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Onboard the ship that attacked the Saint George, Captain Jessica Stratton and the rest of the 'dead' crew found themselves waking up with splitting headaches. Stratton spoke into thin air. “Stratton to bridge”, there was no response and automatically she tapped her chest and said "Stratton to Saint George." She looked down and realized that she was in her pajamas and not wearing a combadge. Glancing around her, she realized that she was no longer in her quarters but in a strange room with about a third of her crew. She saw they were all out of uniform and in similar sleeping attire.
“Is everyone all right?” she asked.
Murmured ‘yes’ and headshakes came from the crowd. Stratton observed that most of her ‘crew’ consisted of the civilian transports on their way to Deep Space thirty-seven, some non-commissioned officers and only a hand-full of officers.
“Does anyone remember what happened before we woke up here?” she asked. Her question was met this time with murmurs of "no" and frightened looks. “…Damn…” she said quietly. Looking around, the room that held them was large with a replicator on one wall, tables and chairs spread through out. “… Hello! … “ called Stratton. There was no response. She walked to the replicator, and ordered hot chocolate. Sipping the beverage she turned to the crew and said with a reassuring smile, “ … who else is hungry?”
As the crew filed into an orderly line, Stratton sat down at a table and called to Master Chief Petty Officer JoAnna Wahlund. “Yes ma’am” said the pretty fresh-faced young woman as she joined the captain.
“Chief Wahlund” she said with a twinkle in her eye, “Lets see what kind of goodies we can get from that replicator.”
Within minutes, the table nearest the replicator was laden with all sorts of food and beverages: ratajinko, coffee, herbal tea, hot tomato soup, chicken quesadillas, pizza, Terellian souffle, Betazoid Vegetable Delight, salads, fruits, and vegetables for the more health-conscious crewmembers. Also replicated were plates, utensils, and glasses.
"Dig in," Chief Wahlund said with a self-satisfied grin. As the rest of the kidnapped crewmembers helped themselves to the food, she tapped a few commands into the replicator and studied the readout for a few moments. "It looks like they were able to tap into the replicator files on the Saint George. The replicator's been programmed to replicate the twenty most popular selections as well as basic eating utensils."
"So they were somehow able to gain access to our computer unnoticed," Captain Stratton mused. "We must be dealing with a rather technologically advanced species."
"It seems so," Wahlund acknowledged, joining the captain at her table. "What do you think they want with us?"
The captain shook her head. "I don't know. Curiousity, perhaps? Or maybe they have plans for the Saint George."
"Then why take us? Why not take just the senior staff, or even the whole crew?" Wahlund asked. "If they had access to our replicator records, they could probably get their hands on a crew manifest as well so they could tell how many crew are aboard or who the senior officers are. But Dr. Urvand and Commodore Stratton aren't here, so they apparently left some senior officers on the ship."
Captain Stratton frowned. "There must be some reason. Is there a trait we all have in common?"
As she looked around at the crewmembers in the room, her perplexity grew. There were men and women of various ages, height, weight, and hair color. Try as she might, she could see no characteristics that they all shared.
"Maybe it was just luck of the draw," Wahlund offered. "They just took the first people they could."
"But we were all on different parts of the ship," Stratton said. "And we were all -- " Her eyes widened. "That's it! We were all sleeping!"
"Then we were easier targets?"
"That must be it," the captain decided. "With all of us in our night clothes, they wouldn't have to worry about hidden weapons, transmitters or removing our commbadges."
Wahlund considered the captain's theory. "I guess that makes sense," she said slowly. "But that still leaves the question - why did they want to take us in the first place?"
Suddenly, the wall directly across from the replicator began to shimmer and glow. Thin red lines in the shape of doors flashed into sight, and a moment later those doors slid open. Two men in gray uniforms holding large, nasty looking weapons stepped inside.
Wahlund recoiled, and Stratton felt her stomach began to twist in revulsion. She was dimly aware of other crewmembers around her reacting in much the same way, for the men were hideous. Their faces were a giant mass of dead skin, veins, blood, and muscle. It looked as though they had had giant insects eating away at the skin all over their bodies.
Stratton swallowed hard, but the nauseous feeling in her stomach didn't go away. If anything, it became worse. "I think, Chief," she whispered to Wahlund, "we're about to find out."
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