Surefoot 24: Snakes on a Starship

The human went down, as Hrelle leapt over him, taking both weapons with him. Voices rose from behind as he turned a corner in time to avoid gunfire from behind. His boots pounded the floor as he reached a vertical access, instantly getting his bearings before ascending, still hearing his pursuers.

When he reached the next deck up and aftward, he closed the access hatch, as he picked up some familiar scents from the adjacent Security Suite. He called out, "Nemm! Thykrill! It's Captain Hrelle!"

He approached as they emerged, phasers drawn, Neraxis taking the lead. "Captain, what's happening? We weren't informed of a drill-"

Hrelle marched past them. "Your phasers won't work, there are dampening fields. Thykrill, keep an eye on that hatch, shout if it opens." He strode up to the weapons locker, which used a physical deadlock and primitive pushbutton keypad. "We've been boarded. The cargo ship crew brought onboard Vlathi."

"Vlathi? Never heard of them, Sir."

Hrelle grunted as he slid aside the locker door, eyeing up the many energy- and non-energy based weapons at their disposal. "A subspecies of the Skarosian race, humanoid above the waist, serpentine below. Employed by the planet's Imperium as royal assassins, and probably here because of a little trip I took to their world recently."

He selected weapons from the TR Range: TR-110 pistols and TR-114 short-barrelled rifles, both employing the same size magazines with the same 6mm caseless tritanium-tipped bullets. "Thykrill, get over here."

As the Andorian female approached, Hrelle began handing out the weapons and belts with spare magazines. "They've taken over Auxiliary Control and probably the Shuttlebay, based on what I've heard from them, and knocked out the engines, transporters, phasers and communicators. Most of the crew will be off-duty and locked in their quarters, and we don't have time to free them all, or weapons to arm them with. With the turbolifts down, the invaders will be using the Jefferies Tubes, same as us. I've been to Engineering, and had them shut down the warp drive, lock themselves in and work on regaining Aux Control."

"What do you want us to do, Sir?" Thykrill asked.

Hrelle lifted up an MM-4 Projectile Launcher, a barrelled, six-round weapon, and began loading it up with 25mm stun grenades, wincing with the memory of having been in close proximity to one of these little jewels being detonated when he was in Advanced Tactical Training; it was nearly thirty years ago, but the pain to his pointed little ears, still ringing from the firefight on the lower deck, felt fresh. "We're locking up the shop here, but bringing some of the wares with us, and arming every one of our crew we find still out and about -- and taking out any of the enemy we find along the way."

At their expressions, he elaborated. "I know, these weapons can't be set to stun, and we have other non-lethal weapons. But from what I know of the Vlathi, they're big but fast, their hides are tougher than a Gorn's ass, and their fangs pack a lethal venom. There are maybe ten crewmen left from the Nagaina helping them, but I don't know how many Vlathi -- or how many ballistic weapons they're carrying. Get those protective vests and headgear on."

They obeyed, Thykrill asking, "What about you, Sir?"

He shook his head. "My head and waistline are too big for the standard issue we've got here, and the fabricators are offline." He slung the Launcher over his shoulder. "We're going up to Deck 2 to make sure our Caitian guests are safe, before taking back the Bridge. Thykrill, lock up and join us." He patted Neraxis on the shoulder and led her back down towards the hatch he had emerged from.

He knelt by it, ready to open it, but not before dropping his voice to a confidential murmur. I'll open it a little, just for a sniff and a listen, before we enter. Shoulder the rifle, save it for corridor action, and use the pistol if you have to in there; I know you qualified for it like the rest, but be ready for the recoil, and the noise, just the same."

She nodded silently, the hand holding the pistol trembling a little.

He studied her. "I know you've had issues with the thought of killing, Neraxis, and I'm sorry if I have to put you in a position where you might have to take a life. But from what I've heard, the Vlathi are here to kill every Caitian onboard -- including Kami and Misha."

Mention of their names stunned the young Bolian woman... and more. And Hrelle saw something in her that he only rarely glimpsed in people her age, the moment when necessity forced them to grow, to mature and blossom from insecure or cocky cadets or neo-crewmen, and become the solid, mature, resolute members of Starfleet that they would be for the rest of their lives.

He saw it now, as she declared, without bravado, "That won't happen, Sir."

