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Sub Space 9206_C06
U.S.S. Eagle 3rd story by Peter Dimitriadis
"Deathscream"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Dr. Clampet, waved a diagnostic device around his patient's arm.
"It's just a tiny fracture.. I can fix it up, but it'll be pretty tender
for a few days. No more holodeck calisthenics programs today."
The patient let out a small grin, then limped out, grasping his
shoulder.
Suddenly the calm voice of Captain Robert Bant broke through his
communicator pin. "Dr. Clampet.. Prepare a medical trauma team.. We've
received a distress signal from the USS Caesar."
"Working on it, Captain," was the reply, as he tapped his
communicator.
On the bridge, Captain Bant was standing close to Ops. "When will
we reach the USS Caesar?"
"Five minutes sir."
"Put it onscreen as soon as we arrive." Minutes, though it seemed
like hours, later, the viewscreen switched on, to the scene of a vessel
adrift in space.
"Scan the ship," Commander Lantasa ordered.
"Life support off in some sections, failing on the bridge.
Sensors can detect 5 life forms."
"Only 5? But that ship carried over 600 people." Commander Lantasa
gasped in astonishment.
"Life signs?"
"Stable,"
"Bant to Transporter Chief. Have you got a lock on the life forms
on the Caesar?"
"Yes sir," came the voice from his communicator.
"Beam them directly to the bridge."
Moments later, five swirls of light gradually became more coherent
as human life forms. One of them turned to Bant. "Captain, thank god you
found us! Our life support was about to go offline."
"We are very happy we could have helped you. But what happened to
the other crewmembers?" he asked.
"Life support, along with many other systems, have been offline for
over a week. We managed to keep the bridge's life support online, but we
were losing power. It is tragic what happened to the rest."
"A whole week? Why did you not send a distress call sooner?"
"Because, Commander, Communications were the first systems to go
off."
Another human broke in, "We just fixed them a few hours ago.
Figured it was our only chance for survival."
A third, a commander by the rank pips, also offered, "There's
something else. The day before the systems went kaput, people had started
disappearing from the ship."
"And you didn't find any bodies?"
"No.. We did find one ripped uniform, though."
"Can you repair the systems without risking anybody?" Bant said
through his communicator to Lt. Coypin.
"I believe so, sir."
"Do it... and if you'd please follow me to Sickbay," he gestured
first at the group, and then at the turbolift.
Hours later, the repairs to the Caesar were almost complete. Life
support in all sections were fixed, but the ship still was not capable of
Warp Drive. A small group from Security beamed over. The hallway was dimly
lit, and the silence seemed deafening. They had walked down to a turbolift
door, and when it opened, they were shocked. A burned body was found,
seemingly partially eaten away by some thing, perhaps an acid. It's face
was indistinguishable. One of the officers notified the ship to beam the
body to sickbay, perhaps to find what happened. They searched almost all
the ship, and there was not another body to be found. They quickly beamed
away, glad to get out of that eerie place.
On the Eagle, Captain Greenwood, Commander Coleman, Ensign Mihtz,
Lt. Bugarski, and Lt. Weaver, the five survivors from the Caesar, sat in
Ten Forward together, silently. No one ventured a word, each silently
accepting the loss of their crewmates, and friends.
Weaver broke the silence. "I think I want to be alone for a while.
See you all later," he said, as he stood. Weaver had been overly quiet
lately, and had said scarcely a word since they beamed over. The others
suspected he was hit the hardest by what happened. He was the only one
with a wife and two children who just vanished, probably dead.
In Sickbay, Dr. Clampet was examining the corpse on the table. "Do
you know who this was?" Bant asked.
"No.. The facial tissue was completely burned away, there were no
fingerprints, as they apparently burned as well. Strangely, there is no
uniform, not even burnt pieces, it seems to have been removed. It was
as if he was nude in the turbolift when he died. We're uplinking with the
Caesar's computer, and downloading the medical logs. Hopefully we can
find a DNA trace to go on."
"What caused the burns?"
"As far as I can tell... Acid on the face and stomach, but fire on
the rest."
"Very well, continue your investigation.. Notify me if there is
anything else, I'll be on the bridge."
Bant walked out of the turbolift onto the bridge. He looked at the
viewscreen, still locked on the view of the Caesar, floating in space. He
murmured to himself, "What happened out there?" He turned around, to face
Lt. Santir. "Send a message to Starfleet, notifying them of what happened.
Extend my deepest regrets to the families."
"Aye sir," she said. She punched the command in as normal, but
then, a slightly distressed look came over her face. She continued to
punch in the command.
"Is there something wrong Lt.?" Bant asked.
"Aye sir."
