Chapter 2

Into the belly of the Beast

"Shuttlecraft Yar requesting permission to launch," Lieutenant Aros, the pilot said over the comm.

"Permission granted Yar," came the reply from flight control. "Good luck."

The sleek shuttle activated its antigravity repulsors and began to move forward, out of the shuttlebay. Simultaneously, an Alliance Phoenix class fighter, piloted by Captain Suzanne Thompson, rose alongside them. As the two craft left the ship's protection, the fighter pulled slightly ahead, ready to provide cover as the shuttles escort.

The crew of the shuttle, Commander Guinevere, Lieutenants Lance and Aros, and the four MACOs with them, all watched the viewport as the small shuttle maneuvered under the Destroyer and advanced towards its ventral fighter bay.

"Right into the belly of the beast," one of the MACOs observed, but was silenced from further commentary by his C.O., Major Ryan. The MACOs had seen little action on this tour of duty, serving as little more than bodyguards during the Captain's diplomatic visits to the colonies and mines of the sector. So, naturally they were a little anxious for action. But in Major Ryan's book, that was no excuse to forego discipline. He was very strong on discipline. In fact, at the academy where he had served for a time as drill sergeant, he had been known as the "Iron Cardie," referring to his Cardassian physiology. Ryan had been born on Cardassia, just after the Dominion War, as Kar Macet. However, during the rebuilding, his parents had arranged for him to be smuggled off planet with a human family called the Ryan's. But they had hated him, and treated him like dirt. So the first chance he got, he joined the MACOs, who accepted him almost immediately. He had risen through the ranks, but not as quickly as he could have, for his superiors were apprehensive of his strict military discipline. He had even been interviewed by an officer as a candidate for the SpecOps, but had been passed over early on because he was too "rigid and inflexible." After that, he had given up on advancement beyond the rank of Major, and asked for a transfer. And they had given him one- right to the end of nowhere- out in the outer region of the galaxy where he couldn't be a problem. But his men were some of the best trained in the alliance, and they now finally had a mission worthy of their talents. They were going into the belly of the beast.

The shuttle slowed as it passed through the still active forcefield of the fighter bay, and the MACOs readied their rifles as the shuttle set down on the deck.

"Scanners are still pretty sketchy, even in here," Aros observed. "But I can tell you now- there are no lifesigns other than us anywhere on this deck."

"Let's not take any chances," Guinevere stated, and Lance and Ryan nodded in acknowledgement. "Rifles and pistols for all of us, and put your environmental suits on."

The MACOs put on their helmets as the Starfleet officers put on their EV suits. The MACOs wore grey armor that was already fit for use as EV suits, so they needed only to put on a helmet and they were already airtight. The Starfleet officers, though, had to put on suits from the shuttle's storage lockers.

In a few moments they were all ready to go. Ryan and Lance, as the senior security officers, would be first out, then the MACOs, then the officers. Lance pushed the button that would open the hatch and stepped back, lifting his pistol to ready position as Ryan did the same with his rifle. The hatch opened to reveal… nothing. On the other side of the hatch, the entire deck was, as Aros had said, abandoned.

But they could tell this abandonment had not been in a hurry. Equipment sat on shelves, TIE fighters were still on their racks, and consoles still blinked, waiting for attention from a maintenance officer or a pilot who was no longer there. One TIE was set down in a dry-dock and was opened for maintenance, with a panel loose on its side and a toolkit sitting on the rail next to it. But there was no one there to attend to it. The bay was empty.

"It's as if they just… dropped what they were doing and- and- just disappeared," Aros observed nervously.

"Is anyone familiar with the term 'ghost ship'?" asked a voice from behind them. Lance and Ryan whirled around to see Captain Thompson, strolling over from her fighter, still wearing her flight suit, but not wearing an EV suit.

"Where's your EVS Captain?" Guinevere asked the pilot.

"Have you ever tried to put an EVS on in the cockpit of a fighter Commander?" Thompson replied. "Let's just say it isn't easy. Besides, my scans don't show any danger on this deck."

"Very well," Guinevere conceded. She turned towards her men. "Ryan, you and one of your men make your way to the ships armory and secure it. Leave one of your men with Lance and I, and we'll head for the bridge. Let's find the Captain some answers people. Aros, you and Thompson stay here with the other MACO and cover our escape route."

She was met with a round of "Aye sirs" and they left the hanger. Ryan turned to Lieutenant O'Rourke, the man who would stay behind with Thompson and Aros.

"O'Rourke, set up an E-Web and stay on guard," he ordered as he stepped into a lift. "We still don't know what happened to the crew, and I want to be ready if and when they return."

The door closed behind him, and the lift began to rise.

