Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, I just love the shows.
Space.
Contained within its vast amounts of nothingness are some of the finest ships that any species had ever made.
But right now, the Enterprise wasn't exactly up to par.
Motionless on the one-time battlefield, pieces of her enormous hull were floating around her. Lights continued to flicker on and off as the dedicated crew inside her continued to do their best to get her up and running again.
A huge door rattled open, and out came flying a once-broken Romulan shuttlecraft. As the charred doors of the shuttle bay closed once more, the two occupants of the small craft could only look for a few moments at their broken home before their ship took off.
Stars flew past. It was almost hypnotizing to watch them fly by.
"Initiating the cloaking device," Data announced. His newly- transformed hands flew across the alien control panel. Data showed no signs of confusion at the strange symbols that made up the Romulan language.
Worf, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. His Romulan brow was furled in thought, and his fists kept clenching and unclenching. "Romulans," he growled.
Data opened his mouth to speak, but quickly decided against it. Although extremely curious as to the reason why Worf was upset, Data didn't really want his arms ripped off at the moment. He closed his mouth, deciding to ask the stubborn Klingon at a later date.
The rest of the trip was engulfed in silence. Both occupants were mentally preparing themselves for the mission that was fast approaching. The ship remained on its automatic course, following the homing signal of the Machta.
The starts continued to fly by.
The cold steel of the Romulan warbird Machta lay dormant at the moment. The nearest enemy ship was at least a star system away. Their confidence was great, and so they remained uncloaked.
There was much celebration about the ship. Those who were off duty were happily getting drunk on Romulan ale. The smell of freshly spilled alcohol was all over the prized ship. Some even had the indecency of passing out in the hallways that Natal walked.
Natal, normally having anyone that stood in his way shot, didn't seem to mind any of the partying. He too was feeling the joyous air of victory. He had singe handedly defeated the most powerful ship that the Federation had to offer. He was the best. Surely the council members back on Romulus could see that now. Now they had no excuse, they have to promote him to commanding general of the entire Romulan army.
They would be foolish not to.
Natal continued to make his way towards his quarters.
"Sir! Sir!" a very frightened voice called out.
Natal stopped. Turning on his heal, he proceeded to give the insignificant officer one of his most cold-hearted glares.
"What is it, commander?" he growled. His irritation was clearly evident in his voice, and the officer wanted nothing more than to get out of his superiors way and forget anything had ever happened.
Unfortunately, that wasn't much of an option now.
He gulped. "Sir? One of our shuttlecraft is approaching..."
"And you are bothering me with this trifle decision WHY?"
The officer gulped in fright again. His knees were shaking, afraid what the murderous captain might do to him.
Natal snorted. "Bring the ship into the shuttle bay. Or are you so incompetent that you can't even do this task correctly?"
"N-n-no sir!"
"Good. Now, get out of my sight!"
"Docking sequence activated"
The little rickety shuttlecraft gave a lurch sideways, startling it's two passengers.
Still gripping the armrests of his seat, Worf silently went over his will again, wondering if he left anything out. He took a deep breath. 'WHY did I accept this mission!?'
The shuttlecraft zoomed into one of the huge shuttle bays of the ship, like a fly being caught by frog. As it slowed down to land, it began to vibrate violently. Anything that wasn't bolted down inside was thrown to the floor. A knife, hidden in the ceiling, was shaken loose and fell with a thwap into Data's left arm.
Data looked up at the ceiling, then at his arm. "Interesting."
Reaching over with his right hand, he pulled out the knife.
"Data," Worf asked, "could I have that knife?"
"Certainly," Data replied as he handed the knife over.
Worf continued to examine the knife as Data turned back towards his control panel.
"Docking sequence complete."
The two fake Romulans looked at each other. As one, they both rose from their seats and headed towards the door. Some unfixed, sparking panels were their only light as Data pushed the 'open door' button.
There was a grinding of metal sound as the doors slowly forced their way open. Momentarily blinded by the light in the shuttle bay, they did not see the drunken swagger of the Romulan guard sent to greet them.
"Sooooo.... hik ya back, huh? hik "
Data and Worf gave each other worried glances.
"Um, yeah. We're back," Worf replied slowly.
The guard leaned in closer to them. He smiled, showing his rotten teeth and rancid breath. "Mmmm good...hik party's already started."
Shakily turning around, he beckoned the two new arrivals to follow him. Data and Worf did so.
They walked around the huge ship, observing the drunken antics of the Romulans, and the workings of the ship. There were numerous panels lining the corridors, each one with brightly lit buttons in Romulan. Data's electronic mind was taking in everything, already planning their escape.
They walked for what seemed like miles; until they rounded a corner to find the newest corridor empty, save for two guards stationed by a lone door.
The guard continued to walk on. Data pulled his sleeve in an attempt to get his attention: it worked. The guard pivoted and almost fell down. Regaining his composure, he let out a 'huh?'
"What's behind that door?" Data asked, pointing at the guards.
"Oh, tha? hik Tha's where THEY are." He looked around sneakily. "If ya want, I can get you in there. Ya can knock 'em around if ya want ta"
"Do it," the gruff voice of Worf replied.
The guard nodded and motioned for them to stay where they were.
Standing as tall as he could, the nameless guard walked stiffly over to the stationed guards by the door. The guards eyed the slightly sobered drunk as he approached. They all nodded, acknowledging each others existence.
"Our great captain Natal has ordered me to tell you that your shift here is over," the drunk stating fluently. "You are needed at the shuttle bay to survey repairs."
The two burly guards looked at each other, then back at the drunk. With one final nod, they headed off towards the shuttle bay.
As soon as they had rounded the corner, the drunk signaled to Data and Worf. They hastily went towards the door.
"Here you are, gentlemen."
The doors opened, and all three of them stepped inside.
What greeted them was a scene you would expect from a horror movie. The walls were lined with all sorts of pointy swords and knives, along with other various torture devices (whips, chains, etc). The only light in the room came from the center, where two beams of light were shinning directly on two tables, each holding a body. Both were strapped down, and not moving.
Data pulled out a tricorder, and began to scan the occupants on the tables. There was a few seconds of silence, were only the ringing of the tricorder was heard.
"They're alive, but only just," Data's voice rang out.
The drunken Romulan looked confused. "Wha?"
Not questioning his motives, Worf punched out the guard. He flew backwards and hit the ground hard. He defiantly wasn't getting up for a while.
Data, already beside the immortals, was removing their straps. As he was doing so, he noted the extend of their injuries: some broken bones, several bruises, and possible internal bleeding. If they weren't sent to a doctor quickly, they would die.
Worf, coming up beside Data, noticed the headbands on both immortals.
Pointing at them, he asked, "What are those?"
Pulling out his tricorder again, Data examined the metal headbands.
"Hmmm....it seems that they are designed to block certain brainwaves. As to what purpose, I'm not sure, but it will not harm them if we remove them."
Both officers reached down and removed the headbands from the immortals. As soon as they were removed, both immortals eyelids began to flutter open.
A whoosh sound was heard, and when Data and Worf turned to see where it came from, they were confronted with Natal and some of his men standing in the only exit out of the room.
AN: I FINALY GOT THIS CHAPTER DONE!!!!!!!!!
Please review, as you guys are the only reason I'm continuing this story at all. THANKS!!!!!