Star Trek S-I
Episode 6
INTERSHADE
By Agelshaxe
Prologue
In the forest of
tall trees, rain was pouring down upon the leaves, making them sag and fall to
the ground, their trajectory was changed by the strong wind and the fog was so
thick that one couldn't see farther than five meters in front of him.
Suddenly, in the
darkness, the sounds of footsteps were heard. They came in rapid succession,
accentuated by the sound of the leaves crushing underfoot. In the arms of the
human that was running through the forest was a Federation rifle. The clothing
of the man was ripped but one could still recognize the Starfleet uniform, with
a red collar indicating command upon which was pinned two rank pips, he was a
lieutenant.
Lieutenant Schloss, commander of Alpha station on planet Gyltian in the Gylt system. One
of the most recent colonies established in Federation territory, on the
outskirts of uncharted space. There were five stations placed on the four
biggest continents of Gyltian, unoriginally named
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon stations. Beta station was located in a
tropical paradise where the flora was exquisite and the sun shone every day of
the year; Gamma station was placed atop one of the highest mountains of the
planet and on a strategic point to measure geological phenomena; Delta station
was on a continent which was mostly covered with forests and was a very humid
area and Epsilon station was in the North Pole.
And Alpha station
had been totally destroyed.
Alpha station had
been the first and most aesthetically pleasing station of the five that were
placed on Gyltian. Now it was gone, the survivors
were spread across the continent. The families had been sent out in the two
shuttlecrafts that Alpha had sometimes used for quick intercontinental travel,
most of the Starfleet officers had fought to protect the civilians from the
attackers...But the enemies had been to quick...to deadly to stop.
After the
destruction of the reactor core of the station, most of the people in the west
wing of the station were probably dead. The thundering explosion had literally
disintegrated the west wing. Schloss had narrowly
escaped from the explosion with some of his officers. Shortly after that, they
had realized that it was a lost battle and they decided to try to run to the
nearest station...which was Delta. They had been dispersed by the fog and the
attackers, and Schloss had no clue where anyone else
was because his commbadge had been ripped off with some other pieces of his
clothing during the battles in the Alpha station.
Suddenly, he heard
something that he had wished he'd never hear again. It was a subtle sound, it
could be heard clearly only if one was paying a good deal of attention to his
environment. The sound was like the sound of a sword slashing through the air.
The wisp of air informed Schloss that one of the
attackers had followed him. He raised his phaser rifle, continuing to run fast,
but raising his alertness.
There was another
sound, his pace accelerated. Now he was sure that he was being followed. He had
to get to Delta station...
Suddenly, fear
gripped him as dozens of strange sounds began repeating. The wisps of air were
coming from the fog, from all around him. He fired a blind shot. Then he heard
a high-pitched shriek.
"Take that, you
bastard." He muttered.
Then there was
another shriek...Then another....And another...They followed each other in
rapid succession and Schloss wiped away a bead of
sweat that had rolled down next to his right eye. He decided to risk an escape
and began running at high speed, continuing in the direction which he
presumed--hoped--was north.
The shrieks were now
growing in intensity and in number. They seemed to be falling behind; but soon
enough, the shrieks began approaching again, faster and faster. Schloss swiveled and fired multiple shots in all
directions, running backwards.
Suddenly, he felt a
sharp pain in his left ankle. He tripped on a fallen tree log and crashed on
the floor. He examined the ankle; blood was flowing from a wound in his ankle
that had certainly been caused by some sharp piece of wood into which his ankle
had collided. He tried to stand up but the pain had basically disabled his
foot, he couldn't move.
He lay against a
tree, his phaser rifle raised, and a look of defiance on his face.
The shrieks
approached.
He placed a finger
on the trigger of the rifle.
"Come and get
me." He said.
They came out of the
fog, they were dozens.
And they lunged at
him.