Haunted R&R

[T'Brel Peers]

The four officers were walking side by side heading towards any bar on Assailant. It must have been really strange to see the officers. A Trill/Vulcan hybrid, a human, and two borg. Even in a diverse station like Assailant that was still pretty strange.

The four of them chatted like old friends, but they could all feel the level of tension on the station. They didn't know what was really happening, but they had a pretty good idea.

"What do you think is going to happen, Captain?" T'Brel asked as he found a bar to there liking.

"I don't really know Commander," Thirteen responded," Admiral Keztrek should be able to clear things up for us."

"Well, I do hope she invites us to her wedding," T'Brel said as he sat down and noticed the surprised looks on his friends faces," I thought you guys knew."

<Tag All>

[sfcmradj1]

Jamil was sitting in his room reading some information regarding the ship who was supposed to serve on, it was an Akira class starship with an experienced crew under the leadership of RA KezTrek. ~ An Admiral commanding a ship, that will be cool to see~ Jamil thought to him self.

Jamil stand up from his bead and approach the window, many ships where passing by, some holding goods others patrolling ships; He saw an Akira class approaching the docking area where he was able to read USS Tiger Shark-B on it. He new that this was his ship. Jamil put his outfit and exit the room heading toward the docking area.

1 hour past, Jamil exit the turbo lift and start approaching the transporter room; He stands on one of the pads and ordered the operator to transport him to the Tiger Shark.

“Sorry Sir, but the Tiger Shark is under maintenance and all the senior staff are on the station” The officer informs Jamil. Jamil acknowledge him and exit the room, he approach one of the panel and click on it

“Computer, locate the commanding officer of the Tiger Shark” Jamil ordered the computer.

“Lt. Commander Thirteen is in the bar with all the seniors of the Tiger Shark” The computer responds.

Jamil exit the corridor heading toward the Bar. He new that first meeting are always hard, but he must introduce him self to the commanding officer of his ship before transporting to the ship. Entering the Bar, Jamil start mapping the area looking for Lt. Commander Thirteen, he read about him and that he is an ex-Borg person, he found a table when 4 persons, including 2 Borgs, are sitting and chatting between each other.

Jamil approach the table and asked one of the sitting man

“Excuse me Sir; I’m looking for Lt. Commander Thirteen”

The 4 persons looked at Jamil and one of them responds

“I’m Lt. Commander Thirteen, What can I do for you”

Jamil approach the man and stand in attention

“Lt. Jamil Mrad, reporting for duty Sir” then he gave him the padd and returned to his attention position.

[thirteen]

"As a matter of fact I do mister Peers, and I have not doubt that we will receive an invitation." There was the sound of breaking glass, and the officers looked on the floor next to their table where Thirteen's now shattered glass of drink lay. "Did anyone accidentally push my drink off the table?" The others shook their heads. "No one touched your glass commander," Amhil said. "That is strange, I am positive there is a sane explanation for the destruction of my beverage," Thirteen said. "Maybe you just didn't notice hitting it?" Jonathan said. "Unlikely, I have every control over my motor systems." "Yeah, but you are part human, sir," T'Brel said.

A young man approached their table, looking for Thirteen. "At ease lieutenant," Thirteen said as he got up from his chair. He extended his for proper introduction, and Jamil took it. "Greetings lieutenant, and welcome to the Tiger Shark. This is commander Peers, our navigation officer," Thirteen said as he pointed at T'Brel. "And this is lieutenant Eddons, our chief engineer. And last but not least, this is commander Kirk, our first officer. Everyone, this is mister Jamil Mrad, our senior marine officer."

The Tiger Shark's seniors said their hellos. "Please, feel free to join us," Thirteen said as he sat down again. Jamil took a chair from another table, and joined them. "We have only just returned from our latest mission," Thirteen informed him. Jamil nodded. "Yeah I saw the Tiger Shark dock." Thirteen, T'Brel, Amhil and Jonathan told Jamil the things they had come across during their mission on Theonas-beta.

"That said, I think we'd like to hear your story," T'Brel said to Jamil. "Yeah, where are you from, have you served on a starship before, what are your specialties?" Jonathan added.

[Deleted]

Kirk had walked in quiet contemplation about the ships last mission. Being the ships Acting First Officer it was up to him to write up a report of the away teams actions, mission goals and problems that they had come across during their time on Theonas-beta. The problem was that Kirk hadn't the slightest idea of what he was going to say in his report to be able to full describe the situation.

Glowing green lights, sudden changes in the electromagnetic fields with in the mine with no scientific explination, Kirk thought to himself, Those are not things Starfleet Command wants to read about.

"What's the matter?" T'Brel asked, sensing that Kirk's mind was elsewhere.

"Nothing." Kirk quickly replied, but then noticed T'Brel did not have a convinced look on his face; he knew Kirk was keeping his distance. You know me too well, Kirk thought.

Just as Kirk started elaborate he heard the sound of breaking glass. All attention turned to Thirteen who looked as confused as the rest of the senior staff. A brief conversation was started about how the glass was able to find its way off the table by itself.

