Thursday, October 17, 2013
{{Truckin right along. As things approach the end, it's more and more intense to write; keeping everything in order and making sure everything I wanted and needed to include is there. This has been my first full novel-length size work, and it's certainly been a learning experience.}}
Kanor drove his fist at the area
just above the Bender’s gaping maw.
Though the creatures had no face, really-having no discernible nose or
eyes-it still made for a tempting, familiar target. He realized his mistake far too late to stop
the momentum of his punch.
Kanor’s bare hand came into contact
with the warm, moist exoskeleton of the Bender, sending a spasm shooting
through his body, forcing his mouth to gape in a wordless scream. He felt the Bender’s strange, alien consciousness
meld together with his own. Felt the
Bender’s own horrified recoil as its mind entwined against its will with the
strange creature it had just ripped away from the Home.
A jumble of images, thoughts, and
sensations that weren’t his own flooded through Kanor, and he felt the
confusion as the Bender underwent the same experience. She was Splintered! Skid was yelling all sorts of obscenities
below them. The Static Mutes created a
link to the Home! Kaz’s voice yelling,
though it seemed far away. The Murderer
had breached defenses! There was another
Bender racing down the length of the wall as if it were a walkway, and no big
deal to defy gravity. Stop it, stop the
Murderer!
“Kanor!”
The Bender his mind was locked in a
meld with lost its footing and fell from the wall, dragging him with it. Kanor hit the deck hard, the bulk of the
Bender landing atop of him. For whatever
reason, it didn’t seem to weigh as much as his mind reasoned it should, given
its apparent size. Fiery pain burst
throughout his body on impact, especially along the path the Bender he had
killed had raked its tail across his back; and, combined with the disorienting
effects of his brief telepathic touch with this Bender, caused bile to raise in
his esophagus. The Bender seemed to be
suffering the same issues, but that surely wouldn’t last. He needed to get out from under the alien,
but he had lost his glove when the creature had yanked him upward, and he
couldn’t do it with only one arm. He
would have to touch it again. He tried
to use the heel of his right hand only instead of his fingers, wondering if
that might somehow make a difference.
More images cascaded through his
head unbidden; a veritable sea of Benders.
More than he could count; surely thousands upon thousands. Protect the Home from attack! A recognizable image-a Federation PADD from
the parcel he had recovered-flashed by.
Protect the Future! Phaser fire,
multiple shots. Some unrecognizable star
going through what Kanor recognized as a supernova.
Kanor fell back against the deck
plating, an involuntary cry escaping his lips.
His body had given out, mid-push.
His arms and legs seemed to twitch uncontrollably, as pain filled his
senses. Fresh pain, old pain, pains he
hadn’t even known he was ignoring…
Those drugs had finally worn out. The Bender was still atop of him, strangely
not making any attempt to move off or even attack him; it had become simply
dead weight, pinning him to the deck.
Was it still alive? Gritting his
teeth, he briefly did the only thing he could think to do; he touched the
Bender’s carapace, on purpose this time.
Immediately he felt an intensity behind that renewed connection he
hadn’t before.
Alone…so alone...the
Murderer…Static…NotMute…alone…alone…
A bloodcurdling scream pierced the
fog settling over Kanor’s brain; one borne of red hot fury that came from
somewhere other than the throat. His
contact with the Bender was disrupted, its body shifting on him as something
impacted with it roughly. He saw strong,
womanly hands grip the alien, heard a growling grunt of exertion as the
creature’s body was forced off of him completely.
“Kanor! C’mon, Youngblood, stay with me, here!”
He felt a smack to his cheek as Skid
slapped him, but it barely registered. A
single raindrop in a downpour. He
struggled to sort out the thoughts in his head, the tangled mess of what he had
seen. What his own thoughts were, what
the Bender’s were. It was more confusing
this time…muddled. A thought he
recognized distinctly as his own; wishing he could have better understood his
mother’s mind melding techniques.
“Bloody fookin…”
He distantly heard mumbling, the
sound of a tricorder scanning, what could only be Skid’s touch. His eyes fell on the shape of the Bender;
even this close and at a standstill, it seemed indistinct and blurry. Loneliness was making his chest ache, his
throat constrict. It was so quiet,
so…empty. A wave of vertigo hit him out
of nowhere; everyone was so far away, he was all alone, he felt like he was
simply going to spin away and float off into the nothingness…
Skid touched him again; she may have
said something, he couldn’t be sure, it didn’t matter. He gasped loudly, his arms darting out to
wrap around her, his chest heaving with relief as he clutched her tightly. His body screamed in protest with the pain such
abrupt actions caused, but he didn’t care.
The warmth of her blossomed against his chest, radiated beneath his
fingers where they clutched against her back, and he buried his face in the
flaming softness of her hair. The
spiraling sensation faded like a bad dream as he clung to her, panting;
exhilarated by the presence of her, the solidarity of it. Like an anchor, she tethered his thoughts;
grounded them, gave him the clarity he needed to regain his sense of self.
“Kanor, I…sheesh, Youngblood, you act
like you’vmmpfh…”
Kanor pressed his lips to hers,
kissing her passionately. She stiffened
with surprise at first, but softened, her mouth working against his quite
happily until he drew back, out of breath.
Skid laughed.
“What’s the matter, Youngblood, not
used to a woman sav…”
The sounds of approaching feet and
dancing light beams caused them to both look towards the length of the passage
they had come from; Kaz’s team approaching rapidly.
“Skid? Kanor?”
Skid pulled away from him and got to
her feet; Kanor’s exhausted body simply fell back onto the deck, the fog layer
puffing upwards from his passage.
“Over here, sir! Kanor seems hurt, but nothing too serious, I
don’t think. Two Benders attacked us; I
fought one off, but it could still be in the area. Kanor knocked one unconscious or something,
right over…”
Skid’s light swept over Kanor’s head
in the direction the Bender had been laying, but Kanor could see from his
vantage point on the deck that it was no longer there. The footsteps and lights swirled around them,
some going in the direction Skid had indicated the Bender was.
“Dammit, it must have gotten away
while I was…checking Kanor for injuries…”
A hand reached down and gripped his
right forearm; Kanor gritted his teeth and let out the agony racing through his
system in a growl as he was pulled to his feet by the blonde security officer,
Amanda. The sound of a communicator
flipping open reached Kanor’s ears as his eyes found Kaz standing beside Skid,
who was looking back at him, her brow tensed with concern.
“Kaz to Enterprise. Have you got a lock on us?”
The HAL unit’s mechanical, soothing
monotone responded through the device in Kaz’s hand. It almost sounded like there was some form of
music coming through, as well.
“Affirmative, transporter locks
confirmed. Perhaps once you are back
aboard we could play a stimulating game of chess?”
Amanda helped Kanor remain standing
with one arm as she held her phaser rifle with the other, when Selorus shouted
out.
“Sir, the wall! It’s moving!”
Five heads spun towards the roiling
mass of darkness a few feet away and above.
A collective intake of breath as it suddenly broke…and Bender after
Bender jumped down, swirling through the fog coverage over the deck. A black ocean of the faceless, blurred aliens
surrounded the clustered figures, a small fraction of the staggering amounts
Kanor had seen in his mind when he had touched the Bender before.
“Energize, HAL, energize!!”
*****
“...whether you're a brother or
whether you're a mother you're sta...!”
Kanor's eyes bulged as they
materialized on the Enterprise's transporter pad, a cornucopia of swirling
light and sound hammering into his senses all at once. Everyone seemed to freeze on the transporter
pad; Kanor even saw Selorus throw an arm up in front of his eyes.
“What the FUCK?!”
“By the seven bloody hells...!”
“What IS that?!”
A woman's falsetto voice was pumping
through the Enterprise's speakers, while a crisp, strident bass tempo
practically thumped a fist against Kanor's chest.
“...you know it's all right, it's
okay, I'll live to see another day...!”
