I do not own nor profit from Star Trek, or Gene Roddenberrys works.
A/N: I appreciate the reviews I have recieved on this story. Sorry I took a little break, but I am back, and I will try to put out another chapter tomorrow. Thank you for following!
Safiya was still sleepy as she followed Red through the ship. She still didn't understand why he was helping her. She thought he would be one of the ones to tell her to just stay and tough it out. He was supposed to be close to Khan, so why would he now seek to, in a sense, betray him by helping her? She shook her head and decided it would be best not to ask the questions that ran through her mind. Not now anyways.
"Let's see what power we have here." Ren mused to himself, as he entered the small engine room. He furrowed a brow as he tapped on a screen. "Wow this is so much older than what I expected." He shook his head. Safiya stepped up beside him
"This is a system we used... Jeez, I can't remember when we used these systems. I mean, we use a variation on the transport shuttles these days." She looked over the control panel. She hadn't gotten a good look at it last time. "I believe if you slip the yellow fuel cell switch over there, it should pull power." She looked over. There was minimal backup power that allowed simple things such as lights to operate, and doors to open, but the main operations were offline.
Moments after Ren flipped the switch, they heard a faint whirring sound. "I guess that means it worked?" He guessed, looking over at her. The brighter lights flickered on overhead, causing them to squint.
"Well, that works. I'll go check the systems, see how much power there is on this thing." She sighed, heading towards a larger panel.
"Safiya, what do you think happened to the last crew?" Ren asked, as he looked over the power supply to each system, making sure they were all coming up online properly.
"I don't know. I haven't given it much though, honestly." She admitted, but now that he brought it up, it began to bother her. It was unlikely that a crew would so willingly leave a perfectly good ship in the middle of a canyon. Where did they go? Were they in fact taken by some indigenous species and killed? Or worse, was the threat within the very walls they stood in now? She shuddered at the though. "Is there a life scan function listed over there?" She nervously asked Ren, as she analyzed the power supply. The power supply was at 87%, which would have been more than enough to get her home.
"There is... But it has to be accessed at the bridge." He nodded, turning around. "Let's go take a look. While we're there, we should see if there is a captains log that can tell us a little more." He looked concerned. "I don't want to leave you alone until we know what happened here." He took a deep breath.
"Well, it makes me feel better that this isn't a bloodbath. So, it must not have been anything on the inside." She bit her lip.
"Not all dangers are visible, Safiya. Remember that." He spoke.
'So much for reassuring me.' She thought, rolling her eyes. The door to the bridge slid open as buttons flashed on the different control panels. "The comm center should have the life scan sensors." She looked towards a counter to the right of the captains chair. Taking a seat, she punched a few buttons and watched the scan begin. Ren sat in the main seat and listened to the captains log.
There was pertinent that they were able to gather from the breathy mechanical voice that read back the captains log.
'... We've managed to evade the strange vessel that we were assailed by. They made no contact with us, and we had little time to react. Their weaponry was powerful. Far more advanced than we have ever come across. A few of my crew members were able to get to this confiscated vessel. Captain K'tuana is dead. She was impaled by wreckage before we even got to this vessel... Found a canyon to hide our vessel from any local life that may harm us. We haven't noticed much movement in this quadrant, other than small animals and birds... Large predators reported ten kilometers to the south of here, no description as of yet... We saw in the distance, our ship crash landing. The USS Marion, a fine ship, my ship. It fell overhead in a blaze of fire, though no blaze of glory. Ten will go tomorrow to check for survivors, if there are any. For now, we will work on restoring communications. I fear that perhaps there is something on this planet that blocks our signals from getting out. But we have been unable to reach Star Fleet, or any other passing vessels... God help us... They're dead! All of them! Nobody was left from the wreckage.'
The speaker here, still unidentified, was quite emotional as she spoke.
'... Only three made it back from the wreckage site. They were attacked by the, the creatures. We don't know what they are. We have never come across them before. Entik says that they are broad, with long claws, yellow eyes and large strong teeth. They seemed little affected by our phasers. Next time we go out, we will need more firepower. We can not stay here. We must find water, and food. On our way here, we passed over a grouping of buildings to the east of here. Perhaps we will be able to get help there. It is our last chance. We can not stay here...'
The speaker went dead, as they both stood silent. They must have been thinking the same thing.
"Well, the comms are out. That much is true. We are the only life forms on the ship, but we are deep in a canyon, so the sensors for exterior life forms are useless." Safiya spoke softly. "Ren, do you think the animals are still out there?" She turned to him, biting her lip. If the crew had been taken by these creatures, then would they return here?
