Part
Eleven
The irony was not lost on
Ezra Standish as he stared at the formation before himself and Julia Pemberton.
He prodded it with his finger as he stood at its gargantuan base, as if only
touch would make what he was seeing before him real. There was a moment after
its surprise appearance when both he and Julia were unable to believe what they
were standing before was at all real and not just another illusionary effect of
this strange planetoid. However, as Ezra felt the coarse strength of stone
beneath his fingertip, there could be no doubt that the formation, though
impossible in every way, was indeed steeped in enough reality to be a very
large obstacle.
The length of the formation
made it impossible for them to go around it and the despite the fact that he
loathed mountain climbing in any shape of form, the craggy surface provided
just enough hand holds and footholds in the notches of rock for it to be climbable.
While Ezra did not relish making the attempt, he soon realized that they had no
choice but try if they were going to reach the rest of the Away Team and reveal
what they had discovered here.
"Though I am utterly
loathed to say this," Ezra remarked, still staring at the mountain,
watching its jagged peak stab at the dark velvet sky. "I believe our only
course is to climb this monument. It would simply take too much time to
circumnavigate it. "
"Oh I was afraid you
were going to say that." Julia let out a deep sigh, about as impressed at
the prospect as he was. Apart of her was still somewhat stunned by the
situation they now found themselves in. The bizarre was a fact of life in
Starfleet but she had never at any point, expected to see a mountain simply uproot
itself from the earthen depths to present itself before them in a matter of
seconds.
"Believe me, I am no more looking forward to this then you are." Ezra
frowned, sharing her sentiments exactly. Was it only a few days ago, he was
wondering how anyone would put themselves though the torture of mountain
climbing simply for the recreation enjoyment of it all? No doubt the Captain
and Mr. Tanner alike were going to find this a source of great amusement, if he
ever returned to the Maverick to tell them.
"However, it appears
that unless we get back to warn the others what we have found here, I fear that
the same fate will befall the Maverick." He concluded.
"I hear you." She
nodded, arguing no more on that point upon that sober reminder. "However,
we can’t climb these things in these suits. I can barely walk upright on these
things let alone try to go hiking." She pointed out. It was troublesome
enough attempting to walk with the enviro-suits without attempting the
strenuous and somewhat dangerous effort of climbing the formation as well.
"I agree." Ezra
nodded in agreement with her about the suits. While he disliked taking the risk
of discarding them, she was right about their success in scaling the mountain
wearing them. The manual dexterity required for such an undertaking would be
extreme enough without them attempting to do so wearing the suits that could
very well cost them their lives with one slipped footing. "I pray that
Doctor Jackson was exaggerating about contagion," he remarked as he
started to undo the fastenings holding his helmet to the rest of his suit.
"I think contagion is
the least of our problems," Julia retorted as she began doing the same,
feeling some measure of consolation in being able to be rid of these cumbersome
suits. "Notice that everything seemed to go haywire after we saw those
ship? First the fissures and then the sudden appearance of this thing?"
"I missed nothing
dear." Ezra replied, painfully aware of that fact himself. He was
convinced now that what they were dealing with was an entity that was able to
manipulate its environment that had somehow taken refuge on this planetoid and
conformed it to its own ends, an entity that was somehow drawing ships here and
marooning them on its surface. The question that concerned Ezra most of all
following what they had seen, was not the crashed ships but rather their crew.
If they had survived as the crew of Leonov had survived, where were they now?
"I have been keeping a
vigil on everything since we began our orbit of this planetoid." He added
in response to her remark.
"What do you think
happened to all those ship?" Julia asked as she continued the process of
escaping the suit. "From the brief glimpse I managed to get of them, I
think they crash landed on the surface or made a very rough landing." The
image of that ship graveyard had left an indelible mark upon her and suddenly,
a chill had formed in her bones that would not dissipate, not until they and
the Maverick were away from this place.
"I would not be
surprised if we were to learn that a little of both took place." Ezra
ventured a guess, taking a deep breath of the planetoid’s atmosphere and
finding it no different than breathing the air inside his suit. Just as well,
on top of having to climb the mountain, he did not want to worry about choking
to death either. "I believe that if we do not return to the Maverick, we
will be acquiring a first hand experience of what takes place each time a ship
comes into this locality."
"Is that what happened
to the Leonov you think?" Julia asked as tossed the last of the envirosuit
away in a heap.
"More than
likely." He answered as he stepped closer to the face of the mountain and
let his eyes skim its base in order to ascertain which would be the best way to
begin their ascent. The base was smooth but further along the mountain, the
slope was gradual enough for a human to scale it.
"Then why would
Kelisan lie to like that?" She replied sidling up next to him as he
surveyed the terrain before them and began heading to the most likely place to
begin their climb. "You would think that he’d want to get off this rock,
not fight us tooth and nail the way they have been since we got here."
"I have something of
an idea even though I despise even considering it. However, there seems to be
no other logical explanation." Ezra frowned inwardly before he turned
around and met her gaze.
"And that is?"
She looked at him, waiting in anticipation of what he had come up with in
regards to the puzzling events they had witnessed today. Ezra had one of the
most logical mind she knew and any hypothesis he reached would be sound and
worth betting on. With a smile, she thought to herself that was probably the
highest compliment she could pay the man and decided to keep it to herself,
lest it went straight to his head.
He was cocky enough as it
was.
"Perhaps he and Leonov
are the bait." He revealed finally. "If you consider it, what perfect
way is there than to lure another ship to this planetoid under the ruse of a
distress beacon?. Look at how quickly we answered the call."
"That’s true,"
Julia admitted begrudgingly because he was right. The Maverick and her crew had
been so eager to come to the rescue and so elated at the notion of finding
survivors on the planetoid that no one had ever stop to consider that the Leonov’s
crew might not be what they seemed. "We found exactly what we wanted to
find, survivors who had managed to endure despite the impossibility of it and
accomplishing it with great dignity."
"Precisely." He
replied.
"But Ezra," she
spoke a moment later, having considered the possibility of Kelisan’s
complicity. "Some of those ships have been there a long time, far longer
than the Leonov has been on this planetoid. He couldn’t have lured all
those ships down."
"No," the
security chief had to concede that point. "However, I do believe there is
something about the Leonov’s crew that is not quite as it seems. They seem
particularly adverse to allowing a medical scan and the only explanation I can
perceive for such vehemence to our requests is that an examination by Doctor
Jackson may uncover something we are not mean to know."
"I did notice
that," Julia agreed. "And they’re not very smart either, at least not
what I would expect from a veteran group of spacers. They did not even know how
to run simple diagnostics on their main computer core, I mean I know engineers
are supposed to take care of things on a ship but you think Kelisan would be
more selective."
"I believe there is
quite a bit about Mr. Kelisan that remains a mystery." Ezra remarked,
finding the place to begin their climb before turning to Julia. "However,
it is a question left for another time. We have larger concerns ahead of
us." He knotted his hands together in order to give her a leg up.
"Was that a
joke?" Julia gave him a look.
"Absolutely not."
He replied with a straight face and glance upward. "Do you think you are
able to make it to that slope there?" He gestured to narrow ledge of rock
that would allow them to skim against the wall to a slope further up the hill
that would allow them to continue their crossing with a little more ease.
"I should be able
to." Julia nodded and secured her foot in his palms as she looked at the
place he wanted her to reaching before giving him a little smile "But I’m
telling you, your choice of how we spend our dates has got to
improve."
************
"But Captain!"
"Whining is not going
change things Commander." Chris Larabee looked at Alexandra Styles with a
stern, yet annoyingly patient eye as she tried once again to convince him that
sending her to the planetoid was the correct course of action. Unfortunately,
it was perception Chris did not share despite the revelation she had made
regarding the other planets in the system. If anything, Alex’s discovery had proved
more instrumental in convincing him that it was unwise to risk any more of his
crew by attempting an ill fated rescue mission when they had no idea still,
what they were facing.
"But Captain,"
Alex continued to persist and Chris has learnt by now it was one of the aspects
of her personality that made her such a good officer as well as an unmitigated
pain in the ass sometimes. "If we don’t get them out of there and soon.
Whatever the hell it is that’s sucking the life out of all life forms in this
system is going to reach them." She exclaimed exasperated.
"Don’t you think I know that Commander?" He met her gaze sharply.
"I am not happy leaving my oldest friend down there but I don’t have a
choice. Somehow, the Leonov managed to survive for six months without
this...whatever it is killing them, I have to assume that the same goes for the
Away Team."
Alex frowned, hating the
situation as it stood because she knew he was right. They had a piece of the
puzzle but not a complete picture and there was still no guarantee that Alex
would not become similarly mired in the same trouble that now kept Buck
Wilmington and the rest of the Away Team from returning to the Maverick.
"I’m sorry Sir,"
she apologized, aware that her stubbornness could be considered insubordination
by a less understanding commander.
Chris Larabee was a good
captain because he allowed his crew to voice their opinions and not brow beat
them with notions of propriety when such opinions needed to be spoken, no
matter how unpleasant it may be to him personally. "The more I learn about
what’s happening in this system, the more I think that I need to be there to
see for myself why that planetoid is doing what it does. By every science we
know, that planetoid should not exist the way it has. It should not have
atmosphere and it should have been pulled in by the gravitational field of the
planet."
"Understood,"
Chris replied, accepting her apology and making everyone on the bridge feel
generally better now that the tension had passed. While they were still worried
about their fellow crewmen, at least the command staff was keeping a cool head.
"But we are not leaving our people behind." He said not only to Alex
but also to everyone else present.
"Chris," Vin
asked now that things had settled between the captain and the science officer.
As much as Vin sometimes wanted to intercede on Alex’s behalf, he had told
himself that if he was to maintain a relationship with both, then he would have
to know when to pull back and the previous argument between the duo had
certainly qualified as one of those times. "If we can’t go down there and
we ain’t leaving them on the planetoid, what do we do?" He asked.
Chris let out a deep sigh
and shook his head. "I don’t know yet." He answered truthfully,
seeing no reason to lie. "It may be that we simply need to get more
specialized scanning equipment as Alex suggests."
Chris was about to answer when Doctor Nathan Jackson made his arrival on the
bridge Chris swiveled in his command chair to face Nathan who wore an
expression of concern on his features. Although it was not required for him to
be on the bridge, Chris knew Nathan sometimes visited just for the conversation
or in this case to check on their progress at retrieving the Away Team from the
planetoid. Nathan was never very good seating in
"Do something for your
Nathan?" Chris asked even though he knew why Nathan was present.
"Just wondering how it
was going." Nathan replied as he left the turbo lift and stepped further
into the bridge. "Have we heard anything yet?"
"Not a word."
Mary answered glumly before anyone else could.
"So what are we going
to do?" Nathan asked, looking at Chris. The captain was starting to feel
more than just a little persecuted and wished he had an answer for them but
could only concede that he was just as helpless as the rest of the crew in
effecting a suitable rescue of the Away Team. "We can’t just leave them
down there." The doctor declared passionately and Chris sighed wondering
if the man knew just how many times that question had been put to him already.
"We’re doing
everything that we can." Chris replied. "But at the moment, we don’t
have much to go on. The only way for us to get visual confirmation of anything
is to go down there and I’m not prepared to risk any more people by letting
them get into the same difficulty Buck and the others are in."
"I can understand
that," Nathan nodded, even though he did not like it. As a doctor he knew
that it was necessary to amputate to protect the whole body and while he was
certain Chris’ present stance meant nothing that extreme for the Away Team,
Nathan could appreciate the reasoning behind his actions. He wandered next to
Alexandra Styles, feeling just as helpless as she probably did when suddenly he
noticed what was on her console of her workstation.
"Any reason why you’re
studying ECG waves Commander?" He asked somewhat confused why Alex would
be expending her time indulging in such things when more important matters
required her attention.
Alex turned to him sharply.
"What?" She asked.
"You’re studying ECG
readings," he repeated himself, pointing to the strange zigzagging of
lines on the screen of her workstation.
Alex looked at him blankly
and it was at this point that Nathan realized that he had the undivided
attention of everyone on the bridge. They were staring at him with their eyes
wide and waiting for him to explain himself. "What? Why are you looking at
me? My fly undone again?" He attempted to joke but no one laughed. "
"Nathan," Alex
asked slowly, not daring to breathe when she spoke, ignoring his less than
stellar turn at comedy. "To me, that is the radiating signature of energy
coming from that planetoid. What do you call it?"
"An electrocardiogram
reading." Nathan retorted as if it ought to be plain to everyone and then
decided he could not blame them of course, ECG’s had not been used in almost
two hundred years old and only a physician would recognize them for what they
were. "It was used in the late 20th until end of the 21st
century to detect heart defects. The method was abandoned with the invention of
multi-phasic sensors in medical technology."
"Oh my god...."
Alex started to realize.
"Jesus Christ,"
Chris looked at her. "It’s not a planetoid or an asteroid." He
exclaimed as she nodded slowly. "It’s goddamn life form!"
"How is that
possible?" Mary asked horrified. "How could that planetoid be alive?"
"What we see is a
planetoid." Alex started to explain, everything becoming apparent with
that one discovery. "We’ve been so involved with the idea of that
being a spacial body, we never cross referenced it with a medical
database."
"That’s why we can’t
figure out how it can hold an atmosphere and maintain its orbit," Vin
added, catching on just as quickly. "It’s probably something that was born
in space."
"Are you saying that
Buck and the Away Team are on a space alien the size of a small moon?"
Nathan looked at the faces around him and saw the answer in their eyes.
"Its not
impossible," Chris said quickly. "James Kirk’s
"That would explain
why the vegetation of all the planets is still thriving." Mary replied,
remembering what Alex had told her earlier. "It killed all the animal life
on one planet and then simply moved on until it exhausted the supply throughout
the entire system."
"Captain," Alex
had been busily pondering the issue ever since they made this shattering
discovery and her mind had more theories to offer in the face of what they now
knew. "I think you are right about this creature needing life force but I
also believe this one is capable of manipulating matter into whatever shape it
desires. This too we have encountered before. When we established treaties at
Farpoint, it was reported that a creature that could alter its shape to look
like a ship was sighted at the planet. It was capable of generating enough
energy to simulate phaser blasts."
