StarTrekArtistsUnite

Star Trek Artists Unite

Group Info Group Founded 12 Years ago

995 Members
214,509 Pageviews1,086 Watchers

WELCOME!
The primary purpose of this group is to showcase the work of artists creating Star Trek themed art using 3D programs such as Poser, DAZ Studio, Bryce, Carrara, or Hexagon.

GUIDELINES:
We will accept ONLY work that was created using a 3D rendering program. We do not accept photomanipulations or screenshots from games.
Trek-themed art of ANY incarnation of this series is welcome.

Please feel free to submit renders of works in progress to the so-marked folder to invite feedback from your peers.

The second goal of this group is to serve as a nexus of resources so vital to the creation of 3D Trek art. This group is an auxilary of the long-running Star Trek Builders Unite! thread in the DAZ Commons Forum forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?… Like that thread, we will collect information on the availability of Trek-appropriate props, models, and textures. We also aim to provide tips and techniques for modeling and rendering. We also want to help track down hard to find reference material. In other words, we hope this group will facilitate artists in creating new, dynamic art for us all to enjoy.

And here we go...!

Group: Founded 12 Years ago
Jun 27, 2010
Location: Global
Group Focus: Common Interest

Join our Group Send a Note

Star Trek Artists Unite!

Lt Cmndr Daro Adislo - Uss Monitor Medical Officer by MotoTsume

Departure from Starbase 304 by RobCaswell

______________________________________________

WELCOME!
The primary purpose of this group is to showcase the work of artists creating Star Trek themed art using 3D programs such as Poser, DAZ Studio, Bryce, Carrara, or Hexagon.

GUIDELINES for SUBMISSIONS:

We will accept ONLY work that was created using a 3D rendering program such as Poser, Daz Studio, Lightwave, Carrara, Bryce, or 3d Max.

We do NOT accept any sort of traditional artwork, vector graphics, digital paintings, photomanipulations, or screenshots from games.

To insure quick acceptance, please put the name of the 3d graphics program you used in the description of your image.

Trek-themed art of ANY incarnation of this series is welcome.

Pay attention to folder titles when submitting. (We have quite a few now. Be sure you've looked through the whole list.)

Please feel free to submit renders of works in progress to the so-marked folder to invite feedback from your peers.

RESOURCES
The second goal of this group is to serve as a nexus of resources so vital to the creation of 3D Trek art. This group is an auxilary of the long-running Star Trek Builders Unite! thread in the DAZ Commons Forum forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?…

Like that thread, we will collect information on the availability of Trek-appropriate props, models, and textures. We also aim to provide tips and techniques for modeling and rendering. We also want to help track down hard to find reference material. In other words, we hope this group will facilitate artists in creating new, dynamic art for us all to enjoy.
_____________________________________________________
</font>

USS Legacy - NCC-72006 - On Patrol by MotoTsume

Featured

Magnon Female for g8 and g3 Female

by JeremyVilmur

4 Comments

The Millennium Project : the Archer-class scout is similar in size, and has a number of apparent design similarities to the Millennium Falcon, so we thought it would be interesting to, as a group, create a series of renders of the ship that evoke memorable images of the Millennium Falcon from the original trilogy.