"This was many years ago. I doubt they are still around. It is likely that they have moved far off, if they are still around." Ren spoke grimly. He wasn't so sure about his own words, but he was willing to hope. "Is there a beaming pad on here?" He looked up.
"There is, but if we can't even send a simple message to the Fleet, it's unlikely that we will be able to beam anything anywhere. It runs on a parallel, basically the same thing, just a different objective." She shook her head, as Ren arched a brow. "One transports words, numbers, information, the other transports mass and matter." She explained briefly. Ren nodded his head in understanding.
"Well, you may as well get rest. There is nothing more we can do here. We may have to find out what it is that's blocking the signals. That could take months, to find the origin of the block." Ren rubbed his temple.
"I can't go back there, Ren. You know that." She looked at him with saddened eyes.
"Well you surely can't stay here, Safiya. You too will soon run out of food and water. What will you do then? You will have to venture out to find sustenance. and what will you do then?" He led her away from the bridge towards their rooms.
"I don't know what I'll do, Ren. I just, don't know." She sighed. Her heart broke again as she opened the door to her room. "I'll see you in a while, Ren. You did lock up the ship when you came on, right?" She glanced up at him as he nodded.
"Goodnight Safiya."
Khan and Essex traveled over the rolling hills all day. He hoped he was going the correct way still as the sun was high overhead. There was little evidence of Safiyas presence in any which direction that they looked. But Khan continued west, where she was last headed.
"I don't think we will get over that ridge ahead." Essex spoke up. He looked at the sheer rock walls that stood high behind the coniferous forest before them. The grey walls seemed like a great divide, and it was hard to tell, standing far below, how wide the rocky expanse was.
"There, to the south, it looks like it tapers off. We could walk around it. That is likely to be the way she went. I don't imagine that she would try her luck through the stones." Essex sighed. He didn't know honestly WHAT she would do in this situation.
"No, she is running away. She more than likely found a path of some sort. It would just waste time for her to go around." Khan sized up the ridge, and how long it would have taken her to go around it. At her speed, it would have added nearly a two days to her journey, so she either never got this far, or she found another path.
"We will continue ahead. If we can get high enough on the ridge and make camp, then we will be able to look for any sort of fires. She will more than likely make one to stay warm." He pressed on towards the west, as they soon entered the piney trees, the dried needles crunching under their steps. It was eerily quiet as they walked, though the birds sat on low limbs, watching the intruders with interest or caution.
Essex felt awkward as he looked up at the menacing birds. They looked similar to the ravens back on earth, but these were a little larger, with longer beaks, and longer angrier talons like that of an osprey. He watched as sap leaked from a branch, where one of these blackbirds pierced the bark. If Khan was uncomfortable, he certainly didn't show it.
The sun was setting on them when they finally began on an incline. Khan stalked ahead, unfazed, in peak condition. Khan was driven by the need to find Safiya. He thought over and over, what would he say to her when he saw her? Would he yell at her for leaving once more? Would he demand she stay back at the complex, and finally break down to have someone babysit her? Perhaps he would allow her to explore with a bodyguard. He didn't know, but he knew he was of course, angry. Livid really.
On a rocky outcrop, they were able to look out over the land they just traveled. There was nothing that he wanted to do more than see some sort of flickering light in the darkness. Something that would lead them directly to her, but nothing came. "We will camp here tonight. It's too risky to try to find any sort of path through here, loose rocks could send up back down to the forest." He said plainly. Essex, thankful, sat down, and got ready to sleep.
Khan sat on the edge, his legs dangled over, and with his back to Essex, he shed a tear. Beneath the swirling mass of anger in his chest, he worried that Safiya really wouldn't come back to him. That perhaps he had pushed her away. Not so much trying to push her away, but by not pulling her in. He feared for her safety. What if she was hurt somewhere? What if Ren hadn't been able to find her? Or worse, what if he had, and decided to do something to her? He had revealed his relations with a human woman, so what if he would do it again? Try to replace his Vivienne with Safiya? His blood boiled, and he hated not knowing.
The sound of a loud bang woke Ren and Safiya. They seemed to peek their heads out of their rooms at the same time, casting one another questioning glance. Ren shook his head at her, and she returned the gesture to let the other know that didn't come from them. Safiya quickly got dressed, buttoning the pants in the room just as Ren entered.
"We will have to find some sort of weapons. I don't know what that was, but you and I will have to stick together." Ren spoke strongly. A renewed guardianship lingered in his voice. "Are you ready?" He glanced at her as she finished tying her boot.
