Reply-To: ferguson@wizard.etsu.edu (Jason M Ferguson)
Organization: East Texas State University, Commerce, TX
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1992 19:37:02 GMT
Lines: 593
Here it is. Parts 1-3 of Starfleet vs Aliens. I think by
part 5, I'll have a better title for the thing. Thanks for all the
appreciative mail from someone who never thought he was a good writer.
Be on the lookout for a Quantum Leap/Aliens crossover, if this story
ever ends.
Starfleet vs. Aliens
"Computer, resume log." An pleasant-sounding beep ensued. "Captain's log, continued. The Kren is continuing patrol of the Cardassian border, with nothing notable to report. Crew is looking forward to rotation at Starbase 112, in three weeks. Lt. Depalmer has been disciplined for her remarks about the visiting
Cardassian delegation a week ago. Personally, I wish there was more I could
do about crewmembers with that sort of attitude, but these day an Excelsior-
Class starship isn't a choice assignment..."
The lights in the ready room dimmed notably. The modulated voice
that had been chosen oh-so-many years ago for computers on Excelsior-
class ship announced:
"Captain to the bridge. Yellow Alert has been initated by First
Officer Monroe."
Captain Thomas thumbed the intercom button. "On my way." He
headed for the turbolift, wishing he had a Galaxy-class ship with ready room
on the same level as the bridge.
Commander Monroe was standing next to Lt. Corcoran at tactical.
"Are you sure that they're just a frieghter? They tried the same trick
during the war."
Lt. Corcoran spoke up. "No sir," she said. "No evidence of any
type of weapons, and only minima shields. I'd say they have a genuine
problem."
"I'd rather the Captain make the decision to render assistance to
them. Can we determine whether they are actually in distress?" Monroe
asked Corcoran. "Or whether they just biloxed something on their own
to lure us in?"
"Unknown, sir." Corcoran was about to continue, But Captain
Thomas had chosen that moment to enter the bridge.
"What's the problem, Commander?"
Monroe went to full attention as he relayed facts. Thomas
hated it, but wasn't going to change the man.
"We have been contacted by a Cardassian frieghter requesting
assistance. They claim that their warp core is behving erraticly
and are afraid to attempt to activate the enigines, so they asked
assistance from the closest ship that seemed qualified to help
them, which happened to be ourselves." Monroe relaxed once he
had finished his explanation.
"Commander, that hardly nessesitates going to yellow alert
status. Starfleet directives order us to render assistance to all
ships that request it." Thomas was a bit upset at Commander Monroe.
"Unless it is felt that such action would endanger the ship.
That's why..." Monroe didn't get to finish.
"Commander, come with me to my ready room, will you please?
Commander Renauld, you have the con." Lt. Commander Renauld moved
to the center seat, while the Captain took the XO to be chewed out
in private. It was one of the few things that constituted entertainment
in the Kren; Starfleet had never considered such things as recreational
lounges or holodecks for older vessels, so gossip was a hobby that few
people did not partake in. This would be the best to happen on the ship
in the next few days.
"Take a seat, Commander." Captain Thomas perferred to be standing
while addressing any of his officers in such briefings or private
meetings. "The Cardassian War is over Commander. Or do you have some
information that Starfleet hasn't communicated to me?"
"No sir, but after Picard's warning..." Monroe stopped. He knew
that it was bad form to mention Picard to Thomas. Thomas, like every
other Starfleet Captain, respected to man to the end of his abilities,
but was also rather envious of the man's accomplishments. Every Captain
not commanding a galaxy class, and especially the ones commanding the
older line ships, knew the feeling.
Monroe was lucky. Thomas didn't take it personally this time.
"I've been apprised of Picard's feelings. I've also been given
more information than you are privvy to, and I still feel that we are
in no danger from a Cardassian frieghter half the age of this ship."
Thomas continued. "I realize you lost family in the war, but I have to
ask you: are you allowing your feelings to affect your judgement here?"