Browse Folder

Random from Featured

Magnon Female for g8 and g3 Female

JeremyVilmur 5 4

Space Train

jaguarry3 23 3

Trek in BSG style II

Hummakavuula 21 4

Trek in BSG style

Hummakavuula 15 1

Dirac Class Scout page

RobCaswell 114 97

Trio1

richmerk 42 0

CSS Griswold bridge

Hummakavuula 36 6

CSS Griswold

Hummakavuula 29 5

Leaving standard orbit

thefirstfleet 157 35

RIP - Anton Yelchin

Ptrope 15 6

Suffer Little Children

jaguarry3 6 1

Trailblazer B Dress for genesis 2 female /V6

JeremyVilmur 20 10

Space Force Conqueror

JeremyVilmur 5 11

In Memory

Ptrope 30 5

Trailblazer M4 Now available

JeremyVilmur 8 2

Spock RIP

jaguarry3 27 8

Browse Folder

Random from Featured

Magnon Female for g8 and g3 Female

JeremyVilmur 5 4

Space Train

jaguarry3 23 3

Trek in BSG style II

Hummakavuula 21 4

Trek in BSG style

Hummakavuula 15 1

Dirac Class Scout page

RobCaswell 114 97

Trio1

richmerk 42 0

CSS Griswold bridge

Hummakavuula 36 6

CSS Griswold

Hummakavuula 29 5

Leaving standard orbit

thefirstfleet 157 35

RIP - Anton Yelchin

Ptrope 15 6

Suffer Little Children

jaguarry3 6 1

Trailblazer B Dress for genesis 2 female /V6

JeremyVilmur 20 10

Space Force Conqueror

JeremyVilmur 5 11

In Memory

Ptrope 30 5

Trailblazer M4 Now available

JeremyVilmur 8 2

Spock RIP

jaguarry3 27 8

Browse Folder

Random from Featured

Magnon Female for g8 and g3 Female

JeremyVilmur 5 4

Space Train

jaguarry3 23 3

Trek in BSG style II

Hummakavuula 21 4

Trek in BSG style

Hummakavuula 15 1

Dirac Class Scout page

RobCaswell 114 97

Trio1

richmerk 42 0

CSS Griswold bridge

Hummakavuula 36 6

CSS Griswold

Hummakavuula 29 5

Leaving standard orbit

thefirstfleet 157 35

RIP - Anton Yelchin

Ptrope 15 6

Suffer Little Children

jaguarry3 6 1

Trailblazer B Dress for genesis 2 female /V6

JeremyVilmur 20 10

Space Force Conqueror

JeremyVilmur 5 11

In Memory

Ptrope 30 5

Trailblazer M4 Now available

JeremyVilmur 8 2

Spock RIP

jaguarry3 27 8

Browse Folder

Gallery Folders

Featured

All Ships 02

All Ships 02

All Ships

Romulan Star Crusier Original by jaguarry3

All Ships

Characters

Elite Force Officer Ravyn by Multiverse-Nexus

Characters

Interiors

USS Potemkin Transporter Room Cutaway by Rekkert

USS Potemkin Transporter Room by Rekkert

Interiors

Files to Share

[Free Prop] Jem'HadarRifle for Daz and Poser by MurbyTrek

[Free Prop] Bajoran Tricorder for Daz and Poser by MurbyTrek

[Free Texture] Romulan Nemesis Uniform for M4 by MurbyTrek

[Free Texture] Romulan Nemesis Uniform for V4 by MurbyTrek

Files to Share

Planetscapes

Terran Civil War.. Storm Clouds Over Rome! by StalinDC

Planetscapes

Works in Progress

Works in Progress

Graphic Novels and Stories

Star Trek: Kodiak - The Gilded Cage VIIT'Vet and Shen'Zahr reached the end of the cramped tunnel and paused at the sealed hatch that lay before them. They glanced at each other. “Think you can get it open?” Shen'Zahr whispered. “Affirmative.” T'Vet examined the sides of the compartment, where little hatches gave way to tangles of wires and circuits. “I will short out the control panel, as I did with the entrance.” Shen'Zahr nodded, wiping her brow. The tunnels were hot, the sheer volume of machinery meant that even the most efficient power systems were bleeding enough heat for her Andorian body to be pushed to its tolerances. “Are you alright, doctor?” “Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm just excited being so close to you.” T'Vet raised an eyebrow. “I am aware that the temperature is rising, my concern is that we may be here for an extended-” “T'Vet, just open the damn door before we get gassed again.” He hooked into a set of wires and pulled, judging correctly that they wouldn't belch sparks into his face. “Stand by, I will need more wires. Doctor, do you not think it curious that we have not been anaesthetised again?” “Seems like they want to roast us instead … or rather roast me. The heat's enough of a deterrent.” “For you, perhaps.” T'Vet extracted another set of wires. He wound them together, lining up the charged ends, and shorted out the controls on the hatch ahead of them. It opened a crack, and he prized his fingers into the gap and wrenched it open. The compartment beyond was glowing softly with an almost biological light. With no-one present, T'Vet levered himself out, and helped Shen'Zahr out with a hand. Sweat ran into her eyes, and she groaned. “Out of the oven, into the humidifier.” The ambient temperature was cooler than in the shaft, but it felt just as hot. The air was syrup-thick, sticking to them like something huge and parasitic. T'Vet looked up and down the corridor. The walls were wet and chitinous, made asymmetrical by strange lumps that jutted out at irregular intervals. He glanced around at the shaft they had emerged from. It was as mechanical as it had appeared when they climbed through, ringed by a wet chunk of mucus and resin. Shen'Zahr wiped her eyes. “What is this? This doesn't make …” “Organic and mechanical elements, but not integrated. Curious.” “We should be careful, find Shelby and Takumi before whatever secreted this stuff appears.” “Agreed.” Shen'Zahr looked up and down the passageway. “Split up?” “Negative. These passageways could be labyrinthine, and … the incongruity is troubling.” “Which way?” T'Vet frowned at the tunnels. “There is no logical choice. We must … guess. Your intuition would be appreciated, doctor.” Shen'Zahr exhaled. “Binary choice. We can carry on in one direction for a while and then double back. Let's say two hundred metres.” “Agreed.” They began to walk. The ground was soft and slightly sticky under their feet. Hissing sounds emanated from the darkness ahead and behind them, perhaps steam vents, perhaps something more sinister. The air didn't change, there was no breeze, it continued to press in on them like they were diving deep into the ocean. “Curious,” T'Vet muttered. “No powered lighting, no security systems, no evidence that this is part of the same complex that we escaped from.” “Could it be a multi-race culture, like the Xindi? Design aesthetics vary completely across their cultures.” “That is true.” Shen'Zahr peered around. “These kinds of secretions are most often seen in insectoid species. Bioluminescence suggests we're underground. Still on Orlos VI?” “Likely. If