Mission: Tzenkethi Trouble

[Deleted]

Luke and Buster were on the outskirts of the village. It was such a beautiful place. Luke had many readings from all kinds of different animals and plants but he couldn't help feel a little guilty. Like he was spying on these people. He kept reassuring himself that they didnt know and they weren't harming anyone but he couldn't shake off the uncomfortable feeling.

He turned and saw a squirrel like creature clamber up a tree and then dive straight into the water.

"Fascinating..." He whispered. An amphibian like squirrel...

He continued to scan the area, his concerns beginning to vanish under the glowing sun.

Luke turned and saw another cloaked officer walking towards them, he looked closely and saw it was Thirteen.

"Buster." Luke said into his comm. "I think Thirteen might need some assitance. It doesn't look like he can see us."

Buster acknowledged and he and Luke walked over to Thirteen.

''Hey watch it Thirteen!'' Thirteen heard Buster's voice exclaiming as Thirteen had rudely bumped into him.

''My apologies lieutenant, my cloackingsuit appears not to have been calibrated as it should be, therefore I could not detect you.''

''That's alright, here.'' Buster apparently pressed a button on Thirteen's suit and the two fellow officers appeared in view. As did his arms.

''Thank you,'' Thirteen said. ''You're welcome.''

"Let's get back to work." Luke said.

Thirteen nodded. ''Agreed.''

Luke walked away from both Thirteen and Buster and decided he would see what plant and animal life lay in the water...

[lohnen]

The sun began to set and eventhough it was still rather warm, twilight fell over the village. The villagers slowly started to return to their homes, where the pans had already been put on the fires. J'Leera made a note on her pad and murmered softly that twilight fell early in this region, while it clearly wasn't winter. Or perhaps this was their winter and the summers would be even hotter. It was really quite an agreeable temperature, even with the sun setting.

Rye looked at the time. ^It's approaching 1800 guys,^ he said in the built-in comm system. ^Time to return home.^ Danny regretted it. He could have stayed here for the rest of his life. The village life was everything one could every dream of. Quiet, yet not too quiet, with enough diversions to make life interesting yet relaxed. Still, duty called and they walked back through the beautiful village, where people were just sitting down to dinner.

Both teams met at the hidden shuttle and Luke expertly piloted it out of the cave. 10 minutes later, they were back at the Tigershark for debriefing.

Sorry, short post today. I'm rather busy at the moment. I'll make it up to you tomorrow or this weekend.

DL

[thirteen]

As Luke walked away Buster went to have a closer look at the working villagers, Thirteen joined him.

They seemed to be working at some sort of miningcomplex.

^I wonder what they're bringing up,^ Buster whispered through the embedded microphone.

^A closer examination of their activities might give us the seeken answers,^ Thirteen returned.

Buster encountered some difficulty climbing onto the small ledge that would give them access to the mine.

Thirteen easily manouvred himself onto the platform, and extended his arm to give Mathijs a hand.

Thirteen turned around and looked into a sloped, descending entrance. The path down was eerily illuminated by a source Thirteen could not determine.

He took out his tricorder and scanned the walls.

^Interesting,^ he announced. ^What?^ Buster asked, nervously surveing the area.

^The walls seem to contain a form of bioluminescent fungi,^ Thirteen explained.

As they looked further down they could see that the walls of the mine were indeed covered in a green, waving glow.

^Most interesting,^ Thirteen noted, ^they seem to be carbon-based plants, yet appear not to posess the ability to create oxygen from carbon dioxide, yet from ozone.^

Buster gave him a puzzled look.

Thirteen scanned the air.

^The air is filled with 16% ozone, highly unusual and extremely toxic for human beings,^ Thirteen stated.

^What?^ Buster asked terified. ^There is no need to worry lieutenant, these suits also have an airfiltering system, we will suffer no consequences from the ozone its presence,^ Thirteen explained.

^But what about the people?^ Buster asked, more in a rhetorical way.

Thirteen answered anyway. ^A logical conclusion would be that they have adapted to these circumstances.^

Thirteen walked back, out of the mine, and scanned again.

^Zero-point-zero-eight-four percent,^ Thirteen notified.

^Maybe the mining operations have something to do with the high levels of ozone inside the mine,^ Buster said.

^An assumable statement,^ Thirteen acknowledged.

Outside it began growing dark, making the walls of the mine a magnificent view. Even Thirteen subconsciously enjoyed the beauty of the glimmering fungi that covered the walls.

Luke stumbled in. ^Here you are! Wow, looking good, what is it?^ Thirteen explained.

^Right, nice, anyway, I came here because we're leaving, we are to report back to the ship for debriefing.^

Thirteen was surprised. He thought they would be spending a lot more time on the planet. Maybe they'd return the next day.

The team of six officers eventually emerged from the shuttle in the shuttlebay, welcomed by commander Wood.

''Gentlemen, miss Laika,'' he greeted, ''commander Savali would like to see you for debriefing right away.''

''Why so formal all of a sudden, John?'' Danny joked.

''Just expressing a taste of authorization a first officer has,'' Wood winked. The officers laughed, except for Thirteen.

[Deleted]

Luke began the pre-flight start up sequence. Everyone was inside and seated so Luke piloted the shuttle out of the cave and through the planets atmosphere. Yet again he experienced that same feeling of joy, the joy that only came when being so close to the ship you were flying.

Was he getting itchy feet?

He commed the Tiger Shark requesting permission to land and it was immediately granted. Luke piloted the ship through the hanger doors and landed the craft with the smallest of bumps that no one would of felt.

He let everyone off and then shut down the craft.
He heard something about a briefing and before the all left he orderd Max to have a look at the shuttles nav.ray. It looked slightly out of allignment.

[lohnen]

The crew was assembled in the Briefing Lounge. Commander Savali stood up. "Well, I must say you've done an admirable job down there, all of you. You've provided us with an enormous wealth of data and images. Let's see what we got on our first day. Captain Löhnen, your analysis?"

Danny nodded and walked towards the viewer, where he insterted a data stick. Immediately, the viewer came to life with images from the village. "As you can see, we're dealing with an agricultural society here, although Buster's team has also found evidence of a mining industry. He or any other member of his team will comment on that in a minute. Anyway, the villagers appear to be very peaceful. I have found no evidence of weapons of any kind and they seen to be good-tempered and enjoying life. By our standards, they would be seen as a primitive society, but as you can judge from the images, they are far from primitive. Their wood work for example, is far better than any I have seen in my time with Starfleet on any other planet. We will need to collect a whole lot more data before we can say anything more about their culture, but this proves to be a most interesting case."

Danny sat down. Commander Wood took the opportunity to ask a question. "Counselor, J'Leera, Doc, what are your analyses on the people and their physique?"

<TAG: Counselor Savali, J'Leera, Doc Buster>

[tiffani]

Danny sat down. Commander Wood took the opportunity to ask a question. "Counselor, J'Leera, Doc, what are your analyses on the people and their physique?"

From What i can tell *Started Tiffani when noone else spoke up right away* They seem like nice enough people. But the surface is always peaceful till you get underground more *She half smiled as a memory of a former away mission that involved peaceful flooded her mind, she shook the though away momentarily and continued on* I am not sure what i can tell you really. We need to find out what sort of people they are, From experience i know that even though some may seem pleasant they might not always be so... *She paused and waited for any responses*

<Tag anyone>

[blaster89]

OFF – This is a post being made from Florida…The high today was 67 F. Cool, eh. (My Canadianisms showing) we should try and get a bit of activity back into the mission. With our CO out due to technical difficulty, that is one less person to post. We need to make up for it, and keep this mission alive. All of us should try and get a post in. I apoligise for my lack of posting, eventhough I’m on LOA. I’ll hopefully get in another post tomorrow, but in the mean time, I’ve got a messed up post to fix.

