REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 32 - The Defiant, [PG] 5/5
Stephen Ratliff
Author: Jay P Hailey (JayPH...@hotmail.com)
Series: ST-OM, OCC - TNG era [32/56?]
Rating:[PG]
Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.
Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters
and Situations for me.
Part: 5/5
"[And thus were our spirits created from the Dreamtime]." Chanted Tandala.
The rest of the party repeated the chant slowly and in almost indecipherable
accents.
"Repeat that chant, once more. Do not stop." Tandala said.
They began with the creation story again.
Tandala uncoiled from her seated position and danced lightly away humming
a little ditty about how dangerous the Dreamtime was unless you were happy.
She returned to her team in a short time with a standard issue paint
stick, used for repainting signs and touching up dings on the Defiant.
She sung her song of reality and protection, while marking the proper
symbols on Baker's skin with the paint. Baker glanced at the paint stick. It
was an industrial device. He wondered if it would be safe for the skin, but
Tandala's warning look kept him chanting the sing song chant.
-*-
Birdy led his party aft, towards the far end of the ship. They came across
a desperate riot where humans were fighting some sort of primate like race.
The opponents looked like chimpanzees. One sighted the party and rushed at
them screeching. Mileu noted that it was wearing a smock with a caduceus on
it, as if the chimpanzee was medical personnel. She quickly disabled the
chimpanzee but not before getting nasty bruise on her arm.
They kept running.
-*-
The swirling, tumbling feeling of ship grew worse and worse. Schuler,
Paxton and their benefactor came around a corner and were confronted by a
horde of large ants. The ants were busily carrying away bodies and wreckage
from the corridor of the ship.
One large ant scuttled up to the party. It began to feel them with its
antennae.
"Hello?" Schuler said.
"We're peaceful!" Paxton said.
"[Do you understand me?]" The alien woman asked.
The ant responded by spraying them with a strange formaldehyde like
substance. They coughed and sputtered. The ant backed quickly away, holding
it's mandibles wide open and high. As the smell reached the other ants in
the corridor they dropped what they were doing and began to back away, but
one Ant did not do this. It was twice as big as the other ants and it's
mandibles were huge wicked blades. It raised its open mandibles and rushed
towards them.
"[Run!]" The alien woman shouted, She pointed to the ladder down. "[Down
there!]"
Schuler hoisted Paxton into the ladder way and waited impatiently for him
to start climbing down.
The Alien woman shot the warrior ant with a beam from her weapon. It
sounded like a standard civilian phaser to Paxton. The ant sizzled and died
with an acrid, acidy formaldehyde smell.
More warrior ants appeared at the far end of the corridor.
"God damn it! Move!" Yelled Schuler
-*-
Baker's party was now dancing in a weird conga line towards safety. They
kept chanting and placing their feet right where Tandala said. They tried to
duplicate the motions she made with varying amounts of success. Baker almost
laughed. They had seen horrors and mad crewmen. Nothing seemed to notice
them. The just danced on past chanting in the weird high pitched tones.
-*-
Birdy's party reached their destination, the Defiant's shuttlebay.
The shuttlebay was blocked by wreckage. Someone had tried to barricade the
door.
Birdy and Mileu started clearing the wreckage while Burke pre-flighted the
shuttlecraft.
Using an intact anti-grav unit, Birdy and Mileu successfully cleared the
shuttlebay doors. As they finished, Burke asked them. "Do you want the good
news first or the bad news."
"Good news." Mileu said.
"The shuttle is in functional condition." Burke said.
"What's the punch line?" Birdy asked.
"Someone drained the power packs and the engines. Without power, the
shuttle craft is useless." Burke said.
-*-
As they reached the bottom of the ladder, Paxton and Schuler could see a
port open. There appeared to be a ship docked at the end of the corridor.
Two men in brown uniforms. The men watched them intently, with ready
weapons.
"Trouble!" Paxton yelled at them. "One of your people is in trouble! Come
on!"
Schuler started to drag him towards the ship. The guards stayed at the
hatch.
The sound of phaser fire caught their attention from the ladder way.
"Come on!" Paxton shouted, waving.
The woman backed out of the corridor, firing at warrior ants.
The guards rushed forwards to help.