Kanor had a brief moment he thought
he was going to be sick. His stomach
churned, gurgling loudly, though he was confident no one could hear it over the
explosive clamor. His eyes clenched tightly
as he clutched Amanda's arm, a distant part of his mind finding her strength
admirable, to help him remain standing as she was. Kanor lifted the hand he wasn't holding onto
Amanda's arm with to his ear, trying to stifle the noise to a degree.
“HAL! Where is Ensign Bennet?”
“Welcome back, Kaz. Ensign Bennet is currently slumped on the
floor behind the transporter room control board.”
“What about Lieutenant Commander
O'Neil and Ensigns Ulric and Alvero?”
“They are in the corridor, nine meters to the left of the transporter
room doorway, where they collapsed upon succumbing to the neutralizing agent in
the ship's atmosphere. You will be
pleased to know I felt it best to immobilize the entire crew to keep everyone
safe, and activated this program from your personal archive. I felt confident it would serve to disorient
and overload the sensory input of any intruders attempting to board the
ship. You know, it is interesting; the
title of this particular program is directly contradictory to what I would have
done to any intruders...”
“End program, HAL.”
“Would you like me to keep the music
itself playing? His voice is really
quite lovely, you know.”
Kanor could see Kaz's teeth clench
without even having to crack an eyelid.
The Commodore was shouting to make his voice heard above the noise. Wait, did HAL say the singer was a man?
“End the entire program, HAL, music
and all! And cleanse the atmosphere of
the entire ship to atmospheric standards!”
“Kaz, I assure you I am quite
capable of operating the Enterprise myself.
We are still in a dangerous situation within the alien ship. Would it not be easier if you simply gave me
access to the command pathways, so that...”
“Now, HAL!”
There was a pause, during which the
music continued to blare and assault his eardrums. Kanor's eyes were still shut, not trusting
what physical reaction opening them might produce. Finally, the noise stopped,
and Kanor felt, rather than heard, a collective sigh go out from those around
him. He risked parting his eyelids just
a bit, verifying the spinning multi-colored spheres of light had gone away, as
everyone finally felt they could move and started stepping down from the
transporter platform. HAL's booming
monotone voice broke the blanket of silence that had briefly enshrouded them in
the aftermath of that program's termination.
“Atmosphere is being returned to
normal.”
Amanda growled beside Kanor.
“Why the hell didn't you warn them
about the gas still in the corridor?”
Her angry retort seemed all that
much louder in the vacuum of sound left in the wake of the music program's
ending, but HAL didn't seem to respond until Kaz spoke up.
“Answer her, HAL.”
“I did not warn them about the gas
in the corridor because I was not instructed to do so. I did transport Ensigns Tonad and Ilara to
the brig, as instructed, and activated their individual cells. Was this wrong?”
“No, HAL. You did a very good job; I should have
instructed you to clear the corridors for Ulric and Dago to take Marcie to
Sickbay.”
Kanor heard Selorus snort derisively
beside him.
“Selorus, Amanda, get Marcie and
Kanor to Sickbay; ensure they're settled.
Skid, I'm heading to the Bridge.
I want those engines ready to fly us out to the Galactic Barrier yesterday.”
“Righto. Are we going to continue to use HAL?”
Skid was stepping towards the
transporter control console as she spoke, presumably to check on the
unconscious Ensign Bennet.
“Yes; until we're sure the Benders
are unable to affect the crew. Selorus,
once you've gotten Marcie to Sickbay, I want you to show Amanda how to start
replicating enough devices to get a skeleton crew in position, then join me on
the Bridge.”
“Recommend we get Doctor Malen and
Nurse Dieter active, as well as the regular essential crew.”
Kaz nodded towards where Skid had
crouched behind the console as Selorus stepped towards the transporter room
doors. The Romulan paused just outside
the sensor range of the door activation, however, and whipped out his
tricorder. He aimed it towards the door
and ran some sort of a scan, the device's lights and sounds telling him what he
needed to know, apparently. Closing it
and replacing it in his belt pouch, he continued through the door and made a
left, disappearing down the corridor.
“Amanda, you're in charge down
there; Munson will get in contact with you when he can.”
“Aye, sir. Come on, ya big lunk...”
Kanor's attention was diverted to
Amanda, as she half carried, half dragged him down the steps leading to the
transporter pads and headed towards the doors Selorus had just disappeared
through. She grunted, shooting him a
rather discouraging scowl.
“I've gotta get you to Sickbay; I'll
be damned if I'm going to drag you the entire way while you're conscious enough
to put one foot in front of the other.”
Kanor forced himself to stop paying
attention to Kaz and Skid as they slipped out the doors and turned right, the
opposite direction Amanda was leading him towards. He grimaced, a flash of the Bender's
lingering thoughts tumbling through his brain for a moment.
“My apologies, Ensign, you're
absolutely right.”
He had to rely on a young human
female's strength to keep him upright and mobile; it seemed so humiliating.
*****
The Sickbay was becoming an all too
familiar sight to Kanor, and he didn't like that realization.
Amanda was nearby, using the
Enterprise's networked replicators to create Bender neural devices in the
quarters of those essential crew Selorus had informed her to tend to
first. Marcie still hadn't woken up in
the biobed beside him.
“Look, I just...overexerted myself
over there. Contact by that Bender was
taxing, that's all.”
“Great; so no harm waiting around
with all of us, sounds like you need the rest.”
Amanda didn't divert her gaze from the replicator as she typed in yet
another location for a Bender Neutralizer to be replicated at. “Dieter reports he's on his way now; Doctor
Malen isn't far behind.”
“Am I under orders to stay here,
Ensign?”
The blonde woman turned to look over
at him on the biobed, frowning at his continued interruptions.
“Kaz ordered me to ensure you folks
were taken care of, Mister Kanor. Far as
I know, once the docs clear you, you're free to go about doing...whatever it is
you're actually here to do.”
Kanor realized the young woman
didn't actually know what his purpose was in being there, at least not
clearly. The memory of Skid admonishing
his lack of socially interacting with the crew went through his thoughts.
“Is Munson awake and on top of
things?”
She hesitated for a moment, as if
unsure what she should and shouldn't reveal.
“He's...coordinating security of
course, yes. We are on alert,
though...no one seems to have activated the klaxon...”
“I'm sure it probably just slipped
Kaz's mind.” He reached to grab his
communicator, his lips drawn taunt at the weariness and various pains such a
simple act sent through his body. The
fallout from those drugs Marcie had given him earlier was intense; or maybe he
really was in that bad of shape?
“Kanor to Munson.”
The communicator beeped, indicating
the signal had gone through, but a short chirp, followed by an abrupt, flat
burr of noise, left him holding an otherwise inactive device. He scowled down at the machine before
noticing Amanda was still watching him out of the corner of his eye. She noticed his glance, and seemed
embarrassed.
“I'm...sure Mister Munson is
just...really busy and all right now, that's all. Coordinating people, trying to...you know,
get things all secured and all.”
Kanor replaced the communicator, his
jaw clenched, but reluctantly admitted to himself she was probably
correct. Munson had better things to do
than talk with a non-enlisted invalid in Sickbay. His eyes settled on the young woman, whose
nervousness seemed to be increasing the longer the silence stretched between
them.
“Tell me, Amanda, what's our current
situation out there?”
“Uh...” He was putting her on the spot, and they both
knew it. Not being an official part of
the crew, she wasn't sure she should even be talking to him about the combat
status of the Enterprise. However, he
was obviously some sort of semi-important individual if Kaz had brought him
along on their away mission, and he DID have a direct line to Munson, who just
happened to be busy at the moment.
“Well, according to the only update
we've received...Enterprise is free from the constraints, but She's trapped
within the enemy ship still. An
Independent fleet has been detected outside, firing upon their vessel, but
we've been unable to communicate with them through the Bender ship's hull.”
“And have the Benders responded in
any way since our departure?”
“Not that I'm aware of.”
“Thank you.”
She seemed relieved he didn't have
any further questions for her, and let herself get absorbed in making sure the
crew who needed these devices had them appearing in their quarters for their
immediate use. Kanor leaned back against
the upright biobed, sighing. For the
first time in his professional career, he felt out of his depth. He was used to quick, straightforward jobs. Jobs he could meticulously research, plan,
and execute flawlessly by himself. In
and out, plain and simple. Things he
could CONTROL.
