The sewers were narrow and dark and the ceiling low enough that Spock found himself unable to stand without ducking his head. Their feet sloshed loudly through the thick, foul smelling sludge that filled the narrow space.

Kirk made a face. "Okay, this is disgusting."

"That would be an understatement," Spock concurred. The rotting stench of the sewer made his stomach to turn.

They moved on in the darkness for a while, Kirk holding a light stick over his head as he navigated the winding maze of tunnels. Small, scraggily creatures with spindly legs hissed and scurried across the walls as the dim light touched them.

Soon the narrow tunnel gave way to a small circular space. The roof was still uncomfortably low and there were no markings on the wall indicating any certain direction. Five identical tunnels spread out from the space, each a dark and narrow gash in the crumbling walls.

"Crap," Kirk mumbled. He turned his head as he studied each of the tunnels. His eyes, peering into the deep shadows around him, reflected the deep blue light he held in his hand. His face was wet with perspiration and his hair stuck to his skin. It was incredibly humid in the small tunnels and the oxygen levels were growing thinner. "Spock, you got any ideas?"

Spock analyzed the tunnels, attempting to calculate the best mathematical possibilities for each route, but finding the results of his calculations rather unsatisfactory. "Upon visual inspection it would seem no route provides any significant advantage over the other."

"Perfect." Kirk muttered, wiping his face with the back of his hand. "So just pick one and hope it leads us to the outside?"

"That would seem our only option."

Kirk nodded and headed off into a random tunnel. It was much narrower than the one before. The air began to grow cooler but was no less humid. They soon found themselves having to walk at an angle as they navigated the endless twists and turns, the walls narrowing the further they went.

"So tell me," Kirk began, out of breath. "How exactly did you time that distraction? That was Jago's gang who just barged in there right?"

"You are correct," Spock replied as he followed the captain. "However I had hoped they would have arrived much sooner. Since we had several days in which to establish ourselves and our identities, I was able to convince the gang lord, more commonly known as Jago, that I was working for his operation. He provided the equipment as well as other resources which I utilized to gain entry to this facility and corrupt its security systems. Although I did not anticipate the artifact to have been moved so soon. I believe you already know the rest."

"Yeah well, good work back there." Kirk said.

A few minutes passed and the captain stopped, leaning against the wall and holding the light up to the deep shadows in front of him. "Damnit. I think we're going the wrong way."

They had begun walking sidewise, the tunnel narrowing to the point where their shoulders were too wide for the walls that were gradually closing tightly in on them. Spock had found it most awkward and uncomfortable, being too tall to rise to his full height while likewise carrying the heavy artifact.

"We might need to go back." Kirk said. He was still out of breath as he tried to deal with the quickly thinning oxygen levels.

"That may be the wisest course of action," Spock replied as he started to move back in the direction they had come, but no sooner had the words left his mouth that he began to hear the distant sounds of movement in the shadows behind them. "However, that may be problematic."

Captain Kirk could hear it now too. The sounds of muffled shouts echoing through the tunnels, the splashing of footsteps through the thick watery sludge.

"Move." Kirk instructed. He forced himself to move faster through the narrow tunnels.

The muffled sounds grew louder until Spock was most certain there were individuals within the very passage they occupied. The shadows behind them seemed to grow thicker, tendrils of darkness reaching out, growing closer with each passing second. It was difficult to move faster than an awkward shamble through the now waist deep sludge filling the narrow passage.

"I think the floor's...it's angling downward the...more we move." Kirk noted breathlessly as the sludge slowly began to rise up towards the low ceiling.

"So it would seem," Spock said, his neck beginning to develop a kink as he was forced to continue awkwardly crouching as well as struggle with the heavy artifact he was carrying. The sound of footsteps continued to echo throughout tunnel behind them, now followed by muffled screeches. Kirk cursed as he forced himself to squeeze further through the tunnel.

As the darkness grew, the tunnel turned abruptly around a corner before ending.  The sludge was now up to their necks and the walls were incredibly narrow. The captain ran his hands over the fracked surface of the wall, the blue light in his hand flickering as it began to die. "No, no, no, no..." The captain mumbled. "This isn't it...there has to be something..."

The Captain took a deep breath and his head disappeared beneath the thick muck. A faint blue glow shown beneath the surface for a moment before Spock was left in absolute darkness. He waited for the captain to emerge, but after a long minute, he did not.

Spock moved forward, hearing the splashes of water just around the corner. The shrieks were now replaced with hollow whispers that clawed their way against the walls of the narrow passage. Spock found himself trapped.