-*-
Baker's team danced into the runabout. As soon as they were into the
runabout, Tandala said "We're clear, go!" and set about marking magical
protection spells on the walls with her markers.
Baker and Crystara settled into the pilots seats. Out of the hatch they
could see swirling colors that filled the continuum around them.
Dr. Smith took Mann and Jefferson into the rear of the runabout to start
treatment.
Baker keyed the communications system. "This is Baker, Deep Space Ten
crew, answer! We leave in three minutes, let us know if you can hear us!"
Incredible squeals and random noise came back to greet him.
-*-
Birdy said "Get into the shuttle!"
"But-" Burke said.
Birdy grabbed the phaser that Mileu had picked up. "Just get in!"
They got into the shuttle and settled themselves. Birdy the opened an
access port on the deck of the shuttlecraft. He patched in Mileu's phaser
and the shuttle powered up.
"Warning: Extreme Low Power Condition Noted." The Computer warned.
"Emergency launch!" Birdy yelled "Ten second count down!"
"You are not authorized-" The shuttle began
"Emergency launch NOW!" Burke yelled.
Hearing a voice it recognized as a member of the Defiant's crew, the
Shuttle launched with nearly all of the power remaining in Milieu's phaser.
They tumbled away from the derelict starship, in a continuum of swirling
colors and half seen shapes.
Birdy could see the runabout attached to the top of the Defiant separate
and fly
away. An egg shape was docked forward along the secondary hull.
"What is that?" Birdy asked.
The egg shape had spindly struts extending off it at various angles. As
they watched, the egg shape detached and floated away. Then membranes were
extended along the struts. As they extended the egg shaped spacecraft picked
up speed and moved away.
-*-
With a rocking, bucking motion, the runabout cleared the zone of subspace
interference. Black space returned and star twinkled ahead of them.
"We did it!" Baker yelled. "We made it out!"
"We're at the coordinates of the anomaly, but I can find no sign of it.
There's only empty space there now." Crystara reported.
Tandala left off her spell-marking and took up her station. "I'm receiving
a distress call. It's nearby."
"Scan for it. Do you think anyone else got out of there?" Baker asked.
"It's a shuttlecraft. According to the readings it's one of the Defiant's
shuttlecrafts. Hailing now." Tandala said
Birdy appeared. "This is Birdy. We ejected in one of the Defiant's
shuttles but we only have fifteen minutes of life support left."
Baker said "We'll be right there, Birdy. Did you lose anyone?"
"I lost two but I gained one." Birdy said. "John, why are you naked and
painted up like that?"
"It's what any rational man of the galaxy would have done under the
circumstances." Baker replied with exaggerated dignity.
-*-
"And so we lost Paxton and Schuler but gained Mann, Jefferson and Burke."
Baker reported. He was briefing Li'ira his commanding officer on the events.
He was dressed and Dr. Smith managed to remove most of the paint from his
skin.
"Burke, Mann and Jefferson have been transferred to Starbase 35 for
counseling." Li'ira said "I have their reports but the interphase syndrome
they suffered damaged their memories. They can't remember exactly what they
experienced, except that it was very unpleasant."
"I'm having a similar effect, myself." Baker said.
"Is that why you used the phrase 'Tandala's skills as a guide' in your
official report?" Li'ira said.
"Do you really believe that Tandala's singing escorted us out of the
anomaly?" Baker asked
"I don't know what I believe." Li'ira said. Baker's in person report was
much more detailed and hard to credit than his official report.
"Tandala said it best as we got back." Baker said "Some songs people are
ready to hear and some they aren't."
"Oh well. I'm sorry about Paxton and Schuler. We got some of the data.
Maybe enough to rescue them next time." Li'ira said.
"Maybe they aren't there to rescue anymore." Baker said.
"The third ship?"
"We can only hope. Nobody who's stuck there is having any fun." Baker
sighed.
"Hmm." Li'ira said. Birdy's report described the other ship seen leaving
the Defiant as a Bajoran starsailer. The starsailer was a mythical ship from
at least a thousand years ago. If Paxton and Schuler left on it, it was
probable that no one in the Federation would hear from them again.
"Is that all, Commander?" Baker asked.
"Yes, You're dismissed." Li'ira said. "Why the hurry?"
"Well I've been invited to a party..."
-end-