The Survivors

Posted on Dec 16, 2017 @ 9:56pm by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane

Mission: Fear Itself

"THE SURVIVORS"

(Continued from "Nothing To Fear, Nothing To Lose, Part Two")
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Location: USS Phoenix, holding station near Starbase 56
Stardate: [2.17]1216.1755
Scene: Primary Sickbay - deck 12, saucer section


Jake Crichton entered sickbay, and the place was already buzzing. Three of the senior officers were out - they lay on biobeds that were being monitored by Doctors Suvek and S'Tanu - while Aerdan and Eve were monitoring the insensate forms of Tomas', Cantor, and Kass. Their lifesigns seemed strong and clear, but Jake knew that each of them had played a valuable part in preparing this attempt to banish the phobophage - Tomas' had located the portal, Cantor had used his own Powers of the Mind to make contact with Tomas', and Kass had kept the phobophage distracted long enough for it to happen.

Aerdan was moving between the biobeds, checking his medical tricorder readings with Suvek and S'Tanu. Jake sidled up to Eve. "How are they?"

"Still waiting," she murmured. "Kass will be sleeping for a while, but Aerdan was just talking about bringing Tomas' and Cantor back."

The Andorian doctor's antennae twitched in their direction, and he looked up. "That is correct, Commander. Lieutenant Vukovic's beta waves have now returned to the normal range for a Borg. With your approval, I will administer a light dose of stimulant to both Lieutenant Von and Lieutenant Vukovic in order to rouse them. I would like to let Major Thytos sleep a while longer, to give her system time to clear the sedative."

Jake nodded. "Go ahead, Doctor." He didn't know why, but his stomach was churning. He guessed that the events of the past few days were catching up to him.

Eve brushed his hand with her own. "This will work. Baiting the lure. It worked on the Gateway."

"I sure hope so." Jake glanced at her. "We can't just keep doing nothing. Sometimes I think we should just self-destruct the ship. At least we'd be going out on our own terms."

"Wouldn't kill the phobophage, though," smiled Eve ruefully. "It'd just be sucked back into its own dimension." She paused. "Tell me something. The phobophage that attacked Gateway, and the one that we have aboard the Phoenix - do you think they're the same entity?"

Jake started. He'd never thought of it before, always supposing that it *was* the same entity because the same music box had been used to summon it. But what if the music box wasn't tied to one specific phobophage? What if the music box simply opened a rift into an alternate dimension where billions of phobophages lived, floating through a universe of pure chaos?

He shuddered. "I don't even want to think about it."

Aerdan filled a hypo with a clear liquid and manipulated the controls with a blue thumb. "Here we go," he said humourlessly, pressing the hypo into the neck of Cantor Von. The drug was released with a muted hiss, and Aerdan moved to the next biobed, administering the same dose to Tomas' Vukovic.

As Jake and Eve watched, the biobed wall readout began to change. Heart rates increased, as did brainwave activity, and a moment later, Cantor Von and Tomas' Vukovic were opening their eyes, blinking in confusion as a new reality asserted itself upon them.

Jake moved forward, leaning over them both. "Welcome back. Did you find the portal to the phobophage's home dimension?"

Cantor and Tomas' leaned up in their respective beds and shared a look. "Yes, Commander,' said Tomas'. "It's in Engineering, near the site of the original portal."

Jake looked up. "Did you copy that, Mister Byte?"

[[Yes, Commander,]] came the android's disembodied voice over the intercom. [[I am on my way to Engineering now.]]

Jake smiled inwardly. Things seemed to be working. He made to turn around, but a series of alert chimes from the biobeds sent a bolt of fear through him. The biobed readings were dropping drastically, and Tomas' and Cantor sank back down into unconsciousness, even as Aerdan and the two Vulcan doctors snapped into action.

"I don't understand!" Aerdan said in shock. "They should - they should be - " He put a hand to his own face and rubbed his eyes in confusion.

Jake glanced at Eve. She too was shaking her head, as if trying to clear it from unwelcome thoughts, and in a blind rish of panic, Jake knew what was happening. There was no way that Aerdan would have made a mistake. This wasn't real. It was a mass hallucination, but the realisation didn't bring him any comfort. His heart started to thump in his chest as it struck him - the phobophage was here!

