Worker72: I have never known Kosh to lie, so he is speaking a truth. I am certainly not playing the drinking angle, but Zack seemed to be rather insecure around Lyta and I was trying to portray that. I was also trying to make people curious about what had happened in Grey 17 but nobody seems to have noticed that it was part I. And below these notes, you can read part II!
X-Over: Always and you are welcome.
Zarathos1: Trying to write from Kosh his perspective is difficult. Thanks to the mysterious persona he uses we only got glimpses of how he thought. I don't think he will be using an inquisitor, not subtle enough. Not to mention that Kosh knows that he doesn't know what the Feds are capable of so he treads lightly.
Jerry Unipeg: Thanks. I hope you will enjoy this chapter too.
WARNING: This chapter contains some graphic scenes of violence.
Grey 17 is found, part II
'Every man of action has a strong dose of egoism, pride, hardness, and cunning. But all those things will be regarded as high qualities if he can make them the means to achieve great ends.'
- Charles de Gaulle
Babylon 5
They soon arrived at
Grey 16 and had managed to avoid the busier parts of the station, but
the armed Starfleet security team had still drawn quite a few
surprised looks. It took fifteen minutes before they managed to find
a hatch to the level below and it was welded shut. "It will take
hours to get through that and the noise is sure to give us away."
Then Michael had an idea. "Could you use your phasers to punch a
hole through here large enough for us to enter?"
"We can. Koss, Thrann make us a point of entry."
The Vulcan and Andorian pulled out their phasers after putting their rifles away. They took aim and fired their weapons simultaneously at the hatch. Before the eyes of the amazed station security personnel the hatch simply dissolved, not leaving a trace. Garibaldi too had looked on in amazement but didn't let it show and quickly went through the opening. This pulled the others out of their reverie and they followed him, as did the Starfleet team.
VVVVVV
Hank Stevens cursed his own stupidity again. He had joined Nightwatch because he could use the money and he had escaped Garibaldi because he thought that Earthforce would have taken back the station in days. That was months ago and the only good thing that had happened was that he found the others. There were some previous occupants but they were quickly dealt with and now they had an entire level of the station to themselves.
Unfortunately, that was the only thing that went right. The Zarg that was running around was only one of the problems they were facing. They had already lost 4 men to the monster and he just knew it was waiting for another opportunity to snatch an unsuspecting human. Not to mention the fact that even in Brown sector they now had access to food, medicine and clothing while here they had to make do with rations and whatever they could steal. He never should have joined Nightwatch.
VVVVVV
When they reached the hallways of Grey 17 they found that it was in disrepair. The targeting sensors worked only intermittently and were limited to a range of 15 meters while the tricorders weren't much help either. They would have to use their own senses to look out for trouble and to find out what was going on here. The Federation team had taken point and their sensors were producing static again when suddenly it cleared up, showing two humanoid lifeforms 4 meters ahead in the right corridor.
Iceren moved back to Garibaldi and quickly whispered: "Two humans in the next corridor on the left, coming this way." Michael didn't say anything but just motioned for them to move on while they waited. He would let them handle this.
Lieutenant Commander Iceren pointed at Thrann and Brink who quickly moved into position. Thrann waited next to the hallway that the two men were walking in. They knew that the two readings were men because they could now hear them talking to each other.
When their sensors indicated they were only a meter away the two security officers quickly moved and stepped into view aiming their phaser rifles. The two men were completely taken by surprise but one reacted on instinct and tried to pull a PPG.
A phaser beam knocked him out before he could anything and the other one decided not to try anything. Brink motioned with his phaser rifle to follow him while Thrann picked up their unconscious prisoner. The latter was handed over to one of Garibaldi's men while Michael himself turned his attention to the one that was still able to answer his questions. "I want some answers and you are going to give me them."
VVVVVV
Unfortunately for them, they had missed Stevens who had been trying to catch up with the others. But he wasn't feeling very lucky himself. Now he had to warn the others that they had been detected and he had to walk the corridors on his own, while a hungry Zarg was prowling those very same corridors. No, Hank didn't feel lucky at all. It could only get worse if Garibaldi was with the security team.
He decided to forgo stealth and simply ran to the others. Surprisingly, nothing happened to him and he had reached safety within minutes. But it took several more minutes before he had caught enough breath to warn them. The Nightwatch leader decided to ambush them and lined out the plan.
And so Stevens found himself moving towards the danger he had been running from half an hour ago. He just couldn't catch a break, but at least he had company so they might shoot them first. The plan was simple, since they knew Drake would have told those traitors everything he knew. So they knew the route the security force would be taking, they would simply trap them in a corridor and attack them from behind first. Then when they turned to respond the other group would attack. A simple and elegant plan that would buy them enough time to find a new hiding place.
Hank had been put in the second group and that was fine. The less chance anybody would shoot at him, the better. Both groups were barely in position when their target arrived. They waited until the group had passed them and then they quickly entered the corridor aiming their PPG's, ready to fire.
VVVVVV
That Drake was a weasel. It just took one look at Garibaldi to spill everything and they now knew where to find the others and how many there were. He had let three of his men escort the prisoners out and the rest were on their way again. They still moved stealthily just in case security was better then Drake had told them. Those Federation scanners weren't working again so they were blind again.