Down in engineering, the low thrum of the Warp engines at Warp 1
helped Lt. Coypin, the oriental chief engineer, to concentrate. But it
also served another purpose. It masked the sound of some creature crawling
through a Jefferies Tube. It's reddish face was dripping with acidic
saliva from it's teeth. It's golden glowing eyes, though only slits, could
be seen from a short distance away, if anyone was looking. Nobody was. It
bit into some short wires, ignoring the electricity pouring through,
perhaps even feeding off it. The creature was only about three feet tall
when it stood upright, with a long, spiny tail. It's hands and feet were
apparently claws, which looked sharp enough to rend metal. It could smell
the presence of Lt. Coypin through the access panel. It's sharp claws
ripped through, and it sprang.
A moment after he heard the loud noise of the panel breaking apart,
Lt. Coypin felt a sharp pain in his leg. He fell backwards, releasing the
demonic creature from his leg, forcing it to find a way to kill it's prey
faster. Lt. Coypin grabbed his phaser with one hand, and with the other
tapped his communicator. "Engineering to Security, emergency.." His voice
trailed off as he fired the phaser at it. The creature just opened its
mouth to show it's bloodstained teeth in reply. It jumped again, clawing
into Coypin's stomach, smacking it's tail against his legs, and biting his
shoulder. With his last few moments of strength, he shot the creature,
using a force setting, meant not to harm, but to push back. It worked, the
creature was off him for a second, but that gave him a chance to tap his
communicator again, "Coypin to Transporter Room. Beam me directly to
Sickbay, medical emer.." He didn't need to finish his sentence, the
transporter chief correctly interpreted the message. The creature sprang
forward again, clawing, but this time only into empty air. The doors
whistled open, revealing a security team.
The creature slowly opened it's mouth. In a low, guttural voice it
yelled, "I'll be back when I'm finished with.. Other business." The
creature jumped onto a panel. To the team's suprise, it's hands
metamorphisized into human hands. It's mouth opened, but using another
voice, Lt. Coypin's, it said, "Shut down warp engines," The low thrum
slowed then stopped. One of the security team was about to fire, but the
creature ran and grabbed it. It pointed it towards the Matter/AntiMatter
converter, not saying a word, making it's action's apparent as to what it
wanted. From behind, someone suprised the beast with another phaser. This
caused it's arm to raise and fire, hitting some major systems, just enough
to insure the Warp Drive stayed off.
The creature ran down the hallway, until it walked into a
turbolift. It climbed through the top, into the shaft, to an undetermined
destination.
Sickbay doctors were working on Lt. Coypin, who had severe
injuries, causing internal bleeding. It was touch and go for a few
moments, but soon Sickbay had stabilized his condition. When the Lt. could
talk, he reported what happened, as much as he could remember, which was
not much.
Lt. Coypin did not look very good, but he described the creature,
"Long, red skinned.. had glowing eyes, long tail.. sharp teeth and claws.
Seemed to feed off my phaser energy. Had to set it on a force setting to
get it off. Aurgh!" He gripped his stomach, which had spasmed in pain.
Dr. Clampet quickly moved to lessen the injuries.
Bant called security, "Next time anyone spots the creature, seal
off the area with force fields, beaming away as many humans as possible
beforehand. Send a full security team searching."
It was hungry. The humans had deprived it of its needed food. It
would make them pay, like it made the Caesar pay. It moved through the
energy filled cramped areas, slowly making its way towards life support.
But then it had a second thought.. Why not bring the meals to it?
The ship was quiet now, dead in space. No one could hear their
distress signals, and they could not move.
The creature ran quickly through the empty corridor, not liking the
cramped access areas between wires. In a few moments, it arrived at it's
destination; the Transporter room. The officer on duty had his back to the
door, away from the creature. The creature jumped on him, knocking him
down. It bit into his neck, killing him almost instantly. The creature
ate, then wore the uniform, metamorphisizing into the dead Transporter
Chief. He looked at the transporter controls. They were unfamiliar to
him, but he would figure them out soon.
Lt. Santir was on the bridge, giving orders to security, when she
shimmered and disappeared.
"What happened?" Bant asked.
Another security person rushed to fill her place. "Transporter
Activity in Transporter Room 1."
"Shut down transporters."
"Unable to sir, the computer is requesting a code."
"Send a security team down there. Bust the door down if you have
to!"
Lt. Santir was confused. One minute she was on the bridge, the
next in the transporter room. "What happened Chief?"
"Sensors detected the creature in a turbolift on route to the
bridge. The others were diverted to other transporter pads.
"Will you please stop interuppting me Lt.? Now, as I was saying, I
think it was about time we had a Lt. Commander onboard. What do you say?"
She smiled. "Thank you, sir... I will do my best."
"I hope so.. I'd hate to think I'd be leaving things to some one
who won't try their hardest." He smiled. "You are dismissed, Lt...or
rather, Lt. Commander..."
The End <For Now>
-=-=-=-=-
By: Peter Dimitriadis
