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STAR TREK: Baptism By Fire [The Complete Version]
STAR TREK::Baptism By Fire [The Complete Version]
"Captain's Log, Stardate 47123.1. We have just completed a
replenishment stop at Starbase 2, and are currently on our way to
Fomalhaut, the last known location of the science vessel USS Bloch.
Contact was lost seven standard days ago, and we have been assigned to
discover the reason why, and implement emergency measures should they
become neccessary."
Jean-Luc Picard flipped off the recording device and swivelled his
chair to watch the stars in the window streak by. The day had been long,
and he found himself more easily distracted than usual. He almost didn't
notice the door signal some time later.
"Come," he said when he finally noticed.
The door slid open to reveal his visitor as Commander William
Riker. Riker strode over to the Captain's desk.
"Sir, we're entering the Fomalhaut system."
On the bridge, Picard asked for a status report.
"There appears to be no activity in the system," Lieutentant Worf
announced from tactical.
"The system is scattered with debris," added Commander Data. "In
addition, Fomalhaut itself seems to be unusually active, as sensors are
detecting pockets of plasma at varying distances from the surface of the
star."
"Any sign of the Bloch?" Picard asked.
"Captain, something is comeing out from behind one of the planets,"
Worf said. "It appears to be a ship of some sort."
"I agree, Captain," Data said. "It appears to be a Miranda class
starship."
"Visual," Picard commanded. Worf activated the viewscreen, which
displayed the image of a Miranda class starship slowly moving from behind
one of Fomalhaut's three sattelites.
"It appears to be adrift, sir," Data observed.
It was now apparent that the ship was spiraling. The saucer was
soon at such an angle to reveal the call number and name: NCC-14351 USS
BLOCH.
"Troi?" Picard turned to his ship's counselor.
"I don't sense anything at all, Captain. Absolutely nothing."
"Data?"
"Sensors indicate that the Bloch has been subjected to extreme heat
stress. I detect no life forms on board."
"On one of the planets, then?"
"Checking... No, I detect no indication of life. However, sensors
are detecting other derelects coming out from behind the blind zone behind
the star," Data said.
"I detect them too," Worf verified. "Several unknown, one
identified as a Romulan Bird of Prey-"
"Bird of Prey!?" Riker interrupted. "Romulan!? Didn't they stop
using those almost a century ago?"
"Indeed, Number One," Picard answered, not sure of what to make of
these developments. "Continue, Lieutenant."
A more annoyed look than usual crossed Worf's face, and then he
continued. "One ship indicative of a First Federation craft, and one Orion
design."
"Hmm," Picard emitted. "It seems we're dealing with an interstellar
Sargasso."
Data looked at Picard with his "what are you talking about" look,
and then made the connection. "Indeed sir, except that there is no
overabundance of acquatic plant life in this-"
"Data!"
"Sorry sir."
"What about the other ships?"
"Sensors indicate heat stress similar to that indicated on the
Bloch."
Picard paced accross the bridge once. "Number One, prepare an
away team to go aboard the Bloch. I want to find out what happened to the
crew."
Riker signalled to Worf and Data, and then tapped his communicator.
"Commander LaForge, Doctor Crusher, report to transporter room two."
The transporter room of the Bloch was a shambles, and a seriously
toasted shambles at that. Exposed wiring from some of the melted polymer
walls still smouldered. Amid all of this was a flash of blue light and the
arrival of Riker's away team.
Data immediately checked his tricorder, and verified no life on
board the ship.
"Okay," Riker said. "Geordi, Worf, check engineering and see if
this ship can still go. Data, Doctor, come with me."
The first sight outside of the transporter room was the charred
body of an Andorian.
"There's a signal coming in from the Bloch captain," the ensign at
tactical announced.
"On screen."
Commander Riker appeared in the foreground, with Beverly Crusher
and Data analyzing something in the background.
"Captain, the entire crew seems to have been burned to death,"
Riker said.
"Was there a fire?" Picard asked.
"Data says that the damage on board was not consistent with a
shipboard fire, just exposure to extreme heat in certain areas. Crusher
says the crew was essentially... baked."
"Actually, Commander, the word 'broiled' would probably-" Data
interrupted before being stopped by Doctor Crusher.
Picard let loose a heavy breath. "Very well, Number One. How
about engineering?"
"LaForge says the engines are inoperable. Would you believe the
dilithium crystals are *melted*?"