it was indeed an insectoid species that captured us, this was not reflected in the machinery used to create the holograms, or in the voice that spoke to us. That was made with vocal chords, which do not evolve in insects. It is wrong, completely illogical in every facet.” “Could be that the insects invaded the base, took it over? But no … that doesn't account for the voice … or why everything's still on.” There was a dull thumping in the darkness ahead of them, and T'Vet stopped. Shen'Zahr squinted ahead. “Where's that coming from?” “Ahead, to the right. It is an impact on metal … perhaps a hatch like the one we emerged from. There.” Covered in a layer of resin, there was a hatchway identical to the one they had emerged from ahead. T'Vet and Shen'Zahr began prising the thick, translucent material away. It snapped off in their hands with some effort, but the hatch remained sticky, and impossible to open. T'Vet rapped on the hatch. “This is T'Vet.” There was a muffled sound from behind the hatch, a cry of alarm. There was a sparking sound, and the hatch opened a little. Shen'Zahr and T'Vet grabbed the space and pulled it open. O'Hare and Miura were spat out onto the floor, gasping, soaked in sweat. “You both good?” Shen'Zahr said, pulling them to their feet. O'Hare shrugged and waved her hand. “First in the shower when we're rescued.” “Not a chance. You can use Commander Grant's shower.” Shen'Zahr looked to Miura. “What do you think, chief? Where do we go to get out of here?” Miura grimaced round at the tunnels. “Uh … well … logically, at least in an engineering sense, if we follow the wall here, we'll find something. The conduits have to go somewhere, right?” The four began walking. The corridors again remained unchanged. They turned to the right, and the pathway spiralled in mad directions: up and down, left and right, at odd diagonals and right angles. “Okay, chief, this passageway is going all over the place,” Shen'Zahr muttered. “I know … but this should be taking us somewhere.” “I have seen no other maintenance hatches,” T'Vet muttered. “We must double back.” “And go where?” O'Hare grunted. “Without any idea of a layout, we could walk around in circles for hours. We're at least moving in a direction here.” “We'll make a left turn next,” Shen'Zahr suggested. “Definitely won't be a circle in that case.” After another few minutes, a passageway branched to their left. This one sloped downwards gently, spinning to the left as well. It curved and kept curving, until there was a sound ahead of them. Bubbling, chirps and beeps of computer equipment. “We're getting somewhere,” Shen'Zahr muttered. “Careful.” The bottom of the spiralling passageway glowed gently, opening out into a wide chamber. The four of them moved up to the threshold, and peered inside. Six metal beds were arrayed in a row, two of which were occupied, illuminated by spotlights. Over each was a cluster of instruments, hypos, fine lasers, robotic arms. The room was empty aside from the patients. Computers lined the walls on all sides, displaying medical scans of Orion and Tellarite physiology. “Kahrand and Nishenna,” O'Hare whispered. Shen'Zahr crouched and moved forwards towards the beds, breaking into a run when she could see them more clearly. “Doctor!” T'Vet hissed. He saw her stop, and sag beside the beds, collapsing to a crouch. He moved over to her immediately, with Miura and O'Hare in tow. The latter gasped in horror, and the chief did the same as he followed her gaze. Kahrand and Nishenna lay on the beds, their torsos splayed open, organs on display. Their brains had been extracted, and were held in sterile forcefields at the corner of the medical apparatus, being scanned by a series of laser scanners. Shen'Zahr checked both their pulses, and shook her head. “They probably didn't feel any pain.” “Chief Miura, Lieutenant O'Hare, please examine the computers, and see if you can link to any form of comm system.” O'Hare gave a single, quiet nod, and trudged to the computers. Miura followed. Shen'Zahr climbed up on one of the empty beds and detached one of the surgical lasers from the medical apparatus. She began adjusting the settings, opening the casing to manipulate the inner working. “Doctor?” “Killed, butchered, because we wouldn't comply,” she muttered angrily. “Was this an examination?” “Does it matter what it was?” she snapped. “We were already dissected and examined, according to your assessment of the scars on our bodies. Why do it again?” “Why waste the specimens? Punish us, get information.” “Information that they already had?” Shen'Zahr wheeled around. “Can you stow that robot brain for just a moment, just while we're standing over their bodies? I know you don't feel, but I do, so try and shut the hell up while I work on this.” “You assume I do not grieve, doctor? That I do not recognise the emptiness of a loss, the crime of using sentient beings in this way?” Shen'Zahr closed her eyes. “I know you do, in your own way.” “Then we must ensure this happens to no-one else. What was done to them, precisely?” Shen'Zahr forced herself to look at the bodies. “There's trauma to the internal organs, signs of scar tissue as well. They seem devoid of blood … almost dessicated. Best guess, our hosts were testing …” she retched, and took a deep breath. “... testing the limits of their internal workings.” “Did they do that with us before?” Shen'Zahr closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. “If they had, why would they do it now?” “If they did not do it when they had us all, why would they wait? Why take the chance of escape or liberation?” Shen'Zahr's eyes were ice cold as they locked on him. “You're talking like this is some kind of puzzle to figure out, like we're not standing over two corpses.” “There is no logic to any of this, doctor, and I mean to discover why. Is that laser calibrated?” Her scowl turned down to the device. “Effective to about five metres. Barely better than a knife.” T'Vet reached up and retrieved three other lasers from above the beds. “Inarguably better than bare hands. Please modify these as well.” Her head bobbed in a subtle nod, and she turned away from him and the dead. T'Vet walked to the others. “Progress?” “There's no way to access anything, it's all encrypted.” Miura shook his head. “We need access codes.” “We