Blood & Ice 02 - Hunger
BLOOD AND ICE
by Soledad
For disclaimer, rating, etc., see the secondary index page.
Arthur’s note: The Terakans are not a canon species. I got them from the famous T-name generator. *g*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER TWO - HUNGER
At the med tech’s report, Ryker furrowed his brow.
“Are you telling me that we are dealing with a case of vampirism here?” he asked doubtfully.
Carli shrugged. “There are species, even sentient ones, that live on blood exclusively. Terakans, for example, breed a dozen different subspecies of warm-blooded rodents for culinary purposes only.”
“Yes, but they cook or bake the blood before consuming it,” Ryker, who’d had the questionable pleasure of visiting the Terakan homeworld several times, pointed out.
“They do so now,” Carli replied. “I’m sure they didn’t start that way. And there may be other species that would reject the idea of destroying a great percentage of nourishments through the cooking process.”
“Theoretically, that is possible,” Data agreed. “However, I must point out that a species that has already reached a technological level that would enable them to faster-than-light travel is unlikely to fall over other sentient beings and kill them, just to consume their blood. It is all very strange.”
“No kidding, Pinocchio,” Ryker said. “We should check the individual stations while Mr… while Ensign Carli finishes the analysis. Perhaps we can find an explanation for what’s happened here. Try to download the log entries from the last, say, ten hours to your tricorder and transfer them to the Enterprise. We need facts.”
Data obediently sat down to the console of the operations officer, this being his own place aboard the Enterprise, only to find it burned out and blackened beyond repair. A glance at the flight control officer’s instrumental board revealed him the same.
“Commander,” he said, “both ops and conn controls have been destroyed by phaser fire. Thoroughly. Nothing here is even partially salvageable.”
“The same here,” Ryker answered from Tactical unhappily. “The only things that are still functioning are the environmental controls at the engineering station. Try the library computer; something must have survived the destruction. Federation technology is nothing if not redundant.”
“That is correct, sir,” Data tried his luck with the library computer interface, but to no avail. “However, the person - or persons - that destroyed the bridge obviously knew what they were doing. All interfaces are physically terminated; not even I can gain access to the databases. The pathways simply no longer exist.”
“I see,” Ryker touched his comm badge. “Ryker to Enterprise.”
“Go on, Number One,” Picard answered.
“Captain, it’s impossible to download the Copernicus’ logs from the bridge,” Ryker reported. “All the bridge consoles have been destroyed, beyond even Data’s abilities to gain access. We’ll have to try from another area.”
“It’s your call, Number One; handle things at your discretion,” Picard said. “What about the corpse you’ve found? Can we beam it over to the morgue?”
Ryker looked at Carli. The medic shook hir head; a gesture s/he picked up from hir human crewmates.
“I’d not recommend it, Commander. The body contains no human blood, as I said; it’s almost completely dried out. But…”
“Almost completely?” Ryker repeated, having the nagging feeling that he wouldn’t like the explanation.
Carli nodded. “Yes, sir. What little liquid there still is in the late captain’s veins, it’s a fluid of unknown nature.”
“Organic?” Data asked.
“Yes, but a composition I’ve never come across,” Carli replied. “In any case, it contains no human haemoglobin at all.”
“That’s not good,” Ryker stated the obvious. “Let’s see how the others are doing,” he touched his comm badge again to switch channels. “Ryker to Hernandez. Macha, the consoles on the bridge have all been destroyed. What about the science labs?”
“It’s pretty much in the same boat, as far as I can tell,” Hernandez replied grimly. “Whoever did this, they were either very determined to cover their track - or completely insane.”
“I don’t know which possibility makes me more uncomfortable,” Ryker sighed.
“Neither do I,” Hernandez agreed. “With your permission, Commander, I’d like to rejoin your unit. There’s nothing for us to find in the science labs; they’re all abandoned.”
“So is the bridge, save for the captain’s corpse,” Ryker told her. “Perhaps you’re right. Under those circumstances it would be safer to stay together.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Hernandez said. “I’ll send you Baldor, just in case, and we’ll all meet in Engineering.”