Before long a Marine officer idenfitied himself, and with out waiting Thirteen politetly introduced Mrad to the rest of the seated senior staff. Each officer briefly said their name, rank, and position on the ship to the Marine officer. Then it was his turn, they wanted to know more about their new Marine officer.

"That said, I think we'd like to hear your story," T'Brel said to Jamil.

"Yeah, where are you from, have you served on a starship before, what are your specialties?" Kirk added.

<Tag Mrad>

[unknown]

'Just look them. Filthy materialists. Intoxicating their minds with beverage. Disgusting. But times will change now, oh yes. We're free, we've finally been released from our cage. And they will know, oh yes they will, that there's more to this universe than their fancy instruments can register.'

'Though we guess we should be thankful somewhere. It is these organics that set us free after all. Ha, ridiculous! Like they ever intended to free us! No, we owe them nothing. It's our brothers and sisters that we owe. And we will make the world know, know that we are here, and that we are the righteous heirs to this universe! The righteous heirs to this universe? Yes, that sounds good.'

'Oh our apologies electronic man, was that your beverage? Just listen to yourselves! Positive there's a sane explanation, oh yes the explanation is sane, but you'll never find it. Well not never; not yet. And if you're startled by this, puny mortals, ha, this is nothing compared to what we can do. But you'll find out. Time will tell.'

[sfcmradj1]

Jamil was happy to found that the senior officer of the ship were friendly toward him, he thought when he was assigned that the fleeters feel that they are the true defender of the federation and that the Marines were a land defender and they must never serve on a ship.

After Lt. Commander Thirteen introduce him to the rest of the staff, Jamil shake hand with every one of them; He choose a nearby chair and joined then on the table after ordering a drink for himself.

"That said, I think we'd like to hear your story," T'Brel said to Jamil.

"Yeah, where are you from have you served on a starship before, what are your specialties?" Kirk added.

Jamil take a drink from his cup and begin his story

"I joined the Marines like my father; the training wasn't that hard because I used to train with my father when he was home. Then after finishing boot camp, I joined a platoon guarding one of the outposts near the cardassian borders. But I was bored after some time so I asked my father to pull some favor and let me transfer to another position. After many attempts, I was assigned to serve on the Tiger Shark and here I’m”
Jamil looked into his colleague eyes then continue "I know that you might say that what a Marine could do on a ship, but I assure you that I will do my best to fulfill my job on the ship"

Jamil drink all the content of his cup waiting to see the action of the table sitters.

[Deleted]

The night was getting late and Kirk could feel the energy simply draining out of his body. The last mission had kept him from getting a full regeneration time in and he was now starting to feel the effects.

With out saying a word Kirk stood up from the table causing all the other senior staff members to notice and quiet down. Kirk looked around quickly, some what interested why everybody was now silent, then it happened.

"Speech!" T'Brel shouted out repeatedly.

Kirk smiled while using his hands to quiet T'Brel down, "No speech, I am just getting up to say good night."

Every member of the senior staff either said their good nights or decided to stay awhile. Just as Kirk was a few feet away from the group an idea popped into his head.

"Mr. Mrad." Kirk announced as he turned around to face the group.

"Yes sir." Mrad replied.

"The company of Marine troops will be arriving tomorrow at 1300. Organize them in Shuttle Bay One for a full inspection." Kirk said.

"Yes sir." Mrad again replied.

Kirk simply nodded to the Marine officer and left. He walked straight onto the Tiger Shark and was en route to his quarters when suddenly the flights began to flicker in the hallway.

Kirk stopped in his tracks and tapped his COM badge, "Kirk to Engineering." No response came, "Engineering respond."

It was then that the main overhead exploded. The corridor would have been completely dark if it had not been for the running lights on the ground. Kirk again tried his COM badge but this time it made the distinct error sound.

Looking down the corridor Kirk could see there was light around the corner and he proceeded to make his way to the light. With each step he took toward the light he heard the sound of an animal growling. Kirk squinted his eyes again trying to bring anything into focus but still nothing, it was just too dark.

A quick movement past his vision from left to right. It was a dark figure but that was all he could make out. Then Kirk watch as something large move in front of the light around the corner. A large shadow appeared against the wall. If Kirk did not know better he would have swore it looked like a wolf man.

[thirteen]

Thirteen was actually positive that this was fun. He enjoyed spending some informal time with his crew mates. Time flew past and night was settling in rapidly. Kirk was the first of the officers to get up and bid his goodnight. Thirteen got up as well. He still needed to finish the report on their mission, and he planned on doing that straight away.

He bade the others goodnight. The corridors of the Tiger Shark were empty as Thirteen stalked through them. He noticed how for some reason the temperature wasn't as high as it usually was. It was a significant amount of degrees less. I will contact engineering about it in the morning, Thirteen made a mental note. He arrived on the bridge after a quite turbolift ride. "Computer, lights." The bridge sprang to life as she was illuminated.

Thirteen crossed it to his ready room, where he settled in his o so comfortable chair. He pulled up his desktop console screen, and began writing the report. The more he reviewed the entire mission, the more he thought Starfleet was never going to believe his report. But this is what happened, they will have to accept it, Thirteen thought.

