Chapter 11: Into the Depths
Shuffling from her room to the bridge, Capitaine wasn't tired but just worried. Working with Captain Drake was dangerous, so was for Admiral Quinn or any Starfleet mission, but Drake took it to a whole new level. The encounter with the Devidians and the overall firefight on the Axon had lost to her a large number of her crew, including some of her close friends. Or atleast what she thought a close friend was. But Elisa survived, her best friend; thinking more deeply in herself, Elisa might be the only close friend she had or the *closest* friend she had. 'Closest' in practically every way, Elisa had been there for her entire life or atleast the parts after stasis.
Herself almost being killed atleast twice, Capitaine showed little effects of it. Her body had completely healed itself and except her a few tremors and reflexes, she had become stronger from it and outwardly showed no evidence it had ever happened. Elisa on the other hand, was still in Sick Bay, Morek estimated she would be there for atleast a week; he said she was lucky to be alive.
Reaching the Bridge, Capitaine already had another assignment from Captain Drake. 'Atleast he waited after a night's sleep', she thought to herself. She wasn't tired, but could tell her crew was. Phaedriel looked up to her as she entered the Bridge.
"Commander on deck!"
With quick succesion, everybody stopped what they were doing and stood to attention. Capitaine hated it, but Phaedriel seemed to enjoy it, she was always so formal. With a pause, Capitaine quietly set them all at ease. Looking over to Phawdriel, she now had a cheery smile, as she continued her work at her console. Kovroht on the other hand, wasn't so happy, she learned that Captain Drake directly disapproved of her. Knowing Capitaine didn't have a problem with the former-KDF officer, Kovroht was bothered that her past still followed her. T'Vrell and Versallia were caught up reviewing information from the Axon, Captain Drake had given them new key codes and deciphering techniques; they were both very preoccupied in the science lab. Zarva and TzHault were finishing repairing the ship. Although damage wasn't heavy, full repairs would have to wait until back in a shipyard. The rest of the crew, the helmsman included, were as quiet as ever. Most of them had just witnessed the darker side of battle, the parts that aren't glamorized in the news or ranted about in journals.
Walking to her chair, Phaedriel instead relayed a message through to her Ready Room. Already knowing who the sender was, Capitaine breathed herself ready to the room. She couldn't argue with Captain Drake and his methods were efficient, but they were cold and seemed to treat others as numbers; simply a number and an expendable number that could be easily replaced.
The message was indeed from who she thought it was, and it was ordering her to do what she expected. But not quite *where* she expected, an old Federation Deep Space Station that was long abandoned then claimed by a Ferengi. Not having a great history of interacting with Ferengi, Capitaine was relieved to hear the mission was an extraction for an intelligence operative, or an "asset" as Captain Drake called her. The worse possibility being some kind of negotiation, or any kind of business talks with a Ferengi.
Calling in Versallia, Morek and Zarva, Capitaine brough them up to to what was expected. Morek was still treating the crew and Elisa was still a long away from being back on her feet, yet alone being ready for duty. Zarva was doing the best she could with what she had, but repairs to the ship would still take time, even more time since they were relying solely on extra components. Versallia was still deciphering, along with Dina, T'Vrell, and Kovroht. Cardassians were more paranoid about their information than are Klingons.
Dismissing them, but then calling in Phaedriel privately, Capitaine had several questions for her. Somethings didn't seem to add up, and even Captain Drake treated Phaedriel differently than the rest.
"Lieutenant-Commander ... ?"
"Phaedriel, we're traveling to a Ferengi-station to find one of Captain Drake's people. Do you have anything to add?"
"No, Ma'am. I have never been there, and I think you have realized that the Captain has contacts throughout."
"Yes, I have begun to think about that ... Phaedriel, how do you know Captain Drake?"
"He is the reason I am in Starfleet, I was recruited under his jurisdiction before I was under Captain Taggart's and then your's"
"Captain Drake doesn't seem like an ordinary captain and you aren't exactly a normal ops officer. You seem to know more than what I would expect and I'm sure Drake does too. What exactly were you under Drake? Your records are empty between your graduation and Captain Taggart."
