Personal Log: Top Secret
part 7 of the cliffhanger serials
by Quills
Personal log...Jonathan Archer:
What I am about to say is being kept out of the official ship's log for reasons I hope to make clear
in this personal log.
Seventeen hours ago Enterprise received an automated distress call from the SS Venture.
A cargo freighter making a run to the outer settlements. When Enterprise arrived our ship's scans detected no life readings aboard the vessel; only trace bio signatures. A boarding party
comprised of myself, Commander Tucker, Lt. Reed, Dr. Phlox and a security team gained entry
to the vessel by docking a shuttle pod along an exterior hatch.
Once we boarded the vessel we found our first evidence of what had happened to the crew.
In the interior compartment was, as we would later discover, the ship's captain. He had been
suspended from the ceiling by his internal organs after he had been slowly tortured and eviscerated.
My Chief Medical Officer informed me that a large quantity of blood was missing from the body and that there
wasn't enough on the deck to account for the loss. It was at this point my suscpicions...and fears began.
Once the access compartment was secure I ordered the boarding party to spilt up. Commander Tucker
led a team to the engine room to restore power while I led a second team to the bridge in an attempt
to access the ship's logs. My team had reached the bridge and we were waiting for Commander Tucker and
his team to restore power to the ship's computers. Once that had been done we accessed the ship's logs
and discovered that from the start of the ship's run to the Denarius colony it had been plagued by
tragedy. Crewmembers and passengers had been disappearing only to be found savagely mutilated
and...drained of blood. The Captain attributed the killings to a mentally unbalanced passenger or
crewmember...at first. His later log entries suggest he believed a force or entity was at work.
His last log entry was made after he and his remaining three crewmembers unsuccessfully attempted to
blow up the ship by overloading the engines. Their efforts caused a ship wide shutdown of all
power systems. Effectively, they had crippled their ship and made it a floating tomb. Without power, the
ship's life support would drop to uninhabitable levels killing any remaining individuals still alive.
Unfortunately, not everyone aboard the Venture seemed to understand this basic fact.
While my team and I were downloading the ship's logs, Commander Tucker's team
came under attack. The consensus based on the reports given by Commander Tucker and his team
was that they were attacked by an emaciated human male who was not wearing a EV suit in an uninhabitable
atmosphere. According to their reports this man was both incredibly fast as well as strong. Ensign Pryce is
insistent that it was more creature than man. She described it as having "rows of fangs" which she
said dripped with saliva. The..'creature'... took multiple point blank hits from both phase pistols and rifles
without slowing. It incapacitated both Reed and Tucker. It then went after Ensign Pryce and was attempting to
rip open her EV suit. It was only through quick action of a dazed Lt. Reed that the creature was stopped . Lt. Reed
removed the safety module from his rifle setting it to fire a single full energy burst at the creature.
The single energy burst was enough to not only stop the creature, but it completely vaporized it. Unfortunately,
the backlash from the weapon caused serious injuries to Lt. Reed. Fortunately, Dr. Phlox was able to
stabilize his condition aboard Enterprise and he is expected to make a full recovery. I'd like to put him down for a commendation, but the secrecy which needs to be maintained over these events prevents me from doing so. The crew
is under the illusion that the person who killed the crew of the Venture was himself killed.
I had Commander Tucker do an inventory of the ship's escape pod's and maintenance vehicles.
He found one ship to surface shuttle unaccounted for. I had ship's sensors scan for
for any sign of the shuttle; Being a sub warp vessel designed for landing on a planetary surface
orbited a mother vessel it could not have gotten far. Scans found no sign of the vessel and it's
ion engine signature was too decayed to get an accurate heading. However, it is my opinion
the shuttle and it's passenger...the true killer of the Venture's crew and passengers... were picked up by a passing vessel. Considering the remoteness of the region I am going with the assumption that another vessel, headed for the Denarius colon, came across the Venture's shuttle and pilot.
I have set a course for the colony and have appraised Starfleet of the situation. I have not however informed them of my suspicions. Instead I have told them that I suspect the killer may have had an accomplice and that he or she is a psychopath or other mentally unbalanced individual. Admiral Forrester concurs and with that he has approved my request that Lt. Commander David Walkingbear be sent to rendezvous with us at the Denarius colony. Though Walkingbear is a science specialist he has experience in both abnormal psychology and Starfleet security. It is these special qualifications I have used as a blind for my real reason for requesting Starfleet send him. By luck he is currently on Vulcan and the Vulcan High Command has approved a long range Vulcan courier to transport him to meet us. Traveling at a sustained warp seven they should reach us
shortly before we reach the Denarius colony.
Dave and I go way back. It's been quite a long time since we've spoken. To be honest, I'd rather not see him. We're good friends, but his presence is nothing less than a qualifier of what we may be up against. Something I hoped I would not have to deal with again. But like it or not, I can't dismiss my suspicions. Except for Commander Tucker, who is familiar with Lt. Commander Walkingbear's 'special' qualifications, and Sub Commander T'Pol, who I feel needs to be informed as ship's first officer, no other Enterprise crewmembers will be informed of the true nature of his rendezvous with us. I have a good crew,
the best in Starfleet. However, I don't think that even they are ready to accept what we are...may be up against. If Walking bear and I can resolve the matter with the assistance of my two senior officers and not involve the crew then all the better for
them. If I'm right, then I'm going to need Dave Walkingbear and God help us all if I am right.
to be continued.....
part 7 of the cliffhanger serials
by Quills
Personal log...Jonathan Archer:
What I am about to say is being kept out of the official ship's log for reasons I hope to make clear
in this personal log.