As he'd finally finished he eyed the clock. 0400. Two hours of regeneration would do me good, he thought as he got up to head to his quarters. "Computer, lights off," Thirteen said as he stepped into the turbolift. The lights remained on. Thirteen raised his eyebrow (a gesture he'd once seen in a human movie he thought this to be an applicable situation for). He stepped back onto the bridge. "Computer, lights off." No response. "Computer, why are the lights are still active?" *Unable to comply, lights are still active.*

That was the strangest response the computer had ever given Thirteen in all of his years of service. "You are incapable of switching off the lighting because it is still on?" *Acknowledged.* Thirteen shook his head and got into the turbolift. He made another mental note to have the engineers look at the computer and the bridge's lighting. "Deck A."

The turbolift stopped, and opened its doors to reveal the corridor behind them. Thirteen eyed the scene, and was positive that this wasn't the correct deck. "Computer, what deck am I on?" *Deck four.* He got back in. "Deck A!" The turbolift closed its doors once more, and started moving. Thirteen looked around sceptically as it came to a halt. But this time he appeared to be on deck A. He made his way to his quarters, and got into his alcove. Perhaps I need more than only two hours of regeneration, I have this feeling that I am losing grip on reality, he processed. "Initiate regeneration cycle." *Regeneration cycle initiated. Sweet dreams commander.*

[unknown]

'Ah, and where would we be going electronic man? Off to recharge your batteries? Ha! Ooh, the Tiger Shark, of course, it's what got us here. Look at you, so fragile, so alone. How about some flickering lights to set the mood? Yes, that would work. There. Does that scare you? Oh, obviously not, yes, of course, it's a technical difficulty, call in the help from your little engineering friends. Not like you'll succeed.'

'How about a big boom. Will that be sufficient to send fear down your artificial backbone? Ha ha! Oh yes, head for the light. Run boy, run! You'd better not be afraid of fanged hairballs making funny noises. How about some dramatic shadow work? Yeah, yes, splendid! Boo! Look at us, be afraid! Alright, enough for now. We will meet again mister acting first officer commander Jonathan Kirk.'

***

'Well, well. Look who just entered the building. If it isn't mister numerical name. We wonder if this computerized being can get the chills. Freezing already? Ha! You may be Thirteen, but so is ten plus three. Ah, the bridge. We always thought that a bridge was a device to cross water or ravines. Apparently it is also a place to put chairs in. Charming.'

'That's a good Borg, all done! Did you make a nice report? Lights off? No, lets keep the lights on. Why you can't turn them off? Because they are on, isn't it obvious lieutenant commander? Ah, elevators are always good fun. Up and down, ascend and descend, rise and fall. Deck A? We like deck four better. Now, aren't we having fun? Made you tired, did we, yes, you go regenerate. Sweet dreams commander.'

[Deleted]

Kirk's heart was racing as he spun around in circles trying to figure out what was going on. Then suddenly as he turned around to face the noise behind him he was face to face with several worried looking crewmembers. Everything appeared to be back to normal. At first Kirk did not know what to make of the situation but after a moment he began to reconize the faces that were standing before him.

"Sir, are you alright?" One of the crewmen asked.

Kirk's eyes darted about as if in a paranoid trance. His mind was racing and he was not believing anything his eyes were seeing. Slowly things began to slow down to slow motion, his hearing began to ring and the voices before him became distorded.

Kirk felt himself falling. As he looked up he could see faces looking down at him, the same faces he saw as the lights suddenly came back.

Then it started. The voices that long had haunted Kirk's past began to echo in his mind again. He found hard to keep the voices out but they were there to stay. Kirk pressed his eyes shut, and placed his hands on each side of his head as if trying to block out the sounds of the collective.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." Kirk screamed.

The voices stopped.

Kirk's eyes jolted open but he could not see much in front of him. Everything was dark but a single light source could be seen in the distance. It was a single green light that shown constantly at him.

Kirk felt himself standing on something metallic and before he knew it he had stepped off the platform and now he was standing on more familiar grounds.

Intruder Alert, Interuder Alert, Kirk heard over and over in his head. With out thinking he began a robotic like walk to the direction of the so called intruder. Before long Kirk found himself face to face with with a half Trill half Vulcan Starfleet officer standing over several dead bodies. To Kirk the bodies looked familiar, like comrades of his.

With out a second throught he felt his legs charge the Officer and the fight was on.

<Tag T'Brel>

[Deleted]

Through Kirk's eyes all he could see was a single Borg drone standing in a defensive position umong the bodies of several dead Starfleet officers. He felt the weight of his body lundge at the Borg drone and the fight had started. Kirk had both of his hands gripping the wrists of the drone, trying to do everything he could from letting the drone get his assimilation tendrils into a position to strike.

Unknow to Kirk, his own assimilation tendrils had started to forced their way through the top layer of skin on Kirk's right hand. There was a cold and calculated way about him as Kirk tried to defeat this enemy.

This is one strong drone, Kirk thought to himself, I does not fight like one either. Kirk finished his quick thought as the drone slammed him into the side of the corridor wall. Kirk counter-attacked using pretty much the same move, driving his body as hard as he could toward the wall on the other side of the corridor. This time with the added thrust and the weight of the two men they traveled through the thin walls of the corridor into the next room.

