StarTrekArtistsUnite

Rosa folded her arms in front of the graves and breathed in the sweet scent of the planted wildflowers, hoping that it would calm her nerves. She stared at the grave in front of her, and lay the white moonmoth rose beside the headstone.“What would you do?”She kept Orson's grave neat, as much as she could with her duties as their de facto mayor. There were no creeping weeds or burrowers threatening the soi. She always insisted to Peter, who tended the cemetery, that Orson's plot was her responsibility.She looked up and down the plots, at Sandra's grave, Jack's grave, Theryn's grave, Shelby's grave, Shen'Zahr's grave, Nikolas's grave, Amelia's grave … all of those in their community that had been taken by the plague, or accidents, or by things that were rumoured to lurk in the Great Forest around them. Too many for a community as small as theirs, and there were yet more, older graves. Olamide, the town's first mayor. Erin, Rosa's old friend, who had been slain in the same engagement against the same barbarians that had dogged their nation for four years.The bench creaked beside her. Takumi, the blacksmith, handed her a leather skin of strong rice wine. She smirked.“We don't need a drunk mayor.”“Don't drink much of it then, I may have fermented it for a little too long.”Rosa sipped it, and the sweetness tingled on her tongue. “Of all the things to ferment … perfectly good rice.”“I'll stop making it when you stop drinking it. A little taste of home.”Rosa slumped back on the bench. “Anything from Lillia yet?”Takumi shook his head. “She's running some more tests on that … slime you found, and the skull. It's tricky stuff, apparently. It eats through flesh even quicker than that acid she bought.”Rosa rubbed her head. “I hope … I don't know. The barbarian tribes were one thing … whatever this is …”“I know.” Takumi looked down at the headstone. “I miss him too.” *** Grant didn't know how on earth his equivalent had ever managed to keep up with T'Vet.Despite his physical training, the vulcanian (or elf, apparently) pulled gradually ahead until Grant lost sight of him through the trees. Then he would loop back and wait until he caught up.The second time, Grant was met by a slight, but still wry, smile. “You have been slipping in death, my friend.”Grant bent over and leaned against the nearest tree. “Yeah … well … not … much cardio ... in the grave...”“We can rest here for a moment.”Grant gave him a thumbs up as he caught his breath. T'Vet tossed him a waterskin, and Grant sipped it. It immediately felt as if his tongue had caught fire, and he coughed.“Spice tea?!”T'Vet nodded. “It assists me on long journeys.”Grant was too exhausted to ask how. "What about ... water? Got any of that?""Of course, a little." He handed Grant another skin. Grant welcomed the refreshment, but after ten minutes or so, they were setting off again. They stopped far more quickly the next time.Grant saw that T'Vet had his bow unslung and an arrow nocked, and he lowered his voice, trying to steady his breathing."Trouble?"T'Vet nodded. He plucked a long knife from his belt, curved like a kukri blade, and spun it so the handle was facing Grant, who took it without question.Grant strained his ears, listening closely, but he could hear nothing. However, vulcanian hearing was famously sharp. "What is it, T'Vet?""I am not sure," he whispered.Grant gestured to the trees. "You want to go high?""Negative. Whatever it is ... it is in the trees and on the ground. I can hear it rustling the leaves above, as well as on the ground.""What are you hearing exactly?""A hissing ... and movement, but not the movement of footsteps."T'Vet edged around to a tree close by, and set up behind it. Grant followed."I haven't seen any predators in the forest yet ... what is it?"T'Vet stayed perfectly still, his mouth barely moving in reply. "Nor I, for several weeks. I frequently roam the forest, and have encountered many predators over the years. Wolves, serpents, leopards, eagles ... yet there are no more. Many have left the area, as well as many of the prey animals.""Following the food?""Negative. The predators left first."Grant frowned, and T'Vet waved them forwards. He edged around the tree slowly and walked silently across the forest floor. The entire forest seemed to be holding its breath. There was no sound at all, meaning that everything apart from the two of them had likely fled in terror. The first sense that picked anything up was their sense of smell. An acrid, sour stink wove between the trees and permeated the air. It went from unpleasant to eye-watering quickly. Grant could feel it in his throat. He ripped the sleeve off his uniform shirt, tied up in a bindle, and wrapped it around his face. T'Vet had done similar, wrapping a scarf around his face. Still, the fumes irritated his eyes so much that his vision was beginning to blur. He could see tendrils of grey vapour curling on the other side of a thick tangle of spiked leaves and thorns.Grant and T'Vet edged around the foliage, Grant stifling a cough as best he could. The first thing they encountered was a trail of grey, silvery goo coating the leaves, tree roots and stones on the ground, emitting the same grey mist that was poisoning the air.The trail led up to a steaming skeleton, covered in the same strange substance. The body was twisted in agony, so much so that the spine was broken in several places. Aside from that, it was picked clean, entirely clean. The smell was so unbearable that it was almost overwhelming Grant's mind. The smoke coming off the skeleton was rippling the air with heat.Grant looked across at T'Vet, who was scanning the trees around them for a threat, but uncertainly. "Have you ever seen anything like this?" he asked in a strangled voice."I have not, and that is a grave concern. We will reach the village by Paladin's apex if we hurry ... and we should." Grant nodded. "Let's go." *** Rosa coughed at the stench in Lillia's laboratory. There was always a stench in there of some kind, but today it was especially pungent.For a village in the middle