Spectrophobia - Part Two

Posted on Saturday February 19th, 2022 @ 10:56pm by Commander Kanaka Shakura & Captain Franklin Johnson & Lieutenant Commander Paul Sharpe & Lieutenant Commander Nivora T'vek & Lieutenant Commander T'Pri & Commander Sam Perkins & Lieutenant Commander Calvin Hirsch

10,528 words; about a 53 minute read

Mission: S1-A1-Ep. 1: Spectrophobia
Location: Various
Timeline: In the Betreka Nebula; North-East Sector Thirteen
Tags: Betreka Nebula, Away Team, Akril-Class Starship, Cardassians, Russhook, Metalloid Creature, Piracy, Hirsch Injured

"The Briefing"
Forward Briefing Room, Deck 6
U.S.S. Poseidon

Commander Shakura had left the Captain's Ready Room less than an hour ago and had already set about requesting the presence of her desired Away Team. Yet as she waited for them to assemble with her in the Forward Briefing Room down on Deck 6, time had seemed to slow to an almost excruciating crawl. In the pit of her stomach, the Commander could feel that they were likely on the cusp of discovering something. She had a number of predictions as to what, but her only hope was that whatever it was, it would not put the crew in any more immediate danger than they were already in.

She looked out into the Nebula beyond, the debris from the many Cardassian and Klingon ships that once fought here - or, perhaps, had been gathered here - floating about with a menacing calm. Harmless on their own, but collectively and combined with the gases of the Nebula, they posed a serious challenge to the Poseidon's manoeuvrability and ability to detect incoming threats. That was even before you considered the carcasses of the Cardassian Akril-Class and Klingon K'vort-Class that floated just slightly below them a few clicks away. As she considered all the possible dangers, Kana's eyes also drifted over to the mural on the far side of the Briefing Room, which showed a damaged Poseidon fighting valiantly in Operation Return during the Dominion War. The words "OPERATION RETURN: Never forget those who served" brought back her own memories of that dreadful conflict, of those she lost on Betazed, and then of those they'd lost more recently during the Battle of the Bright Nebula.

Kana was determined that there would be no more losses today and that their mission may help provide some crucial evidence as to not only the operations of pirates and smugglers in the Nebula but also the mysterious goings-on as of late. If it all inevitably led to the Poseidon being able to withdraw itself safely, the Executive Officer would be contented.

"I still can't fathom why Starfleet would deem this an acceptable mission for a recommissioned vessel serving as a training opportunity for cadets..." The thought had been nibbling away at her for some time, but this recent escalation in the stakes had her questioning it even more. She knew that Commodore Paladin likely had answers, and had been avoiding giving them for some time. After this, she had half a mind to want to force it out of him, one way or another.

It was at that moment that the summoned officers began to arrive.

Lt. Hirsch had entered the briefing room noticing the dark-haired Betazoid, Commander. His peripheral vision told Cal that he was the first to arrive.
“Commander Shakura.” Calvin offered a sharp, respectful one-off salute. As he held his security padds at his right side. The Lt. held his silver mug of coffee in his left hand.

"Lieutenant Hirsch, thank you for coming." Kana stood to greet Hirsh and receive his salute. It did not surprise her that he was the first to arrive; the Chief of Security had quickly developed his reputation for being punctual. "Please, do take a seat. The others should be with us shortly."

Next in was Commander Sharpe, he noticed that he was not alone "hello Lieutenant Hirsch, hope you are well this day?" He asked then settled his gaze on the First Officer as he took a seat "hello Commander, you look well all things going smoothly on the bridge?" He asked.

"Hello, Sharpe." Kana gave a polite smile as the Chief Engineer strode in with his usual peppiness, serving as quite a contrast to his counterpart from security. "The Bridge has been performing diligently, especially as we've come closer to our suspected pirate enclave. Everyone seems determined to not get caught out this time."

Pulling on memories of his time in Security Sharpe nodded in understanding.

With a long-striding gait that wasted little time or effort, T'vek strode in and without breaking stride taking his seat with a polite nod and a single word only mildly drawled, "Commander," in his usual idle tones as he wasted little else with pleasantries, despite by his normal standards having given Kana a warm and effusive greeting. He instead preferred to let his free hand dance across a PADD. the issue of contaminated medical supplies still continued to dominate much of his time, that and other matters, quite as to what he was working on could have been any guess, with the display showing the highly angular Romulan script along with a series of rapidly rotating base-pair sequences. Although on the surface level appearing in some ways disrespectful, in truth both he and Kana had reached something of an understanding since he had come aboard, in any case as most could attest, he simply preferred to hurl himself into his work and had little time for pleasantries.

Sam was next to arrive. He had been rather surprised to hear that the meeting had been called. At the back of his mind, he wondered why. Perhaps it had something to do with the recent lack of probe data? The rumour wagon had of course taken off. But Perkins ignored the gossip. Facts. That is what scientists dealt with. Not wide-eyed scary story’s.

“ Greetings Commander,” Sam said taking a seat.

"T'vek, Perkins, welcome." Kana welcomed them both respectively as they each entered one after the other. She was well-accustomed with T'vek's abrupt nature by now, but she was pleased that the two had come to an understanding through their interactions so far. She was confident that as they continued to work together, their understanding and respect would only continue to grow.

She was also glad to see Perkins arrive, much more animated and full of vim than he had been when she last saw him in the Medbay. She sensed a lot more confidence in him, which was reassuring, especially as the upcoming Away Mission would require everyone to be alert and at the top of their game. Kana had every confidence that Sam would not disappoint.

The last to arrive was Lieutenant Commander T'Pri and Captain Johnson. The Captain curtly turned the corner to his seat as he sat and adjusted his uniform. For some reason, he looked slightly dishevelled. Kana had encouraged him to attend so that he could be abreast of the plan and so the crew could see the mission had his confidence. The Executive Officer made a mental note of his dishevelled appearance, but for now, acknowledged him with a polite nod.

Now that everyone had been assembled, Kana cleared her throat and stood at the head of the rectangular briefing table as she began.

