Star Trek: Voyage to Adventure Read online

From page 45.

  You draw your phaser pistol and fire at the fanged monster, hitting it right between the orange eyes.

  Nothing happens! The phaser beam goes right through the creature!

  Suddenly, the monster disappears. Where it stood, you now see three tall beings in blue robes. Their eyes are a golden color, and look very sad.

  “Alas, the being is hostile,” one of them says, in the same voice you heard on the ship’s Bridge. “It attacked our illusion without waiting at all. We cannot trust it.”

  The three Takoi bow their heads. A humming sound fills your ears. The Takoi voice says in your mind, “We will not harm you or your friends. But you are too violent. We must erase your memories of our race. Goodbye, human.”

  The world goes dark. You wonder who will save the Takoi now. And then you forget.

  The End

  68

  From page 51.

  You switch on your communicator. Lieutenant Uhura answers; her voice is very faint.

  “Tell Mr. Scott to beam us up at once!” you shout.

  “We’ll try, Ensign,” Uhura says.

  As the glass wall opens, you can see the Takoi standing behind it. They are tall, in blue robes. Their eyes are golden, and looking straight at you.

  On the floor, the bodies of the Captain and the Doctor flicker and disappear as Mr. Scott beams them up.

  As the Takoi come nearer, you wait to be beamed up, but your communicator is dead. The Enterprise has lost your signal.

  Well, you think at the Takoi, I guess none of us is going away with the Enterprise.

  The angry aliens close in on you….

  The End

  69

  From page 75.

  You put your hands on your phaser and communicator. “I think I’ll keep these,” you say.

  Under your hand, the phaser becomes very hot. You can feel it burning your hand and your hip. In a moment you have to throw it away.

  You look at your hand. It is not burned, and you realize that the heat was only another Takoi illusion.

  “Don’t feel too bad, Ensign,” Captain Kirk says. “They did the same thing to me.”

  “To us,” says Dr. McCoy.

  Go to page 46.

  70

  From page 46.

  The Takoi nods as she takes back the collar. “You are right,” she says. “We must not risk another being’s life, even to save our own.”

  “Is there anything we can do?” you ask.

  “Perhaps not all our knowledge need be lost,” the Takoi says. “You can hear our thoughts clearly. Will you listen?”

  You agree at once. Dr. McCoy sets his tricorder to record. The Takoi touches your hand, and at once your mind is filled with stories from the aliens’ history, which you repeat into the tricorder.

  Many hours later, the Takoi is too weak to go on. The stories have been wonderful, and you are sorry that they must end.

  “But they won’t end,” Captain Kirk says. “We’ll make sure that they are never forgotten.”

  The Takoi smiles, as do all the others. “To be remembered,” they tell you, mind to mind, “that is the important thing.”

  You beam up with the officers as the Takoi wave farewell. You know that you will not forget.

  The End

  71

  From page 58.

  You jump off the stone table, drawing your phaser pistol. Setting it to STUN, you pull the trigger. One Takoi falls to the floor.

  Suddenly, you cannot move your trigger finger. You cannot move at all! You can feel the thoughts of the Takoi holding you fast.

  “This one is resistant to our orders,” you hear the mental voice say. “We must deal with this one differently.”

  You know Captain Kirk has gotten out of tougher spots than this one before. But you won't be able to help.

  The End

  72

  From page 45.

  The monster does not come any closer to you. After a few moments, it closes its eyes. Then it becomes hard to see clearly, and it disappears like fog.

  In its place there are three beings in blue robes. Their hair is pure white. Their eyes are a golden color.

  “We are the Takoi,” one of them says. “Please forgive us if our illusion frightened you. We had to know if you were hostile. We are glad to know that you are not.”

  “What about my friends?” you ask.

  “They are safe,” the Takoi says. “Please follow us.”

  If you want to go peacefully with the Takoi, go to page 74.

  If you do not trust the aliens and their illusions, and want to try to escape, turn to page 65.

  73

  From page 47.

  You follow the corridor through many twists and turns. Suddenly you hear a rumbling noise above you. You see a stone wall about to drop from the ceiling, between you and the two officers.

  If you want to try to roll underneath the wall before it closes, go to page 64.

  If you don’t think you can make it, turn to page 44.

  74

  From page 65.

  You follow the three Takoi to a large underground chamber, lit by panels of glowing metal. There are almost a hundred Takoi in the room. At the center, Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy are facing a Takoi who sits in a chair of polished stone. She is wearing a large metal collar, set with jewels. She is very beautiful.

  You see that the officers’ phaser guns and communicators, and Dr. McCoy’s tricorder, are on a table. One of the Takoi who brought you to the room asks you to put your equipment with the others’.

  Go to page 75.

  75

  From page 74.

  If you do so, go to page 46.

  If you think this is some kind of a trick, go to page 69.

  76

  From page 63.

