Echoes of Hell

Eight hours later, the new well was finished and it worked, hinging two plates of mesh around the opening to prevent any eel that somehow managed to get to the top from getting inside. Our chance to survive had been reclaimed.

Joachim and the other two men stood before me, waiting for orders. I simply rewarded their loyalty to me and our people by giving them a quick death rather than face agonizing madness in the end.

I phasered the first one who didn't even make a move to defend himself; he was that far gone, mind wise. The second slowly backed away from me and started to grimace in pain as I vaporized him. So did Joachim, but just as I raised the phaser, he shouted for me to wait. He dropped to his knees, then fell back screaming in pain and clutching his ear. Curious, I waited to find out why, because the madness didn't grip the victims this soon after eel penetration.

I saw moment in Joachim's hair and discovered that the eel had left his body through his ear. I crushed it with my boot and Ella, using Marla's tricorder, said that Joachim was alive but his hearing in the affected ear was damaged.

I carried him to my quarters and laid him down on my bed, vowing to take care of him until he had fully recovered. He is sleeping now; I will tell him what happened tomorrow. ***

***Day 314

I wanted to reward Joachim for his bravery and loyalty. Anything he wanted, he was to get. All he said was "Don't make me go back down into the garden section again." We both laughed and I hugged him as if he were my own son; no father could be more proud of him than I was.

That was the first good feeling I had since Marla died, but it didn't last long. Ella studied the tricorder readings on Joachim and told me why the eel had left his body. Since the eel controlled the host's brain, more or less, it was somehow connected to the host's thoughts. Joachim thought I was going to kill him and, readings those thoughts, the eel's self-preservation instincts kicked in and it fled the body before the host could be killed. And that wasn't it all.

Going over Ling's data, Ella and Ada both came to the same conclusion: a meteor strike wasn't the cause of Ceti Alpha VI's destruction, for there were no asteroids large enough in the system that could have caused it, according to records. Rather, it was some type of geological and planetary core instability that caused the planet to explode, and the resulting shockwave laid waste to our world.

I shut myself in my quarters afterwards, contemplating using the phaser on myself.

I could have spared the others if I had known. They would be alive right now.

And Marla... all I had to do was scared the creature out of her. She would be deafened slightly, but she would still be alive... and our child. I killed them for nothing. Nothing!

I actually put the emitter of the phaser in my mouth and was ready to squeeze the trigger so I could join my wife and child.

But something stopped me.

I stared at the phaser, long and hard, for I don't know how long, and thought of what it represented.

The Federation... Starfleet... the Enterprise...

Damn them! Damn them all for doing this to us!

Spock... he found out who I really was and assisted Kirk in getting me out in the open, vulnerable to their questioning.

McCoy... he objected to Kirk dropping the charges against me; he wanted me sent away to a prison somewhere to rot.

Scott, Uhura, even Chekov. Granted, I was grateful for the phaser he gave me, but he said he was just following orders, like the rest of them. All of them, concerned over their captain, following his orders! His orders!

Kirk!

It was his fault! He's the one who sent us here, just to get rid of us. Just to wash his hands of us, without bothering to check and make sure we would be safe here. All he had to do was to take us to another world, one where the worlds around it were safe from disasters such as the one that befell Ceti Alpha VI... ***

Was that true?

Kyle couldn't help wondering if they could have spared Khan and his followers the anguish of Ceti Alpha V by doing a more thorough scan of the system and its planets. If Captain Kirk had known about Ceti Alpha VI's instability, Kyle was certain he never would've left Khan on her sister planet, knowing the potential danger.

Did Kirk leave him there, simply to get rid of him and forget about him just as quickly? Kyle refused to believe that.

He continued with the journal...

***Day 327

Joachim is feeling his normal self again. The effects of the eel have diminished, and he is eager to return to duty. I granted him permission to do so. ***

Kyle flipped through the next few pages, noting that most of the entries were about mundane activities. He simply skipped over the routine entries and concentrated on the more prevalent ones. But a couple of them caught his attention, and he read them more thoroughly...