can't even get into the medical data.” T'Vet raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps it is automatically encrypted?” “Must be.” There was a hiss from above them. From the ceiling and walls dozens of shadowy figures began to crawl towards them, scurrying swiftly on eight chitinous legs. Their hides were black, their segmented bodies glistening. Their heads were turned impossibly, glaring at the four Starfleet crewmen with dead, blank red eyes. “Doctor! How many of the lasers have you modified?” “Only one other,” she hissed, tossing them to T'Vet. He passed them to Miura and O'Hare. “Five metre range.” They nodded, and ran to Shen'Zahr. T'Vet and the doctor picked up the unmodified lasers. The creatures closed in on them. Three split off and converged on the computers, claws manipulating the controls. Spotlights came on over the rest of the beds. “Let us go!” Shen'Zahr yelled. “You got what you wanted out of us, so let us out of here!” “These are the scientists?” O'Hare said, horrified. T'Vet raised an eyebrow. The hissing monstrosities began to converge, rearing up on their four back legs, the other four waving spike-like claws as long as scythes. When the nearest closed to within five metres, Miura and O'Hare fired their lasers, and left gouges in the armour. Thick black mucus leaked from the breeches, and the creature backed off with a wet spitting hiss. A hissing screech filled their ears. The rest clustered, preparing to converge on them as one mass. T'Vet stood from his ready position, and lowered his laser. “T'Vet?” Shen'Zahr muttered. “This is the final piece of the puzzle, doctor.” “Can we go over this later?” He shook his head. “A base that defies logical construction. Part mechanical, part organic, cleanly divided. Two different groups, separate? No, because this laboratory exists in the insectoid region. Repeated experiments, for no logical reason. A carefully constructed facade in our cells, a captor with vocal chords, yet our captors seem to be a swarm of insectoid creatures who are not attempting to reason with us. Logically, there is only one possibility, which I will now test.” Miura frowned. “How?” T'Vet ran into the mass of creatures around them, and their reaction was immediate. They leapt upon him, claws rending and tearing, spattering green blood across the laboratory. Shen'Zahr screamed in fury, and O'Hare shut her eyes, wishing she could close her ears to the wet, hungry sounds of the frenzy. Through her horror, his words zipped across her mind. She opened her tearful eyes, only to see the blood drenched creatures turning towards them. “He was right … this doesn't make sense.” “Shoot them, Shelby!” Shen'Zahr screamed. “Why would they kill him? They experimented on Nishenna and Kahrand …” her eyes widened. “This is all bullshit. None of it's real. I don't think we ever left the cells.” Miura frowned. “What do you ...” *** “...mean?” The cool, comfortable temperature of the lounge in front of the window was an immediate relief. Night seemed to have fallen outside, at least that was the impression the hologram was leading them to believe. O'Hare blinked around at the other figures in the room. All six were present. She stared at Kahrand and Nishenna, and grabbed them both, hugging them closely. “What the …” Kahrand grunted. “What … I was beamed away.” Nishenna began to shake. “Where were we? What happened to us?” “Unknown,” T'Vet muttered. Before he could say anything else, Shen'Zahr slapped him, and hissed something wicked in Andorian. T'Vet raised an eyebrow, and responded in kind, his tone not much more even than hers. She stepped back in surprise, her lips curling. “They put us all back in one room,” Miura murmured. “Why?” “There … are more doors … more rooms …” Kahrand's gaze kept being pulled back towards Nishenna as he looked around. “I … uhm …” Miura slowly turned towards Nishenna as well, eyes quizzical, but softening. Nishenna backed behind O'Hare. “Oh … oh no …” “What's wrong with you both?” O'Hare said, staring at them. “Nothing,” Kahrand murmured. “I just … I never noticed before …” His eyes never left Nishenna. She gripped O'Hare's shoulders tightly. “They … my pheromones. Orion females … we have a gland that gives off pheromones. Mine was removed … but …” “Pheromones?” T'Vet grunted, blinking, struggling. His fists clenched and unclenched. Shen'Zahr squinted at him, and took a faltering step forwards. The Vulcan's eyes snapped towards her with a primal glow. “Not now …” O'Hare backed off, with Nishenna behind her. T'Vet's eyes were bloodshot. Shen'Zahr reached for him, and he grabbed her wrist in a flash. “Doctor … move away from me …” he convulsed in pain. “What's happening to him?” “I'm not sure,” Shen'Zahr grunted, trying to wrench her hand from his grasp. “T'Vet, let me go.” T'Vet grimaced and closed his eyes. His fingers loosened just enough for her to get out of his hold. “His body temperature is up by about five degrees,” Shen'Zahr muttered. T'Vet began pacing. “I … my blood is burning … but it is too … soon!” Shen'Zahr's eyes widened. “Oh no … T'Vet, get into one of the bedrooms, Nishenna as well, and lock it if you can.” Nishenna ran immediately and ducked into a bedroom. Miura and Kahrand watched her go, and O'Hare shook them. “Snap out of it.” Shen'Zahr stepped in front of T'Vet. “Go, now!” T'Vet turned and threw one of the sofas across the room, as if it were a fraction of its actual weight. “Go!” T'Vet growled and nodded, storming across to another room. The door slammed behind him. Shen'Zahr breathed heavily. “I've never seen it before, but it must be …” “Doctor, what's going on?” O'Hare demanded. “Nishenna had the gland that stimulates her pheromones removed, our captors must have … cloned it somehow, replaced it. An Orion female, barely twenty … she'll be putting out more than the average. It affects males like a narcotic … you ever wonder how the females on Orion had a stranglehold over the men for so long?” “Is that what's affecting T'Vet?” “No.” Shen'Zahr's face creased in worry. “Every seven years, Vulcans have to mate. They call it the Ponn Farr … but it hasn't been seven years for him yet. They must have triggered that somehow as well.” “Can't he … just … not mate?” Shen'Zahr shook her head. “If he doesn't, his own body will kill him. He's a timebomb.”

