> Captain's Log, Stardate 54324.5: Starfleet Command has directed the
> Enterprise to do a preliminary exploration of planet M22 in advance of
> a full research team. Scanners report the atmosphere to be breathable,
> but are recieving confusing readings with regard to life forms. I am
> beaming down with a landing party composed of all our chief officers
> except for poor Scotty.
>
> Supplement: Redshirt Riley has received a head injury, apparently
> while exploring under a high rock shelf. He reports only hearing a
> loud sound and jumping before being struck. After examination by Dr.
> McCoy he has been judged capable of continuing duty.
>
> Supplement: We have encountered an alien creature on this planet.
> While it does not itself seem menacing, a unfortunate occurance took
> place when it was present. Specifically, on my orders Lt. Sulu
> withdrew his phaser. The creature disappeared leaving a puff of smoke,
> immediately following which a loud noise was heard next to Sulu. Sulu
> fired, hitting Ens. Chekov. Oddly enough, although Sulu's weapon was
> set to stun, Chekov was also covered with a black powder similar to
> soot. Mr. Chekov has been sent back to the ship for examination and
> quarantine.
>
> Stardate 54326.2, Mr. Spock reporting: Tricorder readings indicate
> that the creature we encountered earlier is constantly moving at great
> speed over the surface of the planet. We have encountered the creature
> once again. In an attempt to slow the creature for study, I attempted
> to fire on it. The creature, however, appeared to move faster than the
> phaser beam. Regretfully, the beam struck an outcropping of rock above
> the Captain's head, causing it to break off and fall. Although it
> appears that several tons of rock fell squarely on the Captain, he was
> driven straight into the ground but apparently not seriously injured,
> though stunned. The Captain has been beamed up to Sickbay, leaving me
> in command of the research party.
>
> Captain's Log, Stardate 54342.1: The creature is still at large on the
> planet surface. While Mr. Spock continues to lead a research party I
> am currently at work with Mr. Scott on an Acme Pressure Cooker for our
> lab, for when the creature is finally apprehended.
>
> Captain's Log, stardate 54342.3. The strange occurences that have
> dogged the landing party since our arrival at this planet have led me
> to believe that the creature is in some way directly responsible for
> them. Mr. Chekov and I have both been declared fit for return to duty,
> though Dr. McCoy has entered in his medical log that he feels we should
> be kept under observation. Mr. Spock has constructed a device which he
> suspects should be able to counteract the creature's incredible speed
> as follows: We have placed a dish of birdseed out in the open, with
> several signs pointing to it. The dish is atop a cleverly concealed
> trap door, which will open when any weight falls on it. The creature
> will then travel a slide, eventually being deposited in a cage
> constructed of sheets of transparent aluminum. We will then be free to
> analyze it at our leisure. Meanwhile, I have forbidden all beaming
> down to the surface of the planet except on my or Mr. Spock's direct
> order.
>
> Captain's Log, supplemental. The plan failed. The creature was indeed
> lured by the birdseed, as expected. It sped to the dish, consumed the
> bait, and sped off without setting off the trap. Mr. Spock is as
> puzzled as I, and has begun tests to discover the flaw in the design.
> I have sent out three search parties to see if we can box the creature
> in, one headed by Mr. Sulu, one by Mr. Chekov, and one by Sociologist
> Xontel.
>
> Captain's Log, stardate 54342.8. Sociologist Xontel has been
> temporarily incapacitated. In pursuing the creature, he and his men
> somehow managed to cross the place where Mr. Spock's trap was set just
> as he completed the corrections to it. The trap was sprung, and all
> four of my men were suspended for a moment in mid-air, puzzled, just
> before they fell into the cage we constructed. We are now trying to
> release them with phasers, as the lock was inadvertently smashed by the
> impact from Sociologist Xontel's foot as he fell. I consider this a
> major setback. Mr. Spock considers it "fascinating."
>
> Captain's Log, stardate 54343.4. In an all-out attempt to stop the
> creature once and for all, I have had a phaser rifle beamed down from
> the Enterprise. The creature has behaved in an extremely cunning
> manner, yet I am unsure whether this is a sign of actual intelligence.
> Lt. Uhura has been unsuccessful in her attempts to raise Starfleet
> Command. Meanwhile, Mr. Scott informs me that our dilithium crystals
> are deteriorating at an alarming rate. He has juryrigged a system that
> will prevent the decay for a time, but it is imperative that we find
> new crystals soon.