"Yes, I'm ready. I don't know where the weapons cache would be." She sighed. They kept their voices low. Another bang came from somewhere so suddenly Safiya jumped. "Criminy. What is that?" She hissed to herself. Soon they heard clicking. It was an ominous clicking, something against the metal hull. She looked up to the ceiling.
"We should go to the bridge and see what is out there. It may shed some light on what we are facing." Ren took her hand, and they quietly walked towards the bridge. It was well lit up by the sun at that point, as they shuffled along, close to the ground. They both peeked through the furniture and consoles to the space glass. "Do you think we should try to get it up front? Maybe it will come to the window?" Ren glanced over at her
"Are you kidding me? What if that thing gets in!" She whispered, worried.
"That glass is plenty thick. It has to withstand space, small particles flying through space, and atmospheric reentry. I doubt that any animal or man can break it." Ren shook his head, nervous, but not nearly as scared as this woman was. It rolled off of her, and he wondered if this was how Vivienne felt that fateful day. He pushed the thought aside, and reached into her bag for the little screwdriver that gave away her position the night before. He threw it hard at the glass, watching as it bounced off and clattered under the pilots chair.
Three loud clunks were heard close by, and Safiya knew exactly where they were. The sun that filtered into the bridge was shadowed. She glanced up, and her voice was lost. Her mouth was open in a scream, but her voice refused to leave. Ren too was stunned, having never seen any such creature before. And now there were three of them. They had medium muzzles, with long yellowed canines sticking out, unable to fit in their mouths. They had forepaws like large wild cats, with even larger retractable claws. Those paws were attached to beefy arms, and massive shoulders. Broad, as stated in the previous captains log, was an understatement. This was easily two Augments breadth.
As it turned its head, long pointed ears were visible, and a curled horn was made present, that seemed to wrap closely to the head and nearly under the ear. The body was long and muscular, designed to walk both upright and on all fours, making it no doubt a predator not to be reckoned with. A short tail segment, and unplaceable hind paws, Ren was rendered speechless as well.
"I hope they don't know we're in here." Safiya finally managed to squeak out. Ren watched as one of their ears flickered, and began sniffing deeply at the glass, licking it with its long purple tongue on occasion.
"I'm afraid they think we do. Whats the most secure room on any ship?" He asked trying to whisper as low as possible.
"Either the bridge, or, perhaps the medical bay? But a skiff like this is unlikely to have a secured medbay like we do on the Bradbury." She shook her head.
"One other way we can shake these kitties off then." Ren shook his head. "Feel like flying?" He glanced at her.
"I am, that was my next option." She smirked, trying to put on a brave face like his.
Safiya stood slowly, though she trembled, and walked towards the pilots chair. She was the better candidate to fly this archaic machine. As soon as these cat goats laid eyes on her, they let out a trembling noise. It was loud and piercing, a mix of a wolves house, and a tigers roar. It chilled her to the bone, as she tried to keep her composure. Ren reassured her from behind.
The hum of the engines made her feel better, as the cat goats licked at the glass, and roared. A sickening screech hit her ears, and looking up, she noticed they were now trying to scratch their way in through the glass, but now there were only two.
"Khan... We're missing one." She trembled.
"It's Ren, Safiya. And I saw that. It climbed back on top." He shook his head. How did she suddenly get the idea to call him Khan? A slip of the tongue, no doubt, but, perhaps because she wished he was there in that moment to comfort her. The ominous clicking of nails on metal came from somewhere on the roof.
The purr of the engines grew higher pitched as they revved up for a takeoff. Instead, it hovered, slowly ever going higher and higher. They tipped side to side as she tried to keep it steady, hard to do in trembling hands. The cats didn't let the increasing height bother them though. They were focused on their prey, the edges of their yellow eyes looking bloodshot in frenzy. A loud beeping went off, a red light flashing.
"Shit! We're losing our engines!" She cried, as they were lifted out of the canyon. She tilted the craft over the field. There was a hard rattle, as the engines began to shut down.
"Fuck! I can't get them back online! I'm going to have to land her dead!" She called behind her, tapping furiously at the controls. "Buckle up." She hit the emergency landing seat belt, a five point restraint locked her in. From the corner of her eye, Ren did the same, waiting anxiously for her to land. The sparse land came closer, the cats still trying to claw their way through the glass.
"Shit shit shit shit shit!" She cried as they came to a heavy crash, whipping her head forward, throwing the felines away from the ship with force. The dust was settling as she gingerly lifted her head. She struggled to regain her senses, and from the dark behind her, she could hear it. That sick clicking.
"They're inside." Ren swallowed, preparing for a fight.