Star Trek: Oblivion

19 || No Way Out

The man screamed. For one slight second, the blotchy grey fingers could be seen yanking him below the surface. The crew fired at snow around him, but it did nothing. One last desperate cry was torn from the man's throat before he disappeared into the sea of white.

"No!" Giotto cursed, running to the small crater of disturbed ground. The snow continued to fall around them, the large flakes swirling down from the darkening sky and coming to rest on the now blood stained crater of white.

"It just came out of nowhere." Chekov said, staring blankly at the ground.

There was a loud groaning noise and the snow around the rock wall began to sift inward through the now open doorframe. Captain Kirk stepped back as the gaping black hole opened up.

He took out a light and shone it into the empty area in front of him, but the beam failed to penetrate the heavy darkness. He turned back to the darkening sky. Night had almost fallen and the storm was only growing worse. The strong wind howled through the frigid air.  "Looks like this is the place." Kirk mumbled to himself as he slid down the small hill of snow that had fallen through the large doorframe.

Even through his EV suit he could feel the difference in temperature. The snow had sifted through the entrance and onto the soggy ground inside.

Captain Kirk's communicator made a noise. Kirk flipped it open. "This is Captain Kirk. Can you read me?"

"Captain."

"Spock!" Kirk almost grinned. "Hearing you loud and clear!"

"Have you made it to the surface of the planet?"

"Yeah. We had a little bit of a systems malfunction and ended crash landing a few miles from we were supposed to land. We uh.. we lost one of the men but everyone else is still in one piece. The storm's been screwing with the communications signal, we couldn't get a hold of the ship till now."

The rest of the crew began to cautiously descend into the structure after the captain.

"We have located the missing shuttle." Spock reported.

"Find anything?"

"There was no one aboard. The primary engines had failed due to a direct hit to the auxiliary duct of the powercells."

Several beams of light began to cut through the darkness, highlighting the large room. Gleaming dark metal walls covered in the strange markings surrounded them. Soggy green vegitaiton clung tightly to the walls and floors. A red shirt began to walk past Captain Kirk, who held out a hand to stop him.

"It is likely that they abandoned the vessel long before systems reached critical." Spock continued. "It had been on manual override for the duration of the voyage, inhibiting our ability to extract information on the route they took prior to abandonment."

"So they're just gone?"

"Well ain't this just a welcoming place.." Bones muttered as his footsteps splashed through the shallow layer of water. There were several deep alcoves and what looked like short hallways branching out from the room, deep shadows filling the seemingly  impenetrable darkness.

"The shuttle hatch had not been opened, indicating that they were transported from the shuttle onto another vessel."

"Right. Well keep me posted. I'll let you know what we find down here."

"Have you made contact with the inhabitants?" Spock inquired.

"No. Don't think there's anyone living here. At least not for a long time. We were attacked by something though. Not sure what it was."

"Cap.. the.. could.."

"Spock?" Kirk asked, adjusting the settings on the communicator. "Spock, you there?"

".. don't.. they.. a.. free.. are.. tain.."

Kirk swore and shut his communicator. He looked over his shoulder at the snow blowing in through the top of the open door. "Start looking for some way out of here. Another room, something." he told his crew.

"Jim, looks like there's some sort of door over here." Bones called out, shining his handheld light at a section of wall. The deep grooves in the metal surrounded what appeared to be a large frame. Bones tried to push at the section of wall, but it didn't budge. Captain Kirk and Chekov headed over to help as the rest of the crew began to explore the other regions of the vast room.

The three tried their best to force the door open, but it was no use. Around them, the rest of the crew wasn't having any luck either. The short hallways led to nowhere and none of the doors would budge.

"Agh, toopik." Chekov mumbled, taking a step back. "It won't move." He turned his light back on and headed over to assist with the rest of the crew.

Despite the urgency of the situation Bones and Kirk hesitated.

"Did he just say toothpick?" Bones asked quietly.

Kirk shrugged.

"Uh, guys?" someone called as a stream of green light crept slowly across the metal. The strange etchings glowed with the same sickly light that lit up the entire room. The door they had come through slammed shut.