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FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER
"I am alone and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as
deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion
must be of the same species, and have the same defects. This being you
must create."
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
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Shambles. Everything was a complete mess, all the way from Malcolm's quarters to the shuttlebay.
"Damn it!" swore the captain as he tripped over yet another wall panel. Subcommander T'Pol caught him before he crashed into the exposed circuitry.
"How on earth could one woman do this much damage! And kidnap two officers, both of whom were bigger than her! And knock out every person that got in her way, to boot!" railed the captain. T'Pol shook her head.
"As you said, she is genetically composed to be strong and fast," replied the Vulcan. "What else is a war machine expected to do?"
Archer just looked at her. "Subcommander, sometimes I'm not asking questions, just venting."
T'Pol raised one eyebrow. "Of course, Captain." She looked down the hall to the shuttlebay. "I believe that I may know how she managed to render eight crew members unconscious. While I was on the bridge yesterday, I felt the touch of an unfamiliar presence in my mind. I did not know, at the time, where the phenomenon had originated from."
Archer waited patiently as T'Pol picked her way over a bundle of power couplings.
"I believe, sir, that this alien has some telepathic ability. A race called the Betazoids can implant telepathic suggestions into the minds of nontelepaths. Perhaps she can do the same."
"Do you think that Malcolm and Hoshi went with her willingly, then?" asked Tucker, coming up the hall towards them. He handed Archer a padd and wiped his forehead. "Captain, there's a whole lotta damage. This is a full list of it, plus there might be some stuff that we haven't found yet."
"Do you mean that she may have telepathically coerced them so they went quietly?" asked Archer, wincing as he skimmed through the list.
"Yeah," said Tucker. "We nearly got the warp engines back online, though, sir. She only disrupted a few of the power couplings. Real easy to fix, just time-consuming."
"I would not discard the option that they went without being coerced," said T'Pol slowly. "Both of them seemed very protective of her. I believe Mr. Reed referred to her as his friend on one occasion."
Trip and Archer both glared at her. "No way, T'Pol," cried Trip. "No way. Malcolm and Hoshi may be friends but they wouldn't destroy the ship for someone they only met a few days ago!"
"I have to agree with Trip," said Archer. "I'll keep it in mind, but I really don't think that's a possibility. I've contacted the Mdarans again, and they're sending a ship after the shuttle. They think she's probably going to try and get back to her maker."
"And we're going to sit here and wait, right?" said Trip glumly. "Like last time?"
Archer smiled. "They didn't say anything about waiting for them."
"Captain, I feel I must point out-" T'Pol began, but Trip cut her off.
"Aw, come on, T'Pol, we can take him!" he said. Archer sighed and stopped listening right there.
"It is illogical to debate the point," T'Pol snapped (as much a Vulcan ever snaps) back at him. She took the padd from Archer's hand and pointed to the very first item. "We do not even have impulse power to the engines at the present moment."
Archer wandered away from his arguing officers and sighed. He headed back towards the bridge, where it was (thankfully) much calmer and a good deal less destroyed.
"Any news, sir?" asked Ensign Mayweather as Archer stepped off the lift. He shook his head and went into his ready room, hoping desperately that his officers were not in danger. Something about killing machine kept echoing in his mind, and also, something about the Mdaran captain's grim expression as he had delivered his parting words.
"We will shoot to kill, Captain Archer. On that you have our word."
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"Will you help me?"
Malcolm blinked; his eyes watered from the sudden onslaught of light. He heard Hoshi groan nearby.
"Help you?"
"Will you help me find him?" Amata swung the flashlight away. "I need your help, Malcolm and Hoshi. I cannot go alone."
He shifted around and realized his hands were no longer tied. Hoshi groaned again and sat up. "Where are we?" she whispered.
Malcolm shrugged, still lying on the floor.
"We are docked with His ship," Amata said calmly. "In his stealth mode he has limited sensors and blind areas. We are in one of them."
"How do you know that?" cried Hoshi. She jumped up and looked out the window. "What happened?"
"She's going to kill him," said Malcolm quietly. He had a pounding headache and the tickle of Amata's mental touch wasn't helping.
"I want my revenge," said Amata quietly. "I am very very angry at what he has done to me and my brothers and sisters."
Hoshi just stared. "You couldn't even talk three days ago. And now you're enacting revenge on your creator?" Her voice reached a fever pitch and her face went pale. Malcolm suddenly recognized the panic signs. He jumped up from the floor, grunting as his head twanged, and put his arms around Hoshi.