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Scene: Main Engineering - deck 36, drive section


For his part, Michael Turlogh Kane had made his way to Engineering, where the irascible Malin-Argo supervised his few remaining staff in trying to pinpoint the location of the phobophage's portal. Jasmine Yu was there too, doing whatever she could to assist, but Kane held his distance, giving his officers space to do their work.

The nearby turbolift doors opened, admitting Byte to Engineering. The android was carrying the music box in one hand, and in the other it hefted a stripped-down quantum torpedo warhead. No casing, no guidance software - everything except the torpedo's reactor core had been discarded in favour of the explosive mechanism itself. What remained was as large in area as the desk in Kane's ready room, but Byte carried it one-handed, seemingly ignorant of its weight.

Malin-Argo moved towards Kane as Byte arrived. "Captain, we are preparing to release a blanket tachyon pulse inside Engineering. Assuming conditions are similar or the same as the first portal - or more properly, inter-dimensional rift - the pulse will reveal its exact location."

"Will we be able to see it?" asked Kane.

"Yes. The effect will be like spraying liquid adhesive over a wide area. Most will fall to the ground, but anything else will be outlined with the adhesive, or, in this case, tachyons."

Kane turned to Byte. "Are you ready, Mister Byte?"

The android inclined its cranial unit. {{Yes, Captain. I have the music box. When I cross the inter-dimensional rift, I will attach it to the torpedo reactor and set the detonation. Then I will return to this plane of existence before the torpedo explodes.}}

Kane put a hand on Byte's shoulder. "Lieutenant, we have no way of knowing what the phobophage dimension is like. Mister Vukovic described it as pure chaos. How can you hope to survive in such an environment?"

{{My visual and auditory systems are not organic, and are not subject to the same weaknesses,}} said Byte, lifting the torpedo reactor onto its shoulder as if the reactor was a bag of feathers. {{Darkness or a vaccuum will not limit my functions. If possible, I will ensure an open communication frequency at all times. I am ready to do my duty, sir.}}

Kane nodded. "Very well. Good luck, Lieutenant. Commander Malin-Argo, activate the tachyon pulse."

"Yes, sir." The Grazerite returned to his workstation and manipulated the controls, and looked up into the air. Kane followed his gaze - the tachyons themselves were invisible, but uncountable trillions of them were, at this moment, spraying all around Engineering, bouncing off every surface, sticking to anything they touched, and, as Kane looked on, being attracted in their millions to the inter-dimensional rift that was hanging in the air near the warp core.

The rift was like an open wound on reality. It wasn't especially big - perhaps the size of a large bay window - but it rippled and snarled, its edges pitted and cracked like a scab on skin. There was nothing to be seen through it, just a blaze of white light and a distant hissing noise that the ears had to strain to hear. It hung in the air about fifteen feet up from the deckplate - the three-deck open plan of Engineering a perfect location for it to manifest.

Kane stepped back as Byte crouched down, preparing to jump upward. Malin-Argo and Jasmine looked on, and a moment of doubt crept into Kane's mind. Surely Byte could not jump that high?

The android pushed down against the deckplate, the rivets and pistons in its tri-polymer, molybdenum-alloy skeleton tensing up with enormous power. Byte leaped up in one fluid motion, vaulting high into the air, its head, shoulders, body, and legs all disappearing into the rift.

Kane, Malin-Argo and Jasmine looked at each other, but then the comlink crackled. [[ -yte to Ph- nix. Do y- me?]]

Kane slapped his communicator. "Go ahead, Lieutenant We can hear you!" If Byte really was standing just within the other side of the rift, then the communications frequency, although distorted, must still be intact.

[[ I am thr- ift, Captain. It haaaaaaaas remained oooooohpen beh- me.]]

Kane couldn't help it. He wanted to know what kind of a place it was, what kind of place was so alien that the human brain could not pick up any patterns or structures. "What can you see?"

There was a pause, like Byte was trying to find words. A strange groaning sound, as if the alien wind was made of a thousand voices in pain, sounded in the distant background as the android replied again. [[Noth- , in. I am deeeeeeeeeactivaaaaaating my eyes and will wor- byyyyyyy touch.]]