  “I’m going after that one!” you shout, and race after the Klingon. You see him jump through a small door, and you dive after. The door slams shut behind you, and suddenly there is the pressure of rockets firing.

  You and the Klingon are in an escape pod, blasting away from the ship!

  You brace yourself and point your gun at the surprised Klingon. “Where do you think you’re going?” you say.

  “Did you think we would let you capture our ship, human?” the Klingon snarls. “In moments it will self-destruct!”

  You stun the Klingon and snap open your communicator. “Everyone beam back to the Enterprise! Now!”

  Minutes later, the Klingon cruiser flares like a new star.

  You call the Enterprise. “Is everyone all right?”

  “Just fine, Ensign,” says Captain Kirk. “But our Klingon guests are waking up angry.”

  “I’ve got one more for you,” you say, and steer the pod toward the Enterprise. It has been quite a first cruise.

  The End

  88

  From page 49.

  In the Starfleet Academy escape class, they told you that sometimes force fields can be shorted out with a piece of metal. You have a metal belt buckle that might work, but you also remember that it is a dangerous trick.

  If you decide to wait and see what happens, turn to page 111.

  If you try to short out the force field, turn to page 90.

  77

  From page 50.

  You slide into the Helmsman’s seat and take hold of the controls that steer the Enterprise. “Warp Factor Five, Ensign,” Captain Kirk says, and you switch on the warp engines. On the display ahead, the stars rush past, leaving streamers of colored light.

  “Planet on the sensors, Captain,” says Mr. Spock.

  “Take us out of warp, Ensign,” says the Captain. “Slow approach.”

  You switch from warp drive to impulse power. The Enterprise glides toward the planet.

  Suddenly, streaks of energy flash across the viewing screen. The Enterprise shakes, and the Bridge lights flicker. You have to hold on to your seat.

  “Klingons attacking,” says Mr. Spock.

  “An ambush, “ says th
e Captain, “and we fell for it. Evasive action, Helmsman.”

  If you want to dodge the ship behind the planet, turn to page 7.

  If you try to loop the Enterprise, and get on the Klingons’ tail, turn to page 62.

  78

  From page 7.

  You pull back hard on the controls. The planet and the Klingon ships seem to fall away below you. Warning alarms go off.

  “Disruptors firing at us,” you hear Mr. Spock say, and the ship shakes with the hits. The Bridge lights go out. You have lost control.

  “I need that warp power now, Scotty,” Captain Kirk says.

  “You’ve got it, sir!”

  You throw the drive switches, and the stars explode past the ship. The battle is over as quickly as it began. But you have lost it, and nearly lost the Enterprise.

  “Don’t feel too bad, Ensign,” Captain Kirk says gently.” You don’t expect a Klingon ambush on your first cruise. And you did get us out of there in time.”

  “Thank you, sir,” you say. The Captain gives you a salute, and a wink, and you know that this adventure is only beginning.

  The End

  79

  From page 8.

  Since you have no weapons, you pull and pound at the energy-eater with your gloved hands and a tool from your kit.

  Suddenly, the blob comes loose from the wall of the tube and wraps itself around you. One of your arms is held to your side. You feel coldness creeping through your suit.

  With your free hand, you reach for the handle of the emergency exit hatch, and pull it. With a terrible rush of air, you are sucked out of the Jeffries tube into space.

  You have saved the Enterprise from the energy-creature, but there are only a few breaths of air inside your radiation suit. You do not know if the creature can survive without air, but you certainly cannot.

  The End

  80

  From page 7.

  You press forward on the impulse thrusters, aiming the Enterprise right between the two attacking ships. They fire again, and your shields flare with explosions—then the shooting stops.

  “We have warp power,” Mr. Scott says, and you switch on the warp drives. In seconds the Klingon ambushers are millions of miles behind you.

  “Not bad, Ensign,” Captain Kirk says. “The Klingons couldn’t shoot at us without hitting each other. Did they teach you that at the Starfleet Academy?”

  “It seemed like a good idea,” you say.

  “It did to me, too, when I was an Ensign,” Kirk says. “Of course, I was on a much smaller ship.” Then he laughs. “But it was a good idea. Welcome aboard, Helmsman.”

  The End

  81

  From page 46.

  As you put on the Takoi collar, its jewels begin to glow. You hear a sound like thousands of voices singing together, as the knowledge of the ancient race pours into your brain.

  In seconds you know just what Dr. McCoy must do to save the Takoi. As you tell the Doctor, your voice becomes very soft. You look at your hands. You can see right through them. You are fading away!

  Captain Kirk asks, “What’s happening?”

  The Takoi leader shakes her head, horrified. “We had not expected this to happen. Your mind is being absorbed into the collar, with all the Takoi of the past. Your mind will live forever now.”

  “But my body?” you say.

  “That will be gone,” says the Takoi. “But we will always remember what you did to save us….”

  You hear nothing more then but the singing voices. And now you are one of them.

  The End

  82

  From page 5.

