"Landry to Burnham, Landry to Burnham, Landry to Burnham!" Landry repeated into the golden communicator. She had a irritated sigh then changed her gears. "Landry to Lorca."
"Lorca here." Lorca said. Landry overheard Merkin's loud purring.
"We lost the charge." Landry said.
"Well, what a nice way of starting a mission," Lorca said. "Go find them."
"I would find them easier if the ship was on," Landry said. "I can't find them."
"Have you gone to the bridge?" Lorca asked.
"No," Landry said, "What do you think they are? Kids? Pretending to be captains?"
"No," Lorca said. "Explorers looking around. Check there. If the turbo lift still works."
"I believe it does still work, captain," Landry replied.
"Then go there, and if they are not there, check engineering," Lorca said. "Comfort places do wonders in frightening times."
"Aye," Landry said. "Landry out." Landry closed the communicator then turned toward Kowski. "Lead the way, Kowski."
The doors to Engineering opened before the group. Stamets was the first one out. They were still in the red EVA uniform. Burnham reached out stopping Tilly from going in further. There were tall mushrooms sprouting from the floors. There was a gray fog lingering in the large room. Burnham had a tight grip on the Ensign's shoulder. Stamets knelt down toward a body with a sad expression on his face. The skin seemed to be in tatters with warts spreading on the man's face with fallen hair around the head.
"It's Dacafio," Stamets said. He closed the man's terrified eyes. Stamets cupped his hands together lowering his head. "Being eaten, alive, by mushrooms."
Tilly's gaze looked up.
"Hello," Tilly said. "who's there?"
"Ssssh," came a man's voice.
"Did you just shush me?" Tilly said.
"Sssh," the man repeated.
"Stop shushing me," Tilly said.
"Ssssh!" the voice was insistent as the figure stood out.
It was a rogue Klingon with blue skin, bald head, and a enlarged forehead crest. He had a bat'leth in one hand. Burnham briefly froze in place. The attack on the Vulcan outpost came firing fast into her mind. The red light carried through the halls. Screaming coming from all around as her mother led her away by hand. The sight of a blue Klingon tearing down a security officer to his feet. Burnham returned to the present. The Klingon turned, slowly, in the direction that he was in originally. Tilly and Burnham stepped back in unison. Stamets lifted himself up. He looked over toward the control panels then toward the Klingon who was now facing the fog. Stamets ran down the stairs jumping over the last stair step and the rail with tricorder in hand. The doors closed on the two women. Stamets bolted out of the room holding tricorder in hand.
"Got all the files, let's get out of here!" Stamets said.
Burnham didn't move.
"Go back in there and speak to them." Burnham said.
"I didn't-" Burnham cut him off.
"Yes, you did." Burnham said.
"They ripped a Klingon in half!" Stamets said.
"They were defending themselves," Burnham said. "Go back in there and pretend you are speaking to someone on your level."
"My level is not speaking to them at all," Stamets said.
"Did they threaten you?" Burnham asked.
"No," Stamets said.
"Go back in there, Lieutenant," Burnham said.
"I am not going inside without back up," Stamets said.
Burnham raised a eyebrow, baffled.
"And you think a first contact specialist and a theoretical physics engineer is that kind of back up?" Burnham asked.
"We are not security officers," Tilly agreed. "You are out of luck."
"If I die because of you then I am coming back and haunting you," Stamets said.
"Until what?" Burnham asked. "Your purpose of haunting would be to terrorize and guilt me. You would only be stuck somewhere without interaction experiencing a eternal purgatory." Stamets shifted. "Now, you go back in there and be yourself."
"Being myself will get me killed," Stamets said.
"Whatever they are, their alarm will be lowered by someone talking to them about what they like," Burnham explained. "And become friendly toward you. Not everyone is out there to kill you during a war."
"Fine," Stamets said, then he pointed his two fingers at her then back at his eyes as he walked backwards into engineering.