>
> Captain's Log, supplemental. Mr. Sulu reports high energy tricorder
> readings from an area of the planet in which the creature has not yet
> been sighted. He has taken a small party, including Mr. Spock, to the
> high-elevation spot from which the readings emanate. I have begun to
> analyze the creature's movements. It seems to travel consistently over
> a set path. Perhaps we can corner it in a tunnel it seems to pass
> through frequently.
>
> Captain's Log, stardate 54344.7. Mr. Sulu has located a cache of ACME
> dilithium crystals atop a high cliff. Regretfully, while collecting
> them, the edge of the cliff broke off, and he and Mr. Spock plummetted
> several hundred feet to the ground below. Strangely enough, they both
> survived the fall with no more than raising a cloud of dust on impact,
> although they did pass the chunk of rock on the way down and end up
> completely buried. A rescue excavation has commenced, and they should
> be safe shortly.
>
> Captain's Log, stardate 54344.9. Mr. Spock has beamed up to the ship
> with them to assist Mr. Scott in their installation, as he forsees
> compatability problems. Back on the planet's surface, Mr. Chekov led
> seven men into the tunnel in an attempt to capture the creature in
> transit. A loud BEEP, BEEP was heard, and Chekov aimed the phaser
> rifle and commanded his men to spread out. I wish to state for the
> record that I would have acted similarly, and that Ensign Chekov should
> in no way be held responsible for the unfortunate circumstances arising
> from the unexpected appearance of an old Earth-style freight train. He
> has been beamed back up to the ship with minor injuries.
>
> Captain's Log, stardate 54345.1. Dr. McCoy has beamed down with a hypo
> containing a mixture of kyranide, tri-ox compound, Scalosian
> concentrate, a theragram derivative, and some other items he found in
> unmarked containers in Sickbay. By injecting a small amount into each
> member of the landing party, I hope to be able to deal with the
> creature on its own high speed terms.
>
> Captain's Log, supplemental. The latest experiment to deal with the
> strange creature has failed. As Dr. McCoy was injecting a measured
> dose of the compound, it abruptly appeared behind him and uttered a
> loud BEEP, BEEP! Dr. McCoy, understandably flustered, accidentally
> pressured in the entire contents of the hypo into his arm. A full
> security team is in pursuit of him, waiting for the effects of the drug
> to wear off.
>
> Captain's Log, stardate 54345.2. I have ordered the landing party
> transported back to the ship. The new dilithium crystals have been
> successfully installed. On my responsibility, the ship is preparing to
> engage main phasers to attack the creature, which continues on its
> semi-erratic course across the planet's surface.
>
> Captain's Log, supplemental. This is a warning to all other starships
> that may pass this way. Do not approach this planet! The illogical
> events occuring here are too much to overcome with simple science. If
> you have heard the events transcribed in the rest of this log, you will
> learn that this creature is nearly undefeatable. We channelled full
> ship's power through the phaser banks. Theoretically, the creature
> should have been destroyed; however, the energies were too much strain
> for the ACME crystals. The full force of the phasers backlashed over
> the Enterprise, engulfing her completely. At first, the only
> noticeable effect was a complete failure of all systems save emergency
> gravity and life support. Then a web of black lines spread through the
> Enterprise's superstructure. Next, the ship began breaking up, piece
> by piece, falling through the atmosphere to land on the surface of the
> planet. When the ship had collapsed entirely, my crew was left hanging
> in space for a short time, and finally each of us began to fall to the
> planet below. We have no theories on how any of us survived, but every
> crewmember has reported nothing more than a sense of uneasiness,
> followed by the realization that they were several hundred miles up in
> the air, a sinking sensation, and then a gradual drop: first the feet,
> then the body, and finally the head, usually wearing a resigned
> expression of perplexion. We are attempting now to communicate with
> the creature in the hopes that it will prove intelligent. Perhaps we
> can communicate our peaceful intentions to it. Mr. Spock has
> constructed a crude rocket launcher from the wreckage of the ship, and
> with this we hope to send the recorder marker up into space, where
> hopefully someone will find it. Captain James T. Kirk, of the United
> Federation of Planets, Captain of the Starship Enterprise, recording.
>
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