"I was his Operation's Officer too, and quite often his assignments were not close to the normal. I learned much of what I know from serving under him. But I felt it grew *tiresome* and at the time there were other positions looking for an experienced officer that would have been *closer to home*."
"Phaedriel, I've also been meaning to ask about last night ..."
"Lieutenant-Commander, I see what you may think, but he is not the reason I am here with you now. When you were given the official command, he did offer me a transfer to his ship, but I *chose* to remain under you instead."
"Uhmm, no ... not that." Reaching into her pocket, Capitiane placed the Device on the table and replayed its most recent message, the 'Lieutenant-Commander promotion' recording'. "You seem to know something about this device, Phaedriel. You even knew its name. Is there something about you I should know?"
Phaedriel's eyes darted between the device and its speaking holographic-Capitaine, and between Capitaine who was looking curiously at her. Listening quietly, Phaedriel was silent as the Device played; it wasn't until the Xarantine System and Captain Drake was brought up that Phaedriel final spoke up.
"Lieutenant-Commander, I did notice that you carried this Device with you on away missions and I also did notice that it was some type of information collector. When you were incapacitated onboard the Cardassian flagship, I kept it for safe keeping when the doctor was treating you. ... Uhhhm, err well, I tend to have an affinity for *such devices*, so I recognized it and it wanted information from the flagship. I simply placed it next to the computer and it found what it wanted."
Nervous but settling down from explaining her part in the event, Phaedriel stared anxiously at Capitaine to make the next move. The recording had already ended several moments ago, and she now held it as if she was still listening. Remember that the Admiral, had mentioned *others*, Capitaine felt that Phaedriel was indeed one of those that would help her.
Setting Phaedriel at ease, Capitaine gave her a better explanation of the device and her own personal mission. Capitaine stumbled over how to be explaining any of this but tried her best. Phaedriel understood nonetheless, she even seemed to be a bit more at ease now that she knew of everything.
A communication from Kovroht stopped their conversation short, they were approaching the station. With a gentle bow and a calm smile, Phaedriel left to return to her station. Feeling a little more comfortable and less anxious now knowing that she wasn't completely on her own. Capitaine found herself smiling as she hid away the Device and returned to the bridge.
...
Renamed 'Drozana Station', the Ferengi greeted them with an overly enthusiastic greeting. Everything Capitaine had come to expect: a big smile, a promise of fulfillment, and a *big* disclaimer about costs.
Even from a viewscreen, the station was not in the best of conditions, in fact Phaedriel's scans revealed it could fail if even a minor problem developed. Reviewing Starfleet information, much of the station's crew were hired temporarily and on an as-needed basis, and repairs were likely done by a similar method.
Accompanied by Phaedriel, Kovroht, TzHault, and T'Vrell, Capitaine was met by Versallia at the Transporter Room. All of them still being kept in the dark, Capitaine knew Versallia wasn't happy about the secrecy in Captain Drake's assignments. But Versallia wasn't here to voice her concerns and complaints.
"Lieutenant-Commander Capitaine, I request to accompany you with the away team."
Nodding but then immediately rechecking with Phaedriel and Kovroht, who had no objections, Capitaine looked back to Versallia. "You can, Versallia. I think I'll enjoy hearing your view on the station."
...
Many other groups beamed down to the station as well, but not as part of the mission. Most thought that this was simply shore leave after the encounter with the True Way. That being said, even among Capitaine's bridge crew, some were not informed as well; Zarva, for example, the reason solely due to her congenial nature and the sensitivity of the mission.
Capitaine's wasn't the first team to beam down, and upon arriving, she was greeted by an Orion who simply directed her to the main lounge. Walking through the station, there were vendors selling equipment, supplies, and odds'n ends. She looked over a few, not having much interest but as the lights turned blue again, she froze and reached for her phaser.