"And speaking of
phasers," Vin added, remembering what he had read about Ezra’s report when
the security chief had returned to the Maverick after his first encounter with
the Leonov and the planetoid. "Ezra mentioned something about testing his
phaser to make sure they weren’t affected by the dampening field by firing at
the ground. The planetoid destabilized just for a moment."
"Like it was
hurt." Nathan guessed accurately.
"Which means we
can hurt it." Chris said feeling extremely pleased that after long last,
they had a working theory. "That’s why it looks like a planetoid."
Chris replied in agreement. "It probably allowed the Leonov to land on it
and maintained the illusion in order to draw others to it."
"As bait." Alex
agreed grimly. "A distress beacon would be a good way to ensure that
happening."
"This would all have
to hinge on the Leonov cooperating with it," Mary spoke up because this
was the part she did not understand. "I mean what could this thing
possibly offer Kelisan and his people to keep them from telling us the truth
and blasting out of there?"
"I don’t know,"
Chris answered. "But now that we know what we’re up against, Nathan, Alex,
I want you both to work together to find a way to break through the dampening
field. We need to pinpoint the exact location of the Away Team in order to beam
them to ship before I authorize phaser bombardment."
"Captain." Mary
looked at him in shock. "That is a life form out there. It may simply be
feeding like any creature might do so in its survival. I agree we should do
whatever we can to get out people back but is it really necessary to start
shooting at it?"
"Mary," Chris met
her gaze in a gentle tone, understanding what she was saying and in truth, he
did not wish to take that course of action unless given no other choice.
"I have to do what is best for my crew and if a light phaser spread will
convince it to let our people go, I have to take that chance. The alternative
is to let everybody still on that thing, die."
Part
Twelve
This will not do.
Ezra Standish thought
several times as he grabbed another handhold and pulled himself up against the
face of the mountain they were attempting to scale. He could feel the hard,
irregular surface of rock scrapping at his skin and felt a singularly chagrined
that he had been forced to indulge in this labor. They had been at it for
several hours now, climbing the walls of the formation like arachnids without
the benefits of its skill. Their progress had been slow but they had made it to
the slope as intended and then continued on foot for some time before they
reached another steep obstruction that needed to be climbed in order to pass.
The formation was not very
high, little more than 1500 metres but the trek across it was not easy when
they were faced with high walls that were passably only by climbing. Although
both of them were physically fit enough for the task, neither had much
experience in mountain climbing. Added to that concern of course was the fact
that this mountain had suddenly appeared out of thin air and might possibly
vanish into the same, with them on it. Ezra did not like dealing with unknowns,
except when he was playing cards and even then, he had some measure of control
over the situation.
It would not be so bad of
course if his partner in misery was anyone but the titian haired beauty who ran
supreme in Engineering. Ezra’s feelings for Julia Pemberton were deep and he
knew that when emotions filtered into rational thought, a man was compromised
the way he was now. He did not want his strong affections for the woman to
cloud his judgment on what was the correct course of action. In truth, he
wanted to spare her the hell of trying to cross this great obstacle but
Security Chief Standish knew that there was no other way. They had to get back
to Buck and the others before it was too late.
Julia had stopped moving
and immediately brought Ezra’s thoughts to a halt.
"Is something the
matter?" he asked as he stopped climbing, his body pressed hard against
the surface of the rock, with only a slim protrusion of stone to keep him from
plunging down.
"No," Julia
replied, breathing hard as she felt the burning pain on her palms as she kept
her tight grip on the notch in the wall that was just large enough for her to
grasp. "I’m just taking a breather."
She looked up, squinting
even though there was no sun to be felt on this asteroid to warrant it but
doing so mostly out of some strange instinct on her body’s part. They were
almost to the top and she hoped that the journey down would not be as laborious
as the effort so far. She swallowed thickly, yearning for a drink of water
desperately but the envirosuits had not come with such provisions and even if
they did, the suits were presently at the foot of the mountain, where they had
abandoned it to begin this journey. In any case to satiate her thirst even if
she did miraculously possess a canister of water would require her using her
hands and the moment she let go, she would fall.
"We are almost to the
top." Ezra declared, trying to sound encouraging even though he was just
as exhausted and tired as she was. He could see the sweat forming on her face
and the dampness on her grey singlet. She had discarded the turtleneck earlier
and her Starfleet tunic was tied around her waist. He himself had done away
with his own tunic but kept the turtleneck on.
"I know," she
nodded, looking down at him with a little smile. "I’m just a little winded
that’s all."
"Who is not?"
Ezra sighed, letting his gaze sweep over the terrain before them. As he looked
on the plains where they had discovered the alien ship graveyard, he wondered
how else was this entity able to control their perception and knew that to
defeat the life form, they had to find it. He wondered if Buck and the others
had suddenly noticed a mountain in the horizon where there had been none
before. Probably not, Ezra realized or else Buck would be here already to
investigate.
"Okay," she said
after a moment and felt ready to continue. "I’m good to get going."
With that, she pulled
herself upwards once more, her fingers searching for yet another handhold and
finding one that seemed even narrower than the others but had little choice but
to try. She ignored the abrasive pain as she dragged herself over the rough
stone, grunting as she felt her muscles ache and more sweat forming on her
brow. The peak of the mountain seemed a thousand miles away even though in
truth, she knew they would be upon it in less than an hour. It was the fact
that some of the slopes were almost at 90 degrees angles that made it so
arduous.
"I gotta say one thing
for you Ezra," Julia spoke with a strained voice, trying to take her mind
off the last leg of their journey with a little discussion. "You sure know
how to show a lady a good time."
She did not even have to see his face to know that he was frowning.
"Are you ever
going to let me forget our unfortunate first date?" Ezra asked with a
slight groan that was engendered by more than just the strenuous activity they
were indulging at the moment.
"Let me think,"
she paused a moment, pretending to consider her answer before replying less
than a second later. "No."
"Lieutenant
Pemberton," he sighed as he grabbed the jutting rock where her foot had
been a second ago. "Why do I possess this sneaking suspicion that you are
thorough enjoying my discomfiture?"
"Because I am."
She looked down long enough to flash him a dazzling smile. "Can I ask you
something," she responded when she turned her attention to what she was
doing. "What on earth made you think that I would enjoy a place like
that?"
"Well, I had brought
that particular program with me when I had arrived on the Maverick. I won it
from a Rigellian dealer who promised me that it was an authentic representation
of a luxury resort in Earth’s 20th century. With a name like
Caesar’s Palace, one assumed the program would mean a place of Roman style
opulence, not a garish caricature of the same with live animals in
attendance."
"Good call," she
teased and heaved herself upwards again, feeling her exhilaration rising as she
saw the jagged edge which signaled the end of their long climb. "Next
time, if you don’t mind, I’ll pick the place."
"Next time?" Ezra
looked up sharply, even though she was not facing him.
"Of course,"
Julia answered a little distractedly, concentrating her attention on reaching
the top with renewed vigor. None of them were looking down now, not when they
were so close to their goal. "I had always planned to go with you on a second
date Commander." There was just enough of a lilt in her voice for him to
be aware that she was flirting with him.
"Why I am
honored." Ezra said with a hint of sarcasm. "So everything until this
point was just an exercise in my torture?"
"Oh no," Julia
gazed down and gave him a sweet smile. "Everything until now has just been
mental punishment, torture comes later."
"And what do you have
in mind?" He asked, increasing his pace to keep up with her. The prospect
of reaching the end of their lengthy climb had also instilled in him a desire
to move faster.
Julia stared upwards again and said with a little smile that he could not see.
"Now that would be telling wouldn’t it? Trust me, you’ll be
surprised."
*********
"What do you mean you
can’t find it?" Commander Buck Wilmington demanded, following the report
by the spokesman for the engineering crew he had sent back to the Maverick.
"I don’t know
Sir," the lieutenant shifted nervously in his stance, unable to articulate
the words that would make what he had said sound remotely understandable.
"We headed in the direction of the runabouts and thought we were going the
right way but we weren’t."
"How so?" Buck
looked at him quizzically, starting to realize that the man was genuinely
perplexed like the rest of them.
"Well it looked as if
we were going the right way but when we got to where the runabouts should have
been, it appeared as if we had gone somewhere else because the terrain looked
different. We spread out and continued searching, just in case it was close by
but it was not."
"Yet you managed to
find your back." Buck observed quietly, suddenly aware that the fault did
not lie with his people or any sense of lost direction. Is this what had
happened to Ezra and Julia? They were wandering out there somewhere, unable to
return to the Leonov or the runabouts because they had lost their way as well?
"Yes Sir," the
lieutenant nodded. "As soon as we turned back, everything became familiar
again."
Buck nodded; understanding
now better than he ever did before. He looked at the group and then asked
another question. "Is Ensign Starke with you?"
"No," the younger
man shook his head. "Last we saw of Antonia, she was with the other
team."
Buck took a deep breath and
turned on his heels. Kelisan and his people were starting back towards the
ship. Obviously, nothing that had transpired was of any surprise to the man and
Buck’s suspicion that Kelisan knew more than he was telling was more or less
confirmed. Striding across the gravel ground, drawing JD behind him who until
this point had been asking around to see if anyone knew the whereabouts of
Antonia Starke, Buck grabbed Kelisan by the shoulder and spun the Tellerite
around to face him.
"All right, you
win." Buck said harshly, his voice a loud hiss as he spoke. "We aren’t
going anywhere. You want to tell me what’s going on here?"
"Going on?"
Kelisan looked at the Starfleet officer with an expression of smug
satisfaction. "Nothing is going on. Your terrible sense of navigation has
nothing to do with us."
"Nothing to do with
you?" Buck returned smoothly but the contempt in his voice was clear.
"You have been playing me and my crew for fools ever since we arrived
here. Now my people are starting to go missing so I’m through being nice."
Without taking his eyes off Kelisan, Buck called out. "Lieutenant
Katovit!"
The assistant security chief immediately stepped forward. Like the rest of
security, the lieutenant had been searching the plains for Ezra Standish and
Julia Pemberton without much success and had returned to the rendezvous point a
short time ago. "Yes Sir?"
"I want you to hold
Mr. Kelisan and his crew here." Buck ordered firmly, keeping his eyes
fixed on Kelisan and his people. "If they attempt to leave this place,
shoot them."
"Yes Sir," the
Lieutenant answered with an expression on his face that revealed he held no
mixed feelings about that order. Ezra Standish had earned his loyalty as his
superior officer and if this Tellerite had anything to do with the man’s
disappearance, his security team would take great exception to that.
"We won’t go any
here," Kelisan said with a smile, not all perturbed by Buck’s extreme
response to the threat the Starfleet officer perceived them to be. "We
shall remain here as you will remain here."
The confidence in which he
said that did more to unnerve Buck than anything else that had happened so far.
What secret knowledge did he have that made him so sure of that fact? Buck did
not intend to find out.
"Everyone else, stay
here." He shouted the order to the rest of the Maverick’s crew lingering
out in the open. To tell the honest truth, Buck was happier that they were not
in the Leonov since he suspected there was something about the ship that was
not all it seemed. However, as he was soon starting to learn, this entire place
had the consistency of smoke.
"Come on JD,"
Buck ordered as he strode purposefully towards the Leonov.
"Where are we going
Buck?" The young ensign asked, starting to get unnerved by everything that
was taking place.
"We’re going to the Leonov,"
he answered firmly, even though it was fairly obvious that it was the only
place they could go since the runabouts had either disappeared or their
minds were being tampered with to keep them from reaching the small ships.
"We’re going to tear
the place apart until we find Ensign Starke."
********
It did not take them long
to reach the Leonov and somehow Buck was not surprised that they had managed to
find the ship while the runabouts remained lost to them. Whatever was taking
place on this planetoid, it seemed to find its focus around this ship and its
crew. Buck had suspected that there was something odd from the day he had
arrived but he had given the Leonov and its crew the benefit of the doubt
because the Starfleet officers had wanted so much to find survivors in their
rescue operation. Perhaps the desire for hope had blinded them from the truth.
He knew he was certainly guilty of that fact.
They entered the empty
corridors of the Leonov and suddenly, alone inside the ship with its grimy walls
and dark lighting, the place did not look like a hallowed place of a refuge but
rather sinister and eerie. Buck noticed that JD was keeping his hand close to
his phaser, prepared to shoot at the first thing that made the wrong move. He
could see the fear in the youth’s eyes despite JD’s best efforts to contain it
within himself.
"You okay?" Buck
asked as they proceeded down the narrow corridor, heading towards the
engineering deck.
"Yeah," JD
nodded. "I think so." He answered after a moment, meeting his
commanding officer’s gaze.
"Good," Buck
offered him a little smile, knowing that this was a lot to take when one had no
experience under one’s belt to handle the bizarre. It took officers years to
fully appreciate that the universe was a place of terror as well as wonder.
"Just keep your eyes open and notice everything."
"Why are they lying to
us Buck?" JD asked as they reached the metal stairs that led into the
depths of the ship. "We’re here to help them and they treating us like the
enemy."
Buck could not answer that
question well enough to give JD a satisfactory response. The kid was looking to
him because he was the veteran of the two and yet in all his experience, Buck
had never come across the peculiarities that had been taking place on this asteroid
since they had arrived here.
"I don’t know
JD," he confessed. "They want to stay here real bad and I’m starting
to think it’s not just because of the ship. The ship is the excuse. There’s
something more at work here."
"Something they’d be
willing to kill for?" JD spoke up, wondering if such a fate had befallen
Ezra, Julia and now Antonia too.
"Nothing would
surprise me right about now." Buck retorted. "I have a feeling if we
could get a damn tricorder to work, we’d have an answer in a minute."
JD seemed to agree. It
seemed terribly convenient that none of their scanning equipment seemed to work
as if that was part of the effort to keep the secret, just like their adamant
refusal to go to the Maverick for a medical diagnostic. By now, there could be
no denying the complicity of the Leonov’s crew in what was taking place on this
planetoid. The question now seemed to be however, how deeply were they
involved?