She made him believe it -- and despite the underlying threat to his ship, he indulged in a moment of pride as he slid open the hatch, just enough to catch any sounds and scents, assessing the situation. "There's movement, but not nearby or headed in our direction." He sniffed again. "T'Varik and C'Rash are in there, somewhere above." He smirked. "Oh my."

As Thykrill joined them, Neraxis couldn't help but ask, "What is it, Sir?"

"I really shouldn't say, since she's your superior officer, but... based on Lieutenant Shall's current scent, she had something better in mind tonight than crawling through maintenance conduits. Come on."

*

Deck 2 Mid -- Officers Mess Hall:

Mi'Tree held up the fried shuris stick between thumb and forefinger, stabbing the air between him and the Caitian cub sitting opposite him. "'There'! I cried. 'That's my answer! And you can take that with you to the Seven Hells!'" He looked around at the rest of his (mostly) captivated audience. "And that was when I finished him off."

His own plate of shuris sticks momentarily forgotten, Rrori's eyes widened. "Really, Mr Shall?"

Beside Mi'Tree, Bneea chuckled. "That's how he finished the scene in Clawback 3: Furburn. He then returned to his trailer to flirt with that handsome-looking journalist from the C'Troaw Chronicle, while I doubled for him in the stunt jump off the burning building."

"And you were simply wonderful, my dear," Mi'Tree assured him, patting his husband's hand sympathetically. "But let's not forget whose name is on the top of all the posters?"

Next to the cadet, Mirow looked to Ptera, before smiling and noting, "We'll never forget, Grandpapa. You certainly never give us a chance to forget."

"And for that, you are most welcome, by the way." Mi'Tree looked back at Rrori. "Now you, my dear cub, have the potential to be almost as famous and successful in the vivid business as me."

"No!"

"Yes! You have the looks, the build, the charm and intelligence and talent-"

"That's all true!" Rrori agreed enthusiastically.

"How does the ship manage to contain both their egos?" Bneea asked.

Mi'Tree ignored him. "Do you play any instruments, young cub?"

"The frettercast! I've won awards for my playing back home!"

The older male boomed with delighted laughter, eyes wide. "Then you should definitely reconsider a change of career!"

"No," said a low voice from the end of the table. "You shouldn't."

All eyes turned to Ma'Sala. "I saw you on the bridge, against the Nausicaans. You may not hear stirring incidental music or get close ups or tail-licking reviews in the media for what you do. But what you do is real. More real than anything my husband has done."

Mi'Tree frowned at her. "When was the last time you had a good hard rutting, my dear? Because you're clearly overdue."

She rose, taking her bottle with her as she approached him. "The Vivid business is very, very shiny, like a sparkling gem. But that's all it gives you: sparkle. No heat, no warmth. It's all surface. Mi'Tree, I have no doubt in your ability to speak a scripted line and give it gravitas and meaning -- or to charm the pants off some feckless cub. But in the end, you're still an actor. You've never been in any actual fight that didn't involve a drunken starlet at a premier."

Mi'Tree grunted, setting down his shuris stick. "Well, never let it be said that you didn't know how to kill a lively discussion, my dear."

Ma'Sala drew closer, set down her drink, squeezed his shoulders and rubbed the side of her muzzle against his. "I love you, you old cat. But this cub has a promising real career ahead of him in Starfleet-"

Suddenly the lights went dead, and the ship dropped out of warp; from the windows, the starfield returned to normal. Rrori stood up. "What in the Seven Hells-" He tried his combadge, without success. Then he moved to the doorway. "Wait here, please, I'll find out what's-" He bumped his snout on the unresponsive door. "This isn't right."

Ma'Sala regarded him. "Perhaps it's a drill?"

"Commander T'Varik has expressly cancelled them for the interim, given the schedules the cadets are under at this time."

A sound came from the ceiling in the far corner of the room; all ears cocked towards it, Ptera asking, "What's that?"

Rrori tensed. "There's nothing up there, just a Jefferies Tube." At her expression, he elaborated. "Maintenance conduits that run behind the walls throughout the ship. But they shouldn't be occupied at this time."

"This one is," Ma'Sala growled, her claws bared. "Get that door open, cub."

"I- I can't!"

Mi'Tree rose. "My dear, why so agitated?"

She didn't take her eyes off the outline of the ceiling hatch. "Something's coming down. All of you, get behind the main table! Cadet, that door! Now!"