Star Trek: Kodiak - The Gilded Cage VIGrant's hands shook on the helm controls as the Cub descended through the clouds of static electricity and razor-sharp ice shards, stabbing at the shuttle pod like knives. They clattered and clanged across the hull, cracking across the viewport."Storm cloud density increasing," Oaken muttered. Grant nodded. “Mr Kimmich, raise the shields.” “Aye sir,” Kimmich muttered, leaning around him and activating the controls. “Approaching cloud boundary,” Oaken barked, tuning the sensor array. “We've got a lock on Arctos pod 01's nav' beacon, and we have a reading on their search patterns.” Grant nodded. “Let's begin our sweep.” The Arctos's crew had found nothing new so far. No new power emissions. No new life signs. No new transmissions. No background noise. No movement, even by the wind, aside from the snowfall. It had been a full day since they had reached orbit, and there hadn't even been so much as a flicker of candlelight in the dark. Grant swept the Cub over the city ruins. “Transporter traces?” Oaken shook her head. “Anything that might be a power conduit or circuit?” Oaken glanced at him. He caught her look, the sadness in it, and knew she hadn't. “Scanning now, sir. Engaging sub surface scanning beams.” She nodded back into the Cub. Elenna Dawson activated the extra sensor equipment that had been installed in the rear of the pod. Telemetry began feeding to the shuttle's computer. “We can scan the planet's crust up the edge of the mantle,” Oaken said. “Nothing yet.” Grant looked out at the city, slowing the Cub and drifting above the ruins. The broken buildings were smashed and ancient, twisted and warped. Nothing stood more than ten metres from the ground at any point in the icy dustbowl. “You think this planet was always like this?” he muttered. Oaken shook her head. “We detected fossilised plant and animal life below the surface, as well as decayed and dessicated biomatter on the surface.” “So this would have been green at one point?” “At one point … around three thousand years ago.” Grant nodded. “But what changed?” “Some kind of interstellar event. Looks like an explosion or shockwave levelled the city, but we haven't picked up any craters or impact sites, or extra planetary elements or fragments of rock.” Grant leaned back. “What else could have?” “An energy wave, maybe. Not a gamma burst, that would have burned the atmosphere away. Solar flares would have ruined the tech, but that doesn't account for the missing people. Three thousand years out in the open, in this weather, would mean that we should have found some remains. Extreme cold like this preserves tissue well beyond the usual term of decomposition.” “So, given the cold, any bodies would have been fairly intact ... meaning abduction, or evacuation.” Grant activated the autopilot and turned to her."On a unilateral scale? Every single person? Possible, yeah, but highly improbable. It would've meant that they had advanced warning.""But not of an asteroid, or other planetary body." Grant scratched his cheek. "What about a gravitational wave?” “Like the ones we've encountered?” “We know, based on what Gardener told us, and based on where we found it, that those waves have been around for more than three thousand years. The station had some kind of shield that protected them, weakened the waves. Could they be strong enough to get through a planet's atmosphere?” Oaken thought for a moment. “Augmented with enough ions, maybe. I don't think I'm the best person to ask.” Grant raised an eyebrow. “You're the science officer.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Of course, but … when we last encountered a wave, I wasn't the one who saved the ship.” Grant frowned. The facsimiles of T'Vet and O'Hare had modified the Kodiak in moments to get through a wave that would have smashed them to space junk and paste. What happened to Orlos VI could be the most important question to answer in order to find their people. “Any luck in those scans we talked about before? Energy patterns that could get through a starfleet dampening field?” Oaken reached over to him and took his hand. “Commander … our instruments are capable of scanning for every energy pattern we know of. We can't scan for something that we can't even conceptualise. I mean … we can try … but I don't think we could even get close with this equipment.” “Is it hopeless?” “I didn't say that.” The comm system whistled, and Grant activated the Cub's receiver. Diaz's voice came over the speakers, very clipped. “Kodiak to Cub: urgent.” “Go ahead, Ro.” “Our guests have decided they don't like the arboretum, Commander. They're trying to break out.” “Understood. Tell Chief Hendry to expect us on the pad. Grant out.” He looked up at Kimmich. “You too, Nik. Lily, maintain scans. Can we get through the clouds with the transporter beam?” “Yes, sir,” Oaken said. “Energise.” *** The bulkhead bulged outwards as T'Vet's fist smashed into it from inside the arboretum. Diaz grimaced, and moved Ny'Shar and Bryce further back towards the deck traversal ladder. “Diaz to Miura, I need you to establish the breach forcefields across cargo bay three, right now.” The engineer grunted over the intercom. “I don't think I can, Ro. The power conduits have been disrupted on deck four.” “Can you re-route?” “Stand by.” Grant jumped down from the ladder, with Kimmich close behind. “Status?” “We're working on shoring up the bulkheads, but the chief has to act fast.” “Commander, LC, I don't think we can hold them in here for long,” Kimmich muttered. “We have to assume they know the Kodiak as well as we do, given who they're impersonating.” Grant nodded. “Agreed, in which case they know they have a limited amount of time to get out before the breach seals activate.” “What do we do, then?” Grant and Diaz exchanged a glance, and Diaz grinned. “We have to act a little crazy. Throw them off.” There was a shower of sparks from the cargo bay three door controls, and the doors themselves stuttered open, holding when the gap was ten or eleven inches wide. Kimmich and the security officers moved around with their phaser rifles high, as O'Hare's furious voice roared from inside. “Damn it, let us out of here!” “Force fields are holding,” Kimmich muttered, as T'Vet hit the bulkhead again. A second impact hit just after, one of the other androids joining the attempt. “How long before they break through there?” Grant whispered to Diaz. “Not long, given how strong they are.” He grimaced. “Crazy plan, then?” Diaz nodded. “Unlock the exterior cargo doors.” Her eyes widened. “That's pretty crazy alright. The alarm will sound, and that's if I can bypass the computer overrides. My command codes should do it.” Grant thought for a moment. “Open them on my order, but don't depressurise the bay. We blow them out into space if they don't calm down.” Diaz exhaled. “A bluff?” Grant didn't answer. He walked towards the door. “You hear me out there?” O'Hare shouted. “Let us out of here, or we're coming out ourselves.” Grant peered through the crack in the door. “Shelby, stop this right now.” “I'm not Shelby, remember?” she snapped, glaring at him. She glanced down at Kahrand, who was kneeling beside her at the conduits. “You almost got it?” “Almost,” the tellarite grunted. “Stop rushing me.” “Let's talk about this,” Grant urged. “We're done talking. We're not going to be your prisoners! It doesn't matter who we are, or what we are, we're people! We're thinking, self-aware people!” “Then let's work it out the way thinking, self-aware, rational people work it out!” Grant shouted. “Let's talk! Negotiate. Name your terms.” “You've heard them.” Grant nodded. “Release you, and the rest of them, to roam the ship freely. Stop T'Vet breaking through the bulkhead, and we'll discuss it.” “No. You have about thirty seconds before he and Nishenna break through the wall, then we're out anyway.” Alarms blared in the cargo bay, a sudden wail that made both O'Hare and Kahrand look up in shock. Grant looked at both of them with as little emotion as he could. “Then you have however much time I decide you have before I blow you out into space.” “You wouldn't,” O'Hare hissed. “What do I do to people who threaten my crew, Shelby?” Her jaw set, she looked around at T'Vet. He and Nishenna had stopped hammering at the wall. She snapped down to Kahrand. “I can't override it without the CO or XO's command codes,” he grunted. She looked back at Grant. “You blow us out into space, you don't find your crew.” “If you don't help us, we won't find them. If we don't find them … I don't know what's going to happen to you. Starfleet will want a piece of you, no doubt. I won't be able to protect you.” “As if you would,” Kahrand grunted. Nishenna and T'Vet walked over to the doorway, watching Grant carefully. "Whoever made you is beyond us. Well beyond us. We've scanned every wavelength, every inch of the surface and crust around that city. Going over the whole planet in detail would take time, and every second we take is another second my crewmen are in danger.” “In which case, ongoing hostility between us would be illogical,” T'Vet said, raising an eyebrow. “I couldn't agree more.” Grant looked down the corridor. “Computer, re-engage exterior door seals in cargo