Chapter Text
“Captain Kirk,” a voice echoed through the silent bridge. “We’re receiving a message from a small planet just outside the edge of Federation space. In the neutral zone.” Lieutenant Uhura sat silently for a moment, all eyes on her. “It seems to be a distress call from..” she closed her eyes to get a better read on the message, “children?” The Captain stood up out of his seat and walked over to the Lieutenant as she replayed it for him to hear. Sure enough, small voices were requesting help from anyone within reach.
“Mr. Spock,” Kirk spoke. “Relay a message to Starfleet command requesting a stop at Piarus.” The half-vulcan first officer did as he was told and within the hour the Enterprise was given the okay to help the children of Piarus while the USS Farragut was on her way from the nearest checkpoint for back up. It would reach them by the end of the stardate. Kirk brought up the comm and sent out a ship wide broadcast about the new obstacle.
“Good Morning, Sunshines,” he started, smiling into the camera. “May I have your attention please. We have received a distress call from a small planet named Piarus just outside the edge of Federation space. We will be entering the Neutral Zone for this mission, I want you all to be on your toes. The call came in at 0900 from a small group of of children. Yes, children are nice, and this will be a rescue mission, but we do not know them-they could be a threat. We are to assess the planet and the perimeter, and assist in the evacuation of the children with the USS Farragut if necessary. They will be joining us by the end of the stardate. We will be arriving at Piarus in roughly six hours time. Thank you for your time. Kirk out.”
Doctor McCoy joined the bridge a couple minutes later, getting out of some reports that he wanted to take a break from, to go speak with his best friend. He stood at the side of his chair like it was his post.
“Jim, an unknown planet full of children? What happens if we fall into a trap?” The doctor whispered into the Captain’s ear. Jim stood up and turned to the doctor, brushing it off with a light hearted shrug.
“I feel like you’re doubting me, Bones. Is this mutiny? Cause if it is, don’t tell Spock, he’s been after my position for years.” Jim gave a side glance to his Vulcan first officer who just raised a brow at the captain’s words.
“I’m serious, Jim. The last thing I need is for you to go off and wind up dying on me. Again. I’m just going to leave you dead next time.”
“It’s alright, Bones.” Jim placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We’re bringing extra security and Spock will be monitoring the perimeter from up here. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I’m sure some young Ensign would love to join O’l Captain Kirk on the shore.” McCoy rolled his eyes and pursed his lips for a moment, deciding if he was going to kill the Captain right there and save everyone the trouble.
“‘Ol’ Captain Kirk’ can kiss my ass if he thinks he’s going ashore without his damn doctor.” He moved back towards the elevator, nodding for Jim to follow him-which he happily obliged. Jim nodded for Spock to take control of the bridge and left with Doctor McCoy, heading back to the Med bay.
“Be careful, alright?” McCoy’s voice was soft, and once the elevator doors opened again, he stepped out with a teasing smile. “I can’t be the best men when you and Spock get married if you’re dead.” He jumped out of the way to dodge Jim’s hand going in for a punch.
“Oh ha ha, been working on that all night?”
“Only took a few moments actually.”
“Woah man, moving up in the world.” They walked down the corridor to Leonard’s office where they stopped just outside of it. “Alright well, it looks like we’ll be taking off in about four hours. Get some rest.” Jim said.
Kirk headed back to the elevator. Once he got there, he decided against it and took a longer route. It would give him time to think, especially about what his best friend told him earlier. He couldn’t be reckless the time. Not only are the lives of his entire crew on the line on a relatively new planet, but so are the lives of the children from the distress call. He wondered what happened to them. During the call they hadn’t specified what happened to everyone else on the planet, just that they were dead and the children were close to running out of resources. Some even had early stages of malnourishment.
He wondered if anything remotely similar to Tarsus IV happened to the kids but quickly put that far out of his mind. He’d rather not relive those days. Especially now when he has a mission to focus on.
***
As Sulu pulled the Enterprise into Piarus’ orbit, Jim finally got a good look at the planet. The pictures and documents on it were extremely outdated as far as Jim could tell. Instead of the bright green and bold blue in the pictures, the planet was a hopeless brown entirely. Different shades of course. And, it was relatively small compared to Earth. He ordered a few members of the bridge to take notes and updated pictures for Starfleet’s records as the away team met in the transporter room.
When everyone made it in, Kirk gave a head count, and McCoy right after, for himself. They had twelve crew members. Six of which were security officers who gladly signed up. Jim turned to his best friend.
“Hey, Bones, it’s just a simple rescue mission. We’re just going to make sure the kids are alright and assist in the evacuation of them when the Farragut gets here.” He could see how tense the doctor was. “You don’t have to come along. We can easily get someone else in medical.”