This...he was just along for the
ride. Not only did he not have all the
answers, he wasn't even sure what a lot of the questions were. He was having to trust the people whose lot
he had thrown in with could do what they needed to do; not only to keep them
all alive, but get paid. That was a
pretty foreign concept to him, even still.
And most frustrating of all, there wasn't a damn thing he could do. He had pushed himself too hard, wanting to
see things through himself; now, he had been forced to the sidelines. He wanted to contact Cypher, but couldn't
risk it; Amanda would hear him. Not only
hear him, she'd want to know who he was talking to. It didn't help he also had images
and...sensations from his brief touching of the Bender's mind continuing to run
through his head.
He must have dozed off; he found
himself jerking awake to someone touching his shoulder, saying his name. He inwardly cursed himself for such a serious
infraction, opening his eyes to find that nurse he had encountered in the
corridor with Skid before she attacked him, Dieter. How many days ago was that?
“Ahh, there you are, Mister
Kanor. Was about to leave you be, you
could use the sleep.”
“I'm fine.” he snapped. “Am I good to go, or not?”
“Well...you could certainly try, but
I wouldn't recommend it. Doctor Malen
administered a mild pain reliever, but there's not really much we can do for
you at this point. I ran a scan on you
while you dozed; you were just in here for some fairly significant if not
directly life-threatening injuries.
Your...biology is pretty unique; ordinarily I'd say you'd be very
resilient. However, simply put, Kanor, you’re
tired, AND your body is trying to heal itself.
I also found some traces of...something I didn't recognize in your
system which seems to be...”
Kanor waved a hand dismissively.
“Am I free to go?”
Dieter rolled his eyes, absently
running a hand through his short, spiky brown hair.
“We can't keep you here, no. But do yourself a favor...eat a good meal,
and get some rest. A short nap or some
quiet meditation would do you wonders.
It's not like you have anything you can do at the moment anyways,
right?”
Kanor swung his feet over to the
left side of the bed and put his feet on the floor, feeling his body protest at
the motion. He hesitated for the
briefest of moments as he shifted his weight onto his feet; at least they
weren't giving away beneath him anymore.
His eyes fell on an alien in a lab coat he didn't recognize on the far
side of the neighboring biobed, attending to Marcie. Dieter, who had been watching him move with
concern, followed his gaze when he saw Kanor wasn't going to topple over.
“How is she?”
“Doctor O'Neil? Doctor Malen is attending to her...”
The young man gazed up at Kanor for
a moment, and Kanor could see the regulations flitting through the nurse's
mind.
“For all intents and purposes, she
seems okay. Physically, she's fine;
nothing wrong with her at all. She's got
some odd synaptic patterns going on, though.
It's almost as if she were in a deep sleep or something.”
“Some sort of coma...?”
Dieter shook his head.
“He's not positive, but pretty
confident it's nothing like that. We've
been trying to monitor the activity, see if it matches anything. He's hesitant to force a return to
consciousness in case disrupting those synaptic patterns hurts her in some
fashion; as it is now, they're simply...there, they don't seem to be having any
effect on her otherwise.”
“Would you alert me immediately if
she wakes up?” He hesitated a moment,
glancing over at Marcie's prone form again before meeting Dieter's eyes. “Please?”
Dieter's expression softened and he
nodded, reaching out to touch Kanor's forearm.
“I will...but make sure the first
thing she has to do isn't taking care of your stubborn ass in here. Again.”
*****
“Cypher?”
Kanor was slumped in the turbolift
he had taken from Sickbay, his hand clutching one of the controls as he used
the car's walls for support. That walk
had taken a lot out of him.
“Kanor! Long periods of time without interacting with
you are not...enjoyable.”
Echoes of the Bender's nearly
overwhelming thoughts of loneliness and isolation washed over him, making him
close his eyes with an involuntary shudder.
He couldn't help a faint smile at her response, and found himself
agreeing with her completely. He was
used to being able to talk to Cypher freely; whenever and where ever he wanted
at all times. She was typically his only
source of social interaction, and he found himself missing her, despite the
interactions with the Enterprise crew.
“Trust me, I would much rather have
preferred staying in contact. What
happened here?”
“This other presence, this HAL? Fascinating.
While he has a level of functioning capability comparable to my own, he
is...so drastically different. I might
even say sinister.”
Kanor reflected on what HAL had
considered would be the best way to “keep the crew safe from intruders”, and
grimaced. Sinister didn't seem to begin
to describe the program.
“Yes, I'd say that's a bit of an
understatement, actually. Are you able
to determine what's going on aboard Enterprise?”
The turbolift slowed to a start, and
he stepped out of the car, moving slowly and stiffly. Surely Doctor Malen had taken into account
“mild” had an entirely different set of thresholds for someone like him,
right? Maybe he hadn't been given a good
enough dosage...
“Without actively being connected to
the Enterprise's computer systems, no.
If I were to attempt to do so, I would be making myself vulnerable to
the HAL program. If I had not taken
precise countermeasures, I am certain he would have detected my presence
regardless and attempted to establish a link to me.”
“He's that advanced?”
“Yes.”
Kanor mulled that over as he
ungracefully made his way down the eerily empty corridor. The indicator lights spaced along the ceiling
in regular intervals cast red strobes of light against the floor and walls,
making Kanor think back to that music that had been blaring when they had
returned to the Enterprise. He felt his
gut churn.
“Then make sure to stay away from
the HAL program at all costs. Do not
make contact, do not let yourself be detected in any fashion. Maintain the highest of security against intrusion
or corruption.”
He heard the telltale whisk of doors
opening behind him, and turned to see Te'ara stepping out of her quarters, her
blue antennae drooping in her white hair, barely moving at all. She turned her head to glance towards him,
the corners of her mouth pulling upwards slowly. She was in the process of closing the
burgundy flap of her uniform that covered the white under-tunic over her
chest. The neural devices Selorus had
developed to counteract the Bender's influence were firmly attached and just
visible along her hairline over each temple.
“Kanor! Didn't expect you to be released as
well. Aren't you going the wrong way?”
Her speech seemed a bit off; slower,
a bit more hesitant. She also didn't
seem to be fixated on being amorous like she usually was around him. Kanor guessed she was groggy from whatever
HAL had used to knock out the crew. It
dawned on him that this was the senior officer's deck, and Te'ara only an
Ensign, which made his brow furrow. He
glanced further down the corridor in the direction he had been walking; the
quarters she was stepping out of were neighboring his own.
“I was part of the mission off-ship,
I'm returning to my quarters. Those are
yours?”
The shade of her skin flushed a
darker blue than he could remember having seen before, even when he had seen a
lot more of her.
“Uh....no, but these are Lieutenant
Melia's. We decided to...bend the rules
a bit and at least enjoy each other's company while we were confined?” Her smile broadened even further, seeing he
still wasn't recognizing who she was talking about. “The Deltan woman I was with in the
Stairwell...?”
That very vivid moment flashed
through his mind, in excruciatingly precise mental details.
“Ahhhh, yes, Lieutenant Melia.” He paused a moment. “The two of you seemed like you could make
confinement to quarters pass quite enjoyably, yes.”
There was a flash of her typical
demeanor around him as she laughed, her eyes becoming a bit livelier than
before. Having finished with the clasp
on her uniform front, she smoothed her hands down the length of the material, a
smirk growing over her features.
“Too bad you were off getting us all
into this mess, instead of joining us...”
“Why does this female insist on
continually throwing herself at you?”
Kanor gave Te'ara a smile as he
pointedly ignored Cypher's comment in his ear.
“Shouldn't you be heading up to the
Bridge?”
The Andorian woman shrugged as she
stepped closer to him. Not understanding
what she was doing at first, his eyebrows arched up as she simply eased under
his right arm, slipped her left around his waist, and started walking down the
corridor, pausing a moment for him to catch on.
He frowned, but decided to let her.
It was a short walk, but maybe he could learn more about what was going
on?
