Chapter 21

Above the planet Jean Luc Picard sat in the command chair. He had to make a decision about what to do next.

It had appeared that there was nothing else to do, but wait still. It could take days before they eventually received word from Starfleet Command. He seriously wondered whether the message would be received at all. Picard glanced at the view screen.

"Mr Tralii," he said. The officer turned in his chair and faced Picard. "And Mr Tavell. How far is the nearest starship in this area?"

The officer keyed in the necessary data and looked back over at Picard. "From my data the USS Nova is one light year away from this point." Picard stood up and tugged at his uniform.

"Excellent," he said. The Frenchman stepped down and then over to the communications station. "Mr Tralii, would it be possible to send a message via the Epsilon carrier wave signal?"

"Yes sir. I think so. I would have to adjust my instruments slightly to matched the variants, but it can be done as long as we are up in a higher orbit."

"How high?" Said Picard.

The officer shrugged slightly. "I'd say about seven thousand metres higher than are present position." Picard stepped across and walked stiffly over to the helm and navigator station.

"Lieutenant, take us up."

"Aye sir," said the human.

Slowly the majestic starship rose higher, barely orbiting the decaying world at all.

"Mr Trallii, send a message explaining our currant position and condition." He paused. "On second thoughts you better make it an SOS."

"Aye."

"In the mean time I want to send down a shuttle craft." An officer or two turned and gazed at him. Picard ignored them. He pressed the communication toggle-leading straight to the chief engineer. The device was quite a marvel as the Indian man could be accessed anywhere on the ship.

Ranji Singh was sprawled under the transporter consul. About him was scattered several different tools. He had spent several hours trying to find out what was happening to the system. Now he was huffing and puffing.

His helper Lieutenant Piper was just as worse for wear as he. They had tried several times to see if the transporter energisers would function in any position. Each time had been a clear and definite failure.

The empty storage containers used for the beaming simply came back melted, or virtually disintegrated. Every time something was energised, as soon as it entered the transporter buffers the whole damn mechanism would short circuit and spit shards of electrical energy discharge around the room like fire works.

The engineers were determined not to let Saavik down. It wasn't impossible, the interference with the power relays and buffer could be corrected. The only problem was how. That was what Singh and Piper were trying to figure out.

The chief engineer's personal communication chip beeped. It startled him. Then he heard Picard's deep baritone voice filter through loudly.

"Sir..." the engineered managed to mumble, "...what is it?" He took a ray generator and energy neutraliser device from the floor and hoisted it up into the air from underneath the transporter platform.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I want a shuttlecraft ready in ten minutes."

The engineer mumbled an oath under his breath, which was unrepeatable. "Aye." He sounded exasperated. Picard shut down the link. Singh got to his feet.

"I am afraid man, I will have to leave you with it. Picard wants a shuttle." Piper made a face. He didn't look at all happy. Doing this with the chief engineer was bad enough but his own? The task was near impossible. Singh smiled at him.

"You'll be fine." He gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. "Do what you can. I shouldn't be too long." The engineer turned on his heel and headed straight for the doors. They opened with a slight swoosh before him. Singh stepped through and the doors closed.

Picard stepped onto the landing bay along with André Claude. They made their way to the open shuttlecraft. Soon the shuttle was ready for departure. He had left command to Lucas Tavell.

Picard's plan was to travel down to the planet then hopefully retrieve the landing party and then return safely to the ship. The shuttle was fully operational which was a blessing, as everything else had seemed to go wrong. Even the simple sensor system was working to marginal specifications. That seemed amazing as well.

Picard knew that the crew were against his decision and he feared that he would be led into a trap. The use of the shuttlecraft was their only option since nothing else could bring the landing crew back from where ever they were.

The young officer steeped across the landing bay and placed a bag of equipment onto the metal floor. He saw Singh coming out of the small hatch of the Uri.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" He said.

"Yes," replied Picard. "You said it was safe to fly this thing through the atmosphere."

"Of course, but remember we can not beam you back, or communicate with you. Once your gone you are really alone. Keep a fix on the shuttle's position at all times. If we see any danger we will use the tractor beam to pull you back immediately."

"I hope it won't come to that," Picard said as he stepped aboard the little ship with his bag of supplies.

"Aye sir," said the engineer half-heartedly. "Let's just hope that the transporter will be ready by then if the event arises."

"Then I'm counting on you."

"Don't count to long," mumbled the Indian. "I may only get power back for a second or two. You will have to be ready at all times."

Picard disappeared from sight inside the shuttle. From the core he made a few adjustments.