Everybody continued as normal, unlike that of the Axon, there weren't any screams or cries that accompanied the light shift. Seeing that Phaedriel was worried about the blue light as well, both relaxed as the light shifted back to normal.
"Isss sssomething wrong, Capitaine?" TzHault, made a menacing look at the nearby vendors who looked profitably at Capitaine.
"I guess not, TzHault ... I was expecting something else."
Seeing some of her crew enjoying themselves, Capitaine noticed there were also Romulan officers and KDF personel walking around the station. Perhaps it was just her being paranoid, even when Elisa took her out to clubs and parties people would make gestures or small talk about her, but here it seemed a little more apparent.
Kovroht and Tzhault walked up to the bartender, Belan, and began questioning him. Capitaine couldn't hear them over the noise of so many others but Belan waved them away, angrily. Running up, Kovroht, seemed upset that as a Federation officer she could no longer 'rough up' this 'Ferengi slime' to get the information.
Noticing that Phaedriel had slipped away somewhere, Capitaine walked up to Belan with Versallia and T'Vrell. Greeting him, he started advertising his drinks and something called the 'Night of the Comet". Having no interest in drinks, and little know-how of what to be saying, Versallia took the lead and talked with Belan.
"We are looking for someone, in particular."
"Aren't we all! You lovely ladies look like you have a taste for the finest things in life, could I interest you in my top-shelf, private-select ... "
"No, bartender, we are looking for someone named Ze'mara."
" 'Ze'mara'? That name sounds somewhat familiar, but I get alot of familiar names in this place ... after all Drozana station is a favorite to the whole sector!"
Seeing Versallia was upset, Capitaine was starting to understand what was going on. Belan wouldn't give the information without something in return and whatever it was, Versallia wouldn't agree to it, she hated such exchanges and wouldn't bring herself in even arranging one. T'Vrell too, had picked up on Versallia's personality, but remained silent; Capitaine again had to take the lead.
"Belan, Ze'mara is a friend of ours. And we really want to speak to her, what would you have us do to talk to her?"
"Well, ... my replicators have been on the fritz, I'd ask for a little *compensation* but I know you Starfleet types don't carry much. So, how about this, you fix my replicators and I tell you what I know about Ze'mara?"
Looking back and forth between TVrell and Versallia, T'Vrell seemed agreeable to Belan's terms while Versallia kept up a disgusted glare the entire conversation. Being directed to the station's makeshift-engineering room, Capitaine found the stations power grid was a mess that would take days just to sort out. Everything was wired into everything else, Phaedriels scans were definitely right, a failure in any of these systems meant a failure in ALL of these systems.
...
After more than four hours a repair and rerouting, Capitaine thanked those of her crew which had offered help, those who used their own off-duty time to help her. Making the final touches with T'Vrell and Versallia, Capitaine cleaned her hands and uniform. Reapproaching Belan, he was still trying to sell them 'the finer things in life'. Reminding him of their deal, he dropped the act and disceetingly pointed Ze'mara out.
"Ze'mara is a looker, but if you're interested in her than, ehh. Me, I'd like a leggy Vulcan with an *liberal* attitude toward interspecies relationships. ... " Capitaine now realized that even when they first approached Belan, he was eyeing T'Vrell the whole time. Maybe she had noticed it, maybe she hadn't, but now all three of them saw it and were walking away, Capitaine could feel that T'Vrell was not comfortable with it. " ... but, 'hey', never let it be said that I'd break an agreement with such fine customers as yourself."
Approaching a booth seat, Capitaine found Phaedriel sitting across from Ze'mara, neither were talking, but they both did know each other.
"Hello, Lieutenant-Commander,
Commander,
Lieutenant.
Sorry to disappear earlier, but I wanted to be sure before I said something. When I wanted to find you again, I could not, and Ze'mara insisted that I 'let you find us'."
"Its fine, Phaedriel. I think we also made this station a little safer too.
Ze'mara, we were instructed by Captain Drake to rescue you ... or maybe bring you back safely?".
"Shhh, keep your voice down. All of you! Its not safe, they're listening; they're always listening!"
