Chapter Fifteen
"Shadow Boxing"
In their excitement and bloodlust, the Shadow triad rushed through the door opening with the sole intent of destroying their hated antagonist, the Vorlon. The three spidery-like aliens tore at Kosh's environmental suit with their pinchers and personal weaponry, ripping gashes thru re-enforced materials in an effort to get at the winged flesh inside. True, the Vorlon was composed of energy as well, but that energy was still tied to the flesh and if it was destroyed, the energy called Kosh would dissipate into the ether where it belonged. And they were not simply fleshling things either. They too were ascended beings and their natural weapons, their claws, pinchers, and most importantly their minds, were more than sufficient to kill their hated foe. Cloaking abilities were not required, as it interfered with their effectiveness in manipulating or killing something like the Vorlon. This was personal.
The second of three slashed thru the suit and was rewarded with hot Vorlon flesh. But there was a price to be paid as Kosh backhanded the creature, which howled in agony as its forearm was broken in the process. But the enemy didn't have time to gloat as its partners attacked from both the front and behind. The hurt Shadow creature screamed and re-entered the fray. Slowly, they were killing the creature that meant their small taste of revenge would soon be accomplished. The thought made it fight that much harder.
But killing a Vorlon wasn't as easy as it sounded. The battle was being fought on several levels. The fight against the flesh was one thing, the fight against the mind another. Wills contested against one another, each foe shredding precious chunks from their enemy. There was no mercy and no retreat as the triad slowly overwhelmed their outnumbered foe. At one point the triad felt Kosh's energy trying to escape, attempting to find another vessel and they joined together to keep it from fleeing. Still there were traces of that energy trying to slink away, like water going down the drain. That a portion would escape their wrath really didn't make much a difference because they were winning, in every since of the word.
Morden watched from the doorway, mouth opened in wonder at the battle now taking place. He hated Vorlons in general but there was a dark joy in seeing this Vorlon killed since it was Kosh who had hurt him some time ago during another confrontation on B5. In every place where the Vorlon suit was torn there was bright light as the creature's energy joined in its fight against his masters. This was truly a light versus dark battle in every sense of the word he realized. His masters' natural darkness filled the room striving against the light, a light that was slowly fading. Soon it would disappear altogether and in that moment he would rejoice. All of these things he thought about for perhaps a few seconds. Then he remembered Guinan and moved towards her. Her death would really be a shame but it could not be helped now. She had seen too much. It was time for her to die. He smiled tightly and moved towards her. Then he froze, all thoughts of attacking her dying stillborn in his mind. One of the triad had already decided to move towards her intent on destroying her itself. It shifted towards her and was promptly slammed into a wall by some unknown force. He had no weapons with him and any thoughts of attacking her had just now evaporated. She clearly was not what she seemed.
"Enterprise," she yelled as she tapped that strange insignia. "Emergency! Override Standing Order Four. Two to beam up!"
Morden stood shaking himself out of his daze at the revelation he had just seen. Then he cursed venomously as he realized that the woman had a communications device. Security would be here in a few moments and they would be caught. Full understanding came a moment later, as Kosh, Guinan and to his horror, one of the triad had faded into a sparkle of light which then winked out.
He gritted his teeth even as he screamed his rage against the Federation interlopers. They had transmat technology just like their enemies and now they had one of his own. Snarling, he and his two remaining companions ran to the secured area before anyone could discover what had happened. Time was of the essence now. They had to get off of B5 and save their companion, if possible, before it was too late.
John woke up yelling Kosh's name. He had been dreaming of his father, talking to him in fact when he understood that it was in fact Kosh speaking to him with his mind.
There was so much he wanted to tell me he had said. But he couldn't because he was too set in his ways. Well, that was understandable. Old people were usually like that so why wouldn't Vorlons be the same way? But what surprised me was his sensitivity. I always suspect it but he never actually showed it until now. What's happened to him?
He grabbed his comm-link, called for security to immediately get to Kosh's quarters. The Vorlon Ambassador was in terrible danger. As he dressed he desperately wished that his friend were still alive.
Standing Order Four: no unauthorized beaming to or from the Enterprise, Ambassador or the Yeager unless it was deemed and emergency by the senior staff. Guinan was deemed senior staff and therefore if she requested an override Ensign Thomas had no intention of ignoring her order, did not even think twice about it.
