My apologies for the small mistakes in Chapter 1, such as poor scene separation and a few little spelling, punctuation and nomenclature typos here and there. I'm putting it down to my inexperience with handling Hope you're all enjoying it thus far, so without further ado: part two...

Chapter 2: Derelict, Part 1

The mess hall was noisy this morning. Breakfast had finished, but not the activity. People all around were chatting, spinning yarns, reading books and playing games, as Doctor Bebetos and Lt. Commander Greer were. Their game of three-dimensional chess was their second this morning and so far, Greer was well in control of the board again.

"It doesn't follow suit." The large Kikiran doctor said. "I have many more qualifications than you do, I have played more chess than you, I am older A ND I have more experience. By all rights, I should be pummelling you easily." The tactical officer and chief of security shifted in his seat.

"First of all, you have many qualifications, that is true." Greer smiled. " Played more chess? Well, I can't dispute that. You probably have. You are older than me by ONE year. And as for more experience..." The commander picked up his water and took a large sip. "Don't even suggest... but I'll give you a hand." He moved his pawn up two levels. "Now, it is possible for you to mate me in two moves, IF you get the right move this time. However, if you don't, I'll have you mated in three."

"Commander, if I teased you on the operating table as much as you tease me in our games then you'd accuse me of breaking the Hippocratic oath." Bebetos said as he studied the board rigorously.

"Sometimes I do feel that way. Isn't there anything you can do for this bloody cough?"

"Theoretically, yes, but then I'd be breaking my lethargic oath." Bebetos smirked smugly as his cubic head eyed up a move. His bishop moved to a certain square, signalling checkmate in one move. He sat back and watched as Greer, unexpectedly, moved, in a rapid fashion, his rook to a very compromising position. The doctor's expression slumped.

"Checkmate. But it's ok." Greer modestly waved his arms. "I won't take any money off you this time."

"But you said if I made the correct move..."

"I know, and that was the right move. But let it be a lesson to you, Doctor – never, ever trust your opponent." While he was intensely studying the board, Commander Shelling had slipped in unnoticed.

"Doctor, if you're quite finished losing, may I have a seat?" Bebetos did not hear her. Greer stood up.

"It's alright Commander. I think the Doctor needs a... formidable amount of time for his post match analysis. Let's take a walk." They both made their way out into the corridor. Greer coughed again and straightened his uniform. "What's on your mind, sir?"

"Our guest in the quarters on deck 6." Shelling stopped and turned to the third-in-command. "He is not very forthcoming with information. He also does not co-operate well with women." She looked uncomfortable as she said that. "I want you to question him." Greer crossed his arms.

"I thought the Captain didn't think he was of any further use."

"That is the Captain's belief, yes." She looked to her left for a moment, then looked him in the eye. "It is my belief that we just have not pursued the correct line of questioning."

"Hmm." Greer nodded. "I see. Well, while it is possible to investigate the prisoner further, it would go beyond all legal Starfleet procedures to do so." He straightened up. "I cannot officially be ordered by a superior to do that." He scratched his elbow. "Although I can be ordered not to..."

Shelling breathed in and became stiff. There was a sudden change in the atmosphere. The Lieutenant Commander had his eyes fixed on hers intensely. She didn't like it. But her stance was one that commanded authority and she sought to instil that in him. "Lieutenant Commander, I cannot in good conscience condone that act, as it would go against the everything the Federation stood for. It is illegal. It is abhorrent. And it is wrong." Shelling waited for a moment before stepping away briskly from her subordinate, who cleared his throat and spoke in a whisper.

"Aye-aye, ma'am."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Thus far Captain, the evidence is irrefutable." Chief engineer Jarvis said as he led Captain Aimes around the laboratory, meandering between officers and the large pieces of scrap metal that they had salvaged from Starbase 4-3. "The metallurgical analysis confirms that the explosion originated from inside this container." He picked up the a shard of metal. "Or... what's left of this container."

"And what does that tell us?" The Captain rested his weight on the stick that he had carried around with him for years now. He had almost forgotten where it came from.