Picard looked vaguely surprised, then shrugged it off, adding
"Gather your team and beam back aboard, then. Engineering, lock tractor
beam onto the Bloch."
Counselor Troi approached the Captain.
"Captain, I'm sensing a very strong anxiety," she said.
"From the crew? The away team?"
"No... I don't really know where it's coming from."
"Captain, there's a plasma surge from the star heading our way,"
the helmsman announced.
"Computer, locate the away team," Picard snapped.
"The away team is in transporter room two," the female voice of the
computer answered.
"Good. Helm, move us out of the way."
Riker, Data, and Worf soon arrived back on the bridge, and resumed
their stations. Worf almost immediatly barked, "Captain, another ship
detected emerging from the blind zone."
"It appears to be immoble, Captain," Data added. "I would speculate
that our movement caused us to discover it.
"Can you give me a visual?" Picard asked.
The viewscreen shifted sights to the new contact, revealed to be a
huge, irregularly surfaced, high-tech cube.
"Raise shields, red alert!" Picard commanded as the Borg ship came
into full view. Despite their obvious sighting, though, the Borg ship made
no move toward the Enterprise.
"Data, could the Borg have done all this?" Riker asked.
"The damage the other ships were subjected to is inconsistant with
Borg weapons technology," the android said. "Also, some of the derelects
clearly predate the Borg's presence in this area of the galaxy. In any
event, sensors show that the Borg has sustained even greater damage than any
of the other ships present."
Captain Picard straightened his tunic and sat down in the command
chair, clearly in deep thought. This was interrupted by alarm klaxons and
an earthquake-like shuddering.
"What's happening?" Picard said, almost yelling.
"It's the plasma emmision we were evading," Data answered, tapping
various buttons on his control console. "It seems to have followed us,
sir."
"Followed us?" Picard asked, sharply cutting off the end of his
question.
"Captain," Worf announced. "The plasma burst is gathering and
subjecting our rear shields to-" Worf stopped when something on his
console beeped. He checked, and then said "Rear shields breached, sir."
In the meantime, Data had switched the viewscreen to a visual of
the events, showing many points of light swirling about in back, playing
against the shields in a bright blue glow, followed by a white flash and
the light points rushing towards the Enterprise's warp nacelles.
In engineering, Commander Geordi LaForge was working to divert more
power to the rear shield when he felt the shuddering that accompanied the
shield collapse. We was about to report it when he started reading extreme
heat in the warp nacelles. The next thing he knew, the Jefferies Tube
openings had what appeared to be fireflies pouring out of them, if
fireflies had made a habit of flying about in plasma.
An ensign approaching from the rear areas inadvertantly walked into
one of these things, before Geordi could warn him off. His uniform,
despite being fire-resistant, immediately burst into flame. The fire
control units began activating.
On the bridge, Worf was reading off damage control reports from all
over the ship.
Deanna Troi looked increasingly uncomfortable, and approached the
Captain.
"It's them," she said.
"What?"
"Those things," Troi pointed to the lights on the viewscreen.
"They're the source of the anxiety."
"You mean they're alive!?"
"That would be a reasonable hypothesis, considering their behavior,
Captain," Data added.
"Captain," Worf interrupted. "There are reports coming in from
around the ship that our fire control units are ineffective against the
creatures themselves."
As those words finished leaving the Klingon's mouth, an array of
the firefly like lights burst out from one of the turbolift shafts. It
zipped toward the front of the bridge. Worf pulled out his phaser and
fired at it, managing nothing better than shooting through it and burning
an irregular black line into the wall. In the meantime, the thing was
catching the bridge carpeting on fire, and fire control units were putting
the fires out just as fast. However, just as they had heard, the force
fields did nothing to whatever this creature was.
Data, meanwhile, had opened a compartment at the foot of the
viewscreen, and pulled out an old style fire extinguisher. He aimed at the
lights and activated it. After several seconds, the lights faded out. He
tapped his communicator.
"All hands, this is Commander Data. Use personal fire extinguishers
on these points of light."
"Data," the captain said. "Can you detect thse things on board the
ship?"
"Checking," Data said as he sat back down at his station. "I can,
sir."
"All transporter rooms," Picard commanded over his communicator.
"this is the Captain. We're sending you locations on these things that
have invaded the ship. I want them beamed out as far as possible at widest
possible dispersion."
Picard looked at Data, the fire extinguisher still at the android's
feet. He decided to save the questions for later, though.