bay three.” “I didn't think you'd do it,” Nishenna muttered as the clamps locked back into place. “On the contrary, the Commander would do whatever it takes to protect this vessel and its crew,” T'Vet said calmly. “He proved this during the Four Years War, before your predecessor came aboard, Ensign.” “You'd let us out after what happened with Shen'Zahr?” O'Hare said. “At some point we have to take a step forwards, so let's take it now. We can help each other, that's a basis for a beginning.” He stepped up to the forcefield. “Do you mean me harm?” “No,” O'Hare exclaimed, horrified. “Do you mean my crew harm?” “They're our friends,” Nishenna said. “Our colleagues … well … not ours exactly …” “But the sentiment is still true,” T'Vet finished. Grant nodded, and glanced over at Diaz, who was listening to the conversation out of sight of the cargo bay. She came a little closer, until the androids could see her. “I … would consider it a matter of bad faith to issue them an escort, Commander,” she said. Grant looked at her in surprise, and grinned. “I would agree, I think.” He looked back at the androids. “You're receiving signals from the planet, and from each other. How do I know that you can't be … taken over?” “It is not a control signal, Commander,” T'Vet said. “It is telemetry that goes back and forth between us and the supercomputer on the planet. We are designed to operate independently.” The other three androids turned to stare at him. “How could you possibly know that?” Kahrand grunted. “I have access to the circuit pathways that access our core system directives.” O'Hare frowned. “How? I don't even …” she trailed off, and her eyes widened. “I … have access. How did that happen?” Grant withdrew his communicator. “Mr Miura, double time it to deck four. We need your expertise down here.” “Aye, sir,” the chief replied. “There's no corresponding data to suggest this has happened to one of us before,” Nishenna muttered. “I've never been able to access the telemetry from previous probes. I've … never even thought of myself as a probe. What the hell's going on?” “Have you been exposed before?” Diaz said. “Other probes, I mean.” “Sixty four probes have been revealed as probes, including the five of us,” T'Vet murmured after a moment. “However … I also cannot locate any data suggesting that we, or any others, have ever truly known what we are.” Miura jogged alongside them. “What's going on?” “None of us seem to have any idea,” Grant muttered. “If you're all probes … what's your primary function?” “To observe and record,” Nishenna said. “To search,” Kahrand added. “To learn and discover … to question …” T'Vet muttered. “To understand …” O'Hare said, her eyes widening. “To understand … what happened to us. To understand how we fell.” “Who's 'we'?” Diaz asked, as Miura began scanning them with his tricorder. “Our progenitors, the Yogransans.” T'Vet closed his eyes as he spoke. “Our creators … our parents. The skies above our world warped and twisted, tore the cities apart. We held for decades, for centuries, but we could hold no longer.” “The same people that made Gardener, and that station,” Miura muttered. Diaz nodded. “What do you mean, you held?” “Against the enemy,” O'Hare continued. “We were … at war …” Grant raised an eyebrow. “The sky warping and twisting … Oaken was right. It was a gravitational wave, wasn't it? That's what hit Orlos VI.” “Where were all the bodies?” Miura asked. “There was nothing down there.” Kahrand grunted. “They evacuated below ground. They knew it was coming … they beamed into shelters, or to orbiting ships … but most of them didn't survive.” “Commander, this is incredible,” Miura said. “I've never seen anything like this. Their internal systems are actively augmenting and re-routing circuit pathways. I'd guess it's a self-repair system ... but it's not repairing, it's building.” “That's how we can access the information, right?” O'Hare said. “Our internal systems are circumventing the memory blocks in our programming,” Nishenna whispered. “Hold on … chief, are you saying they just became fully self-aware?” Miura nodded. “Yeah, Commander, looks that way.” "How?""They're probes, they're designed to learn and adapt," Diaz murmured. "We've seen them do so incredibly quickly ... if the program is that adaptable, to the aim of their own survival ...""Then the programming has determined that they need to reach a higher level of awareness in order to operate in this situation," Miura said.Grant turned to the forcefield. "You said this hasn't happened before.""When a probe was discovered previously, it was destroyed," T'Vet said."And now that's off the table, the programming has found an alternate solution," Nishenna said, her eyes wide with excitement.Grant stared at Miura, then at the four androids. “Incredible … they're growing and learning … evolving as we watch.” He smiled to himself, a little embarrassed. “I'm talking about you like you're not even here.” O'Hare smiled back at him. “We know it's strange, it's alright.” “So … what now?” Diaz muttered. Grant sighed. “Once our people are found … and retrieved … we'll talk about what happens after. As you know me, you know I'm a man of my word.” “Indeed, and as you are aware, Vulcans do not lie,” T'Vet said. “I accept.” Kahrand grunted. “Fine.” O'Hare and Nishenna nodded in agreement. “Nishenna and Kahrand … I think the science lab will be the best place for you, scanning for for signals and modifying the sensors. T'Vet, Shelby, go with the chief and see what can be done mechanically to improve the deflectors and planetary arrays, as well as the transporters. We may need to beam through several layers of rock if we have to go underground.” “Agreed,” O'Hare said. Grant turned to Kimmich, who lowered his weapon, indicating for Bryce and Ny'Shar to do the same. “Computer, lower arboretum security screens.” The forcefields shut off, and the four androids slowly walked out into the corridor. “I'll check in with you all in an hour,” Grant said, nodding to them. Nishenna patted Kahrand on the back, who grumbled as he followed her to the deck traversal ladder. T'Vet indicated for Miura to take the lead, but before they headed off, O'Hare grasped on to Grant's hand tightly. “We won't let you down, Orson.” He nodded to her with what he hoped was a smile, squeezing her hand in return. Diaz and Kimmich lingered with him as they moved out of sight. “Permission to speak freely, Commander,” Kimmich grunted. “You don't trust them.” “Nope. For both us and them, this is a complete unknown.” “I understand … but let's give them a chance for now. If they start to act up, you have my authority to take whatever steps you feel are necessary to secure the Kodiak and her crew.” Kimmich nodded. “Understood.” He motioned for Ny'Shar and Bryce to follow him, issuing clipped orders to them as he went. As Diaz began to speak, Grant matched her syllable for syllable. “Permission to speak freely, sir.” “Permission to speak freely, sir. Jinx, you owe me a new coffee machine.” Diaz glared at him. “I really hope you know what you're doing.” “We don't have much of a choice. Without them, we might be stuck.” Diaz hesitated before turning to him. “Orson, I have to say this to you, as your XO: make sure you don't let your personal feelings get in the way.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “I'll do my best, but call me on it if you feel you have to. I trust your judgement.” Diaz nodded. “We're not dealing with simple imitations anymore … they seem … well, like people. There are definite imprints of Shelby and the others, but there's something else coming through.” “Our crewmen were the baseline, the starting point. They're starting to move beyond those starting points.” Diaz scratched the side of her head, beneath the band of her visor. “Sentience?” Grant exhaled and shook his head with a shrug. “How could I judge that?” “Sentient machines …” Diaz muttered. “A new race. They're the job … so why do they make me so uneasy?” “Under the circumstances, it might be natural to feel a little uneasy, much as it might sting a little to admit.” Diaz nodded at that. “If they're a race … they have rights, surely. The right to choose their own path.” “Good grief, Ro … we could talk about rights until we're both blue in the face. I don't know. I can barely comprehend Gardener, let alone four beings so sophisticated that they are forming as we look at them.” Grant rubbed his face with both hands. He felt a few years older than he had when the Kodiak had left orbit the first time. “We have to assume, and operate as if they have the same rights we do. Treat as you wish to be treated. Questions like this … we're about as ready for them now as we were in the days when humanity first started experimenting with artificial intelligence.” “Not at all?” “Basically not at all, yes. Hopefully wiser men and women than us will work this out in a century or so. Until then … I suppose we muddle through as best we can.” Diaz patted him on the back. “We always do … no matter what.” But not all of us, Grant thought. “You have the bridge, Diaz. Recall the Cub, we'll need Oaken and the full science team up here. Have Holden contact the Arctos and update Commander Nevin on the situation.” “Aye, sir.”

