Wow, this one got long. Broke it into two parts for ease of reading. But that means more action. Demons! Psychic powers! Mice!
Of Mice and Men
Captain's Log, Captain Elizabeth Hawkwood reporting. Currently we are on patrol near the Rolor Nebula. The USS Kagutsuchi has been experiencing intermittent power failures for the past week. I have convened a meeting of my department heads to discuss this as well as some new orders that have just come in.
The briefing room of the USS Kagutsuchi was a modest sized billet off the main bridge. As was common in briefing rooms across Starfleet, it had a table in the middle of the room and a cluster of decently comfortable chairs arranged around it. On one side was a window, gazing out into the lonely blackness of space. On the other side was a view screen.
At the moment, Captain Elizabeth Hawkwood occupied the chair in front of the window. To her right, going down the table, were Commander T'Bumo and Lieutenant Nephenee. To her left were Lieutenant Commander Rei Ayanami and Lieutenant Selvok. "Will will be here soon," Captain Hawkwood said, "He informed me is just finishing compiling his report."
At that moment a disheveled Lieutenant Commander William Thomas entered. Data pad in hand. "Sorry I'm late…had an issue in Jefferies Tube."
"So…about your hair…" Beth started.
"Oh this? Like I said I had an issue in a Jefferies Tube," Will said. He had an interesting approach to engineering and system maintenance and repair. Beth was still working on the particulars of figuring that method out, but whatever it was, that method was highly effective.
"I assume that data pad contains the report?" T'Bumo asked.
"Ahhh…nope," Will said with his usual friendly tone, "This is my collection of Harry Potter books. Lieutenant Commander Ayanami asked to read them." Will dutifully handed the tablet to Rei.
"My thanks, Lieutenant Commander Thomas," Rei said in a monotone voice.
"So where is your report, Will?" Captain Hawkwood asked.
"Right here," Will said as he took a plastic baggie out of his pocket and tossed it onto the table.
Commander T'Bumo picked it up and looked at the baggie's contents. "It's a frayed wire and some kind of pellet," she said in as close to a confused state as she could.
"Actually the wire has been gnawed upon. And using our ship's computer I have isolated the source of the pellet," Will said triumphantly.
"And your results?" Captain Hawkwood asked, taking the bag from T'Bumo.
"The power surges and apparent sabotage is caused by none other then…" Will said as he switched on the view screen which brought up a picture of a small, brown, and furry rodent, "…mice."
"Mice?" T'Bumo asked.
"Mice are a common agricultural and household pest indigenous to Earth, but have since been accidentily spread across much of the Federation," Rei explained as if she were reading from a data pad, "Owing to their adaptability, rapid reproduction, and other traits, mice have supplanted many native pests on planets they have been introduced to."
"So how did they get aboard?" T'Bumo asked, "And how were they not detected sooner?"
"Quite possibly from the USS Hestia last month. I talked with their chief engineer over the DakkaDakka Net last week and he says the ship is going into space dock to receive a baryon sweep. The Hestia's science officer estimates they may be more mice then people aboard the ship," Will said, "It is possible that one or more of the animals were aboard the shuttle that came aboard to deliver the Polydeutron Array and wandered off while it was being unloaded."
"That sounds like a probable source of the infestation…" Beth said, scowling at the contents of the bag.
"How can we detect and eliminate these pests?" T'Bumo asked, "Can our internal security handle it?"
"Our sensors cannot detect something the size of a mouse, unfortunately," Nephenee said, "Nor do they use doors, so we cannot use door sensors to detect their movements."
"I found the fecal matter in a Jefferies tube earlier," Will said.
"So was that the incident in the tube?" Beth asked.
"Oh, no. That incident that was completely different," Will said.
"Well…how can we address this issue?" T'Bumo asked.
"I have my engineering staff working on that right now," Will said with beaming confidence.
"OW! For the love of…" Revei shouted as the mousetrap snapped on his fingers.
Azrio laughed at Revei. Then he too had his fingers snapped on by the trap he was placing. "OW! Hey Revei, why is it the 25th century and we are still using devices of wood, wire, and springs to fight small vermin?"
"Lieutenant Commander Will said something about having experience with combating mice back on Alpha Centauri," Revei said, "Hard to believe this the best weapon against them."
"It's not so bad," Matt said as placed his fifth trap in the time that Revei and Azrio had failed to place one.
"Shut up, newbie. And go get us some sodas," Azrio said.
"I am glad about that. Hopefully we can take care of this problem before it reaches the level of the Hestia's," Beth said, "Meanwhile, have a seat, Will. I have more to explain."