Kane shared a look with Malin-Argo and Jasmine. The other engineers in the background, Lynette Ryan among them, were watching in awe. "What is that sound behind you, Lieutenant?"

Another pause. Then, [[I belieeeeeeve it is the souuuuuuuuuuund of screaming.]] A moment passed, and Byte spoke again. [[I am returrrrrrrrni- aaaack]]

Kane, Malin-Argo, and Jasmine looked up at the rift. Suddenly, Byte shot back down through it, falling in an ungainly heap fifteen feet down onto the floor, landing with an enormous clang as its body hit the deckplate. As Kane reflexively leaned down to assist, there was a dull thump from above, and the inter-dimensional rift abruptly collapsed, finally falling shut with a lascivious wink.

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Scene: Sickbay, as before


The fog dropped away from Jake's eyes. He was back in the here and now. This was the real world, and Tomas' and Cantor Von were both alive and well, while Kass was snoring lightly on the biobed. Aerdan, Eve and the others were all recovering.

"What happened?" asked Aerdan.

"The phobophage was here, but it's gone," smiled Jake. "Whatever happened in Engineering worked."

Cantor Von and Tomas' Vukovic sat up on their biobeds, and all six of them shared a moment. It was over.

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Scene: Sickbay, as before


Byte picked himself up. {{Activating ocular sensors.}} His pupils dilated, and he looked around. {{I appear to have been successful.}}

Malin-Argo and Jasmine were grinning at one another. Kane thought it was the first time he had ever seen the Grazerite smile. He activated his communicator again. "Kane to bridge. Report to Admiral Stiles that our effort to banish the phobophage was successful, and request clearance to dock."

[[Understood, sir,]] came the happy-sounding voice of whatever junior officer was up there.

Kane looked at Malin-Argo and Jasmine. "As soon as we're docked, take yourselves off the ship for a few days. Everyone gets shore leave."

The tension was decreasingly palpably. It felt like the ship was taking a long-awaited relaxing exhalation. Kane and Byte stood together while the others moved away. "Well done, Lieutenant," said Kane. "It must have been an horrific place to be."

Byte cocked its head like a bird. {{I am not capable of feeling horror, Captain. The fact is that I am still processing the entire experience. Given the sheer immensity of difference between this realm and that, it will likely take me several hours to begin to compile a report.}}

Kane chuckled. "I think I'd also need a good long rest if I had been where you were," he said. "I do have one question, though. While inside the phobophage's dimension, you mentioned that you were switching off your eyes and working by touch. Why did you do that?"

Byte was silent for a moment, and a chill ran down Kane's back as the android seemed to recall whatever it was it had seen. A thought crossed Kane's mind - had Byte deliberately switched off its eyes because it had seen something so terrible that even an artificial life-form could not bear to look at it?

The moment passed. Byte fixed its beautiful cornflower blue eyes on Kane. {{I was programmed by Humans, Captain, and I can see nor hear no more than they programmed me to. I cannot see, nor extrapolate for, patterns and shapes outside the dimensions of my programming. When I realised that nothing around me made any sense, I decided to work by touch.}}

Kane decided to take Byte at its word. "And all the background screaming?"

Byte looked away. {{Perhaps an acoustic distortion on the frequency, Captain. I would like to return to my quarters and conduct a full internal diagnostic now.}}

"Of course, Lieutenant." Kane watched Byte move toward the turbolift, the jubilation of success rapidly fading away.

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Captain's log, supplemental - with the closing of the inter-dimensional rift, the phobophage has been banished back to its own dimension, and we, the survivors, remain. The Phoenix has docked again at Starbase 56, where we will all take a breath, and remember the friends we lost, before life moves on.

The mystery of where the phobophage, and perhaps millions of *phobophages*, come from, will likely never be solved. Only one member of our crew has been to that place, and he blinded himself rather than look at it.

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NRPG: So ends "Fear Itself". Well done, everyone! The Phoenix is back at Starbase 56 and you can all take a break for a bit. The ship will need to be repopulated, and there are memorial services to attend.

Stay tuned for our next story!


Jerome McKee
the Soul of Captain Michael Turlogh Kane
Commanding Officer
USS PHOENIX


"He speaks an infinite deal of nothing!"
- Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", Act 1, Scene 1.117

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