“Good idea,” Ryker said. “If anywhere, in Engineering we may find the means to do some repairs and access the ship logs. Especially with Geordi and Data working in tandem. We’ll make our way down as soon as Ensign Baldor arrives.”
“She’ll be with you in five minutes,” Hernandez promised. “See you in Engineering, sir. Hernandez out.”
“Commander,” Data left the useless library computer console and walked over to Ryker’s side, “it would be perhaps prudent to check on Geordi and Worf before we go down to Engineering.”
“It certainly can’t hurt,” Ryker agreed, switching channels again. “Ryker to LaForge. Geordi, how’s things down there?”
“Worf here, sir,” the Klingon’s deep voice answered. “I was monitoring your conversations and must tell you that Engineering is in the same shape as the rest of the ship. Although Lieutenant LaForge says he and Ensign Hodel might be able to repair some of the consoles. Apparently, the attackers did a somewhat less thorough job here than on the bridge.”
“Are you sure it was an attack?” Ryker asked doubtfully. “We’re tending towards the theory of some sort of contamination ourselves.”
“Well, we can’t be one hundred per cent sure, of course,” LaForge said. “But my VISOR is picking up the infrared afterimages of bodies lying on the floor and over chairs. By now, though, everyone who had been in the room is gone.”
“Where the hell have they gone to?” Ryker asked in bewilderment.
“No idea; but if they’d been killed by some weird alien disease, they couldn’t have stood up and left,” LaForge replied grimly. “Someone has removed those corpses from this room, and…”
“…and they must have had a reason to do so,” Ryker finished for him. “All right, Geordi. Macha and I have decided to join you guys in Engineering. Sit tight until the cavalry arrives.”
“We will, Commander. I wouldn’t think of…” LaForge trailed off, and they could hear his surprised comment, clearly meant for Worf. “What the hell was that?”
“I don’t know,” the Klingon answered from afar. “It’s gone now.”
“Geordi, what have you seen?” Ryker demanded.
“Nothing, Commander,” LaForge answered uncertainly. “It was probably just a visual trick. Illumination isn’t the best down there.”
“Geordi,” Ryker pressed. “What. Have. You. Seen.”
“It was like a small cloud of glowing sparkles,” LaForge admitted reluctantly. “For a second or two it was there; then it was gone.”
“Just like those dead crewmembers from Engineering,” Ryker commented slowly.
“Well… yes, I suppose,” LaForge allowed. “But it might have been just a trick of light, as I said.”
“Not if they’ve both seen it,” Data supplied. “Their vision is different; they would not have fallen for the same trick of light.”
“Agreed,” Ryker said. “Well, hold on, you two. We’ll be with you in twenty minutes or so. Hernandez’ unit is already on its way.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Aboard the Enterprise Counselor Yar was feeling increasingly unwell. The signals coming from the Copernicus affected her so much that she had to lie down on the couch of the captain’s ready room - a situation she was not entirely unfamiliar with, although in other cases the reason for doing so was usually much more pleasurable.
“What do you exactly feel?” Picard asked in concern.
As a rule, Yar could deal with the emotions of other people well enough; mostly because she was so emotionally suppressed herself. For the first time since he’d known her, though, she now seemed completely overwhelmed.
“Hunger, mostly,” she replied trying to focus despite her blinding headache. “Sheer insatiable hunger. But there’s also fear, anxiety, death… a fight for survival - and something that cannot even be described as human.”
“Does the Copernicus have any non-human crewmembers?” Picard asked.
Doctor Selar, who’d come up from sickbay to treat Yar’s migraine while Beverly was happily playing with the life sign detector, trying to set up a population map of the Copernicus, shook her head.
“No, Captain; it is a homogenous crew. Their mission has partially been sponsored by a private consortium, and the sponsors insisted on an all-human crew.”
“Why would they do that?” Picard asked, wondering if every Vulcan was so well-informed about Starfleet-related trivia or only those he’d met during his decades-long career.
“Out of business interests, most likely,” Selar replied. “If they’d find anything that could be used for mass production, say, a new and exotic ingredient for food, that way the consortium could stake claim without a lengthy - and costly - legal fight over ownership.”
“A legal fight over some alien spice?” Picard shook his head, bewildered.