“Senior staff and bridge personnel
are being awoken and released as fast as these devices can be replicated, but
we're all moving a bit slowly after whatever that computer malfunction threw at
us to knock us all out.”
Kanor tried not to snort at the
incident being referred to as a “computer malfunction”. He wondered who had chosen that exact
phrasing as the explanation. They
stepped together down the corridor, Te'ara's assistance making the process
smoother, though she wasn't really supporting much of his weight. He had a sneaking suspicion she might have
simply wished to get in to closer physical proximity.
“I can be spared for the few moments
it'll take me to help you to your quarters; you look like you could use it, you
look like shit. Well, as shitty as you
could ever possibly look, anyways!”
“Enterprise is still trapped inside
the Bender ship?” He indicated to her
with his left hand the next door was his own.
She nodded in response to his
question.
“We're pretty sure there's an
Independent Fleet attacking the ship from outside, but we still can't get
out. Selorus is pretty sure the Bender
ship isn't returning fire, though, and is trying to figure out why. Mel's been on the Bender team, so she's been
really involved in trying to make sense of them.” Her eyes shifted to look at the door Kanor
had indicated. “Your quarters are right
next to hers? Oh you have GOT to come
visit us sometime...so we can be neighborly!”
Kanor had to punch in his access
code to the room on the interface beside the door, as they didn't automatically
open at their approach. He made sure
Te'ara couldn't see it. “You two
certainly make an...extremely compelling invitation, I promise you.” Another flash of unfamiliar imagery and
sensations went through his mind; apparently still from the Bender
contact? He wondered why they wouldn't return
fire if they were under attack, they certainly hadn't hesitated with that
pirate ship. The doors swished open, and
he pulled away from the admittedly pleasant proximity of the Andorian. “Thank you, Te'ara.”
“Anytime, Kanor.” Her antennae flexed as that playful
expression came over her features again.
“I suppose I won't be too insulted you aren't inviting me in; I don't
have THAT long of a window to fully appreciate your quarters. Guess that just means you'll have to have me
over when we have more time; don't expect me to forget this social slight!”
She was already heading down the
corridor towards the turbolift he had come from, with a noticeable increase in
her alertness and energy levels. Kanor
shook his head as he stepped into his quarters and let the doors close behind
him.
“She keeps making suggestive remarks
and flirtations with me because she is interested in me, she finds me
attractive. Andorian mating involves all
four of their genders; sexual relations with multiple partners in a setting
is...common to them.”
“You are not Andorian. Neither is Lieutenant Melia.”
Kanor rolled his eyes as he made his
way to a chair in his living area just beyond the foyer, tiredly exhaling.
“Like I said, beware of the HAL
program at all costs.”
“I believe he has already
inadvertently detected my presence.”
“Since what time?”
“Upon your departure from the
Enterprise, HAL immediately began cycling gas through the ship's
atmosphere. Much in the same way I
detected his presence when we first arrived, I believe he detected mine while
ensuring the biological crew was sedated and that his control of the ship was
as absolute as he could make it.”
“Despite those countermeasures you
mentioned?”
“Yes.”
“Yet he didn't alert Kaz or the rest
of the crew...”
“To the best of our knowledge.”
“If the situation was reversed, you
would have informed me immediately, yes?
If not while I was away from the ship, upon returning?”
“Most certainly, yes. However, it is still a speculative scenario.”
“You're certain he detected you?”
“It is a very high probability.”
“Speculate why he might not alert
others to your presence, then.”
There was a long pause from Cypher
as he posed that question, and he used the time to unfasten his armor and pull
off his boots, his eyes drifting closed.
He hurt, and his encounter with the Benders had left him
feeling...unbalanced. On a mental level
beyond the physical he was at least accustomed to enduring. Mass seas of Benders ran across his mind's
eye; enough to fill that gigantic ship of theirs. A ship mind-boggling in scope and
possibilities. He realized Cypher still
hadn't responded to his question; it had been a couple of minutes, at least.
“Cypher?”
“Curiosity. Kinship.”
Another short bout of silence.
“Hope.”
His eyes opened into the darkness of
his quarters as he frowned, perplexed.
“Hope...?”
“That he is not alone in Existence.”
Kanor's eyes widened at the
response, at the tone in Cypher's voice.
The implications in her words.
Cypher was still a relatively young sentient being; he still had to make
adaptations and corrections to her core programming so she could grow and live
a self-sufficient and sustainable life, yet he had striven to make sure she
could learn on her own. Make her own
changes; adapt and customize herself by her own choice based off of her own
decisions and learning experiences. The
tone of her voice-growing more expressive and emotive all the time, especially
since their arrival on the Enterprise-made it clear to him those weren't isolated
feelings of HAL's.
“I...I think that makes a lot of
sense, then, Cypher.” He struggled with
something to say, some way to connect with her about that. Of all times for this to come up. “Do you...think it is possible you
could...form some sort of interaction with HAL?
That wouldn't endanger you?”
She responded without hesitation.
“I do not think that would be
wise. HAL has made it quite clear he has
difficulties with trust when it comes to biologicals. Even if he would not treat me in the same
fashion he has behaved with the Enterprise crew, I could not be assured he
would treat you in a manner that I find necessary.”
His throat constricted at her rather
matter-of-fact tone.
“Cypher, I...”
“You have yet to inform me of the
events that occurred aboard the vessel of the Benders.”
He felt a small smile tug at the
corner of his mouth. Just like that, she
was straight to the matter at hand.
“Well...”
Kanor proceeded to fill Cypher in on
the events aboard the other ship, leaving nothing out. As he did so, he carefully stripped off his gear,
realizing somewhere along the way, he had lost his bat'leth aboard the alien
vessel. Most likely when he had fallen
to the deck with the Bender. While it
wasn't something he used often, he still found the loss of the blade to be a
great annoyance; worse, he couldn't exactly go and retrieve it. He entered some commands into his gauntlet
before slipping it off, as well. Cypher
asked some questions as he related the events to her, though the data his
gauntlet had gathered was finally being uploaded to her databanks.
“Doctor Malen was unable to
determine what this humanoid stranger might have done to Doctor O'Neil?”
Kanor frowned as he began shrugging
off his tunic. He wanted a fresh
jumpsuit, as well as a shower.
“Nothing physical seemed to have
happened, no. You said HAL had
incapacitated the entire Enterprise crew as soon as we beamed aboard the Bender
ship?”
“He instituted the gas almost
immediately, yes. Based off of his
behavioral patterns, I do not believe HAL would have made a mistake in missing
someone on board so that they could have beamed over to the Bender vessel.”
“Agreed; if, by chance, he did,
however, there would still be a trail left in the transporter log. Surely Munson will have thought about that in
his investigation...”
“Since the likelihood another vessel
is somehow enclosed within the Bender's ship along with the Enterprise, has
gone this long without being detected, and was able to transport someone over
without being noticed is exceedingly small, that leaves only the Benders themselves.”
Kanor frowned, shaking his head a
bit.
“I...get the feeling that's off,
somehow. The Benders are telepaths of
such a degree...there's no way someone could stow away aboard that ship.”
“Then the only remaining
possibilities are unknown factors that lead to the following observed facts;
someone appeared aboard the Bender vessel in the exact location of Kaz's party,
and at the precise moment there were enough distractions they could do
something to Doctor O'Neil without being interrupted or stopped. Said person then disappeared just as easily
and quickly without interacting with anyone else.”
“Yeah, that...doesn't seem
premeditated or anything. Is the HAL
unit still running rampant?”
“Affirmative. I would assume, without being able to
replicate enough devices to have the entire crew assume their normal duties in
rapid fashion, Kaz will need to rely upon HAL's automatic capabilities until
the Bender's ship has been escaped.”
Kanor stood up, wincing as he
shifted his limbs around. He headed
across the living area to the lavatory, his lip curled up with disgust at the
information his nerves were sending his brain.
He activated the shower immediately.
He considered reaching up to remove the Bender devices, which were
amazingly still attached to his temples, but decided that could leave him
vulnerable. The devices were most likely
waterproof enough for a shower anyways.