"Bridge to engineering."
"Engineering, LaForge here."
"Engine status?"
"The warp engines have sustained some rather heavy damage. Warp
speed is impossible in their condition."
"Can you give me full impulse?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Make it so. Helm, get us to the outer edge of the system.
I want all officers in the conference room in five minutes."
"Analysis?" Picard asked his assembled officers.
"They appear to be entities composed of living plasma," Data said.
"Intelligent?"
"They have a rudimentary intelligence," Troi said. "Throughout the
encounter, I felt extreme anxiety from them, but I don't think it had
anything to do with us. At least, not directly."
Picard considered the information he had just heard. His curiosity
returned.
"Data, how did you think to use the reserve fire extinguishgers on
them?" he asked.
"As you know, our fire control system uses force fields to
eventually deprive fires of oxygen," Data said. "I conjectured that that
system would be ineffective against these creatures because they are
obviously capable of survival in space. Older types of fire control
equipment were removed, until the attack on the USS Barnabas by a Gorn ship
near their space on stardate 39834.1. As you know, the computer that
controls the fire control system was damaged, and fires resulting from the
attack gutted the entire ship-"
"Data, your point?"
"I conjectured that the fire extinguishers installed as a result of
that incident would be effective."
Picard nodded. "Can we get a distress call out?"
"The communications gear was damaged," Worf said. "But we should
have it online in a few hours."
"LaForge, what about engineering?"
"We can outrun these things on impulse, it seems. However, warp
speed isn't possible at all. We'd need to make a stop at a repair base to
bring them back up fully."
"Bring them back up fully? What do you mean?"
"I might be able to rig up something to give us warp one, maybe
even two if we're lucky. It'll be strictly temporary, though, and will
require some EVA to set up, which means it would be safer to not use the
impulse engines at that time, and that's where the catch is: time."
At this point, Data interrupted. "Such a stop would give these
creatures a chance to catch up to us. I estimate an approximate delay of
seventeen hours, seven minutes, thirty two sec-"
"Basically, not enough time," Geordi said. "I estimate about three
days of work on the engines."
"It would seem we're damned if we do and damned if we don't,"
Picard said.
Data looked confused, and then asked, "Query: what does damnation
have to do with our current situation?"
"It's an expression, Data. We'll take the Enterprise as far out as
we can, and you can start your work then. In the meantime, we need to find
a way to distract them if they do catch up with us. Counselor, were you
able to deduce anything about how they sense things?"
Before Troi could answer, a voice came over the intercom.
"Captain, this is the bridge. There's something coming out of the star."
The crew took their places on the bridge. The viewscreen showed
what appeared to be a part of Fomalhaut itself moving away from the star.
"The section of the star is about the size of an Excelsior class
ship, sir," Data said. "The plasma creatures seem to be crowding around
it."
"Is this a natural occurance?" Riker asked.
"I seriously doubt it, given the nature of other things we have
observed here. However, that possibility can not yet be ruled out."
Captain Picard was about to say something, when Counselor Troi
suddenly bolted from her chair, a shocked expression ingrained on her face.
She shook her head back and forth, gripping it between her hands. She then
yelled something sounding like "Nghatha thllp reh cthugha lagh!" and Picard
barely caught her as she fainted.
As most of the bridge turned their attention to Troi, Riker tapped
his communicator, saying urgently, "Sick bay, this is the bridge! We have a
medical emergency!"
"I don't understand it," Doctor Beverly Crusher said as she
finished examining Counselor Troi. "She's experiencing extreme brain
activity, but it doesn't seem to be focused on anything in particular, and
changes constantly."
"Will she recover?" Captain Picard asked.
"I don't know. I'll need some more time to observe her."
"Very well. Inform me when she comes to."
Picard turned and left the Sick Bay as Doctor Crusher began
examining the brainscans again, hoping to find something she missed before.
Although he would not neccessarily define it as a "feeling,"
Lieutenant Commander Data was experiencing what could only be called
frustration.
He had run the words Couselor Troi had said though the Universal
Translator, and gotten "Insufficient Language Sample" as a result. The
language had no similarities to anything on record. He ran each word
through the computer, trying to find some meaning for them: nothing.
He turned from the science station to see Worf inform Commander
Riker that the subspace radio was back online. As Riker commanded Worf to
send off for help, Data turned to his station and sent his own request for
assistance.
