Disclaimer: see chapter one

a/n: Thanks again for all the reviews! You guys are great! I really appreciate your thoughts and comments!

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Malcolm ran through the halls as quickly as anyone could who had no real idea of where they were or exactly where they were going. He had heard Trip, he was positive. The cry of pain had been very human. The noise had been swift and it had faded quickly so the Lieutenant was left to guess which way to continue.

The message on the old data base had been unnerving to say the least. It sounded like some sort of mad scientist's log. Something, well Diluculo, had gotten far out of hand.

He turned a corner and paused, he was sure he had been here before. Breathing rather hard he wiped the sweat from his brow, but as he withdrew his hand he found the sweat there tinged pink with blood. His wound was bleeding again. Drawing his lips into a straight line he swung round with a frustrated look on his face. However, it was quickly replaced with one of fear barely under control.

Those eyes, those terrible, yet beautiful, violent violet eyes, met his. In the darkness those orbs of iridescent color shone brightly. He froze on the spot. There was a low cackle, nothing like Parialter's silky tones, but Malcolm did not wait to see if the thing advanced. He took off down the hall with all the speed he could force out of his exhausted body. He raced up a flight of stairs, and was alarmed to hear the thing's heavy foot steps behind him. It had always seemed to glide...He glanced back. It pursued very closely behind. Feeling a jolt in his chest he flew forward in a mad dash to put more distance between them.

"Run all you can, there is no place here in which you can hide from me," It growled happily.

Malcolm found he didn't care if there wasn't. So long as he was free he felt he was slightly more advantaged then he would have been as a captive.

He kept up his flight at a terrible pace, flying around corners, crashing into dusty furniture and sending it toppling to the floor. He felt hot breath on his neck when his pace slackened.

It won't be long now, he thought, feeling his strength beginning to give out as he staggered up another flight of stairs. With all he had left he willed himself a few more stumbling steps forward before tripping on the edge of an old oriental looking rug. He fell sprawled out on the dusty floor. He scrambled back up and, half crawling, stretched out his hand to a door that dead ended the corridor. Frantically looking over his shoulder he pounded on it, waiting for the creature to appear out of the shadows.

"Open damn you!" he cried, beating on it with his knuckles, peering with wide open eyes into the dimness. Blood ran down his wrists.

The door began to emit a high pitched whine as it shook and tried to open. Its speed was intolerably slow. Malcolm began to push it the rest of the way open. The joints and components squealed and groaned in protest. The Lieutenant squeezed himself through the moment it was wide enough. Then, with all the strength he could muster, he forced it back into place. He took a few shaky steps backward into the dark room, not taking his eyes from the closed door. The mark-less, gray surface of the portal did not move. All was silent. His heavy breathing echoed loudly in the stillness and his heart was pounding in his ears. Moments passed. He sank down against the back wall of the room, legs giving out, trying to catch his breath.

There came a low rumble. Malcolm's head whipped around, frantically trying to see what it was, where it was coming from. The rumble changed pitched, and deepened into a rough rolling laugh.

"Foolish being," came Diluculo's voice.

Malcolm rose trembling from where he'd been resting. With an eerie flash, the eyes appeared directly in front of him. He grasped at a table-like piece on his right in an attempt to keep his balance, but, in his haste to move away, knocked the entire thing over with an enormous crash.

"Where do you think you can go?" It asked curiously.

Malcolm did not respond, but continued to edge along the walls, hoping against the odds to find an escape. The creature appeared to swell in the darkness, as though It was wrapping itself in it, drawing power out of it. It moved towards Malcolm. He tried to move, but his head spun and he felt himself falling to the floor. The shadows were growing nearer. A sharp pain shot through his head, he desperately tried to get himself to move again, but felt frozen in place, unable to stop staring at his coming doom.

Suddenly It stopped its approach. A soft hiss emanated from a corner.

"Ferrius Diluculo," came the words in velvety tones.

The purple-eyed beast growled, "Parialter. You are foolish to confront me. This is your doing isn't it?"

"No," came the quiet, simple reply."These beings are not our creators. I've studied them. I believe if you do the same your assessment will be similar."

The thing chortled, "Don't you think I would have already done examinations of my own? Parialter, I know all I need to about these beings. You are simple mistaken in your high flown ideas about things we can't be certain of."

"You depend too much on certainty."

Diluculo growled, "Don't you realize what it is your harboring? You don't know what it was like before I decided to change the way things were."

"We've been through this before, I was there. I was right there." The voice caressed the words.

Diluculo seemed disgruntled."Enough. I don't know why or whence you came, but here you are. More alike to me then anything ever was. But all this is beside the point. This being must die."

"I will have to defend him."

"You will what?" It said softly, dangerously, and calculatingly.

"I have little choice, if what I believe is correct."