The doors closed in front of him.
"Wow, telling off a astromycologist," Tilly said. "You seem like you enjoy it."
"I assure you, I do not," Burnham said. "I was only making sure he followed through bringing us here. Might as well try."
Tilly nodded then looked over toward the doorway.
Burnham's grip on the younger woman's shoulder loosened and relaxed.
Burnham let go of Tilly's shoulder linking her hands behind her back. Burnham's vision adjusted to the dark. A gentle fog rolled into the corridor. Tilly rubbed her wrists moving a bit unsteady. Burnham can see the faint shape of Tilly's figure against the dark. It was distinctive. A slightly taller figure than Burnham by a couple of inches. For living among the Vulcans for so long, Burnham can easily adapt quickly to the dark. Her first night on Vulcan was dark. The spacious building reminded her of the Vulcan outpost. Flashbacks that disturbed her during a lack of sleep. The wide, large halls were big enough for a singular crowd to flee. Burnham grounded herself to the now. They stood there for what seemed a eternity. A eternity that Burnham did not mind at all.
The doors opened and Stamets came out.
"Good news," Stamets said. "I got through to them."
"Bad news," Burnham said.
"They want the ship to turn it into a Mushroom collection," Stamets said.
"Have you told them we can't allow that?" Burnham asked.
"Yes, I have," Stamets said. "then they told me the captain let them in."
"Of his free will?" Burnham inquired.
"Of his free will," Stamets said.
"I am sure the logs will corroborate this," Burnham said.
"They entered by a decompose-able shuttle craft made of something you'll never guess," Stamets said.
"Mushrooms," Tilly and Burnham said.
"Apparently they sunk into the ship and began changing it from there," Stamets said. "Sounds like we can't study the mushrooms at all. Too much of a biohazard threat in a facility made of metal or glass."
"It can turn glass into mushrooms?" Burnham asked, in disbelief.
"Uh huh," Stamets said. "we have to destroy the ship to prevent any potential outbreak."
"Is that a astromycologist assessment or this the assessment of a terrified officer?" Burnham asked.
"Astromycologist," Stamets said. "we need good ships to use the spore drive. Just not this one."
"Were the officers alive when the change began?" Burnham asked. The question lingered between them.
"It started from engineering," Stamets said. "and by his account: they were." Burnham closed her eyes. "The captain tried to kill them. The captain drained oxygen from engineering and caused the warp drive to go into overload. There was a radiation leak but they fixed it. . . and got rid of it. They also fixed the oxygen after the engineers died. They took over the environmental controls then they took over the ship and drained life support from the bridge."
"And the dead bodies?" Tilly asked, as Burnham remained silent.
"By the engineer's positions, now that I have looked at the bodies carefully," Stamets said. "They tried to stop them from leaving."
"Oh. . ." Tilly said.
"They are not aware that this ship belongs to Starfleet," Burnham said, finally. "We may not need to destroy it at all but make them undo the transformation to the ship."
"I am not sure if they can do that, at all," Stamets said.
"A society that makes a mushroom shuttle craft is fully capable of cleaning up after their messes," Burnham said. She flipped out her communicator then opened it with a flip. "Burnham to Landry."
"Landry here," Landry said. "I don't like being ditched for the dust, Commander."
"We have found the source of the mushrooms," Burnham began. "We have a squatting alien attempting to take Starfleet property in engineering."
"On my way," Landry replied. "Landry out."
Burnham closed the communicator.
"Can we go now?" Stamets asked.
"We can't go in the dark," Tilly said. "there might be more."
"They came alone," Stamets said.
"You keep saying they," Burnham said, shifted toward Stamets.
"Calling them 'it', 'he', or 'she' would have been disrespectful," Stamets said. "They look very feminine."
"But. . ." Burnham said.
"They also look like a male," Stamets said. "A very creepy ant like being."
It sent a chill down Tilly's skin.