of the woods, Lillia was an extraordinarily well-equipped scientist, but that was an added benefit of marrying the blacksmith. Takumi had made all of her fine equipment, and all of the surgery tools that the doctors used.Lillia squinted up at the door and beamed at Rosa through the smoke. Her hair was dishevelled, her jerkin stained. Her single arm, her left, had the sleeve rolled up."How's it coming in here?""Well, up and down. This substance you found in the fields ... incredible! Concerning, but incredible."She waved Rosa over to the bench where she was working. The grey, silvery slime was sitting in a number of different glass beakers in a row, along with fragments of the cow's skull they had found.Rosa nodded at Lillia's bare hand. "I'm surprised you're not wearing a glove."Lillia chuckled. She picked up a glove from the bin underneath the bench, and uncorked the beaker furthest to the left. She dipped the pinky finger of the glove into the fluid.There was an immediate hiss, and the fluid bubbled. Lillia lifted the glove enough to show Rosa what was happening. The finger was being eaten away swiftly, and the substance was eating its way up to the knuckle that hadn't even touched the strange fluid. "Snip the rest of the finger off, quickly."Rosa picked up the shears on the edge of the bench and nimbly cut the finger from the glove. It dropped into the silvery grey slime and quickly disappeared in a bubbling mass of foam. When it was inert again, there seemed to be more of it."That's the first concern," Lillia said. "The substance will melt whatever organic substance it touches. The gloves are made of leather. Takumi's working on some that have a coating of either glass or some kind of inorganic fabric.""What would be an inorganic fabric?" Rosa muttered."No idea ... but strife breeds innovation."Rosa snorted. "Let's hope. What else can you tell me?""Well, as you can see, it doesn't just consume, it repurposes the organic material and replicates."Rosa nodded. "So what's the smell?" "The closest thing it's analogous to is acid, but stronger than any acid I've seen. Not only that, it's incredibly resilient. No alkaline substance can neutralise it, so it can't literally be acid. Diluting it with water weakened it, of course, but the moment anything organic makes contact with the water, the substance acts like a swarm of piranha. It concentrates again and consumes.""So what is it exactly?"Lillia beckoned her over to another bench, where a focusing lens was set up above a small amount of the fluid in a glass dish. There were twenty five layers of magnifying glass arranged one on top of the other. "Take a look."Rosa peered into the lens. The grey fluid came into view, and she frowned at what was floating in it.The objects were octagonal, three dimensional, with spiked points. There were glowing elements on each face of the shapes, blinking and changing colour."They're metallic."Rosa looked up at Lillia in surprise. "A metal creature? That isn't possible.""You're looking at one. The individual small parts are connected, and they home in on organic material. They oscillate in the grey material to move.""Leaving only bone.""Hmm." Lillia walked over to the bench where the bones sat. "Well, more or less. These are skull fragments. The skull is the hardest bone in the body, human or bovine."Lillia poked one of the fragments gently, and it crumbled like a sculpture made of flour. Rosa folded her arms. "Alright ... and if they're going for anything organic ... we're fair game.""Correct."Rosa spread her hands. "So how do we kill it, or destroy it?""Well, there is one way ... and only one way, it seems." Lillia moved the focusing lenses and struck a match. She tossed it onto the fluid, which flashed with a blaze of fierce blue flame."Well ..." Rosa scratched her head. "That would be perfect ... except we're in a forest ... and our homes are made of wood.""Right.""Is there anything else?"Lillia sighed, and shook her head. "Not yet. I'll keep trying."Rosa nodded. "Good luck, and work quickly. We don't have a lot of time."

“Eighteen more cattle have gone missing.”Rosa sighed to herself and looked up. Herald, The Living Plain's largest moon, had just crossed his apex. The light of the sun was creeping over the horizon, still hidden by the forest. She stared at the thick trees for a moment, and the shadows they cast. “You didn't hear anything?”Ovak shrugged. “Not even with my ears. There are no breaches in the fence near the farmhouse, but I have not had a chance to check most of it yet.”Rosa nodded, and patted the elf on the arm. “Laura keeping you busy?”“Somewhat. Her injuries are getting better, but slowly. Alana and John came by to check on her, they say she is improving.”Rosa hoped she was. Since their doctor had died in last year's plague, that had swept through the village unabated, the junior healers and nurses had picked up the slack. Their chief hunter had also been among the dead, as well as …She swallowed and blinked. She unslung the bow from her back and nocked an arrow. Ovak raised a hand and waved at the village's courier, Malcolm, as he jogged towards them. He had Salvatore and Javier behind him, both of them also carrying bows. “T'Vet's not with you?” Rosa asked.Malcolm shook his head. “No, he's still out scouting in the forest. He must have found some good mushrooms or something for his tea. You know how much he loves his tea.”