They continued down the
metal stairs, making quiet steps as they descended into the engineering deck
when suddenly, what appeared like an animal growling rumbled through the hall
and bathed them in its booming sound. For a moment, both men looked at each
other, certain of that they had heard but not quite able to believe it either.
They held position for a moment, waiting to see if it would repeat itself.
Seconds stretched into minutes and then it was heard again, only this time, it
was followed by a guttural scream that ended as abruptly as it had begun.
"Move!" Buck
ordered just before he started racing down the steps. JD followed him closely,
their footsteps echoing loudly throughout the ship as their progress was
charted by the clanging sound of their feet against the metal deck. Buck jumped
the last few steps and landed heavily on the metal surface, his phaser already
drawn as they entered the engineering deck. Like the rest of the ship it was
dimly lit and full of shadows that only heightened his awareness that the
presence of danger was saturating the air.
When he came to a stop,
Buck held his position for a brief moment, taking the time to listen carefully
to the sounds that were being generated throughout the deck or rather were not.
He was certain of what he had heard, no matter how improbable and he slowly
took a step forward, careful that his movements remained stealthy. JD did the
same. The younger man followed his lead, his phaser drawn as well but Buck
could see the beads of sweat running down his skin.
They penetrated deeper into the engineering deck, hearing that same growl after
a few seconds. It was not just a growl but something that made his skin crawl
upon hearing it. It sounded like guzzling and tearing of something wet. The
possibilities began to loom ominously in his mind at what it could be the
nearer Buck and JD approached its epicenter. The sounds of movement were clear
now, with no effort made to hide it and the voice that had cried out in terror
for a brief instance was no more.
They rounded the corner
into the centre of engineering and what they saw was enough to take them completely
by surprise.
Antonia Starke was dead.
Considering what was
presently happening to her corpse, Buck was somewhat glad of this fact. JD’s
eyes widened and he had to turn away or else he would have become sick there
and then. The creature who had committed this act of homicide stared at them
with yellow eyes and opened its mouth full of inch long white teeth to utter an
ear piercing roar that was full of challenge, daring them to come and take the
body from it. Striped with a fine pelt of yellow and black, the size of it was
enough to give both men reason to pause. On its hind legs it could easily match
Buck for height and its muscles were thick and powerful, indicating that one
swipe from its paw could most likely gut one of them.
"My God...." JD
exclaimed, starting to feel sick as he watched the tiger feed on the dead body
of Ensign Starke.
In a better state of mind
to act, Buck stepped forward, uncaring of what it was; knowing only that no one
ought to be defiled that way. His movement prompted the creature to leave its
kill and it immediately lunged at him. Buck dropped to his knees as the
creature sailed over him and JD had to jump out of the way to keep the animal
and its considerable bulk from landing right on top of him. Considering the
reputed power that was known to exist in those jaws, JD decided he rather not
be on the receiving end of the animal’s bite.
Fortunately, the tiger did
not seemed interested in remaining and took the opportunity while both men got
to their feet to continue up the stairs. It moved with the slick and grace of a
feline that was known throughout Earth’s history as one of its most fearsome
predators. The creature bounded up the stairs without making a sound as the
soft pads of its feet moved quietly against the deck. JD picked himself up and
saw Buck approaching Antonia instead of going after the creature.
The young woman’s blood
covered the immediate vicinity and as Buck leaned over to examine her, he saw
the killing wound had been to her neck, or what was left of it. The tiger’s
bite had more or less ripped away all her flesh right down to the vertebrae, he
could see torn muscles, severed veins and the like, oozing blood as surely as
the warmth in her body was bleeding away. She had not been dead long, that much
Buck could tell because as he touched the skin of her bloodied cheek, he could
feel the fading heat of her body.
"Buck what we
saw," JD stammered as he turned away from the scene, unable to look any
more. "It was real wasn’t it?"
"Yes," Buck
nodded grimly. He stood up slowly, pained that there was nothing he could do
for the young woman and angered that she had met her end in such a grisly way.
"We saw a tiger."
"I thought the animals
were all dead." JD swallowed, trying not to remember that he had only
talked to Antonia a short time ago, that in all likelihood, he had been the
last person to see her alive.
"Apparently not,"
Buck said as he studied the paw prints on the floor, left behind by the animal
when it fled because it had stepped in Antonia’s blood in its hasty departure.
"Come on, we better find that thing before it kills someone else."
JD nodded and followed Buck
who was moving up the steps, his eyes searching for signs of the creature’s
tracks, going back up the way they had come in the first place.
"I read the
manifest," JD said in an effort to occupy his mind with thoughts other
than that of Antonia’s horrible death. "They were moving exotic animals to
some zoo in Lysia just before they crashed."
"I want to know why
the hell they didn’t say nothing about it." Buck growled angrily,
wondering why that was a secret. He was furious that they had kept the
creature’s existence away from him when an engineering crew not to mention a
security team had been wandering around the place with no idea that something
like that was lurking in the darkness. The terrible fate that had befallen
Antonia Starke seemed inevitable in the face of that piece of non-disclosure.
"That thing could have killed all of us."
"It killed one of us,
that’s enough." JD declared, feeling his stomach churn with unease after
what he had witnessed. He prayed that this was not the fate that had befallen
Julia and Ezra.
"You’re right,"
Buck apologized as they emerged on the main deck once more, the bloody
footprints having led them back into the corridor they had taken prior to their
gruesome discovery. "Kelisan and his people have kept enough secrets from
us, I’m getting real tired of their lies. I’m almost ready to leave them down
here to rot since they seemed to want us in the same boat with them."
Buck followed the
footprints down the corridor and the creature seemed to be heading towards the
crew quarters occupied by the Leonov’s survivors. For a moment, Buck had this
absurd idea that the tiger might be someone’s pet but no animal after a taste
of human flesh could ever be domesticated by one. Suddenly the paw prints came
to a stop outside a set of doors and went no further. Buck looked at JD
quizzically, unable to understand where the creature had disappeared to. Only
control panel on the wall could activate the door and unless the tiger had
developed some advance form of intelligence that he was unaware of, Buck could
not see how he would have passed this point.
As he and JD looked around
the hallway outside the entrance for any more prints as to give some clue where
the creature had disappeared to, the door slid open and the Leonov’s navigator,
Janice stepped out of the room and paused at the sight of them outside her
quarters.
"What are you
doing?" She demanded as she saw the two men staring at her bewildered.
"There’s some kind of
wild animal roaming around this place." Buck replied without hesitation.
"Wild animal?"
Janice looked at him as if he were mad. "I haven’t seen anything."
"The paws prints go to
your door." The first officer declared. His patience with every
member of the Leonov had exhausted itself long ago. "Unless the damn thing
sprouted wings and flew off, someone had to let it into your room."
"You’re free to search
it if you like," she said coldly, unafraid to hide her disdain at his
inference.
"I will," Buck
brushed past her and activated the door panel. When the doors had slid open, he
stepped inside, not waiting to be invited.
Inside the room, there was
no sign of any life, human or otherwise. The tiger, like Ezra and Julia, had
vanished.
Part
Thirteen
Despite their claim
of seeing an Earth type predator roaming through the darkened halls of the
Leonov, being met with nothing less than derision by the crew member they
encountered, the fact remained that Ensign Starke was still dead. It also stood
that she had been mauled to death with something possessing jaws more powerful
than any human. As Janice ushered them out of her quarters after they had lost
sight of the creature, there was nothing left to do at present but to return to
the rendezvous point and gather a detail to tend to the young woman’s body.
Buck was reluctant to bury her on this lonely planetoid, not when there was a
possibility of returning her to her family when they got back to the ship.
It further angered Buck,
the callous dismissal of the navigator at the news that someone had died,
especially when one considered the only reason Starfleet officers were on this
rock in the first place was to aid the Leonov and its crew. Buck seethed
inwardly in anger but reminded himself that a commanding officer had no time
for such feelings, not when he still had two crewmen missing and a dangerous
animal to track before it killed again. Despite his anger at losing one of his
people, the question begged to be asked.
Where the creature
had been all this time that the Maverick’s crew had been on the surface?
Until now, they had
never had the slightest hint that such a creature might exist not to mention
the difficulties in caring for the animal. It was also a terrible strain on
resources to keep a tiger fed, considering how voracious its dietary
requirements could be. However, the question of why was not as important
to Buck as the how. In their repair efforts, the Maverick’s crew had
been right throughout the ship, even the parts of it supposedly contaminated by
Berthold radiation and nothing they had seen supported the possibility of this
creature’s existence prior to this day.
Buck knew that the
timing of Ensign Starke’s death could not be coincidental since they had now
lost their means to escape the planetoid. Even though he kept his observations
to himself, he had the terrible premonition that things were going to escalate
now that they were effectively trapped here with the rest of the Leonov. There
was no reason to move in subterfuge now, the crew of the Maverick could not
leave nor could they warn the ship of danger, now that it was starting to
expose itself, unafraid of the discovery. Buck wondered if Julia and Ezra had made
some similar discovery. Had they found something that required their
disappearance to hide?
As they made their
way back to the rendezvous point where the Maverick’s crew was holding the
Kelisan and his people at bay, Buck noticed that JD had become very silent. The
young man was clearly disturbed which was unsurprising considering that he and
Ensign Starke probably moved in the same circles, being the same age and had
probably known each other at the Academy since they were both newly
commissioned.
Buck who had more than his
share of fellow officers dying in the past could appreciate how difficult it
was to absorb the death of a crew mate, especially when one was young and fresh
from the Academy. The glamour of starship assignment was still fresh in one’s
eyes and the danger of it had yet to sink in for one to understand that it was
dangerous out here and people died, regularly. JD Dunne was one of the
most promising young officers in the Maverick’s stable, if not the most promising
and it had been Buck’s singular pleasure to nurse him through his formative
years in Starfleet. However, there were some things he would have to take care
of himself and all Buck could do was offer guidance.
Unfortunately,
answers were another thing all together.
"You okay
JD?" Buck found himself asking.
"Yeah," he
nodded quietly. "I just can’t believe she couldn’t care less." He
remarked, referring of course to Janice’s behavior.
"Believe
it," Buck remarked, his lips thinning into an unhappy line mostly because
he was no happier of the lack of compassion that the woman had shown at
Ensign’s Starke’s grisly death, not to mention accepting their explanation at
how it had happened. All she had been interested in doing was proving that she
had not seen the creature that had committed the act of murder and yet the
blood prints had proved the tiger could have gone nowhere else.
"I remember
reading the manifest for all the animals." JD explained, emerging into the
darkness outside the ship. Now more than ever, the oxygenated darkness of the
seemingly vacuum space seemed more foreboding than ever. JD had never realized
how eerie it had looked to be on the surface of this planetoid, like they were
in space but not quite as if their minds were not ready to accept that the
environment was anything but hostile
"Manifest,"
Buck looked at him, remembering the youth had mentioned something but not
paying close attention until now. "How many of them were there?"
"About
eleven."
Something about that
number struck him even though for the present, he could not imagine how. No
more than he could imagine how it was possible for Kelisan to keep livestock
alive when their own survival here had been so tenuous. While Buck would feel
naturally grieved at having to destroy the animals, he would not hesitate to do
so when that would have been more merciful than to allow them to starve. There
was no way the Leonov could feed animals of this nature, even if they were
willing to starve themselves. However, the Leonov crew did not appear starved,
not in the least. Sure they were gaunt and a little hollow around the eyes but
that was what one expected of people trapped on this planetoid for so long.
They were cresting
the top of a slight mound when suddenly, Aislynn appeared before them. She
appeared to have been running and was out of breadth when she sighted JD and
Buck.
"Aislynn!"
Buck called out. "What are you doing here?" He demanded. "You
should be back with the others." Her presence here brought to mind other
concerns immediately. How had she managed to get past his security team? As
charming as the young lady could be, Ezra’s security officers were
professionals and were trained by the Chief, himself not to fall sway to any
entreaty especially if it came from a group of individuals whose intentions
were suspect.
"I had to
come!" She cried out, genuine concern in her eyes. "I had to warn
you."
"Warn us of
what?" Buck retorted. "How did you get past my security people?"
His hands gripped her shoulders tightly and he was just angry enough after
losing Ensign Stark to shake the truth out of her, which was mild in comparison
to what had in mind when he got his hands on Mr. Kelisan.
"You’re in
trouble." She declared, clearly trouble by her presence here and she
looked worried as she cast her gaze over shoulder as if debating what she would
do next. "I didn’t want them to get you too."
"Them?"
Buck’s voice hardened into granite as the possibility of horrific proportions
became to look in his mind over the possible fate of his engineering team and
security officers. "Whose them?" He shook her and drew a cry from
her.
"Please
Buck!" She pleaded for him to stop. Tears running down her youthful face.
"It was not my idea. I didn’t have a choice! We had to do what it wanted
us to do. It needs to feed!"
Buck’s eyes widened
and JD’s jaw dropped open as Buck said very quietly as he stopped shaking
Aislynn and stared at her. "What do you mean it?"
"It!" She
started to cry. "It lured us here the same way it lured you!" Aislynn
swallowed thickly as she stared at him, with nothing less than guilt in her
young eyes.
Buck could very well
believe her claims that she did not wish to see him die and knew that she cared
for him a great deal, as much as any young girl with her first crush tended to
do. "But the damage to the ship…" He stammered.
"Its lets you see what
it wants you to see." She explained, knowing that it was death if the
others heard her speak this way. However, Aislynn was not about to let Buck
Wilmington end up the same way as all the other poor unfortunates who had been
lured to this world in the last six months. "The ship is not damaged. We
landed because we detected a distress signal and saw a ship on the surface.
Once we were here, it would not let us leave. It killed everyone except
us."
"Where is
it?" JD asked, his phaser drawn staring about apprehensively for their
phantom creature.
"It’s all around
us." She replied, her eyes darting about nervously like a terrified
animal. "For those of us who were left alive, we found that after awhile
we could communicate with it and it told us it would keep us alive, it would
maintain the air if we cooperated."
"Why didn’t you
just leave?" The ensign asked because Buck was too busy contemplating what
Aislynn had told him already.