"Oh," Will said as he smoothed his ruffled hair back and took a seat next to Ayanami.
"The USS Guttenberg has been surveying the Helica system. However a squadron of Klingon ships warped in yesterday and forced the Guttenberg to withdraw. This was at a critical juncture as the Guttenberg was detecting some strange energy reading on one of the asteroids in the system. The Kagutsuchi is to link up with the Guttenberg and investigate those energy readings, fighting the Klingons if necessary," Beth explained.
"What kind of energy reading?" Selvok asked.
"Admiral Quinn did not elaborate. I expect to get that information from the Guttenberg when we link up with it," Beth answered, "Anything else?"
"Well if those Klingons are still around, we'll give them a good heave ho," Will said, "Who knows, we could try beaming some mice aboard one of their ships."
Suddenly the lights in the room went out.
"Uh…I'll get my staff up here and set some of our traps in here," Will said.
The Kagutsuchi exited warp on the edges of the Helica system. Shortly after, the Guttenberg also exited.
"Please hail the Guttenberg," Captain Hawkwood commanded.
Ensign Sihar complied. "Opening hailing frequencies," she said.
"Guttenberg, this Captain Elizabeth Hawkwood of the USS Kagutsuchi. Starfleet Command has informed me that you requested assistance with dealing some intruders in this space," Beth said.
"This is Captain Mayn Alecara of the USS Guttenberg. Thank you for coming Kagutsuchi," said a female Bajoran that appeared on the screen, "Three Klingon Birds of Prey appeared in the system and made threatening moves towards my vessel. While we have weapons to defend ourselves, the Guttenberg is primarily a research and survey vessel and against three Birds of Prey I was unsure of the odds."
"No need to explain, Captain Alecara, the Kagutsuchi is more then capable of dealing with the three Klingon vessels," Beth said confidently, "However my science officer was interested in the energy readings you were detecting."
"As were we," Captain Alecara said, "Hence why we asked for your assistance. Most of our survey work was completed and the energy reading was a final detail we were addressing."
"May we have the coordinates of the energy reading?"
"I will have them transmitted momentarily," Captain Alecara stated, "Now, shall we commence with the investigation?"
"Let's. My vessel shall take point to detect any ambushes," Beth suggested, Beth out.
Rei studied the data anomaly. In addition to the coordinates the Guttenberg had also sent some information about the system and the data reading. Something didn't quite sit right with the anomaly. It kept fluctuating in a random fashion. Over the course of almost a week of passive observation from the Guttenberg, no pattern or consistency was detected. Even the energy types seemed to fluctuate. Sometimes biological entities, sometimes antimatter, other times something else altogether. It made no sense…
"Crew on yellow alert," Beth ordered as the Kagutsuchi moved further in system, "Be wary of ambushes. Rei, got anything?"
"Hmm? Oh, right," Rei said checking her scanners, "Nothing, Captain."
"You seem distracted, Rei. That is unlike you," Beth observed.
"I guess I was. I was examining the data sent over by the Guttenberg. In addition to the coordinates they also sent over an overview of the data on the system and anomaly. The data on the anomaly is very puzzling," Rei said.
"Well Federation scientist will have years to puzzle that out. Right now, I need your focus on the task at hand. The Klingons may be waiting in ambush," Beth said.
"Right, Captain. I apologize," Rei said.
"It's not that I don't appreciate your efforts," Beth said, "But there may be lurking dangers seeking to destroy us."
"Speaking of lurking dangers…" Etrum said, "I gotta run to the restroom."
"…you were ordered to go before we arrived in the system," T'Bumo said in a disgusted manner.
"Yeah, but I didn't have to go then," Etrum said, "'sides Narshu can cover for me while I'm gone."
"Be quick about it, Etrum," Beth said.
Ensign Narshu Delint practically leapt into Etrum's seat. "Alrighty! Where are we going?" she said excitedly.
"Just stay on course," Captain Hawkwood said.
"But that's booooooring," Narshu complained.
"Indeed it is," Beth agreed.
"Oh well, at least I get Etrum's mocha milkshake," Narshu said as she grabbed the drink container, wiped off the straw, and started sucking.
T'Bumo looked at the Captain.
Etrum left the bathroom, the satisfying sound of the flushing toilet being heard behind him as he wiped his hands with a sanitary towellette and tossed it into a waste receptacle for reprocessing. He started humming a song as he started walking back to the bridge.
Suddenly a squeaking and scratching sound started. The chunky Bolian paused and looked around. The sound stopped. Etrum shrugged and started walking again. The squeaking and scratching started up again. Once again he paused and glanced around. The noises stopped again. Etrum was getting nervous. He took a couple steps and the noises began again. He stopped but the noises kept going.