“Yes, I know … I just wish he wasn't out there now. Not when we're missing nearly twenty cows.” “Yeah, well … you can tell him.”Rosa rubbed her eyes. “Oh, I will. Sal, Javi, come with me, let's check the field.”The three of them set off, striding across the centre. Rosa pulled her cloak around her shoulders a little to stave off the early morning chill. The grass had been flattened and trampled by dozens of heavy feet, and she glanced over her shoulder at the farmstead, where most of the cattle were clustered, braying and swinging their heads. “Whatever happened, it scared the herd enough for them to flee,” Javier muttered. “Can't see any signs of violence here, though,” Rosa said. “Sal?” “Nope, neither can I. I reckon our best move is following the path of the stampede.”Rosa nodded, and they strode across the field. “How many cows is it we've lost now?” Salvatore murmured. “Too many. We'll be short for the winter if it keeps up this way.” Rosa sighed. “I know we're short on guards and hunters, but I want a night watch on the farm. Losing one or two at a time could be wolves, but losing eighteen at once?” “We'll work on it. Malcolm will volunteer, you know what he's like.” “Round up … a half dozen, if you can.”They continued across the thirty acre length until they were close to the south west fence. The border of the farmland was a barricade of tightly nailed logs, thick and strong. Something, however, had managed to infiltrate it. Rosa surveyed the scene there. The ground was churned and ripped, and had been darkened, perhaps by blood.As they drew close, Rosa's eyes narrowed. The dark patches glistened, like some kind of oily residue, dark grey and rippling with murk. “What in all the Hells is that?”Javier shook his head. “I don't know. You want me to fetch Lillia?” “Yes, right now.”He nodded and sprinted back across the field. Salvatore crouched beside it and wrinkled his nose. “It stinks worse than the latrines.” “Don't touch it.” “Don't worry, I wouldn't touch this stuff even if I had leather gloves on.”Rosa looked up towards the fence. “Totally unbroken. Nothing at all. How did eighteen cows get taken through a fence that isn't broken?”Salvatore stood up and squinted. “You see that, near the bottom?”Rosa looked up. There was something lumpy beside one if the fence posts. It was grey, just like the fluid on the grass … perhaps a stone. They both walked carefully towards it … and saw that it was no stone.It was a cow's skull. *** Commander Grant had been scouring the forest for anything edible, anything he could use as shelter, and a water source. Around an hour after his arrival, he had located a stream, and set up camp proper three hundred feet away to avoid the unnaturally large insects that hovered over the water, drifting his way at the scent of his blood.The pangs of hunger and thirst, the feel of the breeze and the rough tree bark beneath his fingers, and the fatigue in his limbs from the hike told him that this simulated world was real enough to trick his mind. There were no signs of his crew, or civilisation of any kind, and in order to find them he would need supplies. His uniform shirt would serve as both a bindle for whatever he found and a small layer of warmth when the temperature dropped.The first night was freezing cold. Grant leaned against a tree and tried to sleep, with the small fire he had managed to set after finding stones that would spark. He managed twenty or thirty minutes of sleep at a time, before setting off at first light.The only food he managed to find was edible fungus that clung to the tree trunks. Once washed in the stream and checked for poison, Grant had roasted them over the fire, and packed a good number into his bundle. While in unknown lands, the best course seemed to be following the stream. He went with the flow of the water, avoiding insects and other, smaller mammals that scurried into the bushes at the sound of his approach.Grant was struck by the lack of predators. His march was entirely unmolested, he didn't even hear a growl in anger or warning. All of the wildlife, bar the insects, was skittish and fled at the first unusual sound of his footsteps. The ground was soft, and rimmed with stones, that were playing havoc with his uniform shoes. Water was leaking into them, he could feel it seeping between his toes.He made it eighteen or nineteen miles before the sun began setting again. It had to be some time in the spring, given the hours of daylight. He peeled away from the stream and set another fire. His sodden shoes were set beside it to dry, and exhaustion pushed his scattered, uncomfortable sleep to hour chunks, until he was awoken by the careful rustling of leaves.His eyes snapped open, but the other figure had him cold. The tall, elegant man had an arrow nocked in his bow, and had drawn back the string. However, he did not loose it."Can you speak?"Grant frowned at the familiar voice. "Why wouldn't I be able to speak?""Dead men typically do not.""They don't build fires either, or sleep ... except permanently."Stepping forwards into the firelight, T'Vet kept the arrow aimed at Grant's heart. "Then you wear a dead man's face.""I'm very much alive, and I'd prefer to stay that way. I've come a long way to be shot with an arrow the moment I find you."T'Vet frowned. "Make no sudden moves. Elves are much swifter than humans, as you well know.""Elves?"T'Vet frowned at him as he lowered his bow.Grant scratched his jaw. "Elves ... faster, stronger and more logical, I bet."T'Vet tensed. "You appear to be the Orson I knew, yet you do not have his mind, or his memory of the world..." He raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating. Perhaps the Gods sent you back to us, but not whole."Grant swallowed. "Maybe they did. I couldn't tell you.""You remember nothing of Heaven?"Grant shook his head. "We aren't supposed to remember, I suppose. If you could prove they exist, why would you have faith?"T'Vet shook his head. "You truly do not know ... but why?"Grant thought about telling him ... but he reconsidered quickly. He needed to establish what the point and perhaps the limits and variables of the simulation were before he threw a spanner into it, and he needed to find the rest of the crew first."I woke up in the forest," he said instead. "I don't know why ... but I'm supposed to find you. You and the others."T'Vet scrutinised him for a moment. "Come with me."He approached the nearest and thickest tree and drew out a pair of climbing spikes. Grant walked over hesitantly. "We're going up?""Indeed.""Got any more of those spikes?"T'Vet held them out. "They are for you. I have had plenty of practice."Grant stared upwards. The canopy was thick overhead, more than a hundred feet above. He swallowed. "How