The space-suited figures appeared in a flash of blue between the
warp nacelles. The immediately moved toward their respective assignments
and began the modifications that would hopefully save their skins.
For a second, Deanna Troi was disoriented. She had been on the
bridge when--then she remembered and screamed. Doctor Crusher was at her
side almost immediately, and Troi soon calmed down, realizing her ordeal
was over.
Crusher tapped her communicator. "Captain Picard, this is Sickbay.
Troi's awake."
The officers, except for Data and LaForge, were once again gathered
in the conference room.
"Okay, we don't have much time," Picard said. "Number One, where's
Commander Data?"
"He's still reviewing some files sent via subspace from Starfleet
Headquarters. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was pleasantly surprised
to get them."
Picard breathed a heavy breath, nodded, then turned to Counselor
Troi.
"Counselor, can you remember anything about whatever you sensed?"
he asked.
"It's ancient," she answered. "I can't begin to describe the
experience... it was just so overwhelming."
Data entered the room and sat down at the table.
"Data, what have you found?" Picard asked.
"I asked Starfleet Headquarters to check for any files pertaining
to any of the words said by Couselor Troi before she passed out. The only
one that came back positive, after an extensive search I might add, was
'cthugha.' Cthugha is the name of a creature from Earth mythology, a member
of a race of beings called Great Old Ones by their worshippers, and
included Hastur, Y'golonac, Cthulhu-"
"Data, get on with it!" Riker snapped.
"Sorry, sir. According to the myth, Cthugha lived near a star that
according to modern charts would be Fomalhaut, with its servitors, referred
to as 'fire vampires.'"
"It would seem that the myth is not unfounded," Picard thought out
loud. "Did the information tell how to deal with them?"
"The myth indicates that Cthugha could be summoned, and later
dismissed back to its home by the use of magic. The formula is not
available, however, and even it it were, it may not work and I would
speculate that it would not do us any good if it did work, seeing that this
is its home."
"Very good, Data, but that still doesn't solve our problem," Picard
said. "According to Commander LaForge, the engine repairs are proceeding
smoothly. Tactical indicates that this 'Cthugha' is keeping itself and
it's 'fire vampires' at bay."
"If I might speculate, Captain," Counselor Troi interrupted. "It
could be surprised by its contact with me. Humans aren't especially
telepathically sensitive, and if it posesses psionic abilities, it may have
been surprised by the presence of someone with my abilities, and still be
trying to figure out what to do with us."
"That is a possibility," Data replied. "However, all information
indicates that these Old Ones tended to act in a hostile manner towards most
other life forms they encountered. I would not want to be around when it did
make up its mind."
"I agree," Picard said. "According to LaForge, we have one more day
until the engines are done, so let's see what we can come up with."
Several hours later, back on the bridge, Data was at his station,
monitoring the system and waiting for the star-creature to make a move.
Suddenly, the sensors detected movement at long range.
Data concentrated sensors on the movement; it was very slight, just
several hundred kilometers per hour. What it was that caused Data to
become concerned was what was moving.
Data turned in his chair to face Commander Riker, who currently had
the watch.
"Commander, long-range sensors indicate that the Borg ship is
coming back on line."
"What? Can't ANYTHING kill those?!?" Riker asked no one in
particular, then tapped his communicator. "Captain Picard to the bridge."
"Commander," Worf broke in. "The creatures are on the move. Most of
the smaller ones appear to be moving toward the Borg, while the larger one
and the remaining small ones are moving our way."
Riker muttered a quick prayer under his breath, and then commanded,
"Red alert! Shields up! Battle stations!"
Captain Picard got to the bridge just as Couselor Troi began
screaming. Riker got her into the turbolift and on the way to sickbay, as
Data turned toward the Captain.
"Sir," Data said, "sensors indicate that Cthugha's makeup is not
the same as that from the star. There seems to be a solid core mass, which
means our weapons may be of use against it."
"Good," Picard replied. "Mister Worf, full phasers. Fire."
The phasers arced across space, penetrating the flames of Cthugha,
but seeming to have no other effect. Data relayed this information back to
the bridge crew.
"Fire torpedoes."
A four torpedo spread raced from the Enterprise. As they
approached the firey mass, though, the intense heat melted the polymer
casings, and they detonated prematurely.
Geordi LaForge, supervising the work on the engines, watched the
fireworks as the thing approached. His communicator activated.
"LaForge, this is the captain," Picards voice said. "How much
longer?"