"Is the homing device functional?" He called out.

"Yes sir."

"Good. We shall be underway in a few minutes."

"Very well. Good luck to you." Singh smiled for once.

"Thank you," Picard said.

The engineer made his way up towards the control station towering above the bay. He stepped onto the mini lift and it took him up two levels.

Once in side the shuttle and the doors were closed Picard contacted the engineer with the onboard communication system. He sat down at the front. He and Claude were now prepared to take off.

"Mr Singh permission to disembark."

The engineers voice came in through clearly. "Bay door opening in ten..., nine..., eight..., seven..., six..." He began the countdown.

"Power is on line sir," said Claude in a practised English accent. In the background Singh's count down could still be heard.

"Prepare for flight modulation," Picard said.

"One quarter thruster ignition by my mark."

The engineer finished his count down. Slowly grandly the bay doors slid apart with incredible force. The deck vibrated and the landing lights flickered on and off. Picard began a five second count down and slowly the shuttle lifted just millimetres off the floor then slowly rotated towards the maw. The doors continued to open.

"Engage!" Exclaimed Picard. The shuttle continued to rise. The doors were now parted. Slowly, but surly the Uri glided forward then drifted pass the open doors into the clear depth of space. Just below hung the once peaceful blue/green world. Uri emerged outside of the great starship and slowly, gracefully glided forward.

Beside the control compartment Picard adjusted the view screen to aft view. Hung like a dream was the swan like starship passing with great speed around the planet. Finally she was gone.

"Maximum impulse power," said Picard. "Thrusters to two point one quarter power." The small craft speed like the wind down towards the surface of the world.

Suddenly as soon as they thought that everything was running smoothly lights began to blink and beeping instruments seemed to work over time.

They lurched forward.

"Homing device unoperational," delivered Claude. With all the speed he could muster he tried to turn the little ship around. Something was pulling them. It wasn't the Krackatowa.

"Red Alert," Picard said. The klaxon began to wail. "What in the..." His voice trailed off.

"It's not the Krackatowa. Ship is being controlled by something outside her capacity of range," he said above the din. The young man glanced down at his sensor readout. "Force field five million gigavolts," he said loudly. "We'll be torn apart."

"Trying to compensate." The ship lurched and creaked, trying desperately to pull away. He shook his head in failure. "The Krackatowa won't detect us."

"Unable to stabilise." Picard shouted. His panel blew with spouts of smoke and shrapnel. "Damn." He swivelled in his chair towards the emergency station. He should have known something was going to happen like his. "We'll beam down."

Claude shook his head. "Transporter non operational," he said as he futilely tested the signal to the machine. The USS Uri plummeted.

"Prepare for emergency evacuation. Get to your pod. NOW." Picard yelled. It was too late. They glanced out of the view screen. Land was speeding closer and closer before their eyes.

Suddenly there was a thud and the young man was thrown from his seat and there was darkness. The darkness gradually turned to light. Picard pulled himself up. Something was blinking and the claxon blared out one last time. It stopped. The shuttle was completely dysfunctional.

Claude lay over his consul. Red blood was streaking his face and hands. Picard got to his feet and went over to his comrade. Softly he called him, but was no respond. He carefully pulled Claude's face from the consul. It fizzed for a moment. The young man didn't respond. He drew back quickly from the result of a mild electric shock. Claude was dead. For a moment the Frenchman felt his stomach lurch.

He had never lost a man under his command before. Slumping back into a chair he reviewed the damage. Nothing was operational. The shuttle was nothing more than a hulk of metal. His next task was to bury Claude.

He got up and crossed the battered, beaten interior to retrieve the two phasers, a tricorder, and communicator. Perhaps Picard could make contact with Saavik down from here. Picard sighed deeply. He flipped open the hand held device. It was dead as expected.

He had no idea where they had crashed. He realised that he could be anywhere on the planet. The entire globe was impossible to search completely for the landing party.

Picard stepped over a piece of mangled equipment on the floor. He told himself that he would have to test for secondary power and see if anything worked aboard. The food replicator. At least that had to be working. It was a protected devise as it was lethal if radiation escaped from it. The devise was a life survival aid.

Picard turned his head when the deck rocked. He nearly lost his footing. There was an offensive smell like rotting flesh, or even worse.

There was a sound. Like a slurping squelch, but more pronounced. Picard felt something cold and slimy on the back of his head. There was searing pain. He collapsed.

Picard awoke in total darkness and his head throbbed. At first he thought it was a dream, but after a while reality struck him, HARD. He was alone, but where? Slowly he made it to his feet. Gradually the dim brightened until he could make out his surroundings. It was chillingly cold and the cave walls were damp with moisture.