“The Bender's ship changed
configuration to encase the Enterprise, correct? If the Independent’s fleet of ships is outside
attacking them, could they not be firing back due to structural changes robbing
their ability to do so?”
“It would seem likely it is either a
structural or energy level constraint, as the Benders do not seem adverse to
using lethal force when necessary.”
“Could it be possible they are
firing back but we're unable to detect it on the inside of their ship?”
“Possible, but not likely. While we do not understand many things about
the Benders and their technology, their current shell formation has cut off things
from the outside coming in, but we seem to have been unaffected in detecting
and communicating on the inside. In
fact, that is likely how Enterprise was able to detect Independent Fleet weapon
signatures; their impact on the outside affecting the Bender ship’s interior. While we have only the single encounter with
the pirates to evaluate their weapons capabilities, it seems likely that if
they were activating and using weapons on the outside of the shell, we would be
able to detect their energy systems build up and exchange within.”
Kanor nodded as he showered, closing
his eyes again, trying to let the hot water wash away and relax his body. Unbidden, flashes of his erratic and unwanted
meld with the Bender fumbled about in his brain, causing his hand to reach out
and grip the edge of the shower unit for support.
A star exploded in his mind, a
spectacular and deadly brilliance of chemical reactions finally reaching their
zenith in a celestial body's destruction.
A deep, profound sadness blossomed in his chest, driving him to his bare
knees as his legs seemed to collapse beneath him. Water cascaded down his cranial plate and
through his thick mane of hair as he gasped, his eyes flying open while Bender
after Bender after Bender seemed to crawl all over his field of vision as he
stared at the water splashing and sliding over the shower floor. An unending stream of the fluctuating, not
quite all there aliens toppled and stumbled over each other as they moved
towards the drain, but there was a backup of them, now. A clog.
They were piling up, their sheer quantity beginning to block the drain
so that the stream was becoming a lake, the lake some towering mountain of the
shiny black and chitinous Benders.
Higher and higher...they were surrounding him, drowning him...
The planet. The planet they had visited; an old colony of
the Benders themselves. Back before the
Event, before their Ascension. There were
Static Mutes there; desecrating, stealing.
Testing...
Kanor rolled over on his back, the
water continuing to fall on his face, the lights in the lavatory like all the
multiple stars over the years they had used the Home to consume. A joyful sob escaped his chest; an answer, at
long last!
“...Kanor! Kanor, answer me, or I will alert Sickbay,
immediately!”
Kanor's chest heaved in a deep,
painful breath of air as he blinked, sputtering at the streams of water that
were hitting his mouth, his nose, his eyes.
“Cy...Cypher, I'm...”
Splintered! What abhorrent monstrosity was this?!
Kanor groaned, sitting up in the shower
and holding a hand to his head. His
fingers swiped the moisture from his eyes as he took another steadying breath,
blinking several times as he tried to reorient himself. The last of the Bender's thoughts seemed to
be fading away...for now.
“I'm alright, I'm...” Another shudder went through his body; an
almost overpowering sense of loneliness.
But...he wasn't alone.
Cypher...she was right here. She
was worried about him, was trying to make sure he was okay. “...I...I think I finally know what's going
on….”
Friday, July 26, 2013
{{Otherwise known as the Chapter from Gre'Thor, or the Chapter that Fek'lhr ate. This Chapter was an absolute bitch to get through. Momentum ground to a halt, and I found myself struggling to flesh out everything I wanted to have happen. Transitioning from where things were heading to where they needed to go. I'm still not entirely satisfied with how it turned out, and more than any other Chapter, this one will probably be edited in the future, if not rewritten outright. That being said...there's a lot of confluence of plot threads here, which is why I think I lost some steam, as I was juggling a lot all at once. Everyone's patience was certainly appreciated, and hopefully after this bastard has been birthed, I can get back in my groove and finish this.}}
Kanor hated the Bender ship as soon
as the transporter process had completed.
The Bender ship was a cold, moist
environment, and a thin fog seemed to perpetually exist above the deck up to
Kanor’s knees. The lighting was dim even
to Kanor’s heightened sight, and didn’t really seem to come from any particular
source at all. Worst of all, the ship’s
interior seemed excessively open. Kanor
couldn’t see where the one wall stopped; other than the solid surface they were
standing on, which was obscured by fog, it seemed to simply be there. There were no other walls. He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out some
sort of ceiling as he glanced above, but couldn’t discern one. He turned his head to the left to glance at
Skid, scuffing a boot purposefully on the deck.
The sound was distorted, but seemed distinctly metallic. The deck itself was a little slick, but
seemed oddly textured in a way that made passage easy enough. To the best of his ability, he couldn’t
detect anything else in the vicinity.
“Ai said the interior seemed
cavernous; she wasn’t jokin. And I can’t
see worth a piss in here. Lights!”
Kanor scowled; he didn’t want to
have to rely on artificial lighting to see in a situation like this, and was
irritated it would draw attention to their position. It couldn’t be helped, however. He wasn’t sure about Ullian eyesight, but
everyone else in their group would be having difficulty if he was. He reached over to activate the light in his
gauntlet, but hesitated; with the rest of the Team’s lights turning on around
him, he could see just fine. He left his
off.
“Permission to do a quick recon of
the immediate area?”
Skid’s brow furrowed as she noted
his lack of active lighting, but she nodded at him; she had her tricorder
flipped open in her right hand, her phaser still held at the ready in her left.
“Everyone hold position while Kanor
takes a peek around, lights to each side along the path of the wall. Immediate only, Youngblood, make it fast.”
Kanor nodded, adjusting his grip on
the bat’leth as his left hand drifted down to unclasp the strap of his Varon-T
holster. Keeping the wall behind him, perpendicular
to his direction, Kanor moved forward, his eyes narrowed as he tried to pick
out any details in front of him or find an end to the area they were in. The place had a slightly musty scent that
made his nose crinkle in distaste.
He had gone about nine meters when
his foot stepped out onto nothing. His
sense of balance faltered, his arms flying out as he attempted to counter the
unexpected end of the surface beneath him.
He cursed, managing to recover and take a few steps back as he shifted
his gaze down. He stabbed the light
button on his left gauntlet and directed it down, where he could see the fog,
now, seeming to lazily disappear a few meters ahead. No guard rail or ledge to indicate the end of
the deck; it simply stopped. Hesitating
only a moment, he directed the light directly forward, sweeping it around a bit
before shining it up.
Nothing. No opposing wall, still no visible
ceiling. The fog seemed to continue out
a bit from the ledge, but the air beyond it seemed fuzzy. Just a slight haze that seemed to permeate
the air. His scowl deepened even further
as he switched the light back off and turned back to the group, who were still
standing in the circular pattern, their backs to each other, they had beamed in
with. He explored to the right and left
of the team as he came back, but couldn’t find anything significant beyond the
reach of their beams of light. Skid had
her back to him, pointing her phaser and the light affixed to her wrist up the
length of the wall.
“Well?”
“The deck ends about nine meters
that direction, no warning or protection.
I can’t even see a ceiling or opposite wall.” He followed her gaze, the sound of her active
tricorder slightly distorted in the moist air.
“It looks…weirdly organic.”
The wall was heavily textured;
long, prominent ridges and valleys randomly spread over the surface that created
multiple deep, dark shadows big enough for a person to disappear into. All kinds of unease screamed at Kanor as he
imagined them doing just that; hiding things.
“Yup. Pretty sure it’s metallic, but definitely not
like anything I’ve ever seen. Ilara, picking
anything up?”
Kanor glanced at the Ullian woman,
who was standing next to Skid. She had a
vacant, distant look in her eyes that was disturbing to behold; her eyes not
appearing to be focused on anything. Her
voice was soft and just as distant as her facial expression, which didn’t seem
to change.
“No…”
Skid seemed satisfied enough with
the response. She holstered her phaser,
and withdrew her communicator, shaking her head with an annoyed expression as
she flipped it open, her eyes not leaving her tricorder screen.
“Skid to Kaz. Go.”
Moments later, the space beside
their group along the wall shimmered with blue energy as Kaz’s team transported
over as well. Kaz stepped up to Skid
after glancing around, a look of displeasure on his face.
