Notes: The crew of the Enterprise find out what they're up against and the Doctor helps capture a Yautja. (It's not going to be happy about that!)
Chapter 14
Captain Picard was at his desk in his ready room, next to the bridge. He was updating his log when the intercom on his desk chirped. He pressed the acknowledge button and Beverley Crusher's face appeared on the viewer.
"Dr. Crusher, what can I do for you?" he asked her.
"Sorry to bother you, but a patient here insists on speaking with you," she explained.
Picard could only think of one patient in Sick Bay that would insist. "That's alright Beverley, put him on."
Worf's face appeared on the viewer. "Captain. I know I am temporarily relieved of duties, but as chief of security I must recommend against any movement of crew to or from the Borg vessel until the parasite threat has been assessed and neutralized."
Picard smiled to himself. Worf could be on his death-bed and still think of his duty before drawing his last breath.
"Thank you Mr. Worf, that would be prudent. Your comment has been noted in my log. Now I order you to get some rest so that I can have you back on duty," he told him.
"Yes sir."
Beverley's face came back on the viewer.
"If he gives you any more trouble, set phasers to stun and shoot him," Picard said light-heartedly.
Beverley laughed and signed off.
Picard stared out of the window into the space beyond. Worf had a point. If just one of those things got on board the Enterprise it could be disastrous. Even with all its advanced technology, it could still be vulnerable. And what were the other two intruders they had detected on the Borg ship? One of which had nearly killed Worf and the Doctor. Where did they fit into all this? He needed answers, and fast or others were going to die.
It was the early hours of the morning when the Doctor left the bio-science lab with Data. He said good night and was about to head for the TARDIS when Data informed him that the ships manifest reported that Rose was in an executive suite on deck ten. 'The little minx,' he thought to himself as Data led the way.
The Doctor stepped into the apartment and the door slid shut behind him.
The far wall had large windows and sloped with the curve of the hull. The support struts divided the room into three areas, dining, lounging and sleeping.
Rose was asleep in bed, lying on her right side with her back to him. He stripped off and slid under the sheets to 'spoon' her, his left arm gently embracing her as he cupped one of her breasts.
She stirred and looked back over her shoulder. "Hi," she whispered sleepily. He kissed her bare shoulder, returning the greeting.
Rose gently rolled on to her back, lifting her left leg over the Doctors waist and started to make love.
This wasn't the lust driven passionate sex they had performed on Risa, this was proper love-making, slow, thoughtful, spiritual. After they had finished, they fell asleep, still coupled together.
This wasn't the lust driven passionate sex they had performed on Risa, this was proper love-making, slow, thoughtful, spiritual. After they had finished, they fell asleep, still coupled together.
'Chirrup, chirrup.' It was the ship's intercom.
The Doctor drowsily brought his head from under the sheets. "Hello?" he asked the chirping sound.
Captain Picard's voice came out of the ceiling. "Doctor, Miss Tyler, I am convening a briefing in the conference room in an hour and wondered if you would like attend?"
Rose's head came from under the sheets.
"Yes of course Captain," he yawned. "We'll be there," the Doctor said.
"An hour? I wonder what we could do in that time?" she asked as her hand slid down his abdomen.
"Ooh, look what I've found," she said. "I know what we can do." She flashed him an impish grin and disappeared beneath the sheets. The Doctor rested his hands behind his head.
He heard her muffled voice from under the covers say. "I wonder if there's any spiced honey on board?"
"Little minx," he chuckled.
Around the table in the conference room were the senior staff that they already knew except for Mr. Worf, who was still in Sick Bay. There was a new face at the table that Rose hadn't seen before but the Doctor had seen last night.
Captain Picard stood as they entered the room. "Ah, Doctor. Rose. Thank you for joining us." He shook hands with them both. "Doctor you've already met our exobiologist, Commander Bellamy."
The commander nodded his head in greeting. "Doctor, Miss Tyler," he said.
The Captain continued. "We've also got Mr. T'vrok via a link from the Borg ship."
On the wall at the far end of the table, the display screen showed the face of the Vulcan. He still had the optical implant, but a lot of the interconnecting tubes had been removed.
"I've called this meeting because we need some answers, and we need them fast," he told them. "So let's get straight to the point. Mr. Bellamy, what has your team found out about the alien specimen and the claw retrieved from around Data's arm."
