While delivering updated technology to a federation terrafoming colonly the crew detects a secret that will have deadly consequences.

New life or death?

Written by

The Crew of the USS Nevada

Captain Martok, Cmdr. Wee Harry, Cmdr. 1 of 1, Lt. Cmdr. John McDuff, Ensign Lirala Jal, Ensign David, Counselor Grace Mitchell

Martok leaned back in his chair and starred out of the window, deep in thought when he was interrupted by a call from the bridge =^=Bridge to Martok
Martok “go ahead”
Commander Harry’s shuttle just entered orbit sir. He’s requesting permission to come aboard.
“Granted. I’m on my way to transporter room 2”=^=

=^=Martok to Lt. Mitchell
“Grace here sir”
Meet me in transporter room 2. Harry has arrived”

As Grace stood in the turbolift alone her comm badge beeped again....
=^=Martok here again counsellor...the computer tells me you're alone=^=
=^=That's correct captain, is there a problem?=^= she asked, detecting a worrying tone in the captain's voice.
=^=I'd prefer it if you saw for yourself, Grace=^=
.......
Grace approached the transporter room and saw the transporter chief walk off down the corridor and a security detail posted outside the door. She could sense their confusion....the door opened and she walked in.
Standing directly in front of her was the captain talking to a Bolian who she recognised from the service records as the ships new FO, Commander Weeharry....Grace could sense his confidence as you would expect from an experienced officer like him, as well as some nervousness at meeting new crew members, however he wasn't as jittery as some Bolians she had met in the past.
However it was the other presence in the room that disturbed her ... or rather presences....
'Ahh, Lieutenant Mitchell, ‘the captain began, 'may I introduce Commander Wee Harry.'
'Welcome aboard, sir'
'Thank you counsellor. I've read your file so I'm aware of your talents, that's why I asked the captain to invite you here alone, as my shuttle journey here ended up more interesting than I bargained.' Harry gestured over to the corner with a wave of his blue hand and drew Grace's attention to the other presences in the transporter room.
Sitting slumped in the corner.....
....was Morath!

Grace went to Morath, as she touched him she knew he was alive but not aware of where he was. Grace also became aware of someone else connected to Morath, "Captain, Commander, Morath is only unconscious. He is however disoriented right now, plus, there is another presence connected to him. I am unable to converse with the presence but it knows I am here and is trying to communicate with me as well. I recommend we get Morath to sickbay and I suggest that I stay with him and I will try and breakthrough this language barrier with the presence.
Martok "Very good Counsellor, and I want a report hourly on your progress with the presence and Morath's condition. Commander, let's brief the rest of the senior staff on the return of Morath."
WeeHarry "Aye Captain"
Grace "Commander, again, welcome aboard."
WeeHarry "Thank you, Grace"
=^= Martok to senior staff, report to the briefing room =^=

The senior staff assembled round the briefing room table, with the exception of Grace who was in sickbay with Morath.
The captain began 'Before we begin, everyone this is Commander Harry. As you may be aware he brought someone with him when he came aboard. Mr Harry, if you could enlighten us, please?'
The Bolian first officer settled in his chair and began to tell the staff what had occurred on his journey to the Nevada....

'My journey here was, for the most part, uneventful. Captain Martok had sent me the mission logs so I was aware of our current situation. Approximately three hours from here my shuttlecraft began to exhibit strange power fluctuations, so I came to a halt and began to run a diagnostic of the shuttle's systems...nothing showed up, so I began to travel at impulse with no problems. However when I attempted to resume warp speed the power fluctuations began again, so rather than stop I maintained warp one, hoping to see what was up....but yet again any diagnostics came up clear. Obviously then, if there wasn't an internal malfunction, there was something else affecting my systems. A local sensor sweep proved fruitless, but it seemed as though the systems being affected all involved EM energy, so I swept the area with a concentrated EM pulse, and everything went haywire aboard the shuttle. The instant it happened...something told me it was a knee jerk reaction, rather than retaliation, so I fine tuned my energy pulse and tried again, directing the EM pulse in specific co-ordinates rather than blanketing the area. Eventually I got lucky, I must have made contact with something, because the shuttle's transporter kicked in and there he was...Morath. He's been unconscious since.'
At this point, McDuff asked 'so then you were able to head here without any further problems, sir?'
'Not quite lieutenant....after I helped Morath off the transporter pad, it started energizing again, but it seemed as though the transporter couldn't lock on to anything. I checked the pattern stream, and there was something there alright, but it couldn't seem to take physical form. I added a subroutine to the transporter grid, very makeshift, and was able to store the pattern there.'
'What, you mean....' Lirala began,
'That's right ensign Jal....whoever, or whatever, is trying to make contact with us is stored in the pattern buffers of my shuttle, as well as inside doctor Tylor and lt. Morath.'
'Were you able to establish communications with...the lifeform?' the captain asked.
'That, sir, I'm not sure of. I think so...the being seemed to spread through the shuttles systems, it somehow got into the computer. I've been playing noughts and crosses with it!
(*OFF* that’s tic tac toe if you've never heard of it!) It seemed to search the library files, but I don't think it understands our vocabulary very well, but it seemed to understand the rudimentary symbols of the game. When we arrived, I decided to leave the shuttle in orbit in case it could somehow spread to the Nevada's systems, and had our transporter chief beam me over rather than use the shuttles internal system. I wouldn't want to get infected myself!'

'Well, commander, thank you,' the captain replied, 'people...it would seem we have another visitor aboard Mr Harry's shuttlecraft.
Let's see what we can learn from it'

1of1: "Sir, I might have a suggestion. I can try to interface with the pattern buffer. Since I have a more advanced neural interface, I might be able to communicate or at least determine what the thing is and what it wants.."