“You know damn well that I’m not going to let you go down there without some kind of back up. Spock’s staying on the bridge, so the next best person to have to save your sorry ass is me” he grumbled.
“Captain.” The engineer in charge of the transporter interrupted McCoy’s glare at Jim. “We’re ready for transport.” The Captain nodded in acknowledgement.
“Mr. Spock. How are your eyes on the perimeter?”
“Very good, Captain. We’re beaming you down just outside of the children’s camp. About half a mile out. Although we have a good read on the planet, the animals and vegetation are vastly unknown. Starfleet’s records of Piarus are quite outdated to say the least.” The Vulcan’s voice came over the comm.
“Alright.” Jim nodded to the Ensign. “Energize.”
***
“Well, it is a lot hotter than I expected..” Jim said after they landed.
“Did you see how thick the atmosphere was? They told us they’re almost out of their resources, Jim.” The Doctor explained, stepping over a muddle of mud. As they reached the camp, there was no movement whatsoever. The entire camp was silent. Jim opened his communicator.
“Kirk to Enterprise.”
“Enterprise here.”
“Mr. Spock. The camp appears to be empty. What do your readings say?”
“Our readings show heat signatures huddled together in a hut to your left. Be cautious, Captain.”
“Thank you, Mr. Spock.” Jim looked over at the security guards and motioned for them to go check out the hut. They did as they were ordered and three of them went over to it. One in the back, one in the front, and another one to open the door. When the door opened, a few gasps were heard from where the rest of the party was standing. Jim and McCoy ran over to check it out with the rest of the party trailing behind.
“Are you…. Starfleet?” A little boy asked. He slowly made his way out of the dark hut and into the sun. He was thin and the hollows of his cheeks made him look older than he was. If he was the boy who sent out the message, he couldn’t be any older than thirteen.
“Yes,” Jim took a step away from the crowd. “What is your name?”
“My name is Johnny. Are you here to help us?” He looked up at Jim with dead eyes. To be so young and to go through so much. Jim remembered when he had that same look.
“Yes. Can you tell me what happened?” The kid looked inside to the other children and walked away from them.
“Come over here. They don’t need to hear it again.”
“McCoy, check the kids out, make sure they’re ready for transport.” Jim said. McCoy took two members of the away team with him, two others going with Jim.
“About a year or two ago, a fungus started to wipe out the food supply, and there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it...” He looked down, starting to shake as he continued to tell the story. “It got to the point where it was family pitted against family, just trying to get enough food for their own, to the point where... “ the kid looked away and closed his eyes.
“Some people started to get violent. Very Violent.” Kirk clenched his fist at his side.
“Do you know why the adults ended up killing each other?” He was visibly tense, his jaw tightened and he had to force himself to relax.
“The mayor of our colony said the weak had to go. Only the strong could survive.” Before Jim could speak again, McCoy came running over.
“Good news,” he started. “All of the children seem healthy enough for transport as soon as the Farragut arrives.”
“Thank you, Johnny. We’re here to help.” Jim smiled down at the boy and watched as the once dead look in the kids eyes started to fill up with hope before he ran off to make sure the others were alright, along with the two officers who were with Jim.
“So what happened?” Leonard asked.
“Did I ever tell you about Tarsus IV?” Jim said, staring past his best friend. Leonard nodded. “The same thing.” Leonard frowned and put a hand on his best friend’s shoulder.
“Well we’re not gonna let it get any worse now, kid.” Jim had a neutral expression on his face. He was battling with his mind to keep the memory at bay.
“I think we’ll figure out the rest when the mission is over. Until then, get in touch with Spock and ask him how far out the Farragut is. It’s best to get the kids to safety as quick as we can.” Shots came from the trees as Kirk’s communicator went off.
“Jim get out of there, we’ve detected enemy life forms heading your way.” Jim yelled for his team to get the children and themselves to safety. Out of reflex, the Captain took his best friend’s wrist in his hands and ran towards one of the huts for safety.
“Enterprise, beam the children up first.” He spoke into the communicator. He peered out the window to see two security officers lying face first in the dirt, presumably dead. He took note on their names to have a proper service when they were back to safety.
“Captain, the children are all safe, we’re locking on your target now.” A pause. “Captain, we need you and Doctor McCoy out of the hut to reach you.” Jim closed his communicator and ran out with McCoy behind him. The Enterprise locked onto them and Jim was so preoccupied with the return to the ship that he didn't notice the enemies come up behind them and head right for Bones until it was too late. They pulled him out of the transporter beam with a shout from both men, Jim’s eyes going wide as he reached out for his best friend.
As they reached the transporter pad, Spock’s voice came over the communicator.
“Doctor McCoy is missing.”