The
conduit was much longer than Sutter had originally suspected…They had been
going through this cramped tunnel for what seemed like hours…Although she knew
it had only been a few minutes…
"How long until we reach the end of the conduit?"
Sutter asked.
"I
believe we should reach the end of the conduit in a few minutes…" Mantion
said.
Sutter's
palms and knees were hurting and her shoulders were still aching, she would welcome
the opportunity to finally stand on her two feet.
Finally,
a few minutes later, they saw the end of the tunnel…
"Uh
oh…" Sutter said.
The
ceiling plating in front of the exit hatch had collapsed, the rubble and metal
was blocking all access.
"Can
we clear that with explosives?" Sutter asked.
"Not
without making the whole conduit collapse…" Mantion approached the
ruptured conduit and ran her finger along the edges of the rupture.
"What
is it?" Sutter asked.
"The
edges of this rupture are warm…" Mantion said. "It's as if something
burned through the metal."
"'Something'?" Sutter frowned.
"I
cannot explain…" Mantion said.
"Well…I
think it's irrelevant for now." Sutter said. "What should we do? We
can't go back…"
"Indeed,"
Mantion pondered a moment then said. "I have brought along some compact
explosives with changeable intensities…However to clear out this rubble I will
need some time to install and calibrate the charges…"
"How
long will that take?" Sutter asked.
Mantion
turned to face her commanding officer and said: "I have no idea."
Sutter
sighed: "Great…"
"Let's
go…" Stevenson said to his three engineers as they entered the now-cleared
auxiliary conduit on the opposite side of the power plant.
Stevenson
went in right after Terin and the five team members
began their journey through the cramped tunnels down towards the control room.
A
few moments later, Stevenson sighed loudly: "How far until we reach the
end of the tunnel, Terin?"
"If
we keep this pace up, I suppose we should reach it in less than twenty
minutes." She answered.
"Twenty
minutes…" He repeated with a sigh. "This is going to be fun…"
Sand
smiled: "Why don't we sing a song, sir?"
"You
have to be kidding," Ensign Marlowe, a small woman with blond hair who was
part of Stevenson's engineering team said. "I volunteered for this mission
to get away from the lieutenant's songs…"
"You
mean you don't like my songs?" Stevenson asked with a grin.
"You
mean you sing while you work?" Terin
asked dubiously. "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely,"
Stevenson said. "Once in a while when crew morale is pretty low…I come
into engineering and I get everyone singing."
"Does
the morale get better?" Terin asked.
"Depends…"
Marlowe said.
"Depends
on who we're talking about…" Stevenson said. "Ensign Sand enjoys
singing and always had fun songs down his sleeve which he brings up when we're
in need of one…Ensign Marlowe however usually brings her ear-plugs down to
Engineering on days when morale is low."
"Peculiar
system…" Terin said.
Stevenson
smiled.
The
hatch hit the ground and Ensign Marlowe came out first, carefully placing her
feet on the metallic surface of which the balcony was made of. The circular
balcony which traveled all along the wall of the control room was 60 meters
above the floor of the room. Below they saw the plasma coolant was still all
over the floor.
"The
coolant tanks fell…" Terin nodded as she studied
the broken tank-holders on the wall. "But it seems that something caused
them to fall."
"What
did?" Stevenson asked, coming towards her to study the broken holders.
"I
cannot be certain…Do your tricorders work?"
Sand
checked his tricorder and said: "Minimal scanning capabilities but I
believe it should work."
Stevenson
placed the scanning device near the holders and tapped a few controls.
"So?
What've you got?" Terin asked impatiently.
"Some
sort of radioactive element caused this damage…" Stevenson said.
"It's very strange…As if someone poured radioactive acid onto the holders
to make them rupture."
"'Radioactive acid'?" Marlowe raised an eyebrow.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I
have no idea…" Stevenson frowned. "But I think the damage was
intentional…"
"Intentional???" Terin's jaw dropped open. "Who would do such a
thing?"
"I
don't know…" Stevenson said. "But in any case, this wasn't an accident…"
"Well…We
don't have time to run after saboteurs for now…" Sand reminded. "We
need to clear the plasma coolant and get down to the bottom level to shut down
the core."
