h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

First thing I think of is that the Nightrunners can't be properly dog like and have sharp claws. Dogs, wolves and the like all have blunt claws as they can't retract them so they blunt through all the running. You'll have to make them have retractable claws, which is one of the main features of cats. (I do a reasonable amount of zoology on my course ).

As far as escape is concerned, the most obvious thing would be perhaps to do with smell. If the NRs are dog like then they rely a lot on smell and don't have the eyesight to hunt in the dark. I suppose Spock could use a strong smell to confuse them. What sort of environment are they in? That would obviously effect how they would escape.

As a matter of fact, NRs do have retractable claws, and a fairly messed-up skeleton besides. I could explain. It'd take a bit, though. The NRs have keen senses, including 20/20 vision, which is actually just average for a human. They also have a human's night vision. And now I come to the difficult question; what sort of environment are our two heroes stuck in? That would depend entirely on what sort of environments Aiyakanata, the NRs' planet has. I'll just have to make it up here:

Mostly gently hilly plains

Some areas with lots of rocks and stuff

Spock and McCoy happen to be in a rocky area.

This means that they would have the maneuverability advantage, if both of them were fully mobile, because NRs would have to make lots of small turns, and while they can do this to an extent, they would get tired of it and start jumping over boulders, showing off, and get injured.

Unfortunately, McCoy isn't fully mobile, so they can't keep up the necessary pace for the necessary time, or even get to the necessary pace. Spock could, but NRs are a bit vengeful, and he wouldn't leave his friend in that kind of danger, at least not in my story.

Sorry about the length. Does thatgive you any sort of ideas? As to the strong smells thing, I think they already smell very odd to the NRs.

I mean for smells they could cover themselves in a stron scent and everything around them over a wide area so they could hide during the day or something. Or they could use a strong smell to overcome the NR's sense of smell.

Could Spock tie McCoy to his back? That would make climbing easier.

Um, probably not. How? Besides, they wouldn't need to climb, because the boulders aren't climbable, just jump-on-able, and the cave is set in a sheer cliff face. Sheer as in 'unclimbable'.

As to the scent thing, how? I need the manner of escape to be logical and possible. If it seems like I'm shooting down your ideas just to shoot them down, I'm not. I'm trying to eliminate all unworkable ideas so the story will be good. Nothing against you. You're coming up with more creative ideas than my friends.

Not if you have a rope, and to scramble on boulders it helps if you have your hands.

It would just stop the nightrunners from tracking them by smell. With a distraction to divert their attention for a while it might give them a big enough head start to get some distance. Put down my ideas all you want, their only the first things that come into my head after all

The sides of the boulders have been worn very smooth by millennia of decadial floods. (Once a decade. Don't worry. They won't get caught in one.) The cliff is even unclimbable by NR daredevils, and NRs are about 12(?) feet long stretched out to full length. (So very, very few handholds, you see.)

So Spock and McCoy have to get up this cliff or is there another way? Where are they escaping too as well?

No, they can't go up the cliff. They have to get somewhere the Enterprise's sensors can detect them, because the thick rock walls of the cave 'block' them, and they have no phasers, communicators, or tricorders. Of course, the Enterprise actually finding them, even constantly scanning while in orbit, will take a while, because Spock can't help the Enterprise find himself... Although, he once did a fantastic job finding Kirk, even though the sensors couldn't find him. The Nightrunners, however, cannot be detected by the sensors, and so that makes their job easier.

I don't know much about Star Treck but don't the sensors just pick up on life signs? Wouldn't that make no spotting the Nightrunners a little tricky?

So they have to escape from the cave in the opposite direction from the cliff?

Well, yes, the sensors pick up on life signs, but there's a little thing I forgot to explain, and that's that they're in an alternate universe (the Enterprise and everyone who's supposed to be on it), and that universe has a different set of biological laws, as it were, so NRs are sufficiently different to not show up. It's happened before, except it was a being from a different universe (I'm assuming). Actually, what Spock and McCoy (who I will refer to as Len from now on, because it's easier to type, and is a legitimate nickname for him anyway, because his first name is Leonard) have to do is get out of the rocky place to one of the (rarer) forests, where they can hide, then find a clearing and wait to be beamed up or whatever. Yeah, I just made that up, but it makes my job a little easier.

And you said the Nightrunners are sentient I think? Do they have any cultural aspects that could be used?

Yes, Nightrunners are sentient. As to the cultural aspects, there is one thing, though not really cultural... I'm assuming you know what slash is, considering you said you'd read some of diagonalist's work. Well, this story is slash (S/MC, of course), and the Nightrunner High Commander happens to understand about the kind of stuff that goes on in slash stories (in other words, he's gay), so might be a bit sympathetic.

Do the other Nightrunner's know that he's gay? (Oh dear, I just keep asking questions )

Questions are a /good/ thing, my dear! I'm not sure how many Nightrunners besides the First Commander (rank under HC) Sakan, who also happens to be his lover, know Erek (the HC) is gay. Probably lots of them have their own little insidious theories, but I don't think any of them /know/. Fortunately for this plot device, the cave Spock and Len are imprisoned in is very near the capital city, and the HC has a habit of monitoring prisoners, at least those on his side of the planet (hard to explain).

Would knowing that the HC is gay have any significance?

Significance to the story? Yes. Significance to the other NRs? Well, it depends. The significance to the story is thus: The HC, being happily in a relationship, but not before about 10 lonely years with no one who understood, has a tendency to sympathize with anyone in a similar emotional plight; in this case, Spock and Len. So, he might go a little easier on them, maybe even let them escape so as not to mess up their fragile bond. Yes, I'm a hopeless romantic.

So he might be able to cause a distraction that would give Spock and Len a chance to escape?

Well, yes, he could. On the other hand, he could try to contact the Enterprise, correctly deducing that they come from there, because it wasn't there two weeks ago, and neither were they.

Would that work with the whole alternative universe thing?

Yes, in fact, it does. I could explain, if you want to know.