"Spock!" Kirk cried, immediately rushing over to him. He realized that whatever had hit Spock must have been some sort of trap on the door, and it would've hit himself had Spock not shoved him out of the way.

Kirk leaned over and felt the Vulcan's side for a pulse.

There was none.

Kirk's heart lurched wildly in his chest, not daring to believe what his mind was telling him.

Then, suddenly, he felt something. A heartbeat. It was followed by another, and another. Spock was alive.

His pulse was faint, barely noticeable. But it was there.

Spock was alive.

Hands shaking, Kirk quickly pulled out his communicator and flipped it open.

"Scotty, beam McCoy down to my coordinates immediately. It's an emergency."

"Captain, are you alright? What's happened?"

"Nevermind that, just beam McCoy down!!" Kirk ordered, a slight note of panic creeping into his voice.

Scotty finally realized the urgency of the situation and hurried to comply with the Captain's request. "Aye, sir," he said. "Scott out."

Kirk closed his communicator and sat back on his heels, anxiously waiting for the Doctor to arrive. This is my fault, this is all my fault, he thought.

About a minute later, McCoy materialized in front of him with his medical kit. "What happened?" the Doctor asked, kneeling in front of Spock and getting straight to work.

"We reached the door and I was trying to get it open. Then it activated some sort of trap. Spock stepped in front and took the hit himself," he explained quickly.

"He's got several broken ribs and he was burned pretty badly but he'll live," McCoy announced after scanning Spock with his equipment.

He then set to work loosely wrapping his chest in bandages to protect the burns. Before he finished, McCoy gave him a hypo and applied some healing salve to Spock's chest.

"It's a good thing his heart's in the wrong place or he might not have been so lucky," McCoy commented in an attempt to reassure Kirk.

"An injury like that would've killed any normal human."

Kirk could only nod distractedly, dizzy with relief. That moment when he thought Spock was dead had been the scariest of his entire life.

"We'd better get him back to the ship," McCoy said as he packed his medical equipment away.

"He won't get very far in his current condition."

Kirk nodded and picked up his communicator. But before he could open it, they heard a shout from behind them. It came from the other side of the door, which had remained open.

Lights began to appear around a bend in the tunnel, followed by running creatures in black, hooded cloaks. Well, they weren't so much running as they were gliding—like puppets being pulled on a string.

Kirk and McCoy pulled out their phasers and turned quickly to face the oncoming threat. There was no time to find a place to hide; they had already been seen by now.

"Drop your weapons!" one of them shouted. To which Kirk promptly stunned the creature in the chest with his phaser.

As the group came closer, Kirk and McCoy started picking them off as fast as they could. But there were too many of them, and they seemed unnaturally resistant to phaser fire. As the creatures became level with Kirk and McCoy, they both tossed aside their phasers and began fighting hand-to-hand.

Kirk bent down and threw the first one over his shoulder behind him. The creature was surprisingly light and cold to the touch, as if it was composed entirely of mist held together by the dark cloaks they all wore. Kirk then slammed a fist into the next creature's face. At least they were solid enough to land a few good punches. Someone grabbed him from behind, so he quickly turned and threw himself against the wall, crushing his attacker against the rough stone.

McCoy was doing the same, although he wasn't quite as skilled at hand-to-hand combat. He managed to knock out 3 of the creatures before they grabbed his arms and forced them behind his back, restricting any movement.

Soon after, Kirk was also subdued, although he continued to struggle and pull against the creatures that held him.

"Now, now, enough of that," said a deep, powerful voice.

Kirk looked up a few meters down the tunnel where the voice had come from. The dim light ended there, so everything beyond that was just shadow.

The mysterious voice moved closer and now they could see a tall outline. He was barely within the area of light, so nothing could be seen yet of his face.

"We are honored to have such distinguished guests in our presence," he continued.

"Why are you holding my ship?" Kirk demanded, still struggling to free himself.

When he spoke again, Kirk could practically hear the malicious smile in his voice. "All in good time, Captain Kirk. All in good time." He then turned and disappeared, seeming to melt into the shadows around him.

Kirk and McCoy were shoved forward after the creature. The message was clear: move. Kirk looked back and saw two of them dragging an unconscious Spock along the tunnel floor. His face contorted with anger, but before he could say anything, he was prodded sharply in the back.

Kirk turned and found himself staring straight into the eyes of one of the guards. His shadowy face seemed to lower the temperature around him, his black, chilling eyes the only distinguishable feature. It made Kirk feel empty and lifeless, but at the same time full of unease and fear. He suddenly realized that making these creatures angry was probably not a wise decision.

Kirk wrenched his eyes away from the guard's hooded face. Then, swallowing his resentment, he let himself be driven farther and farther along the tunnel, into the awaiting darkness beyond.