"Who?"
"*Them*, the ghosts, the blue-light specters, whatever you call them. Last night they surrounded a drunken Klingon, and everybody thought he drank himself to death. ... And you weren't sent here to help me, you were sent here to watch me too."
T'Vrell sat next to Phaedriel, and while Ze'mara stood up, Capitaine and Versallia sat opposite. Speaking even more quietly, Ze'mara whispered to them before she left. "You've been talking to me for too long, they're always watching, listening, hearing ... I need a moment to prepare, go play Dabo, I'll signal you when I'm ready."
As Ze'mara walked off, Capitaine and Versallia made their way to the Dabo table, where a holographic Dabo-girl, Leeta, ran the table. Only having a small amount of Latinum, mostly from her time with Elisa, Capitaine placed several bets, all of the minimum amount. Almost everytime she won less than she paid. Having no interest in the game, Capitaine turned to Versallia, who was watching Leeta instead of the table.
"Versallia, if I may ask a personal question ... who are the Y'Lynthians?"
"Hmm, ... oh, we were an ancient race. ... *A great race*, once great, I mean ... we could have ruled the planet, but after controlling only a region, we grew arrogant and cruel. Our power wasn't even our own, it was from a meteorite that fell to us, a 'crystal sun', we called it. Our hubris drove us to create monsters and transform the world to our will. Even then, I opposed such horrible acts."
"But what happened to them? Well, you're still here, so there are others too, right?"
"Our defeat came because of me ... when the world rose against us, I was the one who deactivated our defenses and brought about our destruction. ... a few hid ourselves to survive the resulting onslaught. When we awoke, the world had turned our name into a legend that *simply vanished*. But even after our defeat, we did not change. Because of our long-sleep, we became linked to our crystals, we cannot live without them but it gave us powers and knowledge beyond what is normal. As my people were again set on their path of conquest and domination, I again betrayed them. It has since been four hundred years and I haven't heard of anyothers. I am likely the last of my people."
As Versallia faded sadly from her story, Capitaine noticed she wasn't staring at Leeta, but at her own hands and the crystals about her body. Seeing that Versallia probably didn't want to talk further about herself, Capitaine tried changing the topic to herself.
"Its been mentioned several times, but could I be a Y'Lynthian, of sorts?"
"You?" With a smile, Versallia looked back to Dabo table and to Leeta. "We do share several unique traits, Capitaine, but I do not think so. I could do some research if you'll allow me access to your biology and medical records."
"Yes! You can, Versallia, I've actually been curious about that myself. I never knew where I'm from, but your Y'Lynthians are the closest to *me* I've ever heard of."
"DABO!"
Broken from their converation, Capitaine looked to see that her bet had won a large Dabo. Excited at her win, Leeta handed her a small box, filled with an assortment of latinum slips and strips. "Psst, Capitaine, Ze'mara says to meet her by the docking bay."
Nodding discreetly, Capitaine happily carried her box, as she informed Phaedriel and T'Vrell. Finding the Docking Bay, Capitaine found it strange that Ze'mara met them there even though she knew the Epitaph wasn't docked.
"I've booked passage on another ship, you don't need to knew which or where. But tell Drake he'll still keep getting his intel."
Before Capitaine had a chance to say more, Ze'mara shoo'ed them away, first politely than more and more aggressively until they left. Glancing back , Capitaine noticed that Ze'mara was still watching them leave, she wouldn't move until they were completely out of sight.
...
"Well, Capitaine, I guess I didn't expect much more, but you did well as was planned. Ze'mara may think she's slipped my noose but I've ways on keeping tabs on her, she wasn't the only asset I had there and wherever she thinks she's going, she wont be alone. ... I take steps to *know about* people that are of certain *interest*. But you already know that, don't you, Capitaine?"
Before she had any chance to say anything, Captain Drake began bringing her upto date on the Devidians and their progress in the region. Without much time to ask questions, Drake ordered Capitaine to Deep Space K-7 in the Aldebaran Sector to consult with a Saurian named Kalapo. He didn't say why or what for, but simply that Lieutenant Kalapo 'would know' what she means.