Bellamy, a middle-aged man with greying hair, stood up and moved to the head of the table where the display screen was located. It went to split screen so the group could still see T'vrok.
"The creature appears to be a xenomorphic, obligate parasite," he started, and then saw some of the blank faces around the table. "Sorry. It changes its form at different times in its life cycle. It requires a host organism to gestate from pupa to adult."
There were photographs and graphics on the viewer to explain the commentary.
"Once the adult phase leaves the host, it starts to deposit silicates in the dermis effectively turning it into an exoskeleton. This makes it incredibly resilient and masks its internal biological functions from our sensors. It appears to grow rapidly, and sheds its skin in a similar way to that of a snake. When the blood is released into an oxygen rich environment, it becomes a highly corrosive organic acid until it is completely oxidized."
Various pictures from the away team mission were displayed to show this, including Worf's D'k'tahg which was now just a handle with a pitted fragment of blade sticking out of it.
Captain Picard asked a question. "Mr. Bellamy. Do you know how the pupa is introduced into the host?"
Bellamy shook his head. "We don't know that yet. We presume it's some form of ingestion or inhalation."
T'vrok's voice came from the screen. "Perhaps I can help you with that," he began. "From the linked minds of the poor souls that fell victim to this parasite. There are several large eggs that contain the pupa. When a host is in range, the egg opens and the pupa attaches itself to the face. A proboscis is forced down the throat which keeps the host alive while a second pupa stage is implanted in the chest. Metamorphosis then occurs and the adult emerges from the chest and, if undisturbed eats the host to fuel its phenomenal growth spurt."
The room was silent with horror.
"Mr. T'vrok, do you have any idea how these eggs came to be on the Borg ship?" the Captain asked.
"Yes Captain. This is where the Borg ran into trouble. There are three xenopaths on the ship. They call themselves Yautja. One of them was assimilated and so we were able to share its thoughts. They regard themselves as the ultimate hunters, and any other species is just meat. They are highly intelligent, technologically advanced and are psychopathic killers. Unlike Vulcans who understand the concept of emotions and control them, these beings have none," T'vrok explained.
The Captain turned to Data. "Mr. Data, can you show the enhanced image that the Doctor retrieved from the TARDIS?"
Data's fingers flew over the controls and an image of the two metre tall alien appeared as a freeze frame at the instant that the phaser strike had momentarily disabled its shield.
T'vrok nodded. "Yes Captain, that's one of them. They impregnated three drones on board their ship and then they were beamed on board where they erupted so that they could hunt them for sport and as part of their rite of passage."
"So that's what the Yautja look like," the Doctor said to himself.
"You know them?" Picard asked him.
"I know of them," he replied. "They are the stuff of legend and nightmares. It is said you only meet them once, and then you die. No one has ever lived to tell the tale and describe them."
The Captain looked around the table. "So, it seems we have two problems. Now let's get a solution."
Geordie stood and addressed the gathering. "Captain. Data and myself have worked on an idea proposed by the Doctor, similar to how he removed the implants from Rose. Using the transporters, we can modify the pattern buffers and incorporate one of Dr. Crusher's bio-scanners into the transport stream. In effect we can dematerialize a contaminated person, filter out the parasite and only rematerialize the person. This way we could evacuate the Borg vessel and leave both threats safely behind."
Picards eyebrows raised. "That sounds promising Mr. La Forge, have you tested it?"
Data answered for Geordie. "We have modified the transporter pad in Cargo Bay Four where the quarantine field has been established. Dr. Crusher is producing a culture of living cells in which we can place a section of the arm that Mr. Worf severed. We will attempt to transport it from the incubator in Sick Bay to the modified pad. If we are successful we should only get the cultured gel and no alien tissue. We will need to do a number of transports to get a good calibration on the tissues."
Captain Picard smiled. "How soon can you start?" he asked them.
"Dr. Crusher should have enough gel in twelve minutes and thirty eight seconds," Data answered.
"Excellent work gentlemen, I suggest you make preparations to begin your tests. Keep me apprised of your progress," he told them.
Data and Geordie left the conference room.
The intercom chirped on the table and Picard answered it. "Captain, we have detected a Borg transporter signature in engineering."
Picard looked up at T'vrok's image on the screen. "Mr. T'vrok?"