Aislynn did not answer and as she struggled to address JD’s question, Buck
spoke up and spared her the embarrassment of forcing the truth from herself.
"Its because
they don’t know isn’t it?" He looked at her. Now things started to make
sense, Julia Pemberton’s observation that none of the Leonov’s crew were
capable of making even the most minor repairs on their ship or even troubling
themselves with the notion of making their habitat even the slightest bit more
comfortable during the length of their incarceration.
Aislynn blinked and
warm tears ran down her cheeks. "No, we didn’t." She said ashamed and
whispered after a moment, as Buck raised her chin in his hand and wiped the
tear running down her reddened cheeks. "I don’t like what we have done but
I’m the weakest and the youngest. What I say doesn’t matter to the
others."
"It’s not your
fault," JD said understanding perfectly how it was to be over ruled by his
elders although he could not imagine being in the terrible situation that
Aislynn had been virtually locked into the moment the Leonov had landed on the
planetoid. "You couldn’t help it."
"I don’t like hurting
people," she swallowed looking at Buck, needing him to understand most of
all because of how she felt about him. "I like them and I don’t want see
them get killed. All I want is to be away from here. If I help you get away,
will you promise to take me Buck?" She asked hopefully, gazing into his
strong face, hoping the kindness she saw there was not an illusion like everything
else in her universe.
"Of course I
will," Bucks said tenderly, having no stomach to disappoint this child who
was not responsible for the action of the adults of around her.
"Thank you Buck," she smiled at him sadly and then added. "I am
sorry about the others."
********
The first thing that
Ezra and Julia heard once they concluded their exhausting descent from the
mountain that had sprung forth out of nowhere and barred them from their
friends and crew mates still rendering aid to the Leonov were the screams.
After the most back
breaking endeavor that either officers had undertaken in recent times, Ezra and
Julia finally crossed the unnatural formation and saw the Leonov awaiting as
they had left it, unconcerned over their ordeal as it continued to remain in
its stranded location. They saw no signs of anyone as they made their way
towards the ship and neither was there any effort to impede their progress by
the mysterious force that had seen it fit to plant a mountain before them.
Despite his gratitude they had managed to cross the large rock obstacle without
incurring any serious injury, the lack of interference gave him reason for
concern. Ezra now wondered what was the real reason behind its granting them
passage back to their friends, knowing the news they brought could only confirm
the Maverick’s suspicion that nothing about this place was what it appeared.
Thus instead of going
to the Maverick, Ezra decided that the safest course of action was to get Julia
to the runabout so that she could return to the starship and inform the captain
what they had discovered, while he in turn went to find Buck and conveyed the
same. After everything that had happened so far and despite the seemingly
benign state of their mysterious attacker for the moment, Ezra had no intention
of allowing her to go to the Midkiff on her own and
insisted on accompanying her. Only until he saw the craft in the air would he
rest easy.
"Are you sure
you won’t come with me?" Julia asked, hating to separate after their trek
together. They were both similarly exhausted with Julia wanting nothing more
than to drink in a long glass of water while indulging in a nice hot bath.
There were dirt in places she rather not name on her body and could hardly
imagine how disheveled she looked. Normally, she would not care less about such
things but did this ordeal have to happen with the one person on the Maverick’s
whose opinion about how she looked mattered the most?
"No," Ezra
shook his head even though he would not mind being far away from this place.
Despite himself, he had to confess that he did not like this place and would
rest easier being back on the ship but he was chief security officer and that
meant he had a responsibility to his crew which went beyond his personal feelings.
"I have to find Commander Wilmington and tell him what we have learnt, not
to mention what we have endured. I for one am very interested in Mr. Kelisan’s
explanation of things."
"Ezra he may not
know anything." She pointed out as their course diverted from the Leonov
and progressed towards the runabout. "If we couldn’t see those ships
without flash blindness, it is completely possible than neither could the
Leonov’s crew."
"I will give
them the benefit of that doubt," Ezra replied and then paused a moment
because it did not feel right, not matter how much he tried to think it
possible that her explanation might be the truth. "Julia, I have made a
career reading people and learning what they are thinking to know that Mr.
Kelisan is lying and has been lying since we arrived here. It is as much as
body language as what it is in his eyes and both tell me that he is hiding
something, something exceedingly dangerous that he is near terrified of having
us find out. I will know what that is, one way or another."
Julia nodded
somberly; aware that he had to do what he must and knowing secretly it was the
reason that she cared so much about him. Ezra Standish was such a paradox at
time. There were moments when he appeared as if he would trade his own mother for
a quick dollar and then there were other times when he bore such a strong
streak of nobility and honor, it was hard to imagine it coming from the same
man. "Is that right?" she brightened a little, trying not to dampen
the moment with unhappy thought. "So tell me, what am I thinking?"
She asked.
Ezra flashed her that
dimpled smile that she found utterly irresistible before saying. "Well
you’re thinking that I am a terrible charming man that you must simply forgive
for his trespass at our first encounter?"
"Oh
really?" She looked at him skeptically. "I’d try again."
Ezra was about to respond
when suddenly he heard a scream and several others, cutting through the moment
and slicing through their ears with the piercing effectiveness of a knife.
"What the hell
was that?" She demanded but Ezra was already running, phasers drawn. She
fumbled for her own weapon and ran behind him in pursuit, wondering what else
could possibly happen now.
The screams
continued, blood curdling chilling groans of guttural agony and as they ran
across the sandy terrain against the blackness of space as their sky, there
seemed to be something primeval soaking up the strange air that coated this
world. As they neared the sounds of screaming, they could hear other sounds,
not quite screams but not quite voices either. If one had to put a definition
to it, the best description would be a roar.
Through this windless
harsh environment that looked like the lunar surface of a barren rock, they
could hear an animal roaring in majestic fury. What they saw as they closed
into on the sounds was enough to take them both by surprise and then horror.
Both Ezra and Julia stood frozen in place for a few seconds as they came upon
the scene, for a moment wondering if this was just another illusion produced by
the entity that had place a mountain before them. Ezra wished more than
anything that it was just that, an illusion but as he saw the tide of blood and
the dying before him, he knew it was anything but a facade.
This madness was
real.
The creatures varied
from small to extremely large predators, the kinds of animals one would see in
a zoo. A tiger was presently tearing out the throat of one his security
officers while those who had not been overcome were firing at the creatures
desperately, trying to chase them off their screaming comrades to little or no
avail. The engineering officers who were not armed did not have the luxury of
defense and as the jaws snapped close around one neck, ending everything person
was in a spurt of blood, Ezra already shooting and offering defense in anyway
he could, saw something else. Upon death, something was bled away from the body
that was not just life. It drifted out of the body like white smoke before
sinking into the heaving earth.
Each death that came
saw a repeat of this strange phenomenon. Mist like, it lifted out of the body
long enough to enjoy freedom for but an instance before the earth absorbed it
once more like magnet pulling in nail fillings, refusing to go and consuming it
whole. Ezra watched for a split second, watching the cycle take place,
hollowing in the gut each time it happened because he knew it was one of his
crewmates. Setting his phaser for kill since stun seemed to be doing little to
stop the creatures from mauling those who were unarmed to death, he took
careful aim knowing that his shots had to be precise or he would be dealing
death to whomever he was trying to save.
"Ezra watch out!"
He heard Julia scream as he was adjusting his weapon and looked up to see the
furry bulk of orange and blank stripes leaping at him with teeth leading the
way. Ezra raised his arm to fire but the creature moved with incredible speed
and all he could do was use it instead to keep the tiger from its throat. The
power in those feline limbs dropped them both on the ground with the creature
clearly in the dominant position. Ezra felt his phaser fly out of his hand just
before teeth sank deep into his forearm. He let out a cry of pain as blood
immediately spilled forth from broken skin, staining his turtleneck in waves of
vibrant red.
Julia watched in
horror as the animal prepared to move its powerful jaws to the tender flesh of
his neck, which was customary for a tiger, kill and immediately lunged for the
phaser that had been in Ezra’s hand. Around her pandemonium ensued and too many
dead were lying on the soil for her to endure Ezra joining her number. She
moved with more grace and agility than she had ever mustered in her life. Julia
rolled onto her knees after diving for it and completely forgot that she was an
engineer with no taste for weapons as she fired the shot and prayed that her
routine target practice was not a wasted effort.
A phaser set for kill
left no trace of a body. When the beam struck the creature, its entire form
glowed and its last act in the living world was to utter a roar of defiance and
pain as it disintegrated before Ezra. The security chief let out a sigh of
relief as the weight of the creature suddenly disappeared from on top of him
and the other animals, seeing the destruction of one of their number
immediately desisted in their efforts, startled momentarily by the sudden show
of force by the prey. Scattering as large predators to until they had allowed
themselves sufficient time to evaluate the encounter, Ezra saw the other
animals disappearing into the darkness of the planetoid around them.
What was left in
their wake showed Ezra that the Maverick’s crew had won no victory of any kind.
"Ezra, you’re
bleeding!" Julia hurried over to him stating the obvious as he tended to
his arm while at the same time surveying the extent of the destruction around
them. At least half their number lay dead and most of these were engineering
officers who had not been armed at the time of the attack. Hampered by their
inability to shoot without a clear line of fire, some of his security team was
similarly mauled to death
"I am
fine." He said not at all caring about his minor injury, not when there
was blood everywhere. Ezra had not seen such carnage since he was an ensign
fighting the Border Wars with the Cardassians. The area before them looked like
a field of battle with a victory being a matter of perspective.
"Oh my
god," Julia looked at the faces of the dead and recognized some of those
as being men and women she had worked with. She strayed away from him, trying
to remain detached about their deaths as Starfleet officers were meant to be
but there was no way she could manage it completely. Her hand covered her mouth
as she tried to hide her sorrow and blinked away open tears as she went to help
some of the survivors.
"Commander
Standish!" Lieutenant Katovit exclaimed from where he was kneeling over
one of the junior members of the security team looking as dismayed as Ezra did
at this moment but not concealing with as much of a poker face as his superior
was capable. Upon seeing Ezra, he rose to his feet and hurried to meet Ezra
part way. "We’ve been looking everywhere for you and Lieutenant
Pemberton." The assistant security chief declared relieved but at the same
time wishing his commanding officer had been here. Perhaps if Ezra had been
around, they might have not been caught as unawares as they had been
It was a sentiment that
Ezra could well understand because at the moment, he was feeling the same thing
himself. These were his people! He was responsible for their safety! For them
to die the deaths that they had received outraged him when they had come here
on an errand of mercy. Ezra swallowed away the bile of his anger and met
Katovit’s gaze.
"It is a long
story," Ezra said in a measure voice because that was all he could trust
himself to answer with at this time. He had not been this angry in a long time
and Ezra was certain that rage was not the best way to proceed. The main
objective right now was to get everyone back to the Maverick before more lives
were lost. "Suffice to say this planetoid is full of surprises. However, I
am more interested in learning what the hell happened here."
Katovit at that
moment, had some inclination at how much restraint his commander was using by
the use of such strong language from a normally erudite man "The captain
ordered us back to the ship when you went missing," he explained. "We
were gathered here preparing to leave when all of a sudden, it happened."
"Those creatures
emerged out of nowhere?" Ezra looked at him.
"No Sir,"
Katovit said reluctantly. "Those creature emerged from the crew of the
Leonov."
Part
Fourteen
"It’s simple
really," Alexandra Styles explained to Captain Chris Larabee and the
remaining members of the senior staff of the Maverick as they were gathered
within the confines of the debriefing room. "We know that the life form
radiates a dampening field that is capable of deflecting our sensors scan, jams
our communications channels and also excludes the possibility of transporter
lock, which effectively leaves us blind on all levels. Now, Ezra reported that
when they first arrived on the surface of the planetoid, the Away Team noted
that the Leonov was less damaged than what was initially thought. At the time,
we did not think much of it but now I believe that what he saw was not an
aberration but rather an illusion."
"An
illusion," Chris absorbed her words, finding her theory sound as he
recalled every piece of information Buck and the others had reported to him
during their mission on the planetoid. "I think you’re right." He
nodded in agreement. "Julia more or less said the same thing when the Away
Team first sighted the Leonov. Initially, she had estimated that it was going
to take a great deal of work to get the Leonov off the ground, if it was even
possible. However, once she inspected the ship on the planetoid, the damage was
not near as severe and the repair time was reduced significantly."
"All life forms
have some form of defensive mechanism," Nathan added his voice into the
discussion. "The chameleon on Earth changes color to blend into the
environment, the tree climbers of Altair are able to exude a body odor that has
hallucinogenic properties, leaving its predators disorientated while it makes
the escape. Just because this creature is significantly larger in size does not
mean that it does not have a defensive capability of its own, except this
ability also acts as a lure for its food source."
"Could we please
pick another way to put that?" Mary asked, wincing at the thought that
their friends on the planetoid were the main course at a banquet for an alien
life form. As it was, she was still having trouble wrapping her mind around the
idea that the planetoid around which the Maverick had been orbiting the past
few days was in fact a life form that planned to dine on their comrades trapped
on its surface.
"Sorry,"
Nathan apologized with a sheepish smile, having forgotten that there was no
need to be quite so graphic in his description of the facts. Sometimes, it was
necessary for him to remember that being a doctor tended to make him forget
that not everyone could be as clinically accepting as he was about the grisly
nature of some forms of life. "Force of habit." He remarked in Mary’s
direction.
"Go on,"
Chris spoke up sternly over the sound of their conversation because he wanted
to hear why Alex had called this meeting. He had assumed the purpose of the
gathering was because the science officer had made some important discovery that
might serve to aid the crewmen that were still trapped on the surface of the
alien creature/ planetoid. His concern for the safety of his people was such
that he had no patience to tolerate the normal banter that was customary during
their briefings. Nathan and Mary immediately fell silent as Chris turned his
high powered gaze back to Alex and waited for her to resume.
"Thank you
Sir," she said gratefully and waited until she had their attention before
she began speaking once again. "While we may have establish that much of
what we see before her is an illusion, there is no way an illusion could keep
us from scanning it or finding our crew mates on its surface. By all rights,
our sensors ought to pick up the Away Team with no trouble at all so we can get
a transporter lock."