Martok "Permission granted. Mc Duff, David, beam over with him. Monitor his progress. Grace you'd better join them, see if you can sense anything during the link up. If it looks like he might be in danger, break the link. Lirala I want you on the bridge. Continuous scans on the shuttle, I want as much data as you can gather on these things. No.1, with me"
As the crew prepared to make contact, Martok and Harry stepped onto the corridor on their way to sickbay.
Martok "Do you think Morath will be able to tell us anything?"
Harry "It's hard to say, he wasn't very coherent."
Martok "Opinion number one. What do you think is going on here?"

...'Well, captain,' said Harry, 'Although we can't assume for certain, it does seem as if these beings are not hostile, merely trying to communicate. I think 1 of 1 will have the best chance of making direct communication, but its too hard to tell just now.'
'Agreed. Look, Harry, its a pity you've had to jump straight in, but you'll settle in after all this is over and done with, but of course, duty comes before personal comfort'
'Of course, sir' said Harry , thinking to himself that this was the most laid back klingon he'd ever met!
They approached sickbay...the doors opened and there was Morath lying on his biobed, totally unconscious and unmoving. Grace must have already gone to the shuttle to help the others. The captain said 'its a pity we still don't have a CMO, but I suppose the EMH will do for now...computer, activate EMH'
with a beep the familiar figure of the EMH appeared.
'Please state the nature of the ........'
Halfway through the sentence, the EMH began to shimmer and distort, while the figure of Morath writhed uncontrollably on the biobed, and then they both stopped. The EMH stood staring at them vacantly, looking as if it was trying to speak, but unable to make any words...none that made sense anyway.
'.......uuuuuuugh. How did I get here?'
The captain and FO turned to see Morath sitting up holding his head.... 'hello captain...what happened. Hmmm a bolian...I just had a dream about one of those...I was aboard a shuttle ... strangest dream I ever had. Hey, whets up with the EMH?'

Lirala went to the bridge after Martok had ordered her to. Doing a first scan of the shuttle she noticed this strange energy signature Cmdr. Harry had mentioned flowing through the shuttle. It was something that she had never seen before, yet there seemed to be structures that definitely hinted that it was some sort of intelligence.
1of1, McDuff and Grace had beamed over and Lirala thought to see a slight change in the energy signature, like it was reacting to the presence of the three persons.
=^= 1of1 to Nevada =^= the borg drone hailed the ship from the shuttle.
=^= Here Lt. Jal. Are you ready to start the contacting process? =^=
=^= Yes. Can you inform the captain Lt. =^=
=^= Sure, I'll inform you as soon as he has given his ok. He's in sickbay with Cmdr. Harry at the moment. =^=
Lirala attempted to call the captain in sickbay, when suddenly she noticed strange energy readings in the holoemitters in sickbay. It looked like a similar signature as the one in the shuttle.
=^= Lt. Jal to sickbay. What is going on captain? =^=

Martok replied to Lirala...
=^=Lieutenant, come to sickbay, I need you to take a look at the EMH. We can tie the sensor readings into the sickbay computers so that you can continue scanning the shuttle from here.=^=
=^=On my way, sir=^=
Martok went over to Morath....
'Morath, it's good to see you...but can you tell us everything you can remember?'
Morath shifted uncomfortably and frowned in concentration as he tried to remember...
'well, I was about to transport back to the ship............'

As Morath began to recite what happened after the beam-out they got a call from Lirala on the bridge
=^=Captain, there's something going on on the shuttle.
Martok "Define something Lt."
I'm not sure captain, but there's power fluctuations all over the ship"
Wee Harry "Open a channel to the shuttle"
Open=^=
=^=Nevada to Commander 1 of 1.......
......static.....
Martok "Lirala, can you clean it up"
Lirala "I'm working on it"
........ergency......am-out....
Harry "get them out of there!"
Transporter chief "I'm trying commander, but there's a lot of interference, and there's a another increase in mass"
Martok "Morath, what can you tell us, are they in danger!"
Morath "I'm not sure captain...I-"
Chief "I've got one sir, I've got Lt. Mitchell, but the others. They're gone sir. I'm sorry"
Martok was fuming, he'd just recovered one of his crew, and now he'd lost 3 more.
=^=Grace, report to sickbay.=^=

------------------------
Lt. Mitchell navigated the corridors to sickbay, but as she neared she sensed something, her face changed, she became worried. Her pace increased until she broke into a steady jog, the anxiety obviously increasing.
She burst into sickbay to the surprise of everyone.
Martok "Counsellor......if you're feeling ok, I'd like you to have a word with Lt. Morath, see if he can tell you anyth-"
He noticed she was looking straight at the EMH.
Harry "Grace?"

Grace started to talk to the EMH "Would you, please tell us what your intentions are?" The EMH began to speak but not in any known language but the ships universal translator was able to translate "We_ _ _have_ _ _been_ _ _trying_ _ _to_ _ _but_ _ _language_ _ _difficult_ _ _to_ _ _understand."
Martok began to understand that the lifeform was occupying the EMH in an attempt to communicate "Where have our people gone to and are they alive?"
EMH "They_ _ _ are_ _ _unharmed._ _ _We_ _ _have_ _ _every_ _ _intention_ _ _of_ _ _returning_ _ _ them."
Grace "But you want something in return, am I correct?"
EMH "Yes_ _ _telepath_ _ _you_ _ _are_ _ _correct"
"The name is Grace. Tell us what it is?"