ON

Rye had gone one with Danny and J’leera to further investigate the village. Danny had seen an odd creature, but it appeared to be a pet, though in comparison to Earth, it was an extremely large lizard. Rye broke off from the two, and began investigating a small arc structure. It appeared to be quite refined in its design, and held weight evenly. It also was quite nice architecturally, as it had weaving vine like objects carved into the stone.

(=/\=) ”Danny, take a look at this. I’ve not seen design like this in such a primitive situation. Quite advanced.”

”You’re not kidding, Rye”Danny said, as he approached the archway.”That is really quite nice.” (=/\=) Danny walked away, still observing the people and their culture. Rye rejoined J’leera as she studied a group of small children.

”Incredible motor skills. Their senses seem to be incredibly heightened.” J’leera commented to herself. Indeed the children could do things that no humans could do, including hand-eye co-ordination that was far superior to any human.

They walked along for a little while, recording all on their HUD screen. Apparently, Thirteen had beamed down, but he was having difficulty using his unmodified suit. Rye ran over to see what modifications he could do. He greeted Thirteen, and connected a spare cable he had from the suit to the tricorder, displaying all pertinent information onto the screen in the helmet. He also modified the computer screen to pick up the cloaking suits on screen, so they would be visible to the wearer. Thirteen thanked him, and continued to survey the land. Rye ran back to the place he was observing before, and saw Danny standing there. Rye looked down habitually at his watch, which he quickly noted was not there. It had been covered by the suit, so rye checked the HUD menu to see the time.

(=/\=) ”Danny, It is almost 1800, we best be returning to the shuttle, and get back to the Tiger.” Danny looked at him and nodded.

”You’re Right.”

(=/\=) ”Lohnen to all personnel, time to go back to the ship. Finish what you’re doing, and rendezvous at the shuttle ASAP.” (=/\=)

Rye and Danny moved quickly towards the mountains, where Luke had already powered the shuttle up. Moments later, Buster, J’leera and Thirteen climbed into the cargo shuttle. She silently flew through the air, and penetrated the atmosphere. Rye saw the Tiger Shark Flying in a low orbit of the planet. The Dauntless flew into the awaiting shuttlebay, and settled slowly on the floor. The Bay door behind them immediately shut, and sealed. Having removed their cloaking suits while en-route, they stowed them into the locker room of the bay. Rye walked with J’leera as she went towards her quarters. They talked about all that they had seen, and when they arrived at her quarters, Rye asked.

”J’leera, after we’re debriefed, would you like to grab a bite to eat?”

<TAG J’LEERA>

Satisfied, Rye left her doorway, and proceeded on to his own quarters to get into a fresh uniform. While the cloaking suits were ventilated, they still beacame quite stuffy in the warm alien atmosphere on Tzenkethi. Rye arrived in his quarters, and immediately got into the shower. After a few minutes, he had been cleaned of the sweat of the day, and put on a new uniform. He walked back out of his quarters, and made his way to the bridge. He sat down in the Engineering console, and relaxed.

[Deleted]

The away team arrived in the Briefing room and Luke took his usual seat. He listened intently to what the others were saying and waited patiently for his turn to tell everyone what he had discovered.

"Mr. Dowding. Your report please." Commander Savali said.

Luke stood and moved over to the screen and panel. He placed his tricorder into the data input/ouput node and uploaded his findings. Three creatures appeared on the screen.

"As you can see." Luke said pointing to the squirrel like creature. "This resembles an animal on Earth called a squirrel. It lives in trees on Earth as does it here. However there is one big difference." He enlarged grid reference G14 and pointed at a specific spot. "It has gills." Luke said.

"So it can breath underwater." Buster said.

"Indeed. I found this on every single tree dwelling creature I scanned. Even the birds had the ability to breath underwater although I did not see an example of this."

He tapped a button on the console and the squirrel dissapeared off the screen to be replaced by what seemed to be a species of dog. "This animal lives underground." Luke said. "It lives in groups of 3 or 4 with the female in charge and the males portecting her. Each male in the group has had a litter with the female and it is there job to protect them also until they reach maturity." Luke paused. "There is one interesting point to note though. The female is not of the exact same species as the male, in fact it appears to be a more highly evolved form of the creature. My scans show higher brain activity than the males and an ability to 'communicate' with the other females in a way that the males do not seem to understand. What is more interesting is that when the males and females procreate the males are born inferior and the females always superior - as if it is a specific gene that applies only to the females." Luke paused again. "The males are also only nocturnal and the females appear to come out in both times of the day."

He removed the picture of the 'dog-like' species and brought up the final species that Luke had scanned in deatail.

"Here is what appears to be an ape of some description." He said pointing to the animal. "But further analysis shows that it has the genetic make up of a infant human."

Luke waited for the shuffling to stop as everyone seemed to get more interested. "This creature has the intellectual and physical ability of a human infant between the ages of 5 and 10. This is a fascinating find and I would love to investigate further." Luke said turning to Commander Savali.

"I am sure we will be visiting the planet again Mr. Dowding. Is there anything else?" He asked.

"No Sir. This is the bulk of the information I managed to gather. There are a few more snippets of information but they are incomplete - another trip to the planet will be most helpful."

Luke sat down and listened as the debriefing drew to a close. They were dismissed and were informed that they would be told nearer the time when the next away mission would take place. Luke left the room and headed for his quaters.

As he walked along the bustling corridors of the Tiger Shark he paused to look out of one of the windows and he sighed. He decided that instead of going to his quaters he would get some holodeck time in - seeing as he was off duty.

Luke slowly made his way to Holodeck 2 and activated the fighter simulation program he had created. He stepped in and suited up and climbed into the fighter, initiating the program.

Three Jem' Hadar warships materialised in front of him and he began the fight sequence...

[Felix Savali]

Felix listened while each of the away team members displayed their findings on the screen in the meeting room. There were some interesting discoveries and yet others which were not so intriguing but Felix did not show if some parts were boring or not as he listened to the all parts of it.

After everyone was done and all findings were displayed Felix started to speak.

"We have made some interesting discoveries here, but we are far from being done with the mission, therefore tomorrow you will be going down again after you finish analyzing the data collected today. Hopefully we will learn everything there is to learn about this people and make Starfleet proud of us.", Felix finished

After he was done talking everyone left the briefing room as the meeting was done. He remained inside a few moments longer to think about it all.

<Tag all>

[Deleted]

Luke had been in the holodeck for 2 hours without even realising it. It wasn't until the computer chimed informing him that he had destroyed all possible 285 targets did he stop the program.

Now he was tired.

He climbed out of the fighter as the room shimmered and returned to its normal state. He exited and headed for his quaters where he would get something to eat and then have an early night after a long shower.

Luke arrived in his quaters and pulled off his tunic. Leaving his under-vest on whilst he ate his meal. Vedran Karmuila and a glass of Firewhisky.