high up are we going?""To the top.""In the dark?""Yes."T'Vet ran his hands over the bark, and dug his fingers into the rough patches. He began climbing swiftly, and Grant gathered his courage to follow, digging the spikes into the trunk and hauling himself upwards. By the time he was forty or so feet up, his stomach was burning with the exertion and the nausea of his acrophobia. "Of all the things ... to simulate ... heights ... and ab workouts."A rope fell down the tree beside him, and he grasped onto it. It was knotted every foot, and he used the knots as footholds while he used the climbing spikes with his hands. He moved upwards, keeping his eyes fixed onto the bark in front of him until all that was around him were massive leaves, and night birds with huge eyes staring at him quizzically.The canopy was more than a hundred feet thick, and the branches offered a few opportunities for him to rest, before he kept on towards the top. The branches thinned out, and the stars began to peek through.T'Vet waited at the top, feet perched on the very point of the branch. Grant was nauseated looking at him, unable to separate the grace from the fact that they had to be more than two hundred feet up. Despite that, he had never seen anything like that from the vulcanian, or any vulcanian.Grant looked past him at the sky. The stars weren't still, as they appeared to the naked eye on a planet's surface. They were moving by steadily and noticeably, brightly shining above. He recognised none of the constellations at all. Two moons shone overhead, one large and bright, the other glowing more faintly but heading towards them over the horizon. "Where the hell am I?" he whispered to himself."You are on The Living Plain, where you belong. Where you have always been," T'Vet murmured.Grant wrapped his arms around the trunk and sat down on the thickest branch near the top. He rested his forehead against the cool wood and tried to catch his breath. "Apologies. I am aware that you dislike heights.""Oh ... that's okay, T'Vet," Grant murmured faintly. "That's ... just fine. Two moons, hmm?""Three. Paladin is above us now. Herald approaches, and brings the dawn. The third, Darkstar, is on the other side of the Plain, as is the Sun. Darkstar brings the dusk."Grant exhaled. "Right ... so ... what are we doing up here?""Firstly, so I can be sure it is you, and not something worse. You always looked to the stars, watched how they moved, and you were always terrified of heights. Even without your memory, the essence of you remains." T'Vet pointed. "Do you see our home?"Grant took a breath and followed his gaze. The forest was thicker than any he had seen, and stretched so far he couldn't believe what he was looking at. Even cloaked in shadow he could see how lush the canopies were, and the night birds flitting between the top branches, catching the bioluminescent insects that floated above.Beyond all of it, there looked to be a clearing of considerable size. Warm lights twinkled in the distance."I see the lights."T'Vet crouched and passed him a cylindrical spyglass. "Look again."He did. Magnified, he could see the outline of a number of buildings, with lights gently glowing in cutout windows."How far away is that?""Twenty five miles. We will be travelling for another day and night. You have always been able to keep pace with me.""Twenty five?" He thought for a moment, making calculations based on what he knew from Starfleet survival training. If on an unknown planet, the size of it could be calculated through the distance to the horizon. If this world was the same size as Earth, he shouldn't have been able to see the village at all: it would have been beyond the planet's curve.Slowly, he pointed the spyglass upwards, trying to gauge how far he could see.The edge of the forest was just about visible, somewhere between one and two hundred miles away. There were mountains beyond it, shadowy, blocking out the stars. He handed the scope back up to T'Vet, and cast his eye around. From this height he should have been able to see the curvature of the planet."How big is The Living Plain?""Roughly three thousand miles in diameter," T'Vet said."Diameter?" A smile of curiosity broke out across his face. "It's flat?""Of course.""Huh." Why make the simulated world flat? It was a fascinating quirk. Were the people that had left the legacy of horror aboard the space station that had kidnapped the crew from a flat world?The memory of the horrific fate that could befall his people made his smile sour. He looked up at T'Vet, seemingly so alive, while in the real world his body would soon be dissolved, leaving only his semi-conscious skull fused to a pillar next to those of his friends.T'Vet looked down at him, and raised an eyebrow. "You look upon me as I would look upon you.""I do?""Like someone you lost."Grant swallowed. "I ... suppose. This is all very strange to me. When should we set off?" "Before first light, when Herald is at its apex."Grant nodded and sighed to himself. "Now ... the small matter of getting down from this tree..."T'Vet smiled and began descending, without any effort whatsoever. He paused in front of Grant, and his smile took on a tinge of sadness. "It is good to see you again, my friend. It has been too long."Grant nodded and patted his shoulder gently. "How long has it been, exactly?""Almost one year. Do you know..." The sadness on his brow deepened. "If you have returned ... do you know if Lin will return as well?"Grant looked at him, the distinctly un-vulcanian grief on his face. "My ... return ... it's hard to explain. You'll see her again, T'Vet. I'll make sure of it.""I know I will see her again ... in Heaven, when all of this ends.""When I make sense of everything, I'll give you an answer." Grant patted his shoulder. "You were together in this place?""We married three summers past. You have no memory of your life here?"Grant shook his head. "I hope it returns ... preferably before we get to the village."Grant wondered what he meant by that as he started quickly climbing down. He took a deep breath and followed.