"This is twice in one day," he muttered, remembering the report he had read earlier. "They way things were going it might be better to reverse the order. Everybody knows about it anyway."
Security was on its way by the time the materialization sequence had been completed. The Ensign fell back in shock at what he saw. Guinan was yelling at him to get out of the room and lying on the pad was… something in an environmental-like suit stretched out as though it were dead. But what caused Thomas to instinctively draw his phaser was the indistinct black shape with enough legs and arms to satisfy four or five people bearing down on him. Panicked, he fired, missed and one of the creature's legs stabbed him in the chest. He never even screamed as the poison coursed thru his system. His glazed eyes tracked the creature as it ran into the hallway. From a distance he heard Guinan call for an intruder alert and a medical team. It would arrive too late to be of help to him he suspected. As he faded he despaired of dying so far away from home without his family ever knowing the truth.
"Security alert," Guinan had yelled. "Captain Picard, we have an intruder onboard."
Picard's reaction was immediate. "Intruder alert! All personnel remain at your stations. Do not venture into the halls. I repeat do not remain the halls."
Tasha's complete concentration was focused on her security console. She was just finishing her duty shift when this emergency had occurred. She knew exactly what she was looking for and began scanning the ship for the life form that she'd detected on B5 earlier. It was assumed by her to be cloaked but that didn't matter because she knew the frequency band to track the being. It showed up on her scanner near Cargo Bay one, hiding behind several large crates. It wasn't a solid lock but as her hands flew over her computer system it improved by the second. Nearby were two dismembered crewmembers that had died never knowing where their attacker had come from.
"The creature used some type of energy weapon. It knows we know it's on the ship and it's trying to terrorize us into letting it go."
"Agreed," replied an angry Picard. Terrorist tactics didn't sit well with him. "Lock onto it. Transport it into a secured brig."
"We're having trouble locking on. Its shrouding powers are keeping us from getting a solid lock," she said. "It must have been initially beamed up by surprise. I can compensate but it will take a few minutes."
Picard had no intentions of waiting. "Secure the area with force fields and bring in security. I want their phasers rifles modified to track the creature. How long will it take to modify the tracking systems?"
"About five minutes. We can track the exact wavelength."
"Good. I want it removed from this ship. Make it so."
"Yes, sir," snapped Tasha. "Security to the bridge."
The creature was alone, trapped on an alien ship unsure how she had gotten there but very determined to get out. She wanted to live. The Shadow could see that its' natural stealth ability had been compromised and now as the Humans and the others closed in, death's touch was within reach. Transport mechanics was a reality she observed darkly and not just the Klingons, but these Federation creatures possessed the secrets also. Yes, the experience had been remarkable. The ability to move from one point to another, converting matter into energy and then reversing the process without error had once been a dream of her people. Now she too had experienced it, but not quite the way she had hoped to.
Twice the ship had tried to lock onto her physical body but now prepared, her shrouding abilities effectively blocked it. It was good that these Humankind creatures were as weak as their Earthian cousins. A simple energy blast from her personal weapon was enough to eliminate those two that were in her way. But now instead of reaching the docking bay, she had raced into the ship's cargo area. It could hide her but it was only a matter of time before they would come hunting. Her personal computer-organic in nature-was already close to shutting down as it strained itself trying to assist in countering the Federation probes attempting to lock onto to her.
Taking a moment to gather her wits, the Shadow assessed her position. These aliens had force fields blocking the areas effectively trapping her within this bay. Their weaponry was unknown but if they were smart they would try to capture rather than kill her. That would be a mistake. It would be better for all of them to simply let her go. The triad member had no compunctions about killing the first Humans that came into the area. Kosh was still alive on this ship and her partners were on the space station, probably affecting their escape even now. So for now she would wait and see what these creatures would do.
Her computer yelped, then went silent as it burned out and died. She would not have long to wait now. They were outside the door.
Outside, Security officer Tasha Yar and six of her staff waited outside the door. They were protected with refractive armor, headgear and armed with compression phaser rifles, which, with an exception of two, were set at maximum. The weapons tracking systems had been specifically calibrated to lock onto the Shadow creature whether it was cloaked or not and right now Security had a good target lock even through the doors.
"Crenshaw, Peters, Timonna, Krea," Tasha started. "When the force field goes down, we go in three and two. Vorak and Miller, you two are on backup."