He hastily ate his meal - famished after his long exercise in the holodeck, he may have been sitting down but two hours of non-stop concentration had made him very hungry! He then stepped into the shower, allowing the days grime to be blasted away. Stepping from the shower he tied a towel around his waist and went to his cupboard. Pulling out a pair of shorts and a shirst to go to bed in. The shorts fell to the floor and Luke picked them up, on his way to standing back up he hit his head on the shelf and swore as a bag fell on his head - it was extremely big and heavy.

Luke stood, massaging the back of his head. He frowned. What could the bag be?

He knelt down besides it and opened the zipper. In the bag was Amy's posessions. He had totally forgotten he had them. Amy's mother Garecia told him to sort them out whenever he was ready.

He sighed. Now was a good a time as any.

The time ticked by and morning aproached as he finished the long, arduous task. He had kept very little. Just a photo and her favourite jacket. The rest he had put in a box and was planning to get recycled.

He climbed into bed - exausted. He had only two hours until he had to get up and be ready for the shuttle flight down to the planet.

His dreams were disturbed by ghostly images of Amy and his Mirror Counterpart. He dreamt that he and Amy were floating through space being chased by the Tiger Shark and sitting on the Tiger Shark was his mirror, he was just laughing. Playing with a knife that he threw and...

=^= The time is 0700 =^= The computer chimed. =^= The time is 0700 =^=

Luke rolled out of bed and rubbed his eyes. He was sweating and his bed sheets were screwed and messed up.

He got down on the floor and began his morning fitness routine. 60 press-ups and 40 sit-ups followed by 5 minutes with the weights. It wasn't much but itkept him in shape. He climbed into the shower and then tried to eat something but he couldn't force himself to swallow. The image of his mirror haunting his head.

He left his room and headed for the Shuttlebay. The away team was heading down to the planet again at 0830 so they could get a full day. He arrived and saw Max prepping the shuttle.

J'Leera, Rye and Buster were already there. Luke aproached Max.

"Max." He said, catching Lt. Bowers attention. "I need you to fly the shuttle today. I will Co-pilot. I didn't get much sleep so I don't think its safe if I fly it."

"Fair enough Boss!" Max said cheerfully. "Everything alright?"

"It's been better Max, it's been better."

Max took the hint that Luke didn't want to talk about it and stepped into the shuttle.

Danny and Thirteen entered and so Luke climbed aboard the shuttle followed by everyone else.

"Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen." Max started. "I am your pilot for today. Please keep all limbs inside the craft at all times. Have a pleasant journey."

Luke smiled. Trust Max to make a joke about everything.

"If we land at the same location as before." Danny said.

"Aknowledged." Luke replied. "I'll punch in the co-ordinates Max."

"Righty-ho!" He said cheerfully and began whistling the tune to what Luke thought sounded very much like "I Ho I Ho." From Snow White...

The craft landed and Luke and the others pulled on their holo-suits. Max was experiencing some trouble.

"You have it on backwards." Luke said. Everyone laughed and Max smiled, taking a small mocking bow.

Once everyone was suited up they left the shuttle headed out in their different directions depending on what they were looking at.

/\ I recommend that we meet back at the shuttle at 1300 hours for something to eat and a small briefing on what we've found so far /\ Luke said into his suits comm.

/\ Sounds good Luke. See you later /\ J'Leera said.

He got similar responses from the rest as he and Max headed to the outskirts of the village.

/\ I thought I would tag along with you Bosso! /\ Max said.

/\ Joy /\ Luke muttered, smiling.

/\ I heard that /\ Max replied, punching Luke's arm in a friendly way.

<TAG everyone>

[Deleted]

Luke and Max had been working steadily for 3 hours straight. They had recorded another 25 new species and found 45 already know species of animal.

Luke was bored.

The pleasure of relaxing and scanning in the warm sun had lost its appeal. In fact his suits cooler unit wasnt functioning and his suit now acted as a 'greenhouse'.

/\ Commander? /\ Luke heard Max's voice in the comm, he used Commander - he wanted something. /\ Can we take a break? /\

Luke smiled despite the uncomfortable situation. /\ Yes, I believe we can Lt /\ Luke said, mimicking Max's formality. /\ Let's take a breather over by those tress /\ Luke said pointing to the clump of wooded area by a small lake.

Both Luke and Max walked over and they sat beneath the trees.

/\ You didn't bring any food did you? /\ Max asked.

/\ No. It's all in the shuttle. We can stop for lunch at 1300 like everyone else /\

Max layed down and started playing with the grass.

/\ Don't do that /\ Luke said. /\ Someone might see /\

Max sighed and stood up. /\ We may as well get back to work then, seeing as we have no food /\

Luke grinned. /\ Don't tell anyone but lets head to the shuttle for a bit. We can have a quick snack, I'm a bit peckish myself - I didn't have any Breakfast /\

Max practically ran back to the shuttle like a school child at recess. Luke followed him at a more sedate pace for two reasons; He was tired and his suit was beginning to chaff...

He arrived at the cave just as Max spoke into his comm.

/\ Luke, where is the shuttle? /\

/\ Don't be ridiculous Max /\ He said walking into the cave. /\ It's right he... /\ He stopped mid-scentence. The shuttle wasn't there.

/\ Are you sure this is where we parked? /\ Max asked.

Luke scowled in reply, he was getting more annoyed. He needed to get his suit sorted.

He spoke into his comm:

/\ Luke to J'Leera /\

Just fuzz.

/\ Danny? /\ He said.

The hum of the comm was all he got.

/\ Max, can you still here me? /\ Luke asked.

/\ Loud and clear Bosso! /\ He replied.

/\ Buster, Rye? /\

Still no response.

/\ Thirteen are you there? /\ Silence. /\ Away team respond /\

Max shifted uncomfortably. /\ Luke I think we should leave here and try to contact the Tiger Shark. Maybe the cave is acting as some sort of signal blocker? /\

It was a possibilty Luke thought.

They left the cave. The time now near 1200, the Sun was at its brightest and Luke was feeling more and more uncomfortable.

/\ Tiger Shark this is Lt. Bower. Tiger Shark respond /\ Max said into his comm.

There was no response.

/\ This is ridiculous /\ Luke muttered furiously before walking away in a different direction to the way they came.

/\ Luke stop! /\ Max cried but it was too late. The ground beneath Luke had given way and Luke had fallen into some sort of underground cavern.

/\ Luke! Luke! /\ Max called.

/\ Ouch /\ Luke replied.

/\ Are you alright? I tried to warn you! My scans picked up weak terrain ahead. What's down there? /\

Luke flicked the light on the top of his suit. /\ It appears to be a network of tunnels /\ Luke said.

/\ Bower to Away team /\ Still no response. /\ Fine, I'm coming down Luke - mind out! /\ He said as he jumped.

Luke pulled his tricorder from his belt. /\ We don't appear to be that far underground but my scans do not go too far as there seems to be an unusual amount of copper ore in the rocks /\

Max smiled. /\ Come on then. We are here on this planet to explore. Lets explore /\ He said before taking the tunnel on the right.

Luke shrugged his shoulders. /\ At least it is cool down here /\ He muttered as he began to follow Max.