Seventeen hours ago Enterprise received an automated distress call from the SS Venture.
A cargo freighter making a run to the outer settlements. When Enterprise arrived our ship's scans detected no life readings aboard the vessel; only trace bio signatures. A boarding party
comprised of myself, Commander Tucker, Lt. Reed, Dr. Phlox and a security team gained entry
to the vessel by docking a shuttle pod along an exterior hatch.
Once we boarded the vessel we found our first evidence of what had happened to the crew.
In the interior compartment was, as we would later discover, the ship's captain. He had been
suspended from the ceiling by his internal organs after he had been slowly tortured and eviscerated.
My Chief Medical Officer informed me that a large quantity of blood was missing from the body and that there
wasn't enough on the deck to account for the loss. It was at this point my suscpicions...and fears began.
Once the access compartment was secure I ordered the boarding party to spilt up. Commander Tucker
led a team to the engine room to restore power while I led a second team to the bridge in an attempt
to access the ship's logs. My team had reached the bridge and we were waiting for Commander Tucker and
his team to restore power to the ship's computers. Once that had been done we accessed the ship's logs
and discovered that from the start of the ship's run to the Denarius colony it had been plagued by
tragedy. Crewmembers and passengers had been disappearing only to be found savagely mutilated
and...drained of blood. The Captain attributed the killings to a mentally unbalanced passenger or
crewmember...at first. His later log entries suggest he believed a force or entity was at work.
His last log entry was made after he and his remaining three crewmembers unsuccessfully attempted to
blow up the ship by overloading the engines. Their efforts caused a ship wide shutdown of all
power systems. Effectively, they had crippled their ship and made it a floating tomb. Without power, the
ship's life support would drop to uninhabitable levels killing any remaining individuals still alive.
Unfortunately, not everyone aboard the Venture seemed to understand this basic fact.
While my team and I were downloading the ship's logs, Commander Tucker's team
came under attack. The consensus based on the reports given by Commander Tucker and his team
was that they were attacked by an emaciated human male who was not wearing a EV suit in an uninhabitable
atmosphere. According to their reports this man was both incredibly fast as well as strong. Ensign Pryce is
insistent that it was more creature than man. She described it as having "rows of fangs" which she
said dripped with saliva. The..'creature'... took multiple point blank hits from both phase pistols and rifles
without slowing. It incapacitated both Reed and Tucker. It then went after Ensign Pryce and was attempting to
rip open her EV suit. It was only through quick action of a dazed Lt. Reed that the creature was stopped . Lt. Reed
removed the safety module from his rifle setting it to fire a single full energy burst at the creature.
The single energy burst was enough to not only stop the creature, but it completely vaporized it. Unfortunately,
the backlash from the weapon caused serious injuries to Lt. Reed. Fortunately, Dr. Phlox was able to
stabilize his condition aboard Enterprise and he is expected to make a full recovery. I'd like to put him down for a commendation, but the secrecy which needs to be maintained over these events prevents me from doing so. The crew
is under the illusion that the person who killed the crew of the Venture was himself killed.
I had Commander Tucker do an inventory of the ship's escape pod's and maintenance vehicles.
He found one ship to surface shuttle unaccounted for. I had ship's sensors scan for
for any sign of the shuttle; Being a sub warp vessel designed for landing on a planetary surface
orbited a mother vessel it could not have gotten far. Scans found no sign of the vessel and it's
ion engine signature was too decayed to get an accurate heading. However, it is my opinion
the shuttle and it's passenger...the true killer of the Venture's crew and passengers... were picked up by a passing vessel. Considering the remoteness of the region I am going with the assumption that another vessel, headed for the Denarius colon, came across the Venture's shuttle and pilot.
I have set a course for the colony and have appraised Starfleet of the situation. I have not however informed them of my suspicions. Instead I have told them that I suspect the killer may have had an accomplice and that he or she is a psychopath or other mentally unbalanced individual. Admiral Forrester concurs and with that he has approved my request that Lt. Commander David Walkingbear be sent to rendezvous with us at the Denarius colony. Though Walkingbear is a science specialist he has experience in both abnormal psychology and Starfleet security. It is these special qualifications I have used as a blind for my real reason for requesting Starfleet send him. By luck he is currently on Vulcan and the Vulcan High Command has approved a long range Vulcan courier to transport him to meet us. Traveling at a sustained warp seven they should reach us
shortly before we reach the Denarius colony.
Dave and I go way back. It's been quite a long time since we've spoken. To be honest, I'd rather not see him. We're good friends, but his presence is nothing less than a qualifier of what we may be up against. Something I hoped I would not have to deal with again. But like it or not, I can't dismiss my suspicions. Except for Commander Tucker, who is familiar with Lt. Commander Walkingbear's 'special' qualifications, and Sub Commander T'Pol, who I feel needs to be informed as ship's first officer, no other Enterprise crewmembers will be informed of the true nature of his rendezvous with us. I have a good crew,
the best in Starfleet. However, I don't think that even they are ready to accept what we are...may be up against. If Walking bear and I can resolve the matter with the assistance of my two senior officers and not involve the crew then all the better for
them. If I'm right, then I'm going to need Dave Walkingbear and God help us all if I am right.
to be continued.....