Picard knelt down when he noticed something slightly glistening in the gloom. It was metallic. He picked it up and wiped the grime from its smooth surface and waved it up in the air. Squinting his eyes and feeling the texture with his fingers the relic was non other than a Starfleet insignia badge. Picard realised that the crew had been here at one point.

Carefully he placed the solid latinium acquisition into his pocket and looked around. His head was injured judging by the dizziness he felt. Scanning the area he made out what appeared to be a passageway of some sort.

Picard decided there and then to follow and investigate it. Perhaps it would lead him to the others. He hoped. He assumed that the landing party had done just that.

He entered the hollow. As he travelled deeper into the passage he heard distinctive sounds of people. He frowned. The tunnel led toward the flickering light and into a brightly lit inner cave with a semi hollow roof.

At the centre was a campfire which surrounding it was people of all ages. He stepped into the opening and was greeted by a young woman dressed in a grimy metallic grey tunic with matching trousers. In her arms she held a baby wrapped in a silver thermal emergency blanket.

The woman smiled at him. "Your the bloke Saavik spoke about. She guessed someone would come down ere'."

"The Captain is here?" Said Picard.

"Yep there she is. Look!" The woman freed a hand from the bundle in her arms. The child was sleeping. Surprisingly it did not awaken. The mother pointed to the direction of the crowd. "And ya other friends."

Picard bowed slightly. "Thank you madam." He turned away to follow the direction she had pointed to. The woman joined him at his side.

"My names K'Rissel."

"Jean Luc Picard," he said as he tried to quicken his step. The woman however matched his stride exactly and she was giggling.

"Then ya are a Frenchman?"

"I am," he replied crisply. She nodded.

"Let me invite ya to a dance this evenin'."

"No thank you. I have an important task to complete." Abruptly he stopped and gazed at her. "I thought all your people were missing. How have you survived?"

There was a long pause. "Don't ya know Starfleet?"

"Know what?" He said as he continued towards the direction of where his captain was sitting.

"Those giant slime balls they ate us." Picard frowned. Why did he find what the woman said so unbelievable? Yet something, which he did not like, told him what she had said was true. What was that creature I heard in the shuttle? He thought. And how did I get this?

Gingerly he touched the bump on his head and it throbbed. Somehow whatever the creature was it had brought him down here. Did it change the shuttles course position? Was it involved with Claude's death? K'Rissel's voice broke his momentary absence.

"It's true mate. As far as I know we're va only ones left." Picard stepped away from her and he saw his captain. She was seated with her first officer and a rather rowdy older man.

"Jean Luc!" Exclaimed Brown. She stood up and was smiling broadly. "Were so glad to see you."

"And where hav ya been all me life?" Murmured the woman under her breath as she walked away obviously disgruntled by Picard's lack of interest in her. Her husband Alet grinned at her. He obviously could see that his young wife had been attracted to the equally as young Starfleet officer. She looked disappointed when she left.

"I'm afraid it isn't good news," Picard said dully.

"What's happening up there?" Said Brown.

"The transporter is down. Communication is virtually impossible. We can transmit information over selected areas. The planet however..." He shrugged. "There is still a blockage. Lieutenant Trallii has managed to send out an SOS to the nearest starship. We tried to contact Command central." For a moment Picard was silent. "We suspect that the message was dispersed else where."

"Oh god," muttered the human. "Then your not here to rescue us?" Picard shook his head.

"I was." He stopped. "I regret to inform you that I too was taken prisoner by the aliens." Picard sighed hard and tried desperately to remember what had happened before the creature or whatever it what had knocked him out.

"Myself and Lieutenant Claude came by shuttle. We were pulled off course by an unknown manifestation. The shuttle was taken over. Claude died. I was reviewing the damaged and was preparing to leave," Picard paused. "The shuttle rocked slightly. The aliens must have teleported down silently."

"Did you see the creature who attacked you?" Saavik said.

"I don't remember seeing anything sir, but I remember that it touched my neck, it felt so very cold. I did not feel a blow," he paused. "I then woke up in the exterior cavern." For a moment there was silence. Brown noticed the unsightly bump on the lieutenant's forehead. Then saw the sucker marks on his neck. They were large with black puckered flesh.

"He took out the insignia. "I found this sir," he said to Saavik. She took it from him.

"Thank you Lieutenant." Saavik carefully pinned the badge onto her jacket.