"Amata, you don't need to do this. I will not help you do this, do you hear me? Argh!" Something popped in his skull and he fell to his knees, clutching his head. He could feel her anger...
"Malcolm!" cried Amata and Hoshi together. The mental itch lessened as both women knelt next to him in concern, and the pain eased a little.
"Maybe...maybe you should stop reading my mind," he said weakly. The tickle stopped and he breathed easier.
"I'm sorry, Malcolm," said Amata. "You are my friend. And you have many dreams. I could not resist."
"What are you going to do, Amata?" asked Hoshi, some of the color returning to her face. Malcolm gaped and wondered what exactly she had seen in his dreams.
"I am going to go on the ship. He will welcome me, he will realize that I am the strongest, and he will make more people like me. And then I will take him and kill him so he cannot hurt us and we will go away and live happily where no one can ever find us."
"You have us," said Malcolm. "What do you need him to make others for? We are your friends."
"You are. But the rest of Enterprise is afraid. They all knew after...after I attacked you, and they were afraid. I cannot go there." She spat bitterly at the shuttle bulkhead.
"They are surprisingly willing to forgive," said Malcolm quietly. "Humans used to be very predjudiced. They used to hate others because they were different. But no one on Enterprise is like that."
"How can you tell me that?" cried Amata. "I saw it in your dreams! Your father hated you! You should agree with me!"
Malcolm winced as the pain in his head suddenly redoubled, and he saw his own memories played before his eyes. He heard Hoshi cry out as Stuart Reed's disapproving face danced before his eyes, and realized in shame that she saw everything. "I will not have a coward or a sissy for a son, Malcolm. Now do as you're told and stop dreaming about spaceships. No wonder you aren't top of your class like a Reed should be. You're too busy with your head in the bloody clouds!" He felt the door slam, even though it was only in his head.
"I learned to deal with that," hissed Malcolm. "I found other friends. Now, I'll go along with you to talk to this doctor. But you must understand that for every one of your new siblings someone else had to die and be ripped to component parts. And you must understand that you cannot simply kill someone to get rid of the pain."
To his great surprise, Amata nodded. "I understand. You are my friends. I will listen to you."
Tears trickled down Hoshi's cheeks. "Here's what we'll do, Amata. We'll get away from this ship and contact the Mdarans. They'll come and get him. And he'll be punished. We'll tell them your story. You're not a killing machine, you're not."
Amata's face twitched. "I want to talk to him. You contact the Mdarans. Malcolm, come with me. We will need to find him." She lifted him to his feet as easily as if he were a doll. The airlock hissed open above them, and Amata climbed up first.
"Are you sure you want to go?" whispered Hoshi.
"Killing machine," murmured Malcolm, eyes dark in his pale face. "Contact the Mdarans." Then he disappeared up the ladder after her, leaving Hoshi alone in the silent shuttlepod.
*****************
She weaves her way through halls and corridors, up steps and down ladders, past glowing green conduits and chirping computer panels. She feels both Malcolm and Him, both at the same time. One hurts, one schemes.
She schemes, too. She plans and plots. Malcolm is not her friend. He thinks she will kill them all. She saw that in his mind, too. He is like her, cast out by his father into a sea of stars. He was not good enough. She is not good enough.
"Hello, Doctor," she says, striding into the last room. Malcolm follows warily, sees the little man sitting at his desk.
"One of you survived?" he says incredulously, and looks her up and down. "You! The last experiment, and the strongest, indeed. I am very glad to see you!" He is proud, she can feel it. He loves her!
"I have returned," she replies. "I knew you were testing us, Father. I have survived for you!"
"Yes, you have," he says warmly. He looks at Malcolm and though she does not see it, the human does; cold, calculating, ice in his eyes and in his heart. She does not feel the treachery, the greed in him; Malcolm's mind warns her, but she refuses to take any advice from her so-called friend. Her heart is full of his pride in her, and she sees nothing else.
He says, "We will make you many brothers and sisters, my dear. You are the best, and they will all be just like you."
She runs to him and wraps her arms around him like Malcolm to Hoshi. And again, though she feels only warmth from her creator's mind, Malcolm sees his expression and fears for them both.
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Two more chapters, maybe. I'm not sure yet. I had an ending but I didn't like it so I'm trying to rewrite it. Please review!