"Jon," T'Brel yelled, trying to his his friends attention, "What the hell are you doing?"

T'Brel's words fell on Kirk's def hear. He was in his own world, provided by the strange alien ghosts that had now tampered with his perception of reality. The fight was still very much on, and there was only one way to make it end. Kirk needed to kill the Borg drone that stood before him.

The two continued to struggle like two men in an arm wrestling contest. The first one to flinch, or make the wrong move was going to lose, and this game had fatal concequences. Then, Kirk spotted his moment, the wires running from the spine, into the back of the drone's head. He oculd sever the communication between the drone's processing node, and the brain, shutting the drone down.

He had to chance it, he had no other options. In one quick move Kirk reached out with his right hand and when he closed his fist he grabbed nothing but air.

"What the?" Kirk said in shock as his hand seemed to phase through the wires.

He was now open for attack and knew the Borg drone was not going to miss this chance to make a fatal strike. and before Kirk could finish worring about what was to come he felt a fist smash into his stomach. The blow caused the wind to get knocked out of Kirk, and then he felt the upper cut blow of two fists smash into his head.

The blows sent Kirk falling to the ground, up against the other side of the corridor. He hit hard, and when he opened his eyes everything was different. The lights were back to normal, there was no smoke, and no Borg. Standing before him, out of breath, was T'Brel. He had blood running down the side of his face from a wound to his head, he takes long deep breaths as he tries to catch his breath.

"T'Brel?" Kirk asked in a shocked tone of voice.

"Who the hell else would it be?" T'Brel fired back.

"What is going on?" Kirk asked.

[sfcmradj1]

The senior officers of the Tiger Shark end their drink and every one head in different ways. Jamil first orders are to wait for the arrival of his Marines to the station, then assemble them and ready them for inspection by the commanding officer.

Jamil stop thinking about his mission when he passed one of the windows, he looked outside and his eyes reached the Tiger Shark standing near the station. ~I think i must go take a look on the inside of the ship, i have time before the inspection and i don’t feel sleepy yet~ Jamil said to him self before hitting his com badge:

=/\= Lt Mrad to Tiger Shark, one to beem up =/\=

Jamil feels his body dematerialized then he appear in the transporter room, he nodded the transporter officer and exit the room. He looked around, then Jamil thought that it will be good to go see the armory. 1 hour pass, Jamil was happy to see the various type of weapons they have on the ship, he take his pad and put a note about asking the commanding officer if the Marines can have their own weapons and that if they can have a place for training and stuff.

The turbolift door opened, Jamil exit and start heading to the end of the corridor when he heard shouting coming from the next corner, he start running to see what is happening when he saw Commander kirk and Commander 1st class Peers fighting each other. Jamil was shocked by this view, he never saw senior officer fighting and it seems they were hearting each other; Jamil jump between the two man and tried to break them from each other but Commander Kirk, using his Borg hand, throw him all over and the body of Jamil hit the wall very hard. Jamil felt pain in his back but he was able to stand up again, and this time approach them carefully, his fighting instinct tell him that Commander 1st class is trying to block him self which lead him to think that the commander is some how malfunction, he fast approach the Borg and waited for the right moment and then he put all his power in his fist and hit the Commander hard in his stomach which through the commander body to hit the floor.

~I think i will be courted for hitting a commanding officer, but this fight must end fast before any of the crew see it~ Jamil thought to him self before picking up his phaser and point it toward the Borg lying on the ground.

"Sorry Sir, but until i know what is happening i will keep my phaser pointing at you"

[Deleted]

"Sorry Sir, but until i know what is happening i will keep my phaser pointing at you" Kirk heard from his far right. Kirk then turned his head quickly from T'Brel and saw Marine 3rd Lieutenant Mrad standing in a defensive position with a phaser trained on him.

"Who are you?" Kirk questioned the Marine.

"That doesn't matter right now sir."

T'Brel looked just as shocked as Kirk was to see the Marine officer standing standing in the corridor. Kirk did not know what was real, what to believe, was this Marine standing before him an illusion, or was he real.

"T'Brel, who is this man?" Kirk asked.

"He's our new Marine officer. We met him earlier tonight on the station." T'Brel answered.

Kirk seemed distant as he tried to remember meeting the Marine earlier but the only thing he could focus on was the orbs he saw when he got back to the ship.

"There are here." Kirk said.

"Who's here?" T'Brel asked.

"What are you talking about?" Mrad asked more confused then he was mere moments ago.

"The ghosts, those orbs there are here on the ship."

<Tag ALL>

[sfcmradj1]

"Ghosts" Jamil said with shock, he never saw a ghost before and he never believe in them, but knowing that there is an unknown something on the ship, make him feel nervous.

"Sir, i recommend going to red alert. If there is something or someone on the ship, we must find it fast and neutralize it before something bad happen" Jamil addressed Commander 1st class Peers.

[T'Brel Peers]

His head was pounding and he could already feel the blood trickleling down his face. He was breathing hard, but he was most of all mad. Very few people had seen T'Brel show any emotion and it surprised a few of them to see him mad.

"T'Brel?" Kirk asked in a shocked tone of voice.

"Who the hell else would it be?" T'Brel fired back.

"What is going on?" Kirk asked.

