Damocles Chapter 1: First Steps
The Damocles discovers a mysterious space station holding a threat to the entire ship.
Captain’s Log, Stardate 86348.05. 6 months into our five-year exploratory mission, we picked up a radio signal, much resembling primitive communication technologies. Upon further investigation, we have come across a space station around the orbit of a barren planet.
1
The Damocles came into orbit of the planet late afternoon, ship time. The inertial dampeners kept the crew alive as they left warp, but Commander Michael Karr could still feel the slight shift. They were good, but not perfect. And using that ever so slight advantage, he managed to slip past the defences of his opponent, and knock him to the ground. He waited a couple seconds, before helping the security guard back onto his feet.
“Impressive showing Kingston, you fought exceptionally.” Karr said.
“Thank you, Commander.” The officer said.
Out of his commbadge, he heard the deep voice of Lieutenant Brooks telling him to report to the bridge and that they had arrived. He bid Kingston, and the other officers, a farewell. He changed into his uniform; a yellow shirt, with dark red shoulders and a black collar with a thin yellow outline, over a black undershirt, and black trousers with a yellow stripe down the sides; before heading out. He was thankful that the fabric was comfortable and breathable, allowing him to cool off quickly.
Commander Karr was a tall man, standing at over 6 feet, and his face was sharp and white, with dark green eyes. His hair was dark and short, and he was clean-shaven. He carried himself with the bearing and manner of a WASP. He carried a phaser pistol on his hip, an increasingly common habit among Star Fleet officers.
When he got onto the Turbolift, Captain Syvar was there. She was standing straight, and wearing her off-duty clothes. A light, but practical dress. Blue in colour, but with specks of paint upon it. She had her commbadge on her right side. Her eyes were amber, and her ears were pointy. The only things that outwardly marked her as unusual among her people, was the two ear-rings she wore, and her hair, worn in the Martian fashion in which she was raised. Down to the nape of her neck, wavy, and thick.
She gave him a small smile as the doors closed, and said, “Sparring again?” She asked.
He nodded, and leant against the wall.
“Did you win?” She asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes, I did.” He replied, with a slight smile. It was near impossible for him to lose a fair fight with his augmentations. “How’s your painting coming along?
“Well, I was just finishing the final details when I was called,” She said, “I’ll be able to share it soon.”
They arrived at the bridge. Karr followed behind Syvar by a couple of steps.
“Have we received better readings of the station? Do we know who built it?” She asked asked.
“No, it is an entirely alien design, and it appears to be quite old. No signs of atmosphere, let alone life.” Lieutenant Brooks said.
“How ancient?” Karr asked.
“We haven’t been able to ascertain that as of yet Commander.” He said, his Irish accent getting barely perceptibly more pronounced, “But it is at least several centuries old.”
“Curious.” Karr said simply.
“Indeed. Seems as if fortune guided us here.” Captain Syvar said. Her Martian accent, a strangely alluring mix of Texan, Australian and Spanish, coming out more with her barely suppressed excitement and desire. He knew no one else would pick up on the subtle shift and tells. She would appear calm to everyone else.
“I will lead the away mission” Karr said simply.
“No, I will. But you are coming with me, as are you Lieutenant Barks.” She said, turning her attention to the man at the pilot’s controls, “Edwards, give us a three-man security detachment as well. We don’t know what is there, and what dangers we may face. Have Archer send an engineering team as well. We will meet in the transporter’s room in an hour. Edwards, you will be in charge while we are gone.” She finished, and entered her ready room.
Karr followed her a few seconds later. The ready room was small, consisting only of her desk, some paintings, including her own, on display, a sofa and a small wardrobe. She ordered a cold beer, no synthahol, from the replicator.
He took a long look at her. Her brunette hair done in a bun, sharp features, her emerald eyes, and the slight smile that she only shared with a few. She was short as well, making up for it by wearing platform shoes.
“Are you sure you should be heading over? It is not likely to be safe. And we can’t lose our captain just as we head off.”
“That would likely sink the entire project.” She agreed, taking a large drink from her beer. He simply put his down on the desk.
“Then why are you going?”