"So why can’t
we?" Mary asked, finding herself rather intrigued by what Alex was
implying.
"Because we assumed
that the creature is capable of exuding a powerful dampening field when in
actual fact, I don’t think its doing that at all. I don’t think its
instrumentation or sensors, I think its us."
"Us?" Vin
exclaimed confused "How could it be us?"
"Telepathy."
Chris said simply, guessing what Alex was driving at. In retrospect, it was the
most logical explanation for what had been happening since they arrived in this
system. Chris had yet to encounter any dampening field so powerful that it
could resist all forms of scanning. Throughout this entire situation, this was
what Chris found so hard to believe that nothing they had on board the Maverick
was capable of penetrating the shell this planetoid had surrounded itself with.
Telepathy was the
only answer that made any reasonable sense. All life no matter how advanced or
primitive was capable on some level of sensing one another even if that method
was not immediately obvious to another life form. An organism as complex as the
one they now faced, born in space would find telepathy the most expedient way
to communicate with another of its kind. By the same token, it could no doubt
use its telepathic capabilities to affect other life forms as well.
"But we heard a
distress signal." Vin protested, finding it extremely unpleasant to accept
that something could have been altering his view of things by means of mind
control. It was not as if he did not have enough difficulties with his mental
shields already, without having strange alien creature probing his thoughts and
shaping his perceptions to suit its needs. "We were light years away when
we detected that distress beacon. That couldn’t have been an illusion."
"The signal is
probably real." Alex answered his question and understanding all too well
why Vin was so repulsed by the notion of the alien affecting his mind by use of
telepathy. Personally, she had not liked the idea any more than he did when
Nathan had first brought up the possibility that they might have been subjected
to telepathic influence. If anything, she felt rather outraged that the alien
had free reign over her mind. That was a privilege she allowed no one, not
even the person she cared for most on the ship. "I don’t doubt that we
heard a distress signal from the Leonov but once we got close enough to the
creature, it was able to affect us almost immediately, giving us the illusion
of self that it needed us to see."
"To get us on
the planetoid." Chris concluded, not having to hear the rest of Alex’s
narrative because it was fairly obvious to everyone by now what the alien’s
hidden agenda had been. "No doubt it would have manufactured some way to
get the rest of the crew down to the planet and if that didn’t work, throw some
illusion at us that would force the ship to land or worse."
"Exactly."
Alex agreed with his assessment of things most fully.
"So now that we
know why and how it does what it does, what can we do about it?" Vin
asked, looking at the two senior officers for a solution. Like everyone else in
the room, Vin was trying to work the problem of their stranded crewmen rather
than focus on the fact that they had been stymie by their efforts of retrieving
them. "We’re no good to Buck or anyone else down there if we are just as
susceptible to whatever telepathy that creature is using on them."
"Well I think I
may have a solution to that." Nathan spoke up now that the discussion had
broached that subject and Alex sat down, so that he continue the briefing since
it was Nathan who had been the one to formulate the idea that he was about to
present in the first place. "Judging from the ECG readings and all the
data that Alex has accumulated on the creature since we arrived, I believe
there is a way for us to get around the illusionary effects of its
telepathy."
"How?"
Chris asked impatiently.
Sensing that his
captain’s patience was waning, Nathan wasted no time in continuing. "Well
at the moment our optic nerve is being bombarded with signals that allow us to
see what the creature wishes us to see. To counteract that effect, I can adjust
the optic nerve to accept signals that come from only a visual source, like the
light spectrum. It will be a little disorientating at first but will provide
enough visual acuity for a person to function and perceive the creature as it
truly is."
"It will
do." Chris stated firmly not afraid of the risks when there did not seem
to be any other alternative. Now that he was aware of just what kind of danger
Buck and the others were facing, Chris was willing to gamble on any chance they
had of retrieving the Away Team, even if it meant ‘adjustment’ as Nathan put
it. "Go on." He said firmly.
Nathan nodded after
he was given leave to continue and resumed his explanation of the process he
had devised that would allow them to see through the illusions the life form
had so cleverly deceived them with. "The serum’s effects do not last for
more than two hours and I estimate that a human body could handle two dosages,
no more. I would not recommend any more than that because the optic nerve is
too sensitive for such continued manipulation. However, the effect should last
long enough for us to go the surface and extract the Away Team."
"Good,"
Chris nodded and released a deep breath, glad that they had a decisive course
of action. "I take it the serum is ready for use?" Chris asked Nathan
as he sat up in his chair, poised to move at a moment’s notice once he had the
answer he needed.
"Yes,"
Nathan answered. "I prepared the hypos shortly before the briefing."
"Alright,"
Chris spoke up, allowing his gaze to move over the faces of his officers.
"I want a minimum complement for our Away Team, Vin, you and I will take a
shuttle down there."
Chris started to lift
himself out of the chair when he noticed that no one else was doing the same.
There was a line of tension running through the room, not to mention a feeling
of awkwardness running through his senior officers that put him on guard
immediately. Although Vin wore that typically unflappable expression on his
face that allowed no one to know what was going on inside his head, Nathan was
more telling in his features. The doctor was tense but was not quite ready to
say what was on his mind. Alex remained impassive and was frowning, Chris
guessed that was mostly to do with the fact that he had not singled her out to
be on the rescue team and Mary just looked plain uncomfortable.
"Okay," he
sat back down. "What is it?"
Furious glances were
exchanged back and forth across the room before settling on Mary, who let out a
deep breath as a hint of crimson stole into her cheeks. "Captain,"
she said after a moment, choosing to be the one who told him what they all had
such trouble with, because as protocol officer, it was her duty to do so.
"It is inappropriate for you to leave the ship."
Chris looked at her
blankly for a moment before the realization of what she was trying to tell him
sunk in. "Oh no you don’t…." Chris retorted, understanding what she
was getting at. "You’re not going to start quoting me regulations about
the Captain staying on the bridge."
"Then I
will," Alex rose to Mary’s defense because Mary’s feelings for Chris was
making it difficult for her to be blunt. "Its tactically unwise for you to
leave the ship. As your acting first officer, it is my duty to inform you that
with half the command staff on the planetoid and unaccounted for, your place is
here on the bridge. I am the one who should be going. The Maverick should not
be left without her captain if it falls under attack. We have no idea what this
life form will do once it discovers that we can see through its façade. It’s
been responsible for the death of billions of life forms on several different
planets, it could not have done that without some form of mobility. If worse
comes to worse, it may be capable of putting a formidable defense as any hungry
animal might do."
Chris swore under his
breath and smoldered inwardly at her words, mostly because she was right. There
were too many unknown variables at work here for him to risk himself and his
ship over his own desires. A good captain had to know when to stand down and
this was one of those times. "Point taken, Commander." He frowned conceding
defeat. "You and Vin will take a shuttle to the surface of the planetoid.
I want you to find our people and get out. No deviations. Is that clear?"
He gave Alex a hard look.
"Yes Sir,"
she nodded, knowing how hard this was for him and had not wanted to take this
course with him but he was the captain and with Buck and Ezra off the ship,
there was no other choice.
She was expendable.
Chris Larabee was not.
***********
Buck felt his heart
pounding in his chest as he ran across the barren landscape, widening the
distance between himself and his party as he raced towards the rendezvous point
where he had left the rest of the Away Team. As he neared it, he started to the
sounds of phaser fire and screaming noises not too dissimilar from what he and
JD had heard prior to finding Antonia Starke in the grisly condition they had.
When Aislynn had apologized to him, he finally understood that his security
team as well as the engineering crew he had left behind to go search for the
Ensign, were in grave danger.
He barely noticed the
Envirosuit he was wearing as he hurried forward, crossing the sandy dunes until
he reached the peak of a mound that allowed him to see the place where he had
left the rest of the Away Team. Buck stopped short as his eyes widened in nothing
less than horror as he saw their broken bodies, lying across the flat plain in
the aftermath of the massacre, their blood seeping into the earth. Some were
still standing but a great number of them were injured or dead.
"Buck!"
Ezra called out as he saw the first officer staring in the scene that he and
Julia had stumbled upon a short time ago.
For a moment Buck did
not answer and Ezra could only imagine what the man must be thinking because
Ezra having the exact same thoughts as he was faced with all this carnage. He
saw Buck's gloved hands fist up as the first officer drew closer to what was
left of his Away Team. Julia was helping the other security officers tend to
the dead and administer aid to those who were still left alive. It was with a
deep sense of outrage that Ezra realized that there were going to be many of
those.
"Ezra?"
Buck seemed to snap out of dazed state at the missing security officer.
"Where the hell have you been?" The taller man started to stride
towards him. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Trust me
Commander," Ezra let out a heavy sigh as Buck reached him. "It was
not by our choice that we were led astray. Julia and I had made an interesting
discovery and had gone to investigate when we were beset up by some alien entity
that placed a rather large natural formation in our way."
"Entity!"
Buck looked at him and then remembered what Aislynn had told him about there
being a creature on this planet that was communicating with the crew of the
Leonov. "Is that what did this?" He looked around at the bodies
around him and felt his stomach hollow in anger. These were his people! He
should be able to protect them. Suddenly Buck understood why Chris was the way
he was about losing crew. Seeing all the dead around him made Buck think that
this was his failure! He was their commanding officer! He should have been able
to stop this or at least seen it coming!
"No," Ezra shook
his head somberly. "It was not some alien life form that perpetrated this
atrocity." The security replied, feeling his jaw clench in anger just
thinking about whom had attacked their fellow officers and crewmates. "It
was the crew of the Leonov. According to Lieutenant Katovit, they metamorphosed
into animals and wrought this massacre upon our unsuspecting Away Team."
Buck merely stared at
him in disbelief but his response was cut short by the arrival of JD and
Aislynn. The boy froze in his tracks and stared at what lay before him. Even
through the faceplate of his helmet, Buck could see the horror and disgust in
his eyes as he viewed the dead and wounded, not to mention the blood. The damn
blood that was splattered everywhere, staining the earth and draining JD's face
of color.
"JD." Buck
started walking towards the young man seeing the panic strike him.
Aislynn was merely
staring sadly at what lay before her, like she had seen it all a thousand times
before. Of course, if what Ezra suspected about that graveyard of ships that he
and Julia had discovered was true, and then that was not entirely an untrue statement.
He followed Buck as the first officer hurried to JD, who was trying to reach
the young ensign who had never been confronted with a grisly scene like this
and was reacting the way only a novice could.
JD could not breathe.
He had tried to fight the nausea that had gripped his stomach but the sight of
all those dead bodies had pierced right through the walls of his control and he
could feel bile snaking up his throat. Fumbling for his helmet, he almost wrenched
its fastenings free before and hurled it aside before doubling over and
retching the contents of his last meal into the sand, continuing to do so until
all he could eject was the acid inside his stomach.
"Oh my
god...." he stammered. "Oh my god...."
"JD!" Buck came
next to him and held his head down, helping him through the moment. JD felt
humiliation overcome him just as easily as the nausea had at the undignified
display but he could not help it. He had known those people stretched out on
the dirt, their bodies broken, their blood oozing out of them into the sand.
"Just breathe
easy." Buck said gently, understanding completely what the youth was going
through. No one could witness something like this the first time and not be
unaffected. If JD had reacted any other way, he would have been surprised.
It took a few seconds
for JD to compose himself and Buck remained at his side throughout most of that
time, gently offering the young ensign enough words to make him understand that
his reaction was natural and there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
"I'm sorry
Buck," JD said softly, wiping his mouth once he was able to control
himself. Despite Buck's understanding, JD felt terribly embarrassed by his
display and wished he had been more restrained in his response when he had seen
all those dead bodies. "I've never seen anything like that before."
He whispered, glad that everyone was not looking at him. He felt humiliated
enough as it was, despite their compassionate understanding.
"Its okay JD,"
Buck patted him on the back, wanting to reassure him that there was no shame to
be felt. "That's exactly why it happened. You'll see a lot of worse things
in your time and you'll handle it, I got every confidence in that. Its just
going to take some time."
JD offered him a wan
smile and Buck had to admit that helping the kid out had centered his own anger
somewhat and gave him focus. Once he was assured that JD was all right, Buck
strode back to Aislynn, gesturing Ezra to come join him. The security officer
was performing what first aid he knew on some of the wounded and immediately
complied with the order as soon as he saw Buck waving him over.
"Alright
Aislynn," Buck said firmly, trying to keep the anger out of his voice as
he spoke to the young woman because she looked so damn afraid. He reminded
himself that she was not responsible for the actions of her elders. After all,
she had come to him and JD to warn them. Buck also had no doubt that by allying
herself with him and the rest of the Maverick, she had become subject to their
fates if her former crewmates were to attack again. "I need to know what
this thing is."
Aislynn's eyes
glittered with tears as she looked at Buck and Ezra, trying to show them with
the soulful eyes that this was not her intention, that she had never been given
a choice about this. "Its all around us." She explained.
"All around
us?" Buck replied. "I don't understand. What do you mean by
that?"
She paused a moment,
trying to chose the right words and then decided that the best way to tell him
was to just come out and say it. "This place," her gaze moved around
the landscape before returning to Buck's face once more. "This place is
the entity you are seeking. It is not a planetoid at all but a living thing."
"You mean this
entire planetoid is a....."
"A life
form." Ezra declared, staring at Buck with wide eyes. "It actually
makes sense." He said with more than a hint of excitement. "The
reason Julia and I had disappeared for all that time is because we discovered a
graveyard of ships. Not simply one or two but dozens! We only managed to see it
because Julia had acquired a case of flash blindness and in the instance it
took for her vision to clear, the ships became visible to us."
"Okay its a life
form and its lured us here," Buck tried to wrap his mind around all this
new data. "What does it what from us?"
Aislynn swallowed and
looked at him. "It want to feed. It needs life force but it does not know
how to kill to extract it. The body must die first before it can take the energy.
It communicated with those of us who were left after it had taken all the life
from the Leonov and offered us a chance to survive if we would do the killing
for it. We were trapped here, we could not leave and we had no choice but to
help it."