1of1:"I am trying to clear up the power fluctuations....linking up to the console now...restoring power to transporter..." the power fluctuations suddenly shot up...."I am attempting to compensate..."
everyone started glowing as they dematerialised.....

David opened his eyes once the glare had subsided. They were still on the shuttle, it seemed, but everything was different somehow. Their surroundings were bathed in weird glow, which made everything kind of hazy. He looked around he could see McDuff holding his head in his hands.... 'John!' he tried shouting, his voice sounded far away, with a distinct echo. McDuff looked up, squinting while his eyes got used to the conditions. 'Where are we?' McDuff asked, his voice taking on that same distant sound.
'I don't know, John....where's 1?'
They looked around, and saw 1of1 lying on the floor of the shuttle. 'Commander?'
1of1 stood up....his cybernetic implants looked very strange, they were glowing weirdly.
'Mr McDuff, David? why are you looking at me like that. I suggest we try to ascertain where we are.'
David went to the shuttle window and looked out, but space looked very different here.....wherever here was!

...everyone started glowing aboard the shuttle.....then everything went white.

.....

Martok - 'What the hell is going on over there Lirala?'
Lirala quickly looked over the console 'The shuttle ... it's gone completely....there's no sign of it on sensors!'
Martok gave a Klingon roar of anger, then, regaining his composure issued his orders. 'Lirala with me back to the bridge, it's time we had some answers as to what's going on here. Mr Harry, Lt. Commander Mitchell, stay here and try to get through to whatever has occupied the EMH. I want results and I want them NOW!' He stomped out of sickbay, followed by Lirala.
Grace turned to the EMH...'please, we are trying to understand each other but its very difficult. Do you have a name?'
The EMH made a strange high pitched noise, then....'____human Grace....~';'l#l....understanding difficult also.....:@'"!$^%*...the one...... who was ...... borg was ..... identified'
Harry stepped in front of the EMH 'where are they, damn it?!'
The EMH turned its head eerily....'^%*$^*%^.....they ...... have.....been taken...%**"$£!+(*%.... to another place'

"What other place?" Grace asked the EMH.
"%^__home....^%*%..my...^%&" the EMH replied.
In a monotone voice, Grace continued questioning the EMH "Where is your home?"
"_ _ _Home ^* not _ _ like ;% here" the EMH said.
Grace noticed the speech pattern of the EMH copied it "Can _ _ we _ _take _ _ our _ _ ship _ _ there?". Telepathically, she informed Commander Harry what she was attempting.
EMH "You _ should _ not _ go _ _ danger _ you"

Lirala was on the bridge scanning for any signs of the shuttle. But there was just nothing out there, no warp signature that would have shown that they flew away, nothing that would give them a hint on where the shuttle could be now. It was like the shuttle had never existed. Leah shook her head, and Martok noticed. "Nothing?" he asked.
"No Sir. There's no sign of the shuttle at all."
=^= Captain Martok to sickbay, any progress down there Harry? =^=
=^= Yes Captain, the counsellor is in contact with the entity in the EMH. It sounds like they have brought the shuttle to their home, wherever that is =^=
"Hmm" Martok said. "Lirala any clue where such a life form could be at home?"
"No Sir we've never encountered a species like that before. They could live in a nebula, on a Y-class planet maybe or even in a different dimension. All we know is that some were on the terraforming planet but I don't think this is their home"
"Why not? At least they disturbed the terraforming process, wouldn't it be likely that they wanted to protect their home?"
"If there were many of those life-forms even our sensors would have detected them, sir. It wouldn't have been possible that the planet was even considered for terraforming. No I believe they might use the core of the planet as some sort of energy source, as their 'food'. It has a high content of beryllium, an element I could distinguish in the molecular structure of the life form. The terraforming would have transformed it into heavier elements that wouldn't have been usable for those life forms. That's why they interfered with the process. They might starve if they lose the resources of this planet."
Martok kept silent thinking about what his science officer had been telling him.
"Of course it's just a theory, it could be completely different" Lirala added thinking Martok didn't agree with her theory.
"No no Lt. I think you could be right. But how does this knowledge help us to find the shuttle?"
"I don't know yet. Hopefully the counsellor can find out more from the life form in the EMH. I will do a scan of all natural phenomenas in the sector, maybe I can find an environment that could host such a life form but it'll take some time."
"Ok Lt. keep working on it" Martok ordered. Impatiently he left the bridge to check on the progress in sickbay.

Harry was becoming frustrated by his inability to break through to the entity, although Grace seemed to be managing.
'Is there a way to contact our people in your home?' he asked the EMH.
'...."^$&&*%perhaps%£&&%*^^....I find your="£%$^*_%*&$...manner to be threatening$£&&$""!&*(^$....the human Grace should continue to make ~%£&~"$....contact....'
'as you wish,' Harry glowered at the EMH.
He picked up a thought from Grace...'sir, have you noticed that it's starting to be able to construct longer sentences? I think its learning to communicate better...possibly its reading the language subroutines of the EMH somehow'

Cmdr 1 looked around. his cybernetic implants detected energy bursts throughout the ship. checking the consoles, the power fluctuations were off the scale. it was like they were travelling is a transwarp conduit yet it seemed like they were stationary.
"I will attempt to contact the Nevada, but I do not think they will be able to receive us"