Etrum took off running towards the bridge.
"Klingon Bird of Prey, detected at range of 85 kilometers ahead!" Rei said, "No, three Birds of Prey. The magnetic properties of the iron asteroids were interfering with metallic sensor sweeps."
"Relay the information to the Guttenberg," Beth ordered, "Rei, status of the Birds of Prey?"
"Assessing…all three appear to have their shields and engines down," Rei said, "Power failures…all are running on emergency life support power only."
"What?" Beth asked. She went over to Rei's console.
"Exactly as I said. All three are on emergency life support. All nonessential, engine, weapons, and defensive systems are down," Rei said.
"Life signs?" Beth asked.
"Too far to make a thorough scan, but preliminary scans suggest no life signs," Rei said in her usual monotone voice.
"Helm, plot a course to the vessels. Ulmek relay our status to the Guttenberg and attempt to raise any of those ships," Beth ordered.
"It may yet be a trap," T'Bumo cautioned.
"And it may not be," Beth said, "And there may be crewmen to rescue."
T'Bumo nodded.
Etrum came onto the bridge, panting heavily.
"Lieutenant, take over the helm. Narshu, instead of reporting back to your post I want you and Nephenee to start preparing an away team. Nigel, you too. I fear they may be experiencing technical problems and I want a skilled engineer over there just in case," Beth ordered.
Etrum looked at the Captain, "Captain, wait. There was terrible scratching and screeching in the hall. I think something is aboard the ship!"
"Yeah, we have a mouse problem," Beth said, "Now get to your station! Three Klingon Birds of Prey are disabled by something and we need to find out what."
"…Right, Captain," Etrum said, taking over from Narshu.
Lieutenant Nephenee Aliste stepped into the turbo lift. Ensigns Narshu Delint and Nigel Grant followed.
Etrum steered the vessel closer. "Sixty kilometers to target," he announced.
"Are you getting a better view now?" Beth asked Rei.
"I am. I can confirm no life signs aboard the second or third vessels. I am detecting trace life forms aboard the first ship," she said, "But not Klingon…"
"Not Klingon? What kind of life forms? Gorn? Orion?" Beth asked.
"Unknown. I am not even sure if it is humanoid," Rei said.
"We will have the away team check that ship first," Beth said.
"Hail incoming from the Guttenberg," Ulmek reported.
"On screen," Beth said.
It was Captain Alecara. "Kagutsuchi, those ships are drifting near the asteroid we were wanting to examine," she said.
"Understood. You proceed with your survey of the asteroid and we will examine the ships," Beth offered.
"A sound suggestion. We will do so," Alecara said, "Guttenberg out."
The ships were near the asteroid with the unusual energy readings…
"Rei, I want you to look over the data that Alecara sent over. Check for anything that seems to be missing or tampered with. Then check to see if the three Birds of Prey were somehow effected by the anomaly," she ordered.
"Right away, sir," Rei said.
"Trust issues, Captain?" T'Bumo asked.
"I don't think it is a coincidence that the asteroid with the unusual energy signatures is next to the three disabled ships," Beth said.
"Coincidences are quite rare. That is why they are coincidences," T'Bumo said.
Nephenee, Narshu, and Nigel were suiting up in the armory. With them was Security Squad 1. And Doctor Selvok. "Captain Hawkwood suggested I accompany you. Naturally you would have seniority, Lieutenant Aliste."
"Glad to have you along, Doctor," Nephenee said.
"Any information about the ships besides the faint life signs and near derelict state?" Selvok asked.
"They arrived in system and drove the USS Guttenberg off recently. So they haven't been in this state for too long," Nephenee said, "Even still, they are Klingon vessels and a state of war exists between the Federation and Klingon Empire. So be careful. I think it may be a trap."
"But if it is a trap, surely they would have sprung it by now," Nigel suggested as he donned his blast vest.
"To beam us over, Kagutsuchi will need to drop her shields. That would be the perfect moment for a cloaked ship to hit us," Selvok suggested.
Narshu shuddered at that thought.
"Excellent suggestion, Doctor. Perhaps you missed your true calling as a tactical officer," Nephenee said.
"I do not think so, Lieutenant Aliste. I feel most satisfied with saving lives," Selvok said.
Nephenee materialized in the hallway of the Klingon vessel with four members of the security team. It was extremely dark. None of the lights seemed to be operational. The team activated their lamps. They spread out to cover the entrance to the cargo hold they were in. One of the security team members scanned the area on his tricorder. "I am detecting food, spare parts, and a crate of small arms," he said, "Room appears to be clear."