"It tells us a lot, all of it not good. Do you see these blue marks? They're evidence of a lithium-tetranitrobutane reaction explosion, characteristic of a concussion bomb." The engineer raised up a loose flap hanging off the the bottom of the scrap, revealing several scratchy, but noticeable vertical blue lines on the surface. "See? You can tell it was a two-part explosion because these lines are slightly out of alignment with the others."

"A concussion bomb. Like the type used in the conflict with the Romulans a few years ago?" The Captain was referring to a conference 2 years previous where the Federation and the Empire were to hold cordial talks about the possibility of a union. However, a disenchanted Starfleet lieutenant had programmed a shuttlecraft, loaded with a Federation concussion warhead to intercept the Romulan ambassadorial vessel. The ambassador survived and the Lieutenant disappeared, but relations with the Star Empire had been set back by years.

"Yes sir, Federation standard. And there's more; this container, as far as we can ascertain, was at some point, a security container in the station commander's quarters." Aimes' paranoia slipped in. Had someone meant that bomb for him? Why? No, of course not. No reason. The Captain scratched the back of his head. "The scary part? Someone of considerable rank would need to have placed this bomb in this container in the first place."

"Yes, Lieutenant. That is rather scary." As the Captain said that, the lighting in the laboratory failed. Seconds later, the lights came back online.

"My apologies, Captain, I think that's going to be happening on and off until we get back to a Starbase for some serious repairs."

"Why wasn't I told about this?"

"Sir, every report I submit goes through Commander Shelling, so I assume she gives them to..."

"From now on, you tell ME everything. Directly. There will be no channel from you to me except the direct one. And as for repairs, well, you'll be delighted to know that we won't have to wait that long. I've been talking to Starfleet command and they're of the opinion that the ship will fall apart before we get home to Starbase 4-7, so they're sending out advance crews to help us with the repairs." Teddy Jarvis looked a little miffed at this information.

"With all due respect, sir, this ship will never fall apart while I have a breath in my body."

"For what it's worth, in the small time I've been in command here, you've performed in a most satisfactory fashion, Lieutenant. And I believe you. However, Starfleet don't quite have as much faith as I do. Besides, it'll lighten your workload." The Captain patted him on the back.

"As long as they don't mess with my warp algorithms..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The door of the liquid Brigadier Seerv's quarters beeped. The alien's attention peaked, and he found himself staring at the grey surface, as someone on the other side typed in a security code. He stood to, expecting the Captain, but it was not Aimes who walked through.

"You're a new one." Seerv said, as the man walked in holding a small case in his left hand. He took a seat opposite Seerv. "That is to say I haven't seen you before. Your shape is somewhat different." The man opened the case and switched on a device. "You know it's rude not to introduce oneself in such intimate surroundings?"

"It's not me who is going to answer questions in here." He said when the device booted up. He initialised a containment field around Seerv. "And you may not approve of the questions I'm going to ask." He pressed a button on his small portable console and Seerv showed some discomfort "I know your species. I know what you do. I know where you come from and I know that this sound I'm making – it hurts you a lot." He pressed another button and Seerv fell to the floor as if his solid bodysuit just wasn't working anymore. "What I don't know... and what I want to know is: what are you doing here?"

"The-- Captain promised that-!"

"You should not worry about the Captain so much as your own person." He pressed another button. One more button and the water-alien began boiling. "I also know that this should be quite painful and I really don't want to make this last any longer than it has to, so please, tell me what I want to know." Greer coughed. "You should have listened to Commander Shelling." He made some adjustments to his seat. "You should have been co-operative. She's the nice one, or didn't she tell you?" He pushed a slider on the console and the suit started making an odd noise. "Now, you're going to tell me everything."

Fifteen minutes later, Greer emerged from the prisoner's quarters. He nodded to the security personnel. Loyal to their security chief, they weren't about to tell anyone what happened. The lighting flickered as he set for the laboratory, deck 7.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was three hours later when the repair crews arrived. Three small ships, not much larger than shuttlecraft pulled up off the stern of the ship. Twenty engineers of all denominations piled off the ships and into the transporter bay. The Lead Co-ordinator was a Vulcan named Lujot. He had an interesting presence about him, very commanding, very independent. Captain Aimes was on hand to meet the crews as they came aboard.