The hollow whispers began to crawl through the darkness, coming around the corner towards him. Something cold suddenly wrapped around his ankle and yanked him beneath the dark sludge. Spock was barely able to hold onto the artifact as he found himself pulled further and further beneath the surface. He tried to twist out of the thing's grasp, but found himself unable to do so before he was pulled upward and his head shot above the surface of the watery sludge. He coughed and sputtered, trying to empty his lungs of the muck he had inadvertently breathed in.

"Relax!" Kirk told him, holding out his hands. "It's just me."

Spock looked around the large space. A cold and pale light shone through a grate on the ceiling high above. The floor gradually rose from the shadows against the far wall, the sludge growing shallower as it lead into a narrow walkway.

"I might have found a way out," Kirk said, flashing a  grin as he headed to the walkway.

The Vulcan merely nodded, still working on returning his breathing pattern back to normal. They climbed onto the walkway and headed towards an empty door frame. Kirk took out his communicator and flipped it open.

"Captain Kirk to Enterprise. Any one there?" He said into it. He adjusted the settings. "Can anyone hear me? Anyone at all?" With a frustrated sigh, he flipped it closed and shoved it back into his pocket.

They walked for a while before entering a long tunnel which they followed for several long minutes until they reached a seemingly secluded spot. Rusted iron rungs stuck out of the crumbling concrete wall, leading to a grate on the ceiling. Kirk climbed up the rungs, pushing heavily against the grate until it slid from its place. He peered out of the gap in the ceiling, making certain that the space outside was empty. Satisfied, he turned back to the tunnel and climbed down a few rungs, holding out his hand.

"Here, pass it up to me," He instructed his first officer.

Spock lifted the box upward and handed it to the captain.

"Holy..." The captain struggled, turning red and barely able to hold the artifact against his chest. "This is really freakin' heavy." He muttered as he headed slowly back up through the grate. With a great deal of effort, he was able to push the artifact through the hole and onto the ground outside. He crawled out of the sewer after it, leaning down and helping Spock up behind him.

They were in a quiet alleyway. Garbage and pieces of twisted and broken equipment lay discarded against the walls. Kirk scanned the area as Spock set the grate back over the hole.

"I think we've gone far enough," Kirk said a moment too early.

A dark figure entered the alleyway, the barrel of a weapon staring the two down. "Hands up, away from your weapons," The voice ordered. The woman from the warehouse stepped forward. Blood was caked down the side of her head and her blue skin was dirty and covered in filth. "You thought you could get away with my property?" She bared her fangs.

"Look, we'll give you what you want, just put the weapon down," Kirk said calmly, slowly taking a step forward.

The woman turned to Kirk, snarling as her finger tensed on the trigger. "I said put your hands up!" Kirk froze in his tracks. Spock, who was still leaning over the grate, began to slowly rise to his feet. "Do it! Now!" She shrieked.

"You first," A familiar, accented voice said behind her.

The woman felt the end of a phaser pressed against her back.

"Put the weapon down, please." Chekov warned.

The woman dropped the weapon. Chekov was about to say something else when the woman spun around and knocked the phaser from his hands. She turned and kicked Kirk in the chest and leaned over to pick up her weapon when she felt an icy grip on the back of her neck and then nothing.

Spock caught her body before it hit the ground, dragging her to the back of the alleyway and propping her up against the wall.

Kirk crossed to Chekov and handed him his phaser. "Good work, Mr. Chekov." Kirk told him. He patted the young man on the back.

"Have you got the artifact?" Chekov inquired, rubbing at his now bruised hand.

Spock picked up the artifact and walked over to the two. "It is now safely in our possession."

"Here, I can help," Chekov said, reaching over to grab it.

Spock looked questioningly at the captain, who just shrugged. The Vulcan handed the artifact over to Chekov, who instantly struggled with the weight and began to mumble something in Russian.

"If you desire I can continue to carry it to the ship," Spock offered.

Chekov shook his head. "No. It is not that heavy," He said with a forced smile.

Kirk looked at the empty street around them. He took out his communicator. "Captain Kirk to Enterprise. Can anyone hear me?"

There was a slight crackle from interference, but soon Uhura's voice came through the communicator. "Enterprise to Captain Kirk. We read you loud and clear."

"Tell transporter room to beam up landing party. We're ready to get off this rock."

"Yes sir," Uhura said, the smile evident in her voice.

Shimmering ribbons of gold surrounded the landing party, lighting up the dark alley for a brief moment before the three figures standing there vanished.

Across the street, a hooded figured smiled, watching the crew of the Enterprise transport to the ship. A renewed sense of purpose in their stride, the figure turned and began to make its way back down the street.