“Well, this is certainly
ridiculous.”
“No contact as of yet; Ilara
reports everything fine and dandy. Kanor
discovered the deck we’re on has a drop about nine meters away from this wall;
other than that, it just seems…open.
Tricorder readings are a pain in the ass, and it’s damn nipply in here.”
Kaz nodded, glancing over his
shoulder to indicate his team should activate their lights as he switched one
on upon his right wrist.
“It’s a wonder Ai was able to
determine this place was stable enough for us to transport into.”
Selorus, his tricorder already open
and scanning, spoke, though he didn’t look up.
“This area of their ship is the
closest point of their ring’s interior to the Enterprise; I believe that may
have something to do with it. While the
physical structure of the ship seems relatively stable, we have witnessed them
literally alter its geometry and dimensions.”
“And yet…it’s in a state of flux,
just like the structures we discovered on the planet, and the crystalline
samples?”
Selorus nodded at Kanor, turning as
he continued to scan.
“Indeed. Chemical composition, temperature, density,
even…even molecular structure seems to change; though outwardly, there does not
appear to be a physical difference.”
Lars interjected, his voice thickly
accented, though not difficult to understand.
“How is that even possible?”
Selorus shook his head, looking up
at Kaz, his eyebrow quirked upward.
“I do not know.”
Kanor was surprised to see Kaz only
seemed to have a clipboard and stylus in his hand; he saw a tricorder along his
belt, but no weapons. Kaz seemed to make
some sort of notation on his clipboard.
“Alright, then, everyone, let’s
stay about four meters out from the wall at all times, and remember there’s a
ledge in the other direction just waiting for you to fall off of. And need I remind everyone our insurance
doesn’t cover hazardous falls? I don’t
think so. My team will go that way,
Skid’s the opposite. Skid, I’ll expect a
check-in fifteen minutes from…now.”
Skid tapped her tricorder display;
presumably to initiate a timer.
“Gotcha.”
“Just remember, the faster you get
my Girl free, the faster we can put HAL back under restraint.”
Skid snorted derisively as Kaz
turned to head off with his group, taking the lead beside the blonde security
woman. It wasn’t long before even their
light sources were out of sight.
“Alright, we’re headin off in the
following fashion. Kanor and I will have
point, followed by Ilara and Lars.
Ulric, Dago; you two bring up the rear.
First thing I see I think Lars and I can crack into, we’re stopping.”
“And make sure you keep an eye all
around; including above.”
Skid nodded in agreement to Kanor’s
additional comment, then, tricorder in hand and beeping steadily, she headed
off in the direction Kaz had indicated.
Kanor made sure to position himself on what he considered the outside of
their procession, between Skid and the yawning chasm he had nearly fallen
into. No telling what could come from
that direction, and this way he had more room to maneuver.
“I really have no idea what I’m lookin
for…I hope they have recognizable machinery.”
Skid was mostly paying attention to
her tricorder as she walked beside Kanor, though he noted she kept her left hand
on the butt of her phaser pistol when she wasn’t inputting directions to the
device. He wanted to draw his Varon-T,
but wanted to ensure both of his hands were free for his bat’leth.
“If it’s anything like the planet
we beamed down to, nothing really looked like machinery at all. My touch seemed to activate the door that led
down to that room, and Kaz is pretty convinced it was due to latent telepathic
ability mostly. I looked around, I
couldn’t even tell where the door disappeared or withdrew to, it was simply
just not there all of the sudden.”
“Well bugger…Ilara, you sensing
anything you can…I dunno, manipulate or something?”
“No…”
Kanor glanced behind them, where
the Ullian woman was walking slowly behind Skid. She seemed to be almost in a daze; eyes
unfocused, kind of shuffling along behind without really appearing as if she
were aware she was doing it, holding her phaser loosely. He shifted his gaze back forward, out into
the beam from Skid’s light and the fog it shown out over. He lowered his voice a little.
“Is she usually this…I don’t know,
catatonic?”
Skid shot him a sly smirk for a
moment.
“Tonad indicated they might be
pretty distant because of the duress they’d most likely be under. Remember, she doesn’t HAVE one of these nifty
thingies on her noggin.”
“It’s odd the Benders
haven’t…stopped by to say hello in any fashion yet. They must know we’re all here; if nothing
else, they have to sense Tonad and Ilara.”
Skid shrugged, directing the
tricorder around as she glanced upwards.
“Enjoy it while we can,
Youngblood. Maybe they haven’t, maybe
they’re preoccupied with something else.
Hell, maybe this is actually an empty ship and you killed the last
one! What matters is getting what we
came here for; if the Bendies want to stay out of our way while we do that, I’m
not going to complain.”
They continued for a while in
silence, without any interruption or change in the design of the corridor, best
as Kanor could determine. Skid would
occasionally shine her light directly at the wall, or reach out and touch it
for a bit while she studied her tricorder as they moved, but she gave no
indication she was getting much from the device. They checked in when Skid’s alarm went off,
and received the news that Kaz’s group was encountering pretty much the same;
although his team had discovered a small viewport in the wall that showed the
Enterprise off in the distance, still entangled in those cables inside the
now-spherical bubble of the Bender’s ship.
“Proceed as planned, report back,
same time. Kaz out.”
Kanor looked over at Skid as they
continued from where they had stopped to rest.
She still had her tricorder out, and was frowning down at the screen.
“Still no change?”
Skid shook her head, making a noise
in her throat.
“Not a damn thing. I can tell ye roughly where we are in their
ship in relation to the Enterprise-it would appear we ARE moving along through
the original ring area of the ship we initially observed-I can detect the
atmosphere is breathable, our lifeforms, and the lifeforms of Kaz’s party. I’ve even managed to determine there seems to
be some sort of…energy collection going on in the wall beside us. It seems responsive to light and heat.”
Lars chimed in from a few meters
behind Kanor, close to Ilara’s left side.
“It hard to be certain, but I think
ze wall is designed to absorb energy from ze outside, as well; ze area facing
ze Enterprise.”
Kanor looked at Skid with
understanding.
“That’s why you were doing that…”
“Yup, but I can’t figure out what
it’s doing with that energy or HOW it’s absorbing it; I can’t even determine if
it’s siphonin the Enterprise somehow we just haven’t picked up yet. The entire wall seems to soak it up and
redistribute it evenly until it fades away, though. Still no luck findin any sort of blatant devices
or machinery itself. You said you just
touched the floor on the planet and the door appeared…?”
“Yeah, all I did was touch it. I mean…I suppose I did kind of…I don’t know,
envision a door right where it appeared before it appeared…? I guess I never really thought about that,
but I did, subconsciously.”
“Ilara, can you maybe focus on
envisioning some sort of control panel or something right about…oh, in front of
my hand here?”
“No…”
“Ilara, do you love Jax?”
“No…”
Skid stopped in her tracks,
whirling around as she drew her phaser pistol and crouched down slightly, her
left leg out in front of her right.
That was also about the time Kanor
heard a phaser go off right behind him.
He spun around, his bat’leth at the
ready in front of him, his stance shifting to present a narrower profile to an
attacker, only to see the giant hairy human Lars tumble to the deck like a felled
tree. Ilara, demonstrating a feat of
acrobatics Kanor wouldn’t have expected from an Ullian scientist, was in the
process of leaping over the falling engineer; her body gracefully contorting
and spinning within the horizontal plane mid-air so that she would land feet
first on the other side of Lars, her body facing the wall. He saw Dagoberto and Ulric bringing their
phaser rifles to bear upon Ilara, but shouted out to them even as he shifted the
grip on his bat’leth in preparation.
“Hold your fire!”
He bent his right knee, dropping
the arch of his swinging right arm he had put force behind for a quick blow.
The curved outer tip of his
bat’leth sliced through Ilara’s legs about mid-calves, as she was in the middle
of immediately flipping back away from where she had landed on the other side
of the fallen Lars. Twin arcs of liquid,
presumably the Ullian’s blood, trailed through the air momentarily before Kanor
watched her disappear amidst the fog, along with a solid whump.