Nephenee tapped her comm badge, "Room secure. Next group."
Narshu, Nigel, Selvok, and the fifth security crewman appeared.
"Any life signs?" Nephenee asked.
The crewman sighed, "Negative."
"Alright. We move out, but be on your guard," Nephenee ordered.
Nephenee led the team into the corridor.
"What's that smell?" one of the security ratings said.
Indeed a foul odor hung in the air. Almost like…sulfur? Why would there be sulfur in the air? "Is the tricorder showing anything unusual?" Nephenee asked.
"Higher then normal concentrations of sulfur dioxide," the tricorder operator said.
As expected. "Narshu, any idea why there would be sulfur dioxide in the air of a Klingon vessel?" Nephenee asked, "Sulfur dioxide forms primarily when you burn sulfur and is often associated with volcanic activity."
"No idea. Klingons usually don't have any reason to be transporting large quantities of sulfur. Least of all on a warship like this," the Trill science officer said. She was looking intently at her tricorder. "I am detecting sulfur dioxide across the entire ship. Not in any seriously hazardous amounts but…"
"It's still unusual," Nephenee finished.
"Yeah," Narshu agreed.
"Shouldn't the air recyclers be filtering this out?" Nigel asked.
"Yeah…they should be," Narshu said, "I don't know why I didn't think of that?"
"Are the air recyclers even running?" Nephenee asked. The group quieted. A faint hum of air filtration could be heard. "They are," Nephenee said.
"So something is producing the sulfur dioxide," Narshu said.
"First priority is look for any survivors. Where is the life sign reading located?" Nephenee asked.
"Ahead, about ten meters. Then left," her security tricorder operator said.
"Alright we move…Doctor Selvok, what are you looking at?" Nephenee said.
"Blood," Selvok said, "My medical tricorder says it is Klingon blood."
"What?" Nephenee shined her lamp on the ground. The ground was covered in pools of blood. Occasionally a piece of flesh, tissue, or Klingon uniform could be seen.
"Oh my…" Narshu said.
Nigel looked like he was about to get sick.
Nephenee tapped her commbadge, "Captain, you are not going to believe this…"
Beth listened to Nephenee and the Selvok explain the situation. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Is the entire ship like that?" she asked.
"My security team has checked the nearby hallways and rooms. The ship is a mess," Nephenee said.
"We need to find out what is going on here and fast. Get to that life sign and do not hesitate to use lethal force if needed," Beth said.
"Understood, Captain," Nephenee said.
Beth turned to T'Bumo and Rei. "Any ideas?"
Rei and T'Bumo were silent.
"Me neither," Beth said.
"Left here," the security rating with the tricorder said.
Nephenee peeked around the corner. The hallway seemed unusually dark and foreboding. Something in the back of her mind, something primal, was telling Nephenee to turn back. The Andorian security chief shook her head and resisted the urge to suck in a mouthful of the rancid air. She did aim her phaser rifle in front of her and move more cautiously then usual. The away team followed close behind.
"Alright Chief Gel, have you locked onto one of the anomalies?" Commander Roger Hollings asked the transporter chief.
"Locked on and energizing, sir," Chief Gel said as he energized the transporter aboard the USS Guttenberg. Science Officer Hollings had located numerous small…things…inside the asteroid that the Guttenberg had been detecting the unusual transmissions from. Unable to make any sense of the anomaly without up close study, the science officer was going to be beaming one aboard for study.
Captain Alecara had ordered a security team to the transporter room, just in case. The security detail stood by, phasers at the ready but mostly taking it easy. Commander Hollings had assured them it was just a mineral sample. It was an asteroid after all.
The item that appeared didn't appear to mineral in nature at all however. It looked like a scaled, red egg covered in an icy slime. Ensign Nera Delit, Hollings's assistant science officer studied the item. "Sir, what is that?" she asked.
Hollings cocked his head to the side, "Most fascinating…" he said as he approached the anomaly.
The security detail's attention was suddenly affixed on the object that had appeared.
"I have a bad feeling about this…" Gel muttered, "This doesn't feel right."
"It doesn't look right either," Nera observed.
"Nonsense. This is just…some kind of new mineral formation. This process could be immensely useful in…something once it is studied and understood," Hollings said, ""It's quite fascinating, really." Hollings touched the egg-like 'mineral'.
"Do you hear that?" Nera asked.
"Hear what?" Gel asked for clarification. Obviously he didn't hear whatever Nera was hearing.
"It's like voices…chanting voices…" Nera said. She suddenly started screaming and collapsed, clutching her head. "Stop it! Stop it!" she shouted.