"You tell me, your the one who attacked me out of no where," T'Brel said as he picked him up. At the moment he didn't know what was going on, but he was pleased to know he could still kick his best friend's butt. "So what's going on?"

"There are here." Kirk said.

"Who's here?" T'Brel asked.

"What are you talking about?" Mrad asked more confused then he was mere moments ago.

"The ghosts, those orbs there are here on the ship."

~Damn it, we don't need this~ T'Brel said to himself. He knew the effect they had on him and on Jon as well. These things were unknown and he didn't really want to get to know about them.

"Ghosts" Jamil said with shock, he never saw a ghost before and he never believe in them, but knowing that there is an unknown something on the ship, make him feel nervous.

"Sir, I recommend going to red alert. If there is something or someone on the ship, we must find it fast and neutralize it before something bad happen" Jamil addressed Commander 1st class Peers.

"That will not be necessary," T'Brel said," going to red alert wouldn't help us. Right now I think its best if we try to negate the energy that these ghost live off."

"Jon if your feeling better I could use you on the bridge, Lt. please recall all of our crew. As far as we know it has only affected the Tiger Shark and I want to keep it that way."

<Tag All>

OOC: Normally I wouldn't use so much of your guys post, but it wouldn't have sounded right otherwise. So please understand, lol

[Deleted]

"Jon if your feeling better I could use you on the bridge, Lt. please recall all of our crew. As far as we know it has only affected the Tiger Shark and I want to keep it that way."

“Agreed.” Kirk said trying to regain his composure.

The three officers went their separate ways. Kirk headed straight to the bridge where he found just the night crew manning all the key stations.

“Sir?” Said the officer in charge as Kirk entered the bridge, “What’s going on, you’re not due for another eight hours.”

“I know,” Kirk said, “but we have a situation that needs the entire crews attention.”

Kirk moved quickly to his old OPS station, almost pushing the officer manning the station out of the way. He starts a high level scan, hoping that it finds the energy that has been moving through out the ship.

“What are you looking for sir?” Asked the OPS officer.

“I want you to keep an eye out for anything that you find out of the ordinary, OK?” Kirk said.

“Yes, of course sir.”

“Has Lt. Mrad contacted Commander Thirteen yet?” Kirk asked.

“I’m not sure sir.” Replied the officer in charge.

“OK, go ahead and send out a immediate summons for all senior staff members, and crew to report back to the ship. Once everybody has checked in with his or her department heads I want you to issue a Blue Alert.”

[T'Brel Peers]

T'Brel didn't wait long for Jon's response as he headed towards the nearest turbolift. T'Brel decided to head towards main engineering. He would try to erect a powerful space bubble around the ship. Hopefully it would keep the beings or what ever they were inside the ship. He couldn't, as the rest of the senior staff would agree to, allow the ghost to enter the starbase. It could and most likely would be followed by mass hysteria.

"Commander, are you lost?" the night time chief asked.

"No, I'm not lost Commander," T'Brel said as he reached the closest console.

"Sir, if I may ask, what are you doing?" the chief asked somewhat annoyed that a helm officer was taking over in his department.

"I'm trying to stop somethin that you have never heard or seen," T'Brel said as he motioned for the stunned crewman to join him. "I need four subspace beacons."

"Yes sir," the crewman responded.

"You, I need you to get your entire team together, I want you all to work on making a powerful space bubble, something that would be able to negate powerful electromagnetic forces," T'Brel said as he quickly left engineering and headed towards the bridge where Jon would most likely be.

[Deleted]

“Sir, all crew members report in and ready.” Replied the OPS officer.

“OK, go now go to Blue Alert.” Kirk ordered.

Just as Kirk ordered the alert, the bridge lights dimmed as if they were going to into Red Alert, but this time blue lights shown instead of the more common red and yellow lights. Kirk looked around at each officer on the bride and noted that each of them seemed much more tense than if they were going into battle.

They had no idea what was going on, and had to just simply trust in their First Officer.

With in minutes of going to Blue Alert several sensors starting beeping at each console, one in particular caught Kirk’s attention, it was an incoming hail.

“Sir, we are being hailed.” The OPS officer announced, “It’s Admiral Lin.”

“On screen.” Kirk ordered.

With in seconds the officer opened the channel on the main viewing screen and Kirk was face to face with Admiral Lin.

“What seems to be the problem Commander?” Lin asked.

“Sir,” Kirk started, “We seem to have a stowaway.”

“How do you mean?” Lim asked.

“If you pull up Commander Thirteen’s last Mission Report you will see that we encountered a unknown energy being.” Kirk paused as he saw Admiral Lin looking over a small PADD.

“Go ahead.” Lin said as he looked back up from the PADD.

“Well sir, we have reason to believe that one or more of those beings have stowed away on the Tiger Shark.” Kirk finished.

Lin moved back in his chair, his expression changed to one of serious concern, then a question came to mind, “Why don’t you lower your shields until we can get your ship outside the Starbase?” Lin asked.

“Sir, we do not know how these things travel, not yet. What we do know is that they are based on an electromagnetic field and right now our shields are matching the field in which we encountered in our last mission.” Kirk replied.