Grant usually kept his eyes shut when in the transporter beam, but this time he kept them wide open, ignoring his anxiety at the scattering his molecules. His crew didn't have time for it.The first thing he noticed was the light level dropping to a twilight hue. He scanned the matter stream as he began to materialise for any movement or alert, seeing none. Still, he had his phaser rifle shouldered and raised as he fully appeared on the station. The sounds around him were strange, mechanical and biomechanical whirring and beeping and shifting of flesh. He could hear surging electrical power muffled by something soft. There were chittering sounds coming from somewhere in the distance. His eyes adjusted to the low light. It was dark pink in colour, yet almost fluorescent, shining through membranes on all sides, held in place by curved metal beams. The away team were in some kind of passageway, that led onwards to a large open space. Grant glanced around. Kimmich, Kirkland, Gardener, Shen'Zahr and Shui were all accounted for. “Gardener, any indication we've been detected?”“Negative, Commander Grant. It does not appear so. There is no buildup or increase of power in this area.”“I want all your sensors checking for movement or power signatures heading our way.”“Affirmative.”Grant glanced around again. “This isn't what I expected. Arzu, Shen: what are we looking at here?”Shen'Zahr stared around darkly. “Honestly, I have no idea, sir.”“Scan, but be as discreet as you possibly can. Kirkland, Kimmich: move up into that chamber, no more than thirty metres. Same orders, be discreet. Any activity or movement, come back here on the double.”They both nodded and moved up, and Grant stood beside Gardener. “You don't know much about these people, even though they were Yogransa's enemy.”“Indeed, that is likely because much of the information has been lost over time, before this unit's creation.”“You were fighting an enemy you knew nothing about?”“The Yogransan people knew the enemy's hostility, Commander. There was no warning prior to the planetary attacks via the gravitational weapon.”“Was any negotiation attempted?”“Unknown.”Grant sighed. It could be possible, but where to even begin? His crew were murdered without mercy, and taken without any indication of parley.“How is this station powered?”“Unknown.”“Uhh … Commander?” Shui stammered. Grant nodded to her, and turned back to Gardener. “See if you can locate a power source.” He moved away and towards Shui. “What is it?”“This membrane on the wall: it's flesh.”Grant raised an eyebrow. He looked at it more closely. He could see blood vessels in some of it, showing up against the light behind it. His heart leaped into his throat. “Human?”Shen'Zahr shook her head. “A whole mix … and it's living. There are dozens of DNA patterns in here. None are human, vulcanian or tellarite.”“That's something …” Grant looked around. “God, it's a big corridor, though. If this reflects the entire station ...”“I know.” Shen'Zhar swallowed and shook her head. “What's the purpose of it?”She exhaled. “Seems to be an aid to data transfer. It's not just flesh, there are some kind of microscopic data hubs embedded in it. The DNA is being used as a conduit.”Grant folded his arms. “It's living flesh … so where are the rest of the people?”“Do you really want to know?”“Yeah, I do.”“Put it this way, sir: if these things are using flesh for this purpose, what do you think they're doing with brain tissue?”Grant winced. “I see your point.” He looked around. “Think of how many people make up this corridor …”“I would rather not.”Kimmich jogged up the corridor. “Commander, we've got 'em.”Grant caught the grim look on his face immediately. “Condition?”“I don't know, sir … but it ain't pretty.”Grant patted Shen'Zahr on the back. “Let's go, everyone.”The away team moved from the corridor and into the chamber ahead. They kept their eyes on every shifting shadow, every sound coming from the darkness. Kimmich's phaser rifle was sweeping left and right, checking for hostiles.The glow from the walls wasn't quite bright enough to reveal the limits of the vast space. The ceiling was cloaked in pitch blackness, whether through fog or lack of light. Grant's nerves began to spike increasingly sharply. “Gardener, how big is this chamber?”“Scanning: the area measures three kilometres in diameter, and is circular. The ceiling is domed, reaching up to six hundred metres high at its peak.”“Son of a bitch,” Kimmich muttered. “It's the biggest and most impressive house of horrors in the galaxy.”The shadows formed into shapes ahead of them. Kirkland was crouching beside a pillar, one knee beneath him, rifle at low ready. He fell into step with the away team as they approached, his face pale.Shui looked up at the pillar, and gasped. “Commander, Doctor!”The tapered cylinder beside them reached up beyond the shadows. It was thicker even at its thinnest point than a redwood tree, and covered with a far thinner sheen of flesh than the walls. What separated it further was the multitude of heads. Hundreds of heads in sight were attached to the pillar, fused in with the flesh and connected to it with implants on the sides. Grant recognised Klingons, a couple of Benzites, Dameline, and a multitude of others that he didn't recognise.Grant, Shui and Shen'Zahr stared at it in horror, and it was Shui that regained herself first. She raised her tricorder in a trembling hand. “I … I'm detecting … what look like computer processes.”Grant tore his eyes from the pillar. “What?”“The brains are being used for data storage and processing.” Gardener looked the pillar up and down. “Scanning: Commander Grant, this unit must inform you that there are active brain patterns present.”Everyone turned to stare at the automaton at those words. “Active patterns?” Shen'Zahr whispered. “They're alive?”“Not only alive, but seemingly conscious.”Grant's eyes widened, and he focused in on one of the Klingon heads, a warrior with a plaited beard, with strength remaining in what was left of the neck muscles. Its eyes were closed, and the eyes were moving behind the lids. “They're aware?”“Unknown. If they are aware of the away team, it is not possible to tell. However, it seems prudent to keep excess noise to a minimum.”“Then to what extent are they conscious?”