Turning to the other five she continued. "Don't present yourselves as targets, cover each other. We don't know how much firepower it'll take to bring it down, but be careful. We don't want to punch a hole in the ship."
"Lieutenant Yar to bridge," she said over her communicator. "We're in position."
"Acknowledged. Stand by."
Now they would wait until ordered to go in.
The Shadow froze-as was her nature-when she heard the voice over the intercom system. Instinctively, she camouflaged herself as much as possible.
"This is Captain Picard to the Shadow creature. Surrender and no harm will come to you. If you do not surrender immediately," the Human continued, "we will be compelled to take you by force."
There was something about the determination and confidence in that Picard's voice that left no room for doubt. He intended to do what he planned. She was running out of time.
The Shadow alien pulled out her communicator, something the Shadow did not want to do, and made a frantic call. "Help me," she said. "They come."
The answer was prompt. "We come."
Again she cursed the Vorlon animal. Kosh did not conform to the characteristic traits of his people. He had made friends and because of that she was trapped. The only positive thing was that longer the aliens waited the better her chances were. Her people would force these creatures into freeing her. Then all of them would die for daring to imprison a being that walked the stars before they discovered a purpose for the wheel. She just hoped that they would continue to wait.
Picard was ready to order Lieutenant Yar and her team in when the communications officer interrupted him. For a second, he had forgotten the name of the young woman looking intently at him. She was part of the night crew and normally he was not on the bridge at this time.
"What is it?"
"We intercepted a communication from Cargo Bay one."
"What did it say?" he asked as he turned about, giving the officer his full concentration.
"Unknown, Captain. It didn't conform to anything in our database. But there was an answer almost immediately."
Picard hesitated a second as he processed the news. Then he was moving. Picard grimaced. Commander Riker was on Babylon Five and he didn't have time to retrieve him.
"Red alert! Shields up!" he yelled. "Inform the Ambassador, the Yeager, Babylon Five and the Klingons also, that we will having visitors shortly." He could feel it. They were coming. "I want maximum readiness. Prepare for warp maneuvering."
He tapped his comm badge. "Lieutenant Yar."
"Yes, sir."
"The force field will go down in five seconds. You are authorized to use any means necessary to subdue the creature."
"Acknowledged, sir," Tasha responded.
Captain Garrett awoke to the ugly sounds of red alert klaxons. In an instant she was up, charging towards the bridge, still in her night cloths, hair flying everywhere. Was it the EAS starting up again?
"Report," she demanded of the night watch bridge crew. Right behind her Castillo come rushing onto the bridge.
"The Enterprise is moving away at half impulse with her shields up. They have a Shadow alien onboard and believes an attack from at least one of their rescue vessels is imminent."
Rachel understood. They needed maneuvering room.
"Shields up," Castillo said. "And two coffees, now."
She smiled grimly at her First Officer. Thank God he remembered to ask for coffee. This was going to be a long night.
"What's our status?"
"We're at full power. The Enterprise is moving out one half impulse away from the station. The Yeager is powering up and moving in a direction opposite of them vectoring to a parallel course."
Good, she thought. They're giving him space to maneuver.
"Plot a course parallel to the Enterprise three million kilometers distant. And Mr. Kee," she said turning to the sensors officer. "Make sure we don't get caught from behind."
Onboard Babylon Five Captain Sheridan had just made it to Command and Control in time to see the Ambassador veer off and disappear at frightening speed. The sight amazed him but right now he was far more concerned about Kosh. He could not be sure but Kosh might be dead.
"Get me Picard."
A few seconds later, the Captain was onscreen.
"What's happening Captain?" Sheridan demanded.
"We have a Shadow on our ship, Captain, along with a seriously wounded Ambassador Kosh. Evidently there was an attempt on his life and Ambassador Guinan was instrumental in stopping it, however the creature got off a message. We suspect a rescue vessel shortly. We do not want B5 in the middle of this confrontation."
"Acknowledged, Enterprise. Be careful. Sheridan out."
Now things were clear. The Shadows must have meant to kill Kosh and get out before anyone noticed. But he was in telepathic contact with Kosh when the attack occurred. They must have been in Guinan's room. But that meant…
"Close B5 off. No one in or out," he yelled at the lieutenant on watch. "Have any ships left in the last ten minutes?"
"Yes, sir," came the reply. "A Centauri shuttle few minutes ago."
"Where are they going?" he snapped.