The Vulcan was already investigating. The Doctor had a sudden, chilling thought.
T'vrok said. "The xenopath has recovered his equipment and used the transporter."
The Doctor spoke to the screen. "Mr. T'vrok, is your Borg transceiver still connected to the hive mind?"
On the screen T'vrok nodded. "Yes Doctor."
The Doctor looked around the table. "One of the xenopaths was assimilated. It has Borg implants that connect it to the hive mind. I think it is safe to assume that it knows exactly what we're up to, through Mr. T'vrok. I don't think they intend to be left behind."
The Captain spoke into the intercom. "Red alert. Intruder in engineering, armed and extremely dangerous."
The Captain, Data and a security team led by Sinclair were outside the main entrance to engineering.
Sinclair was standing by the door controls when he addressed the Captain. "Captain, as acting Chief of security I must advise against you entering this area."
The Captain looked at Sinclair. "Thank you Lieutenant, your concern is noted. However as Captain I need to communicate with this being and try to persuade it to stop hunting us."
The Captain stood next to Data in front of the doors and nodded to Sinclair. The Lieutenant released the door lock and they slid apart with a swish.
Picard moved in to the left and Data to the right. The team of security officers moved quickly ahead to secure their positions. Sinclair secured the doors as they closed.
Outside engineering on the next deck up, the Doctor was using his sonic screwdriver on a single door to disable the security lock down.
As a civilian, the Captain couldn't allow the Doctor into a known hazardous area. Needless to say, he didn't know the Doctor very well.
The door swished open and the Doctor stepped inside.
He was on a walkway above main engineering. To his right was the warp core, a pulsating cylinder that extended from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. He could feel the energy throbbing inside the containment field.
The walkway circled all the way around the core. He moved forwards to the hand rail and carefully looked over the edge.
He could see Captain Picard and some security officers moving along the far wall. He stepped back and moved to his right along the walkway.
He took a pair of 3D glasses out of his jacket pocket and put them on. They weren't just red and green lenses, he'd modified them to analyse much more of the electromagnetic spectrum.
At the end of the walkway there was a small elevator platform and a set of ladders against the wall. The Doctor crouched down and looked over the edge towards the warp core.
"Ah, there you are," he whispered to himself. The Yautja was moving around from behind the core, invisible to the Enterprise assault team.
The Doctor adjusted his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the alien. There was a high-pitched warbling whistle as the screwdriver disabled the Yautja's equipment.
The Doctor stood up, stood on the elevator and started to descend. In one action, ten phaser rifles pointed at him.
He immediately put his hands up and shouted. "It's me, the Doctor!"
Captain Picard started towards the descending platform.
With his hands still up, the Doctor pointed towards the core. "He's the one you're looking for," he said. In one movement, ten phaser rifles pointed toward the warp core.
Takal-Atak had heard the main doors to engineering open and was manoeuvring around the large power cylinder when his head-up display failed. Not only that, his personal shield went down and his shoulder plasma caster went limp.
"Damn," he thought as he moved back out of sight. He pulled the breathing tube from the helmet and removed it. He then unfastened the body armour and shrugged it off his shoulders.
There was a shimmering light around him and he was in a small cell.
"Doctor. What are you doing here? I told you it was too dangerous for a civilian," Captain Picard said sternly.
The Doctor grinned. "Yes I know, but I thought if I could disable his defences and armaments with this," he held up his sonic screwdriver. "We might be able to avoid any blood shed. Now he's just behind the warp core, if you're quick you might be able to beam him into a secure holding cell."
The Captain was speechless. He just stared at the Doctor incredulously.
He tapped his comm-link. "Picard to transporter room one, get a lock on the alien next to the warp core and beam him to a holding cell in Security."
A voice came back over the comm-link. "Co-ordinates locked, beginning transport. Transport complete, the alien is secure in holding cell one."
The Captain turned to Sinclair. "Lieutenant, you can stand your team down."
Sinclair gave a signal to his team and they did a sweep of the area before leaving.
Data came from behind the core carrying the alien armour. "This may be of use in helping us find the other aliens Captain."
Picard nodded. "Good idea Data. Get to work on it as soon as you can."
He finally turned to the Doctor. "Now Doctor, I am not used to having my orders disobeyed, particularly by a civilian. However, your actions did make capturing the alien particularly easy. I will over look it on this occasion."