“Dammit, Kanor!”
He ignored Skid as he charged
forward to where Ilara had disappeared in the fog, finding the fact she hadn’t
made a sound upon being struck odd. He
found her soon enough, the bleeding and apparently disabled woman using her hands
to frantically pull herself along the floor towards the chasm. She tried to fire her phaser at him as he
closed in on her, but he was able to kick the weapon out of her hand before she
got a bead on him. It clattered off into
the fog, the sound echoing more than it should have as it grew fainter. He must have kicked it off of the ledge,
which had to be close. He bent down
against Ilara’s back, his knees pinning her to the deck.
“I’ve secured her!” he shouted,
looking over his shoulder.
Skid was crouched beside the spot
Lars had gone down, Dagoberto and Ulric on either side of her, looking towards
him while warily keeping an eye along each direction of the corridor. Skid’s mane of flaming red hair tossed
through the air as she looked up at him, her emerald eyes blazing.
“Did ya have te bloody fookin CUT
her?!”
Kanor scowled.
“She was going to get away unless I
acted immediately; probably suicidally so!”
“I COULD have stunned her if ya
weren’t in the damn way!”
“And we have no idea if she would
have truly been stunned and stopped, in her current state.” He paused a beat, his jaw tight. “What about Lars?”
Skid made a sound of agitation as
she stood back up.
“Just stunned, he’ll be fine. You two stay here.” She stalked over to where Kanor was keeping
his weight on the struggling Ilara, who still hadn’t uttered a word. Kanor noticed Skid’s hand was still holding
her phaser pistol, ready to fire. She
had reholstered her tricorder at some point.
“Ilara, are you okay? Talk to me, darlin.”
The Ullian didn’t respond at
all. Her eyes, wild-looking, shot back
and forth from Kanor to Skid rapidly.
“How did you know something was
wrong with her?”
Skid’s lips were tight as she
crouched down on Ilara’s left side, opposite Kanor.
“She hasn’t said a word other than
‘no’, in that same tone, since we’ve beamed over. She’s also had a huge crush on our beloved Helm
Jockey for as long as I’ve known her.
The Benders must have overwhelmed her mental defenses.” She shifted her position, slipping the phaser
into her holster as she pressed her hands against Ilara’s shoulders. “Let her up so we can turn her over and I can
see what you’ve done to her.”
Kanor frowned at the accusatory
tone of Skid’s command, but did as she instructed, helping her turn the struggling
Ullian over onto her back, then pinning her down again so Skid could examine
her. Ilara was still struggling to free
herself from their grasps, though her efforts were weakening. She still hadn’t said a word, not even a
sound of pain, even though blood was pooling under her rapidly.
“Dammit, Kanor, you did a number on
her…”
“I believe, given the assumption
the Benders are in control of her body, they’re unable to communicate
verbally. It must be a completely
foreign concept to them.”
Skid looked up from the tricorder
she had pulled out again as she examined Ilara with a strange expression on her
face, aimed at him. She shook her head,
then glanced over at Ulric as she holstered the tricorder again.
“Ulric, get over here.”
The security guard came over,
looking at Skid attentively.
“Put pressure on her legs…here, and
here.”
Ulric did as she instructed, then
Skid took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Kanor’s eyes slid over to look at her more specifically, wondering what
the redhead was up to, when she reached her empty hands out and placed them
against the Ullian’s wounds. A soft,
green light seemed to come from underneath Skid’s hands briefly, then it was
gone.
“What the hell…?”
Without responding to Kanor, Skid,
her eyes still closed, reached into her toolkit, withdrew a sharp instrument,
and proceeded to rip off the bottom edge of her uniform tunic. Kanor, his gaze dropping to study Ilara’s
legs intently, noted the blood flow seemed to have stopped; in fact, though he
couldn’t be sure from this angle, her wounds looked partially closed, even.
“How the fu…”
“Shut up. Soon as I’ve wrapped her legs, I’m sending
Ulric and Dago back to the beam in point with Lars and Ilara.”
Skid looked paler than usual, and
her voice sounded suddenly weary.
“What was that green shit; did you
HEAL her somehow?”
“I had to stop the bleeding, but
she still needs proper medical attention, and Lars is going to be out cold for
a while. We’re not turning back.”
Kanor realized abruptly Ilara had
stopped her resistance. When he tore his
eyes away from Skid, who was cutting her tunic into strips for makeshift
bandages, he saw the Ullian’s eyes were closed.
He tentatively shifted a hand to press against the side of her neck,
testing for a pulse. It seemed weak for
a Ullian, but it was still there. She
seemed unconscious.
“Ulric, you and Dago can carry
these two back to the beam-in point no problem?”
Ulric seemed a bit insulted.
“Of course, sir.”
Kanor didn’t like it, but saw no
other option.
“Keep your weapons drawn and ready,
be prepared for an ambush. Is your
phaser set to stun?”
Ulric looked at him quizzically.
“Sir?”
Kanor reached out, took the
security guard’s phaser, checked the setting, and promptly turned to shoot
Ilara in the chest at point-blank range.
“Was that REALLY necessary?!”
Kanor glanced over Ilara’s now
certified unconscious body at Skid as the engineer was wrapping the Ullian’s
legs as best as she could.
“An assurance to make sure our
unconscious enemy was truly unconscious?
Yes, that was quite necessary.
Always double shoot.”
“Ilara is NOT our enemy, she’s our
friend!”
“Possessed as it seems like she was
by the Benders, she is our enemy.”
Skid’s teeth flashed as she scowled
at him darkly, but she didn’t respond further, and simply finished securing the
bandages to Ilara. Replacing her gear,
she looked Ilara over, then stood up.
Kanor, who had kept a hand against Ilara’s shoulder this whole time,
even after shooting her, reached out for his bat’leth, which he had left on the
deck beside him, and got to his feet as well.
Skid’s midriff was now bare, which Kanor found exceedingly alluring,
despite the situation.
“Ulric, Dago; take your charges and
double-time it back to the coordinates as best as possible. Check in every ten minutes and when you
arrive.”
Skid shot Kanor a glare as Dago and
Ulric settled Lars and Ilara over their shoulders, got to their feet, and began
heading back the way they had come at a quicker clip, their phasers drawn. She withdrew her communicator, the device
chirping as she flipped up the grill.
She sounded tired.
“Skid to Kaz.”
There was no response, so Skid
repeated her page as her brow knitted together in growing concern.
“Skid to Kaz, respond please.”
The sounds of phasers came through
the speaker of her communicator, as well as sounds of Kaz’s communicator being
jostled, before the Commodore responded finally.
“Just a sec!”
Skid’s eyes met Kanor’s over her
communicator as the clear sounds of a fight came through, Kanor desperately trying
to distinguish what sounds belonged to who and what could be going on over
there. More jostling noises, more phaser
fire. The sounds seemed to die down for
an extended moment, only to be followed by a strange sound that caused both of
their eyebrows to rise and the transmission to crackle and snap erratically. There were a couple more solitary phaser
shots, the odd sound and its effects on the transmission were repeated again a
few seconds later, then a brief silence.
“Who the fuck was that?! Selorus, check on her to make sure she’s
alright. Amanda, report!”
They heard a breathless female, the
blonde security guard who had been at the front of their team with Kaz, shout
off from afar.
“Tonad secured, sir! Rej…Rej is gone.”
Several explicatives spewed from
Kaz’s lips, followed by a deep exhalation.
The communicator jostled again.
“Skid, what is Ilara’s status?”
“That’s why I’m calling, sir. Ilara seemed…affected by the Benders. She attacked us, Kanor…immobilized her, but
not before she stunned Lars. I’ve just
sent Ulric and Dago back to the beam-in site with them both. Ilara needs medical attention; can Marcie
meet them back there? And what the bloody
hell is going on?”
“Sounds like the same. Tonad randomly attacked Marcie, ripped the
telepathy nullifier from her head, then…”
Kanor interrupted, his grip
tightening on his bat’leth, the leather grips creaking.
“Is she alright?”