  You stand still, as Mr. Spock has commanded. Spock begins to flicker in the spray of rainbow light, as in the ship’s transporters. Then he fades away, and the light stops.

  You go to the computer console, trying to figure out if it can tell you where Mr. Spock is and how to bring him back. Unfortunately, the displays and notes are all in Vulcan shorthand, which you cannot read.

  After a while you figure out that the main control of the time-analyzer is a large lever on the computer console. But the notes do not tell you which way to move the lever.

  If you push the lever forward, turn to page 61.

  If you pull the lever back, turn to page 92.

  83

  From page 92.

  You hold the lever steady. The clock whirls backward. Suddenly, the rainbow light pours across the room, and Mr. Spock walks backward out of it. The broken pieces of crystal jump off the floor and fit themselves together into a panel again.

  Mr. Spock reaches past you and snaps the switch. The sound and light stop.

  “Thank you, Ensign,” he says. “I shall be much more careful … this time.” He smiles at you. “Shall we go on with our experiments?”

  The End

  84

  From page 95.

  Mr. Spock tells you what channel you must use to contact your universe’s Enterprise on subspace radio. You are to meet him in the Transporter room in half an hour.

  You start toward the Bridge. In the corridors, crewmen are fighting with each other.

  The Bridge doors open. “Well?” snarls the man in Captain Kirk’s chair. You see that it is Captain Kirk, but he has knife scars on his face and hands, and you have never seen your Captain so angry.

  “Replacement Communications Officer,” you say, in the roughest voice you can manage.

  “It’s about time I got some time off,” the mirror-Lieutenant Uhura grumbles, and shoves past you as she goes out the door.

  You sit down at the console and begin sending code. Soon you receive an answering signal from the mirror-Enterprise. They will be ready to transport in exactly ten minutes, and you must be there or be left behind.

  You feel Captain Kirk’s hand grab your shoulder. “What are you doing?” he demands. “I didn’t order any messages!”

  Go to page 85.

  85

  From page 84.

  If you shout back at him, trying to talk your way out of this, turn to page 97.

  If you make a run for it, turn to page 100.

  86

  From page 5.

  You reach for Mr. Spock’s arm. The rainbow light falls across you as well.

  You feel very dizzy, and for several moments you cannot see. Then your sight clears. You and Mr. Spock are standing in a ship’s Science Laboratory—but not the one you were in before.

  “You should not have done that, Ensign,” Spock says, “but I thank you for trying to help.”

  “Where are we'?” you ask.

  Spock looks around. “This equipment is very familiar,” he says. “I think we are still aboard the Enterprise—but about forty years in our past.”

  The door opens. Three Security men are standing there: They are wearing old-style Starfleet uniforms, very different from yours.

  “Intruder alert!” one says. Before Mr. Spock can explain, a guard says, “Careful, he’s a Vulcan, they’re stronger than we are.” Another fires his phaser, and Mr. Spock falls.

  If you think you had better surrender before things get any worse, turn to page 49.

  If you run for it, turn to page 102.

  87

  From page 48.

  PHASERS LOCKED ON, says your targeting computer. You squeeze the firing trigger.

  A beam of blue light streaks toward the Klingon starship. It runs straight between the cruiser’s engine pods, close enough to burn the surface but causing no real damage.

  “Perfect, Ensign!” Captain Kirk says. “Lieutenant Uhura, open hailing frequencies to the Klingon vessel. Tell them to prepare to be boarded.”

  “Klingons don’t surrender, Captain,” Uhura says.

  “I know that,” says Kirk. Then he turns to you. “Have you ever led a boarding party, Ensign?”

  “No, sir,” you say.

  “Now’s your chance,” says the Captain. “Get your gear and be at the Transporter room on the double.”

  Turn to page 66
.

  89

  From page 112.

  “If time travel is possible,” says Mr. Spock, “it may be possible to change the past. If my future self was right about this area of space having a twisted time-flow, we may be able to adjust the transporter to beam you back across time. Then you must try to prevent the time-field accident from ever happening.”

  Making the adjustments takes many days. Mr. Spock is quite calm as he works. You wonder if you could be as cool, if you had seen “yourself” die.

  Finally, the transporter is ready. You step in. Mr. Spock says, “Good luck, Ensign,” and pushes the controls.

  You feel dizzy again, and cannot see for several seconds. Then you find yourself in the Enterprise Science Laboratory, where you started, the glowing crystal panels all around you. In front of you, you see Mr. Spock—and yourself! You realize that the accident will happen any second now.

  If you call out for Mr. Spock to stop the experiment, go to page 103.

  If you try to keep the crystal panel from breaking, turn to page 109.

  90

  From page 88.

  You take off your belt buckle, and bring it close to one of the metal plates that generate the force field. As you pry the buckle against the plate, there is a bright flash of energy.

  You think that the flash is much too close for comfort. Then you think that this wasn’t a very good idea.

  That is the last thing you know.

  The End

  91

  From page 110.