"No sir, I just felt that increased vigilance was called for
at all times, especially now." Monroe was getting at something, trying to
save his skin.
"Explain." Thomas was willing to give the man time to hang himself
using his own words.
"Sir, this is an older ship, without the advanced sensor systems
available to ships of laters classes." Monroe paused, Thomas gave no
replay. Therefore, he continued: "Normally, an Excesior-class ship
would not be assigned to any type of patrol duty, but instead to
duties such as transporting officials and other non-critical duties."
Thomas still said nothing. Monroe knew at that point the captain
was simply planning an argument to counteract his points. A transfer, if
possible, might start looking attractive, but it would be one of a long
string. Captains noticed those things, but not too favorably.
"Ever since Wolf 361, however..." Monroe was continuing his
discourse, but Thomas jumped upon hearing about Wolf.
"Yes, some of the best ships and crews in Starfleet are gone.
We can accept this, hard as it may be, and do our job, or we can use it
as an excuse. I agree: the only reason the Kren is on patrol duty is
because of a lack of ships to do the job otherwise. But the issue is
that our help has been requested. I see no reason not to give it to them.
Dismissed." Thomas didn't lose his temper. As much as he disliked
Commander Monroe, that action might've been taken as a victory.
Monroe simply nodded. With a curt "sir," he was gone.
Thomas thumbed the intercom button again. "Bridge, detail
personnel to assist the frieghter. Captain out."
He didn't wait for the usual "aye, sir."
The bosun sounded in the ready room, a day later. Thomas hit the
button. "Yes?"
"One of the crewmembers of the Cardassian frieghter has requested
permission to beam aboard the Kren," sounded the voice.
"Reason?" asked Thomas.
"He wishes medical assistance. He says that the frieghter doesn't
have the facilites to assist his condition."
And we do? though Thomas. He put the thought out of his head; he
had to stop thinking of the Kren as an out-of-date, well, friegter. It
wasn't easy. "Do we have information on his condition?"
"A full medical record was trasmitted to us at the time of the
request. Medical Officer V'shath has notified us that the Cardassian's
condition is nothing that connot be handled."
"I see no reason not grant the request. Make it so."
Once again, Thomas cut of the intercom before he could hear the
"aye, sir" response.
"Doctor V'shath to Captain Thomas."
Thomas felt like a communications officer in his own ready room.
"What is it Doctor?"
"It's about the Cardassian crewmember who boarded for medical
treatment."
"What about him?" Thomas wasn't too interested, but Doctor
V'shath would tell him anyway.
"I'd like to keep him here under observation for the next 25
hours."
The Catian has gotten Thomas attention now. He was good at that.
"What for, Doctor?"
"It turns out that his condition was related to some sort of
growth in his lung."
"Cancer, Doctor?"
V'shath's voice came back a bit uncertain, like it always was
when the topic related to a patient. "Closest analogue, I think. I'm not
totally sure: I've never seen anything like that on a Cardassian before."
"You've worked with Cardassian patients before?" Thomas got the
words out, then regretted it.
"It's in my service record, sir. Oh, and he requests that some
of his belongings be beamed aboard."
"I'll give the order. Thomas out."
He thumbed the button, then directed the intercom to transporter
room one. "Transporter room, Chief Marcus," spoke the intercom.
"Chief Marcus, contact sick bay for a list of items to have
transported aboard from the Cardassian frieghter. Then contact them to
have the items brought aboard." Thomas cut off the intercom. He waited
for the next call. He was sure it wouldn't be long.
Sure enough, twenty minutes later, the bosun sounded. "Captain,
one of the items that was brought aboard is some sort of lifeform. Most
unusual thing I've ever seen." The transporter chief sounded unusually
excited. Something interesting was happening. But Thomas couldn't say
anything about the man's attitude.
"Is it dangerous?" Safety was a concern here.