[tiffani]

*Tiffani waited momentarily as the rest of the crew followed out, she watched felix as he waited behind everyone, her mind wondered off to the though of before,she shook it away and just smiled as one of the crewmember walked off, waiting till they was all gone she walked up to him*

Something on your mind Commander? *she asked with a small smile*

<Tag Felix>


*She smiled and repsonde* Yes it does seem all to easy. considering missions as of late But its just a peaceful mission so things should be fine *She half smiled and could sense his though* I will be fine with this mission felix *she said outloud, notreally meaning to*

<Tag Felix>

[Deleted]

After the second briefing, Wood was at his station, monitoring the away team. Thirteen, the lucky [word deleted], had gone to the surface, while he was stuck up here doing sensor scans and staring at panels.. Luckily, now both Savali's were in the conference room having a private conversation, and with most of the senior staff at the surface... that meant Lieutenant Miller was at Tactical. That pleased Wood.

Finishing his conversation, the Savalis walked in finding Wood joking along with Miller, both with an odd smile on their faces.

Savali coughed, Wood got the hint, jumped up and walked to his station with a spring in his step. He was not sure but he got the impression the counselor was telepatically communicating with the commander (seeing as she stared at him with a playful smile and several nods towards Wood and Miller).

"Ahum, everything is normal on the planet sir." Just as he had spoken those words, the console beeped frantically. "Wait, I've lost two life forms."

Savali jumped up. "Cause of the dissappearence?"

"Unknown sir, but they were heading in the direction of a large metallic sedimentary cumulation"

OFF Ill finish this when I get back, in about an hour or two.

[Deleted]

Luke and Max had been walking down the tunnel for half an hour when Max just stopped.

/\ I miss the sun /\ He said.

Luke sighed heavily. /\ You were the one that was all up for exploring these tunnels. There must be something down here. They're man made, look you can see the construction vehicles markings on the floor and wall /\ Luke said pointing to the said markings.

Max stood up and carried on walking, with Luke close behind.

/\ Max wait. I am detecting a Starfleet comms device aprroximately 5 meters ahead /\ Luke said.

Max paused. /\ Are you sure that the copper ore isn't just interefering with your scans? /\

/\ Negative. This is a distinct Starfleet signature. I can't pinpoint its exact location though /\

Max pulled out his tricorder and began scanning as well.

/\ Here! /\ He called. Luke walked over and looked at where Max was pointing. On the floor was a Starfleet tunic with a comm badge attached and still active.

/\ This isn't that old /\ Max said /\ Someone has been here recently /\

Luke frowned. They were supposed to be the first Starfleet officers on this planet. What was going on?

/\ Is there a DNA trace on the tunic? /\ Luke asked.

"I can save you some time there Gentlemen." A voice form the dark said. Luke and Max turned round and were confronted by a man with two large rocks in his hands that made contact with their heads a split second after they turned around.

They were both out cold.

**** **** ****

Luke stirred, his head was throbbing painfully. He looked around and saw that they were in a cave that was full of Federation and Starfeet tech along with some that he had never seen before.

His cloak-suit had been removed and he was just in his shorts and vest. His comm badge and tricorder were also removed.

"Luke." He heard Max say. "Are you awake." He sounded in pain.

"Yeah." Luke groaned. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I am tied up and blindfolded. I think he hit me really hard - my head is killing me."

"We need to get out of here." Luke said. "You need medical attention. "Why did he tir you up and not me?"

"I can explain that."

Luke spun round. "I believe this is yours?" The man asked whilst dropping Luke's comm badge to the floor. He promptly stepped on it, crushing it beneath his boot.

"Who are you?" Luke asked.

"Aaah. An interesting question indeed. I am afraid that I can't tell you that." He smiled sinisterly. "Or I may have to kill you..."

Luke glanced around the cave, there was only one exit - the one the man was blocking.

"I know who you are though." He said. "Lieutenant Commander Luke Dowding. Cheif Navigation of the U.S.S. Tiger Shark. A model Starfleet officer. Coming out of the Academy with the Academy Ribbon and since then recieving two more medals. However it hasnt always been clear sailing has it?" He asked, laughing wickedly. "You spent your childhood in a slavers camp and fell in love with a certain Amy Krentuckvja who then years later died whilst in your quaters thanks to your Mirror Counterpart..."

"ENOUGH!" Luke said.

The man laughed again, his voice high and croaky. "Tell me why Starfleet has sent you here. I am here. I need no more."

Luke paused. He wasn't going to tell him anything. "Lieutenant Commander Dowding. 6716A6176."

"Fine." The man said. "A few days without food or water should loosen your tongue." He left the room, sealing the doors behind him.

Luke moved over to Max and undid the blindfold and bonds. His head was still bleeding. Luke tied the blindfold around the wound and hoped that it would do.

The next task was getting out and contacting the away team. He moved over to one of the consoles and frowned. Littered over it was pieces of metal and computer, a piece of metal with writing on it caught his eye. It read Sueto.

The shuttle.

He had taken apart the shuttle, well at least some of it. But for what purpose?

Max tried to stand but fell over immediately.

"Stay down Max. I promise I'll get us out of here." Luke said, taking of his vest. The cave was very humid.

The lights that had been implanted into the walls flickered and went out and Luke heard the mans voice, it sounded as if it came over some sort of comm.

-- We don't want you looking at all my things now do we? --

Luke sighed and frowned, scratching the back of his head where he felt dried blood. His wound obviously had not been as bad as Max's.

"Try and get some rest Max. I am going to try and figure a way out." Luke said stumbling around the dark room, feeling the walls for some way out.

[lohnen]

The team was still on the surface in the middle of the village. They were taking additional scans of the building structures of the houses, when the Tigershark hailed the group.

=^=Tigershark to Away Team=^=

=^=Löhnen here Commander, go ahead, we're all patched in.=^=

=^=Commander Dowding and Lieutenant Bowers have disappeared from our sensors. The last place we've seen them was at the caves near the shuttle, which has also disappeared. Please investigate immediately. Tigershark out.=^=

Danny, J'Leera and Thriteen immediately moved back to their original location. They expected to see the shuttle and its pilots save and sound, but instead there was only a big hole in the ground. J'Leera took some scans of the are.

^That's odd,^ she said. ^They appear to have fallen down, but I'm not detecting Dowding or Bowers. I do detect some kind of a signal, it looks like Starfleet but it's not a signal that is used on the Tigershark on any other Federation vessel that I know of.^ Danny and Thriteen took out their tricorders too. Thirteen's analysis seemed to confirm J'Leera's own readings.

=^=Löhnen to Tigershark, I need an analasys of this signal immediately. I don't much like the look of this. Löhnen out.=^=

15 agonizing minutes later, Commander Wood came back over the comm.

=^=Wood to away team, we're sending reinforcements. We've encountered the signal before. It belongs to an extremist group operating in Federation space. Many former Starfleet officers who have grown discontent with Starfleet policies have joined the organisation. Find Dowding and Bowers and see what the group is up to. We might have to protect the planet's inhabitants from their actions. Wood out.=^=

All around them, the Marine Search and rescue Squad materialised.

<TAG: Thirteen, J'Leera, Tigershark, Anyone>

[Deleted]

Luke had no idea as to what amount of time had passed but he knew he had spent a long time feeling the walls of the cave to find a way out. His hands were scratched and bleeding, he was dirty, sweaty and extremely thirsty.

"Water." Max croaked.

Luke knelt beside him. "I'm sorry mate, there is none. Hang in there."

Luke felt utterly powerless. His friend was slowly bleeding on the floor whilst he was unable to do anything. Just as he was thinking this the lights flickered back on and Luke heard the same, sisnister voice.