She made a gesture for him to turn around as she took a drink from her beer. He did so. After a few seconds, she responded, “What is the point of being a captain if you can’t engage in some danger and exploration every now and then?”
He could hear the fabric move against her skin from across the room, as if it were screaming right into his ear. The moving of her feet, even the low hum of the ship. He started doing the times tables in his head to distract himself from the sounds. An old habit “Did you not get enough of danger in the war?” He asked.
She laughed, something she would never do with anyone else, especially with her crew. Wouldn’t want the façade of the emotionless, logical, alien captain breaking. “I could ask the same of you Mike. And losing the Second in command would still play badly with the admirals, and the public. You can turn around now by the way.”
He obliged, and saw that she had changed from her dress to the standard uniform. It was similar to his own, except with an extra pin showing her rank, and with the collar turning into a v-nec,k reaching down to just above her breasts, all black with a yellow border.
He thought for a moment, before he asked; “And losing us both?” He asked. She put on her jacket over her shirt, and didn’t reply.
2
The transporter room was large enough, and its teleporter pad allowed for up to 15 people at once. The pad itself was hexagonal, with hexagons inside it, showing where to stand for transportation. It was still possible to transport without them, but they made it significantly easier and safer. Green lights run around the back, positioned in clean lines. There was a large console in the corner opposite the door, behind which stood Ensign Mckinney, the man in charge of it.
Attached to the transporter room was a locker room, storing the Environmental Armour Suits, as well as weapons and other tools useful for away missions. The EAS were made of a flexible black metal, and fit snuggly over their form-fitting uniform. It distinctly resembled a knight’s armour. Jets were located on the bottom of the boots, with fuel, and oxygen, between the outer layer and the inner layer of the EAS. Made for protection and mobility in both deep space, and deep ocean situations, they were the latest in federation development, and the Damocles was the first to have them. This would be a good test for them.
When his team, consisting of security officers Lt Leonard Kingston and, Lt lieutenant Brooks, and three engineers, was suited up, they left the armour room, and stepped onto the transporter. Captain Syvar’s team was already down. He, Kingston and Brooks were all armed with phaser pistols. Karr put on his helmet, before telling McKinney to beam them down to the engine room. A few moments later, the process began. It was deeply uncomfortable. He could feel his atoms being torn apart, his being torn asunder. See the transporter room dissolve around him, before the station’s engine room forming around him, as his atoms came back together. No matter how often he did it, he hated it.
As soon as they had finished transportation, Karr turned on his sensors, switching between them until he found a good one. The engineers got right to work attaching their power batteries to the computers, and getting what information they can from their databanks, and collecting the left behind engineering material around them. There was no gravity, so they floated less than an inch above the ground.
After a few moments of looking around, and making sure everything was visibly safe, he went off, with Brooks, in order to explore around the ship. They had to force open the doors. Heavy, and stuck from years without use, the two men had to use all their strength, including the enhanced strength of the suits, to open them. Eventually, with some effort, they were able to open the doors, and get into the corridor outside.
The corridor was long, and wide enough for two men abreast. The walls were bare except for the doors, as were the floor. Between the wall and the roof, there were glass panels. He guessed the lighting was behind those. He looked down both directions, and it seemed to stretch off in both directions. Karr picked one at random, and went down it, Brooks soon following behind.
They walked in silence, letting themselves take in their surroundings. When they came across a door, they opened them. Each of them was much easier to open than the doors to engineering, taking only minimal effort. Some of them were broken, torn apart, and smashed down, as though attacked by some animal. Most of the rooms were work spaces, or lab stations. Most of them were in states of destruction. Broken glass, destroyed computers and smashed desks.
“I wonder what did this,” Brooks said. “Were they attacked? Was that why they left?”
“Hopefully some of the information we can get will settle that question for us.” Karr replied. He kept his eyes forward
About ten minutes later, they hit a large air-lock, shut tight. There was a large dent in it, as if a boulder hit it. Karr looked back at Brooks, and gave him a look, before turning back toward the air-lock. He had his suit’s computer scan the door, and confirm what he suspected. It was made of solid steel, an inch thick. Anything doing this kind of damage would be substantially strong indeed.