"Not as such; it's in some sort of stasus field. But if it got
loose..."
"Understood. Contact Science officer T'Sela and have her examine
it. What else was brought aboard?"
"Nothing strange. A change of clothing, some food. They don't
trust our replication system here."
"Alright. Tell Commander T'Sela to contact me with a report
on the creature. And for God's sake tell medical about what the Cardass-
ian tried to bring aboard." The intercom was cut off.
Thomas contacted security.
"Security, Lt. Corcoran."
"Lieutenant, detail a security officer to Sick Bay to watch our
guest. He just tried to bring a potentially dangerous lifeform aboard
my ship."
"Aye, sir."
Thomas realized he didn't hear those words that often.
Science Officer T'Sela examined the creature enclosed in
the stasis device. It was not an aesthetically pleasing creature;
it seemed to be some type of analogue to a Terran spider.
"It is unlikely the sensors are correctly calibrated."
The younger officer spoke up. "But sir, I've triple checked
the calibration. I don't believe the statsis device is causing that
sort of error."
T'Sela did not turn to face the officer as she replied. "Sawek
once theorized that no sort of creture could use an acid for circulation
in any case of orgnic life. More to the point, no corrosive agent could
be used."
"But the Hortas..."
"A Horta is a silicon, not carbon, based lifeform. We are going
to need to study the creature without interferance from this stasis
item."
"We should have security in here. You're forgetting this is a
potentially hostile creature." With that, T'Sela turned. Her eyes
seemed glacially cold for an instant, then were back to normal.
"I have not forgotten. However I feel that the pursuit of
knowledge is its own end, so any non-destructive means are justified."
The younger officer, Ensign Veral, hadn't heard that sort of thing
from a Vulcan before. However, that Vulcan WAS a coomanding officer,
so it wasn't wise to point that out. The T'Prel story flashed to the
forefront of Veral's mind, then was pushed back.
"One thing sir, we don't know ow the statsis generator operates."
"We should find out then, ensign." T'Sela realigned the miniature
sensor array toward the control panel of the stasis generator. The idea was
to figure out the exact internal configuration of the control system of the
generator. Veral would remember with horrid detail how the idea turned
to a nightmare.
The stasis field deactivated. The creature stood on its legs
for a second, located T'Sela, then lept as if each leg was a spring.
T'Sela had time only to whip around, to see the facehugger
flying toward her face...
"Veral to Sickbay! Veral to Sickbay! We have a medical emergency in
Science lab 2." Then Kren's computer relayed the message to sickbay immediately
. The creature was attached to T'Sala's face. And it was ugly.
It didn't take long for the team from sickbay to arrive. V'shath was
with the team himself, and made a professional judgement.
"We have to get that thing off of her. Ensign Graham, pull it off."
"Wait! That might hurt her more than anything else the
creature might do. The thing uses molecular acid for blood."
"Good god, Ensign Veral! What sort of thing is that? And what's
it doing on the ship?" V'shath knew procedure well.
"This creature was part of what your Cardassian patient wanted
brought aboard." Ensign Veral said. "I thought you were informed, and a
security officer was assigned to sickbay."
"I never put it toghether... oh, god, how could I have so stupid.
The captain told me everything, I just didn't believe all of it. Graham,
don't remove the organism. I'll take it off surgically. Ger her to
sickbay."
"I didn't do anything improper, sir. It was Science Officer
T'sala's decision to scan the control device of the stasis generator.
We had no idea that a scan would cause the device to disengage."
Ensign Veral repeated. She was quite upset, now that the adrenaline rush
was finished. "I didn't know."
"It's all right, ensign," soothed Captain Thomas. "You did every-
thing according to proper procedure."
"I'm not so sure..." started Commander Monroe. Thomas spun to
face him.
"Ensign Veral is blameless, Commander. The critical actions were
taken by commander T'sala, who likely had a damn good reason to believe
she was safe," said Thomas. He was getting mad, which wasn't good
because Veral was in the room. He realized this, and relaxed.
