Kractens
Chapter 1-
"Commander…"
Trip — Commander Charles Tucker III also chief engineer of the star ship Enterprise — looked up from the comm station, towards his companion, Lieutenant Reed. "What can I do for you, Malcolm?" his Texan accent hung around him like a fog.
Malcolm, who was also the tactical officer and armoury officer on board Enterprise, was staring at the tactical console. "The S.O.S signal…" he looked up at Trip, "its gone, sir."
The S.O.S signal. They had been sent by Captain Archer to retrieve whoever the caller was, but it would be slightly difficult to get them, if there was no signal.
Puzzlement covered the commander's face. "Well… that makes things awkward, doesn't it?"
"Very awkward, especially as we have no one to retrieve, sir."
Trip stood up, pacing the small deck of Shuttlepod one, humming softly. "Where was the signal last?" He finally asked, walking over to Malcolm.
Tapping at his station, he sighed. "Only 20 minutes from here."
Trip looked, and then carried on pacing. "We could go to where the signal last was, see if they could still be there."
Malcolm's station started to bleep. "Sir!" he called out.
Trip rushed back to him. "What is it?"
"Four unidentified ships heading our way, sir." He looked at the screen. "10 seconds til interception."
"They could be the S.O.S caller," Trip said, a slightly annoyed tone in his voice. "Let's see if they are going to hail us…"
The commander walked back to the com station, tapping at the keypad. "Well… not yet," he laughed lightly.
"Commander?"
"Yeah?"
"Sorry to say, sir, but they're powering weapons." Malcolm looked over at him.
Trip looked up. "What?"
"Hang on." The lieutenant stared at his screen. "One is separating from the group. They're heading for us."
Trip's station came alive. "Oh… well, they do have manners after all," he laughed, punching a line through.
A male voice spoke through the channel, as far as Trip could tell, they spoke English. "This is the Captain of the Locus, power down all systems and prepare to be boarded for inspection."
Trip and Malcolm exchanged looks, till Trip returned his attention to the comm. "This is Commander Tucker from the Starship Enterprise."
"Commander Tucker, you will stand down," the voice replied, "or prepare to be destroyed."
Trip looked over at Malcolm. "Well… that's not very nice," he laughed lightly.
Malcolm's face was of a very serious nature. "This isn't funny, Commander, I think they mean it." He looked back at the tactical screen.
Trip stopped laughing as the ship shook violently. "Jesus!" he cried out, as he smacked his head on the side of the craft. "Was that a hit?"
"Negative, sir," Malcolm replied, rubbing his own head, "but it was close. 50 metres off the starboard side,"
"Locus to Commander Tucker. That was a warning shot, if you do not power down, we will be forced to destroy you."
"They're powering up, Commander," Malcolm said.
Trip sat down in the pilot's seat, powering the engines up. "Well… let's not be around to see what happens."
"Is that wise?"
"Better than sitting here like a duck," Trip smiled, as the thrusters kicked in.
Shuttlepod One sped away from the four ships, but it wasn't long till they caught up and opened fire. The craft shuddered as laser fire rained down on them. "Dammit!" Trip growled.
Malcolm looked over at him. "It would have probably been best if we just did what they asked, Sir."
Trip shrugged, "well…" he sighed, "too late for that…"
"Sir!" Malcolm called out over the noise, "There's another ship approaching in front of us,"
"Oh great!" Trip sighed, "This day couldn't get any better, could it?"
Malcolm smiled. "well, they aren't going to attack us, that's for sure."
Trip looked over at him. "How do you know?"
"Because they're firing upon the other craft."
Trip looked at Malcolm's screen. Sure enough the new spaceship was helping them. "That's one hell of a big ship!" Trip gave off a low whistle, "it's nearly five times the size of Enterprise."
"Bet you're glad it's helping us," Malcolm replied. "The four other ships are retreating."
Trip nodded, as the ship came into view. It covered the whole of the front view screen, as it flew directly in front of them. Its hull was a deep silver, scarred by past battles. The underside was lumpy; obviously the pilot wasn't the best at landing.
"Unidentified craft," a voice rang out. "This is Captain Morac of the Lilcato, please respond."
Trip laughed happily. "Finally, someone polite!" He sat down behind the comm station. "This is Commander Tucker, of the Shuttlepod One."
"Commander Tucker, please state why you are here," Morac replied. "This is a danger zone. Your craft should not be here."
"You're telling us," Malcolm whispered.
Trip just looked at him then smiled. "We were receiving an S.O.S from around here. Our captain sent us over to investigate."
There was a pause "Is your ship damaged in any way?" Morac asked.
Trip looked at Malcolm, who nodded slightly. "Only a bit, sir."
"Very well. I insist you shut your power down."
Trip arched an eyebrow. "May I ask why?"
"I'm sending three men over," Morac replied. "I need to make sure you do not work with Kracta."
"Who?"
But the channel had already closed. Trip just sighed. "Well… there's us trying not to be boarded, and we're being boarded anyway,"
"At least they sound nicer, sir," Malcolm smiled lightly.
A clang sounded off, as metal scraped on metal. Trip stood up and walked to the airlock, as a hissing sound went on. Thinking it was safe, Trip opened the airlock door.
A very hot breeze pushed its way into the shuttlepod. The gangway to the Lilcato was large, made of a very sturdy metal. Trip's gaze then fell on three men, who were laughing as they made their way towards him. The lead man, whose striking reddish-pink eyes settled on Trip's features, looked him up and down, and running a pale hand through his silver hair. "Ha!" he suddenly laughed, causing Trip to jump. "You owe me 10 tokens, Barke!"
Another man sighed angrily. "Oh come on, Narl, lets just call it even, huh?"
His skin was very pale in colour, just like the others, with reddish-pink eyes and silver hair. They reminded Trip of albino mice. Narl, the lead one, smiled. "What do you think, Chacke, should I let the dweeb off?"
Chacke just sighed, as he prodded Narl with the tip of his rifle, "I dunno, lets just get on with what we are suppose to be doing, shall we?"
Narl laughed, and noticed Trip's confused face "Oh, sorry there. We just had a bet… and I won."
"What kind of bet?" Trip asked.
"That you aliens looked weird," Barke piped up, as he walked past Trip along with Narl.
'We looked weird!' Trip thought, trying to hold back a snigger.
Malcolm stood up, reaching for his phase pistol when he saw the three enter, but Trip just raised a hand. "Don't worry, Mal," he smiled.
Narl looked around, giving off a low whistle. "Good technology here," he said.
Barke nodded. "They definitely don't work for Kracta."
Chacke looked at the other two. "Should we proceed?"
They both nodded.
Trip was slightly confused with what was going on. "May I ask something?"
Narl nodded. "sure thing, mate. What is it?"
Trip gave them an uneasy smile. "What is it you're going to do?"
Narl just grinned. "Oh, don't worry. It's absolutely painless."
"What is?" Malcolm asked, keeping his hand near his weapon.
"This," Barke said, as he fired his weapon.
A green light surrounded Trip and Malcolm, and Trip's chest and head erupted in pain, as he fell to the floor unconscious.