Hollings turned to look at his assistant. That was when the object exploded in flames, incinerating the Guttenberg's XO and chief science officer.
The security team looked at the blaze in horror. Out of the fire stepped a bipedal beast with a pair of wicked, black horns. The stink of sulfur diffused into the air.
The creature opened it's toothy maw in a wicked howl. The security team doubled over in pain, clutching their ears. The monster drew a wicked axe and cleaved through the closest one in a single blow. Chief Gel recovered and drew his phaser pistol, firing it at the monster. It hit…but didn't seem to effect the creature.
Well that wasn't entirely true. The creature seemed to get extremely irritated and it lunged over the transporter terminal and ripped Gel's head off his body in one smooth motion.
"What is that?" Nigel asked, examining a slushy mass on a transporter pad. The tricorder had led them to the Bird of Prey's transporters.
Selvok was scanning it with his tricorder. "Primarily organic in nature, higher quantities of sulfur then one would expect from something on board a spaceship," he announced.
"Sounds like we found our sulfur source," Nigel said.
"It's also quite warm. As if it was on fire rather recently. I am also detecting carbon scoring around it. It was most certainly burning," Selvok said, "At least within the past six hours."
"Perhaps four hours and twenty minutes ago," Narshu said, "This console beaming something up the asteroid then. But the profile is very different then that. I'm sending this to the Kagutsuchi for analysis."
Nephenee picked up a shard of metal. "This is from a d'k tahg, a Klingon warrior's knife. Something cut through it very cleanly."
"Any ideas, Lieutenant?" one of the security detail asked.
"None," Nephenee said, "But whatever did must have been physically strong and sharp to have made so clean a cut."
Phaser shots rang out from one of the door sentries.
"What is it Crewman?" Nephenee asked authoritatively.
"Something was moving down there," the Crewman said, "It had glowing, red eyes."
"Red eyes?" Nephenee asked for confirmation.
The crewman nodded.
"There it is, I saw it too," the other sentry said.
The first crewman stepped into the hallway to get a better angle for his light. The light shone on the glistening red hide of a creature wielding an axe. I bellowed and charged at the door. Nephenee and the two sentries opened fire with phaser rifles. The first shots seemed to have little effect, so Nephenee increased the power on hers. Her first shot did some damage, burning away the tough armored skin of the creature. Partway down the hall it threw it's axe down the hall. The blade impaled the crewman that had stepped into the hall.
Nephenee drew her ushaan-tor. "Increase phaser power to maximum," she ordered. The monster slashed at Nephenee with it's wicked claws, but Nephenee nimbly dodged the attack. She slashed at it with her ushaan-tor, leaving a serious gash on it. With a few more slashes and parries the creature slammed into Nephenee, dislodging the ushaan-tor from her hand.
She evaded the slashing of the creature's claws and grabbed the axe it had thrown, dislodging it from the dead crewman. It was heavier then she expected and slightly unwieldy for her smaller mass then the intended wielder, but it had some reach.
Nephenee stepped back from the monster as it stumbled forward over the dead crewman and through the narrow door. Thus positioned, Nephenee brought the axe down the creature's head, assuming the head was the important part. Her guess paid off and the powerful axe-blow felled the creature.
Nephenee was panting. Silence filled the room.
"What the hell was that thing?" Nigel shouted, voicing the thought of everyone in the room.
"Doctor, see to Crewman Dael," Nephenee said.
"He is dead, Nephenee," Selvok said, taking one look at the mess the crewman had become.
"Then look at the killer. What do you make of that?" she asked.
Nigel was looking at it. He rippled a piece of flesh from around the axe buried in the head. "Spongy. Not like any skin I have seen. Yet I feel some kind of hard structure here."
Narshu scanned the sample. "I am detecting a crystalline pattern here. No wonder our phasers didn't seem to harm it much. This skin would have dissipated the energy almost as fast as we could have shot it. Higher powered blasts would bring it down eventually though."
"Eventually?" Nephenee asked.
"Few hits," Narshu said.
"Your blade did pretty well against it," Nigel observed, "As did the axe."
"Yeah. The creature's hide seems to not be as effective against bladed weapons. We are taking this with us back to the Kagutsuchi. I was to test a TR-116 on it," Nephenee ordered.
Selvok thought for a moment, "I believe the solid shot from a TR-116 should be quite effective. The spongy skin with crystalline reinforcement would not offer much resistance."
"My thoughts exactly, Doctor," Nephenee said, "But I want to test it to be sure." Nephenee tapped her commbadge, "Kagutsuchi, bring us home."