"Ensign, was there any other information you managed to
obtain from your scans?"
"Yes, sir. It seems that the organism is female: a large egg pouch
inside the body was detected. At least, that's what I thought it was.
DNA material was detected. Commander T'Sala insisted that the data was
incorrect due to interference patterns given off by the stasis device
itself. I modified the array to bypass any bands where interference
accounted for more than a two-percent variance. Commander T'Sala insisted
it was not enough." Once talking about her job, Ensign Veral could
function somewhat normally again.
"Interesting. Thank you, ensign. You're dismissed." Ensign Veral
rose and left the ready room.
"The Cardassians are up to something, sir. I'm sure of it." Monroe
seemed to have his theories verified, at least in his own mind.
"Really, Commander." Captain Thomas's voice was cold. "The
actions of one individual, not the Cardassian government. You seem
to be looking for an excuse to start the war again."
The bosun sounded. "Captain Thomas here."
The voice on the other end of the intercom belonged to Doctor
V'shath. "I need you down here, Captain."
"What for?"
"For security's sake, I'd rather tell you here, not over the
intercom." Thomas looked at Monroe.
"Understood, Doctor." Thomas shut off the intercom.
"Take the bridge, Commander. I'll be in sickbay." Monroe began to protest, but didn't say a word. Captain Thomas headed toward sickbay, trying
to decide how to transfer Thomas off of the ship.
Thomas entered sickbay. The Cardassian was on a biobed, obviously
asleep. T'Sala was on one of the two other biobeds, but with the
creature on her face, it wasn't easy to tell what her condition was.
There were also four security officers here. Thomas was wondering why,
but Doctor V'shath immediately guided him into the soundproof office.
"She's not Vulcan, Captain. She's Romulan." Doctor V'shath was,
as usual, to the point.
"Are you... never mind, of course you're sure. How did this slip
past during regular examinations?" asked Thomas.
"I think I know, sir: Vulcan officers do have the option of
having regular physicals done by trained healers. Her record makes
note of a condition of low blood pressure. Until a few years ago, she
would have been given Leverol, but that stuff's dangerous and requires
monitoring. Nowadays, the condition is treated with prolathine,
which is pretty safe. It requires a checkup every year, but Leiutenant
Commander T'Sala has only been aboard 10 months."
"Interesting. I'll put her in the brig later. What about the
facehugging thing?" Thomas asked.
V'shath took a breath. "I can't take it off. Not without
killing her. And considering her species, and our present state of
relations with them, having her alive might be safest. There's
bad news, though. It's injecting some sort of DNA into her. Maybe like
a parasite; I've certainly never seen anything like it."
"How about Starfleet medical? Do they know about anything
like this?"
"If they do, it's been declared classified. I've come up with
nothing..." V'shath suddenly turned his attention away from
Captain Thomas toward the entrance to the office. "What is it,
Ensign?"
Thomas turned around, to see one of V'shath's subordinates.
"Sir, Commander T'Sala's condition is changing."
V'shath was out of his chair. "What's going on, Chu?"
"Unknown, sir. Computers analysis reports that T'Sala's
stored proteins are being used somehow, probably by the parasite."
V'shath swore. "Captain, if you'll excuse me..."
"Of course, doctor." Captain Thomas rose out of his chair,
because it was probably best to be leaving at this point.
"Captain, Starfleet Command knows nothing of this. However,
it is felt that this is an isloated incident." Admiral Francis Beldin
continued. "The Cardassian government has denied any involvement with
this incident."
"Also, we have not had any similar incidents to this one
reported before. Your lifeform (why is it suddenly my lifeform,
thought Thomas) has not been previously documented. Course of
action is at your discretion, Captain. Starfleet out."
It had been an unusually long dispatch from the admiralty.