***Day 693

We needed a staging area to venture outside.

The eels we were cooking to extend our food supply were becoming difficult to find and catch down in the garden hold. They were getting smart and decided to leave the compartment once they saw their numbers depleting. We would have to hunt for them outside.

The idea to use the cargo containers came to me. Since they were empty anyway, we might as well use them for something. I told the others that we would line them up on top of the Botany Bay, connecting both ends to the ship and use them to enter and exit the ship from now on.

I heard a couple of them grumbling something about me being mad and that this was a crazy idea. I made them go out and do the outside welding. They weren't in any danger; this time of year, the winds were not that ferocious. We cut a hole into the conning tower, just below my quarters, and welded a container into place. I stored some of my things into the next one, making this my personal area... ***

I didn't even think to look beyond the living area, thought Kyle; there was another way into the ship. And the surface still had calm seasons during its year, if you could call what the weather was like 'seasons'...

*** ...the one after that was where the cannibalized airlock door would go. Once all the containers were connected together, we cut a hole into the top of the hull and, using hull material from the inside of the ship, connected our staging area to the ship with a ramp.

Now we were ready to go hunt for game. ***

***Day 757

The desert dwelling animals, other than our crawling friends, seem to have perished. There are no signs of any other animals around us, which is just as well; our ammunition is exhausted anyway, so our weapons are now useless.

It seems that the Ceti eels are the only remaining life forms on this planet... well, the only remaining indigenous life forms. ***

***Day 801

One of our matter re-sequencers has been damaged; an eel managed to crawl inside it and fry itself against the power connections inside, frying some of the components with it. Damn those things. Damn you, Kirk! ***

***Day 841

Our moister extractors are having difficulty getting moisture from the air. I fear they won't last much longer. I'm hopeful that our well will not go dry any time soon. ***

***Day 902

We lost four people today, one of the Ella.

While on a hunt, a sudden sand squall appeared and, in an attempt to take cover, one of them was caught in a depression in the dune and sucked down as if he were sinking in quicksand. He pulled three others down with him, all connected to each other by safety cables. I managed to cut mine loose and dove after Ella. I held on as long as I could, but the sand was too powerful.

Damn him! How could he have left us here to die? ***

***Day 1137

Two of my followers are dead.

They were lovers and, performing some type of suicide pact, ended their lives, not able to take the strain. So much the better; I cannot offer to have those around me that would give up so easily.

I didn't even cremate the bodies with the phaser; I refused to acknowledge their cowardice with an honorable funeral, nor would I waste the energy on them. We threw their bodies to the sand. ***

***Day 1211

One of my people noticed something about me.

Julia, the only remaining medical personnel among, wanted to run a scan of me and check on my health. She said that I looked fatigued, more so than usual. I assured her that I was fine but, when she pointed out the graying in my hair, I started to worry. My genetic engineering would allow me to live well beyond the age of a normal human's life span, and wouldn't start the signs of aging to appear well into my nineties.

But there it was: gray hair. Not a lot; just some flecks near my temples, but it was there. I attributed it to the strain of maintaining order and control of our settlement, and trying to keep everyone disciplined and alive.

How dare he put me through this kind of Hell. ***

***Day 1282

Joachim surprised me with a gift today.

Using leftover pieces of the ship that were no longer viable for use, he had constructed a chess game for me. Knowing how much I love the game, he wanted to keep our minds active while we weren't going about our regular duties. He said that he had made three more sets for the others to use as well, assuring me that none of the parts used for the games would be needed or missed.

I hugged him and thanked him for his generous gift. I took it to my private area in the containers up top where we spent hours playing, pitting our engineered intellects against one another. He even defeated me a few times. ***

***Day 1417 (delayed entry)

Four more of my people are gone.

Three of them attempted a coup against me, but Joachim and the others thwarted them. Ada was killed trying to defend me; a superior woman and a loyal follower. Julia said that my wound would heal in a few days.