“Gods, it's right,” Shen'Zahr whispered. “They're reacting to stimuli, and the brain patterns match those of a conscious mind.”“But they're clearly not conscious,” Shui argued. “If they were, they'd be reacting to us. It looks like they're being held in some kind of dream-state … a very vigorous dream state.”“To minimise resistance,” Grant muttered grimly. “It's like … a hunter aiming for the heart to kill the animal as quickly as possible … to not spoil the meat.”Kimmich stepped forwards. “Sir … all due respect … they don't have time for this.”Grant nodded, not needing any clarification as to who they were. “Right, let's move out.”The away team moved past the sickening display at the pillar, and passed more, all covered in heads and flesh. Grant felt his mood darkening the further they went. “Is there any way to ...” His mouth stopped before he could complete the phrase. There was no way to rescue these people. Practically, they couldn't beam everyone off, and … what would they be beaming off? What would the consequences be to disconnecting them from the pillar. How few would retain their sanity? Were they even breathing?“They would die shortly after being disconnected, Commander,” Gardener said calmly. “Much of the flesh and internal organs have been reduced to a single membrane or removed entirely. Their existence would not be pleasant.” “You have a talent for understatement.”“This unit has difficulty processing the environment. Several of the sentients connected to the pillars around the away team match precisely with Yogransan DNA patterns.”Grant raised an eyebrow. “They would have been here for thousands of years.”“Correct.” “Gardener … what the hell is all of this?”“It appears that the occupants of this station are merging organic and mechanical forms, perhaps they have found a way to use individuals to maintain themselves.” “When your people fought them … were they organic or mechanical?”“Unknown.”Grant shook his head. "It's ... cold, evil. To take sentient beings and do this to them ... use them for spare parts...""The Yogransan Intelligence kidnapped and killed sentient beings also, though they were purely mechanical, and ultimately open to new courses of action.""And there's no telling how many civilizations, or potential civilizations, were wiped out by the entity feeding on the Var sun. I'm quick to forgive ... I was quick to forgive in both of those cases, and I haven't had cause to regret it yet. This ... this is nothing like that ... and this is what you've faced for millennia.""Indeed. This unit can only apologise.""For what?""That the Federation, and that the crew of the USS Kodiak, have found themselves in the middle of the war."Grant nodded. "You don't have anything to apologise for. Maybe we should have been more careful, reaching out a hand into the shadows, but now we're in the figurative bed we made."Flashes of colour cut through the shadows ahead. A column rose upwards, though not completely to the ceiling. The tapering flattened off at the top, as if it was under construction, and it was covered in thinner flesh than the rest of the columns in sight. The Kodiak's crew were attached to the pillar, fused in place by the flesh that had begun to worm its way between the seams of their uniforms, some of which were hanging off their bodies limply.Grant quickened his pace, until it was fully visible. Shen'Zahr and Shui immediately began scanning the crew with their medical tricorders. The closest to them was Holden. There was a mask over his mouth and nose, and he was noticeably thinner."Condition?" Grant snapped."Similar signs to everyone else we've seen. Their bodies are being drained of proteins and adipose cells, but not blood yet. Their brains are connected just as the heads are.""The brains are in use, but the bodies aren't yet..." Grant began walking around the pillar, taking in each of his people. His eyes were searching specifically for Oaken and T'Vet, who he knew had been badly hurt.He spotted T'Vet first. There was a cut across his forehead and temple, wide and deep, but it had been cleaned and sealed. Shen'Zhar hesitated when she spotted him, and reached out a hand towards his. Grant stood in front of her, blocking her. "Don't touch him.""Commander...""If you're right about them being conscious on some level, and they're connected to each other as extensions to a computer, the entire network will feel you touch his hand, therefore the station will be alerted that we're here.""How are we supposed to get them out, then?" she snapped."Keep scanning, we'll find a way." Grant kept the determination true in his voice and let no trace of hope flavour it. Shen'Zahr nodded with bared teeth, but stepped back, studying her tricorder again. Grant walked around the pillar again, and spotted Oaken close to the floor. The stump that had been her right arm had been sealed shut, and was rounded off completely. There wasn't even a scab. Grant took out his own tricorder and scanned her as she dreamed, scanned the mask on her face. "It looks like they're being fed oxygen.""Right," Shen'Zahr grunted. "Their organs haven't been broken down yet. They still need the oxygen directly. The ... heads ... don't need to breathe.""That's a good thing ... that should make it easier to get them out, right?""In one sense," Shui muttered. "However, with their brains connected to the network, they'd die of shock almost instantly."Kimmich nodded. "Plus, if you're right, even if we could get them out we'd have to cut them out, right? That means the network will be on alert as we're trying to get thirty five people down with two medics. The precision that has to be required there means we'll inevitably be under fire as we're doing it.""One step at a time, Nik. Gardener, what can you tell me about this network?" “There appear to be several billion layers of highly complex code. There are the overall meta programs, that dedicate their processes to the key functions of the station. However, there are more concentrated programs isolated to each column, many of them overlapping, and individual clusters are connected to each of the crew. They seem to be being exposed to accelerated stimuli.”“Accelerated stimuli?”