The crews began to work immediately, while Captain Aimes invited Lujot for lunch in the mess hall and a tour of the mezzanine level. Lujot politely declined, wishing to assist his team with repairs. Aimes was both relieved and disappointed at this. He had always found Vulcans to be insufferable, boring and terrible conversationalists, yet at the same time, it had been a while since he had had anyone else level headed to talk to. He walked back to his quarters and turned the lights down, lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. There was nothing doing for a while. He didn't notice that the lights started dimming deeper and that the temperature of the air was slowly rising.

In the meantime, Lieutenant Degec had dropped into sickbay. He was not a frequent visitor, so much so that Doctor Bebetos was delighted when he came in the door, as he rarely had the time to talk to his reptilian friend normally. In fact, Degec had not been in a sickbay since he was first examined by Starfleet medical upon his entry into the academy years ago. He headed for one of the inspection beds to have a seat.

"Hello, my cold-blooded friend. What can I do for you today?"

"I have a headache." He hummed. "It is highly uncomfortable and is now impeding my work."

"Well," Bebetos picked up his tricorder. "Let's see what can be done... there's some inflammation in your parietal lobes. Not been getting much rest lately?"

"I haven't slept in two days..."

"Well that would be it."

"..Because of the headaches!" He barked.

"Oh. Then I'll have to investigate further, shan't I?" The doctor swept the scanner over the large Rahrch like a fine artist would move a brush over a canvas. "How is your lovely pet these days?"

"Snowdrop is in good health." Snowdrop was a horrible-looking beast from the Rahrch homeworld. A ten-legged insect that fed on electrical discharges. They were first discovered near the site of a permanent electrical storm phenomenon on the southern hemisphere of the planet. Despite their horrific appearance, the creatures were quite dull, easy to domesticate, required little wandering space, in spite of their large size, and made a somewhat cute noise when petted. "You are not a vet, doctor."

"No, but I'm the next best thing. And while 'Snowdrop' may be in perfect physical health, you are not. Your species is telepathic, yes?"

"That's correct. But only to another one of my race. There are none on board."

"Nevertheless, you are showing familiar signs of one who is suffering from 'reconnection'. It's not uncommon among telepaths. Your brain is just trying to get back into the swing of things after being disconnected from familiar wave patterns for so long. It shouldn't last for too long, but for the time being, I'm going to give you a mild anaesthetic. Go straight to bed and take it, and you should be fine to report for duty tomorrow morning." The doctor switched off his tricorder and got some medicine.

"Thank you doctor. Have you any idea where these signals are coming from?"

"Maybe there is another Rahrch as part of one of the repair teams that have just come aboard?"

"Maybe."

"I'll check it out for you. In the meantime, have a good night's rest. And say hello to Snowdrop for me!" The large Kikiran smiled. Degec nodded and headed to his quarters briskly. He didn't notice the increase in heat immediately, or the lights dimming, the headache annulling the change in both. He thought to himself that even though he was an abnormal crew member amongst all the humans, at least there was someone odder than him in the doctor. At least Degec had nostrils.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Haley Kepler was in the holodeck. She had been busying herself repairing all non-essential systems now that the others were being taken care of by the damage-crew. Besides, she had missed out on her last fatigue shift because of all the recent goings-on. And she particularly missed not partaking in her final heat at the Adelaide Grand Prix of 2077, yesterday.

She had been working at the grid for over an hour with no luck. She cursed and thwacked at the console and something blinked. "Finally!" She exclaimed. "Computer, initiate diagnostic of holo-systems... computer... computer, respond."

There was no response. Haley lost her patience and wasn't paying enough attention to notice a few other things. The room was getting warmer and the lights were getting dimmer. Not until it was completely black, did she even snap herself out of her temper. The room was very warm and heating up. The console lights had gone off and there was no sound.

