Ok, I'm redoing the Chimera story I had started some time ago. The first few weren't well written, so I've gone back and revised it. Here's chapter one.
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Prologue
The Venture class, USS Calypso, maneuvered itself through the badlands as Commander Kaziarl manipulated the navigational controls. The Calypso was attached to the USS Hera as an auxiliary scout ship, and was currently on assignment to investigate reports of an unknown race moving towards the wormhole.
It had been six hours since the Calypso had left the Hera, and Kaziarl was bored out of his skull. Being raised by Klingons made him impatient. He had come a long way over the years, but some habits were hard to change.
The Academy had been especially difficult. He could remember the looks the other cadets gave him. At the time, tensions with the Klingon Empire were still high, and here was a human cadet with several Klingon items, and a Klingon name. Suffice it to say, he wasn't the 'cool' kid.
Seated behind him on the Calypso was Lt. Tennishar ch'Darrek. He was one of the here's junior science officers, and had a very promising future. The white skinned Aenar had received a direct commission from the Andorian Science Academy for being one of the greatest minds in the Federation.
Tennishar quietly went over the sensor logs, looking for anything out of the ordinary, which in the Badlands was just about everything. Then he saw it, a gravimetric distortion, roughly thirty thousand kilometers away from their current position. His fingers danced across the terminal as he sent the coordinates to the navigational computer.
"Commander," he said as he switched the panel layout from science to tactical.
"I see it," Kaziarl replied. "I'm adjusting course."
The Calypso spun on its axis, circling around a towering column of plasma, as Kaziarl directed it towards the distortion. They approached the Coordinates and rounded another plasma column as an object came into view. Kaziarl looked out the viewport and saw an unknown vessel that appeared to be damaged.
"Tennishar, any readings?" he asked.
"Minimal power," replied Tennishar. "Probably due to a collision with a plasma column. The outer skin of the ships seems to be organic, similar to the exoskeletal structure of most insects."
"Life signs?"
"Unconfirmed," he replied. "Background interference is too great."
"I'm going to move in closer," Kaziarl said, "Be ready with a tractor beam."
"Aye sir."
The ship moved closer, holding off at five hundred kilometers. The alien craft was as black as space, your eyes seemed to get lost in it and it was hard to focus on its outline. Kaziarl had no doubt that if they crossed paths with that ship in open space, it would be nearly impossible to see.
"Tennishar, lock onto that ship with a tractor beam." Kaziarl ordered.
"Yes Commander," he replied, tapping on the controls. "Sir, sensors are picking up a small object between us and the ship. It appears to be following the tractor beam."
"Cut the beam."
"No change, it's still coming towards us." Tennishar reported, trying to get all the information from the sensor readings as he could. "Impact in 5 seconds."
"I'm moving us away."
"3 Seconds sir... 2... 1... Impact," there was nothing. The ship didn't jump, or react in any way to the impact until a moment later when an alarm went off.
"Sir, something has boarded us," said Tennishar. "It's in the sleeping quarters, I'll check it out."
Kaziarl circled back around to grab the alien vessel with the tractor beam, while Tennishar checked the aft area of the Calypso. There didn't appear to be any other objects, like the one that had apparently boarded them, but he kept the alien ship at the maximum distance the tractor beam could muster.
In the badlands a ship could not be put on autopilot. The plasma columns were too random, and although a computer could calculate coarse corrections much faster then a humanoid pilot, it didn't have the instinct of a humanoid pilot. So Kaziarl sat in the pilots chair, worried about his crewmate, but powerless to do anything. Finally they approached the edge of the badlands, and Kaziarl was able to set an automatic course to return to the Hera. He also forwarded the ships logs about what had happened so far. As he stood to go check on Tennishar, he felt a blunt object strike him in his back. He collapsed forward, and rolled to the side. He kicked one leg back to strike his assailant, but only caught air as he looked up to see who had attacked him.
"Tennishar!?" he yelled, the Starfleet officer had a vacant expression in his eyes. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"
"You will not stop us Vertebrata," Tennishar replied, although it didn't sound like his own voice.
"Tennishar, snap out of it!"
The Aenar lunged at Kaziarl, fists ready to strike. Kaziarl ducked to one side, positioning his foot to jam his shoulder into his opponents gut. As he did so, he caught sight of something on the back of Tennishar's neck. Kaziarl pushed off the deck, knocking Tennishar onto his back. The human continued to roll towards a storage locker and retrieved a phaser. When he turned back around, Tennishar was already standing again, only with his back towards Kaziarl. From here he could see what appeared to be an insect. It had dug itself into the Aenar's neck, and Kaziarl assumed it was controlling him.
