Paint and Powder

A Star Trek anthology by Andrew Joshua Talon

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.

The Doomsday Machine

USS Constellation

Written by jhosmer1

"Captain's log, Stardate 4202.1. Exceptionally heavy subspace interference still prevents our contacting Starfleet to inform them of the destroyed solar systems we have encountered. We are now entering system L-374. Science Officer Masada reports the fourth planet seems to be breaking up. We are going to investigate."

Commodore Matthew Decker turned off his log and stared the viewscreen in front of him. "What do we have, Mr. Masada?"

Lieutenant Guillermo Masada stared into the scope at his station. The Spanish-Japanese man had short black hair and an olive complexion. "It's definitely breaking up, sir. It's difficult to tell from this distance, but I'm picking up anomalous energy readings. If I had to guess—"

"We have at least four solar systems that have been reduced to rubble, Lieutenant. The situation is bad enough. Let's not make it worse by guessing."

"Aye, sir."

"Lieutenant Howard, any luck contacting Starfleet?" Decker asked, continuing clockwise around the bridge to his Communications officer

"No sir. Subspace interference has gotten worse since we entered the system."

"Sir," the first officer, Commander Takeshewada Hiromi said softly from Decker's side, her Japanese features inscrutable, "I urge again that we leave this interference and contact Starfleet. Whatever is destroying these systems is likely too much for one ship to handle."

"And tell them what, Hiro?" Decker muttered back. "This could be a natural phenomenon, like a black hole moving through the system. We need more information before we call on other ships."

"The Enterprise is not far away, sir. We could—"

Decker shook his head. "Kirk's a good man in a tough situation, true, like on Alpha Proxima, but one ship is all we need to scout this out. Then we'll call in the cavalry."

"Commodore," a feminine voice cut in. The avatar for the Constellation's artificial intelligence appeared on a viewscreen on his command chair. She looked like young woman with well-defined muscles and sandy-brown hair. "I am detecting something in orbit of the fourth planet."

"Good work, Stella!" Decker said, slapping his knee. "Mr. Masada, can you scan it now?"

"Yes, sir. Stella's forwarded me the coordinates. It's… huge. Miles long. It seems to be firing a beam of—Stella, check that result."

Stella spoke over the bridge speakers. "It's pure anti-proton, to a 99.9999% purity, at least."

"My god," Takeshewada said. "What could generate that?"

"On screen, sir," Masada said.

The bridge crew stared at the huge… ship? Device? As they watched, it fired a blinding beam at the fourth planet, carving off a slice of it. It then began to move slowly, sucking debris into the maw at its front.

"Sir, I think this is something called a Berserker… an automated ship of enormous power designed to destroy everything in its path and use the remains to fuel itself for more destruction," Masada said.

"It's a planet-killer, that's for certain," Decker said. "Use the other systems as a base course. Where is it headed?"

Stella responded, as Masada could only state helplessly at his scope. "It will pass through the most densely populated part of known space, heading toward the Delta Quadrant. Tracing backward, it seems to have originated from beyond the Galactic Barrier."

"Red alert," Decker ordered. "Bring us in closer."

"Sir, we have more information now," Takeshewada said. "We should get out of the subspace interference and warn Starfleet."

"I disagree," Stella said. "We should get closer and scan it, perhaps even take it out before it goes any deeper into Federation space."

"That's the ticket!" Decker said. "We are the pride of Starfleet. Besides, Hiro, it will take days for Starfleet to muster any response."

Takeshewada shook her head but took her place at the Tactical station. "Phasers banks and photon torpedoes are ready, sir."

"All decks report ready, sir," Lieutenant Howard called out.

"Take us in," Decker ordered.

The Constellation moved deeper into the system, and closer to the planet-killer.

"Sir," Masada said while peering into his scope. "I'm reading a hull of pure neutronium, I do not—It's turning on us and—!"

Suddenly, the entire ship shook. The crew held desperately onto their consoles.

"Damage report!" Decker barked.

"Shields are down 50 percent!" Stella barked. "Engineering is reporting an unknown energy drain from the planet-killer."

"Fire phasers and photon torpedoes, full spread!" ordered Decker.

The Constellation fired all its forward weapons at the planet-killer, but they just impacted the neutronium hull with no effect.

"Sir, let's use some of the torpedoes as mines," Stella urged. "If we leave them in its path, it might gobble them up and get a case of indigestion!"

"Sir, we should leave while we can," Takeshewada called out from Tactical. "Nothing we have can penetrate that hull. We need—"

Another blast rocked the ship, harder this time.

"Sir, shields are critical! Engineering reports that the power drain is increasing!" Lieutenant Howard reported.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Decker said. "Fire phasers and—"

A third shot hit, this time slicing through the shields and consuming a chunk of the forward starboard saucer section. Several consoles exploded in a shower of sparks, and the deadly sound of escaping air filled the bridge.

"Hull breach!" Stella shouted, her voice growing fainter as the air pressure dropped. "Evacuate the bridge!"