"Thank you all for coming so promptly and at such short notice. As you're all already aware, just over an hour ago we arrived in North-East Sector Thirteen of the Betreka Nebula, on our approach towards the probable location of a pirate space hub, as identified by the diligent work of Lieutenant Commander T'Pri and Lieutenant Hirsch." As she spoke, the lights dimmed and the Holoprojector in the centre of the table beamed to life, first displaying their current route and projected destination across the Betreka Nebula, before enhancing the image on the current sector.

"Upon arrival, we were forced to execute an emergency stop out of warp speed due to the high density of debris in the area. A quick survey of the gas clouds in this sector by the ship's scanners identified two central masses which may be the cause of a lot of this debris..." The holoprojector's image enhanced again, this time showing the Akril-Class and the K'vort-Class suspended together, their war dance long over but their dance of eternal silence now being witnessed by all those assembled.

"This may be the remains of the confrontation between the Cardassian Union and Klingon Empire over a century ago. However, due to our proximity to the pirate enclave and all our intelligence indicating they've been employing a more offensive posture as of late - with the means to effectively threaten even Federation vessels and commandeer them - there's good reason to believe this graveyard may also be a salvage yard. In order to determine whether this is the case, and so as to get an idea of what potential threats we may be facing, the Captain and I have determined a Forensic Away Team is necessary in order to assess the threat."

Kana paused for a brief moment, so as to allow the assembled crew members time to process the information they were being given. She knew it would be a lot to take in at once, but she also knew all those present were absolute professionals and would be just as eager as her to get on with the job. A simple tap of the control panel at the head of the table had the holoprojector's image change to that of an on-file reconstruction of an Akril-Class Starship, close to the one just ahead of them, though more in-tact.

"Sensors indicate there is nothing currently present that should disrupt us beaming aboard the Bridge of the Akril-Class. We will want to ascertain what state the ship is in internally - whether we are able to access the ship's computer, if one is still remaining, and from there figure out how much of the ship's systems remain. Priority should be given to weapons, shields and the ship warp engines. It's imperative that we remain diligent while carrying out our work; if this is indeed a salvage yard for pirates and smugglers, the likelihood of these wrecks being trapped or possibly being scavenged as we speak is not something that we can rule out."

She shot them all a stern look, before concluding. "If we complete these tasks swiftly and with little difficulty, we will repeat the process for the K'vort-Class. Due to the extensive damage on both ships, breathing masks and atmospheric suits will be required since we cannot guarantee the integrity of either ship's atmosphere. In the event of a confrontation with hostile parties, we will pacify if possible, but a prolonged engagement is something we should avoid at all costs."

With that, the holoprojector's image disappeared as the lights brightened slowly. "Any questions or comments before we proceed?"

"Commander, Mr Hirsch and I have mapped the currents and eddies of the Nebula and have determined that we can in fact launch enough passive sensors to effectively monitor any movements within the nebula. There is enough cyclohexane to act as a waveguide so that we can run a parametric scan in three dimensions. This will allow us to track pirate movements, without the pirates knowing. There are enough dilithium-hydroxyls in the nebula to make detecting passive sensors nearly impossible." T'Pri advised.

Kana listened to Lieutenant Commander T'Pri's suggestion, rubbing her chin between her thumb and index finger. "That is certainly a viable solution to ensure the Poseidon's security. We will of course run the risk of losing some of those sensors to the excess of debris out there in the sector, but they are certainly far more expendable than all the lives on board this vessel." She thought for only a moment longer before nodding in the affirmative to T'Pri. "See it's done before we depart."

Lt. Hirsch turned his listening from Commander T’Pri. The science behind the idea is quite fascinating. The simple fact is that Poseidon had the capabilities with its overhead sciences cluster to operate such signals and waveguide matches were invaluable.

“I am certain. There will be booby traps. This is a Cardassian ghost ship as we know, traps are designed to kill or injure a person who activates its trigger or is employed to reveal the location of an enemy by setting off a signalling device.” Hirsch had added. “So, if we do set off a signal to the pirates, wherever they might be.”

“The pirate traps, especially Cardassian traps” Hirsch gestured on the tabletop. “Lie in exploiting natural human behaviours such as habit, self-preservation, curiosity, or greed. A common trick is to provide victims with a simple solution to a problem, for example, leaving one hatch open in an otherwise secure vessel, thereby luring raiders straight toward any valuables left onboard.”

Kana listened carefully to the Chief of Security's suggestions regarding the possible traps that could have been left in wait for them or other unsuspecting scavengers. "That is very valuable information, Lieutenant. I suggest that when we board the bridge, we begin by looking out for signs of these simple solutions so as to not get caught off-guard. We shall have to be very careful with our movements, and ensure nobody is left unattended for long."

Sharpe ran what was said and what he had seen through his mind before he spoke "when we get onto the bridges of those ships I will see if I can restore the limited atmosphere to the bridges, but our EVA suits will still be required as I cannot say the same for the gravity generators, I will know more when I get over there" Sharpe said.

The Executive Officer nodded in the affirmative to Sharpe. "Understood. As I said, our first priority should be the computers and any information remaining in their registry. Once we can be sure we're secure in our immediate vicinity, then we can look at restoring other systems. We don't want to give ourselves away too easily."

Captain Johnson looked at the bunch. He had remained quiet for a reason.

"I want you all to have a report on my desk by this evening of this material. We're being reassigned."

Kana could tell just by the tone in the Captain's voice that he was tired and fed up, likely frustrated by the constant rings he was having to run around with Starfleet. She had seen this in almost every Commanding Officer she had served under; it seemed that as the Federation extended itself further and further, the more of the light and optimism it sacrificed in the name of some conception of peak efficiency. It made her sad, but right now she had little time to dwell on it.

"Alright," She said, looking out across the room. "We know our mission, and we understand our objectives. You all have an hour to conclude your business elsewhere before we convene in the Transporter Room. I'll have our EVA suits prepared and waiting for us. The Captain will be on the Bridge and I'll be sure to keep him updated as our mission progresses. Dismissed."

"The Away Team"
The Command Bridge, remains of the Akril-Class Starship
Betreka Nebula

It had been a while since Kana had had to use one of the Federation's transporters, and upon immediately arriving at their destination, she had to take a deep breath through her nostrils. The sensation was made doubly uncomfortable by the fact she was having to breathe through the filtered air of her EVA suit, which had such a clear taste it made it obvious it wasn't regular air. She would personally be thankful to not have to be in the suit for any longer than a few minutes if the mission was carried off successfully.

