Captain's Log, Stardate 54324.5: Starfleet Command has directed the

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 drew
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 ended 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.

THE END (With apologies to Trek fans everywhere).
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