"I'm sorry Lt," he said to himself. "But I don't see much of a choice."
Setting the phaser on stun, Kaziarl took aim, and fired. The creature was still attached, but Tennishar was incapacitated. When he looked out the window he let out a sigh of relief at the view. The USS Hera was approaching, and soon he'd be back on board. He only hoped that Tennishar would be alright.
Six months later:
Tennishar opened his eyes. Although there were technically useless, he still had that sensation the most humanoids get when they move from a dark room into a well lit one. He probed his surroundings with his mind, trying to establish where he was. 'Sickbay,' he thought to himself. 'But how? And what happened to the Calypso?'
He tried to sit up, but this caused pain to shoot through his body. He tried to speak, but his throat was dry.
There was another person there, it was Doctor Eliason. Tennishar could sense him moving closer to the bed.
"Easy does it Lt. You’ve been unconscious for about six months. You're muscles will be weak."
"What happened?" he asked in a dry raspy voice.
"Your nervous system was attacked by an insectoid creature. It appeared to have control of you for a certain time."
Behind the doctor, the doors to sickbay opened as Kaziarl burst through.
"How is he Doctor?" asked Kaziarl.
"He'll be ok," replied Eliason. "Although there does seem to be some minor brain damage, and he'll probably need to be placed on medical leave."
"Alright, Doctor, can you give us a minute?"
"Of course," he replied as he returned to his office.
"Tennishar, how are you feeling?"
"Could be better sir," he replied, managing to sit up a little. "Did we find anything out about that ship?"
"Yes, we did," the commander replied. "But you should be resting."
"Yes sir," he said, lying back down.
"I have new orders for you Lt." Kaziarl said, handing him a PADD. "We'll be dropping you off at Starbase 329, you're to report to Doctor T'Amara to undergo a full medical scan."
"But Commander?" he asked. "What about my duties on the ship?"
"It's alright Lt." Replied Kaziarl. "The Hera will get by, you're job is to get better."
"Yes Commander."
Kaziarl turned and left. He had seen the doctors reports. It would be a miracle for him to get over the injuries that creature had caused.
-----------------------
Prologue
The Venture class, USS Calypso, maneuvered itself through the badlands as Commander Kaziarl manipulated the navigational controls. The Calypso was attached to the USS Hera as an auxiliary scout ship, and was currently on assignment to investigate reports of an unknown race moving towards the wormhole.
It had been six hours since the Calypso had left the Hera, and Kaziarl was bored out of his skull. Being raised by Klingons made him impatient. He had come a long way over the years, but some habits were hard to change.
The Academy had been especially difficult. He could remember the looks the other cadets gave him. At the time, tensions with the Klingon Empire were still high, and here was a human cadet with several Klingon items, and a Klingon name. Suffice it to say, he wasn't the 'cool' kid.
Seated behind him on the Calypso was Lt. Tennishar ch'Darrek. He was one of the here's junior science officers, and had a very promising future. The white skinned Aenar had received a direct commission from the Andorian Science Academy for being one of the greatest minds in the Federation.
Tennishar quietly went over the sensor logs, looking for anything out of the ordinary, which in the Badlands was just about everything. Then he saw it, a gravimetric distortion, roughly thirty thousand kilometers away from their current position. His fingers danced across the terminal as he sent the coordinates to the navigational computer.
"Commander," he said as he switched the panel layout from science to tactical.
"I see it," Kaziarl replied. "I'm adjusting course."
The Calypso spun on its axis, circling around a towering column of plasma, as Kaziarl directed it towards the distortion. They approached the Coordinates and rounded another plasma column as an object came into view. Kaziarl looked out the viewport and saw an unknown vessel that appeared to be damaged.
"Tennishar, any readings?" he asked.
"Minimal power," replied Tennishar. "Probably due to a collision with a plasma column. The outer skin of the ships seems to be organic, similar to the exoskeletal structure of most insects."
"Life signs?"
"Unconfirmed," he replied. "Background interference is too great."
"I'm going to move in closer," Kaziarl said, "Be ready with a tractor beam."
"Aye sir."
The ship moved closer, holding off at five hundred kilometers. The alien craft was as black as space, your eyes seemed to get lost in it and it was hard to focus on its outline. Kaziarl had no doubt that if they crossed paths with that ship in open space, it would be nearly impossible to see.