"You admit it might not be."

"Nothing is certain."

Diluculo made a snorting noise,"Can you say that certainly?" It mocked.

A silvery laugh left a shimmering note ringing in the air. "Well countered," Parialter murmured. This seemed to unnerve Diluculo.

"Parialter, you have admitted yourself that you are little match for me, as alike as we may be. To defend him would be the same self-destructive action you have performed in the past."

"Not as I see it. I'm stronger then the last time you faced me."

Silence.

"So be it."

"So be it," answered Parialter.

Malcolm watched in terrified fascination from the wall, the shadows from opposite corners of the room seemed to grow, trying to match each other in size. The only difference was one had a decidedly frightening pair of glowing eyes.

"Go," said a soft voice. Malcolm seemed startled into movement; he made a dash for the door.

"No!" Diluculo's voice boomed. But Parialter swept in front of It. Inky darkness hid the luminescent eyes from Malcolm's view as he raced out into the hallway. The door slid shut with a heavy, ominous, slam. He did not stop, or look back until he had run as far as his depleted body would allow.

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Up on another level, he finally collapsed on the floor by a low grate. He just lay there for an indeterminable amount of time, breathing. Slowly his body began to relax, and started to tremble badly. He heard a soft moan. He heard it without listening. And only when another was issued did he come to the realization they were not utterances he was making. Slowly, painfully, he sat up, and turned to the grate on his right. Propping himself up with an arm he grasped the bars of the vent. Trying to peer down into it, he shook it. It was loose. He waited. There came another moan.

"Trip!" he called hoarsely.

There was no response. Despite that his sense told him what he was about to do was not wise; he threw caution to the wind. Quickly, he gave the wobbly grate a swift forcefully tug, and off it came.

"Trip?" he called again, then squeezed his shoulders into the opening.

Looking down he couldn't see anything at first. The strange small room was lit by a cold blue light. He noticed it wasn't just the light that was cool, but the entire chamber seemed like a freezer. He saw something, he couldn't be sure, but there might have been someone down there. Pulling himself momentarily, he backed in feet first. It was quite a drop to the bottom, but he thought that he could do it safely if he lowered himself down the full length of his body before letting go of the wall. He dropped softly to the floor of the cold stone room. There was Trip. Shackled to the wall, his knees bent, his body sagged down; he was being held up by the cruel clasps on his wrists.

"Trip," Malcolm whispered coming up to his friend. Trip murmured something unintelligible. "Listen, it's me!" he said, shaking him slightly.

"No...I...don't know. Please, I'm- I-I'm..." he groaned under the Lieutenant's touch. Malcolm's eyebrows knitted together in deep concern, trying to look at Trip's face.

"Please, Commander, you have to wake up." he said, starting to work on the man's bonds. He reached into the pack and pulled out a heavy tool they had managed to retrieve from the shuttle pod. With a few well placed blows to the iron restraint he freed one of Trip's arms. The Commander now hung at a strange angle by one arm. Malcolm worked quickly to free the other one. Trip slumped heavily to the floor. Malcolm knelt beside him and began to rub one of the other man's ice cold hands in an attempt to warm it.

"M-Mal?" his is teeth chattered.

"Yes, it's me." he said hopefully. Trip let out a deep, chest rattling cough, and then blearily looked Malcolm up and down.

"What happened to you? Yer a mess," he slurred.

A smile twitched in the corner of Malcolm's mouth. "Well you don't exactly look ready for a night on the town yourself, Sir."

Trip looked down at the front of his battered uniform. "What'd ya mean?" he said as if insulted, then started to shake. "Ohh, it's freezin' in here."

"What was It trying to do, freeze you to death?" Malcolm muttered, getting his arm about his friend and dragging him to his feet.

"I think that may have been the general idea," Trip breathed. Then rolled his head weakly in Malcolm's direction. "Uh, Mal, I don't know that you've noticed but there's no way out of here."

"Nonsense. The door is right there."

"Yeah, one of those un-openable kind."

Malcolm smirked, "I believe I've figured them out. How did you think I got in here anyway?"

"Through that grate," Trip said densely, mind still numb with the cold.

Malcolm gave him a quick look. "The building Trip. Not the room."

"Oh, well how was I supposed to know that we are in a building? I was just suddenly here," he sort of rambled. Malcolm raised his knuckles to the door and tapped. Like magic, it slid open.

Trip looked at the door as though he thought it was a very dangerous object. "That's it? A knock is like a key? No wonder these people were killed," he said, staring dubiously.

"Come on then, we've got to get you warm, and find where we can get a message to Enterprise." Malcolm helped him out of the cold room and into the darkest part of the building the Lieutenant had explored yet.

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TBC

a/n: Please review! Reviews of all sorts are most welcome!

And thanks to my beta reader for her time and effort!!!