-- I have learnt about your mission here Dowding. Starfleet doesn't protect its files at all well. Luckily your simple research mission poses no threat to me or my work but I am afraid that you have seen too much. I am going to have to dispose of you in due time. --

Luke didnt respond. He didnt want to play into his captos hands.

-- Fine, remain silent. It bothers me not. -- The voice said, obviously agrivated. -- Your death looms nearer Commander. -- He said sneeringly.

Luke heard a noise like the comm being cut yet the lights were not cut out this time.

He moved over to the computer consoles to one side and began an attempt to get into the system and open the doors however even the light systems were password protected. If he had time he could of decrypted them but Max was getting worse and worse by the minute.

He frowned as he looked at the pieces of shuttle. What could he do?

He noticed something in the middle of the litter. A oart of the shuttles phaser banks. The mysterious man must have been attempting to make a hand held weapon with it. Luke could feel his mood beginning to get better. He swiped away the rest of the rubbish and began to finish the mans work. In no time at all he had a working phaser, even if it was a crude one. However Luke had an uneasy feeling. Would this man really leave a weapon lying around when he had tried so hard to capture them? He quickly shrugged that feeling away - he would be on his guard. He moved over to Max and helped him up.

"Come on Lt. Let's get moving." Luke said.

"I want to go home..." Max said groggily.

Luke ignored him and half carried, half supported Max towards the doors where he rested him on the ground briefly.

Luke aimed the phaser and bored a line all the way down the centre of the doors, they swung open and Luke moved the phaser to his left hand supporting Max with hsi right. They began to move. It was slow hard work and not a second past where Luke wasn't worried that the man would come to find them and see that they were missing. The strange man may have been old but Luke would never be able to outrun him with Max in this condition.

They continued the struggle until Max just fell to the floor in a heap. Luke attempted to pull him up but to no avail. He decided they should take a break and moved Max over to an alcove in the wall out of the way. Luke sat down next to him and turned to talk to Max but he wasnt there.

"Max?!" Luke said, suddenly very worried.

He looked into the alcove where he had placed him and saw that it was a hole leading to another part of the tunnels. Max must have fallen through.

Luke squeezed through the hole. His bare legs and chest being scraped and cut by the rocks around him. He mad it through to the other side and was shocked to see a room that resembled a Starfleet vessel lab, but ten times the size. This wasn't the same as the room that they were in before, it had a proper floor and walls defined by bulkheads.

He scanned his surroundings before attending to Max. There were stasis tubes and computers. The room was alive with the sound of humming and buzzing, the machines hard at work.

Luke knelt next to Max yet again and checked if he had a pulse. He had one but it was weak and eratic.

There must be a med kit here somehwere. He thought. And sure enough next to a bio bed was a complete med kit. Luke picked up Max and moved him over to the table where he lay him on it. Getting the kit he began to treat the wound on his head as best he could.

10 minutes passed and Luke had just finished tidying Max up. His head was now dressed and nutrients and water had been administered. He was sleeping. Luke took a sip of water but could see no food. He shivered slightly. This room was a lot cooler than the rest of the tunnels and caves, he felt very alone and exposed standing barely clothed in a huge lab with his unconcious partner resting near him.

He shook himself. Maybe somewhere in here was an active comms device? Luke set about to find one.

[thirteen]

''Father, the two are gone.'' The old man gave the speaker a cold look. ''They must not leave our premises alive, Brother,'' he said. The cloaked figure nodded, and left the cavern.

The old man was pacing the room, when a young woman entered. ''Father,'' she spoke softly, ''four more are on their way.'' The old man narrowed his eyes. ''The Tiger Shark can become our doom.'' He glared at her with penetrating eyes. ''Make sure it will not!'' She bowed.

''Be sure to take care of the arriving 'guests' first!'' the old man called after her when she was about to exit.

She smiled. ''I already did so Father.''

***

Ivrildar threw back the hood of his cloak as he lowered himself onto his stomach. Just fabulous, he thought when he crawled through the phaser-cut hole.

They must be in the Machinery Room, Ivrildar thought rising to his feet again. Where else could they have gone?

Wiping the dust off his cloak he resumed his path, turning multiple corners.

The steel doors reflected an eerie light when Ivrildar approached them. He reached for his belt and removed a device. He extended it and it formed a stick. Stun-baton-on-a-stick, he thought smirking to himself.

The doors in front of him opened. ''Gentlemen!'' Ivrildar said broadly smiling, catching Luke and Max by surprise, ''I trust you like our Machinery Room? We're very proud of it!''

''Who are you!'' Luke demanded, taking a defending position in front of Max.

''Tisk, tisk, it's not for you to ask the questions here mister Dowding,'' Ivrildar responded, ''now wake up your friend, we are going for a little trip.''

''Here, put these on,'' Ivrildar said, tossing two pairs of handcuffs to Luke.

''Make me,'' Luke hissed.

With the sound of a thunderclap the stun-baton kicked into gear, illuminating its surroundings with a bright blue light.

Ivrildar stuck the rod forward, and motioned for Luke to cuff Max and himself.

Flinched by the electric rod in front of his face Luke decided to give in.

[Deleted]

It had not been five minutes since Luke had started to look for a comms device when he heard a voice behind him.

''Gentlemen!'' Ivrildar said broadly smiling, catching Luke and Max by surprise, ''I trust you like our Machinery Room? We're very proud of it!''

Luke jumped visibley. He had not been expecting someone, especially not a different person from before.

''Who are you!'' Luke demanded, taking a defending position in front of Max.

''Tisk, tisk, it's not for you to ask the questions here mister Dowding,'' Ivrildar responded, ''now wake up your friend, we are going for a little trip.''

Luke snorted in disgust. "Not likely." He said

''Here, put these on,'' Ivrildar said, tossing two pairs of handcuffs to Luke.

Luke almost growled the response. ''Make me,'' Luke hissed.

With the sound of a thunderclap the stun-baton kicked into gear, illuminating its surroundings with a bright blue light.

Ivrildar stuck the rod forward, and motioned for Luke to cuff Max and himself.

Flinched by the electric rod in front of his face Luke decided to give in.

He wasn't strong enough to fight off that man and his stun-baton. He would have to bide his time. Moving over to Max he cuffed his hands together.

"W..Wh...What's happining?" He asked groggily.

"Max mate, you are going to have to get up. Come on, easy now."

"Hurry." The man said, weilding the stun-baton menancingly.

Luke groaned under the limp form of Max as he lifted him off the bed and slung him over his shoulder. This done, he cuffed himself. Feeling foolish for allowing this to happen. He supported Max's body with his cuffed hands and walked over to the man.

"Where?" He simply asked.

The man ignored him and walked out of the room, Luke followed, despite himself curious as to what may be waiting.

They walked for what seemed like hours. Through winding tunnels, Luke had a suspicion that the man was simply taking a long route to their destination so they could not find their way back. Luke was tiring, Max's body seemed to be getting heavier and Luke could feel him sliding off his damp with sweat shoulder - it was getting hotter again.

"I need to stop." Luke said, trying to make his voice sound strong.

"2 minutes." The man replied.

Luke gently let Max fall to the floor and Luke sat down, he rubbed his grubby hands through his hair and began to think of a possible way out of this.

[lohnen]

On the surface, Thirteen's tricorder picked up a power surge. The team, including the Marine Search and Rescue Squad moved immediately. The MSRS was specialized in emergency situations in both combat and non-combat areas. Their main task was to provide perimeter protection and make sure the walls of the caves did not collapse on the Tigershark team. If things did go wrong, they would act as an emergency medical team and stabilize any casualties until the Tigershark could extract them.