Two of the rebels were killed and thrown to the sands, and the remaining one was banished from the settlement. He disappeared into the blowing haze of the sand; we never saw him again. ***

***Day 1529

By my calculations, we are entering our fifth year on this world. As best as I can determine, our year lasts for 381 days. My intellect seems to be faltering a bit; I should be able to be more precise than this. And I noticed some more gray in my hair. What's wrong with me? ***

***Day 1598

I have noticed that I am not the only one whose appearance is changing. Joachim's hair, as well as some of the others, is turning a lighter shade of brown. No gray yet, though I have seen two or three others with small tinges running through their bangs. ***

***Day 2088

One of my engineers is dead.

He became ill a few months ago. Nothing serious at first, but it grew steadily worse over time. His face looked gaunt and pale, and his hair was almost completely white when he died. Since the tricorder no longer worked, there was no way to ascertain the cause of his death. ***

***Day 2104

We have only one moisture extractor functioning now, and the last matter re-sequencer is starting to give out. I have ordered the use of these devices restricted. We have enough water and food stored away, from both the machines and the well and the eels. But, so as not to push the machines beyond their limit, they will be used only in emergencies.

They should have lasted longer than this, though. ***

***Day 2159

The fusion glowballs are starting to give out. That shouldn't be possible; their tiny reactors inside should be working for at least another twenty years.

Another member of the engineering team is ill. His hair is turning white, and now all of us are showing signs of change.

What is happening to us? ***

***Day 2203

Two more have died from this strange illness. We have yet to find the cause. ***

***Day 2249 (delayed entry)

We have discovered the cause of the illness, and the reason our devices are loosing their ability to function. Our own power source is the culprit.

I was awakened by the other engineers, shouting that we must get off the ship. They said that our reactor, used to power the Botany Bay while in space and now used to power our settlement, was the reason we were all changing and becoming sick.

It wasn't the reactor itself, but rather the waste product produced from the expelled fuel rods. The shielding around the reactor was sound, but the shielding around the waste containment area had become weak due to excessive use. The waste was supposed to be jettisoned into space once capacity had been reached, and the toxic radiation level that was building up inside over time was not only affecting the mechanics of the devices we had been using, it was affecting our genetic make-up as well. That's why everyone's appearance was being altered. It also explained why there were no more eels in the garden area; they left to escape the radiation as well.

We shut down the reactor and sealed the entire compartment off. I welded the plates in place myself with the phaser. We were fortunate to have finished the job in time, for when the last plate was welded in place, the phaser died, drained of energy. ***

***Day 2259

The last of our radiation treatment drugs are gone but everyone has recovered, the treatment allowing our genetically engineered cells to heal themselves and restore our health. With the exception of the three remaining engineers who were too far gone for successful treatment.

We brought as much provisions as we could carry up to the containers on top, enough to last for months if necessary. Again, was it foresight to store our edible supplies in the nose of the ship, far away from the reactor... or was it luck? My dulled thinking couldn't answer that right now.

I cursed myself for not having foreseen this disaster. Then I realized that the radiation altered my thought process, not allowing me to see this event coming, so the blame was not mine.

I know who's to blame for this and, if I ever see him again, I will kill him for this insult he has forced me and my people to endure. ***

***Day 2291

I have managed to get the crude Geiger counter I assembled working, to a degree. The radiation levels were still present but, because of the shielding we erected weeks ago, were starting to fade. Soon it would be safe enough to go back into the ship, even for only a limited time. Now that our engineered bodies were healed, our cells would be strong enough to repel any trace amount of radiation left behind. ***

***Day 2335

The radiation levels were low enough to venture safely into the ship now. I told everyone not to go passed a certain point in the interior, just in case; they agreed. Only half of our glowballs are functioning, and those are at half power; at least something is still working.