Suddenly he heard a lot of hurried footsteps followed by the distinctive zoom of a PPG ready to fire. A lot of PPG's and all of those sounds came from behind him. Before he could even turn, weapons were fired.
But it weren't PPG's, but the rifles of his own security team. He had taken the precaution of letting four of his men trail the group to guard them against precisely such a move. The Nightwatchers had been so concentrated on springing their own trap that they hadn't bothered to look behind them and now they were being fired upon from two sides.
VVVVVV
The other group had heard the weaponsfire and now sprang into action as well. Those Feds had turned around to see what was going on behind them and wouldn't know what hit them. They fired but were flabbergasted when they saw how their plasma bolts harmlessly dissipated of their shields. They were actually carrying portable shields! The Federation security team now turned around again and quickly began to return fire, it was over before they could even run away. Well, almost over. Because Hank Steven had once again managed to save his own skin, by staying back instead of leaping into the corridor like the others. Now he was running again, trying to find a way out of this.
VVVVV
Garibaldi couldn't believe it. It was over a lot faster then he had expected, they had everybody and nobody got killed. Well, not on his side anyway. Those Feds had made a mistake by not paying attention to their surroundings but those shields made it a moot point. "Thrann is treating the injured, but we did a quick count and we are missing one."
"What! Are you telling me we are going to have to comb this entire level for just one person?"
Iceren seemed unfazed by the comment. "It seems so, I will leave Nevares and Thrann here to guard the prisoners and treat anybody that is still injured."
"Fine by me. Lopez, Roberts, Koch and Lee, your with me. The rest, stay here and keep an eye on our guests." Michael now turned to Iceren again. "We know where they messed with the security grid, we will go there and repair it. Your sensors should work fine then and we can finally find our lost little sheep. Let's go."
VVVVV
He was running for the second time today and that was twice more then he was used to. It didn't take long before he was out of wind and couldn't take another step. He was still gasping for air when he heard a sound. Instinctively he raised his PPG, ready to fire on anything that moved.
But not fast enough, because the next thing he knew a claw sliced through arm right above the wrist. The pain was unbelievable and he was about to scream his lungs out when another claw sliced through his windpipe, making it impossible for him to make any sound whatsoever. He sank to his knees, forced by fear, blood loss and pain. Then he finally saw the creature that had attacked him as it grabbed him and hoisted him on its shoulder. Luckily he fainted.
VVVVV
She had heard the turmoil and had gone to investigate it. When she spotted one of the preys alone and moving away from the group she had pounced on the opportunity and followed it. She had waited until it was out of breath and then moved in for the kill.
She had no desire to eat this one, instead she hauled to the nest. Her young were waiting there, almost ready to leave the nest but not before a last meal. As they fed on the carcass she kept watch for anything that might threaten her offspring.
VVVVV
It wasn't long before they found the first trace of their quarry. Or perhaps remains was a better word. Something had cut of his hand, it was still clutching a PPG. One that hadn't even fired one shot which explained how he had gotten away in the first place. The Feds had wanted to go after him, but with the amount of blood that could be seen everywhere there was no hope he was still alive. So instead, they now hastened towards the security tap, he needed to know what the hell had attacked the Nightwatcher and how many there were.
Suddenly Koss motioned for everybody to stop. "Sir, my targeting sensor just detected al lifesign 15 meters ahead in the second right corridor. It was humanoid."
"Damn, where is it now?"
"I cannot tell, the interference has once again descended. But by the speed it was moving when the sensor could track it, it would be here in…"
At that moment the lifesign launched itself from its hiding place, before a warning could even be given. Koss reacted the fastest and fired at it, stopping it in mid-air. Brink and Iceren moved forward to see what had attacked them when it suddenly attacked again. It knocked Brink's phaser rifle to the side and lunged at Iceren but before it's arm could complete the arc it was hit by several phaser beams and PPR bolts. It was knocked back and this time it wouldn't get up, ever.
"What is that thing?" asked ensign Brink. It had chitinous armor covering a black hide. Bladelike claws extended from their upper digits and rows of sharp looking teeth filled its mouth. It was clearly bipedal and he was wondering if it might have been sentient.
Garibaldi answered his question. "That was a Zarg. It's one of the deadliest predators in the galaxy and it's homeworld is supposed to be quarantined but their eggs bag a good price on the black market so sometimes people go down there to collect some. But who would be stupid enough to let one of them run around like this?"
"Could there be anymore of these things?" Iceren wanted to know.
"I don't think so, they are very territorial and would fight each other over such a small territory as this. But I can't say for sure without knowing how this one got here. But why didn't your shield protect you?"
Iceren answered the question. "The generators lost most of their energy during the firefight, we deactivated them because if we hadn't they would shut down ten minutes ago."
"Okay, let's shut down that security grid before the universe reveals it's next surprise."
Unfortunately for Garibaldi, the universe had other plans as he found out when they entered the room that had been pointed out by Drake. The first thing he noticed were the remains of several humans strewn about the room, the next thing were the twelve hungry mini-Zarg that were all eyeing him.
VVVVVV
Garibaldi had only been gone two hours when he dragged himself back into the office. Zack was waiting there for him, he had already seen to it that the prisoners were securely locked up. "So Chief, how did it go?"
Michael eyed him for a moment before he responded. "How did it go? You want to know how it went? Well, let me tell you what happened on my little trip to Wonderland."
TBC