The Doctor looked suitably chastised.
Picard tapped his comm-link again. "Councillor Troi, would you join us in Security. We will need your skills in interrogating the prisoner."
Troi's voice came back. "Yes Captain, I'll be right there. Troi out."
Picard smiled. "Now Doctor, shall we go and see what we've netted."
The Doctor grinned again. "Aye, aye Cap'n," he said in his best pirate voice.
Captain Picard and the Doctor stood at the opening to the holding cell. An energy field separated them from the alien hunter.
Deanna and Rose entered the security reception area and came over to the cells. Rose had been in Sick Bay having her sling and eye patch removed.
Now Rose had seen a variety of aliens on her travels, but this one was one of the ugliest she'd seen.
He was over two metres tall, full of muscles and a face that would curdle milk.
She thought the alien parasite was bad when she first saw it, but it had a somewhat sleek elegance about it. Like a Great White shark, you could admire the evolved package but you wouldn't want to be its lunch.
This Yautja however was just plain ugly. It had yellowish-green mottled skin, a small yellow eye and a set of lower and upper external mandibles. The Borg implants and tubes just seemed to accentuate its ugliness.
"Now, now Rose," the Doctor gently scolded. "Beauty is only skin deep."
The Captain stepped forwards. "I am Captain Jean Luc Picard of the star ship Enterprise."
Takal-Atak stared at him, his external mandibles flexing.
Picard looked towards Deanna. "Councillor?"
Deanna looked away from the alien towards the Captain. "I'm sensing rage and indignation. He's furious that we've captured him."
The Doctor stepped up and in his cheery voice said. "Hello, I'm the Doctor."
Deanna was shocked. She could feel power in his words. He was speaking directly into the aliens thoughts and could not be ignored.
Takal-Atak looked down at the Doctor. "I do not speak to meat!"
The Doctor smiled, turned to Picard and whispered. "He thinks we're nothing more than animals to be hunted and slaughtered. The only language he understands is violence, probably instilled from childhood. Run with me on this, I've got an idea," he told the Captain.
The Doctor turned back to the alien. "Now that's a shame. Because if you did speak to meat, then this meat could save your species from annihilation. You see, the Captain here and his Federation will protect themselves, like they have with the Borg, and your race will suffer."
The Doctor was goading the Yautja into a dialogue. The Doctor was about to try again when a deep voice spoke behind them.
"Lieutenant Commander Worf reporting for duty."
Everyone turned and there was a chorus of greetings and congratulations. Worf walked up to the cell and glared at the alien, Takal-Atak glared back.
"So this is one of the hunters that tried to kill me," Worf growled.
Deanna and the Doctor saw the subtle change in the alien and detected his change of attitude.
The Doctor came and stood beside Worf. "He's a big chap, isn't he Worf? Do you reckon you could take him in a fair fight?"
Worf looked at the Doctor and snarled and then looked back at the alien. "I could take him." It wasn't said as a boast, it was a statement of fact.
"Doctor," Picard started to protest.
"Captain, this alien recognises the Klingon warrior in Worf. I think Worf may be able to get through to him," the Doctor explained.
"The Federation has laws and rules of conduct Doctor. I cannot condone one of my officers fighting a prisoner for any reason."
Rose put a hand up. "Err, Doctor?"
The Doctor waved her off and said. "Not now Rose." He was still trying to persuade Picard that the alien only understood fighting.
Rose tried again. "Doctor?"
He was exasperated. "Later Rose, please."
Deanna could sense something in Rose. She knew something, something important. She had an insight. "Captain Picard. I believe Rose has something important to say."
The Captain looked away from the Doctor towards Rose. "Oh, I'm sorry Rose. Please forgive my rudeness. Go ahead."
Rose was suddenly self-conscious, everyone was looking at her. "Erm, all I was going to say was, what about the holodeck?"
The Doctor looked puzzled. "What?"
Rose started to explain. "Yesterday I spent a couple of hours with my mum in Oxford street, it was a week before Christmas. The holodeck created everything, snow, people, buildings, drinks. I nearly got run over by a black cab."
The Doctors face lit up. "Rose, you're a genius."
He reached over, grabbed her and gave her a big kiss and a hug.