"About ten more minutes, Captain," LaForge answered.
"Can you squeeze that down a bit? We may not have ten minutes."
"If we skip the safety tests, probably. But that means-"
"If it's safe and doesn't work, we're dead anyway. Picard out."
Geordi sighed, then relayed the order to an astonished engineering
crew.
Back on the bridge, Commander Riker rejoined the others.
"Sir," Data was announcing, "the Borg appears to be ejecting the
fire vampires."
Indeed, the Borg began to slowly pick up speed, every so often
encountering one of the fire vampires, and forming its characteristic
shield when it hit them.
"Captain," Worf bellowed, "there is an intense energy buildup on
the target."
"Facing?" Picard asked.
"Toward the Borg, sir. It now appears to be moving away."
"Number One, do you believe in deus ex machina?"
Riker shot Picard a strange look, when suddenly, the visual showed
the flame-being shoot a massive beam at the Borg ship. Electrical arcs
could be seen zipping across the face of the cube, except where the beam
hit, which appeared to have been burned to a cinder.
The entire bridge crew looked astonished (except for Data, who
simply said "Interesting.")
"Data, what kind of range do you estimate that would have?" Riker
asked.
"Given the energy output measured by the sensors, I would estimate
it to be rather short range. The energy, however, would overwhelm our
shields in no time."
"Picard to LaForge. How much longer?" Picard said.
"Just a few more minutes, captain," LaForge's voice answered from
the communicator.
"Captain," Worf said, working the controls on his console, "the
thing is coming toward us again."
"We need to delay it," Riker said. After a moment of though, he
looked up with inspiration on his face. "Data, do you think the trick with
the fire extinguishers would work on this?"
Data looked at Riker as if the Commander had just asked Data if one
plus one equalled five. "I'm afraid not, Commmander. It would take all of
the extinguishers on the ship... oh, I see now. We should be able to
transport them out into Cthugha, and the loss of pressure would explode
them. The effect on Cthugha would be minimal, but it might give us the
time we need."
"All hands, this is the captain," Picard announced over the
intercom. "Gather all personal fire extinguishers and take them to the
nearest transporter location you can find. It doesn't matter which one.
Chief O'Brien."
"Yes, captain?" O'Brien's voice answered.
"We're going to send you coordinates of the creature. When we give
you the signal, activate all transporters to send to those coordinates."
"Aye, sir."
"LaForge?"
"Just finished, sir."
"Good. O'Brien, beam the engineering team aboard after the
extinguishers are away."
"Sir," Worf interrupted, "the energy buildup again. Toward us
this time."
"It is within transporter range, Captain," Data said.
"O'Brien," Picard said over the intercom.
"All stations report ready, sir."
"Energize."
The extinguishers appeared, and shortly afterward, exploded.
In sickbay, Counselor Troi began screeching in pain. Doctor
Crusher fought her way to Troi, and injected her with a knockout drug.
Hopefully, she thought, that will stop the pain.
"Captain, it's backing off," Worf said.
"O'Brien, is the engineering team aboard?" Picard asked.
"Just beamed them in."
"Good. Helm, set course for Starbase Two. Do we have power for
warp two?"
"Yes sir," Data answered.
"Make it so. Engage."
Later, as the Enterprise was on its way to Starbase Two, Picard
went down to sickbay to check on Counselor Troi.
"I'm fine...now," she said. "A few nightmares, maybe, but no
permanent harm."
Data entered 10-Forward, and spotted LaForge at one of the tables.
He walked over to him.
"Do you mind if I join you, Geordi?" He asked.
"Not at all, Data," Geordi answered. "What's on your mind?"
"I am curious about why humans would summon such a creature as
Cthugha, when they knew how destructive it was."
"I don't know, Data. Some people are just self-destructive, I
guess."
"So it is not an inherent human trait?"
"Don't you think you should be asking Counselor Troi this? I'm an
engineer, not a psychologist."
"I did not think it would be a proper time to bring this up with
her."
"Maybe so. Well, in any case, it's not something one aspires to.
Sometimes something goes wrong with their head and that's it, or something
happens that is such a blow that they feel they just can't go on living. I
don't know. You don't need to worry about it, since it's pretty much an
emotional thing."
Data stopped to absorb what Geordi had said. "Indeed," he said, "I
would not be able to worry about it."
Geordi was in the middle of drinking, and nearly choked at Data's
statement. He laughed after that, and Data wondered why.
FINIS
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