Past Prologue, Part 12
Posted on Mon Apr 8, 2019 @ 8:58am by Commander Caleb Ryan
898 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
Things Past
Location: USS Winchester/The Borderlands/Omicron Nebula
Timeline: FLASHBACK: 2375/Toward the End of the Dominion War
“Lieutenant Turil! Report!” Artemis barked into his comm, straining to see something – anything – in the total darkness.
“We appear to have lost power, sir,” came the Vulcan engineer’s insufferably calm voice. “We are attempting to bring up backup power.”
Artemis was fumbling for the wrist light at his belt when dim emergency lighting came up inside the cavernous room, now lit only by the glow of the cloning tubes.
“We seem to have generator power, at least, down in the lab facility,” Artemis reported.
“That was not us, Captain,” Turil responded.
Artemis looked to Captain Wilson and his Marines.
“Power plant,” Wilson said.
Artemis strapped his light to his wrist and yanked out his phaser. “Jirys, get back topside and help Turil.”
“Yes, sir,” the Bolian said.
Wilson assigned a Marine to go with him.
Artemis, Wilson, and three Marines headed toward the back of the lab, past row upon row of eerily lit cloning tubes. Artemis glanced to the side, seeing one of the monsters for the first time. It appeared to be female, long brown hair floating in the nutrient bath like some kind of angelic halo around her head. Innocent.
But Pierce knew better. He knew what these…things were capable of, had read the histories, seen the vids. Even a hundred years ago, Singh had posed a threat to the Federation, attempting to steal the Genesis Device to use as a weapon of mass destruction, to hold the Federation hostage. If those sleeping eyes opened, Artemis wouldn’t hesitate to shoot them.
“Sir,” Wilson said quietly as they reached the door to the power plant.
A Marine jury rigged a tricorder to power up the door controls.
“Let us go first, sir,” Wilson said.
The Marines shined their lights inside the darkened room and headed in, splitting up around the large generator. Artemis followed, listening to the string of “Clear!” as the men cleared the room. Once they deemed it safe, Pierce and Wilson met around an open access hatch in the generator, shining their lights inside.
“Well, they did a good job,” Wilson mused. “They left the generator completely intact, just took out the power distribution node. Until we get a new part, this isn’t going to put out anything.”
Pierce mused about that fact. “They can’t have gone far,” he said.
“That lab is pretty large, sir. In the dark, whoever did this could have snuck past us.”
“The door was locked,” Wilson said, shining his light up at an open air vent. “That’s how they got in and out.”
“Turil, can you get internal sensors on line?” Artemis asked his chief engineer over the comm.
“Not without power, sir,” the Vulcan stated the obvious.
Artemis paused, considering what to do. “Turil, how much of that data did you manage to get?”
“My estimate would be twenty-nine percent, sir. I estimate that thirty-one percent of that was corrupted by the system cascade.”
“It’s irrelevant now. We know what’s going on here. Pack up your gear and get back to the Winchester>.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Alpha, Bravo, regroup and head back to operations. We’re bugging out,” Wilson ordered his men.
“Sir, I can’t raise Momel and Sonya.”
Artemis looked over at Wilson, who was scowling. “We left them with the weapons.”
“Bloody hell,” Artemis cursed. “Bravo team! Meet us at the rec room. Do not go searching for Momel and Sonya!”
“Copy, sir—Holy shit!”
Pierce’s eyes opened wide as he heard the sound of phaser fire. There were screams and grunts and then silence.
“Go!” Pierce yelled at Wilson and Charlie Team. They raced through the dimly lit lab and into the dark stairs, racing up. They hit the door to the second level and it stuck. A moment of pushing freed it, and as Pierce stepped through he slipped and fell to his hands and knees. His hands were in something warm and sticky and he gasped as he looked into Jirys’ lifeless eyes. The Bolian’s throat had been severed clear through to the gleaming white spine, blue blood staining the front of his uniform, and now Pierce’s as well.
“Are you okay, sir?” Wilson hauled him up.
“Fine,” Pierce said. “Go!”
“Captain! I have Momel and Sonya.” The Marine shone a light into the training room and Artemis nearly vomited. The Tellarite’s head lay about ten feet from his body, which was impaled into the wall on a Klingon spear.
“Help…” Sonya said weakly from where she lay on the practice mat. Her hands fumbled with something and Artemis realized she was trying desperately – feebly – to stuff her intestines back inside her gutted abdomen. The stench of ruptured bowel filled the room. Sonya fell forward and Pierce didn’t need his tricorder to know she was gone.
“Sir…” There was a quaver in the Marine’s voice. Pierce came over to the bladed weapons cabinet. It had been wrenched open by brute force.
“Why didn’t they take the phasers?” another Marine asked.
“Because phaser fire is bright, noisy. It draws attention,” Artemis murmured. “These monsters want silence.”
TBC
Captain Artemis Pierce
Commanding Officer
USS Winchester
Lieutenant Turil
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Winchester
Lieutenant Jirys Hon’gah
Chief Science Officer
USS Winchester
Captain Edgar Wilson
Marine Commanding Officer
USS Winchester
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