Thomas hated unusually long dispatches from command, because they usually
said "course of action is at your discretion." Then, if you screwed
up, it was thrown back in your face.
Thomas had reported the presence of a Romulan aboard the Kren,
and Starfleet had been its usual hypereactive self. However, nothing
seemed to make any sense, to admirals and captain alike. There was
no real reason for a Romulan to be aboard a ship assigned to such a
low-key mission.
The presence of the parasite creature seemed to be of little
importance to Command. And of course, they had been reluctant to point
the finger at the Cardassians...
The bosun sounded. (Thomas hated the old sound; newer ships
had the much more pleasant beep, but the older ships were lucky to
have working replicators.)
"Yes?"
"Captain, this is V'shath. We've confirmed the creature as
some sort of parasite; oddly enough, something is growing inside of
T'Sala. It's similar to the actions of some types of Terran insects,
but..." V'shath's voice came through the speaker.
"Ah, Doctor, in view of recent events, it might be best if we
did not discuss this over the intercom. I'm on my way to sickbay.
Thomas out."
"Understood, Cap... what the hell? Nurse, prepare twelve CC's
of..." The intercom cut out.
Thomas was on his feet, racing to sickbay. Along the way, he
almost longed for the comfortable boredom associated with the command
of an obsolete ship.
When Thomas got to sickbay, it looked like it always did. Except
for the security contingent and two biobeds that were actually being
used. Thomas could bear to look at T'Sala; it was disgusting to see
her face totally covered by something looking remotely like a spider,
but uglier and meaner.
V'shath walked up to him immediately. "We can speak in my
office, Captain." It was a veiled order, but Thomas didn't put up
a fight.
In the office, V'shath started talking. "The creature has
injected some sort of lifeform into its host." V'shath started up
the small imaging system on his desk, then turned it so that the
Captain could see what he was about to explain.
"This lifeform inside commander T'Sala seems to be growing
on the lung. We classified it as a lifeform due to detection of
respiratory and circulatory activities. But with the nature of what
the creature uses for blood, surgical removal is impossible. There
seems to be an embryonic sack formed around the lifeform."
"Doctor, I understand, but what was going on a few minutes
ago. You cut off the com with, and I quote, 'what the hell', and
haven't explained yourself yet." Thomas look intently at Doctor
V'shath. "I was a bit startled."
"Damdest thing I ever saw, Captain. Damndest. I had Nurse
T'Lar run a simple scan of the parasite, and T'Sala lifesigns went
nuts. I thought we were going to lose her." V'shath looked up at
Captain Thomas. "I don't care if she's a Romulan or a Horta, there's
no way that should have happened."
"All right, doctor. I need to know: how do you plan to
remove the lifeform, if not surgically? Starfleet Command has plans
for her."
"I've only come up with one idea, and I'm having somebody
from the science section set it up for me. Direct irradiation of the
lifeform, in hopes of killing it. Then nanites to clean up the mess
non surgically. I seriously doubt that they will complain."
"Belay that doctor. I count myself luck that we're fortunate
enough to have a stock of normal, non-sentient nanites aboard."
Captain Thomas turned back to the matter at hand. "Direct irradiation
seems rather dangerous, Doctor. You may be risking T'Sala's life
here, with this plan, I mean. Why not use the transporter biofilter
instead?"
V'shath shook his head. "The stuff inside the sack is also
acid. If the creature 'disapeared' that way, the sack would
rupture. But whether dead by radiation poisoning, acid destroying
vital organs, or the thing ripping its way out of her body, she's
just as dead."
Thomas realized he was out of his league. Fortunately, Nurse
T'Lar choose that moment to enter. She began to speak.
"Doctor, it seems T'Sala's internal nutrients are being
depleted by either the parasite or associated lifeform. It may
be logical to..." T'Lar was cut off by the whine of a phasor. Thomas
had a sickning vision of T'Sala holding the ship hostage, maybe
controlled by the horrible thing attached to her face.
