twirled around. "So lovely and peaceful and-" she caught herself on the edge of burbling. "Oh, I mean- affirmative, Captain."

  Kirk allowed himself a small smile at her youthful bounce, and he started toward McCoy with Yeoman Barrows. "McCoy? Where are you?"

  The foliage was thick in this glade. "Over here!"

  McCoy was still standing where he had seen what he had seen.

  "Bones! Know any good rabbit jokes lately?" The doctor was not going to live that down for some time.

  "Matter of fact, I do," said McCoy. His expression was too serious for comfort. "But this is not one of them. Look at this."

  Kirk's smile faded as he followed McCoy's pointing finger. Tracks. On a planet without animals. Big tracks, in pairs. A hopping creature.

  "I saw what I saw, Jim. Maybe I hallucinated it. But take a look here and tell me what you think."

  "Aren't those prints kind of big for a rabbit?"

  "Er-" McCoy looked a little sheepish. "As I re-ported, Captain, this was a most unusual rabbit."

  Kirk dropped to his knees to study the footprints. "I admit I thought it was a joke. But these tracks are very real." The prints were far apart. It must have had long legs. A large hopping creature. "What about Sulu? Will he confirm what you saw?"

  McCoy shook his head. "He was examining the flora at the time."

  "I don't like this, Bones." Kirk flipped open his communicator. "Bridge. This is the Captain. Has the first shore party beamed down yet?"

  "Negative, Captain. They're just about to start."

  "Give them this message. Stand by. No one is to leave the ship until you hear further from me."

  There was a brief delay before Uhura's voice came back with a dejected, "Aye, aye, sir."

  McCoy protested. "Are you canceling the shore leave, Jim?"

  "Until we find an explanation of this." He pointed at the enigmatic tracks.

  "But the crew, they badly need rest."

  "I know." said Kirk, feeling the weight of responsi-bility very heavily indeed. "But what you saw looked harmless. It probably is harmless, but before I bring my people down, I want proof that it is harmless."

  McCoy was about to object that the worst that could happen would be an encounter with a pack of cards, when he was interrupted.

  Shots. Gunshots.

  So much for peace and tranquility; Kirk drew his phaser and started running. He stopped short as he found Sulu standing in a clearing, grinning happily and aiming at an innocent leaf.

  Bang!

  McCoy caught up with Kirk as he was saying wea-rily, "Mr. Sulu, what do you think you're doing?"

  "Target shooting, Captain," said Sulu. "Isn't it a beauty? I don't have anything like this in my col-lection!"

  "Where did you get it?"

  "I found it. I know it's a crazy coincidence, but I've always wanted one. I found it lying right back there." He held it out proudly for Kirk's inspection. "An old-time Police Special, and in beautiful condi-tion. Hasn't been a gun like this made in, oh, a couple of centuries. Look, it fires lead pellets propelled by expanding gases from a chemical explosion."

  Sulu and his hobbies. "I've seen them before," said Kirk, remembering certain adventures when he had tangled with Earth's past history. He took the weapon and smiled at Sulu. One couldn't blame him, but- "I'll hang on to it. This fresh air seems to have made you a little trigger-happy."

  Sulu looked disappointed but said only, "Yes, sir."

  Yeoman Tonia Barrows was not interested in guns. As soon as she had seen that they were not confronted with an emergency, she had begun to wander. Now she called. "Sir! Dr. McCoy's rabbit. He must have come through here."

  She pointed at a set of tracks, identical to the first, that crossed the clearing into the wood beyond.

  Kirk examined the tracks. "Bones, are you certain your instruments showed no animal life on this plan-et?"

  "Absolutely. No mammals, birds, insects, nothing.

  I'm certain our readings weren't off, and yet..." He stared down at the perplexing prints.

  Kirk sighed. "I'd like to believe this is an elaborate gag. But-" He stood up and looked toward the wood. "Yeoman Barrows, you accompany Mr. Sulu. Find out where those tracks come from." The pair turned to the shrubbery. "You come with me back to the glade, Doctor. I want another look at that area."