They descended into the dark cave, which quickly illuminated by the light of ten searchlight beams. Thirteen led the way, far into the dark cave.

Whoops, sorry. I started this post and then I found out my train is leaving in 15 minutes. Gotta go. Basically, this is a tag for everybody. I'll drop in maybe tonight, but otherwise tomorrow or Friday.

DL

[blaster89]

Rye had gotten ready for the mission, and now, he sat in the shuttlecraft as it flew down to the planet below. It settled on the planet, and the doors on the shuttle decompressed. Danny led the way, cloaked, and Rye followed as they shuffled onto the grassy terrain. Danny and Rye moved together into the village, and J'leera, Buster and Thirteen surveyed the inhabitants. Commander Dowding and Lieutenant Bower went to study the terrain, and support systems of the village.

Rye and Danny were investigating a group of elders, when a call came from Commander Wood. He informed them that Cmdr. Dowding and Lt. Bower were missing.

Quite worried, Danny and Rye ran to meet at the cave entrance. Seeing that the shuttle was in fact no where to be seen, they became quite worried. J'leera, Buster, and Thirteen came up moments after. Rye scanned ahead, and could not find any evidence of Max and Luke.

(=/\=) "Fitzpatrick to Luke, can you hear me?"(=/\=)No response. "Damn. We've got to go in after them."

"Agreed, but we should have backup. (=/\=) Lohnen to TigerShark. Beam down 12 marines, fully armed. We're going to find out what happened to Luke and Max."[/color](=/\=)

About 2 minutes later, 12 marines beamed down, with compression rifles for all. Rye took one of the rifles, and motioned for people to follow him into the cave. As they walked, they saw a crystal laying on the floor of the cave. All of a sudden, a surge of light occurred, blinding all of the officers, except Rye, as he was looking behind him. He turned back, and saw Thirteen crumpling to the ground.

"What's wrong Thirteen?" Rye asked. He responded, saying that he had been damaged. Rye saw blood pouring from Thirteen's back. Immediately, Buster had the team moving back to the surface where they could beam back to the surface. The tam re-entered the cave, with Buster and Thirteen gone. They continued, and deactivated their flashlights. Rye had used his tricorder to act as a nightvision, allowing him to see the ground beneath him, however he couldn't mention over it comm-link. He heard J'leera curse quite loudly, and he turned to see her standing in front of a large door. He walked up to it, and began scanning the large door.

"Can you open it Rye? Danny asked.

"Can a Talaxian bat see in the dark?"

"No...they can't." J'leera said.

"Then can a tricorder scan delta-waves?" Rye said, annoyed.

He got to work on his tricorder, and almost immediately opened the large door. As he did, all of the team raised their weapons, and charged in. They saw Luke and Max, both wounded. Luke was being held at bay, by a man with a stun wand on hand. Luke managed to assault the man as he was distracted. Rye ran over to help Max. As he did, a marine found an old man hidden behind a console. Rye immediately aimed at him from behind. All of a sudden, he grabbed the marine's arm and he screamed out in agony. Rye quickly fired off a doo-doo and watched the man crumple to the floor.

"Nice shot, Rye." Danny said as he smiled slightly. Rye moved back to Max as he whimpered in pain. He had gone thhrough a lot, so Rye picked him up, and began to leave the area. 2 marines followed him, and they left the cave, with the cultists in tow. Rye emerged from the opening of the cave to see the shuttlecraft hovering above their heads, with its nose pointed right at the cave. Rye tapped a button on his arm sleeve, and an emergency transport up to the TS. The group appeared in the cargo bay, and he had a subsequent beaming of himself, Luke, and Max into the sickbay. He set Max's limp body on the biobed, and then watched as sickbay staff brought Luke onto the next bed. Buster ran over from Thirteen, and ran complete scans of both. Rye got out of his way, and returned to the shuttlebay, where he shed his suit.

[thirteen]

''This is two minutes enough,'' Ivrildar said sternly, nudging Luke and Max to go in front, ''you might wonder why I don't kill you right away, well the answer is simple: you posses information we need on defeating the Tiger Shark, yes mister Dowding, we know of its presence.''

''Who are you anyway?'' Luke asked. ''Since you'll be disposed off, there's no point in telling you. My name is Ivrildar.''

''Ivrildar? Not the most common name,'' Luke grunted. ''I am not the most common man mister Dowding, now, no more questions, we have arrived.''

Ivrildar pushed open a heavy wooden door. In the back of the room an old man, who looked familiar to Luke, sat with his legs crossed in the middle of a circle formed by eight white candles. They were the only source of illumination in the room.

''My friends,'' the old man began without moving, ''be seated.''

Ivrildar pointed to two rough wooden chairs. They didn't seem to be the most comfortable from the collection. Luke and Max sat down. The old man got up, brushed some dust off his robes, mumbeld a few inaudible words and turned to the two confined officers.

His deep grey eyes gave them a penetrating look. ''Your starship contains valuable technology for us,'' he began, ''it is vital to us want we to continue our existence on this planet.''

''Father!'' a young woman that came running through the door exclaimed, ''they have entered!'' The old man gave her a disturbed look. ''Dispose of them!'' he said.

''One of them is armed,'' she said sounding frightened, ''he carries a phaser rifle.'' ''So?'' the old man said annoyed. ''We have no more ammunition left for our rifles,'' she said looking away from him.

''What!?'' he exclaimed furiously. ''The tribe that found out about our existence-'' she began. ''They have been terminated right?'' the old man asked glaring. ''Yes,'' the woman continued, ''but that took all our ammunition.''

''Why have you not told me,'' the old man said approaching her. He looked very intimidating. ''We thought it best not to disturb you with it,'' the woman almost whispered. The old man struck her face with the back of his hand. ''And now we are being invaded and have no proper means of defense!? I despise you, get out of my eyes, and make sure you take care of the newcomers!''

The woman silently left the room whilst the old man turned back to Luke and Max. ''Very well, my apologies for the rude intrusion. I need the acces codes to your ship mister Dowding, since you are its chief engineer I trust you can help us obtain them.''

Ivrildar made the stun-baton dangle dangerously in front of Luke's face.

''We have a console over here,'' the old man motioned.

His eyes narrowed as he fixed them on Luke. ''Don't fail me,'' he said softly.

***

/\This cave does not appear to posses the bioluminescent fungi I encountered in the mine,/\ Thirteen notified.

Thirteen took the phaser rifle out of his transporter buffer; Danny did the same.

/\We must proceed with caution,/\ Thirteen spoke, /\I suggest we no longer communicate./\

The officers nodded and the group ventured forth.

J'Leera sped up her pace and moved next to Thirteen, motioning to her tricorder. Luke and Max had been here. Thirteen nodded, and the fellowship moved on.

Further down the tunnel Thirteen noticed that it slightly curve to the right. For a moment he thought he saw a shadow peeking around the bend, but he wrote it off as a processor error.

Their rifles up front Danny and Thirteen led the party, and slowly made their way towards the curve. Danny pointed to something on the floor. Thirteen looked.

It was a perfectly shaped crystal, the group of officers came standing around to observe it. Their tricorders told it to be a perfect carbon based crystal containing an unidentifiable artificially created element.

In a fraction of a microsecond it happened. A flash of light erupted from the crystal blinding the officers looking at it.