Martok's klingon blood was boiling....the lack of a breakthrough was disturbing him. He looked over at Lirala....
'Beryllium you say?'
'Yes, captain, why?'
'Just keep looking for the shuttle, lieutenant', Martok growled as he left the bridge, heading for sickbay.
Harry sat looking at Grace and the entity communicating, he turned to Morath...'how are you feeling?'
'Still a little strange, the time I was...possessed is very hazy. I was aware of what was going on, I seemed to be in another place where everything was bright. It was their home....they seemed benevolent.....they need food, but lack the communication skills. I got the impression that possessing a humanoid was not practical for them, they seemed unable to interpret my thoughts, I think that's why it jumped into the EMH.'
Just then the door to sickbay opened and in stomped the captain, carrying a container.
'Harry, Morath, Grace...I stopped on the way here to synthesise something for our guest.'
Martok placed the container on the table. It appeared to be some form of metal. Whatever it was , the EMH seemed very interested in it.
'Grace, can this ... thing understand me yet?'
'I believe so, captain'
'Good. Listen to me.....thing....this is beryllium, my science officer has ascertained this is a source of food or power for you. Is that so?'
'£$^"&&*£%.........yes......~@P:%&£%$......klingon'
Martok drew his phaser and vaporised the beryllium, saying 'I want my people back!!'
The EMH looked horrified and leapt at Martok, waves of electricity radiating from its being.....a beam blasting from its hands and hurtling the captain off his feet and across sickbay, where he thudded against the wall and slid to the floor unconscious. Harry drew his phaser and took aim at the entity, but before he could do anything Morath had leapt upon the being, and the klingon officer grappled with it, as they were surrounded in bolts of raw power.

Grace went to the Captain, while Morath struggled with the EMH. She tried to talk to the entity "Please stop this struggle with our officer. I cannot help you if you keep hurting my friends! Please stop!"
The entity did not answer. The light from the struggle was too blinding for Grace to see, using her telepathy to determine where Morath was in the struggle she picked up Martok's phaser, set it on stun and fired. Morath fell to the floor, the EMH started to phase in and out, Commander Harry went to a console and tried to bring the EMH back on line.
"Can you stabilize the EMH, Commander?" Grace asked. "I am working on it, is the Captain alright?" Harry questioned. Grace had picked up a medical tricorder and was examining the Captain, "I can't be sure but I think he has a concussion. He will have to remain in a biobed for a while, I guess this means you are in command, Commander."

On the bridge Lirala was continuing her search for the ship when something hit her.
**(In her head)
**If they feed on the beryllium, then why don't you scan for it. Wherever the levels start to decrease, there must be more of them.**
She began scanning the planetary core....

Harry worked furiously at the console in sickbay to save the doctors program, as two ensigns hawled Morath onto a bio bed. He had two officers down and he needed his only medical officer.
=^=Harry to bridge.
"Lirala here sir"
"Re-route power to the holographic imagers"
The EMH began to stabilise, his matrix stopped phasing.
Harry "computer establish a containment field around bio-bed 2"
The EMH looked at Harry and grinned.
EMH "#*]@..hologram.....cannot:%~#...contain me." He seemed to be in control of the doctor’s communications sub- routines now.
The EMH strolled towards the boundary of the invisible force-field and hopped back with a shock as the energy field temporarily shocked him.
EMH "How?..." He held his arm and looked at Harry in surprise.
Harry "Just a simple matter of re-calibrating the tactile responses of your holomatrix. You can be contained, and as you can now feel, you can be damaged. Now we have a lot to discuss."
The EMH starred blankly at his captor.

Harry faced the EMH....'look, I think its time we all settled down and tried to work this out.'
'$%&£*release...<>£$&&*....me%"£^£&'
'Not at this time, but you have to co-operate so we can resolve this situation without further harm to anyone'
'$^&*%$...understood....we need the substance you call£$^^*...beryllium to survive%£^%^$£...the others who came to this place were destroying our food'
Grace came over...'if they had known you were there they would have gone elsewhere. We would never knowingly destroy a species food supply.'
'*$%*...so because it was an accident we are supposed to accept this*%$£%'
Harry was seething at the entity's uncooperative attitude 'listen to me...we meant no harm we just want our people back. We can ensure you that the terraforming process will cease.'
'We have come to a better conclusion^£"$'
The door to sickbay opened and in walked Dr Taylor
...she levelled the phaser she was holding at Harry.
'Release my brother or I will destroy you. Your captain's display of anger showed us that there is a device aboard this vessel capable of creating all the beryllium we require. You will surrender control of this ship over to us so that we may leave this realm.'
Harry was stunned....he had only been in control of the Nevada for five minutes and now he was faced with losing it! Out of the corner of his eye he could see Morath rising slowly, stalking the doctor, ready to pounce....
'I will not be held to ransom, right now the science officer on the bridge of this ship is ready to lock down all of the command functions which operate it. If you continue with this course of action this ship will be useless to you.'
With a scream of rage the entity that was controlling Taylor aimed at Harry and fired

In the same instant that the entity in control of the Dr Taylor fired Grace summoned all her telepathic ability and threw Commander Harry down, seconds later Morath had the entity down on the floor and was grappling with it, Commander Harry joined in and together they were able to restrain that entity.
Harry turned to Grace "I didn't know you could do that?" "I wasn't sure I could either. My Vulcan instructor thought I would have that capability, but I have never used it before, it's kind of scary." Grace said a bit shaken. "Glad to see you up and around Morath, how are you feeling"
"I am fine, Grace" Morath replied as he picked up the entity and walked towards where the entity in control of the EMH was, Commander Harry picked up a phaser and aimed it at the EMH entity "Step back. You are going to have some company". At first the EMH entity wasn't going to move but thought better of it, as he stepped back Harry lowered the forcefield while Morath lowered the Tylor entity and backed out. Harry put the forcefield back in place "Alright now, let's have a little chat, shall we?"