"Tennishar, lock onto that ship with a tractor beam." Kaziarl ordered.
"Yes Commander," he replied, tapping on the controls. "Sir, sensors are picking up a small object between us and the ship. It appears to be following the tractor beam."
"Cut the beam."
"No change, it's still coming towards us." Tennishar reported, trying to get all the information from the sensor readings as he could. "Impact in 5 seconds."
"I'm moving us away."
"3 Seconds sir... 2... 1... Impact," there was nothing. The ship didn't jump, or react in any way to the impact until a moment later when an alarm went off.
"Sir, something has boarded us," said Tennishar. "It's in the sleeping quarters, I'll check it out."
Kaziarl circled back around to grab the alien vessel with the tractor beam, while Tennishar checked the aft area of the Calypso. There didn't appear to be any other objects, like the one that had apparently boarded them, but he kept the alien ship at the maximum distance the tractor beam could muster.
In the badlands a ship could not be put on autopilot. The plasma columns were too random, and although a computer could calculate coarse corrections much faster then a humanoid pilot, it didn't have the instinct of a humanoid pilot. So Kaziarl sat in the pilots chair, worried about his crewmate, but powerless to do anything. Finally they approached the edge of the badlands, and Kaziarl was able to set an automatic course to return to the Hera. He also forwarded the ships logs about what had happened so far. As he stood to go check on Tennishar, he felt a blunt object strike him in his back. He collapsed forward, and rolled to the side. He kicked one leg back to strike his assailant, but only caught air as he looked up to see who had attacked him.
"Tennishar!?" he yelled, the Starfleet officer had a vacant expression in his eyes. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"
"You will not stop us Vertebrata," Tennishar replied, although it didn't sound like his own voice.
"Tennishar, snap out of it!"
The Aenar lunged at Kaziarl, fists ready to strike. Kaziarl ducked to one side, positioning his foot to jam his shoulder into his opponents gut. As he did so, he caught sight of something on the back of Tennishar's neck. Kaziarl pushed off the deck, knocking Tennishar onto his back. The human continued to roll towards a storage locker and retrieved a phaser. When he turned back around, Tennishar was already standing again, only with his back towards Kaziarl. From here he could see what appeared to be an insect. It had dug itself into the Aenar's neck, and Kaziarl assumed it was controlling him.
"I'm sorry Lt," he said to himself. "But I don't see much of a choice."
Setting the phaser on stun, Kaziarl took aim, and fired. The creature was still attached, but Tennishar was incapacitated. When he looked out the window he let out a sigh of relief at the view. The USS Hera was approaching, and soon he'd be back on board. He only hoped that Tennishar would be alright.
Six months later:
Tennishar opened his eyes. Although there were technically useless, he still had that sensation the most humanoids get when they move from a dark room into a well lit one. He probed his surroundings with his mind, trying to establish where he was. 'Sickbay,' he thought to himself. 'But how? And what happened to the Calypso?'
He tried to sit up, but this caused pain to shoot through his body. He tried to speak, but his throat was dry.
There was another person there, it was Doctor Eliason. Tennishar could sense him moving closer to the bed.
"Easy does it Lt. You’ve been unconscious for about six months. You're muscles will be weak."
"What happened?" he asked in a dry raspy voice.
"Your nervous system was attacked by an insectoid creature. It appeared to have control of you for a certain time."
Behind the doctor, the doors to sickbay opened as Kaziarl burst through.
"How is he Doctor?" asked Kaziarl.
"He'll be ok," replied Eliason. "Although there does seem to be some minor brain damage, and he'll probably need to be placed on medical leave."
"Alright, Doctor, can you give us a minute?"
"Of course," he replied as he returned to his office.
"Tennishar, how are you feeling?"
"Could be better sir," he replied, managing to sit up a little. "Did we find anything out about that ship?"
"Yes, we did," the commander replied. "But you should be resting."
"Yes sir," he said, lying back down.
"I have new orders for you Lt." Kaziarl said, handing him a PADD. "We'll be dropping you off at Starbase 329, you're to report to Doctor T'Amara to undergo a full medical scan."
"But Commander?" he asked. "What about my duties on the ship?"
"It's alright Lt." Replied Kaziarl. "The Hera will get by, you're job is to get better."
"Yes Commander."
Kaziarl turned and left. He had seen the doctors reports. It would be a miracle for him to get over the injuries that creature had caused.