Star Trek: Kodiak - The Gilded Cage VBy O'Hare's reckoning, there were another four minutes to go before the temperature returned to normal. The intense heat in the cell had lasted for thirty seven minutes, and it had been thirty seven long, arduous, exhausting minutes. She, Nishenna and Miura had showered in cool water in turn for the next hour, which she now suspected had been a trap, for shortly afterwards the temperature had plummeted to well below freezing. “N-N-Nishhhennna?” O'Hare stammered. “Yyou ssstill wi-with us?” The orion didn't respond. Her green skin had gone a shade of lime, her red hair hung limp. Miura moved in beside her, unwrapping the blankets covering her, and pressing his body against hers. He looked up at O'Hare. “She's barely breathing.” O'Hare shuffled over to them, and joined them in their cocoon, tightening her blanket around theirs to add another insulating layer. “Hhhey … Takkkumi …” “Yeah?” “I wwwon't t-t-tellll Lillly about yyyou … beinng in bed wwith us.” He smiled. “I appreciate it. I won't tell Commander Grant either. I don't want to get fired.” O'Hare couldn't smile, even though she was a little warmer now the three of them were sharing body heat. She didn't even want to. “I might … never ss … see him again …” “Lily too.” “Y … you never know what … you might lose … until it's lost, huh?” “What d'you mean?” “After what happened at the starbase … I had the thought that … maybe us being together wasn't … the best idea. I love him … but I feel like … I'm always going to be used against him … when people want to try and take him out. I was in … two minds about it … but now I know … now we're apart … and I can't stand it.” “You're in danger, your life is threatened. It's not exactly pleasant to begin with.” “No … and it wouldn't be pleasant if he was here too … but it would be better. Right now I bet he's terrified. He'll have his game face on, and I know he's coming for us … but he won't be sleeping right, he'll probably be drinking that whiskey he thinks I don't know about … probably be so tense that he's snappy … and no-one's there to … tell him it's going to be alright.” Miura raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like you're more worried about him than he is about you.” O'Hare smiled. “Ask Lily how she was when we get back, you'd be worried too.” *** T'Vet retrieved another cup of ice from the cooling unit and ran back towards the bathroom. He could hear the cubes squeak and crack as the heat in the cell hit them. He could hear Shen'Zahr groaning even beneath the sound of the shower. She cried out in andorian, her voice slurred. She was calling for her father. T'Vet walked into the bathroom and approached the shower. Shen'Zahr was curled up on the floor, beneath both faucets. Streams of cold water were gushing down onto her at full power. She was still in her full uniform, soaking wet, anything to lower her body temperature. He leaned down and put what remained of the ice cubes in her hand. She pressed them against her head, while T'Vet held more against her stomach. None of it was working. Her eyes were bloodshot, her antenna were limp, her breath came out in wheezing rasps. She mumbled again. “Rest, Shen'Zahr,” T'Vet said in southern andorian. “You only need to hold out for another few minutes.” She cried out again. It was unclear if she could even understand what he was saying to her. The temperature had risen to fifty eight degrees in Earth Celsius, a hot day even on Vulcan. Two more minutes remained before it was due to return to normal, provided this experiment lasted as long as the previous one had. “You took care of me, doctor. I shall be here to take care of you.” She grasped his hand weakly, her eyes searching for him. “T'Vet?” “I am here.” “How long?” she croaked. “Ninety eight seconds. It is almost over.” “Well … now I'll have a … wet uniform for the rest of the day.” “Unfortunately, this was a situation that would have been made worse if we were disrobed.” Shen'Zahr's bloodshot eyes turned up towards him and her mouth edged up in a grin. “I'll have to disrobe when things get back to normal temperature … hope that won't give your emotional control any problems.” “I am sure I will manage.” “Don't be so sure … I've been … hitting the gym.” “Indeed.” T'Vet looked up. “The temperature is beginning to drop, it is now approximately fifty six degrees Celsius.” “Celsius?” T'Vet raised an eyebrow. “It has now dropped from three hundred and four Tiors to two hundred and eighty.” “That's better.” Shen'Zahr rolled onto her back, letting the water run through her hair. Her antennae twitched and began to flex. Her hand tightened around T'Vet's. “THE ONE YOU CALL KAHRAND IS DEAD.” The voice seemed to erupt from every wall, the air trembled with it. Shen'Zahr sat up, sweat breaking out on her forehead again. “YOU WILL REMAIN IN YOUR CELLS. DISOBEDIENCE WILL BE PUNISHED. ANY ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE WILL BE PUNISHED.” *** The temperature in the room hovered around freezing. O'Hare stood from the bed, the blanket tight around her. She tried to identify where the voice was coming from, but she could see no speakers or sensors set into the wall. “Who are you? Why are you keeping us here?” There was a flash behind her that reflected off the walls. O'Hare winced, even though she hadn't seen it directly. “Shelby!” Miura yelled behind her. She wheeled around. Nishenna had disappeared from the bed. Miura was scrambling to his feet. “What happened?” “It looked like a transporter beam … high intensity, very quick.” O'Hare felt a lump form in her throat. “Maybe … she's being given medical attention. She had trouble in the low temperatures.” “Yeah … maybe.” The voice boomed out once again. “YOU ARE OF THE SAME SPECIES. ONE MALE, ONE FEMALE. SEXUALLY COMPATIBLE. MATE.” O'Hare stared around her. “What?” Miura stood as well. “They want us to-” “I know what they want us to do!” she snapped. “And … no!” “MATE, OR THE ONE YOU CALL NISHENNA WILL DIE.” Miura looked at her sharply, his eyes open wide. “I doubt our lives and wellbeing are that important to you. You've dissected us, almost killed us, have killed one of us. We're not going to jump through hoops for you, perform like monkeys in a zoo. We're people! We're thinking, self-aware people!” Miura nodded. “Yeah … you can count me out.” There was silence in the room. O'Hare could still see her breath, panting out in fury. Had she just guaranteed Nishenna's death? “SO BE IT.” *** Shen'Zahr had one of the blankets wrapped around her waist. She paced in the lounge area, her sodden clothes on the table, propped against the fake window. The heat from the hologram projectors would dry them quicker. “Are you sure you are alright, doctor?” “Stop asking,” she said flatly. “Why would they kill Kahrand to punish us?” “Logically, as a deterrent to further attempts at escape … however, killing him in the first place is illogical.” “Logic be damned. It was cold blooded. Brutal. A show of force.” “But one that does not work in their favour. Our captors have lost their only Tellarite test subject.” Shen'Zahr looked at him sharply. “Murdered. Murdered their only Tellarite test subject. Maybe we aren't dealing with logical people, did you think of that?” T'Vet sighed to himself. “Yes … but the purpose of what they are doing must be logic. They are scientists, hence the experimentation.” “They probably got all they wanted from him through dissection.” “But not from you and I, and the humans, and Nishenna.” T'Vet shook his head. “The raising and lowering of temperature is another test. I must think about this.” “Infants sometimes torture insects,” Shen'Zahr insisted. “They aren't running experiments.” “In fact, they are, doctor. A child explores its environment, tests its rules and boundaries, tests outcomes to certain actions.” “You haven't met some of the little demons I have,” she muttered. “We've got to get out of here, T'Vet. They're only going to intensify these tests. The temperature will get higher, and lower, I guarantee it … and we were both right at our limits.” “Agreed. If we can leave the cell, we may be able to locate a transmitter, and sent a distress call to the Kodiak. What access points are there in this room?” Shen'Zahr paced again. “Power conduits to the terminals. The air. The plumbing for the water. Power conduits to the hologram … the cooler as well.” She turned to the cooling unit. “What do you think?” T'Vet moved over to it, testing its weight. “Curious. It is not attached to the floor in the same manner as the terminals. The power taps are likely at the rear of the unit.” He shifted it away from the wall, and stepped back, motioning Shen'Zahr over. There was a hatch at the bottom where the wall met the floor. “As before, I suspect this is too easy a solution to escape.” “We don't know where the hatch leads,” she muttered. “Or if it'll open. It's put here to tempt us, I think. We just heard that one of us is dead. More of us might die if we go through there.” “The alternative is waiting to die in this room,” T'Vet said. “We should consult with the others before we act.” “I'll do it, you try and get this open.” T'Vet leaned down. The hatch was sealed and insulated. A control switch didn't respond to his attempts to engage it. A cable led into the cooler, powering it with a low hum. Shen'Zahr ran back to him. “Nishenna's gone.” “Gone?” “Beamed away. They threatened to kill her if Shelby and Takumi didn't participate in a test.” “Did they participate?” “No.” T'Vet nodded. “Then we must leave.” He ripped the cable out of the cooler and jammed it against the switch mechanism. It overloaded with a sparking sound, and the hatch opened a crack. He forced it open with his fingers. “We must be swift.”