Within a few seconds of materialising, light began to come into focus and so the shape of the Cardassian command bridge defined itself. High arches and curved walls dominated the space, and grated floors gave a rather heavy industrial and oppressive feel to the entire space. The only light currently coming into the space was that being emitted by their EVA suits, so they had very few lines through which to see everything. Reaching for her belt, she pulled from it a flashlight that helped expand their field of view.

The auxiliary stations of the bridge now came into view, long since frosted over from the cold vacuum of space. What's more, they weren't vacant; the still remains of humanoid lifeforms - most probably Cardassians - still sat at their posts, waiting eternally for relief orders that would never come. At other points around the Bridge, other humanoid forms floated gently around, perhaps a little more than anyone would have anticipated for a ship that had been dormant for so long. There was a brief moment of pause among the Away Team as the scene became all the more clear in front of them before the Commander took charge of her Team.

"Sharpe, T'Pri, I want you to see if you can access the computer. T'vek, Perkins, I want you to check on these bodies and our atmosphere and make doubly sure nothing has been deliberately placed or tampered with. Hirsch, you and I are going to make sure our immediate vicinity is secure from those traps you mentioned. Let's be prudent."

"Yes Commander," Sharpe said and moved over to one of the auxiliaries consoles and pulled off the front maintenance cover then speaking in general "you know the simplicity of Cardassian engineering makes my job easier as there are no excessive redundancies like on Fed tech," he said wishing he could get closer, but with an EVA suit on it was impossible. After working a moment "Commander T'Pri if you go over to the auxiliary security console, you should now have access to any logs of this ship, give me one moment and I should be able to restore some systems" he said and got to work.

T'Pri tried to access the auxiliary computer, it was functioning. The main computer was still down.

"The auxiliary computer is online, accessing the logs. Seems the computer was accessed three weeks ago after a century or more of inactivity. I believe this ship has been scavenged. The internal sensors are reading that the weapons systems, shields and thrusters have been disconnected at the hardware level. Possibly scavenged. Internal sensors indicate no other life forms are present." T'Pri said.

Giving T'Pri a thumbs up in response, Sharpe returned to work, once again cursing at the EVA suit, he pulled out a PADD specifically designed to work with EVA gloves and tapped some things in and suddenly the lights and gravity came on, the floating bodies fell to the floor with a plunk "okay Commander Sakura, we have limited power, gravity and oxygen on the bridge, it will be cold, but we can survive with gloves and helmets off" Sharpe said removing his helmet "oh wow that is cold" he said and a moment later off came the gloves.

"Okay now to see if I can gain us more access to the ship's computers," Sharpe said as he got to work and began to mumble to himself as he got engrossed in his task. "Ouch!" he exclaimed as the systems gave him a little shock, he looked to see where he could take any power from and was quite surprised "now is that not interesting" he exclaimed.

"I believe there was extensive computer damage when the targeting and weapon systems were removed. Whomever it wasn't interested in preserving equipment or were in a hurry to get away with their goods. Given enough time We can probably restore the main computer if I can get to the computer core." T'Pri reported.

"The computer was accessed three weeks ago? That's not a good sign..." Kana turned on her heel to face Sharpe at the auxiliary panel as he began his work and felt the swift change in the atmosphere as he managed to restore some of the essential life-support systems. It amazed her how quickly he managed to restore things, especially on a ship that was supposedly abandoned long ago. As he began to take off his helmet and his gloves in order to ease his work, the Executive Officer raised a hand of caution to both him and the rest of the team.

"I'd advise only taking them off if absolutely necessary, and even then, do not keep them off for long. If you've been able to restore them, there's no guarantee that someone else won't be able to shut them off again without warning, or that they might not falter."

Her caution only seemed to half-register with the Chief Engineer as he continued his tinkering and seemed to discover something through the console.

"What is it, Sharpe?" Kana queried while making sure to keep the rest of the Away Team locked in her peripheral vision.

"Understood on the gloves and helmet Commander, but I need the dexterity of my bare hands," he said "I will put them back on when I am done here, as for what I found is a heavily encrypted log, interesting" Sharpe said moving ODN lines to other locations, this allowed the console he was working at to light up "aha!" he cracked his knuckles "okay, time to use one of the algorithms I created for such moments," he said as he got to work his hands flew over the screen and he spoke directing what he said to Kana.

"You see Commander before I became an Engineer I was a Security Officer, from one of a team on a ship to being Security Chief at one point and over the years I picked up a few things and my hobby was what worked best for me, my engineering speciality is ODN, EPS and Computer specialist, so breaking through this Cardassian encryption should be child's-play," he said.

After a short moment "Eureka!" he exclaimed and his face fell "Umm... This file states that this ship contained some stasis pods, there is no mention of what is exactly in them, only the word Lifeforms, this could mean anything, but it seems these have their own power source" Sharpe said looking over at the First Officer with a puzzled look "why in the hell would a Cardassian ship that was entering a warzone have such things on the ship?" He asked.

Kana listened intently as the Chief Engineer explained his process and what he had uncovered. The Betazoid Commander was indeed just as surprised as he was at the discovery, and in the brief moment she had to think tried to come up with any knowledge she had of why the Cardassians - if it had been the Cardassians at all who had placed these supposed stasis pods here during its original service - had them here. Unfortunately, she drew blanks. "Your guess is as good as mine, Sharpe. We'll just have to take the data back with us to the Poseidon and try and deduce it further with some distance, and perhaps the assistance of Starfleet Intelligence."

"As I said I will need to find and access the computer core to get access to the main computer. The information systems on the bridge have been gutted." T'Pri said. "Permission to leave the bridge and get down to the computer core, Commander."

"I'm afraid I will have to deny that, T'Pri," Kana said. "There are still too many unknown's about the deeper confines of the ship and its structural integrity; even with what Sharpe has managed to restore, the risks are still too great. What's more, if the computer was indeed accessed fairly recently, there's no knowing how much the ship has been tampered with."

Perkins was getting used to the transport lees on the Poseidon. His feeling of nausea vanished quite quickly. He moved over to one of the floating bodies. Looking at T’vek he pointed to a dark area on the chest of the corpse.