"Computer? Computer!... sorry?" She felt around for her flashlight and switched it on. She wasn't in some odd holographic recreation. She was still in the holodeck, but there was no power. "Friggin' machine." She grumbled and punched the once-lit console. She walked to the door, but it did not open. "Computer! Comp- oh forget it!" She wedged her fingernails into the gap in the door and pushed so that there was a small gap in between.

There was no light in the corridor outside. No sounds, either. There was a somewhat stale smell coming from somewhere. It was then she began to sweat and noticed that the air controls were not working. Proof, if ever it was needed. that a person doesn't really notice something until it is gone. Her communicator was offline too. She knelt back down to her toolbox and began rummaging about. She wondered if there was a battery she could use to power the console and get a reading on what was going on.

That was when she heard the growl.

A soft growl from just outside the holodeck door froze Haley's spine. The only person she knew that growled was Degec, but he certainly didn't make a noise like that. Part of her told her to go take a look and investigate the noise. Most of her told her not to. Loose electrical cables made that noise, but none large enough to do so were running though this section. She went to the door for a closer look. She couldn't see anything in the darkness, but she could hear something moving, breathing.

Something big.

A huge force punched against the holodeck door and sent ensign Kepler flying backwards. She hit the ground with a thud and the wind was forced out of her. She kicked a little, as a reflex, and pushed herself up on her elbows. She breathed slowly and tried to remember her tactical training. The room was highly defensible with only the one exit, but without any weapons, she was in a strategically poor position.

Then she remembered the phaser welder in her toolbox. It was fully powered and could cut a person in two, if necessary. She raced back and rooted through the toolbox. This was damn difficult in the dark, she thought. She felt the outline of the phaser welder and stood to, taking aim. She couldn't see, but she could hear well enough. The doors were being pounded. She wondered if they would buckle before the tool in her hand had reached full charge. She didn't know what it was, but the young Ensign wasn't about to take any chances.

"Listen, whatever you are! I've got a fully charged weapon here and I'm not going to hesitate to use it! If you come through that door, I will take that as a hostile sign and open-" A red laser came from the dark and hit Kepler in the chest, knocking her backwards and out for the count. She looked peaceful in her unconscious state, blissfully unaware that the huge physical force being exerted on the door was continuing, and had seconds before collapsing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Aimes sat up when he noticed that it had gone completely dark. He was sure that he had only instructed the lights to dim. "Computer, lights on." There was no response. He picked up his stick and walked to the window, the only source of light coming from the stars. He noticed that even the ship's external lights weren't functioning. Then he recalled that Lujot had informed him that to properly repair the ship, that at the end of all operations, the power would have to be switched off and reset, but he didn't think it would be this soon. His elderly eyes looked out for any sign of the repair crew ships. He figured they must be stationed off the other bow of the ship.

Then he saw one, mightily close to the ship. Almost as if it was docked. It took a moment for his mind to fit the shape into the hole, but it clicked very quickly that what he was looking at was definitely not a support ship.

"Oh Hell!" He shouted, grabbed his hand-held phaser and spun around. Something huge was racing towards him and he instantly discharged the entire power cell of the phaser into his assailant and with a large clunk, the creature fell to the floor. Aimes tapped his badge, but the communicator gave no beep. He felt his way to a nearby drawer and picked out his military-grade torch. He attached it to his phaser and lit up his way to the door, which had been open already, probably as a safety procedure when the power was shut down.

The lights in the hallway were gone too. He immediately made for the nearest weapons locker and grabbed a phaser rifle, before heading for the nearby Jefferies tube. It was only one climb to the bridge.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Aria Shelling, Lujot and Teddy Jarvis were in engineering at the time of the power shut down. The only light source was the residual glow from the warp core, which was getting dimmer every minute after it had started charging down.

"What's the matter? I thought your teams weren't supposed to cut power until the end?"

"We were not. Something else has caused the power outage."

"The only realistic thing that could cause a complete power outage like this is if the warp inductors above and below have blown." Jarvis said. "Mister Lujot, I'll need two of your men to take care of the one below. Commander, I'll need your help on the upper level to repair the other."