Satisfied the woman turned off the flaslight in her hand. It worked! she thought. She took a dagger from her belt and trust it forward into the group of officers. She felt the blood flowing over the blade as she made contact and withdrew herself in the shadows, sneaking back into the cave to get backup. This should cause some delay, she smiled to herself.

Not able to register why Thirteen sank to the floor his hands clutching for his chest. His holosuit fluttered and died out, revealing the wounded ex-Borg.

''I have been damaged,'' Thirteen said braking the radiosilence. The other officers still had difficulties regaining their vision.

''What happened Thirteen?'' Rye asked, his voice sounding muffled through the holosuit.

''I cannot exactly tell, but an object seems to have been inserted into my back, penetrating my one of my vital organs. My system is too disturbed to tell which of my organs that would be,'' Thirteen explained.

All officers'd regained sight again, and now knelt next to their wounded friend. ''Let me see, give me some space,'' Buster said.

''This looks nasty Thirteen, it didn't affect any of your organs, but it did disturb your nerve system, causing you to register a malfunctioning organ,'' Buster explained.

''Can it be repaired?'' Thirteen asked. ''I can fix it,'' Buster said, thinking of how ironic that just sounded, ''but not here, we need to get you back to the Tiger Shark, and we haven't got a lot of time.'' He sounded concerned.

''That gives us another problem,'' Danny said, ''his holosuit is potatoejuice, he's no longer invisible.''

''And we haven't got Luke around,'' J'Leera said. The officers looked at her. ''He could have modified or repaired the holosuit.'' The officers nodded.

''We'll just have to do it without a holosuit then,'' Buster said, preparing Thirteen for transport. ''But that might make us break the prime directive,'' Rye notified. ''Oh come on, would you rather lose Thirteen than break the prime directive?'' Buster asked. ''Of course not,'' Rye said.

''Very well then,'' Busted said. ''Let's get this show on the road.''

Buster and Danny lifted Thirteen on either side while the other officers helped supporting Thirteen's body.

Slowly the fellowship began their ascend back out of the cave.

[lohnen]

The group reached the surface and Buster immediately contacted the Tigershark.

=^=Buster to Tigershark. medical emergency, beam me and Commander Thirteen directly to Sickbay.=^=

Wood's concerned voice came back.

=^=What happened Doctor?=^=

=^=No time to explain. just DO IT!=^=

Thriteen and Doctor Buster disappeared in a blue haze of the transporter. The rest of the team was still invisible. ^Okay that's it. No more Mr Niceguy. Let's get Luke and Bower out of that cave.^

The team re-entered the cave, now two man short, but determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. This time they decided not to use flashlights. The thought of what had happened the last time they used them was till fresh in their mind. Apart from the occaional curse uttered over the comm when one of the team stumbled or bruised his/her toe against a sharp piece of rock, nothing was audible.

Suddenly, they heard a loud curse over the comm link. it was J'Leera who had walked head-first into a solid wall. Except that the wall appeared to be too smooth to be a wall and it looked like it was made of metal. Rye scanned it with his tricorder. ^It's definately a wall and behind it is a large room with a lot of machines, but I can't tell what their function is. The door is emanating some kind of archaic distortion field.^ Danny looked at him, or at least he thought he looked at him. It was dark and hard to tell where someone was when you heard his voice over a comm system. ^Can you open it?^ He heard Rye smirking. ^Can a Talaxian bat find its way in the dark? Of course I can open it.^ J'Leera entered the conversation. ^Better keep weapons at the ready.^ Behind them, they heard the soft clicks of the 12 Marines raising and arming their weapons. Rye counted down. ^3.......2.......1....got it^

The door slid open and the team found themselves in a large, dimly lit room. The Marines immediately spread out, knowing they were invisible and the only hint of their presence was the opening of the door. Together, the 12 Marines and Rye, J'Leera and Danny surrounded the room. In the middle of the room, they saw Lieutenant Max Bower lying on the floor, apparently seriously hurt. At the far end of the room, they saw a console and someone who tried to force Luke to operate it. The guard with the shock-stick momentarily looked up and that was his downfall. Luke took the opportunity to kick the guard hard in the crotch and while the guard bent over, howling with pain, 5 separate stunbeams from the Marine phaser rifles permanently disabled him. J'Leera immediately ran to Luke, while Rye examined the wounded Lieutenant Bower. Several people entered through the cave through several different entrances, but they were sitting ducks for the invisible Marines. Danny and 5 Marines made a quick sweep of the complex to see if they had captured all of the base's inhabitants. It turned out that they had. The base was empty, but just before the team was about to return, they could hear an engine roar and a shuttle departed at high velocity. "Damn it! There goes the last one," Danny yelled angrily. Well, there was nothing they could do about it now.

Back in the main hall, the attackers had all been cuffed and awaited transport to the Tigershark Brig. Rye had investigated the equipment in the cave.

<TAG: Rye, Luke, J'Leera, anyone else>

[Deleted]

Luke was confused. Cheif Engineer? This old man must have incorrect information. Luke was the CNO but he could use this to his advantage. He could send a message to the Tiger Shark piggybacking old command codes. Everytime someone was captured or killed in action the command codes were changed and as the entire crew were impersonated by their mirror universe counterparts the command codes had been changed after that. Luke would use the command codes before that change.

"Now Mister Dowding." Ivrildar said, glaring at Luke. "Or Lieutenant Bower here may not make it through the next hour."

Luke stood up. "So you just want me to give you control of the Tiger Shark or do yuo just want the codes?" Luke asked, playing along.

"I want full command of that Starship Dowding! Do not wast time!" The old man yelled.

Luke smiled, already he was playing these people to his advantage.

He moved over to the console and enetered in the Tiger Sharks last known co-ordinates. She had stayed in the same position, this was good - it meant Luke didn't have to waste precious time trying to locate her. He then punched in his current access codes and then modified the memory of the console to make it appear as if he had type in his old ones. He had gained access to the Tiger Sharks main computer.

**** Meanwhile on the Tiger Shark ****

"Any signs of Commander Dowding and Lieutenant Bower?" Wood asked.

"Negative Sir." Said Luke's colleague Jeret who was manning the sensors for now. "They have completely dissapeared off our sensors.

Wood sighed. How could this of happened on a simple search and exploration mission?

"Commander!" Ensign Mathews called from the Ops console. "Someone has just accessed the Tiger Sharks main computer with Commander Dowdings access codes."

"Pin point the location Ensign." Wood said.

=^= Buster to Tiger Shark =^=

"Tigere Shark here. Go ahead Lieutenant." Wood said.

=^= Sir, Lt. Thirteen has been injured in the underground caves, we have had to abandon the search for Luke and Max for now =^=

"Aknowledged Lt. Get Mr. Thirteen back up here. We will attempt transport."

=^= Yes sir. Buster out =^=

Wood sighed, Dowding and Bower would now be on the planet by themselves.

"Sir, I have a faint trace on the console used to send those command codes. Its deep inside the tunnel network. It is unlikely that I will get a definate trace. I believe I can..." However he paused as Luke sent his message using the old codes this time.

"What is it Ensign?" Wood asked.

"Its odd Sir. Commander Dowding came out of the computer with his command codes and then came back in using his old ones."

It clicked. "He is captured Ensign. He is probably being forced to give control of the Tiger Shark to his captors." Wood said. "Scan the frequency he is sending the command codes on for any signs of hidden messages. If I was him that is what I would do."