“Phaser burn mark maybe? The body is quite well preserved. Possibly due to lack of atmosphere.” Sam looked at his tricorder. “ Interesting some of the Nebula's gases seemed to be mixed into the fabric. This could be why these poor people are not dust. What do you think?” Sam asked T’vek

Suppressing a scowl and a grimace T'vek idly drawled with exaggerated patience bordering almost on condescension "Federation Phase burns to be exact, the tissue damage is consistent with federation technology of the era, the more concerning element is that Federation Phasers were utilised in an apparent battle between Klingons who prefer to use Bat'leth's and Disruptors in boarding actions, and Cardassians who likewise use their own version of disruptors, Spiral-Wave Disruptors, both of which rarely leave remains behind." He demurred mentally running through his prior diagnosis of the man wondering how basic details about two major powers handled boarding actions, mentally weighing up that the man was either still addled from his injuries or unobservant, before deciding he didn't much care for either answer and continuing on.

"As for the particulate, recent addition, indicative of partial re-pressurisation, the corpses surviving this long is hardly surprising, based on the partial cellular degradation, decompression was mostly complete within hours of death, with only trace amounts of atmosphere remaining afterwards. There is something altogether more concerning, however." He paused for a moment to confirm the details on his Tricorder with some trepidation, knowing already this sort of detail would not be recognised for what it was by the others, mentally weighing up his options and how best to phrase it without causing an incident before stepping away to tap to a private frequency "Commander Kanaka, I'm reading a compound I'm unwilling to discuss in this setting in the atmosphere, suffice it to say, we should limit our time onboard to the barest minimum and return to the Poseidon via Shuttle Craft"

Kanaka heard T'vek chime in on a private frequency through his EVA suit, somewhat surprised that he would do so, but hearing the caution in his voice she understood it was likely to be quite dangerous. She tapped on the chest plate of her suit in order to respond at the same frequency, "Understood, T'vek. I will alert the Poseidon for our need for Shuttle Craft extraction; now that Sharpe has managed to restore some power to the computer, I want you and Perkins to locate us the most immediate and functional exit. I'll tell the Bridge to contact you for the information."

"Acknowledged Commander, I have something of a familiarity with Cardassian Vessels and their security protocols," he replied with a slight drawl before murmuring idly as he ended the communication while glaring intently at his tricorder, "No this can't be right..." Stalking wordlessly over to a flickering console and setting his tricorder down and without even looking began tapping away in a flurry with one hand tilting his head imperiously to eye up both the display and his tricorder as he worked both simultaneously like a piano virtuoso. "Two options, the Fore-Port shuttle port leading into the Cargo bay is clear and closer, however, it is also more likely to be booby-trapped due to its proximity to main engineering and Cardassian Traps are more formidable than some metallic wire. The safer but more difficult route is the aft cargo port, usually used for troop and prisoner transfer, the potential for cover by any ambush forces at the security stations, the usual forcefields in that area are non-functional, with the emitters being fried during the final action." T'vek waved a hand imperiously at the display highlighting the two possible routes and proceeded to pull out a second tricorder setting it down next to the console and tapped in a code at a chime and confirmed the download meanwhile continuing to tap away feverishly on his tricorder.

Tapping again on her commbadge, she now spoke directly to Captain Johnson on the bridge. =^= Commander Shakura to the Bridge: Due to developments, we will require extraction by Shuttle Craft in the next few minutes. Please alert Lieutenant Commander Shannon to have the craft ready; I've instructed Lieutenant Commander's T'vek and Perkins to identify a suitable exit. They will contact you once they have it. Shakura out. =^=

=/\= Roger that, Number One. You'll have your shuttle ready=/\= the Captain replied as he went about ensuring the shuttles preparedness.

Lastly, she turned her attention to the rest of the Away Team, and this time announced so that the rest of them could hear. "Alright everyone, due to security concerns, we're going to have to think of cutting our time short here. I want you to try and conclude the rest of your tasks as quickly as you can; Lieutenant Commander Shannon is going to pick us up by Shuttle Craft, so be prepared to leave at a moment's notice."

It was at that moment she noticed, while handling all the communication between the Team and the ship, that Lieutenant Hirsch had somehow slipped out of view. Kana's heart nearly skipped a beat.

"Oh, by the Gods..." She cursed mentally, as she immediately began to look for the missing Lieutenant.

Sam looked around. He had been so busy examining the corpses. He had not noticed his friends departure.

“ I don’t know sorry,” Perkins replied

Stepping away from the console inspecting each of the corpses with his tricorder he stopped at one before giving it a gentle irreverent kick as it tumbled head over foot with an almost morose slowness towards the console he had been working at, continuing his meander before kicking another one in the same direction and finally making his way back and with a quick motion tying the two together and holding them akin to a macabre balloon all the while with the other hand still continuing to work on his Tricorder, his entire demeanour radiating a simple sentiment, disturb at your own risk.

Onboard the vessel, Lt. Hirsch had scanned the main bridge for any signs of booby traps. Underbridge deck-plates, its stations, computer display panels. Anything was a hot topic of sorts in Cal’s search as he riffed around with his handheld searchlight. Eventually, there was enough done to search other parts of the drifting Cardassian vessel.

Calvin derived a technique back when he was on the USS Musashi. He used several atmospheric scan phases. The phases use AI properties of known probabilities, inputting the layouts and historical data on the Akril-Class starship for Calvin’s scans.

Sure enough, there was zip wire to trip and slice legs ankles on the main bridge steps around the command chairs. Having had used an eviscerating substance to the wire, burning itself into dust, unable to slice any of the away team’s footsteps.

Plying a diffusive harmonizer on his security tricorder, Cal tripped three computer boobie traps. Select consoles in the darkness sparked brilliant blue in the darkness of the bridge, as the panels zapped. “Handy little device!” Hirsch had spoken to himself with a chirp, he pocketed his tricorder.

As time went on, the Chief found himself walking the large bulky hallways by himself. Hirsch heard only his breathing inside of the atmospheric masking. Not liking the creepiness, he tapped his communication badge to hear and converse with the other team members on board.

While Hirsch continued his deeper exploration of the vessel, Kana was hot on his heels, using her telepathic sense to locate him; the benefit of being on a dead ship meant that there was less "background noise" as she often found on the Poseidon, which was one of the reasons she tried not to depend on her telepathy too often. She also tried to contact him through the EVA frequency.