"No choice?" Ezra
replied derisively, wondering how anyone could sell out others in such
foolhardy venture. "All you needed to do was to leave in your ship or tell
the poor innocents you kept here like fly paper the truth and they could have
taken you."
"No they
couldn't," Buck said softly, understanding at last the heartache and the
sacrifice that Aislynn had made when she agreed to help them.
"What do you
mean?" Ezra turned to Buck who was staring at the young girl with just as
much sadness.
"They're not the
crew of the Leonov, Ezra." Buck answered. "They're the livestock that
was being transported to Lysia."
Part Fifteen
"How is that
possible?" Ezra Standish stared at Buck Wilmington with nothing less than
astonishment following his revelation regarding the true identity of the
Leonov’s ‘crew’. It took quite a bit to leave the normally cool and collected
security chief with his jaw wide open in amazement but Buck’s statement had
that effect upon him and more. He thought about the people they had been
interacting with the last few days were a little peculiar and while he found
their body language displaying all the signs indicating some form of deception,
even Ezra had not come to the conclusion that Buck had just presented to him.
"It lets you see
what you wanted to see." Aislynn whispered again, unable to meet Buck’s
gaze now that he knew her secret. She had never thought it was possible to feel
so ashamed in her life but she was. She cared for Buck deeply and she also felt
a kinship with these space faring individuals who lived their lives among the
stars as she had always dreamed of doing. Aislynn did not wish to hurt them and
she was sick of the killing. "You wanted to see survivors so you
did." Her eyes filled with tears.
Buck placed his hand
on her cheek, refusing to see anything else but the young woman who had placed
everything at risk to help them, not just her life but also her humanity.
"Tell us what happened Aislynn," he urged gently, showing that he
bore no malice towards her. "The real truth this time."
Aislynn nodded and
swallowed thickly. "I don’t know what happened to make the ship land here,
I guess it did the same thing to the Leonov as it did to the other ships. We
heard it talking to us inside our heads and it said that Captain Kelisan did
not want to stay here. There was a Betazoid on board who could sense a living
thing and that made it impossible for it to trick them into killing themselves
like it had done with the crews of the other ships and the planets in this
system. It told us that if we helped it, we could both feed. It changed some of
us and told us what to do. It had read Captain Kelisan’s mind and knew exactly
how we could kill everyone on board. It told the rest of us to leave the ship
while one of us, the one you see now as Kelisan, flooded the decks with
radiation. All the crew died within minutes and it was able to feed."
"Dear
Lord," Ezra gasped softly, having his questions answered finally even if
he did not think he wanted the answers to be this bizarre or gruesome.
Now he understood why the supposed crew of the Leonov had such difficulties
conducting basic repairs or improve their living conditions on the ship and why
they were so adamant about remaining behind. If they were to leave the planetoid
and beamed on board the Maverick, it was possible the creature’s powers might
waver enough for their true selves to be seen.
"Then it was
Janice who killed Antonia." JD who had been listening intently behind
Buck, exclaimed.
"Antonia?" Ezra
gaze Buck a sharp glance. "Ensign Starke?"
"Yeah,"
Buck nodded somberly while JD’s gaze dropped to his feet. "She went
missing right after the Captain gave us the order to evacuate. We found what
was left of her in the engineering deck."
Ezra said nothing for
a moment, showing his distress at the young woman’s death with little more than
a slow blink and puff of air from out his lungs before that cool facade felt
into place once again. Like Buck, Ezra felt the crew of the Maverick was his
responsibility and losing anyone made him feel as if he had been deficient in
his duty to protect them.
"So this thing
has been using you and the others to attract other people onto the
surface?" Buck asked, getting back to the subject on hand.
"Yes," Aislynn
nodded, wishing that they would ask her no more questions because she felt
guilty enough as it was about all those who had died. "Most of the time
the ships land and the others were able to make the kill. Your ship was
different. It was not like most of the smaller ships that happened this
way."
"Galaxy class
ships aren’t made for landing." JD explained. "They can’t enter the
atmosphere."
"It could sense
all the people on board your ship and hoped that it might trap enough of you
down here so that we could feed but it had to be careful because it knew you
could hurt it." Aislynn continued speaking.
"Your
phaser." Buck replied glancing at Ezra, reminding the security chief of
the experimental shot he had taken at the surface when they had first arrived.
By testing his phaser to see if it would work, Ezra had caused the planetoid to
rock violently, leading to the conclusion that the spacial body had been
unstable. Now the answer seemed far more simpler. "That was a reaction to
pain not an unstable planetoid."
"So it kept
delaying our departure, while it came up with a new plan." Buck concluded.
"Then Ezra and Julia stumbled upon the ships that had come here previously
and things started to unravel even further when the captain decided that we
were to abandon the Leonov here and return to the ship."
"So is
everything here an illusion?" JD asked, glancing at Aislynn as he tried to
wrap his mind around what they had learnt.
"Everything
except the air. It makes that on its own." Aislynn replied.
"Commander,"
Julia Pemberton announced herself as she approached them. The chief engineer
wore a worried expression on her face as she wiped the sweat from her brow and
tried not to notice that her Starfleet singlet was stained with the blood of
injured officers. "We got a lot of wounded people here, we need to get
them to the ship. Some of them are bleeding badly and if we don’t get them to
sick bay, they’re going to die."
Buck only needed to
look over her shoulder at the collection of prone figures to know that her estimation
of things was no exaggeration. He took a deep breath and considered what they
would do next, aware that all eyes were cast in his direction, awaiting orders.
"Aislynn, do you think you can help us get to our ships?"
"I can sort of
find it." She confessed. "I have a strong sense of smell that can
give me an idea if we are going in the right direction but it won’t help
because you won’t be able to see it."
"That doesn’t
matter." Buck replied quickly, "Julia, Ezra said flash blindness
caused you to see those ships the first time, is that true?"
"Yes," she
nodded quickly seeing what he was getting at. "But it wouldn’t appear long
enough for us to fly both runabouts out of here."
"We can work our
way around that," he answered. "We’ll do it one person at a time.
Aislynn will lead us to where the runabouts are, we’ll get on and keep
repeating it for as long as it lasts until we can take off."
"This is going
to require a great deal of coordination," Ezra said dubiously. "Many
of our injured are in no condition to make the attempt."
"I agree,"
the first officer declared, having considered this already. "However, we
only need one of the runabouts to take off and get to the Maverick. Once we
tell the captain what’s going on down here, they may know of a way to get us
out of here, using the same method."
"It’s a
plan," Julia agreed with the logic of his words. Besides, the alternative
was to sit here and wait while they were all hunted down and killed one by one.
"Alright,"
Buck spoke up loudly, not just to those in his immediate vicinity but to the
rest of the Maverick’s Away Team. "We’re moving out."
"Buck,"
Aislynn gasped out loud and captured everyone’s undivided attention as her eyes
widened in fear. "We have to go now." She said in a hushed voice, her
eyes darting around in fear. "They’re coming."
**********
Vin Tanner blinked.
Even though he could
see clearly enough, it felt as if his vision was being bombarded by far too
many light rays. Everything before him was reflecting light to some degree and
he had concentrate for a moment to regain his equilibrium. Even though it was
impossible for him to feel the serum enter his veins through a hypospray, the
adjustment to his vision made it clear exactly when Nathan’s concoction had
done its work.
Glancing at Alex who
was looking over the phaser rifles they had brought with them, Vin wondered was
she having similar difficulties with her sight as he piloted the shuttle Worthy
out of the Maverick’s shuttle bay. Her hands moved deftly over the metal,
indicating that if she were having the same minor disorientation that he was
experiencing at the moment, she certainly was not showing it. Her eyes studied
the weapons carefully, ensuring that they were in perfect working order if
required during their rescue expedition.
The Worthy
sailed out of the shuttle bay and Vin immediately keyed in the coordinates for
the landing zone where the runabouts Midkiff
and Pearlman had put down. Among the inventory for their rescue
mission was an ample supply of the same vision adjusting serum that would allow
them to see through the illusions being cast by the alien life form for use on
the Away Team. Although not as versatile as the runabouts since it was designed
as a short range vessel, the shuttle maneuvered well once they left the shuttle
bay and made a neat arc in space towards the alien creature.
"Oh hell…"
he found himself exclaiming as he peered out of the cockpit window once the
planetoid came into view. For a few seconds, he could only stare at the life
form beyond the hull of the shuttle as the astonishment held his mind in its
powerful grip. What he was staring at looked nothing like the planetoid that it
had claimed to be, far from it in fact. There was no adequate way Vin could
describe it since there had never been a creature closely resembling it. All he
could see was pulsing pink and lavender colored flesh, gigantic veins that run
up and down the length of the creature, no eyes that he could speak off and the
ripple against its skin whenever it breathed.
"What?"
Alex asked, having looked up when he made his exclamation of surprise and
finding the speech in her throat dying as well once she caught sight of the
creature. "Oh my god." She whispered in similar awe. Suddenly, the
scientist in her kicked in and she quickly spoke up. "Computer, begin
scanning the life form."
"Unable to
comply." The computer’s dulcet voice returned. "Dampening field is
interfering with multiphasic signals."
"Continue to
scan anyway." Alex said impatiently.
"What are you
doing?" Vin asked as he set course towards the creature.
"We’ve never
seen anything like this thing before," Alex explained, her eyes still
fixed on it and wondered if there were many other creatures like this in existence.
Was it part of a race of creatures or was it a fluke of nature?
"Federation xenobiologists will have a field day with the data we
accumulate."
"Makes
sense," Vin agreed, remembering that once they were far enough away from
here, the creature’s influence over their perceptions would be broken. He would
not be surprised if all their scans would reveals a wealth of information about
the life form which had been previously obscured by its illusionary
capabilities. "It’s a shame we can’t help it by finding it some other way
to feed. It’s not killing because its evil, it’s just trying to survive."
"I know,"
Alex sighed feeling the same way. The scientist in her was impressed by this
remarkable creature, not only its ability to mask itself but truly space
dwelling life forms were rare in itself. "Maybe those xenobiologists can
learn enough about it to substitute its food source." She answered after a
moment. "Best thing we can do right now, is to get our people off and put
some distance between us and it without provoking it into attacking. I’d hate
to fire on it unless we really have to."
"No
kidding," Vin replied, his eyes still fixed on the creature's form as it
loomed closer in the cockpit window. As they approached it, they could see the
grooves of its skin, the veins that pulsed with life and no doubt internal
fluids, resembling rivers as they snaked across the creature’s entire form.
"How you
doing?" Alex asked, now that they had a moment alone.
Vin looked in her
direction long enough to realize that she was not talking about the optical
adjustment that they had both been subjected to but rather a more personal
subject. "I’m better." He said with a little smile. "Mary’s been
showing me a couple of mental exercises and I’ve been managing to get this
thing under control."
"Well, think of
this way. You could be a Betazoid." She joked.
"Christ,"
he said with a frown. "Don’t even joke about something like that."
"Hey Vin,"
Alex paused a moment, deciding this was a good at time as anything to bring up
something that had been preying on her mind since that incident between them
when he had inadvertently invaded her mind. "You know you can talk to me
about these things." She said softly.
Vin met her gaze once
more and answered just as quietly. "I didn’t want to bother you with
what’s going on in my head. I get the impression that you got troubles of your
own."
Alex let out a deep
breath and remarked. "I do," she did not bother to lie since he
probably saw something inside her mind during their meld that probably gave him
good reason to think that. "But it helps me if I can help you." Her
eyes met his and for a moment, they held each other gaze as unspoken things
passed between them that needed no words to define. "You know something,"
she said with a bittersweet expression on her face. "You’re my best friend
on this ship and I want to help you if I can. I know I’m not the easiest person
to talk to sometimes but I’ll always be there for you. You can count on
it."
"Friends
huh?" Vin nodded and though he felt immensely pleased by her words, there
was something about how she defined their relationship in the parameters of
friendship that bothered him. She was more than just a friend to her. Vin did
not understand what it was really he felt for Alex, knowing only that when he
was with her, it did not matter that he was different and not quite Vulcan. She
made him feel good about himself the way no had ever done since his foster
parents had died.
"Yeah," she
flashed him a smile, not a mere shadow of one that she often produced for
everyone else but rather a real smile reserved only for him.
"Friends."
Vin felt himself
flush with feelings he could not describe, knowing only that it filled him with
warmth whenever she looked at him that way and confirmed one thing most
definitely in his mind; that whatever she was to him;
They were certainly not
friends.
***********
They hurried away
from the rendezvous point, certain that the scent of blood from the wounded was
doing nothing to hide their escape and sooner or later, they would be found.
Despite being armed with phasers, there were too few of them who were uninjured
who could repel the animals stalking them without endangering the wounded they
were attempting to move to safety. With Julia and JD leading the way as Aislynn
led them to the approximate position of the roundabouts, Buck and Ezra took up
the rear, keeping a close eye on the terrain to ensure that nothing was
approaching them for a sneak attack.
"You realize of
course," Ezra said as his eyes skimmed the barren landscape before there
and saw nothing stirring in the dunes. "That if this creature is so adept
as to provide an illusion that would make us believe that animals bound for a
Lysian zoo were actually the crew of the Leonov, then it is all possible that
it could allow those same animals to sneak up on us before we were even aware
of it."
Buck’s gaze did not
move away from the terrain but he did stiffen enough to respond in a slow
drawl. "Are you trying to be pessimistic or does it came naturally?"
He asked sarcastically.
"Why naturally
of course Commander." Ezra responded with just as much sarcasm.
"You were right
Ezra," Buck said after a moment with more than a little more remorse in
his voice. His eyes was still fixed ahead, skimming over the horizon and trying
through the image they had been presented with to the reality beneath the
illusion.
"About
what?" Ezra looked at him mystified.
"About coming
here in the first place. We didn’t know enough about the planetoid to make a
landing. We should have been more thorough with our investigation."