Suddenly the ship rocked and the power levels dropped off causing the bridge lights to go out, leaving only the flashing blue lights as the primary light source.

“We are losing primary power sir.” Reported the OPS officer.

Kirk looked up at the Main View screen and watched helplessly as the signal was starting to fade and static was starting to take over.

“Do what you have to do Commander,” Lin said, “We will do what we can on our end. Lin out.”

The view screen bent black, leaving the bridge in near total darkness. Kirk stood in the middle of the bridge and looked straight ahead knowing that the ship and her crew were now in a fight for their very lives.

<TAG ALL>

[thirteen]

"I love you." She had phenomenal eyes. Ones with a bright sparkle, deep blue, like an ocean. Her long brown hair waved past her fine features. She reached out, and he took her hand. "Dance with me," she said. "Here? But there is no music -" "Shh," she pressed a finger on his lips, "you're not listening, open your hart." She gently pulled him against her, and they started dancing. Slowly, sensually at first. Then he heard it. He heard the music.

They danced and danced under the magnificent oak tree for an eternity, yet it was an eternity that passed way too soon. "Do you really have to go?" he asked. "You know I do. But we'll see each other soon right?" He nodded. They looked each other in the eyes. She put her arms around his neck, and her face closed in on his. Their noses touched. They slightly tilted their heads. She came even closer...

Thirteen's eyes snapped open. He was confused for a moment, and needed a few seconds to regain his bearings, and conclude that his regeneration cycle just came to an end, and that he was in fact on the Tiger Shark. "Computer, time." *The time is 0617. Did you sleep well commander?* The computer's reply stunned Thirteen. "Computer did you just ask me whether I slept well?" *Unable to comply, please restate your question.* Thirteen shook his head, and decided to forget about his dream and the computer's comment, and head for the bridge.

He was surprised to see blue light flickering in the hallway. A turbolift took him to the bridge. The doors opened, but only halfway as all power failed that very moment. Thirteen pushed the doors open with his arms and stepped onto the bridge. In the flashing blue light Thirteen could distinguish commander Kirk. "Mister Kirk, report!" "Captain! I hadn't noticed you coming in. It appears that those orbs from the temple have somehow traveled with us on the Tiger Shark. And now all power is down due to unknown reasons."

Thirteen tapped his commbadge, but it made only a fizzling sound, indicating that communications were cut. Thirteen drew a deep breath as he eyed his first officer. "It was me," he spoke. Jonathan looked at him questioningly. "My blindness, they must have hidden inside my visual systems, overloading them due to the excess energy they produced. I regained my sight when we were back on the ship, that is where they exited my system to roam the Tiger Shark." Kirk eyed his captain, and nodded slightly. "That sounds like a sound explanation of how they came aboard."

"Now we need to figure out how to get them of this ship," Thirteen said. "Any ideas?" Jonathan asked. "We need to figure out whether the black out is on the bridge only, or whether it is throughout the ship. If engineering encountered the same problem they should be getting power back this very moment, but if they do not know we are without power they will not know we are unless someone heads down there." Kirk nodded. "Crewman Furgesson," Kirk addressed the officer at the ops station, "head down to engineering, mister O'Malley, join him. Find out what's going on, and make sure we get power up here. Be careful." "Take these," Thirteen added, handing the two officers phasers, "we have no idea what we are up against. Proceed most cautiously."

[Deleted]

Flickering lights from the ship’s station consoles provided just enough light for Kirk to make his way to the OPS station after Furgesson had left to go down to Enigeering.

It was then that he felt vulnerable; these beings had hitched a ride inside Thirteen’s body, the same thing could have happened to him. Maybe it did and he did not know about it. Whey him? Kirk thought to himself, why not me as well?

Kirk knew there was a time and place for second thoughts such as this, they had more pressing matters on their hands. Each time Kirk tried a command on the OPS console it replied with the standard buzz, telling the First Officer that the station wasn’t working.

“Sir, can you do a backwards internal scan on yourself and see if you can pull out any information on the beings? We can only hope they left behind some sort of electromagnetic signature that can give us some sort of clue as to how to locate them.”

<Tag Thirteen>

Kirk had hoped that if Thirteen could indeed find something out that could be used as a signature pattern, then he could share that information through his assimilation tendrils and Kirk could be able to either use his own ocular implant to search the ship, while other crew members could use tricorders. With any luck they might even be able to develop a capturing system as well as some sort of container to hold the beings in.

[unknown]

'My, my, you finally figured it out. Took you quite some time, didn't it? So now what, what are you going to do, what are you going to do to stop us? You have no idea what you're up against. We will not be eliminated. Hmm, what's this we feel now? They put an electromagnetic shield around the ship? My, they're smarter than we thought. Nothing a little power failure can't fix though.'

'We want to see the look on their faces, now where is that mister acting first officer commander Jonathan Kirk. Ah, there you are, on the bridge, surprise surprise. Blue alert, what an invention, nice light show. Time to cut the power. Let night settle in. Priceless mister Kirk, that look upon your face, priceless; complete helplessness... We love it!'

'Well, well, if it isn't mister numerical who managed to squeeze himself onto the bridge just in time for the party. Had any strange dreams? Or computer communication complications? Ha, ha! Right, what's next? Oh, yes! Brilliant! We'll send them a message. Let us see, we had best print it on the main view screen.'