“They are likely experiencing an accelerated perception of time. This unit would hypothesise that the purpose is to maximise the stimulation of their consciousness.” “Right … any idea what they're seeing? Or dreaming?” “Negative. This unit is unable to access it.” “Can it be switched off?” “Negative.”Grant sighed and folded his arms. “Shen, Arzu, is there anything you can do to protect their higher brain functions?”Shen'Zahr nodded. “Possibly. We have neural enhancers and stimulators, those would help for a little while, but once their bodies start breaking down, there's nothing we can do.” She sighed. “That's not the only problem. They're all connected to the pillar by the spinal column. Getting them out without paralysis ...” “Can the damage be repaired?” “With help from a starbase, yes, but getting there … and getting there with only two medics...” “I hear you. We'll call for assistance on the way back to DS1. The most important thing is that they get out alive.”Shen'Zahr exhaled, and nodded once. “I accept all responsibility for that, whatever happens. All of it, understood?”Shen'Zahr nodded again. “Kimmich, Kirkland … keep an eye on our surroundings, and start establishing a defensive position. We'll need as much time as you can give us.”Both the security officers nodded. Grant looked up at the pillar and spotted Miura near the top, right next to Diaz. He focused on them both, in the same state as the others. The skin of Diaz's hands was merged seamlessly with the flesh around her, the only indication she even had hands still the bulge of her finger bones.He tried to keep the snarl out of his voice. “We can't get them out from outside the program without killing them … what if we went in?” “Into their dream-state?” Shen'Zahr shook her head. “I don't know. We'd be lost to it the same way they are … unless … we can use our equipment to protect our higher brain functions before we go in. We'd have awareness and functionality.”Grant shook his head. “No. Not 'we'. Me.”Shui frowned. “No way, sir. We have no idea the extent of the risk!” “You're both needed out here to get them home, and keep them alive. Kimmich and Kirkland are needed to cover you. Gardener can assist with both. They're my crew, it's my responsibility. If I don't make it out, you have the ship, Shen.” “This unit concurs.” Gardener said calmly. “The dream-state will doubtless be more vulnerable from within, particularly if Commander Grant's mind remains intact.”Shen'Zahr was undeterred. “Under protest.”Grant nodded. “Can I go in without being physically connected?” “Affirmative: via the computer in your hazard suit. You will have to be connected physically or mentally to the suit.” “We … can do that by connecting your mind to the suit's CPU with the neural enhancers. It'll take a little while to program … Commander, if this goes wrong …” “I know.” “You'd be braindead, sir.” “I accept the risk.” *** An hour later, everything was calibrated and ready. The rescue team were still undetected, so it seemed. However, that was bound to change, as Kimmich crouched beside Grant, who was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the pillar that had entrapped the crew. “Commander, you realise that the second you enter that simulation, there's a good chance that the network will realise we're here.” “That's a possibility. If it gets too hot … if there's no way you can hold the line … I want you to trigger the signal burst and get out of here. Save yourselves, that's an order.”Kimmich glanced at Shen'Zahr, who grimaced, but nodded. Grant held his breath, and took off his helmet. The doctor quickly attached the neural stimulators and enhancers to his temple and the top of his spinal column. “Once I connect this to the CPU, there's no going back.”Grant put his helmet back on. “Understood.”Shen'Zahr nodded. She took a deep breath. “Good luck.” “To both of us. If it all goes wrong … you know what to tell Shelby.” “Yeah, I know.”Grant closed his eyes. “Ready.”He heard the beep of something activating, and suddenly his suit was gone. The station was gone. A cool breeze was blowing against his face, scented with rich soil, green, lush trees and wildflowers.He opened his eyes and looked around. The forest was endless, with trees stretching up into a canopy so thick it barely let any sunshine through.He was laying on his back, wearing his Starfleet uniform in command gold. Getting to his feet, he cracked his knuckles. “I'm Orson Grant,” he whispered. “Commanding officer of the USS Kodiak. I'm going to marry Shelby O'Hare, and I'm going to find my crew.”He could remember everything, at least that's how it seemed. The most useful currently was his Starfleet survival training. “I'd better make a fire...”

Grant cracked his knuckles and gently squeezed O'Hare's shoulders as she sat at the helm. Her hands came up and squeezed his tightly.“Ready?” he whispered.She nodded. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, and before he pulled away she turned her head and kissed him firmly on the lips, taking a hold of his neck.“Curious.”Nishenna glanced around at Gardener from the science station, and pressed a finger to her lips. “This unit has not observed this behaviour before.”“I know, but still … shh. I'll explain it to you later.”The kiss broke, and Grant stroked O'Hare's cheek. “Maximum warp, Shelby.”She nodded and engaged the engines. Grant strode back to the captain's chair and engaged the intercom.“Crew of the Kodiak, this is Commander Grant. Hazards suits on, and mask your lifesigns.” On the bridge, he, Nishenna and O'Hare triggered the program on their tricorders, connected to their suits, and masked their lifesigns.“You all know your jobs, you all know what's at stake. Let's bring our people home.”Grant looked around at Nishenna. “Scan ahead, watch that station like a hawk, Ensign. Every sensor.”“Aye, sir.”“Time to the station, Shel'?”“Two hours, thirty minutes.” *** In the deck one armoury, Kirkland and Kimmich were adjusting the equipment: Kimmich the phaser rifles, Kirkland the shielding for the hazard suits.“Alright, soccer or basketball?”Kirkland didn't hesitate. “Soccer, every day. I'm a goalie, I played for the Academy Varsity side.”“Which year?”“Twenty two sixty through sixty two.”Kimmich nodded. “The side that beat the Vulcan Science Academy to the title?”“Yep.”