"I'll see to the lower one myself." Said Lujot, as he snapped his fingers at a nearby associate. The Starfleet officers climbed up expediently. Jarvis felt nervous at not hearing the comforting hum of a warp core, providing a rhythm to his work. The silence was very unnerving, Commander Shelling had to admit. A lot of things had been unnerving in this part of space lately. She knew it came with the job, but had never expected this.

"Will this take long?" She asked.

"No, not too long, just hold this... here." The chief engineer pushed a device into her hands. "With any luck, we'll have everything back online in 30 seconds or so." After a few concentrated moments of staring, Shelling spoke up.

"What do you think of our new Captain?"

"You don't like him, do you?"

"I asked what you think, Lieutenant."

"I think he's alright." Jarvis said, bearing his teeth as he stretched his repair device around the back of a coil. "A bit old for a Captain. I mean, I served under Captain Tudis on my last assignment and he was half of Captain Aimes' age. Then again, I suppose he's still younger than Captain Varik is."

"Was, Lieutenant. We all know he's dead."

"There's no proof that..."

"And there won't be. He was disintegrated in that explosion, much like the rest of that station and its people."

"I'm... I'm sorry, sir. It's just hard to come to terms with, after so long serving under him. I know you and he were..." The commander's expression became one of anger. "... friends." She looked threateningly in his eyes for a moment then looked back to the coil. The light was almost gone now.

"You don't know anything, Lieutenant. You have no idea." The whole of engineering was almost pitch black now. After another moment of silence, there came a call from below.

"We are finished down here, Mister Jarvis, but the problem must be up there." Lujot shouted. Jarvis completed his diagnostic.

"That should be... wait a minute..."

"What is it?"

"A reading of all systems. Engines have been disconnected... Weapons systems removed... nothing's responding, life support and environmental control are outside of our control... every relay has been severed, the sensors have been dismantled... Commander- we're derelict..."

Phaser fire was heard exploding from underneath. Screams flew upward towards the two officers and explosions gave momentary light to the now imperfectly dark room. The two ran over to the edge of the platform and looked down. A small electrical fire illuminated a body of one of the repair crew members being pulled away, by a large, blood red arm, covered in scales.

"Lieutenant." Shelling whispered. "Do you have any weapons up here?"

"Apart from my sidearm, no, nothing." He answered desperately. "What the hell was that?"

A few small growls were heard before a gigantic metallic screech from below heralded upwards. Jarvis was about to get his answer. Several huge masses, visible in the mild illumination were working their way up the walls at a frightening pace. They surrounded the two officers.

"What do we do, sir?" Jarvis felt his stomach imploding. He wanted to vomit. Huge creeping death was heading his way and he had never felt so terrified. Backing into the control console was like backing into a wall full of daggers made of ice, drilling into his back slowly and painfully.

"I don't know, Lieutenant. Be brave." The massive creatures had made their way to the top and now drew their weapons on the two humans, stepping closer, each footfall causing a skipped beat in the hearts of their targets. The lead being let out that bone-breaking metallic shriek one more time before opening fire.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A security officer on Deck 6 came to. He had a huge cramp in the back of his head. Why was he on the ground? He stepped up onto the floor and noticed the lights were off and the door behind him was open. He touched his communicator and spoke: "Crewman Dalton to Lieutenant Commander Greer, the prisoner has escaped, I repeat, the prisoner has escaped... Lieutenant Commander?"

Dalton heard a growl behind him, he switched on his phaser light and held it at the source of the noise. A huge, scaly red creature stood before him. It was around 9 feet tall, and as wide as the corridor. It was hunched to fit in and was wearing a thick grey spacesuit. Its face was particularly long, almost identical to that of an old pterodactyl on Earth, with multiple yellow, pupil-less eyes on the sides of its face. A large shape of metal seemed to be acting as an exoskeletal skull. It was holding a massive circular gun, as large as a person and pointing it directly at the crewman. For a second it lowered its weapon and looked at him curiously.

Crewman Dalton shivered. He accidentally pressed the discharge button on his phaser, hitting the creature in an eye. The monster let out a shriek and killed him in the dark with its massive physique. The crewman stopped screaming when his blood stopped pumping.

End.

Next Chapter: Derelict, Part 2