"Agreed,"
Stevenson said. "Terin?"
"Yes,"
She began moving towards a console on the opposite side of the bridge. But
suddenly stopped dead in her tracks…
"Terin? What is it?"
Stevenson asked.
The
Tyoban took a step back towards her comrades and pointed to something which was
on the bridge…
It
was white, about thirty inches long and moved like a snake. It was obviously
some sort of animal…But what kind of animal?
They
soon became aware of more and more of these serpent-like creatures attached to
the core and to the walls of the control room.
"What
are they?" Sand said.
Suddenly,
the creature that Terin had first spotted lunged
towards Sand's head. The engineer protected his face with his two hands and the
creature landed right into them. Suddenly a white liquid spewed from one of the
creature's extremities…The liquid splashed onto the ensign's neck and he let
out a scream.
Stevenson
grabbed the creature from Sand and threw it down towards the bottom of the
core…The creature fell into the layer of plasma coolant and was immediately
annihilated.
"Dennis!"
Marlowe bent over her fallen comrade who was grasping his neck with both hands.
"Let me see…"
"It…It
burns…" He managed to say in a raspy voice.
They
removed his hands and found his skin being burned by the liquid that the
creature had 'spat' onto his neck…
"We
have to get him out of here…" Marlowe said.
"Jerry!"
Stevenson called Ensign Jerry Dawlan. "Get
Dennis out of here as fast as humanly possible…Once you're clear of the
interference you can call the Valiant."
"Aye,"
Dawlan was a big man and he slung Sand over his
shoulders before hastily re-entering the conduit from which they had come.
"Okay…"
Terin glanced nervously at the creatures. "Now
what do we do?"
Stevenson
licked his lips: "We have to shut down that core…Whatever the cost."
"Okay…"
Marlowe sighed. "So let's do that."
"I
think these little bastards won't attack us as long as we leave them
alone…" Stevenson said.
"Dennis
wasn't bothering them!" Marlowe said.
Stevenson
hesitated then nodded: "You're right…Well…Hope for the best."
"Great…"
Marlowe muttered.
"Terin…" Stevenson told the Tyoban. "You'll have
to go and start the coolant evacuation progress…Marlowe and I will head down to
the lower level and shut down the core from there."
"Understood,"
Terin said.
Stevenson
gave Terin his phaser: "Just in case…" He
said. "Don't hesitate to fire…But try not to hit the power core."
She
smiled: "I'll try…"
The
two engineers began descending the side ladders which led to the bottom of the
core. The design of the control room was rather 'primitive' compared with the
Federation's standards…There were no protections around the ladders and
Stevenson was afraid to slip and fall…
Meanwhile,
Terin approached the console controlling the coolant
evacuation systems. She reached the console and let out a breath…But suddenly
she felt something under her foot…
She
had squashed one of the creatures…
The
nearest creature suddenly jumped straight at her, she raised her phaser but the
creature spat the corrosive liquid at her hand and the weapon fell to the
ground. She let out a scream of pain that Stevenson and Marlowe heard.
"Terin!" Stevenson said,
unable to do anything.
Suddenly,
there was the sound of a phaser blast and the creature that was attached to Terin was vaporized.
Lt.
Commander Mantion lowered her phaser and said: "Please continue, Terin."
Sutter
and Mantion had just emerged from the other conduit.
Terin nodded to them and, ignoring the pain in her right
hand, tapped in the controls to evacuate all the plasma coolant.
A
few minutes later, the bottom floor of the control room was clean.
"Let's
go!" Stevenson said.
The
two engineers quickly descended to the bottom floor and ran to the main
console.
"Okay…"
Stevenson began the core shutdown sequence.
Marlowe
eyes what he was doing nervously: "Can I help?"
"A
moment…" Stevenson frowned. "There! Got it…"
He
looked up towards the balcony: "Terin! All we
need is your voice authorization to shut down the core! You just need to tell
your name to the computer…"
They
waited a few moments, and the answer came:
It
was Mantion's voice: "She's fainted, lieutenant."
Stevenson
punched his fist into the console: "Goddammit…"
2
minutes 38 seconds…