Selar didn’t exactly shrug - no self-respecting Vulcan would ever do that - but it was a close thing.
“There are still quite a few civilizations that find replicated food unacceptable; either out of religious convictions or simply because they think that it lacks the proper taste. Food import to such worlds is a highly profitable branch of interplanetary trade.”
“Profitable enough to sponsor a routine star-mapping expedition of Starfleet, in the hope of finding some new foodstuffs?” Picard still had a hard time to believe that.
“Apparently yes,” Selar answered. “Or else it would be illogical for them to do so.”
Picard could have imagined a dozen other, much more plausible reasons for a private consortium sponsoring a Starfleet cartography mission. None of those possibilities made him truly comfortable. Before he could have voiced his suspicions, though, Beverly bounced in.
“I’ve finished the population map of the Copernicus,” she announced proudly. “The largest concentration of life form readings is on the lower decks.”
“Where on the lower decks?” Picard tried to clarify. The lower decks meant half of any ship, after all.
“In Medical,” Beverly told him.
It actually made sense, if they were indeed dealing with a contamination. People would go to sickbay for treatment. But what if it was something else?
“Could those life signs be identified as human?” the captain asked.
Beverly shook her head. “No. They’re still too weak and diffuse for a clear identification. But they’re definitely concentrating in Medical.”
That piece of information didn’t serve to ease Picard’s concerns; on the contrary. Life signs that couldn’t be identified beyond doubt as human, aboard a ship with an all-human crew, were not a good thing in his estimate.
“Commander Ryker needs to hear of this,” he said. “Doctor Selar, I leave Counselor Yar in your capable hands. Call me if she happens to find out more. I’ll be on the bridge.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Unfortunately, Ryker was not in the best position to discuss the possible meaning of those life form readings with his commanding officer at the moment. They’d wrapped up the investigation of the destroyed bridge, and Carli was about to put a quarantine field around the dead captain, just in case, when s/he thought to have glimpsed something.
“Commander,” s/he called out softly, “something’s happening with the corpse.”
“Can you be just a little less vague, Ensign?” Ryker snapped.
“I’m afraid I can’t sir,” Carli lifted up the dead man’s hand, staring at it intently. “I think you need to see this with your own eyes.”
Ryker sighed in resignation and walked over to the command chair - where they both watched in amazement as the aforementioned limb began to twitch. It only lasted for ten or so seconds, and then the twitching stopped.
“What the hell…” Ryker is stunned.
“That’s a good question, sir,” Carli was almost as pale as the corpse itself.
“I thought you said this man was dead,” Ryker said accusingly.
“He was, sir,” the med tech replied. “Deader than dead. In fact, this thing,” s/he lifted hir medical tricorder briefly, “still tells me he’s dead.”
“But he was moving!” Ryker was back in full Captain Obvious mode.
“Actually, only his hand was twitching,” Carli corrected, but that fact didn’t seem to put hir mind to ease.
“Could it have been some residual neural energy in the limb itself?” Data asked, accessing the medical database of his positronic brain.
“It could - in theory,” Carli allowed. “The only problem with that theory is that the tricorder did not pick up any neural activities from the body. Not even automated ones.”
“What was it then?” Ryker asked.
“I honestly don’t know, sir,” Carli confessed. “I’m not a doctor, just a field medic. Perhaps Doctor Selar can tell more, once she’s examined the body. She’s a good neurologist.”
“Can we risk beaming the body over to the Enterprise?” Ryker didn’t like the idea. Carli shrugged.
“Can we risk leaving it here, sir?” s/he asked back. “We need answers. I’m pretty sure this dead man has the answers, but I’m not the one who could get them from him. I’m sorry.”
Ryker waved off hir concern. “Not your fault, Ensign. Let’s put the late Captain Ahrens into that quarantine field, as you’ve planned, and have him beamed straight into the isolation labs. You colleagues will take care of the rest.”
He was about to contact the Enterprise and arrange for the beam-out when an alarmed voice cried out.
“Commander, take care!”
He turned around just in time to see Baldor coming in, running, her phaser on the ready. Before he could ask her what was wrong, though, there was a movement on his side, and in the next moment something sneaked out and wrapped itself tightly around his neck.
