Dr McCoy shook his head as he recovered consciousness, sat up slowly and looked around.  He appeared to be in the middle of a glass box.  The floor of the box seemed to be covered in a substance which resembled grass, whilst through the glass he could see other similar boxes, some of which also appeared to have humanoid beings in them.  Tentatively he felt the grass-like substance, breaking a blade off in his hand.  It certainly looked and felt like grass, but there was no smell to it whatsoever.

McCoy stood up and walked round the inside of the box, trying to find if there was a way out.  The glass surfaces were solid, which only left the dark cube shape at the back of the box as having a possible exit.  He could see the other occupied glass boxes – he didn’t want to term them cages, although that was what they were starting to feel like – also had similar cubes in them, although of varying sizes. 

McCoy estimated the cube was roughly two-thirds his own height, and comparing the others he could see, each seemed to be of a similar proportion to the being it was presumably designed for.  McCoy didn’t care for the thought they had been custom built, for that would imply the occupants had been specifically chosen.

He tried to remember the events prior to his appearance in the glass box.  He, Kirk and Spock had beamed down onto one of the planets which were regularly used for R and R by Star Fleet.  They had been walking along beside a silver lake when they’d heard a spaceship above.  Kirk had been saying something about the vessel being too close, and that was the last thing McCoy remembered, before waking up where he was now.

He went to investigate the cube, ducking down to enter through the small opening.  As he stepped onto the surface inside it seemed to give slightly.  Instinctively McCoy got down on his hands and knees and crawled carefully onto it, in order to test the sides.  He quickly proved there was no way out of the cube, and he was at a loss to know how he had initially entered the box.  He might have thought the box had been constructed around him, but that seemed unlikely since he had seen some glass boxes which were currently unoccupied.

His attention was drawn by the sound of knocking at the far end of the glass box.  He peered out of the opening, to see two creatures looking in.  They had no definite shape, but seemed to be constantly morphing from one shape to another.  McCoy watched them for a little while, as they knocked a few more times.  He stayed where he was, having no intention of obliging them by answering their knock.

Finally, a tray with what looked like food was pushed through the glass.  Cautiously he crossed the box to collect it.  As soon as he emerged the creatures noticed him and instantly three more joined them.  He picked the tray up, gave them his best ‘Nurse Chapell, I am not to be disturbed on any account’ glare and carried it back to the dark cube.  He entered the cube and positioned himself out of sight of the watchers, before considering the food.

He’d already tried his communicator when he was initially investigating the sides of the glass box, but he decided to try again.  He was surprised he’d been allowed to keep the communicator, since he was convinced he was a captive, but presumably, since it wasn’t working his captors hadn’t been concerned.  McCoy wasn’t sure why the communicator didn’t work, but so far as he could tell the glass box was completely sound proof, for he could hear nothing from outside the box.  It was true he had heard the knocking, but that had been deliberately done on the box and presumably the sound had travelled through the glass wall.

He turned his attention to the food.  It looked and felt like a good meal, but similar to the grass there was no smell coming from the food, and when he bit on a potato there was no taste either.  He thought for a moment, then decided he might as well eat.  Whatever he’d been given was clearly intended to provide sustenance, even if it lacked some of the attributes he would expect from food.

Having eaten, he once again felt the surface at the bottom of the cube.  It seemed like a comfortable mattress, so with nothing better to do than possibly entertain the alien creatures, which was something he had no intention of doing, he lay down and went to sleep.

He woke a while later, and struggled to work out what was different.  Then he realised he could hear voices for the first time since his arrival.  He crawled out of the cube, to find Spock coming through the glass wall which had become permeable.  McCoy hurried across to join him, and the two of them went back through the wall and stood behind Kirk, who was pointing his phaser at some of the creatures.

As they did so, Spock said, “We are both here, Captain.” 

Kirk responded by tapping his communicator and giving the order, “Three to beam up, Scotty!”

As soon as they had left the transporter room, McCoy said, “Do you mind telling me what that was all about?”

Kirk chuckled slightly as he answered.  “Apparently, the Trucglominides are setting up the equivalent of an intergalactic zoo, with specimens from as many different places as they can manage.  One of their collectors took their role a little too seriously and began to steal potential specimens whenever they found someone they thought suitable.  Which apparently included you.”

McCoy spluttered and muttered something rude about the collector’s parentage.

Spock raised an eyebrow.  “You should be flattered, Doctor.  Their brief was to collect the best they could find.”