"What the hell..." started Thomas, rising from his chair.
Nurse T'Lar was already out the door to discover the reason. Thomas
and V'shath were not far behind. A security officer immediately
reported to the Captain.
"The creature just jumped of of commander T'Sala's face sir.
It landed on the floor, then seemed to be moving toward the office. The
creature has been termed hostile, therefore, I fired on it." The
officer was a bit nervous. "It just fell over. I swear, I was set
to stun." Meanwhile, Doctor V'shath had been examining the carcass
of the facehugger.
"It's dead, Captain. No life signs. Ensign, have someone
take this thing to Biology. I don't give a damn about it anymore."
One of the security officers spoke up. "I'll do it, sir. Do
you have some sort of container I can carry it in?" The guy was
not about to touch it with his hands.
V'shath glanced at Nurse T'Lar. "Nurse," he said simply. T'Lar
immediately moved to find something.
"I'll be on the bridge, Doctor." Thomas looked at the Doctor
for a second longer, and was aknowledged with a nod. He had learned
to tolerate such things from busy doctors in his 19 years of command.
"Captain's Log, stardat 432-- point 3. eThere has been
an incident aboard the Kren." It didn't sound lofty and important,
like one belonging to some legendary captain, like Kirk or Garth of
Izar (or even Picard), but it was the only thing he could think of
to start the log with. "Science Officer T'Sala is dead. Apparently,
the parasitic creature, which had, well, attached itself to Commander
T'Sala's head, was simply implanting a separate lifeform. T'Sala's
body was used to incubate the creature, which then violently exited
her body. This creture based upon reports by Security officers Benjeen
and Smith, was bipedal, stretched head, spiny tail. A composite has
been transmitted to Starfleet."
"A post facto investigation of Commander T'Sala has revealed
several iregularities. Apparantly, this Commander T'Sala was an
imposter. There are few leads on the whereabouts of the real Commander
T'Sala. A working hypothesis is that her personnel records were
tampered with. This information has been declared by Starfleet to
be top secret."
It was actually quite horrifying, thought Thomas. The very
idea that a member of Romulan intelligence could substitute actual
personnel records of a Starfleet Officer. It was even more horrifying
to think that this might not be an isolated incident. Add this to
the present situation: a small, likely dangerous organism roaming
the Kren.
"The Cardassian citizen who brought the orginal, parasitic
organism aboard has recovered, and is now in the brig. However, the
Cardassian government this morning issued an official protest, due to
the lack of an extradition treaty between the Cardassian Empire and the
Federation. I am awaiting directives from the Admiralty in this matter."
It was times like these that Thomas thought of retiring. He
could go back to Earth, sit down at a pub somewhere near the Irish
coast, and baske in the attention drawn by the fact that he was a
captain of Starfleet. Of course, noone would actually have heard of the
Kren, but they would still respect him for being a Captain. Thomas
leaned back in his chair a took a breath.
Reality struck him rather quickly. Shore leave, the earliest
chance for leaving the Kren behind for good, was two months away;
more if Starfleet didn't assign another ship to patrol the border.
Thomas started on the home stretch of the log.
"Security has been assigned to tracking and capturing the
creature now loose aboard the Kren. This is in keeping with the
doctrine of discovering and studying life, not destroying it. Thomas
out."
Thomas felt drained. It seemed that the log became more and
more of a chore by the day. Formerly, when nothing happened aboard
the ship, it had been something he had on occasion loked forward to.
The bosun sounded. Thomas always seemed to be sitting, at the
desk, when that happened. He hit the connection button.
"Thomas here."
"Sir, message from Starfleet. Eyes only." It was the security
officer on duty; nowadays they seemed to have combined communications
and security departments.
"Put it in here, Lieutenant."
The small monitor attached to the desk lit up, with a
Starfleet insignia. "Voice authorization please." piped a voice