  As they began walking back to the aquamarine lake, Kirk said with some bitterness, "This is becoming one very unusual shore leave."

  McCoy said lightly, "It could be worse."

  "How?"

  "You could have seen that rabbit."

  Kirk laughed in spite of his worry. "What's the matter, Bones? Getting a persecution complex?"

  "I'm; starting to feel a little bit picked on, if that's what you mean," said McCoy ruefully.

  "I know that feeling well. I had it at the Academy." They strolled on. McCoy noted with satisfaction that Kirk seemed a little less tense. "An upperclassman there-one practical joke after another, and always on me. My own personal devil, a guy by the name of Finnegan."

  "And you, being a serious young cadet-?"

  "Serious? Bones, I'll make a confession. I was ab-solutely grim. Which delighted Finnegan. He was the one to put a bowl of cold soup in your bed, a bucket of water propped on a half-open door. You never knew where he'd strike next."

  McCoy thought, "And you're still sore about it, long past as it is."

  "More tracks, Bones. Looks like your rabbit came from over there." McCoy stooped and looked at the ground. "A girl's footprints too, Jim. The blonde girl I saw chasing it."

  "Bones, you follow the rabbit. I'll backtrack the girl. We'll meet on the other side of that hill." McCoy nodded. Kirk started walking along the line of small boot-prints. Little girls, rabbits, old-fashioned guns- whatever next?

  He hadn't thought about that lout Finnegan in years. What a thorn in his flesh that man had been! He remembered the day...

  Tall, broad-shouldered, with a challenging grin pasted on his map, a figure was waiting by the tree in front of him. Kirk blinked. "Finnegan!"

  The youth, dressed in Academy cadet uniform, swaggered up to him with a wicked laugh.

  "Never know when I'm going to strike, eh, Jimmy boy?" The same faint brogue, the same cackling deri-sion. As Kirk stood there, incredulous, he was jarred into accepting this reality by a sudden right to the jaw which knocked him flat. He got up slowly, staring at his old enemy who danced in a fighter's crouch, bait-ing him. "All right, Jimmy boy, go ahead. Lay one on me! Go ahead; that's what you've always wanted, isn't it?" It was. Kirk let go his disbelief and crouched. He was not going to pass up this chance to deal with this old bˆte-noire at last. Red rage surged in him as he remembered all the bullying, the merciless persecu-tion.

  "Come on, come on!" sneered Finnegan. Kirk started at him.

  "Let's do that one again!"

  A woman screamed. Oh, hell. And he pulled his punch. Yeoman Barrows? He was the Captain. His yeo-man was in danger. Hell. He ran toward the sound of the scream, with Finnegan calling after him, "Any excuse, Jim baby? Right? Run away, that's right!"

  McCoy appeared from the underbrush, running.

  "What was that?"

  "Barrows. Come on."

  They found the girl huddled against a tree. Her tunic was torn and her hair disheveled. She was alone and weeping hysterically.

  "What happened?"

  "I-I-I don't know. I mean-I do know," she sobbed. "I guess... I was following those tracks and... ohhh! There he was!"

  "There who was?" snapped Kirk. This was no way for a trained crewman to give information.

  "Him!" wailed the yeoman.

  "Barrows, give me a report!"

  She began to gain control of herself. "He had a cloak, sir. And-and a dagger with jewels on the han-dle."

  McCoy was examining her. "Yeoman Barrows, are you sure you didn't imagine this?"

  She pulled up the torn shoulder of her dress,
sud-denly embarrassed. "Captain, I know it sounds incred-ible." The men nodded. "But I didn't imagine it any-more than I imagined he did this." She gestured with the ripped tunic.

  "All right," said McCoy reassuringly. "We believe you. But who was your Don Juan, anyway?"

  "How did you know?" she gasped.

  "Know what?"