There was a brief pause as Mathews tapped away. "There is Commander! Hidden on sub-frequecny 2.67. I will patch it through to the main viewer."

The viewscreen flickered and a text flickered on screen:

Cmdr Savali, Cmdr Wood. Cptrd by unkn thrt. Thy wnt cntrl of TS. Usn old codes to fl thm. Hnd ovr cntrl to me. I wll mke sre no hrm cms to the TS. If no cntrl cms Bowers + me die. Snd rspnse.

Wood read it allowed, elaborating for the shorthand.

"Commander Savali, Commander Wood. Captured by unknown threat. They want control of the Tiger Shark. Using old command codes to fool them. Hand over control to me. I will make sure no harm comes to the Tiger Shark. If no control comes Bowers and me die. Send response."

Wood turned to Savali. "It's your call Sir." He said.

<TAG Wood and Savali>

**** The Tunnel networks ****

Luke had sent the code and was waiting for a response from the Tiger Shark.

"What is the delay?" The old man asked.

"It will take a while for my command codes to be verified and control to be handed over. I have simulated a Captain down event where the next highest ranking officer takes control. The computer will need to verify this before it hands over control." Luke made up. There were two things wrong with that story. He wasn't the next highest ranking officer and he had not sent that simualtion but he was hoping that as his captors had got his role on the Tiger Shark wrong they would not know of any procedures or how high he was in the rank structure.

"Very well. But I want control soon." He said. "Or Ivrildar will have to deal with your friend."

Luke was suddenly very aware of the stun-baton that was whirring in Ivrildar's hand...

[thirteen]

An amount of pain Ivrildar had never experienced before struck him as Luke's knee made contact with his crotch. Dropping the stun-baton he collapsed to the floor as five phaserbeams dug into his body.

The old man's eyes had grown big the moment the door opened and the invisible attackers'd entered. Instinctively he dived behind the console. He was still dexterous; something not many men of his age could state to be.

''Here's another one!'' one of the marines called out pointing at the old man in the corner.

The old man looked to where he thought to have heard the voice. ''Surely you wouldn't shoot an old man, now would you?'' It almost sounded provoking.

''Just cuff him up,'' came Danny's command. The marine set aside his rifle and ventured towards the man. ''Get up.''

The old man got up, and faced the marine backwards. In the flash of a second it happened. As the marine moved the cuffs towards the man's wrist, the old man had spun around, now holding the marine's arm in a dangerous angle across his back.

The marine screamed in agony. ''Turn off you means of invisibility, or I will make sure your fellow officer will not be using this arm ever again.''

The phaserbeam caught the old man in his shoulder. Rye pointed the phaser back to the ground. ''Nice shot!'' Danny said.

***

Alaska ran as fast as she could past the main room. She heard the shots being fired inside, and hoped The Father would live to tell the tale. She doubted that.

She ran further, upwards, towards the exit of the cave. She didn't know what to think or what to feel. All she should have done was taking care of five officers. Five moronic Starfleet officers! she cursed to herself.

The sunlight that merrily lit up the environment outside blinded her for a few seconds as she exited the cave. Regaining her bearings Alaska looked down on the pad she had managed to take from the fallen ex-Borg. She had carefully shouldered his phaser rifle.

Arriving at the coordinates the tricorder displayed she slowly walked forward untill she bumped into an invisible wall. Their shuttle, I found it! A surge of hope went through her body.

It didn't take Alaska long to find the entrance console. Effortlesly she hacked into the controls and was soon to hear the satisfying hiss of opening doors.

The inside of the shuttle became visible, and now smiling Alaska stepped aboard, taking a seat behind the controls.

***

''Sir?'' Wood said to Felix, ''you might want to have a look at this.'' ''What is it commander?'' ''The shuttle is being powered up, but the team has not yet returned!'' ''That's strange,'' Felix said, ''open a frequenty.''

''No response sir,'' Wood said shaking his head from ops.

Felix wondered for a moment. ''Hack into it's controls and get it back to the Tiger Shark; have a security team unveal it's contents in the shuttle bay.''

Wood nodded. ''Crap!'' ''Excuse me mister Wood?'' Felix said looking sternly in John's direction. ''My apologies sir, but I can't get controls back.''

Just as Felix opened his mouth Wood spoke. ''Incoming hail sir, it's from the shuttle.'' ''On scr-'' ''Audio only.'' Savali nodded.

***

''I will make this very easy for you captain,'' Alaska said. The shuttle was now hovering two metres in the air at about five metres from the entrance of the cave.

''Who are-'' Felix tried. ''Either let my Brothers and Sisters go, or your crew will not find it's way back to their Starship.''

***

Felix was puzzled. ''Incoming visual sir,'' Wood said. ''On screen,'' Felix commanded.

They could see a cave entrance. ''What is this?'' Felix demanded. ''This is my view captain,'' the woman's voice came, ''and that is the cave your men need to return from.''

''Miss-'' ''No captain, there will be no delay and no negotiation. You have ten minutes to comply, if my Brothers and Sisters haven't emerged from the cave within ten minutes I will destroy the entire complex. Oh captain, I am aware that you cannot transport people out of cave's, so don't think of silly excuses. Ten minutes.''

The comm shut down.

[Deleted]

"Right... I thought this mission would be easy, and peaceful.."

Savali shrugged "There's always a catch.."

"But what do we do? I know Starfleet doesn't negotiate with terrorists, but we can hardly let our friends and basically half the senior staff die down there.."

Both men thought long and hard, until Savali sighed, asking if Wood had any diplomatic experience.

"The standard course, and that one lecture from Admiral Aquarius.."
"That makes you more qualified than me, Commander. Open hailing frequencies, and do it soon, we have 6 minutes left.."

"Right.." Wood opened the hailing frequencies and sat down on the FO chair.

The renegade female came on the viewscreen.

"This is Commander Wood, representing the Federation starship Tiger Shark. Come in please."
A bit of grand talk couldn't hurt.

"Yes, yes, I know who you are.. Well, what have you decided?"
"I, uhmm, there must be a solution to all of this.." Wood stammered, while Savali was motioning to Wood to keep stretching and buying them time, while he went to Lieutenant Miller to confer about a tactical solution (good thing Savali was a married man, or Wood would have displayed a jealous fit that hasn't been shown in a long time..).

"Ugh, a Federation solution. I know all about your..."
"You must have heard, but have you ever experienced first-hand? Let our away team go, and we'll look into solutions for both species to live and survive." Wood said, not really convincing..

"We don't want a peaceful live like that... Hah, under Federation flag, and rule.. No Commander, you have three more minutes.."

"Perhaps.."

"Didn't I say 'no delays, no negotiations? Is there something wrong with your hearing, Commander?"

"Well, yes, actually." Wood smirked, still trying to buy time. "but that is not the point.. We cannot communicate with our away team momentarily, so..."

The Tiger Shark, slowly creeping into tractor range, was coming nearer and nearer, when suddenly.

*bleep bleep, bleep, bleep*

"What the...?" Alaska exclaimed, and reached towards the fire button, when
"Engage" Savali shouted.
Miller, with her handsome hands, activated the tractor beam, which resulted in a deflected phaser beam..

"Tractor her in, Lieutenant."

Wood slumped in his chair, putting his feet up. "Well, Alaska, what do you want to talk about.. Ah yes.. What were your motives again?"

Alaska did nothing but look quite mad..