...
Deep Space K-7 was an old Federation station, in service for a couple centuries already. A science station that was uncomfortably close to the Klingon Border, it was still functioning, well maintained, and still served as an important site for political and scientific gatherings. Entering the system, the ship was hailed by the station's commander, Naomi Wildman; she knew of Capitaine's record and achievements but didn't know what brought her to the system.
"Hello! Lieutenant-Commander Capitaine, I am the K-7's Commander, Naomi Wildman. What brings you to my little station?"
"Commander Wildman, I'm currently on an assignment for Captain Drake; I'm here to speak to Lieutenant Kalapo."
"Oh? I'll notify the Lieutenant of your arrival. But did you mean *Franklin* Drake? "
"Yes, have you worked with him too?"
"Unfortunately. Is he a *captain* now? He's worked with Kalapo and several other of my officers. He's very *particular*, I'm glad you two are getting along."
"Well enough. But I shouldn't be here long."
"I've heard some great things about you, stay as long as you want, Lieutenant-Commander!"
Commander Wildman was a friendly person, remembering from academy readings, Naomi was born on the USS Voyager while it was in the Delta Quadrant. Capitaine did have some curiosity, but knew that Captain Drake worked with a very strict time table. There would only be time to get in and get out.
...
Lieutenant Kalapo was an almost-black scaled Saurian with a gray-ish pattern across his face. His work was mainly prototypes and Capitaine had access to barely any of his work. Kalapo did know Captain Drake, describing him as some type of military strategist. Although the two were on friendly terms, Captain Drake wasn't with many of the other officers onboard the station.
Awkward at first, Capitaine had to explain very plainly that she was here on orders from Captain Drake, but didn't have any idea why. Once mentioning the Devidians, Kalapo seemed to understand what that reason was. Bringing up schematics for an assault gun, Kalapo explained that it was originally for defending against cloaked opponents. But for that it failed to yield any benefits, not to mention the ship it was field testing on was later missing-in-action. Doing some quick tweaks, Kalapo explained that although a cloaking device does shift the user out-of-phase, against the Devidians it should be especially effective.
Understanding most of what Kalapo explained due to her engineering training, Capitaine still felt she needed to review the weapon in-person. Giving her authorization and directing her to Lieutenant Tal Nala to obtain the weapon.
...
The 'Synchronic Proton Distortion Prototype Assault Rifle', as it was called, was contained in an armored case that weighed as much as a person. Tal Nala starred jealously as Capitaine simply reached down and lifted it as if it were an empty plastic box, giving jabbing comments and almost flirting with her. Capitaine, however, hurried herself to say thank you and get back to her ship.
The box contained a heavy two-handed gun that has two firing modes, one firing a semi-stable bolt of antiprotons and the other a beam of protons. Capitaine knew she would be leading the away team to whereever Captain Drake would send her next, as she lacked a First Officer, a Security Chief, and a designated Tactical Officer. Sending a quick response to say that she retrieved the weapon from Kalapo, Captiaine headed to the Holodeck to practice.
...
Arriving at Drozana Station, again, Capitaine was greeted, again, by the same overly-enthusiastic message from Belan about his *magnificent* station. With some of her crew still on Drozana, the official reason being *shore leave*. Using a an access code that was given to Captain Drake by Ze'mara, Capitaine and her team was able to bypass Belan's lockouts and access the maintenance levels of the station.
The synchronic rifle was heavy and it required a shoulder strap and external battery pack to operate. In addition, the grips and buttons were awkward, it felt life it was meant for someone with disproportional arms and torso. But it was functional, it was uncomfortably primitive, but it worked. But it was the only one, replicating one would be difficult due to many of the parts still being 'confidential' to a lieutenant-commander even if commanding a ship.