Tightly enough for his vision to become blurred. But even so, he realized with a shock that he was being choked to death by the supposedly dead captain of the Copernicus.
There was a flash of yellow and black as Data darted across the ruined bridge with superhuman speed to throw the corpse clear. However, the android had no time to consider where he should throw it, and nearly hit Baldor with the dead man that promptly clawed the neck of the Romulan security officer.
Fortunately, just like their Vulcan cousins, Romulans were made of stern stuff. Ignoring the green blood that was seeping from her neck wound, soiling her uniform collar, Baldor tore away and kicked the corpse brutally in the midriff, sending it flying across the bridge. Only then did she check the wound on her neck with her free hand, grimacing in pain and annoyance.
However, with that it wasn’t over yet. The dead captain got to his lifeless feet and started towards Ryker again. The commander fired his phaser, knocking the corpse back to the deck. Yet only seconds later, it was up again, moving in for the kill.
“This is getting tiresome,” Baldor commented with a scowl.
She calmly set her phaser to kill and fired. The body finally disappeared, but it left a cloud of glowing sparkles in its aftermath.
“Hey, isn’t this what Geordi and Worf were talking about?” Ryker asked. “At least we have an educated guess now where all those dead crewmen from Engineering have gone.”
“Perhaps,” Carli replied noncommittally. “I think we shouldn’t breathe these things in, though.”
But the warning came too late. The sparkles surrounded them like dancing dust particles in the sunlight, and before long, they were coughing and choking.
“Off the bridge!” Ryker ordered. “Move it, people!”
The other two hurriedly obeyed. By the time they reached the doors, however, the sparkles were gone.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In the meantime, Ensign Hodel had climbed inside a console in Engineering and was attempting to rewire it, bypassing several broken circuits. The destruction here wasn’t complete, so he had reasonable hope to re-establish the broken connection with the main computer and restart the board systems - not to mention download the logs of the last ten hours and finally get some answers.
LaForge had gone down to the Warp core to see if it could be re-injected and made to work again. As things in Main Engineering seemed calm enough, Worf had found it prudent to go with the chief engineer, despite LaForge’s protests that he didn’t need a babysitter, while Hodel, working on crucial repairs, did.
However, the Klingon had disagreed.
“Commander Ryker and the others will be here shortly,” he had pointed out, “and security is on their way already. Ensign Hodel will be safe enough with them.”
“Go on, Lieutenant,” Hodel had been glad to get rid of the ever-scowling tactical officer; working with Worf glaring holes into his back was not a comfortable thing. “I’ll be all right here; besides, it’s only a matter of minutes.”
Thus LaForge and the Klingon had left, and Hodel continued his work, even whistling softly - until he felt a tugging on his leg.
“Just a moment,” he called out, thinking that one of his shipmates wanted his attention. “I’m almost done here.”
In the next moment, however, he was viciously yanked out of the frame with such force that some wires he had been working with were actually ripped from the console. He landed on his ass halfway across the room - and found himself staring into the dead eyes of what appeared to be a half-desiccated mummy, wearing the black and gold uniform of the engineering division.
He froze with shock for one, all-deciding moment, giving the obviously dead crewmember the opportunity to move in and claw his face. The pain finally broke his shock; he screamed from the top of his lungs, then reached for his phaser and kept firing at the animated corpse until it disintegrated before his eyes.
As he slipped into unconsciousness with the numbing pain spreading rapidly all over his body, starting from the facial wounds, glowing sparkles enveloped him like a shower of golden rain.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hernandez and Ensign Daro had been a mere hundred metres from Engineering when they heard Hodel’s scream - as the turbolifts weren’t working in this area, they’d had to jog down several decks. They were stopped by the sheer terror in the engineer’s voice for a moment… long enough for Ryker’s unit to catch up with them.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Ryker commented unnecessarily.
Hernandez didn’t waste any time to answer. She started running again, with Daro in trail. The Rigelian was demonically fast, but Data, with his superhuman speed, reached the door of Engineering before all of them, of course. Ryker, not being as fit as he actually should have been, was the rearguard.
Neither of them noticed when Baldor got off on her own and disappeared in one of the side corridors.