"Lieutenant Hirsch! Where are you? I thought I made it clear that we weren't to venture beyond the Bridge!" Her tone was a mix of displeasure, but also extreme concern, as the corridors became more claustrophobic and the roar of the vacuum of space beyond could be felt beneath her boots.

Flashing a light down the corridor there was a skeleton remaining in the doorway ahead. Whatever It was, it was dead! Long ago! That was for sure. “Eww… Gross!” Cal sneered.

“Computer. Record visuals, this is Lt. Calvin Hirsch. On the Cardassian Akril-Class vessel. Found what seems to look like an alien creature… Metallic. Tricorder says orgonite minerals. Inscriptions are…”

The dead animal had odd metallic-looking daggers with alien inscriptions along with their handles. The decayed heap sat between large, vaulted doors. The doors were already open on what looked to be a drink and mess hall.

“… Some sort of calling card?” Hirsch queried stepping forward with his large mag boots. Thud! Thud! Thud! The ever creaking of the hull underneath his soles from the Nebula’s rolling forces outside.

A shrill was heard from the space outside along the Cardassian vessel’s hull. Or… “What the?” Calvin paused. He was recording the creature on the floor when the noise was heard. He turned as the camera turned in the movement of light, the brown hull eroded and debris showing no signs of what was outside.

“Time to report in…” Calvin nodded to himself.

"Time to report in, indeed." Kana appeared at the other end of the corridor that he had entered, a mixture of relief but also frustration etched across her face. "Lieutenant Hirsch, I expressly told everyone that we ought to be careful with our movements. Now come on---"

The Executive Officer froze suddenly, placing a hand against one of the walls of the corridor. In the pit of her stomach, she could feel a malign presence. Heart beginning to race, she looked at the Chief of Security with a rather serious expression. "We need to leave. Now!"

Hirsch had found himself lulled off the main bridge by some unknown force. Of course, he had every intention to follow orders... Just, his Security mind began to sense something wasn't right. As if ethereal energy was sending shivers up his every hair, from his forearm, right up his spine.

"Commander." Cal turned in the direction that seemed to break through this shroud of hazy silent incantations. "Yes, Ma'am." Hirsch shocked himself couldn't help but turn as he left. The Chief's security video was still filming the dead alien if he could before turning back. The Commander and Chief moved as fast they could in their EVA's to the bridge.

As soon as Hirsch was by her side, Kana could begin to feel the intensity of the malevolence begin to grow as the metallic creature that he had been recording seemed to shudder to some sort of life, the corridor letting out a terrible shriek as it struggled to contain the creature's full mass as it extended itself. Despite the horror of what was already unfolding behind them, the Executive Officer knew that it - whatever it was - wasn't the direct source of the ill intentions she was sensing. That was coming from someplace not too far behind the creature.

"Run!" She grabbed Hirsch by the shoulder of his EVA suit and pushed her ahead of him as they now began to lumber through the tight corridors of the vessel back towards the Bridge. Behind them, the corridors wailed in a metallic chorus of agony as the creature propelled its terrible mass after them, deep gashes being left along the walls and sparks flying in the corner of both Kana's and Calvin's eyes. As they both ran for their lives, Kana tapped her commbadge.

= ^ = "Commander Shakura to Bridge: This is an emergency! We're being pursued by some form of the creature; the Away Team and I will need to make our emergency exit immediately. Dispatch the Shuttle Craft now!" = ^ = The urgency in her voice would have been something new to almost everyone and the seriousness of the situation was reinforced by the sounds of the commotion in the background.

=/\= Copy that, Number One! It's on the way! Franklin replied as he tapped his combadge a second time to contact again. It was instantly a tense situation on the bridge.

=/\= This is the Captain to Lt. Commander Shannon, get your shuttle out there as soon as possible.=/\=

After concluding the commbadge communications, Franklin eased back into his Captain's chair. He was gripping the edge of his seat - literally. "Come on Number One," he mumbled softly, clenching a fist nervously.

Funny how events happen in time and in order. Neteri had been picked for flight duty on this mission. She always was ready and she guessed it was why she got the call. She had no idea that this was going to require all her skills and her Betazoid abilities but, it was about to happen.

A sudden call for Neteri into action jogged her mind and action was exactly what happened.

=/\=Bridge, Shuttle One, emergency lift off now!=/\= she hollered as she started to lift off. Barely giving time for the force fields and barriers to come down, Neteri was out the proverbial door of the Poseidon.

Neteri sensed the urgency to put a move on, but, the closer she got to the extraction point, she got a jolt of malevolence and evil. This made her push the shuttle to its limits.

It occurred to Kana that as both she and Hirsch continued to run, whatever was pursuing them seemed to be deliberately holding back a bit; as if what it was doing was more so for sport than for actual intention to harm, at least in the immediate sense. Her sense of alarm only grew though, as if it meant they weren't in necessarily imminent danger, something far more sinister could be in store if they didn't manage to get away from it in time.

Managing to return to the Bridge, the Executive Officer immediately scrambled through the hatch and proceeded to search for a way to seal the door. Fortunately, due to the power restored by Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, this was possible - although it was clear from looking at the state of the seal that it would not hold long under any significant pressure. Not even taking a moment to catch her breath, she began barking orders at the rest of the still unassuming Away Team.

"We need to go, now! A Shuttle Craft is on its way to meet us in the Aft Cargo Port; speed is of the essence, so we have to make sure we put no foot wrong or else--" THUD. THUD. THUD. That was the sound of what was coming from the other side of the hatch that she and Hirsch had just sealed. Kana suddenly increased her tempo by several notches.

"T'vek, lead us to the Aft Cargo Port! Sharpe and Hirsch, keep your eyes out for any traps or dangers as we go! T'Pri and Perkins, have your phasers ready; we're going to have to cover our exit." She said, grabbing the phaser from her hip. She had no way of knowing if it would have any effect on this creature; but if it could at least serve to help the Away Team feel as if they were still somewhat in control and thus keep moving, that was fine of an effect enough.

One thought came to Sharpe's mind 'Oh hell, was that what was in those pods!?' He asked himself as he put on his helmet and gloves, he downloaded what he could to his Padd and made sure his suit was air-tight then joined the others in running, thinking a few choice words to himself on the situation.