Arriving in combat and technical gear, the Drozana's transport chief didn't seem to care, 'Belan wasn't paying him enough' he said sarcastically. Finding a freight elevator in the lesser traveled parts of the club, Capitaine held her breath as she entered the access codes. She wasn't used to such methods and wouldn't know what to do or say if the codes failed or if she was caught. Stepping on, the elevator shuddered, and Kovroht stomped several times to reassure the team that it wouldn't collapse them down to the bottom. But that did more harm than good, T'Vrell glared at Kovroht as worried as a Vulcan could be and TzHault braced himself against elevator walls and ceiling.
The freight elevator descended farther and father down. The sparse lighting seemed to get brighter and brighter as the surrounding areas became darker and darker. The elevator was moaning and groaning louder and louder with a sudden jolt as it stopped at a dark hallway.
The elevator was stuck, and it would take hours to dig out the problem and clean the lifts. Dismally unkempt, Capitaine couldn't see much beyond the exit way. With flashlights activated, the hallways were in terrible condition, debris was hanging from the ceiling, walkways and panels were rusted through, and at first pass with the lights, small critters could be seem scattering back into the shadows.
But the main condition was the smell. It was overpowering. But as her team glanced back and forth between her and the dark hallways, Capitaine took the first steps to lead her team.
"Capitaine, I'm reading temporal fluctuations and triolic energy. It'll make it difficult to get any support from the Epitaph. We're on our own."
"According to thessse ssschematicsss ... there sshhould be an EPSSS relay sssection nearby ... "
Atleast her crew was determined to keep moving, nobody was over taken by fear or panic; atleast not yet. But that was soon to change. Passing a corridor, a door's motion sensor activated and whooshed open with a dead Ferengi falling out.
Causing T'Vrell and Capitaine to jump back, the Ferengi was dead and his body had been picked at by scavengers. According to Kovroht's scans he had been dead for a couple days, but not by the Devidians. Moving his body up against the wall, two of the crewmen set his body with a marker to keep the any critters from further picking at it.
Walking further in the light seem to shift to and from a blue color. Each time Capitaine halted the group and everybody readied themselves. But each time, there was nothing, not even a distant murmur or tremor in the air. Capitaine was becoming paranoid, only she and Phaedriel could see the light shifting but every time there was nothing, 'Perhaps the triolic radiation was starting to affect her'.
Moving further down the swamped hallways, the wildlife was becoming more and more aggressive. Mainly insects, they were becoming territorial, so much as outright attacking people. One crewmen was attacked to the point where he was pinned down and needed someone else to chase the spiders away. When a Devidian finally appeared, it didn't attack but passed them by as if it didn't care. Deciding to give chase, Capitaine followed it as quickly as she could while carrying an the heavy weapon, but it vanished and the light reshifted back.
With her team catching up, Capitaine looked to them frustrated. She wanted to finish and to leave this place. The place smelled horrendously, there was biological and technological debris everywhere, and she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. Finally reaching the relay section, it wasn't damage but was actually a locked; someone had manually stopped the lift!
Continuing down into the depths, the stench grew worse and the creature concentration grew greater. Now at the control center for the relay, much of the computers look centuries old, and they were; Belan probably hasn't ever examined the whole station. But this lower level of the station was curious, there were footprints and tools and PADDs laying about. Although scans were sketchy at best, there weren't any lifeforms, aside from the ravenous critters.
The PADDs contained schematics and notes but also contained log entries. Standard log entries describing an engineer's work and progress, but looking through several of them they started becoming cryptic and paranoid. The last entry was particularly worrisome, but it was made some time ago. The engineer's work was well done, if not alittle aged; finding his work satisfactory, the teams decided to move on further and continue to the computer core.
Returning along the same dark corridors and through the tattered hallways, Capitaine heard a haunting melody develop all around them, and it wasn't just her imagination. The rest of the group could be seen taking heavy steps and having an ever increasing imagination. Without warning a conduit above creaked open and vented a bright neon gas, incinerating the crewman who took point. His screams were brief but were painful enough to feel. As his charred remains dropped to the floor, it never became silent, and still in shock, the team froze as chilling laughter filled the hallways. Then it all became quiet again.