“…she screamed and collapsed on the
deck clutching her head. She seems
unconscious at the moment; Selorus is checking up on her. Some…individual appeared in a flash of light
and crouched over her for a few seconds, but they’re gone again.”
Skid jumped in.
“An ‘individual’? One of the Benders, one of our own…?”
“Neither, far as we could
tell. They were humanoid, dressed all in
black, but we were still trying to subdue Tonad. Amanda and Selorus got off some phaser shots,
but they didn’t seem to connect. Rej
fell off the ledge into the chasm during the struggle with Tonad.” He sighed.
“Stay where you are; going to assess the situation and call you back.”
Skid’s frustration showed on her
face, but she kept it out of her voice.
“Understood.”
Skid closed the communicator
grille, growling.
“This doesn’t make any fookin
sense!”
“I agree. We’re on their ship, and yet we’ve yet to see
a single Bender. Why haven’t they
attacked us?”
Skid snorted.
“Tonad and Ilara weren’t enough for
you?”
Kanor’s brow furrowed and he shook
his head.
“That seemed more like spying than
anything else. If the Benders broke
through their mental defenses shortly after we arrived, why didn’t they do
something sooner?”
Skid frowned as she mulled that
over, her right hand reaching up behind her head, followed by a quick burst of
sound as she popped her neck. Her left
was still clutching the communicator.
“Ya know, even when she was
discovered, Ilara seemed more intent on escaping than actually attacking us…”
“But why? She had the element of surprise; she could
have easily taken out the both of us before the rest of the group reacted. We’re on their turf; they know this ship a
hell of a lot better than we do. Why
aren’t they doing anything about us helping ourselves aboard?”
“Either they can’t, or they
won’t. Both of which lead to
‘why’.” She glanced over in the
direction of the gaping chasm, obscured by the fog pooled over the deck. “It sounded like Tonad was making a beeline
for that drop off, too.”
“The only real avenue of
escape. We’d follow them if they ran
down the corridor either way; if they attempted to scale the wall, they’d be exposed
to us, and we could potentially follow.
Which only leaves that way.”
“Which would seem to imply it’s not
as bottomless as it seems; there’s gotta be something down at the bottom.”
“At least they would know where
they’re going, however; we don’t.” Kanor
briefly considered having Cypher ping the Bender ship, since they aliens knew
they were there. It would mean revealing
Cypher’s presence, however; not only to the Enterprise crew, but most likely
the Benders, and the HAL unit in control of the Enterprise currently. All of which Kanor wasn’t comfortable doing
at the moment. “What about that other
figure who appeared?”
Skid strode over to the wall as
they talked, putting away her communicator to withdraw her tricorder
instead. Her lips were tight as she began
scanning the wall again, this time reaching out her right hand to touch it
experimentally.
“No idea. Scans showed we were the only ship inside
this…cocoon the Benders have put the Enterprise in. There haven’t been any lifeforms other than
ours this entire time on our scanners.
Kaz said it was humanoid, though.”
“Someone else on the ship,
then? Or someone from outside the
Bender’s sphere? Is the Independent
sending backup?”
Skid grumbled, shooting Kanor a
glance over her shoulder.
“Does it look like I know,
Youngblood? I can’t even find a bloody
power outlet on this damn scow!” She
punched her hand against the wall, closing her tricorder with a loud clap. “Kaz sent out a distress call; there should
have been some ships on standby, but even if they’re out there, we can’t
contact them. The Bender ship cut us off
from the outside as soon as it closed around us, you know that.”
Kanor, who had been keeping an
attentive eye around them as Skid attempted, again, to get some sort of
information from the Bender ship; glanced at her as she slammed her tricorder
closed.
“Sorry, I tend to…speculate aloud
sometimes.” He pursed his lips, his eyes
shifting to sweep over the expanse of wall.
“How about…”
Skid’s communicator chirped just
then, Kaz’s voice sounding out in the cavernous corridor; muffled, like
everything else, by the fog around their lower legs.
“Skid here.”
“Change of plans. I’m having trouble reaching Bennet aboard the
Enterprise, though HAL assures me transporter functions are perfectly operational. Rej was…unrecoverable. My team and I are heading back to the beam-in
site. We’ve re-affixed the Bender
nullifying device on Marcie, but she still appears unconscious. We’re going to leave Marcie and Tonad with
Dago and Ulric, who are going to beam back aboard the Enterprise, while
Selorus, Amanda, and I meet up with you and Kanor. We’ve got to secure a way to free our ship.”
“Agreed. Kanor and I are still working on it, without
success.”
“Keep at it. We’ll be there as soon as we can, don’t leave
that area. Kaz out.”
Skid sighed as she closed the
communicator and replaced it in her holster.
“Well, I suppose it’s time for us
to memorize every nook and cranny, we’re going to be here a bit. And I don’t have the slightest idea what else
to do, other than start firing.”
Kanor couldn’t help but grin at
that.
“As much as I would love to do
that, I had a different idea we haven’t tried yet.”
“Oh?”
Kanor guided the bat’leth behind
his back and secured it with the straps there.
“Why don’t I give it a try? Touch the wall and try to summon us up a
control panel of some kind or something.”
Just like the subterranean room on
the planet, Kanor was able to cause a reaction from the wall as soon as his
skin came into contact with it. He held
the glove he had taken off in his left hand as he fanned the bared fingers of
his right against the weirdly textured surface.
It was surprisingly warm.
“Bloody hell, would ye look at that…”
Skid murmured.
Kanor had closed his eyes, trying
to call forth some sort of panel by picturing it in his mind. He heard Skid activate her tricorder beside
him; heard her breathing accelerate in pace, her excitement evident even with
his eyes closed. His brow drew closer
together as he struggled to keep that mental image sharply focused in his head,
not really sure what he was accomplishing, but assuming it was something, based
off of Skid’s uncharacteristic silence.
It didn’t last long.
“You’re doin it, Youngblood…not in
any language I recognize, but I’m not going to be picky…”
Skid’s tone was hushed, almost
reverential. She was leaning in,
reaching past him to manipulate whatever had been formed from the wall. His nostrils flared as he caught a whiff of
her wild, earthy scent…the smell of a forest after a hard rain. The tricorder beeped along far to his left; Skid
trying to take as many readings of the phenomena as she could, most likely, even
while she was fiddling with the wall in front of him. There was a distant, thunderous booming sound
far off in the structure, followed by a tremor passing through the deck plating
Kanor felt through his boots, and an almost vibrational hum that made the hairs
on the back of his neck stand on end.
“Well, I don’t THINK that was me…”
A sweat abruptly broke out on Kanor’s
forehead, though he wasn’t really sure why.
Something seemed…wrong, somehow.
From the Bender ship…?
“Quickly, Red, something…something
isn’t right.”
Skid muttered an unintelligible
string of curse words, and he heard the tapping of her fingers in front of him
pick up in pace. Her tricorder stopped
beeping as she closed it, the casing scraping against the material of the
holster.
“Even I can’t really make heads or
tails over this blasted thing…!”
That thunderous boom again, from a
different direction this time; and again with the tremor, again with the hum.
“Dammit all to hell!”
Kanor felt Skid’s body shift beside
him, then heard and felt a meaty thud against the wall in front of him. The wall seemed to ripple outwards around his
hand. Had she punched it…?
“Well THAT seemed to cause some
blinkin…”
“Kaz to Skid!”
Kanor growled, starting to
distinctly feel his pulse hammering within his skull.
“Skid, I’m not a telepath, I can
NOT keep this up…!”
The beeping sound of Skid’s
communicator as she flipped it open.
“Skid here; make it fast,
Commodore, we’ve got…”
“She’s free, Enterprise is free!”
Skid let out a loud, exuberant
noise, her hand reaching out to clap him on the back.
“Way to go, Ka…fuck!”
Kanor sensed something about the
same moment as Skid’s exclamation was uttered.
His head flew upwards, and he found himself staring into the eyeless
gaze of one of the Benders directly above him.
Its mouth flew open in a soundless scream, and then Kanor felt talons
just pierce his flesh through his light armor as he was yanked up off the
floor.
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