The Final Frontier 8

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ The Final Frontier 8 / Final Frontier 8 (Disk 3 of 4).adf / LCARS / TextFile / Fiction / The_Hunter_Part_6.pp / The_Hunter_Part_6

Wrap

Text File | 1995-02-23 | 15.2 KB | 398 lines

TF01 3,The Hunter - Part 6 4,by Stuart Mackaness The Vanguard Chronicles - "The Hunter" ---------------------------------------- by Stuart Mackaness --------------------- PART SIX Warner instinctivly shielded his eyes, even though the computer filtered out any dangerous levels of brightness. The ship trembled slightly, a welcome change from the previous richter scale measurable movments. "Status of hunter?" he inquired. Karma responded hesitantly."It appeares to be... gone." Halk took her hand away from her eyes, the glare dying down. "What do you mean gone?" "Take an educated guess." Karma snapped. Halk ignored her and turned to Hermandez. "Lieutenant?" The tactical officer examined her display. "Confirmed, the hunter is no longer on sensors." "Long range?" Warner asked. Hermandez studied her panel. "Off line sir." Warner suddenly had a pang of dread. "Check underneath the secondary hull." After following his command, Hermandez gave a small yelp and looked at her controls dumbstruck. "What the..?" Not waiting for verbal confirmation, Warner switched his armrest controls to miniature versions of the tactical display. He punched in a small sequence of commands. Meanwhile, Halk was giving an order to Dean. "Move us straight up, three kilometres." "You mean it was in our blind spot!" Karma exclaimed. "Just like the first time." Hermandez replied, examining the readouts. The Vanguard rose further above the hunter and then rotated to face it. On the viewscreen the hunter lay still in space. Either dead or confused. Warner slapped his communicator."Warner to Gart. I don't know what you had in the shuttle but it confused the hell out the hunter." Hermandez let her hands fly across her console. "Photon torpedoes and phasers locked." Warner waited for a beat. "Status of it's shields?" "No apparent change. Although we won't be able to tell if the other dimensions shields are down." Karma responded. "It's coming about for more!" Dean announced. "Fire all weapons." Warner said regretfully. Salvos of energy and antimatter smashed into the hunter, its shields peeling away like the skin on an orange. One of it's long pylons broke off silently and tumbled away into space. A series of bright bursts erupted over the hull. The hull began to bubble and wither. The punishment stopped and the hunter lay adrift, dark scars now flickering with residual power. Hurt! Pain! It had been beaten. The long narrow beast had won. Its comrade had been winged, but the hunter had become sloppy. It deserved to die. "Yes!" Dean shouted triuphantly. Hermandez and Halk were similarly celebrating, even the dour Karma was smiling. "Assemble an away team Number one. Let's get to the bottom on this." Warner ordered. "Yes sir." she said excitedly. With a quick roll call Karma, Hermandez and Dean followed her off the bridge. As crewmen filled their places on the bridge, Warner watched the hunter. It was finally still, the power residue now extinguished. * * * "Unhhh!" Murvek awoke to the acrid smell of burning flesh and a sharp pain in his left arm. He moved awkwardly in his chair to see the source of the pain and gasped in horror. "This is not my arm!" he thought, but he knew it was. The arm was awash in blood and was in a position that the Cardassian knew his arm wouldn't normally be in. After propping it up as best he could he looked around and took in what was left of the bridge. The far wall where the science stations and the Gul's office stood was covered in thick black smoke. Thankfully the computer had engaged the ventilation system and the smoke was being sucked away or they all would have been dead long ago. Which can't be a bad prospect. He thought as the numbing pain tore through him again. As he glanced around he saw that Qunamal was slumped over her control board. He knew death when he saw it. So too was the Engineer, infact they all looked dead to him and he jumped when a moan came from Ocett. Gul Ocett awoke to see utter devestation before her. The bridge was smashed with conduits and wiring hanging down through the once proud and bold bridge dome. She turned to see the tactical rail broken clean in half with a girder of pure duranium skewering it and the weapons officer. A cough made her turn to see Murvek trying to pull himself free of his controls. She made a quick calculation. With the bridge wrecked, they had a one in three chance of survival. Her mind was already planning out a repair programme and an explaination to Central Command. The Liburnium class warship seemed a far off prospect. "What do we do now Kaleena?" came a whisper of a voice from beside her. She turned to see her close friend, the ship's political officer, near to death. His normally healthy light purple