Rrori moved instinctively to the barked order, kneeling down beside the emergency manual release panel. The others drew together, in time for the ceiling hatch to pop open -- and a figure to emerge, upside down, firing a weapon in their direction...

*

Deck 3 Fore -- Sickbay Suite:

Misha was crying in Kami's arms, obviously reacting to his mother's own confusion and distress as she banged her free fist on the transparent aluminium, knowing that Dr Ling could hear her through the intercom. "Juliet! What are you doing? Let us out! Please!"

The woman was moving about quickly, preparing hyposprays and- pocketing them in her coat? What the-

Suddenly Ling turned towards the open door, before finally looking back at the Isochamber and making a gesture for her to be quiet and to duck down, out of sight.

Kami was perplexed, frightened -- and then terrified as she saw a huge pair of shapes slither into Sickbay, bobbing and weaving as they drew in, and caught sight of the occupants.

Misha stopped crying and hissed at them.

One of them heard it, and hissed back.

Kami clutched her infant tighter and drew back instinctively, into the corner of the Isochamber, eyes still fixed on the new arrivals.

Their slick voices carried over the intercom as they regarded Ling. "Very good, Doctor, trapping two of them. That will make our job here easier-"

Ling held up a hand. "No."

They stared, forked tongues snapping out. "'No'? What do you mean, 'No'?"

Ling was shaking, but kept her composure as best she could. "You can have the others, do what you want with them! But not these two! They haven't done anything!"

One of the Vlathi drew closer -- and Kami saw its tail curl around, drawing behind Ling, rising, and trapping her loosely in its coils. "That's not for you to decide, Traitor. You were paid well, I hear, for your assistance."

"It was the biggest mistake of my life, taking money from the Bel-Zon," she declared loudly -- and, to Kami's trained ear, deliberately, for the Counselor's benefit. "Keeping track of Captain Hrelle on their behalf, keeping records in a hidden file of my contacts on my private computer disguised as medical notes on the fictitious Janus Syndrome-"

"Enough!" The Vlathi's coils tightened around Ling, as it leaned in. "Open the door!"

Ling shook her head, declaring loudly, "Forget it! You'll never work out the access code... not unless you know the Stardate of the birth of a certain hissy little cub-"

"Doctor!" the Vlathi holding her snarled, the tip of its tail reaching, gripping her by the neck. "We do not have time for Hotblood sentiment! This is your last chance! What is your answer?"

Ling was panting, sweating, shifting in its grip, before gasping, "You- You look tired- I- I prescribe- cyalodin-"

Something made the Vlathi react, and tighten around Ling's neck.

Kami covered Misha's face and looked away, unable to avoid hearing a horrible snap.

But the screech from the Vlathi made her look back... seeing Juliet Ling lying crumpled on the Sickbay floor like a discarded toy -- beside some emptied hyposprays. Meanwhile, the Vlathi that had held her was thrashing about, making a frantic, pitiable sound, before collapsing, gasping, shuddering, and finally lying still.

The second Vlathi stared down at its comrade, before looking up at the Caitians, shooting forward, hissing as it tried without success to open the Isochamber door, screeching at them now. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!"

*

Deck 5 Mid -- Jefferies Tube Access 12-A:

"MOVE!" C'Rash was practically shouting, her voice resounding within the cramped confines.

T'Varik complied, alert to the unprecedented levels of stress in her companion's voice, forgoing the usual safety protocols to slide down the vertical access until she reached the floor of Deck 5, between the Starboard Warp Plasma Conduit and the Starboard Battery Compartment. Immediately she stepped aside to let C'Rash join her, even as she heard the incoming rush of air and a hissing sound as-

-As a large reptilian body emerged upside down from the top of the vertical hatch, its fanged mouth snapping at them, its gaunt clawed fingers striking out.

Swiftly C'Rash swiped back with claws of her own, hissing as well.

Until T'Varik, studying the musculature of the attacker, timed her response, and pressed hard against the right side of its neck, beneath the curved cowl of a segmented hood. Its attack ceased, its eyes rolling into the back of its head as it went limp, some of its huge body succumbing to gravity and pouring down, though some of it remained stuck up in the conduit.

The women stopped and regarded it with contrasting levels of heat or coolness. C'Rash cursed. T'Varik responded with, "This is not a three-headed Aldebaran Serpent."

"No kidding. There were sounds and smells of more of them in the Jefferies Tubes."