'So let's talk,' Harry said to the two captive entities.
'We desire the capability to produce the substance beryllium,' Dr Tylor replied. You have the means to manufacture it.'
'Perhaps we can come to some arrangement,' said Harry, 'but we need our people back from your realm.'
'We can send them, but they have to negotiate their own way back I'm afraid.'
'Then I'm sorry but we can't accommodate you until their return.'
'This is unfortunate,' the entity in control of Dr Tylor began, 'as you will see that your force fields can contain these physical bodies, but the essence of our being is not contained by such primitive means.'
In that instant, the doctor's body writhed uncontrollably, and blood began to seep from her nose, ears and eyes, then she slumped to the floor...
...and Morath stepped forward....'Because we had possessed this being before, it was an easy task to take him again. As you can see the doctor is dead, and if you do not want this one to share the same fate you will arrange for us to have the device capable of feeding us.'

Replying to:

Harry "Damn you!"
The EMH
Morath "The device"
Harry "If you retain any of Lt. Morath's memories you will know that he is prepared to die for this ship and it's crew. I can ask no more or less of anyone on this crew. The United Federation of Planets, whom I, and he serves does not negotiate with terrorists."
Morath "You, who would destroy all of my people would call us terrorists!"
Harry "We didn't know we there was any life down there, how could we possibly have detect6ed your realm?! We mean you no harm, we can repair the terraforming process. But first you must release my crewman."
=^=Lirala to Commander Harry
Go ahead Lt.
Sir I've located a subspace disturbance at a rich deposit of beryllium.
A way in Lt?
Maybe commander, but there’s no telling how long it will stay open
Then you have to find a way to keep your foot in the door Lt. And see if you can get a signal through to the away team. I want to know what’s going on down there.
Yes Sir.=^=
Harry turned back to face his now considerably more co-operative prisoners. Just as he was about to speak an nurse informed him of the Captains Recovery.
Harry nodded in acknowledgement. He went to report the situation.

Grace turned to the Captain with a tricorder, he seemed a bit groggy but was coming out of it quickly "I always knew you couldn't keep a good Klingon down."
"Thank you Grace. What's our status? My head hurts." Martok asked.
"Well, you have a concussion that's why your head hurts. Commander Harry has two entities in custody and Lirala has found a subspace disturbance and is working on trying to keep it open and hopefully contact the shuttle. Here comes Harry now, he may have more to report."

As Cmdr 1 was trying to make contact with the shuttle David and McDuff tried to get the sensor working properly to try and find out where they were...
"How are you doing with the sensors?" Cmdr1 called out.
"Getting there" David said just as McDuff opened his mouth.
"Well we need to find out where we are because I don’t think we will be able to make contact with the Nevada for a wile" Cmdr1 replied.
After a wile McDuff and David looked at each other and both said at the same time "Sir the sensors are back online"
"Good" Cmdr1 said "Now where the hell are we?"
"I haven’t seen anything like this before, the nearest thing to it would be fluidic space but there are some big differences! There is also something else" David paused
"What is it cadet, spit it out"
"I think there is a life form out there, and not only 1" David said nervously.

Lirala was sitting on the bridge scanning the subspace distortion. She was pretty sure that somewhere behind it was the missing shuttle, but the sensors couldn't get through completely, all she got was the beryllium since there were high amounts of it, but the disturbance wasn't good enough to get life signs or scans of the shuttle. She would have to find a way to mainly keep it open, and find a way to send a message through, and finally to make it big enough to get the shuttle back, in case the aliens weren't friendly enough to return the shuttle.
What would keep a subspace disturbance open? Flying through with the Nevada wasn't an option, they'd just get stuck just like the shuttle. A beam of tetryon particles maybe, she thought. If she could get it concentrated enough she might get through the disturbance, and maybe she could let a signal ride on top of it. It would be worth a try.
Lirala started to prepare the beam, and while she was at it she noticed that the size of the anomaly was decreasing. She'd have to hurry. Finally she was ready to send the beam out and she did so. For a moment it seemed to get through, but suddenly the anomaly only seemed to get smaller more quickly. Something was wrong. She changed the frequency of the beam that finally slowed the decreasing soon. She'd have to find the exact frequency of the disturbance in order to keep it open. "Come on" she whispered to the computer and a junior officer on the bridge looked at her. She smiled at him a bit embarrassed, but then thought that every good officer used to talk to the ship now and then.
Just a few seconds before the disturbance closed she seemed to have found the right frequency. It was stable. She exhaled relieved, and started to prepare a message. Frequency modulation wouldn't work since it would bring the anomaly to a collapse, but hopefully amplitude modulation would work. She only hoped, the shuttle would be able to pick it up, it wasn't quite the traditional way of sending messages. Too bad the shuttle didn't have an old-fashioned radio antenna on the windshield, Lirala thought smiling. Hopefully the top modern sensors would do...
"Nevada to the shuttle, can you hear us? What is your status?" she loaded into the beam and started hoping it would be received.