Joachim said he has just finished putting a communications module from our ship back together and wanted to test it, using the power left in one of the glowballs. I didn't have to heart to tell him that the unit wouldn't produce a signal strong enough to get through the cloud cover, but gave him permission to try. I was humoring him, of course, just like I have been these past months while he worked on the unit, knowing it was a useless effort. But it was a way for him to keep his mind focused and my people's morale up, so I indulged him.

I found a visitor in my quarters; two in fact. Ceti eels had somehow found their way into the ship again. I was going to kill them, but for some reason stopped myself. They were simply trying to survive, just as we were; I admired them for that.

I placed them in a terrarium that Marla had made to house a few of the tiny lizards that used to inhabit the marsh areas near the ocean. She said they reminded her of the geckos that lived near her home on Earth. I miss her terribly, and I will avenge her death upon the one who caused it. If he had not banished us here, she would still be alive... they would still be alive!

As for my new pets... who knows; they may come in handy one day. My only regret is that I will probably not be able to use the young eels on the one person I'd like. It would please me to see him begging for his life and letting him die an agonizing death. ***

Terrarium?

Kyle realized that the cage was what was sitting on the table in the container, living area.

Oh God, he thought, that's how he was able to control Captain Terrell and Commander Chekov, and the rest of the security and engineering crews that were helping him. He brought the eels with him when he boarded the Reliant and used them on the crew!

Kyle slammed the journal shut, not wanting to read any more. He was both disgusted and full of sorrow at the same time. The terrible ordeals they had to endure, the horrid creatures that plagued them every day and night, the horrible things they were forced to do in order to stay alive, and the things that had happened as a result of the madness that seeped into the minds of some.

Still, he had to know how it ended. His duty and responsibility as a Starfleet officer made him summon the courage to go back to the journal again, giving that bravery to his lost captain and his fellow crewmen that perished on Ceti Alpha V and in the destruction of the Reliant. He owed them that much, the courage to finish what he had started.

Kyle opened the journal to the last page and read the final entry, the ones before it a mixture of ramblings and gibberish...

***Day 5727

He keeps coming back in my dreams, laughing at me. No matter what I do to him, the corpse keeps laughing. I keep pressing the useless phaser against my head and squeezing the trigger, but Kirk will not go away.

***Day 5735

The last of the children have died; six in all.

The radiation we were exposed to years ago altered our reproductive systems pass the point of self-healing, even with treatment and our engineered genes. The children were born handicapped and severely brain damaged.

The blood of their deaths is on your hands as well, Kirk!

***Day 5741

This will be my final entry.

We have visitors from a starship that has arrived in orbit, one of whom I remember quite well. I never thought I would ever see his face again.

I and the remaining 21 members of my cadre will transport up to the U.S.S. Reliant shortly, courtesy of Captain Clark Terrell and his first officer, Pavel Chekov... the very same man whose face was the last one I saw before being stranded here on this sand heap of a world. My revenge upon him will be mild compared to the rage I plan to unleash upon my real adversary.

I will bring the eels with me. Alone, we cannot hope to operate the starship with any efficiency but, controlled with the mind crippling slugs, the crew will help us willingly, as Terrell and Chekov are now. I will decide who stays with the ship once I am aboard; the others, I will leave here.

Captain Terrell told me the reason for their visit: to search for a test site for an experiment. This intrigued me; to make a living world from a dead one was amazing. I will use this device to create a proper world for us to rebuild our empire.

But, first things first; I must find Admiral Kirk. Admiral... he is rewarded for his deed, while we are left to die. I will make sure his reward turns bitter to the taste. I will have him on his knees before me, begging for his life. I will enjoy taking it from him, by bringing him here to Ceti Alpha V and leaving him here as he left me... as he left her, buried alive. I hope his death will take a long time, for I wish to hurt him and continue hurting him for as long as it takes him to die.

I shall leave this record here for others to find, along with the phaser, as a testimonial to our ordeal... and to our ultimate destiny.

Can you sense it, Kirk? Can you hear me?

I am coming for you! ***

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