"Alright, let's move!" Kana instructed from the back, taking it as her responsibility to ensure that at least the rest of her team got out before she did.

As the group began to move, however, she noticed that the drumming noise of the creature on the other side of the opposite hatch had now begun to decrease, which she thought was odd. Only a few mere moments later though, the panels beneath all of them began to shake and buckle slightly as - materialising as if from the very matter of the ship's metal itself - the creature now stood, blocking their only other available exit. It loomed menacingly, its long metallic claws stretching to within a few inches of the Away Team's heels.

Then, a sharp screeching sound pierced the Bridge, as the hatch that Kana had sealed - and was now very badly buckled - gave way to another force that pried it open from the other side. Standing there in the hatchway was a large Gorn male, his scales a mix of bloody crimson and a sickening yellow as if some of his scales had been badly scarred. A blackened row of exposed jagged teeth contrasted with the milky white of his one right eye, the left socket covered by a patch decorated with a crude symbol of a Gorn chomping on a humanoid skull.

It was a face from his nightmares. Sam just stood there staring in shock as a creature he had hoped never to see again lumbered into view. Perkins tried to speak but nothing came out.

“ Oh my goodness!!!” Sam managed to stammer. He backed away from the Gorn.

Perkins flattened himself against the wall and prayed. He hoped his forthcoming death would be quick.

Upon seeing Sam's reaction, Kana could be certain of who the intimidating figure was. For his part, Russhook seemed unphased by the Science Officer's initial reaction, choosing instead to keep his attention focused on the Chief Counsellor, who by that point had made sure to place herself square in front of Perkins. After all, she had made him a promise to do so in an eventuality such as this.

"What do we have here..." The Gorn hissed through his teeth, approaching his encircled prey with a surprising amount of cool patience for his kind. "Intruders looking to pick from among the spoils of Russhook's toys, hm?"

Kana could tell immediately that Russhook was one who liked to play with his food, and that he fancied himself as a smart one. "What are you doing here?" Was the Executive Officer's only reply, not interested in playing any crude games. The Gorn pirate seemed a bit taken aback by the directness of the question, but Kana could sense that it was likely also a part of his sinister playfulness that he was exuding.

"What, no pleas? No attempts to bargain? You're no fun. Not like these ones." Russhook hissed, shoving one of the corpses that T'vek and Perkins had been observing earlier. Standing at his full height and holding his arms behind his back - as if to mock his interlocutors - the Gorn went on. "If you must know, I received a rather tasty morsel of information which informed me that a Federation starship would be heading this way and that this starship happened to have some very old friends on board...So I thought I should say hello..."

Russhook, who stood a good foot or two taller than even the tallest there, now eyed Perkins specifically. A long, reptilian tongue poked its way out from his jagged fangs. Kana used her telepathic abilities to see through his antics, and while the whole truth was obscured by the deep-seated rage that burned within his cold-bloodied heart, she could be certain that he was only telling a truth and not the whole truth.

"Who gave you this information?" Kana pressed him again, not wishing to give him any ground in their exchange. At this point, he seemed a bit more frustrated, not used to being asked so many questions from his previous victims. Turning his attention back to the Betazoid, he came very close to her, undeterred by the phasers both she and the others held.

"Let's just say, he knows you all quite well. A lot better than any of you seem to know each other." There was a brief moment of intense staring between the other before the Gorn backed off and turned his back, again in an apparent taunt towards them.

As shocked as Paul was with the large Gorn being there, his attention was on his Padd, unlike the others, he did not have his weapon drawn, he was too focused on what his Padd said, he opened a link to Kana, during this time he remained cool and steady.

=/\= Commander do not react, this ship is no longer stable, when I rewired the bridge console it reactivated a countdown, according to my readings we have three minutes before this ship and everything on it goes boom, now while my restoring of partial life support systems and gravity may have released the Gorn and that Metallic thing, along with a count down this ship is about to lose its rear half totally, and the breakpoint is behind the Gorn, we have the one advantage he does not, we have EVA suits, he does not, well not any form of one I can detect =/\= Sharpe said into the XO's ear inside her EVA suit.

Kana heard Sharpe's words pierce through her ear, but her face did not so much as flinch as she kept her eyes locked directly on the foe in front of her. "Whatever you're going to do, Sharpe, do it fast..."

"I bet you're curious about my pet..." The Gorn Pirate changed the subject, and Kana felt at this moment that he was almost defaulting to the performance he liked to give to all of his victims in this exact same situation. As she could sense her Team coming up with some sort of plan, she decided to keep him occupied and stall him for a little longer.

"What is it?" She continued her own performance as well, to keep the scene going as long as possible.

"A marvellous lifeform, one born for destruction. Truly worthy of a Gorn's respect." Russhook seemed particularly proud of that line. "It doesn't care much for the flesh, but for the machines, it hungers. It understands that the flesh makes the machine and that I can give it more machine, so long as it gives me more flesh..."

"Quite the poet." Kana quipped. Russhook seemed to be growing increasingly displeased by her defiance. He slammed a fist down on the auxiliary station that Sharpe had only just been working on, and with his Gorn strength caused it to immediately buckle and for the interface panel to fracture into several tiny pieces. Inside her chest, Kana's heart was pounding, but she did her best to keep her composure still.

"You're beginning to bore me, pink-skin." Russhook spat. "If your lives weren't so valued, I would have rendered you lifeless already!" In his attempt to be threatening, the Gorn had managed to let slip a rather key bit of information. Despite the rather tense atmosphere of the situation, Kana couldn't help but crack a wry smile.

"So your informants want us alive then? That's reassuring. I had a feeling you were all talk and no bite. You ought to work on that act a little more--" Kana was cut off by the Gorn pirate seizing her by the shoulders, lifting her up several inches off the ground, rage etched across his scarred face.

"ALL TALK, AM I?!" He roared in her face. Kana had to take a few moments to catch her breath after the initial grapple, but once she did she managed to stare down into the Gorn's one eye.

"All. Talk." She spat back in his face through gritted teeth. "And I'm done talking!"

Immediately, the Executive Officer used her free hands to grab onto the Gorn's forearms, sinking her fingers into his scales. While this itself would hardly register on his pain scale, it would be too late before he realized that the Betazoid was now utilising her telepathic strength to pierce his memories, looking for signs of pain that he had felt before. While she might not be able to inflict them on him, she could certainly make sure he remembered, and make sure that he remembered them quite well.