Star Trek: Kodiak - The Gilded Cage IV“Approaching Orlos VI orbit, Commander,” Ensign Zhotern growled from the helm. Grant leaned back in the captain's chair, and tightened his fists. “Red Alert, Mr Devlin.” Lieutenant Commander Diaz gave the CO a sidelong look as the alert klaxon blared. She paced behind him. “Mal, scan all comm channels for activity, including background noise. Lily, scan the city ruins for any anomalous readings.” Both Holden and Oaken nodded tightly and began their operations. Grant pressed his hands together in front of his face. “Co-ordinate all findings with the Arctos science officer, Lieutenant.” “Aye, sir.” Oaken directed every sensor on the Kodiak towards the planet. “No energy readings in the city ruins, expanding search.” “I'm not getting any comm traffic,” Holden muttered. “Nothing but ambient signals from us and the Arctos. Scanning every background emission is going to take a few hours.” “In that case, you'd better get started, Mr Holden,” Grant said flatly. Holden nodded, and Diaz leaned down. “Should I ready an away team?” “No,” Grant snapped. He calmed himself at the raise of her eyebrow. “No, we can't risk it. Another member of the crew could be replaced.” Diaz nodded. “True. If we're going to go down there ourselves to pull our people out, we'll have to do it from up here, then.” “I'm not getting any readings yet from up here, LC,” Oaken muttered. “Neither is the Arctos. Sensor beams have scanned eighty percent of the first continent.” “Jamming, maybe,” Diaz said. “We could survey the city again, but we'd have to do it visually or with more specialised equipment … and we'd have to do it in the Cub.” Grant leaned back, deep in thought. “Pitch it to Nevin, tell them to launch. They might as well get started.” “We'd cover more ground, more quickly, with two shuttles.” “The Cub's occupied,” Grant grunted. “What's more important, Orson?” Grant glared up at her, and sighed raggedly. “The security of the ship and the safety of the crew, all the crew, not just those in immediate danger. If you and Kimmich can figure out a better place to put them, be my guest.” “The Arctos?” “They're just as big a threat to them as they are to us.” Diaz paced again. “The surface is out, that's as good as releasing them. Escape pods?” Grant shifted his weight. “They could trip the release mechanism, shoot the pods out into space, or down to the planet … and it would be a little …” “Cramped?” Grant gave a single nod. “Still nothing,” Oaken muttered. “Commander, the arboretum could work. There are no ties in there to the main computer, and we could easily re-establish the security lock on the door. Besides, with Nishenna away, the plants need some care.” Grant rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Going from locking them up to giving them a job … Diaz, you and Kimmich … work out a way to get them in there without setting them loose.” *** With a little transporter and forcefield trickery, Kimmich and Chief Hendry had managed to relocate all four of the intruders to the arboretum, and the Cub's rebuilding process had begun. It would take longer to put everything back together than it had taken to dismantle, but that always seemed to be the way. Grant read every bridge report he could. Nothing had been found from orbit at all. Not an energy emission, not a lifesign. Orlos VI was as dead today as it had been when they had left. The transmission frequencies had been bare, so far. At a certain point, he had to throw them down on his desk, and get out of his quarters. There was only one place he could think to go, one place he was being drawn. He descended down to deck four, and strode down the corridor. Bryce and Ny'Shar were standing guard outside. Both stood to attention, and Grant nodded to them. “At ease. Anything to report?” “No, sir,” Bryce muttered. “They're quiet.” “Forcefields?” “In place, and holding.” Grant sighed. “Alright, here we go.” He placed his hand on the security sensor. “Palm print identified,” the computer buzzed. “Vocal confirmation required.” “Commander Orson Grant, Commanding Officer.” “Confirmed.” The doors slid open, and the first two security fields deactivated. Grant stepped into the arboretum, and observed the four prisoners. He wasn't immediately surprised that the one posing as Nishenna was dilligently tending to the plantlife, but when his brain caught up to the realisation that she wasn't the real thing, it struck him as almost incredible. She was designed to infiltrate, but now she had failed in that mission, and there was no reason to play the role. Yet, here she was, watering flowers, regulating their temperature, making sure the soil had enough nutrients. The one posing as T'Vet was meditating, legs crossed, beneath the tree in the Yogransan side of the bay. The real T'Vet wouldn't have been able to breath in there, and this version of him had no reason to meditate, and yet, there he was. The facsimile of Kahrand was assisting Nishenna here and there, but mostly he was pacing around, listless, looking for an escape route, perhaps. Or, because the real Kahrand wasn't a botanist, he was simply bored. Only this version of O'Hare reacted to his presence immediately. She smiled sadly at him, walking slowly towards the door. “Hi.” “Hello,” Grant said quietly. “I hope that you are all more comfortable in here.” She raised an eyebrow and sighed. “The cage is bigger, but its still a cage.” “Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we?” “You always have a choice, Orson.” “So do you,” he countered. “You have a choice to help, the ball isn't in my court.” “I told you and Commander Nevin, we don't know anything. If I knew something … I would tell you. You know I would.” “I know Shelby would.” O'Hare's jaw tightened. “And I'm not her.” Grant shook his head. “We're in orbit of Orlos VI.” O'Hare looked up sharply. “What are you going to do, maroon us all down there?” “If you know me the way you think you do, you should be well aware that isn't how I operate.” “I know you're angry,” she muttered. “I've seen you threaten ships ten times the size of the Kodiak in that kind of mood.” “What would be gained by sending you all back to the people who sent you? What reason would they have to keep our people alive?” O'Hare folded her arms. “I don't know. I honestly wish I could tell you more.” “You could tell me something more than nothing.” She shook her head, and looked around the room, at the other three androids. She laughed to herself quietly and rubbed her eyes. “You're willful, very willful. All of you share that, all five races that make up this ship's crew. The only one who wouldn't have tried to get out of this arboretum is Gardener. It allowed itself to be put in here, and kept in here.” “Provisionally.” “Is that the case with us?” “We'll see.” Grant narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, we're willful?” “You're stubborn, all of you and you hate being locked away, even in comfort. Even with all your needs attended to, all your wants. Everything.” Grant narrowed his eyes. “How do you feel about it?” “How do you think?” “You didn't try and break out of the Cub … this place is just as secure, if not more secure. O'Hare knows that.” “Do you think that matters?” “Logically, it should. Gardener operates on logic, it's essentially a very sophisticated computer … but you're not operating on logic. Why?” Before she could reply, he leaned forwards. “You were never imprisoned like this, never. You have no basis to how O'Hare in particular, or even how humans in general would react in a situation like this … unless. Unless you did know. Unless you knew how O'Hare was reacting to it in real time …” She shrugged. “Like I said, I don't know.” Grant shook his head. “Maybe you don't … but you can work it out. In order to become an effective infiltration unit, you can't just rely on memory. You have to learn and adapt. You have to be able to naturally react to certain stimuli, which means … you'd need the real thing. Shelby's alive … or she was alive in captivity … and you would know that, at least on a subconscious level. But how would you know?” “You have a dampening field in place,” she said, pacing. “Lily would know this better than I would, but no signal could get through in theory.” Grant nodded. “No signal that we know of.” O'Hare snorted. “Well, the four of us are clearly sophisticated, more so than Gardener, and Gardener was well beyond us. Maybe they can get through it.” “Maybe even the signal between the four of you, right? In which case, Shen'Zahr panicked in the mess hall because she detected the dampening field,” Grant murmured, taking the communicator off his belt. “Grant to bridge.” “Diaz here.” Grant opened his mouth, about to issue an order, but he glanced up at O'Hare. He backed off into the corridor, watching her smile slowly fade, and reactivated the security field. “Ro, have Oaken and the science team scan all bandwidths and energy patterns, and I mean all of them. Particularly focus on anything that could get through a Starfleet dampening field.” “We can try. Bridge out.” Grant walked back into the arboretum. O'Hare was waiting for him, and gave him another sad smile. “You'll never trust us fully, will you?” she said quietly. “Never trust me.” Grant sighed. “Trust is earned.” She nodded, looking down at the floor. “What do you want from me?” Grant asked angrily. “If you're claiming to be Shelby, and you're claiming to have all her memories … you have to know what's going through my head.” “I do … I think I do.” “If we pick something up with our scan … that'll help.” “Sure,” she mumbled. Grant turned away, getting ready to leave. “Orson …” He paused and looked back. “I know you don't believe me … but I do love you. Just as much as the real Shelby … for what little that's worth.” Grant saw the earnestness in her eyes, but hardened his heart to it. The door closed behind him, and he offered nods to Bryce and Ny'Shar as he left. Ahead of him, Diaz reached the bottom of the deck traversal ladder, and waited for him. She leaned against it. “Are they playing ball, finally?” Grant shrugged. “We'll see.” “Can I ask you something?” Grant nodded. “What are we supposed to do with them if we get our people back?” “I can't answer that … I wish I could. There's a lot to consider.” “Is there?” “They're a security risk at best,” he grunted. “I have no idea, to be honest.” “Take them back to Starfleet?” “Maybe … Oaken would protest that, we've spoken about about it … hell, she's probably right. Would you turn them into lab rats?” “You don't put a threat in a lab, you put it in a prison … but they haven't hurt anybody yet … 'yet' being the key word there.” “Agreed.” Grant sighed. “There's a more awkward question to ask.” Diaz laughed bitterly. “An even more awkward question, huh?” “Not, 'what do we do with them if we get our people back' … what do we do if with them if we don't?” Diaz gritted her teeth and tensed. “I see what you mean. We'll have to keep a cool head.” “There's no way we could, any of us, even if we prepare ourselves thoroughly for the possibility.” “I hope it doesn't come to that.” Grant squeezed her shoulder. “So do I.”...

Graphic Novels and Stories

Tutorials

Iray tutorial - Render Large and Reduce. by PDSmith

Tutorials

Wallpapers

Wallpapers

For Fun

For Fun

Pin Ups - no nudity, please

Mature Content

Pin Ups - no nudity, please

Contests

Contests

Posters

Posters

Transportation

Transportation

Millennium Project

Jedi Captain Candela Greene by TrekkieGal

Millennium Project

Trekking the Classics Challenge

Trekking the Classics Challenge

Journal Skins

Group Info

Group
Founded 12 Years ago
Jun 27, 2010

Location
Global

Group Focus
Common Interest

995 Members
1,086 Watchers
214,509 Pageviews

Join our Group Send a Note