Before either of them could comment, Syver opened the comm line. Her voice was controlled, hiding a thin layer of stress. “Karr, something has attacked us, we need help.”
“On may way,” he responded, before opening a channel to Mckinney, “Beam me, Brooks and Kingston as close as you can to Syvar, get the engineers off the ship.” He ordered.
There was a brief confirmation, and moments later, as he was drawing his phaser the disorientating and discombobulating feeling of transportation overcame him. Moments later, he found the command centre appearing in front of him. Large, with a collection of stations, each in a ring of consoles. There was a large creature holding Atley, resembling a gorilla made of vines. Half an EAS suit floated past him, the body still in it.
Thinking quickly for a way to save Atley, he quickly came up with a plan. He pushed himself toward the wall opposite the abomination. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Brooks moving to the side, getting a better firing line. When he got to the wall, he saw Syvar hiding behind of the consoles. The rest of her surviving team were behind other consoles, all shooting at the creature.
He got himself properly positioned, turned on his jets, and launched himself at what looked to be the abominations head. He accelerated quickly, and in seconds he was there, punching the creature. Moving quickly, turned himself around so his jets faced the rapidly approaching wall, slowing his descent, before accelerating him away again, and he moved to punch the thing again.
Moving so quickly, he had only half a second to react to seeing the abomination release Atley, and move to punch him. He tried to adjust his trajectory to get away from it. But the creature hit him, with the force of a train, hitting him toward the floor. He found his head spinning, and he vomited inside his helmet. Seconds later he rammed into the wall, and the force vibrated through his armour, and he found himself having difficulties thinking. Through the mud of his thoughts, he managed to tell his computer to turn off the jets, preventing him from flying about.
His vision came back just as he saw the abomination launch itself right at him, moving quickly. But before he could react, he found himself being pushed out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting hit. He tried to turn his head to see who saved him, but his brain started floating again, and he couldn’t concentrate. He could hear the sounds of breaking metal, as the transportation process began again.
3
Karr woke up in the medical bay. His entire body was in agony, most especially his chest and back. He tried to lift his arm, but was unable to do so. It felt like trying to lift a concrete brick. He groaned in pain. This got the attention of the doctor, and she came up to him.
“You’re finally awake.” She said.
He tried to speak, groaned in pain, before managing to ask, “How long was I out Sarah?”
“Three days.”
He didn’t say anything else, finding himself too exhausted to speak. Darkness soon encroached on him again. He woke up some time later, and there were more people around him. Another three days had passed this time, according to the nurse.
This time he didn’t pass back out, and most of the pain had gone. Enough so he was able to walk. He went into the medical bathroom, and changed out of his hospital clothes, and into more pants and black t-shirt. His crucifix hung around his neck. Woodford saw him as he was heading back to bed. She went up to him.
Woodford was not long away, and seeing him up and about, said, with a smile, “You’re up, that’s good. You’re feeling better?”
“Yes. I am.”
“That is a relief.” She said, walking up to him “you’re lucky to be alive. Anyone else in that position would have been killed instantly. Only the suit, and your enhanced physicality, kept you alive.” She gave him a hug, and then her hand, and led him back to the bed. He sat down, and she sat down next to him, and starting taking some measurements.
He sat back down on the bed. And didn’t say anything for a few moments. “Have we found out what that thing was?”
She was blond, done in practical manner, with a headband keeping it together. Her face was gentle, and her eyes sapphire blue. Her shirt was ocean blue, with yellow stripes along the short of her shoulder, as well as bordering her collar, showing her position as head of medical. She was short, standing at 5’2.
Woodford turned her head to look at him, shook her head, before saying. “No. Brooks is going through some of the documents we were able retrieve before we had to leave. But he hasn’t found anything yet.” She turned back to her equipment, and continuing scanning him.
There was silence between the two as she finished her work. “Well, you seem mostly fine, but still got some healing to do. Try and stay off your feet if you can, rest up. No work or heroics until you’re healed.” She said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll follow the doctors orders,” Karr said. “I should ask, how is Atley doing?”