Ezra sensed immediately
this confession was coming from the first officer out of the guilt he felt for
those who had died trying to rescue non-existent survivors. "Buck,"
he said in a voice not so filled with smug awareness. "You were no more
wrong than I was. We thought that there were survivors and your desire to help
them was not misguided. As Starfleet officers, it is our duty to render aid, no
matter what the risk to ourselves personally. No one could have suspected the
truth behind this place. I had suspected something was wrong but while I always
believe that the Leonov’s crew had something to hide, I did not for one moment
suspect that they were any more than who they claimed to be."
"Thanks
Ezra," Buck responded aware that the security officer was trying make him
feel better and if it were not for the fact that there were many of their
number dead, Buck might have allowed himself to feel that way. "But I
don’t think that’s going to be much comfort to Ensign Starke when its all said
and done."
"Buck watch
out!" Ezra shouted and shoved Buck out of the way when a tiger
materialized out of thin air and lunged at the first officer. The first officer
tumbled to the floor as the creature landed right in the place where he had
been standing and snarled loudly, teeth bared as it prepared to lunge again.
This time, the security officer was better prepared and he raised his arm to
fire his phaser when another feral animal sprung out of nowhere, knocking him
off his feet.
Buck scrambled to his
feet and saw both animals preparing to converge upon Ezra as the man struggled
to find the phaser that had been knocked out of his hand with the appearance of
the second animal. Powerful jaws widened, preparing to snap shut around Ezra’s
arm when Buck fired at the nearest animal even though he could hear the low
growl of a third. The phaser was set to kill and the beam struck its target,
disintegrating the animal before it had a chance to bite down on Ezra. However
the security officer was nowhere out of trouble since he had another big cat to
deal with.
Buck swung around and
fired at what appeared to be a
Using all the strength that
Ezra could muster, he flipped the creature over his shoulder, feeling warm
blood on his body and legs from where the wolf’s sharp claws had dug into him
while they had been wrestling. It landed on its back and roared in outrage as
Ezra searched frantically for his phaser when suddenly he saw the creature
struck with a beam of energy. It let out a howl of outrage as it glowed
momentarily and then disappeared altogether.
"Ezra!"
Buck hurried to him and helped the panting security officer to his feet. Ezra
was covered in dirt and blood, there were deep laceration in his skin and the
man looked visibly shaken.
"I could have
done without that," Ezra remarked retrieving his phaser. "Thank you
for your timely intervention Commander."
"My
pleasure," Buck mused with a troubled expression on his face. "Is it
me or should there have been more of those things?" He asked after a
moment's thought.
"Now that you mention it." Ezra realized what he was getting at,
forgetting the pain caused by the rips in his skin. The realization dawned upon
both of them at the same time as their eyes widened in unison.
"Oh shit!"
Buck exclaimed first, breaking away from the security officer as he ran after
the rest of the Away Team at top speed. Ezra remained behind, keeping up the
best he could even though he was bleeding in several places and the pain was
affecting him more than he would like to admit. He saw Buck disappear over the
crest of a dune when suddenly he heard the sound of phaser fire and voices
shouting in alarm.
Hobbling in pain and
leaving traces of blood as he struggled to keep up, Ezra felt his heart pound
in his chest at the thought of harm befalling Julia. The creatures that had
posed as the crew of the Leonov had sent a trio of their number after himself
and Buck, cleverly distracting them as the main group converged upon the rest
of the Away Team. Probably able to smell the scent of blood from the wounded,
the creatures were more or less assured of targets that could not be easily
defended by the scant few officers that remained.
Ezra crested the hill
and saw Julia helping a member of engineering team with severe leg injuries out
of the kill zone while JD provided as much fire as he was capable. Having
learnt their lesson the first time around, the creatures were not engaging the
armed Starfleet officers, concentrating their attention instead on the weaker members
of the group. Ezra supposed they were following the typical hunting behavior of
large predators in the wild.
Those armed were well
protected but their number was too few and Ezra noticed that in some instances,
their attackers seemed to disappear and reappear, no doubt being given
assistance by the alien life form upon which they were all trapped. Large,
jungle predators appeared out of nowhere and Ezra was hardly surprised that
none of the vegetarian exports to the Lysian zoo had survived if the dietary
requirements of these beasts were anything to go by.
Buck saw JD fending off a
large bear like animal that was moving at him with surprising speed and agility
having recognized the beams of phaser energy as something it should avoid. It
was barreling towards the kid who was trying his hardest to keep the behemoth
away from Julia and the injured officer. Buck knew instinctively he was not
going to succeed, at least not until the animal got too close for him to afford
making a mistake. As much confidence as Buck had in JD, he knew the youth was
too green to have that much pressure forced upon him and he did not deserve to
die for his inexperience.
Aiming carefully, he
tried to fire and then heard a loud, powerful roar behind him. Spinning around
as fast as he could, he barely had time to register from which direction the
attack was coming before a great weight lunged at him and he was tumbling down
the small slope, with no idea where his phaser went in the downward descent. He
could feel the hot and fetid of breadth of something extremely strong and
aggressive scratching away at him with its power hind legs. Buck let out a cry
of pain as he felt what he was certain were claws tearing at his flesh.
Both he and the
creature came to a stop at the bottom of the hill. Buck saw a set of widening
jaws preparing to take a healthy bite out of his neck before he raised his arms
in a defensive posture, allowing those inch long teeth to sink into the skin of
his forearm instead. As the mandibles closed with swift efficiency, a scream
escaped him before he even had a chance to acquaint himself with the pain that
came with that bite.
"Buck!" He
heard JD shout and saw the boy's concentration waver long enough to let the
bear creature narrow the gap between itself and JD. Buck's attention was
snapped back to his current predicament when the animal tearing at his arm
began to tighten its grip, digging teeth deeper into his flesh. Buck fought to
dislodge it from on top of him but the animal was a mass of fur, wild and strong
as it fought to stay where it was. He had to get to JD before that monster
ripped him to pieces, Buck thought desperately when suddenly a blast from what
was definitely not a hand phaser cut through the frantic sounds already
charging the air.
The creature on top
of his disappeared before his eyes as another blast was heard. Buck rolled onto
his stomach, his arm oozing blood from torn flesh as his eyes searched for the
source of this rescue. Standing not too far from the scene of the battle was
Alexandra Styles and Vin Tanner. The officer of the con had been responsible
for saving Buck's life but had little time to rest on that achievement. Vin
immediately turned his attention to the creature stalking JD and took careful
aim. Buck held his breath a moment because the shot would have to be extremely
precise since the beast was no more than inches away from JD and the distance
between shooter and target was considerable. Unsure as Vin might be about
himself at times, there was no such hesitation when he pulled the trigger on
the phaser rifle. The shot was neat and right on target, killing the creature
in mid step before it had a chance to advance any further.
Alex was also causing
similar devastation with her rifle, shooting all the attacking creatures, even
the ones they could not see. For a moment, Buck though she might have been
firing at nothing but in death, he saw tendrils of smoke emerge out of nowhere,
which did not have its origins from her rifle. As Buck understood it, it was
the alien drawing the life force from the creatures dying; feeding on the
servants that provided it with sustenance for so long. He had no idea how Alex
and Vin were managing to see but was not about to argue with the results.
Buck did not know how
long it took before enough of the creatures were shot before the others decided
that the odds was more than they were willing to risk. Almost as suddenly as
the carnage had began, it ended just as abruptly with the remaining animals
withdrawing. While the Away Team had made a valiant effort to fight the threat
as well as defend its wounded, there was no victory with the casualties that
lay dead in the sand. Buck clutched his bleeding arm and struggled to get up
when he saw Vin extending a hand towards him.
"You look like you
could use a little help there Commander." Vin said with one of those
little smiles of his which usually meant he was pleased as hell but too damn
unflappable to show it.
"Oh just a
little," Buck grinned, never thinking he could be so happy to see anyone
as Vin pulled him up easily with his Vulcan strength. "Damn, I didn't know
you were such a fine shot Elf."
Vin gave him a look
and knew if it had been anyone else he might have had cause to be offended but
Buck would never intentionally insult him. Besides, he supposed that he liked
the first officer enough to allow Buck to use that nickname on him since it was
meant in affection. "Well, some people try to do better with a phaser
rifle than their mouth." He drawled sarcastically.
"You're spending
way too much time with Alex," Buck chuckled as they walked over to join
the others.
********
Thanks to Alex and Vin's
timely arrival, the Away Team was soon led to the runabouts which were only a
few short metres away from where the creatures had chose to launch their final
attack upon the escaping Starfleet officers. The Worthy had put down
next to the runabouts after being located by Vin and Alex who were able to
track them down by making a visual search of the area. It was not hard to find
the Away Team after they had landed because the sounds of animal roars, screams
and phaser blasts was more efficient in attracting their attention that the
brightest flare.
Almost all of the
Away Team was in need of immediate medical attention and Buck wanted to get
back to the Maverick as soon as possible to meet that need. It was strange to
be told that they had boarded the runabouts when all they could see was open
landscape. JD had agreed to pilot the Midkiff while
Buck was doing the honors on the Pearlman. Of course, before they could make
any move to return to the Maverick, Alex made certain that everyone was
inoculated with the serum that Nathan had created to adjust their optical nerve
in order to be see past the illusion that the alien had created for them.
Alex was about to
press the hypospray to his arm, when suddenly Aislynn came to him. Alex seemed
to stare in something that was akin to shock as well as awe as the young woman
approached him and those who had been inoculated seemed to have the same
reaction to her. He wondered what it was they saw.
"Buck,"
Aislynn replied. "Do you promise to take me with you?" She looked at
him with those soulful eyes and he wondered what kind of creature she had been
in that other life before the Leonov. The one she would soon be returning to.
"Of course I am
going to take you with us honey." He placed his hand on her cheek again,
wanting to assure her that he would not abandon her, not after what she had
given up to help him and the crew of the Maverick. She was just a child, no
matter what species she had been born and he believed her when she said she had
no choice. "I know what you did for us Aislynn. I won't forget that."
"Thank you
Buck," she answered, tears in her eyes as she looked at him, feeling
sorrow that he would never truly understand and after this day, she would never
be able to tell anyone because she would not longer be able to speak. The days
of humanity were behind her now and she was ready to accept it. Perhaps she had
been from the first moment he had looked at her. "I want to see the stars.
I want to see the stars just once."
"I'll see to
it." He replied, feeling the emotion in his heart for this young girl,
this child who wanted so much and was doomed not to have it from the very
beginning. "I promise you."
That was enough. She
believed him because he was Commander Buck Wilmington, a man of honor and a man
who would never conscious hurt a lady, even one like her. She stepped away and
nodded to Alex, as if she was ready now for him to see her nod. Alex gave
Aislynn a long look before turning to Buck and pressing the hypospray against
his arm.
A loud hiss followed
and Buck waited for the serum to take full effect. According to Alex, it would
take no more than a few seconds. His eyes moved across the barren landscape of
the planetoid that had been the grave of so many ships and so many poor souls
before their arrival. He watched as the sandy dunes disappeared, watched in a
mixture of shock and mild horror as craggy terrain suddenly drained i into
living breathing flesh that was capable of producing the most amazing feat of
deception Buck had ever known. He saw the dark sky against the alien's form and
then he looked forward.
At Aislynn.
She was at his feet. A
small bundle of fur, not at all threatening and dangerous as her fellow
crewmates had been. She had not lied when she confessed to being the smallest.
She was little more than a kitten and beautiful in her own way. Golden in
color, her pelt gleamed under the light of the stars. She looked at him with
feline eyes and when she opened her mouth, a soft kittenish purr spoke to him
in words he could no longer understand.
The language of a
Selurian minx cat.
Buck leaned over and picked
up the small creature into his arms and offered her a smile because no matter
what she was, he had made her a promise. JD, Ezra and Julia wore the same
stricken expression, sorrow in their eyes for creature that made a most
charming young girl and proved more far more efficiently than anyone could have
possibly imagined what it was to be human.
Epilogue
"Captains Logs
Stardate 23.25.01 - Following the rescue of our
crewmen from the clutches of the space creature impersonating a planetoid, I
have ordered the permanent establishment of a warning beacon in the system
known as J12. The beacon will transmit a continuous automated signal to any
passing ships, warning them of the creature and its powers of illusion. At the
behest of Commander Styles, we have also sent all records regarding the
creature to Starfleet Command in the hopes that the Xenobiology Department may
be able to find some way to supplement its usual source of food with a
substitute. It our hope that this would allow it to keep from preying on life
forms that comes across its path. After all, the creature can hardly be
considered evil as the Commander informed me and it is an opinion I tend to
agree with. Like any living thing, its need to feed is a natural function of
survival and should no more be held accountable for its actions than a whale
might be responsible for the plankton it eat s. I suppose it's really a matter
of perception.
"Since I have been rather accommodating with requests today, I have also
granted Commander Wilmington's permission to send down a supply of food for the
life forms still living in symbiosis with the creature. While we are unable to
help the creature itself, we can provide sustenance for the animals that were
left behind in the wake of the Leonov's destruction and food drops will be made
periodically for as along as the life forms exist. Like the creature, they
cannot be held accountable for their actions when their motivation was to feed.
Starfleet Command may question my leniency on this matter but there is nothing
served by destroying either the alien or the predators that exist upon it. It
is my hope that someday, we may understand one in order to help both."
"Under recommendations from Commander Wilmington, I have put in official
commendations for Lieutenant Commander Standish and Lieutenant Commander
Styles, if not for the foresight of both, we may have lost more crew than we
had. I will also be penning letters to the families of the crewmen we did lose,
including Ensign Standish. Complete log entry, Captain Christopher Larabee."
Chris ended his log entry and took a deep breath, easing back into his chair
after the rather lengthy report. He glanced out the window of his ready room
and saw the stars blurring past them at high warp. Chris could not say he was
not glad for the quiet after the last few days. Following their return to the
ship, most of the Away Team had spent a great deal of time under the
ministrations of the chief medical officer being treated for a number of
injures. Most of these were severe trauma caused by animal mauling but
fortunately, their return to the Maverick had saved their lives.