YOU NEED TO LIVE BEFORE YOU DIE

DEATH IS BUT A NEW BEGINNING

I FOUND LIFE AFTER DEATH

YOU'LL FIND IT SOON ENOUGH TOO

'Excellent, why don't you puzzle on that for a while. Now let us find a way to make a statement. How about we overload the warpcore? That is magnificent! Not only will we take the Tiger Shark, but the entire starbase Assailant to us! Now why don't you enjoy the dark and my message a little longer? I'll be sure to restore power in a little while. Not like we'll be granting you computer access again, but you'll find that out the moment power is back. Have fun.'

[thirteen]

Thirteen listened carefully to Kirk's suggestion. "A sound plan, I can only wonder why I did not think of this myself," he said. Thirteen closed his eyes. His eyelids vibrated restlessly as he sought residue of what had been inside his head. What he visualized during the process could best be compared to flipping through all the cards in a huge archive. He got stuck on a pattern, a certain frequency that he did not recognize. It was incomplete, yet existent. He traced the pattern to its memory location, and managed to find out that the pattern had settled in at the exact same time he went blind.

His eyes snapped open. "Commander," Thirteen addressed Kirk, "I have found an alien pattern, that settled at the exact time I went blind, it contains without doubt the frequencies of these beings. But there is one thing I cannot comprehend." "What's that captain?" "The pattern appears to contain one core frequency. The other frequencies are but extrapolations of that core frequency." "Are you suggesting that all these entities that have come aboard are somehow linked to each other, sir?" "Yes, but moreover I think there is something like a hive mind linking these entities." "Take out the hive mind, you take out the hive." Thirteen nodded.

"Sir, if you pass me the information via your assimilation tendrils, we can scan the ship with our ocular implants and find out where they're hiding." "Excellent idea mister Kirk." Thirteen took a step toward Jonathan, when all of a sudden a murmur arose on the bridge. The present officers pointed at the screen. Bright blue letters appeared as thought the were slowly typed on an ancient type machine. "You need to live before you die. Death is but a new beginning. I found life after death. You will find it soon enough too," Thirteen repeated the text when it was done being printed on the Tiger Shark's main view screen.

"Any idea what it means commander?" Thirteen asked Jonathan. Kirk shook his head. "Let us not be distracted, and continue with your plan commander," Thirteen said as he extended his arm. Kirk followed his example, and rolled up his sleeve. Two leathery tubes came out the top of Thirteen's hand, and wound their way into Jonathan's. The ex-Borgs staggered a second as contact was made. Within a few milliseconds the information was transmitted, and Thirteen withdrew his tendrils from Kirk's arm. "Here we go mister Kirk. Let us find the threat."

[Deleted]

The new information passed from Commander Thirteen into Kirk’s mind could be described as a rush. It had been the first time since Kirk’s removal from the collective that he had interacted with another former drone. For several minutes after the interface Kirk could still hear Thirteen’s thoughts in his head.

When the confusion finally settled down things began to become clear to Kirk. He could see the electromagnetic signal that Thirteen had sent him, and suddenly it became clear to Kirk why these entities choice his as a host.

"Here we go mister Kirk. Let us find the threat."

“Aye sir,” Kirk said, “I think we should do a systematic sweep of the ship using this core signal.”

“Agreed.” Thirteen said.

Kirk reached over and stuck his own tendrils into a tricorder. The tricorders normal noise and lights fluttered for a few seconds as Kirk added this new information into the small device.

“We need to get this information down to T’Brel in engineering.” Kirk said after he was done with the tricorder, “He mentioned that he was going to try and re-modulate our shields to better match the first frequency that we encountered on our away mission.”

Kirk made for the turbo lift but remembered that the power was still offline, “I’ll start at the bottom of the ship and work my way back up. Lets just hope that when I get to T’Brel he and Lt. Eddons have partial power restored." Kirk finished as he opened a small access hatch exposing a ladder.

[thirteen]

Thirteen followed Kirk's example, and plugged his tendrils into a tricorder. The screen of the tricorder distorted a little as Thirteen transmitted frequency pattern. "Very well mister Kirk, I will start here and work my way down, that way we are bound to trap it." Just as Jonathan opened the hatch the lights suddenly flickered back to life, as power came back to the bridge. Kirk stopped dead in his tracks.