Chapter 03 - Carnage
by Soledad
For disclaimer, rating, etc., see the secondary index page.
Arthur’s note: The Terakans are not a canon species. I got them from the famous T-name generator. *g*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER TWO - HUNGER
At the med tech’s report, Ryker furrowed his brow.
“Are you telling me that we are dealing with a case of vampirism here?” he asked doubtfully.
Carli shrugged. “There are species, even sentient ones, that live on blood exclusively. Terakans, for example, breed a dozen different subspecies of warm-blooded rodents for culinary purposes only.”
“Yes, but they cook or bake the blood before consuming it,” Ryker, who’d had the questionable pleasure of visiting the Terakan homeworld several times, pointed out.
“They do so now,” Carli replied. “I’m sure they didn’t start that way. And there may be other species that would reject the idea of destroying a great percentage of nourishments through the cooking process.”
“Theoretically, that is possible,” Data agreed. “However, I must point out that a species that has already reached a technological level that would enable them to faster-than-light travel is unlikely to fall over other sentient beings and kill them, just to consume their blood. It is all very strange.”
“No kidding, Pinocchio,” Ryker said. “We should check the individual stations while Mr… while Ensign Carli finishes the analysis. Perhaps we can find an explanation for what’s happened here. Try to download the log entries from the last, say, ten hours to your tricorder and transfer them to the Enterprise. We need facts.”
Data obediently sat down to the console of the operations officer, this being his own place aboard the Enterprise, only to find it burned out and blackened beyond repair. A glance at the flight control officer’s instrumental board revealed him the same.
“Commander,” he said, “both ops and conn controls have been destroyed by phaser fire. Thoroughly. Nothing here is even partially salvageable.”
“The same here,” Ryker answered from Tactical unhappily. “The only things that are still functioning are the environmental controls at the engineering station. Try the library computer; something must have survived the destruction. Federation technology is nothing if not redundant.”
“That is correct, sir,” Data tried his luck with the library computer interface, but to no avail. “However, the person - or persons - that destroyed the bridge obviously knew what they were doing. All interfaces are physically terminated; not even I can gain access to the databases. The pathways simply no longer exist.”
“I see,” Ryker touched his comm badge. “Ryker to Enterprise.”
“Go on, Number One,” Picard answered.
“Captain, it’s impossible to download the Copernicus’ logs from the bridge,” Ryker reported. “All the bridge consoles have been destroyed, beyond even Data’s abilities to gain access. We’ll have to try from another area.”
“It’s your call, Number One; handle things at your discretion,” Picard said. “What about the corpse you’ve found? Can we beam it over to the morgue?”
Ryker looked at Carli. The medic shook hir head; a gesture s/he picked up from hir human crewmates.
“I’d not recommend it, Commander. The body contains no human blood, as I said; it’s almost completely dried out. But…”
“Almost completely?” Ryker repeated, having the nagging feeling that he wouldn’t like the explanation.
Carli nodded. “Yes, sir. What little liquid there still is in the late captain’s veins, it’s a fluid of unknown nature.”
“Organic?” Data asked.
“Yes, but a composition I’ve never come across,” Carli replied. “In any case, it contains no human haemoglobin at all.”
“That’s not good,” Ryker stated the obvious. “Let’s see how the others are doing,” he touched his comm badge again to switch channels. “Ryker to Hernandez. Macha, the consoles on the bridge have all been destroyed. What about the science labs?”
“It’s pretty much in the same boat, as far as I can tell,” Hernandez replied grimly. “Whoever did this, they were either very determined to cover their track - or completely insane.”
“I don’t know which possibility makes me more uncomfortable,” Ryker sighed.
“Neither do I,” Hernandez agreed. “With your permission, Commander, I’d like to rejoin your unit. There’s nothing for us to find in the science labs; they’re all abandoned.”
“So is the bridge, save for the captain’s corpse,” Ryker told her. “Perhaps you’re right. Under those circumstances it would be safer to stay together.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Hernandez said. “I’ll send you Baldor, just in case, and we’ll all meet in Engineering.”