"I can't get any clear readings about whoever or whatever they are, just that they're there." David stood up and walked over to the front of the cabin.
McDuff took David’s seat behind the sensor display, “Well, this place...it’s not just matter, it’s also subspace. We are in some kind of subspace domain, kinda like a parallel universe, just a little smaller an with matter inside, well in this case anyway.”
-“I don’t see any entities out there, heell I can’t see anything, just a lot of white sky” David said while looking out the front window”
“Any way to get us out of here Mr. McDuff?” cmdr 1 asked.
“I’m not picking up anything...David?”
David walked back to the sensor display and looked over McDuff’s shoulder.
“No I...wait, go back to 465-248, there, what’s that?”
-“Donno, computer identify anomaly on seensor grid 465-248” McDuff said.
>> Subspace anomaly<<
“Yeah I could’ve guessed that, perform a level 2 scan, results to this display”
McDuff examined the list as it came up.
“Well, that’s our doorway, kinda small though, only 23 cm wide. But it’s stable...no event horizon, well for the rest it’s probably a typical quantum subspace portal. Wait a minute...AM signal?”
“From the Nevada?”. David asked.
-“I don’t know...cmdr?”
Cmdr. 1 turned back to the comm panel, “Putting it through”
=^=Nevada to the shuttle, can you hear us? What is your status?=^=
“That’s Lt. Jal!” David said
=^=Shuttle to Nevada, this is cmdr 1. We are fine, but the shuttle is crippled.=^=

Martok walked over to Harry, 'report please commander'
'Doctor Tylor is dead, captain, and the entity that was inhabiting her body has retaken control of Morath. The other entity remains in control of the EMH. Lirala has made contact with the away team, and we can possibly start bringing them back. These beings do indeed desire beryllium, it is a form of nourishment for them, and the terraforming process was destroying their food source. Their actions, although drastic, are understandable. The entity controlling Morath is here, while the one in the EMH remains in custody.'
The captain turned to Morath...'well, what have you to say for yourself. This situation cannot continue indefinitely. We seek a peaceful resolution.'
'As do we captain. The device you refer to as a replicator appears to be able to produce all the beryllium we need. We have a proposal for you.... we will assist your people in returning from our realm in exchange for the replicator device aboard the shuttle in our realm.'

Martok "As I'm sure my First Officer has told you, the United Federation of Planets does not negotiate with terrorists. Although you claim not be, you are currently holding three of my people, and making demands in exchange for their release. We cannot deal under these conditions.”
Morath “You are in no position to bargain with me! I am in control of this situation, you will give use your technology!!”
Martok “I apologise for the damage we have done t your planet. I give you my word we will correct, but first I must have my people back.”
Morath “Unacceptable, they will be held accountable for your crimes until we are satisfied.”
Martok gave Harry a nod.
=^=Harry to bridge, report Lt.
Lirala “The gap has been stabilised sir, I have a transporter lock on the away team.”
“Very good Lt., stand by”=^=
Harry approached the force field alongside Martok
Harry “It’s over, we can bring our people back at any time”
Grace “Please, try to understand, we mean you no harm, we want only to save our friends, and help you recover”
The entity in control of Morath, now visibly distressed became desperate and angry. He walked to the back of the bio-bed and slamming the control panel “I am still in control of this body”
EMH “And I of this one”
Morath “Give us the replicator, or I’ll kill this one”
Martok “Lt. Morath is ready to die for this ship, are you prepared to die for this ship.”
Morath “You people, you are as careless with your own lives as you were with ours.”
Harry “On the contrary, we respect all forms of life, including your own. But Lt Morath swore an oath to star-fleet, and is prepared to give his life to defend it. Please, we ask you one last time, release our people willingly, release Morath, and we will repair what we’ve done”
Lirala cut in from the bridge =^=Captain, the shuttle is being bombarded with an energy field, it’s shields are failing. Commander 1 is requesting an emergency beam-out”
Martok “We cannot allow you to do this!”
EMH “If you won’t give us what we want, you leave us no choice but to take it.”
Martok “I wish this could have ended differently”
Martok looked at Harry, who gave him a reluctant, but knowing nod.
=^=Lirala, instruct commander 1 to set the shuttle to auto-destruct in 5seconds, and beam them out.
Lirala, “understood” =^=
Harry stepped over to the sickbay control panel and entered a series of commands
He turned to see the EMH disappear. He had transferred it to holo-deck one.
The being which had occupied him was no without a host, distressed it rushed to wards Grace only to be repelled by the force field. The blue-white cloud turned and headed towards Morath, trying to penetrate his body he was repulsed by the current resident. What seemed like a dual began with Morath as the battlefield. The second being was drawn out. Martok turned towards Harry “Now number 1!”
With a few skill-full commands Harry beamed Morath out of the area and onto an adjacent bio-bed, where several nurses began to work feverishly on him.
Martok =^= Computer, depressurise the atmosphere surrounding bio-bed one.=^=
<>Depressurisation sequence complete.<>
The being became aware of the new danger and stopped fighting. They began to ram the force field, emitting energy pulses.
<>Warning, containment field down by 30%<>
The bombardment continued
<>Warning, force-field collapse in 12 seconds <>
With a heavy hearth Martok executed his final command
=^=Computer, blow bulkhead 2-7-alpha, authorisation, Kahles-3-6-9=^=
With a neat explosion the bulkhead blew away, revealing the vacuum of space and blowing the intruders out. Thankfully the force-filed held.
Harry =^=Repair crew to sickbay=^=
Regaining his composure he approached Morath. He already knew what the nurse had to tell him. The neural damage was too severe, he was dead. Martok leaned over his officer and friend. Holding his eyes open he let out a terrific roar that echoed through the deck.
As the repair team entered sickbay Martok took his leave, followed closely by his first officer he entered his quarters.
“Blood-wine” he demanded of the computer as he unbuttoned his jacket.
As his beverage whirled into form he turned to offer Harry something, which he declined.
Sitting down at his desk, with his impressive array of traditional Klingon blades behind him he sighed and asked his first officer “Tell me number one. Do you think we have done the right thing?”

