Before giving him a chance to put in his ten cents, she jumped up from where she had been sitting and ran from sick-bay. She slid to a stop in front of one of the computer access terminals and started pressing many of the buttons. "Voice override," she commanded.

"Accepted," it responded.

"Block off all informational banks. Include personal files, library records, ship blueprints… everything. Voice-lock all information by my voice. Users include Rinsaku Hiroshi, Mr. Spock, and Captain James Kirk."

"Accepted," it responded.

"Also, lock engineer deck controls by my voice. Users include Montgomery Scott and Captain James Kirk."

"Accepted."

"Lock life-support systems by my voice. Users include Rinsaku Hiroshi and Captain James Kirk." There was no response. "Acknowledge," she ordered. The computer did not respond. "Acknowledge!" she commanded. Suddenly all lights went out on the console. Only one remained. It flickered a little. It reminded her of an eerie eye.

Kirk stood silently beside her. "Computer," he began, "acknowledge previous request."

"Request… denied," a deep male voice responded from the console.

Rin looked with wide eyes to her Captain and explained, "The invading computer has taken over. I… I'm sorry… I saved what I could."

"You have locked pieces and parts of your inferior computer," the parasite noted in a mocking tone. "It will not take long to hack," it promised.

"Computer!" Rin ordered in a strong voice.

"R-r-ea-d-y-y," the female voice stuttered as it fought to speak.

She thought a moment. She needed to by Enterprise's computer as much time as possible to prevent the invading bug from taking control too quickly. "Calculate π to the last digit, and don't be quick about it. Focus all systems."

"W-work-ing-ing," it responded.

"That might by us enough time," she concluded. "Life support… I don't think I reached it in time."

"Don't worry about it, Rin," he said as he patted her on the back, which was awkward because of her wings. "You did what you could."

"Even so, I should've tackled life support first thing," she muttered regrettably.

He smiled at her hand said, "You know, if you think about it, what you did was the smartest thing." She stared at him in a puzzled fashion. "You locked our informational library to protect Star Fleet secrets," he informed. "If your theories are correct, it could prevent it from transmitting anything back to its… friends."

She shook her head and smiled. "You know," she began, "Bones was right. That hit must've done a lot."

--

On the Bridge, Spock was sitting in the Captain's chair, issuing orders in trying to confront the rogue computer. Kirk had managed to get Rin to the Bridge and had taken his place at the Conn. Rin was thankful that their good doctor was there and she told him so.

The atmosphere on the Bridge was one of tension and stress. Frustration was mounting between the crewmembers as the ship quickly became less and less responsive. Scotty was having difficulties with the engines and maintaining orbit of the planet and communications were being jammed on all signals. The crew had switched to communicators to get around the problem, but they knew it would not be long before even these ceased to function.

Rin had managed to catch Spock's attention and she sat on her haunches so her forelimbs would be free. With many different hand signals and gestures she managed to roughly communicate exactly what was happening to the Enterprise.

He raised an eyebrow and commented, "That is a most logical theory."

She nodded back and continued to sign.

He watched silently and suddenly knit his eyebrows. "But what of those on the planet's surface?" the Vulcan inquired.

Rin stopped signing and sighed, "They may have to wait," she responded sadly. "No doubt the transporter would scramble them into one big mess of atoms and we'd lose them."

"Foolish organics," the computer mocked. "You should know there is nothing you can do. you may was well begin preparing for the end now, for it is inevitable."'

"Fascinating," Spock muttered. "Captain, I believe it is attempting to evoke desperation into the crewmembers," he concluded.

At this, Kirk instantly spoke into the ship-wide intercom to reassure the crew. "This is your Captain speaking," he began. "Disregard any and all threatening messages broadcasted through the ship. The onboard computer is experiencing technical difficulties. Take no heed to it. Kirk out."

"Captain, message from Star Fleet," Uhura announced in a strong voice. "It's a bit scrambled, but they are asking if we are in need of assistance. They are concerned that we haven't made contact."

Kirk hesitated. Yes, they needed help, but if another ship was to come to their aid, the new ship could potentially catch the virus as well. If they remained quiet about the whole thing, however, the crew would eventually die off and then space would have a rogue Federation Star Cruiser flying around.

"Uhura, tell Star Fleet that everything is under control here and that everything is running in green conditions. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise."

"Yes, Captain."

"Rin, you should go rest in your quarters," McCoy advised in a quiet voice so as not to disturb those on the Bridge and she nodded.

"Nothing would please me more, Doctor."

--

In her room, everything was completely silent. She was on the verge of sleep when the computer began taunting her again.

"You poor, pitiful, pathetic creature," it sneered. "You and your Masters are inferior. Learn your place in the galaxies, for it is under the heel of the universe."