“Nice. I want you in my draft mid-season, that's after our next game.”Kirkland gave him a thumbs up. “Rifle or hand phaser?”“Tricky, both have their uses … ah … rifle.”“Split beam, pulse or sniper?”“Split beam. Constitution or Nimitz?”Kirkland drummed his fingers on the table. “Connie's got the speed, Nimitz has the punch … I'm more of a slugger.”Grant moved into the armoury and grinned at them both. “How's it going, gentlemen?”Kimmich folded his arms. “Little good, little bad, sir. The phaser rifles can support about four overcharged shots before the cell's drained. So, we take spare cells, but the next problem is that the emitters will burn out in ten to twelve shots.”“Spare emitters?”“Possible, but even for an experienced security officer or a marine it would take about thirty seconds to switch it out.”“And on the battlefield, thirty seconds might as well be thirty years,” Kirkland added. Grant nodded with a sigh. "What about the suits?" "I've been adapting the hazard shields." Kirkland held up the power cells and shield emitter from the suit on the workbench. "We've increased the power output and increased the shield efficiency and deflection by three hundred percent. Problem with that is power again. The suit cells can't handle it.""We have to take a portable battery with us, in a pack most likely." Kimmich shrugged. "It's added weight, but we'll need it.""Agreed." Grant looked both of them in the eye. "How effective will they be?""They'll tank the first hit. The second will probably overload the emitter and break the shield. We're talking plasma burns. The third..."The image of the fatal wounds that had broken the bodies of his crewmen flashed across Grant's mind. He nodded slowly. "Let's be as quiet as possible in that case. Good work, gentlemen." *** In the science lab, Nishenna had already joined Shui and Shen'Zahr before Grant walked in. The three of them were hard at work, buzzing between the readouts and databanks and taking measurement after measurement.He watched the trio for a moment, not wanting to interrupt. After a minute or so, he caught Shui's eye."Commander! Didn't see you there.""It's alright. What's the situation?"Shen'Zahr glanced up from the central console. "Positive result on the bone readings. Our people look to be concentrated in the top bubble of the station, we're getting a narrower reading the closer we get.""Good work.""We're being jammed from picking up lifesigns, though." The doctor said that with forced neutrality, and Grant nodded his understanding. For all they knew, the skeletons they were picking up belonged to dead bodies ... but at least they would know what had befallen their friends."Eramir and I have been working on that, sir," Nishenna piped up from the workbench in the corner. "Essentially, a background signal burst. You can trigger it when you need to be picked up."Grant nodded. "Good work.""Two uses only, sir. It's on the same wavelength as the background radiation in the area. High frequency burst." She handed him an emergency beacon."I'll call when we need a ride, then. Doctor, have you packed your kit?"Shen'Zahr nodded. "It's a big kit. Either one of these two will have to join me, or one of you will have to double as a medic.""I volunteer, sir," Shui said immediately.Grant thought about that for a moment. Taking her would raise their probability of success, but that chance would still remain slim. If they didn't come back ... if they failed ... Shelby would need someone to talk to, open up to. The would would be as fatal as those that had killed Devlin, Pereira and the rest.Always bet on yourself, he thought."Get your gear, Lieutenant. Let Kimmich and Kirkland know they need to prepare another rifle and hazard suit.""Aye, sir." She took out her communicator and sent the message as Shen'Zahr moved closer."We don't have any indication of movement at this distance, and I'm not sure we will. We may be beaming into a horde of whatever boarded the ship.""True. We'll need quick density scans when we beam in." Grant grimaced. "And they'll probably detect the transporter beam. Nishenna, can you send us over on the same wavelength as the transmission burst?"She nodded. "But that means you'll only have one use of the transmitter."He nodded. "We'll make it count." *** The Kodiak arrowed towards the station, the tension aboard growing the closer they got. They crossed to within an AU without any resistance."Station is in visual range," O'Hare said tersely. Grant nodded. "On screen."He leaned forwards and stared at the viewscreen. The station filled it. There was a sphere at the top and bottom of the structure, joined to a larger sphere in the centre by two thick pipe-like shafts. Two vast rings were held in place around the main hub, crossing each other, like the skeletal frame of a planet."I'm not picking up any scans or defences," Nishenna murmured. "They're ignoring us.""They don't think we're a threat ... or they're drawing us in." Grant steepled his fingers in front of his face. "Maybe they're trying to work us out, because they haven't picked up our lifesigns.""Could be.""Shelby ... adjust our course away from those rings. Nishenna, what do you make of them?""I'm not sure. If I had to guess, they're emitters of some kind. There's a gravitational reading around them.""Move us in." Grant hit the intercom. "Rescue team to transporter room. Time to beam-in, Shelby?""One minute.""Wish us luck."Grant stood up and jogged to deck three, where Gardener, Kimmich, Kirkland, Shen'Zahr and Shui waited with their kits and helmets ready on the transporter pad. Grant picked up his phaser rifle and emergency kit."Everyone ready?"They all nodded. Gardener studied the movement that the rest of them made, and mirrored it with a nod of its own.The intercom chimed. "O'Hare to transporter room, dropping out of warp in ten seconds."The lights and power conduits suddenly surged and flickered. Classical music suddenly blared from the intercom speakers."Gardener!" Grant snapped."Antivirus deploying."The lights suddenly began to smooth out, and the music stopped. Grant nodded to Gardener. "Well done.""Thank you, Commander."He heard the warp engines quieten, and he tensed. The intercom chimed again. "Good luck," O'Hare whispered. "Energising."The transporter beam engaged, Grant's skin tingled, and the USS Kodiak melted away.