“I’m afraid he died from his wounds 4 days ago. Syvar is still recovering as well. Still hasn’t woken up.” She replied.
“Wait, what happened?” He asked.
“She got injured pushing you out of the way. She was with the beast for a few hours, getting carried around. When we believed she was alone, we took her out of there.”
“Where is she?” Karr asked.
“She’s under observation, in the private room. She was quite badly injured, and doesn’t have your augmentations. But she’s stable for now, so you can see her for now.”
He nodded, and followed her toward the room. A small room with a single bed, and a number of dedicated medical equipment. There was a door connecting to the operating theatre. Karr sat down by her, and held her hand with his left, and his crucifix with his right. She had survived so much, and if he was the one who caused her death with his stupidity, he would never forgive himself. He prayed for her healing. Sarah left the room.
4.
Sarah Woodford ate her dinner absentmindedly, while she turned another page of her book. She sat in the corner of the galley, by herself as always. It was a large room, and the stars glided past just outside the windows. She saw from the corner of her eye, someone come up, pull out a chair, and sit down. Looking up, Sarah saw John Brooks sitting opposite her.
“How’s the captain going?” Brooks asked.
She looked at him, annoyed, as she put in her bookmark, and sat the book down.
“Alright. Recovering, slowly. Karr has been sitting by her bed all day.” She replied.
“Makes sense, they’ve known each other for years. Wasn’t she the one that first reached the Odysseus upon its return?”
She nodded. “Yes, she was.” She was silent for a moment, hoping she could get back to her book.
“By the way, some of the bridge crew are having a game of 500 later, if you wish to join?” He asked.
She thought for a moment, “I’m sorry, I can’t. Maybe another time.” She replied.
“Maybe another time.” He repeated, and he headed off.
She watched him leave, and got back to her book, and finished her meal. When she was done, she moved back to her quarters to rest and sleep. But halfway there, she got a communication from Nurse Millard, asking her to come to the morgue. She almost said to leave it to the morning, but her tone suggested it was important. She went there right away.
The morgue was not far from medical, and she was able to walk there within a couple minutes. It was a cold room, and small. Only enough space for about 10 bodies stored at once on either wall. Julia Mallard stood there, standing in front of a pulled-out body. She had her back to her.
“Mallard, what is the issue?” Woodford asked when she entered.
“I think it is better if you just see it for yourself.” The nurse replied.
Confused, she walked up to see the body for herself. It was Atley, or at least it was Atley. In life, he had been a tall man with tanned skin, blond hair, and healthy smile. Now, his body was no longer what he had been. Not from decay, for they held it at bay while they had it in storage. No, this was something entirely different. His arms were leaf green, and his fingers had all fused together. His chest had collapsed in on itself, and now resembled vines rather than human flesh and blood. His face was in the process of melting away, and turning green. Woodford cursed under her breath.
5
Only a couple hours later, Sarah found herself in the conference room, looking at a screen. She sat next to Commander Karr, who was at the head of the table. On her other side was Robert Edwards. John Brooks, James Archer and head scientist Peter Heigh were also there. Karr, was still bruised, and he had walked in with a limp.
Behind them, there several paintings, and other decorations, were displayed to liven the place up when they had guests onboard. They were looking at the screen where the images she was presenting were displayed.
“It has been a week since Atley’s death. No one has opened the door to his storage for the last week and a half. At that time, no changes were noted, but there were also no scans, so it’s likely there were undetected internal changes underway. Either way, whatever this is, is incredibly rapid.” She swiped her tablet left, and new images were displayed. “This is the captain’s scans. She is the only other person we have seen undergo metamorphosis. However, it much slower than Atley’s, at least for now.”
Archer spoke next. His voice sounded as though he had been smoking a pack a day for the last 50 years. “Our power problems have been going on for the last two weeks. It seems likely that whatever is causing this is feeding off the energy of the ship. That is why we had trouble finding the source of the problem, and dealing with it. It’s possible that the reason it attacked was due to the power generators that you turned, attracted to it like a lion to a tiger”
“Could that be why the captain isn’t changing as rapidly? Atley was here longer, and might be monopolising a lot of the power, cutting off supply to Syvar’s transformation?” Brooks asked.