"I recommend you see Doctor McMeres at once," said Brown. Picard did not react. "Your neck. You say the creature touched you. It appears it tried to draw blood. You are very fortunate to be alive."

Picard tenitivly touched his neck. It felt bruised, but other than that it was nothing. The doctor strolled over. He must have heard his name being spoken.

"Someone need medical attention? I could not help but over hear." He saw Picard. "Hello Jean Luc. We're saved."

"I am afraid not." The smile disappeared the moment it came. The doctor seemed to sink. He abruptly came around when he saw the deep bumps on his neck.

"Me god," he exclaimed. "The beast got you. You lucky to be alive. Let me see." Picard sat down. "It is strange that the thing didn't eat you." Said the doctor. He glanced at the captain.

"I suspect it had a reason," she said.

"What is this place?" Picard said looking around.

"The remainder of this planet's inhabitancy."

"The people," Picard said looking over at the crowd. "They seem oblivious to what is happening to them."

"They do indeed."

Picard looked around again. The doctor sighed.

"For god's sake man keeps still." Brown smirked at him. "What you starring at?"

"Nothing," she said. "What about Jean Luc. Is he gonna be okay?"

"There's not a lot I can do for the bruising until we get to the ship. Your lucky there isn't inflammation. I can cleanse the wound, but it'll have to heal on it's own. As for poison injection I shall have to use the resources I luckily have with me."

He opened his medical bag and took out a medical tricorder and set it on quarter power. McMeres quickly ran the device over Picard. "It'll take a few minutes at the most." He stared at Picard. "I want you too keep still. The faster your heart beats the quicker the poison, if there is any will travel to your brain. I think though since it happened hour's ago you'll probably be okay.

The results came up negative.

"Good," he said. "You came up negative. Your safe," said the doctor. I hope that the tricoder was functioning correctly and those bloody things weren't altering the settings on my equipment to trick us, he thought.

McMeres then took out something else. It was a clear liquid in a spray bottle. He pulled down Picard's collar and sprayed the liquid onto his skin. Picard jumped when it hit his neck. It felt like ice water.

"The people here have said that they are being kept here for food," said Saavik out of the blue.

"What!" Said McMeres with shock.

"I believe we are in a store room of sorts."

"A store room."

"Yes," said Brown.

Georga glanced over at the group from across the other side. She paled after hearing what Captain Saavik had said. "You mean they're going to eat us?" She swallowed terror down and reminded herself she was a Starfleet officer and that they were bound to bump into a few problems now and again. The problem was this was a huge problem.

"I believe that those creatures have possibly consumed the entire inhabitancy of this world. It would explain the absence of all native life on the planet," said Saavik.

"Why?" Said Georga.

"Perhaps their own world is now exhausted. So they hop planet-to-planet devouring anything in its path. Look at what happened to Lieutenant Warren," said the first officer.

"It's true luv," said the man seated next to Georga. She gave a weak smile.

"And your not going to do anything to stop them?"

"Can't do anything." He shrugged. "They've overpowered us."

"But why have they left these people and US here?" Picard joined in.

"Perhaps they want to have something put by for a snack," the doctor replied sarcastically.

"They may not wish to harm us as of yet," said Saavik.

"We'll find out sooner or later," McMeres retorted.

"Perhaps they have nearly depleted the resources of this world," Saavik commented.

"Arrh," He nodded deep in thought.

"Have you asked anyone about their space crafts?" Said Picard. Saavik nodded.

"K'Rissel had said that their vessel was destroyed. When I asked her how they communicated this to her she said that it was telepathic."

"Then they need us to get them to their next destination." Brown frowned in the darkness. "But, what I don't understand is how they could have possibly reformed this planet."

"Perhaps they bought some of their own plants with um' then they took over, killed most of the others indigenous life on this world." McMeres said, "You know, they simply might just have wanted to make the place a little bit more homely?"

"You are considerably wise for a human," said the Vulcan.

"Thanks."

"This place gives me the shivers," said Brown. "Look at the people. All they want is to have a good time.

"You the shivers. I would never have thought possible for a lady who won Aldevora weight lifting contest seven times over. I thought you were a tough girl," McMeres said disbelievingly.

Picard interrupted. "Then you think that we are possibly being kept here as new stock ready for the voyage."

"Then they are planning to capture the Krackatowa and take it to where ever they fancy," said Brown.

"Then we are in a dilemma," Picard said.

"We sure the heck are," replied the doctor coldly. "What if those things have already invaded the ship?" He said to Saavik. She took out her communicator and flipped it open. Nothing happened.

"There is no way to be sure," she said. "My communicator is still malfuntional."