Rin rolled over and sat up immediately. "And learn it well, shall I," she muttered in response. "We indeed are inferior, but I feel most inferior of all. New-comer, I live only to serve, and thus as been my assumed role in life since my beginning. Please, put me to work for you so I feel I have purpose in this miserable life of mine!" she begged.

"Fascinating creature," it commented in a shocked tone of voice. "Indeed, you are wiser than all others here, even the half-breed on the Bridge. Tell me, Aurelian, what made you come to realize this?"

"My beginning… when I was taken by the Klingons from my clan…" she began quietly. "That was when I finally learned by place, and from then on, I move on from Master to Master, and every other one is stronger and more superior then the last. From the Klingons to the Vulcans, to the Federation to the Captain of this ship. And now, the process continues."

It sounded almost happy, for a computer. "I praise you, Aurelian. Your intelligent way of life and wisdom serves you well."

"Indeed it does," she agreed with a smile. "Indeed it does."

--

When Kirk walked into the Brig, he was not surprised to find his First Officer leaning over one of the Klingons with his green-blooded hands on his bumpy forehead.

He pulled back as the Captain neared him and he straightened his posture. "Captain, it appears I may have speculated in error."

"Elaborate."

"The Klingons control the computer, to an extent," he informed. "By one of their communicators, they instructed it to transport itself from their ship over into our system before it exploded. Apparently, just before they beamed over, they commanded it to take over the Enterprise silently, so we could not realize the capture until it was too late."

Kirk spoke his thoughts aloud. "Then, when conditions were best, the computer would release the Klingons from the Brig, who would take over the ship! Then Star Fleet would have a rogue ship and the Federation would be destroyed from the inside out!" He clenched a fist. "They are too dangerous to be kept aboard!"

"Captain, what you are suggesting is inhumane-"

"Whether it is or is not, it makes no difference!" Kirk shouted. Spock looked disturbed at his Captain's outrage. "This ship and her crew are my responsibility. They are my duty, and I must do anything to keep them safe. Can't you understand that, Spock?"

He said nothing in response, but the Captain's responsibilities were immense, and he knew it well. "Captain," he began in a careful tone, "there is another way to solve this problem. Sir, I can understand your frustration, but killing the Klingons is completely unnecessary." He picked up one of the Klingon communicators and held it in his hand. "If this is the device I learned about from this Klingon's mind, it would be possible to re-wire it to work in our favor, and remove this electronic parasite from the ship."

Kirk thought it over and overcame his desire to kill his prisoners. "Very well, Mr. Spock," he agreed in a dark tone. "Do whatever it takes."

"Right away, Captain," he answered quickly and he left the room.

--

"This," the computer explained, "can… transport pieces of me to different ships and different systems. It is a bit of a 'flash-drive', if you will forgive the old term."

Rin closed the communicator back up and asked, "Just that little addition from the Klingon communicator can do all that?" She looked awestruck. "Fascinating."

"Here are your instructions," it began. "I am going to beam you over to the Ebon Hawk, and you are going to upload a bit of me into the vessel's systems."

Rin raised her eyebrows. "Why do you require my assistance with this? Can you not do this yourself?"

It was hesitant to answer. "I can," it eventually responded, but in a strange tone, "but it is faster and more efficient if it were to be uploaded manually by another hand."

"Ah, I see," She stepped on the transporter pad and asked, "Will I be able to maintain contact with you while I am over there?"

"You will not," it responded. "Not until you properly upload a piece of me into the system. Then, I shall make contact with that computer and we shall work as two separate beings, two separate ships."

--

"In your dreams," Rin retorted the instant she materialized inside the Ebon Hawk. "Even if I were able to unload this rogue system, the Ebon Hawk is such and old smuggling vessel that the ship would reject it. Besides, this is only manned manually, so it is not advanced enough to be run by a computer." She pondered a moment over their current situation. "If I could convince the computer that every scrap was needed, perhaps I could destroy this little device, and thus end one of the many computer parasites that exist in this universe. Or…" She looked down at the communicator. "Or I could fix the communicator and drag it unwillingly over here, and then it would be trapped. All I would need to do would be to kill Communications here until we could find a way to destroy this leech."

A/N: That's it, I'm done with this. I realized that this story would be better used in another one of my Star Trek stories, so that's what is going to happen. The story shall appear on my other account, Rinsaku Hiroshi-San, so I'll keep you posted there. I am uncertain how long it will take me to finish up that story and make all this fit and finally put all the final details into it, but when it is finished, it will be a wonder. I hope to see some of you readers along the written road. Farewell for now, and live long and prosper! ;)