'Permission to stand at ease, captain,'
'I think so, number one, and please, in my ready room, call me Martok,' the captain grinned ruefully.
Harry slumped into the chair opposite the captain... 'in answer to your question, I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but it was certainly the only choice the creatures left us. I regret that I did not get to know Morath better, and I certainly hope that we manage not to lose someone on my next mission aboard the Nevada.
Now that we know of these beings, some dialogue needs to be established so that nothing so unfortunate can happen again. Although I don't think we need Grace's keen counsellor's instincts to recommend that it not be us... I think the wounds of Morath's passing would be too open for us to be involved. I would suggest that we contact the xenobiological team at Starfleet command to arrange the next contact with the entities. My mother has retired from the service, but I'm sure she could recommend one of her former colleagues at SFX to continue the work.'
'You may be right, number one, it would be sad to think that our encounter with them sours their relations with the inhabitants of our realm.'
'Now, Martok, what of Morath's funeral arrangements,' the Bolian continued, 'As you know I have a lot of experience with holodeck programming, if you can give me some ideas I could arrange his wake.'
'That would be an appropriate way to honour the passing of a fallen warrior, my friend. Make it so.'

Harry stopped by sickbay, to check on 1, David and John. He was greeted by the EMH, now restored to his rightful place.
'Commander, please state the nature of the medical emergency'
'None, just here to check up on the travellers there.'
'Well, I suppose if you must, although I don't see the point really'
Harry looked quizzically at the EMH and then approached McDuff.
'Is it normally so....cheeky? I've never met an EMH that had an opinion like that. They're normally very business like.'
'I don't know commander,' David replied. 'Maybe his inhabitant left some trace of individuality behind, I can reprogram him as soon as I'm able.'
'Don't be too hasty, David, let's see how he shapes up. If his performance isn't adversely affected I don't see why we can't have an EMH with a bit of life in him. When you're fit, would you like to join me on holodeck 2, I have a job to do.'

Lirala was sitting in the science lab, deep in thoughts. The life form had left, the first contact with a new species had failed. Although it was normal that this happened now and then, especially with non-corporal life forms for Lirala it still was hard to accept it on her first mission. As a science officer she wanted to make contact and study different life forms. Now she doubted that another contact with them would be possible. First the humans were destroying their food source, then they refused to give them another source and threw them out violently. If Lirala was they she wouldn't attempt contact with humans anymore either...If they had given them a replicator, would things have been better, she wondered. Would it have been against the prime directive to give out technology in that case? Well she wasn't the captain and who was she to criticise his actions?
She started writing up her report. One thing was clear, terraforming the planet had to stop. Those life forms had been there first. Hopefully this would at least leave them satisfied and later on maybe another contact would be possible. After about an hour she had finished her report on what had happened and what they had found out about this mysterious species. She noticed that it was almost 5 o'clock, time for Morath's funeral. She had hardly gotten to know him in this short time he had been on board. Twice they had lost him now, the first time they were lucky enough to find him alive again, but now he was dead beyond doubt. Lirala sighed, at least he had died an honourable death on duty, worthy a klingon. She got up to join the funeral.

Along with the senior staff, there were several junior officers present in holodeck one when the doors parted and Martok stepped in.
After being asked to stand at ease they relaxed and looked at the Captain as he ascended the three steps to the podium area in front of the pod containing Morath’s body.
Harry, with the help of Mc Duff and David, had done an excellent job with the program. Flames burned along the stonewalls of the hall. There were old texts lining the sides. Boasting of Stova Core, and the honoured dead.
After reading a few words in Klingon, he addressed the crew.
"Although it is customary for Klingons to treat the body of a fallen warrior as you would an empty shell, Morath was our friend. And I know he would like his friends to have the opportunity to say good-bye to him one last time.
We didn't get to know him very well. He was only here a short time, but while he was here he served us well. He was a fine officer. Willing to give his life to protect the crew. He died for all of us. As a captain, I can ask no more of anyone. So, let us honour him one last time.
If anyone wishes to say a few words. Please, come forward"

Grace was the first to step forward. Visibly upset she stepped up on to the podium "Morath was only on board a short time but you can still become friends in a very short period of time, he was a fine officer and a good friend." Grace turned to the pod "I wish you good speed to Stuvacor, friend!" and in the Klingon tradition she let out a great yell and walked away.

Harry stood to the back of the group...he had known Morath for the shortest period of time of all the Nevada crew, and didn't feel right speaking to the assembly.
He hoped that by organising the funeral he had gone some way towards honouring the memory of a fallen comrade, and taken the burden of organisation from his commanding officer, who would not want to show his sadness openly being a klingon, but would still be smarting from the loss of a fellow klingon, who was also under his command, and most importantly of all, his friend.
Harry resolved to toast Morath's memory with some of the captain's blood wine, even though it gave him terrible indigestion....there was always the EMH on hand should he need an antacid.

With the crew somewhat satisfied with their chance to say good-bye, Martok asked the crew to join him in the mess hall, the most forward part of the ship.
After a few final words he ordered the crew to attention, which was briskly adhered to by all present.
Harry standing next to Martok in front of the crew “We will honour Lt. Morath one last time”
An ensign stepped forward whistled the salute.
Martok “Launch the pod”
The crew watched sadly from the many windows as the pod drifted steadily away fro the ship.