8888

The MACO with Guinevere was the first onto the bridge, followed by Lance, who, like the MACO, held his weapon at the ready. On the way to the bridge, they had looked into a mess hall and a rec deck, both of which were abandoned. On the rec deck, a TIE simulator was still active, and in the mess hall, half eaten meals sat on tables, unattended to. That was when they had made a new observation- the absence of droids. Not even a single MSE droid, of which there were usually hundreds scattered throughout the Destroyer, was to be found. No wreckage, no bodies, nothing.

The bridge was as they had seen from the Camelot, and as the other rooms had been- abandoned.

"The bridge is clear," Lance said, and the MACO nodded in agreement. Guinevere stepped through the doors and looked over the bridge.

"Just like the hanger, and the rec deck, and the mess hall," she observed. "Empty."

"Maybe we can find something in the log about it," Lance suggested.

"Good idea," she acknowledged. "Any idea where we can find it?"

None of them were familiar with the layout of a Star Destroyer's bridge, so they looked around.

"Over here Commander!" the MACO said from the crew pit. "A holographic recorder unit, and it's still recording."

Guinevere and Lance joined him, and they reversed the feed by a half hour, when the ship first appeared, then forty five minutes, then an hour. Finally they saw something- one minute the bridge was just as it was now, and then there was a blinding red flash. The next minute, it was again back to normal.

"Back it up again," Guinevere ordered. "Try two hours ago."

The MACO complied, and the device backed up to two hours. Again, the bridge was the same- empty.

"Try six hours," she ordered. Again, they saw a blinding red flash, and then nothing. "Twelve hours." Nothing.

"Twenty four hours," she commanded. This time they saw something- a man, in the center of the bridge, barely visible as a blur on the recording.

"No!" he shouted at the air. "Where are my men? What have you done with my crew?" There was a burst of static, then a red flash, and then- nothing. The bridge was as it would be for the next twenty four hours- abandoned and empty. The three Camelot crewmen stood in stunned silence.

The silence was broken as Guinevere's communicator chirped.

"Go ahead," she said after she tapped it.

"Ryan here," came his voice. "The armory is fully stocked, but it's abandoned just like everything else."

"Acknowledged," she replied. "Make your way down to engineering, that's where the sensor interference appears to be coming from. We'll meet you there."

8888

"Well this is kinda boring," Lieutenant Aros said. She was a young Lieutenant, barely out of the academy. It was a testament to the desperation of war that one so young was already a lieutenant and chief helmsman of a Galaxy class ship.

"Better than the alternative," Captain Thompson replied, looking up from her hand of cards. She had brought a crate over and had pulled out a deck of cards and began playing with the MACO soon after he had set up the E-Web. Of course, if danger appeared, they were close enough that he could immediately man it, and she could use the crate for cover, but a decent game of poker was a good way for them to stave off boredom. "Why don't you join us Aros?"

"Because the last time I did at the officer's club, you and Gawain wiped me clean," she answered. "And I can't afford for it to happen again!"

"Suit yourself," Thompson said as she set her cards down in front of her. "Read 'em and weep O'Rourke!"

On the table was a pair of sixes and three twos.

"Not so fast Thompson," he said with a grin. He then set his cards down- a full house.

"You've been holding out on me Johnny!" Thompson exclaimed.

Suddenly, O'Rourke's grin disappeared- along with part of his face.

"Johnny!" Thompson shouted hysterically. Aros too, began to scream, as the rest of the MACO's body quickly dissolved.

"O'Rourke!" Aros shouted, but stopped suddenly as she too began to dissolve. Thompson probably would've screamed her name too, but she was already dissolving the way the other two had.

And just like that, the hanger was just as empty as it had been when they arrived.

All of it had taken only seconds. And if anyone had been watching, they would have noticed a flash of red. And then there was… nothing.

8888

"Guinevere to Aros," the Commander said as she tapped her communicator. There was no response. "Guinevere to Thompson," she tried. Again, there was no response. "Commander Guinevere to Lieutenant O'Rourke." Nothing. Guinevere turned to Lance. "Could we be getting interference?"

"Possibly," he replied. "We are getting closer to the source, so it may be getting stronger."

"Check the tricorder," she ordered.

Lance complied, and frowned as he saw the results.

"It seems to be working," he said. "But I'm not detecting any lifesigns on the hanger deck."

"What about Ryan and his man?" she asked.

"Right here," Ryan said as he came up behind them.

"When was the last time you heard from the hanger group?" Guinevere inquired.

"I got a report from O'Rourke a few minutes ago," Ryan responded. "Why?"

"I tried a few seconds ago, and no one answered. And on top of that, the tricorder isn't picking any lifesigns from the hanger."

"Actually, we aren't picking anything up now," Lance cut in as they stopped in front of the door to the engineering deck. "Maybe we just hit interference somewhere between there and here."

"That's possible," Guinevere admitted, "but I still don't like it."

"Well, we could always go back and check on them," Ryan suggested.

"Alright, but first let's find out what's going on here," she said. "Open the door."

Lance complied, and the door slid open to reveal… something.