Searching the darkness for anything, anything to answer for this, everybody stood ready to fire at anything that appeared; a humanoid figure, barely a shadow in the distance. Chasing it into a darkened room, Capitaine boldly stepped in first, followed by Kovroht and several guards. With lights on full and essentially flooding the whole room with light. Something could be seen darting in the shadows but after further searching revealed there nothing was there; they were all alone in the room and always were. Dust wasn't unsettled and cobwebs were undisturbed, whatever-it-was was gone and left no trace of itself.
Feeling a chill in her hair and skin, Capitaine held her weapon at the ready and motioned for the team to do the same; they were not alone down here and whoever, whatever, it was was watching them. Exiting the room, what little lights there were turned a shade blue. Gripping her rifle, Capitaine held herself at the ready.
But nothing appeared and as suddenly as it changed, it changed back to a dimly lit hallway. Walking cautiously, the vents suddenly ejected a dense red mist, stopping them in their tracks, but this time a haunting voice spoke aloud through the intercoms.
"Bonnie-kin, Bonnie-kin, I see you!"
Stopping and arranging themselves in a defensive circle, with Capitaine in the center. The voice quieted and again only the pitter patter of critters and creaking of the station could be heard. With an ever growing presence of dread and danger, Capitaine could see Phaedriel's ears were twinkling, almost twitching back and forth; T'Vrell, not having a weapon, made herself as small as she could at Capitaine's feet; looking to the rest, they were clutching their weapons and would fire without hesitation.
It was almost quiet as laughter again filled the hallways, the corridors vents released a glowing neon gas, plasma gas. The vents opened and closed in succession, each releasing its deadly vapors closer and closer.
"Bonnie-Kin, Bonnie-kin, what will you do?"
Trapped on all sides, it was T'Vrell's time to shine. Using her equipment and data links made to the station, she shut off the valves with time to spare. As she did, the voice quieted and the hallways returned to their natural darkness.
After some time, everybody made their way back onto their feet and marched forward, staggered in stances. Finding the computer core, Capitaine had to hold herself back to keep from rushing to it. She desperately wanted to be done and to leave. But contrary to expectations, when she reached it nothing terrible happened, nothing vented, nothing laughed, and nothing unexpected.
Searching the computer core, this was only a secondary core, with minimal access. Searching it as much as they could, the internal networks revealed a very high concentration of triolic and chroniton radiation in a deeper part of the station, conveniently where the primary computer core was. In the middle of downloading data, the already-dim lights flickered blue.
"Bonnie-Kin, Bonnie-kin, soon you'll be ... all dead!"
Reflexively, the team spun themselves around in all directions, still searching for their shadowy menace. Capitaine gesture for Phaedriel and T'Vrell to finish their work, only to hear his laughter again, but not through the intercomms.
"OPEN FIRE!"
With a flurry and fire, and finally a grenade, the man at the entrance was gone. He *was* in fact there but left nothing, not even a residual trace, he had just vanished. In disbelief, three crewmen went over to stand where he stood, searching for anything to of comfort; but it was a short-lived search, they were melted by an ejection of plasma gas.
Again, T'Vrell shut off the gas, but nothing could be done; all that remained was a puddle of metals. The nerves of the remaining were running short and tense, Capitaine could see TzHault was tense, his hands making an impression on his rifle. Heading back to the elevator, Capitaine saw the Devidians just as the lights turned blue. They were all around and they were many.
Whipping out her weapon, it was already too late. They were paralyzed and the creatures began sucking the life out of most of them. A few lucky shots allowed Phaedriel to detonate a grenade, forcing the Devidians off, for now. Recovering from the explosion, the Capitaine found T'Vrell and looked over the survivors. Their exposure was short, but there were so many, and most of the team was dead.
Ready to proceed to the primary core, Kovroht stopped her, blocking the pathway.
"Capitaine, friend, I think this becoming a fool's folly. We will not and can not survive. we have what Drake wants, now its time to leave!"