“Good idea,” Ryker said. “If anywhere, in Engineering we may find the means to do some repairs and access the ship logs. Especially with Geordi and Data working in tandem. We’ll make our way down as soon as Ensign Baldor arrives.”
“She’ll be with you in five minutes,” Hernandez promised. “See you in Engineering, sir. Hernandez out.”
“Commander,” Data left the useless library computer console and walked over to Ryker’s side, “it would be perhaps prudent to check on Geordi and Worf before we go down to Engineering.”
“It certainly can’t hurt,” Ryker agreed, switching channels again. “Ryker to LaForge. Geordi, how’s things down there?”
“Worf here, sir,” the Klingon’s deep voice answered. “I was monitoring your conversations and must tell you that Engineering is in the same shape as the rest of the ship. Although Lieutenant LaForge says he and Ensign Hodel might be able to repair some of the consoles. Apparently, the attackers did a somewhat less thorough job here than on the bridge.”
“Are you sure it was an attack?” Ryker asked doubtfully. “We’re tending towards the theory of some sort of contamination ourselves.”
“Well, we can’t be one hundred per cent sure, of course,” LaForge said. “But my VISOR is picking up the infrared afterimages of bodies lying on the floor and over chairs. By now, though, everyone who had been in the room is gone.”
“Where the hell have they gone to?” Ryker asked in bewilderment.
“No idea; but if they’d been killed by some weird alien disease, they couldn’t have stood up and left,” LaForge replied grimly. “Someone has removed those corpses from this room, and…”
“…and they must have had a reason to do so,” Ryker finished for him. “All right, Geordi. Macha and I have decided to join you guys in Engineering. Sit tight until the cavalry arrives.”
“We will, Commander. I wouldn’t think of…” LaForge trailed off, and they could hear his surprised comment, clearly meant for Worf. “What the hell was that?”
“I don’t know,” the Klingon answered from afar. “It’s gone now.”
“Geordi, what have you seen?” Ryker demanded.
“Nothing, Commander,” LaForge answered uncertainly. “It was probably just a visual trick. Illumination isn’t the best down there.”
“Geordi,” Ryker pressed. “What. Have. You. Seen.”
“It was like a small cloud of glowing sparkles,” LaForge admitted reluctantly. “For a second or two it was there; then it was gone.”
“Just like those dead crewmembers from Engineering,” Ryker commented slowly.
“Well… yes, I suppose,” LaForge allowed. “But it might have been just a trick of light, as I said.”
“Not if they’ve both seen it,” Data supplied. “Their vision is different; they would not have fallen for the same trick of light.”
“Agreed,” Ryker said. “Well, hold on, you two. We’ll be with you in twenty minutes or so. Hernandez’ unit is already on its way.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Aboard the Enterprise Counselor Yar was feeling increasingly unwell. The signals coming from the Copernicus affected her so much that she had to lie down on the couch of the captain’s ready room - a situation she was not entirely unfamiliar with, although in other cases the reason for doing so was usually much more pleasurable.
“What do you exactly feel?” Picard asked in concern.
As a rule, Yar could deal with the emotions of other people well enough; mostly because she was so emotionally suppressed herself. For the first time since he’d known her, though, she now seemed completely overwhelmed.
“Hunger, mostly,” she replied trying to focus despite her blinding headache. “Sheer insatiable hunger. But there’s also fear, anxiety, death… a fight for survival - and something that cannot even be described as human.”
“Does the Copernicus have any non-human crewmembers?” Picard asked.
Doctor Selar, who’d come up from sickbay to treat Yar’s migraine while Beverly was happily playing with the life sign detector, trying to set up a population map of the Copernicus, shook her head.
“No, Captain; it is a homogenous crew. Their mission has partially been sponsored by a private consortium, and the sponsors insisted on an all-human crew.”
“Why would they do that?” Picard asked, wondering if every Vulcan was so well-informed about Starfleet-related trivia or only those he’d met during his decades-long career.
“Out of business interests, most likely,” Selar replied. “If they’d find anything that could be used for mass production, say, a new and exotic ingredient for food, that way the consortium could stake claim without a lengthy - and costly - legal fight over ownership.”
“A legal fight over some alien spice?” Picard shook his head, bewildered.