complexion was darkening, hemoraging was taking place. "Don't speak Gervak, we have been slightly set back." she said almost kindly. Gervak was the closest thing she had to a friend. "You're mistaken Gul Ocett, you have failed in your mission." he replied. He then began to laugh a deep hacking belly laugh. Then he died. Ocett lay there, on the deck next to her friend. He was right, she had failed. She awkwardly began to rise. Murvek was by her side instantly. She looked at his shattered arm, he was still active when many Cardassians would have been resting. Perhaps he wasn't as much of a worm as she had presumed. "Murvek, you have the bridge." she said. As she limped to the decklift she decided that something needed to be said. "I was in error of my judgement Murvek, you are strong." "Thank you Gul." he said, pride killing the pain in his arm. Ocett entered the lift. Murvek knew her course of action. She had so much pride that he knew another embarassment like this would be too much for her. That left him as the senior officer on the ship. Gul Murvek, he liked that. * * * In a shower of blue and white light the six away team members materialised. Halk was first to adjust her eyes to the dim and pulled out her tricorder. Hermandez began to give orders to the two security guards who had joined the command crew. Karma darted backwards and forwards overhead listening to Hermandez and reading the oversized padd containing a map. Dean produced a palm lamp and illuminated some of the shadowed recesses in the walls. "This is the strangest corridor I've ever seen." he commented. Halk saw what he meant. The corridor was smooth and cylindrical, with various passageways leading off from the main one they were in. The branching tunnels were all smaller than theirs, the smallest would have been a tight squeeze even for Karma. "What kind of people fly this thing?" Dean asked out loud. Hermandez now had a guard at either end of the passage where it promptly curved away. Their palm lights were visible but a subtle mist disguised their features. "The passage is like a vein." She commented. Karma flew down low. "An interesting idea. You might be closer to the truth than you think." She said cryptically. "What do you mean?" Halk asked, clearly puzzled. Karma was about to say something wbhen a deep roar shook the tunnel. "What was that?" Hermandez demanded. A shout came from the guard behind them. He came running forward. "What's the problem, ensign?" Halk asked. He was suddenly silhouetted by a green flourescent glow. He was caught up in the glowing liquid and swept towards them. Halk slapped her communicator. "Halk to Vanguard." She was greeted by static. Dean ran a tricorder over the walls. "They seem to have properties which affect our communicator's subspace transmitions." The liquid came nearer. A warmth hit them all, it was accompanied by a strange smell. "Run!" Halk ordered. The away team moved as one towards the other guard. When they rounded the corner the saw him already running. The liquid came nearer and nearer as it flooded down the passageway. "I think we've found the blood Macha!" Dean said to her. She didn't reply but just kept running. The guard ahead suddenly vanished. "Where did he go?" Halk asked puzzled. Karma shot forward and covered the distance to the previous position of the security guard in a few seconds. She looked down in horror. "Don't come any further." she called to the party. "Why?" Dean asked, skidding to a halt infront of Karma. He suddenly felt his footing slip. With a gasp he pitched forward and disappeared from Halk's view. She and Hermandez stopped in time to avoid falling down a huge hole in the tunnel. Halk had dropped her lamp on the dash and so grabbed Hermandez's. She shined it downwards, the beam was swallowed up by darkness after a few metres. The gurgling roar became louder and Halk turned to see the glowing liquid come crashing towards her. It had flooded the tunnel behind her, she was out of options. "Maintain all p-" she began, but was cut off mid sentence by a wave of green smashing into her. She tumbled with Hermandez and Karma into the ravine. And into darkness. * * * Warner watched the hunter drift slowly by. Further away the Cardassian warship stood stationary, her crew obviously hard at work repairing her. He had offered assistance but had been politely told to mind his own business and to vacate the demilitarised zone. It would only be a matter of time before ships arrived from either Starfleet, the Federation colonies or Cardassian space. He had sent a comunique to the nearest Starbase informing them of the situation. The Cardassian ship had sent no such transmissions to it's home territory. This puzzled Warner, he didn't trust Gul Murvek one bit. "Have the away team signaled us yet?" he asked the lieutenant at Ops. "Negative sir. My sensors cannot detect them, although that is probably because of the materials which compose the hull." Warner hit his comm-badge. "Warner