"Arrgh!" Russhook almost looked as if he was about to choke as he dropped the Commander, suddenly falling to his side and writhing in pain, one hand over his eye patch and his other arm wrapped around his torso. Kana, now visibly a little paler, had just used a not inconsiderable amount of energy to reignite the sensations that he felt when he gained all his scars - simultaneously. A torrent of painful sensation not even a Gorn could shrug off.

Behind the Away Team, the machine-type creature seemed unsure of how to react, which presented them the perfect opportunity to enact whatever plan they had devised to clear the path.

"And the aft is about to break away," Sharpe said to his team "activate magnetic boots as all remaining life support has gone" he added.

The metallic beast blocked the aft bridge escape: the creature shuttered, gnarling metallic sounds. The beast at the aft, and Russhook in agony at the fore. It readied with metallic shredders to pounce from the aft to shred the entire away team at the forefront of the bridge.

It was a split second. A spark. The universal symbol for toxic acid, labelled along a hydraulic door strut of the Cardassian vessel. The alien beast was stretching the metal; it just needed to burst.

“Commander’s T’Pri, Perkins,” Hirsch spoke in his com. “I’m leading the beast… to a breached hydraulic aft joint... Hydraulic acid!!” Hirsch breathed in and out. Hirsch relayed the idea as he directed the metal creature towards the hydraulic joist only to be accosted against the bulkhead. “AGuNHhHHHhh!!!”

"Hirsch, think about what you're doing!" Kana shouted with exacerbation, powerless in that moment to stop her Chief of Security putting himself in such danger. She could only watch from her limited vantage point and hope, that at this point, her team could manage the opportunity given to them.

Sam was rigid with fear. “Oh my……oh my…..” he stammered

The beast screeched with an ear-piercing cry as it grabbed Hirsch, causing him to be crushed aside and lifted the aft hydraulic frame upward. “AHGGUUnnHh!!” Hirsch let out another cry of pain.

As the metalloid creature pinned Hirsch against the frame, one of it's claws sliced the index finger off Hirsch’s hand, which fell through the cracks of the grated flooring below. His EVA suit now damaged and what remained of his index finger now exposed to the deteriorating atmosphere, he would be lucky if his finger could ever be fully restored, and that wasn't even considering the damage it could do to his now exposed nerves and capillaries. The creature, for it's part, didn't seem as if it intended to cause Hirsch any more immediate harm, but it certainly wasn't about to let him free willingly.

“Prepare for acidic explosion!” Hirsch stated breathlessly. Thank God his EVA suit had protective polymers from such acids. Cal scrambled his hands beneath, one finger dangling in blood dripping to the Cardassian bridge flooring and searching, reaching the toggle of his rifle, closing his eyes, and praying.

"HIRSCH!" Kana shouted again, seeing the blood dripping down the side of the hydraulic frame. "I swear if we all manage to survive this..." Kana's thoughts turned a little dark as she felt the swirling chaos of the events that were unfolding around them.

Events around Perkins were flying around at a chaotic pace. But he still could only look on in horror.

“ No……” He stammered

“Hope you were hungry!!!” Hirsch growled in sweat, agony, and tenacity, shoving his rifle upward, letting off a blast strait at the hydraulic acid line.

The pressurized acid arched yellow liquid, turning to vapours as soon as it splattered across the metal. The metal flooring buckled, creasing, and melted to minerals as the floor gave way underneath before Hirsch had rolled off to the side. The metalloid creature didn't even have time to properly react, letting go of Hirsch in the immediate panic and falling along with the dissolved floor before it had a chance to change it's matter again. It let out a terrible screech before disappearing from view.

“Fluoroantimonic acid dissolves metal like water on cotton candy!” After breathing in and out, Hirsch lifted himself from the floor. His EVA suit leaked with a half-cut bleeding index finger. “This…This is getting dizzier.” Hirsch had turned to Sam.

What was left was volatile compounds floating in the air, filling the bridge. “Come on….we can’t stay in here!” Hirsch had stated to the team as he stumbled forward.

The Executive Officer was stunned from the sheer audacity of what she had just witnessed. She knew that now wasn't the right moment to try and assess it all; there would be time for that if they were able to make it out alive. Their path now clear, Kana - who had taken a moment to rise to her feet - took a moment to look back at Russhook before looking to the rest of the Away Team. "It'll only last about another minute, so we ought to move. Let's go."

"One moment!" T'vek snapped back in a clipped tone kneeling down on the floor as he was his arm inside the guts of the panel he'd been working on earlier while the commotion rightly had everyone else's attention, before standing up his clenched fist passing over a receptacle in his leg resting one hand on the console murmuring something only he could hear as he clipped his tricorder back into his suit quickly grabbing another corpse that he'd gotten his eye on earlier and tying it to the other three and clipping the cable to his left shoulder. he retained his other tricorder in his left hand while keeping a slight grip on the tailing line with his right, and immediately made to stride over the still paralyzed Gorn suppressing every urge to pass judgement on some of the sheer ineptitude on display, instead of using any kind of sense there had been in essence grand-standing or grand incompetence, either way the sooner they get off this vessel the better, least of all because of the self destruct sequence he had just activated.

Not knowing what to do, Sharpe reacted to his training and did what he had been taught to do...

Using his skills, he paused and used his Padd to tap into whatever power remained on the ship, he activated the gravity plate where the Gorn and beast was, it would not give them long "Commander I am using what little power remains to amplify the gravity directly below the Gorn and his pet, we have thirty-seconds before what power remains is gone, also we have a minute and a half before the countdown reaches zero, I suggest we get to the shuttle LZ pronto" Sharpe said.

"Right you are, Sharpe." Kana, now standing fully once again but clearly still winded, summoned the strength she did have to snap the Away Team back into some semblance of order with the last of the strength she had. "T'vek, if you could please be so kind as to lead the way." The Commander was probably as stern as anyone had seen her at this point, and even the Romulan Doctor had to heed that warning when it came.