Selar didn’t exactly shrug - no self-respecting Vulcan would ever do that - but it was a close thing.
“There are still quite a few civilizations that find replicated food unacceptable; either out of religious convictions or simply because they think that it lacks the proper taste. Food import to such worlds is a highly profitable branch of interplanetary trade.”
“Profitable enough to sponsor a routine star-mapping expedition of Starfleet, in the hope of finding some new foodstuffs?” Picard still had a hard time to believe that.
“Apparently yes,” Selar answered. “Or else it would be illogical for them to do so.”
Picard could have imagined a dozen other, much more plausible reasons for a private consortium sponsoring a Starfleet cartography mission. None of those possibilities made him truly comfortable. Before he could have voiced his suspicions, though, Beverly bounced in.
“I’ve finished the population map of the Copernicus,” she announced proudly. “The largest concentration of life form readings is on the lower decks.”
“Where on the lower decks?” Picard tried to clarify. The lower decks meant half of any ship, after all.
“In Medical,” Beverly told him.
It actually made sense, if they were indeed dealing with a contamination. People would go to sickbay for treatment. But what if it was something else?
“Could those life signs be identified as human?” the captain asked.
Beverly shook her head. “No. They’re still too weak and diffuse for a clear identification. But they’re definitely concentrating in Medical.”
That piece of information didn’t serve to ease Picard’s concerns; on the contrary. Life signs that couldn’t be identified beyond doubt as human, aboard a ship with an all-human crew, were not a good thing in his estimate.
“Commander Ryker needs to hear of this,” he said. “Doctor Selar, I leave Counselor Yar in your capable hands. Call me if she happens to find out more. I’ll be on the bridge.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Unfortunately, Ryker was not in the best position to discuss the possible meaning of those life form readings with his commanding officer at the moment. They’d wrapped up the investigation of the destroyed bridge, and Carli was about to put a quarantine field around the dead captain, just in case, when s/he thought to have glimpsed something.
“Commander,” s/he called out softly, “something’s happening with the corpse.”
“Can you be just a little less vague, Ensign?” Ryker snapped.
“I’m afraid I can’t sir,” Carli lifted up the dead man’s hand, staring at it intently. “I think you need to see this with your own eyes.”
Ryker sighed in resignation and walked over to the command chair - where they both watched in amazement as the aforementioned limb began to twitch. It only lasted for ten or so seconds, and then the twitching stopped.
“What the hell…” Ryker is stunned.
“That’s a good question, sir,” Carli was almost as pale as the corpse itself.
“I thought you said this man was dead,” Ryker said accusingly.
“He was, sir,” the med tech replied. “Deader than dead. In fact, this thing,” s/he lifted hir medical tricorder briefly, “still tells me he’s dead.”
“But he was moving!” Ryker was back in full Captain Obvious mode.
“Actually, only his hand was twitching,” Carli corrected, but that fact didn’t seem to put hir mind to ease.
“Could it have been some residual neural energy in the limb itself?” Data asked, accessing the medical database of his positronic brain.
“It could - in theory,” Carli allowed. “The only problem with that theory is that the tricorder did not pick up any neural activities from the body. Not even automated ones.”
“What was it then?” Ryker asked.
“I honestly don’t know, sir,” Carli confessed. “I’m not a doctor, just a field medic. Perhaps Doctor Selar can tell more, once she’s examined the body. She’s a good neurologist.”
“Can we risk beaming the body over to the Enterprise?” Ryker didn’t like the idea. Carli shrugged.
“Can we risk leaving it here, sir?” s/he asked back. “We need answers. I’m pretty sure this dead man has the answers, but I’m not the one who could get them from him. I’m sorry.”
Ryker waved off hir concern. “Not your fault, Ensign. Let’s put the late Captain Ahrens into that quarantine field, as you’ve planned, and have him beamed straight into the isolation labs. You colleagues will take care of the rest.”
He was about to contact the Enterprise and arrange for the beam-out when an alarmed voice cried out.
“Commander, take care!”
He turned around just in time to see Baldor coming in, running, her phaser on the ready. Before he could ask her what was wrong, though, there was a movement on his side, and in the next moment something sneaked out and wrapped itself tightly around his neck.