Decker grabbed hold of a stunned Lieutenant Howard and dragged him to the turbolift. Once inside, he turned to see Takeshewada collapsing beside the wounded Masada. His ears popped painfully as the helmsman and engineering officer crowded in. There was no time. He grabbed the turbolift control and the door slid shut.

"Stella," he croaked, "damage report."

"Decks 6 and 7 in the forward saucer section are open to space. The starboard warp nacelle has been destroyed. Engineering reports that we have impulse power, but the energy drain is increasing."

"Is Auxiliary control still intact?" Decker questioned.

"Yes, sir," Stella said.

Decker nodded. "Deck 7," he ordered the turbolift. Closing his eyes, he tried not to think about Hiro and Masada and the other crew members he had just lost. It was not easy. "Casualties?" he finally managed to croak out.

"Dr. Rosenhaus says that they're still streaming in. Most of them are from the phaser rooms and the warp drive sections. Severe radiation burns and decompression sickness."

Decker nodded, then strode through the turbolift doors after they opened. The corridors were smoky and filled with debris from exploded panels, but Auxilliary Control was thankfully intact. He sat at the console, while Howard went to the control panels behind the metal screen to his right.

"Status of the planet-killer?" Decker said.

"It's turned away. I suspect it is not truly intelligent. Once our power dropped below a certain level, it lost interest in us. It seems to be more interested in consuming the remains of the fourth planet."

"Recharging," Decker said. "That will take it some time. What's the status of our life support?"

Howard responded to that. "It's at minimal levels, sir. We'll only have a few hours like this, if we can't make repairs."

Decker's mind raced. His ship was a hulk, with barely any power or life support left. "The third planet is habitable, right? We'll beam down the bulk of the crew, leaving a damage repair party aboard. Once we have enough life support restored, we'll take back the crew and get out of the system on impulse. Hopefully we can call for help once we're out of the range of its interference."

"Sending distress signal already, sir," Howard said. "It tripped automatically when we lost the bridge."

"Good, let's do this," Decker said. As Howard busied himself, Decker felt himself slump into his seat.

"It's not your fault, Matt," Stella said, softly.

"A captain is responsible for the lives of his crew," Decker said. "If I'm not at fault, who is?" He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Hiro and Guillermo had served us for four years. They were among the best in the fleet."

"We'll survive this, and take that monster out," Stella insisted.

Decker slowly nodded, his features firming up. "You're right. We'll kill that thing."

"Approaching the third planet, sir," Howard spoke up.

Decker activated the ship's intercom. "All hands, this is the captain. With the damage to our life support, we need to evacuate all non-engineering staff to the planet below. Once we have restored life-support, we will beam you back aboard. Report to your ditching stations now."

"Emergency transporters are active, sir," Howard said. "Shuttles report ready for launch."

"Get to the transporter room yourself, Howard," Decker ordered.

"Aye, sir" Howard said, leaving the room.

"Most of the crew has beamed down, and the shuttles are leaving," Stella reported after a few minutes.

"Good, now let's get this ship fixed so we can—"

"Sir, the planet-killer!" Stella reported.

On the screen, Decker saw that the planet-killer had turned toward them.

"The energy signal of the transporters must have alerted it to us!" Decker cursed. "Evasive—"

The ship rocked violently.

"Secondary hull hit!" Stella reported. "We've lost main engineering and the work party!"

"Beam the crew back up!"

"Transporters are down!"

The communications panel beeped. "Commodore! You have to beam us back aboard!" Howard's voice came through. "The planet killer is firing on the planet!"

Stella and Decker listened in horror as Howard continued to shout over the sound of wind and the screams of fellow crewmembers.

"Sir! Are you there! Please! You need to beam—"

The signal cut out.

"Matt. Matt! It's Jim Kirk."

Decker roused slowly from his stupor. After the third planet had been blown apart by the planet-killer, he had mercifully lost consciousness. Now his mind fuzzily connected the past and the present. Jim Kirk? The young boy they had rescued from Tarsus IV? No, that was years ago. Jim was a captain now.

"Kirk—It's Jim Kirk," he muttered.

"What happened to your ship, Matt?"

"A ship… Attacked. That… that thing!"

"What thing? What was it?!" Kirk exclaimed.

Decker's face twisted as the memories resurfaced.

A new feminine voice now spoke over the communicator. "Captain," Enterprise said. "I'm in contact with Constellation. She reports that an unknown alien device destroyed two planets in this system and damaged the Constellation. Due to reduced life support, they beamed the crew down to the third planet, an M-class planet."

"There is no third planet," Kirk said, in shock.

Decker roused himself. "Don't you think I know that? There was, but not anymore." His face screwed up in horror and grief. "They called me. They begged me for help, four hundred of them." Sobs now teared themselves from his throat. "I couldn't. I couldn't." He broke down.

"Jim," Enterprise said softly. "Stella's not in much better shape. I'm collecting what data I can from the Constellation, but we should evacuate them."