During the wake in the mess hall, everyone was recounting what little fond memories of Morath they had. Stories of shore leave, games on the holodeck. Martok announced that they would be returning to Star Base for a few days and they were all ordered to get some R&R, he had arranged for a temporary crew transfer from the Base to for a skeleton crew to man the Nevada, and everyone was ordered to relax. He also mentioned that there might be some good news on the way, which had many chatting.

A few days after Morath’s funeral the Nevada arrived at the starbase. The ship slowly drifted through the massive starbase doors and docked at one of the inside docking ports. The command crew was relieved by a skeleton training crew, they’d be running the ship and training ship ops at the same time. Some crewmembers took a transport to their home planet to spend these few days of shore leave visiting family or friends, but most people stayed on starbase Bellicose. The command crew wasn't in the mood having fun, however captain Martok managed to persuade most of them to have a hoverball tournament, just to get their mind of things. McDuff had other plans, he hated those big starbases anyway so he decided to stay on the Nevada. He wanted to use the time to get some work done on the Valiant. The gym would only remind him of his Bath'leth lessons with Morath too. After once for fun he actually started to enjoy the klingon blade and martial art, and Morath proved a skilled teacher. 'OK stop thinking and start working', McDuff thought to himself.
He fitted the small fighter shuttle with impulse boosters a few moths ago, but he never got around to get them integrated into the impulse engines. He entered the hatch at the starboard side of the vessel and entered the cabin. He looked over the cockpit and got a content smile on his face. The cockpit was small, with a rather unusual layout for a starfleet fightershuttle. There was a single seat with a large console in front of it, more controls on the sides and above the front window. Behind it on the left was another seat with a big console. The small ship was well equipped for it's size, most of it McDuff's own work. John walked through a door in the back of the cockpit, he passed a single bunk and a table with a small replicator in the next cabin. In the back he opened a hatch and crawled into the very small engine 'room'. There he started working on a device next to an already overpowered impulse engine.

Harry sat in the starbase's lounge, reflecting on his poor showing in the hoverball tournament. Modern sports were never his scene, and during countless hours of holoprogramming he had developed a fondness for ancient earth sports. Captain Tinaz of the Excalibur had gotten him into baseball, but trawling through the database he had come up with an outdated sport from earth of the 20th - 21st century which he thought might appeal to Martok's aggressive instincts. Harry tapped his commbadge,
=^=Harry to Martok...can you meet me on holodeck 12=^=
=^=on my way, commander=^=
...
The Nevada's captain and first officer stood in the holodeck. Harry had explained the rules of the game to his captain, and they were both attired in the proper outfit...studded soled boots, shorts and heavy green cotton shirts.
Harry spoke aloud 'computer, run program Harry Theta 12'
With a beep the hologrid disappeared to be replaced by a field with two large H shaped goalposts at either end, inside a stadium filled on all sides with cheering fans waving flags.
'Captain, this is an old earth stadium which was known as the Parc de Princes, located in Paris, Earth, around the end of the 20th century. We are on the green team, representing the nation state of Ireland, playing against our hosts, the country of France.'
'Well, commander, get on with it, I have duties to attend to.'
'Don't worry sir, I'm sure you'll enjoy your first game of rugby! Just follow the pack of players, and remember not to throw the ball forwards.'
'I have read the rules. I don't see why you think a puny earth game will interest me, Harry, but I'll indulge you'
With a smile Harry said 'computer.....start match'

The whistle blew, and Martok watched as the oval ball looped through the air towards him...he caught it expertly.
'RUN' said a green shirted player.
Before Martok could move a horde of blue shirted players leapt upon him. With a roar he stood up, throwing people off him left right and centre, the ball totally forgotten as he waded into the never ending mass of blue jerseyed participants, then once free, he began running towards the other end of the field with the ball, throwing away any who dared to try and stop him, till he reached the scoring zone at the far end and touched the ball down beneath the posts.
Harry caught up with his captain...'Well, sir, what do you think?'
'.....most....exhilarating, Harry, but too easy! Increase the difficulty level!!'
'As you wish, captain. You know, while writing this program it seems that the team we're playing for weren't very good...perhaps they should have had a klingon on their team!!'

...

A couple of hours later they were back in the lounge, toasting a mighty victory. Martok began 'I did not know the earth sports of the time were so primal...the competitions these days are much more sedate'
'I agree captain, but then I don't think anyone in the history of rugby ever bit the referee!!!!'

Harry enjoyed the company of this klingon...his initial reservations about serving under the command of one of the warrior race had proved to be unfounded. The disappointment of the loss of Morath on his first mission aboard the Nevada would be short lived, he hoped, as he looked across the lounge and saw Lirala and Grace enter and move towards them, he was thinking 'this is a good ship with a fine crew...long may they sail!!'

Lirala and Grace approached Martok and Harry, "Well, you two looked like you just had fun. What did you do?" Grace asked. Harry looking please replied "I showed the Captain how to play Rugby. He bit the referee."
Grace "Rugby, isn't that a 20th century game, kind of like football?"
Harry "I think rugby is a bit more complicated then football, Counsellor."
Grace "Harry, I've never played football, but I remember it being right up there with baseball as one of America's favourite sports. And I have played baseball, care to put a couple of teams together Commander?"
Harry "Is that a challenge, Counsellor?"
Grace "Yes, Commander, it is!"
Harry "Your on Counsellor! Name the time and place"
Grace "Pick your team Commander."
Harry and Grace turned to Martok and Lirala and said simultaneously "Interested?"

Martok laughed, if it is as easy as your other primitive games, I don't expect much of a challenge, but I will join you. Gather the senior staff. Let's see if there is another crew on the base who is willing to play us. We'll play for the glory of the Nevada!!