Tightly enough for his vision to become blurred. But even so, he realized with a shock that he was being choked to death by the supposedly dead captain of the Copernicus.
There was a flash of yellow and black as Data darted across the ruined bridge with superhuman speed to throw the corpse clear. However, the android had no time to consider where he should throw it, and nearly hit Baldor with the dead man that promptly clawed the neck of the Romulan security officer.
Fortunately, just like their Vulcan cousins, Romulans were made of stern stuff. Ignoring the green blood that was seeping from her neck wound, soiling her uniform collar, Baldor tore away and kicked the corpse brutally in the midriff, sending it flying across the bridge. Only then did she check the wound on her neck with her free hand, grimacing in pain and annoyance.
However, with that it wasn’t over yet. The dead captain got to his lifeless feet and started towards Ryker again. The commander fired his phaser, knocking the corpse back to the deck. Yet only seconds later, it was up again, moving in for the kill.
“This is getting tiresome,” Baldor commented with a scowl.
She calmly set her phaser to kill and fired. The body finally disappeared, but it left a cloud of glowing sparkles in its aftermath.
“Hey, isn’t this what Geordi and Worf were talking about?” Ryker asked. “At least we have an educated guess now where all those dead crewmen from Engineering have gone.”
“Perhaps,” Carli replied noncommittally. “I think we shouldn’t breathe these things in, though.”
But the warning came too late. The sparkles surrounded them like dancing dust particles in the sunlight, and before long, they were coughing and choking.
“Off the bridge!” Ryker ordered. “Move it, people!”
The other two hurriedly obeyed. By the time they reached the doors, however, the sparkles were gone.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In the meantime, Ensign Hodel had climbed inside a console in Engineering and was attempting to rewire it, bypassing several broken circuits. The destruction here wasn’t complete, so he had reasonable hope to re-establish the broken connection with the main computer and restart the board systems - not to mention download the logs of the last ten hours and finally get some answers.
LaForge had gone down to the Warp core to see if it could be re-injected and made to work again. As things in Main Engineering seemed calm enough, Worf had found it prudent to go with the chief engineer, despite LaForge’s protests that he didn’t need a babysitter, while Hodel, working on crucial repairs, did.
However, the Klingon had disagreed.
“Commander Ryker and the others will be here shortly,” he had pointed out, “and security is on their way already. Ensign Hodel will be safe enough with them.”
“Go on, Lieutenant,” Hodel had been glad to get rid of the ever-scowling tactical officer; working with Worf glaring holes into his back was not a comfortable thing. “I’ll be all right here; besides, it’s only a matter of minutes.”
Thus LaForge and the Klingon had left, and Hodel continued his work, even whistling softly - until he felt a tugging on his leg.
“Just a moment,” he called out, thinking that one of his shipmates wanted his attention. “I’m almost done here.”
In the next moment, however, he was viciously yanked out of the frame with such force that some wires he had been working with were actually ripped from the console. He landed on his ass halfway across the room - and found himself staring into the dead eyes of what appeared to be a half-desiccated mummy, wearing the black and gold uniform of the engineering division.
He froze with shock for one, all-deciding moment, giving the obviously dead crewmember the opportunity to move in and claw his face. The pain finally broke his shock; he screamed from the top of his lungs, then reached for his phaser and kept firing at the animated corpse until it disintegrated before his eyes.
As he slipped into unconsciousness with the numbing pain spreading rapidly all over his body, starting from the facial wounds, glowing sparkles enveloped him like a shower of golden rain.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hernandez and Ensign Daro had been a mere hundred metres from Engineering when they heard Hodel’s scream - as the turbolifts weren’t working in this area, they’d had to jog down several decks. They were stopped by the sheer terror in the engineer’s voice for a moment… long enough for Ryker’s unit to catch up with them.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Ryker commented unnecessarily.
Hernandez didn’t waste any time to answer. She started running again, with Daro in trail. The Rigelian was demonically fast, but Data, with his superhuman speed, reached the door of Engineering before all of them, of course. Ryker, not being as fit as he actually should have been, was the rearguard.
Neither of them noticed when Baldor got off on her own and disappeared in one of the side corridors.
Chapter 03 - Carnage