"Their destination is Centauri Prime. They're heading towards the gate the gate now. They haven't reached it yet."
"Call them back. Now!"
"They're not responding."
"Get our perimeter ships to stop them, ASAP. De-activate the gate."
"It's too late, Sir," came the reply. "They've activated the jumpgate."
John slammed his fist on his console.
They were too late.
"Be ready." Tasha clicked her rifles safety off. Her team did likewise. "The field will be down in four…three…two…one…"
There was a slight snap as the force field surrounding Cargo Bay one turned off. The door opened and she and four teammates moved in cautiously. They spread out slowly as the other two teammates guarded the door.
Tasha's targeting computer had locked onto an area to the right on the far end of the room. Several crates and supply boxes had been re-arranged in a defensive boundary.
"Get to cover," she whispered to her team. In front of her, she heard unintelligible noises. "The creature was trying to communicate."
She took a chance. "Can you understand me?"
She ducked as a beam cut across her direction. The weapon burned a neat little hole in a metal container she had ducked behind.
"Return fire!"
"Four beams of phased energy converged into the area where the female was hiding. Her perimeter dissolved in a blur of light as molecules flew away from one another at close to the speed of light. The creature screamed and shimmered into view. She targeted Tasha specifically, somehow sensing that the woman was the leader. Her nearly transparent energy weapon pierced the protective barrier Tasha hid behind. The Security officer was hit, her vest being her only protection from death's touch. The dissipated beam burned but did not penetrate. Still the force of the blow knocked her into the far wall. Her vest began to burn.
Three beams hit the Shadow and she screamed, the most hideous sound that any of them had ever heard. It was a sound that tore it's way into the mind. Then it faded. The creature flashed out of existence leaving a small wisp of vapor as an epitaph.
Instantly her teammates were next to her stripping of the still burning flak jacket. She hit her c-badge. "Captain. The creature is dead."
"Were there any causalities?"
"No, sir. I got slightly fried but I'm not seriously injured," said Tasha as she winced slightly."
"Get to sickbay now," he commanded. Then he added: "That's an order, Lieutenant."
Picard sighed. He had not wanted to kill the being but neither would he allow any more of his people to be sacrificed either. It was a waste but he had other worries now.
His ship was moving quickly now. His fears had been confirmed as a dark, reflective, spider-like shape materialized thirty thousand kilometers behind his ship. As the main viewer tracked the vessel, they heard what could only be described as a psychic scream as it rushed to avenge its companion's murder. The ship did not conform to anything the far majority of the Federation officers and crew had ever seen before. It looked organic in nature, like a black shimmering spider with outstretched arms. It gained rapidly, matching the Enterprise's speed in normal space.
"Full impulse, Mr. Kadar."
"Full impulse, Aye. Captain."
"Shields to maximum," he murmured. "Maintain speed and course. Let's see how fast it can go."
The shadow vessel increased speed catching up to the fleeing starship. But the Enterprise was making it work for it. The rear view screen the entire bridge crew watched the horror slowly gaining on them. For the life of them they understood that it was organic in construction, but the way it moved suggested that it was in some sense truly alive. Picard ordered the Enterprise to point six warp speed. The ship increased speed noticeably. The Shadowcraft strained to keep up.
"Mr. Data," Picard asked. "What can you tell me about that ship?"
"It is-fascinating."
"Yes, Mr. Data," he conceded. "But that is not what I asked." The Captain resisted the urge to sigh. Sometimes Data could be so literal. And exasperating.
"I know, sir," Data responded. "But I simply needed a moment to prepare a response in such a way that you would understand."
He did not need this. "When you are ready, Mr. Data. Please hurry."
"I am ready now, sir."
"Proceed."
"Yes, sir."
"The Shadow vessel is indeed alive in the since that we understand the definition of life. An analysis of sensor data seems to suggest that it possesses many of the attributes of a biological entity. That is not to say that that it is intelligent. But this biological organism has been designed and grown for interstellar travel. It appears not to have warp capability, however it does utilize hyperspace in a manner we have not seen before."
"Can we kill it?"
"All biological organisms die, Captain. Whether or not or phasers are sufficient to kill it is unknown at this time. It has no shielding but its membrane is extremely tough. We will not know unless we try, Sir."
"Captain." It was Tactical Officer speaking. "Our pursuer just disappeared."
It must have cloaked Picard assumed.