Briefly looking at Phaedirel and TzHault and the rest of the crew, they all wanted to leave. Capitaine knew Kovroht was right; the Devidians revealed a fraction of their numbers and already they were far too many. They would not survive another confrontation.
Taking stock of what was downloaded from the computer, Capitaine agreed it was enough. Making sure that preparations could be made to retrieve the bodies, the team headed back to lift, but was stopped again by gasses.
"Bonnie-kin, my little Bonnie-kin? Tricksies, oh no, ... my little Bonnie-kin ... "
"We are attempting to leave! We will trouble you no longer."
T'Vrell's response had no answer except the vents excreted more and more gas. This time not plasma gas, T'Vrell had already made sure of that, but this time was noxious and with a foul stench like death and decay. Making their way to a life support panel, the controls wouldn't respond. Desperate to escape, TzHault instead ordered the lift to descend further, which it surprisingly did.
Arriving at the primary computer core, Capitaine felt again her Device pulling her to an old computer. Finding another strange device, she pocketed it and waited for Phaedriel and TzHault to finish scanning the core. Capitaine and the other crewmen were securing the room; finding bodies strewn about, the sight halted their work and diverted their attention. More than a dozen, many wore Federation uniforms of the 23rd century. Scanning them, they were indeed from a different time and their deaths were all neural failures. Undistracted, T'Vrell finished and grabbed her tricorder and motioned for everybody it was time to leave. But before they all left, the lights turned blue again.
A giant Devidian with a cane of a serpent, like that on the Axon, appeared before them.
"Stop! We must feed!"
With an overloaded blast from her weapon, Capitaine fired and hit the Phantasm. Not killing it, it phased it to a blur which it could be seen to suffer. Attracting the attention of more Devidians, Capitaine set the assault weapon to overload and threw it down the hallway, towards the lift. After a pause filled with fighting for their life, the rifle exploded. Without needing to explain, Capitaine lead the team running to the elevator.
...
"That *voice* we heard was the engineer. He was a hologram, which would explain why he acted how he did; triolic radiation degraded his holomatrix and he kept himself stable by ... becoming insane."
Back at Deep Space K-7, Capitaine and Phaedriel along with Captain Drake dispersed their findings and reviewed everything that had transpired. The Devidians were more numerous and much more concentrated than expected. But they kept their presence hidden by snatching people from the past. Termed the 'Devidian Portal', they used Drozana's power supply to support a phase-shited tachyon spin that kept the portal relatively-stable.
Already getting the feeling of what she was about to be told to do, Capitaine had a glance at Phaedriel before looking expectantly at Captain Drake. He smiled and took out a PADD he had already prepared, almost as if he had expected this.
"After all that you've done for Starfleet and the Federation, I'd almost be inclined to give you some R&R, but *almost*. Setup your equipment and pick a strike team, tomorrow you go in."
" ... Yes, captain."
"Right, report to me, before you leave."
"Yes, Captain Drake."
Leaving the room, Capitaine glanced over the PADD before handing it to Phaedriel. It was indeed what it was, a list of regulations not to break: some with a greater priority or standing than that of others. Looking exhaustively at Phaedriel, Capitaine knew she'd handle it well. Heading to her room, Capitaine kicked off her boots and jacket, lying on the bed, tired but unable to sleep. Knowing how much duty and effort tomorrow would bring, Capitaine couldn't find herself able to go to sleep.
Seeing she had three hours before she was supposed to wake up, Capitaine picked up her jacket and boots and went to Sick Bay. Morek wasn't on duty but a nurse greeted her, concerned that Capitaine was so under dressed for her usual self. Finding Elisa's bed, she was still recovering and would need atleast a couple more days before she would be on her feet. Replicating a pillow and some blankets, Capitaine sat her self at the head of Elisa's bed. Snuggling up against the base of the bed, the nurse gave her an adorable look before leaving the two of them alone. Ashamed to admit, Capitaine felt safer and more confident with her best friend by her side, even though Elisa was more helpless than she.
- End of Chapter -