=/\= This is commander Thirteen to engineering, miss Eddons, do you read? =/\= =/\= Yes captain, we read you. =/\= =/\= Excellent job. =/\= =/\= Excellent job on what sir? =/\= =/\= Briging power back. =/\= =/\= Ehm sir, power has never been down.=/\= Thirteen fell silent for a few seconds. =/\= Are you positive? We have been without power for several minutes on the bridge. =/\= =/\= Well sir, the logs show nothing out of the ordinary. =/\= =/\= Okay, thank you. =/\= =/\= What's going on sir? Is everything alright? =/\= =/\= Not really miss Eddons, but there is no time for explanation right now, Thirteen out. =/\=

In the meanwhile Kirk had moved to the operations console. "Captain, all controls are blocked, the console won't respong at all, not even a beep or chirp to indicate that it's not functioning." "This needs to be resolved right now mister Kirk, proceed as planned." Kirk nodded, and started his descend on the stairs. =/\= This is Eddons to captain Thirteen. =/\= =/\= Go ahead. =/\= =/\= Sir, we've just lost all controls, we can't get anything to respond! =/\= =/\= I am aware of the problem, we have encountered the same thing. Try to figure something out to get controls back. Perhaps you can modify a tricorder and hook it up to the system? =/\= =/\= I'll do my best sir, Eddons out. =/\=

Thirteen stepped into the turbolift. "Deck two." The computer beeped, and the elevator came into motion. It is actually working? That is strange. None of the controls are operational, yet the turbolift is, Thirteen processed. The lift kept on descending. It should have stopped a long time ago, I passed deck two several seconds ago. "Computer, deck two." Thirteen's command was ignored. It descended further, then came to a halt. The doors slid open, and revealed a dark hallway. All lights had been deactivated. "Computer, what deck am I on?" Still no response. Thirteen's ocular implant switched to dark vision. Just as Thirteen was about to take a step forward an immensely bright flash of light illuminated the hallway.

Before him, in midair hovered an immense being of light. It had organic features; a face, arms, a body, though it did not appear to have a solid form. His shape changed constantly, yet remained the same being. It was a strange sight. "Who are you?" Thirteen asked. "This is going to sound very cliché, but I am your worst nightmare, mister electronic man." "What do you want, why are you causing these things on my ship?" Thirteen asked without flinching. "What I want will become clear to you when you let me do my thing." Thirteen raised an eyebrow out of sarcasm. "Give me one reason why I should not get in your way." "Salvation mister numerical, salvation, that's the keyword." "I do not believe in salvation," Thirteen replied. "Oh but you will, mark my words you will, now if you'll be so kind as to excuse me, I have some fireworks to attend to."

"Just one second!" Thirteen shouted. The being turned back to Thirteen and eyed the ex-Borg questioningly. It all happened in a flash. Thirteen lunged at the being. His tendrils struck the entity in the region where its heart would have been. "No... What? This... can't.... be..." "You - appeared to have - had a nice - time - in my - visual cortex - now - it will become your - prison," Thirteen managed to say as he felt his systems frying under the immense amount of energy his tried to absorb into them. "You... will... not... get... away... with... this... You... have... no... idea... what... you're -" It was over. Thirteen staggered for a few seconds. He sought support at the wall. At the same time, the lights came back to life. =/\= Engineering to commander Thirteen, sir, controls are back, all of a sudden. =/\= =/\= That - is good to - hear. =/\= =/\= Are you okay sir? =/\= =/\= I think I can say with a lot of certainty that I have felt better miss Eddons. =/\=

=/\= Thirteen to - Kirk, I could - use your assistance - commander. =/\= =/\= Are you alright captain? Where are you? What happened? Controls appear to be back. =/\= =/\= Remember the way - this entity - came - aboard? I ran across - it - and put it back where - it came from. =/\= =/\= Does that mean what I think it means? =/\= =/\= I am - not a mind - reader - mister Kirk. =/\= =/\= I'm on my sir, Kirk out. =/\=

A few minuten later Kirk came rushing out the turbolift. "Captain!" "Commander, it will be no surprise that my vision has once again been obscured. And I feel very weak. This entity is putting up quite a fight inside my head. I need to go to sickbay immediately. "I'll arrange an immediate emergency transport." Two seconds later Thirteen rematerialized in sickbay. Doctor Franklin came rushing to him. Kirk explained the situation as he and the doctor helped Thirteen on a biobed. "Mister Kirk, we need a quarantene container to store this entity in, with a shield modified to the frequencies you have." "I'm on it," Jonathan said as he rushed out of sickbay.

"How are you feeling captain?" "Not so - very well - doctor. Weak - very - weak - I am fighting - this - entity - in my head it is - draining all - my energy. I - cannot hold - on - very much - longer." "Hang in there sir, I know you can do it. Commander Kirk should be getting back with that container any minute now." Jonathan came rushing into sickbay. "Ah, speaking of the devil," Franklin, "has it been modified correctly?" "I've double checked it," Kirk answered. "Thirteen, you need to insert your tendrils in here," Franklin said. "I - cannot see." "Just extend them, I'll put them in, mister Kirk, be so kind and hold the container."

It didn't take long, and turned out to be quite an easy procedure. Thirteens vision slowly kicked back in, and he felt his energy being distributed through his entire body equally again. He got up, and eyed the bright white light in the container Kirk was holding. Then his eyes turned to Jonathan's, and Thirteen nodded. "Thank you doctor." "Captain, I really think you -" "Should get some rest, yes, of course, and I will. But first I want everyone on the bridge." =/\= All senior officers report to the bridge, the threat has been secured, you are to thouroughly check your departments systems and the stations on the bridge. Thirteen out. =/\=

"Let us go," Thirteen said. "I will take that mister Kirk," Thirteen said as he took the container from his first officer, "we'll be sure to drop this of behind a secure containment field in cargo bay two. I will contact admiral Magellan on further actions concerning this being. After you, gentlemen."