"Bones?" Kirk asked, looking at his medical officer.

"Commodore Decker is in a state of shock. I can't diagnose the Constellation. I'm a doctor, not a programmer."

"For which I am eternally grateful, Doctor," Enterprise said, sounding almost like Spock.

Scotty and Lieutenant Washburn came up then.

"Captain, Washburn has our report," Scotty said, letting the junior officer show what he could do.

"We made a complete check on structural and control damage, sir," Washburn said. "As far as we can tell, something crashed through the deflectors and knocked out the generators. Somehow the antimatter in the warp drive pods has been deactivated."

Enterprise chimed in. "Constellation says that's from the energy dampening field the artifact produced. It is also likely responsible for the subspace interference."

"Aye, lass," Scotty said. "It adds up."

"We'll take the Constellation under tow," Kirk said. "Scotty, you and the repair crew get her ready. We need to get the whole Fleet here to take this thing out." He turned to Decker. "Let's get you and Stella back to the Enterprise, Matt."

"Jim," Enterprise said, in a shocked voice. "You need to get back here. It's coming for us."

Kirk looked at the dead viewscreen. "We're blind here, what's it look like?"

Spock now spoke, very deadpan. "It looks very much like Commodore Decker's planet killer. Constellation gave us the data to spot it, but we don't have much time to get you clear."

Decker now roused himself. "Oh, no, I stay here. I'm not leaving my ship!"

"There's no ship to leave, It's a dead hulk!" Kirk said.

"I've never lost a command before, Jim," Decker said. "You need to get to your ship. Leave the damage control party. We'll get the Constellation moving again. Between the two of us, we can get clear."

Kirk looked the haggard Commodore in the eyes.

"Don't make me order, you, Jim," Decker said.

"Don't make me regret this, Matt," Kirk responded. "We need you, your experience, your judgment. We're stronger with you than without you."

Decker nodded slowly. "Go to your ship, Jim. Leave me with mine."

With a nod, Kirk turned away. A moment later, he and McCoy were gone.

"You still with me, Stella?" Decker said.

"Yes, Commodore," Stella responded, sounding weary and almost-broken.

"Work with Mr. Scott. Let's get moving again."

"Mr. Scott believes he can get the impulse engines working again, though their controls are fused. I believe the warp drive controls can be cross-connected and he concurs."

"Let's be about it, then."

"Sir, we can also get one phaser bank working." Stella said quietly. "We don't have to go down without a fight."

Now Decker's lips twisted in what could be called a grin, but was more like the snarl of a wounded predator.

The Planet-Killer chased the Enterprise throughout the system, as Kirk and his crew led it away from the damaged Constellation.

"Matt, we're barely staying ahead of its dampening field." Kirk called out. "What's your status?"

Decker focused on his console. "Your Mr. Scott has gotten us impulse power and one phaser bank. Get them off once you're close enough."

"What about you?" Kirk said. "You're getting a lot closer to the Planet-Killer."

"I intend to get a lot closer, Jim. I'm going to ram her down its throat."

"Matt, you'll be killed."

"Stella and I have rigged a delay detonation device. You'll have 30 seconds to get me off before the Constellation's impulse engines blow."

"With the dampening field, our transporters aren't 100%. You might die."

Decker looked solemnly as the Planet Killer grew larger on his screen. "I've been prepared for death ever since I, ever since I killed my crew."

"Matt…"

Decker now grinned ferally. "So, if you want to prove me wrong, make sure your transporter is working, Jim! Now get your crew off my ship and let's be about this!"

Moments later, the Enterprise crew members were gone.

"Commodore… Matt…" Stella said.

"I'm glad you survived all this, Stella," Decker said. "I couldn't have done this without you."

"You… you don't intend to evacuate, do you?"

He shrugged. "Maybe Jim will manage to beam me off, but you know how bad that thing's dampening field is. What odds do you and Enterprise give me?"

Stella was silent.

"That thing is on the way to the heart of our galaxy. We need to do something about it."

"Yes, sir," Stella said. "Impulse power is at your command, phaser bank one is at your command."

"Thank you, Stella," Decker said. His eyes ran over the controls of his ship, and he was pleased to see one system still had the green light showing it was working. "Captain's Log, Stardate 4203.5. A commander is responsible for the lives of his crew, and for their deaths. Well, I should have died with mine. If this doesn't work… Jim, you know what to do. Destroy that thing, whatever it takes." He shut off the recorder. "Good-bye, Stella," he said, activating the AI Ejection switch.

Stella came to with a start in Enterprise's borderlands. "Matt! No!"

Her sister hugged her close. "He's gone, but he took that thing with him, Stella. It's dead."

Constellation wailed like a lost soul, hugging her sister close.

Author's Note: When this started, I was going to have Constellation overpower Enterprise and help Decker take command of the Enterprise. But when the time came, Decker having one crewmember left gave him the strength to push that screen-stealing Kirk out of the way. Honestly, it never made sense for Kirk to stay on the Constellation.