Wordlessly, T'vek proceeded to lead the away team through the veritable warren that was the vessel, despite all the damage the vessel had taken most of the corridors were mostly intact and doors working, a testament to the sturdiness of Cardassian Engineering and Design, he would occasionally pause at a console to tap in a command or two ignoring any queries before seemingly diving into nowhere when some of the team looked on confused their slack jaws and looks of askance confusion he had to physically grab one or two of them, a subtle quirk of architecture had made this junction invisible even to those who knew to look for it, leaning down he opened a hatch and tapped a nearby display, at which a subtle hum and gentle fizz could be heard. Forcefields had come back on, "I'd refrain from touching any forcefields, Cardassian versions disintegrate anything that comes into contact with them, and I lack the facility to replace missing limbs at present," the Romulan drawled in tones drenched with sarcasm as he lead the way through the hatch. He continued to lead the way, though the environs were now much more cramped but no longer twisting and turning, he had paused for a moment to tap in a code into a nearby display once the last member had arrived in sealing the hatch they had entered with an audible click and that of one behind them as well.

Up until now Sam had been to scared to move. Luckily the Gorn's lack of visual senses meant it had not recognised him, at least that is what he hoped. But he knew that would not take long. But looking at Russhook and his speech pattern it came to Sam. That the Gorn must of suffered a brain injury. It might be possible that it did not recognise him. He should of felt happy about that. But instead he felt a tinge of sadness. Is this what the Gorn had become? A shadow of it's former self? Realising it would be very foolish to jog the Gorn's memory. Perkins slowly moved with the others towards the shuttle LZ.

The Security Chief kept swallowing. His mouth was dry as a desert. Cal’s head throbbed as he lost his blood through his munched index finger. Thud! Thud! Thud! Hirsch fought against the gravity boots, keeping up with the rest of the team as they reached the LZ. Securing the rear, Calvin followed T’vek's lead.

Pain, the acid! The acid had begun to seep inside tear in Calvin’s EVA suit... His breathing became ever unsteady the closer they reached the shuttle bay. Grasping the left bulkhead, as the team met an intersection… The Cardassian vessel moaned and creaked with ever-growing anger as its bulkheads told the story of impending destruction.

Leaving little to chance now, T'vek begun to sprint down what was a mostly clear and straight corridor, still dragging his macabre trophies behind him, having simply ignored any requests or queries to discard them, after what seemed like an eternity but was only about 30 seconds, which for him had allowed him to cover a fair distance, the others being of inferior species would take longer to catch up given T'Pri was encumbered with the weakened Commander, he had stopped at another hatch and while the others were catching up had gotten it open and had already entered into the shuttle docked at the nearby cargo port informing the pilot that once everyone was aboard immediate departure was required.

Neteri was not prepared to see or sense what was happening. She had brought the shuttle flush with the docking port and was standing in the open doorway with her mouth open. "Oh my...this is not real!" she yelled over the noise of the on coming crew and what was following. It was a scene from a horror picture complete with all the physical and mental sensations. Burnt acidic flesh, burned metal, wires, plastic, some form of metalloid animal and in the midst a Gorn! It was like nothing she had ever seen. Grotesque, and the empathy from it was pure evil. Neteri's Betazoid senses had picked up every emotion in that room. Shock, pain, fear, deviousness, hatred and others that nearly overloaded her own synapse, but the urgency of getting out before impending explosion took precedence over everything.

"Hurry the hell up! We gotta leave NOW!" Neteri hollered as she brought the shuttle door down fast and hit the gas. You could hear the ship groan at the sudden acceleration away from the Cardassian ship as it managed to just get to safe distance. Looking at her rag tag crew mates, "What the hell happened?"

Kana, who had barely just managed to get herself to one of the seats of the Shuttle Craft as the rest of the Team stood in the hold and braced themselves during Neteri's swift but skilful exit, caught her breath as best she could. As her fellow part-Betazoid pressed her on what the hell had happened, Kana caught a glimpse back at the Cardassian vessel. Due to the burst of telepathic energy she had used, her sensitivities were heightened, and even from this distance she could still feel the Gorn's burning hatred.

"A lot, Shannon. A lot." Was all that the Executive Officer could muster as an answer, her exhaustion quite evident. "We should return to the Poseidon with haste. It won't be long until--"

Before she could even finish her sentence, she caught in the corner of her eye the flash of an explosion coming from deep within the remains of the Cardassian hull. While there was no sound due to the vacuum of the Nebula, the resulting disintegration of the starship caused a ripple through the gas clouds of the Nebula that had settled around it, causing the Shuttle Craft to shake violently for a brief moment. Thanks to the expert hand of Lieutenant Commander Shannon, they were able to stay steady, if only just.

Kana looked at what was left as the resulting debris and fracture of the now completely ruined Akril-Class began to swirl around the epicentre of what caused the blast - likely the remnants of the ship's power core - which with it's last gasp of life seemed to also drag in the Klingon Bird-of-Prey, as if the ghosts of the past conflict were getting one last laugh on their own enemy as it too suffered damage from the carnage of the explosion. All Kana could do was watch, and be glad that they hadn't been a part of it.

Perhaps it was another aftershock, but that feeling of burning hatred and malevolence hadn't left either. She anticipated that the spectre would continue to loom for some time, and she could only hope that - for now at least - the Poseidon was in no further immediate danger.

=^= Commander Shakura to the Bridge...We've successfully extracted, and we're on our way home. =^= She used what strength she had left to assure the Bridge of their safety, before she rested her eyes for just a moment.

[END]

Cmdr. Kanaka "Kana" Shakura
Executive Officer & Chief Counsellor
U.S.S. Poseidon

&

Capt. Franklin Johnson
Commanding Officer
U.S.S. Poseidon

&

Lt. Cmdr. Paul Sharpe
Chief Engineering Officer
U.S.S. Poseidon

&

Lt. Cmdr. Nivora T'vek
Chief Medical Officer
U.S.S. Poseidon

&

Lt. Cmdr. Sam Perkins
Chief Science Officer
U.S.S. Poseidon

&

Lt. Cmdr. T'Pri
Chief Intelligence Officer
U.S.S. Poseidon

&

Lt. Calvin Hirsch
Chief Security & Tactical Officer
U.S.S. Poseidon

&

Lt. Cmdr. Neteri "Ikran" Shannon (NPC)
Group Commander
U.S.S. Poseidon

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