Okay, very close to the end! :) Sorry for the sick description of the disease and stuff, but I can't exactly make it pretty either. And onward!

. . .

I stand at my post on the bridge as we pilot the ship to a nearby wormhole that leads to an uninhabited part of the Delta Quadrant. The wormhole used for passage between the Alpha and Delta Quadrants. The one that initiated contact between the Federation and the Ocampa Alliance.

If the Doctor can't find a cure in time, we have to get the ship away from Federation space. By means of the wormhole. So when we're about to die, we'll pilot the ship into a star to prevent it from spreading. And hopefully no ships will be around to try and stop us.

Eight crewmen have already died from the disease, including the Captain and Ensign Verne. Two others are close to death. I envy all the other ships in the Federation. None of them had a situation quite like this. Except maybe Captain Picard, with his ship, but as far as I know, nobody tried to pilot it into a star in the Delta Quadrant.

I can't help but blame myself for this mess. I should have taken better security measures on this ship. Then we could have caught the perpetrator. Instead, he or she is long gone, and we're all suffering long, horrible deaths.

"We are now eighty kilometres from the wormhole," Seven informs.

"On screen," Mi'Ya orders, her voice barely above a whisper. The disease has damaged her vocal cords, so it's hard to hear her.

An image of the wormhole appears on the screen. It glows an aqua blue hue, with purple on the edges. It's center is teal.

"Take us in," Mi'Ya commands. And we enter the wormhole. But it isn't a smooth ride to the other side. We encounter a large amount of turbulence.

"Shields are holding at seventy percent," I say. Suddenly I start coughing.

"Are you alright, pink-skin?" Mi'Ya asked.

"I'm fine," I reply. I look at the sensor readings again. "Hang on. I'm getting a reading on the other side of the wormhole. I can't trace it..."

We pop out of the wormhole onto the other side of the galaxy. And in front of us is a ship adrift. It looks like it's an old Federation vessel. I think it's an NX-Class...

"Zoom in on that ship!" Mi'Ya orders loudly, then she goes into a fit of coughing. Never shout with damaged vocal cords.

The viewscreen zooms in on the old vessel, and as the top of the ship turns slightly towards us, we catch a glimpse of the name.

Enterprise NX-01.

I'm half-tempted to start screaming, to blame Daniels for this mockery. What is Enterprise doing here? Is it one from an alternate timeline? And why is it adrift? A better question: what is it doing in the Delta Quadrant?

Then I remember. The memory is fragmented, but it's there. The serum. Daniels had it. What if that was the disease we have? Caused by the serum?

I vaguely recall that there was something on Enterprise, something from the 31st century.

"I think there's something on that ship," I say. "Something from the future we might be able to use. I... remember what happened with Daniels. He had some kind of serum. Maybe the old data module on Enterprise has information about it. It's unlikely but worth a shot, I think. If it's even still there... Should I scan the vessel?"

"Yes," Mi'Ya says. "Just in case. We don't want any surprises, either."

I look at the scans. "No biosigns. It looks like there are several hull breaches. Life support offline. Emergency power is also offline. I'm getting a very faint chroniton particle signature on one section of the ship. I can't isolate it. It's on Deck Five, from the looks of it. That's about as much as I can tell."

"Alright." Mi'Ya stands up, slightly wobbly. "Seven, Aracane, you're with me. Bring a security team, too. We'll be boarding the vessel."

I nod, thinking about how much Ensign Jax would complain about that. "Understood."

"Meet me in transporter room one," Mi'Ya says. Then she steps off the bridge into the turbolift. Seven and I follow. Here goes nothing.

. . .

We're now in transporter room one, with biosuits, tricorders, phasers (just in case), everything we need for the away mission. I look at my comrades and sigh. Three of my security team died yesterday. Ensigns Carrie, Cutler, and Handerson. Half of my security team gone. Now it's just Ensigns Reed, T'Nola, Jax, and me. If we survive this, if we find a cure, we'll hold a ceremony for our dead crewmen. The Captain, Ensign Verne, and a the others who've died. But the chances of us finding a cure are very slim.

I look at Seven and Mi'Ya now. Their faces are grim with determination. Confidence, even. Maybe I shouldn't be so pessimistic.

We step onto the transporter pad, and Mi'Ya orders, "Energise."

I can feel myself being dematerialised and then we're in one of the corridors of Enterprise. Thankfully our magnetic boots are on, or we'd be floating around. Because the artificial gravity is offline.

I pull out my tricorder, turn on the flashlight on my sleeve, and start scanning. Everyone else does the same. Seven is the first one to get a reading from the chroniton signature.

"This way," she says. We follow, still scanning. Ensign Reed attempts to make conversation.

"One of my ancestors served on Enterprise," she says. "His name was Malcolm Reed. Chief Tactical Officer."

"Interesting," I say. "What was it like for him?"

"According to his logs," Reed says, "it was excitement at every moment. One time he almost lost his leg trying to diffuse a bomb."

"I read about that," Mi'Ya replies. "Didn't one of the bombs legs pop out of the side and pierce is leg?"

"Yeah," Reed says. "Barely missed the bone."

"I don't see the point of this conversation," T'Nola says. "We are here to find an object from the future. Not 'chitchat' as you humans call it."

"This is why my great great grandfather had a problem with Vulcans," Mi'Ya tells us. "They're obsessed with logic."

T'Nola raises an eyebrow, but says nothing.

"Here," Seven says. We're standing in front of someone's quarters. The room has been sealed off. I bend over and start hacking the lock on the door. In a moment, the lock detaches. I pull it away while Seven pushes the door open.

"Primitive technology," Seven remarks.

"It was state of the art back in the 2150's!" Ensign Reed replies defensively. "You bloody Borg are always so arrogant."

"I wonder what happened to them. It's like a ghost ship," Jax murmurs softly. "I mean, we didn't see any bodies. Did they all abandon ship or something? And how did the ship end up in the Delta Quadrant, anyway? Another wormhole...?"

As she speaks we enter the quarters. We immediately start snooping. I take the locker, Jax takes the desk, and Mi'Ya and Seven search the closet. T'Nola and Reed just watch as stuff floats around in the room. Jax cries out triumphantly.

"I found something!" she shouts happily.

Everyone pats her on the shoulder with glee, even me. Maybe we will find a cure. Maybe we can prevent everyone else in the crew from dying. Maybe we have a chance.

. . .

Hope you all liked this chapter! :) Next one will be a little longer, but I figured it would be good to end this chapter here. Seemed like a good spot.

See you all next time! :) Live long and prosper.

P. S. As some of you may have noticed, I have been correcting spelling errors in the previous chapters. And for some reason, I accidentally uploaded the same chapter twice at one point. *blushes* That's what proofreading is for. Lol.