“Potentially, but I’m not sure how likely it is. The power outages have been minor for the most part, only affecting lights for a few seconds at most. The ship has a lot more power than that.” Archer replied.
“Do we have any ideas how Atley was infected with this? And if the rest of the ship can be infected?” Karr asked.
Woodford shook her head, and said, “No, but I have the entire medical team working on it. Regarding the latter, only Syvar and Atley have been undergoing metamorphosis, everyone else exposed, both the dead and the medical staff, have been cleared. As we have been exposed for some time, it’s unlikely that we are at risk of metamorphisis.”
Haigh was the next to speak. “It is interesting to note that the only one’s showing signs of the transformation are telepathic. Both Syvar’s and Atley’s species are telepathic, none of the others were.”
“That is a good point, we’ll have to look into it, and keep telepaths away from the two for the time being.” Woodford said.
“So it’s unlikely that the rest of us are going to transform, that’s a relief.” Karr said, “Woodford, how you are coming along with finding a cure for Syvar?”
Woodford thought for a moment, and said, “So far we only have a few hypothesis, we’ll need more data about that thing is, and that involves looking more closely at Atley, and getting some samples.”
There was a couple of seconds of silence, before Karr spoke again. “Archer, do you have an idea on how it has been draining the energy of the ship?”
“The team is looking into it, and we’re working with the medical team on the problem. But as of now, we only have a few ideas and hypothesis.” Archer replied.
Karr nodded, and said, “Brooks, you’ve been looking through the files. Did you find anything about this there?”
Brooks sat there, thinking for a long moment. “There are only fragments, nothing complete. The language seems to be a primitive form of Undurin, which is strange, because this base is older than their jump into interstellar travel. From the translations, it appears that they were experimenting on some form of weapons project. But that’s all we’ve been able to learn.
“Let me get this straight, we’re dealing with an escaped experimental biological weapon, made by a people before they had this technology?” Archer asked.
“That is what it appears like.” Brooks said, “Though we only have fragments of fragments, nothing about this is definitive.”
“Even than, we’ll still operate under the assumption that this is a bioWMD. Edward’s, have all your men armed and in armour. Get Atley into the shuttle bay, in a cage, and as soon as we have everything, we need from him, eject him from the ship. Archer, take us to minimal power, don’t want it to continue feeding off of it. And be prepared to power down the engines entirely, just in case it escapes. We’ll do everything we can to prevent this, but be prepared anyway,” Karr said. “Dismissed.”
6
Karr watched the others go, sitting where Syvar should be sitting, looking out the window. The dark beauty of the void just outside this ship pulled at him, as it so often did. He wondered how much of his life he had spent up here. He wondered if he would ever settle down back planetside. He doubted it. It was his home. He got up, and headed back to his room.
Walking was uncomfortable, verging on painful. But it wasn’t as bad as it had been. Still, he walked with a limp. It was a relief to rest for a couple minutes while in the Turbolift. Not long after, he arrived in the small, but still larger than most crewmen’s, quarters. Even included a private dining area, though he rarely used it. For the most part, however, it was utilitarian, with only a few pieces of memorabilia, and iconography. A sword rested next on coffee table. He walked past them all, and fell onto his bed, asleep but he hit the pillow.
A noise, sharp and loud, cut through his sleep. Karr slowly drifted back to consciousness, his body aching. The noise came again. His commbadge. He looked around, and saw it on the floor by the bed. Must have fallen off as he was sleeping. Picking it up, he opened the comm channel.
“Karr here.” He said.
There was a silence for a moment, before Edwards responded, “Sorry if I woke you Commander. We are about to take the sample, and remove Atley from the ship.”
“Alright, thanks for letting me know. I’ll be right there.” Karr said.
He yawned, and rubbed his eyes, waking himself up. His body was stiffer than ever. He got up, straightened his uniform, still wearing it from the night before, and ordered an English breakfast tea from the replicator. When it didn’t produce anything, he cursed under his breath as he remembered that they cut power. He headed off.