to transporter room one, can you get a lock on the away team yet?" "Sorry sir, I'm still trying." Came the short reply. Warner only hoped they were alright. * * * Dean awoke to find himself on the floor of a vast chamber. He was soaked through to his skin. He appeared to be on a slightly tilted floor. The green liquid was lapping his boots, it was like a complex artificial lake. He seemed to be on the shore. Washed up, he thought. He couldn't see the others, although it was dark in the chamber. The green water was giving off a strange glow which lit the room poorly. He could see the ceiling which was a good ten metres above him. A rythmic beating could be heard in the background. Across the 'lake' a flashing light caught his attention. Deciding it was the others he set off. If I can navigate a four hundred and sixty seven metre long Starship, I should be able to find my way around a big puddle. Halk had awoken to a stabbing pain in her back. Oh my god, I'm paralysed, she thought, then she realised that she wouldn't feel anything if that were the case. She rolled over to find that she had been lying on Karma, who had been biting and punching her to get her off. Hermandez and the guard, Carstairs, were already awake a little way down what looked like an artificial shore. They made their way towards Halk and the party pooled their resources. They had lost their tricorders and palm lights. Hermandez still had her phaser but no one else did. The poorly lit chamber wasn't enough to stop people bumping into each other as they moved around searching for Dean. Karma fared the worst and said as much. "Then keep out of my way!" Halk said irritably. "There isn't enough light, I can't help stepping on you." Hermandez apologised. "Why don't you fly?" "Because I'm exhausted!" Karma whined. "It's not easy levitating your body, it requires a lot of effort." "Why don't you shut up then!" Halk snapped. Karma lapsed into a sullen silence. "Karma can you come over here." Hermandez called. "I need the light your telekinetic field gives off to check my phaser settings." "Can't you punch it up a bit?" Halk asked. "What like this?" Karma asked. Dean saw a small super nova erupt on the bank a few hundred metres ahead. He began to jog towards it. Halk let her eyes get ajusted to the gloom again. "That wasn't helpful Karma!" She snapped. "I thought you said-" Karma began. "Just a little bit more!" Halk explained. "Oh." Karma replied, her field glowing slightly more. "How's that." "Fine." Halk replied, walking again. Karma flew forward to lead the way. "Well done Tinkerbell." Halk muttered to herself. A faint shout caught her ear. She turned to see where it had come from, but darkness obsucured the caller. The language used was Federation standard, so the chances were it was Dean. "Macha, Karma, I think I can hear Dean." They turned round and began to walk back on themselves. Shortly they regrouped with Dean. At first progress was slow. Navigating round the lake was easy. The problem was finding a way out. Eventually Karma spotted a tunnel leading out, similar in design to the first passageway they beamed into. They progressed down it for a few minutes, the same series of smaller inlets dotted the walls. Karma flew up one of them and remained there for nearly ten minutes. "What is Karma doing?" Halk said wearily. She returned through the opening and dropped something on the floor. Halk picked it up. "It's a Romulan padd!" She exclaimed. "Yes, and there's a whole room full of bits and pieces like that. I found a shuttle from the Crystallio and a hull plate from the Draken... It's like a Nausican trophy room." "Are there any other entrances?" Halk asked. "Not that I could see." "Now all we have to do is figure out where to go now." Dean said gloomily. "Cheer up Lieutenant." Halk replied stopping in the shadows. She pulled something upwards and a pale light illuminated her face. "I think were close by to the controller of this ship." "How do you know that?" he said puzzled. Then he realised that she was looking through a circular portal. He peered through it. "I would say that was a safe bet." He agreed as his eyes searched the incomprehensibly huge room through the doorway. As the team entered the chamber, their footsteps echoed round. The sheer size of the room was unbelievable. It seemed at least two kilometres high and impossibly wide, it took their breath away.The ceiling was partialy obscured by the same pale mist they found in the tunnel when they first beamed in. "This thing's bigger than space dock!" Dean cursed. "You could park the Vanguard in here." Karma gasped. "How is that possible?" Halk asked. "This ship is smaller than ours." "Let's find out." Hermandez replied. She pointed to a tall pillar in the centre of the cavernous structure. "The controller?" Dean wondered. "It's a long way away." The guard said to Hermandez. She looked at it. It was probably twenty kilometres to the core. "Then we had better start walking."