Josiah had called earlier this morning to inform Chris that the Maverick's crew
count had risen by one. It seemed that for the first time in his life, Buck
Wilmington was actually having a young lady to stay permanently in his
quarters. Chris supposed that despite the fact that the young lady was actually
a Selurian Minx Cat, this was nonetheless a big
improvement for a man who got nervous if he had to buy more than one matching
dinner plate because it was felt just too much like commitment. Still, Chris
had read Buck's report and understood his old friend's reasoning for taking
responsibility for the creature and in truth; it was just like Buck to do
something like that.
Chris was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the familiar melodic
chirping of someone at his door. "Come in," he responded
automatically, beckoning them into his private sanctum.
The doors slid open and young Casey Wells peered through the sliding doors
"Captain, you wanted me to remind you that you had an appointment with
Lieutenant Tanner on the holodeck?"
Chris glanced at the chronometer on the wall and swore when he realized what
time it was. He and Vin were going to try climbing the Machupuchare as they had
intended days ago before this had all began. As it was, he was due to be
meeting Vin at the holodeck in ten minutes and was glad Casey had dropped in to
remind him or else he would have forgotten completely. Finishing the entry in
the Captain's Log, Chris put down his data pad and decided to get moving. With
a devious smile, Chris wondered if they ought to invite Ezra along. After all,
the security officer was quite the expert at mountain climbing after his
adventures on the most recent Away mission.
"Thanks Casey," he offered the girl a grateful smile for the reminder
as she advanced deeper into the office and took note of the data pad on his
desk.
"Your log entry Sir?" She asked politely, since one of her tasks as
his Yeoman was to ensure that such documentation was stored away as well as
copies made for transmission to Starfleet Command.
"Yeah," he nodded as he stood up from behind his desk. "You can
file it away tomorrow if you like." He replied, "I know you and JD
had plans for the evening." He recalled hearing the youth discussing it on
the bridge earlier and did not want to stand in the way of their plans with
something that could wait until tomorrow. It would not make any difference if
Starfleet Command received his report now or a day later; the outcome would
still remain the same.
"Thank you Sir," she brightened up immediately and brought an
involuntary smile to Chris' jaded features. Despite himself, Chris found
himself assuming rather protective role over the young woman who seemed far too
young for life out in space on her own.
"Just beware of young ensigns with tall tales and mood lighting." He
warned as he started across the carpeted floor toward the door, not entirely
joking with her.
"Oh Captain," Casey giggled and blushed at the same time. "JD's
not like that."
"I was an Ensign once Casey," Chris retorted, not believing that
for one minute, as they both started to leave the room. "And I can tell
you, they'reall like that."
***********
"May I join you?" Josiah Sanchez asked Mary Travis who was finishing
her cup of hot Vulcan tea while taking advantage of the panoramic view offered
by
"Certainly," the protocol officer flashed him a radiant smile and
Josiah could tell by the bright glow on her face that she was in good spirits
today Josiah decided she had very good reason to be proud of her efforts as
well as being in such a good mood. Following his conversation with Vin Tanner
this morning, Josiah knew that much of Mary's elevated spirits had to do with
the young Vulcan. Vin had appeared a great deal happier than he had been when
Josiah had last seen him and most of this had been due to his lessons with
Mary. Mary's new approach to teaching him the Vulcan disciplines he had so much
trouble mastering in the beginning was proving to be a rousing success. It
would not be long before Vin was able to exert the control over his telepathic
abilities like other Vulcans and that gave the young man great peace of mind.
"Unfortunately, I can stay long." Mary confessed to Josiah even
though she allowed him to join her. "I've got to meet Julia at Holodeck 3
in about ten minutes. I am required to provide assistance in the name of
sisterhood." She said enigmatically.
"I won't ask," Josiah remarked as he nestled himself across the table
with a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. "I just wanted to let you know
that I saw Vin for his scheduled appointment and without going into detail, I
can safely say that your lessons have had a marked improvement in his self esteem."
Mary beamed despite herself, feeling singularly proud that she was able to help
him. "I'm glad." She admitted, taking a sip of tea and swallowing a
little before she continued to speak again. "He's doing so well, now that
I know how to teach him properly. In a couple of weeks blocking other people’s
thoughts is going to be as common to him as a reflex action. He's actually a
very quick learner."
"Well he has a good teacher." The Counselor offered her a warm smile.
"You have done wonders for his spirits in that regard. You've made him
understand that he is out of touch as far as what a proper Vulcan is supposed
to be, only by choice, not by ability. That makes a big difference."
"He has you to thank as much as me Josiah," Mary looked at him.
"If you had not set me straight, it would never have occurred to me to
take that approach. In fact," she stared at him with narrowed eyes that
held hint of accusation. "I think that you are very Machiavellian. You
sneak around our backs and give us this oh so gentle nudge in the right
direction. I had no idea that you could be so sneaky." Mary grinned.
"Sneaky, I?" Josiah looked at her with complete innocence. "I
have not idea what you mean, Lieutenant Travis."
"I'll bet you don't." Mary rolled her eyes skeptically. "Come
on," she learned closer to him. "What's your secret?"
"Being married to a Betazoid." Josiah finally confessed. "Either
you learn to do things under the table or you get used to being in trouble a
lot." He said looking about furtively as the words escaped him.
"And I thought being married to a Vulcan was hard," she smiled.
"I'll never complain again." She conceded defeat as she laughed
shortly. After a moment, she sobered up a little and remarked in a more serious
note because she remembered what had been the point of this exercise in the
first place. Mary had not forgotten that Josiah wanted Vin to trust her, to
bring to her the questions about his Vulcan heritage that he could not ask
anyone else.
"I'll be there for him Josiah." Mary declared without doubt or
hesitation because she wanted to be there for Vin as someone else had been
there for her once upon a time when she had first arrived on Vulcan knowing
nothing. She owed it to anyone who had ever needed help and been offered it by
someone compassionate who cared for no reason other than they were just needed.
She intended to be there for Vin Tanner, for all his questions.
********
Alexandra Styles wondered
why she was doing this.
She would rather be in her quarters at this time of the day, listening to
Puccini or Deborah Harry whichever came first, while soaking in a luxuriously
hot bubble bath. She could just picture the soft scent of lavender in her
nostrils and the delightful heat against her skin and wondered why on earth she
had let Julia talk her into going to the holodeck to partake in some revenge
that the chief engineer had planned for their security chief. Then Alex
recalled that Julia had appealed to the worst common denominator, using words
like sisterhood, women who suffered together in times past, all those feminist
buzzwords that had been immortalized in the centuries before them.
Oh stop complaining, Alex told herself as she stepped out of the turbo
lift into the corridor that would take her to the holodeck. If Mary could take
the time to be supportive of Julia's plans this evening, Alex supposed it was
not too much of an annoyance if she contributed an hour of her life to this
enterprise. After all, it was not like she had any plans this evening. Not that
Alex was upset that she was free. She was perfectly aware that if she wanted
suitors, Buck Wilmington would be on her doorstep so fast she would not know
what had hit her until breakfast. However, Alex was not ready for dating yet
and she doubted she ever would be. Of course she was a grown woman and like any
other, she had all the baggage that went with being a woman her age that did
not have a significant other in her life. Which made her question why Julia was
so intent on torturing Ezra when it was obvious to everyone that the chief
engineer was crazy about the man.
Ah well, Alex thought with a
wicked smile. No accounting for taste, she supposed.
She turned the corner and saw Mary ahead of her. Alex hastened her pace and caught
up with the protocol officer, since they were both headed in the same
direction. "Hello Mary." Alex greeted as she strode up alongside the
blond woman.
"Right on time for our joint flaming of Commander Standish?" Mary
asked with a little smile as she felt into stride with the science officer.
"The things we do in the name of sisterhood." Alex rolled her eyes
with a weary sigh.
"By the way," Mary remarked. "I didn't want to ask her this but
perhaps you can tell me what exactly did Ezra do to warrant this torture?"
"Oh you haven't heard?" Alex chuckled remembering the story Buck had
told her and the rest of the bridge for that matter and quickly explained to
the protocol officer who had been absent at the time, of the entire incident
involving the disastrous first date between Julia Pemberton and Ezra Standish.
The story had Mary in stitches by the time Alex was done telling it and the
blond woman held her hand over her mouth as she laughed. "Oh my," she
said still giggling. "That poor man. I don't envy him."
"Neither do I," Alex agreed with her on that score. "Although I
can't imagine what women of the 20th century found so fascinating
about watching half naked men with oiled skin with tight fitting shorts dancing
to bad music."
As they said that, both women stopped short at the sight of Chris Larabee and
Vin Tanner wearing form fitting mountain climbing clothes that left nothing
to the imagination. Alex and Mary went very silent as they watched the two men
walk through the doors of the holodeck, with every perfect sinew and muscle
displayed under the thin layer of fabric that covered their bodies, oblivious
to the fact that they were being watched. In a second they were gone, leaving
Alex and Mary releasing a long wistful sigh in unison.
"What time did Julia say we had to be there?" Alex asked with a
perfectly straight face.
"Oh about now," Mary mused while she still staring at the closed door
even though Chris and Vin had long gone.
"Let's hurry." Alex replied.
*********
Ezra Standish had a bad
feeling about this.
The restaurant in which he and Julia Pemberton were currently dining was all
very tasteful and yet there was something about the volume of women in the
place that made the chief of security rather concerned. The setting was 20th
century Earth and although they were technically alone, since the women in the
place were all holodeck creations, Ezra had this feeling of ominous foreboding
even though Julia had been nothing but pleasant throughout most of the evening.
Perhaps it was because he was naturally suspicious but something about the
place, in particular the stage in the centre of the room made Ezra nervous. The
restaurant itself had a very curious name Le Bares and seemed to be a
popular nightspot for women, as he appeared to be the only man present.
The floorshow had yet to begin and as Ezra dined on the very fine meal of Duck
L’Orange with charming
"I am surprised," he confessed taking a sip of the
"Well," she met his gaze with a little smile. "I knew it was not
your intention to make me put my head inside the mouth of a very large jungle
cat. After the week we’ve had, it just seemed like a dress rehearsal for the
main event."
"Yes," Ezra frowned, having thought the same thing after it was all
said and done. "It was rather coincidental wasn’t it. I do apologize, I
had no idea that Caesar’s Palace would be so…"
"The word is tacky." Julia said abruptly.
"Believe it or not, I was aiming for opulent." He countered, giving
her a look that reminded her of a little boy asking forgiveness.
"Well it was a good if somewhat misguided effort." She replied
sweetly.
Suddenly the holodeck doors activated and slid open. The doors materialized out
of thin air although none of the other holodeck inspired patrons seemed to
notice its presence. When the doors slid open, revealing the outside corridor,
Alexandra Styles and Mary Travis entered much to Ezra surprise.
"Are we late?" Mary asked as they approached the duo’s table.
"No," Julia shook her head, unsurprised by their arrival since she
had obviously invited them. "You’re right on time."
"What is going on?" Ezra asked, being revisited by those ominous
feelings again as both Mary and Alex pulled up chairs at their table and sat
down, trying to hide the sniggers that were threatening to steal across their
features and give the game away.
"Computer, secure all exits and encrypt activation mechanism in accordance
to my authorization code. Pemberton 225471 and run upgrade program to current
holodeck program Pemberton 4 and respond to voice command only from me."
She said giving him a look of pure mischief and then eased back into her chair
in order to enjoy the fun that would soon begin.
"What do you intend on putting me through?" He questioned, having
guessed now that this was the revenge that she had promised him, as he saw the
master of ceremonies appear on the stage floor.
"Oh nothing that will hurt as much as sticking one’s head in the open jaws
of a tiger." Julia deadpanned.
"And pray tell what are you ladies here for?" He turned to Alex and
Mary.
"Sisterhood." Mary said without hesitation.
"Ladies, welcome to Le Bares." The MC captured all their
attention when his loud voice boomed across the room. Upon his greeting, all
the women excepting Julia, Mary and Alex broke out into riotous cheering that
made Ezra very worried. "Tonight, we have something very special in store
for you who have come to see the beautiful young men of Le Bares who are
more than ready to perform for you."
"Beautiful young men?" Ezra exclaimed and then suddenly realized with
a splash of cold water what Le Bares actually was. His realization made
him stand up abruptly but Julia stopped him before he could flee .
"Hold it right there pardner," Julia ordered firmly in her best
western impersonation. "You ain’t going nowhere." Without any
hesitation, she pulled him back into her seat with a satisfied look on her
face.
"Julia, let us discuss this like rational human beings." He began to
stutter, having some idea of the horror in store for him now and knew that he
had a damn good reason to be very afraid.
"Rational hell," Alex drawled. "We want to see some skin."
"Yes," Mary added her voice to that request, remembering what it was
that was so fun about serving with humans again. Vulcans just did not have any
appreciation regarding the delicacy of strip clubs. "To be specific
yours."
"Mine?" He stammered.
"Didn’t I tell you?" Julia looked at him innocently. "Le Bare’s special performance tonight involves audience
participation and wouldn’t you know it? I program this entire place with only one
male in the audience."
Ezra groaned and then grabbed the bottle of
The things a man did for love.
*********
Whenever Buck Wilmington
wanted to see stars, he normally went to
Unknowingly, he sat at the place normally occupied by Vin Tanner. Buck sat
perched right against the glass, gently running palm across the fur of the
creature curled up most contently in his lap while her wide eyes watched the
stars outside with fascination. The Selurian Minx Cat was hardly the most
conventional of choices for a first time pet, but then Buck knew he would never
be able to see the creature as a pet. A part of him would never be able to cast
his gaze on this magnificent animal without remembering the sweet young girl
that she had been once in another life. Buck had made that girl a promise and
it was one he would die keeping because of what she had given up out of love for
him.
She, who was once a young lady, called Aislynn.
Aislynn, in her new guise, seemed aware of his mutual affection for her and
raised her small head to let out a purr of contentment while her glowing eyes
sparkled with the starlight that moved past them both. Buck made a mental note
that he would do this again. He made Aislynn a promise that he would not
abandon her and it was a duty he was happy to keep because the memory of that
young girl would remain with him as long as he kept this exquisite creature in
his life.
And they could both see the stars.
THE END