His leg, and entire body, were stiff, and he would’ve preferred if his sleep wasn’t interrupted, and he needed a good breakfast, but overall, he found it less uncomfortable to work than he had before, his limp lessened slightly. With only the emergency lights, it was harder to see, even with his augmented vision. Combined with his leg, it was slow going. As a result, it took him much longer than normal to arrive.
There were 6 security officers, as well as a small team of medical of medical staff, under the eye of Sarah, around a cube made of glass-like material. Inside, there was a clump of vines scattered around in a massive heap. Edwards, as well as Lieutenants Brooks and Kingston, were nearby, watching. They, alongside the security team, were wearing an EAS, and holding a phaser rifle at the ready, though Edwards, Brooks and Kingston weren’t wearing their helmets.
Edwards saw him walk in, and said, “Commander.”
“Lieutenant Commander. How is it going so far?” He asked, approaching the security chief.
“They’ve taken their scans, but haven’t taken a physical sample yet. I believe that is next. When that is done, we’ll turn off the force field, and let the vacuum remove Atley from our ship for us.”
Karr nodded, “Sounds good.” He said, “How long ago did Atley completely transform?”
“About 4 hours ago, but it was a gradual process. So far, he hasn’t moved.” Edwards replied.
Karr acknowledged what he said, before turning back to face the cube. It was large, the size of a man in height. There were two shuttle-craft behind the cube, and another three fighters behind them. The four men stood by the wall, near a few boxes and creates. A cargo lift was on the wall nearby. Behind a thin layer of blue light, was the dark void of space.
Woodford was talking to one of the security officers, and showing him something, but her body and hands hid what it was. After a few moments, the security officer nodded, took the thing from her, and moved off. A medical container was in his left hand, and a laser scalpel in his right. The officer entered the cube via a small door, and he closed it behind him. He was visibly unnerved by the vines, which had begun to vibrate when he entered. Karr had a sinking feeling. The officer knelt, put the container down, and reached out to cut off a piece. As soon as he touched the thing, it immediately grabbed him, and crushed his head into a pulp, causing blood and brains to splatter across the glass.
Immediately, every officer had their guns at the ready, pointing them at the cube, seeing what it will do. Karr opened his mouth to tell the medicals to leave when the vines exploded outward. It pressed against the walls of the cube for two seconds, the walls quickly cracking and deforming, before exploding in a shower of vines and broken glass. Sounds of phaser fire quickly erupted, and the mutated creature emitted, with no mouth, a loud scream.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the security officers pushed Sarah out of the way, as he himself was crushed by the creature. She stumbled backward, and fell to the ground. Karr ran to her, as the creature fought off the remaining security officers around it. It was difficult moving, let alone running, through the pain and his healing body, but he pushed through it.
Karr helped her up, before turning to see how the officers were doing. They were all scattered across the shuttle bay, laying where they had been thrown and knocked down. The creature paused for a moment, before beginning it’s movement toward the air-lock, and the exit. To the rest of the ship. Only he and Sarah were in it’s way.
He turned his head back toward Sarah. “Run! Close the air-lock, turn off the force-field, get it off the ship.” He commanded, and she obeyed with only the faintest hesitation.
Karr held his pistol in both his hands, and got ready to hold his ground, and delay it as quickly as possible. He could see Brooks and Kingston still near the creates, and shooting at it, doing what they could to stop it, while Edwards was checking in on his men. Karr muttered a prayer for Syvar, that the data Sarah had gotten was enough to save her.
The creature moved quickly toward him, impossibily fast. Karr fired his phaser pistol again and again, at it’s strongest settings. It roared as it came at him, but he ignored his fear, and held his ground. When it was only a couple feet away, a bundle of vines exploded at him, pushing him off away, and knocking him to the ground.
Karr blacked momentarily, and as he came back, he saw the creature less than a foot away. Without thinking, he rolled out of the way, missing it by an inch. He cursed, as he lay on the ground, watching it catch up to Sarah just as she had activited the air-lock close. He could do nothing as he heard her screams as the doors locked.
Through the pain, he pressed his commbadge. “Archer, turn off all power. Atley is loose on the ship.” He said through gritted teeth.