T'Varik nodded. "This, plus the current status of the ship's systems, suggests an attack. We must regain command via Auxiliary Control." She started down the corridor.

"Wait -- how long will it stay unconscious from your neck pinch?"

"I cannot determine that with any certainty." She moved towards the juncture of the corridor on this side of Deck 5, that led to Life Support, the Bussard Collector Array, the Long range Sensor Pallets and, of course, Auxiliary Control. "I believe that there are-"

She looked back at the sound of the snapping bones.

C'Rash was squatting beside the attacker, whose body was now growing still from more than . T'Varik saw the Caitian lower her hand from its neck, ascertained what had just happened, but still felt overwhelmed to ask, "What did you do?"

C'Rash stared at it, before rising, her tail still. "What I had to do. I- I don't think it felt any pain, being unconscious."

T'Varik approached again slowly, studying the entity, confirming its now-lifeless state. "You killed it. You executed our prisoner."

"Yes." She turned to move around the Vulcan.

Until T'Varik reached out and stopped her in place with a hand on her lover's arm. "'Yes'? That is all you have to say?"

"What more do you want me to say?"

"I want you to explain yourself!"

C'Rash bristled. "You couldn't tell me how long it might stay unconscious. We have no weapons to more effectively stun it, we can't secure it anywhere, and we can't waste time and effort keeping guard on it and having you pinch its neck again. So, to prevent it from awakening and coming after us, or another member of the crew, the logical course of action was to neutralise its potential threat."

T'Varik stared in abject disbelief. "Don't you dare attempt to justify your actions with logic!"

"Why are you reacting this way? Earlier tonight, I fired weapons that wiped out dozens of Nausicaans, and you said nothing."

"That was a different context! This was our prisoner, and we had a duty of care. You had no right to do what you did!"

"I had every right, as Chief of Security." She shook off the arm.

The Vulcan's face was as taut as piano wire. "We are meant to be a civilised society. Members of a civilised society do not use excessive or unnecessary force against an opponent, no matter the circumstances. We do not happily execute our prisoners for facile reasons."

"I agree," the Caitian replied. "I just happen to believe that what I did was necessary. And what makes you think that I did what I did happily? What makes you think I'm not sick to my stomach over it now, and maybe for a long time to come, regardless of whether or not I knew I did the right thing?"

T'Varik stared hard, before finally declaring, "Lieutenant, I am giving you a direct order: do not employ such actions again under any circumstances. Do you understand?"

C'Rash stared back, the hurt and anger and anxiety manipulating her features like marionette strings. "Begging your pardon, Commander, but with all due respect, I have direct orders from Captain Hrelle to take any and all steps necessary to protect everyone on this ship, including the cubs, the crew... and you. If you have a problem with anything I do, take it up with him, or file charges against me with Starfleet Command. Assuming we survive this."

She started down the corridor. T'Varik followed, not travelling far before spotting another Vlathi, and two crewmen from the Nagaina, moving in and out of Auxiliary Control, or standing guard.

They kept behind a corner, C'Rash drawing back out of sight again, murmuring, "I hear three of them only, including that Snake. There's no way we can sneak up on them."

"I have a possible solution. One that will not require unnecessary loss of life. Hopefully the lack of bloodshed will not disappoint you."

*

Deck 3 Fore -- Arboretum:

The Vlathi struck out, again and again, and when it didn't do that, it snapped at her, trying to get its fangs into her throat.

And Sasha kept blocking it, again and again, the gauntlets proving an effective defence, even as she caught it in several places with her claws. But its hide was thick, hard to cut into along its segmented, scaled surface -- except closer to the throat.

And she found herself at a disadvantage whenever the fight took her onto one of the planted areas, with their soft earth and roots and other unseen things.

But she did see and hear the Vlathi react as it realised that Sasha wasn't as easy to kill as it had initially thought. But that didn't mean she could win -- not without help. Breathlessly she called out, "H-Hrulish! I need your help! Please!"

But the Caitian stayed behind one of the trees in the far corner of the room, watching. Crying.

The Vlathi hissed with obvious delight. "Such a pitiful creature, for you to lose your life over, Little Starfleet." It shifted its tail away. "You have proven your valour, I will tell my brothers and sisters of you. I give you an egress. Go now. I won't offer it again."

She glanced quickly behind her. It was right; she could rush out now.